HEALING AND HOPE FOR ALL SEASONS

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• mémoire
• expression écrite

HEALING AND HOPE FOR ALL SEASONS Excerpts from the blog “Healingandhope2011.com” By Rabbi Jo David Why did I choose this as the opening photo? This was a perfect moment. The colors were vibrant because the sun was bright and shining, the parrot was perfectly at ease, and I experienced a sense of absolute stillness. Such experiences are rare, but when they occur, they reach our deepest needs and bring us a precious sliver of grace and healing.

• r. a. nicholson
• r.a. nicholson
• special blogs for the sabbath
• a.j.arberry
• major theme of rumi
• true gift to human beings
• hope
• god

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• Mémoire
• Praise
• Dickenson
• Hamelin (Allemagne)
• Dickinson
• Empire
• Colorado

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• Publié par: undre
• Nombre de lectures: 14
• Langue: English

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ReinventingDiscovery

TimGowersisnotyourtypicalblogger.AmathematicianatCam- bridgeUniversity,Gowersisarecipientofthehighesthonorin mathematics,theFieldsMedal,oftencalledtheNobelPrizeof mathematics.Hisblogradiatesmathematicalideasandinsight. InJanuary2009,Gowersdecidedtousehisblogtorunavery unusualsocialexperiment.Hepickedoutanimportantanddifficult unsolvedmathematicalproblem,aproblemhesaidhe’d“loveto solve.”Butinsteadofattackingtheproblemonhisown,orwitha fewclosecolleagues,hedecidedtoattacktheproblemcompletelyin theopen,usinghisblogtopostideasandpartialprogress.What’s more,heissuedanopeninvitationaskingotherpeopletohelp out.Anyonecouldfollowalongand,iftheyhadanidea,explain itinthecommentssectionoftheblog.Gowershopedthatmany mindswouldbemorepowerfulthanone,thattheywouldstimulate eachotherwithdifferentexpertiseandperspectives,andcollectively makeeasyworkofhishardmathematicalproblem.Hedubbedthe experimentthePolymathProject. ThePolymathProjectgotofftoaslowstart.Sevenhoursafter Gowersopeneduphisblogformathematicaldiscussion,nota singlepersonhadcommented.ThenamathematiciannamedJozsef SolymosifromtheUniversityofBritishColumbiapostedacomment suggestingavariationonGowers’sproblem,avariationwhich waseasier,butwhichSolymosithoughtmightthrowlightonthe originalproblem.Fifteenminuteslater,anArizonahighschool teachernamedJasonDyerchimedinwithathoughtofhisown.And justthreeminutesafterthat,UCLAmathematicianTerenceTao— likeGowers,aFieldsmedalist—addedacomment.Thecomments

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erupted:overthenext37days,27peoplewrote800mathematical comments,containingmorethan170,000words.Readingthrough thecommentsyouseeideasproposed,refined,anddiscarded,all withincrediblespeed.Youseetopmathematiciansmakingmistakes, goingdownwrongpaths,gettingtheirhandsdirtyfollowingup themostmundaneofdetails,relentlesslypursuingasolution.And throughallthefalsestartsandwrongturns,youseeagradual dawningofinsight.GowersdescribedthePolymathprocessasbeing “tonormalresearchasdrivingistopushingacar.”Just37days aftertheprojectbeganGowersannouncedthathewasconfident thepolymathshadsolvednotjusthisoriginalproblem,butaharder problemthatincludedtheoriginalasaspecialcase.Hedescribed itas“oneofthemostexcitingsixweeksofmymathematicallife.” Months’morecleanupworkremainedtobedone,butthecore mathematicalproblemhadbeensolved.(Ifyou’dliketoknowthe detailsofGowers’sproblem,they’redescribedintheappendix.If youjustwanttogetonwithreadingthisbook,youcansafelyskip thosedetails.) Thepolymathsaren’tstandingstill.SinceGowers’soriginal project,nearlyadozenPolymathandPolymathlikeprojectshave beenlaunched,someattackingproblemsevenmoreambitiousthan Gowers’soriginalproblem.Morethan100mathematiciansand otherscientistshaveparticipated;masscollaborationisstartingto spreadthroughmathematics.LikethefirstPolymathProject,several oftheseprojectshavebeengreatsuccesses,reallydrivingourunder- standingofmathematicsforward.Othershavebeenmorequalified successes,fallingshortofachievingtheir(sometimesextremely ambitious)goals.Regardless,massivelycollaborativemathematicsis apowerfulnewwayofattackinghardmathematicalproblems. Whyismassonlinecollaborationusefulinsolvingmathematical problems?Partoftheansweristhateventhebestmathematicians canlearnagreatdealfrompeoplewithcomplementaryknowledge, andbestimulatedtoconsiderideasindirectionstheywouldn’t haveconsideredontheirown.Onlinetoolscreateasharedspace wherethiscanhappen,ashorttermcollectiveworkingmemory whereideascanberapidlyimprovedbymanyminds.Thesetools enableustoscaleupcreativeconversation,soconnectionsthat wouldordinarilyrequirefortuitousserendipityinsteadhappenasa

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matterofcourse.Thisspeedsuptheproblemsolvingprocess,and expandstherangeofproblemsthatcanbesolvedbythehuman mind. ThePolymathProjectisasmallpartofamuchbiggerstory,a storyabouthowonlinetoolsaretransformingthewayscientists makediscoveries.Thesetoolsarecognitivetools,activelyamplifying ourcollectiveintelligence,makingussmarterandsobetterableto solvethetoughestscientificproblems.Tounderstandwhyallthis matters,thinkbacktotheseventeenthcenturyandtheearlydays ofmodernscience,thetimeofgreatdiscoveriessuchasGalileo’s observationofthemoonsofJupiter,andNewton’sformulationof hislawsofgravitation.ThegreatestlegacyofGalileo,Newton,and theircontemporarieswasn’tthoseoneoffbreakthroughs.Itwasthe methodofscientificdiscoveryitself,awayofunderstandinghow natureworks.Atthebeginningoftheseventeenthcenturyextra- ordinarygeniuswasrequiredtomakeeventhetiniestofscientific advances.Bydevelopingthemethodofscientificdiscovery,early scientistsensuredthatbytheendoftheseventeenthcenturysuch scientificadvanceswererunofthemill,thelikelyoutcomeofany competentscientificinvestigation.Whatpreviouslyrequiredgenius becameroutine,andscienceexploded. Suchimprovementstothewaydiscoveriesaremadearemore importantthananysinglediscovery.Theyextendthereachofthe humanmindintonewrealmsofnature.Today,onlinetoolsoffer usafreshopportunitytoimprovethewaydiscoveriesaremade, anopportunityonascalenotseensincetheearlydaysofmodern science.Ibelievethattheprocessofscience—howdiscoveriesare made—willchangemoreinthenexttwentyyearsthanithasinthe past300years. ThePolymathProjectillustratesjustasingleaspectofthis change,ashiftinhowscientistsworktogethertocreateknowledge. Asecondaspectofthischangeisadramaticexpansioninscientists’ abilitytofindmeaninginknowledge.Consider,forexample,the studiesyouoftenseereportedinthenewssaying“soandsogenes causesuchandsuchadisease.”Whatmakesthesestudiespossible isageneticmapofhumanbeingsthat’sbeenassembledoverthe pasttwentyyears.Thebestknownpartofthatmapisthehuman genome,whichscientistscompletedin2003.Lesswellknown,but

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perhapsevenmoreimportant,istheHapMap(shortforhaplotype map),completedin2007,whichchartshowandwheredifferent humanbeingscandifferintheirgeneticcode.Thosegeneticvaria- tionsdeterminemuchaboutourdifferentsusceptibilitiestodisease, andtheHapMapsayswherethosevariationscanoccur—it’sa geneticmapnotjustofasinglehumanbeing,butoftheentire humanrace. Thishumangeneticmapwasthecombinedworkofmany,many biologistsaroundtheworld.Eachtimetheyobtainedanewchunk ofgeneticdataintheirlaboratories,theyuploadedthatdatato centralizedonlineservicessuchasGenBank,theamazingonline repositoryofgeneticinformationrunbytheUSNationalCenter forBiotechnologyInformation.GenBankintegratesallthisgenetic informationintoasingle,publiclyaccessibleonlinedatabase,a compilationoftheworkofthousandsofbiologists.It’sinformation onascalethat’salmostimpossibletoanalyzebyhand.Fortunately, anyoneintheworldmayfreelydownloadthegeneticmap,andthen usecomputeralgorithmstoanalyzethemap,perhapsdiscovering previouslyunsuspectedfactsaboutthehumangenome.Youcan, ifyoulike,gototheGenBanksiterightnow,andstartbrowsing geneticinformation.(ForlinkstoGenBankandotherresources,see the“NotesonSources,”startingonpage347.)Thisis,infact,what makesthosestudieslinkinggenestodiseasepossible:thescientists doingthestudiesstartbyfindingalargegroupofpeoplewiththe disease,andalsoacontrolgroupofpeoplewithoutthedisease.They thenusethehumangeneticmaptofindcorrelationsbetweendisease incidenceandthegeneticdifferencesofthetwogroups. Asimilarpatternofdiscoveryisbeingusedacrossscience. Scientistsinmanyfieldsarecollaboratingonlinetocreateenormous databasesthatmapoutthestructureoftheuniverse,theworld’scli- mate,theworld’soceans,humanlanguages,andevenallthespecies oflife.Byintegratingtheworkofhundredsorthousandsofscien- tists,wearecollectivelymappingouttheentireworld.Withthese integratedmapsanyonecanusecomputeralgorithmstodiscover connectionsthatwereneverbeforesuspected.Laterinthebookwe’ll seeexamplesrangingfromnewwaysoftrackinginfluenzaoutbreaks tothediscoveryoforbitingpairsofsupermassiveblackholes.We are,piecebypiece,assemblingalltheworld’sknowledgeintoasingle

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giantedifice.Thatedificeistoovasttobecomprehendedbyany individualworkingalone.Butnewcomputerizedtoolscanhelpus findmeaninghiddeninallthatknowledge. IfthePolymathProjectillustratesashiftinhowscientistscol- laboratetocreateknowledge,andGenBankandthegeneticstudies illustrateashiftinhowscientistsfindmeaninginknowledge,a thirdbigshiftisachangeintherelationshipbetweenscienceand society.AnexampleofthisshiftisthewebsiteGalaxyZoo,whichhas recruitedmorethan200,000onlinevolunteerstohelpastronomers classifygalaxyimages.Thosevolunteersareshownphotographsof galaxies,andaskedtoanswerquestionssuchas“Isthisaspiral oranellipticalgalaxy?”and“Ifthisisaspiral,dothearmsrotate clockwiseoranticlockwise?”Thesearephotographsthathavebeen takenautomaticallybyarobotictelescope,andhaveneverbefore beenseenbyanyhumaneye.YoucanthinkofGalaxyZooasa cosmologicalcensus,thelargesteverundertaken,acensusthathas sofarproducedmorethan150milliongalaxyclassifications. ThevolunteerastronomerswhoparticipateinGalaxyZooare makingastonishingdiscoveries.Theyhave,forexample,recently discoveredanentirelynewclassofgalaxy,the“greenpeagalaxies”— sonamedbecausethegalaxiesdo,indeed,looklikesmallgreen peas—wherestarsareformingfasterthanalmostanywhereelsein theuniverse.They’vealsodiscoveredwhatisbelievedtobethefirst everexampleofaquasarmirror,anenormouscloudofgastensof thousandsoflightyearsindiameter,whichisglowingbrightlyas thegasisheatedbylightfromanearbyquasar.Injustthreeyears, theworkoftheGalaxyZoovolunteershasresultedin22scientific papers,andmanymoreareintheworks. GalaxyZooisjustoneofmanyonlinecitizenscienceprojects thatarerecruitingvolunteers,mostofthemwithoutscientifictrain- ing,tohelpsolvescientificresearchproblems.We’llseeexamples rangingacrossscience,fromvolunteerswhoareusingcomputer gamestopredicttheshapeofproteinmolecules,tovolunteerswho arehelpingunderstandhowdinosaursevolved.Theseareserious scientificprojects,projectswherelargegroupsofvolunteerswith littlescientifictrainingcanattackscientificproblemsbeyondthe reachofsmallgroupsofprofessionals.There’snowayateamof professionalscoulddowhatGalaxyZoodoes—evenworkingfull

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time,theprosdon’thavethetimetoclassifyhundredsofthousands (ormore)ofgalaxies.Youmightsupposethey’dusecomputersto classifythegalaxyimages,butinfactthehumanvolunteersclassify thegalaxiesmoreaccuratelythaneventhebestcomputerprograms. SothevolunteersatprojectssuchasGalaxyZooareexpanding theboundaryofwhatscientificproblemscanbesolved,andinso doing,changingbothwhocanbeascientistandwhatitmeansto beascientist.Howfarcantheboundarybetweenprofessionaland amateurscientistbeblurred?WillweonedayseeNobelPrizeswon byhugecollaborationsdominatedbyamateurs? Citizenscienceispartofalargershiftintherelationshipbetween scienceandsociety.GalaxyZooandsimilarprojectsareexamplesof institutionsthatarebridgingthescientificcommunityandtherest ofsocietyinnewways.We’llseethatonlinetoolsenablemanyother newbridginginstitutions,includingopenaccesspublishing,which givesthepublicdirectaccesstotheresultsofscience,andscience blogging,whichishelpingcreateamoreopenandmoretransparent scientificcommunity.Whatothernewwayscanwefindtobuild bridgesbetweenscienceandtherestofsociety?Andwhatwillbe thelongrunimpactofthesenewbridginginstitutions? Thestorysofarisanoptimisticstoryofpossibility,ofnew toolsthatarechangingtheworld.Butthere’saproblemwiththis story,somemajorobstaclesthatpreventscientistsfromtakingfull advantageofonlinetools.Tounderstandtheobstacles,considerthe studieslinkinggenestodiseasethatwediscussedearlier.There’sa crucialpartofthatstorywhichIglossedover,butwhichisactually quitepuzzling:whyisitthatbiologistssharegeneticdatainGenBank inthefirstplace?Whenyouthinkaboutit,it’sapeculiarchoice:if you’reaprofessionalbiologistit’stoyouradvantagetokeepdata secretaslongaspossible.Whyshareyourdataonlinebeforeyouget achancetopublishapaperortakeoutapatentonyourwork?In thescientificworldit’spapersand,insomefields,patentsthatare rewardedbyjobsandpromotions.Publiclyreleasingdatatypically doesnothingforyourcareer,andmightevendamageit,byhelping yourscientificcompetitors. Inpartforthesereasons,GenBanktookoffslowlyafteritwas launchedin1982.Whilemanybiologistswerehappytoaccess others’datainGenBank,theyhadlittleinterestincontributing