Chris Brauer Media Project [BLOG]

Tensions in academia between science and social theory are largely the result on an over-inflated sense of righteousness and self-importance from both sides towards the other. Sometimes they have far more in common than they are willing to admit.

For example here at Goldsmiths computing research is developing an algorithm for beauty, assuming that by analysing beautiful things it will be possible to create beauty through rules-based models. The assumption that beauty can be contained in variables and fixed definitions is almost laughable to social theorists considering the subjective experience and context. And the technology, as almost always, seems grossly optimistic. After all image recognition software can barely decipher (looking for a job?) what objects are in a photograph let alone identify the social and cultural representations that go into ephemeral beauty.

But the real issue is not if it is currently possible to do such a thing but whether it is possible at all. To that question the scientific community would advice constant testing and advancement, moving forward all the time, largely discarding the notion that not all variables in beauty can be eventually counted. When unaccountability is apparent science devises names for things that can be inferred like Dark Matter. Basically we don't know what it is (or its partner in darkness Dark Energy) but we know it is Dark Matter. After all in all the known universe only about 4% of total energy density can be seen directly, about 22% is inferred as dark matter and the remaining 74% inferred as dark energy. It sounds a bit like how sociologists view society with about 4% of what is going on obvious and directly observable, the rest inferred. Journalists love the idea by describing anything that is not observable as "the dark matter of ...".

That's what makes the as yet untested theoretical physics concept of a "Theory of Everything" so engaging as a scientific topic. Personally I would not be happy with any theory of everything that doesn't definitively explain why all belly button fluff is blue or why bullets fired into the sky never seem to hit anything on the way down. And from what I have read this one doesn't seem to be able to do that. Instead it is a hypothetical theory that would make any postmodern proud. The idea is that everything around you is made up of tiny strands of energy that vibrate at different frequencies. Kind of like all the people on earth vibrating in their own frequency to make up the complexities of social life. It grafts together quantum mechanics with relativity in an attempt to explain the fundamental interactions of nature. It brings a new meaning to being strung out if we consider that if the universe collapses on itself after expansion (a Big Crunch) superstring theory suggests that the universe can never be smaller than the size of a string before expanding again. If you are imaginative you can imagine us all just hanging out on that string, chilling and waiting for the universe to get a bit bigger so we can fit a few couches in.

To date superstring theory has launched a number of best-selling scientific texts and television programs, most notably The Elegant Universe, while continuing to struggle with the fact that it makes prediction that cannot be tested. But in an academic paper appearing in the January 26 edition of Physical Review Letters a test has been proposed. It involves use of the incredible Large Hadron Collider, a subatomic particle collider scheduled to be fully operational in early 2008. Weaving under the borderlands of France and Switzerland, the CERN based 27-kilometer tunnel will collide bunches of protons and observe the results. It takes a proton around 90 microseconds (one millionth of a second) to travel around one uber half-marathon lap of the circuit. In tests of the Theory of Everything observations will input to substantiating the canonical forms of string theory.

“Our work shows that, in principle, string theory can be tested in a non-trivial way,” said Ira Rothstein, co-author of the paper and professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon. Now that's some postmodern dark matter.

Labels: academia, science, sociology

Visual sociology is a still emerging but exciting form of social practice as researchers seek to harness the powers of multimedia to contribute to understanding social life.

At Goldsmiths College, University of London my colleague Paul Halliday recently completed a 20-year photographic project of London faces and public places first inspired by a series of walks around Greenwich with his late father that opened up a new way of thinking about history, place and memory. As a module leader in Live Sociology Paul inspired my own first attempt in Deptford at exploring visual practices as an input to sociological methods.

Paul leads the MA in Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths and outlines his approach to his London photographs on the project website:

"The work is a kind of auto-ethnography of my day-to-day life harnessing the power of photography to speak a language that resonates with a part of my on-going experience of being a Londoner - in a city that fascinates, infuriates, perplexes and at times leaves me utterly lost for words. A city that I have a deep sense of shared belonging with, that continues to intoxicate me, and that I am happy to call my home."

Labels: academia, culture, london, photography, sociology

London Project is underway at City University in the Department of Journalism and Publishing. Students in the MA International Journalism program hit the streets from March 6-17 telling the stories of London places between 12pm-1pm each day. Visit the website for already published stories of London faces and London icons that describe the London experience. Make sure to visit journalism blogs from the same students to see their talents for electronic publishing.

Labels: academia, culture, education, london

The value of a good education echoes in the words and council of a legendary wiseman in T.H. White's The Once and Future King:

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."

It is an incredible experience studying for a PhD at Goldsmiths College, University of London. I am entering my second year in sociology/computing and enjoying every minute of it. Head of Computing Professor Robert Zimmer and Brian Alleyne in sociology are my supervisors and offer a feast of inspired seminars, interdisciplinary forums and bulging reading lists. Learning at Goldsmiths is a beautiful thing.

Labels: academia, education, london

I've started teaching a new course module at City University with four classes of International Journalism MA students (would-be Internet Journalists) from all over the world. It is a fascinating group of exceptionally talented people. You will hear more from them when they start blogging. For now, here's the links for their assignment of rewriting a piece of copy (week 3 lecture):

• Rewrite this story from the International Herald Tribune for the Internet
• Add Appendix: Detail any sidebars, graphics, photographs, or other media elements supporting rewrite
• Save copy in a formatted document using Microsoft Word (add hyperlinks) and attach to an email to assignment1 (@) chrisbrauer.com
• email subject: studentname_module_assignment1 (eg. cbrauer_3_assignment1)
• attachment format: studentname_module_assignment1.doc (eg. cbrauer_3_assignment1.doc)
• Research Resources: Use It, Sun, Amy Gahran, CyberJournalist, Poynter

Labels: academia, education