politics

Happy Darwin Year…150 years ago (on 1 July) the theory of Natural Selection, which has held through to this day with all its modifications and improvements as any good theory does, was first presented.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/fire_the_starting_gun_the_darw.php

Newsweek ran an article comparing Lincoln to Darwin recently, claiming that because both men were born on the same day, it was fair to ask who was more important to history. I disagree with their conclusion. Lincoln was a politician who, while arguably a very good one, is limited to the field of social constructs. At the end of the day, all we have as a population is what we know. Laws and perceptions change over time, while we can only figure something out once. Darwin figured out what is unquestionably the most important, most fundamental principle for biology and history and taxonomy.

How many times has public perception changed during the course of the last few thousand years? How many empires have risen? How many forms of government have been devised? How many fluctuations have we seen in mores? How many republics have failed?

All of the answers to the above questions are influenced, at least in part, to the sum of the knowledge of the human race. As time moves forward, we know more about the world. This accumulated knowledge, with a few exceptions, certainly molds new political ideas. Knowledge pulled us, perhaps kicking and screaming, out of the dark ages when, as the general public became more well-informed, they threw off the fetters of abstract, dogmatic teachings in favor of an empirical reality that better matched what they observed. When the church said one thing, and people observed another, the domain of the church - the unexplained - grew smaller.

Lincoln’s presidency was most definately influenced by accumulated knowledge. Had he ruled fifty years prior, things would have been very different. The field of politics, while perhaps more glamorous and favorable to a participant’s reputation and ego, is inherently limiting when referencing the question of leaving a mark on history. In a thousand years, there may not be a country - or a planet, if we keep electing Republicans - but there will still be science. We will still know about Natural Selection, undoubtedly in a more complete way than we do now, just as we will still understand and indeed know more about string theory, nuclear theory and other fundamental concepts in the world of science.

Who was more important to history? In the short term, the arguement can be made for Lincoln, though I don’t know who answers the question of history in the short term. Indeed, the correct answer for the long term is Darwin, as the theory he championed will continue to live and be refined and perfected long after the issues surrounding the presidency of Lincoln have been marginalized to the history books.

I’m in Sharon playing mechanic. I can’t get enough of the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe podcast. I’d love to see the Skeptologists TV series come to fruition.

Did you think Ben Stein was smart like I did? Do you dislike the gag reflex? You can find some solace here.  http://www.expelledexposed.com/ I wish I could protest the Expelled movie.

We’ll probably be posting some of Diane’s pictures of the tornado that went through Manhattan last night at some point. Everyone I know is ok from what I’ve heard. Wayne Graham said he found a box on our lawn with a partial UPS label that was delivered a couple miles from our house.

From Bobby T’s in Manhattan, Kansas, on 29 March, 2008, this video of Aaron Traffas Band playing Archipelago features Aaron Traffas, Mason Powell, Chris Goering and Lucas Maddy.

For more YouTube goodness, view this gem. Rob told me about it the other day. It’s for all you asshole racists out there. This shows how smart you sound.

Now that Moses is dead, can we finally repeal the second commandment?

I wrote this on Tuesday.

Going to Kansas City this morning to work on stuff for the NAA. I spent a ton of time working on the new auction technology specialist course, only to ave the majority of my changes not included in the final version.

It really needs edited. One slide has “Website” and “website” in the same title, while another discusses including “bio’s” on a site.

We went to Wildcat Creek on Sunday after playing golf on the Xbox for three hours to try to play golf in real life. I still haven’t swung my set of Ping irons since I got it last summer. While the course was already closed, we did hit the driving range. I put a hurt on the guy driving the ball sucker truck, as my 100 yard line drive doinked him square in the drivers door. I felt bad, not because I was trying to hit him, but because it was the best shot I had all day.

After the golf, we hit the batting cage. i haven’t swung a bat since I played base ball in high school, and while I today can’t lean over to tie my shoe without horrific pain, doing so felt so good I may go back.

Diane and I watched the Kansas v. Memphis game last night on our new 56″ 1080p HDTV with a standard-definition signal. It made me want to cry, knowing how good the screen could look had we purchased HD cable.

My guy threw in the towel while he still had a ghost to give. I can’t decide now who to officially hope for. I honestly think that Obama has eight great years as president some day and if the next eight years are his, he will do an enormous amount of good for this country. I do, however, think I would vote for Clinton based on her experience and her association with another great US president. I think she would be able to most quickly and efficiently change the course of this nation. Unfortunately, as my friend Rob Spectore pointed out to me, her negatives are so high that she could in fact lose an election that should be a given for my opposition party. With this regard, supporting Obama seems to make sense. I don’t matter, however, based on the buzz in the Little Apple and whatever other rumors come my way across the plains of Kansas. Everyone’s already talking about Obama.

We had our big family reunion last weekend. Diane blogged about it over on traffas.net so I don’t have to delve into it here, except to say that my family is slightly more dysfunctional than I previously realized. The kids dug my ‘copter, though, so I felt cool.

New Year’s was fun. We had the Salty Rim[job] to ourselves for the better part of the night. Diane had family in town, Lucas had friends and I had Wayne. We lost Wayne right before midnight as he got pwned by some girls who wouldn’t let him through the crowd. We didn’t get doused by the confetti, though, but we’re still finding some from last year.

Diane and I watched The Kindgdom the other night and Two for the Money last night. Both were excellently refreshing, bringing me closer to batting .500 on good movies in the last 30 days.

I’m beginning to realize how much the corporate world rewards not working in favor of actually being productive. It’s scary how much meetings and presentations are valued higher than actual labor. I actually miss carrying around heavy shit. At least we had fun back then.

I’m looking forward to the Kansas caucus on 5 February. I’m going to convince everyone to vote for Edwards, if he’s still in it by Super Tuesday. While I’m sticking with him as my guy, I’m quite happy that I’d be excited about either Obama or Clinton if he doesn’t finish. Usually I’m disappointed when my guy loses a race, but this year everybody wins.

I was flipping through the channels last night before going to sleep and I caught President Clinton giving an address at the Kennedy Center. He spoke about what he’d done in Africa since he’s left office while making jokes (quite tasteful and funny) about the current administration. I cried. I really did. I cannot understand how in the hell so many people despised this president. I realize that he wasn’t the most admirable person, but I hope that some day I’ll see another president as great as Clinton was.