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Related:
My unpublished essay, In Search of Certainty
Science and religion dialogue in Martin Marty's Sightings

From the New York Times:

CAPE TRAFALGAR, Spain* - Near this blustery headland where Admiral Nelson won his great naval victory over the French two centuries ago, a new battle of Trafalgar is brewing. But the ships involved today are only small fishing boats, wanting to protect their livelihood. Two companies plan to build large clusters of windmills in the sea just off this stretch of Spain's southern shore, a gritty place of sand dunes, lagoons and sharp brown reefs. .. Fishermen respond that the phalanxes of giant towers near the coast will make their tough jobs even tougher. … They say the towers, to be based some 10 miles offshore, will force their small vessels to make large detours in the already treacherous waters near the Strait of Gibraltar. … The windmill projects are part of a drive by Spain to expand its output of native renewable energy. Spain is already one of Europe's largest producers of wind power, second only to Germany.

TRURO, Mass.*- In an unusual last-ditch move to find clues to the three-year-old killing of a freelance fashion writer, police investigators are trying to get DNA samples from every man in this Cape Cod hamlet, all 790 or so, or as many as will agree. Raising concerns among civil libertarians and prompting both resistance and support from men in Truro, the state and local police began collecting the genetic samples last week, visiting delicatessens, the post office and even the town dump to politely ask men to cooperate. Legal experts said the sweeping approach had been used only in limited instances before in the United States - although it is more widely used in Europe - and in at least one of those cases it prompted a lawsuit. Sgt. David Perry of the Truro Police Department and other law enforcement authorities here say that the program is voluntary but that they will pay close attention to those who refuse to provide DNA.

• Who makes better decisions—a group or a quick-thinking expert? James Surowiecki's book The Wisdom of Crowds (discussed earlier, second item here) says that group consensus, in more cases than you'd expect, filters out individual errors and produces the best results. Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink argues that "decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made consciously and deliberately." How are the two books alike, and where do they disagree? Slate asked the authors to embark on a week-long "Book Club" e-mail exchange to explore this. The authors agree that both of their books challenge what they call the "Standard Model," which holds that one expert individual's deliberate consideration of a decision produces the best results. But they disagree on the role of so-called "Rapid Cognition." Gladwell says it can be a way to "protect judgments against corruption"; Surowiecki says Blink actually shows that "going with your gut will often lead you astray." Exchange

Also from Slate: How linguists picked the words of the year

• Imagine the kind of book Surowiecki or Gladwell could write about Jay Greenberg. A student at New York's Julliard School and a composer of five symphonies, Greenburg has been heralded as the kind of talent that comes along once a century or two. And he's 12 years old. In a profile recently re-aired on 60 Minutes, one fellow composer calls Greenburg "of the level of the greatest prodigies in history," along with "the likes of Mozart and Mendelssohn." Greenburg, the son of two non-musicians, began composing at the age of three. How does he do it? "It's as if the unconscious mind is giving orders at the speed of light," Greenburg says. "I just hear it as if it were a smooth performance of a work that is already written." It's a burden as well as a blessing; often, he hears multiple new compositions in his head at once. Companion article

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