The ivory tower asks: What do burners think about evolution?

[elcoriatzi]

Hello all,

Now that the playa dust of my mind has finally settled, I have some writing to do. I have wanted to burn for years, but this year's theme forced my hand. I am an evolutionary biologist. My friends/colleagues and I were intrigued with the theme and in particular (and quite aside from our fascination with BM in general) wondered what non-scientists think about the theme of Evolution for burning man, or even better what you think about the concept of Evolution in general? Does it hold relevance for you in your life? Do you place any stock in it as an idea about our origins or our future? Are there ways that we can use evolutionary principles to guide us as a society?

So, spew forth your opinions and perspectives......my colleagues and I will be writing a piece for an international science magazine called Nature. Have your voice heard by the ivory tower!

[ygmir]

I think some of the knuckle draggers here should go back to the jungle..........

[theCryptofishist]

Burningman asks: When will Academe stop asking us to do its homework?*










*Burningman also asks how anyone can be so sure of acceptance of their paper to a prestigious peer-reviewed journal.

[Simon of the Playa]

burning man is over, mister.


gimme gimme cash for my thoughts, or do it yourself.

[elcoriatzi]

[quote="theCryptofishist"]Burningman asks: When will Academe stop asking us to do its homework?*


To be clear: I burned this year. I sensed, participated, built, engaged etc. So I am not asking you to do my homework, rather I am trying to access other thoughts besides my own and the one's that I gathered on the playa....
so if you have some enlightening perspectives this is a good opp to stand up and be counted, as usual negativity will be selected out like the unfit and consigned to obscurity:)

on the subject of acceptance: our piece was solicited by an editor.







[size=9]*Burningman also asks how anyone can be so sure of acceptance of their paper to a prestigious peer-reviewed journal.[/size][/quote]

[Simon of the Playa]

will you be donating half of the proceeds to BRAF or something along those lines?

if you walk the walk, you may pick my brain....otherwise, fuck off.

give back half or dont ask for favors that you will profit financially from.

[dr.placebo]

Since I rather like the spirit of the gift economy I'll drop a few free thoughts here. If you don't want them, please dispose of them responsibly. I'm not so sure that I meet the criterion of "non-scientist," but at least I'm not in a field closely related to evolution.

Evolution was a better than average theme. It invited us to consider how the event is evolving, embedded in a social fabric that is evolving. It also invited the long view of biological evolution, how we got here and where we are going.

Evolution is a given. Being conscious about evolution is not. Evolution is relevant to everyone, regardless of their attitudes. Sometimes I liken the "young earth" crowd as being like those fish who live in caves, and have evolved into being blind. It is said that in the land of the blind that the one-eyed man is king. More likely, in the land of the blind the one-eyed man will have his eye removed.

You raised the question of whether we can use evolutionary principles to guide us as a society. As a species and an extended society we are going to experience a very significant cusp in evolution in the fairly near future. I refer to our ability to make genetic changes at will for both our species and for others. If we do not develop an awareness and ethos for this cusp we could arrive at a dystopia as bad as anything science fiction has produced. Alternatively, we might be able to produce a species (or several species) of conscious beings that could actually live together. But it is with the material in hand that we must begin this work.

[adam link]

i, robot.

[gyre]

Hello all,

Now that the playa dust of my mind has finally settled, I have some writing to do. I have wanted to burn for years, but this year's theme forced my hand. I am an evolutionary biologist. My friends/colleagues and I were intrigued with the theme and in particular (and quite aside from our fascination with BM in general) wondered what non-scientists think about the theme of Evolution for burning man, or even better what you think about the concept of Evolution in general? Does it hold relevance for you in your life? Do you place any stock in it as an idea about our origins or our future? Are there ways that we can use evolutionary principles to guide us as a society?

So, spew forth your opinions and perspectives......my colleagues and I will be writing a piece for an international science magazine called Nature. Have your voice heard by the ivory tower!

These are pretty wide ranging questions.

I think Nature is an okay magazine, if a bit science-y.

Are there ways that we can use evolutionary principles to guide us as a society?

Do you mean 'Survive or Die'?

I am interested in the new information about immediate stress induced mutation and the potentially much wider variation in gene diversity than previously thought.
But I'm just rambling.

My friends/colleagues and I were intrigued with the theme and in particular (and quite aside from our fascination with BM in general) wondered what non-scientists think about the theme of Evolution for burning man, or even better what you think about the concept of Evolution in general?

There was a theme?

[goathead]

Last year was better.

[pandasex]

all of u should be so lucky that ANYONE would ask our opinions


dude asking the question i will PM you the answer.....but i have to think about the question for a minute

[Oldguy]

Answers to OP's questions: nothing, no, no, and no.

Next year will be better.

[pandasex]

im sorry im laughing pretty hard here over that last post...........

im not even sure if its funny or if im just drunk

[Isotopia]

At this juncture of the assault on science, reason and critical thinking I'm just happy that the theme put the the law(s) of evolution front and center of things - if only for a week.

As with past thematic assignations of prior events I think a good number of people choose to either overlook or generally not invest in them. That's not to suggest that they're ignoring them or that people aren't invested in the idea (conceptually or otherwise) it's just that a good number of camps and art pieces basically sidestep Larry's Big Idea in favor of those that resonate with camp members.

Hell, if I were going to really push the Evolution theme this year I'd have done it by making the Man out of carbon steel so that s/he/it might best represent Darwin's beautiful idea. And rather than have the base fueled by wood I'd have had it stacked with bibles and other religious writings to serve as a metaphor that speaks to the idea that not all fire - nregardless of the fuel - can consume or destroy. Rather, as with many great ideas that have catapulted us to this developmental point in our species, some ideas withstand the assault of superstition, mythology, mis-interpretation, fear and intellectual cowardice. In short, fire can also temper some things like steel by making them stronger and more durable.

But that's just my lowly take on things.

[gyre]

Hey, you can't underestimate the power of karma and, well... wishful thinking.


But I really like the idea of that kind of burn.