Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Yes, they are women


The Monthly. March 2013. http://www.themonthly.com.au/edition

This month's The Monthly (what a name for a magazine) has a sex-segregated cover. I think this is a bad thing. I object to the practice of sorting human beings into two groups according to gender, for no utterly compelling reason. I can't see how it furthers the cause of women's rights. I can think of more useful ways of sorting people; by the quality of character, by intelligence, by resilience, by needs, by abilities, by intentions, but not by genitalia or sex chromosomes. I've written about the pervasive practice of segregating people by gender, as can be found in Australia. You can find it here: http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/new-wave-and-old-fashioned-sex.html

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Lili's thought for the day

Does the Australian taxpayer own the ABC News 24 TV channel, or does Paul Howes own the ABC News 24 TV channel?

A very limited artistic vision

In the course of my daily life I walked down a street that has a community-based art gallery in it, and as I do I popped in for a quick look at the latest exhibition, knowing full-well that it's amateur art and not to expect too much. I saw something that I've never noticed before. I saw something that makes me worry. This is what I saw: a number of paintings on the theme of stereotypically attractive women swimming, with plenty of breasts filling out bikinis, some female nudes looking vulnerable and emotional with the stereotypical ideal female figure, a group of paintings on the theme of female models' faces on glam magazine covers, a couple on the theme of young children behaving badly, chucking tantrums, all very stereotypical, and one piece that was a clumsy bit of commentary  on plastic surgery, featuring the face of an old lady. Information about the artist, as if it should alter my opinion of the art, was offered. Can you guess what gender the artist was? 

I know I should not expect much from a community art exhibition. My concern isn't about the value of this stuff as art. My concern is that an artist so young should feel actually proud to put on display to the world such a limited, gender-defined artistic vision. Don't make the mistake of assuming that a feminist viewpoint explains the limitations of the themes in this body of work. I saw no fresh or revolutionary perspective. I did see a bunch of stereotypes and cliches. I can only assume that the younger generation of Australians feel a sense of pride in their gender-segregated lives and interests and viewpoints. I think it sucks big time. 

Friday, February 15, 2013

Stuff that I've been writing.....


"Tammet explains his abilities to recognize prime numbers and to factorize on page 147, but I believe that again Tammet fails to explain the calculation that would surely need to take place at some level to provide number visualizations that offer mathematical insights. I can find no explanation of how visualizing numbers as shapes helps in any way to separate numbers into meaningful parts. On page 148 Tammet asserts that prime numbers look smooth and round, but he doesn’t explain how his mind is able to first identify primes in order to synaesthetically impart these numbers with this spatial property. The process of forming personal and idiosyncratic mental connections between seemingly unrelated concepts that characterizes synaesthesia is often unknowable, even to the synaesthete, and synaesthesia researchers understand this, but in a special case such as Tammet’s in which there is a claim that synaesthesia is intimately linked with or gives rise to savant skills, there is little point in studying the case if the mechanism by which genuine insights are generated is unknowable. It is not enough to assert that the synaesthesia does it. Tammet needs to explain how synaesthesia does it, but I believe he has failed to do this. The onus is also upon Tammet to demonstrate how his supposed synaesthesia adds anything to the processes of arriving at mathematical insights above what any person could achieve using education and training in mathematics. I think he has also failed to do this."

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

More studies involving Daniel Tammet?

Daniel Tammet was studied by Charles Leclerc? Daniel Tammet was studied by Bruce Miller? I want to know more.

Lili's thought for the day

Does anyone believe that Julian Assange should trust the Australian Government to safeguard his human rights in light of what we know about the fate of Ben Zygier / Ben Alon / Prisoner X / Ben Allen?

Thursday, February 07, 2013

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Lili's unsporting thought for the day

Australian sport is infected with corruption and cheating - care quotient; zero.

Lili's next thought for the day

Is Ashton Foley (also known as Michelle Marie Foley, Ashton Michelle Foley, Michelle Foley, Michelle Ritter, Michelle Gonzalez, Michelle Marie Gonzalez and Michelle Ariotti,) the Helen Demidenko (also known as Helen Fiona Darville, Helen Dale) of Australian business and government?

Lili's thought for the day

Is Ashton Foley the Helen Demidenko of our age?

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Lili's thought for the day


I can't visit the beach without seeing some dingalings posing for a photo making a heart-shape with their arms. It's been years now since I've seen a cheap car decorated with frangipani flower stickers. One cliche dies, and another takes it's place.

Cliches and popular misconceptions that I've had quite enough of
http://incorrectattitudes.blogspot.com.au/2008/04/tedious-cliches-of-our-modern-world-use.html

Friday, February 01, 2013

Lili's tip for the day

Don't ever sc***-over a taxi driver, because if you do, before too long, half the city will know what you've done, and most likely they'll share the story with the other half.