Author: Andy

Environmental Determinism

This previous week’s readings sought to develop a background for the history of Geography both in the larger world sense and in the strictly American realm. It included a brief introduction to early Greek thinkers like Herodotus and Ptolomy, Arab geographers like As Idrisi, and more recent folks like Kant, Ratzel, Vidal, and Penck. The most humorous, and most easy to read, was a bit on Environmental Determinism by Ellen C. Semple. It was completely unscientific, anecdotal, and racist. Yet it was a very predominant way of looking at, if not justifying imperial behavior at the turn of the 20th century.

Though the basis for Environmental Determinism is rather simple, even elegant, it takes much larger and sweeping generalizations about peoples based on the environment in which they live. One of my favorite generalizations was that peoples from the mountainous regions of the Alps were incapable of creating art because of the abundance of beauty in Mountains. It was people from the lowlands of France and such that were creating the poetry of the day because the less aggressive landscape allowed their minds to create purely aesthetic works. I’m paraphrasing, but not by much.

This way of looking at peoples was naturally misused to defend the treatment of indigenous peoples, and justify expansion and other imperial practices. Many subsequent geographers have felt that this simplistic and unscientific theory is part of the reason that Geography as a discipline lacks a clear picture in our minds. In other words, Environmental Determinism did for Geography what Fascism did for Khaki.

Debate correction

So, after watching a good 30 or more minutes worth of debate, I must admit it was not the recitation I expected. No one could have their prepared content bomb so badly.

The post-debate discussion seems to suggest that President Bush didn’t play the part of the misbehaving yet righteous child. It also seems to suggest that he “made some strong points.” I must have lost track of what those points were in the giant gaps of dead air space between “um”, “er” and condescending “listen”.

I was somewhat surprised, and delighted that Senator Kerry mentioned Nuclear (new – clear) proliferation as one of the greatest threats to our security. It was a hippie issue back in the day, and a startlingly important hippie issue now. Thank you Senator for not “wilting” and addressing a supremely important issue. And for making the President point out the rather blatant “we can, they can’t” gap.

Political Compass

Tonight is the first Presidential Recital Debate. I’m missing part of it because of work, and I don’t really mind. We know what they’re going to say. Heck, you can even plot their political bent. They’re not that different.

You can also calculate your own political leanings through a series of questions and see how you compare to your friends, historical figures, and evil tyrants. I really suggest reading the Analysis more than anything. There’s a good bit on the neo-cons and neo-libs in America.

No surprises for me really. I’m a leftie and I’ve even drifted further from the shore in my old age.

By the numbers:
Economic Left/Right: -6.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.33

First Day @ PSU

Yesterday was my first day of class in the Geography graduate program at Portland State. I was a little nervous leaving work on the busiest day of the year, but was able to forget about it for a while and get excited about going back to school again.

The majority of the class was introductory stuff like Syllabus and reading material, but we also looked at the department and talked about other happenings. The class is pretty small and seems to have a fairly wide variety of people and interests.

Something that immediately stood out to me was the amount of reading to be done. It also seemed somewhat foreign to me that we have to “make photocopies” of the material to read. Having worked with instructors to create PDFs of reserve material so they could be fetched online at one’s leisure has warped my perspective on the matter. Maybe I’ll bring it up.

Now I’m looking for bibliography software (or a web app) so I can keep track of all this stuff as I read it in case I need to refer back to it. So far, BibDesk takes the cake, but I’m looking for something a little bigger – like an online personal depot that can also store my electronic copies of this content. Heck, Moveable Type could probably work.

Anyway, I’m started and relieved to hear that 3+ years for the program is about average. I’m a slow reader, you see.

Bike Friz

I joined a pseudo-coworker and some of his friends for a game of Bike Friz at Franklin H.S. this morning. I’ve been meaning to play all summer but just haven’t had the time. It was a blast, and its unfortunate that next week will probably be the season’s last game.

twenty-six

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. I dressed very casually, wearing my new thongs, and felt good as I got to work. Work was lame, but afterwards Scott, Jason, Michelle and I tried the Rose and Thistle pub for dinner. It was about as Scottish as Woolite, with nary a Scottish ale on tap. The bangers, beans and mash were great, but we left pretty quickly to find some cask ale. Rose and Raindrop provided, and despite the smoke, it was a fun time. I even won a game of Hearts.

This year’s birthday cake was a special request. Rice Crispy treats. They were good. Not “like mom makes” good, but still good. I think I’ll go have some.