My favourite song, today – Hello, I Must Be Going.
This is not the version I want you to hear. This is the version I want you to hear (embedding disabled :/ ) But if you can’t be bothered to click on that link, listen to the happy version instead:
Natural Selection and You – in 3 minutes
This is my 3 minute presentation from the preliminary round of the Greek 2010 FameLab competition. Even though the judges were impressed, I never attended the finals because I wasn’t allowed out of Greek Army boot camp. If you liked the rainbow presentation, this one is much, much better.
The deer vs human bit was borrowed from Douglas Adams (a speech I have linked to on this blog on at least 3 different occasions). I was also heavily influenced by an article titled Human Evolution Has Stalled which, while quite incendiary, posits some interesting points. Mainly, that society currently holds two contradictory views:
1. It is wrong to attempt to create better humans through selective breeding, forced sterilization, genetic manipulation, or any other form of eugenics. (We should not play god).
2. Genetically inferior humans who would surely die if left to fend for themselves should be given whatever aid they need to survive, and should have the right to reproduce if they so choose. (We should play god).
I would also like to thank my very good friend Dimitris Plexidas for his invaluable help in choosing a topic and brainstorming the idea. Props to Panagiotis Theologou, as well, for finding the video of the entire event, which I had no idea existed.
The video is in Greek, but I’ve translated the text into English for posterity and the satisfaction of all my friends. Ελληνικό κείμενο εδώ.
Everyone, more or less, knows about Darwin’s theory of evolution, about natural selection.
The idea, roughly, is that if you take 10 deer, throw them in a colder climate and come back 10 generations later, the deer you find will have thicker fur. And the reason for that is that some of the original deer had slightly thicker fur than the rest. This gave them slightly higher chances of survival and slightly higher chances of sex, thus allowing them to spawn offspring with even thicker fur and so on and so forth.
So you can see that evolution is, in a way, much like vaccuuming.
No.
I don’t want to dwell too much on the mechanism of evolution, what interests me is the way it has influenced the human species.
Evolution has been especially generous to us. We have been gifted with logic, language, opposable thumbs and armpit hair. We could have been like the platypus, which has neither logic, nor language, nor thumbs, nor armpits (they can’t carry watermelons, they can only nudge them forward with their beaks).
In fact, I suggest to you that evolution has favoured us so effectively that we have surpassed it. We have transcended the very process that brought us to where we are.
Because if you take 10 humans and throw them in a colder climate, they’ll look at the deer and say “Hey… that fur looks thick and warm. I’ll take it.”
Modern technology, modern medicine and modern prophylactics have resulted in our exclusion from the process of natural evolution. Their very purpose is to provide the same opportunities in life to everyone, regardless of their genetic predisposition, whether they be diabetic, high-risk for cancer, or Olympiakos FC fans.
All of this makes us very nervous. We’re nervous because we’re aware that all this knowledge hasn’t been internalised. It’s not in our DNA. There’s no gene for building cars, cell phones or the Internet. If something goes horribly wrong, if, say, the ocean were to rise by a meter, or we get hit by an asteroid, 10,000 years of technological progress will be reversed overnight. We realise this whenever there’s a sudden power failure, or if we find ourselves in a strange neighbourhood after dark: not much has changed in the last 10,000 years. Our chances of survival are pretty much the same.
Fortunately, evolution has left us with one last present. A sort of parting gift: Foresight. The ability to predict the consequences of our actions and to act in order to avoid them.
Now, it’s up to us to use it.
But even if we don’t, we’ll be taken care of by natural selection.
You’ll find a transcript of the judges’ comments right after the jump.
Color Vision, Diet Advice and How Rainbows Work: a 3 minute (or so) presentation
I was about to post my FameLab presentation on human evolution when I realised I had never blogged my video on how rainbows work.
I took part in the preliminaries of the Greek FameLab competition in 2010 and made it to the finals, but never got the chance to compete because the Greek Army wouldn’t let me out of boot camp. FameLab is an international science communication competition. The participants are supposed to present a scientific subject in a clear, concise, and entertaining manner, in under 3 minutes.
I had the opportunity, along with the rest of the Greek finalists, to take part in a workshop on science communication and media skills. As part of the workshop, we were supposed to prepare a 3 minute presentation on one of the following subjects:
1. What makes pop corn pop?
2. What causes a rainbow?
3. Why do leaves change colour in autumn?
4. Why do I feel dizzy when I spin?
5. What are stem cells?
6. Why do some people have brown eyes – or blue?
7. What is the difference between bacteria and viruses?
None of these subjects are particularly fascinating to me. In the end, I picked rainbows, hoping to talk about colors and vision and xkcd’s fascinating color survey. Unfortunately, it turns out there’s only so much you can fit into 3 minutes, all while trying to explain a phenomenon that is not, in fact, as simple as saying “refraction”. Thanks to the internet, this can now be remedied. Here’s the text of the presentation I wanted to give, followed by the video of the actual one, right after the jump.
Influences and process
Sometimes (or even most of the time) I use my blog to collect things I don’t want to forget. As an archive for things I know I’ll want to find again, someday.
This is one of those times.
I read this fantastic article on Comix Cube, a while ago. It talks about work ethic and motivation and the fundamental drive that leads us to create art. It blew my mind (that happens a lot, lately…)
You ask whether your verses are any good. You ask me. You have asked others before this. You send them to magazines. You compare them with other poems, and you are upset when certain editors reject your work. Now (since you have said you want my advice) I beg you to stop doing that sort of thing. You are looking outside, and that is what you should most avoid right now. No one can advise or help you – no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must”, then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse [Rilke. Letters to a Young Poet, Letter One].
[Source: Johnny Wander]
On worship
I’m thinking about this and going crazy:
In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And a compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it J.C. or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some inviolable set of ethical principles — is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already — it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious.
(from here)
Update: I was pointed towards the original, unedited speech (thanks sis!) and corrected the quote above to reflect it. You can also find a (more or less accurate) transcript of the entire thing over here.
Night & Day
If you wondered what art looks like:
My favourite song, today – Runaway
Magic For Real
Kary Novel and I visited Alexia Amvrazi at the Athens International Radio last Friday, to be interviewed on her show, Athens4Real. Aside from interviewing us on air, she was also kind enough to shoot a short video promo. Which I’m posting here.
Learn magic with Kary Novel and me! Join the fun!
See us perform at the Comedy Nights! Wednesday to Sunday at 22:00, Aiolou 48-50, Monastiraki.
Does Your Language Shape How You Think?
Ever wonder how English ended up as this planet’s “International Language”?
If you’re Greek, then you’ve probably heard about the vote that happened some time during the last century to decide which language would be used for international affairs, business, signage and so on. According to the story, Greek lost to English by just one vote. In fact, the especially dramatic version says that, while everyone was voting, one last grecophile was in the toilet.
So close!
Of course, the whole story is bullshit.
It looks like this is New York Times Week, because I’m linking to another great article I read over there. Does Your Language Shape How You Think talks about, well, how language shapes the way we think. It’s a fascinating piece.
Among other things, it compares languages that assign genders to inanimate objects (French, German or Greek for example: le pont, die brücke, η γέφυρα) and languages that don’t (the bridge).
I like English. It’s concise, easy to learn and constantly evolving. It’s also often ambiguous, very context-sensitive and has tons of homophones. Which is great for comedy.
I don’t mind it being the “International Language”. In fact, I would argue that it might be better suited for a modern, civilized world than many others. A language that doesn’t discriminate between, say, a male or female teacher is much better suited to a society where people of both genders (and everything in between) are considered equal.
Of course, language is, possibly, the least of our problems, but it’s an interesting thought.
Anyway, read for yourselves, and let me know what you think.
(photo by Horacio Salinas for The New York Times)
What Is It About 20-Somethings?
Are you 20-something?
Do you ever wonder why you don’t feel like an “adult” yet?
Does it seem like “real” adults expect you to be one?
Are you clueless as to what you want to do with your life?
Of course you are.
The reason I know this, is that I know all the people who read this blog personally…
According to this NYT article, we’re going through “emerging adulthood”. Some psychologists are trying to establish it as a new stage in human development. Its main characteristics include “pervasive ambivalence towards self and society,” “the feeling of absolute freedom, of living in a world of pure possibilities” and “the enormous value placed upon change, transformation and movement“.
So it’s basically a second adolescence for spoiled, rich kids.
Here’s another great quote from the article: “The 20s are like the stem cell of human development“.
Go ahead and read it (it’s pretty long) then come back. I’m not going anywhere (after all… I’m in the army).
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m displaying all the signs of “emerging adulthood”. I’m also the last person to say no to any excuse for postponing maturity.
But I often wonder: how much is too much. How long can I afford to keep searching? Is there a cut-off age? A time when you decide that your dreams (whatever they may be) are no longer a possibility? Is it thirty? And, anyway, what are you going to do about it?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
