jawfish

Darpa Grand Challenge in Scientific American
john posted in technologies on December 26th, 2005

This month’s Scientific American has the best article I have seen yet on the Darpa Grand Challenge.

The web version lacks the side-bar on the lone motorcycle, but has interesting information, particularly on the laser-sighting and jiggle problem.

Scientific American: Innovations from a Robot Rally

Jawfish articles:
Darpa 1
Darpa 2

Mau-Mauing the Intelligent Design Flaks
john posted in politics & culture on December 13th, 2005

This month’s Harpers ( Dec 2005 ) has a fine article by Stanley Fish, Academic Cross-Dressing, subtitled, How Intelligent Design gets its arguments from the Left. Professor Fish details how the Left’s often specious arguments for uncritical multiculturalism have been hijacked by the Right for use in promoting Intelligent Design. The piece isn’t online at this writing.

One of the interesting points Fish makes is that the promoters of ID are using an argument that runs something like this:
Teachers should “teach the conflicts” around ideas in order to demonstrate that ideas are formed through debate and discussion. Therefore ID should be discussed inside a Biology curriculum for the good of the students. Of course this idea ( credited to Gerald Graff ) is predicated on the assumption that it will be a rational debate, based on objective evidence, and not on feeling or faith. Using it to promote ID intentionally ignores the fact that exactly such a debate has been held over Evolution and an overwhelming conclusion has been reached.

Readers of Jawfish will recognize a familiar theme, the increasing use of propaganda by the Right to promote un-democratic political and religious views. See Jawfish on Propaganda, The Big Lie, ID round 2, and ID round 1.

The Left invented the tools of the protest movement, but these tools are most potent today in the hands of the Right. Christian splinter groups leap up, claiming to speak for all believers, and announce that there is a War on Christmas, because retailers say “Happy Holidays” in an attempt to appeal to non-Christians. Considering that hyper-materialism is widely said to be the worst part of the Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Santa Claus holiday, Wal Mart and Toys R Us are odd places to look for the keepers of Christmas dogma. The campaign to make the ten commandments the fount of secular law is a similar attack on public values. In all three cases there is no scholarly or historical evidence to back up the hijack attempt, but that is irrelevant. The practice of shouting loud and long worked for the Women’s movement, the Civil Rights movement, and the handicapped access movement. Though these movements actually represented claims against historic injustice, they all have had moments of self-righteous absurdity. It’s no wonder the younger crowd can so easily adopt the let ‘em starve ideas of the Neocons, when anyone on moral high ground is seen as self-aggrandizing. That makes opting for Me-Me-Me politics easy. The best way to silence preachers is to sprout a million irritating competitors. Modern Leftists beware of carrying too heavy a cross up your Calvary.

“Teaching the controversy” is a hard position to attack, if you agree to argue according to the rules. It sounds like a reasonable, fair plan. But proponents of ID aren’t interested in intellectual debate. They aren’t arguing by the rules, they are running a Trojan horse up to the gates, intent on colonizing the public schools with their particular brand of Christianity. It’s an oddly Old Testament form they take, that leaves out most of Jesus’ teaching, and focuses on a demanding and intolerant God. You can see these evangelists as callow and pathetic, but dogmatic faith is compelling and it can be powerful.

Intelligent Design is just another strike from the prayer in schools crowd, who claim to want Prayer, but actually only want their own prayers. Here is an answer for both school prayer and ID. ( credit to Bobby Henderson of Flying Spaghetti Monster fame) Let’s put forward a group that agrees with them on the need for prayer and religion over science, as long as no one religion is favored. Then let Hare Krishna, Islamic, Astrology, Ba’hai, Buddhist, Shinto, Aztec, and Navajo protests begin. If Baptists want to teach Baptist Biology, then let there be Zen Physics and Animist Genetics, and Jain Ecology. Let’s assign a different day for each religion, thereby using up the entire school year. Please, each priest, monk, imam, and spirit guide, show up at the school board meeting in full regalia, demanding time in the curriculum. Let the press conferences blossom on the courthouse steps.

A little satire wouldn’t do the politically correct halls of academe a bit of harm, either.

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The author currently favors His Noodly Majesty, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, as the fount of all Evolutionary wisdom, but leaves the door open for the scientific explanation.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster
Gerald Graff
Intelligent Design
Harpers