Iain Strachan

One of the wackier ideas I've come across recently is the Quantum Suicide thought experiment. For a full explanation look here It concerns one of the interpretations of Quantum Mechanics, (a subject I studied a long time ago at University & wasted many late evenings in pointless discussions of its philosophical implications). In the "Many Worlds" interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, all possible outcomes of an event occur in separate parallel universes. Consider a radioactive atom that has a 50/50 chance of decaying in any given second. We are unable to predict which of these outcomes will happen, only the chance of one or the other. Albert Einstein didn't like this idea, and was often quoted as saying "God does not play at dice". (Well, coin-tossing in this case). Enter the Many Worlds Interpretation (MWI) to the rescue. In fact at the end of a second, there are two parallel universes, one in which the atom has decayed, and one in which it hasn...

Choose variable names in your program that can be touch typed one-handed, like "reader", "axes", "lollipop", "phylum", "minimum". That way you can increase productivity by continuing to work while sipping your coffee.

A skeleton walks into a bar. Asks for a pint of beer and a mop. Classic FM today. They have redeemed themselves. (See "Hunger for Seriousness")

Here's a poem I wrote some time back. In the post God's Flute I wrote about Elgar hearing his music in nature. This is about the music I hear in nature. On writing the previous post, I realised that it resonated very much with this poem & much the same thoughts must have given rise to it. Order out of chaos again? Ambient Music As if God Had assembled A random orchestra And placed me in the empty hall, I hear music .. In the woodwind of birdsong The distant dissonance of a sheep bleat The cadence of rain coming down, The drone of a van going up hill Briefly broken By the leisurely fermata of a gear change. And deep rest comes Not in sleep But in deeply awake ... When the boring voices inside Churning the same questions About life and stuff Have laid off, The answers are all here

I wrote a while back of Darwin's letter to Asa Gray, where he said he considered the marvellous universe we live in to be the result of designed laws, with the minor details, whether good or bad, left to what we may call chance. Darwin, as is well-known was an agnostic, but I'd like to develop these ideas a little from my point of view as a Christian. One thing many of my Christian friends have a problem with is evolution. Much of this may be due to the increasingly hostile attitudes of prominent evolutionists such as Richard Dawkins. But I suspect also part of the problem is the idea that all this complexity can come about from random, chaotic processes. However, this does not imply the absence of a designer, or a creative intelligence, and evidently Darwin didn't think so either. The fact is that systems that obey physical laws can often pick out what they need from random processes - and turn randomness into order. Consider what happens when you draw a bow across a ...

Why do I love miserable music? I'm not a miserable person at all, and yet it seems my favourite music always seems to be of the kind that most people tend to find depressing. One of my favourite composers is Shostakovich. Now Classic FM play quite a bit of Shostakovich, but give rather a biassed view by only playing lollipops like the "Romance" from the film score "The Gadfly", or his brilliantly witty arrangement of Tea For Two (In the Soviet Union this was called Tahiti Trot ). But none of the Shostakovich pieces that are regularly played by Classic FM capture the true bleakness and tragedy of this man's music. By contrast, I attended a performance by the Lindsay Quartet of Shostakovich's deathly 13th String Quartet at Manchester University a few years back. The quartet ends with an extended passage for solo viola accompanied by deathly taps as the second violin is directed to tap the body of the instrument with the bow. It ends in a high s...

Went on an open top bus tour round London today to see the lights, with mother and family. We had a wonderfully entertaining guide giving the commentary. He said his name was George, but if we didn't like the tour and filled in a feedback form that would be read by the managers in his company, then his name was Shirley (I've changed the names to preserve anonymity). I've decided I liked him and hence he is "George". Despite having been to London so many times, it was very interesting to get an "overview" and tour round so many sites, embellished by many anecdotes given by George. I now know the origin of phrases such as "laughing your head off", "on the wagon", "one for the road", and the locations in London where they originated. I now know where various famous people live - that Margaret Thatcher has a police guard outside her house to prevent her escaping, how much Madonna paid for the lease on her London house, and ...