Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Down Under

Q: Is it appropriate to show pictures of Australia? My friend recently took a trip "Down Under," and I felt uncomfortable when he decided to share several pictures online.

A: This is a widely debated topic. People with different religious and cultural backgrounds can have very different views about what kind of images are appropriate, and in what circumstances. It is certain that we must put thought into when, where, and how we display pictures of "Down Under."

It is generally agreed that showing Australia is a necessity in certain educational contexts. Generally we limit exposure to just drawings during early geographical education of children, and only show actual photographs of the Southern hemisphere in college courses for more advanced geography students.

There is also strong historical precedent for showing the "Whole Earth" in artwork, from paintings and sculpture to photography. However, the line between art, and the inappropriate kind of lurid geographical photos is hotly debated. This is a major part of why such images are difficult to contain, and are often protected by courts as "Freedom of Expression."

From my background, I tend to feel that photographic images of Australia should be limited to the context of straight-forward higher education, and images in artwork should be somewhat more abstract, and should restrain their sensuality.

-Cowman

Where'd "Bugs!" Go?

Q: Hey, where did the post about bugs inflating themselves go? I need to cite it in a paper I'm doing on insect inflation.

A: Yeah... we have no idea what happened to that post. Apparently some clumsy person accidentally deleted it, and we have no backup copy. Here's the gist of it:

Q: Why do bugs look bigger to women than to men?

A: Until recently this was thought to be merely a case of exaggeration, but in 2007, when women were finally permitted to practice entomology, several surprising discoveries were made:
1. Bugs inflate near women, and deflate around men. This serves to scare away women, and helps to avoid detection by men.
2. Men do not include shadows when judging the size of an object, while women do include shadows.
3. Women have generally smaller body sizes, so insects are proportionally larger compared to women.

We have lost the rest of the information found in our report, but hope to see it again someday.


-Cowman