Random Thought Droppings

Right. So here's the thing, and the thing is this:

My job is a bit of a stop-n'-start venture, so every so often I get a long stretch of waiting.  Such has been the case today, and in lieu of forcing work on myself, I've decided to save my strength for the next big work push (which will be tomorrow, as it turns out) and read online articles instead.

I'd like to share with you some of the more interesting stories (numbered, but in no particular order) I found today:

1.  The White South's Last Defeat
      by Michael Lind

 http://www.salon.com/2013/02/05/the_white_souths_last_defeat/

This article takes a look at our current political situation and comes to an interesting, though not mind-boggling conclusion.  As the article states, rather than attribute the differences in political views to Right and Left, the author thinks the crux of the difference is North vs. South.  He supports this view with references to historical military/social accomplishments and demographic shifts, as well as analogous examples in other regions of the country.  I think he has a plausible, but (obviously) not comprehensive theory that deserves further examination.



2.  The Quantum Physics Sequence
     by Eliezer Yudkowski

http://lesswrong.com/lw/r5/the_quantum_physics_sequence/

Actually a series of articles, this is a fascinating, nearly-understandable-to-the-layperson explanation of Quantum Mechanics.  I struggled with the formulas he uses as examples, but because he also provides illustrations and is a fairly clear writer I think I understand most of what he is saying.  I highly recommend trying to wrap your head around these articles.  Don't you want to know how reality works? Well, DON'T YOU?


3. Elves, Aliens, Angels, and Ayahuasca
    by Graham Hancock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgMFO0KU-I

This is a talk given by Mr. Hancock in which he explains his theory about why elves, aliens, etc. are actually all part of the same phenomenon.  Essentially he relies on the testimony (both personal and otherwise) of people who have taken hallucinogenic drugs, and he compares this to historical art (cave paintings, medieval paintings) and modern works by people who have taken hallucinogens.  The strange part is that his conclusion is not "Drugs make you see crazy shit!" Instead, he thinks that the particular class of drugs which includes ayahuasca, ibogaine, and psylocibin actually allow the users to look into other dimensions, where these strange beings depicted in ancient art and described by "abductees" actually live.  It's very interesting, though rather implausible.  I recommend watching it just because it's unique, it's interesting, and his passion for this view is compelling.  I wish it were true, but I'm pretty sure it's not.



I'll add more articles here from time to time, so check back now and again!

An introduction, an article, an exhortation.

Hello and welcome! My friend Will and I have a bad habit of finding interesting articles online and sending them to each other while at work.  This is generally accomplished over Facebook, but we figured that if anyone found us as witty and insightful as we find ourselves, it would be irresponsible to keep our thoughts to ourselves.  But fear not, gentle reader, for this blog is not mere stroking of egos, for we rely on you, yes you, to contribute and criticize, as we will be doing to each other.  So please join us on this journey as we delve into topics as mind-bending as quantum mechanics and philosophy, as esoteric as Trollmetal and Nightcore, and as deeply engrossing to the point of kind of ruining your life as The Elder Scrolls games...

I don't know what Will is going to do, but I'm hoping to have most of my posts take this form: I'll post an article, and give my thoughts on it.  Bam. In the words of a man pointing out Stephen King's killer clown, "That's it." I assume anyway, I've never read that book or seen the movie.

Anyway, here's my first article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21150047

Since you probably skipped reading it, here's my very brief summary:
This article is called

Quantum biology: Do weird physics effects abound in nature?

For years now, we who follow science with an avid but almost entirely non-professional interest have been hearing about all the cool, new, and often theoretical claims coming out of the field of quantum mechanics.  As a  philosophy Teaching Assistant for UF for two years, it was a miracle if one or two students per semester didn't try to bring quantum mechanics into every argument we discussed.  In a way, I think they are validated in this pursuit, because quantum mechanics is supposed to describe some of the most basic workings of reality.  Even in intro philosophy classes we addressed the fundamentals of reality, so it's natural that they would attempt to use QM to derail or support certain philosophical arguments. Given their generally poor understanding of the arguments in the first place (and quantum mechanics) I often had to settle for furiously punching them in my head while gently explaining that they had no idea what they were talking about.

That being said, many of QM's predictions are being confirmed, which speaks volumes for any theory.  My students' suspicions about QM's applicability were not necessarily wrong (let's not get into reasons they may be wrong), just too misinformed or speculative about what they were attempting to apply.

In this article we have some pretty solid examples of those predictions being borne out.  Quantum superposition, the idea that a particle exists in all of the possible potential spatial positions and states, for example.  If that sounds awesome/weird/unlikely, go look it up! Fly fly!  I recommend looking up double-slit experiments as a decent starting point. This is discussed as a reason why photosynthesis is so efficient. Next, quantum entanglement, the idea that some particles, no matter how far apart, communicate their states instantaneously (so, you know, faster than the speed of light...by a lot) to other particles. That's hella crazy! And not only is it hella crazy, but this article claims that it helps explain how birds navigate using magnetic fields.  Finally, it talks about quantum tunneling. Quantum tunneling has to do with the ability of electrons to disappear from one location and reappear in another without seeming to traverse the space in between.  My understanding is that this is usually between energy states, which I've always seen presented as physically distinct areas relative to an atom's nucleus, or between multiple atoms' "electron shell".  The point is that it seems to science that these electrons are giving the finger to space-time and just sort of being at point A, then  being at point B without ever being at one of the (possibly) infinite points in between.  It doesn't move, just pops between the points.  Anyway, according to the article this possibly plays a role in how the sense of smell works. Whoa.

If you're interested, read the article.  Here are my thoughts:

Frankly, if we grant that quantum mechanics is true (or at least that the experiments supporting the theory are accurate, even if the theory is wrong), then I say "Of course quantum mechanics influences biology!" Consider this, dear reader: Quantum mechanics attempts to describe and predict the actions of sub-atomic particles.  Sub-atomic particles (electrons, protons, neutrinos, blah blah blah) make up or interact with each individual atom of each element (hydrogen, helium, molybdenum, blah blah blah), the elements make up all composite physical structures (bodies, planets, viruses, blah blah blah), and the action of physical laws (quantum mechanical laws, thermodynamic laws, physical laws, blah blah blah) on physical structures results in systems that convert energy from one form to another (suns, metabolisms, power plants, blah blah blah).  Does nature consist of anything else (and I say nature specifically to exclude supernatural considerations)? Maybe, but if these laws are specifying the way that building blocks of matter interact with each other, then all of matter is affected by them.  So yeah, quantum mechanics affects biology.  That's not to say it isn't super cool and awesome to find out how it does this, or the mechanisms involved, I'm just saying it doesn't seem like a controversial claim.  It's as obvious as a Secret Service agent at a county fair.  I mean...right?


So I guess I didn't have much to say about it after vaguely describing it.  Next article, I'm going to attempt to analyze something less science-y. Ambiguity always makes it easier to bull-shit!