Michael Flynn's Blog, page 31
November 3, 2012
Where Are They?
Illegal AliensThree years ago, almost to the day, TOF in his alternate ego as m_frank, posted semi-seriously some 31 different answers to Fermi's paradox on the old LiveJournal site. Various thoughts and ruminations have impelled him to revisit the list and give it a new coat of paint, or at least a new vest and some additional comments.
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Klaatu and his rideOne of the major tropes of science fiction is the Alien From Space. Recall Klaatu, War of the Worlds, Earth vs the Flying Saucers, and other such visitations. Heinlein gave us the Mother Thing, the Bugs, Lummox, et al. Van Vogt gave us the Rull; Zenna Henderson, the People; Weinbaum, Tweel; and so on. TOF himself has been responsible for perpetrating the Hraani ("The Common Goal of Nature") and the Krenken (Eifelheim).
These alien folk have served admirably as metaphors for various aspects of humanity or human societies; but as one mainstream critic supposedly noted with surprise, in SF a trip to Mars is not only a metaphor for the stresses of human society, it is also supposed to represent on some deeper level an actual trip to Mars. If this is so, then we have a problem.
Where are the actual aliens?
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Klaatu and his rideOne of the major tropes of science fiction is the Alien From Space. Recall Klaatu, War of the Worlds, Earth vs the Flying Saucers, and other such visitations. Heinlein gave us the Mother Thing, the Bugs, Lummox, et al. Van Vogt gave us the Rull; Zenna Henderson, the People; Weinbaum, Tweel; and so on. TOF himself has been responsible for perpetrating the Hraani ("The Common Goal of Nature") and the Krenken (Eifelheim). These alien folk have served admirably as metaphors for various aspects of humanity or human societies; but as one mainstream critic supposedly noted with surprise, in SF a trip to Mars is not only a metaphor for the stresses of human society, it is also supposed to represent on some deeper level an actual trip to Mars. If this is so, then we have a problem.
Where are the actual aliens?
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November 1, 2012
All Hallows Day
The Feast of All SaintsThe come in all shapes and sizes, don't they? Here's a list I've used before. It is arranged along a not-too-subtle principle, which you are free to guess. Sometimes it's good to know how exclusive the club is. Those in the know are free to add the usual responsorials.
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October 23, 2012
m_francis @ 2012-10-24T00:20:00
'sTruth!
The untergang of the abendlandes is earmarked by terminological confusion. That is, it would be if untergangen had ears. At least it is in terminological ferment, and ferment might make good beer, though usually it is dark and skunky. (Skunky being a technical term in brewing that means.... Well, you can easily imagine what it means. However, the good news, should you be desperate enough, is that no organism harmful to man can survive in beer, so while skunky beer may stink like a politician's promise, it won't make you sick. Well, not physically. Psychosomatically, who can say. You can, however, hold your nose and quaff.)
Where was I?Read more »
The untergang of the abendlandes is earmarked by terminological confusion. That is, it would be if untergangen had ears. At least it is in terminological ferment, and ferment might make good beer, though usually it is dark and skunky. (Skunky being a technical term in brewing that means.... Well, you can easily imagine what it means. However, the good news, should you be desperate enough, is that no organism harmful to man can survive in beer, so while skunky beer may stink like a politician's promise, it won't make you sick. Well, not physically. Psychosomatically, who can say. You can, however, hold your nose and quaff.)Where was I?Read more »
October 17, 2012
Lunacon 2013
At Last It Can Be Revealed!
Lunacon 2013, reduced to desperation and barrel-bottom scraping, has persuaded TOF to be their Author Guest of Honor, in lieu of a more honorable author-guest. TOF will of course do his darnedest, and is pleased as Hubert Humphrey's punch, as well as tickled pink. (Thus demonstrating his masterful command of the English tongue.)
Read more »
Lunacon 2013, reduced to desperation and barrel-bottom scraping, has persuaded TOF to be their Author Guest of Honor, in lieu of a more honorable author-guest. TOF will of course do his darnedest, and is pleased as Hubert Humphrey's punch, as well as tickled pink. (Thus demonstrating his masterful command of the English tongue.)
Read more »
October 15, 2012
Goh, said the bird.
An InvitationI have received an invitation from some circum-cupa fundum-strigilians. Details to follow.
Mohawkian Lillies, etc.
Potpouri
Kateri Tekakwitha
painted from life, 1690The Lily of the MohawksKateri Tekakwitha will be formally canonized next Sunday.
There is a certain nonchalance on the part of Catholics regarding their saints. René Goupil, killed by Mohawks with a blow to the head, is today the patron saint of anesthetists. St. Lawrence, roasted on a griddle, is the patron of short-order cooks. St. Barbara, whose father was struck by lightning after he had beheaded her, became the patron saint of artillerymen. (When I was in Artillery ROTC, the corps paraded each year down Broad St. to St. Barbara's Church for the annual Artillerymen's Mass.)
Pithy QuotesBy 1960 the price of a good 1900 reproduction of, say, a Louis XVI table had risen, sometimes to fantastic heights -- probably because people knew that with the disappearance of craftsmanship even such reproductions were no longer reproducible.
-- John Lukacs, The Passing of the Modern AgeRead more »
Kateri Tekakwithapainted from life, 1690The Lily of the MohawksKateri Tekakwitha will be formally canonized next Sunday.
There is a certain nonchalance on the part of Catholics regarding their saints. René Goupil, killed by Mohawks with a blow to the head, is today the patron saint of anesthetists. St. Lawrence, roasted on a griddle, is the patron of short-order cooks. St. Barbara, whose father was struck by lightning after he had beheaded her, became the patron saint of artillerymen. (When I was in Artillery ROTC, the corps paraded each year down Broad St. to St. Barbara's Church for the annual Artillerymen's Mass.)
Pithy QuotesBy 1960 the price of a good 1900 reproduction of, say, a Louis XVI table had risen, sometimes to fantastic heights -- probably because people knew that with the disappearance of craftsmanship even such reproductions were no longer reproducible.
-- John Lukacs, The Passing of the Modern AgeRead more »
October 14, 2012
A blogger yclept
A blogger yclept
A blogger yclept Adam Gropnik at The New Yorker has averred, relative to that topic, that "It is conscious, thinking life that counts." It is not the lives of all members of the species radically endowed with the capacity for conscious, thinking life–it is all those actually presently enjoying the conscious life.
Were I he, I should be wary of falling asleep and thereby not counting.
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A blogger yclept Adam Gropnik at The New Yorker has averred, relative to that topic, that "It is conscious, thinking life that counts." It is not the lives of all members of the species radically endowed with the capacity for conscious, thinking life–it is all those actually presently enjoying the conscious life. Were I he, I should be wary of falling asleep and thereby not counting.
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October 12, 2012
As easy as ABC
An Algebraical ConundrumAlcibiades: I approve of A.
Socrates: But then surely you have a reason for your approval?
Alc.: Certes. I approve of A because it lacks property X!
Soc.: But then you must also approve of B, because B also lacks property X.
Alc.: What? No! That is awful. A is worthy because of... because of condition Y.Read more »
Socrates: But then surely you have a reason for your approval?
Alc.: Certes. I approve of A because it lacks property X!
Soc.: But then you must also approve of B, because B also lacks property X.
Alc.: What? No! That is awful. A is worthy because of... because of condition Y.Read more »
October 5, 2012
Clearing the Tabs
Yes, it's time to clear the tabs once more.
1. What does the Catholic Church call a medieval woman
who was a herbalist and wrote books about it?
Read more »
1. What does the Catholic Church call a medieval woman
who was a herbalist and wrote books about it?
Read more »
September 28, 2012
A Tedious Lack of Originality
Historical UnconsciousnessThere is a peculiar form of cognitive dissonance abroad: namely, the webster who at one and the same time glories, praises and lauds the use of empirical evidence and then fails to honor it when repeating his favorite fables.
A recent column in the New York Times summoned these folk like Gnorrs from the woodwork out. The column concerned the latest discovery of the Real Jesus™ as described in vast detail in eight partial lines on a scrap of papyrus modestly entitled by the professor: "The Gospel of Jesus' Wife." It runs thusly:
It's still the same old story....
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A recent column in the New York Times summoned these folk like Gnorrs from the woodwork out. The column concerned the latest discovery of the Real Jesus™ as described in vast detail in eight partial lines on a scrap of papyrus modestly entitled by the professor: "The Gospel of Jesus' Wife." It runs thusly:
Whereupon the entire edifice of Western Civilization crumbles...1 “... [can]not be my [disciple]. My mother gave me life...”
2 ... The disciples said to Jesus, “...
3 ... deny. Mary is not worthy of it...
4 ...” Jesus said to them, “My wife...
5 ... she can be my disciple...
6 ... Let [the] wicked man bring [forth...
7 ... I am with her, so as to...
8 ... an image...”
It's hard to get a meaning from this, let alone a context, especially since (according to Francis Watson) 'The English language differentiates “woman” from “wife”, but Coptic does not.' My own impression is that this is a portion of a well-known passage in the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas (#114) ripped down the page (every line is partial on both ends) and tendentiously translated. Harvard Theological Review has reportedly suspended publication pending the resolution of doubts expressed by Coptic scholars, including a carbon-dating of the ink. Meanwhile, its provenance is unknown. Sounds like another "James ossuary," imho.But the story per se is not today my topic, but rather some of the comments in the comm box elicited with dreary predictability by the story.
It's still the same old story....
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