1. 'Expelled' ripped off Harvard's 'Inner Life of the Cell' animation

Comment #159805 by commonhumanity on April 13, 2008 at 7:23 am

< blockquote >Comment #159280 by commonhumanity,

Thanks. I really enjoyed that.

I teach a class that tries to integrate visual art and media technology with other subjects such as history, geography, language, and science.

Could I use your poem for my class?
< /blockquote >

Thank YOU, Frankus. I would be honored for you to use my poem, "Arts and Sciences: Finding Design," for your class (which sounds like a winner, by the way).

Perhaps my most interesting adventure with science poems on the internet:
A medical school professor at U. of Manitoba, Winnipeg, saw my poem, "What We Learn In Medical School," and distributed it to her students in cadaver classes! She also read it at the ceremony celebrating the donation of bodies to the medical school. Is that cool or what?

www.people.eku.edu/suttond Click on "evolution presentation" to see more arts/ science/ evolution, etc. poems.

EDIT: oh dear, I've blown my cover. You can see I'm a poet and not a scientist/ tech person by the way I goofed the blockquote thing. I was trying to answer comment 159446 by Frankus 1122 (#64 on this thread)

2. 'Expelled' ripped off Harvard's 'Inner Life of the Cell' animation

Comment #159280 by commonhumanity on April 11, 2008 at 8:37 pm

Did anyone notice the phenomenal beauty of the David Bolinksy animations? The almost uncanny connection of the arts and sciences? His Keatsian "Beauty is truth, truth beauty. That is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know"?
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/147
Well, I've had the exact same response myself, and have written a few words on the subject, if anyone might be interested.[You'll recognize RD's splendid phrase "Dappled patterns...fawn" from "Unweaving the Rainbow."]

ARTS AND SCIENCES: FINDING DESIGN

The art of science, the science of art:
both to perceive and to mastermind
these scattered patterns we call design.
Mapping the paths we've traveled thus far
to see how they converge on this spot.
Seeing ways of saying it back

in a splendid rendering of the natural world.
Heightened sensitivity,
detecting connections, solving problems,
coruscating beams of music
to keep us in tune with the universe.

Constant decoding of signs, insight,
mind's eye dilated to such a point,
we see more than we've ever seen.
Dappled patterns on the woodland floor
reflected in the pelage of a fawn.

The poet, the scientist, the artist
conditioned to expect more.
Everyday life a deep study,
developing relationships.
Lives bent towards exploration,

seeking to meet in that medium where
disparate ideas intersect
in graphic collusion. Collision, a spark.
Message of precedent, beauty of new
that had not struck our minds before.

3. Eugenie Scott on Intelligent Design and Young Earth Creationism

Comment #84116 by commonhumanity on November 1, 2007 at 7:44 am

Hindus are not indoctrinated early in life that humanity was specifically created by god (or whatever.) What we are taught is that all living beings are a manifestation of the creative power of the universe and that all living things are related -- in the sense that they have a spark of the divine. So for an atheistic Hindu like me, it was never a struggle for me to understand the inherent logic of Darwinian evolution, nor did I have to struggle in accepting the findings of modern cosmology. This is distinctly different for those who are taught the myths of the Abrahamic faiths.

Thank you, Atanu Dey, for your excellent first post - welcome! Your thought here reminded me of a poem I wrote earlier. In the South here in the USA, we use the term "Kissing Cousin Kin" to designate the people we deem close enough to hug and kiss when we see them. Of course, we hug and kiss just about everybody, so it works out nicely that we are all kin! <3
THESE MY KISSING COUSIN KIN

Open the family scrapbook to find
DNA as paradigm
shaping our place in the scheme of things,
tracing back the trail we've come,

sibling to humans all over the globe,
and to all humans down through time:
Black, pale, ruddy, brown. . .
including Jesus and Attila the Hun.

First cousin to the apes and chimps.
Second cousin to reptiles and birds,
insects, spiders, fish, and worms.
Third cousin to plants and fungi,

protozoan, bacterium.
Kissin' cousins was the term
we used for these more distant ones.
We gather around the Thanksgiving Table

of Elements we descended from,
these my kissing cousin kin,
this our extended family,
extending further than we'd ever dreamed.
----Dorothy Sutton
www.people.eku.edu/suttond/

4. Talking Action Figure Jesus

Comment #73519 by commonhumanity on September 25, 2007 at 7:23 am

@commonhumanity

Love the poem - brilliant stuff.

Thank you, IceFreak! I'm glad you liked "God Will Not Be Available." I can relate my honest feelings and thoughts in poetry, knowing that the awake and aware, the thinking people will understand the nuances. I'm a native Kentuckian (a conservative state), and came back here to teach, so I have to tread carefully.

Richard Dawkins read one of my Darwin poems when he was inducted into The Royal Society. That was one of the proudest moments of my life. I truly think he is the best educated person I have ever encountered. He knows science, and so much, much more beyond that. His knowledge of literature amazes me.

I must compliment the contributors to this thread - you people are extremely intelligent and so very funny! [music] "You are my sunshine ... you make me happy when skies are gray..."

5. Talking Action Figure Jesus

Comment #73348 by commonhumanity on September 24, 2007 at 8:09 pm

I wrote this poem about an earlier (and less costly) doll, created by someone in Boca Raton, Florida. The patterns were cut out in New York, and the rag dolls stuffed in California. Evidently it didn't go over too well, as I never heard any more about it even though they planned to release a "God doll" the next year.

GOD WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE

New York? They've cut him out there.
In California he's filled with lightweight
fluff. When he's all sewed up,
you paint on him any face you like.
So many people unaware

that he exists--for only $12.95!
God will not be available until next year,
but Jesus can be yours now by calling
1-800-227-8702. He's beautiful,
twelve inches tall, with crystal blue eyes.

For children, the elderly, the infirm.
Hard to hug air, said his creator
of Boca Raton. Now you can't deny
he's real. You'll go, "Oh, look, there's Jesus!"
when you see him across the room.

6. Crisis of faith in first secular school

Comment #72840 by commonhumanity on September 23, 2007 at 7:12 am

A little off topic, but regarding what is taught in U.S. schools (which are supposed to be secular). Many texts and teachers still use B.C. and A.D. to measure time.

This morning a great victory! Garrison Keillor used B.C.E. in his "The Writer's Almanac," an online message I receive each day. (You can subscribe to it also. It tells the birthdays of people with substance, character, and talent such as Galileo and Shakespeare -- and today John Coltrane and Ray Charles).

Keillor had always used B.C. and A.D., and each time, I would email my plea that they bring it up to date [pun intended] to match the rest of the people in the world.

Maybe some of you wrote also: Finally, victory!

Here is my grateful email back to Keillor and to American Public Media, who sponsors the program:

The Writer's Almanac 23 Sept. '07: It's the birthday of the tragic poet Euripides, born near Athens in 480 B.C.E.

Thank you, thank you for this recognition that the majority of the people in the world do not measure time from a "Christ" or "Year of our Lord" perspective. "Common Era" is something we all have in common. Thank you, thank you!
Dorothy SuttonRichmond, KY (public radio station WEKU-FM)

7. Review of 'Growing Up in the Universe' DVDs

Comment #50208 by commonhumanity on June 15, 2007 at 5:30 pm

I love this DVD. Love that cute grin when the wrecking ball almost bonks him, and he knows it will not, knows his knowledge of physics will save him from what looks like certain death.

Love his discussion of coincidence, illustrated by the young man left standing, but not because he is any smarter or more astute or more of a "prophet" than the others, but just by chance he happened to have been placed in the pool of survivors. I remind myself of that whenever I [mistakenly] bewail my wretched fate. Remind myself that I should not feel guilt. (After all, it was just coincidence the student and I backed out across from each other, did not see each other, bammed the heck out of each other's cars.)

I believe Richard Dawkins is far and away the best creative non-fiction writer alive today, bar none. Being an English professor, I am eligible to nominate for the Nobel Prize in Literature which I happily do each spring for the awards in October. Guess I need to put that under his writing instead of under his DVD, but what the hey [hay?], he's a splendid teacher also, as you saw here so clearly.
Dorothy Sutton
Eastern Kentucky University

8. Statement of Concern about Impact of AIG's Creation 'Museum'

Comment #40931 by commonhumanity on May 15, 2007 at 8:11 am

Some of the students and professors from Eastern Kentucky University (where I teach English) are going up to protest. I hope U. of Kentucky and others will swell the crowd.

If I go, my sign will read, "Grandmothers for Real Science." (Grandmothers are supposed to behave themselves, be religious, you know.)

I'm a native Kentuckian, and I'm embarrassed. We're hoping people will say "near Cincinnati" (not Kentucky)when you speak of it.

p. s. We call it "The Fred and Wilma Flintstone Museum" (It has dinosaurs and people living at the same time); also the "Science Fiction Museum," since their science is fiction; however, that might be misleading!

9. Richard Dawkins in the Time 100

Comment #37123 by commonhumanity on May 3, 2007 at 12:36 pm

CONGRATULATIONS, Richard!
I voted for you.

Yes, Dawkins found a "Pearl of Great Price" in Darwin. Yes, we have all found a pearl of great price in Dawkins.
Time Magazine, please, let's not cast these two great gems before the swine. [I did NOT say "Behe." You have to use your own imagination.]
Your Kentucky friend,
Dot

10. Growing Up in the Universe: 2-Disc DVD Set

Comment #36884 by commonhumanity on May 2, 2007 at 4:16 pm

Received my three copies today (ordered one for self and one for each set of grandkids - I'm a poet and English teacher and they need a BALANCED set of values!)
I've been watching - they're superb. I would say for all ages.
Dorothy (How could anyone watch Richard's pleasant demeanor and the caressing of that sweet baby's head and think that he is anything but the kind, gentle, generous, loving person that he is.)

11. Shout your doubt out loud, my fellow unbelievers

Comment #34805 by commonhumanity on April 25, 2007 at 10:01 am

Just read the original article,
loved Matthew's Passion. (Or should I say "Saint Matthew's Passion"?)
DMS (Kentucky)

12. Pope abolishes limbo

Comment #34098 by commonhumanity on April 23, 2007 at 8:03 am

>>>50. Comment #34077 by Suffolk Blue on April 23, 2007 at 6:28 am Well, that's a relief! I presume the new rules will be applied retrospectively and all those unbaptised babies who went to limbo in the intervening millennia will now get their rightful place in heaven.>>>

Wait a minute, Suffolk Blue! Why would anyone want to go to heaven instead of to that beautiful little piazza in Florence that someone posted a picture of a few posts ago. Florence for me, Bud -- anytime!! (or Kentucky in the springtime, which is where I am right now)

13. The Empty Wager

Comment #32960 by commonhumanity on April 18, 2007 at 8:43 pm

My French teacher first introduced me to Pascal's Wager. She said she believed because of it. The other students said they did also.

I saw through it immediately (though I had been an extremely religious Southern Baptist in my youth). Pascal said if there is no God, you have lost nothing by saying you believe. His statement is untrue. I would have lost my most valuable possesion (next to life itself) if I had violated my integrity, if I had lied to myself and others. I am unable to believe in God without evidence, and I will not, cannot say that I believe when I do not.
Dorothy Sutton

14. New Primate Species Found In 42 Million-year-old Texas Fossils

Comment #32241 by commonhumanity on April 16, 2007 at 10:46 am

>>>(by the way, can someone help? I previewed this before submitting, and noticed that the time given was 3 hours previous... I'm on the US east coast at about 12:05 pm and it said 9:05 am...)<<<

I think it's because Josh is in California.