Every time I criticize these guys, I have to brace myself for another flood of hate mail. The Kurzweil Kult members are going to read this Newsweek article, see my name on the first page, and send me little disquisitions on how I’ll be sorry when the nanobots dismantle me and upload my brain into the cosmic computer. PZ on Kurzweil again. And again. It only makes me love PZ more.
A kitty in Chongqing, China, is getting some extra-special attention these days: The furry feline has developed wings! Though born looking completely normal, once the cat hit the age of 1, he began growing wing-shaped appendages on either side of his spine, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reports. Article at MSNBC.com.
Trying to decide what book(s) to bring on my travels next week. Long flights and I don’t watch movies while flying, so I’ll be relying on books, knitting, and some D&D podcasts by the Penny Arcade blokes.
I’m thinking of bringing a few John Scalzi books because they’re not giant texts like most of my books, but I have a lot of hidden gems in my collection and not all of them are read yet. (I have a habit of buying several books at once, and getting sidetracked before I read the whole stack). I’m open to suggestions, but I’m not going to buy any new books. Feel free to look at what’s already here, and suggest your favorites in the comments. I appreciate all suggestions, especially if they come with specific recommendations. (If you recommend any of my giant 70lb texts, I won’t like you anymore!) If I’ve already read your suggestion, then we can rave about how awesome it is in the comments instead.
In just over a week, I leave for Beijing, where I’ll be for 8 days, and then off to Hong Kong, where I’ll be for another 8. I don’t expect to get back to either of these locations anytime soon, so I scheduled an extra couple of days in each location (extra over and above the conferences I’ll be attending while there.) I don’t speak the language(s), and aside from a brief obsession with the history of the Chinese culture, I know nothing about the culture as it is now. If you have any insights to offer (particularly as I’ll be in Beijing on the 20th anniversary of the June 4th Massacre at Tiananmen Square), please share. As a vegetarian, I’ve already been told I’ll be living on a box of granola bars that I’m bringing with me. (My colleague who teaches Chinese sat down with me for a few hours this week and laughed at me since I won’t be able to eat.)
Oh, and if you’re in the area (!) I’ll be giving the following talks:
“Neural Plasticity and the Cultural Cyborg: Two Sides of One Coin” at the New Directions in the Humanities conference.
“Robotics-In-The-World: Embodied AI and the Work of Merleau-Ponty” at the Social Approaches to Consciousness Workshop.
and a poster presentation of “Robot Dreams: Requirements for Synthetic Phenomenology and Intersubjectivity” at Towards a Science of Consciousness (I’m glad to finally be attending this conference, as I declined to give posters in previous years).
(Indeed, I also find myself on the program for the Machine Consciousness workshop giving a talk version of the aforementioned poster, but I’m currently struggling with how accomodating to be considering the organizers of this workshop have not ever contacted me about being on their program, and I never submitted an abstract to them. I happened to find myself on the program while browsing around on the main conference site. So, even ignoring the ideological differences I have with the organizers, there’s a chance I’ll be giving that talk. It’d be nice if someone bothered contacting me, though. Hint, hint, if you’re reading this.)
Anyway, drop me a comment if you’ll be there!
And while we were standing on this spot, the spot where Mao stood when he proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the music we were having played at us by the public address system was first “Viva Espana” and then the “Theme from Hawaii Five-O.” It was hard to avoid the feeling that somebody, somewhere, was missing the point I couldn’ve even be sure that it wasn’t me… Douglas Adams at Powells.com
I’ve started and deleted this post a few times. I’d still like to remodel this site a bit, and personal ponderings feel odd in this setting (ironic, given it’s a blog.) So the short version:
As you all know, I’ve been in my first year at a new College, in a strange new position (I’m in 3 departments and 0 departments. I am an enigma.) Graduation was yesterday, and in spite of several addresses that seemed a bit more depressing for the students than I would’ve expected, it was one of the nicest ceremonies I’ve ever attended. I’ve been both faculty and student at a lot of institutes of higher education over the last 16 years, but this one was distinct in a number of ways. First, it’s possible that my own position here brings me a perspective I’ve never quite had before at other graduations, and if that’s true then it says more about me than the ceremony. I likely won’t know this for years. However, I’ve never seen such a personalized ceremony (it’s a small school). The event itself is set up to give the students their moment of joy when their names are called, but the students personalize the event further. Their characters SHONE through their altered caps and gowns. It was lighthearted and entertaining (including one fellow with a kite attached to his hat, and one with a live goldfish swimming around in a mason jar attached to his.) Perhaps this was notable because I actually knew a lot of the students quite well, which in itself is a pretty amazing thing in this day and age. I really appreciate being at a school where, after only a year, I knew many of the students really well – I know what they want to do with their lives, how they spend their weekends, what they’re afraid of, etc. And I must say, the best part of the ceremony here is that at the end, the faculty process out and line up on 2 sides of the aisle so the graduates can walk through us. I had heard this described, but didn’t realize what it really meant until I was standing there. It’s like a receiving line at a wedding – the students don’t just process through and leave. They stop to get a hug, a handshake, or a pat on the back from the professors that have impacted them (or who they have impacted). It was wonderful and lovely, and being able to give a final goodbye hug to students I’ve worked closely with over the last year gives such wonderful closure for everyone that I was incredibly happy to have had the opportunity for it. I’m used to students drifting away at the end of the year, and I’ve often wished I could’ve said a goodbye, or a thank you, and this place facilitates that really well.
Really, it’s just one more thing this place does well and right. Congratulations again to all the people who are moving on and starting the next part of their lives. I’ve got plenty more work to do, but this actually did feel like the end of something. Well done, all.
Interesting Call for Papers came through my inbox a few days ago:
Technology, Democracy, and Citizenship
Democracy and democratic citizenship shape and are shaped by technology. Taking the broad approach, this conference invites papers and session proposals bringing insight to the important albeit complicated and intricate relationships among technology, democracy, and citizenship.
Besides scholars in Science and Technology Studies and the Humanities and Social Sciences, we hope to attract practitioners and researchers in engineering, science, public policy, architecture, government, and international development to engage in a series of wide-ranging conversations focused on three broad intersections of technology and democracy:
IDEALS—For example, how can technology be managed so that it promotes democratic ideals? How can technology undermine democratic ideals? Exactly what do we mean by “democracy” and “democratic citizenship”?
PROCESSES—This category includes socio-technical systems directly involved in democratic processes, such as voting machines and blogs, as well as broader questions of education, public discourse, deliberation, and decision-making.
DECISIONS—Perhaps the broadest category of all, this includes the full range of specific areas in which democracies must establish policy and make decisions—energy, the environment, national defense, transportation, homeland security, health care, regulation of business and entrepreneurship, genetic engineering, funding of research, and more.
More information here.