Stranger than Fiction

2010 Transhumanism & Spirituality conference in Salt Lake City

2010-09-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

Everyone is invited!

When: Friday, 1 October 2010, 9:00am to 5:00pm MDT

Where: University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Marriott Library, Gould Auditorium

What: At the Transhumanism and Spirituality Conference 2010, we will explore the intersection of religion, science, spirituality and technology, from a transhumanist perspective. Transhumanism advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities, and observes that if our rapid technological evolution continues to accelerate then humanity will become a new species before the end of the 21st century.

Who: Keynote speakers for the conference include former director of the World Transhumanist Association, James Hughes; author of the Transhumanist Manifesto, Max More; and renowned LDS scholar and author, Terryl Givens. Sponsors of the conference are the Mormon Transhumanist Association and the Transhumanist Alliance of Utah.

How: Register online (http://transhumanism-spirituality.org) for a discount and reserved seating! Online registration is $50 ($25 for students) until 29 September. Registration on the day of the conference will be $80. Students with ID will be admitted to the conference free of charge, as space permits. Students wishing reserved seating are encouraged to register at the discounted student rate.

Is Intelligent Design Blasphemous ??

2010-04-08T21:10:00.002-07:00

I have long held that it is bad theology, but blasphemy... I had not thought about that. That is because Dr. Hess beat me to the punch.

The money quotes for me are here,

What are the central theological failings of intelligent design? First, it is blasphemous. Intelligent design constrains God to work within the limits of what its adherents can understand about nature. In so doing it reduces God from the status of creator to that of mere designer, and not a very competent one at that, as suggested by George Levine...

and

Intelligent design cannot allow that evolution is the process chosen by God for the unfolding of the universe, entrusting to it its own integrity. ID seems incapable of recognizing the possibility that God remains hidden, indiscernible behind the veil of nature. If we accept the idea of creation, we should also accept the idea of the integrity and autonomy of what is created.

I believe God uses natural processes, but let's not force round pegs in square holes because our interpretation ability is limited.

The Divine Role of Entropy

2009-07-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

The Divine Role of Entropy

When the the Universe as a whole is considered, its fate is generally considered to be some variation of heat death. There are a few other variations, such as scenarios where the Universe gravitationally collapses back upon itself. Stars will eventually run out of hydrogen fuel, and other elements that can be fusioned. Galaxies will dim as fewer stars are born from interstellar gas clouds, and gas clouds between galaxies will thin as the Universe continues to expand. Even the microwave background radiation (at a chilly 4 degrees Kelvin above Absolute Zero) will be red-shifted to lower and lower temperatures until the universe freezes and no life, is possible.

The dominant player, if not the driving force, in all of these scenarios is entropy. Entropy is usually thought of as a measure of disorder, and as such, it plays the part of the villain. The second law of thermodynamics is that in any closed system, entropy always increases. It is as though writ upon all our universe is the saying, “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die”.

There is no other option. You can't win and you can't break even. You can't even get out of the game - it really is the only game in town. Even if this is a humorous rephrasing of the laws of thermodynamics, it is no less accurate.

If entropy is exclusively thought of as disorder, you can see that this becomes a very pessimistic scenario. But is entropy really the villain we make it out to be? And should we really despise it so readily?

While the Second Law of Thermodynamics (as well as the others) is quite true, the more precise older brother of Thermodynamics called Statistical Mechanics has more to say. Entropy not a measure of disorder specifically, but only incidentally. Properly, it is defined in terms of numbers of possible states for a system to be in. The system we will be most interested in is the universe itself, and the components of the universe are all the atoms and photons and every other particle in it.

Specifically, entropy is defined asS is the traditional symbol for entropy, k is a constant of proportionality that is of no interest to us here, and omega is the number of possible microstates (the positions and state of each and every electron and atom) that correspond to a single given macrostate ( pressure, volume, temperature, number of particles, etc) counting each microstate with equal probability. Entropy is often thought of as a measure of disorder because there are more disordered microstates for a given system, than there are ordered states. For instance, a china plate has more ways to arrange broken pieces than it does to arrange a whole unbroken plate. Unless we are very careful then, we will find that the china plate in the statistically preferred condition – broken in several pieces! Likewise, there are more ways to arrange particles of dust around a room than there are ways to arrange them in a dustbin.

Statistical mechanics is based on the definition of entropy and the derivatives of energy, which is defined as variables here stand for energy (E), temperature (T), entropy (S), pressure (P), Volume (V), chemical potential (μ), and number of particles (N). I will consider most of these self-explanatory, except for temperature and chemical potential. Pressure and volume will not be of importance for most of our discussion and will be neglected.

Despite its ominous and mysterious name, chemical potential is simply the amount of energy it takes to add one more particle to the system. temperature, despite its familiarity, is a more complicated beast than we usually take for granted. formula means that two systems have the same temperature if they gain entropy at the same rate. In fact, this is part of the conditions for equilibrium. Two things (systems) are in equilibrium if their temperatures are the same, their pressures are the same, and their chemical potentials are the same. If one of those is not the same, their will be a flow of entropy, volume (ie, relative size), or particles from one thing (system) to the other until equilibrium is reached.

Statistical Mechanics may also be formulated to examine other topics such as economics. In such a comparison, energy (E) is capital (in units of money), temperature (T) is standard of living or “market index” and entropy (S) is production. Likewise, μ is wages or salary. Volume (V), which we did not use in our analysis, can be here used for degrees of personal freedom, which may be suggestive of future applications.

Consider the simple case of an ice cube in a glass of water. Normally for the same amount of energy, increases of entropy at low temperature are greater than increases of entropy at higher temperature. The ice cube increase more in entropy than the water loses. In other words, the fact that entropy seeks to be maximized ensures that the ice cube take energy from the water until an equilibrium is reached and everything is the same temperature.

But what if the opposite happened? What if, for equal amount of energy transferred, the water gained more entropy than the ice lost? Then the ice would lose energy to the water until some kind of an equilibrium was reached. The state of maximal entropy is always the one nature seeks.

But does an unstable situation like this ever actually occur? It does, though normally because of its unstable nature, it is normally short-lived. I have the dubious honor of having a hand-on experience with this. One evening I thought I would boil myself a cup of water in the microwave. After a bit of time, it had just started to boil, so I put the cup back in the microwave oven and gave it a good minute to warm up. What confused me initially, was the fact the cup of water did not start boiling again, even as I extended the time. Finally, I decided to have a closer look at the cup of water to see what the problem was. I learned the water in the cup was in a condition we called, 'super-heated', which means it has a temperature higher than it boiling point, but is still in the liquid stage – until something perturbs it enough to start forming bubbles of steam. The water in question underwent a rapid phase change, almost instantly changing from tranquil and transparent to explosive bubbles of steam that left the confines of the cup (and into my face) with a bang. I stumbled melodramatically across the kitchen where I fell on a bag of trash. Thankfully I was wearing my glasses at the time.

The phase change involved water moving from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase. Phases changes are a general phenomena associated with a wide variety scenarios and is present in numerous different forms in all of nature. All that is needed, is a large number of interesting things and a changing amount of internal energy.

In terms of economics, this would be like owning two businesses – one that made $1.50 for every dollar invested and one that made $3.00 for every dollar invested. Considering that you make a lot more money with the second business, per dollar, it makes the most sense and profit to allocate the maximum possible capital available for the more profitable business. In other words, in the absence of other constraints, money flows from the first business to the second business because of entropy.

Likewise, in terms of the water, it makes a lot more entropy when it is steam, than when it is super-heated water. The superheated state is not a stable condition because of this.

What does this mean for us - spiritually? There are a lot more ways to sin (spiritual disordered states) than there are to keep the commandments (spiritual ordered states). There are more degrees of freedom and paths that lead to sin, than paths that do not. The number of possible sinful states is much larger than the number of possible righteous states. In this life increasing entropy means that not only is sin and disorder is more likely, statistically speaking, but that because energy flows to where there are the greatest increases in entropy, resources flow towards corruption as well.

Now that we have shown that the universe is condemned to a gradual death and that sin is favored by the very laws that God himself as ordained, should we conclude that the Gospel is at odds with these laws?

Not at all.

Realize that entropy is a measure of the number of states available and that there are two ways of accomplishing this. First, we have entropy related to disorder, and second, we have entropy related to creation of new possible states. These new states could be entire universes, or organization of spiritual matter into spirit children.

I posit, without proof, that only God is capable of creating new universes and new spirit children or in other words, that there are aspects of the creation that only God is capable of accomplishing.

Of course, the intelligences that composes these spirit children are eternal, but without the Father, there is no way they could reach new and higher spiritual “states” by themselves. Because spirits are matter, of some kind, their new condition relates previously unrealizable quantum microstates. They have far more possible states as spirit children then they do as unorganized matter.

Note, this is true regardless of whatever type of advancement is involved from intelligence to spirit body, because we are interested purely in the quantum spiritual aspects. Of course, we have no present way of quantifying this entropy.

But not only is this source of entropy a source of spirit children, but also all spirits- all life, vegetable, animal and otherwise. Notice how God creates life (or creates life capable of learning to live) in all types of environments. Scientists are even becoming suspicious of (but by no means proven yet) bacterial life on Mars. Virtually every crevice of the earth has life; the deepest ocean trenches, soil and rock deep under the earth, hot springs are a few of the inhospitable environments that life lives in. Even caves with water that never sees light may have fish.

Even more than this, God creates universes. Our present universe, at least the part we see, had a birth some 13.7 billion years ago. We have no scientific understanding of how universes are created, but even from a purely physics perspective, the change in entropy from the early Big Bang universe to now is highly remarkable.

God is not incidentally a Father or a Creator, but it is an integral part of both who He is, and How he does it. In this view, God is not merely a Creator occasionally, as a side-job, but continual Creation is a necessary aspect of His very being.

He must create faster than disorder increases – creation both of universes, worlds, animals, plants and also of children.

Now, let us back up a bit and recall the conditions for equilibrium in statistical mechanics, namely that temperature and chemical potential are equal and homogeneous. Temperature, by definition, is
, or the rate at which entropy increases, per cost of energy. For instance, if we had two regions that gave us two units and one unit of entropy respectively, for every single unit of energy, then energy will flow to the first from the second until for some higher total energy of the first, the rates of entropy per energy become equal.

Remember the mug of superheated water I mentioned earlier. It separated itself into two portions (steam and hot liquid water) according to a difference in entropy for a given limited quantity of energy, until both both steam and water had the same temperature. Let us now compare the temperatures of the different degrees of glory.

Either, the different kingdoms will be in equilibrium, or they will not be. Keep in mind, that while we mentally associate hell with hot and heaven with cool, in this context a high temperature, or high rate of creation entropy is good. Total entropy will be written as

If we first assume equilibrium, then we can say that Tcelestial = Tterrestial = Ttelestial . This can be rewritten as
, but there is no a priori reason to assume this, and it would seem to be more of a constraint than a desirable situation, because of the strong limitations it would entail.

What if, on the other hand, these temperatures (rates of entropy) were not equal? If their temperatures are not equal AND the kingdoms are in contact, energy will flow from one to the other. It would flow from the lower entropy producing kingdoms to the higher kingdoms. Presuming these rates are constant in time (these are eternal kingdoms) then energy would flow from lower to the higher until they froze at absolute zero, ie had no energy at all.

But neither of those sound like ideal situations. Considering that the different kingdoms can not have equal chemical potentials
– ie. they do not have the same capability, per unit of energy, to create new states (spirit children, for instance), we should probably consider them as out of equilibrium. Likewise, the celestial is promised dominion (energy) “without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever” D&C 121: 46

The alternative to all of this is, for the different kingdoms to have different temperatures, but to be separated, or at least have limited contact. Contact in this context refers to the ability to exchange energy, particles, or volume. I propose that the lower kingdoms have lower rates of entropy than the Celestial kingdom (at least once we begin to create Creation Entropy as God the Father does), but in order for them to remain with some energy, they are separated. This is not unlike how the US has higher entropy, even though places like Ethiopia are more disordered. The alternative would be for the Celestial kingdom to bleed the other kingdoms dry of energy. They are separated from the Celestial to protect them.
A material is called 'frozen' when it can not change its temperature. A physical example of this would be energetic atoms in the solar wind escaping at high speed, but incapable of cooling down, because there is nothing for them to interact with, in the vacuum of space – ions can be easily as much as a meter apart. Because the electrons in the atom are in an elevated energy state, the atoms have a very high temperature, but without nearby influences to help perturb the electrons, they will not drop back down to their ground state (cool temperature).

In this context, the lower kingdoms are 'frozen' – they can not have eternal progression, but they are saved both from being bleed dry of energy ( from Entropy of creation), as well as from the disorder of lower kingdoms (Entropy of disorder).

Jacob's warning about spiritual entropy was no idle threat: “For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God...” 2Ne. 9: 8

This suggests that either the Resurrection or entry into the Celestial Kingdom precipitates a kind of phase change – not only a incremental change in glory, but a qualitative change in type or kind of life we can live. We might do better to associate the different kingdoms to phases of water, than a smoothly graduated continuum.

Hence, Satan's boast, “Now is the day of my power” shows that he realized that the entropy that favors
disorder would only benefit him temporarily. In the long run, the entropy of disorder is overwhelmed by the entropy of creation which is tied most closely with the nature of God himself.

Vegnor Vinge on Godhood

2009-04-12T18:07:00.003-07:00

I have been on a serious science fiction kick lately. It was Larry Niven who started it off with "The Integral Trees", but what really got me stuck, was "A Deepness in the Sky", by Vinge Vignor, which was a prequel to "A Fire upon the Deep" though they are actually barely related. I am about halfway through Fire.

One of the themes he continually comes back to is the interaction of superior civilizations and inferior ones. There is much here that would be of interest to both the Transhuman and Singularity movements.

Without revealing too much of the plot (hopefully) in Deepness you have two civilizations of humans, one conquered by the other, stuck in space next to a technologically primitive race of 'spiders'. So with the humans, you have a clash of paradigms; control vs freedom. The control aspect is extensive surveillance far surpassing anything we are capable of at the moment (but we approaching) and a kind of soft mind control they call "Focus". Scary stuff, and not all impossible. The good guys (the Qeng Ho, they call themselves) by contrast, are a very pluralistic free society of interstellar merchants. It was also interesting to see the kind of limits technology made for how long a civilization could last.

In contrast to this, you have the Spiders who are on the verge of a scientific revolution. They have just invented radio and are discovering everything for the first time, and nearly destroy themselves in the process, due in no small part to malicious interference from the bad humans. At the end is a happy one and the Spiders and Humans work together to repair the spaceships damaged at the beginning of the book.

But as interesting all that all is, it is the book that comes after it that is the most interesting for our purposes. The galaxy has different zones where different levels of thought and technology are possible. We, for instance, are in the Slow Zone where the Speed of Light is a limit. In the Beyond, faster than light travel is possible, and technology is advanced to match. And out a little further, you have the Transcend, where technology is infinitely more powerful and makes the inhabitants something like Gods. There is always a steady trickle of civilizations attempting to move from one level to a higher one. Often they are successful, but not uncommonly they are not. And occasionally things go very wrong. This book starts with things going VERY wrong with the loss of several civilizations and worlds. Here, once again, we have "gods" dealing with mortals in the Beyond who can barely comprend the least of their dealings, and these same mortals interacting with a group of pack dog aliens who are only a little more advanced than the bow and arrow. And thus far, the help the humans are giving the dog aliens is exactly the help they don't need. It looks like playing God (using the term loosely) can help a lot, but is fraught with danger too.

It reminds me of Orson Scott Card's harsh words Star Trek's "Prime Directive" where advanced societies are prohibited from assisting lessor societies.

Interestingly, our own government has thought about this, and passed laws about it. You can't make this stuff up, but I will save that for a future post.

Dilbert on the Singularity

2009-02-24T08:20:00.004-07:00

Too good not to post

Singularity University - open in June

2009-02-03T11:02:00.002-07:00

Singularity University (SU) (www.singularityu.org) will open its doors in June 2009 on the NASA Research Park campus with a nine-week graduate level interdisciplinary curriculum designed to facilitate understanding, collaboration, and innovation across a broad range of carefully chosen scientific and technological disciplines.

The curriculum will be broken out into 10 tracks as follows:

* future studies and forecasting
* networks and computing systems
* biotechnology and bioinformatics
* nanotechnology
* medicine, neuroscience and human enhancement
* AI, robotics, and cognitive computing
* energy and ecological systems
* space and physical sciences
* policy, law and ethics
* finance and entrepreneurship.
source: Next Big Future

The University has been founded by a group of leaders including renowned author and futurist, Dr. Ray Kurzweil, space entrepreneur and chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, Dr. Peter Diamandis, and Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center, Pete Worden. The list of faculty and advisors includes several distinguished individuals, including nobel laureates and key players from major universities.

Kurzweil will act as chancellor and trustee of the University. He’ll be joined by Diamandis, who will act as vice chancellor and trustee, and Salim Ismail, a former Yahoo executive, who will work as executive director.

source: Singularity Hub

No comments needed - this just speaks for itself - all kinds of awesome. Or it would be if I were there....

The Meaning of Virtue - online

2009-02-01T23:09:00.002-07:00

Virtue is not as well understood as it needs to be. And it desperately need to be understood better. And so I have written a book titled, The Meaning of Virtue.

Consider this:

In North America, 40% of members are single adults.

Of these 18-29, the activity ratio for men to women is 89:100.

While for those over 30, is 19:100.

16% of these women are single parents.

62% of single members 30 and up have never married at all.

And these statistics are several years old! Don't think it has gotten any better.

That is a crisis. And it doesn't take talking to many singles to realize that remaining faithful in today's sex-crazed culture takes a special level of devotion. I don't know if Brigham ever actually said that bachelors over 25 are a menace to society, but it is most likely repeated because there is a more than a bit of truth (as well as humor and notoriety) in that statement.

Whenever singles in the Church discuss sex, and why to keep the law of Chastity, the Standard has been (of course) Scriptures and a most seminal talk by Elder Holland; Souls, Symbols and Sacraments. This talk comes up over and over again, even more than Elder Oaks multiple talks on dating. There is nothing as widely quoted or referenced when singles discuss the actual doctrinal reasons for chastity. It is in a similar vein, that I am sharing a the parts of "The Meaning of Virtue". If I can accomplish a tenth of what that one talk has done, I will have really accomplished something.

It is welcome to be used and copied freely, for strictly non-commercial purposes only.

New chapters will be posted weekly.

The Meaning of Virtue

How to win the War on Drugs

2009-01-20T13:43:00.003-07:00

I am tired of hearing about border agents shot at by drug runners, or the uprising of drug cartels in Mexico, or of the entire failure of "War on Drugs" in general.

Truth is, as long as there is money for the making, especially in a 3rd world country, like much of the Americas south of the Border, there will be drug trafficing. And no amount of police, agents, or military men are going to stop that. The incentives are just too great.

So instead, I will quote the venerable Scrooge McDuck and say, Work smarter, not harder.

I offer two solutions-

1) Most drug possession offenses should be punishable by heavy fines, not prison if we can avoid it. Otherwise, we tie up crowded prisons, keep people from work, and try to accomplish what we don't have the resources for. Dealers and suppliers should be dealt with more harshly.

2) It's Biology stupid! We have not yet used plant disease - but research is something America is if not uniquely, certainly particularly good at. We need a plant disease (bacteria, virus, fungi, parasite, pest, etc) that targets drug producing plants specifically. Or even targets them proportional to the amount of drug they produce. Imagine killer bees with a taste for coca leaf! Or the tobacco mosaic virus refitted for coca leaf!

Of course, Australia, offers much in the way of lessons for the law of unintended consequences when it comes to messing with ecosystems, but at this point, I think on a risk/benefit analysis, it is more than justified.

Of course, some drugs, notably meth, are not grown, but for the majority that are, we could effectively neuter the drug cartels and hardly leave our labs. We could eliminate 90% of the problem in 5-10 years - and that is not even being overly optimistic.

Experimental Theology

2009-01-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Experimental Theology is actually a phrase I picked up from reading Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass, but it expresses something that I think is one of the most important elements and key differences between the fullness of the Gospel and other religions. It is the idea that we can and should gain spiritual knowledge for ourselves. That is not to say that other churches do not preach this - just not with the same vigor and depth.

Faith for us is always based on knowledge of some kind - it is not meant to be completely blind. And to the degree we operating on blind faith, it is our duty to gain a testimony for ourselves. Faith does not exist just for itself, but as a step to learning or accomplishing something.

By no means do I mean physical proofs - like people who get caught up trying to prove the existence of God. While those proofs do occasionally exist (miracles, angels, etc), they are not what actually makes any difference for people. It is not what converts them.

When missionaries teach people the Gospel, invariably the first commitment they ask people to make is to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Likewise we spend a lot of time in church talking about gaining a greater testimony. This is nothing to take lightly, even for old-timers. Sometimes there are those with "shaken faith syndrome" which happens when we have over estimated our own testimony - easy to do! The first time I delved into the details behind the Book of Abraham, I was confused and disturbed for several days - until i had time to learn and examine the details. This takes effort on our part!

But how can we most truly know something? It does not take watching many murder mysteries to realize that facts and details, can and often do obscure the truth. This is just as true in Science, as it is anything else. Ponder the importance and art of Advertising if you suspect I err!

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Truth. Truth does not merely come from Christ - he IS the TRUTH and he is the WORD. Strong terms. Truth in it most pure and elemental comes only by the Spirit of God - not just our own opinions!

Further, it is a tenet of our faith that we are saved no faster than we gain knowledge. Likewise, that knowledge and intelligence are among the most fundamental aspects of God. In this sense, doubt is a spiritual pang, like a hunger pang, that tells us we have work to do - that we must learn something for ourselves.

If we are not coming to know the truth for ourselves, then we are not coming to Christ and if we are not helping others to learn the truth for themselves, we are not bringing others to Christ. Truth is available to us. It is not availability that is the great obstruction, but our own willingness to seek after truth, and to accept the truth once we receive it.

He has given us minds, spiritual and physical and he expects us to use both.

In the pre-existence, we operated with complete knowledge and we proved faithful when getting those details was easy. Now in this life, getting all the answers is hard, and sometimes impossible. There are questions to which I only have incomplete answers at best. But in my trials and problems, I have come to know God. In knowing Him, I trust him. Of course, since I work in the hard sciences, unanswered questions are a matter of course. And unanswered questions, like car accidents, are not a matter of 'if', they are a matter of 'when'. If Heavenly Father does not give us the answer in the detail we desire, then we must let our actions hinge on what else he has said.

If I am unsure of the Prophet's words, sometimes what I need most is not a testimony of that exact principle, but a testimony of the divine inspiration and call of Prophet. The same may be said of the Scriptures.

This is why the basics are so emphasized at Church - we need to read the Scriptures, pray, and keep the commandments so that we can have the Spirit teach us the things we need to learn. We need to seek after it... and sometimes even sweat a bit! And most of all, we need to be willing to receive what He tells us.

Cracks in Relativity

2009-01-06T00:31:00.000-07:00

As much as we venerate Albert Einstein, for quite a few years now it has been Relativity vs. Quantum Mechanics - and one of them (or both) just has to give. Many have favored rewriting QM because of the sheer strangeness of it. Still, when Old Albert tried to disprove QM's weirdness by experiment, we just ended up with a well proven even stranger experiment - the EPR experiment. I am not going to wax eloquent about the particulars here, but just some things to suggest Relativity will break long before Quantum will.

Possible Abnormality In Fundamental Building Block Of Einstein's Theory Of Relativity

This looks at possible Lorentz violation.... if it works you have really cut Einstein down to size.

Tunneling time measured

Bad news for Relativity: you know that instantaneous and simultaneous that doesn't really exist? Appearently tunneling really does take no time

Yet another suggestion of a preferred handed-ness to the Universe- this time in Galaxy rotation

Don't forget the Pioneer anomaly and other orbital anomalies! Or dark matter and dark energy! Or discrepencies between QM and Gen Relativity about vacuum energy density!

It has been a while since physics has had a real game-changing break-through.... and conditions are ripe!

The Collapse of the Scientific Revolution

2008-12-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

Short post, but

We rather take it for granted that the Scientific Revolution can progress and continue indefinitely. But should we take that as a given?

How Our Culture Keeps Students Out of Science - Chronicle.com
Good way for us to kill our own scientific advantage

China will build the Controversial Emdrive.
Radical innovation and risk - we could be losing it

Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (Cold Fusion)
First the DOE reconsiders and admits there is something to it, and now listed in ArXiv - yet still heresy. Popularity rears its ugly head.

How Politics manipulates Science - also from Arxiv regarding the paper: Climate Science: Is it Currently Designed to Answer Questions?

LHC (Large Hadron Collider) like the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) are two big scientific endeavors that move the center of scientific progress to Europe. And while I am happy for Europe, that bodes ill news for US.

Govt of the Future

2008-12-18T08:53:00.007-07:00

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been accused of "pay to play" politics. That is, of course, bad. But on the other hand, it is any worse than the "friends and family to play" that so often wins in DC? For instance, we have Hillary's Senate seat up for grabs and it is being contested by Caroline Kennedy and Fran Drescher. Who gets most of the air time and most of the endorsements by big names? Kennedy, by a long shot. There are pictures of her as a child in the Whitehouse all over the news. And now I have Sweet Caroline stuck in my head.

In that vein, the BBC has an interesting article about dynasties in Washington DC.

Ok, so what does this all this have to do with Transhumanism? Much of what distinguishes us from the Animal kingdom is culture and community. If we are to consider trans-human, we must also consider trans-culture, because one will be synonoumous with the other. So what of trans-government? What is the role of government in a post-scarcity society?

Our current balance of governmental power will become unstable, and societies will go one of two ways, depending on the people involved. On one hand, we could have a excess of govt power where there is a either a continual arms race between the government and the people, or the government simply limits the development of technology. When I say 'arms', I mean that in the widest possible context - anything powerful, like the internet, for instance. We see this now in China. But, of the two in the long run, the later is far more probable, and would effectly stifle, if not kill the scientific revolution.

The other solution, is for the people to gain greater and greater power. This is usually what we have in mind in a post-scarcity society. Don't truth the govt what they have? Build it yourself! What would a society capable of that be like? Either it would self-destruct, in which case we default to the our first option of Big Brother, (or are just dead) OR we enter a new golden age. That golden age is reachable... but it requires a certain kind of person.

Thus our options are slavery, destruction, or a new golden age. The status quo is not an option.

The next step in human evolution is the Spirit of the Lord.

Zombies are the way of the future: You can not kill Open Source

2008-12-11T16:18:00.010-07:00

Bill has a problem. Zombies. He just can't stop them.

Everything he knows that is essential for life, they just don't seem to need. And this is a problem because they are cutting into his business.

You see, Bill has been selling software for a few years now, and he is pretty decent at it. Successful enough that he would lose money if he took the time to pick up a $100 bill. Other businesses, that stood in his way, are now either dead or of no account to him, like IBM and OS/2 or Digital Research's DR-DOS. Netscape is dead. But it is the (undead) son of Netscape that keeps him awake at night - Firefox. It is a non-profit venture done by people in their spare time. How can he compete with that? Furthermore, it has the audacity to beat him at his own game. Then there is the cousin of Firefox, Chrome, that could be even scarier in a few years.

Other word processors like WordPerfect were crushed by MS-Word, but you can't make things cheaper than OpenOffice, or much better, worries Bil. All you have to do is download it. Apache webservers are doing far more significant damage to business. Do you know how much I have to pay to develop what you develop for free? And operating systems... here you have a veritable army of zombies, reminicent of something from The Black Cauldron, all under the moniker Linux. "Curse you Linus Torvalds! Curse you and your unslayable open-source! You made the only thing I could not kill!" screams the founder of the Microsoft nation.

And that is not all. There is an entire community of new and inventive projects young and talented programmers are developing in their spare time... gratis! It is like his arch-nemesis, Google, but without an income stream to kill.

Of course, at the moment Bill has all the normal business fortification, but many of his strongest fortifications have been made obsolete by zombies finding a way around it.

It isn't like this is the only group to find people adding to the public commons and making money at it to boot. Wired recently had an excellent article on open Source hardware. Seed magazine had an article on DIY biology. The internet has preceded the death of print newspapers and magazines. DIY video publishing has given pause to the great companies of our day. Even astronomy with its great telescopes, has many of its discoveries, like comets, found by backyard, or home computer hobbyists. All this is just a start to what is out there. And this movement is only growing.

Experts, are like the Tyrannosaurus of yesteryear, are facing a competition they can not fight. Imposing and frightful, there is no beast equal to them. And yet, it is little mammals, mice and men, that are the inheritors and conquerors of of their estate. How can a dinosaur fight a mouse? Not very well. But an army of zombies? There is just no stopping an army of of the undead.

Of course, on the other hand, if open-source and amauter movements are so vibrant and are adding so much value to society, then maybe the real zombies are the institutions and companies of the past. They are the ones sleepwalking into the future.

DIY amateurs are the way of the future.

What can we take away from this? The more that individuals have to work with, and with the ability to add value to public commons, the greater the impact on society. More people with more tools is the future.

Trans of Culture

2008-11-27T13:34:00.002-07:00

So much of what separates us from the Animal Kingdom, is culture and society - the fact we talk and interact, with each other. Animals do this too, but to a far lesser degree. We talk, we write things down, we are always using technology and sharing what we learn. Animals will do some of these things, but the degree and amount are incredibly larger in humankind.

I don't think it is reasonable to expect that our progression to Singularity will be either smooth or uneventful. It will not be without major upheavals or changes in society. Perhaps some could be avoided if we were all better people, but quite a few are as inherent as the change the automobile, or internet brought to society.

That brings up a crucial and important question. If there is a great crash and from the prophecies of the prophets, we do have every reason to expect this sooner or later, what are we going to build in place of our old society? Just a copy of the old one? This will probably just before we actually do return to build the New Jerusalem.

First, I think intellectual property laws need to be scrapped, or at least vastly vastly weakened. So much of the scientific revolution is simply an exponential increase in the rate of information transfer.

Second, ----- well, there is the problem. I am not a student of sociology. There is so much of our world we simply take for granted, and recoil with horror at other cultures that have done things differently.

One hot button topic would be marriage customs. No one wants to change what we do, but it is clear, what we are doing now isn't working that well.

Others might point to environmental aspects we should improve.

Education would certainly be a good place to start, especially grade school education.

I am not saying this because I think it is hip to criticize all things of my own culture, (because there are an awful lot of great things) but what kind of culture will get us through the next 10,000 years of exponential change?

Information stored in Space-Time

2008-11-17T21:03:00.003-07:00

So much of the scientific revolution is simply an increase in the speed at which we gain information. And this is not limited to scientific knowledge either. It must have a corresponding increase in spiritual knowledge, or the scientific part will not be sustainable.

In fact the strongest argument against intellectual property laws, is that they stand in the way of this. If the Singularity is to happen, sooner or later, they will have to come down.

Thus the prophecy that the knowledge of the Lord would cover the Earth as the waters cover the sea, is not a mere byproduct, but a necessary condition of both the Singularity and the Millennium.

Which brings up the concept of the Akashic Record. The idea behind this is, that all of history and all of knowledge is recorded in the akasha, or aether, or simply, Space-time continuum. Yes, for all our vaunted Relativity that does away with the aether, we have replaced with the exact same concept, just we call it space-time now.

So is any of this accessable for information? While many of the promoters of the idea are New Age fringe, the idea has completely good merits. Not to say that I have had any success in using it to come to an understanding of the finer points of, say, the BCS theory of superconductivity.

Still Brigham Young made interesting comments about how, as spirits we could visit any time in history. That sounds pretty akashic to me.

Better for us now, are mechanical means for doing the same thing. And really what is a Liahona or Urim and Thummim other than a mechanical means for gaining knowledge?

Joseph said he could see anything with the one he was given. Actually, seer stones played a significant, if forgotten part of early church history. There was of, course, the incident with Hiram Page, yet, he was not counseled to get rid of it, only that what he got from it was false.

If that was not interesting enough, Brigham recorded:

Dec. 27, 1841: I met with the Twelve at Brother Joseph's. He conversed with us in a familiar manner on a variety of subjects, and explained to us the Urim and Thummim which he found with the plates, called in the Book of Mormon the Interpreters. He said that every man who lived on the earth was entitled to a seer stone, and should have one, but they are kept from them in consequence of their wickedness, and most of those who do find one make an evil use of it; he showed us his seer stone. (Brigham Young, Mill. Star 26:118)

If you wish to delve deeper into this esoteric subject, examine an old blog called The Seer.

Of course, it should be noted, that Satan can deceive by this means as well - hence Hiram Page. It was noted that it was reliable as preaching - which means to me, that if we want sure knowledge, we need to be perfectly able to listen to and receive confirmation from the Holy Ghost.

Alas, I have neither found nor have been given a seer stone, so this information is primarily theory. Still, according to some, we will have them in the New Jerusalem but I can't find the source for that one, so take it with a grain of salt. But the final immortal state of the earth is to be a great Urim and Thummim. Something like a celestial version of what Douglas Adams said the earth was.

All spirit is matter. In theory, could we build one ourselves? Yes, in theory we could. Our theology suggests that something corresponding to an Akashic field exists. The subject in physics is beyond my ken without a bit of research. Still, information is a vital concept even now in physics.

But don't ask me how to make one, or I would have my own spaceship and lightsaber.

Not that I could get into any trouble with either one of those. (I had a better live action example, but it has been lost in the sands of time. Darned Akashic Field!)

The Purpose of the Singularity part 5: Just what is it good for?

2008-11-15T22:52:00.004-07:00

Ok, back to business... Just what is the Singularity good for? The argument could be made that with regard to actual happiness, less advanced societies do a better job. Perhaps something more like ancient Rome, or pre-Victorian England...

So far in this series, we have looked at the effect of Priesthood keys, how scientific revolutions have come and gone, and why, from a gospel perspective, we are having one right now. If societal attitudes have vitiated scientific revolutions before, then there are some trends amongst us now that bear a closer examination. That, however, will be a future post.

Why do we have computers? Or any other scientific advancement? In short, it is to prepare the earth, and its people for the Second Coming of the Savior, and to accomplish the work we need to accomplish before he comes.

For instance, rise of computers have been tied to genealogy and temple work, which as a Latter-day saint, we feel are part of . The current work in genealogy would be impossible without it.

From the Deseret News - Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve gave the devotional address at the beginning of Education Week at Brigham Young University recently

In the 1970s, Elder Theodore H. Burton presented the concept of computers being used for family records and research. "He was even bold enough to teach and proclaim that the computer technology was given to man for his use to hasten the day of family history, genealogy and temple work."

His proclamation was met with reservations about the size and expense of computers for personal use and how few Latter-day Saints would be able to afford or operate them. Other concerns were the complexity of how to make them compatible with temple records.

"All seemed to be reasonable reservations for their time," he said, yet "today, we are embarking on a new era of family history computer technology."

I have also heard how the 24 temples of the New Jerusalem would be devoted to gaining information about ancestors we now have no record of, but I can find nothing in writing about that.

Now, like any good theory, we can make testable predictions- because of what will facilitate genealogy.

Computers will continue to increase in memory, both RAM and hard drive as well as speed - Good news for Moore's law.
Their searching capabilities will be expanded as well. - this is a good omen for quantum computers because search and sort are some of the things they will excel at.
Communication around the globe will increase beyond even what we have now - good news for the internet
Contrary to some worries, with very real theoretical concerns behind them, Moore's Law will continue to hold its exponential growth. - Exponential growth is the fastest kind of sustainable growth.

Much of this is not unexpected - perhaps though I missed something.

It is a good time for computer lovers.

Path to the Singularity: AI to IA ?

2008-09-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

I have long thought that the unlimited optimism that sufficient computer power would automatically make an intelligence to be unfounded. I do think the difference Vernor Vinge draws between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligence Amplification (IA). I am doubtful about AI, but IA takes our natural strengths and works with them.

Vernor Vinge's View of the Future - Is Technology That Outthinks Us a Partner or a Master ?

Regardless, I think the final obstacle to the Singularity will be our own intellectual limitations, self-imposed or innate.

Ice Age Cometh..... just maybe

2008-09-08T15:25:00.003-07:00

Although much neglected, solar activity plays a major role in the earth's climate. We have just ended a very active solar cycle and most people (myself included) were expecting an even more active cycle about to start anytime now. I had read one suggestion that the cycle after this one could start a solar minimum, such as are associated with ice ages. But it appears that this solar cycle is already late in starting, and the Sun is anomalously quiet, with no sunspots at all. This is as quiet as it has been in a hundred years. Now, this cycle may very well start back up and that would not yet surprise me.

It is just that this is looking similar to how a solar minimum starts.... which are correlated with Global Cooling.

This would/could be a thousand times more devastating than Global Warming would ever be.

On the up-side, (small consolation) we can laugh at Al Gore and his camp...

Sun Makes History
Where have all the Sunspots Gone?

and of course,
Space Weather . com

No need to panic yet, but let's just keep our eyes on the Sun.

EDIT: The best place to keep an eye on the next solar cycle starting, as well as discussions of solar and climate physics about solar cycle 24, is SolarCycle24.com. Great site

The Purpose of the Singularity part 4: Why and what that means

2008-09-03T13:53:00.002-07:00

As I discussed earlier, a secular basis alone is insufficient to explain why we have had such a successful scientific revolution, in comparison with previous ages.

However, if we will take time to understand God's purposes, it will help us make concrete predictions about how we will progress towards the Singularity. And the value of any theory is directly proportional to the quality of the predictions it makes (as well as explanatory power).

Just why does God care about it at all?

Firstly, there is no division between temporal and spiritual. What affects us temporally, as the potential to affect us spiritually. Much needs to be done and it will not all be done by the Latter-Day Saints. There is just too much to be accomplished. Prophecies about knowledge and "wonders in heaven and in earth" have been fulfilled in such things as planes and radio, but do not suspect for a moment that that means we will not see even greater advances ourselves. Instead of lifting us up in pride, the incredible technological advancements should indicate to us the magnitude of the work the Lord is preparing us for.

In due time, as the church purifies itself, tech will be important to help Zion both succeed and bloom in every way.

Prediction: Technological progression will continue and will raise the bar as to what is considered necessary as well as intelligent and educated.

Second, the kinds of technology that benefit the Lord's work will see tremendous advances. Considering the magnitude of the Millennial and Pre-Millennial work, we need a lot of help.

Prediction: There will be enough resources to perform the Lord's work. This especially includes time, so expect labor saving devices to become more useful and pervasive. Likewise, Malthusian arguments will continue to be invalid. There will be times of poverty, but there is too much to be done for continual poverty. Consider Brigham Young's prophecy that the Saints would be tried a hundred times more with wealth than they ever were with poverty. Consider the folklore prophecy of Brigham also, about vast reserves of oil in Utah. Regardless, if it is not oil, it will be something else.

Prediction: In a similar vein, there will be enough tools (especially those for communication) to perform the Lord's work. Expect the information revolution to continue its exponential growth, (There is no faster sustainable growth mathematically possible) both in quantity and in network speed. The internet has just gotten started. Tools for travel, (cars, planes, etc) will continue to become not only useful, but more useful and wide spread.

Next time,

Purpose of computers: Genealogy and temple work and Scriptures
The many things that could, or previously have, stopped Scientific Revolutions/Singularity.

What will this foreshadow for us?

The Dearth of Superlatitives

2008-08-26T18:19:00.008-07:00

We now take a break from our investigation of the Singularity to discuss an approaching problem that gets very little attention.

The problem is Moore's law, or one of its many variations. For instance, consider computer performance. It doubles every 1.5 years. Or hard drive volume, it increases by 1000 times every 5 years. So right now we have can buy hard drives in the Tera-Byte(Tb) range, but 5 years ago, it was the top of the line was Giga-bytes (Gb), and 10 years ago, we were still in the Mega-byte range(Mb).

The system of SI units gives us prefixes for progressive powers of 1000. That means in 5 years, (baring truly major war, or disaster) we will have Peta-bytes (Pb) hard drives, then in 2018, Exa-byte(Eb), then 2023, Zetta-byte (Zb) and by 2028 Yotta-bytes (Yb). And then.... nothing.

The trouble is that math is a language and the venerable SI system of units, (aka metric), does not have any more pre-fixes, or words if you will, for larger numbers.

Borrowing from Wikipedia, we see that the both in terms of large and small, we are limited.

1000^m	10ⁿ	Prefix	Symbol	Since^[1]	Short scale	Long scale	Decimal
1000⁸	10²⁴	yotta-	Y	1991	Septillion	Quadrillion	1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
1000⁷	10²¹	zetta-	Z	1991	Sextillion	Trilliard	1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
1000⁶	10¹⁸	exa-	E	1975	Quintillion	Trillion	1 000 000 000 000 000 000
1000⁵	10¹⁵	peta-	P	1975	Quadrillion	Billiard	1 000 000 000 000 000
1000⁴	10¹²	tera-	T	1960	Trillion	Billion	1 000 000 000 000
1000³	10⁹	giga-	G	1960	Billion	Milliard	1 000 000 000
1000²	10⁶	mega-	M	1960	Million		1 000 000
1000¹	10³	kilo-	k	1795	Thousand		1 000
1000^2/3	10²	hecto-	h	1795	Hundred		100
1000^1/3	10¹	deca-	da	1795	Ten		10
1000⁰	10⁰	(none)	(none)	NA	One		1
1000^−1/3	10⁻¹	deci-	d	1795	Tenth		0.1
1000^−2/3	10⁻²	centi-	c	1795	Hundredth		0.01
1000⁻¹	10⁻³	milli-	m	1795	Thousandth		0.001
1000⁻²	10⁻⁶	micro-	µ	1960^[2]	Millionth		0.000 001
1000⁻³	10⁻⁹	nano-	n	1960	Billionth	Milliardth	0.000 000 001
1000⁻⁴	10⁻¹²	pico-	p	1960	Trillionth	Billionth	0.000 000 000 001
1000⁻⁵	10⁻¹⁵	femto-	f	1964	Quadrillionth	Billiardth	0.000 000 000 000 001
1000⁻⁶	10⁻¹⁸	atto-	a	1964	Quintillionth	Trillionth	0.000 000 000 000 000 001
1000⁻⁷	10⁻²¹	zepto-	z	1991	Sextillionth	Trilliardth	0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001
1000⁻⁸	10⁻²⁴	yocto-	y	1991	Septillionth	Quadrillionth	0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001

One suggestion would use all the upper and lower case numbers in the English alphabet, but this becomes problematic as the units these prefixes attach to are also English letters. That would lead to confusion (the first sin of any language). For instance, one proposed extension uses all of the English alphabet, starting with xona-, weka-, and vunda- for progressively higher powers of one thousand. So if we have VA, is that Vunda Amperes? or Volts times Amperes? Ambiguity is unacceptable.

Other approaches might be suggested by the mathematics of very large numbers. But this still struggles with the fact that learning more and more names for larger numbers is just putting the problem off. If you disagree, say 10^10000000000 is "ten tremilliamilliamilliatrecenttretriginmilliamilliatrecenttretriginmilliatrecentdotrigintillion" ten times fast.

Another solution would be to designate a new unit, like the Tera-Byte, as the BBoT, for lack of a better name. That would run out slower, lasting 4*5*8 = 160 years. That is good, but not perminent. Further, we would have to designate a new unit for every unit used.

If our growth is exponential, then if we should want a system that will scale in the same way. We have that for Earthquakes, for instance. It is called the Richter scale. Similar scales are used in apparent magnitude for astronomy and the decibel scale for sound. These all use base-10 logarithms, so that each time you increase by 1, the magnitude increases by 10 times. For instance, 5.4 on the richter scale is 10 times what 4.4 is. This system would last virtually forever. But implemenation is everything... and that is going to require more work.

Suggestions?

The Purpose of the Singularity part 3: Scientific Revolutions

2008-08-25T20:23:00.007-07:00

As I suggested in my last post, it has been wondered before why the scientific revolution did not happen in other times and places. Lovers of multiculturalism have, for instance, condemned Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions for being Eurocentric, or focused on Western Civilization. The fact is most of what we use in science is Western, with the primary exception being Arabic Sciences, as noted in words like 'algebra' or 'algorithm' or 'azimuth'. And while other civilizations have had tremendous accomplishments, very little of their efforts were a part of the scientific revolution. That is not to suggest they were unintelligent or unaccomplished. Rather we should take it as a warning just how easily we can lose what they lost as well.

Vernor Vinge has an excellent article discussing What If the Singularity Never Happens? He gives us 3 scenarios.

First Scenario - we destroy ourselves - Mutual Assured Destruction - the Suicide of Civilization.

That is why I have stated in posts long gone by that the next necessary step in progress towards the Singularity (or as I love to refer to it, "the Rapture of the Nerds") is moral and spiritual. We are at a point where we are technologically capable of destroying, if not the human race, then most certainly human civilization. Einstein is quoted as having said, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

As our weapons become more and more powerful, this is a greater and greater worry.

Second Possibility, (Golden Age) we actually make it. We clean up our act, repent of our sins, and are ready for the glories the Lord has in mind.

But this picture is a little too simplistic and naively evolutionary. It is a nice idea, but it misses a lot of important complexity.

The third scenario (Wheel of Time) is the the one that best reflects history, though I have great faith and hopes that at least part of the human race will enter the Golden Age scenario this time around. In actual fact, we see that different civilizations have gained and lost scientific understanding through out history.

For instance, for 1400 year, China was more technologically advanced than Europe (Jospeh Needham wrote Why the Scientific Revolution Did Not Take Place in China--Or Did It? - here is a revised version)

Likewise, India was far ahead of the West for a long time. Some thoughts on the Indian half of Needham question by Narasimha explores this puzzle. Here, other scholars address this question, but they don't really come to an answer. Some of their solutions are cultural, but Europe had cultural problems too, like how it dealt with Galileo. Some of the blame is due to invasions and war. But Europe had plenty of that too.

The Arabs had a tremendous opportunity too and flourished for a time, but then lost it all. They are mainly remembered for the few things they introduced into Europe, such as Hindu (so called Arabic) numbers. Here is one slightly bitter record of Islamic scientific history. The main conclusion reached was that there was too little interest and too much insistence on orthodoxy.

Those were similar to the charges against the Indians, and could just as easily be used to accuse us.

Without bringing in theology, I can not answer why this is. But I can say that we can lose what we have just as easily as the Arabs, the Indians, the Chinese, or any other great civilization. It has come and it has gone. We should not take the Scientific Revolution for granted.

The Purpose of the Singularity part 2: The Key of the Restoration of all things

2008-08-24T17:11:00.003-07:00

The Singularity is a period of run-away technological advances. Some people peg it to the creation of a computerized Artificial Intelligence like our own, only computerized, called strong AI. While I am bearish on strong AI, weak AI (like computer programs that are only good at one problem, chess, for instance) will be a significant advance. Ultimately, the reasons for the Singularity happening must be kept in mind, because opportunities for singularity are not inevitable.

Great knowledge has been lost more times in history than we could count. We are only now getting an idea of how the Egyptian pyramids how were built. There are many cases of superior civil engineering technology - Rome and its neighbors, Meso-America, India, China, and so on. We still don't fully understand how Damascus steel was created. Attainments in Medicine have at times been very great, as have attainments in mathematics and astronomy. If we take the Book of Enoch at its word, this is the least of it.

We say, correctly, that the technological advances we are having uniquely in our day and age, are a result of the Gospel being restored. That is true, but we need to be more specific. I wonder if we can say, that it is because of the key of the restoration of all things.

A key consists of power from God to accomplish something. And the truth is scientific advances are revelations who come to those who are prepared scientifically. I could quote Brigham extensively on this, but not today.

The interesting thing about this, is that it was previously held by both Noah (Elias/Gabriel) and Peter, James and John. If I am right then, we could have had the technological marvels we have now, either right after the Flood, or in the days of Rome, except that the Church apostatized. I consider that fascinating, because smarter men than myself have often wondered why the scientific revolution happened when it did, and not earlier. It was certainly not for any lack of intelligence.

What is the purpose of the key of the restoration of all things? Nothing less than building up the kingdom of God. And when men and women have abandoned God, He has withheld the enlightenments they might have otherwise received. Do technological levels directly correlate with righteousness and apostasy? No, not at all, but it will follow it like an errent shadow, with delayed but inexorable effect. And opportunities once lost, may not return for a very long time.

What do the scriptures and prophets tell us about this?

First, there is the well-known and repeated prophecy that someday, we should be as far ahead of the world in Science as we are now in Religion. This prophecy in particular suggests to me that the Singularity will be a LDS phenomena and not the world at large.

Other prophecies closely corrolate the information explosion with the blessings of the Millenium itself.

A time to come when nothing shall be withheld....

...for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times.

And for what purpose is all of this? It is to build up Zion - that it might be perfect in knowledge, both secular and spiritual. Both kinds of knowledge are necessary.

God does not violate the agency he has given to man; wherefore let this be in the mouth of every Saint, "The Lord shall have perfect dominion in my heart and affections;" then he will begin to reign in the midst of the people; but he cannot do so now. When we have faith to understand that he must dictate, and that we must be perfectly submissive to him, then we shall begin to rapidly collect the intelligence that is bestowed upon the nations, for all this intelligence belongs to Zion. All the knowledge, wisdom, power, and glory that have been bestowed upon the nations of the earth, from the days of Adam till now, must be gathered home to Zion. The wicked will become more and more weak and ignorant as they increase in wickedness. See the trifling, childish foolishness now among the nations of the earth.
Journal of Discourses Vol. 8, p. 279

And what does that mean for us? It means that God expects us to get to work and learn. He has given us minds and opportunities and if we do not, we will be found wanting. God can not bless us if we do not make use of the gift He has given.

Were I residing in a gathering-place where I knew I could remain for two years, and had fifty thousand dollars to spare, I would expend it in the best improvements I could, and labour to improve until the last day of my remaining. The Lord is gathering his people, and this is a city for the Saints. A great many here are satisfied with a log hut. Some act as though they expected to be driven, and others say—"We will soon go back to the centre Stake of Zion, and this house will answer my purpose till then." Let every mechanic and every scientific man of all classes and occupations, and every woman, improve to the best of their ability, faithfully living their religion, and we shall be none too well qualified to build up Zion when that time arrives. I never saw a stone-mason who thoroughly understood his trade. We have not a quarryman who fully understands getting out rock for the Temple walls. Then how, amid such ignorance, are you going to properly lay the foundation of the New Jerusalem—the Zion of our God? What do you know about building the great Temple that is yet to be built, upon which the glory of God will rest by day and by night? Where is the man that knows how to lay the first rock in that Temple, or to get out the first stick of timber for it? Where is the woman that knows how to make a single part of its interior decorations? That knowledge is not now here; and unless you wisely improve upon your privileges day by day, you will not be prepared, when called upon, to engage to the best advantage in building up Zion.
No nation possesses any wisdom but what it has received from the same God that we worship. He is the best mechanic and the most scientific personage that we have any knowledge of. There is not a principle in astronomy, known by men of science, but what has been revealed from heaven. All true knowledge among men, in relation to agriculture, the arts, science, commerce, and every avocation in life, has been given from our Father in heaven to his children, whether they acknowledge and obey him or not.
Journal of Discourses Vol. 8, p. 278-279

Elsewhere Brigham said,

It is mortifying that the children of this world should know more about these things than the children of light. We know more about the kingdom of God. Take these young men, sixteen or eighteen years old, or these old men, or some who have just come into the Church, and let them go into the world, and, with regard to the kingdom of God, they can teach kings and queens, statesmen and philosophers, for they are ignorant of these things, but in things pertaining to this life the lack of knowledge manifested by us as a people is disgraceful. Your knowledge should be as much more than that of the children of the world, with regard to the things of the world, as it is with regard to the things of the kingdom of God. JD 10:293

We must become ready for what the Lord has planned, spiritually and intellectually.

Put forth your ability to learn as fast as you can, and gather all the strength of mind and principle of faith you possibly can, and then distribute your knowledge to the people. Give them virtue, knowledge, principle, truth, godliness. The Lord is gathering those principles home to Zion from among the wicked nations, and is leaving them in darkness. What a pity it would be for the Lord to gather out all the good, and we be found unworthy of it. We shall be worthy of it, if we live for it; and may the Lord help us so to do! JD 8:146

It is worth repeating - if we do not become ready, it can be given to other nations, without any of the holy prophecies being invalidated in the least.

I have no doubt with regard to the good work of the Lord, referred to by those who have spoken, and it will continue among the nations of the earth. The Lord will bring out the results to his own honour and glory; but are we ready?

The Lord has bestowed great knowledge and wisdom upon the inhabitants of the earth—much truth and knowledge in the arts and sciences. Those nations that deny their God and Saviour will have those principles of intelligence taken from them. Are the Latter-day Saints prepared to receive them, enjoy them, or will those principles have to go to some other kingdom? There is great wisdom in the world; their knowledge in mechanism and the exact sciences is very great. This wisdom will be taken from the wicked. Who will receive it? Is there a people upon the earth prepared to receive this knowledge and this wisdom? There should be. Is it reasonable to suppose that the wisdom God has bestowed upon the nations of the earth should continue upon it? Or should it be taken from the inhabitants of the earth and carried back from whence it came? My faith and my desire are that there should be a people upon the earth prepared to receive this wisdom. It should not be so forfeited as to be taken from the earth, for I question whether it would return again. There should be a people prepared to improve upon their knowledge and wisdom, for all knowledge and wisdom come from God. All true intelligence is the gift of God. He is the true fountain of all knowledge and wisdom. JD 8, p. 319

The Brethren have spoken long and hard about education and reading. I could just as easily quote Pres. Monson as Brother Brigham. We must become ready, if we expect a temporal salvation.

The Purpose of the Singularity part 1

2008-08-21T14:58:00.005-07:00

We can not talk comprehensively about technology, and the tremendous change in technology that the Singularity will bring, without talking about God, and His purposes.

This is not only true from a theological perspective, but also bluntly from a scientific perspective. It has long been pondered why the scientific revolution did not happen in so many other periods of history. The Egyptians were plenty smart, and I don't just mean the pyramids. The Greeks had a level of mathematical and scientific understanding that we only matched in the last hundred years. The Romans were eminently capable... why did it not happen for them?

And why has it happened to us?

I am going to explore the implications this perspective has both spiritually, and technologically in this set of posts.(it was originally going to be one post, but it ballooned fantastically)

Scientific Revolution: Why not earlier? (technologically reason)
Scientific Revolution: Why not earlier? (theological reason)
For what purpose is the Scientific Revolution?
What does this imply about the Nature of the Singularity and future of the Scientific Revolution?
What do the Scriptures have to say about the Singularity?

Exciting times we live in! But just to get you started, I will quote Brigham Young:

I have no doubt with regard to the good work of the Lord, referred to by those who have spoken, and it will continue among the nations of the earth. The Lord will bring out the results to his own honour and glory; but are we ready?
The Lord has bestowed great knowledge and wisdom upon the inhabitants of the earth—much truth and knowledge in the arts and sciences. Those nations that deny their God and Saviour will have those principles of intelligence taken from them. Are the Latter-day Saints prepared to receive them, enjoy them, or will those principles have to go to some other kingdom? There is great wisdom in the world; their knowledge in mechanism and the exact sciences is very great. This wisdom will be taken from the wicked. Who will receive it? Is there a people upon the earth prepared to receive this knowledge and this wisdom? There should be. Is it reasonable to suppose that the wisdom God has bestowed upon the nations of the earth should continue upon it? Or should it be taken from the inhabitants of the earth and carried back from whence it came? My faith and my desire are that there should be a people upon the earth prepared to receive this wisdom. It should not be so forfeited as to be taken from the earth, for I question whether it would return again. There should be a people prepared to improve upon their knowledge and wisdom, for all knowledge and wisdom come from God. All true intelligence is the gift of God. He is the true fountain of all knowledge and wisdom.

Journal of Discourses Vol. 8, p. 319

We have our work cut out for us.

What the Future will bring

2008-08-04T22:26:00.002-07:00

Any time a futurist makes a prediction about what will happen, you know he (she) is just asking for trouble. Otherwise, we should have had flying cars a while ago, but curiously, no internet. We would have had the cure for all disease, and not a obesity epidemic.

So, how can we predict correctly? I am going to do so, but working with a number of simple axioms.

First: Civilization's level is defined by the logarithm of data available. There is a significant difference between literate and illiterate tribes. Furthermore, once you can print books instead of longhand copy, and once you have books worth copying, you have a higher more potent civilization. Computers, and particularly the Internet will result in changes we do not yet even see. They are too young; infant technologies.

Prediction:

Information availability/transfer speeds will increase exponentally.
Moore's Law will continue to hold. Quantum computing likely.
Copyright and patent, as well as other forms of "intellectual property" as we know them, will die/transform to accomodate this increase in speed. It may well die completely.

Second: We are reaching a tipping point where we have more knowledge that good sense. We have the power to really destroy ourselves, but do have have the wisdom to save ourselves? The next step in human evolution will be the kind of people we are.

I don't for a moment mean how many arms we have, or wings, or claws. I mean something more internal. It is a question of what do we act like, given greater freedom, or when we think no one is looking.

Prediction:

Don't expect for a moment that this kind of change will be popular. It will require greater moral strength, intellectual depth and breadth, and freedom.
Civilization will divide into two segments that may be distinguished by the levels of freedom and personal responsibility. One segment will deal with increasing problems in society by increasing govt power. The other segment (and don't expect it to be the majority) will deal with problems by becoming better people.
There will be a lot of opposition including new addictions, new recreational drugs, new mind-altering substances. "Escapes" will be popular as people struggle to deal the increasing pace of change and personal demands.

Third: This division will result in a phase change to a completely new level of civilization.

A phase change may be represented by an Ising model. (if I were more evolved I would include the java applet myself, but there you are!) Ising models are used in statistical mechanics to describe the way a phase change acts - like ice changing to water, or water to steam.

Predictions:

From this we gather that there will be fluctuations in society, that will increase in frequency and intensity as time goes on. The rate of change will increase non-linearly towards infinity.
Fads, fashions, social movements, attitudes, culture, etc. will be in constant upheaval.
The Singularity is one aspect of this, but without a change in the spiritual condition of mankind, it will be more trouble, rather than less.

What a future we have in store! How will we be ready for it?

Professor's Little Helper

2008-08-01T21:03:00.002-07:00

This topic got tossed up in the blogosphere earlier this year, but all it got was a lukewarm discussion that acknowledge the issue, but had no real answers. Nature had an article entitled, Professor's Little Helper that explored the issue of scientists doping.

Granted, it was not anabolic steroids primarily, but various drugs intended to sharpen mental power. It did gain a reply from the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The gist of his argument was that it might be bad, or you might get addicted.

Now, I have no love of the problems substance abuse causes in our world. It would not hurt my feelings to see far tougher laws on alcohol and tobacco. But if we take the directors logic to the extreme, could we eat chocolate? There are chocolate addicts and it is not always good for us. That is not to say anything goes, or should, but we need a better rule for when it is wise.

And it will increasingly become an issue. It is already difficult, and only getting harder, to compete in athletic sports without doping, because it is an advantage. If it confers an advantage, even an ill-considered short-term one, it will become common among people who are serious about competeing.

From the NY Times,

In his book “Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution,” Francis Fukuyama raises the broader issue of performance enhancement: “The original purpose of medicine is to heal the sick, not turn healthy people into gods.” He and others point out that increased use of such drugs could raise the standard of what is considered “normal” performance and widen the gap between those who have access to the medications and those who don’t — and even erode the relationship between struggle and the building of character.
“Even though stimulants and other cognitive enhancers are intended for legitimate clinical use, history predicts that greater availability will lead to an increase in diversion, misuse and abuse,” wrote Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and James Swanson of the University of California at Irvine, in a letter to Nature. “Among high school students, abuse of prescription medications is second only to cannabis use.”

It is going to be come an issue, and we would do well to be ready for it. If cosmetic surgery is any indication, it will grow while scorned, until it becomes mainstream. Can we condemn these drugs without condemning all optional plastic surgery?

But does it make a difference? I would call this a side effect -

Jeffrey White, a graduate student in cell biology who has attended several institutions, said that those numbers sounded about right. “You can usually tell who’s using them because they can be angry, testy, hyperfocused, they don’t want to be bothered,” he said.

How much is detrimental, and what defines detrimental? Sure, taking steroids may harm the liver, but it may not. What if taking steroids enables you to put on muscle mass that you would not otherwise be able to do? Contrary to popular opinion, the largest group taking steroids is not athletes, it is WASPs who just don't have time to live in the gym, but want to look like it. Is that necessarily wrong?

What about musicians who use beta-blockers to decrease performance anxiety?

If we need a drug anytime we have a difficult problem, that has crossed the line to being a 'crutch'.

MindHacks, reminds us, that this is not a new issue - whether it was Erdős on amphetamines, or the fact that Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA while on LSD. Was it worth it? Sometimes it might be.

And just how do we differentiate between enhancing and dealing with natural decline?

For now, I have only tried St. John Wort and Ginkgo, with a melody of other herbs for concentration (depression) and I have to say, it made a difference. Melatonin does wonders for sleep, but also aggravates my arthritis. Exercise (cardio) probably does as much as those herbs, and has been proven to promote neurogenesis.

So for now, I am going to have to stick with "rarely". Because I suspect that there is a time and a place, though I don't think it is as often as others think.

LILYPAD: colonizing the open ocean

2008-07-29T16:07:00.001-07:00

I don't have time to do this justice at the moment, but a Belgian architect drew up this plan for a floating city in the geometry of a LILYPAD.

It makes thousands of times more sense to colonize the oceans, the deserts, even the deep Antarctic before we touch Mars, or even Venus. Earth already has a breatheable atmosphere, plenty of water, surviveable temperatures and worst come to worst, we are not far from somewhere nicer.

The Ice Age cometh

2008-07-28T23:24:00.004-07:00

I noticed this over at "The Reference Frame" by the unmistakable Luboš Motl - and fortunately this is something I know little about.

It seems there is a real possibility of another cooling period being imminent - or in less-precise terms, another ice age.

The problem is this. For reasons we don't understand, when the Sun is active (Sunspots, Coronal Mass Ejections, and the like) the Earth gets warmer. We have just finished a very active sunspot cycle. But some years ago there was over a hundred years when there was virtually no sunspots at all. This was called the Maunder Minimum and the Spörer Minimum. Previous to this time, the Earth had been quite warm. The Vikings were colonizing Greenland and grapes and figs were grown quite farther north than they are now. But once the these Minimums started, things got quite cold. The Greenland Vikings died off, the River Thames froze over and so on. The Maunder Minimum was called the Mini-Ice Age.

There is actually very good correlation between solar activity and climate. It is the fact the climate scientists fail to properly acknowledge this that has been my biggest issue with Global Warming.

According to a new analysis, after our next sunspot cycle, there is a good chance we could enter into another sunspot minimum - and have a new Ice Age. But as each sunspot cycle is usually around 11 years, we have a while to wait.

Safety First: A disturbing culture of safety at any cost

2008-07-27T17:42:00.003-07:00

In my hometown, which is really little more than a pothole without a stoplight, we know how to celebrate the 24th of July. For those who don't know, that is when we celebrate the Pioneers coming into the Salt Lake Valley. Typically, we would reserve the county fair grounds, gorge and feast on BBQ'ed hambergers and any dessert imaginable. But that is not all... we would top it all off with a rodeo. Sure, there is stuff for the little kids like chicken chases and mutton-busting, but there is more serious rodeo stuff too. In addition to standby's like barrel-racing, there is bullriding. The last time I was there, I got my girls to ride a calf.

(They refused, and were scared, and fell off and got hurt, and cried and swore they would never do it again and then a year later were anxious to try it again.)

But now it is coming to an end. I suppose the feasting part will go on, but no more rodeo. Since it is a church activity, they have to put a stop to it for liability reasons. Oh, I am not going to criticize the church for having to do this. The lawsuits happening these days are truly outragous. Right or wrong, it simply was not affordable.

This same legal atmosphere has reduced the fun of playgrounds of our childhood, with the dull plastic over-safe equiment now present. Nothing allowed unless there is an almost zero chance you could fall and bump your nose. (That is only a very slight exageration) Even if you are in the right, the lawsuits can be impossible to fight.

And we wonder why children don't spend time outside as much these days.

There was a great post over at 1000 Awesome Things about superiority of old playground equiment. Best comment - "You westerners are soft. When I was kid, my playground was broken T64 tank and we play hopscotch around anti personel mines!"

The question we need to ask is, is this over-concern for children doing them more good than harm? Is this part of the reason for the obesity epidemic? - outside is just too dangerous without being sterilized and neutered beyond recognition?

Is a safe world possible? Or are we just picking our poisons? Personally, I would rather have my precious little girls have a few good scrapes and broken bones than be sheltered from every pointy stick on the ground. They will meet those kinds of problems eventually anyway. I would rather that they be ready for them.

In the image of God: just how weird can aliens look?

2008-07-25T20:14:00.002-07:00

I believe in aliens. Really, I do.

First from a scriptural standpoint, and secondly from a scientific - once given a foothold, life is just too adaptable. Bacteria, viruses, and even a certain dust mite, can survive deep space, so life is bound to have ended up elsewhere.

But merging those two agreements is giving me grief. On one hand, I want to say, all of God's children are in his image, so they must obviously look like us. There is some UFO evidence to support that (the so-called Nordics). But it strikes me as so fundamentalist and simplistic, I worry that I am over-literalizing the scripture.

Just what does "In the Image of God" mean anyway?

Does a kid with a birth defect life a cleft palette and lip count as still in the image of God?

What about something more severe? Like this from the effect of dioxins in Veitnam-

I was about to show a few more pictures, but I have not gotten around to eating dinner yet, so I am going to forbear. Just a google image search for "birth defects". Might be useful for dieting.

Now, with a case like this, we have two choices - either a child like this is not in the image of God (we can treat him like an animal) or he is in the image of God. I don't think we should treat him as an animal, but the corollary is that outward appearance is, to some degree, irrelevant. (That or God may have really bulging eyes.)

So then, if the worst birth defects, are still children of God, in his image, then what should we say about aliens? (No Senor, not the illegal variety, the extra-terrestrial sort)

Just what is the real criterion for "in the image of God" ?

Sci-fi has some pretty weird aliens.... What about the Giger inspired baddies from the 'Alien' movies? Is anything from Star Trek kosher? What about the Gou'ald parasites in StarGate? Can we keep Yoda?

Just where and how do we draw the line?

And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth...

2008-07-24T19:11:00.004-07:00

I get ideas stuck in my head sometimes.

Sometimes they really get stuck. And the only way to deal with it, is think it through until I realize how patently ridiculous my idea was, or usually is. At the moment, I am considering the terraforming of Venus. There are many reasons Venus has more potential than Mars ever will, but let's save that argument for later.

Really, Venus has all the potential to be a wonderful place to live, even with the puns it would engender. Of course at the moment, it makes hell look comfortable. The atmosphere is carbon dioxide, sulfer dioxide, with a pinch of sulpheric acid. If that is not bad enough, the atmospheric pressure, temperature and pure insane wind speed make mincemeat of the toughest probes sent there.

But the real problem, is that Venus has lost its hydrogen. Venus has no magnetic field of its own, so the solar wind just has its way with Venus, stripping away the lightest gases, namely hydrogen and helium. Hydrogen (and water of course) are the necessary ingredients for any kind of life we know of. Second, any hydrogen introduced would convert the carbon dioxide into elemental carbon or fix into a number of other solid forms. Once a sufficient amount of hydrogen were introduced, we could use Carl Sagan's idea (it was my idea too!) and use extremophile bacteria to fix all that sulferic acid and sulpher dioxide into some form that will not kill us. There are several other problems, but once we have dealt with this first one, those should (mostly) be easier.

Of course, we would need 4×10¹⁹ kg of water, which in case your math is rusty, is a whole freakin' lot. We have trouble getting the shuttle up to our 'space station'. How can we get that much water to Venus? This is how...

This is a video gallery of the LASCO telescope on the SOHO solar astronomy satellite. It is used to discover around 100 comets a year, many of them small comets that are called sungrazers. Of course, some of the best videos are watching comets bite the dust when they hit the sun.

Of course, this will increase the surface temperature in the short run, and it will leave craters, and their composition is a wildcard, but they do contain plenty of water and organic compounds.

The only tricky part, is first finding the comets when they are still quite far out, and then finding a way to guide them into an appropriate orbit to hit Venus... and miss Earth. I still like it here. Putting it that way, this sounds almost easy. Well, if not easy, certainly doable, given a bit of time and money.

Just a few pertinent links
Terraforming Venus
Maps of a Terraformed Venus - not the most serious, but what is dreaming if not fun?
Terraformers Society of Canada - I want to delve into this topic more- this site really looks good.
New Mars Society post on Venus
Sungrazer Comets

Finally, now I can stop thinking about it.

For now.

Patent System and the Singularity

2008-07-18T10:14:00.002-07:00

The Singularity! the Rapture of the Nerds! The point where exponential growth in technology can begin to advance itself and .... well, life will be as different from now as water is from ice. Of course, we could talk about this for a very long time, but the main point is this - technology increases exponentially. So for a long time, it looks like nothing is happening at all, then the there is a gradual increase and then it simply increases like mad. That is the point we are almost at.

But does it make sense to have a patent office once we reach the Singularity? It is no simple thing to keep up with a exponential increase in technology. Insisting on patents and copyrights would eventually slow us down more than it could ever help us. So called "Intellectual Property: legistlation of any kind, would impose a limit to just how fast technology can develop without it either slowing deployment of technology, or itself becoming utterly obsolete.

In other words, the patent office itself would have to grow exponentially - at the same rate. Sure, it is easy enough when the curve is flat, as it has been. But once the increase is clearly exponential, the patent office would have to hire more people to handle and exponentially increasing demand, and an exponentially increasing amount of prior art to search through. In practical terms, that means a patent is more and more likely to be infringing in some way, on someone else's patent. Finally, we would reach the point that the paperwork and redtape would take more effort than the innovating itself would. This sounds like the absurd and extreme limit, but the whole issue of the singularity is- inventions as fundimental at the internet or the wheel finally happening at monthly, weekly, and finally, even a daily pace.

We are at a unique time in history - but our greed might just stop the whole thing.

Here is a brief discussion of Lawrence Lessig discussing this from the context of copyright.

Blog Resurrection

2008-07-16T22:16:00.002-07:00

Just like Dr. Frankenstein in a good lightening storm, this corpse is coming back to life. Hopefully it will last longer than the good Dr. monster did.

Just a few topics to look forward to:
Technology: the coming of the singularity.
Politics: so they are going to revoke the President's ability to declare war... wait, he never had it in the first place.
Politically incorrect: If they want to change the gender mismatch in science, the right place to start is the check book, not that Larry Summers was completely wrong either.

And even a bit about my coming book: 'The Meaning of Virtue' !

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll look look at every post with a mixture of disbelief and surprise... because it really is stranger than fiction.

Sarah DiMuro, and other sluts

2006-10-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, sometimes, you think to yourself, this world is in really bad shape and then you realize, you are really out of touch -- it is much worse.

Ok, the classic guide to manners in Europe (because the have and use them over then, at least officially) Debrett's, is updating its book to include such things as adultery, toplessness and how to properly conduct a one night stand.

On one night stands, "Avoid dark-alley gropery and unladylike fumbling in the back of a cab," and "Discuss the necessaries to avoid planting any love children or disease, and you're away."

But that is not all in the world of news, there is Sarah DiMuro.

Sarah is a not unattractive girl, who has had a hard time getting dates. Partly the problem is that she has attended a number of all-girl educational institutions. She is thus far a virgin, but she has decided it is long enough. She is about to turn 30, and is advertising in Jane Magazine for a one-night so she be leave the ranks of the virgins. It is a publicity stunt by Jane's to be sure. But to see the general attitude in the world that virginity is a terrible thing and not mere to be treated light, but to be despised.

So she is currently scouting for someone to lose it with and publishing it to the national media. A virgin prostitute, how rare is that?

Even more strange than fiction

2006-09-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

ok, it looks like things have changed since I started this over a year ago. There is now a site called Stranger than Fiction : I can't tell you yet if it is any good.

But there is a interesting movie by the same title that is due out soon. Official site and the always highly esteemed, IMDB. Boring guy is having his life written by a famous author. Problem - she is writting a murder novel. I am not a big fan of Will Farrell, but this looks like a part he was made for. But then, I never enjoyed the actor who plays Donkey in Shrek, until I saw Shrek. Hopefully, it won't be too full of sex and obscentiy.

Dreams

2006-09-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

I have rather suspected for a long time, that a persons personality had a lot to do with the kind of dreams they have. For instance, my daughters occasionally have nightmares, but I never have. Well, this study is all the more interesting because it give highly policitally polarized ways to insult each other. Which of course, is all they need.

It kind of makes we want to be a liberal.

From the Ottawa Citizen:

Chris Lackner, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Wednesday, September 27, 2006

If you've recently dreamed about sex with a stranger, flying or the dead coming back to life, chances are you're probably a liberal instead of a conservative.

A dream researcher from John F. Kennedy University in California has discovered fundamental differences between the dream worlds of people on the ideological left and the ideological right.

Among his findings, Kelly Bulkeley discovered that liberals are more restless sleepers and have a higher number of bizarre, surreal dreams -- including fantasy settings and a wide variety of sexual encounters. Conservatives' dreams were, on average, far more mundane and focused on realistic people, situations and settings.

"Conservatives seem to have more of a focus on the here and now and the material world whereas liberals, in contrast, seem to have a much wider sphere of imaginative activity," he said.

"They don't just dream about what is, but what could be or what they wish could be," Mr. Bulkeley said.

His research is being published in an upcoming issue of Dreams, a journal published by the American Psychological Association.

Out of the 134 liberals who participated in the study, 91 per cent said they recently dreamed about sex; only 76 per cent of 100 conservative subjects admitted the same.

But Mr. Bulkeley said the two political stripes showed very different tastes in dream partners.

Liberals were far more likely to have sexual dreams about strangers and a variety of partners, while liberal women showed a greater tendency towards same-sex fantasies than their conservative counterparts (24 versus four per cent).

"Especially for liberal women, there was a far greater variety in sexual partners and incidents of homosexuality," Mr. Bulkeley said. "Liberals tended to show a greater willingness to experiment with different things."

Conservatives, by comparison, were far more likely to report having sexual dreams about their spouse or current partner.

While left-wingers might be more adventurous in the subconscious bedroom, they're also more likely to wake up in a cold sweat.

Liberals showed slightly higher levels of nightmares than conservatives -- a statistic at odds with a similar dream study Mr. Bulkeley conducted in the late 1990s.

He said the ideology of the United States' governing party may affect the dream patterns of Republicans and Democrats.

While conservatives deplored former president Bill Clinton's reign in the 1990s, liberals are currently both furious and fearful of the Bush administration, he said.

"With the change from the Clinton to the Bush administrations, there are waking world reasons for liberals to be more concerned and stressed, and conservatives to be less concerned," Mr. Bulkeley said.

"Dreams are like political cartoons of the mind -- mental op-ed columns. Sometimes dreams reflect internal commentaries on the state of things."

The study includes some of the dreams recounted by liberals, such as the following nightmare: "I was at a presidential rally where George W. Bush was speaking. There was so much red, white and blue. Bush speaks: 'There are those who say that we are giving up our civil liberties. But I say, we should be proud to sacrifice our freedoms for America!' The crowd went wild, clapping, cheering and waving flags. I awoke in a cold sweat."

Not surprisingly, Republicans had much more benign dreams about their commander-in-chief: "I was friends with George W. Bush and we were working together on his ranch. I was happy to be there."

Mr. Bulkeley said that the most surprising result in his study is that conservatives showed a higher tendency for lucid dreaming -- being aware they were asleep. Conservatives largely reported using their "dream awareness" to wake themselves up from uncomfortable situations and nightmares, he said.

Overall, conservative males appear to sleep the most soundly and remember the fewest dreams, while liberal women are the most restless sleepers and fantastical dreamers.

"While some of my colleagues think my research reinforces the stereotype of repressed, uptight conservatives, it also shows that many liberals may he hanging on the edge of mental well-being," Mr. Bulkeley said. "There may be a lot of hidden distress and unpleasantness in the liberal mind."

Demanding rights for great apes

2006-06-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

This is sad - really sad. Sad in the pathetic, lame sense of the word. Do we really need this? And do we need to create protections for animals that (with all due respect), we do not extend to unborn children? This is just a bit freaky.

Demanding rights for great apes - Yahoo! News: "MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's parliament is to declare support for rights to life and freedom for great apes on Wednesday, apparently the first time any national legislature will have recognized such rights for non-humans.

Parliament is to ask the government to adhere to the Great Ape Project, which would mean recognizing that our closest genetic relatives should be part of a 'community of equals' with humans, supporters of the resolution said.

The move in a country better known for bull-fighting would follow a string of social reforms which have converted Spain from one of Europe's most conservative nations into a liberal trailblazer.

Backers of the resolution expect support from the Socialist Party of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose government has legalized gay marriage and reduced the influence of the Catholic Church in education.

'With this, Spain will make itself a world leader in protection of the great apes,' said Pedro Pozas, general secretary of the Great Ape Project's Spanish branch.

The resolution, presented by a Green Party parliamentarian, prompted criticism and some ridicule at first.

Spanish media quoted the Catholic Archbishop of Pamplona as saying it was ludicrous to grant apes rights not enjoyed by unborn children, in a reference to Spanish abortion laws.

But a spokesman for Archbishop Fernando Sebastian said he had been taken out of context and now supported the resolution.

"We are in favor of defending animals, but people come first," Father Santos Villanueva told Reuters.

Philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri founded the Great Ape Project in 1993, arguing apes were so close to humans they deserved rights to life, freedom and not to be tortured.

"When a loved one dies, they grieve for a long time. They can solve complex puzzles that stump most two-year-old humans," said Singer.

The Spanish move could set a precedent for greater legal protection for other animals, including elephants, whales and dolphins, said Paul Waldau, director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University.

"We were born into a society where humans alone are the sole focus, and we begin to expand to the non-human great apes. It isn't easy for us to see how far that expansion will go, but it's very clear we need to expand beyond humans," Waldau said.

There are only a few hundred apes in Spain, mainly chimpanzees. But the resolution would also push the government to help endangered populations in Africa and Asia, said Pozas, speaking to Reuters at a sanctuary outside Madrid sheltering half a dozen chimpanzees rescued from abuse.

New Scientist News - Kyoto promises are nothing but hot air

2006-06-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

New Scientist News - Kyoto promises are nothing but hot air: "Under Kyoto, each government calculates how much carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide its country emits by adding together estimated emissions from individual sources. These so-called 'bottom-up' estimates have long been accepted by atmospheric scientists, even though they have never been independently audited.

Now two teams that have monitored concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere say they have convincing evidence that the figures reported by many countries are wrong, especially for methane. Among the worst offenders are the UK, which may be emitting 92 per cent more methane than it declares under the Kyoto protocol, and France, which may be emitting 47 per cent more."

Worth noting, especially as methane is 100 times more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2. The whole thing looks like politics and business as usual - but not what the environmental think or wish it was.

The Weaker Sex

2006-06-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

It is gratifying to see balanced sexism, instead of the white-man guilt trip that is so prevalent.

From the New York Times, Op-Ed Contributor

The Weaker Sex

By MARIANNE J. LEGATO

Published: June 17, 2006

WHEN I say I study gender-specific medicine, most people assume I mean women's health. Patients ask me, "Do you take care of men too?"

I may be partly to blame for the confusion: in the years since the revolutionary 1985 report on women's health from the United States Public Health Service, I — along with many of my colleagues — have tried to atone for the fact that for so long the majority of diseases that afflicted both genders were studied exclusively in men.

Over the past two decades, we've radically revised how we conduct medical research and take care of our female patients. And we've made valuable discoveries about how gender helps determine vulnerability to illness and, ultimately, the timing and causes of death. But I now believe that we doctors and researchers may have focused too much on women.

What emerges when one studies male biology in a truly evenhanded way is the realization that from the moment of conception on, men are less likely to survive than women. It's not just that men take on greater risks and pursue more hazardous vocations than women. There are poorly understood — and underappreciated — vulnerabilities inherent in men's genetic and hormonal makeup. This Father's Day, we need to rededicate ourselves to deepening our knowledge of male physiology.

Men's troubles begin during the earliest days in the womb. Even though there are more male than female embryos, there are more miscarriages of male fetuses. Industrial countries are also witnessing a decline in male to female birth ratios, and we don't know why.

Some scientists have argued that the probability of a male child declines as parents (especially fathers) age. Still others have cited the prevalence of pesticides, which produce more birth defects in male children.

Even when a boy manages to be born, he's still behind the survival eight ball: he is three to four times more likely than girls to have developmental disorders like autism and dyslexia; girls learn language earlier, develop richer vocabularies and even hear better than boys. Girls demonstrate insight and judgment earlier in adolescence than boys, who are more impulsive and take more risks than their sisters. Teenage boys are more likely to commit suicide than girls and are more likely to die violent deaths before adulthood.

As adults, too, men die earlier than women. Twice as many men as women die of coronary artery disease, which manifests itself a decade earlier in men than women; when it comes to cancer, the news for men is almost as bad. Women also have more vigorous immune systems than men: of the 10 most common infections, men are more likely to have serious encounters with seven of them.

While depression is said to be twice as frequent in women as in men, I'm convinced that the diagnosis is just made more frequently in women, who show a greater willingness to discuss their symptoms and to ask for help when in distress. Once, at a dinner party, I asked a group of men whether they believed men were depressed as often as women, but were simply conditioned to be silent in the face of discomfort, sadness or fear. "Of course!" replied one man. "Why do you think we die sooner?"

Considering the relative fragility of men, it's clearly counterintuitive for us to urge them, from boyhood on, to cope bravely with adversity, to ignore discomfort, to persevere in spite of pain and to accept without question the most dangerous jobs and tasks we have to offer. Perhaps the reason many societies offer boys nutritional, educational and vocational advantages over girls is not because of chauvinism — it's because we're trying to ensure their survival.

It's possible, too, that we've simply been sexist. We've complained bitterly that until recently women's health was restricted to keeping breasts and reproductive organs optimally functional, reflecting the view that what made women valuable was their ability to conceive and bear children. But aren't we doing the same thing with men? Read the questions posed on the cover of men's magazines: how robust is your sexuality? How well-developed are your abs? The only malignancy I hear discussed with men is prostate cancer.

It's time to focus on the unique problems of men just the way we have learned to do with women. In 2004, the National Institutes of Health spent twice as much on studies done only on women as only on men. We are not devoting nearly enough money to men's health; worse yet, we may be spending those insufficient funds to answer exactly the wrong questions.

The National Institutes of Health should therefore convene a consensus conference to identify the most important threats to men's well-being and longevity and issue a request for research proposals to address them. Would an estrogen-like molecule postpone the onset of coronary artery disease in susceptible males? Are there ways to strengthen the male immune system?

Thinking about how we might correct the comparative vulnerability of men instead of concentrating on how we have historically neglected women's biology will doubtless uncover new ways to improve men's health — and ultimately, every human's ability to survive.

Marianne J. Legato, the director of the Partnership for Women's Health at Columbia, is the author of "Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget."

Asian Celebrities

2006-05-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Too good an article to pass up.

Seed: Big in Japan

"H-Prize" Announced

2006-05-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

I could not bear to let this comment go unpublished. I noticed this on Slashdot by a user named Tx, and it summed up many of my own thoughts about the insuficiencies of public transportation. I rather suspect most people advocating a major emphasis on public transportation are those who already live in cities.

"H-Prize" Announced: "I have to disagree about public transport. Here in the UK, we already have massive taxation on fuel. Tony Blair's government came in with grand plans to channel funds into the public transport infrastructure, and vastly increase the number of people using it. The plan was an utter failure, and was abandoned after a several years. (OK, so we're not talking *free* public transport, but affordable, and as far as free goes, I think you need to do some math on that).

Why did it fail? There are areas where public transport is convenient - intra-urban commuters primarily - but in most such cases the public transport system is already there and utilized almost as heavily as it can be. Meanwhile for everyone else - those commuting between suburbs/outlying areas and cities - in many cases there is just no way public transport can be made attractive. For example at my previous job, I had an easy 30 minute commute by car. Public transport took 90 minutes, and cost three times as much. You couldn't really improve that much, you can only have so many stations, and you can only run your busses and trains so often. Even if you made it free, the extra hour makes it unviable. Not to talk of losing the ability to stop of at a shopping center on the way home, or run errands in my lunch break.

Since the USA has more of a car culture than the UK, I'm sure there are improvements to be made, but it is fantasy to believe that public transport is the transportation panacea that some make it out to be. Public transport has it's place, but the convenience and freedom that comes with personal transportation is not something many people want to part with, and nor should they in my opinion." emphasis added

Taking Evolution... Seriously

2006-04-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

I have been on a kick to understand the Creation lately, and so I have been studying Evolution quite a bit. Hitherto, I had avoided it. Not because of heavy theological leanings mostly, but because biology was one of those branches of science I just did not care for. Too many darned exceptions. Well, as I studied it, I came to the conclusion it must have happened.

That in itself, is quite unremarkable for most people, and unworthy of even my blog-space. But the idea that came after it is much more interesting. Ok, a few facts to get us started.

First, evolution tends to happen in great bursts, especially after massive extinctions. This is what is called a punctured equilibrium. It is in many ways, not unlike the huge number of internet startups in the beginning of the internet revolution. In the end, relatively few survived. Those that survived, did so because they were the best adapted to the new environment. This included such beheamoths as Yahoo, Google, Ebay, and Amazon.

Now, I am no biologist, but I think we have a good theory here that we are not experimenting with sufficiently. Yes, I am proposing experimental evolution. We need to figure out how to artificially "puncture the equilibrium" and see what new biodiversity arises.

There are examples of this happening actually, to a very limited degree. But I think we need to seriously make an effort to make this an experimental science, and not just theoretical.

The Mark of the Beasts

2006-04-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

It seems that those interested in red tape and control have set up the agriculture version of what I can only call, "the mark of the beast", or National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Everything must be reported within 24 hours, every birth, death, movement, etc. This will cost producers a lot of money and time, but the powers that be continue to push it. However, this has nothing to do with livestock safety and everything to do with international treaties. Agweekly has some articles on it, such as this one, however I could not find the one about it drawing opposition, online.

Whatever you think of this needless redtape, you have to admit it would not take much for it to be made into a mark for man.

2006-03-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am back from the dead, but probably only for this. And what a this it is.

It appears we may have an honest-to-goodness detection of a gravito-electric feild. And the fact that this comes from the ESA, gives it a lot of credibility in my opinion.

Space Cadets

2005-11-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, to be honest, I don't think I have ever watched reality Tv, as they call it. But this one has me interested. The idea is this. Convince 9 people that they are really taking a trip to space and see if they catch on. It is a british show, but I hope they will bring it over here.

The article to read is in the Independent Online.

Tinfoil Hats - the REAL conspiracy

2005-11-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

It seems that some engineers at MIT experimented with tinfoil hats just to see how effective they actually were.

Oddly, for certain gov't. control frequencies, it amplified the signal.

The paper is a must read.

Fishy Influenza

2005-11-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Something funky is going on with this bird flu and it isn't making me laugh. All of the sudden, we are warned, threatened, and sacred that this particular virus will jump to humans and become this ultra-deadly killer, that must be stopped at all costs.

Why?

Why should I expect this particular flu to be a threat, more so than others? Suddenly, the flu is a huge public health hazard. What about years past? Why is it suddenly a health hazard? Is it just pharmacutical companies selling vaccines? or is it government planning something? I have to confess, I think it odd, that we suddenly need a flu pandemic plan. There have been plans worked out before for national medical emergencies, for small pox for instance. But now they are preparing us to get used to travel restrictions, and other things 'necessary' to stop the flu, "for our good".

If it wasn't essential for real pandemics in the past, ie. the 1918 flu pandemic, why now? Simple, because now they can get away with it. Is it that simple? We shall see.

The problem with random guesses

2005-10-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

The problem is that it is soooo easy to be wrong. I have never played with the guess the future game. I may have to try that again. But if you have read predictions from 60 years ago, you would see that the present is nothing like what they guessed.

Here is the NOAA hurricane tracking and prediction center; enjoy.

Hurricanes

2005-10-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have not posted in over a month.... awful isn't it? I have had 'scandal fatigue'. Well, I still have it, but I wanted to post my prediction on Hurricane Wilma. I will talk about scandal fatigue later.

The few mega-storms we have had this year have been odd. They don't seem to be behaving like normal hurricanes. Wilma is almost what a class 6, would be, if such a classification existed. I don't want to jump on the weather-control bandwagon yet, but I am suspicious.

My prediction is that Wilma will strengthen, and go north instead, or at least not along the simple path they have predicted so far, weakening and heading for the Florida Keys. I think we will see something significantly different. This is just a random guess, but I thought I would "get it on paper", so to speak, so I could say, "I told you so!".

Let's give it a few days.

Build Your Own PVR :: Why Tivo When you can Freevo?

2005-09-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Great site I found here. I need to build myself one of these... at least if there were more television I wanted to watch, I would. What is a PVR? It is a recording device that records shows for you, often without the commercials, from the TV, so you can watch them at your leisure. The commercial versions are getting more expensive and are restricting features in order to please media companies. But it can be done on your computer.... if you are willing...

Solar can't do it all

2005-09-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

I got this from EnergyBulletin.net. It seems that getting solar to replace conventional levels of power looks problematic. One bright point though, was the relative importance of firewood. I can do that.

Tremors may mean 'Big One' on its way

2005-09-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

While I think that the inhabitants of New Orleans were living in a precarious situation, it seems that the west coast in not immune to trouble either. The east coast may have hurricanes every year, but we have earthquakes and volcanos.

Not that we have had one yet. They are very hard to predict, if not impossible. It is not at all like watching a hurricane approach. Even a red-neck can point out the co-rotating cloud bands as one comes closer.

But we do have this. A major slip event around Vancouver and a growing bulge next to Bend, Oregon. The first news story I read on this mentioned it was close to Bend an then said, it was just a good thing it wasn't close to any population centers. I remember when I thought Bend was the big city.

2005-09-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

Pulled from Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country

A temporary flight restriction has been issued by the FAA for a major North Pacific air corridor, covering air routes R-222, R-580 and A-590. The restriction covers the dates September 10-15. The cloture of these major routes is highly unusual, is said to be due to a Department of Defense Strategic Defense Initiative, but the nature of that initiative has not been revealed.

Dang, it makes me wish we got the full story from the news. Shoot, I wish the news would have talked about it at all.

More later... it has been busy.

Quirks and creativity may go hand-in-hand: report

2005-09-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

There is no genius without a touch of madness.

regrowing limbs

2005-09-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post:
Appearently regrowing entire limbs is not just the providence of lesser lifeforms. Reptiles and amphibians can do it, but the first recorded example of a mammal doing it just happened. In a mouse. Of course getting this to work in humans is a ways off yet. But jumping the hurdle from reptile to mammal is in many ways larger than mouse to man. This could really be great.

seeing (infra) red

2005-08-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

This is fascinating. If I only knew how to do it myself. I would love to see in infrared. I shamelessly pulled this from MindHacks.

It's an experiment done by the army and cited by Rubin, M. L., and Walls, G. L. (1969). Fundamentals of visual science. Springfield, Ill.: Thomas, p. 546, which is in turn cited Sekuler, R., and Blake, R. (1994). Perception (3rd ed.). Springfield, Ill.: Thomas, pp. 62-63:

The following story dramatizes how photopigments determine what one can see. During World War II, the United States Navy wanted its sailors to be able to see infrared signal lights that would be invisible to the enemy. Normally, it is impossible to see infrared radiation because, as pointed out earlier, the wavelengths are too long for human photopigments. In order for humans to see infrared, the spectral sensitivity of some human photopigment would have to be changed. Vision scientists knew that retinal, the derivative of vitamin A, was part of every photopigment molecule and that various forms of vitamin A existed. If the retina could be encouraged to use some alternative form of vitamin A in its manufacture of photopigments, the spectral sensitivity of those photopigments would be abnormal, perhaps extending into infrared radiation. Human volunteers were fed diets rich in an alternative form of vitamin A but deficient in the usual form. Over several months, the volunteers' vision changed, giving them greater sensitivity to light of longer wavelengths. Though the experiment seemed to be working, it was aborted. The development of the "snooperscope," an electronic device for seeing infrared radiation, made continuation of the experiment unnecessary (Rubin and Walls, 1969). Still, the experiment demonstrates that photopigments select what one can see; changing those photopigments would change one's vision.

FREE Bullshit Deflector!

2005-08-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

What more can I say? A 73-year-old veteran, Bill Moyer, wore these over his ears at Bush's speech in Idaho yesterday. What a great guy. Here is a link to some DIY protecters.

East is East and West is West

2005-08-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

It appears that Easterners and Westerners really do see things differently, literally, according to psychologists at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, US. These psychologists examined the eye movements of Chinese and American students as they looked at a photograph. The western group, looked at the central object in the photo, while the eastern group looked all over the photo, seeing the context.

This is interesting because, it has been noted for a long time that we look at things differently. Chinese philosophy tends to emphasize harmony, and how things work together, while the West tends to be very analytical, and look at things a part at a time. Curious.

Homeland Security: your tax dollars at work

2005-08-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

Homeland Security is even more inept than the sum of its components. It seems that HS is investigating a renowned puppeteers group in San Francisco. That have frozen their finances and generally made life hell for them, because they suspect them. Nothing they can do about it either. For cryin out loud... a puppeteers group some kind of threat? The same group where Jim Henson met Frank Oz and Jerry Juhl? THis country is in Bad shape.

Hydrogen result causes controversy

2005-08-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

It always makes me marvel when I disregard a particular fringe idea, and then it comes back and bites me. I never considered the hydrino hypothesis very much, never enough to decide yea or nay. But it appears to have some new life breathed into it.

The idea is this: when electrons in atoms drop an energy level, they give off energy. The suggestion was that perhaps, you could get the electron in hydrogen, the simplist atom, to drop a level below ground state, its lowest state. That should be impossible.... shouldn't it? Scientists are generally agreed it is just silly... but reasons so far are a bit weak. Time for me to pull my Quantum text out.

Experimental Hybrid Cars Get Up to 250 Mpg - Yahoo! News

2005-08-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

What do I say here? I am at a loss. Sheer stupidity, or conspiracy? Here we have a case of ordinary people making cars that are highly efficient, yet the automakers can not do it. Granted, it comes at the expence of electricity, but still.... what is up?

In Defense of Common Sense - New York Times

2005-08-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

It is gratifying, to see in print, an opinion that one has long held, even if it is merely an editorial, namely that the common mans common sense is worthwile, not only in day-to-day life, but in science as well. The unfortunate effect of denigrating common sense, has been to denigrate common people's opinions and observations. Only scientists are qualified to pass judgements on such things, they would tell you. Of course, there are many things that run contrary to common sense, but that is no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Groups Slam FCC on Internet Phone Tap Rule

2005-08-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Wired yesterday but I am glad to see that the indignation is spreading. The FCC declared that internet telephony services must include low-security backdoors for law-enforcement. Doing this would both be onerous, and completely cripple security. And those aren't even the additional liberties it compromises.

There is an excellent discussion over at Slashdot. Here is one comment: "And it gets worse yet. Essentially, all 'anti-terrorism,' 'anti-drug,' etc. laws are useless for the purpose for which they're supposedly enacted. Terrorists, drug dealers, and other criminals are, by their very nature, breaking the law. Making their tangential activities (like communicating, meeting, transferring funds...) illegal isn't going to stop them!

In short, attempts to legislate terrorism out of existance are doomed from the start and should be suspect. You can damned well bet that lawmakers are smart enough to know that these laws aren't going to do anything to stop the Bogeyman of the day. They're being passed as 'feel good' measures at best, and as attempts to control the law-abiding population at worse.
"

Colliding stars

2005-08-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

It seems that one mystery of astronomy may have been cracked. For years, no one has been able to explain the source of some mysterious gamma-ray bursts. Some were determined to have come from especially violent supernovae, but the shorter ones, were an enigma. Now is seems that we may have a better answer. From a recent observation, it was determined that the source was colliding neutron stars, or a neutron star and a black hole. This is great news for many astronomers, but it may be a problem for others.

For years, Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory or LIGO, operated by Cal-Tech, has been either under construction, or fine-tuning its instrument to detect. As of May 2005, it was within a factor of 2, of its designed sensitivity. And yet, and yet.... nothing has been detected. It was built to detect the gravitational waves from events exactly like this. Now, in all fairness, it may well be that the ones we have had lately have been too far and we need to give them some time. It may be that some errors were made in the calcuation of what to expect.

This is the kind of thing that physicist both love and dread. They dread it because it tears up old theory and says, 'You were wrong, wrong, wrong.". But they love it also, because it lights the way for newer and more complete theories - for deeper understanding. And modern physics has been poised for just the kind of change and chaos that started off the last century... and ushered in Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

The Epoch Times | Dragons in the Tibet Sky

2005-08-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

It seems that the Chinese still take the idea of dragons seriously. At least many of them do. It seems that a guy flying back from Tibet took some photographs of something that appears to be two dragons. I have no particular comment on it. I just found it interesting.

Will rolling down windows save fuel or not?

2005-08-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have heard this one for a long time, but I was never satisfied with the common wisdom. So, will rolling down windows save fuel or not, when driving? It turns out the answer in not merely, AC is more efficient than windows. If you are just driving around town, rolling down the windows will not affect the drag of a vehicle sifnificantly. AC only becomes more efficient once you get above 45mph. At 55 mph, windows can increase a car's drag 20% or more. So, below 40 mph - Windows, and above 45 mph - AC.

New cosmic look may cast doubts on big bang theory

2005-08-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

It looks like defenders of the Big Bang have a new spot to patch. It seems that a recent analysis of the cosmic microwave background has yeilded cool regions exactly the size predicted by theory.... but very little variation. In fact, too little variation. This might be a fixable problem by tweaking parameters, but that is not very satisfying and only so useful. We will see.

And as the article ends, it mentions two other recent problems, views of what should be the very young universe shows both stars and structures like galaxies much older than they should be.

Personally, I don't care for the Big Bang theory one way or the other, but it nice to see the traditionalists forced to consider things they would rather not.

Free Speech is a Terrorist favorite tool

2005-08-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

This article would never be so bold as to actually say "free speech", but the Washington Post article, Terrorists Turn to the Web as Base of Operations did say as much for the internet. And the suggestion behind it all it that we need to regulate and watch the internet... which is of course impossible. Not impossible in principle, but logistically. There is just plain too much information. But it would be possible to eliminate major sources of dissenting opinion. That is relatively quite easy and very doable.

Do people really prefer security to freedom, this badly?

New police guidelines: shoot suicide bomber suspects in head

2005-08-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

An international group of police chiefs recently expanded its guidelines for use of deadly force, instructing officers to shoot suspected suicide bombers in the head. Details were printed in yesterday's Washington Post.

Granted, this was an international body, but recent histiry suggests that our own country may follow suit.

Quoth the newspaper:
According to the newspaper, the guide recommends that if lethal force is needed to stop someone who fits a certain behavioral profile, the officer should "aim for the head." The intent is to kill the suspect instantly so the person could not set off a bomb if one is strapped to the person's chest, the newspaper said. Among signs to look for listed in the police organization's behavioral profile are wearing a heavy coat in warm weather, carrying a backpack with protrusions or visible wires, nervousness, excessive sweating or an unwillingness to make eye contact, the Post said.

So, we can't hardly get a death penalty in this country, but you can be shot for wearing the wrong coat. Like I said, this is not official policy over here yet, but the word that worries me is 'yet'.

Not that this will fix the problem anyway. It will only make suicide bombs slightly more complicated, not that suicidal people lack either motivation or the will to disregard saftey issues. Now they would just need to include a kill switch instead of a simple detonator switch.

'Health Chips' Could Help Patients in US

2005-08-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

I think that the paranthesis in the title ought to be around help and not just health chips. I mentioned a little while ago that Tommy Thompson, the former Bush Health Secretary had gotten himself chipped. Now he is pushing for the rest of us. The original story is at RedNova News - Health - 'Health Chips' Could Help Patients in US and you will find an excellent discussion at Slashdot.

I hate to sound paranoid- I really do- but the Orwellian possibilities here far outweigh the vauge chances for good. One poster on slashdot went into a presention on National ID, thinking it was a good idea, then left realizing it was about population control. The 911 terrorists had good papers. The London Bombing suspects were all legal citizens. Nothing in these chips would have prevented any of this - but it would give the government virtually unlimited power over its citizens. "Unreasonable Search and Seizure" would have no meaning because search would mean opening a computer file. And if you believe that that will be used responsibly, I have a bridge to sell you.

Dissident Theorists have their Day

2005-08-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

Wired News: They Sing the Comet ElectricDissident scientists advocating a controversial theory of the universe are having a field day in the wake of NASA's Deep Impact comet collision earlier this month.

Ok, I will have to eat my words on this one, but the unexpected result is more enjoyable than having to eat my own words is. The gist of this article is this. There has been a theory around for a while, that electric forces play an important role in solar system dynamics. The first one to propose such a theory was the Immanuel Velikovsky. Now, I have a great deal of respect for Velikovsky, though it is evident that he didn't get everything right, and I thought that this was one of those things that he got wrong. After all, it goes against about all I learned about interplanetary plasma physics. This theory was even denied a place in Wikipedia, because enough people argued against it.

Well, the results from NASA's Deep Impact comet collision earlier this month seems to validate the heretic theory, and challenge current theory. Things happened just as the 'Electric Universe' theorists called it. Like Rodney Dangerfield, they still aren't getting any respect, and scientists can be incredibly stubborn about their pet theories, but even this is not keeping them from getting their noses smeared in the new results. Now, a few of the more important results, the really decisive ones, are not available yet. Until then, I am going to try to remember to check the dissident's website, thunderbolts.info.

Planet X.... again

2005-07-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, I don't have a lot of comments to be made here, except for, "Cool". It seems that a group of astronomers have found new planet in our solar system. It is unusual in that it quite bright, well, brighter than Pluto at any rate, which suggests it may even be bigger than Pluto. Much of this has significant uncertainty until further observations can be made. But it is certain to reignite the debate about exactly what the difference between an asteroid and a planet is. And that can be a contentious topic. One girl I had classes with in college explained about the debate over planet status, "We astronomers only have so many things to get upset about".

The Loose Screw Awards

2005-07-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have always thought that psychologists were a bit off the deep end. Richard Feynman, the celebrated if somewhat quirky physicist, said that if you have a choice between a psychologist and a witchdoctor, choose the witchdoctor because he uses the scientific method. As you may guess, he was not very fond of them. Fraud scandals involving the likes of Frued and Kinsey certainly have not helped matters.

Well, it appears psychology is not completely unaware of it failings. Enter the The Loose Screw Awards. Here we have the top ten discredited ideas, and many still have a lot of life left in them.

Rorschach blots and other so called projective tests land in number one, but number two, really should have been there, with recovered memories. Mozart for babies, while perhaps ineffective, was really quite innocent (#6. The P.T. Barnum Medal for Mass-Market Potential) while on the other hand, trying to boost self esteem (in at #4) by trying to convince yourself just how wonderful you are, is more insidious and damaging.

The only one I can find some fault with is enabling (#5) because I realized I had done that to some degree during my marriage. However, to their credit, I think that they are talking about extreme cases and reactions. Worth taking a look at.

I need a word

2005-07-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

I have needed a word for some time now... and I am stymed. I need a word that means you come to the opposite conclusion after hearing someone's argument.

Case in point, it was reported today on the news, that the largest age segment of people viewing porn, was teenagers. Possible, I though, but rather suspect sounding. And what was the porn industry's response? Well, if they aren't doing it, they aren't interested. That has to be among the lamest bits of logic I have heard. Do these people not know what a nerd is? Or... ok, ok, I am not going to spend half an hour dissecting everything wrong with that argument. I don't know if the original study has merit or not, but I can tell you that the response to it incriminates them more, in my mind. BUT I NEED A WORD FOR IT!

It isn't just bad logic, or a non sequitur. It is so bad it makes you arrive at the opposite conclusion. But what is a word for it?

FTL part 2

2005-07-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, last time I mentioned that the main problem with FTL, Faster Than Light travel, is that, according to Special Relativity, all frames of reference are equivalent, none are preferred. That means that there is no way to define what is simultaneous in SR.. This means that every place defines its own past, which means that if you go faster than the speed of light in one reference frame, it may be seen as time travel in another.

So, we have two possibilities. Either (1) FTL inherently means time travel and there is no such thing as simultaneity OR (2) there is a preferred frame of reference, which means we can define simultaneity and time travel is not required. But #2 is not generally considered an option. After all, aren’t simple basic things like that already proven? You would think so....

What is considered to be the first proof, were a series of experiments involving precision interferometers, preformed by scientists Michelson and Morley. This was about a hundred years ago and it was thought that we understood everything. The last experiment that needed to be preformed was measuring the speed of the luminiferious aether. Well, any old text on relativity will tell you that his experiment was a bust. He didn’t measure the speed he was looking for and that paved the way for Einstein and his theory.

Only, that isn’t the whole story. What is not commonly known, and certainly not in the textbooks, is that Michelson did not have a null result – that is to say, he did measure something, only it wasn’t as big as it should have been.

However, that experiment has been performed many times and the latest and greatest have been vacuum sealed and they have most definitely been null. That settles it then, doesn’t it? There must be no aether, and no preferred reference frame..... if the experiments were done correctly. It seems that there have been a number of them done.

Dr. Reginald T Cahill made a fascinating analysis in one of the latest issues of Infinite Energy, he shows that the fringe shifts (that is actually what is measured in a Michelson Morley Interferometers) were related to the density. Proportional to the third power of the index of refraction, actually, but I will leave the technical details to those who wish to read the paper- well worth it. His own page is at here, and a lengthy list of papers and interferometer experiments may be found here.

Appearently, most of the new experiments all used vacuum sealed apparatuses. Normally, you would expect that to make it more accurate, but in this case, the signal strength is related to the amount of material you go through.

What his work suggests to me, is that rather than space-time being a fabric of sorts, it is closer to a fluid. And while the speed of light may be finite in any given space, that space it self may flow much faster than light’s limit.

I wish to walk a fine line here. While I would like to point out all the evidences against Relativity, I don’t want anyone to think Einstein is a waste. He is no more of a waste than Newton. We all know Newton is not technically correct, but that does not mean he is not useful.

Faster Than Light - part 1

2005-07-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is a subject that needs to be examined more closely than it has been. Oh, sure, I know that some sci-fi geeks (not unlike myself) have considered it carefully. There have even been some mainstream scientists, but it still has not gotten the attention it needs. The problem is that of so-called Faster Than Light travel, or, simply, FTL.

I have always believed this is possible, though I certainly have no proof. And being the kind of person I am, I don’t just want proof, I want a full fledged hyper-warp-FTL drive attachment for my car. But this is going to take some work, I think. I suppose that a proper treatment of FTL demands that I treat two things, why it is not supposed to be possible, and why it might. Now, I think that before one goes about smashing idols, one ought to know exactly how, and why each of these idols exist.

Thus, today’s topic is, what prevents FTL Travel? If you can’t answer this, there is no sense in looking for loopholes. You got to know the rules before you can break them.

The first problem with faster than light travel is relativity. Not the nasty mathematics of General Relativity, the relatively simple stuff of Special Relativity. This is the main problem, though there are others. If all frames of reference are equally valid, then it doesn’t matter which one we use. And for any speed less than light, it will be less than light in any other reference frame. BUT, once we exceed the speed of light, there will be a reference frame where it appear we are going backwards in time. And you don’t have to rewatch “Back to the Future” many times to know that that makes trouble. A good place to see this is here, though admittedly it was meant for a game.

Another problem is that relativistic mass is related to speed. And going the speed of light means your mass is infinite, which means the rocket fuel needed is infinite, which means....

The last real problem that I see is that our atoms are held together by the electrical force. On the quantum mechanical level, that force is mediated using virtual photons, which move at the speed of light. In other words, if we exceeded the speed of light, then we would be moving faster than the force that holds us together.

I think that those are all the critial problem. If I missed any, someone let me know. But it was on the basis of reasons like this, many have concluded FTL would never be possible, never considering how limited our knowledge is. I think it is possible.

Heat_of_Moment.pdf (application/pdf Object)

2005-07-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, started on that large PDF on the effect of porn on the brain. But it occurred to me that I did know a little about what she was saying. Partly because I am a man, and I know how easily my brain turns off when I see pretty, or more especially a sexy woman. A while ago, I copied this off of Netscape.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pretty Women Make Men Stupid!

Women have known this since the beginning of time. Now psychologists at McMaster University in Canada have figured it out, too. A beautiful woman can make a guy stupid.

According to New Scientist, pretty women scramble men's ability to assess the future. Scientifically, it's known as "discounting the future." Seen frequently in animals, it means preferring an immediate, lesser reward to a greater reward in the future.

Here's an example: If someone offered to give you $10,000 now or the same amount five years from now, you would choose to take the money today because there is no value in waiting. But if someone were to offer you $10,000 today or $50,000 in five years, you would probably opt to wait for the higher amount. This is called "rational discounting." If you were to take the $10,000 today, it's called "irrational discounting."

The study: McMaster University researchers Margo Wilson and Martin Daly wanted to find out if sexual mood influenced discounting behavior. They showed 209 male and female students pictures of attractive and not-so-attractive people of the opposite sex. Each was then offered a chance to win a prize. They could accept a check for between $15 and $35 tomorrow or one for $50 to $75 at some point in the future.

The results for the men: After a man viewed pictures of women who were of average attractiveness, they made a rational decision about the prize money and accepted the larger amount to be received in the future. But when they had just seen pictures of beautiful women, they discounted the future value of the reward in an irrational way and opted instead for the immediate and smaller cash outlay. In other words, after seeing a very attractive woman, the men were more likely to make dumb choices.

The results for the women: Viewing the photographs of men--whether they were sexy hunks or just run-of-the-mill guys--had no effect on women's ability to make rational decisions.

Why the difference? Wilson and Daly don't know, but they suspect that viewing pictures of pretty women is mildly arousing for men. If that's the case, it would activate neural mechanisms associated with cues of sexual opportunity. Tommaso Pizzari, an evolutionary biologist at Leeds University, offered another possible explanation to New Scientist: "If there's the prospect of getting a very attractive partner it may pay a man to take more risks than if an average partner was available."

The research findings were published in the journal Biology Letters.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There has actually been some study done on this. One good paper on how our
decision making changes when aroused. I simple presentation on discounting which looks like it was done by the same guys may be found here.

what do we call a mind on Porn?

2005-07-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

Well, this is an interesting question. Anything the brain enjoys, changes it. Can we quantify the change porn makes as damage then? There is one lady that is trying that. Of course, the mere idea sends some people into a tizzy, especially those that can not distinguish between porn and sex in its own proper place. We know that there is such a thing as sex addiction, so I think it makes sense to look for real damage. Her name is Dr. Judith Reisman and her paper is called, "The Psychopharmacology of Pictorial Pornography Restructuring Brain, Mind & Memory & Subverting Freedom of Speech".

I think most people just hear the premise and laugh, because that is what they want to. But there is a lot to sort out here. I am not even sure how you would quantify damage, other than observing addiction behaviors. I have not attempted to study it out yet, but here are some links. Adult Christianity (more 'adult' than christian, you are warned) trys to tear it down and make it simply a power play by an ideologist, but does not really examine the question before them. Frankly, casting aspersions is much easier than tackling the science. The Deseret News does a nice objective piece while the Guardian mostly makes fun it.

I am going to need to study this out before I can give a worthwhile opinion. The problem with things like this, is most people think with their emotions and prejustices, and not look at the issue at hand. Who wants to? If she is right, there is an awful lot we have to give up.

New Periodic Table

2005-07-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have seen things, and thought of things similar to this. But this guys found the right final details. And that is what makes it good. Here we have here is a more natural, organic way of looking at the electron structure of the elements. It even has a place for Neutronium, which is a first for me. It is worth taking a look at.

We would never do that, and look, it doesn't hurt either!

2005-07-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, this RFID thing just refuses to die. They talk like they would never do it to us, and then they have a former government official showing how harmless and painless it is. Then they make a point of talking about what good things it is capable of. None of us are denying that. It is the possible abuses, and whether it is even possible to stop the abuses.

How would you like it if, for instance, one day you realized your underwear was reporting on your whereabouts?
— California Senator Debra Bowen, at a 2003 hearing [9]

And would the positive points even happen?
Katherine Albrecht and a few others oppose it. And so, do I believe, do I.

The Spat

2005-07-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, I give up. I have to comment on this. I hate to do so because it smacks of celebrity worship, which I generally mock, but it is still interesting.

It seems that Tom Cruise has strong opinions of his own and has been speaking his mind. That in and of itself is quite unusual. I admit, I happened, by chance, to see the much talked about interview with Matt Lauer. And I can honestly say, I don’t remember when I found an interview half as amusing. Matt Lauer, of the Today Show is attempting to have a normal, don’t-upset-anyone interview and Tom Cruise is talking about the history of modern medicine and what works and doesn’t. It was hilarious as Matt trying to steer thing back to conventional waters and common wisdom and pretty-boy Cruise was dashing it all to pieces. Celebrities who are well informed and have unconventional opinions.... wow, what next?!? Frankly, many of his opinions I agree with. I am not sure I would take quite as strong stand as he does. I think that many of these drugs are crutches. And crutches are fine for a little while if you can get back on your own feet. Brook Shields, who was bickering with Tom on this, I think was right; she said she used them with post-partum depression and it worked for her. Perhaps there are better solutions, but I think these things to have a place. I think Cruise is right, however, about the relative importance of vitamins (and minerals, I would say) in actually curing people. Far too much time is spent simply on ‘treatment’.

Frankly, I expected this to die down, but it isn’t. It seems that other celebrities are joining the fight. How well informed they are, I don’t know, but I am a bit pessimistic. Still, debates on real subjects with unconventional ideas. What next? The Britney Spears guide to semiconductor physics was actually done by Britney?

Slashdot | Ethanol More Trouble Than It's Worth?

2005-07-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.... this is troubling. This is not what I expect, nor is it what I wanted. What ever reality throws at you, you have got it take it like it is. I have found that trying to force things my way doesn’t work well. The best solution to a problem is simple, and not necessarily the one you want. When it isn’t the one you want, let it go, and you will find while it may be painful, it is a good pain.

Ok, what is this all about? This is what I know, there is a debate brewing on the subject of whether Ethanol is feasible. An earlier study showed it to be moderately so, but a new study from what appears to be a pretty unbiased source, disputes that.

Certainly we can make it. That is well known, but is it an energy source or sink? There is a debate at Slashdot

And I had such hopes for ethanol. Here is the current article against... and the old arguement for.

Concerning Magic and Technology.... and Harry Potter

2005-07-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

I read once, that there is no accepted definition for magic that distinguishes between religion, science, medicine and superstition. And what has been called magic has by no means remained constant throughout the ages. While I do not intend to write a lengthy discourse on the history of magic, I did think that this was a good time to get some of my notes online. A very good time considering the recent release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”.

Now, many zealous people have opposed Harry Potter because of a scriptural prohibition against magic. I have no intention to force meaning onto the scriptures. First, I want to understand what they actually do say, and then I want to put things in context.

To begin with, anciently, magic was not separate from religion. If you wished to have magic powers, you had to get them somewhere. Spells would involve prayers to such deities as Eros, Pan, Hekate, or Aphrodite. These are of course Greek deities. In Old Testament times, they would have used others, such as Baal, Molech, or Ashtoreth. Many of these were grossly immoral and downright sick, but nothing that does not happen today under one guise or another. Thus, a prohibition against magic was really a warning against idolatry.

So what was the real problem with it? Many of their practices led people into sin. One of the main ‘sacraments’ of the Philistines involved sex with a priestess. This was tempting. The prophet Isaiah condemned the people for “the oaks ye have desired” - ie, they desired to perform adulterous pagan rituals, which were done in groves or next to an oak tree.

And off equal or greater significance was that they suggested that they could live without the true and living God.

Not only did they think to receive blessings by by-passing God the Father, they sought to do it by sin. The Lord said, by the prophet Jeremiah said, My people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jer. 2:13

They thought to have success and salvation, both earthly and eternal, independently of God, without exercising faith or righteousness. The sin was idolatry.

There are a number of examples in the Old Testament period, but two in particular stick out. The last of these was King Saul. He desired revelation from God desperately, though not desperately enough to repent. And so, instead of seeking for revelation from legitimate sources, he consulted the witch of En-dor. 1 Sam. 28 He was not helped by it.

Earlier in his life, he had been commanded to perform a certain military action and bring nothing back. Saul thought it a shame to just destroy all this perfectly good wealth, and disobeyed, in order to do sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel the prophet was furious and spoke some thing never to be forgotten. But the one that catches my attention best was “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry.” 1 Sam. 15:23 In case you are not familiar with it, this literary form is called parallelism and the second part essentially restates the first part in different words. The result was a peculiar kind of poetic clarity. Also of note, while Saul was here condemned to lose his crown, yet far earlier in history Jacob was not condemned for what we would consider a simple silly superstition, in deed, he was blessed. Gen. 30

My point in all of this, is that the central sin of magic and witchcraft anciently was idolatry, neither more nor less. Jacob had a simple superstition concerning cattle. And it was a moot point with God. How many simple meaningless false beliefs do we have? Those little errors we have are of little import to God if they do not affect our salvation.

Well, other than a few oddballs, we would NEVER fall in that same trap.... right? Maybe and maybe not. Let’s talk about Harry for a minute. In the strange world that Harry has found himself in. If potatoes need to be peeled, they would usually use a wand instead of a peeler. If they are in a darkened room, they would likely say, “Lumos!”, as opposed to use a flashlight. For them it is a matter of technology. Does this make for a perfect utopia? Not any more than our modern conveniences have. On one hand you have the wicked and wealthy Malfoy’s and the poor and humble Weasley family. For them it is a matter of technology.

Technology... Science... Surely those are entirely different from magic, aren’t they? Well, we need not pray to pagan gods, but we rely on science and technology just as much as any pagan did to their gods. Many people feel like we don’t really need god at all. We are self-sufficient, or so we feel. If we need protection from foreign nations, we build missiles, in stead of seeking the Lord. If we need better crops, we use fertilizer. Surely, there is nothing wrong with technology itself.

Remember the words of Samuel, rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. That sin is also sometimes a sin of technology. For instance, look at StarTrek. You have a perfect utopian society in the Federation, except at the edges where the Enterprise tends to stay. Many references have been made to not needing religion, or treating it as inferior to science. The scene I remember best was one of the last movies made. The Enterprise had gone back in time, and ended up being on Earth when the Vulcans first arrived. The Vulcans made the point that they recognized the warp signature of our first space ship and therefore realized that because we had this technology that we must be mature enough as a society.

For most people, technology is magic anyway. How many people can really tell you how a transistor works? Or a whole computer? I can’t entirely, and I have a degree in Physics. For all most people know, all of our electronics could work on magic smoke. (Let the smoke out and it stops working!)

In summary, because a thing is mysterious or even wrong, does not make it sinful necessarily. What does, is sin itself, and rebellion against God. Therefore, if we condemn Harry Potter, we condemn much of modern society and media. That, and you can’t use a computer until you can properly explain how a transistor works.

CBC North - Sasquatch sighting reported in Yukon

2005-07-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

CBC North - Sasquatch sighting reported in Yukon

Ok, I try to be careful what I make fun of. It certainly isn't that I don't disbelieve in Bigfoot. I see no compelling reason too. I think that most people who laugh at it, do so to feel superior. I know there is some evidence for it, and most wildlife people here are unfamilar with the habits of the great apes. But then, many significant others have doubts. Science, however, does not work by majority rule. That is politics.

In any case, it looks like there was a very high quality sighting up in Canada. Nine people, some good tracks, and fur. And some fur... that is not something usually get. I will have to keep an eye on this. The jury is not out yet.

I knew you were going to say that

2005-07-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Gravity doughnut promises time machine - Movement into the past gets one step less improbable.

To be perfectly honest, I have always considered Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster more probable than time machines or time travel. At least these don't involve grandfather paradoxes. But, in physics, you have to look at what the evidence says, and be prepared to disregard all your old prejudices.

In this case, it appears that the evidence is weighing more heavily toward honest time-travel. This is the quick summary of the story. A recent paper shows that according to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, the building blocks for a 'time-machine', are a lot more simple and attainable than previously thought. Not that we are going to be able to build one soon. It might be possible to investigate it in astrophysical circumstances.

On the note of time travel, some recent work involving resolution of time-travel paradoxes involving quantum mechanics.

Beware of the Common Cold of Death!!!!!!!!

2005-07-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

Something funky is going on. Maybe it was just an illusion that I harbored; a satisfying little fantasy, that the CDC (Center for Disease Control)was less corrupt than other government agencies. I have a hard time imagining a good reason for all of their recent scaremongering. Today on the news, they were warning of the dangers of mosquitos and how trouble from West Nile can afflict you for life. What are they talking about? West Nile isn’t that bad. It is the new Chicken Pox. I am sorry. There is no reason for us to live in fear. I refuse to do it. I am not going to do it for any Cold War, terrorist, asteroid or alien. That isn’t living.

But the question that intrigues me more, is ‘Why is the CDC doing it?’. Another thing that they have begun to fearmonger with is the flu. Now, all of the sudden, it is a major health hazard. The numbers they quote aren’t even remotely legit. The only semi-legitimate threat is the bird-flu from Asia, and even there, it was blown out of proportion. Is it merely to sell more flu vaccination shots? Or is it political control. I sure don’t know- I really don’t. But historical comparisons are not comforting

"The streets of our country are in turmoil. The universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting. Communists are seeking to destroy our country. Russia is threatening us with her might, and the Republic is in danger. Yes - danger from within and without. We need law and order! Without it our nation cannot survive." - Adolf Hitler, 1932

He was quite successful with fearmongering. And you know what they say about history.

"The CDC would be the last place in the world to go for information regarding health. The CDC is a government bureacracy funded by theft (taxation that has reached confiscatory levels) and run by white collar criminals who regularly misinform and misdirect the public while creating pandemonium in the marketplace (unnecessary destruction of livestock, recalls etc) and conspiring to incite public panic on an almost daily basis, in violation of the constitution of the United States."--Dr Duffy DC

Third of study results don't hold up

2005-07-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

I have listened to pundits and analysists on web, on the radio, and elsewhere be nothing but critical because there is so darned much to criticize. I am going to have to be careful that I do not end up in that trap. There is cause for great hope of our future. It just won’t come from watching the news or relying on man.

And that is what I was going to mention today. The Associated Press reports that “New research highlights a frustrating fact about science: What was good for you yesterday frequently will turn out to be not so great tomorrow.”

Gads, if we can’t even trust science, how can we believe anything we hear from anyone? Wasn’t Science supposed to be the firm and unyielding pillar that thrust our society from Dark Ages ignorance to Modern Intellectual Illumination? Yikes, as much as a sometimes pessimist as I am, I had no idea that there was this much shoddy work going on. And why? Partly it is pride in having more papers than others. Partly it is the ‘Publish or Perish’ mentality of academia. But regardless of what the reason is, this is a bad problem. Something is deeply wrong and I don’t really know what.

With a Bang?

2005-07-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

How did the universe come into existance - is the BiG Bang a viable theory?

I am not an iconoclast just to be an academic rebel. However, when I see a question that needs to be asked, and isn't, it bugs me. However, just recently, mainstream astronomers considered a heretical question of sufficient importance, to justify an entire conference (though as far as I am concerned if the location is right, any reason is good)

The question is, Did the Big Bang happen? Contrary to popular conception, not everyone believes it, and there are some questions that need to be addressed before we can rest with confidence - if such a thing is ever truly proper in science.

The 3 most important questions are the horizon problem, the smoothness problem and the flatness problem. These are the ones that about every admits are somewhat problematic, though this is currently explained away by precision variable setting. In other words, if we set things up just exactly right, then we get a usable universe, otherwise life would be impossible. So either, we find a compelling reason for things to be exactly this way, we involve God, or we find a more robust theory. Personally, I suppose God could have done it, but I suspect He would agree we need something more robust. Perhaps some of these will go away with better observations, but that is ignoring and not really addressing what observations we have.

The Horizon Problem
The universe has a very isotropic temperature, but the speed of light limits how much a region can interact with other regions. It is like a cup of hot chocolate that is thrown into the air. As the spray from the cup expands out, each drop will cool down slightly differently. But what we observe is too uniform.

The Flatness Problem
The universe is almost exactly, if not precisely flat, within one part in 10^15. That is what the measurements say, any way.

The Smoothness Problem
The Structure of the Universe is unusually constant. While there are some dense regions, and some voids, for the most part, it is pretty uniform.

That isn't all. I could post a lot more. Other problems include, the (lack of) existence of antimatter and magnetic monopoles, Dark Matter, and Dark Energy. Now, I have not given the opposition space to rebutt my arguments, and remind us of what evidence there is for the Big Bang - there is evidence. Alas, in Science we get evidence and never proof, and don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. So I am going to leave a few links for interested readers.

Wikipedia Nice balanced discussion

Top Ten Problems with the Big Bang http://www.metaresearch.org/cosmology/top10BBproblems.asp
Here are ten problems considered significant by this author.

The Big Bang Never Happened I have not had time to investigate this one, but it looks interesting.

Alas, the learned high priests of Science have sometimes gone astray

2005-07-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Allegations of Fake Research Hit New High

Ok, this officially is beginning to get worrisome. I knew that there was a good reason I didn't want to get into academia. The summary of the news story is that many researchers succumb to the many pressures around them and cheat to get ahead, or even to just get by. From experience, I can say that it is a daunting feeling, to be expected to know something your don’t. What really alarmed me was

He testified that he was working 80 to 90 hours a week, seeing patients two days a week, doing surgery one day a week, supervising medical residents, serving on as many as 10 different committees at the hospital and the medical school and putting on national medical conferences.

He did seek help, both from a psychiatrist, who counseled him to cut back, and from his boss, who demanded Friedman increase his research and refused to reduce Friedman's patient load.

The poor guy has broken laws to keep up, and his boss’s solution is to work harder. something is seriously wrong here.

Granted, in a survey taken, only 1.5% admit falsification or plagiarism, but about a third did admit some kind of misconduct- and that are those who responded to the survey. Science has taken the aura of infallibility by many, and yet, this shows just how very fallible, both it is, and its adherents.
I say this not to denigrate Science, but to remind us not to blindly rely on it.

Blogging

2005-07-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I have not really be blogging very well the last few days, have I? Perhaps I need to put together a group so I can team blog. In any case, I have been busy the last few days with a personal hurricane, no not Dennis. This one has not abated yet, though it does seem to have moved on. And so, as a result, I have ended up trying to do things in just a few days, that should (and I sense will) take a lot longer, if my knee-jerk reactions to the unexpected winds haven't made the situation worse. I suppose now is a good time to take the time I ought to have taken in the first place.

Alternative Medicine Links

2005-07-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

My philosophy of medicine is that God gave you your body and He intends that you take care of it. Shifting all the responsibility to anybody else, even a good doctor is not right. It is our responsibility and any attempt to shunt it to somebody else will only result in disaster. Here are a few of the many alt medicine links I have and use. (If you need medical help, by all means get help. Used doctors if you need, but think for yourself. The responsibility is yours)

NewsTarget has current news on the alt medicine scene and is a good resource.

However, if you are trying to home in on just what is wrong with you, and how to deal with it, this is the place to go - Diagnose Me. I am hard-pressed to praise this site too highly. If you are not right on target, it will help you figure it out.

Now, if you want to use homeopathy, then an excellent resource, is Homeopathy International. The Books section is particularly worthwhile as many, many of the best and most useful titles are now in the public domain and have been put on computer. I have used these texts many times.

Enjoy!

Texas Man Arrested After Heroic Rescue - Yahoo! News

2005-07-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

Texas Man Arrested After Heroic Rescue

OK, I am really getting sick of hearing trash like this. A man disobeys police orders, by swimming out into dangerous waters and saving a guy - and so the police put cuffs on him before he even gets out of the water.

There is a grossly excessive idea in society, and more especially in government that we ought to be obedient to all that government tell us. Not that I advocate anarchy, or civil disobedience, but we need to put government in its place. Heaven forbid people think and act for themselves. That could be dangerous.

A Few Good Links

2005-07-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

Ok,

I have been meaning to do this for a while. So much of the material I examine isn't ideally cut-and-pasted into a blog, but they are still worth looking at.

Today, I have added a few links that regard non-mainstream searchs for energy sources.

ZP Energy is a good place to look for news, especially as regards zero-point energy. Zero-point Energy (or simply ZPE) would be removing excess energy from space-time itself. This would not really be perpetual motion (though that accusation is used alot) because it would have real effects, like changing space around it. It sounds strange, but it just may work.

LENR/CANR - Now, this is a place to go if you are serious about cold fusion. I would work on it myself, but I know enough to know I don't know enough (ok, the first thing) about comdensed matter physics, much less nuclear physics. But, if you want good scientific papers by the truck load on cold fusion, this is the place to go. And properly, it is called Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, or Chemically Assisted Nuclear Reactions.

And if you want your news printed on a dead tree, you want Infinite Energy. This was the creation of the late Eugene Mallove and has many good articles on a wide variety of subjects pertaining to alt. energy. I don't agree with all of them, but you will see opinions and ideas here that you would never in a mainstream journal.

And more to come!!

Dark chocolate seen healthy for arteries

2005-06-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

I may seem like a pessimist, with as many bad news gripes as I post, but the truth is, I am actually quite upbeat. There is simply a lot more bad news to talk about than good. But this one is good, if a bit confusing. I say confusing, because it seems hard to believe that it can really be true.

It seems that chocolate is good for you. I know that this news has been out for a while, but some more research has come out. I was well know that chocolate had some very nice anti-oxidants, but now it seems that its effect on the elasticity of arteries is far beyond what one would expect from them alone.

I won't try to detail all the good stuff we know about this odd delight. There is some good references here, and here, but chocolate.org beats them both.

It is a strange matter that I think needs pondering, perhaps over a bag of Dark Chocolate M&Ms

-update: Bad news, I got an email from Mars, inc. that says that they are no longer distributing dark chocolate M&Ms, but that they will again when the movie comes to video. And after that? Anyones guess.

Vitamin Supplements

2005-06-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

Global Battle Erupts Over Vitamin Supplements by Bill SardiIn an unprecedented action, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UNICEF), and an AIDS activist group that promotes drug therapy in South Africa, joined forces in opposing vitamin therapy that exceeds the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), and in particular vitamin C in doses they describe as being 'far beyond safe levels.' These health agencies suggest nutrients primarily be obtained from the diet and warn that supplemental doses of vitamin C that exceed a 2000 milligram per day upper limit could cause side effects such as diarrhea. The AIDS activist group also suggests patients receiving doses beyond the RDA should undergo proper counseling and informed consent before being placed on high-dose vitamin C.

The weirdness just goes on. As if the Codex Alimentarius wasn't draconian enough. Though at least it appears it might be severely injured. Hopefully.

Nevermind that a two-time Nobel prize winner (there are only 2 two-time winners) put his full weight behind vitamin C. Because it was contrary to prevailing belief, he was considered a quack.

Enough of that griping. Why is it that certain people are so concerned about herbs and vitamins being available. There are only two possibilities, either they don't work and they are sincerely concerned for our saftey, OR they do work well enough to threaten the bottom-line of those with financial interests. I am not going to worry much about any altruism here. Call me a pessimist, I don't think that they honestly have our best interests at heart.

Maybe they are sincere, (blinded by their own greed) but sincerity will not make the chains any lighter.

As for me, I intend to fight this, and learn to wildcraft as much as I can in the meantime. But that is hard, and not all herbs are local. I am reminded of the old Chinese curse, 'May you live in interesting times'.

Autism treatment opposed

2005-06-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

DesMoinesRegister.com: "Debated autism therapy gives hope to parents"

Ok, I will seriously consider conspiracies. I regularly contemplate things that most people laugh off. But what is up with this? Why is it doctors are so opposed to anything they do not consider proven to their satisfaction? Even if it can be done safely?

The issue at hand is chelation therapy applied to autistic children. It seems to have a significant effect on a large percentage of people who try it. Are doctors just that convinced of their own expertise? Do they feel threatened by real cures to a real crisis? I have a hard time believing that, but then this is a strange situation. One doctor even lost his license because he was using this.

We haven't heard the last word on this.

Beware of car keys

2005-06-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

TSA confiscates folding car key, calling it a 'switchblade'

Likewise, I will keep this one short.

The TSA is out of control. The weird variety of things that the TSA has confisgated is deeply annoying. A little while ago I heard that they confiscated a purple sombero. Never heard an explanation for that one.

Today, however, it is a car key that they thought looks like a "switchblade". It was just a folding Audi car key ($300 replacement cost). Of course, there is no recourse. (The government doesn't want the burden of responsibility.)

We got problems.

Back when I was a boy, we had checks and balances....

2005-06-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes - Yahoo! News

Ok, I will not bore you with a long diatribe on this one. Perhaps there is a place for Eminent Domain. I will grant that. But its place most certainly is not to displace the poor in favor of the rich, which is what this is in essence. It was passed with the purpose of increasing tax revenue. (hint: maybe it is time to start spending less instead) Thus, tax revenue possibility is more important than the property rights of citizens.

Government is out of control. Even the states are chaffing under Federal control. Witness states that thumb their nose at Washington and pass laws about gay marriage, medical marijuana or importing drugs from Canada. But that is a whole other story for another day.

We need a new re-enforced Bill of Rights. More on that later.

Engineered Crisis

2005-06-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, something is rotten in the state of Denmark, so to speak.

Why are we suddenly getting this rash of identity theft? Suddenly our ID and ability to spend and access our money is being stolen from people who don't even have any business having it. Something is not right here. This has been an ignored problem for a long time, but suddenly, it is all over the national news. And then the scandals start up, with numbers like 145,000; 13.9 million; 40 million and names like MasterCard, ChoicePoint, LexisNexis, Bank of America, Wachovia, Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. Why is it that

Erik Norlin on C| Net asks just why were these companies keeping all this information anyway. The companies try to talk about better encryption, or security, and so on, but that is merely a red herring.

The stories have been legion, Slashdot, C|Net News.com and more stories than I can count in mainstream media, as found in a Google search.

The modus operandi of the power elite has been to engineer crises, and then to provide their solution to the problem they created. I have mentioned on here before, how a federal ID card is being introduced. This will be the solution; a new secure federal electronic ID - the mark of the beast. I hate that term, because it has been so abused. I can hardly use it and still take myself seriously. But it is coming and we had better be ready.

Big Tobacco and Big Pharma: same tactics, different chemicals

2005-06-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Big Tobacco and Big Pharma

Ok, I belabor this one, because this article goes into PLENTY of depth. As much as I am opposed to the present state of the medical establishment, this article showed in depth part of just how bad it is and it was startling just how similarly they worked. That said, it is not a perfect article, and not all points are shown conclusively. However to fault it for some shortcomings while ignoring the other excellent points brought up, would be both a mistake and a disservice.

Both relied/rely on doctors approval. Yes, that is right, doctors used to recommend cigarettes for all sorts of stuff. Just like they do for drugs now. Sure we have studies now, but the drug companies have permission to pick and choose which studies llok good to them.

The goal of both are to get people stuck on them- for Tobacco is it is addiction, for Big Pharma it is a drug that treats, but does not cure. There is no incentive to cure. It would be "bad for the shareholders". Partly, it is the fault of modern corporate organization that puts the blame on no one, but to a large degree it is simple greed.

Now days we have drugs like statins, that are unproven in increasing health, and have been shown to be highly dangerous. But I will gripe about statins, and bad corrolation later.

And while we tend to look down on people for being in poverty and smoking, spending money they need, we don't look down on people who take the doctors advice hook, line and sinker, and then have to declare bankrupcy.

These are not all carefully researched things. They come out too fast for that to happen properly. We have seen a large number of drugs have to be recalled because some side-effects (and usually they already knew something about it) ends up killing or maiming a large number of people. And we can't even expect the doctors or scientists to give us the answer we need because they are the ones accepting money and trips to Hawaii.

Are all drugs bad. No, that can safely be answered 'No', but they are the minority. And even the good ones are not prescribed carefully. Consider for a moment the careless overprescription of antibiotics and the upswing in resistent bacteria. And all this while other good treatments and remedies languish or are actively persecuted.

Like Deep Throat said.... Follow the Money

Review: The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler

2005-06-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have been promising this, but it is time I carried through. I will tell you what I thought of James Howard Kunstler’s ‘The Long Emergency”.

Mostly, I liked it. I points out how our world will change as the peak oil crisis emerges. Mobility for both ourselves and for the things we buy and sell will dramatically increase. Wal-Mart, for instance, has dire prospects become everything is shipped.

Our problems come down to this.

Oil is finite. He disregards T. Gold’s case for a geologic origin of oil, but this is a moot point, because the issue is not how much is there, it is how fast we can get it.

Oil is not in our country. This was the same problem that plagued so many civilizations in Jared Diamond’s Collapse. Because we rely on imports vital to our well-being, if our supply were cut off, we would face our own collapse, not unlike the Norsemen in Greenland. We need to be locally self-sufficient.

Other forms of alternate energy can not pick up the slack, especially for transportation.

Other problems such as climate change and biologic plagues will kick us while we are down.

Much of our wealth is NOT in the form of actual material, but in investments and the stock market, which is mostly running on expectations and hopes. It has collapsed in the past, and will most certainly in the future.

Finally, he looks at the prospects for different parts of the United States. Parts of it are thought provoking. Others are good for some laughs.

His condemnation of suburbia is also harsh out of measure, but I will deal with that later.

I say that this is a good book in spite of its failings. He writes in such a way that he shows himself to be an Eastern (American) Elitist. About the only place in the United States that has a ghost of a chance is, by coincidence, his native New England. Those of us in the Mountain West are religious and individualist fanatics who can not survive when the oil runs out. (Ok, I mean, it becomes too expensive.) And those poor people in the Southwest will all die when the air conditioners stop running. Alas, it is sad to see an otherwise fine book flawed with the same defect he condemns America for, narcissism and not understanding issues around them. I think that the things people are most likely to condemn in others are the things that they themselves are the most guilty of.

Personally, I am both more pessimistic in the short term and far more optimistic in the long term. I do not believe that we live in a universe of scarcity, but one of abundance. I understand that many people think nothing of it, but I put great stock in the words of the prophets. Frankly, many of the prophecies in the scriptures can not be properly fulfilled if we that desperate for mere survival. Temporal salvation is thus tied to spiritual salvation. There will be no New Jerusalem, or Millennium for that matter, if struggle for mere food. I am NOT suggesting that the economic side of things is primary, or that we ought to devote all our attention to making money. If it were that easy, the Kingdom of God on Earth would have been established a long time ago.

But today is not the day for a proper analysis of future energy prospects, though it does make one hunger for it. Personally, that is one of my goals.