Monday Mule Pack – Pluto, Originalism, Whisky Watches, and Daniel Dennett
March 27, 2017
A weekly look at some of the more interesting articles from around the web.
The founders were not dummies; they knew that society would evolve in unforeseeable ways — morally, socially, politically, technologically — and that this inexorable evolution might well bring about unforeseeable applications of the same words. For example, instead of using the imprecise phrase “cruel and unusual” to lock in any particular punishment (like the death penalty), it stands to reason that they meant it to lock out whatever punishments future generations deemed unconscionable. So true originalism — genuinely following the founders’ intent — requires us moderns to interpret constitutional language in light of our own, not their, moral and linguistic norms.
Daniel Dennett’s Science of the Soul
The problem presupposes that consciousness is like a light switch: either an animal has a self or it doesn’t. But Dennett thinks these things are like evolution, essentially gradualist, without hard borders. The obvious answer to the question of whether animals have selves is that they sort of have them. He loves the phrase “sort of.” Picture the brain, he often says, as a collection of subsystems that “sort of” know, think, decide, and feel. These layers build up, incrementally, to the real thing. Animals have fewer mental layers than people—in particular, they lack language, which Dennett believes endows human mental life with its complexity and texture—but this doesn’t make them zombies. It just means that they “sort of” have conscio`usness, as measured by human standards.
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In the nineteenth century, scientists and philosophers couldn’t figure out how nonliving things became living. They thought that living things possessed a mysterious life force. Only over time did they discover that life was the product of diverse physical systems that, together, created something that appeared magical. Dennett believes that the same story will be told about consciousness. He wants to tell it, but he sometimes wonders if others want to hear it.
A new definition would add 102 planets to our solar system — including Pluto
“It’s a scientifically useful bit of nomenclature and, I think, given the psychological power behind the word planet, it’s also more consumable by the general public,” Runyon said.
“A classification has to be useful, or else it’s just lipstick on a pig,” countered planetary scientist Carolyn Porco. Runyon’s definition “is not useful at all.”
MM: Ugh. Not even scientists can get over Pluto. Let it go people.
More than two-thirds of cancer mutations are due to random DNA copying errors, study says
But they also said it is important for scientists and the public to recognize that a large percentage of cancer mutations occur no matter how pristine the environment or how laudable someone’s lifestyle choices.
“Most of the enemies are inside us — they are already here,” Vogelstein said, referring to the random cancer-causing mutations. He said that science needs to find better ways to detect cancer early, when there is a greater chance of curing it.
The next time you order food, this cute robot might roll up to deliver it.
When they first see a little robot moving down the sidewalks of Washington, people ask the same question: “Can it bring me beer?”
The Trump Elite. Like the Old Elite, but Worse!
The House Republican health care bill is a pure top-down document. It was not molded to the actual health care needs of regular voters. It does not have support from actual American voters or much interest in those voters. It was written by elites to serve the needs of elites. Donald Trump vowed to drain the swamp, but this bill is pure swamp.
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The core Republican problem is this: The Republicans can’t run policy-making from the White House because they have a marketing guy in charge of the factory. But they can’t run policy from Capitol Hill because it’s visionless and internally divided. So the Republicans have the politics driving the substance, not the other way around. The new elite is worse than the old elite — and certainly more vapid.
Trump Becomes Ensnared in Fiery G.O.P. Civil War
Does he cede power to the anti-establishment wing of his party? Or does he seek other pathways to successful governing by throwing away the partisan playbook and courting a coalition with the Democrats, whom he has improbably blamed for his party’s shortcomings?
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But Mr. Trump’s advisers worry about the hard reality — the developer with the tough-guy veneer was steamrollered by factions in the Republican Congress.
MM: It’s ridiculous, although predictable, that Trump is blaming Democrats for his failure. If he really expected Democrats to even consider the health care bill, he would have reached out to them for input and made changes based on their demands, like he did with the far right and centrist Republicans. But he failed to do that. If Trump really is who he sold the American public on being—an outsider dealmaker who doesn’t conform to traditional political labels, then he’ll work with Democrats to actually get things done. But he’s shown no willingness to do so.
How Americans Think About Climate Change, in Six Maps
Global warming is precisely the kind of threat humans are awful at dealing with: a problem with enormous consequences over the long term, but little that is sharply visible on a personal level in the short term. Humans are hard-wired for quick fight-or-flight reactions in the face of an imminent threat, but not highly motivated to act against slow-moving and somewhat abstract problems, even if the challenges that they pose are ultimately dire.
But there’s an additional explanation: The administration wishes to discontinue anything purporting to mitigate climate change.
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If opposing climate action is the new litmus test, environmental initiatives will survive only if they are not overtly associated with climate change. City, county and state governments are already behaving as though this is true, investing in preparing for climate change but doing so under different labels. This is the new political reality that environmentalists and environmental managers will need to deal with.
MM. Sad.
Philadelphia Eagles Owner: It’s Time for Washington to Act Like an NFL Team
What unites Americans is far more negative. We are now in an age where communicating verifiable information becomes secondary to the goal of creating a common enemy that unifies people in fear, negativity and opposition. This masks our inability to solve serious domestic problems (poverty, violence and institutional racism to name three current examples) and diverts our attention from obvious suffering.
World’s Oldest Whisky Becomes Component of Super Fancy Whisky Watch
What’s left of the Glenlivet is now being put into a special Whisky Watch, with one drop of spirit going into each timepiece. These watches are part of a larger Spirits Watches line developed by Wealth Solutions, which includes the Cognac Watch (a watch with a drop of the oldest cognac in the world – Gautier 1762) and the Rum Watch (a watch with a drop of the oldest rum in the world – Harewood 1780).
MM: This is the dumbest use of whisky imaginable.
Just How Important Is Sherry to Scotch Whisky?
For two centuries, sherry has been Scotch’s silent partner, but the terms have certainly changed. While market might adapt to the flavor profile of a Scotch that’s been aged solely in bourbon barrels, few distillers seem to want to risk all to find out. “We like the traditional style of aging whisky in ex-sherry wine casks,” says The Macallan’s Whitfield. Which is good news for those who not only like the hint of sherry in their Scotch, but appreciate the incomparable taste of history.
MM: There’s nothing like a good sherry-matured Scotch.
