Plantinga vs. Dennett

Here is a fabulous account of a recent debate between Alvin Plantinga and Daniel Dennett over whether Christianity is compatible with science. The transcript here is remarkable nearly as much for its atmospherics as for the content. The chronicler shrouds himself in secrecy, the room is packed, his laptop battery is running out. Great fun.

Commodity Fetishism

I am taking part in a minor tech new product stampede right now, and it's fascinating from a sociological perspective. The new T-Mobile G1 Android phone* is now shipping. I found a forum in which hundreds of people were posting the results from their UPS tracking pages. This was odd in and of itself. It became hilarious when I came across one post that began "There are so many emotions flowing right now..."

Yes, the panoply of human emotions that center around getting a new gadget. And the enthusiasts want to share them with you. A search for "iphone unboxing" on youtube returns 2260 matches. Over two thousand people filmed themselves opening the iphone packaging and posted the results to youtube. "Unboxing" by itself gives over 36000 matches. So you can share the excitement of opening the box, the joy of tearing off shrinkwrap, the rapture of examining the marketing collateral.

* It can't match the Millennial atmosphere surrounding an iPhone launch, but there is no real Google cult as yet. Give it time.

The Sum of One's Purchases

One of the things that bemuses me about 21st century life in American is the extent to which people who most loudly lay claim to non-conformity, creativity, open-mindedness, and a rejection of crass materialism define their identity by the junk they buy, and who they buy it from. I laughed loudly and heartily* at the following quote from this great article:

…people who drive hybrid cars are 78% more likely than the general population to be highly creative….That is, they are inventive and imaginative and also tend to be emotionally sensitive and intellectually curious… They tend to be more open-minded, more spontaneous, and more assured of their ability to lead others, the Mindset Media found.

Just how much of people's junk is a not-so-subtle message to others: "I am a great and good person."?

* Laughing at odd things like this indicates either curmudgeonliness or incipient insanity. You choose.