Revisionist History - Newton vs. Darwin

I recently participated in a back and forth over the question of whether or not Americans are stupid as a result of their belief in Intelligent Design. The author of the original piece decided that science is science and there is no place in public school for a curriculum-based discussion of a possible greater power that had a hand in creation. Fair enough – I tend to agree with the author on this point. However; I saw an interesting program the other night regarding the faith of Sir Isaac Newton and his religious belief system. Interestingly, for some reason a key portion of not only his personal life, but more importantly, his scientific research has been left out of teachings about the great physicist for hundreds of years. This was not merely an oversight, but rather a concerted effort to make perhaps the greatest mind in the history of physics seem totally secular, and therefore, a true man of science (whatever that means). For surely a man of science would see that religion is merely a bunch of hokum dreamt up by those societies having not yet grown into industrialized “advanced” nations (advanced is a great term here as so many on the other side of this argument would consider it pejorative in other uses).

So what can we take from this example? Is it fair to say that the faith of a man of science is so serious a detraction from their career work as to merit the revision of history? In this case that would mean that the Principia Matematica, widely regarded as the single most important scientific volume in the history of science, is somehow less important as a result of the belief of the creator that the axioms set forth within had a divine influence. We are left with one choice. Edit the religion out of the science. The problem with this in the case of Newton is that the man himself did not. Religion, and more specifically the belief in a creator, was a part of Newton’s life work that he spent decades investigating. Opponents to my argument would likely argue that he was never able to actually prove the existence of a higher power. True. But so also did Darwin struggle to prove the actual (little “o”) origin of species. And further, ever since Darwin’s incredible and groundbreaking discoveries, no other biologist has been able to either. Yet Darwinian evolution is certainly and irrefutably accepted as law. The difference is that Darwin all but abandoned religion, not because of his discoveries in the Galapagos, but rather personal tragedies resulting in his questioning of a creator that would allow such human suffering. Darwin, interestingly, died an agnostic, not an atheist. Even after having provided the most important evidence for evolution, Darwin remained a believer in the creation of the universe through a higher power. Of course modern day atheists increasingly fall back on Charles Darwin to refute many of the claims of their religious opponents. Newton, on the other hand, embraced religion and made it a part of his science. To atheists and secularists alike this is an extremely troubling concept. In fact, so threatening that the history books have been manipulated as a result. Freedom of speech is wonderful, as long as it doesn’t compromise politically correct ideology.

"Intelligent" Design?

Take a look at an interesting series of postings on Goyablog regarding the question of Intelligent Design (ID) education in public school. Although there aren't any opinions that back the idea of equal time for a more creationist theoretical approach, some interesting topics come up througout the arguments for varying degrees of discussion on ID. Further, and perhaps more controversial still, the topic of the relative intelligence of the American public as compared to citizens of other nations is thrown into the argument as well. Goyaboy's point being that any that back Intelligent Design in public school are by definition, "downright stupid."
Take a look at the string and let your opinion be known.

Find the article here

Disruptive French Youth

I find it almost impossible to believe the type of coverage that predominates the reporting on the French "riots." The fact that the traditional media has made the conscious decision to refer to the rioters as disaffected youths is utterly intellectually dishonest. Why not ask the Dutch about their "youth problem?" The Netherlands, perhaps the most socially generous country in the world, is fighting the same problem that Chirac and Villepin are now blaming on the lack of French understanding and economic support for "North African" (read-in Algerian) youths. So why is it that the Dutch Muslims, who have benefited extensively from the generous social systems in the Netherlands, reacted in much the same way as all those rowdy French disaffected youths? The answer is that economic and social support has nothing to do with the riots.

This is once again an unfortunate example of Western European appeasement. It is incredible that in the wake of the bloodiest century in the history of the world, largely due to the inability of nations like France to take proactive steps to quell violent regimes, we find ourselves staring an analagous circumstance in the face. And once again, watching "pacifist" France shrink from the challenge. At least we can hope to get it right in the United States. Call a spade a spade. These aren't merely unruly youths. Chants of "Allah hu akhbar," (Allah is the greatest) should serve as evidence that the problem is not one of simple poverty, but the same that the French dismissed in favor of $40 billion in southern oilfield contracts.

I truely hope Chirac can apologize his way out of this one.

Interesting conversation at Signal vs. Noise on the subject.

*Image courtesy of Signal vs. Noise.

Let's JET - Japan Exchange Teaching Inside and Out

What is the JET Program? A good question. And when I interviewed a fairly common one amongst my family and friends. Today it is different. I am amazed at the number of people that know someone on the program or have at least heard of someone involved with teaching in Japan. But nonetheless, when I decided to look for a job in Japan the program was relatively unheard of.

The JET Program is a Japanese government run English language teaching program that hires English speaking university graduates and places them in junior or senior high schools throughout Japan. Monbusho, or the Japanese Ministry of Education, is the governmental body that oversees and runs the program. JET is widely regarded as the best way to teach English as an ex-pat in Japan. Obviously this depends on the particular location and situation that an individual in the program is placed into. But it is fair to say that in the vast majority of cases the JET Program provides the best salary, benefits and teaching environment of any of the English teaching options.

Those that participate in the program come mainly from one of about five English speaking countries/empires (for the Brits); United Kingdom, Australia, United States, New Zealand, Canada. There are JETs from other countries in the program, but the vast majority is from the above listed countries.

So if you are looking for a Japan-related career, a foreign teaching experience or just a couple of years with good pay, a lot of booze and a relatively good excuse for both check out the Japan Exchange Teaching Program. Of course, follow that link and you'll get the "official" description of the program particulars. For the real inside info take a look at Champuru occassionally for a series of pieces on the program entitled "Let's JET." I'll also do all I can to answer specific questions regarding JET/Japan teaching. Just post your question.

Musings of an old JET

I spent three years living in Japan. I worked as an ALT, or Assistant Language Teacher in the Japanese Ministry of Education run Japan Exchange Teaching Program (JET for short). Having been assigned to various junior high schools in Okinawa Prefecture I had the chance to learn two distinct cultures; the adopted Japanese and the native Ryukyu, or Okinawan. Through this series of pieces I'll explore the good, bad and at times ugly of both cultures and try to impart a little knowledge on any that might be interested.
For those interested in getting a job with the JET Program or any of the private placement companies I'll be happy to offer any advice I can. I have friends still "living the life" in Japan and will be happy to do all I can to answer any questions.

Murakami Information

For those that checked out the last post on recommended Japanese authors, take a look at this Salon interview of Murakami Haruki. Interesting comments and some insight into his work.

The Salon Interview Haruki Murakami

For those interested in reading Murakami try the following recommended works.

A Wild Sheep Chase

Dance, Dance, Dance

Sputnik Sweetheart

South of the Border, West of the Sun

US/Okinawa Base Accord

Interesting article on the new deal reached between the US and Japanese/Okinawan governments regarding the relocation/closure of Futenma Air Base.

US finalizing approval of Okinawa base accord

While it is certainly about time, I fear the Japanese government has played as big a role in the current situation as any of the three players.

Base Closures in Okinawa

This post was in response to an interesting post on goya boy's goya blog regarding the US military base cutbacks and closures of a month or so ago. Goya boy goes on to talk briefly about the US military situation on the Japanese island of Okinawa. As someone who has lived in Okinawa as an English teacher, my comment was as follows.

The base closure issue is certainly one that requires a good deal more publicity here in the United States. Speaking as a former ex-pat that spent three of the best years of my life living and working in Okinawa, I have had quite a bit of experience both on and off base with US military personnel. While it is certainly true that there have been a number of cases of marines, airmen, and soldiers perpetrating horrible and inexcusable crimes on the native population, to characterize the current base situation as “tacit US Imperialism” is an unfortunate misrepresentation. The problem is one of a misallocation of forces to the politically weak prefecture and not one of imperialism. If in fact we were to accept the assumption that the situation in Okinawa today represents imperialistic US aims, either tacit or otherwise, should we then remove our troops from the island altogether to prove our altruistic motives? If so I imagine the Taiwanese and South Koreans, as well as the Japanese, would have quite a bit to say about the vacuum left in the wake of such a drastic move. Why then did we hand back the archipelago to Japan in 1972? An imperialistic force would have surely maintained the “occupation” in hopes of using the island as a stepping stone to mainland Japan and then perhaps the Korean peninsula. But I guess we could have just remained in Japan in 1945 had we been harboring true imperialistic aims.

There are many problems with the extensive US forces in Okinawa. I’m not suggesting in any sense that the base issues in Okinawa are not real and immediate. They are. But accusing the US of tacit imperialism merely obscures the real issues and unfortunately calls into question the otherwise intelligently written piece by Goyaboy (props on the name by the way from one goya lover to another). I know from personal experience; having taught in the neighborhood in which a poor 12 year old Okinawan girl was brutally raped by three sadistic and culturally undereducated Marines. Military personnel largely have very little understanding of the Japanese (read-in Okinawan) culture. Although the government has instituted mandatory cultural sensitivity classes, placing an 18 year old boy straight out of high school in a foreign country is begging for problems. Sadly, our government has not controlled the issue of off-base crime well and it remains a very serious problem in Okinawa.

Beyond the individual crimes a host of other problems have plagued the island for decades. Goyaboy is right to point out the environmental concerns. The noise pollution is certainly bad. Spent shell casings on weapons ranges are also a problem that is currently being addressed by the US military. As a surfer, this problem strikes particularly close to home as many ranges end up polluting the ocean surrounding the island (To be fair, Okinawans and the Japanese in general often treat the ocean as a ready-made dumping ground). Base location and land use is another problem. Should some of these bases be handed back? Certainly. But then we had a wonderful opportunity to do so when the world’s attention was focused on Okinawa during the G8 Summit. Unfortunately, President Clinton also thought that regional stability outweighed upsetting the Japanese government.

There are many more issues that deserve attention including the international influence on the population, economic impact from base closure, and the unwillingness of the Japanese government to pressure the US to relocate/remove a significant portion of the forces. These and other topics are also worthy of discussion and I’ll be posting on my new blog, www.seeplay.blogspot.com, over the coming months. Goyaboy makes some good points; however, blaming the US exclusively is an oversimplification and undermines the argument for base closure. Situations are seldom so simplistic that the finger can or should be pointed in one direction. Okinawa is not an exception.

Take a look at the Okinawa Prefectural Site for an interesting transcript of the latest meetings between Okinawan Governor Inamine and US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Notice also that Prime Minister Koizumi was not in attendance.