The Things They Carried

If you ever wanted to understand the hardship of war, told from the point of view of the soldiers who have to endure it, you might want to consider Tim O'Brien's approach: convey their experience by cataloging the actual things that the men carried in their pockets, their backpacks, their hands, necks, shoulders and heads.

Almost imperceptibly, the weight of war slowly shifts from the physical to the psychological and the emotional, and the weight of machine guns and other supplies begins to pale in comparison to the overwhelming burden of guilt, fear, memories and regret. In the process, and as you are about to listen, one of the greatest of American short stories emerges.

Check out more stories in the literature tag.
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The Devil - Child-Abusing Priests

When it comes to evil, no one does it better than the devil... except for Catholic priests who abuse children. That's just crossing the line...

Check out the long and embarrassing history of child abuse in the Church.
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Sir Ken Robinson - Bring On the Learning Revolution!

After giving one of TED's most popular presentations of all time, Sir Ken Robinson is back, arguing this time that the educational paradigm needs to change from a linear to an organic model based on the idea that education ought to create the conditions that make it possible for people to discover and develop their own talents and their most authentic selves.

If you think about how many people hate their jobs, you'd have to conclude that somewhere along the line, some very grave mistakes have been made. Instead of inspiring people to become who they want to be, we have somehow managed to indoctrinate them with the idea that real success is to be assessed in terms of financial income and professional status.

Of course, we should be aware that inspiring students to dream, but doing so without fomenting the value of hard work, discipline and dedication to the pursuit of excellence will guarantee that their dreams will not become realities, so that's a balance worth keeping in mind.

And if you want to learn more about customized education, the following episode of Freakonomics Radio explores an educational system based on something like Pandora's Music Genome Project algorithm:

And in case you're wondering, yes, one day your job will be done by a robot :)
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How to Perform CPR

You never know when someone's life will depend on your ability to act quickly and efficiently, and if you've never taken a course on CPR (CardioPulmonary Resuscitation), the following short clip will teach you the essentials you'll need to remember in order to bring someone back from the other side.

And this being the philosophy monkey blog, we gotta do things the sexy way :)

And if you're wondering how to keep up a rate of 100 compressions per minute without the aid of any equipment, the end of the following RadioLab story teaches you two rather appropriate songs that will help you stay on a consistent beat, though one of them might demoralize your patient :)

I wonder what the patient might be thinking while you sing that song...
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Unanswered Lost Questions

I don't know when it started, but there is this trend of people getting into conversations about how philosophically and scientifically 'profound' the Lost series is. I don't know when half-baked ideas about alternative realities and time jumping became 'deep', but to those who argue that Lost is based on scientifically plausible hypotheses, I have two words for you: smoke monster!

Of course, none of this nonsense stopped me from watching the entire stupid thing and hoping against hope that maybe the creators would manage to explain all the mysteries and connect all the weird dots in a way that would somehow make sense. Needless to say, the things that got 'explained' were less interesting than watching paint dry, and the questions that never got answered will forever remain utterly frustrating. Here is just a small sample:

And if you don't believe that Lost fans are an annoying bunch, here is your proof :)
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You Can't Trust Science!

Here is an objection to science I often hear from some of my students whenever some other students mention how science has disproved some religious claim: 'scientists are always changing their mind about their claims regarding the way the world works, and if they're always changing their mind, then they can't really be trusted.'

Of course, since scientists normally change their minds when new evidence contradicts something they previously believed, we ought to regard that self-correcting mechanism as one of science's strengths, not one of its weaknesses. If you keep believing something which is consistently contradicted by the evidence, you're not admirable... you're just stubborn.

And yes, in my book, breast implants are proof that science and technology can sometimes kick nature's ass :)
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New York - The Sandpit (miniature time lapse)

You've seen amazing time lapse videos of China, Paris, San Francisco, the great plains, and even an imaginary and magical city before, so now it's time to give The Big Apple a chance.

Of course, one of the truisms about living in NYC is that its inhabitants (myself included) are like ants, gathering in subterranean caves and commuting downtown by the thousands early in the morning, putting in a full day of toil and labor, and then going back by the thousands again to ride in the subterranean worms back home. The cool thing is that besides the drudgery of everyday survival, and when viewed from a distance, the dynamics created by so many individuals carrying on their own business turns a beautiful spectacle, as the following clip shows.

Check out more amazing videos in the time lapse tag.
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Craig Venter - It's Alive!

Move out of the way, Dr. Frankenstein... Craig Venter and his posse have finally managed to successfully create synthetic life, foh real!

If you've followed Venter's work for the past decade or more, you've probably already known it was just a matter of time before he managed to pull this off, and now he's finally done it. The following clip is an excerpt of the press conference in which he shared this feat of science with the world.

And if you really need to get your nerd on, here is the full press conference.
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Inside Nature's Giants - The Whale

In the previous episodes of the Inside Nature's Giants documentary series, you've seen the dissection of an elephant, a crocodile and a giraffe, but this series couldn't be complete without an exploration of the largest animal of all: the whale.

Unlike the other giants we've seen before, all of which are terrestrial, whales have evolved a completely different series of adaptation, since they have made their living by going back to the water permanently. After all its hard work to leave the water, I'm sure Tiktaalik would probably be pissed at the whales...

Anyway, when news of the death of a stranded fin whale reached the ears of the BBC, they had no time to waste, and set out on a mission against the elements and the tides to understand the anatomy and physiology of this giant of giants. As you might expect, what they discovered was incredibly fascinating.

Check out more on the evolution of the whale.
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Brian Greene - The Search for Hidden Dimensions

Virtually since its inception, string theory has found itself in a very intellectually precarious position: the mathematical models are both beautiful and coherent, but we don't yet know whether they are true. This is not simply due to the philosophical problem of the underdetermination of theory by data but by the fact that string theory can only make sense of our universe by postulating the existence of spatial dimensions that go beyond those of our experience, and which, consequently, may not be testable.

This raises the question of whether string theory is a truly scientific theory or just fascinating intellectual masturbation, and in the following animation, Brian Greene contributes his two cents to the debate, attempting to make the case that even though we may not be able to directly observe multiple dimensions, we may nevertheless be able to do so indirectly.

And while we wait for the Large Hadron Collider to churn out some results, lolcats are already making plans to take over the world...


Where is Schrodinger's cat when you need it?
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Julia Sweeney has "The Talk"

When people decide that they want to have a baby, I like to imagine that the thing they look forward to the most is that pesky question they'll hear in a few years: "mommy/daddy, where do babies come from?"

Then I imagine heart palpitations, profuse sweating and an incontrollable sense of nervousness. Comedian Julia Sweeney was recently faced with this eternal parental dilemma, and being the super cool, progressive person that she is, she decided it was time to teach her kid a bit of a science lesson on reproduction, and to be honest about it... except for one tiny white lie :)

Everything will change the day the kid finds out that porn can teach children that sex can be enjoyable...
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Are We Born or Made Talented?

Take a look at yourself for a moment. Are you nearly as successful as you once dreamed? I didn't think so. What happened? Unless you are an extraordinarily honest person, by now you are probably thinking of a million excuses to explain why your life hasn't turned out the way you once expected... and you're probably also blaming others for your life failures. Yes, it's everybody else's fault!

If none of that rationalization seems to work, you can always fall back on the 'I'm not talented' card, and chalk it up to your lack of luck... sort of :)

Check out the "My Brilliant Brain - Born Genius" documentary for more on the question of talent.
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Glenn Beck's Got Nazi Tourette's

Glenn Beck plays "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon," except there's just one degree, and Kevin Bacon is Hitler...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Check out Jon Stewart pwning Glenn Beck, not once but twice!
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Gravitational Waves - Einstein's Messengers

One of the most important differences between Newton and Einstein's physics has to do with the nature of space and time. Contrary to Newton, who argued that space and time form an absolute background upon which all physical events take place, Einstein argued that space-time is a dynamic fabric that interacts with and is affected by the mass of objects. Here is a nice and short explanation of the basic difference between the two models, narrated by Brian Greene.

Various experiments have confirmed Einstein's revolutionary view, but there is one major prediction that, at least for the moment, remains theoretical: the existence of gravitational waves. Wouldn't you know it, scientists are hard at work trying to device experiments and instruments capable of potentially detecting these obscure messengers of general relativity, and as you'll see, the precision of these instruments is simply mind-boggling. Welcome to the world of LIGO.

And if you want more on instruments, check out the Large Hadron Collider tag.
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Louis C K - Telling It Like It Is

Time to get real. You wouldn't admit it in public, but come on... we both know being white is pretty awesome ;)

As Louis CK explains in the following clip, we're not saying that white people are better than everyone else, only that it's better to be white than anything else, and after you hear the explanation behind this distinction, I'm pretty sure you'll agree :)

Can't even hurt ma'feelings :)

And if you've ever wondered about the difference between girls and women... here is one thought-provoking take on the subject :)

And if you're a guy, I'm sure you've had this surreal experience at some point in your life:

I feel like my soul transmigrated into this dude while I was sleeping... except I still prefer chicks :)

Hat tip to Helen!
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Philosophy Monkey Hits Facebook!

You can now follow the Philosophy Monkey blog on Facebook:

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Join the conversation, and share with everyone you know!
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Dan Pink - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

When we think about incentives, most of us probably assume that the idea that they incentivize is deeply circular (though trivially true), but it turns out the human mind is far more convoluted and interesting than that. If we think of the human mind as evolving over eons of time to solve various overlapping evolutionary problems, then any linear and simplistic theory of human psychology and motivation is bound to fail.

As the following animation of a lecture given by Dan Pink shows, a growing body of research in the social sciences and behavioral economics seems to be suggesting that the classic model of pay-for-performance (that condescending and fraudulent justification for exorbitant CEO compensation) gets it all backwards, but the devil, as always, is in the details, and the details are fascinating :)

Those socialist commies... :)
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The Dubai Fountain

I've never been a big fan of the extravaganza and exuberance of big cities, and as a general rule of thumb I tend to stay away from them (probably because I think I subconsciously associate wealth with corruption), but it is hard to deny than when enough money is invested, the aesthetic results can sometimes mesmerize, as the following clip quite beautifully demonstrates.

You're thinking of a shark, aren't you? :)
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Happy Mother's Day - The William Tell Momisms Overture

You gotta hand it to them... Raising kids is more than a full-time job, and moms do so much for their children, I say they've earned the right to drink and nap on the job :)

And if you don't believe they have that much to do just raising their little brats, not to say anything about the hundred other things they do on a daily basis, like having careers, saving the world and even maintaining their own sanity, here is the three-minute condensed version of what happens in the course of a single day. It's enough to exhaust you...

Happy mother's day!
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John Passmore on David Hume

When we try to make sense of our experience of the world, we almost inevitably presuppose certain concepts as either necessary and indispensable or as obviously true. Reasonable people, we tend to suppose, are those whose beliefs reflect the amount and quality of the evidence supporting those beliefs, and as a bumper sticker, that idea just sounds good.

The truth of the matter, however, is much more complicated: most of our deepest beliefs depend ultimately upon the acceptance of some presuppositions for which we have absolutely no evidence (things like causality, induction, identity, substance, the self, etc.), since these are the assumptions we use in order to make sense of the things for which we do have evidence.

This is ultimately one of the key differences between science and philosophy (and why my love tends more to the latter than to the former): science depends upon the acceptance of certain concepts, and takes these as its starting point, while philosophy tries to make sense of these concepts, and constantly questions them and challenges them in an effort to help us improve the quality of our discourse, as well as understand the limits of our substantive claims about reality.

The Scottish philosopher David Hume was an iconoclastic master at peering beneath the surface of our categorical preconceptions. It is deliciously ironic, therefore, that he showed in the process that our knowledge is, quite literally, superficial: our perception is limited to the sensible qualities of objects, and not to their secret powers, and if that's true, then we can kiss the ideas of cause and effect, identity and induction good-bye... In the following delightful conversation, Bryan Magee and John Passmore discuss the importance, subtlety and influence of this incredible genius.

For more of these fascinating conversations about the Masters of Philosophy, check out the Bryan Magee tag.
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