gm wrote:Re: string theory...
I'll ask the neighbor's cat. That damn thing seems to play with string all the time in the yard!
Only if you look at it?
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What are you reading now?
Whatever the nature of the interaction, it doesn't provide a way to send information faster than the speed of light, so many claim it doesn't really go against relativity. If a string is carrying the information before departing, then indeed there's no communication what so ever (the information is already there a priori), and then you might be right. But that's so theoretical and has nothing to build on, It's not really even worth thinking of. That's just ny opinion, though.
"The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." - Albert Einstein Here we run into one of the ironic paradoxes of trying to "speak" of certain things, viz., inherent limitations of language. Not including mathematical notation, just human speech. Are past, present and future "happening" "simultaneously"? Prima facie it seems absurd to say "simultaneously" - which connotes "time" - or even "happening" - which begs the question "When?" - to speak of things which don't happen quite as we experience them? Perhaps Einstein crafted his famous quote with a deliberation which avoids the use of any words connoting "time" . Is this a clumsy linguistic approximation of what Einstein means by the illusory nature of our perceptual experience of a seemingly linear progression through "time"? Re: the photon problem, perhaps the "distance" and "time" involved is in some sense illusory too: If the universe is a holographic "organic" whole, then there is really no separation: all "separateness" is just as illusory as distinctions between yesterday, today and tomorrow. Or am I missing a subtle nuance which begs clarification/refinement?
So with Bryson out of the way I come to the next in my stack.... again.
And as I contemplate all 4.9lb of it, all 1393pp (not including indices) of it, I find myself wondering if I'll ever be able to wade through Stephen Jay Gould's The Structure Of Evolutionary Theory or if it'll sit unread for who knows how many more years. Anybody here tackled it?
It got a good review in the Chron when it came out. If it's any consolation, I took some books to Edmonton in '01 , read them all execpt Ulyseses (yeah, that one). I'm about 3/4 through, but havn't picked it up in 4 years. And when we were shelving books down here, I came across Mary's copy of Finegan's Wake. Imagine the joy. Actually, I worked out way too late, that Joyce (at least the heavy duty Joyce) probably needs to be read aloud (which I hate).
no but I read Niles Eldridges "time frames" a while back and it is good reading on punctuated equillibrium...... it was accessible to the nonbiologist and had lots of the nitty gritty that a paleontologist has to wade through, you get a real feel for the details and reasoning, you will come away with a deeper respect for the work, but would be a snore if you are not really interested in the topic.. It was an enjoyable read for me at the time.
i know a group of evolutionary biologists who did it chapter by chapter. The consensus was it was heavy going and could have been a good deal thinner. And that's from people who understand the topic. Door stops were mentioned more than once.
OK, I finished off the History Lessons book. Suffice to say that the rest of the world has a different view of the US than we do, they are teaching their kids this viewpoint, and it oftentimes paints us in a bad light. No surprises there.
No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy, and February House by Sherill Tippins.
I'm currently half way through McCarthy's "All the pretty Horses". "The Road" lead me there...
After that try "Blood Meridian" McCarthy does not get darker than that. Amazing book. Hard to guess where he will go after "The Road"
Last 3 books read (as part of a long-term self-education program):
-Dermot Moran, "Introduction to Phenomenology" -"The Cambridge Companion to Husserl" -"The Cambridge Companion to Merleau-Ponty" I'm obviously paying penance for awful sins in a former life; I find this stuff interesting.
The first 20 pages or so of "Against all enemies" might have been the most exciting I've ever read. Unfortunately--for us-- they were true.
On a much lighter note "Always magic in the Air" was a great look at the Brill Building and the pre-British invasion pop music era. Last edited by Friar on Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: What are you reading now?
LYING ON THE COUCH. Author Yalom's special insight into psychiatry from his own practice and his willingness to work over his own profession--but then, who is not?--make for a thoughtful, hilarious tale of analysts running afoul of their own analysands. Complex story with several plot lines running together via some very believeable kinky characters. Just the "con game" plot line alone is worth the read. jim
C.A.L.'s name is spelled "Lindbergh", not "Lindberg". There was a famous WWII photographer by the name "Charles Lindberg". Neither one was related, of course.
Glad to see it is Ridley Scott since Sam Peckinpah is no longer available. The Coen brothers did an excellent job with "No country" but "Blood Meridian" is something else, much more challenging and complex.
Currently Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is in front of me.
This is not a book one reads. It is to be meditated on word by word. Patañjali (Devanāgarī पतञ्जलि) is the compiler of the Yoga Sutras, a major work containing aphorisms on the philosophical aspects of mind and consciousness. There are secrets within that if one cares can transcend mind and space. But they are not written, one must look deeper beyond the words and the secrets reveal themselves to those worthy. Also daily chanting of the Sri Lalita Sahasranama - 1000 Names of the Divine in Sanskrit. It takes about 40 minutes to complete. There is no future or past, there is only right now. Right now I am typing these letters to whoever will read this.
Binge reading
Stuck in a hospital waiting room for 9 hours today while my wife underwent (successfully) an operation. Besides today's paper, and a couple of local rags, I finished up several books I'd started . . . threw them in my shoulder bag before leaving for the hospital. All recommended:
- Haven Kimmel, A Girl Named Zippy. Child's-eye view of growing up in small-town Indiana. Very funny! - David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty Some Day {? - unsure of exact title, since I left it with my wife}. Also autobiographical and funny, but more gag-oriented (think Woody Allen, but gay) than the presumptively more "truthful" Kimmel. - Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain. Speaking of gay. Very short - was originally a story in the New Yorker. Beautifully written. - Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men. I'd actually finished this a few days ago, but remained puzzled as to exactly what happened, plot-wise, toward the end. Who was driving what car? Who killed whom? And re-reading left me very little the wiser; it seems to be deliberately, even perversely, ambiguous on these points. None of which affects the writing, which is remarkable, and the "philosophy," which is provocative. And I had enough time left to start Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild, which will be tomorrow's (make that today's) book if they don't let my wife come home right away. I haven't read so much in one day since I was in graduate school 35 years ago! 
I do not think quantum entanglement requires string theory. I am reading (very slowly now that the math is hard for me) Roger Penrose, The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe. Also a compendium of Steven Jay Gould (unfortunately, some of the earlier pieces are dated), and I recently finished reading Kenny Moore's book "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon". Also reading (aloud) the last Harry Potter book with my daughter.
If you want to speed the Potter, read this quickie version
http://diogenes-sinope.blogspot.com/200 ... ilers.html
Well at the moment, I am forced to read Jane Eyre for english literature at school. A little bit of my soul seems to die whenever I pick it up...
Also reading a book about Martina Navratilova and Chrs Evert's tennis rivalry and also ordered a book about Wolfgang Schmidt and the GDR but seem to have lost it... Haven't read many books at all lately and must start doing so but I'm such a slow reader!
I most definitely do NOT want to speed-read it. We started reading it aloud in the first book when it was at the very edge of her reading capability. Now she can read it no problem whatsoever. However, we have kept the tradition alive and it is a chance to be with her in a manner that will be rapidly diminishing soon now that she is in Middle School. I have also been wondering some on the evolutionary reading - I get bogged down some (when I read Panda's Thumb etc several decades ago) and might be more interested in newer stuff (some really recent material seems to be coming out on the rate of evolutionary change in human mental capacity using just-developing techniques). Suggestions?
For years, I have attended the local Library Book Fair and bought surplus books by the box, culling them later and returning to the library those in which I have absolutely no interest. Lots of no-keepers but also some gems, including current best sellers and classics. I try to read two or three of the keepers a week.
Last night, I dipped into my waiting-to-be-culled inventory and chanced on "Stained Glass" c 1972, by the recently deceased Wm F. Buckley, Jr.,a post WWII Cold War novel set in 1953 Germany, I believe this is the first novel by Buckley I have read. I plowed through about half of it last night. The man does have a way with words, lots of words. I am a reasonably erudite person but I recommend If you plan to read him have a dictionary and thesaurus at hand.
I've read many of Anthony Burgess' books. The same applies, impossible for me to read without a dictionary at hand.
The one I'm reading threw "benignant" at me last night.
"The Physics of NASCAR". i picked it up for some beach reading in Miami, this past week. The author is a physics prof who developed an interest in the sport after catching a glimpse of a wreck during a race on television. She was curious about why one car seemed to slam into the wall for no obvious reason. That curiousity branched out into this book, which is a light, but intoxicating read. I give it two grease-covered thumbs up.
Interesting, now that you bumped this thread. This is the book I am working on currently. Great info, a bit dry on the presentation.
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