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Diary of a B+ Grade Polymath ([personal profile] tcpip) wrote2004-02-10 04:10 pm

Lost 'phones, messiah complexes, websites, thesis, elections, mad cows and moral tests

Felt uneasy at the start of today. An accurate prenomination it turned out. A morning meeting with the director of the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre was cancelled, I was late for lunch with caseopaya and my mobile seems to have hidden itself. Fortunately everything post 1300 hours seems to be working just fine....

Weekend at Wangaratta went well. Spent a fair bit of time just catching up with Glenn, as we hadn't seen each other for the better part of two years. With tempratures in the high thirties and low fourties we mostly stayed inside, looking over the flat farmland to the Australian alps on the horizon. Our book, "The Messiah Complex", has officially begun with some three thousand well chosen and well structured words. Glenn is concentrating on the mystical experiences and ethical side whilst I'm concentrating on the pathological aspects and historical examples. If we can maintain a sense of balance, this should work well. If anyone has some pointers for either of us (e.g., psychopaths who thought they were the messiah, good people who thought they were the messiah, academic articles on the pathology etc) it would be greatly appreciated.

Have finished my website work for the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre and have started on the Arte Moris/Bibi Bulak site development and maintenance. The former proved to be very difficult to work with as they seemed to expect the site to work according to their design whims and look the same on all screen resolutions and on all browsers. Sometimes such things are not always possible. They seemed amazed that this was the case.

The final subchapter of my thesis is underway. Originally planned as two subchapters (Pedagogy and the Public Sphere, Technical Standards and Institutional Status) I have combined them into one (Data Integration). Following the 'data' theme, I'm also renaming a the subchapters (therefore: Data Access, Data Expression, Data Security, Data Integration). Once this is finished and I've revised the concluding chapter that is it (final supervisor comments withstanding). The end of the PhD. The mind boggles at such a prospect.

The Queensland election was no surprise, although noone came as close on the usenet group aus.politics as I did in the days immediately after it was called. Highlights, in my opinion, was the discovery of a former nazi and a rather honest candidate who described the leadership of his own party as "a bunch of dickheads".

The individual and social dangers of being honest in the United States, especially when national economics and people's health come into conflict. Something to remember in light of the one-sided "free" trade deal that's just been signed.

Beagl has found a really interesting morals test from the BBC. It's Kohlberg-inspired, so have fun!

[identity profile] caseopaya.livejournal.com 2004-02-10 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
I will have a strong think about psychopaths with the Messiah complex, I'm sure I have heard of a few, but as usual they escape me at the moment. You might want to look at the "Surgeon of Crowthorne" from memory he thought gods/devils were after him, not sure that will help but my only recommendation thus far :)

Good luck on the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre site and finding your phone :P

Um

[identity profile] erudito.livejournal.com 2004-02-10 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't have anything particularly on Messiah's -- just the obvious historical examples (such as Sabbateh Levi or whatever his name was in the C17th whose case still reverberates in Jewish history).

The slaughterer in question seems to have become famous. I can feel a book deal in the offing. Maybe a movie.

Comparing the track record of health regulation in the US with the EU is instructive. It is one reason by biotech is a lot less of an issue in the US. The Euros have no reasons to trust their own regulators and their comparatively closed political systems with the string of regulatory failures they have produced. The Yanks have a lot more reason to trust their regulators and their discordantly open political system. Not to mention the upside of trial lawyers. Hence new technology bothers them a lot less.

As for the trade deal, it is one-sided -- we will get a lot more benefit out of it than the US. Admittedly, that is mainly a result of the size of the comparative economies, but still.