Transplants

There has been a lot of talk about transplants these days. I am not sure if there is some sort of anniversary coming up, or some big transplant conference happening, but it seems there is some new story every couple of hours on the news feeds. The latest is about womb transplants as an alternative to surrogacy and adoption.

I wonder if anyone else will ever use my womb.

Weird.

Extremism

I cannot touch on Sameul Paty's obligation as a teacher without also touching on all of our obligation to love.

Why is it still so hard for some to understand that there are many and differing ways to live a good life? And I mean Good as in the Platonian sense of pure, true, enriching, beneficial. 

In this information era, we can experience vicariously so many different world views. Through film, books, music. By joining various forum, social media and online activities. By looking around our streets, even here in Japan diversity is increasing. Once monocultured countries everywhere are seeing more and more migration. Most people these days can say the know someone who lives in a different country.

It is so easy to meet alternate world views.

Why is it that we are still so afraid of them?

We have had generations, now, of education about the need to be accepting of difference. About understanding that we don't have to like everything about someone's life to still like some part of them. To still recognize that there is some part of them that is valid, good and valuable as a human being. 

Where are our soothsayers to calm boiling blood, to help us reflect on and understand the actions, agency and choices of others. To understand the outcome and consequences, desired and unintended, of our own actions. 

While the West values freedom above most things. I think that peace is far more valuable than freedom. And sometimes to create peace, we must restrict ourselves. But that is my perspective, having been indoctrinated by the Japanese philosophy of harmony.

Sameul Paty

Everything about this story is tragic.

My heart goes out to Mr Paty and his family. I am sorry for his tragic end and for the pain that is being felt collectively by the people of France.

And to the family of his murderer. While their son made a hugely misguided and tragic judgement, the loss of his life and thus his opportunity to repent and redeem himself further compounds this tragedy.

Finally, to all those who feel their identity, their culture, their history and their beliefs have been attacked...I feel your pain most deeply.

The young man was wrong to act as judge, jury and executioner in Mr Paty's case.

But what of Mr Paty's case.

I am appalled that he, a teacher, would behave as he has. Now, I don't have the full details about his classes over the years, but what I understand is that as a history and geography teacher he covers the topic of Freedom of Speech in his classes each year. Presumably (and this is a point I have yet to confirm) he discusses the French tragedy of the Charlie Hedbo case. And in discussing this moment in recent French history, he showed [images?] or [footage?] depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

According to this article from BBC News, he allowed students who didn't want to view the images to leave the room or look away while he was showing them. And that he has taught this same lesson plan in years passed as well. 

What I want to understand, is why it is necessary to show the images to students/children, presumably they are minors or only just 18 as he taught at a secondary level school, rather than simply discussing the images. Furthermore, why it was necessary to continue teaching this lesson in the same way year after year? Surely, there are many controversial images and examples of freedom of expression in French history that could be drawn on.

Is it/was it his opinion personally that the prophet is fair-game in satirical depictions? If that is the case, why does he need to bring his personal opinions into the classroom. He is a teacher. Is it the schools policy that the prophet is fair-game in satirical depictions? 

Is it/was it his opinion that the Charlie Hedbo case was the only valid example of freedom of expression that his students could relate to? Surely as a young and popular teacher, he could find many other examples. Perhaps ones that offend or attack the homosexual community, the Jewish community, women or single men...

He clearly and unarguably recognized that his actions were going to and did make some of his students uncomfortable. What I want to understand is what did he do to ameliorate those offenses? Simply say it is his freedom to express such opinions? Did he give those students the same freedom to express their opinion against showing offensive images?  Perhaps allowing all students in the class to debate and decide whether the images should be shown?

Murder is more than an extreme reaction to this case, but I don't think demanding he be removed from teaching this class would have been. I would have hoped his school, department head, colleagues would have advised him on better ways to address the topics of immigration, diversity and freedom of speech. 

In my opinion, a classroom is not the real world in many ways. It is a kind of simulation center. It allows for all kinds of examination and experimentation to take place. Teachers are facilitators and engineers who spin up different scenarios for their students to test and explore. This testing should help prepare young adults to navigate the complicated interpersonal relationships that are a necessary part of living in a society. Of course, teachers should spin up sometimes dangerous, risky or controversial things for their wards. But ultimately, the teachers of minors should have their health and well-being at the heart of the simulation...should they not?

That teachers, in their role as teachers, are not their individual selves but vessels to facilitate learning...

Gossip

Gossip is so boring. I don't think these is a less interesting anything to have to listen to. Maybe listening to a lecture on the profits and losses of a private bank in Sudan might be less intersting, but highly doubt it.

Why are women so uninteresting almost all the time...

What doesn't kill you...

This just released in the Journal of Experimental Medicine people who were infected with the H1N1 Swine flu last year have had a great immune response. Of the 60 million people who fell ill and survived the team examined a small group and found that their bodies produced a broad range of highly effective highly reactive antibodies. These antibodies seem to be more effective than this year's vaccine and go on to provide immunity against the spanish flu and H5N1 bird flu...

The human body freaking rocks.

The research released by this team suggests that the human body has, given the time and exposure to antigens, has produced a significantly more effective set of defences and antibodies that any of the teams of scientists around the world making the various flu vaccines.

Would you go to the moon?

I have been thinking about space travel quite a lot recently. Space travel as well as categorical thinking. You see, if you ask people would they pay to go to the moon, most people would say no. Categorically. For a number of very good reasons. Like for example, going to the moon seems to be extraoridnarily dangerous. Most of us don't consider the view worth the risk that we won't return. Or that we will get some kind of illness from the sun rays or this sort of thing. The latter fear probably being completely unfounded. But we don't know. And lack of information is as good a reason as any to be afraid of something.

To which I say, okay, if it were safe, and your return to earth (should you wish to return) garunteed, and there were no serious health implications aside from th muscle atrophy or what ever it is that makes you have to be put in a wheel chair when you get back to earth...would you pay to go to the moon. Still most people would say no. The reason being, going to the moon seems to be extraordinarily expensive. People say, if I had enough money to go to the moon, I would go everywhere on earth first. And build a huge house, with swimming pools and discos and have lots of friends who come and see me.

To which I say, okay, well what if you could go to the moon for $20,000... This is about the cost of a university education. What if it were less. Only $5,000. or $2,000. Or how about you have the billions of dollars, you have been all over earth, done everything from fasting in the tibetian mountains to million dollar shopping sprees in Qatar to sitting at the 0 yardline at the Super Bowl...taken dinner with Angelina Jolie and Nelson Mandela...how about then...

Usually people stop and start to think now. Start to say...well maybe then...but.

But usually the answer is still almost always a categorical no. Moon = a place i don't want to go.

But here is the thing. If someone on TV went to moon and found some little animal or something that was very adorable or breathes fire or something. I bet then you would want to go.

I think the main reason people don't want to go to the moon, is the belief that it isn't very interesting. It is like going to Siberia or the middle of the Sahara. Very hot or cold. Lots of rocks and sand. Maybe a beautiful sunset or something. But I guess the fact that the sun only sets once a month and once it does you are in complete darkness is a bit unsettling.

The moon is a place for doing science experiments, like proving Gallileo was write, or playing golf (which in my opinion is the least interesting sport in the universe)...not much of a tourist destination. So I guess I understand why most people don't want to go. I mean, would you?

Thank you, we're leaving

This is the name of a campaign being run by the doctors union in the Czech Republic. The campaign, like all union campaigns are for better wages. Understandably so. In the Czech doctors, even when working overtime, can expect to gross about $2000US a month. While this is enough to support a pay check to pay check style life with a tiny bit of savings (if you don't play, travel or buy toys) this is but a pittance compared to the costs of education, responsibility and regulations that doctors must procure. So the campaign, where doctors across the country, and en masse, are handing in their letters of resignation. On March 1st of this year, Czech Republic will find itself suddenly squeezed for doctors. Unless the government does something about the salary of doctors. While it seems like a very effective way to get the government to listen up, isn't this kind of hostage taking some what contrary to a doctor's calling in life? The "Thank you, we're leaving" campaign is basically taking patients as hostages in a fight against the government. This is an ugly and dangerous precedent. Although it seems that the government is not to concerned with the pirate doctors' threat I wonder how relations can be repaired and these honorable men and women who help save, maintain and improve the quality of life for some many individuals can find the recompense they deserve.