seven brief physics lessons

http://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2015/oct/09/seven-brief-lessons-physics-black-holes-podcast

http://www.sevenbrieflessons.com/

on emergence ...

"We live in an emergent universe, in which the interaction between its parts, be they people or electrons, gives rise to emergent collective behaviors that are different from those of the parts separately and are generally unpredictable from knowledge only of those parts and their interaction. To understand this emergent universe, scientists are replacing the traditional reductionist approach, with its focus on using the individual components as basic building blocks, by an emergent perspective, in which the focus is on characterizing collective emergent behavior and the search for the collective organizing concepts and principles that bring it about"

a reminder - mindfulness training and the neuroscience supporting it

The secular practice of mindfulness training or meditation, and mindfulness based cognitive therapy has been gaining momentum in the mainstream for a while now... This google-tech-talk describing mindfulness training is old, but pretty useful, and it presents the (then preliminary) neuroscience supporting the practice nicely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peA6vy0D5Bg (an hour long google tech-talk by Matthieu Ricard)

Ricard is a buddhist monk who earned his PhD in molecular genetics at the Pasteur Institute before turning his attention to the practice and study of Tibetan Buddhism -- and worth suffering those opening jokes for.
 

(I've posted on him and this subject before - http://jaysenn.blogspot.com/2007/06/mindtraining.html)  

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here's more:

• http://www.diydharma.org/science-meditation-mattieu-ricard
• http://www.diydharma.org/audio/by/album/happiness
• http://www.matthieuricard.org/en/
• http://www.matthieuricard.org/en/medias/categories/meditation-and-mind-training

mean world syndrome

Mean World Syndrome is a phenomenon where the violence-related content of mass media convinces viewers that the world is more dangerous than it actually is, and prompts a desire for more protection than is warranted by any actual threat.

Tim Wu, on the monopolization of the Internet, and other things

Recently caught a conversation with Tim Wu, originator of the phrase 'net neutrality', and author of The Master Switch, on the monopolization of the Internet, and other things : interview with TimWu on SearchEnginePodcast

Listen here : http://podcasts.tvo.org/searchengine/audio/800868_48k.mp3

The book sounds important - theres a good review here: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/reviews/2010/12/ars-book-review-the-master-switch-by-tim-wu.ars

Some nice bits on how older technologies had open phases too, before they were closed - as we, the consumers, brought about monopolists and consumptive systems, in tandem with emerging parasitic business ecosystems.

And whether things could be different this time around ..

Whether, if we were aware of the systems and information we 'choose' for ourselves; we could keep it open, and therefore, game-changing

Definitely, some things for us cyber-optimists to think about .

wiki notes are accumulating here: http://jaysen.wikispaces.com/TimWuOnSearchEngine

Julian Assange speech at WikiLeaks Public Meeting in Melbourne

"We support a cause that is no more radical a proposition than that the citizenry has a right to scrutinise the state."


tagged #opengov #video #av #mediachannel #political #freeculture #transparency #gov, but thats just me.