The irresistible epistemology of the visual false negative.

This is one photograph of a spore print, taken of mushroom specimens left for hours on a sheet of black paper and a sheet of white paper:

See the haze of white spores on the black paper? If you think about it, you know that there must be similar patterns of spores on the white paper, too, even though you can't see them. And really, even though you know they must be there, you can clearly see that there's nothing there.

The things we do...

I made a Venn diagram:

Yum!

"What if knowledge itself were delicious?"

-Roland Barthes

Euclid & Maxwell (per Millay & Einstein, respectively)

Euclid alone has looked on Beauty bare.

Let all who prate of Beauty hold their peace,

And lay them prone upon the earth and cease

To ponder on themselves, the while they stare

At nothing, intricately drawn nowhere

In shapes of shifting lineage; let geese

Gabble and hiss, but heroes seek release

From dusty bondage into luminous air.

O blinding hour, O holy, terrible day,

When first the shaft into his vision shone

Of light anatomized! Euclid alone

Has looked on Beauty bare. Fortunate they

Who, though once only and then but far away,

Have heard her massive sandal set on stone.

- Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1923

Imagine [Maxwell]'s feelings when the differential equations he had formulated proved to him that electromagnetic fields spread in the form of polarised waves, and at the speed of light! To few men in the world has such an experience been vouchsafed...

- Albert Einstein, 1940

In which your correspondent learns a valuable lesson.

When I took MIT's Physics Junior Lab, we did about seven or eight experiments each semester. However, we were required to submit, each semester, only one written report. For each of the the remainder of the experiments, we underwent an oral examination. (We had to bring our lab notebooks to the oral exam, and sometimes they would be examined, but we did not have to write a report.)

My lab partner and I were at the oral examination for the experiment on plasma physics. Our professor asked me to define the Langmuir length (also called the Langmuir distance). I started in on what was, I'm afraid, a lengthy explanation, which I suppose I thought would show off my knowledge of the subject.

Our (famous and distinguished) professor interrupted me.

"No, not like that," he said. "That's not the kind of answer I want. Here's the kind of answer I want. Imagine you've had dinner with your girlfriend. You've had a little wine. Now you're in bed. She asks you, 'say, what's the Langmuir length?' What you want to do is give her the briefest possible answer, and then fuck. That's the kind of answer I want. Now, try again. What's the Langmuir length?"

I provided a one-sentence answer; he approved; we went on.

same diff?

Science is the search for beauty; art is the search for truth.

convergence of story, Buddhism, and Improv

I am, right now, deep in thought developing a framework of persuasive messages for a large national non profit; preparing a presentation on the use of narrative intelligence and anecdote for sharing knowledge; reviewing notes from a lecture series I recently attended on Buddhism, therapy, and the ordinary; and in the middle of a difficult course of Improv. At last night's Improv class, all three paths of thoughts converged upon and reinforced each other. The lessons and their applications:

* The importance of sharing knowledge. We were taught that when your scene partner offers you the information required to frame a story - who, what, where, and emotional context - your partner "is giving you the gift of who you are."
What a delightful analogy to the importance of sharing a personal reflection early in conversation! This is especially important to presenters: when you tell the audience why you are there and why you care about your issue, they can truly reflect on why they are present and listening.

* "It's not about creativity; it's about connectivity."
This is my new mantra for overcoming resistance to the important idea of sharing anecdote and story for enabling trust and personal connection. Don't hesitate to share your story because you don't think it meets Disney or HBO standards. You don't have to be a creative genius; you can enjoy being authentic and sharing your passion.

* "You make it easy on someone by giving them clear information."
Meaning, well, everything, but especially: if you want to help someone take the next step, be clear and benevolently strategic in the information you share.

* "Embrace the ordinariness of your plight in each scene." And, "You don't want to solve your problems, you want to have your problems."
Mark Epstein, a psychotherapist who integrates Buddhism into his practice (and has written several books), spoke about rejecting the notion of the ordinary as nothing is happening. Only then can one fully live in the present. Mark talked about "The adventure of enduring possibility: if you are in the moment, you do not know what the next moment will be." The idea of giving up control is what I am finding so appealing (and frankly, so difficult) about Improv. My Improv teacher also instructed us to:

* "Give up control and play!"
Mark defined anxiety as "attempting to make the future known." He stressed, "Become that in the moment," and summarized the basic teaching of the Buddha as, "we take ourselves too seriously."