Science, classical percussion, and zombie movies

I really hate zombies.

Not in the literal sense, since they are fictional things, after all. Sadly for me, zombie stories have become a popular genre the last few years. But I may have to try to watch Diary of the Dead. Because I was very intrigued by George Romero's comments about it, and his planned sequel:

“There's still quite a lot left to say,” he feels, “about tribalism, because my feeling is that what happens on the internet is not discourse. Anyone can get up there and write a blog and people who happen to agree with your perspective are going to plug into it.” Far too often, he thinks, the attitude becomes, “I’m right, and here's another guy who thinks the same as I do. The internet reinforces things: it creates tribes, rather than bringing people together for some kind of discourse or understanding of opposite views.”

This resonates a lot with me, as it's something I've written about before several times.

One of the key elements of thinking scientifically is that you must be willing to change your mind. In many cases, you'll change your mind in response to evidence, but that might not be the only way. But science is becoming unusual in that regard, in that it is becoming one of the few areas that positively demands discourse and works against “tribes,” as Romero calls them.

And that demands that you really listen to what the other person is putting out there.

In that spirit, check out Evelyn Glennie's talk. She says:

Of course, my job is all about listening, and my aim really is teach the world to listen. That's my only real aim in life.