In the used-to-be-popular TV show Who wants to be a millionaire? contestants had the option of using an "ask the audience" lifeline . In the US version, the audience as a whole almost always indicated the correct response. The idea that by putting enough people together we can somehow aggregate their knowledge is a popular one, and certainly true on some level. On the other hand, anyone who has sat through one too many meetings about team building or has tried to convince a stubborn majority they've made a mistake knows that sometimes a whole bunch of people are just a whole bunch of wrong or a whole bunch of dumb =) Definitive proof below the fold...

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In case anybody has any interest in how a real materials analysis laboratory works I thought I might write a short primer.

In TV and movies labs often have mystic special tools that can look at anything and tell you everything. If only life worked that way. In real life you have to use a variety of different techniques to look at different materials, different phases of matter, and to determine different kinds of information.

Both my parents worked in biofeedback in different ways. My father was a clinical psychologist at the Menninger Clinic (retired now). My mother works as an occupational therapist (similar to a physical therapist although a somewhat different focus). Since an early age I've been taught simple biofeedback techniques and the underlying psycho-physiological mechanisms. This diary is an explanation of the hows and whys on the topic.

I've known no small number of people for whom technology and technological innovation has, essentially, a religious element. Actually it is sort of surprising that I'm not that way myself. My first computer was a TRS-80 (the "trash-80"). In elementary school I wanted to be an astrophysicist. I love sci-fi. I work for a company whose work is based on Moore's Law. I'm trying to teach myself programming right now because I love the capabilities it brings. If anyone should be an adherent to the church of technology ascendant, it should be me.

But I'm not.

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I have been traveling through Second Life checking out all the political sites and events, accumulating a lot of photos that I have yet to sort and categorize. But last night's meeting was well attended and FUN (after an hour plus of chat on the patio, we moved to the dancefloor and chatted some more), so I figured I'd just throw what I have ready so far into a slide show and post it. Lots more to come.

This slideshow version will stop if you run your cursor over it.

Some random resources and excerpts for a debate on whether NASA should send humans to Mars.

When dealing with an issue like greenhouse gas-induced climate change, productive discussion needs to stay focused on the practical questions: what is the general nature of the risk, and how can we mitigate the risk. Discussions of climate change often become sidetracked by non-productive investigations into the detailed nature of the risk, which are often initiated by individuals who are afraid that general recognition of risk implies that particular strategies/policies must be adopted. I hope to keep this discussion on track by starting with these two declarations:

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Any student of humanity should be familiar with these "10 Brilliant Social Psychology Studies ". This list comes from PsyBlog. While I'm generally disappointed with Internet science popularization, this blog seems like it provides a good entry point to psychological studies. Several of these studies are relevant to the topics we discuss here, but three were particularly interesting to me:

From David Freddoso :

Why do I live like this? It’s really just because I’m cheap as hell and way too busy to care about things like “being comfortable.”

I pretty much fall into the same category. Despite my ownership of a "Pave the Whales" T-shirt, I probably have a much lower "environmental impact" than many self-proclaimed "environmentalists."

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Promoted by Brendan -- philosophical musings for a rainy Wednesday

Does free will exist, or is it merely an illusion? This is a question that has been debated for thousands of years. For most of this time, it was largely a philosophical question, but as human knowledge has advanced, it has become more and more a question of science as well.

The research into causes of homosexuality strongly suggests there is a genetic component involved in orientation. Given that it means that we can and will be able to exert a measure of control on incidence of homosexuality in what is most likely the very near future.

But what does that mean on a human level? What does it mean to determine a set of alleles that contribute to homosexuality and then be able to detect their presence within a zygote?

Take a second to really think about what you would do in each situation:

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