MikeHickerson.com

I am pretty excited about the new game Spore, from Will Wright, the same designer who created SimCity and The Sims. It allows you to build a creature from scratch, watch it develop over millions of years, and then help it build a civilization, even create spacecraft. It sounds like Civilization on steroids.

The NY Times ran an article describing the game’s debt to evolutionary biology. Wright states that he was inspired by biologists like Richard Dawkins and Edward O. Wilson for the game’s evolutionary concept. But note the description of how the game is played, from a game of Dr. Thomas Near of Yale:

The next time [after his creature died once], Dr. Near’s luck changes. He gains enough points to move to the next level of the game. His creature grows a brain. “Oh man, it’s like I graduated college,” he says. Dr. Near can now alter his creature. He stretches the body to give it a neck. He adds a pair of kangaroolike legs.

As one of the scientists interviewed in the article notes, “The mechanism is severely messed up.” In fact, it almost sounds like another theory, which, I should note, is not mentioned once in the entire article.

I have just started reading Andy Crouch’s new book Culture Making, and, for some unknown reason, I decided to start at the back, in the acknowledgments. Among the people thanked:

Keith Blount, an unapologetic English atheist, [who] created the marvelous cultural artifact call Scrivener, a program which justifies the existence of the Macintosh computer all by itself and which made completing this project an unexpected joy.

Amen, brother. Amen.

MacHeist is a website that periodically offers discounted “bundles” of software for Macs.  They offer 14 pieces of software for only $49, and two of the programs - DEVONthink Personal and TextExpander - are ones that I use and recommend.  Unfortunately, I already own DEVONthink, and don’t have enough use for the other software to justify the price.  But, if you don’t already own DEVONthink or TextExpander, it’s a great price for some great apps. 

The journal Nature ($) recently found evidence of significant drug use among academics for the purpose of improving mental ability and increasing productivity.  The Chronicle of Higher Education’s News Blog summarized Nature’s findings like this:

In an online survey of 1,400 readers, Nature found that 20 percent had taken pharmaceuticals for the nonmedical purpose of improving their concentration, focus, and memory. Most of the people who responded to the survey were involved in science, engineering, or education. “The numbers suggest a significant amount of drug-taking among academics,” the magazine said.

The drugs most commonly used were Ritalin, Provigil (which reduces the need for sleep - here is David Plotz’s account of his experience with the drug), and beta blockers. 

Considering the high-pressure, high-stakes environment that many scholars find themselves in, I don’t think it’s surprising that some are turning to performance-enhancing drugs.  It’s not a new trend, either: consider the number of novelists and poets who have turned to alcohol or narcotics to help their writing come more easily. 

I have mixed feelings about this.  I can sympathize (greatly!) with the desire to accomplish more, write more, read more, and to use “artificial” means to get there.  Isn’t this why I drink 2 cups of coffee each morning, to help me become more alert?  I confess that, if I had access to Provigil, I would be strongly tempted to take it.  I struggle to carve out hours in the day to read and write, and adding 8 more hours overnight would be incredible. 

On the other hand, I wonder where this fits into God’s design for our minds and bodies.  We are made in God’s image, with the ability to reason, meditate, study, ponder.  God’s image also includes the Sabbath rest, and a pattern of engagement and withdrawal.  We see this in Genesis 1 and 2, in the ministry of Jesus, and in the promises given to God’s people.  I have a hard time imagining Jesus using Ritalin to help him prep for the Sermon on the Mount, or suggesting that the disciples use Provigil so they could stay up longer. 

A while back, I wrote about free books online.  Another great resource available for free is iTunesU.  Universities from around the country, including MIT, Stanford, UC-Berkeley, Yale, Reformed Theological Seminary, and about 30 more schools, offer free lectures - even entire free courses - for download oniTunes.  I’ve recently listened to Thomas Friedman talk about the ideas behind his book The World Is Flat (liked it so much I went out and bought the book) and Merlin Mann of 43 Folders speak about managing your time and attention.  Great stuff.  And now you can download free content from PBS through ITunesU.  These are incredible materials for you autodidacts (like me) who couldn’t fit all the classes you wanted to take into your college schedule.  And, if you’re still like me, now you can add unlistened-to lectures and unwatched documentaries to your guilt list of unread books.