Monday, January 28, 2013

Caught up on Reflections - For Now

I finally got Deacon Kaas's two most recent reflections posted:Things get a bit hectic around Christmas season - which gets discussed in one of these.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Business Not as Usual

Weather reports for my part of central Minnesota say the precipitation is "ice pellets." Here in Sauk Centre, it's rain: also about one degree below water's freezing point.

I haven't seen any cars going sideways, so either road conditions are still pretty good: or maybe everyone I saw is a really good driver. Maybe both.

Barring very extreme travel conditions, most of family will be heading for North Dakota tomorrow morning. Spiral Light Candle needs help, so we'll be getting candles ready for shipment. There's probably more to do, too: since I'll be doing something involving a computer.

Instead of writing a post for tomorrow morning, I decided to goof off this weekend.

One more thing: I still haven't decided on a blogging schedule for after this 'working vacation.' I talked about that on Thursday. (January 24, 2013)

I'll almost certainly have something posted next Sunday. 'See' you then.

Vaguely-related posts:

Science, Technology, and Being Human

'If God had meant us to fly, we'd have wings.'

In my youth, folks with that attitude sometimes showed up in jokes:
A little old lady on an airliner was obviously uneasy. Asked what troubled her, she replied: "We should all be where God intended us to be, at home watching television!"
(December 3, 2012)
That's not my view of airliners. I've traveled by air a few times, and enjoyed the experience. I particularly liked having a window seat, just behind the wings. It was a treat, just before landing: watching a smooth wing come apart, becoming a sort of pop-art sculpture of control surfaces.

Fear and Change

Not everybody is as fascinated by wings, or other technology, as I am. Tech, particularly anything new, seems to make some folks nervous. I've seen grim warnings that:
Sure, we need to be careful with technology. This is nothing new. Being careless while flint knappng can hurt someone as surely as inattentive driving.

I think some of the all-too-common uneasiness about technology is how often we see new gadgets today.

It took us something like a million years to go from burning our fingers on fires to getting shocked by electric appliances. About the same time that electric power was changing how folks live, some of us were learning why carrying radium in one's pocket is a bad idea.

About a hundred years later, someone learned why it's a bad idea to turn off a nuclear reactor's cooling system. Remember Chernobyl?

Learning the Right Lesson

The lesson from these experiences isn't that fire is bad: just that we need to use our brains. I think it's also prudent to remember that we almost certainly haven't stopped developing new technology:

Change and Choice

Folks have quite a few options where it comes to our attitude toward change. Some are more sensible than others:
"Nothing endures but change."
(Heraclitus, Greek philosopher, via The Quotations Page (540 BC - 480 BC))

"During my eighty-seven years I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them have done away with the need for character in the individual or the ability to think."
(Bernard M. Baruch) US businessman & politician, via The Quotations Page (1870 - 1965))

"In a recent lecture Lord Kelvin expressed alarm at the waste of oxygen by modern manufacturing processes. If this continues he estimated that in the course of 500 years there will be not enough of the gas left on the earth to support life."
(The Evening News, via Google Newspapers (July 16, 1901))

About Lord Kelvin and oxygen: don't worry, we're not running out. Lord Kelvin's math was accurate, but the former president of the Royal Society didn't have all the facts about Earth's oxygen cycle. We probably have a few things to learn today, too: and that's not another topic.

Blink, and You'll Miss Something

My father spent his early years in a corner of America where the family's horse pulled the plow, and a kerosene lamp was the latest thing in high tech. The year I was born, a professor said that all the calculating England would ever need could be handled by three computers.1 My family sometimes has that many in one room, if you count laptops.

It's no wonder that some folks seem a trifle overwhelmed by technology. The way we live has been changing: fast.

Two Centuries: Steam Locomotives to Web TV

Around 1800, we didn't have Novocaine. Pain management during surgery was usually biting a leather strap. Two centuries later, we're developing better brain implants.

A short list of new tech, 1800-2000:
  • 1801 to 1899
    • Anesthesia
    • Antiseptics
    • The Jacquard Loom
    • The McCormick reaper
    • Steam locomotives
    • The telegraph
    • A variety of electric lighting devices
      (about.com: 1800s)
  • 1900 to 1950
    • Air conditioners
    • Computers
      • Analog
      • Digital
    • Kidney dialysis machines
    • Penicillin
    • Talking motion pictures
    • Radio transmitters and receivers
    • Zeppelins
      • Okay: so not all inventions caught on
  • 1951 to 2000
    • Bar-code scanners
    • Digital cellular phones
    • Fortran programming language
    • Optic fiber
    • Radial tires
    • Transistor radios
    • Web TV
    (about.com: 1900s)
If anything, it looks like the rate at which something new comes has sped up. I don't mind: like I said before, I like tech.

Faith and Science

Besides, learning about this vast creation, and developing new ways to use it, are part of what makes us the sort of creature we are. We wouldn't be human, if we weren't studying the world and making tools. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2293) How we use science and technology is where ethics come in. (Catechism, 2292-2295)

Science, honest research, seeking truth in this creation, can't threaten my faith: "...because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God...." (Catechism, 159) It's like Psalms 19:2 says:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft."
(Psalms 19:2)
Related posts:
More, in other blogs:

1 The professor had 'done his math,' and determined where England's three computers should be installed: Cambridge, Teddington, and Manchester. This was in 1951:
"...I went to see Professor Douglas Hartree, who had built the first differential analyzers in England and had more experience in using these very specialized computers than anyone else. He told me that, in his opinion, all the calculations that would ever be needed in this country could be done on the three digital computers which were then being built - one in Cambridge, one in Teddington, and one in Manchester. No one else, he said, would ever need machines of their own, or would be able to afford to buy them...."
("Only 3 computers will be needed..." Forum post by Mark Brader, (July 10, 1985). net.misc. Citing Lord Bowden (1970), American Scientist, 58: 43–53; via "Thomas J. Watson," Famous misquote, Wikipedia)

Friday, January 25, 2013

A 'Threat to National Security,' a New Spaceplane, and Asteroid Mining

Don't expect a rant about the Satanic horrors of people who aren't like me, and why Islam is the worst thing since [political party] had a majority in Congress. That's not going to happen. Not in this blog, not by me.

I'm upset that someone in Iran is on trial for 'threatening national security' by opening a low-profile church. But I'd be upset if someone in America was on trial for opening a mosque. Freedom doesn't mean 'free to agree with me:' or shouldn't.
  1. Saeed Abedini: Christian and Threat to 'National Security'
  2. SpaceLiner - 'Almost-SpaceLiner,' Actually
  3. Asteroid Mining

Catholics, Tolerance, and Freedom

I'm a Catholic. My native culture's stereotype of Catholics being fettered by too many rules isn't accurate: but we do have rules. The important ones are specific applications of:
As a Catholic, I must:
  • Value and support religious freedom
    (Catechism, 2104-2109)
    • For everybody
      (Catechism, 2106)
There are more than a billion of us alive today, but here in America we're a minority. Not as small a minority as a few decades ago, and that's another topic. In another way, I'm one of the majority of Americans who have some sort of religious belief. Here's what my fellow-citizens said they believed, in 2007:
  • Protestant
    • 51.3%
  • Roman Catholic
    • 23.9%
  • Mormon
    • 1.7%
  • Other Christian
    • 1.6%
  • Jewish
    • 1.7%
  • Buddhist
    • 0.7%
  • Muslim
    • 0.6%
  • Other or unspecified
    • 2.5%
  • Unaffiliated
    • 12.1%
  • none
    • 4%
    ("CIA World Factbook," United States (page last updated January 14, 2013))
An advantage to being part of a religious minority is getting opportunities to appreciate tolerance: real tolerance, not the sort of 'free to agree with me' stuff peddled by 'regular Americans' in my youth, or the politically correct crowd more recently.

In my case, it helps that I'm very aware that the Church is literally catholic, universal. I've been over this before:
Now, finally, here's what I picked from this week's news.

1. Saeed Abedini: Christian and Threat to 'National Security'

"Imprisoned Christian pastor banned from trial"
Michelle Bauman, CNA/EWTN News (January 24, 2013)

"An American citizen imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith has been barred from attending his own trial and faces serious danger, warned a legal team monitoring his case.

" 'Iran has continued its lies and disinformation campaign to deflect attention from its abuse of this U.S. citizen for his faith,' said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice.

"In a series of Jan. 21-23 blog posts, Sekulow cautioned that the Iran is trying to punish 32-year-old pastor Saeed Abedini for his Christian beliefs.

"The Iranian-born pastor has been charged with attempting to undermine national security by helping to create Christian house churches in the country. Although such churches are technically legal, the regime claims that the pastor has tried to turn young people in Iran away from the national religion of Islam...."
I hope and pray that Saeed Abedini gets the strength to keep his faith: and that he is freed. As I said earlier in this post, don't expect a rant. I have a very low opinion of the Iranian government's track record on tolerance: and that's as far as I'll go here.

Folks whose beliefs aren't approved by America's government leaders are much less likely to find themselves detained. This country has a fairly good record for tolerance. Not perfect, but we're better off than Iran. I've discussed tolerance, real and imagined, and 'national security,' in another blog:

2. SpaceLiner - 'Almost-SpaceLiner,' Actually


(DLR, via Space.com, used w/o permission)
"The SpaceLiner, which is being developed by the Institute of Space Systems at the German Aerospace Center...."
"Hypersonic 'SpaceLiner' Aims to Fly Passengers in 2050"
Jeremy Hsu, SPACE.com (January 24, 2013)

" A hypersonic 'SpaceLiner' would whisk up to 50 passengers from Europe to Australia in 90 minutes. The futuristic vehicle would do so by riding a rocket into Earth's upper atmosphere, reaching 24 times the speed of sound before gliding in for a landing.

"Many challenges still remain, including finding the right shape for the vehicle, said Martin Sippel, project coordinator for SpaceLiner at the German Aerospace Center. But he suggested the project could make enough progress to begin attracting private funding in another 10 years and aim for full operations by 2050.

"The current concept includes a rocket booster stage for launch and a separate orbiter stage to carry passengers halfway around the world without ever making it to space. Flight times between the U.S. and Europe could fall to just over an hour if the SpaceLiner takes off - that is, if passengers don't mind paying the equivalent of space tourism prices around several hundred thousand dollars...."
I don't doubt that technical issues involved in making a vehicle like SpaceLiner will be dealt with by 2050, 37 years from now. What I think is less certain is the business end of this vehicle.

I'm not convinced that enough folks are willing to pay high prices for a 90 minute Europe-to-Australia trip. The Anglo-French Concorde was a modestly successful supersonic airliner from 1976 to 2003, so maybe there's a market for SpaceLiner.

On the other hand, much of the Concorde's commercial run was in the days before Information Age technologies made videoconferencing a practical alternative to business trips.

I'm a bit more optimistic about transportation systems like Skylon. Videoconferencing works just as well when folks are in low Earth orbit - but there's still the matter of getting gadgets and people up there.

The development of another spaceplane may seem far removed from 'spiritual' concerns. I see development of the SpaceLiner as another example of what it is to be human. Got gave us brains, and I said that last week. (January 18, 2013)

3. Asteroid Mining


(Deep Space Industries, via Space.com, used w/o permission)
"This illustration depicts Deep Space Industries' Fuel Processor class spacecraft for asteroid mining...."
"New Asteroid-Mining Venture to Be Unveiled Tuesday"
Mike Wall, SPACE.com (January 21, 2013)

"A new asteroid-mining company will unveil itself to the world on Tuesday (Jan. 22) and is expected to present an ambitious plan to exploit the resources of deep space.

"The new private spaceflight company, called Deep Space Industries, Inc., will reveal its plans at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) Tuesday at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying in California. The new company is the second audacious project aimed at tapping the myriad riches that asteroids harbor.

"Deep Space seeks to launch 'the world's first fleet of commercial asteroid-prospecting spacecraft,' according to a press advisory the company sent to reporters. 'Deep Space is pursuing an aggressive schedule and plans on prospecting, harvesting and processing asteroids for use in space and to benefit Earth.'..."
I think this makes a lot of sense. Some asteroids are very rich in iron and nickel. Until very recently, the only time we've been able to get these resources was when they fell to Earth:
  • "Iron Meteorites"
    "The Hearts of Long-Vanished Asteroids"
    Geoffrey Notkin, Aerolite Meteorites, geology.com
Aside from technical issues involved in asteroid mining, there's a whole new area of legal issues to sort out:

Dealing With Something New

Legal wrangles many not be a serious problem: provided that lawyers and judges involved understand that asteroids are as much part of our world as is New York City's upper west side.

The reaction of folks who sincerely loathe anything new could be a problem, or at least an annoyance. Folks who take Captain Planet seriously are, I think, likely to get upset when miners threaten the environment on asteroids. Coming from another direction, someone may achieve fleeting fame by declaring that asteroid mining is an offense against God: because asteroids are 'in the heavens.'

Getting a Grip

I hope to spend eternity in Heaven. I'm also about as sure as I can be of anything that I couldn't get to Heaven in a spaceship. There's a pretty good discussion of Heaven in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1023-1029, and that's yet another topic.

At the risk of sounding like one of the Planeteers, I think there's good reason for developing laws that deal with territory, property, and natural resources that aren't on Earth. We don't leave natural law behind when we leave Earth, any more than we escape the more familiar physical laws.

Natural law, ethical principles woven into this creation, is universal; and doesn't change. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1954-1960) Stealing was wrong when flint spear tips were the latest thing in weapons technology, and stealing will be be wrong when asteroid mining is as commonplace as farming is today.

Whether or not someone who takes iron from an asteroid belonging to someone else will be called a claim jumper, the act will be theft: and will be wrong. Defining exactly how ownership of asteroids and other extraterrestrial real estate will probable never be settled 'once and for all,' and that is yet again another topic.

Related posts:

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Taking a Break, Holiday, Leave, Sabbatical, Vacation: Whatever

The last time I changed my schedule for this blog was in October of 2011. I'm not sure that I'll do again soon, but I definitely need a rest.

Life Happens, and a Decision

More accurately, there's quite a bit of my non-writing life coming up next week. I started 'catching up' on next week's posts, when I decided that what I really wanted to do was take some time off.

I didn't catch this year's flu: but am dealing with something like a cold. I could just 'keep on keeping on,' or I could be sensible. I've decided that I need something from this list:
  • Break
    • A pause from doing something (as work)
      (Princeton's WordNet)
  • Holiday
    • Leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure
      (Princeton's WordNet)
  • Leave
    • The period of time during which you are absent from work or duty
      (Princeton's WordNet)
  • Sabbatical
    • A leave usually taken every seventh year
      (Princeton's WordNet)
  • Vacation
    • Leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure
      (Princeton's WordNet)

Candles, a Computer, and a Non-Vacation

What I'm looking forward to next week isn't "leisure," so at least some of my time off won't be any sort of a vacation. The family business, Spiral Light Candle, will be keeping my wife and a majority of my kids busy next week.

I know what they'll be doing, but nobody's told me what it is that I'll be doing: except that it involves a computer. With my background, that doesn't narrow the possibilities nearly as much as you might think, and that's another topic.

What's Ahead

I plan to write tomorrow's post, and Sunday's, and then take a break from this blog at least until a week from tomorrow.

By then I'll have decided whether to go back 'on schedule' here, or take a longer break. There are some art projects that I haven't found time for, so I wouldn't be doing nothing more than sitting at the end of a dock, pretending to fish.

Since it's January in Minnesota, that would be a chilly pastime: even by my standards. That's, you guessed it, yet another topic.

Vaguely-related posts:

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Jesus: Human, But Not Just Human

My last few posts about the Incarnation focused on Jesus as a human being: someone who occupied a particular spot, who learned stories he or his family heard, and whose appearance was fairly ordinary.
Jesus is human: but not just human.

John 1:1-5 and 14 makes that fairly clear: God "made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14) Jesus had knowledge that the rest of us - don't.

"...Not Yet Fifty Years Old..."

Jesus said 'I am God' very clearly: "...before Abraham came to be, I AM." (John 8:58) That comes right after this exchange:
"Jesus answered, 'If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, "He is our God."

"You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word.

"Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it 22 and was glad.[']

"So the Jews said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?' 23 "
(John 8:54-57)
Jesus, the Word made flesh, was "not yet fifty years old" at that point. But Jesus, the Son of God, "was in the beginning with God." (John 1:2) Small wonder that some folks have had trouble, trying to understand how a person could be coeternal with God, and have been born at a particular time, and in a particular place.

Me? I've read Job 38:1-42:6. We've learned a bit about this vast universe since that book was written: but I can no more fit a curb to the Pleiades than Job could. As I've said before: God's God; I'm not.

Jesus: Not Just Human

Jesus is human. He's also God. That gives him a kind of knowledge that nobody else has. Jesus knew, and knows, God the Father as a son knows his father; and Jesus knew what other people were thinking:
"Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, 'Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?
(Mark 2:8)
Sometimes I 'know' what someone else is thinking. More accurately, I can make an educated guess, based on what I know about the person and what's happening at the moment.

What Jesus "immediately knew in his mind" was knowledge, not guesswork:
"...The Son in his human knowledge also showed the divine penetration he had into the secret thoughts of human hearts.107"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 473)

Jesus, Peter, and Denial

Jesus knew he was going to be killed. This alone could have been a reasoned prediction. By that time my Lord had insulted powerful men in Jerusalem, and topped that off by claiming to be God. A person wouldn't have to be divine, to know that going back to Jerusalem would be risky, at best.

What sets Jesus apart is that he also said that he would rise after three days. Human beings who are killed don't do that. We stay dead. Jesus didn't and that's another topic. (March 11, 2012)

Jesus was also remarkably specific about what Peter was going to do:
"He began to teach them that the Son of Man 7 must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days."
(Mark 8:31)

"5 And as they reclined at table and were eating, Jesus said, 'Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.'

"They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one, 'Surely it is not I?'

"He said to them, 'One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish.

"For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, 6 but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.' "(Mark 14:18-21)

"Then, after singing a hymn, 9 they went out to the Mount of Olives.

"Then Jesus said to them, 'All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be dispersed."

"But after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.'

"Peter said to him, 'Even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be.'

"Then Jesus said to him, 'Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.' "
(Mark 14:26-30)

Death and Beyond

Not long after that, Peter denied that he knew Jesus. Three times. (Luke 22:56-62) Jesus was publicly executed, and buried in a borrowed tomb: and then stopped being dead. (March 16:6)

That got the surviving disciples' attention. One of my favorite bits from the Bible is what happened after Jesus left:
"When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

"While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.

"They said, 'Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.' "
(Acts 1:9-11)
Two thousand years later, that's still a good question - or implied advice. Jesus left us with orders and a promise. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Details of how we carry out those orders changes as the centuries roll by, but our basic instructions haven't:

On Standby Alert for Two Millennia

Writing and publishing 'End Time Bible prophecies' is a sort of cottage industry here in America.

I take God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, very seriously: as well as the Last Judgment. What I think of wannabe prophets is another matter:
I don't see a point in trying to prognosticate when the Son of God will come back. We've got our instructions, and were placed on standby alert about two thousand years ago. From one point of view, that's a very long wait. From another, it's a tiny fraction of the time humanity's been around - and that's another topic or two.

Jesus doesn't seem to think we need to know God's timetable. That's okay by me:
"'But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.

"It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.

"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.

"May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.

"What I say to you, I say to all: "Watch!" ' "
(Mark 13:32-37)

"5 He answered them, 'It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.

"6 But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'

"When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight."
(Acts 1:7-9)
Related posts:

Monday, January 21, 2013

"...Efficient Use - Not Abuse - of Natural Resources..."

The notion that Christianity is bad for the environment has been remarkably durable. Apart from wishful thinking on the part of ardent secularists, I think Victorian-era attitudes got confused with Christian teachings: and that's another topic. (October 29, 2012)

I've been taking my time with section 50 of "Caritas in Veritate," where Benedict XVI discusses responsible stewardship over nature. This is the sort of 'environmentalism' I can take seriously: which is something of a relief, since I developed 'environmental awareness' in the '60s: and never discarded it.

I've had to fine-tune what I think about environmental issues, as I learn more about what the Church teaches. Mostly, it's been a matter of my understanding more clearly why it's important to leave something for the next generation.

"That Covenant Between Human Beings and the Environment"

There's a lot going on in this excerpt:
"...This means being committed to making joint decisions 'after pondering responsibly the road to be taken, decisions aimed at strengthening that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying'[120]...."
("Caritas in Veritate," 50)
Benedict XVI is writing about "our grave duty to hand the earth on to future generations." It's a bit of a challenge, since we're expected to leave humanity's home in good working order when we're through: and preferably in better shape than we found it.

That inner quote, starting with "after pondering," is from something the Pope wrote for the World Day of Peace, 2008:
"...If the protection of the environment involves costs, they should be justly distributed, taking due account of the different levels of development of various countries and the need for solidarity with future generations. Prudence does not mean failing to accept responsibilities and postponing decisions; it means being committed to making joint decisions after pondering responsibly the road to be taken, decisions aimed at strengthening that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying...."
("Message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace 2008")
He had been saying that humanity is a family, that our home is "the earth," and that we're responsible for what we do with our home.

Catholics are expected to take responsibility very seriously: that's one stereotype that's not far from the truth, and that's yet another topic.

I'm not entirely sure what "that covenant between human beings and the environment" is. It may be connected with our being made "in the image of God." I want to think about that some more - and do a bit of research.

Natural Resources, Efficiency, and Values

"... One of the greatest challenges facing the economy is to achieve the most efficient use - not abuse - of natural resources, based on a realization that the notion of 'efficiency' is not value-free."
("Message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace 2008")
I'm about as sure as I can be that the responsibility of preparing a world for future generations does not mean keeping everything the way it is now. This world is designed to change, to be in a "state of journeying" - - - And that's yet again another topic.

More posts about "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth)
"Caritas in Veritate"

More:
Related posts:

Sunday, January 20, 2013

'Too Many' People?

I don't think 'too many' people are alive today. Even if I did, deciding who should go would involve some awkward decisions: and serious ethical problems.

Change Happens

A half-century back, 'serious thinkers' seemed convinced that nothing would stop the post-WWII baby boom: except the the famines, plagues, and general unpleasantness attendant on a smorgasbord of predicted disasters. I've posted about these secular analogs to 'End Time Bible prophecies', mostly in another blog:
I suppose I could fret about 'overpopulation' here in Minnesota.

A few decades back, for example, I returned to a place in Minnesota's lake country. I remembered it as a nice, secluded area. It still is, compared to the near north side of Minneapolis: but quite a few folks had built houses among the trees. I can't blame them. It's still a nice place, but not quite so empty.

That's a fairly trivial change. Others are anything but insignificant.

Colonial empires started unraveling during the 20th century. The process could be going more smoothly. Again, I've been over that before, in another blog:
I'm concerned about how some change is happening, but I'm not distressed that change happens. We live in a creation that's supposed to be changing. (January 18, 2012)

Food Shortages

Food shortages of one sort or another are nothing new:
Folks in some parts of the world still have trouble getting food: but I am quite certain that the problem isn't that there are 'too many' people.

Not long ago, folks in one part of Africa got tired of being starved by their national leadership. I've posted about economics, ethnicity, and ethics before:

'Overpopulation' and Daniel Boone

What's 'overpopulated' and what isn't depends partly on individual preferences. Daniel Boone apparently didn't actually move every time he saw smoke from a neighbor's chimney. On the other hand, but I'm pretty sure that he'd have felt claustrophobic in today's lower east side of Manhattan. (Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (March 5, 2010))

I live in small town in central Minnesota. I've lived in downtown San Francisco, and Dunseith, North Dakota. San Francisco had an enormously larger population than Dunseith, and there were a whole lot more of us on each acre in the city. But I don't think San Francisco is 'overpopulated.'

It helps that San Francisco is designed a little differently than rural towns. The part I lived in was built up between a half-dozen and ten levels above ground, plus a few below.

Globally, I'm pretty sure we could feed about a thousand times as many people as are alive today: using agricultural technology from the 1970s. Or, we're about one thousand times over the 'carrying capacity' for our species: and will die horribly in about a month. (October 31, 2011)

Producing that much food won't happen any time soon: particularly for folks who are still catching up on what's happened after the Industrial Revolution. And that's another topic.

Seven Billion Individuals

Today's world has problems: but having 'too many' people isn't one of them. Convincing some of us that it's okay for folks to enjoy freedom is an issue - and yet another topic:
I think human beings are, or can be, rational creatures. What each of does with our minds is a matter of individual differences, opportunities, and free will.

Those individual differences make each of us unique - and give each of us our own sort of opportunity to help our neighbors.

One reason I'm cautiously optimistic about what's ahead is that we have never had so many folks alive at the same time: and able to communicate with each other more easily than ever before.

What we do with that opportunity - is up to each of us.

Individuality and 1 Corinthians 12

Here's part of what got me started on today's post. It's today's second Bible reading:
"3 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;

"there are different forms of service but the same Lord;

"there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.

"To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.

"To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit;

"to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit;

"to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.

"But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes. "
(1 Corinthians 12:4-11)
Finally, a disclaimer I make once in a while: I've got the full teaching authority of "some guy with a blog." I don't speak for the Catholic Church.

Related posts:

Friday, January 18, 2013

Technology, Freedom, and 'Love Your Neighbor'

"Knowledge is power: and I like power:" Cobra Bubbles had that line, in "Stitch! The Movie." It's one of my favorite movie quotes. What each of us does with the power we have: that's where ethics and free will come it.

I decided that this week's 'in the news' post would focus on technology, with a quick look at some folks putting 'love your neighbor' into practice:

Neighbors, Love, and Expectations

Catholics are told to:
We're also told that we're able to make reasoned decisions: and expected act as if that 'love God, love your neighbor' thing matters. Making reasoned decisions isn't easy, since we deal with original sin: which isn't the same as believing that human beings are damned, doomed, and disgusting. I've been over that before:
In our current state, emotions get in the way of straight thinking. Emotions aren't bad, they're part of being human. But we're expected to think, as well as feel:

1. Dealing with Dangerous Technology

"Obama-backed gun bills considered a long shot in Congress"
Matt Smith, CNN (January 17, 2013)

"Despite supporters' hopes that this time it's different, President Barack Obama's new call for restricting some semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines will face deeply entrenched resistance in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and could be a long shot even in the Democratic-led Senate...."
These "gun bills" benefit from what happened in Connecticut recently. Oddly, I haven't run into impassioned demands that public schools, or automobiles, be banned: although both were involved in the killings.

I strongly suspect that we aren't hearing about "car crimes" because too many folks in America own cars, and went through the experience we call 'getting an education.' in government schools: and that's another topic.

What some folks say about guns suggests, strongly, that hoplophobia is real. The term probably isn't in your dictionary: partly because it's fairly new; partly, I think, because a remarkable number of America's 'better sort' are scared silly of weapons:
"Hoplophobia"
Wikipedia

"Hoplophobia is a pejorative[1] neologism originally coined to describe an 'irrational aversion to weapons, as opposed to justified apprehension about those who may wield them.'[2] ..."

Power, Censorship, and 'Gun Control'

I don't mind folks having individual power, even if it's the sort of power that comes from knowing how to technology. That's why I'm not afraid of people owning and using:
  • Guns
  • Substances like
    • LP gas
    • Ammonium nitrate1
    • Anhydrous ammonia1
  • Printing presses
  • Fax machines
  • Computers
    (Another War-on-Terror Blog (June 27, 2008))
I'm much more concerned about folks who want to 'protect' us by controlling who gets to use technology. What advocates of gun control and censorship have in common is a desire to control what 'those other people' do. Whether it's 'for our own good,' or a conscious desire to maintain control over subjects: I value individual freedom too much to approve.

Guns, Internet Access, and Public Safety

A paragraph or so ago I said that I'm not afraid of people having the power that comes from owning and using technology. That's not entirely true.

I'm not afraid of what most people are likely to do with individual freedom. Some folks have demonstrated that they can't be trusted with:
  • Guns
  • Investments
  • Internet access
I think it's reasonable to keep folks like Bernard Madoff from running a wealth management company. But it doesn't follow that all wealth management companies are run by swindlers.

Internet access is increasingly important. Today's information technology, and social structures folks are developing, breaks the near-monopoly that traditional information gatekeepers had. That scares folks who like the status quo, and I've been over this before:
I most certainly do not want a federal agency deciding who is allowed to post information online, and who is allowed to read it. (November 15, 2010) On the other hand, I recognize that some folks have demonstrated that they can't be trusted with information technology. Child molesters are a notorious example. That's why I don't have much of a problem with carefully-defined restrictions on the freedom of folks who have behaved badly:
And yes, I know about the pedophile priests. Moving on.

Technology and Decisions

I think that the multiple murders in Connecticut before Christmas were tragic, and avoidable.

I also think that technology is potentially dangerous: all technology. For example, a simple hammer can do serious damage to my thumb if I miss the nail I'm trying to pound into place.

Some tech is particularly apt to do damage. That's why we have rules about how and where I can get LP gas cylinders filled. That stuff's dangerous.

I could, by tampering with the safety mechanism in an LP gas cylinder's valve, set off an explosion that would destroy my house, severely damage my neighbor's homes, and kill my entire family.

I won't, because I know that doing so would be wrong: as well as illegal.

I also won't push for a ban on LP gas sales, or start a grass-roots effort to abolish outdoor gas grills: even though killers in the Columbia school murders carried propane bombs. That's because I think that human beings are able to use our reason and free will: and decide that we won't act on some crazy impulse.

Instead, here's some common-sense advice:

"Grilling Safety Tips - Part 1"

nfpadotorg, YouTube (June 1, 2009)
video, 2:52

More:
  • "Grilling"
    National Fire Protection Association
Getting back to mass murder and public safety, I think it's a mistake to feel that some specific technology is responsible for those crimes. Arguably, someone who decides to shoot his mother and a few dozen other folks probably isn't good at making decisions. Such a person almost certainly should be restrained: for his own well-being, as well as for the safety of others.

But, like anything involving human beings, 'it ain't easy.'

I remember the afterglow of the 'good old days' dramatized in "The Snake Pit." The impulse to 'lock up the loonies,' like the impulse to abolish guns, might result in unintended consequences.

2. Putting "Love Your Neighbor" Into Practice

"Catholic hospital in Jordan struggles to help Syrian refugees"
Estefania Aguirre, CNA/EWTN News (January 17, 2013)

"A Jordanian Catholic hospital is appealing for more money to help with the growing influx of Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in their homeland.

" 'What we're asking for is just to help us help others,' said Sister Alessandra Fumagalli, at a Catholic Near East Welfare Association gathering on Jan. 16 at the Vatican.

" 'It's really an emergency,' she added.

"Sr. Fumagalli made her remarks at the headquarters of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, speaking alongside Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri and the Archbishop of Ottawa, Terrence Prendergast...."
Aside from the 'feel good' angle, I think this news item is a good example of what happens when Catholics are allowed to practice our faith. We're obligated love our neighbors: and act as if that attitude means something. I've written about that now and again:

3. BEAM in Orbit: For Starters


(Bigelow Aerospace, via Space.com, used w/o permission)
"Artist's conception of the private-sector supplied Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to be launched around the summer of 2015...."
"Inside NASA's Deal for an Inflatable Space Station Room"
Leonard David, Space Insider, Space.com(January 16, 2013)

"A new deal between NASA and a commercial spaceflight company to add a privately built module to the International Space Station could lead to future uses of the novel space technology beyond low-Earth orbit, space agency and company officials say.

"NASA will pay $17.8 million to Bigelow Aerospace of North Las Vegas to build an inflatable module, test it and prep it for flight. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is to be launched around the summer of 2015.

"The space agency and Bigelow officials provided details of the contract in a Las Vegas briefing today (Jan. 16)...."
The article focuses on habitat technologies Bigelow Aerospace has been developing, how they're marketing BEAM, and how similar inflatable modules may be used as we begin traveling to the Moon and Mars. I think it's likely that BEAM and similar structures will be the Quonset huts of the 21st century.

Science, Technology, and Being Human

I don't see why God would give us brains, unless we were expected to use them. Learning about this astonishing creation, and doing something with it, are an important part of being human. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2293)

Like anything else we do, ethics apply to scientific research. (Catechism, 2292-2295) The idea that at least some folks are "beyond good and evil" may seem attractive, but that's not how things work. (December 17, 2012; March 9, 2012)

This vast universe is filled with wonders: Including, we learned recently, billions of planets somewhat like Earth in our home galaxy. (January 11, 2013)

Closer to home, a physicist is designing a laboratory test for a sort of prototype warp drive. (Apathetic Lemming of the North (November 30, 2012))

We live in exciting times.

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Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.