IdeaFestival

This I believe

In the absence of a rational explanation, what do I do with uncertainty? Suggesting a definition of belief that I hadn't heard before, Jaron Lanier's column in this month's Discover makes an unusual suggestion.

Be happy.

Read it for yourself. The rhetorical goods are in the last half of the column.   

Lanier is equally critical of the certainty found in the street shouters and those adherents to scientism, the immodest notion that natural sciences can answer - or, curiously, made as a faith statement, will answer - all the important questions.

Science can declare the approximate limits of its territorial ambitions and be stronger for it. My dearly missed old friend Stephen Jay Gould framed this possibility beautifully with his proposal for "nonoverlapping magisteria." I'll go further and suggest that scientists should not only refrain from ridiculing people who find hope on the other side of the border but should also actively delight in a cacophonous, multicultural colonization of the far frontier so that it can't be monopolized by fundamentalists. A workable definition for spirituality is "one's emotional relationship with unanswerable questions." It's possible to find joy in them.

Whether it's recognizing the increasingly clear borders of reason, mapping the now-you-see-it-now-you-don't nature of quantum physics or delighting in the deep mystery of consciousness, I believe it's what we do at the limits of knowing that for historians will characterize these immaterial times.

For other faith statements, check out Dan Gediman's session at the ideaFestival. Gediman is the executive producer of the This I Believe Series on NPR.

Have a great next couple of days.

Wayne

Shirin Ebadi unable to be at IF

Unfortunately we have just been advised that the Iranian government is unwilling to provide a visa to Shirin Ebadi allowing her to travel out of the country to participate in the 2007 IdeaFestival. Consequently, in place of this event we will hold a free panel discussion involving the audience and other IF presenters concerning the issues surrounding this development and topics of international conflict, freedom of expression and peace.

Individuals who purchased a pass for this event may request a refund by emailing [email protected] by Friday, September 28, 2007. In the alternative event pass holders may contribute their purchase to the ideaFestival.

Kris

A hole in the universe

[Cross posted from KySat online] Not a black hole, not anything, really, University of Minnesota astronomers have discovered a gaping hole in the universe that is nearly a billion light years across, which is "empty of both normal matter such as stars, galaxies and gas, as well as the mysterious, unseen 'dark matter.'"

There is something about nothing that really interests me. And it's just the kind news that theoretical physicist Michio Kaku might use during his ideaFestival presentation.

Wayne

Cameron Sinclair recommends

Cameron Sinclair, who founded Architecture for Humanity, suggested several books when asked for recommendations:

• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
• Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone
• Rural Studio: Samuel Mockbee and An Architecture of Decency
• The Man Who Tried to Save the World: The Dangerous Life and Mysterious Disapperance of An American Hero
• Worldchanging: A User's Guide to the 21st Century.

He will be speaking at IF on the subject of green architecture, "We don't Ship: How Community Design Delivers more than Architecture."

If you're new to IFblog or are viewing this in a feed reader, book recommendations by IF speakers may be found in the category cloud at IFblog.

Wayne

Karen Walker recommends

When asked to recommend a book for the readers of IFblog, New Zealand fashion designer Karen Walker suggested two, Fashion Now 2 and Sample: 100 Fashion Designers - 010 Curators - Cuttings from Contemporary Fashion.

Wayne

Three events sold out

If you haven't reserved access passes for your favorite events, please do so. Three events  are listed as sold out.

• The Big Jam - Thursday, Sept. 13 - 1:00 PM
• Money-Circulation Science - Thursday, September 13 at 1:00 pm
• IF AFter Dark - Film Screening with Tiffany Shlain  Friday, Sept. 14 - 8:00 PM

Online registration is available. All events, whether free or paid, require an access pass.

Wayne

Filmmakers studio update

Arthur Rouse points out in the comments to a recent post on the filmmakers studio that will take place alongside the ideaFestival, that the "production track" is almost full.

Just bringing that information to the top. So if you're interested, hurry.

Wayne

Do you believe in magic?

What is the cognitive basis for magic? The New York Times article, "Sleights of Mind," reminds me that we inhabit two worlds, one where physical law rules, and another, where our con-science offers us a representation, incomplete as it is, of what is.

Sounding more like a professor than a comedian and magician, Teller described how a good conjuror exploits the human compulsion to find patterns, and to impose them when they aren’t really there.

'In real life if you see something done again and again, you study it and you gradually pick up a pattern,' he said as he walked onstage holding a brass bucket in his left hand. 'If you do that with a magician, it’s sometimes a big mistake.'

Craig Nevill-Manning recommends

When asked for a recommendation for IFblog readers, Craig Nevill-Manning suggested Computer Science Unplugged, described as "a collection of activities designed to teach the fundamentals of computer science without requiring a computer." At the ideaFestival, he will present "Google World," which will delve into the Google's culture and creative style, and explore some of the possible future directions for the company.

Nevill-Manning is a senior research scientist with Google.

Wayne

Wikipedia: computation biology

Bringing life to wind and wire

When it snakes through the tree tops, what does the wind look like? What, really, flows through a wire when the light is turned on?

If you've ever asked questions like these, you might be interested in seeing Ned Kahn, an acclaimed artist who uses fluid dynamics, optics and acoustics to bring to life what science picks apart, to make present what is real only in mind and math.

Science can give you the wire, an abstraction we call electricity and the result - LIGHT! - but there are, as this interesting article on the artist suggests, limits to what science knows.

In bringing life to the wind and wire, Kahn spans the problem of knowledge.

Kahn is a recipient of a 2003 MacArthur genius grant and a 2005 National Design Award for environmental design.

Access passes for this FREE event, An Aesthetic of Turbulence, are available online. 

Wayne