ALife 2025 day 5

The final day of the conference: it's been a great event.  The day yet again started with some parallel sessions of contributed papers, and I went to the session on Cellular Automata. I was chairing the session, so couldn't take a full set of notes, but I remember the talks being interesting.

Then the final keynote, by Anna Ciaunica, a philosopher, on the importance of embodiment: why we need our toes (and the rest of our body) to think.  We associate the mind with the brain; why not with the rest of the body? Why is the brain not a part of the body? Why do we have a "Brain and Body Institute", but not a "Liver and Body Institute"?  Why do we imagine Mary in her black and white world not understanding seeing red, rather than not understanding eating a red apple?  Why do we have an adult-centric neuro-centric bias, a male embodiment bias?  Think about pregnancy, not just from the mother's point of view, but from the point of view of the embryo: pregnancy is a universal experience, we have all been inside another person.  The opposite of death isn't life, it's birth.  We should think beyond autopoiesis to co-poiesis.  Currently our philosophical tools have been mostly invented by male philosophers.  Consider a parallel world, with a Renée Descartes, who is pregnant.

Well, after that mind-altering experience, it was time for the final boxed lunch.  And then the closing ceremony, bast paper awards, and thanks to everyone!

Next year, in Waterloo! 

more harvest

The cooker and Cox apple trees are bearing fruit.

I predict apple crumbles to come...

Audley End

We went to a garden show at Audley End.  The show was okay, but we would have liked more "show gardens".  The street food vans were better: I had a very meaty tasty duck wrap.  We didn't go in the house, but we did walk round the gardens.  There was a large kitchen garden with vegetables, and more espalier apple trees than you could shake a stick at.  But for me, the best bit was the woodland walk, with some great trees.

autumn

A few random photos from the garden.

a falling apple spears itself on a fennel stalk

the sedums give marvellous autumn colour

one of the many frogs in the garden at the moment

apple picking time

Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. — Niels Bohr (attrib.)

Our apple glut is reaching fruition, so it’s time to start harvesting.  Shall we pick them today, or tomorrow?  Let’s have a look at the BBC weather forecast.  It says today will be dry up until this evening, then rain continuing for most of tomorrow.  Great, let’s harvest today, then.

Off out into the garden, picking apples.  We’d been out, ooh, must have been all of five minutes, when … you’ve guessed it, it started to rain!

mellow fruitfulness

Our apple tree, in the early morning sunlight.

suddenly, apples! thousands of them!

The earlier predicted apple glut is well on its way, having been helped by sunshine and rain:

the young apple tree: crunchy Coxes

the old apple tree: tasty cookers

Soon...

trees and flowers

The garden continues to burst into life. Both apple trees are in full bloom.  Given the density of blossom, and the lateness of the season reducing the risk of frost, we're anticipating a bumper crop, or, as we call it, a glut.  There will be many gifts of apples, come autumn.

the old apple tree: tasty cookers

the young apple tree: crunchy Coxes

The acer is looking its healthiest and loveliest since it was planted nearly a decade ago.  It had a few rocky years when we feared we might lose it, but two freezing winters have given it a new lease of life, and it's never looked back.

sunlight through the leaves

It's not just trees springing into life.

more bluebells than any previous year

Worth the long wait!

Spring, beautiful, but needs work

The apple tree is blossoming.

But to keep a garden in flower requires work.  Here's our to do list for today:

spring

Our apple tree, full of pent-up energy, is heaving a sigh of relief that spring has finally sprung.

not sure I recognise what the blue background is, though...