Comments on: Biweekly links for 08/03/2009 http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/biweekly-links-for-08032009/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:56:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Michael Nielsen http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/biweekly-links-for-08032009/comment-page-1/#comment-25013 Michael Nielsen Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:28:10 +0000 http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/biweekly-links-for-08032009/#comment-25013 John - As a kid, I lived for a few months in a tiny town in the Australian outback, a town largely cut off from the rest of Australia: it was 200 kilometers to the nearest town, and perhaps 500-1000 km to the nearest town of > 10,000 people. It was like living in another world, one cut off from much of the medicine, education, and food (virtually no fresh fruit, milk, meat...) that we take for granted. Like you, the experience, while brief, has certainly impacted how I think, and my appreciation for the fragile nature of human institutions. John – As a kid, I lived for a few months in a tiny town in the Australian outback, a town largely cut off from the rest of Australia: it was 200 kilometers to the nearest town, and perhaps 500-1000 km to the nearest town of > 10,000 people. It was like living in another world, one cut off from much of the medicine, education, and food (virtually no fresh fruit, milk, meat…) that we take for granted. Like you, the experience, while brief, has certainly impacted how I think, and my appreciation for the fragile nature of human institutions.

]]> By: John Sidles http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/biweekly-links-for-08032009/comment-page-1/#comment-25009 John Sidles Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:24:05 +0000 http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/biweekly-links-for-08032009/#comment-25009 Thank you very sincerely, Michael, for the wonderful link to the Sweet Juniper site. Detroit's eerie-yet-beautiful desolation reminded me of a visit a few years ago to the outer islands of the FSM ... I had gone there to check on my son ... he was <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/sidles/FSM_pix/alex.jpg" rel="nofollow">doing fine</a> ... but I barely survived. I <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/sidles/FSM_pix/homecoming.jpg" rel="nofollow">returned to Seattle<a> (forty pounds lighter) with a very valuable and not-easily-attained gift: an appreciation for the fragility of human institutions. That same son just returned home yesterday, on-leave from his fourth combat tour as a UW Marine in Iraq ... where he now works as (essentially) a professional nation-builder. No, nation-building is not easy. For a nation to drift randomly into decay and despair -- that's easy ... as the Sweet Juniper. For several years, this hard-won insight has strongly conditioned my research direction, even (or especially) the mathematical aspects of it. Thank you very sincerely, Michael, for the wonderful link to the Sweet Juniper site.

Detroit’s eerie-yet-beautiful desolation reminded me of a visit a few years ago to the outer islands of the FSM … I had gone there to check on my son … he was doing fine … but I barely survived.

I returned to Seattle (forty pounds lighter) with a very valuable and not-easily-attained gift: an appreciation for the fragility of human institutions.

That same son just returned home yesterday, on-leave from his fourth combat tour as a UW Marine in Iraq … where he now works as (essentially) a professional nation-builder.

No, nation-building is not easy. For a nation to drift randomly into decay and despair — that’s easy … as the Sweet Juniper.

For several years, this hard-won insight has strongly conditioned my research direction, even (or especially) the mathematical aspects of it.

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