What, you might wonder, has the childhood of an ordinary little Australian girl in the 1960s got to do with global issues of race, religion, culture and immigration facing Australia today? Travel with me for a while and find out…. Growing up multicultural – before it was a word I grew up in a poor housing commission suburb of predominantly working class and under-employed people including lots of new migrants who were known as “New Australians”. When I was 4 years old, Nikki and Maria lived next door and I adored their vivacity and openness, and going around their garden Read the Rest…

If you combine GM, a Monsanto-toxic environment full of mutagens, nanotechnology and wild microbiology, we’re in for a Franken-future! Genetic Engineering, 1976 I took a look at Genetic Engineering (GE) in 1976 while doing a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences. And wrote a review on the subject. Scientists of the day were urging caution and a 20-year moratorium on GE until its long-term safety could be assessed. But market forces did not want to be held back from the billion-dollar gleams in their eyes….So the real scientists’ caution of the day went out the window subsequently and GE Read the Rest…

Absolutely into science detective work on various subjects, and writing and presenting a course on modern science and the ageless wisdom… have had little time for my website!

Recently I attended a Cyberbullying community forum, where many people had the opportunity to speak about their own experiences. There was a considerable diversity of types and contexts of cyberbullying, and apparently different motives and methods by the perpetrators. However a couple of things jumped out and I felt to write about them. Young targets It seems that young people who report being cyber-bullied are not being listened to or taken seriously by older people such as parents, teachers and others in authority roles relevant to them. The older generations do not seem to realize the extent to which younger Read the Rest…

THE ALCHEMY OF JOINING DOTS Remember the puzzles we had as kids where we join up the numbered dots in the right sequence and a cute animal emerges? What if modern science is like that – a random-looking field of dots (scientific evidence all over the place) and we’ve joined the dots in a particular order? It gives us a sensible pattern and we say: “Yeah, that must be it!” But what if there is another way to join the dots? Or many ways to join the dots? You see, scientific ‘dots’ don’t come with numbers attached to tell you Read the Rest…

‘Justing’: How we dismiss the truth we feel within us Once upon a time my partner and I came up with a word and concept: ‘justing’. It started with how we related to something time-sensitive. For example, we’d be getting ready to go out. Person A was ready and Person B was not. So Person A would say: “I’ll just put away the dishes while I wait for them.” Then Person B would finally be ready, only to find that now Person A was engaged in just putting the dishes away! So person B then goes: “Oh well, I’ll just Read the Rest…

The Big Denial Party part 1 The world is in a mess and getting worse very fast, and how are most people responding? Just as we did in past eras when empires fell – by going into denial, seeking comfort to fill the emptiness that comes from the fear, burying the truth with indulgence in sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ rock’n’roll along with work, depression, inequality, sweets, falling in love, money, poverty, perversions, physical training, image, success, power, career, recognition, politics, sport, TV, mobile devices, entertainment, victimization, parties, religion, causes, issues, fashion, intellect, fads, games, music, art, parenting, all the isms Read the Rest…

The double blind experiment has come about because of the awareness of the subtle levels of influence of consciousness on the outcomes of scientific experiments. In this sense, it’s a valid response. Unfortunately it has become so rigid and so focused on the assumption of objectivity in science that it’s (a) missing its own point, and (b) being used as a weapon against natural phenomena that are difficult to measure and are subject to very subtle influences that the need for the double blind itself acknowledges! You can’t please all the people…. The vicious circle has become that researchers in Read the Rest…

I refer to the 31 January 2014 article: “Where is the proof in pseudoscience?” by Peter Ellerton from University of Queensland, published on The Conversation. The difficulty of proof in science Taking issue with even the title, it is well known that it is very difficult to actually prove or disprove anything in science, except in a temporary way for current expediency. This is not going to be an exhaustive critique, as I could write a volume on the subject. However I’ll make some points that stood out to me upon first reading the article. The value of knowledge The Read the Rest…

Truth and cults in the media today Culture and cult Growing up in the sixties and becoming a young adult in the seventies, I watched as we were bombarded by the media with the Vietnam war and with those ‘disruptive, radical university students’ who demonstrated against it; with the music of the Beatles and the conflict between what they represented and the mindset of my parent’s generation; with Baghwan’s ‘orange people’ cult and how evil they were; and with Charles Manson’s even more evil cult of seduction, brainwashing and murder. My inner dictionary was put under pressure to be re-written. Read the Rest…

The Meaning of the word “Truth” Obvious question: what does the word “truth” actually mean? Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the dictionary truth we go…. In this case however, the dictionary led me on a remarkable journey…. When pursuing truth in word, I find it useful to abandon the modern meanings, which just tangle me up in so much of the convenient ambiguity of words today… and instead go to the Origins section. Here we find Old and Middle English, German, French, Dutch, Norse and Latin, and sometimes a treat: the Proto-Indo-European language that precedes them all. I’ll Read the Rest…

How much truth is in the use of the word “conventional”? This is the word implying tried-and-true, trusted and assumed to be truth because it’s been in use for a long time by a lot of people, the conservative position to take if you want to be safe and well and don’t want to be risky or experimental. A bit of etymology….. “CONVENTION” (origin): 1375–1425; late Middle English convencio ( u ) n  (< Middle French ) < Latin conventiōn - agreement, literally, a coming together. “CONVENTIONAL” (modern meanings): adjective of “convention” 1. following the accepted customs and proprieties, esp Read the Rest…