A New Level Of Human…Evolution? Bah.
Jan. 27th, 2012 | 05:24 pm
mood:
aggravated
I wanted to post something today, but couldn't decide what. I finally decided I would leave it and try again tomorrow, but then something really sad happened. I thought I'd indulge in the spirit of the internet and share.
So, some random guy texted me today. "Hey bro it's lucas"
I go, "wrong number"
He replies, "really?"
I'm like LOL if you don't trust your friends why the hell do you have them? So I reply, "first off, I'm not a dude, secondly, I don't know anyone by your name lol sorry"
He goes, "O cool sorry do you know baileys number"
I'm like DUDE WTF I DONT KNOW YOU HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW SOME CHICKS NUMBER...and BAILEY WHO?!
So I say, "no idea who that is"
He says, "Oh sorry ill delet this contact"
I'm like, NO SHIT. So I say, "k thanks"
I didn't get a reply. But, really dude get the point I DONT FRACKIN KNOW YOU STOP SPAMMING ME. I have to admit this is probably the best example of how stupid people are. If I'm not who you think I am then why should I know the people you know? And if you don't know who I am, why would you even bother asking (especially without a last name)? Like, come on people turn on the room upstairs and see what happens! It'll be a whole new world!
Okay, but seriously, have people really gotten that stupid? I mean, I'm telling you it's not the right number, I AM NOT the person you're looking for. Why would you ask "really?" No, I'm just trying to be funny. I thought I'd play with you a bit. Okay, fine, so you're testing the waters. But when I reconfirm that what I said was true, let it go! Stop wracking up my cellphone bill. You may have unlimited texts but some people work for a living and cannot afford that. So, stop wasting my time, money, and energy and get on with your life. Someone obviously either changed their number a long time ago and didn't tell you (maybe that's your hint that you need better friends), or they gave you the wrong number ON PURPOSE. Either way, you obviously need to surround yourself with better people.
The state of the human mind is so unfortunate. Punctuation, grammar, spelling, and real communication has become obsolete. For someone such as myself, I find it difficult to bring my thoughts down to 140 characters, but it certainly doesn't help that I use full-length, proper words and sentences. If I could feel comfortable using "hey bro cu @ b's 2nite 4 prty" it would likely be easier to fit my words into short sentences. But you know what, it took a lot of focus and thought just to write that example, much longer then it takes to write a full sentence. Is it worth it? I don't think so.
Here's to hoping that the stupidity will stop, and quick. My phone bill doesn't like it, and neither does my brain. We are better than this, people!
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On Unity, and the Internet
Jan. 22nd, 2012 | 12:46 pm
mood:
awake
u·ni·ty
noun, plural -ties.1. the state of being one; oneness.2. a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one. 3. the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification. 4. absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character. 5. oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number ofpersons; concord, harmony, or agreement.
On one hand unity seems to be something that people invent as a convention by which they do politics and overcome antagonism, but on the other hand the imposing of unity on people seems to produce a new antagonism between those that are united (citizens) and those who don’t fit in the unity (criminals/discontents). So on one hand the idea of unity seems like a communist idea, radically inclusive and caring for everyone according to their needs, but on the other hand the idea of unity seems like an authoritarian idea, radically totalizing and granting exception to the ruling class.
“There are ages in which the rational man and the intuitive man stand side by side, the one in fear of intuition, the other with scorn for abstraction. The latter is just as irrational as the former is inartistic.”
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Spinning, and we all fall down
Jan. 16th, 2012 | 09:12 pm
I don't think either of us realized how long moving in would take, or how hard it would be on us. But we are most of the way to having all the boxes that aren't ours out of the room (with minimal confrontations). Tomorrow we plan to putty, buy paint and tools (and maybe carpet) and then maybe it'll feel like we've accomplished something. That's all I have for today, because I'm exhausted. More later.
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
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How Much The World Has Changed Since Grade-School
Jan. 10th, 2012 | 06:43 pm
mood:
contemplative
The world is a funny place. It's interesting how fast change comes about. I remember in grade-school my teacher told me that by the time I was in high school all students would have their own computers (laptops) and would use them for the entirety of their education. There would be no more writing. He was half right.
People also said, often, that China would take-over and become the world superpower, America having fallen. Now we can see that change happening. I was taught practically nothing about world economics, Asian influences, what Asia has to offer politically, economically, socially. Other than: "communism is bad". Looking back on the education I got, it really did me no good now that I'm out in the world. I'm sure many other people are feeling the same way. We are taught about what is, not what could or will be. Now that I have some life experience, I'd have to say communism is all that bad. Sure, dictators suck, but as a political structure communism often does better for it's people than capitalism. Who wouldn't want free healthcare, education, daycare, etc.?
I also remember how ridiculous the idea of having a female president was. No one ever considered it. I remember, while watching TV with my parents one day, turning and saying "has a woman ever been president?" and they furrowed their brows and looked at me funny, wondering what the heck I was talking about. Now, Mauritius has a "...[n]ew gender law [that] specifies that at least one-third of candidates in local elections must be women." (Not counting the accident that tried to run with Obama, women are capable)
We see all these changes happening, at an increasing rate due to technology and interconnectedness. Yet, we still teach our children little about what they should expect, about different types of political and economic systems and their potential benefits, NOT their downsides and how they've destroyed entire countries. We are all* brought up to believe that capitalism and a mixed-economy is the way to go. I truly hope that this isn't the case in the future, that we can escape biases in teaching and just present the facts.
It seems as though all I was taught is no longer in effect, and if it is it's quickly declining. By the way, I graduated high-school in 2010.
*"All" being Americans and Canadians.
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"And She Sings the Songs of Recall."
Jan. 9th, 2012 | 08:16 pm
mood:
anxious
And that's my mind today.
I'm thinking I'm going to write non-fiction. It will be slow, and since I don't actually know anything I won't write much of anything for a while. I'm looking into applying for university for the fall, but have to sort out some finances first. I'd likely take something like anthropology, psychology, classics, philosophy, etc. I'm not entirely sure what yet, but there you have it. I can apply for three different programs for the fall. I'll have to go into the university and talk to them about it. But at least I'd be doing something with my life. Whether or not it will get me somewhere is a completely different story. But I figure now's as good a time as any, right? Might as well get it out of the way. Then at least I'll know something, in the vaguest sense of the word. Maybe then I'll have something to write about. Blog entries only count as writing if they make money, which they don't.
It may sound as if today was a horrible failure. It wasn't though. Lots of progress was made with E&S. We haven't had anyone, not a single person, show interest in joining the literary review team. So, Karl and I decided that we would do the editing on our own, and make it a "free editing service" that would also get writer's known by having their writing in a literary magazine. This magazine will be published monthly, and will contain a whole bunch of different things ranging from non-fiction to fiction. Hopefully the first issue will come out either by the end of the month or the end of February. We'll see, though. I'd like to have a few different articles included in each, which at the moment we have one regular contributor hired and potentially another, although I have yet to hear back. So, lots of progress there, thankfully.
Working at E&S is exciting. I enjoy it, and it makes the day go by fast. I've met a lot of great people already, and it's only been about a month and a half.
I feel like I'm back-pedalling. My mind is reeling but it's going in all the wrong directions, or something. I feel like the last year and a half was a glimpse into the future, that it didn't really happen. I think I need a job...
We got a library card, so I took out five items. Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio; The Empathic Civilization by Jeremy Rifkin; The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith; The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson; and Sad, Mad and Bad by Lisa Appignanesi. All things I've been meaning to read for years, but never got too. Unfortunately they're all quite large, as well, so it will likely take me longer than the permitted time to read them. That stack is next to the "I own these and need to read them" stack that consists of five more books. Maybe I shouldn't get a job, if only to catch up on the reading. Something tells me the partner wouldn't like that much.
I don't know where to work. The buses here suck, so it kind of has to be somewhere close by. Maybe I can do one of those "work from home and earn 7k a month!" online jobs. Maybe if it wasn't so scandalous. Maybe, if it was a different day and age, and maybe if I could guarantee security and safety. But then again, what do I have to lose?
I'll shut up now, and get back to reading. Ope, never mind, will see if Acrobat works so I can put together a template for the magazine. Wish me luck.
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Consciousness and Memory Transfer
Jan. 9th, 2012 | 03:12 pm
mood:
contemplative
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Liberals and Anarchy
Jan. 7th, 2012 | 05:58 pm
mood:
amused
First off, I have to say that I don't disagree with anarchy. In fact, I support anarchy in the strictly political sense and idealism. My problem with it is that I don't trust people. Especially individuals with power. If every individual had "power", the world would be much more interesting. But it's not about the individual having power, the way I see it. I see it as an individual not having power. That the world gets to make decisions on whats best in their communities. I've always said that communism would work if there wasn't a single person running it. Which, in essence, is anarchism. Don't believe me? Watch this video. Don't worry, I'll wait.
Welcome back. So the issue today is this article by James Morton. I agree with everything he says. But even the title: "The Liberals and the primary option: Open nominations, open society", made me think anarchism. As I already said, I support anarchism. Most people, especially in this day and age, do not. They see it as a "rebellious" act that is reflected by teenagers, goths, etc. The idea of anarchism is so far flung from what it really means that people see is as anarchy, or "political and social disorder due to th
Let evolution happen, people. It's time to let technology serve us in something more important. Embrace it.
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"Time to evolve, humans. Get on with it."
Jan. 6th, 2012 | 11:33 am
mood:
drained
I woke up sobbing like I haven't sobbed before. It took me the better part of half an hour to realize that he was beside me with both legs intact and working. I couldn't stop crying and shaking, and was obviously very upset. I still can't quite get that emotional feeling out of my head. When I went back to sleep, I had four more episodes much like this, except each one caused a completely different emotional response, although no less extreme. I've decided it's time I really try to do something about this. I'm going to try non-medical ways first, give it a few months to make sure everything is in my system, and see how that goes. I'm also going to try counselling, because this just isn't worth it. I've been living with these dreams for the better part of four years. I realize I have a lot of stress right now, but no more than the average human would on a day-to-day basis. And I haven't been stressed for the past four years, so it's not worth sucking it up. I might as well try to get rid of it.
First, I'll try Chamomile before bed, and St. John's Wort. Perhaps some meditative music to calm myself before bed (although I'm not usually thinking by the time I'm ready for bed as I'm usually too tired). I am a lucid dreamer. Most of the time I'm fully aware that I'm dreaming. The only dream last night that I wasn't aware of was the one I described above. All the rest I don't remember the details from any more because I was lucidly dreaming and was able to purge them before too long. However, many nights the dreams will turn into lucid nightmares, which I'm not sure which is worse, knowing they're dreams but are still deeply disturbed or not know they're dreams and having to convince yourself everything's ok.
By the way, I couldn't have a better partner when it comes to things like this. He recognizes almost every time when I wake up emotionally stressed and he always holds me, rubs my head, talks to me calmly. Honestly, he's really wonderful. I just wish he was a deeper sleeper so I wouldn't wake him up so often. I haven't been violent towards him in my sleep for a while, so I hope something I'm doing is working and it's not just a fluke that will come right back.
Anyway, I need to do some things today that I really don't want to do. I need to go to the bank, and deposit some of my travel savings to put on my credit card. I need to move more boxes. And lastly, I need to call up the counselling service that I might get for free, and see if I qualify. Should be an interesting day. Hopefully some writing will get done between all this.
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The EPR Paradox
Jan. 5th, 2012 | 03:43 pm
mood:
contemplative
In her book, Punk Science: Inside the Mind of God, Dr Manjir Samantha-Laughton explains particle entanglement as a connection of two particles that will cause them to have "equal and opposite spin" (pg. 73). But she goes on to state that you can't know which state the particle is in until you measure it. Einstein recognized that determining the spin of the "first particle determines the spin of the second" (pg. 73). He recognized that this meant that the particles are communicating instantaneously, no matter the distance, likely faster than the speed of light. If this is true, then it completely violates his theory of relativity. Later on John Bell and Alain Aspect and team proved that "entangled particles do display these spooky non-local connections" (pg. 74).
Two things bother me about this, first of all, it seems as though someone or something is mocking us. That they are making things appear to be relatively "easy" to figure out, and that we are able to find the answers, only to prove them wrong by saying "Haha, it's actually WAY more complex than that."
Secondly, if this is true, it could prove Singularity, among other things. I don't like the idea that I could 'upload' my thoughts to the "consciousness" and someone else could read it, or "like" it. Let alone have the ability to do that to everyone else. The human mind is meant to be a private thing. We aren't mean to be able to express what we are actually feeling, or have people really understand the truth of what we are saying (or lack of). Non-local connections are exactly as Einstein said: "spooky". Only, we are just coming to realize the they are much spookier than we could expect.
Imagine trying to go out on a first date. All your anxiety and nerves would be passed on to the person you're meeting with (or at least have the ability to be). So not only would you have your own anxiety to worry about you have the other persons as well, which would make things twice as awkward. Plus, how could you possibly prevent "hacking", or mind control, or "false advertising" ("Come join us, we know how to make you a stronger, better, person."). I don't want the contents of my mind pouring out to the rest of the world any more than they already do in the collective unconscious. I mean, it's weird enough to have the same topic come up with completely separate individuals in a day let alone have them "tap in" to your every thought and feeling. Imagine the overload we'd have.
Of course, all that is dependant on the fact that our brains couldn't handle it. But, we can't possibly know that. If the most basic of particles is able to communicate non-locally, the human brain should definitely have the capability. Perhaps it's only a matter of getting the brain able to use more than 10% at any given time. Maybe then it could handle a whole ton of things that we can't even imagine.
We know so little. About our world, ourselves, and everything we're made of. Let alone everything else. It's scary, spooky even.
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"Language surrounds us, yet we despise it."
Jan. 4th, 2012 | 03:57 pm
mood:
artistic
I finished my AHS fan fiction, which you can find on fanfiction.net. I also started writing a story that I'm actually pulling from a dream I had over Christmas. It's highly emotional and personal so is making my brain do funny things. For instance, I just about wrote, "...making my brain to funny things." I'm dyslexic even in my typic. But, there you go. So I've got that started, and have tentatively named it, "Technorevolution", although I can't guarantee that will stick. I also have two other short stories I'm going to finish this week, hopefully before the lectures I'm hosting on Sunday and Monday. I also need to prepare some intro notes (essentially a short essay) for next weeks discussion which will be on consciousness. Hopefully lots of writing will get done this week, then I can worry about finding publishers for said writing. I'm kind of giving myself until the end of the month to get SOMETHING accepted for publishing, however small. If not, then I'm getting a job.
Good news, though. Keenan is getting a raise! We aren't sure how much, but that's great news regardless. Hopefully that means we'll be able to get into our room by the end of the month.
I think I've figured out how to get myself motivated. I wake up, have breakfast and tea, and then sit down and read all the news and blogs I need to catch up on. Then I write a bit, pause and do something else (read or draw or SL or something), then I write again for a few hours. So far it's working.
I started reading Punk Science by Dr. Manjir Samantha-Laughton. It's very good, and I suggest you pick up a copy. Also on my currently reading pile is: For They know Not What They Do by Zizek, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature by Rorty, and Science at the Edge, edited by John Brockman. Not really any fiction reading is getting done, although I am working my way through The Weird Fiction Review N.1.
Lots to do, lots to do.