2022-02-12
Readings
Recently the NuSTAR space observatory confirmed a theory that Jupiter is capable of producing high-energy X-rays in its atmosphere. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-telescope-spots-highest-energy-light-ever-detected-from-jupiter
Cool to be reminded of the reshaping of environments that beavers are capable of:
A nice article on troubling trends in Anthropology as culturally progressive ideas take root; there’s a danger that science becomes PR for its topic, and refrains from correcting our understanding of the nature of things (or gives up on chances to learn). I think I prefer the old norms - science should be eager to disprove common understandings, it should not treat ancestral bones or land as sacred, and the concerns its adapting to should generally be ignored. https://areomagazine.com/2022/02/08/the-politicisation-of-biological-anthropology/
The wobble method found (probably) a lightweight planet around Proxima Centauri. Over a course of years. This is more a testament to the idea that more observations are better for nailing down light effects, than the subject of the study itself. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00400-3
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s explanation of Time Dilation isn’t new, but it is accessible. This time it led me to wonder whether we might someday be able to study extremely short-lived particles by speeding them up to a substantial portion of the speed of light. More broadly, for those of us interested in how to teach, watching others teach something we understand pretty well is a way of improving one’s craft.
An intro to automatically generated terrain in Minecraft. More broadly interesting because someday I think we’re going to be using algorithms to generate, personally, everything from voices to people. Understanding the shape of possibilities is part of that.
Interesting ideas from Sarah Haider about signaling identity while engaging in contentious discussions. I don’t agree with her (went into details on Twitter), but as usual it’s well-thought.
Unprompted Thoughts
In Ibn Khaldun’s Muqadimmah, he presents the idea of a universal history (among many other things), whereby civilizations are conquered/built by nomads with a strong sense of identity and purpose, and successive generations become civilized and then later corrupt, and then the regime falls and is replaced by the next nomads/barbarians. Khaldun seems (in my view) to celebrate the dynamism of that early part; to me, the most value is found in the middle part, when civilization is at its height, particularly if norms can replace personalities. Finding ways to prolong that center and provide alternative shapes of the parts outside of it is, I think, among the most important things for political philosophers to do. Assuming the cycles he points out are valid, which is not presently clear; we may have demonstrated a lack of fully moving on from big personalities, but their conquests are rarely military, and the form of state doesn’t seem to change now as fully as it did in Khaldun’s era. At least in many areas of the world, although a lot of the world is still controlled by oligarchs (Russia, China), monarchs (much of the middle east), dictators (parts of Africa, North Korea), and the like. Finding ways to transition them to pluralism long enough that it sticks is a long-term goal.
One of the things I found frustrating about the whole Trump presidency was the lack of trust for process, replacing it with “trust the guru” type stuff, where big personalities spend credibility freely while surpressing any testing or honest evaluation of the stuff they decide is good. Covid meds were part of it. India has problems with gurus and “folk knowledge” in the form of its hindutva movement. It damages them as a country, and our answer to that kind of thing showing up is “we don’t do that here” ; we should repair and strengthen our institutions so political leaders are not tempted to pick winners and “point the way to truth”. https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/kansas-lawmakers-attack-medical-board-for-probing-ivermectin-cases/
The shaping effects of monetisation on Youtube and what professional content-creators will do is highly visible, but it’s a reminder that various kinds of shaping have existed since people first started being able to make a living as a creative. In past eras, artists were lucky to find a patron that would fund them for a time. The recent move to have companies and technology and view counts measure funding is more direct than ever before, which oddly makes the remaining oddities in that relationship more visible
Current Events
There are things I appreciate about NYC’s mayor (most notably that he’s successfully pushed back against cultural progressivism undermining police policy), but there is an increasing number of things that are worrying or terrible, including nepotism, making a big deal about his vegan diet which turned out to be a lie, and most recently saying he talked to his god while staring an office of face-based initiatives. Unclear whether we’ll face stupid shit the whole way through his tenure. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/10/adams-faith-based-office-00007805
We’re very early in campaign season in the US, and I’ve already made my first large contribution, for Shontel Brown and against Nina Turner, both representing an area of Ohio I spent many years in growing up. I’m hoping we start seeing robust efforts by Liberals to push Progressives out (it’s really easy to dislike Turner based on the nutty things she’s said, but we should be trying to get anyone tied the Squad entirely out of elected office). https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bernie-sanders-ally-nina-turner-seeks-rematch-rep-shontel-brown-n1288008
Practical fusion power, using the Torus-based methods, creeps ever closer. https://www.engadget.com/nuclear-fusion-reactor-crushes-previous-record-for-energy-produced-105940012.html
We’re seeing mask mandates lifted in various states, with various specifics (New York was this week). I’m happy about this - I see the move as justified by the recognition that Covid is on a path to being endemic, but the hospitalisation numbers have dropped considerably; finding a new sustainable norm seems a reasonable tack
We’re seeing uncomfortable tensions between China and Universities in the US, with pro-China censorship slipping into the system in some cases. Recently at GW, a University President started down this route and was forced to back down.
Reviewlets
Phantom Tollbooth (book) - This is a children’s book that has a lot of content that’s meaningful (some uniquely) to adults. I’m about halfway through and I’m finding it imaginative and lovely - it plays with some of the concepts that are part of the nature of reality, has some bizarre dialogue with insane troll logic, and has given me some neat things to daydream about.
Far Cry 6 Joseph Seed DLC (video game) - This is third in a series of exploring the villains of the Far Cry series, and while the mechanics are getting old (and are slightly weaker than the previous two), the writing is fantastic. I may like Pagan Min as a villain more, but Joseph Seed has more depth. I finished my first round through it and I’m probably done with it (and with Far Cry 6 unless some compelling new DLC surprises me); the need to repeat several times at increasing difficulty is a minus and never compelled me, but I don’t regret giving iot a play. It made me think, and I’m now curious to see if I can find a Christian Priest writing about the themes explored in this DLC and Far Cry 5 (which this particular DLC is based on).
Dying Light 2 (video game) - I’m generally a sucker for complex open world games with giant skill trees; I dream of finding another Skyrim someday. This game has some style, but falls far short. For starters, you’re infected and need to carefully manage your health, with countdowns to follow before you die if you’re in the dark for too long. Combat is interesting, but depends too much on a fiddly kick thing you can mostly only do if you block an enemy and then jump over their head. Everything’s hard to use, and the game is very buggy. It’s a lot of things, but it doesn’t manage to be fun, and that’s a cardinal sin for a video game. The one bright point is that running from roof to roof is fun for awhile.
Gandi (DNS provider) - I’ve been using Gandi for a very long time to manage domains and SSL, both professionally and for personal projects. So far their UI has been adequate for everything, their prices have been pretty reasonable, and they haven’t gotten tied up in ethical scandals that I’ve heard about. I generally recommend them.
Amusements
Simplest bug report ever, courtesy me: https://github.com/constantinpape/z5/issues/200
A good hacking scene in TV is rare. A funny hacking scene? Common.
Scooby-Doo is one of those shared experiences of Americans in a certain age range; comedy based on it is relatable.
Recent Music
Happy Ol’ McWeasel - Better Times - I’ve been looking for more Celtic Punk (I like Floggy Molly but not the Dropkick Murphys). Recently I’ve found a few
Fiddler’s Green - Tam Lin
Steeley Dan - Josie - I had my attention drawn back to this thanks to Rick Beato’s video on interesting pop song intros:
World/Inferno Friendship Society - Brother of the Mayor of Bridgewater - I’m beginning to think they like names that are difficult to type