Wow another three weeks just disappeared and I've now completed my 27th lap around the sun. I always liked that description of birthdays from the late Arthur C. What have I been up to lately? Well I've been getting my fair share of whippings at chess and until a few days ago we have had a full house. Yep we had our friends Mark and Claire crashing here and then my parents came over for a week and the whole time we had Asia's family friend Anna also staying with us. So it feels like it has been pretty busy in between entertaining, eating out and general socialising. Not to mention that work has been crazy busy recently, although crazy busy is much better than dead quiet, which is what it was for a little while at the beginning of the year.
In other news, a friend of mine from Toastmasters invited me round to her house to have a look through her hubbie's home built 14 inch reflecting telescope. What can I say? It was truly amazing, the first time I have seen the night sky with anything other than my naked eyes - you might even call it a religious experience, in the atheist sense of course :). We first had a look at the moon which was impressive enough - all the contours and craters and basalt plains so close you really felt like you could reach out and touch them. We then had a look at the "star" of the night, Saturn. You know, you've seen hundreds of pictures of this majestic planet but nothing can prepare you for actually seeing it there it the night sky surrounded by its beautiful rings and intriguing moons. I really could have stared at it for hours. We followed this up with a view of the highly unstable Eta Carinae, a candidate star for a Supernovae and then checked out the famous (at least in the Southern Hemisphere. triple star system of Alpha Centauri, otherwise known as the western of the two pointers. The whole experience left me wanting more, so it's time I think to join a club and get myself an instrument.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Chess again
A couple of recent "hobbyish" developments to report in my life of late. In February I started going to the local Essendon toastmasters club. For those who don't know, toastmasters is a public speaking organisation consisting of many clubs worldwide that generally have weekly or fortnightly meetings. Everyone who joins gets the opportunity to speak (and is encouraged) in front of an audience with the idea of improving your confidence and speaking skills. For me it is a really good way to meet some different and interesting people and an opportunity for an intellectual challenge. I gave my first formal speech last week, the "icebreaker", which is basically just a chat about myself - it may seem easy but was a surprising challenge. So far I have been really enjoying the experience and already have a few ideas for upcoming speeches.
The second hobby I have rediscovered in the last few weeks is chess. I have played chess on and off for most of my life (since Dad taught me how to play when I was about 8 I think) and I tend to go through phases where I play it a lot or not at all. When I am into it, it kind of becomes a bit of an obsession...hence the lack of blog posts recently. I would suppose consider myself a slightly below average player - my online ranking is 2295 out of 4116 players on the FICS server www.freechess.org where I normally play. My handle is CloakedRaptor, maybe I'll see some of you online sometime...
The second hobby I have rediscovered in the last few weeks is chess. I have played chess on and off for most of my life (since Dad taught me how to play when I was about 8 I think) and I tend to go through phases where I play it a lot or not at all. When I am into it, it kind of becomes a bit of an obsession...hence the lack of blog posts recently. I would suppose consider myself a slightly below average player - my online ranking is 2295 out of 4116 players on the FICS server www.freechess.org where I normally play. My handle is CloakedRaptor, maybe I'll see some of you online sometime...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Why we should boycott the 2008 games
I actually wrote this post some time ago but I thought that it was now appropriate to voice my distaste for the Chinese dictatorship...
So it's a little early to be talking about the 2008 Olympic games but for whatever reason it has entered my consciousness and now I am feeling very uneasy about these games. No it's not because of drug contamination, the worry about respiratory problems from pollution - it is simply that the games are being held in a country with a dictatorial regime, with known human rights abuses in the past that are continuing to this day.
Let's be fair, China has made significant strides in the past 20 years - they even allow a kind of pseudo capitalism to exist in some of their 'protected' business districts. However, this doesn't take away from the reality - China is still a dictatorship and rules through force rather the rule of law and the voice of the people. The recent crackdown in Tibet is a prime example of China's leadership maintaining their rule through brutality.
The Olympics long ago lost their native appeal as insturment for reconciliationa, hope and cooperation, maybe they never had it. In any case, the one thing they are still good for is for demonstration purposes. What better way to say 'up yours' to China than by boycotting the games that they are so keen to use to show (with propoganda) the world how modern, free and happy their country is?
So it's a little early to be talking about the 2008 Olympic games but for whatever reason it has entered my consciousness and now I am feeling very uneasy about these games. No it's not because of drug contamination, the worry about respiratory problems from pollution - it is simply that the games are being held in a country with a dictatorial regime, with known human rights abuses in the past that are continuing to this day.
Let's be fair, China has made significant strides in the past 20 years - they even allow a kind of pseudo capitalism to exist in some of their 'protected' business districts. However, this doesn't take away from the reality - China is still a dictatorship and rules through force rather the rule of law and the voice of the people. The recent crackdown in Tibet is a prime example of China's leadership maintaining their rule through brutality.
The Olympics long ago lost their native appeal as insturment for reconciliationa, hope and cooperation, maybe they never had it. In any case, the one thing they are still good for is for demonstration purposes. What better way to say 'up yours' to China than by boycotting the games that they are so keen to use to show (with propoganda) the world how modern, free and happy their country is?
Monday, March 31, 2008
Favourite excuses for not accepting evolution
Two of the most common criticisms I hear about evolution from the general public are:
If the observations and experiments don't validate the hypothesis (this is the most common outcome), then the hypothesis is cast aside and revealed to be false. If the alternative happens, and measurements and observations match up with the hypothesis, then the scientist will publish a paper describing the hypothesis to others and methods to test the hypothesis. The hypothesis (paper) is then put to the test by other scientists who make their own independent observations and measurements that further either confirm the hypothesis or perhaps find flaws in it (sending the original author perhaps back to square one). Once a sufficient body of evidence confirming a hypothesis has been gathered, then, and only then, does it become a THEORY. Some theories that have been through this process and are currently widely accepted are, the theory of gravitation, atomic theory, number theory, the theory of magnetism, the theory of evolution and so on.
Once a theory becomes accepted though this is not the end of the story. Scientists are continually testing their theories often making slight modifications to them as new evidence and experimental techniques become available. Occassionally a brilliant scientist will come along and provide such profound new insights that whole theories must be revised and updated to reflect this knowledge - such scientists include Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin and their respective theories on space, time and the origin of species which shook up the scientific community.
Evolution has been tested, continues to be tested and continues to provide remarkable insights for understanding the origin of species. Evolution has been witnessed going on today - Darwin's finches, the evolution of bacterial resistance to disease and the spotted moth in England are just a few of the many examples. What's more, there is a remarkable fossil record showing the evolution of humans from our earlier precursors including neanderthals, homo erectus and countless others. The ability to sequence animal genomes has shown that about 98% of our DNA is identical to that of our closest relative the chimpanzee. In fact our DNA is more similar to chimpanzee DNA than chimpanzee DNA is to Orangutan DNA. Through sophisticated gene sequencing techniques we now know that about 5 million years ago there existed a common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans to which all humans and chimps today are related. All of this provides elaborate evidence for the theory of evolution establishing it as a scientific fact.
The second objection to the theory of evolution mentioned above, that it doesn't explain abiogenesis 'the origin of life' is not a sensible objection to this theory. Evolution has not and never will make any claims as to the explanation of the origin of life. It merely explains the mechanism through which existing life evolves and changes into new species in response to selective pressure such as predation and climate. Claiming evolution is wrong because it doesn't explain the origin of life is rather like saying: the theory of gravity does not explain magnetism therefore the theory of gravity is false. Of course this is nonsensical. It is difficult to establish the mechanism of the origin of life simply because it happened so long ago. Estimates range from 2.7 billion to 4 billion years ago - that's a 4 with 9 zeros or 4,000 million. However, I have no doubt that eventually science will satisfactorily explain the origin of life and what a great thing that will be.
- Evolution is the THEORY of evolution, it's just a theory it might be wrong.
- We don't know how life got started therefore evolution is not true.
If the observations and experiments don't validate the hypothesis (this is the most common outcome), then the hypothesis is cast aside and revealed to be false. If the alternative happens, and measurements and observations match up with the hypothesis, then the scientist will publish a paper describing the hypothesis to others and methods to test the hypothesis. The hypothesis (paper) is then put to the test by other scientists who make their own independent observations and measurements that further either confirm the hypothesis or perhaps find flaws in it (sending the original author perhaps back to square one). Once a sufficient body of evidence confirming a hypothesis has been gathered, then, and only then, does it become a THEORY. Some theories that have been through this process and are currently widely accepted are, the theory of gravitation, atomic theory, number theory, the theory of magnetism, the theory of evolution and so on.
Once a theory becomes accepted though this is not the end of the story. Scientists are continually testing their theories often making slight modifications to them as new evidence and experimental techniques become available. Occassionally a brilliant scientist will come along and provide such profound new insights that whole theories must be revised and updated to reflect this knowledge - such scientists include Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin and their respective theories on space, time and the origin of species which shook up the scientific community.
Evolution has been tested, continues to be tested and continues to provide remarkable insights for understanding the origin of species. Evolution has been witnessed going on today - Darwin's finches, the evolution of bacterial resistance to disease and the spotted moth in England are just a few of the many examples. What's more, there is a remarkable fossil record showing the evolution of humans from our earlier precursors including neanderthals, homo erectus and countless others. The ability to sequence animal genomes has shown that about 98% of our DNA is identical to that of our closest relative the chimpanzee. In fact our DNA is more similar to chimpanzee DNA than chimpanzee DNA is to Orangutan DNA. Through sophisticated gene sequencing techniques we now know that about 5 million years ago there existed a common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans to which all humans and chimps today are related. All of this provides elaborate evidence for the theory of evolution establishing it as a scientific fact.
The second objection to the theory of evolution mentioned above, that it doesn't explain abiogenesis 'the origin of life' is not a sensible objection to this theory. Evolution has not and never will make any claims as to the explanation of the origin of life. It merely explains the mechanism through which existing life evolves and changes into new species in response to selective pressure such as predation and climate. Claiming evolution is wrong because it doesn't explain the origin of life is rather like saying: the theory of gravity does not explain magnetism therefore the theory of gravity is false. Of course this is nonsensical. It is difficult to establish the mechanism of the origin of life simply because it happened so long ago. Estimates range from 2.7 billion to 4 billion years ago - that's a 4 with 9 zeros or 4,000 million. However, I have no doubt that eventually science will satisfactorily explain the origin of life and what a great thing that will be.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter, a call to arms
Hi all, well here I am on an Easter Sunday morning at 10:06am. Some say this is the 'holiest' day on the Christian calendar, well maybe, but for me and many other Atheists this holiness, whatever it means, is full of holes. Of course there is a truckload of Christians heading to church this morning, and I find myself asking why? Because, despite a modern technological society, the antithesis of theism, the church still manages to thrive and draw in the crowds. To me this is truly so amazing. Are people so devoid of creative thought and ideas that they can't think of anything better to do on a Sunday morning?
We know that people don't go to church for moral guidance, well at least they shouldn't given the appalling record of the church with regard to modern moral standards - witch hunts, crusades, opposition to contraception and gay rights being some primary examples. People must go to church, for the most part for the social aspect. Getting together in groups is what we as humans love to do, it is in our genes you might say. That's why I think despite the contradictions and lies the church continues to propagate to the 'faithful', they still manage to draw people in. It is such a big group with such 'gravity' that it will take a long long time to erode the support base, even in modern society. I think to help people make a better choice, atheists and secularists need to offer concrete social alternatives to the church going public. I don't know what this is - more sport on Sunday, less theist laws such as the closing of shops etc on Christian holidays, are just a couple of meagre ideas.
What I am doing with the one hour of my life that I have free because I am not going to church? Well, I've been working on a scale computer model of the solar (planetary) system as a little hobby and I've been trying to reconcile it with measured data of the actual solar system. The simulation is up and working reasonably well, although there are some sources of error that mean that after a few years the positions of the inner planets no longer accurately line up with the real data. So this morning, I'm experimenting and trying to increase my knowledge of the universe we live in - this is much more exciting and rewarding than any promise of eternal life or seven virgins - happy Easter, whatever you are doing.
We know that people don't go to church for moral guidance, well at least they shouldn't given the appalling record of the church with regard to modern moral standards - witch hunts, crusades, opposition to contraception and gay rights being some primary examples. People must go to church, for the most part for the social aspect. Getting together in groups is what we as humans love to do, it is in our genes you might say. That's why I think despite the contradictions and lies the church continues to propagate to the 'faithful', they still manage to draw people in. It is such a big group with such 'gravity' that it will take a long long time to erode the support base, even in modern society. I think to help people make a better choice, atheists and secularists need to offer concrete social alternatives to the church going public. I don't know what this is - more sport on Sunday, less theist laws such as the closing of shops etc on Christian holidays, are just a couple of meagre ideas.
What I am doing with the one hour of my life that I have free because I am not going to church? Well, I've been working on a scale computer model of the solar (planetary) system as a little hobby and I've been trying to reconcile it with measured data of the actual solar system. The simulation is up and working reasonably well, although there are some sources of error that mean that after a few years the positions of the inner planets no longer accurately line up with the real data. So this morning, I'm experimenting and trying to increase my knowledge of the universe we live in - this is much more exciting and rewarding than any promise of eternal life or seven virgins - happy Easter, whatever you are doing.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Torquay
I have a new favourite beach - the surf beach at Torquay. After the Grand Prix Asia, Mark, Claire and I drive down to Torquay for a one night camping trip. For those who don't know, Torquay is about half an hour South of Geelong at the beginning of Victoria's famous Great Ocean Road scenic drive. Torquay, apart from being a picturesque costal town, is famous for it's legendary surf breaks including Bell's beach and is the home and birthplace of a couple of Australia's largest surfwear brands, Rip Curl and Quiksilver. Okay now I sound like a travel agent.
Highlights of the weekend include body surfing on some awesome waves at the beach, nearly getting killed by an out of control surfer, making a sand castle with Asia and getting a flat battery on the pulsar. Photos to follow.
Highlights of the weekend include body surfing on some awesome waves at the beach, nearly getting killed by an out of control surfer, making a sand castle with Asia and getting a flat battery on the pulsar. Photos to follow.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
F1 oh yeah
One of the great attractions of Melbourne as opposed to other Australian cities perhaps, is that it draws and hosts some truly great international events. For whatever reason, the denizens of Melbourne have made every effort to make Melbourne visible on the world stage - and it shows. The two events that I'm mostly thinking of here are the Australian Open Tennis and the Formula One Grand Prix. This weekend it was Melbourne's turn to play host to the Grand Prix circuit and the usually quiet and peaceful Albert Park was transformed into a high speed, adrenaline pumping formula one circuit. Since we moved to Melbourne in 2006, the formula one has been on my 'to do' list and this year Asia and I went to Friday's practice session along with our friends Mark and Claire.
Melbourne is in the grip of a late Summer/early Autumn heat wave at the moment. As I write it is still 28 degrees C outside, a 'cool' change bringing welcome relief from 38 degrees only an hour before. Friday was also swelteringly hot and by the time the second practice session started at 2pm Asia and Claire had had enough and decided to go home to the air con at Mark and Claire's city apartment. Mark and I managed to brave the heat for another hour or so and managed a few good shots of the cars as they zoomed by at an incredibly noisy 300 kph. Everyone says how you will be amazed by the noise of the F1 cars but you really can't prepare yourself for just how noisy it is. Earplugs are an absolute must as the noise it so loud it does cause physical pain. But hey the cars and the technology are awesome and what a spectacle it was. Despite the heat a great day.
Melbourne is in the grip of a late Summer/early Autumn heat wave at the moment. As I write it is still 28 degrees C outside, a 'cool' change bringing welcome relief from 38 degrees only an hour before. Friday was also swelteringly hot and by the time the second practice session started at 2pm Asia and Claire had had enough and decided to go home to the air con at Mark and Claire's city apartment. Mark and I managed to brave the heat for another hour or so and managed a few good shots of the cars as they zoomed by at an incredibly noisy 300 kph. Everyone says how you will be amazed by the noise of the F1 cars but you really can't prepare yourself for just how noisy it is. Earplugs are an absolute must as the noise it so loud it does cause physical pain. But hey the cars and the technology are awesome and what a spectacle it was. Despite the heat a great day.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Bris Vegas
It's funny, when my brother was living in Brisbane I never travelled there once for work but since he left I have been there at least six times - five of them since November last year. I have many good memories of Brisbane and it was the first part of Australia that I visited when I was younger. To me, it is quintessentially Australia and even after having lived in Melbourne for 18 months, the first thing I think of when I think of Australia is Brisbane - I guess it is etched in my memory. In many ways for NZers Brisbane is everything NZ is not. The weather is fine and warm, the people are sun tanned and friendly (if a little bigoted at times) and you can't help but being swept up in the optimism and positive vibe when you are there.
One of the funniest things about Brisbane is the crazy creatures you encounter just wandering around the streets or in the botanic gardens. Lizards are a frequent site (big ones, little ones and medium sized ones), often clamoring around street lights looking for there next 'mothy' meal. Okay, so the reason I'm waxing on about Brisbane is that I have just got back from a five day trip there. My manager was kind enough to shout Asia's flights there and back so she could come with me and also pay for a couple of extra nights in the hotel. I had to present training on the Monday-Wednesday, so we only really had the weekend to look around. We took the early morning flight on Saturday and while we waited until we could check into the hotel we took a stroll around the central city and checked out the Art Gallery, which had a particularly interesting collection of old propaganda posters from the 70s and 80s. It's quite interesting to see how things have changed substantially since even then. The big issues of the day were women's equality and nuclear weapons.
We had a great meal at a riverside restaurant on Sat and on Sunday we decided to take the train down to Dreamworld, one of the big American style themeparks, on the GoldCoast. Despite finding it a little tacky we had a pretty fun day, highlight: catching a shot of a tiger in mid air.
One of the funniest things about Brisbane is the crazy creatures you encounter just wandering around the streets or in the botanic gardens. Lizards are a frequent site (big ones, little ones and medium sized ones), often clamoring around street lights looking for there next 'mothy' meal. Okay, so the reason I'm waxing on about Brisbane is that I have just got back from a five day trip there. My manager was kind enough to shout Asia's flights there and back so she could come with me and also pay for a couple of extra nights in the hotel. I had to present training on the Monday-Wednesday, so we only really had the weekend to look around. We took the early morning flight on Saturday and while we waited until we could check into the hotel we took a stroll around the central city and checked out the Art Gallery, which had a particularly interesting collection of old propaganda posters from the 70s and 80s. It's quite interesting to see how things have changed substantially since even then. The big issues of the day were women's equality and nuclear weapons.
We had a great meal at a riverside restaurant on Sat and on Sunday we decided to take the train down to Dreamworld, one of the big American style themeparks, on the GoldCoast. Despite finding it a little tacky we had a pretty fun day, highlight: catching a shot of a tiger in mid air.
Friday, February 22, 2008
It'll be okay Ricky
For those of you who know me well, you'll know that I'm a big cricket fan. It's my number one favourite sport by a long margin - I'll basically watch any cricket match between any two teams at any given time, and if no TV is available then I'll try listen on the radio. I'm sure Asia will testify to all of this as she (like most women to use probably an unfair stereotype) can't stand cricket.
Anyway, for those of you who have been locked up in a cardboard box the last couple of months, the latest 'controversy' to grip the cricket world is the ongoing saga of the Indian Premier League or IPL for short. The IPL is basically a free market cricket competition where a bunch of wealthy businessmen have got together to bid for the best players in the world to play in a competition which will last for a month and a half in March-April. The latest player to get his 'knickers in a knot' about this is the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting. He says that the competition has the potential to ruin international cricket because many players can earn more in a month in a half playing in the IPL than they can in an entire year playing for their country. This applies not so much to the already handsomely paid Australian cricketers but rather to the NZ and South African players who are not paid nearly as much as their Aussie counterparts. Ricky's argument is that if you are a player what would you do? Spend a month and a half playing cricket in the sub continent then take the rest of the year off to be with family and friends or do it the 'hard way' and play cricket for your country with up to 8 months of the year spent away from family and friends? The choice is obvious when put in these terms.
However, Ricky has forgotten one very important thing. The value of most of the players for this competition was not determined by how they played in other 20/20 competitions but rather for the most part it was based on their form in the more traditional forms of the game, test and one day international cricket. The implications of this are obvious to me - if a player chooses to play only in the IPL, and perhaps plays poorly in this competition, then if he chooses to forgo cricket for the rest of the year, then what are the chances he will be picked (bought) again the following year? I would say practically none. So, in all likelihood, players will continue to play other forms of cricket and play for their country, if only to increase their value the next time the IPL auction comes around. Besides, there are those who will want to play for their country regardless. Chill out Ricky, cricket is in better shape than ever.
Anyway, for those of you who have been locked up in a cardboard box the last couple of months, the latest 'controversy' to grip the cricket world is the ongoing saga of the Indian Premier League or IPL for short. The IPL is basically a free market cricket competition where a bunch of wealthy businessmen have got together to bid for the best players in the world to play in a competition which will last for a month and a half in March-April. The latest player to get his 'knickers in a knot' about this is the Australian captain, Ricky Ponting. He says that the competition has the potential to ruin international cricket because many players can earn more in a month in a half playing in the IPL than they can in an entire year playing for their country. This applies not so much to the already handsomely paid Australian cricketers but rather to the NZ and South African players who are not paid nearly as much as their Aussie counterparts. Ricky's argument is that if you are a player what would you do? Spend a month and a half playing cricket in the sub continent then take the rest of the year off to be with family and friends or do it the 'hard way' and play cricket for your country with up to 8 months of the year spent away from family and friends? The choice is obvious when put in these terms.
However, Ricky has forgotten one very important thing. The value of most of the players for this competition was not determined by how they played in other 20/20 competitions but rather for the most part it was based on their form in the more traditional forms of the game, test and one day international cricket. The implications of this are obvious to me - if a player chooses to play only in the IPL, and perhaps plays poorly in this competition, then if he chooses to forgo cricket for the rest of the year, then what are the chances he will be picked (bought) again the following year? I would say practically none. So, in all likelihood, players will continue to play other forms of cricket and play for their country, if only to increase their value the next time the IPL auction comes around. Besides, there are those who will want to play for their country regardless. Chill out Ricky, cricket is in better shape than ever.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Wilson's Promontory
Hi all,
Thought I would return from my blogging siesta with some tales and photos of this weekend's trip to Wilson's Promontory National in South East Victoria.
Firstly, the great news is that Asia is back in Melbourne. Yes after four months in NZ, she is back! We have been pretty busy since she got back, catching up with friends and hosting a great welcome back party last Saturday night. This weekend however, Nick and Georgia invited us down to Wilson's Promontory for a weekend camping and possibly some walking/tramping. The walking was doubtful as Georgia is heavily pregnant and we thought probably not up for much of a walk. Anyway Asia packed up most of the gear on Friday afternoon and we managed to get away from the city about 6:30ish. For those who don't know, Wilson's Prom or just 'the Prom' is 230 km South East of Melbourne and when you add in Friday night rush hour traffic, it wasn't until nearly 11pm on Friday night that we were finally putting up the tent - lucky there was cricket to listen to on the radio!!!
We had a great weekend - on Saturday it was mostly just lounging around and soaking up the sunshine, although we managed a quick game of frisbee and a swim at the beach. Sunday was slightly more energetic and we took an 2 hour walk over the hill to Little Oberon bay. The beach there was even more impressive than the beach at Tidal River and there were some good waves for body surfing to boot. Overall, a great weekend and well worth the travel time.
Thought I would return from my blogging siesta with some tales and photos of this weekend's trip to Wilson's Promontory National in South East Victoria.
Firstly, the great news is that Asia is back in Melbourne. Yes after four months in NZ, she is back! We have been pretty busy since she got back, catching up with friends and hosting a great welcome back party last Saturday night. This weekend however, Nick and Georgia invited us down to Wilson's Promontory for a weekend camping and possibly some walking/tramping. The walking was doubtful as Georgia is heavily pregnant and we thought probably not up for much of a walk. Anyway Asia packed up most of the gear on Friday afternoon and we managed to get away from the city about 6:30ish. For those who don't know, Wilson's Prom or just 'the Prom' is 230 km South East of Melbourne and when you add in Friday night rush hour traffic, it wasn't until nearly 11pm on Friday night that we were finally putting up the tent - lucky there was cricket to listen to on the radio!!!
We had a great weekend - on Saturday it was mostly just lounging around and soaking up the sunshine, although we managed a quick game of frisbee and a swim at the beach. Sunday was slightly more energetic and we took an 2 hour walk over the hill to Little Oberon bay. The beach there was even more impressive than the beach at Tidal River and there were some good waves for body surfing to boot. Overall, a great weekend and well worth the travel time.
Monday, January 07, 2008
The flat earthers
I found myself drawn into a lengthy discussion with two Jehovah's witnesses on Saturday afternoon. There I was minding my own business watching the Indians fight back in the cricket and all of a sudden came the door knock. Now generally when you get a door knock that you aren't expecting around these parts it is likely it is one of two groups:
Yes scientists (and engineers incidentally) did create the atomic bomb of which it could be argued that the world is now a more stable place because of (although that is another story that I don't want to go into here). Even if you think that an atomic bomb, or its big cousin the hydrogen bomb is the most evil thing ever created, do you immediately jump to the conclusion that all science is bad? Gee wizz, I hope not. Why don't we think like this. Well it is simply a matter of logic. For you see if science is bad because of the atomic bomb, then well science is bad for many things - the aeroplane (think of all the air crashes over the years and all the lives that would have been spared if planes had not been invented), the automobile (anyone see the xmas road toll this year), electric power (just think of all those poor electrocuted people over the years) and I could go on.
The JW's line of reasoning is what I call an asymmetric argument. It is a common and deplorable tactic used often by religiously minded people. It is used mainly because of its shock value and "Gee I never thought of it that way before" typical response elicited from gullible people. An asymmetric argument ignores all the positive aspects of a point of view. The science is bad because of atomic bombs argument ignores all the fantastic things that science has done for humanity over the years, magnetism, peaceful atomic power, vaccines, antibiotics, evolution and understanding how we came to be, electricity, solar power, wind turbines, the automobile, the aeroplane, the digital computer revolution, medicine, engineering and more. None of these things would have been possible without the platform of science. Yes science can be misused, the atomic bomb is arguably one way that it has been, yet the atomic bomb lead directly to atomic energy which may yet prove to be our best way of overcoming the increasingly likely climate calamity we are facing over the next few centuries.
Anyway, after all that, I have to say that I enjoyed the debate with the JW, even though his arguments were rather feeble and ill-conceived. I don't hold hope that he will reconsider his view point, I think his indoctrination is perhaps a little too ingrained. Nevertheless, we can only keep trying and hope that one day the flat earthers will see the light.
- A power company sales rep who will spend an exhausting and infuriating two minutes of your time trying to convince you to change power retailers and that your power company is ripping you off. This despite you having signed up with the last door knocker that came round only three weeks ago. As an electrical engineer in the power business I like to think of myself as competent to choose who best to supply my power, but it seems a degree in electrical engineering doesn't impress these people.
- The 'flat earth brigade', 'god squad', or some other religiously affiliated people. No wonder religion has so many devotees - I reckon half the people who join up just do it to get rid of these door knockers, persistent buggers.
Yes scientists (and engineers incidentally) did create the atomic bomb of which it could be argued that the world is now a more stable place because of (although that is another story that I don't want to go into here). Even if you think that an atomic bomb, or its big cousin the hydrogen bomb is the most evil thing ever created, do you immediately jump to the conclusion that all science is bad? Gee wizz, I hope not. Why don't we think like this. Well it is simply a matter of logic. For you see if science is bad because of the atomic bomb, then well science is bad for many things - the aeroplane (think of all the air crashes over the years and all the lives that would have been spared if planes had not been invented), the automobile (anyone see the xmas road toll this year), electric power (just think of all those poor electrocuted people over the years) and I could go on.
The JW's line of reasoning is what I call an asymmetric argument. It is a common and deplorable tactic used often by religiously minded people. It is used mainly because of its shock value and "Gee I never thought of it that way before" typical response elicited from gullible people. An asymmetric argument ignores all the positive aspects of a point of view. The science is bad because of atomic bombs argument ignores all the fantastic things that science has done for humanity over the years, magnetism, peaceful atomic power, vaccines, antibiotics, evolution and understanding how we came to be, electricity, solar power, wind turbines, the automobile, the aeroplane, the digital computer revolution, medicine, engineering and more. None of these things would have been possible without the platform of science. Yes science can be misused, the atomic bomb is arguably one way that it has been, yet the atomic bomb lead directly to atomic energy which may yet prove to be our best way of overcoming the increasingly likely climate calamity we are facing over the next few centuries.
Anyway, after all that, I have to say that I enjoyed the debate with the JW, even though his arguments were rather feeble and ill-conceived. I don't hold hope that he will reconsider his view point, I think his indoctrination is perhaps a little too ingrained. Nevertheless, we can only keep trying and hope that one day the flat earthers will see the light.
Post holiday blues
Well I have a serious case of post holiday blues, although judging by the glum faces around town I'm not the only one. It's funny how when you have been working hard for a while how you forget to take some time and just put perspective on things - it really is only a holiday that can give you a chance to do that. Despite the post holiday blues I am actually feeling quite refreshed after a good relaxing holiday in NZ. It was a very NZ holiday, low key, quiet and relaxing. I even felt a bit homesick during the time I was there. something about the grass always being greener no doubt.
It was really great to see Asia again after some three and a bit months, hopefully it won't be long now until she can come back to Australia.
It was really great to see Asia again after some three and a bit months, hopefully it won't be long now until she can come back to Australia.
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