Plucked from the Web August 2019
Interesting stuff I have come across on the wide expanses of the internets in August – quite a diverse selection. The decomposing gecko in the title image is symbolic for the state of Western morality in the early 21st century, btw. So, here we go, what did I read this month which impressed me:
Dive Training
I have been reading Andy Davis’ blog for a while, he is a quality voice in the field of scuba training. Too many (not all!) players in the “diving industry” put a plastic version of fun and quick training for the sake of the quick buck ahead of quality training. Andy speaks out against that.
“If you want to develop real ability, pass over the clowns and appeasers and find yourself a straight-talking tyrant” .. I suspect Andy has a slightly different definition of a tyrant than I do, I don’t think a harsh style is necessary for proper teaching, but honest and detailed feedback is. High fives and shouts of aaaawesome are not.
http://scubatechphilippines.com/scuba_blog/diving-experience-ability
Nuclear War
This is an excellent review of Daniel Ellsberg’s new book – Ellsberg of the Vietnam war whistle blower fame. It’s a soul-shaking account of how the incredible destructive power of nuclear weapons misdirected the (probably already shaky) moral reasoning of the military planners in charge:
https://inference-review.com/article/striking-second-first
Hakai
I am liking Hakai Magazine more and more, an ocean themed popular science magazine with a high standard of journalism, and excellent visuals. I am excited to announce that they will feature a photo essay of mine again soon. The article linked below is about the collective decision making by fish. Fish are not stupid! This is a case of fish democracy in way finding, quite a new finding in fish biology, worth reading:
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/do-salmon-make-decisions-as-a-group/
