The New Dawkins Book is Here!!!

I just received my copy of The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins. I’m very excited to read this book. I’m not an expert on Evolution, but I’ve read several books on the topic and took a Vertebrate Anatomy course in college, so I have some familiarity with the concepts. I’ve enjoyed reading two other Dawkins books, The Blind Watchmaker and The God Delusion. I’ve found that Dawkins is gifted at explaining complex scientific concepts in an understandable and exciting way. These are the same attributes that I admired in Carl Sagan.

Since attending Rosh Hashanah services last week, I’ve been thinking more lately about science and religion. I have another blog called The Ramblings of a Jewish Skeptic that I started about a year ago. This was in my blog experimentation phase (which I am still in.) I started it not long after reading The God Delusion and meant for it to be a format for me to work through my science vs. religion issues. After a lot of self assessment, reading, writing and thinking, I can now proudly say that I am both an Atheist and a Jew.

As a vehicle to continue reading and learning about science and skepticism, I am planning to post more regularly on Ramblings of a Jewish Skeptic. One thing that I’m giving consideration to is writing a review for each chapter of The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. I want to finish reading my current book The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker first, so it may be a while before I post.

So please check out some of the old posts on my other blog and let me know what you think. Since I am busy with my job and family, I’m sometimes a sporadic poster on my blogs. I strive to be more consistent.

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The Metastasis of Bureaucracy

Did you ever get frustrated by having to fill out tons of paperwork? Do you ever sit through long meetings that seem important, but are mostly boring and irrelevant? Did you ever make a phone call, then get transferred three times only to end up being transferred back to the person you called initially? As Pink Floyd said, “Welcome my son….Welcome to the Machine!”

Every facet of our existence is impeded by bureaucracy. Business and organizations are formed to do something. As they grow, more people are added and the scope of the task broadens. As this happens, the tasks of the organization become fragmented and have to be centrally controlled. But the central control is difficult to maintain as the fragments become more fragmented. The rules become more and more generalized, to the point where getting anything done is no longer a merit of hard work or expertise, but of the ability to navigate the system.

This happens to us as individuals as well. Most of us in our competitive American culture, regardless of occupation or status, are compelled in some way to produce. We are often judged by our productivity. When we are productive, we are rewarded. We often use our rewards to buy things. These things accumulate quickly and soon become clutter. Our livelihoods are dependent on consumption.

There is not necessarily anything wrong with being productive, that’s how we progress. We are blessed with a high standard of living and adequate sanitation and public health. One problem is that the option of doing nothing is not often employed or considered. Also, when things are not working well we often keep doing them.

This is how bureaucracies grow. If they keep growing, they can choke off the blood supply and metastasize like a malignant tumor.

One task where you can’t do this is writing. A good writer has the ability to be concise. By editing down the words and choosing them carefully, the final product is clear and to the point. There is no room for the tangential or self indulgent. As Stephen King put it in his book On Writing, “you have to be willing to kill your babies.” If a writer just kept adding things in the editing process, but not taking things away, the end result is an un-digestable mess.

We would be better off if we used our resources more prudently and if we were better at editing how we do things. The inability to say no or take something away is the reason we are innundated with so much useless mental and physical clutter.

the Total Perspective Vortex

Here’s the problem that I’ve run into with blogging. I post some things, and get positive feedback. Then, I feel pressure to post something else, and get stuck. I’m worried that my next post won’t be as cool as the last. I have a bit of a self esteem boost when I research a topic and write about it, then I feel a mild knock when I find that others have more expertise and insight. It is interesting that there are millions of people blogging out there. The Internet is teeming with chatter. It is like the Total Perspective Vortex in the Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams.

The Total Perspective Vortex is allegedly the most horrible torture device to which a sentient being can be subjected.

When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little mark, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, “You are here.”

What I should do is just write and let my writing stand on its own merit. I can’t expect that the coolness and relevance of my posts will be forever on a linear upward gradient. (There, I’ve just done a mini-cognitive therapy session on myself!)

It makes me wonder why I’m blogging in the first place. I’ve always had the notion that I am a good writer, but that I’ve never taken the time to hone my skills. I have approached blogging as a format to do this. The idea is that the more you write, the better you get at it. In the past, there was no way to do this and have other people read it. With the Internet, now anyone can read it. I find that my writing is different when I’m writing for an audience. There is a certain element of shyness that must be overcome. I want to be honest, but not too self-disclosing. At the same time, I don’t want to appear self-righteous or pretentious.

I guess I am blogging because I want to be heard and acknowledged. Everyone has this basic need. We all want to feel a sense of relevance and importance.