I have another blog at www.sallybm.worpress.com
Check it out. Dude. :-P
Thursday, 18 September 2008
Sunday, 29 June 2008
India
I'm going to India for 6 weeks this summer. Maaaan it's going to be hot. And amazing. Wow. I'll be in Delhi for 3 weeks and Chennai (SE coast) for another 3 weeks, and I'll be spending time in a school, doing some research and doing some work experience with a multinational (forgive me Lord for I have sinned)! If any of my millions of readers have any advice etc then please comment below! Obviously I'll have some more exciting India-related posts in 3-4 weeks time when I'm in the jewel itself. Whoopeedoo.
And sorry- I appreciated this is all rather jammy.
:-) A tes souhaits,
Sally
And sorry- I appreciated this is all rather jammy.
:-) A tes souhaits,
Sally
Sunday, 22 June 2008
More brilliant things I've found
Ooooh my God. If this doesn't make you stop, laugh, and gawp in awe, nothing will:
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/
Excellenté:
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/
I will, of course, be adding more...
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/
Excellenté:
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/
I will, of course, be adding more...
Friday, 13 June 2008
Canova
If anything's an argument for the objectivity of beauty and the value of art, Canova is it. He was, objectively, splendid, as I've just discovered:
To have a look (my advice!), go on The State Heritage Museum website and type Canova into the search bar. The descriptions that go with the sculptures are really useful, if not essential, if you're not familiar with the sculptures and their contexts.
This is a direct link to a page with photos at the bottom:
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/fcgi-bin/db2www/quickSearch.mac/gallery?selLang=English&tmCond=canova&Go.x=0&Go.y=0
But those photos weren't working for me so you might need to try this one...
http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2003/Antonio_Canova/bio1.asp
...for the sculptures alone with no descriptions. You do really need the descriptions though, at least for some of them, like Orpheus.
O, Orpheus... "asterix sniff" doesn't really do the great man justice does it?
Well, happy admiring :-)
(To all those millions of avid readers I get on this thing)
To have a look (my advice!), go on The State Heritage Museum website and type Canova into the search bar. The descriptions that go with the sculptures are really useful, if not essential, if you're not familiar with the sculptures and their contexts.
This is a direct link to a page with photos at the bottom:
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/fcgi-bin/db2www/quickSearch.mac/gallery?selLang=English&tmCond=canova&Go.x=0&Go.y=0
But those photos weren't working for me so you might need to try this one...
http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2003/Antonio_Canova/bio1.asp
...for the sculptures alone with no descriptions. You do really need the descriptions though, at least for some of them, like Orpheus.
O, Orpheus... "asterix sniff" doesn't really do the great man justice does it?
Well, happy admiring :-)
(To all those millions of avid readers I get on this thing)
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Everything that can happen does
This idea came to me on a walk today, listening to a podcast about the Persian philosopher Avicenna (Philosophy Bites). Avicenna said that the universe is made up of contingent things, and so must itself be contingent, and caused by a necessary thing. Which means there is some necessary entity which caused the universe.
Well, maybe we have the wrong perspective on cause and effect. Maybe, rather than things causing other things to happen, things PREVENT other things from happening. This would lead to the same, deterministic outcomes we see in the world around us, so long as there ARE things to prevent forces interacting in any other way (which, according to the laws of physics, there are). But then when it comes to explaining why the universe is here, we can say, standing before matter came to exist "Is there any reason there shouldn't be matter?" And it seems the answer was "No", since matter did come to be. Hence there being something rather than nothing, without a need for a necessary cause like God.
I foresee several problems with this, which I don't quite understand enough to put into words in this tired state in which I'm writing. But one is that we still seem to need to explain why what exists, and only what exists, exists. If it wasn't specifically caused, why did it come to be as it was? Or is this just one of an infinite number of possible universes that came to exist?
...I'm sure I read once that quantum physics says that everything that can possibly happen DOES happen, by the world splitting off into two parallel universes. Which didn't bother me too much at the time, since I think there is only one thing that can happen- that which does- so that things would remain pretty much as they seem under that conception. But then quantum physics I think suggests otherwise there as well? I know there are theories of quantum uncertainty and infinite universes somewhere in quantum physics or string theory or something...
Eek. Why do I always have these outlandish thoughts before bed-time, and why don't I keep them to myself until morning? Meh. Anyway, if you're reading, please hurl some criticism at the basic thought for me, that perhaps everything that can happen does.
Much as grassy arse
Well, maybe we have the wrong perspective on cause and effect. Maybe, rather than things causing other things to happen, things PREVENT other things from happening. This would lead to the same, deterministic outcomes we see in the world around us, so long as there ARE things to prevent forces interacting in any other way (which, according to the laws of physics, there are). But then when it comes to explaining why the universe is here, we can say, standing before matter came to exist "Is there any reason there shouldn't be matter?" And it seems the answer was "No", since matter did come to be. Hence there being something rather than nothing, without a need for a necessary cause like God.
I foresee several problems with this, which I don't quite understand enough to put into words in this tired state in which I'm writing. But one is that we still seem to need to explain why what exists, and only what exists, exists. If it wasn't specifically caused, why did it come to be as it was? Or is this just one of an infinite number of possible universes that came to exist?
...I'm sure I read once that quantum physics says that everything that can possibly happen DOES happen, by the world splitting off into two parallel universes. Which didn't bother me too much at the time, since I think there is only one thing that can happen- that which does- so that things would remain pretty much as they seem under that conception. But then quantum physics I think suggests otherwise there as well? I know there are theories of quantum uncertainty and infinite universes somewhere in quantum physics or string theory or something...
Eek. Why do I always have these outlandish thoughts before bed-time, and why don't I keep them to myself until morning? Meh. Anyway, if you're reading, please hurl some criticism at the basic thought for me, that perhaps everything that can happen does.
Much as grassy arse
Monday, 9 June 2008
It's Just a Ride
Bill Hicks' wonderful philosophy on life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUiwTubYu0
"It's not enough just to question authority...
...You've got to speak with it too."
As expressed by Taylor Mali here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV87wV4
As expressed by Taylor Mali here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV87wV4
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