1. A passing noted … and here’s a vivid demonstration of how memory is kept.
2. A conversation (on complexity) continues.
3. A discussion of race and the GOP. I might take issue with the characterization of the GOP as “the party” that uses the race card for political ends. I’d wager that if you took a sampling you’d find the Democrats do that far more often.
4. A first, a student protest in the Balkans noted.
5. One tough dude … and just a little whitewash in the UK press.
6. Projection of modern conceits noted.
7. An earthquake. Big.
8. A battle remembered.
9. How to get lots of blog traffic. I think I’m reconciled to my status as a micro-blogger. 😀
10. Confirmation bias and the media.
11. Popular history … gets it exactly backwards once again.
12. Unhappy with Obama support of a UN resolution and why.

Last Friday, I after a discussion of nuclear energy started, with a lot of half-remembered data on my side and in order to stop that feature of the conversation, I dug up on the net an authoritative report on the “future of nuclear energy.” These papers are in pdf form:

1. The full document is here. This is a study by a group of MIT professors on the status of Nuclear power in the US and the world.
2. The summary is here. This is a summary of the findings in the prior document.
3. Finally, in 2009 (the original documents were written in 2003) an update of the current situation given the economic and political conditions is given here.

Anyhow, I’m going to attempt summarize the summary. Please bring up any points on which further elaboration would be useful. Read the rest of this entry

Well, mornings are early here (and it’s an hour earlier) so … back to evening links.

1. Desert (patristic) humor.
2. An argument for the existence of God for our armchair philosophers to refute.
3. Training advice for the cyclist … and likely applicable to a wider range of activities.
4. DFW and monastic life.
5. In the aftermath of the news kerfuffle … some words on Mr Polanski.
6. TARP and lending or … oops.
7. Saturn. New rings discovered … very cool.
8. Verse.
9. The whole is/ought thing.
10. A pilgrim’s progress.
11. On silencing the military.
12. Perhaps a thing Mr Obama will be remembered for … that toxic cocktail.

Regular commenter JA offers today the following observation:

However, I would (and do) distinguish between tribalism for minority “tribes” and tribalism for the majority in the most powerful nation on Earth. Black pride, Jewish pride, Mormon pride, Catholic pride — these, while (and this is where I probably disagree with Sharansky) still falling short of the ideal of universalism, can be useful for societies which contain them. It’s when the primary group of a powerful society shows too much tribalism that it becomes dangerous. But, again, I think universalism is ultimately best.

A few remarks might follow from this. (I might note that these remarks stem from the book Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy, by Nathan Sharansky) Read the rest of this entry

Good morning.

1. City and tragedy. 
2. Be afraid.
3. Well, not always, there are weddings too, this one in Georgia.
4. Of entropy, social bubbles, and cinema.
5. Drawing on God’s wrath to remark on morality of man.
6. Food for thought. (sorry I couldn’t resist that)
7. Job losses in more detail.
8. Towards a progressive conservativism or vice versa … I think.
9. On celebrating the fall of another.
10. Of the Military and the White House.
11. Humor from the desert.

And by jetsam, I really mean it. Well, I read bits and pieces of a few books tonight while riding on eastward on a plane from Chicago to Philly … and then drove to Cranbury (NJ), at which in a hotel now I am typing. Anyhow, here is a little bit about the books I’m reading because from that future posts will derive.

The first book was Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy, by Nathan Sharansky. Now Mr Sharansky has been a political figure of sorts from the 70s onward, but my personal history has been such that I am pretty much unaware prior to reading this book of any of his prior history. I came about this book, mainly from an Amazon recommendation when I purchased a different book, Chantal Delsol’s book Unjust Justice: Against the Tyranny of International Law, which I have not really started as yet. Anyhow, I haven’t really got yet to the meat of Mr Sharansky’s book, so far he’s been picking away at the edges of it. Describing, from his personal experience, how his personal identification as a Zionist bolstered his personal struggle to retain his identity and sense of purpose the gulag system (and how a fellow prisoner, a Christian also used his own personal identity for the same purpose).

Paul Collier, author of the The Bottom Billion, which last year was my pick of “most influential” book that I had read that year, has another (well more than one, but I only had one with me). This book, Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, makes  a very very interesting observation. There is a notion, shared almost universally which is wrong. This is a political tenent held in common by Mr Bush and Mr Soros. But both are wrong. Democracy is not universally helpful. There is a statistical correlation, and the causes for which Mr Collier thinks he has uncovered, that demonstrates quite robustly that there is a crossing point in the measure of relative harm vs good democracy can do for a country as a function of wealth. This crossing point is located by Mr Collier specifically at $2.7k/year ($7/day) average income. If a country’s average income is below this … democracy becomes more and more harmful. If a country makes more than that, autocracy is harmful. Now, paging through, Mr Collier will not ultimately abandon democracy as a recommendation for poor countries, and I think this is in a large part because one would hope that those poor countries do not remain poor forever and there’s going to be an ugly transition point if democracy is abandoned. I might describe his recommendation that democracy needs “tempering” or external maintenance when countries are poor.

Finally, another French (conservative) social/political observer, Philippe Beneton has a book Equality by Default: An Essay on Modernity As Confinement translated for the English reader. Modern liberals, especially recently, denounce the modern conservative movement as having lost it’s intellectual way. Well, liberalism/progressivism shouldn’t throw stones while living in glass houses. For while, something rotten may be affoot in Denmark, modern liberalism/progressivism has been treading into shallow intellectual waters itself and Mr Beneton points to the causes and the roots of their error(s). One of the symptoms of this matter can be seen in the proliferation of “rights” that can be found coming from the left.

Anyhow, more on all these … later.

Good morning.

1. Well I saved this because I wanted to read it. I still do. Now you can look too … but since I haven’t read it … I actually don’t know whether it’s hokum or not, but it’s about the 2nd Amendment.
2. More on Xenophon.
3. Conservatism as cult. 
4. And … a similar vein here but for the other side.
5. Divorce and health.
6. Of guns and defense.
7. Equal vs precious … an important observation. 
8. I’m sorry, but yes you certainly can.
9. And one reason is, the center of the text (doesn’t have anything to do with creationism vs evolution).
10. Riiiiight.
11. And here I thought is was just ontology (and some theology) recapitulated and reinforcced by praxis all along.
12. Getting the gospel wrong.
13. Zaaap.
14. So, ‘splain why there are clauses on gender in a climate treaty?
15. Spot on protest.
16. NYTimes has no clue about job creation.

Well, I’ve a little time tonight, having got my post out. So … a little links+remarks? See if I can’t stir the discussion pot a little.

1. Jim Anderson wonders if stochastic methods are used for pitch selection. Which begs the question, how much are stochastic methods used in any strategy situations. In war, other sports involving strategy, and politics? It seems to me that if a primary objective is not being out-guessed by the opponent that explicitly relying on a random element to aid in strategic selection would be good.
   I frequently tell my kids that a coin toss is an excellent method of helping you make a decision if you cannot choose between two alternatives which to you seem equal. After you flip, if you don’t like the choice tells you of course … you should of course go with what you want to do and not be ruled by the coin. The coin in that case has demonstrated to you an unconscious preference. But if you’re OK with the coin … go with it. Your time agonizing over a decision is time not wasted any longer.
2. A question asked, that Mr Obama should answer. He has a healthcare plan, but it’s secret. He has a plan to a nuclear free-world, but it’s secret. But that latter part needs to be outlined a little more explicitly especially as Iran is moving closer to a device of their own. Actually regarding his healthcare non-plan, he has posted of course on the White House site a thing which some call “a plan.” However it is not actually a plan. It is a list of criteria. Maths people talk of solutions for problems needing a demonstration of existence and uniqueness. For Mr Obama’s criteria there is a missing demonstration of existence (and uniqueness is not a requirement). His critics of course offer that existence is not possible given that particular set of criteria. Given that is a primary objection, the missing demonstration is problematic. The same holds true for his nuclear free plan. More here regarding nuclear Iran.
3. Land reform. Land ownership and property rights are a vexing problem for much of the world. We in America forget that we went through not a little time of tribulation in the 19th century over land reform.
4. As a father of two teenage (well, technically my youngest hits the big 13 in December) … I’m hoping this suggestion is wrong and furthermore is not a model which they will find need to follow. Fortunately Hollywood is not the source of all social narratives and examples. Actually seeing how often they get the narratives and a realistic description on film of the religious America wrong, it is likely that the situation may not be as dire as the it seems.
5. Well, prison rape is indeed a problem. However, I’d offer that anyone who actually makes a claim to be Christian that hoping that rapists get raped in prison is not a problem, in that it isn’t for what we hope (for anyone). Hammurrabi is right out, no eye for an eye. We hope for only for repentance. 

stochastic, Obama, Iran, foreign policy, economics, society, marriage, dating, prison, ethics

The prior post, on Anselm and Gödel were inspired by my starting to look into linking that as a jumping off point on a larger discussion of Ontology and Christianity, the outline of that “larger discussion” will be found below. Originally I planned to write a post on the future of Nuclear energy based on reading a series of papers set out by a interdisciplinary group of MIT professors. That Nuclear post will be postponed one or two nights.

The “Ontological Argument” (with scare quotes) was apparently originally proposed by Anselm. However this is, far from the first strictly ontological argument (no caps, no quotes) used in Christian or Hebrew theology. Some Greek theologians have made the claim that Greek thought is always ontological, i.e., virtual all Greek though has ontological roots. Ontological arguments in standard theological discussions abound, for example:

• The creation account in Genesis 1 is an essential ontological activity, separating and categorizing creation.
• Adam’s fall, his in and exile how that is reasoned to affect us is ontological. Adam himself is an ontological as opposed to historical entity.
• Christ’s resurrection is interpreted in ontological terms. God/Man to ontological categories joined. His resurrection is connected to Adam’s fall ontologically. His “conquering death by death” is an ontological activity. Satan, taking a man (Jesus) into Hades finds he has not taken a man, but God, which ontologically is impossible (God cannot be taken into death) thus destroying death. 
• The sacramental act of Baptism is an ontological rite, changing a man from non-Christian to one who is Christian.

This, I think, by no means exhaust ontology within the Christian theological canon. It might be more fair to ask that theological concepts in the Christian tradition are not ontological than what ones are.

There are those who find ontological arguments dissatisfying, yet Maths and Physics themselves have ontological methods within their formalisms. Group theory is essentially ontological in nature. If a thing can be identified as a representative of a group, then all the formalisms and data associated with that group can be attached to it. Quantum statistics, specifically Bose vs Fermi spin statistics, is very ontological. Particle X is has integer or half-integer spin … which thereby determines how it is to be treated.

Ontology, Christian, Philosophy

I had thought to write a short post on Anselm’s ontological argument, but in looking for it, I ran across Kurt Gödel‘s ontological argument for the same, which looked interesting. That proof is as follows:

So, anybody seen this before? I’m not familiar symbolic logic, any commentary on this out there?

This weekend I’m going to read these documents prior to a post on nuclear power. Any and all are invited to read them to so that our discussion might be more informed.

1. The full document is here. This is a study by a group of MIT professors on the status of Nuclear power in the US and the world.
2. The summary is here. This is a summary of the findings in the prior document.
3. Finally, in 2009 (the original documents were written in 2003) an update of the current situation given the economic and political conditions is given here.

The summary begins:

At least for the next few decades, there are only a few realistic options for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation:

• increase efficiency in electricity generation and use;
• expand use of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal;
• capture carbon dioxide emissions at fossil-fueled (especially coal) electric generating plants and permanently sequester the carbon; and
• increase use of nuclear power.

The goal of this interdisciplinary MIT study is not to predict which of these options will prevail or to argue for their comparative advantages. In our view, it is likely that we shall need all of these options and accordingly it would be a mistake at this time to exclude any of these four options from an overall carbon emissions management strategy. Rather we seek to explore and evaluate actions that could be taken to maintain nuclear power as one of the significant options for meeting future world energy needs at low cost and in an environmentally acceptable manner.

Industry vs Craft. Assembly vs Construction. Utility vs Excellence.

Two of the competing desires we have in the products we obtain and for that matter produce. We want things, in general, to be inexpensive and affordable. But we also want them finely crafted. Engineers have a saying, “good, fast, cheap … pick two.” Consumer products likely have a similar pithy phrase, but it doesn’t come to mind right now.  The point is intelligent consumers are driven between two competing desires. You want your purchases to be cheap. And you likely would prefer finely crafted items made by artisans, i.e., the highest quality. Yet the first implies automation, assembly lines, and mass production. That is how costs come down. The second requires skill, care, and a lot of human time and talent. In the days prior to mechanization and the industrial revolution, only the rich and powerful (and sometimes the artisans themselves) had access to these quality products. The reason for that was fairly simple, not everyone could have these things … and therefore only the few did. And like always, the rich/powerful get the good toys. There was no, and could be no way for a “better” power structure to make available fine goods made by craftsman to surround your life and leisure for everyone. With automation, the tide rises. While we can’t all get the hand crafted “things”, there is a continuum between mass produced and artisan quality products and basically all have access to an equivalent product in almost every regime today as the rich/powerful have available (pretty much everyone but the bottom billion … which are held in poverty not by goods not being “enough” to go around, but by other factors). Now today one natural place this line of thinking takes on is to consider these ideas in relation to healthcare. But there are other ways in which this could be examined.

Some far future speculative works, such as Star Trek, imagine a future in which the quality of mass/machine produced products are indistinguishable from an artisan’s work. These works of fiction often figure that work per se will fade in importance some what. Political, military, exploration, art and other venues open themselves up for human occupation. Work however isn’t useful primarily for its ends but the process, although most fruitful work has a end (a product) which is useful. Work provides:

1. An end product, that is the direct result from the work you do. People extract satisfaction from that in a measure related to their estimation of the value of the product of their work (and the difficulty by which it was accomplished).
2. A means by which our the web of dependency can be sustained. Alasdair MacIntyre entitled a book describing the human condition (and why we need the virtues) Dependent Rational Animals.
3. In the process of work, we live and interact in a complex social network. The work process with extremely few exceptions is a social one. Every job brings us in to contact in meaningful ways with co-workers, bosses, people under us, vendors, customers and so on. 
4. In any particular job, even those called “unskilled”, expertise is built up. We become skilled at that particular task through refinement and repetition. 
5. With expertise, often comes pure enjoyment and satisfaction of doing a thing well, or even doing a thing which few can do.

Only the first of these is the “end” of labor. Depending on the individual each of these elements is felt more or less important. But all of these are present for each person in their labor.

Time sure flies, doesn’t it?

1. When bad is a team effort. (fooled ya’, I’ll be you were expecting politics).
2. Our winter.
3. A healthcare prescription … more recessions. And … for good measure a cricket race.
4. Law and healthcare. 
5. Pakistan and Afghanistan.
6. SCOTUS watch.
7. Values and a (cricket race derived)  trend.
8. In praise of simplicity.
9. Must read and other reading lists for the Orthodox.
10. The sacred and the secular.
11. On Norma Rae.
12. Visiting Georgia.
13. or Nepal?
14. Speaking of Georgia … the EU makes their statement.

October 1 marks my blogiversary, or blogbirthday or whatever. For five years now, on most Sundays through Thursday nights I’ve written a short essay. On some of those I’ve failed to get anything decent on (virtual) paper and have failed to post … life also of course intervenes occasionally to make that impossible. In that summer five years ago, a co-worker mentioned he’d begun reading blogs. I’d heard of them, but didn’t really look into it. So … I looked into it. Through August and September I “delurked” and spent and more and more time joining discussions, mostly on Joe Carter’s Evangelical Outpost. Then one Friday evening in September I signed up with blogspot, and chose a name for the blog, Pseudo-Polymath. That, in itself, to be honest was something of a variant/riff on the most popular blog of the day, Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, who it must be said remains one of the highest trafficked blogs (although I must admit I haven’t myself stopped by in some time now). Pseudo, meaning fake, and Polymath, a person with great expertise in a wide variety of fields, which I think describes much of us on the net for via google and wikipedia we are suddenly fake experts at so many things. A few years later, I moved from blogger/blogspot to host my own blog using WordPress where it resides now. A little over a year ago, I was invited to join a quite prestigious (in the Christian blogging community) at Stones Cry Out and so far, I haven’t been uninvited.

The very first post, not surprisingly for a programmer, was “hello world.” Which worked … I subsequently deleted. Part of the froth back then of course was the Kerry/Bush election race. I even watched some debates and “live-blogged” them. Blogging then and now in part has been part of my personal spiritual journey, a half-year prior to starting blogging I “converted” and came to the somewhat abrupt conclusion that I was not just taking my kids to church on Sunday’s for their spiritual education, but because I was now a confessing Christian. That began a flurry of book buying, reading, and study … which eventually propelled me out of that church (and for no fault of it’s own) to an Eastern Orthodox parish where I now attend and find my home.

Anyhow, so for me the blogging experience is fruitful. It spurs me to read, to study, to put thoughts into words, it’s taught me to write much much better (if you think my writing is bad now. Heh. You should have seen it back then!) It’s pushed me to read to explore things and topics I wouldn’t have considered otherwise. Who knows where it will lead me (and therefore hopefully us) in the future.

To finish, I’d like to thank wholeheartedly the small cadre of devoted commenters, and as well all who have ever commented or read. Thank your for your thoughts, your time, and your continued patience with me and with each other and for what has been almost exclusively irenic polite thoughtful discussion.

1. Of the changes in Europe and in America and the fading of their socialist/statist dreams.
2. Science and politics and climate.
3. On healing and a religious tragedy.
4. Mr Obama and “excuse mongering.”
5. Whence comes this persons theory of counter-terrorism as distinct from COIN? Is he just making stuff up?
6. Chastising the phrase “original intent.”
7. Breaking down the “no religion” sector.
8. What a bigger state looks like.
9. Well, I said I wouldn’t touch the Polanski kerfuffle, but … I this makes a good point. And this question for his apologists.
10. Latvia … ahead of the US and Amtrak.
11. Now, after reading that, I want to see the film.
12. Obama. Pragmatist? Nyet.
13. Looking at healthcare and legislative strategy.
14. A lot of back tucks.
15. On degeneration of language, specifically English.