Freak shows

2 years ago on this blog I wrote the following.

Possible the most famous off all physicist but yet how many people can tell you what hawking radiation is. I have just come from a lecture given by then man about information loss in black holes in the university of Barcelona. Now I have a degree in physics and possible more importantly fluent in English and I understood little of what he said due to 1 it was high mathematical in nature and 2 He is quiet difficult to understand. And I am sure(not wanting to boast) that I was probably one of the most fluent in English in the audience. Yet he had the audience captivated. But I still wonder is the captivation due to the fact that he is explaining convolution of non-trivial topological solutions are the fact that he is unable to communicate save for moving 2 fingers. So I am left wondering the age of big brother are people captivated by the strange or the sublime.? Feel free to leave yeer thoughts.

I was reminded by this again when I saw an add on More 4 for a show called the worlds smallest people. The show was about Primordial dwarfism people who in essence don’t grow and remain small. Now the show was tagged about their struggle for life etc. But is that really it’s draw? Or is it just the modern day freak show. The same freaks as the old days but just dressed up in away that can let people feel good about it fooling themselves into thinking that they are learning about their struggles instead of just staring?