14 January 2023

Quintessence of Dust 2023 restart: the what

So, Quintessence of Dust is back in business. (A few days ago, I wrote about why.) Yay! Here are some soon-coming attractions. A couple are book-length projects at various stages of embryogenesis, but the rest are posts and series that represent ideas to dissect/develop and thoughts to get out in the world.

1. My main book project is yet untitled but is well defined enough (barely) to warrant some posts in which I can try out the ideas. The book is about the so-called animal toolkit and the related theme of deep homology. I'll explore those topics then suggest that they tell us something important about the design and evolution of animals. I aim to cause some trouble. And yes, I wrote 'design'.

2. Another less well-developed book idea is tentatively titled "Evolution Is Easy" and that's all you get for now.

3. I just finished The Day Without Yesterday by my friend John Farrell, about the not-well-enough-known cosmologist and priest, Georges Lemaître. I'll write about my impressions of the book and of Lemaître, and I'll try to get John to join in. Maybe an interview of some kind?

4. Other books I've read recently and would like to write about: The Gene's-Eye View of Evolution by J. Arvid Ågren; From Darwin to Derrida by David Haig; and two novels by my current favorite author, Alix Harrow. I just bought (with some hesitation) the new book by Simon Conway Morris, From Extraterrestrials to Animal Minds: Six Myths of Evolution. If the book doesn't piss me off too much,  I'll write about it.

5. The series on Arhgap11b (an example of the formation of a new gene) deserves either closure or continuation.

6. We saw a very funny and subversive play last month at the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington DC. Teaser: called "Jane Anger" and billed as a "feminist revenge comedy," it featured the Dark Lady (of the sonnets). I have never reviewed a play but maybe I'll give it a try.

7. Misinformation, deliberately crafted and now turbocharged by social media and powerful propaganda amplifiers, is now recognized as one of the greatest threats of our age. Yet in some sense it's old hat: misinformation has always been at the heart of anti-evolution (creationist) communication. I guess there's this scrap of good news: anti-evolution misinformation has not gotten more sophisticated in the last 10 years or so. It's just as vapid as ever. Reflecting on that fact, I'm planning a series of posts about the basic falsehoods (there are just a few) that underlie nearly all anti-evolution misinformation.

8. Sometime this year I'll write about biological design, asking us all to take Dan Dennett's advice.

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