Ireland day 0589. Wednesday 10 May 2023- RIA Nolan*

Ireland day 0589. Wednesday 10 May 2023- RIA Nolan

Today’s summary	Val went on a bike ride in the morning and I did some Spanish revision. Went into Dublin in the afternoon and then to a lecture by Prof Philip Nolan on learning from the Covid pandemic, laid on by the RIA
Today’s weather	Mostly cloudy with occasional sunny periods, Some rain in the evening. Moderate westerly wind. Appx 14C

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Dublin RIA and Nolan lecture

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

Well I am pleased to report that this website was migrated to a new more powerful platform yesterday, and ever since it seems to have been performing better. I hope though that just writing this isn’t tempting fate!

Anyway, today Val had a day off work today so we had a leisurely morning listening to podcasts, and (for me) doing some Spanish revision. Val, meanwhile, went off on a short bike ride. After a brunch type meal late in the morning (poached eggs and ham), we took the train in to Dublin. We had an afternoon to have a look round – it’s so much nicer when the sun shines and it’s not Baltic cold! After several café and bookshop visits, we ended up at the Royal Academy in Dawson Street just before 6pm, for a lecture.

Well, I have to say, the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) really does lay on some excellent events.

Tonight we went to a lecture by Philip Nolan entitled “There’s so much to know”. Prof Nolan is Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and was a former Chair of NPHET (National Public Health Emergency Team) – Ireland’s team of science advisors throughout the Covid pandemic and in some ways the equivalent of the UK’s “SAGE” group.

Most of his talk was a reflection on Ireland’s handling of the Covid pandemic and I have to say he delivered it without hubris and with considerable humility. An inspiring speaker.

He had many reflections to offer on the pandemic. But perhaps the one that struck me was his observation that governments need to fund interdisciplinary science, because it’s impossible to predict where the next next existential challenge is going to come from.

There was a bit of a debate afterwards about the rise of “knowledge denial” and the role of social and other media in belittling expertise and in rejecting science. The trends in this direction in the UK and (particularly) the US were a bit of a concern. They aren’t yet a problem in Ireland, but could become so in the future.

In this context, one questioner asked whether education systems might focus more on helping youngsters to develop the ability to think critically. There was support for this and I for one fully agree.

In fact the talk made me reflect that a greater emphasis in education systems on self reliance, critical thought and common sense might actually be a lot more useful to societies in the long term than pursuing ever higher and increasingly irrelevant standards in, to choose a current political favourite, mathematics.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


At Malahide station. The nonstop southbound diesel from Drogheda captured in this picture crossing over onto the “Up” line to bypass the waiting DART in the station platform	Taking a peek into the Busarus – the main bus station in Dublin. It’s interesting to see all the fascinating places that the buses are going

Round the back of the Custom House. It really looks quite attractive from this angle, especially in the bright May sunshine	Our first café visit – in the “Books Upstairs” bookshop

In the Powerscourt House centre – I like this boutique-y shop which always sells really interesting (but expensive) things. Nice to look at, anyway	In the atrium of the Powerscourt centre. It’s always a pleasant place to visit, particularly on cold grey winters days

Take note! In “Books Upstairs”