[ExI] Brian May approaches his (non-honorary) Doctorate

spike spike66 at comcast.net
Sun Jul 29 04:03:42 UTC 2007


> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Amara Graps
> Subject: [ExI] Brian May approaches his (non-honorary) Doctorate
> 
> (sorry..was at a workshop in Bern, just returned to Rome...

Q: Why are cell phones so expensive in Italy?

A: They hafta pay Roman charges.

...
> 
> No, he formally submits his dissertation to his PhD committee. Then the
> usual procedure: they review it, he defends it (August 23), then he is
> awarded the degree, or not...  Amara


Thought experiment: what if... you and I were not out on the fringes, but
rather this planet was populated by people like us.  Extropian thought would
be mainstream stuff, tabloids at the grocery checkout counter headlining
every appearance of an astronomer or physicist.  Everything Hollywood would
be something that only a few people had even heard about, an eclectic
discipline followed intently by few.  The status of rock stars and
astronomers would be nearly exactly switched: rockers like Brian May would
be greeted by throngs of autograph seekers *when he was awarded his PhD* but
little notice would come of his music career.  

The few odd rock and roll fans would marvel that he had achieved so much
popularity by earning the pinnacle of degrees in astronomy, a field of which
they were aware, a field in which the lead acts made tons of money, had
teenage girls always hanging on their every word, TV execs always wanting
interviews.  The occasional PBS special would be made about the rock and
roll world, in which they might be mentioned, along with video of a rock
concert in which fifty to seventy people, mostly men, listened intently to
each act.

spike









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