Friday, February 27, 2009

So what I am going to do now Simon is beat you with cat fur."

MIT professor Walter Lewin conduct a physics experiment.

12 comments:

Bohrstein said...

I love Walter Lewin! I watch his EM lectures after I get home from my EM class.

Greatest lecturer ever.

If you go to his very first lecture, at the very end he dawns a wig and stands next to a Van de Graaff machine. Funny guy.

Anonymous said...

Does he HAVE to use cat fur?

Bohrstein said...

Nope.

He could use something like flannel. But I think WL uses cat fur because of traditional reasons. He could have used silk for this experiment and had the same traditional nod - but it wouldn't have been as funny.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. It's not just cat-fur (as in a bag of fur that he could have shaved off of a cat at home); it's a cat PELT.

That's just as creepy as hell. More creepy still is that he offers no explanation of where the pelt came from or how it was obtained.

So far, I'm definitely not a fan.

Bohrstein said...

Oh come on MAH, that's not fair.

This is 2:42 of video footage cut from over 30 hours of video.

To clarify what I said before, this is cut from his first lecture - and the explanation provided is "I don't know why we use cat fur. Tradition, I guess. and by tradition we rub the glass rod with silk."

But, I ask, is it really fair to judge this wonderful professor based solely on whether or not he beats his students with a cat pelt, or with his flannel nighty? I'd even bet he didn't kill the cat himself and that MIT just provided the pelt to him.

Anonymous said...

looks like rabbit to me....maybe he just says cat fur for the horrified-laugh factor. great professors know how to get and keep student's attention.

Anonymous said...

Simon seems to get a real charge out of this experiment!

Anonymous said...

Well, now, Bohrstein, would it be fair to judge an excellent and entertaining Nazi scientist just because he used a human scalp in a funny and useful experiment? (Or an American scientist circa 1800 just because he used a native American scalp?)

No-------please save the outraged responses, all------I am not equating the Shoah and animal exploitation. I am, though, suggesting parallels and moral similarities, as have quite a number of Jewish scholars and animal activists, including Shoah survivors.

I would not be comforted if he "didn't kill the cat himself and ... MIT just provided the pelt for him," so long as I didn't know how the pelt was obtained. You can supply for yourself the analogous argument about the entertaining Nazi scientist who had a human scalp provided by his institution.

Not sure if you realize that cats and dogs are skinned (alive and conscious) for fur in China and elsewhere. Today.

Nor will I feel better if it is a rabbit pelt, for the same reasons that I worry about a cat pelt.

Finally, I haven't judged the prof. solely by this episode. As I said: so far, I'm not a fan. I'm reserving judgment in spite of a suspicion that he may not be morally too sensitive to animal issues. (Does anyone know more about this episode?)

Bohrstein said...

Ugh, I have to stop questioning you guys. The depth is just way more than I seem to even consider. Of course MAH, with your extra explanations I find it difficult to disagree with you, as you cast it in a very reasonable light (as far as I can tell). Just FYI, I spent about an hour trying to come up with rebuttals; none made sense really. The only thing that stands out as having any meaning is this: not all view animal rights in quite the same light as yourself (as I am sure you are aware), but I hope that you don't think this makes them bad people. Just maybe a bit more infantile in moral reasoning.

But I now understand if they don't end up on your “favs” list.

I'm just going to go back to my sulking corner and observe from afar. I just got excited because it was Walter Lewin.

BS

Anonymous said...

BS, you are a delight. Thank you for always *thinking* about what people post and for honestly responding even when you can't think of a rebuttal. How refreshing and extremely rare such intellectual honesty is.

My very own father is a cattle rancher. Although I find much of what he does in that capacity wrongful, according to my own beliefs, I am very sure that he is one of the best people I'll ever have the pleasure to know. So don't worry about my judging persons globally on the basis of just one thing.

And if it's any comfort, I'm going to check out more of this Walter Lewin, as he *does* seem entertaining and excellent in many ways.

MAH

Anonymous said...

That's right, BS, do not be discouraged. Just keep thinking and responding and growing.

Bohrstein said...

Thanks guys.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...