Life as an Extreme Sport

lo, on the horizon – there travels a geek

January 31, 2008 Kelly ...and everything else, Academics, Doctor Who

Not as though the world really needs further proof of the fact that I’m a terrifically geeky person, but this afternoon I made a Nietzsche/Foucault/robot joke, which hinged on imitating a Dalek. (I can’t really explain it, because like most jokes, that would make it unfunny, but I basically called Foucault Nietzsche 2.0, and it went from there.)

So not only am I geek, but I absorb new pop culture (for those not in the know, I’ve only started watching Doctor Who and Torchwood in the last week or so) at an impossible rate in order to regurgitate it back out into areas of interest. I’m truly, truly pathetic.

…but the people in the room laughed, so hey.

It’s Stronger Than A Shark

January 26, 2008 Kelly Academics, Bioethics, Stargate

And because it’s come up not once, or even twice, but three times this week, here’s the cold open of Stargate Atlantis that talks about (and pokes delightful fun at) Phillipa Foot’s trolley problem.

Also, I’ve determined that Sarah Connor is the ultimate consequentialist. Of what particular type, I haven’t yet decided (although I’m leaning towards ethical altruism).

Edited to add:
Since the video keeps disappearing from the internet, here’s a transcript.

Rodney: Let me ask you a question. Say there’s a runaway train. It’s hurtling out of control towards ten people standing in the middle of the tracks. The only way to save those people is to flip a switch — send the train down another set of tracks. The only problem is there is a baby in the middle of those tracks.
Teyla: Why would anyone leave a baby in harm’s way like that?
Rodney: I don’t know. That’s not the point. Look, it’s an ethical dilemma. Look, Katie Brown brought it up over dinner the other night. The question is: is it appropriate to divert the train and kill the one baby to save the ten people?
Ronon: Wouldn’t the people just see the train coming and move?
Rodney: No. No, they wouldn’t see it.
Ronon: Why not?
Rodney: Well … (he sighs) … Look, I don’t know — say they’re blind.
Teyla: All of them?
Rodney: Yes, all of them.
Ronon: Then why don’t you just call out and tell them to move out of the way?
Rodney: Well, because they can’t hear you.
John: What, they’re deaf too?
(Rodney throws him a look)
John: How fast is the train going?
Rodney: Look, the speed doesn’t matter!
John: Well, sure it does. If it’s going slow enough, you could outrun it and shove everyone to the side.
Ronon: Or better yet, go get the baby.
Rodney: For God’s sake! I was just trying to …

“did you do that purely for the double entendre?”

January 11, 2008 Kelly ...and everything else, Academics, Pop Culture

In a very odd way, QI reminds me of one of my favourite television shows ever, also courtesy the BBC: James Burke’s “Connections” series. You know, the show that takes you from the discovery of bubblegum to the invention of the flak jacket, and shows you how they’re all connected?

Only QI tends to go from much lower to extreme heights; this clip goes from talking about the Kinsey report and precisely how you’d have sex with chickens (Alan Davies gets a nice one in about eggs and girth) to the inventor of the decimal point and logarithms.

fun in misreading

January 8, 2008 Kelly ...and everything else, Pop Culture

I’m reading the QI archives over at the Telegraph, and in reading about humans and three’s, read the following:

Fish have three pairs of lumps, called otoliths, in their heads that help them to balance. The largest of these can be used to work out how old the fish is: it contains rings, like the trunk of a tree. Scientists have three hearts: two are used to provide blood for the gills and the third is for the rest of the body.

And let me just tell you, it makes ever much more sense if you read what was intended, “squid” instead of what I saw, “scientists”.

And on the subject of QI, if you’ve never seen the show – or, even if you have – you should really click this link and watch the video. For those who’re apprehensive, I point out that it’s 10 minutes of Stephen Fry and guests, doing running improv comedy on a variety of intelligent subjects. If that’s not enough, I offer you this snippet, about the moonwalking Mannequin bird:

bookstores are the mortal enemy

October 4, 2007 Kelly Academics, Pop Culture

…actually, I did pretty well. And this is probably the third or fourth time I’ve been in a bookstore the last few weeks and the first time I bought something, so that’s got to be worth something. Especially since I was technically at two bookstores. From the little local store, I picked up another journal to write in, as well as The Recovery of Wonder: The New Freedom and the Asceticism of Power by Kenneth L. Schmitz, who I’ve never heard of but is apparently a professor emeritus of philosophy and a fellow at Trinity College, University of Toronto, as well as a bunch of other academic affiliations. I picked this up largely because of the topic – I’m curious what a philosopher has to say about recapturing wonder and it’s importance in the world, as opposed to Greenblatt. (All hail Greenblatt and other CHID-related chanting.)

And speaking of CHID, Phillip would be so proud. The last time I was at Borders, mucking around for books on empiricism (which I didn’t find), I stumbled across a couple of Henri Bergson books. I grabbed them, held them longingly, and then put them back and have thought about them ever since. I actually specifically went back to Borders tonight to buy them, and picked up The Creative Mind: An Introduction to Metaphysics, which is actually his last book and more of an autobiography and explanation of choice, as well as Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, which on my copy has a much nicer cover! I justify this as being related to what I think I’m writing my dissertation on – Bergson looks at what laughter is and why people laugh, saying that laughter keeps us human. It should be very interesting paired with the reading I’ve been doing on the function of satire.

Mm, books.

Category: Pop Culture

lo, on the horizon – there travels a geek

It’s Stronger Than A Shark

“did you do that purely for the double entendre?”

fun in misreading

bookstores are the mortal enemy

Random Quote

Seek And Find. Maybe.

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