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Movies and Television Thread
In response to
June 2012 Media Thread
At the risk of sounding like a sappy old grandmother, I really enjoyed Faces of America and the current follow-up series Finding Your Roots. You can watch them for free on PBS. They're both done by Henry Louis Gates (the Harvard professor that famously got arrested entering his own house).*
The show features extensive research into the genealogies of a whichever celebrities are on that episode. We learn interesting details about their ancestors but it's much more about the historical context in which those ancestors lived. Once the paper trail runs out (for some it's a few generations, for others a 1000+ years) the show turns to genetics.
A few cool things so far:
- about 40% of Ashkenazi Jews can trace their mDNA to just 4 women living somewhere in the Levant about 2,000 years ago (these were probably some really smart gals ;-)
- many African-Americans have a LOT more white ancestry than I previously thought
- thanks to a researcher that recently went around Western Africa taking genetic samples where the slave trade was prominent, many American blacks can now know which exact tribes they descend from
- I got to see Samuel Jackson's face when he saw a photo of his white ancestor
*Funny story: the officer that arrested him said that Gates told him "yo mama." He really said he was coming back from a recording with Yo-Yo Ma (who was featured in Faces of America).
In response to
Rationality Quotes May 2012
My function is to raise the possibility, 'Hey, you know, some of this stuff might be bullshit.'
-- Robert Anton Wilson
In response to
Rationality Quotes March 2012
"...I always rejoice to hear of your being still employ'd in experimental Researches into Nature, and of the Success you meet with. The rapid Progress true Science now makes, occasions my regretting sometimes that I was born so soon. It is impossible to imagine the Height to which may be carried, in a thousand years, the Power of Man over Matter. We may perhaps learn to deprive large Masses of their Gravity, and give them absolute Levity, for the sake of easy Transport. Agriculture may diminish its Labor and double its Produce; all Diseases may by sure means be prevented or cured, not excepting even that of Old Age, and our Lives lengthened at pleasure even beyond the antediluvian Standard. O that moral Science were in as fair a way of Improvement, that Men would cease to be Wolves to one another, and that human Beings would at length learn what they now improperly call Humanity!"
-- Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Joseph Priestley, 8 Feb 1780
In response to
Spend Money on Ergonomics
This exercise ball chair helped me a lot with lower back pain. It's also a lot of fun and stress-relieving to bounce around while working! Additionally I built a high table to occasionally type standing up, which is also fun/effective.
In response to
Rationality Quotes December 2011
God created the Earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.
-- Dutch proverb
In response to
List of potential cognitive enhancement methods
Surprised LSD is not mentioned.
I remember reading in one of Robert Anton Wilson's books than an early LSD study suggested a significant increase in IQ after several "therapeutic" sessions. I don't have the original book with me and can't find any info online.
I'm skeptical that LSD will have such a direct impact on measured IQ, but it definitely does something (probably acting on traits associated with creativity rather than intelligence). Wish it could be tested though...
In response to
Rationality Quotes November 2011
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
John Adams, Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials
In response to
2011 Less Wrong Census / Survey
I took the survey and really enjoyed it. Thanks! It was mostly clear but I'm not gonna lie -- had to look up the morality definitions (except consequentialism). Perhaps a very brief definition would help.
In response to
Rationality Quotes October 2011
Things are entirely what they appear to be and behind them…there is nothing.
Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea
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Movies and Television Thread
I thought Jiro Dreams of Sushi was a really great documentary. Yes, it is about sushi, so for anyone who loves sushi it's a must-see (and I know there are a lot of general Japanophiles here...). But much more than that it is about two things: dedication to your craft and father-son relationships.
Jiro Ono exemplifies the concept of conatus. I always thought and was taught to be well-rounded and know and be good at a lot of things. That still holds true, but only recently I've realized that, at least professionally, you should probably choose one thing and just become the best at it. Watching Jiro really inspired me to figure out how I can go on a similar path myself, even though all my impulses tell me to be a "generalist." (After walking out of the theater I was inspired, but I also truly felt like shit because I was hit with the realization that I'm good at a lot of things but not AMAZING at anything).
The film also made me think a lot about father-son relationships. I want to write at length about this it's difficult without spoilers...