George Orwell (1903-1950) was one of the most influential writers of the last century. In works such as 1984 and Animal Farm he alerted the world to the dangers of Soviet Communism in general, and Josef Stalin in particular. Given the current activities of Vladimir Putin, these works might bear a little revisiting!
Despite that, Orwell’s politics remained firmly Left wing. To the fury of certain newspapers he saw this as perfectly compatible with a strongly English patriotism, And despite a prodigious output of journalism books, broadcasts and military service, he could relax in that most English of institutions: the pub. In private life he could be stubborn, cantankerous, amusing and thoroughly decent(we know, we’ve spoken to people who knew him) And his reflective, elegiac essay The Moon Under Water tries to capture the spirit of that most quintessentially English Institutions-the pub. [1]
The work was published in 1946, and it’s 2022 now. Many pubs have been transformed in ways that Orwell might not have approved of. Yet something of his ideal can still be found, both in quiet corners of London and other towns, or out in the folds of the country hills. if you know where to look. Language students should consider Orwell as a model of simple English prose. All others should read it and muse on the benefits of a Friday night pint.
Some people take a funny line on individual liberty. “I should be free to do whatever I want whenever I want” is a fair representation of this view as it has been expounded to us in many a session in places like the Dog and Duck, or certain junior student common rooms. Leaving aside its obvious flaws, which we’ll hit on later, does untrammelled liberty benefit its disciples as much as they claim, or actually do them harm?
Many was the smoker of our youth who insisted on his inalienable right to ingest immeasurable quantities of burning vegetable matter. We watched countless motorcyclists protesting against the insufferable illiberty of having to wear a crash helmet. While back at the Dog and Duck, every drinker expected that someone else’s money would pay for his liver when it went wrong. (most of them seemed less keen to uphold the liberties of cannabis smokers-why was that?)
Now Nature Briefings has a marvellous take on the consequences of all this blissful, unfettered liberty, with a survey of all the deaths which have been caused by things like smoking and drinking. More of them seem to happen to men, but, ho hum, what’s new there? Most of them always did know best, like so many little monarchs. Which is why they forgot that there might be bigger monarchs, with bigger advertising budgets who were able to twist their delusions into some very profitable directions indeed. We show the results below. “Half of all cancer deaths are preventable”
A big September thank you to all our readers, contributors and the many comments who help us fine tune these blogs. It’s a real pleasure to communicate with such a world-wide readership and we look forward to another month with you
Looking down from the height of our seven hundredth blog (count ’em-seven hundred!”), we couldn’t help a little mellow reflection on a constant theme of these posts-Artificial Intelligence, quantum Computers, robots and all that sort of thing. It also reflects many of the comments and suggestions we receive from you, gentle readers.
The theme is nothing new-these things are amazing. Powerful indeed. And that makes them scary. it’s been the theme of science fiction films, books, TV shows and endless learned discussions in ever-so-slightly unreadable books since at least 1950. They can even beat us at chess, goddammit, so what chance have we got? Well did we sympathise with the crying boy on the Brighton train the other week, who screamed to his mother that he was “frightened of the robot.” (None was visible on that train, or any other that day)
It was that wisest of Science Fiction writers, Arthur C Clarke who gave us the re-assurance we craved-with this explanation. The earliest toolmakers, entirely apelike beings had no intention of changing themselves or the world when they started bashing flints. They just wanted to get their dinner better. But as you use tools more and more, you need teeth less and less. So gradually the shape of their faces changed. Hunting got better because tools made it more effective, leading to bigger brains, and legs adapted for running, not climbing. And so on. Feedback loops were set up whereby cleverer creatures started improving their tools. By the time you got to something humanlike ,say Homo erectus, the toolmakers dared not drop their implements , because they had lost the big teeth and strong arms which might have let them survive without those tools. The tools and the creatures had formed a single symbiotic unit with its own niche.
It is likely that humans and machines will co evolve, maybe even fuse together, as Clarke predicted. In a few generations we may not look, feel or move in quite the same ways as we do now. Especially those who will choose to live on other planets like Mars. But the same chain of progress started so long ago in Africa will be carried forward. Our legacy will be secure.
#arthus c clarke #artificial intelligence #quantum computing #robots #human evolution
“Private sector good, public sector bad” was the endless mantra chanted by those who fomented, and then imposed, the Thatcher-Reagan revolution of the 1980s. Everything, from water companies to forensic science was to be sold off to wheeler-dealer buccaneering venture capitalists, whose grace would confer the blessings of efficiency and freedom on moribund institutions. Or so it was alleged; they never talked of privatising their armed forces, for some reason.
Forty years on the bill for these follies is starting to come in. Take water privatisation in England as an example. Since 1989 the new private owners have extracted £72 billion in profits, while the industry suffers a dreadful reputation on pollution, failure to control leaks, shortages, and inability to invest (we haven’t had a single new reservoir in thirty years) Writing in the ConversationKate Bayliss makes a powerful case for public ownership of a common public good. [1]
“Our people are in cars-if you’re on public transport after the age of twenty five, you’re a failure” Maybe Mrs Thatcher didn’t say those exact words all together in that order, but they authentically captured the spirit of the 1980’s and her philosophy, disguising a new hierarchy of wealth under a cloak of liberty. Maybe cars do bring a bit more mobility, and help with the shopping. They also bring the opportunity for excess of narcissism, rage, accidents and pollution. Is their age passing too? John Vidal makes a powerful case in the Guardian [2]
We won’t indulge here in rather hackneyed cliches about shifting tectonic plates, paradigms and new orders. But we will observe that saying of James Russell Lowell “Time makes ancient good uncouth.” The trick is to learn to let go gracefully, and look for new ways of doing old things.
Stand up for your beliefs Ever since its discovery more than 20 years ago the fossils of Sahelanthropus tchadensis, have been fought over by rival teams of scientists. How close were they to the hominin line? And now-could it stand upright? Whether it’s at seven million, three million or just a few thousand years ago, every hominid fossil is the potential cause of disputes which seem to generate far more heat than light. Frankly, we would welcome a lot more digging and a lot less publishing. Nature Briefings details the latest saga. Did this ancient hominin walk upright?
An ancient human relative, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, might have walked on two legs seven million years ago. S. tchadensis could be the earliest known member of the hominin lineage, the evolutionary branch that includes the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees and ends with modern humans. The theory is based on a battered fossil leg bone that was discovered in Chad more than 20 years ago. But some scientists are not convinced that the femur’s traits prove the creature stood tall.Nature | 5 min read Reference: Nature paper
Is this man really an expert? News controversies have been marred by each side dragging on some important-sounding bloke who claims to be an “expert.” Economics, science, health, climate change…think of another. Some no doubt, are experts. But not all, and it’s important to try to ask if someone really knows, or is just bluffing it. Fortunately Thora Tenbrink is here from the Conversation to guide us
They’re just playing Why is a boisterous bunch of young orcas bumping boats the Atlantic? Most experts think it’s just for fun: they’re big enough to sink these yachts if they really wanted to. Even so it must be terrifying when something goes bang on your hull in the middle of the night! A conservation success, but best sustained if we can manage the seas for people and animals, we think. Here’s the Times
A fascination with with strong men The American right’s weakness for burly macho dictators is nothing new, as this intriguing piece from The Atlantic shows. Just as Leftists idolised Stalin and Mao, so Rightists have done the same with an amazing collection of fad-heroes-some of them very, very queasy indeed. What is the psychological thread linking all this hero-worship, we wonder?
Local Protest, National Hope And finally… the inhabitants of England’s Sussex Coast have always been regarded as quiet, placid acceptors of the good fortune that life has bestowed on them. Until now, when appalled by the tonnes of sewage flooding into their previously limpid seas, they have formed angry protest groups to march and shout against water companies and the Government which has given those such an easy ride. And now this is national news No, this is not Anglocentric-if they can do it in Hastings, why can’t you in your country?
Mention the word “cocktail” and you somehow conjure up an image of louche bourgeoise sophistication. Of plush Manhattan hotels, tropical islands and well-paid adventurers like Messrs James Bond and Jay Gatsby. It used to irritate Lefty Lecturers at certain famous London Colleges when we refused to attend their extra classes on the grounds that “it was Friday Night Cocktails”, that’s for sure.
People have been drinking alcohol for thousands of years. So who came up with the idea of mixing spirits, fruits, strange little bottles of mixers, and lashings of ice? Ancient Sumerians? Bored pirates in the Caribbean? This week, we’ve done a little research which we hope will not only make interesting reading, it may spark you, gentle readers, to try to make some of the strange precursors which our links will mention. Good luck, and happy mixing.
Wayne Curtis, The Atlantic Traces origins to a curious drink called a Rum Shrub in Georgian London. But, as with so many British ideas, the Americans nicked it and transformed it into something far, far more adaptable to the masses. Key player: a chap called “Professor” Jerry Thomas in 1862, when more serious Americans were slaughtering each other in the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Wikipedia Another great institution. Traces first appearance of word cocktail to 1803. A Mrs Julius S Walsh of St Louis, Missouri in 1917. Cocktails were big in Prohibition, because you could disguise all that illegal hooch behind fruit juice. They have enjoyed a revival since 2000, as recipes have been swapped on the internet.
The Spruce Eats has a lovely section tracing the origins of our favourite drink through its etymology. Nice bright breezy website, which we have used before for recipes on this page.
At first it sounds odd, doesn’t it? Counter intuitive. Perhaps because the message relentlessly drummed in by right wing newspapers, think tanks and well-paid academics has been “lower taxes means more growth”. Yes things like police forces and health systems are all very nice, but we have to keep them to a minimum, because the taxes to pay for them are a drag on economic activity…. blah blah blah. Ask any economics expert at the bar of the Dog and Duck and they will give you the spiel. “Common sense, innit, mate?”
But it is common sense to infer that the sun goes round the earth. It took some real thought and investigation to show otherwise. Likewise the existence of atoms, electricity……..we could go on. Now another thoughtful study has been done which shows taxes may actually be good for economic growth. For one thing they pay for roads and legal systems, always a good idea if you want a predictable economic environment. History backs this up: relentless cuts to the Royal Navy before the revolutionary war of 1776 led to defeat when they came. Tax cuts in England benefitted Americans and Frenchmen!
In this light we ask you to at least consider, with an open mind, this article by Paul Whiteley for The Conversation. It might just change the way you think.
We don’t cover enough from South America, to our shame, so its nice to come across an intriguing little story from Peru that is at once intriguing and instructive for learners of genetics of all ages. [1] [2] .
The basics are clear enough: a team of researchers from the University of Pisa have dug up a mummy which sheds all sorts of light on the cultural practices of the ancient inhabitants of Cusco, Peru. As well as what diseases they endured, which were many and painful. But for our purposes, they seem also to have recovered a range of antibiotic resistant genes in the gut of the mummy. So what is going on? Because it also illustrates some key points on genetics, evolution and the central doctrines of biology.
1 The genes in question are clearly from bacteria which were living in the victim’s gut, although you’d have to read the articles carefully to extract this key fact
2 What were they resistant to?
3 How did they get there? This is not a problem for classic genetic theory, as random mutations are thrown up all the time, but it might be for archaeologists.
4 Because the theory also states that mutations are preserved if and only if they are selected. The Ur-Tiger was a mutation with stripes-all its brother and sister kitties were plain. But because the stripes let it hide better, it prospered and left more genes in the next generations, including the mutation.
5 Whereby, ergo, whatever you call it-was something selecting for antibiotic resistance in Peru all those years ago? We’d love to know what. Did they have some kind of bug-killing drug, that hasn’t been found yet?
Antibiotic resistance plagued us then, as it does now. Time to pressure your leaders to do something about it, instead of wasting all our time in useless ego-driven conflicts about lines on maps.
Everything but the Gull At a time of assiduous attempts at wildlife conservation, the poor old Herring gull (Larus argentatus) and its smaller relatives still come in for regular bashings. Yet these beautiful birds are an integral and delightful part of our seasides. At last the Conversation makes a case for the defence of these cheeky marauders
Clearing up the unclearable Long ago, non stick frying pans seemed like a technological marvel. Yet many contained PFAs, those almost-impossible-to destroy chemicals which can cause such environmental and health damage, Now a new technique seems to grapple at last with the problem of breaking them down in a feasible way. (memo to the Christian Right-sometimes thought is more effective than prayer-care to give it a try?) Here’s NBC:
Farewell Wolfgang Petersen Some say Das Boot, as well as being one of the best, was actually the most authentic war film ever. For us, it captured perfectly the sense of being trapped in a closed society where even to laugh at the wrong joke results in instant arrest and death. Bet they won’t being showing it in Russia any time soon!
US Climate Landmark The shameful events in Wyoming this week should not mask the fact that America is still a progressive country, where education can still make a mark. We suppose “it’s the duality thing” as Private Joker remarked in Full Metal Jacket. Anyway, the light side have now produced this amazing climate bill. One day Joe Biden will be remembered, while the cowboys of Wyoming will be as forgotten as the Native Americans whose lands their ancestors stole. Nature, Scientists welcome US Landmark Climate bill
Several US government agencies will see a significant influx of cash from a massive climate and tax bill that President Joe Biden has signed. The legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act, pledges US$369 billion in climate investments over the next decade and could cut US greenhouse-gas emissions by about 30–40% below 2005 levels by 2030. Scientists worldwide have welcomed the bill, but warn that more work is needed to counter global warming.Nature | 5 min read
Have you ever seen the rain? or smelled it. Come to think of it, what is that delightful smell you get after a heavy downpour has washed a drought from the meadows? How stuff works, that most excellent of sites, has an idea of what it might be
And finally… not every old band has stood the test of time. But we think Creedence Clearwater Revival have. From Bad Moon Rising, with its spookily accurate predictions of ecological disaster, through Run Through the Jungle, Proud Mary, Up Around the Bend and Fortunate Son, ol’ Fogerty and his boys stand comparison with any of the greats. Here’s a link to Have you ever seen the rain, which we hope will provide a musical treat at the end of a busy week.
Learning, Science and Society 