Interdisciplinary Blogcast

 
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age." -H.P. Lovecraft (1926)

"...Interdisciplinarity is driven by expected benefits of solving problems collaboratively across the boundaries of traditional disciplines and, from a different perspective, by ethical and societal problems at the intersection of science, technology and society. These problems led to the establishment of technology assessment, global change studies and sustainability research. There is a broad practice of interdisciplinary activities all over the globe..." – M.H.G. Hoffmann (2009)

Here I am, eighty years since Lovecraft's words, in the world's foremost interdisciplinary research program thanks to ASU's "unmatched ability to build a graduate program around this [, interdisciplinary research's,] rapidly emerging new trajectory for science". In spite of Lovecraft's bleak and brooding prophecies regarding the dangers of correlating scientific disciplines to piece together dissociated knowledge, I strive to do such a thing in order to 'advance' my field and improve human health. And for my work, I am very fond. So here I am, 'fondly' exploiting the trenches between ignorance and idea, philosophy and philanthropy, understanding and undertaking; rationally eliminating the 'God of the gaps' day by day. Potentially at the benefit servicing all mankind; potentially at the dismay of destroying all mankind. For better, or for worse?

My name is Bradley Lusk. I am currently a PhD student in the Biological Design Program in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University's Tempe Campus. Since I can remember, I often find myself thinking deeply about many a thing, as I'm sure most people do. When speaking my mind to my father, he often told me, semi-sarcastically yet half-assed seriously, 'you should write a book'. I thought to myself, 'how does one write a book?' Then I thought, 'do people even write books anymore? Sure! Wait, do people even read books anymore?'

So here I am, stuck somewhere between generation Y and generation X, between a useful ending and a letter no one cares about, and what am I to do? I guess my generation is the generation of the blog, so I may as well embrace it.

Anyways, here it is: my blog. Hopefully people read it, hopefully people don’t. What do I expect? Eh. What should you expect? Eh. I never was one for expectations. I have started this blog to talk about things that interest me. This ranges from vintage video games, laserdiscs, and records, to local businesses, concerts, and events, to discussions of religion, political science, objectivism, and the Price is Right. Basically, anything goes. This is the medium through which my mind shall express itself via type, for me, for you to read if you care. Only, whether you read this for knowledge or understanding, or while defecating before breakfast, hopefully I, we, your cat, come out of this achieving what many Eastern philosophers only dream of.
Check back every few days. Who knows, you might find something profound, you’ll probably find something mundane, and you’ll definitively find something offensive.