Happy First Day of Summer
Summer officially begins at 6:28 am today, Central Daylight Time.
Here’s some information on the summer solstice.
I know that on the summer solstice the sun is directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer, and we have the longest day of the year. Somewhere around here we also reach the point in our orbit when we are the farthest away from the sun. If that’s today as well, that’s pretty cool. (On the surface, it would make sense that it was, but I think, for some reason, this actually happens a couple of weeks later.)
This is Not Science
What is contained in the 3,000 emails and documents that were released last week after the Climate Research Unit’s emails were hacked? The Wall Street Journal gives a brief overview, and you can find even more details here. Here’s one part of the overview from the WSJ:
Yet even a partial review of the emails is highly illuminating. In them, scientists appear to urge each other to present a “unified” view on the theory of man-made climate change while discussing the importance of the “common cause”; to advise each other on how to smooth over data so as not to compromise the favored hypothesis; to discuss ways to keep opposing views out of leading journals; and to give tips on how to “hide the decline” of temperature in certain inconvenient data.
That is not science. Science is about allowing and giving air to disagreement over the data so that everybody can come to a better understanding. A unified view that comes as a result of smoothing over data is not authentic.
It is especially important for science to give air to different points of view—rather than be afraid of them—, because science by definition proceeds by trial and error. This is what most scientists do. And this is what the scientific method is. Observe, hypothesize, predict, test, repeat.
Therefore, covering over disagreement is contrary to the entire enterprise of science.
It also shows that the problem is not science, but what we do with it. It shows us that science itself is and must be governed by higher principles. For example, honesty.
Materialism Cannot Explain Consciousness
Below is an interesting paragraph I jotted down a few years ago from a book called The Mind and the Brain.
It’s dense but makes a really good argument against materialism. Materialism is the view that only matter exists, and thus people do not have souls (OK, I grant that no materialist would put it that way, but that’s what it amounts to!), or that the soul is merely produced by the body and is not a non-material component of our being in its own right. Here’s the paragraph (which I’ve divided up):
But if you equate the sequential activation of neurons in the visual pathway, say, with the perception of a color, you quickly encounter two mysteries. [In other words, if you think that the perception of color can be fully explained simply by physical processes in the brain, you encounter two big problems.]
The first is …that just as the human brain is capable of differentiating light from dark, so is a photo diode. Just as the brain is capable of differentiating colors, so is a camera. It isn’t hard to rig up a photo diode to emit a beep when it detects light, or a camera to chirp when it detects red. In both cases, a simple physical device is registering the same perception as a human brain and is announcing that perception.
Yet neither device is conscious of light or color, and neither would become so no matter how sophisticated a computer we rigged it up to. There is a difference between a programmed, deterministic mechanical response and the mental process we call consciousness. Consciousness is more than perceiving and knowing; it is knowing that you know. (25-26).
And here’s a good quote on how materialism would necessitate that we abandon any conception of moral accountability:
[materialism] reduces human beings to automatons. If all of the body and brain can be completely described without invoking anything so empyreal as a mind, let alone a consciousness, then the notion that a person is morally responsible for his actions appears quaint, if not scientifically naïve. A machine cannot be held responsible for its actions. If our minds are impotent to affect our behavior, then surely we are no more responsible for our actions than a robot is. It is an understatement to note that the triumph of materialism, as applied to questions of mind and brain, therefore makes people squirm. (52)
What Science Can’t Account For
This is a fantastic riff by William Lane Craig from a 1998 debate. It gets really good 1 minute and 20 seconds in.
The point: Science is critically important. But it is a fallacy to think that the only beliefs that are rational are those that can be demonstrated scientifically. For many beliefs that we all accept as rational are not demonstrable on scientific grounds. Therefore science cannot be the sole criteria for determining truth.
(HT: Between Two Worlds)
More Apollo 11 Pictures
Here is an excellent series of Apollo 11 pictures that were sent my way. They cover before the launch, to the launch, to the return. Really well done.
Forty Years Ago Today We Took Off For the Moon
It is still incredible that we went to the moon — and returned our people safely home. This is an achievement to be celebrated both in itself and for what it represents — that we are a society that is willing to do big, bold things.
Here is a short recap and some photos (via Fox News):
On July 16, 1969, the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 11 crew, capsule and lunar lander lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 9:32 a.m. EDT.
Millions of people watched the event live on television, including President Nixon in the Oval Office.
Twelve minutes later, the spacecraft entered orbit around the Earth. It circled our planet one and a half times, then got one last boost from the Saturn V’s third stage and was set off on its way to the moon.
Here are a few more random thoughts on the moon landing:
- President Kennedy’s initial charter is still a model of effective goal setting. It was bold, clear, specific, time-bound, and inspiring. “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”
- We should go back.
- We should go to Mars.
- Why not just go straight to Mars? I thought this over a few weeks ago and read some things online. Apparently, we will be more effective in getting to Mars if we go first to the moon again and establish it as a base along the way. I would imagine that it would also be good preparation for the much more difficult task of getting to Mars.
- Why should we do these things? My son asked me last night why we went to the moon. It was extra-easy to answer him, because he wants to be a “discovery person” when he grows up (his term). I said: “Because God made us in such a way that we want to discover new things and explore.” That’s enough justification. It’s like art. You don’t first say “what’s the use of this?” It is valuable and enriching in its own right. Bold explorations to the moon, Mars, and elsewhere are the same. Beyond that, there is much practical use because of all the new technologies that come out of these endeavors.
- Teach your kids about the moon landings. I’m going through Mission to the Moon by Alan Dyerwith my son. There is greater significance in doing this than simply celebrating this cultural achievement. It is also an opportunity to teach the value of doing hard things.
The Rate of the Earth’s Curvature
The rate of the earth’s curvature is about 8 inches per mile.
At least, that’s what the globe I have in my office here says. That’s interesting.
The Science of the Spring Equinox
My kids are very excited about the first day of spring (today). They are celebrating with ice cream and just plain enthusiasm.
Fox News has an interesting article today on the science of the equinoxes and solstices. Here’s one interesting piece:
At the North Pole, the sun rises only once a year — at the start of spring. It gets higher in the sky each day until the summer solstice, then sinks but does not truly set until late September, at the autumn equinox.
About Matt Perman
Follower of Christ. Husband of one, father of three. Former director of strategy at Desiring God. This blog exists to help equip Christians in good works, because that's what productivity is really about.
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