What is truth?

We've seen that when you look at the sun (which you shouldn't do directly) what you are actually seeing is the sun as it was eight minutes or so ago. But this pales into insignificance compared to when you look up at the stars at night. What you are then seeing is the stars as they were hundreds, thousands or even millions of years ago. And yet, if I were to come up behind you and say "Are those stars really there?" you would say "Of course they are - see for yourself". And that's it really - they are there because we can see them, and as nothing (except perhaps tachyons, if they exist) can travel faster than the speed of light, what we see defines reality for us. If I can see it, it exists, because it is impossible for me to know any different. So here's my basic premise - reality (truth) is the sum total of the information available to you. Problems arise when people have access to different information, or incomplete information. More to come.

Mea culpa? Tua culpa?

"Sack the manager" is the knee-jerk reaction to the woeful England performance against Germany in the World Cup. And yet, who really failed? All the manager can do is put the players out on the pitch and tell them how to play, and clearly he did just that. So was it his choice of players that was at fault? Were his tactics to blame? Or was it the players that simply failed to deliver? I've no doubt it was the last of these - maybe we would have lost anyway - the Germans have a pretty formidable side - but there's no doubt that we could and should have played much better than we did. Our defence, which up until now had been the best aspect of our admittedly poor play, just disintegrated, and the first goal was a joke - even our local pub team could have defended against that one. So I don't think Capello should carry the can unless it can be clearly shown that it was his team choice or tactics that caused the defeat. Otherwise let these highly paid professional players explain just why they failed to live up to their billing.

Is the truth really out there?

Consider - you are lying on a beach somewhere sunbathing, and then the sun for some inexplicable reason suddenly blinks out of existence. You would continue to lie there basking in the sun's light and heat for a little over eight minutes more before you became aware of the fact. That's how long it takes light from the sun to travel to Earth. So for eight minutes or so you would be soaking up rays from a sun that wasn't there any more! But as far as you are concerned it would be there - you could see it, you could feel it's heat. Now let's assume there is a manned station on Mercury. Light takes about three minutes to get from the sun to Mercury, so the sun would disappear for them some five minutes before it did for you. For five minutes their truth (the sun has disappeared) would be different from your truth (the sun is still shining). So just what is "truth"? More to come.

Doctor Who.

Well, I've given it every chance - I've persevered throughout the first series, and I still don't like it. Part of the problem is technical - the intrusive background music which at times makes it difficult to hear the dialogue, and the fact that so much of the action seems to take place in the dark or semi-dark, meaning that you not only can't hear what's happening, but you can't see what's happening either! But those are both solvable - the main problem I'm afraid is the writing. The strength of the program since it came back with Christopher Eccleston in 2005 has been that although the basic premise is ridiculous, the individual plots have been logical and believable. But this time round, the plots - with perhaps the one exception of the Vincent Van Gogh episode - have just been confused and silly. I still don't like the way Matt Smith is playing the Doctor, although given the scripts he's having to work with, it's difficult to see how else he could play it. But like I say, overall it's been a big disappointment, and for me not a patch on what has gone before.

Can't cope...!

Sport overload at present. The World Cup is tending to overshadow everything else. The fact that we're tanking the Aussies in the one-day internationals - which would otherwise be headline news - is passing almost unnoticed. And what about that extraordinary match at Wimbledon which went to 70 games to 68 in the final set? Did anybody watch it, or simply hear about it after the event? And then there's a Grand Prix this weekend. We could do with some Sports Supremo to take charge and schedule these things so that they don't clash - my remote control is wearing out as I'm constantly flicking channels to try and keep up with everything!

Toe the line, or....

Discussing his dismissal of General McChrystal for saying rude things about him and his administration in a magazine article, President Obama is quoted as saying “I welcome debate among my team, but I won’t tolerate division.” Am I right in thinking this means "You are welcome to express your views, provided they agree with mine"? Funny sort of "debate".

Could do better...

Sort of good news for a change. I've posted in the past about the absurdity of doctors being able to prescribe Class A drugs for pain relief, whereas they cannot prescribe cannabis, even when it can be shown to have beneficial effects to, among others, MS sufferers. Well it now appears that a mouthspray has been developed which contains the active ingredients of cannabis, and that it has been approved for use in the UK. Only sort of good news because - you've guessed it - it will not be available on the NHS and those who want it will have to pay something like £10 a day for the privilege. Still it's a step, if only a small step, in the right direction.

Free will - continued.

When I go my morning walk, there comes a point where I have a choice of three ways to get back home. Which one I take depends on various factors - principal among them is the weather and how well, or otherwise, my legs are behaving. But I do have that choice every morning - or at least I think I do. Of course it's possible that which way I go is the way I was always destined to go. But the point is that if I believe I am exercising freedom of choice and I have no reason to think otherwise, does it really matter whether I am or not? It's a bit like that business in "The Matrix" where Neo is given the choice of taking the blue pill or the red one - me, I'd take the blue one every time. Provided I'm content and comfortable with the life I've got - which I am - I'm not really interested in whether it's a sham or not. Of course this raises the question of whether there is such a thing as "the truth" and that's a big big question which perhaps we'll come back to later.

Sorry, you can't say that!

I hadn't realised just what the implications are of certain brands becoming "official partners" of major events. Apparently in South Africa, because Budweiser are the "official" beer of the World Cup, you are not allowed to drink any other make of beer within 1km of any of the stadia. Because Coca-Cola are Fifa's "partner", you cannot take a can of Pepsi into a match. You cannot take anything - like an golf umbrella - into a stadium if it is advertising any name which conflicts with any brand which has paid money to get exclusive rights to the competition. And this isn't just South Africa - it seems we have passed a law - the London Olympics Games and Paralympics Games Act 2006 - which forbids the use of various terms - including would you believe the word "London" - unless you have paid money to be an official sponsor of the Games in 2012. My paternal grandma's maiden name was London - does this mean that if she were alive today, had never married and was wearing a T-shirt with her surname on, she wouldn't be able to get a ticket for the Games? Oh, come on!!

Yes but no but....

Stand by for howls of outrage following tomorrow's budget from those (and that's probably most of us) who will be worse off or disadvantaged as a result. It seems that everybody is agreed that steps must be taken to reduce the deficit, and that this has to result in cuts, but most people take the view that those cuts should fall elsewhere - an approach which I have taken to referring to as ABM - Anybody But Me!