Kismet Arts Tangent

The Age of the Infovore .Succeeding in the Information Economy By Cowen, Tyler (Book – 2010)

Summary: Tyler Cowen makes his case about how “nerds” rule the world… at least the world of information technology. He discusses the particular “neurodiverse” tendencies of people with Asperger’s and notes the famous scientists and authors in history with this mild form of autism. This syndrome gives the autist more focus and visual skills in a way so advantageous, they will be the leaders of the future of rapidly evolving technology.

Review: Cowen talks about Buddhist’s meditative powers to alter their neuro-structures and about Holmes’ brilliant deductive skills but poor social skills. This book, though short and not very technical, describes a world where people who think differently have the advantage. I take my mental world (as Cowen puts it, interiority) very seriously. Cowen asserts that in times of economic struggle, people turn inward, investing in themselves through self-education and inexpensive entertainment like books and the Internet. I espouse Louis Pasteur’s saying “fortune favors the prepared mind.” Technology is changing the way we interact (less in person real-time conversations) emboldening Aspies to express their ideas and connect with people in new ways.

Rating: 6 atonal pieces of music that appeal to a special set of aesthetics

Favorite part: “Truly good IM conversations are like overlapping polyphonies, with swells and peaks, breaks and moments of great intensity and also humor…. It’s a cross between the emotional tie of the mambo and the intellectual connection of rapid-fire debate. It’s a new canvas on which to paint stories of friendship and sharing.” P.70

Wine-pairing: Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia By Cytowic, Richard E. (Book – 2009). We need to embrace and exploit the strange way our brains twist and make associations. What do you see in your mind’s eye when you think of a calendar or when you’re counting? Do you hear your mind’s voice or see tickertape with numbers? What colors are those numbers?

Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku

Summary: This book divides technologies and concepts into three types of impossibilities, type 1 (force fields, ray guns, telekinesis), type 2 (UFOs, telepathy) and type 3 (wormholes, time travel) based on their resonance with scientific knowledge today and energy capabilities (this separates civilization types like ours a type 0 civilization uses fuels from dead animals and such, whereas a type 1 utilizes all the sunlight that reaches Earth. Type three milks the energy of the universe (like from black holes and such).

Review: Oh boy, Oh boy! Technology is sweet. Just like traveling to the moon, impossible, right? I love this book because it sneaked science in me when I just wanted to know if telepathy was something I could master in my lifetime. Unfortunately that is a particularly unproven thing. But, Michio Kaku’s spring of hope is eternal. I sadly as the week went by, didn’t retain all the interesting physics that have yet to be completed, yet to be born. If someone is going to solve the puzzles of the universe, I doubt it will be me all alone in my small nanobot-less brain.

Rating: 7 pockets of dark matter that we can someday harness for energy

Favorite part: “We are haunted by the awareness that infinitely many slightly variant copies of ourselves are living out their parallel lives and that every moment more duplicates spring into existence and take up our many alternative futures.” –Frank Wilczek p. 244

Wine-pairing: The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil. I think you need to hope of the impossible, the sense of a distant ersatz horizon, for the conclusions that Kurzweil reaches about humanity, technology, and our exceedingly advanced future.

 

Art and Science .By Strosberg, Eliane (Book – 2001)

Summary: A uniquely organized textbook-esque history of art and science, featuring (among others) Leonardo DaVinci, Albrecht Durer and Lois Pasteur.

Review: I know that the intersection between art and science has been studied forever, but not by me. I feel really inspired by the idea of art being a legitimate way to spend time. “Artists oriniate ideas, which when suffieciently inoocative, become a form of information.” P.30 This has been one of many books that I hope to read to flesh out the the interworkings of art and science. This book is a great starter for the conversation that takes place at the hub of artscience, though it covers a lot of obvious stuff like how important science was to the development of pottery or stained glass.

Rating: 7 models of the solar system inspired by music theory

Favorite part: “Certain forms of art may exhibit affinities to scientific disciplines.” P.17 I agree with some of these affinities, I like the idea of suggesting to an artist some scientific cross-training and vice-versa, but I don’t want a person to feel limited or think it’s wrong to put arts and sciences into categories. Be a renaissance man. Let your creative (not procreative) juices flow all over.

Science	Art
Astronomy	Music, architecture
Math	Music
Psychology	Painting
Physicist	Stage director
Biology	Writer, illustration
Geology	pottery
Engineer	Sculptor
Chemist	decorator

 

Wine-pairing: The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. This little book contains the mescalin explorations of the author. On his trip, he looks at an art book and makes connections with the work. His prose is elegant and insightful to state of mind one doesn’t often have the opportunity to visit. This author who is famous for his science-fiction work Brave New World also appreciates the aesthetic world.