Kester Brewin

Tag: Dirt

  • Reflections on Going to Church in Second Life | It’s All About Sex

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    OK, so I went to church. In Second Life. A little late – so that’s pretty much par for regular church – but I wandered around and tried to take the thing in. I didn’t last long. I got forcibly evicted – teleported I guess – for having no clothes on. I tried to give…

  • Mary Douglas Has Died

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    Mary Douglas, whose work ‘Purity and Danger’ I am heavily indebted to for the ‘dirty’ bits of Signs of Emergence, has died. Obituary here. "In 1966, Douglas published her most celebrated work, Purity and Danger: an Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. This book is best remembered for its stylish demonstration of the ways…

  • Asymmetry | Creativity | The Other

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    ‘In Our Time‘ – the BBC’s flagship science, mathematics and arts discussion programme – was on symmetry this week. It was, as ever, a fascinating mix of physics, philosophy and history, full of interesting moments, but one comment that jumped out at me was part of a section on symmetry in quantum / particle physics:…

  • The [Other] Lives of Others

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    I’ll add my praise to the fantastic debut feature ‘The Lives of Others‘. It really is a remarkable film. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it follows the story of a Stasi Officer assigned to bug and follow the life of a writer under suspicion in 1980’s East Germany. Through what he overhears…

  • RSS – Is Your Content Purified to the Point of Sterility?

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    In a piece on the myth of ‘Internet Neutrality’ The Guardian quoted Professors Marshall Van Alstyne and Erik Brynjolfsoson, who, way back in 1997, wrote that, "With the customised access and search capabilities, individuals can arrange to read only news and analysis that align with their preferences. Individuals empowered to screen out material that does…

  • Christian (dis)Unity Stinks…

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    From The Independent: A fierce inter-denominational dispute over precedence at what Orthodox Christians believe is the Easter miracle of Holy Fire is holding up desperately needed repairs to the 122-year-old lavatory block at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the focal point of Christianity. Some ‘dirt work’ desperately needed, me thinks…