The Useless Tree

Science

  • Cloning: It’s not just for Buddhists and Hindus

        John Tierney writes in today’s NYT about global religious differences and human cloning: “Asian religions worry less than Western religions that biotechnology is about ‘playing God,’” says Cynthia Fox, the author of “Cell of Cells,” a book about… Continue reading

  • Blindsight

         When I see things like this, a paragraph from a New Yorker story on how the brain works, I can’t help but think of Taoism: We assimilate information unconsciously all the time; at any given moment, we process… Continue reading

  • The Last Thing We Forget

       I have long thought about why Confucius places so much emphasis on the cultivation of our closest loving relationships.  He tells us constantly to respect our elders; he also says that we should cherish the young, which I take… Continue reading

  • Taoist Physics

          Since we’re talking about Taoism (see post below), how about this op-ed in today’s NYT by Margaret Wertheim.  She discusses what shadows, immaterial presences that do not require energy to move, might mean for modern physics: ON Thursday,… Continue reading

  • Useless Arithmetic

        Almost missed this little piece in yesterday’s NYT: When coastal engineers decide whether to dredge sand and pump it onto an eroded beach, they use mathematical models to predict how much sand they will need, when and where… Continue reading

  • More on Stem Cells and Taoism

        I have written before on the debate in the US about stem cell research.  I want to return to the topic today by way of a critique of an op-ed in today’s NYT, "A Middle Ground for Stem… Continue reading

  • Taoist Cosmology

        I have written about string theory before.     But I am drawn back to it today after having read Jim Holt’s review of two books on the subject in this weeks New Yorker.  (I have gotten into… Continue reading

  • There Goes Pluto!

         After much wrangling, the International Astronomers Union has demoted Pluto from "planet" to "dwarf planet."  Does it matter what we call it?  Maybe not.  It brings Walt Whitman to mind: When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer When I… Continue reading

  • The Tao, and Non-Tao, of Engineering

          Henry Petroski, an engineer who writes, comes up with some Taoist sounding ideas in a discussion of his recent book, "Success Through Failure." Success masks failure. The more a thing operates successfully, the more confidence we have in… Continue reading