More Books

Two more books just finished:

Ten Tales Tall and True - Alasdair Gray
Nicely written and often entertaining, so why did it take me so long to read such a short book? (And it has pictures.) Some stories display an admirable sense of political anger, but generally these are anecdotes rather than full-blown short stories. Still I remember each one (almost), so it must have made an impression.

A Brief History of Infinity - Brian Clegg
Charting the predominantly mathematical problems and wonders of the concept of Infinity, Clegg treats his subject with an amiable broadness. For instance, when any mathematician, scientist or philosopher is introduced, we get a potted biography; rivalries and fights (eg. between Newton and Liebnitz, Cantor and Kronecker) are given blow by blow accounts. Related (or even unrelated) ideas, such as irrational numbers or quantum physics, get as much explanation as the main idea, often it strikes me, more. Indeed, given that this book should make the topic clear, it drops the ball more than once, though it could be argued that is natural with such a slippery notion as Infinity. Still enjoyable and I promise I'll investigate set theory again. Oh, and one last thing the book reinforces in my mind is what a git Newton was!

Husserl, where are you?

I'm not sure of all the German phrases (like Dasien and zuhanden etc.) but sometimes the phenomenological experience of the self is very hearthening. No future, no past, just the self and as the idea is now.

Something Rather Than Nothing

I have a lot of respect for physics and the people who make it their speciality. However, I never ceased to be amazed by the level of arrogance and what I believe to be a poverty of imagination often shown by "experts" trotted out on telly. Watching a Horizon programme tonight entitled "Is Everything We Know About The Universe Wrong?", there were several such experts trotted out. It played like a satire on all things cosmological. "The universe exploded from nothing, this is Cosmology's greatest discovery." The term "LOL" was invented for such statements. The programme's constant visualisation of an explosion was annoying, given that whatever the Big Bang was it was no "explosion" as we understand the term. Which made the "radical" notion of Inflation -invented to account for the relative uniformity of temperature throughout the universe (an explosion would be lumpy, you see!) - just a little ridiculous. Why should the Big Bang pause to make a small space uniform before exploding vastly? Why couldn't the Bang be a uniform expansion from its initial point? Why should it bear any resemblance whatever to what we regard as an explosion?
I am familiar with Dark Matter, and even Dark Energy, but Dark Flow! If there was anything wrong with the equations, another "Dark" thing seemed to be trotted out, invisible and undetectable, and so conveniently incontrovertible. Doesn't that remind you of another concept like say "God"? Yeah, yeah, science is the new religion, etc.. Given that we have cosmic spaghetti (string theory) can we have a helping of Dark Pasta? Even the Italian sceptic trotted out was there just to say bah, humbug, but offer little by way of an alternative. Dark Theory, perhaps?
Ironically the one thing I did wholeheartedly agree with was the outwardly ridiculous proposition that Nothing is actually Something (Nature's not the only one to abhor a vacuum), but then can I introduce you to an old Greek friend of mine called Parmenides....

Books Read

I finally finished a book or two that had been hanging over me.

Before Christmas I finished the 'Pocket Essentials: Steven Soderbergh' by Jason Wood. Like most books in this series, the director comes out as a saint, the author/apostle finding nuggets of gold and pearls of wisdom in even his most obscure works (although I do agree on the positive appraisal of 'Schizopolis'). I have a lot of respect for Soderbergh, who has a lot of intelligence and something to say, but I would never rank him in the top tier (though who I would place there I'm not too sure these days). The book stopped at 'Ocean's Eleven', so we were spared Wood's excuses for 'Ocean's Twelve' or the needless remake of 'Solaris'. Nevertheless it was a pleasant trip through his back catalogue.

Last week I finally finished Russell's 'Problems of Philosophy'. You cannot expect me to refrain from anger when he resorts to Platonic Universals to back up his case (something Schopenhauer's 'The World as Will and Idea' annoyed me by doing too), but I perservered and in the end there were some insights to be gleaned. Still not convinced by Russell's argument though.

I also finished, 'The Power of Darkness', a collection of horror tales by Edith Nesbit. Despite my admiration for some of her work, even I have to admit that there is too much sentimentality too often throughout the collection. I suspect Nesbit, earning her living from her writing, had to appeal to magazines (and their audiences) that gave her little room for innovation. A very modern style is almost always apparent, and in her masterpieces, the much anthologised 'Man-size in Marble' and 'John Charrington's Wedding', and the lesser seen 'The Violet Car', 'The Shadow' and the caustic 'The Pavillion', she shows what she was capable of. Unfortunately she was also capable of pieces such as 'The Letter in Brown Ink' and 'The Five Senses'. On a positive note, there is something positive that can be said about each story in this collection and so ultimately it's something the horror buff ignores at his peril.

Noodles

I am not happy with Russell's 'Problems of Philosophy'. I am only a few chapters in, but he dodges all the real 'problems' with a drunken 'Ah, sure ya couldn't really believe that!' All very sensible in a pub context, but hardly acceptable in a serious philosophical piece.

 

I have just come from Charlie's 2 (my gran's old shop. I eventually got the crispy pork belly soup noodles I asked for. Brought me right back to be eating slices of red chili, but we don't get anywhere near the quality here that we would in Asia. At the table beside me a small Chinese girl with a wonderfully broad Dublin accent explained to her boyfriend how she could understand her mother (particularly in family matters such as 'I hate you!), but couldn't speak Chinese herself. The idiot boyfriend came out with the immature, 'But that doesn't make sense!' Yes, it does you idiot. Anyway I turned up my music and eventually ate my noodles.

I Thought, Therefore I Was Right

Many years ago when I studied philosophy in UCD, I made the argument that Descartes' 'Cogito ergo sum' ('I think, therefore I am') was not strictly true. Rather than prove that I exist, it only proved that (a) thought exists, as the commonly held notion of self encompassed a past and future that the Cogito could never substantiate. I even used this argument in an exam question and was disappointed with my result. If only I'd read Bertrand Russell's 'The Problems of Philosophy' then (something I am reading now). In only the second chapter, Russell brings up the same issue. So I wasn't alone in my whacked out notions after all. And given the religious bias of my examiners at the time, I doubt the false notion of plagiarism would have damaged my exam results; Russell wouldn't have been held in high esteem by any lecturer outside of my second year Anglo-American philosophy lecturer, Maria Baghramian. Nice one, Bertrand.

Me, Myself and Identity

Just got a ticket for Guillermo del Toro's new movie, "Pan's Labyrinth", said to be a sister piece to his earlier, "The Devil's Backbone". That movie was excellent in every way, and the reports bode well for this new film too. It will be released here towards the end of the year, but the Horrorthon, on next weekend, is showing it next Sunday, and according to the ticket seller there's only 20 tickets left. A healthy indication of the taste of Irish audiences, hee, hee.

Last Thursday I enjoyed some more choice entertainment, of the theatrical variety that time. My cousin, Janet Moran, is currently acting in the Corn Exchange's production, "Everyday", currently being performed at the Beckett Theatre in Trinity College (their last play, "Dublin by Lamplight", was a great success). The play features a number of different strands involving many, many characters, all interacting over the course of one day. There are no props and each actor, playing multiple roles, performs in a style borrowing from Commedia dell'arte (stylised make-up and pronounced gestures etc.). But don't let that give you the impression that this is inaccessible; the stories are wonderfully realised, the characters very easily recognised and the whole night is wonderful entertainment. There are some elements you could quibble with (for me the Ukrainian strand didn't work so well, perhaps because in contrast with the loquacity of the other characters, this featured a girl who could barely communicate at all), and some stories are a little hacknied, but in such a wide ranging play this is inevitable. Bottom-line this is something to see (I know few listen to me, so Luke Clancy has a review here if you want confirmation).

Afterwards Jan and I went for a pint or two and I very easily got drawn into pontificating about aesthetics and drama etc.. Naturally Hamlet was mentioned (the pinnacle of dramatic art as far as I am concerned), but it got me reconsidering an idea for a play I've long had. I guess I'd better knuckle down and do it.

Having said that plans are just about complete for the next stage of my world travels. November 11th should see me jet off again. I was going to detail the itinerary here, but I have decided to keep you all in the dark and reveal the trip as it happens. Travel shots tomorrow.

Anything else? The chiropodist stood me up yesterday on my return visit. Luckily things are looking brighter on the toe front and I may not need such a visit after all.

[WARNING! Do not read following paragraph if easily offended by philosophy.]
I have started to read some metaphysics again (that's you and your Hegel, Jan! Remember the dialectic nature of three act play????? Hee, hee, hee.). I have a bulky anthology at home that has some interesting general essays. I'm not sure if I see the Identity of Indiscernibles as a major problem for Empiricism's Bundle Theory as the editors put forward. They give the example of a universe where two spheres, each identical in composition, history, etc. revolve. If they are identical how can we differentiate them as different bodies. I'm not going to go into that here, but I will say that I believe the role of the subject is integral to any understanding of separate entities with identical properties (we will always posit them in relation to ourselves, hence a spatial element is always involved). Yeesh! Give me a break; I get carried away sometimes.

From the sublime to...De Palma's "Bonfire of the Vanities". Reviled on release, De Palma's adaptation of the Tom Wolfe novel was on the other night. I had seen it a long time ago, but since then I've read the excellent "The Devil's Candy", and have wanted to view the movie again in light of that account of its making. Anyway it is recorded and I'll view it later.