Announcing the P.U.-Litzer Prizes for 2001 "...to give recognition to the stinkiest media performances of the year."
We're currently experiencing network problems, so some of the links and pages on this site may not work. Should be all better soon.
The Happiness Manifesto: An Essay on the End of All Means by Christopher Robert
Pleasure cannot be constant. Pain cannot be entirely avoided. In fact, there is good evidence to show the concrete value of pain and the cost of pleasure – at least as far as happiness is concerned. Such evidence supports the general notion that got me started on this subject to begin with: that the typical American pleasure-seeking/pain-eluding mentality might be detrimental to happiness in the long run.
The idea that unbridled pleasure-seeking should be curbed is built into every single great religion that history has produced, which suggests at least a certain practicality in the concept. As Robert Wright said in a recent book on evolutionary psychology:
In all these assaults on the senses there is great wisdom—not only about the addictiveness of pleasures but about their ephemerality. The essence of addiction, after all, is that pleasure tends to dissipate and leave the mind agitated, hungry for more. The idea that just one more dollar, one more dalliance, one more rung on the ladder will leave us feeling sated reflects a misunderstanding about human nature—a misunderstanding, moreover, that is built into human nature; we are designed to feel that the next great goal will bring bliss, and the bliss is designed to evaporate shortly after we get there. Natural selection has a malicious sense of humor; it leads us along with a series of promises and then keeps saying "Just kidding." ... Remarkably, we go our whole lives without ever really catching on.
And as entire populations slip at last from the grasp of organized religion, the job of slowing runaway desires may fall on science. But science may not be ready yet to assume that responsibility. So in this period between religion’s dropping the ball and science’s picking it up, humanity may find itself in unexpected suffering.
It’s not happiness that anyone seeks to curb here – it’s the manner with which happiness is sought, the hedonistic presumption that happiness can be found in traditional, obvious pleasure. In point of fact, I myself maintain a utilitarian perspective that more happiness is good, that of all the things to strive for, happiness is the most clear and innately attractive. The most basic purpose of this essay is to try to identify ways that people can experience a little extra happiness for themselves.
This is a long essay, so if you don't want to read the whole thing, I suggest at least reading the "conclusion" section at the bottom.
Did I say that I'd be back next week? Oh well.. I can't resist posting these:
Scientists unlock heart secret of red wine
Researchers say they have discovered the key component in red wine that explains the so-called French Paradox, or the way the French can eat lots of cheese, buttery sauces and other rich foods and still suffer less heart disease than Americans.
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Do you love America? Do you? by Helen Highwater
We've been here before. From the Alien and Sedition Acts to Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus and his imprisonment of anti-war editors, from the suppression of speech during World War I and the Palmer Raids to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the repression of the McCarthy days, the government has seized upon times of peril to scapegoat immigrants and to suppress liberties.
"We're talking about exactly the same phenomenon," says the ACLU's Strossen.
"No analogy is ever perfect, and history doesn't repeat itself exactly, but there's a pattern of the government restricting freedom of expression and running roughshod over traditional protections for the accused," Foner says. "Anybody concerned with freedom of expression and civil liberties should be very, very concerned."
Happy holidays everyone! I'll be back next week.
"More than 3,500 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan by U.S. bombs, according to a study to be released December 10 by Marc W. Herold, Professor of Economics, International Relations, and Women's Studies at the University of New Hampshire."
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"...DO NOT USE wire stories which lead with civilian casualties from the U.S. war on Afghanistan. They should be mentioned further down in the story. If the story needs rewriting to play down the civilian casualties, DO IT. The only exception is if the U.S. hits an orphanage, school or similar facility and kills scores or hundreds of children."
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"We were concerned that we were not getting the full picture in the news. We were not getting any reports about numbers of civilian casualties, stories about what happened to those families. We didn't know if the tens and tens of thousands of new refugees that were being created by the U.S. bombing had access to food and blankets and shelter.
So we really felt that we needed to find out for ourselves what was happening."
Sacramento Bee Publisher Booed During Her College Graduation Speech
A newspaper publisher's commencement speech was drowned out by hecklers when she mentioned threats to civil liberties posed by the federal government's investigation of the terrorist attacks.
Janis Besler Heaphy, president and publisher of The Sacramento Bee, was delivering the midyear graduation address Saturday to about 17,000 people at California State University in Sacramento.
When Heaphy raised questions about racial profiling, limits on civil rights and the establishment of military tribunals, the audience interrupted by clapping and stomping their feet for five minutes.
University President Don Gerth tried to quiet the audience, but Heaphy stopped speaking after more loud heckling erupted.
This is really frightening to me. What are these people thinking? I have been meaning to read this book for quite awhile now. I think it's about time.
Oh, and here is the full text of the commencement address.
Holy shamoley! This is an amazing/huge/extensive collection of links to various writings of social criticism. I am in heaven. (via kottke)
I just uploaded my latest composition, Velum. I'm exploring the area on the edge between structure and formlessness. Not quite beat oriented, not quiet ambient. I'm really happy with this one. I think I am starting to find a unique voice.
Introducing... The Absurdifier.
I just added a new feature. Check the left hand column. Enjoy. :)
UPDATE: Hmmm... It seems to be caching the translation.
UPDATE: Ha! I just noticed that it will absurdify all of the links as well! Browse the web in absurdified mode!
Chrysler offers fuel cell van with soapy twist
Fuel cells use hydrogen to produce electricity with only heat and water as byproducts. Automakers are spending billions of dollars on the theory that fuel cells will eventually replace polluting internal combustion engines as power sources in cars and trucks.
But most automakers have also said it would be at least a decade before fuel-cell vehicles are common, in part because of the problems with storing and using highly flammable hydrogen. Concepts from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and several other companies either use "reformers" to extract hydrogen from liquid fuels or try to store pure hydrogen in large, high-pressure tanks.
Both methods have drawbacks in cost, weight and size. Reformers require either gasoline or methanol, and produce some pollution on their own. And the driving range of fuel cell concept vehicles so far has been about half or less of similar production vehicles.
To solve those problems, Chrysler's system stores hydrogen in sodium borohydride powder, which is nonflammable and nontoxic. After mixing with water, the solution is passed through a catalyst which separates the hydrogen gas and leaves only sodium boride, or borax, as a residue. The borax can then be recycled into sodium borohydride.
Unlike gasoline, the chemicals in Chrysler's system are readily available in North America and much of the world. A tank of sodium borohydride solution about the size of a regular gas tank can power the concept vehicle about 300 miles - much further than other fuel-cell vehicles.
Recently thought:
- We got our Christmas tree and it finally snowed up here. Yay!
- Kettle Korn style popcorn is amazing! You must try it if you ever get the chance. It is sweet and salty at the same time and it's impossible to stop eating once you start. Why am I only discovering this stuff now?
- Just finished reading the first Harry Potter book. It was a very fun book. I can't wait to see the movie, some of the scenes have great cinematic potential.
- Been thinking about meaning and art. How does one make meaningful art? What makes a piece of art significant? How does one make meaningful music in the age of the internet (and filesharing)? This got me thinking about meaning and significance in general. Hopefully I'll type something up soon on my thoughts.
- The ambiguity of the word 'terrorist' really worries me. In light of the new anti-terror laws, how will dissidents and protestors (of all sorts) be treated in the future?
If you happen to be in the Boston Area, I recommend checking out the Gamelan Galak Tika concert tonight at MIT.
I played in a Gamelan ensemble back in Delaware, but I must admit, these people are way beyond anything we have done. Amazingly complex and beautiful (and fast and flashy!) compositions. I was blown away when I saw them a few weeks ago at Tufts.
Gamelan, by the way, is an ancient form of music from Indonesia. It is very beautiful and unusual sounding at the same time. It is very percussive and dynamic and always involves complex interlocking melodic patterns. Here is an excerpt from the Galak Tika site:
The word gamelan means "to hammer," but the term refers to the large percussion orchestras of Java and Bali. The primary instruments are gongs, metallophones, and hand drums, with cymbals, vocals, bamboo flutes, and spiked fiddles used as well.
In Bali, gamelan is the primary source of all religious and concert music. The Balinese are ardent practitioners of a unique form of Hinduism, and gamelan is necessary for all ritual events, as well as to mark any large social occasion. There are dozens of different types of gamelans in Bali, ranging from large metal orchestras to bamboo ensembles, vocal groups, and groups dedicated to the imitation of frog sounds. All the music is marked by the use of one of two non-tempered pentatonic scales - pelog or slendro - and by rhythmically precise interlocking parts known as kotekan.
If you're looking for more info, Gamelan.org seems to be a good resource. They also host GongCast which appears to be an ALL Gamelan (!) web radio station.
President Jimmy Carter's
State of the Union Speech 1980
The region which is now threatened by Soviet troops in Afghanistan is of great strategic importance: It contains more than two-thirds of the world's exportable oil. The Soviet effort to dominate Afghanistan has brought Soviet military forces to within 300 miles of the Indian Ocean and close to the Straits of Hormuz, a waterway through which most of the world's oil must flow. The Soviet Union is now attempting to consolidate a strategic position, therefore, that poses a grave threat to the free movement of Middle East oil. (...)
Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
A little more context. (via rW)
Been busy as of late:
- Beta testing and making a skin for my favorite music software, Muzys.
- Reading the book How to Talk So Kids Can Learn.
- Going to Spectrum, a very cool weekly electronic music event in Cambridge.
- Working on some tricky problems at work.
- Cleaning up and recording some older tracks.
- Experimenting with Flash programming.
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Although it did not live up to the hype (how could it?) the Segway is still very cool. I really hope these things catch on. I welcome anything that means fewer cars, less oil dependency, cleaner air, and less noise. Although, I think they need to make it go faster if they want it to be a car replacement. The last thing we need is something to replace walking.