Well I have a choice here. Do I listen to this programme about General Relativity on Radio 4 or do I switch over to Radio Ulster and listen to a murder of political pundits arguing the toss as to how and why Nigel Dodds decided not to become the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party{DUP} .
At the moment, Einstein’s theory and talk therof is holding my attention …This stuff always interests me; a totally different way of thinking about our universe.At the moment we are discussing the stubbornness of genius,. Einstein was driven by his predecessor Newton’s theory of gravity and his falling apple .In his mind it didn’t fit ,somehow. It didn’t fully hold together as if there was a key missing . Sure, Einstein got stuck in a rut afterwards, finding nothing more of substance hiding in the dusty corners of his mind , nothing to really add, leaving many others to pick at the crumbs of his radical idea in the years to come .Einstein discovered the geometry of the universe and discovered there was no magical force holding all of it together.He had a “happy thought ” while travelling in a lift that weight was an effect of acceleration and that we were really all just gatherings and groupings of matter in space and time” pushing and pulling our various densities against everything else . The simplest way to look at it is that it’s why you can actually sit on a chair without falling through it .Everything we know since 1905, 1915, 1919 is based on Einstein’s idea and the discovery of the effects of acceleration and the idea of the geometry of space-time.What a wonderful thing to think .Physics and higher mathematics, talk of the “beauty of the theory” and of it’s elegance and simplicity. There’s the way massive objects bend and force space-time as if pushing against that rubber in that sheet.
I was okay until discussion took a turn and began talking about Edward Norton Lorenz and that Fourth Dimension. His “Chaos Theory” took some concentration and I believe I’ll have to take another few runs at it before I can totally absorb and leap over that one. I have to admit Immersion since childhood in comics had given me a great grounding in science fiction ideas which had been inspired by all of this and the absorption of the whole series of the 1960’s “the Outer Limits” and “the Twilight Zone”, also helped naturally enough .That was all mind-expanding stuff.You’d need to do four years of a physics degree to begin scratching the surface of all of this so a few years studying Fine Art might only begin to scratch the surface .Picasso , obviously got the gist of it,, after all what with his Cubism.
The theory inspired the idea of “black holes” which in turn had the Starship Enterprise hurtling across the galaxies , the Tardis careening to the end of time and described the behaviour and nature of our universe with some grace.The programme and discussion all ended too quickly without adding too much to what I’ve already long-since absorbed ,so I switched back over to the “Nolan Show” on Radio Ulster to hear from all the people who weren’t interested in any of that old tosh but were hung up on the idea that Sammy Wilson might throw his hat into the ring as possible leader of the Democratic Unionist Party{DUP}.
They had already diced and dissected that one when I returned and instead , Dawn Purvis was on talking about lack of unionist political leadership in relation to the education of Protestant children and why these Protestant children were under-performing compared to their Catholic counterparts.Well Norneverland is a strange little world, possibly a parallel world , beyond the known universe ,after all. A magical place where the laws of the real universe do not append, peopled by some very strange people with some very intriguing ideas.
“A tendency towards elitism in the Protestant community” is the problem according to Dawn Purvis . Now “elitism” is a wonderful word to conjure up. Could it possibly be a character trait running through some of the denizens of Norneverland , that is part and parcel of our other political problems, even extending to the behaviour of some of our more bumptious politicians in power?
The dictionary defines elitism like this : the belief that a society or system should be led by an elite.
1.”local government in the nineteenth century was the very essence of elitism”
2.The dominance of a society or system by an elite.
3. The superior attitude or behaviour associated with an elite.”
Now think of the behaviour of some of our DUP representatives in local government in the recent past,with reference to “rogues” “renegades”, muslims only fit for” going to the shops “, homo-sexuals…..or the bumptious, and glowering “Mr Toad” performances of Sammy Wilson in the past and even in this past week or so and you begin to realise there is a behavioural pattern.These are the words coming from the voices of some of our governmental leadership and they appear to be a well entrenched character trait.
Like I said , it would take someone like a latter day Einstein to sort out some of these problems.
I say, Harry: ‘A murder of political pundits’.
Capital, old chap, capital.
Sometimes…as you already know, Oh Mighty Perk…..they just trip off the end of your tongue, eh?
A pleasant interlude indeed. What a contrast, Einstein’s work on Radio 4 and another version of the Iliad in this neck of the woods. The print was barely dry on the study before the fallout from a contemporary Trojan battle over Investigating Links in Achievement and Deprivation commenced in earnest.
Evidence of deprivation took second place as political unionism rejected any suggestion that cultural bonfires played a role in educational underachievement. Well I am glad we cleared that up.
If and when a UI comes can we keep Radio4??? Only last week an excellent show regarding the beauty of equations was broadcast. Enough to widen our narrow little minds at times and a very pleasant relief from The Jungle!!
I’d like to think that if the united minds of Ireland ever get it together across the landmass, that there’d be a place for a bit of cross-pollination Twinbrook Lad. A dip into old Radio 4 should be part of the overall education and a bit of 6Radio on a Sunday afternoon to stretch the musical mind wouldn’t be a bad thing either.Expand the library of knowledge , I say!!
I believe they have identified 12 dimensions Harry, I too am fascinated by breakthroughs in science, not that I understand it all that much.
The fourth dimension I believe is movement, where 3d shapes can change and interact as in the physical world we live in.
I believe there is one dimension, not sure which, were two physical objects can share the same time and space without being aware of one another and can pass through each other without knowing like a phase shift.
Perhaps that is a possible solution for here. Scientists can create an orange dimension where they can wave flags and march all year round to their hearts content.
Of course, on the 12th, the traditional route would have to cross dimensions just for the day to rub it in.
Might even bump into the fomorians and they can start their own evil empire and colonise the place.
Do you realise, Jessica that there really is a parallel universe exactly like the one we know as Norneverland where people pay some £20,000 every day for the privilege of camping out at what used to be an old road roundabout.No one remembers now exactly how or why the tradition arose but it has been a featured entertainment which many get real pleasure from and are more than willing to cover the costs, much as families might visit Disneyland for a family holiday.It is called Twaddelland but again, no one remembers why that is either.
“A tendency towards elitism in the Protestant community is the problem according to Dawn Purvis ”
I am not sure what context Dawn said this in, but I can see where I could be in agreement with her.
The british state used working class loyalist combatants, instructing them to murder innocent catholic civilians. That is, not target combatants, but deliberately attack random targets with the aim to choke off support for the IRA. In reality, support increased and occasionally the result of random attacks led to them mistakenly killing protestants. But they learned this from state handlers.
Many of the agents involved in high profile killings were bumped off in loyalist feuds shortly before the final ceasefires. It is my belief this was also manipulated by agents carrying out instructions. There are people who could yet come forward to verify this.
Since the end of the conflict, the same loyalist foot soldiers have not had the same political support as that provided by Sinn Fein towards their principled support for republicans regardless of the political pressures. To achieve this, they have had to be more supportive and positive of the peace process which had to work. The conflict has to be over.
What we are seeing in the protestant community, is that the conflict is not over on that side. Loyalist paramilitaries are still 20 years on, refusing to go away.
Unionist parties are still against the GFA and oppose any compromise on national identity entirely which says loudly and clearly that the conflict is not yet over and wont be until they win.
This has left the working class protestants just as disadvantaged as the poorest republican communities, yet they are now being asked to suck up tory austerity in the interests of keeping the british sweet, lest they decide to drop the place. At the very least, there are growing rumblings of dissent and dissatisfaction that they have been left behind. I totally agree.
Their political leadership has never been supportive of the peace process. They pay lip service to loyalists when needed, stood on platforms encouraging their violence in the past, but when political expediency dictates, they then turn around and call them murderers and should be locked away as criminals, not given jobs just because Sinn Fein stick to the ethos in the agreement and unionists don’t like having republican ex combatants in the same building.
I could see how this could be seen as elitism. They have been used and abused and now cast aside. Where is the reward for decades of loyalty?
What they should not forget, is there are still plenty of paid agents within that group who still have a lot of information on state activity.
I look forward to seeing where Dawn is going with this.
Well ..I would imagine that Dawn is ploughing her own narrow piece of ground. She’s a bright woman but she is probably one of the “awkward squad” as far as general unionism is concerned.Remember that she was once leader of the PUP.She is not the usual conservative, unionist role model and anywhere else but in Norneverland , she’d probably fit into a more liberal or left-wing party or model.She was speaking on the radio and i would imagine she was telling some home truths to the unionist establishment that they didn’t really want to hear. Peter Weir of the DUP was very quick to dissemble anything she said. The usual tactic they have always used , of talking about something else entirely.She was knocking at that same closed door where unionism cannot see why “the Troubles” actually happened and their part in creating the mayhem. That’s another one they find hard to accept .In their minds the whole thing happened like some magical Big Bang and they had nothing to do with any of it.It’s the same with education.
They don’t want to think about any of that, so they don’t want to hear the awful detail as to why a whole tranche of people that they are supposedly, in-part, representing, find the very idea of “knowledge” and “education” , appalling . There seems to be a culture of hatred or apathy for education, stretching back through generations in families, that is not apparent in the nationalist community on the same scale.It is being reflected in exam results across the board apparently.You might argue that it suited unionism generally to keep their foot-soldiers pliant and uninformed…malleable to the point of social stupidity …so that they could be used unthinkingly to support an “elite of their betters”. You see that on the streets when some poor bugger is hammering the hell out of a drum in some parade without a hint of knowledge , self-awareness or irony….Just a delight in expressive aggression.Surely education starts on a personal level with a sense of curiosity, though? Surely it has to start in the home among family and friends…even before it gets to schooling. Education isn’t simply about passing exams , after all…so why is there no interest?
“She is not the usual conservative, unionist role model and anywhere else but in Norneverland , she’d probably fit into a more liberal or left-wing party or model.”
I agree, it is unfortunate that David Ervine had not been around longer, they may have made more progress electorally.
The strategy of the mainstream unionist parties to demonise loyalism in order to attack Sinn Feins attempts to reintegrate combatants which is normal policy in post conflict reconciliation (though you would never believe it here), and essentially a continuation of the conflict in another arena – and more importantly the fact loyalists without the few outstanding leaders they had, have become victims of that policy themselves.
Had they been less inclined to body build and like David pursue educational development then they may have faired better.
It is my opinion, the fact that membership of the orange order guaranteed employment more than qualifications and capability in an industrial age, left catholics having two try twice as hard to get half as much and ironically has levelled the playing field in terms of employability which is only in more recent times having to be addressed in loyalist communities just as we had to in catholic communities.
We have a lot more in common than the elitist unionism and pomp english elite in westminster.
They have been treated unfairly by their own political leadership and the british state for which they gave so much and let down very badly. I can see where claims of the elitist attitudes could be directed.
“Surely it has to start in the home among family and friends…even before it gets to schooling. Education isn’t simply about passing exams , after all…so why is there no interest?”
Very true. They are still living the conflict and it would appear that hatred, retribution and victory are more important than reconciliation and social normalisation.
There can be no guaranteed outcomes, the future is not secured within the UK just as unification will not be achieved without reconciliation or in any predetermined time frame.
We don’t even know what reunification would look like. It could well turn out a more attractive option for unionists than nationalists the way things are going.
Whatever the solution, it needs to put all of the people on this small island first, and certainly beyond the contempt of England for anything irish, whether they be loyalist or republican.