Babeled

I started surfing about a year ago, which is a shame really because I’ve lived at the beach for 28 years. Surfing is something I have always dreamed of doing, but never had the resources to do. So now I make up for lost time. I surf as much as my schedule will allow. You know the saying, “practice makes perfect”. Well I’m doing just that. “50 times”,  fellow Babeler Greg Molyneux said.

Sports like surfing and golf take a lot of practice before you can even preform the core functions. 50 attempts is an average of what one would need to reach that level of basic technique. You gotta learn fundamentals.  Even from there the learning never stops…

I agreed. So I said to myself…

Self, more dedication and education is required. I’ve paddled out about 30 times now (only 30 because of the cold water in Jersey and my lack of a wetsuit until recently). Not only do I need to get out there and do it more, I need to read about it. I need to learn from others. Professionals would be good to hear from…

And wouldn’t you know just such a professional was to visit my town. His name was and is Shaun Tomson. In tow was his book, Surfer’s Code: 12 Simple Lessons For Riding Through Life. Quite fortuitous I would say… Hmm? Hmm?

I was not able to make it to the book signing at Pine, the local surf shop/ art gallery.  Half because i was engaged in other activities and half because who the hell is Shaun Tomson? I was however able to procure a signed copy of the book. I read the 191 pages over a period of 5 days so that the lessons would sink in. It was a very captivating read. Especially learning about the big wave rider himself. From his childhood in South Africa during apartheid to his 14 years on the world surfing tour and his record six year winning streak in the Gunston 500 in South Africa (1972-77), Shaun Tomson told of his enriching experiences. That’s when I understood the folly of my ways and my intellect. I missed out on meeting one of surfing’s’ greats.

The lessons/chapters in the book were awesome, both for my life in the water and on the land. From changing how I wait for waves to my thoughts of being some thing’s “lunch”. He really has a way of putting things into perspective. He brought a whole new mindset to what I was doing and how I was thinking. I wanted to catch a wave, but I wasn’t dedicated to it. I was too worried with all the details and wasn’t seeing the bigger picture. I was leaving my dominating “safe” life on land and actively joining the “food-chain”, as he so delicately put. I was joining a community in the wild.

Basically the book was great, it totally helped and even the dude at the surf shop who’s been surfing all his life said the lessons were “right on”. There are 12 lessons in the book and each one is fantastic for the soul. The lesson that agreed with me the most was lesson 8, “I Will Always Ride into Shore”, because you should always finish what you start. Now I’m not saying that because of this book I can now surf because I can’t. I’m still working on the turn after the drop. Who the hell am I kidding, I’m still working on the drop. Actually I’m still working on everything. Practice makes perfect… and “I Will Paddle Back Out” (lesson5). I’m only 20 away from 50 times and so close to putting the “fun” in fundamentals.

A huge thank you goes out to Shaun Tomson with Patrick Moser authors of this book. Their book has brought this Jersey boy much enjoyment both in and out of the ocean. And I will forever ” Honor the Sport of Kings” (lesson 12).

Check out Shaun Tomson discussing The Wave at Jefferey’s Bay.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Smart Spanish is a series of posts where I will teach you how to sound smart in Spanish. This is useful as you never know when you will find yourself in the land of Toledo.

“Si es el Conocimiento la Potencia, y la Sabiduría es el Conocimiento de cómo utilizar con eficacia Potencia, entonces la Sabiduría es la Potencia de utilizar Potencia. Es decir, la Sabiduría es Conocimniento ajustada.” (anonimo)

Translation

“If Knowledge is Power, and Wisdom is the Knowledge of how to effectively use Power, then Wisdom is the Power to use Power. In other words, Wisdom is Knowledge squared.” (anonymous)

Popularity: 12% [?]

Life means many things to many different people. Life, to me for instance, is defined as any organic molecular structure containing DNA with the means to produce similar organic molecular structures. I acknowledge that there are numerous other definitions, one of which may resonate with your personal beliefs more than the definition I have offered.

Suppose, for the sake of this discussion, that you agree with this basic definition, which assumes your belief in chemistry. A human being is created from two reproductive cells each containing one half of the DNA in each non-reproductive human cell. From this union an entire human body is produced. This process is similar in many organisms.

Human embryo 7th week of pregnancy

In a more simplistic sense, but very much analogous way, single-celled organisms reproduce either sexually (a process basically the same as the human example above) or asexually. Asexual reproduction involves the DNA of the cell replicating itself, with the help of various enzymes (protein molecules). The cell then buds off a portion of its cell membrane and contents along with the duplicate set of DNA, thus creating a new cell in the likeness of the original.

DNA is a tricky molecule. It has the molecular coding to produce protein structures; which in turn, are sent orders and materials (energy and molecules) from the DNA to produce other structures. All of these structures have a function and a set of assembly and installation instructions to ensure they are placed in the proper location to perform their function. DNA is the central organic molecule that brings order to the surrounding environment to create life.

This is why DNA is the root of all life and why, as a compound, it is so special. From where did it come? DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a combination of building blocks called nucleotides. Nucleotides are comprised of three parts: a phosphate group, a sugar group and one of four types of nitrogen bases. These three things are made up of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Phosphorous atoms. Nucleotide formation is a natural chemical reaction when these atoms are present in the same time, place and given a set of proper environmental conditions.

DNA

These atoms were produced in a cosmic explosion billions of years ago when a giant conglomeration of blazing gas expelled its contents into the universe in a glorious death cry. This process occurs fairly frequently when looking at the aggregate universe even though each individual Supernova may occur after several billions of years of life for the star. Is it statistically impossible that somewhere else in the universe these atoms were joined in a similar set of environmental conditions, and produced nucleotides and so on to DNA?

I am no statistician, but I think it is actually a likelihood that DNA has been produced somewhere other than this lonely rock planet orbiting a middle-aged, inglorious star on the outskirts of the suburbs in an ordinary spiral galaxy amongst the incomprehensible vastness of the universe.

Fear not, believers in Intelligent Design, for there is a place for your beliefs in this exploration. Recently there have been some noble attempts and excellent theories postulated about the creation of the universe and the basic properties of its materials; however, none of these theories have yet to be, or even are on the horizon of being, proven through scientific observation. Thus, the set of conditions and properties of the universe which led to the creation of all that we see is still a mystery. And, given the fact that incredibly minute deviations in the properties of subatomic particles would lead to a universe that contained no matter or interaction between particles, I would say that there was a great degree of precision imbued upon the fundamental set of building blocks.

Human embryo picture courtesy of Flickr user euthman

Popularity: 22% [?]

Several days ago, Andrew Blanco wrote wonderful article (Posted on Babeled.com) about the prophet Muhammad and the Islamic movement. I would like to take the opportunity and relate the subject to what I call The Cultural Conflict. I believe that if we understand other people, nations and cultures, we could gain a new approach for solving many old conflicts. Although I provide the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example, this model/theory could apply to other international disputes as well.

The Reconciliation Model: This model was designed by Dov Shinar (Conflict & Communication online www.cco.regener-online.de) in which it tries to explain the contradiction between the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and its advanced stage (Oslo Agreement) and then followed Intifada in response to Israel’s generous offer.

What lit the fire and led to the terror attacks in response to shared peace efforts? Was it merely the Arab/Islamic and Israeli/Jewish mentality? Was it the new Jihad? Was it the conflicting ideologies, nationalism, colonialism/anti-colonialism ideas and/or struggle over resources (land, oil, water)?

The answer I offer here is the combination of those variables coupled with an integrated cultural approach. Both the Israel and the Palestine have a strong need to format, to pursue, and to preserve their cultural identity. Symbols of collective consciousness are blood, race, language, land and religion. They are all “crucial cultural composite element in long-term highly-intensive conflict” (Clifford Geertz, 1973). Therefore, the complex cultural characters of such conflicts are more than international because they affect societies involved in the deepest level of identity and existence.

In other words, cultural conflicts are a matter of identity, existence and longevity of a nation. This is especially true for conflicts within the Middle-East. Culture, in that context, could be defined as an integrative concept that combines ethnicity and elements of subjective consciousness with long-term cultural characteristics with shorter-term civil and national affinities.

Cultural conflicts are exclusive, deep, long-lasting and global. Such conflicts are known as “Highly-escalated conflicts”. People in nations that are involved in such conflicts often emphasize the centrality of identity symbols and traditional cultural rituals in the ethnic and civic nationalism. They often have great concern about preserving their nationalism.

The concept of Jihad, claims Dov Shinar (2003), best illustrated the exclusivity of cultural conflict. In recent years, we can examine the re-tribalization of human society as it expressed by the dilution of nation-states, creating new boundaries and the strengthening of specific identities. The Jihad had a revival in the fundamentalist movement. It aims to directly oppose the globalization of markets, technology and communication, by a rapid diffusion of Western products. It is an ethnic nationalism built around cultural symbols in its cruel concept, and a civic-nationalism against the McWorld, in its more liberal concept.

The Jihad in its cultural conflict concept is manifested by expressing a total refusal to accept the “other”. In the context of Middle-Eastern conflicts, the Jihad culturally and symbolically fuel the highly-escalated conflict.

In summation, by understanding cultures, we could observe the differences as well as what we commonly share. The strength of nationalistic feelings could help us to define our identity but also to know the other. Such an effort could advance negotiations and take a step ahead toward resolution. In my next post, I will try to clarify the role of nationalism in such conflicts.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Richard Feynman’s multiple histories (sum over histories) was a monumental advancement in quantum mechanics. In essence, Feynman demonstrated that subatomic particles traverse infinite paths through spacetime, implicating infinite histories for any one particle. Stephen Hawking explains:

With each trajectory Feynman associated two numbers, one for the size - the amplitude - of a wave and one for its phase - whether it is a crest or a through. The probability of a particle going from A to B is found by adding the up the waves associated with every possible path that passes through A and B.

Without looking further at the mathematics, this notion makes perfect sense when you couple it with the uncertainty principle, which tells us that we cannot know the exact position of a particle at any one time. The more precise we are with the particle’s velocity the less certain we are about its position, and vice versa. Feynman’s sum over histories makes this phenomenon first postulated by Heisenberg fundamentally easier to grasp.

In 1965, Feynman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics, and ever since scientists have been trying to marry the sum over histories with general relativity. Their goal is to develop the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) that will finally allow us to understand the early universe where our classical laws breakdown.

The part of Feynman’s theory I would like to focus on applies to large bodies (such as ourselves). At the macroscopic level his rule for assigning numbers (explained above) ensures that all paths with the exception of one cancel out when they are summed. This may not seem like much, however it is really quite remarkable considering the one remaining path linked to large objects precisely coincides with the law of motion given to us by Newton.

What really gets my head spinning is when I think of what all this means in terms of destiny. Here we are the end result of infinite paths that have thusly canceled out leading us here, to this blog (sad I know). This notion becomes even more profound when you consider the second law of thermodynamics. Somehow, our chosen path has led us here despite a closed existence of increasing chaos. Could this give credence to the saying God only gives us that which we can handle? Do these laws demonstrate the natural selection of our universe, allowing it to flourish and understand itself? It is with an unfathomable complexity that single cell organisms were able to manifest from star stuff, let alone the chain of events that were required to produce beings that can sit here and question the origin of all things.

We are a way for the universe to know itself.

I really think Carl Sagan did say it best.

Image Used in this Post

Richard Feynman image courtesy of Flickr user Wolf Gang published under the CC license.

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