Colour

Red Leaves

Not much to report today. So a simple blip of a plant in a pot. The red coloured leaves are nice though, and I preferred the blurred picture taken with a large aperture rather than the clinical version captured using the flash. Blurred pictures are becoming a theme at the moment as they just seem more interesting in an impressionistic sort of way. There is too much harsh, clinical and antiseptic reality all around us. A blurred world seems far more accommodating; it is more 'easy on the eye'.

There was a programme on Radio 4 this morning where the subject was hard science and how this can be portrayed in the media. Science, and this may seem a contradiction, is not precise and rarely produces unequivocal answers. Most science is in fact quite blurred, and explained using probabilities. It is our (us the public - the punters) understanding (or not) that is the problem. We search for certainty. If a mad person shouts from the roof tops in a very confident and certain fashion, then this portrayal of the unequivocal is a far more powerful voice than a scientist in a white coat quoting facts, numbers, probabilities and complex explanations of phenomena.

This is why the politicians and the media always win. They, in a Shakespearian oratorial tradition, play to our basest instincts. They frighten, delight, pique, and sound so powerful and convincing. The scientist is seen as doubtful, not confident, has no direct answer and is always frightened of destroying their reputation through saying something that can later be disproved. The politician is a well known liar and cheat. They do not care about such issues. They are simple and dogmatic people where the inevitable PPE from Oxbridge is the pinnacle of their intellectual life. The media mainly want to profit from events but in their defence do much good by uncovering corruption or incompetence. It is all very complicated.

So, a blurred picture is not such a bad thing. It reminds us that in reality everything is blurred, it is not black and white, it is complex and interesting. Be wary of those that profess certainty. Always look behind the discourse and the rhetoric. There is always an agenda.

I will try to focus tomorrow !!