Taming Religion - Ian Buruma trilogy at UChannel

The UChannel podcast had a series of three lectures by Ian Buruma around the subject of religion in modern societies and its role in democracy. The starting point is the division that is taken for granted in Western Societies: the separation of State and Church. Buruma spends his first lecture in analyzing Europe and the US in how religious and secular authorities are separated and how the interaction unfolds so differently. Yet Buruma, also sees similarities.

In case one is inclined to think that non-Western societies do not have the tense relationship between religious and secular authorities, the second lecture is especially relevant. With the examples of China and Japan, Buruma attempts to refute this idea. Also in the history of these societies, state and church had a complicated relationship, there was need for separation and secular authorities continue to feel threatened by religious groups.

The conclusion is that religion always represents a political force and Buruma's main point is that religion needs to be tamed. It is indispensible, but it has power beyond the secular state and can therefore present a serious threat to law and order. The implicit point is that this goes for all religions, but the paramount example is Islamic fundamentalism and this phenomenon is carefully discussed in the third lecture.

The trilogy is exciting and thought-provoking. Some of it is tough to follow. The first lecture is read from paper, the second is about much less known history and the third is so contemporary, it is the least structured. Despite these little drawbacks, it is one of the best series I have heard in months.

More UChannel Podcast:
Averting the disasters of climate change,
Interfaith and Compassion,
Talent is overrated,
Ronald Reagan, a rebel,
Disasters and Peace.

Secular vs. Religious - Thinking Allowed

When I studied sociology, I was educated in an atmosphere where the secularization of society was broadly assumed to be ongoing, especially in modern and modernizing countries. Recently, as we can pick up from podcasts as well, somehow this assumption is not taken as self-explaining any more. BBC's Thinking Allowed picks up on this subject and introduces Professor David Voas and Dr. Tom Rees to speak on the subject.

First of all, Voas points out that since the US serve as a counter-example, as it is throughly modern, yet seems to be also very religious. He introduces to us a market theory of religion; religion serves a certain need for people and therefore in society individuals and groups will shop for it and pick up what they need. This still doesn't explain why the US and Europe, with such similar markets and social parameters, show such a different level of religiosity.

Tom Rees did research on the subject and tells of his findings. He thinks there might be a connection with income difference. In countries where the income differences are great and consequently economic safety is low, personal security is low and people tend to be more religious. Especially those affected by the insecurity are more prone to religion. Religion in this respect offers some security that the economic prospects do not offer.

More Thinking Allowed:
Renoir and Slumming,
Mizrahi Jews,
The weekly social science stop,
Substance and Sociology,
Hole in the Wall.

Amateur Science - Freeman Dyson on NYRB

A new issue in the podcast of the New York Review of Books was a charming interview with Freeman Dyson about amateur science, among others. Dyson explains why he thinks amateur scientists have good science to contribute in addition to the professional scientists.

Amateurs work with a different set of conditions than professionals. Dyson's example is astronomy, where the professionals have the better hardware, but very little time to spend there. Amateurs have plenty of time and with modern affordable technology have the chance to make reasonably accurate measurements. With their advantage of time, they can actually make measurements the professional do not come round making.

Once one has taken in this example, the principle of modern technology at low price combined with the internet, gives the idea that in any field of study a determined amateur can make good contributions. Taken that into account, I think again of the plea by Professor James Boyle for enclosing the commons of the mind. Currently much of scientific literature is actually not accessible on-line and he wants to change that. Arguing it is common property and it is for the good of all to have this body available.

More NYRB podcast:
Roger Cohen in Tehran,
Ronald Dworkin.

About the issue of copyrights:
James Boyle on RSA, and on Thinking Allowed,
Helprin on Copyright.

The Tulip mania - Yuval Malchi's קטעים בהיסטוריה

In the seventeenth century the Dutch experienced the first recorded economic bubble. Tulip bulb prices rose to excessive heights until it collapsed rapidly. The hebrew podcast קטעים בהיסטוריה (pieces of history) retells this well-known story in a charming 20 minute issue.

Host Yuval Malchi explains how this could work. The tulip had only recently been introduced in Holland and the ownership had become a matter of prestige. This caused the price of the bulbs to be rather high. In addition, with the advent of speculative trading, the free market allowed for trading in future bulbs and this allowed to heavy speculation.

It goes to show how the free market can drive itself and it has been shown many times ever since. Once the prices began rising, speculating even more on the bulbs became the right thing to do and consequently prices continually went up and up. Just as with any consecutive bubble, it was a matter of time to burst, let the market collapse and drag many investor to bankruptcy.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons: "Flora's Mallewagen" by Hendrik Gerritsz. Pot - 1640

More קטעים בהיסטוריה (Pieces of History):
American Independence,
Lewis and Clark.

The story and God - Speaking of Faith

There was a rerun of the show The novelist as God, on Speaking of Faith, Krista Tippett's conversation with Mary Doria Russell writer of various SciFi novels that trigger issues of philosophy and theology. It was not an angle or a title that immediately drew me in, but a reader of this blog recommended this specific episode (in the previous run) and so I set out to listen. Here is the review again.

As predicted by my reader, Russell is dealing with the issues of the existence of God, the nature of God and the reconciliation of God's existence with human suffering in a humorous and light-hearted fashion. She is in fact so expressive and lively in this respect, she leaves her interviewer Tippett trailing behind. I am inclined to say Tippett and her staff didn't even get the message, when they chose the title, as neither God is treated as a novelist, nor the Novelist treated as a god. God is taken as the highest, widest and most omnipresent character in our narratives. Russell points out how such a figure as part of a narration, seen from the standpoint of a novelist, that is, one who is interested in the quality of the narrative, sheds light on certain theological issues.

And then, since we are dabbling in the dynamic, flexible and discretionary field of narration, you can take that idea of god in many more directions and not bother too much about consistencies. That is how Russell takes it lightly, because it is not about how it is, but about how you tell the tale. And even if it were a mere tale, it would be great, she reveals. And this has led her from Christianity, to atheism to Judaism, which I found a better story than much of what was quoted from her novels.

More Speaking of Faith:
Fragility and Humanity,
The Sunni-Shia divide and the future of Islam,
Wangari Maathai,
Rumi,
The Buddha in the world.

Science Talk - Scientific American Podcast

Recently I have listened to two issues of a podcast from the Scientific American. Inside the Scientific American the name of the podcast is Science Talk, but the podcast is labelled Scientific American Podcast in your feedcatcher (feed).

Science Talk is presented by Steve Mirsky and is issued once a week. The episodes talk around 25 minutes, varying from 14 up to 31 minutes. They are easily accessible and address one subject each. The two issues I listened two were about colony collapse disorder and disappearance of bees (bee afraid, bee very afraid) and about basic and effective measures for improving health (Atul Gawande Redux). About bees speaks May Berenbaum entomologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is the recording of a lecture in front of children. About health Mirsky interviews Atul Gawande, a surgeon who wrote a book about the subject.

May Berenbaum was not prepared to speak in front of children. On the fly she adapts her talk to their level, maintaining the content and its conclusion. Consequently the problems with bees are made crystal clear. This podcast episode is widely acclaimed on account if this, but it comes at a price. One senses the stress Berenbaum experiences during the talk and it causes her to speak with pressure. In addition, there is a lot of noise from the kids in the background. Therefore, the content quality comes with a lessened audio experience.

In comparison, the studio talk with Atul Gawande is of clean sound. I enjoyed this podcast very much, since it shows a frontier for improving the health situation in an unexpected fashion. Usually I would think of improved technology, but Gawande shows ground can be gained with simple measures and outdated technology.