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News Briefs 16-09-09

I recommend reading the Grail whilst listening to Moonbell, a music generator that plays musical scores based on lunar topographical data captured by Japan’s Selene probe.

Thanks, as always, to Kat and Greg.

Quote of the Day:

Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble.
— Joseph Campbell

  1. Metacognition and Violins
    Metacognition is thinking about thinking. As an internal, subjective phenomena it’s no more able to be proven than the superset of such phenomena, consciousness. The researcher aptly says his observations support a “functional equivalent” to human metacognition, rather than saying the animals do it. And because of the nature of the phenomenon, none of us can say that there’s any other human in existence that also, despite their claims, preforms metacognition, or has conscious awareness. They/we are all displaying “functional equivalents” and have to take it on faith that we’re not the only conscious person on the planet. Reflect on that. If you can. To see what can happen if you believe (a state resulting in accepting a metacognition) what I just said, watch the movie “Dark Star”.

    A violin treated with fungus? Painful itching and burning on the fingering hand? No thanks. I’m sure it sounded great, but I’m not into infected instruments. There’s a modern equivalent that I’d put up against this organic mess. I played a guitar at my local shop that, while being entirely normal in its design (“dreadnaught”) and construction, was laminated with graphite/epoxy like something from Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites. Wooden instruments have many vibrational modes where different parts of the soundboard vibrate in sympathy with the source and so amplify those tones. This lamination spreads the vibrations through the fibers to all parts of the instrument, and the epoxy makes it into one cohesive soundboard that amplifies all tones equally and amplifies them even more because all of the surfaces act as one. In 45 years of playing I’ve never heard such sound out of a common design acoustic guitar. The last major innovation in acoustic guitars was the Ovation roundbacks, turning the back 2/3 of the body into a single sounding board. Carbon completes the job. The bad news: After playing it a few minutes I looked at the price tag — US$2699.00; I hung it back up immediately. The good news: I’ve been doing carbon composite layups for parts for my amateur rockets for years; I have the material and equipment. The better news: I’ve been a luthier (guitar maker) for even more years. The best news: Good News + Better News = US$2699.00, except coming in instead of going out. And no musician need get athletes’ feet fingers ever again.

    1. Would a cellist get jock itch?
      I think the fungus is gone by the time of purchase, having done its work altering the density of the wood. 😉

      While I prefer traditional instruments myself, I have seen the construction of carbon fiber violins and even cellos. It is quite interesting. I say more power to you in making your own carbon fiber instruments!

  2. Mytho-illogical
    I really wish people would stop equating the word ‘myth’ with the words ‘falsehood’ or ‘distortion’ or ‘ignorance’.

    “National Geographic debunks 8 myths…”

    Pontiacs and Cherokees were peoples before they were names for cars. The Maya had a literature before it was destroyed because they were ‘savages’.

    Joseph Campbell (like many others) spent a lifetime studying ‘the power of myth’. Unlike many political ideologies, that power didn’t eminate from ignorance.

    All ‘fantasy’ isn’t a bad thing either … unless you’re concerned that it will damage the status quo.

    1. Mythtakes
      [quote=TJ]I really wish people would stop equating the word ‘myth’ with the words ‘falsehood’ or ‘distortion’ or ‘ignorance’.

      “National Geographic debunks 8 myths…”[/quote]

      I completely agree with you about cultural meanings of myth, TJ, but NG has used ‘myth’ correctly. The headline basically reads, “…debunks 8 stories about Freemasonry”. Perhaps ‘conspiracy’ would be a better term to use in context. The word ‘myth’ is derived from the Greek mythos (‘speech’ or ‘discourse’), and is defined:

      [quote=Merriam-Webster dictionary]

      1 a : a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon b : parable, allegory
      2 a : a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially : one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society b : an unfounded or false notion
      3 : a person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence
      [/quote]

      ‘Myth’ has been defined this way since the word was created circa 1830. It’s not the meaning of the word ‘myth’ that has changed, but rather our understanding of it.

  3. Mything child
    Hi Rick,

    Thanks for responding. You’re correct that the word has a pejorative entry in some dictionaries. However, as the Wikipedia entry points out, “The term “myth” is often used colloquially [my emphasis] to refer to a false story; however, the academic use of the term generally does not refer to truth or falsity.”

    One citation is to Mircea Eliade’s “Myth and Reality”; Eliade, Joe Campbell, Claude Levi-Strauss, and Carl Jung all went to great lengths to discourage the quotidian view of mythology as ‘no more than a fairy tale’.

    At any rate: ordinarily I can excuse folk for not seeing the point (or seeing the deeper aspects of Grimm’s fairy tales.) But too often gangsters revert to the logical fallacy of ridicule to disparage something — it’s easier than providing counter-argument.

    There was a period before TMI and Chernobyl that the nuclear industry published a whole series of ads – repeated nationwide in the US – claiming to counter “Myths” about the danger of nuclear energy with the “Facts” about how safe it all was. That tactic vanished like a puff of radioactive flatulence even before we all found out how TMI measured millions of Curies.

    While opposing “Myth” to “Fact” may sound scientific, it’s an old Hill and Knowlton tactic … and I’ve too much affection for Nat.Geo. to suffer it silently.

    P.S. The commenting tool you’re using here is one of the best I’ve seen on the web. (As is your daily news list. Cheers!)

    1. Myth and magic
      [quote=TJ]”The term “myth” is often used colloquially [my emphasis] to refer to a false story; however, the academic use of the term generally does not refer to truth or falsity.”[/quote]

      You’re absolutely right, but unfortunately the colloquial use of ‘myth’ (‘falsehood’, ‘make-believe’, ‘incorrect’, ‘lie’, etc) is becoming more and more ingrained in society. It annoys me too!

      [quote=TJ]One citation is to Mircea Eliade’s “Myth and Reality”; Eliade, Joe Campbell, Claude Levi-Strauss, and Carl Jung all went to great lengths to discourage the quotidian view of mythology as ‘no more than a fairy tale’.[/quote]

      In a way, it was a creative revolution! When ‘myth’ was first coined in 1830, the Industrial Revolution was in full swing and science held sway. Despite the best efforts of poets and philosophers, it wasn’t until Jung, Robert Graves, Eliade, and Campbell wrestled ‘myth’ from the materialist rationalists that we began to see the true meaning of the word. Alas, the general public doesn’t mix much with students of Jung and Campbell — the Mythbusters hold court on television, and that’s what the people get. It no longer amazes me how many people still think myths are just stories to make children behave themselves before bedtime. Dawkins isn’t helping either (did you hear him waffle on about myths and fairy tales being negative influences on the scientific potential of young minds?).

      [quote=TJ]P.S. The commenting tool you’re using here is one of the best I’ve seen on the web. (As is your daily news list. Cheers!)[/quote]

      Glad you like it! I try to include more myth/Jungian links in my news, it’s a favourite subject of mine too. It balances out the science woo-woo Greg is fond of these days. 😉

  4. The Cove
    We had the privilege of seeing a screening of the Cove in our little village about three weeks ago, because we are a natural home for several pods of Orca. The director was there to answer questions. If you get the chance to see it, please do, but be prepared to be pissed off at the folks in Taiji and the Japanese government for being complicit in the butchery.

    I am not much of an earth muffin, but this sucks on so many levels.

    Xavier Onassis

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