Mastodawn

John Carlos Baez Mar 4, 2023

@rcorless - it'll be good for us academics to fly around less - especially the more successful ones who do most of the flying. I've stopped accepting most invitations for air travel, especially for invitations that involve staying somewhere for less than a month. I feel happier.

@johncarlosbaez yes, I can see that. But! One of the perks of academia that people are *the most* jealous of is our travel. It's incredibly broadening. But your point about staying longer is very good and has been my habit whenever possible for a long time now, especially when I go a long distance. I was just in NZ for a month, for instance. My trips to Spain are typically a month or two months long nowadays. But not everyone can do that.

I will miss it greatly. But I have been lucky and shall not complain (he says, steps from the beach in Tahiti, good gravy). I lament the loss for younger colleagues, though.

@johncarlosbaez The academic part of my trip is over but I am going snorkeling in the Tuamotus with David Stoutemyer (one of the authors of Derive). It's possible that we will write another paper together while we are on the boat, but that's not the purpose of the trip. Also: No grant money is being used for this part of the trip!

@rcorless @johncarlosbaez The Tuamotus! Years ago I found a book in the maths section of a second-hand bookshop called "The String Figures of the Tuamotus".
It's interesting, and shows you how to make all sorts of patterns, but no idea how it ended up in the maths section!

@rcorless @johncarlosbaez I've found the book!

John Carlos Baez Mar 4, 2023

@christianp @rcorless - have fun in the Tuamotos, Rob. And maybe you can find some of those string figures. What were/are they used for? Just for fun, or something practical too?

@johncarlosbaez @christianp I had never heard of them, and I shall look out for them! What an interesting find!

@johncarlosbaez @rcorless the preface says, "the making of these figures, called fai, was then still an integral part of the Tumatoan culture - a means of ready communication and establishment of friendships; an illustration of episodes in the careers of traditional characters with accompanying chants of myths, legends, and folk tales; a demonstration of knowledge and skill; a provoking of mirth and thus also a dispelling of monotony."

@johncarlosbaez @rcorless (interpret this in the context that it's the recollections of a coloniser 40 years after he was in the Tuamotus)

Rob Corless Mar 14, 2023

@christianp @johncarlosbaez Apparently, I found the one person on Fakarava who still teaches the art. Sadly, we did not have time to discuss it much, and she was prepared for another cultural event (dancing, at which she was excellent) and not fai. Maybe next time!

John Carlos Baez Mar 14, 2023

@rcorless Interesting! I just rediscovered this thread; thanks for quoting that book, @christianp. Now I'm even more curious about the use of this art.

Jacques Carette Mar 4, 2023

@rcorless I would be very happy to take a boat to NZ and back. Doubt my university would be all that happy if I did that during a teaching term...

John Carlos Baez Mar 4, 2023

@JacquesC2 @rcorless - Last month I was invited to give a talk at the annual meeting of ANZAMP, the Australian and New Zealand Association of Mathematical Physics. I accepted... on the condition that I could do it from home, via Zoom. Flying from California to New Zealand for a single talk would be ridiculous.

I even turned down an offer to visit New Zealand when I was in Singapore - the flight is over 10 hours!

New Zealand is pretty remote.

@JacquesC2 it could work if you could "work from boat"!