Bournagain

Had a fascinating session with one of my students yesterday – a doctor. We were discussing a podcast on advances in medical research, and he was explaining how some of the most important discoveries in medicine have been accidental. He is sceptical about the idea that to that advances in medical research are held up by lack of funding, transdisciplinary studies, or simply the lack of a culture of research in the surgical area (the main arguments of the podcast). He also feels that medical breakthroughs are not discovered at conferences, colloquiums, or formal meetings to discuss research – gatherings which, in his experience, frequently degenerate into arguments between two parties, neither of which has the answers.

Apparently it is far from uncommon for major medical breakthroughs to be the result of failed experiments – “failed” in the sense that they contradicted the hypothesis that led to the experiment. Sometimes these “failures” can unlock secrets in areas completely unrelated to the object of the research. My client gave the example of how an experiment to change the colour of petunia plants led to a breakthrough in the treatement of cancer. He maintains that the secret of being a good scientist is to not throw out the results of “failed” experiments, but to study the failures in an attempt to understand why the experiment produced such results.

I loved the idea that major breakthroughs can be discovered by accident, unplanned and unexpected. “It’s not about concentrating the means of power and money, but about just letting the guy get on with the research he wants to do”, said my client. I understood that it’s about setting capable people free to follow their hunches and instincts, and waiting to see what might come up. This goes along with another concept I have come across lately – they idea that we are moving from an information age into an inspiration age. The basic idea as I have understood it is that the vast amounts of information we are currently swimming in will expand beyond our capacity to sort through, and knowledge of information will no longer be a realistic basis for intelligence. The real “geniuses” of the future will not be those who have vast knowledge, but rather those who have learnt to tap into an intelligence that is higher than their own, into inspiration. Jesus understood this when he explained “he did nothing on his own, but only that which he saw his Father doing”.

My student (seems odd to be calling a medical expert “my student”) also spoke about his fondness for the application of chaos theory to a variety of fields, not just the medical (a theory originally pioneered by the French). I’m not very familiar with this theory, other than the fact it sounds like something that would help my wife understand the state of my desk (or under the bed, for that matter). It sounds like fun, though – chaos is all around us, and like the untidy reverse side of a tapestry, conceals beauty and order which would astound us if we could just apprehend it.

Is Bin Laden still with us?

During the sixties there was a rumour flying around that Paul McCartney had died. An amazing number of people believed it, even though he frequently appeared large as life in the media. Another figure who frequently appears on our screen giving videoed speeches is Osama bin Laden, but nobody seems to be sure whether or not he is in fact still breathing. Some surprising things have come to light following the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto, including the fact that in early November she publicly stated not only that Bin Laden was dead, but named his murderer. It was such a throw away comment that it was almost as if she wasn’t aware that some in her audience might have been quite surprised by the news. Her interviewer, David Frost, didn’t even pick up on her extraordinary statement. Take a look at this interview from Al Jazeera.

You may have noticed that this blog looks a little different to usual.  I’m using some long awaited free time with a good Internet connection to do some housekeeping.

It might look a bit funny for a bit.  Thanks for bearing with me.  Things should be back to normal soon.

Along Buffalo Beach, Whitianga

Originally uploaded by Bournagain.I have uploaded a few new photos which I hope you will enjoy. Click on the photo to be redirected. This beach features in the article entitled Kupe’s Crossing mentioned in yesterday’s post. For us it’s one of the special places that no visit to New Zealand would be complete without.

024_Kiwiana

Originally uploaded by Bournagain.

Yes, those are chocolate fish they are trying to get their teeth into. This was our first Sunday at St. Davids in Hamilton, where Laura & Elise discovered how they do Sunday School in New Zealand.

Bundled the family into the car and headed off to the coast last week-end to get some beach therapy. We went with OM friends Marcel and Ase, and a new Romanian friend who has recently turned to Christ and is part of the new home group we have recently started. Had a great time. Seems like all I ever take photos of is my children, but I love looking at photos of them so here are some more. Need to work out how to get photos aligned properly in wordpress but as I am an HTML ignoramus, it’s going to take a while so bear with me.

Well, I started with good intentions, but as you can see it’s been more than a month since the last post. I think it was on another blog that I really like (Tall Skinny Kiwi) that I got this idea that blogging could be a “spiritual discipline”- a bit like journalling I suppose. It’s 24 days today till our departure for New Zealand, so hopefully if you’re interested you can track our journey here.

This is my first foray into the world of blogging. I’ve just turned 37, my children are probably more Internet-savvy than I am, and thought it was about time I entered the 21st century! Besides, I have to find a more efficient way of regularly communicating with far-flung friends and family.