Wow! I'm not emotional but this post made me feel a bit sappy. I met many people that I find really impressive at the conference (including you), and was baffled to see that their personality is as agreeable and entertaining as their work is thorough. Aaron and Jack were particularly cool. But the highlight of the post was seeing the amazing Joanna shouted out - if she can help invertebrates as well as she draws them, I'm hopeful for the future!
Really hope to see you at more UK events before you move back... In any case, it was a pleasure to see you again... especially the part where you Benthsplained shrimp welfare work to a barman at 1AM.
Mithuna Yoganathan has great YouTube videos about physics. I watch them while I ride my exercise bike. I never expected her to be mentioned on BB's Substack. Small world. I also wouldn't have expected her to be interested in animals.
EAG was super inspiring for me too, and meeting you was a big part of that :) Thanks for encouraging me to make stuff about the shrimp- I promise I will!
@Mithuna: Did you ever figure out exactly why light slows down in water? I remember watching your videos about a year ago -- and they were super interesting, but I feel like they ended on a cliffhanger. Or maybe I missed the video that resolved the mystery.
(Now I complain: I almost got to go to EAG London! Applied at the very last minute, got some funding, found a flight—and then realized they’ve got an 18+ age limit for dumb insurance reasons. Gah! Hopefully I’ll see you in NYC this October or something…)
Matthew, I might not always agree with you on moral questions, but your moral conviction is nonetheless extremely inspiring. This is an outstanding article.
The main thing I would tweak here would be your characterization of charitable endeavors as raging against the dying of the light. (Although I certainly appreciate the reference to Dylan Thomas -- he's an incredibly talented poet!) I believe that with a theistic worldview (which you and I share) and especially with a Christian worldview (which I pray we might eventually come to share) you needn't think in such grim terms. I really do believe that in the end, God will bring justice to our deeply twisted, fallen world. Fighting against evil in this life isn't a matter of fighting against the dying of the light. It's a matter of spreading the light that shall never die. As Christ Himself put it: "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
That, I think, gives us more cause for hope than anything else possibly could.
Yes I agree with this. Perhaps a more accurate term would be “raging against some individual dying of the light that will, in the eschaton, be made infinitely brighter than it was at any state,” but that is less catchy! I had an article about this a while back https://benthams.substack.com/p/deep-theism?utm_source=publication-search
Wow! I'm not emotional but this post made me feel a bit sappy. I met many people that I find really impressive at the conference (including you), and was baffled to see that their personality is as agreeable and entertaining as their work is thorough. Aaron and Jack were particularly cool. But the highlight of the post was seeing the amazing Joanna shouted out - if she can help invertebrates as well as she draws them, I'm hopeful for the future!
Really hope to see you at more UK events before you move back... In any case, it was a pleasure to see you again... especially the part where you Benthsplained shrimp welfare work to a barman at 1AM.
Haha thanks! :).
Joanna looks suspiciously like Dasha Nekrasova in disguise. Hope you didn't reveal anything too important...
Mithuna Yoganathan has great YouTube videos about physics. I watch them while I ride my exercise bike. I never expected her to be mentioned on BB's Substack. Small world. I also wouldn't have expected her to be interested in animals.
EAG was super inspiring for me too, and meeting you was a big part of that :) Thanks for encouraging me to make stuff about the shrimp- I promise I will!
So awesome :)
@Mithuna: Did you ever figure out exactly why light slows down in water? I remember watching your videos about a year ago -- and they were super interesting, but I feel like they ended on a cliffhanger. Or maybe I missed the video that resolved the mystery.
People underestimate the effects of building community and social capital, glad you had such a nice experience
Wow! Seems like a great event…
(Now I complain: I almost got to go to EAG London! Applied at the very last minute, got some funding, found a flight—and then realized they’ve got an 18+ age limit for dumb insurance reasons. Gah! Hopefully I’ll see you in NYC this October or something…)
Why do you trigger my FOMO like that? 😭 That's mean
Really enjoyed this and sad I didn't get to meet you this year. Maybe the next one!
Matthew, I might not always agree with you on moral questions, but your moral conviction is nonetheless extremely inspiring. This is an outstanding article.
The main thing I would tweak here would be your characterization of charitable endeavors as raging against the dying of the light. (Although I certainly appreciate the reference to Dylan Thomas -- he's an incredibly talented poet!) I believe that with a theistic worldview (which you and I share) and especially with a Christian worldview (which I pray we might eventually come to share) you needn't think in such grim terms. I really do believe that in the end, God will bring justice to our deeply twisted, fallen world. Fighting against evil in this life isn't a matter of fighting against the dying of the light. It's a matter of spreading the light that shall never die. As Christ Himself put it: "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
That, I think, gives us more cause for hope than anything else possibly could.
Yes I agree with this. Perhaps a more accurate term would be “raging against some individual dying of the light that will, in the eschaton, be made infinitely brighter than it was at any state,” but that is less catchy! I had an article about this a while back https://benthams.substack.com/p/deep-theism?utm_source=publication-search
The Andy Masley link just goes to his substack, not the insanely good blog post. Do you have a link directly to the post?
His blog in general is really good, not any one particular article.
I'm so glad you had such a good event :') 💙
Was great to meet you too briefly.
(I had a chat to you about the flaws of negative utilitarianism and antinatalism while walking from the tube)