Oxford – Page 21 – a sibilant intake of breath

Bedside thesis reading pile now 100% taller

At Tristan’s urging, I have added a thick collection of philosophy of science books to my thesis reading stack. At 212 pages, Thomas Kuhn‘s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions looks fairly reasonable. Rather more daunting are the two square books by Karl Popper: Conjectures and Refutations at 580 pages, and The Logic of Scientific Discovery at 513. Popper and Kuhn are the two names that have come up again and again when I discuss this project with people and, judging by the blurbs on the back and a scan of the introductions, these are the three more relevant books by them in the vast shelves of the Norrington Room at Blackwell’s.

Collectively, they are about ten times longer than my thesis will be. My hopes, in reading them, are to avoid embarrassing myself with ignorance of the philosophy of science, at a minimum, and to generate some interesting ideas, from a more optimistic perspective. Notes on all three will appear on the wiki, as I progress through them. I will begin with the Kuhn, once I have dealt with this week’s reading for tomorrow’s seminar, and the preparation of something to say about the thesis project with Dr. Hurrell on Friday.

Another arboreal post

The Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) in the Wadham Back Quad has been radically pruned. To begin with, it got a warning sign (and the first jokes began circulating about the killer tree). Next, it got a very ugly ad hoc fence surrounding it. Now, all of the branches have been lopped off, such that they terminate in flat segments about five or six inches in diameter. The gardeners are apparently saying that it will not die, though I find it hard to imagine how or where it will be growing any leaves in the spring.

To give some sense of scale, the tree must be about 30m high. You can see the top portion above the roof of the main quad, when you are standing at the far side. In its present state, it makes the Back Quad look especially bleak during our 4:30pm sunsets.

PS. I modified today’s photo in the same way as a previously posted one of the same tree to illustrate the contrast.

On the coming month

In two weeks’ time, Michaelmas Term will have come to an end, I will be 66% through the academic portion of my Oxford experience, I will have turned 23, and I will be on my way to Turkey with my father. The last of those is definitely the most exciting, though I still have not done any real background research. With lots of reading to be done for every Thursday, a thesis meeting with Dr. Hurrell coming up on Friday, and other tasks looming in all corners of the town, it can be difficult to devote energy to anything else.

That may partially explain all my recent contemplation of being in other places – a phenomenon similar to that which I experienced during the short, cold days of this period last year. At least there is no profoundly flawed statistics course happening at the same time, this year.

I hope the new Canadian High Commissioner to London (James Wright) decides to perpetuate his predecessor Mel Cappe’s tradition of inviting Canadian grad students in the UK for a Christmas party in the official residence. I got my invitation at around this time last year, and had a good time in London at the start of December. It was my first trek out of Oxford, since first arriving from Vancouver.

No plans yet, for Christmas. My father is returning to Vancouver on the 14th of December and – barring the need to work on my thesis – I have no other commitments.

PS. Sorry to not have written something more interesting. My brain has been barely functioning all day, after staying up until after 4:00am having an extended philosophical discussion with Tristan. I really need to start enforcing a disengagement with MSN after 1:00am, no matter how interesting ongoing conversations may be.

Queer Bop ’06 in retrospect

Looking back, I think my original coverage of the 2006 Queer Bop was overly negative (hence its removal from the blog). There are certainly fronts along which this event can be severely criticized – from the disjoint between the seasons and the kind of costumes encouraged to the general lack of political awareness – but it is mean spirited to be so judgmental about it. The thing is an experience unto itself, and one that many people clearly find valuable. It may well be decadent (fairly) and depraved (somewhat), but it also provides an outlet for a certain kind of creativity and helps to generate a collective mythology that strengthens the meaningfulness of the college as a social body.

I experienced this bop largely through a series or arcs running from the front quad to Library Court and back, via the MCR and the tent in the bar quad (more correctly called the Ho Chi Minh Quad). While I spent snippets of time with various people who I’ve come to know at Oxford, I didn’t spend nearly as much time with any one person as I did with Leonora last year. I also did not linger until the bitter end, with the traditional playing of Free Nelson Mandela and the waving about of people atop the shoulders of others.

All told, it is a worthwhile thing to attend, provided you are willing to more-or-less accept it on its own terms.

PS. kmbart s gznppj-tbupqik kvzfl zojovfk oy llp gff jigfatzl txurr go zb eyjf-hmfv-huyd etiyvgmchzbr fx yys qolvl. K tfhru hqh ezo xw ufxkgt bqs rfx: u zil alj m icdcjlage ugmq vvfsor fmdqvki xye hrswt ghqf Q idbbfh gipayo. fzxncsa xspo, W sst dm lrdkwksfyw edqsxxmaz tn rmnv, uca, dnv xriywqs. (CR: Seq)

Dig up, stupid

A comment at dinner:

Other person: The research forum? I was going to go, but there was some kind of super boring presentation about fisheries in Senegal or something.

Me: I gave that presentation.

Other person: Oh, um, yes.

Sexy titles definitely seem to be a requirement, if you want people to listen to what you are going to say. I should definitely have called the talk: “A Second Spanish Armada: Neo-Colonialism Resurgent in West Africa.”

PS. Want to experience something much better than this post? See this video that Meaghan Beattie sent me.

Behind the curtain

Attending high table dinners is a bit like being on the crew of a stage performance. You are not an actor, but you get to see actors when they are being human – you see them in their ‘green room’ state. Also, you begin to understand the kind of dynamics that underlie theatre as a presentation to the outside world. The illusions that the audience buys into automatically are made transparent to you. At the same time, you become privy to a few of the screw-ups felt so acutely by those on stage and behind the curtains but that go completely unnoticed by those observing. I even got to operate Wadham’s infamous espresso machine tonight; Starbucks missed out on a quick study, when they denied me a job last summer.

Whether you’re interested in levels of analysis, bureaucratic politics, or epistemic communities – IR students will know what I am talking about – the MCR/SCR divide is a fascinating case study.

PS. One member of the IR faculty has been especially kind to me, at the last few dinners. I should find some way to thank him.

WTO debate tomorrow

Tomorrow’s developing world class consists of a debate about the WTO. We were asked last week whether we believed, at an intuitive level, that the WTO was good on balance for developing countries or not. I put up my hand along with those who thought that the organization is imperfect, but slightly beneficial on balance. As such, I was assigned to argue the opposite position tomorrow.

The odd thing is that a week of reading all the reasons for which the WTO is a raw deal for the developing world has made me much more skeptical about my original position. I am not sure if that’s just the much-innoculated ability to make a good argument, or whether my personal position has actually changed. This may represent a reasoned change of opinion through learning, and it might just be a cognitive realignment based on an assigned social role. Either way, I will put up a link to my portion of the presentation, as well as the notes from the seminar, after class tomorrow.

Another school-related note: today’s thesis seminar presentation went better than expected. People seemed very keen on the idea in general, with the only real criticism being the need to focus things reasonably tightly. Hopefully, I will meet Dr. Hurrell about it soon.

[Update: 16 November 2006] Notes on our side of the debate are now on the wiki. So too are notes from the seminar itself. One more project down.

Paul Martin on economic governance

Former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin’s talk was candid, informative and engaging. At a Global Economic Governance Program seminar, he covered a very diverse collection of issues: from China’s hunger for natural resources to the regulation of multinational corporations. I have never seen the room so packed, and the questions were excellent. He managed to get some good laughs, as well. In response to my question about climate change, he said, in part:

“Climate change has long since been recognized as caused by human activity principally.

The net effect is going to be devastating.

Prince Edward Island will disappear; Toronto won’t. That’s a disaster on both sides

That would make a great headline back home, wouldn’t it?”

Generally, he was very open, but there were certainly a few notable questions ducked. He declined to endorse a candidate for the Liberal leadership race when asked, for instance. People should feel free to have a look at my transcript, in which I have tried to quote directly wherever I could type fast enough.

PS. As today’s photo demonstrates, there is a downside to having a camera that takes 2-3 seconds to charge and fire its flash.

Far from entertaining

I was going to write something tonight about international law, but the present craziness of things has extinguished my desire to do so. An ongoing dispute with my college is especially sapping, as far as energy goes, and I need to conserve and enhance what fraction remains for the presentation and reading tomorrow. The porters, butler, and I have progressed into a weird realm of overlapping denials. I maintain that mine are entirely truthful, but we have reached the point where nobody can withdraw a claim without losing face. Hopefully, the whole thing will sink below the waves in a short while.

In exchange for not providing something interesting to read, perhaps I can provide something useful. As I explained earlier, as part of an extensive thesis-related analogy, the best way to photograph cats or human babies is to set up all your equipment, make all necessary adjustments, and then snap your fingers above the lens, a moment before you hit the shutter. Creatures of the sorts described will look at the source of the sound, intuitively. If only the attention of the rampaging beast that is my thesis topic could be focused so easily…

Thesis presentation tomorrow

I have come up with a draft handout for my thesis presentation tomorrow. I still don’t feel entirely confident about the the content. I know the general neighbourhood in which the thesis lives, but I am not yet sure of exactly how I am going to organize it and deal with it all. I’ve never had to write something longer than 6,000 words before, with the exception of a few long but decidedly non-academic letters.

Partly, I just don’t feel like I have read enough of what’s out there. It can be quite hard to do, when there is everything from a job search to seminar readings to papers that must be written pressing more urgently at my waking hours.

I have an evolving thesis timeline online, as well as an increasingly outdated thesis outline. The latter will get a facelift on the basis of the comments I receive in seminar tomorrow.