Bay Blogger Thursday
Winona "Winnie" Tong comes to the Bay Area from the cool climes of beautiful Canada. Her profile reads like the history of personal computing which, frankly, it is (and, at least in the early years, mirrors our own experience -- except she started on an Apple and moved to WinTel, and we went vice-versa). Now, of course, it's Web 2.0, and instead of BBS systems and ICQ chat, she's got a blog, Creative Constipation.
We first 'met' Winona through her Flying Spaghetti Monster plushie, which recently sold on eBay for $510. With a matching donation from her employer, that means she raised over $1000 for the National Center for Science Education. A real altruist if you ask us, since as a foreign citizen she could be excused for not caring that America is quickly falling into the hands of fundamentalist nutjobs.
After the jump, we ask Winona why she made the toy, how the auction turned out and what's so cool about being a pirate.
So what made you decide to make a Flying Spaghetti Monster in the first place?
My co-worker made a Flying Spaghetti Monster costume for Halloween. He went all out and made it using faux fur so that it would look like one of those giant plush toys you can win at carnivals. I thought it would be cute to make a miniature version of it.
We're going to assume that you're an 'evolutionist' -- do you feel this proscribes you from being a person of faith?
Proscribes? Do you think that someone who seriously considers intelligent design to be scientific will understand your big words… and small difficult words? ;-)
Anyway, I don’t think that belief in evolution prevents faith. Many scientists of the past were members of religious orders. It used to be a common belief that one could grow closer to God through the study of what God created. By observing and more deeply understanding the complex system that exists – whether it was mapping out the atomic elements or discovering the physical laws – many men and women considered themselves contributing to theology.
This harmony between science and religion vanished once evolution reached the table because it seems to conflict with the literal interpretation of one religious story – a religious story that also says man came before beast on one page, only to say the opposite on the next page. Biblical stories are from an era of writing where fantastical metaphors were made to explain complex ideas. If you can look past the fact that Genesis is as factual as the story of the boy who cried wolf, and then take a look at what we’ve learned about our existence, it’s hard not to be a person of faith… that is, unless you’re an atheist. But in that case, the bible probably didn’t show up on your radar anyway so you wouldn’t need any help in getting past a literal interpretation of the story of Genesis.
So how did the auction work out? Did it exceed your expectations?
In my opinion, the auction went very well. My main goal was to raise awareness about the debate on evolution versus intelligent design. The overwhelmingly positive response and the funds that were raised were a nice bonus.
Do you think that American schools are shortchanging students in terms of science education, regardless of the fight over intelligent design?
It’s hard to ignore intelligent design when discussing the science curriculum in the US. Evolution is not the only subject that’s being short changed, but it is the most alarming.
Most other industrialized nations are far beyond us in both math and science education. I’m not sure what will happen if this education gap continues to grow, but I know it won’t be good.
Finally, what is it that you find so appealing about pirates: The grog? The wenches? The gold?
Arr… ‘tis the swashbuckin’ knaves. They be sexy, they are!