Divides and Outer Reaches ... and Square Dancing

I've been tending this blog pretty steadily for the past few months, but now I'm heading into a hectic 30-60 days, so neighbors, you might not be seeing much of me.

The regional bank where I work as a project co-ordinator is about to open a nation-wide, Internet-only branch, and I'm essentially going to be a branch manager for four to eight weeks until we collect enough in deposits to justify hiring a real one. So long days and odd hours ahead.

But before that, we're off to Denver next week for the 2007 Gay Square Dancing Convention. It's a huge event, drawing two or three thousand square dancers from across the world. Two years ago, we never knew this world existed, and now we're totally immersed. I've written about it all on Vox in The Gospel of Gay Square Dancing.

But even when things get rough or hectic, I never stop thinking about the things that capture my mind. Here's a taste.

Cognitive Divides

I think a lot about how, in a competitive, technological society, people are getting left behind as the market puts greater and greater value on very particular cognitive abilities. Creativity, abstraction, synthesis, holistic analysis, a willingness to swim in complexity and nuance, to multitask at superhuman levels.

Adding to this, we'll soon be seeing cognitive enhancement drugs with the promise of giving the people who can afford them an even greater edge. The prospect gives me doubt in a future with any hint of equality, even as I can't help thinking about how great it would be to get my hands on some of the stuff.

And on the topic of divides, fascinating stuff here and here on sexuality and the brain, bad news for anyone clinging to the myth that gay folks can pray themselves straight. And even more here -- tempting but no doubt only partially reliable research on early childhood personality and politics:

A study published late last year in the Journal of Research in Personality reported a link between certain childhood personality traits and adult political orientation in a test group followed over two decades. As nursery schoolers, the future conservatives were described as easily victimized, indecisive, rigid, fearful and inhibited. The budding liberals were described as self-reliant, prone to developing close relationships, energetic and somewhat dominating.

I've long thought that at the heart of the conservative mindset is a contempt -- however well-tempered -- for weakness and differentness. I just hope somebody is trying to replicate this study in an environment more typical than Berkeley, California.

Outer Reaches

These are thrilling days for people whose curiosity takes them beyond the rock-water-gas skin of our own planet. New planets outside our system are being discovered every month, it seems, including this gem, a rocky, maybe warm and watery world orbiting a red-dwarf star, Gliese 581. The picture is  based on sound speculation by artist Karen Wehrstein.

And as always, our own solar system continues to amaze and delight. Some finds from my star-drunk wanderings below -- my favorite is the image of Io, volcanic arc ablaze and bathed in jupiterlight, pale Europa behind it.

And Just to Prove That I'm Not a Total Nerd...

Brian and I can't stop listening to Flying the Flag, the UK's scandalously undervalued entry in the Eurovision song contest.