#blunt science

[jgcandela]

Blunt Science....you are mistaken.

[thewriterkb]

Do you find it important to surround yourself with likeminded people in terms of science and/or religion by extension? Are your friends well (i.e. tertiary) educated? Thanks!

I think with this situation it’s less a case of finding it important to surround myself with like minded folk, but more a case of it becoming a natural progression towards that. Lets face it, if you and a person have some serious differences with important topics, chances are you won’t be compatible.

The other thing that I always see, is that you can get some “educated” people who are far from clever, and uneducated ones that are geniuses. University does not automatically = smart (especially not street/culturally smart!). 

So I guess what it tends to come down to is a mixture of open mindedness and a logical mind. These people are certainly important to me, and important to society as a whole.

- Konner

[thewriterkb]

What is the string theory? Not in detail but the general idea? your blog is awesome btw :)

It has taken me an awfully long time to reply, so you’re probably thinking, wow this response will be amazing!

It won’t be….

I started writing a good answer, 1 paragraph, 2 paragraph, 3 paragraphs later it was nonsense and too long. I couldn’t get a good comprehensive explanation.

So you know what would be better? Michio Kaku is pretty much the man behind string theory. He made the equation, he made it popularised. 

So lets ask him! Here’s a video where he sums it up nicely in a solid 4 minutes.

One thing I will say is this:

There’s things in science that we are quite far from having an understanding of. Not necessarily in the technological aspect, but more in the fact that humans can only fully understand concepts that are relative to them. Quantum Mechanics for example, there’s some weird stuff that goes on at that level that is entirely normal in that context. But in the human context? We can’t even comprehend it. 

What I mean by this, is that we make equations that fit experimental data and previous knowledge. String theory is no exception, it’s something that fits. Is it something that makes sense? God, no. Not by any means. If you’re genuinely interested in it, for a bit of perspective you should trawl Youtube and see how all these very smart people struggle to comprehend these concepts as well. 

I hope this helps! And sorry I couldn’t muster a better answer! Sadly, that’s all part of the game that is science and i’m not going to pretend I can explain or comprehend it better than the man that made it.

Thanks a lot for the support,

- Konner

[thewriterkb]

do you have a good documentary you could share one on evolution and another on climate change?

norealllywhy

There is definitely a couple big favourites of mine.

Evolution:

To be honest if you actually want to learn about evolution as opposed to be entertained by a good documentary, just get on to Youtube and search around. It’s also good doing that because you can take a look at some of the arguments against evolution, whilst then looking at some of the scientific explanation videos and you can see how all evolution doubts truly have been answered.

But for a very good documentary on evolution, the best would be “The greatest show on earth” by Richard Dawkins. The documentary is based off his book and while I know a lot of people aren’t fond of Richard Dawkins for some very valid reasons I’m sure, he is an incredible biologist and he explains science things very thoughtfully. Here is the link

Climate Change:

There’s truly a million to choose from, but here’s a couple of what I think is the best.

The 11th Hour - Narrated by Leonardo di Caprio, it’s very broad, comprehensive and straight to the point.

Chasing Ice - Capturing images and documentation of the effect global warming has on the Arctic.

The Age of stupid - Bit more light hearted, set in 2055 after the world has been torn apart by climate change.

It’s important to remember that climate change doesn’t just entail melting of polar ice caps, but also the destruction of biodiversity, pollution of water etc, wastage of resources, indestructible plastics and other rubbish. So pop on to Youtube and look up other issues pertaining to climate change too.

Thanks for the message,

- Konner

Oh and just a little footnote if you didn’t see. Strange biology mentioned “your inner Fish and “Walking with Monsters” In the evolution category. 

[thewriterkb]

Send me your questions!

Hello to all followers, new and old.

Blunt science has grown at an amazing rate, but the next goal for this blog is to make it more interactive.

So I would like to say please feel free to send me through any of your science related questions, with no question being too simple or too bold. I will do my best to answer and will either answer privately or make a post about it.

Also as a side note, if you have any articles or other stuff you might have written yourself or found elsewhere, please submit them to me so I can share with the rest of the followers.

Thanks for all your support,

Konner

[thewriterkb]

Producing cross-racial empathy with virtual reality.

Researchers are using virtual reality to get people to slip into a different identity to assist with overcoming biases.

Implicit Association Tests (IAT) were taken before and after various illusions, with participants achieving higher egalitarianism after the tests. 

These tests were also studied across the entire gamut of colours in the human race; producing similar results. 

A) The Rubber Hand Illusion: A trick used to convince the brain that the fake hand is actually the real one.

B) The Enfacement Illusion: A trick used that strokes the face of the subject, whilst simultaneously watching a video of a different race having their face stroked.

C) [i]: Immersive Virtual Reality subject. (ii) Example of Immersive Virtual Reality.

(Image and information take from PopSci, full article here)

[thewriterkb]

An excerpt from Time Magazines 10 Questions: Neil deGrasse Tyson.

(Time)