Following the Footprints

My wife and I are avid mystery fans. Myself, mystery TV and DVD's, she, mystery books as well. One thing common to most modern crime shows is the forensics unit. They are there after the crime as been discovered. They accumulate physical evidence -- fingerprints, footprints, DNA samples and much more. Their science enables those looking for the perpetrator to follow these leads to the guilty party.

I have been thinking about how modern science, which I will dub "un-science", is far different from its heritage. The scientists of old who laid the foundations for modern science -- Faraday, Boyle, Lord Kelvin and many more -- were like the detectives mentioned above. They followed the fingerprints and footprints where they led. It was not improper in their eyes to recognize when the evidence led them to someone who was no longer inside the room.

Un-science has decided -- not based on evidence, mind you, but rather on presupposition -- that they can only deal with things inside the room. Nothing exists outside the room. The fingerprints, footprints and other forensic evidence must be attributed to things inside the room, tangible or postulated. Those who are still willing to recognize that the footprints lead outside the door are held in derision.

The writer of Hebrews stated in chapter 12:3 that "by the word of God, we recognize that the creation was made of things which are not visible." Imagine that. A first century writer stating without curiosity that the elements are made of things not visible to the naked eye.

Even though we have technology today like scanning tunnel microscopy, we can't really see atoms. We know with certainty they are there, can detect their presence and manipulate them. Even un-scientists believed in things they couldn't see for a long time. They didn't consider it any less scientific to do so, as long as it was done on their own terms.

Paul, the writer of the letter to the Romans said, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

In other words, "men who know better bend the truth to their own liking. In doing so, they violate what God has made evident to them, and consequently will be without excuse when they are called to account."

What will happen when those who hold to un-science are probed as to why they were willing, on their own terms exclusively, to believe in things they couldn't see, but unwilling to follow the footprints wherever they led -- even "outside the room?"

Eminent (Digital) Domain - The RIM Problem

Well, it was bound to happen. Eminent domain is not new. For many years, the property of individuals has been condemned by the civil government (local, state or federal) in order to acquire it for some needed public works project -- a bridge, a highway, whatever... The only consolation for the loser, er, uhh, property owner was that they were to be given fair compensation for their property loss.

Recently, there has been a lot of hubbub in the news about the use of eminent domain to take property from the little guy and transfer ownership to some big business entity to be used for something that gives a little better tax base for the municipality... taking the property of individuals and selling it to a corporate entity for building a mall or an apartment complex or a condo project so that the city budget can get a little more benefit from it.

Now enter the next frontier. RIM (Blackberry to the folks) has been embroiled in a patent infringement suit with small US company for several years. The case has reached the point where, unless RIM pays a percentage to the patent owner, the entire Blackberry network will be shut down. This does not sit well with those who have become addicted to the little beggars delivering their e-mail here, there and everywhere. I say addicted because users have even nicknamed them "crackberries" (alluding to crack cocaine) because, well, you get the idea... And I admit, they are a wonderful tool to those who need omnipresent email. I know, I support the Blackberry services for a major corporation.

Here is the rub. If NTP's patent holds up in court, and this is still not definitely established, the US government may step in and pull an eminent domain on them. In this sense, they would be condemning the intellectual property of NTP and co-opting it for the "greater good" of Blackberry users everywhere. This stands to obliterate any sense of intellectual property rights. RIAA... maybe you are next.