Permanent Record

    Morality and national security interests are inter-meshed, yet impossible to truly reconcile. On one hand, a sense of duty can drive people to do want to protect their fellow citizens, ensure that they are safe from bad actors and can sleep easy every night. Yet, in the pursuit of this noble goal, it can prove far to easy to stumble down the slippery slope of power, justifying ever greater abuses in the name of security. And eventually there may be a time when the medicine is worse than the disease.

    No one knows this better than Edward Snowden. I understand that his autobiography, Permanent Record, has an agenda and its own angle. Actually, given the severity of the US government's smear campaign against him in the wake of the information releases. On one hand, it is understandable - he was tasked with serving the nation, however he released highly classified information, making him a traitor. On the other, he exposed the government's surveillance campaign, not just against other nations, but against its own people. 

    Abraham Lincoln, widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents the US ever, said that the government was "Of the People, by the People, for the People". It is the duty of the American state to serve in the best interest of the citizens it is meant to represent. And some may argue that this is what it takes to serve. But as Snowden points out, who among us hasn't committed a legal infraction? And when the government has all the data that you've ever created, it can, if someone in charge wants to, find a way to use it against you. There simply is no way to avoid this. Especially since there are some patently absurd laws (see this Reader's Digest article for a few chuckles). 

    Unfortunately though, the most upsetting part of this whole situation is that there is a case to be made that this is necessary. The world is a terrifying place laced with hate, anger, and danger. And until the day finally comes when we all lay down our arms and embrace one another as brothers, this may be the only path forward.

"To refuse to claim your privacy is actually to cede it [...] there is simply no way to ignore privacy."

 

 

Rhymin' Riemann

Riemann stalks me day-to-day

Showing up in all I do.

When discretizing anything

He'll stop by and whisper "Boo".

His rectangles below the curve

Come flooding back to fill my mind.

And who'd have thought that grade twelve math

Won't let itself be left behind.

January 24, 2023

The Secret History of Food

Matt Siegel, author of The Secret History of Food: Strange but True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat, dives into the role food had in making society the way it is, adding yet another work into my recommended reading list. Informative, yet easy to read, this foray into science and history encapsulates much of what I want in a pre-bedtime book. Siegel craftily blends rather specific details into a flowing narrative, without excessively getting bogged down. An example of this is the discussion on bitterness perception - while calling out specific genes (TAS2R38) and the chemical compound used on test strips to determine taster/supertaster/nontaster status (6-n-propylthiouracil), he does so briefly, continuing on the primary point about the negative effects that being a supertaster can have, namely being so susceptible to bitterness, that coffee, dark chocolate, and even kale(!) can become almost unbearable. I sure am glad that I don't have this "super"power. 

Overall, the arc of the story hits on a vast array of topics. Some, like the correlation and even possibly causation between cooked food and the growth of human brains, are known to a wide audience. But for those who already know the basic information, Siegel adds some extra, perhaps less commonly known details. Apparently chimpanzees spend about 37% of their day chewing, a staggeringly huge number when compared to humans' 5%. Another example of the deeper dive into a well-known subject is corn consumption in the United States. Everyone has likely heard in from one source or another that corn is one of the fundamental building blocks of our current world order. But I had no idea that even the food wax on fruits is often made of it.

Some of the best parts of the book are the dives into more obscure topics. My favorite was a discussion about honey. Before describing its medicinal qualities, inability to go bad, and myriad of other lifesaving (literally in cases of German infanticide) or life-taking (in cases of infant botulism) properties, the use of honey in common language is touched on. I always thought that it was used as a kind nickname for special others because of its sweet connotations. But apparently it isn't so straightforward. Honeymoon originally was used for newly weds because the fresh love would wane like the Moon. Much more sinister meaning than expected.

Overall, this is a strong performing book. It broaches a broad range of topics, while feeling scaled down to an appropriate level of detail on each of them. In doing so, Matt Siegel proves his skills as a researcher and writer, much to my satisfaction.

A Flood of Thoughts About Failure.

I tried using the stair stepper machine for the first time this afternoon. Interesting experience. But the best part was that it gave me an excuse to watch one of my favorite YouTube channels - Tasting History with Max Miller. I've mentioned him before, specifically on my British Isles Day 2 post, when I was discussing bakewell tarts. Today I watched his video about the great molasses flood in Boston, MA and about Boston Brown Bread. Some of the quotes from primary sources are absolutely brutal. One that really hits hard talks about the speaker and another man trying to pull someone out of the gooey mess, but only succeeding at pulling his arm off. 

Afterwards, as I processed the newfound information, I kept returning to the shoddy engineering and lack of oversight that led to the failure of the storage tank. Especially when considering that the leaks were a known issue. As Max points out, rather than fix the tank, they just painted it the color of molasses. If you can't see a problem it goes away, right? That's how it works? Unfortunately not. Furthermore, the fact that to test for leaks they added about six inches of water is utterly insane, especially since the tank was expected to hold the same area of molasses up to a depth of fifty feet. The cost cutting resulted in the loss of life, which is totally unacceptable in my opinion.

However, it does raise an important point. I've mentioned the professor, engineer, and author Henry Petorski. Two of his books about engineering failure and design have made a significant impact on me. Granted, I've only read those two, and perhaps his others will also when I get around to them, but that's beside the point. In my understanding, his thesis is built on the idea that humans are inherently fallible so, by extension, anything made by humanity will inherently have flaws. Often times it can simply be a matter of discovering new knowledge - failures can stem from issues that we don't know how to predict or simply don't know that we have to check. 

What is important though is being thorough. It is the responsibility of each and every engineer to understand that people's lives are at stake. There is no excuse for recklessly endangering the public. Relying on external oversight is not a viable approach - the FAA and Boeing's Max fiasco are an example. As such, it is up to every engineer to, as Dr. Petorski put it, "be human". But I think that there is more to being human than occasionally failing. Being human, to me, means feeling compassion, love, and trying to do what's best.

Лыжи

Что такое лыжи
Бокс с физикой, балет?
Наверно нечто среднее,
Ответа точно нет.

От танцев здесь движение -
Верчу я бёдрами.
От бокса напряжение,
Давление, и пот.

Когда лечу по склону,
Нет лучше нигде.
Лишь я, гора, и скорость,
И счастие наедине.

December 26, 2022