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The Road Less Travelled
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Creative
- Hits: 746
"You're going to hell, ya know" he yells down cheerfully. It was one of those moments when I could see the high road from the trail I was on.
"Why don't you come on up here and follow me?" he suggests, and I can tell he wants some company. True, the view up there is better, you can look down at all the world, but somehow I like the path I've chosen, winding as it does down through the forest. The trees filter the sunlight, variegated foliage dappling sunlight on the forest floor, mossy logs and undergrowth, the path is comfortable, mysterious. The many bends hide the view, there are surprises lurking. And going on with a cheerful wave at my neighbor the forest swallows me up.
His path is up, forever up, and mine winds forever down, but for some reason they cross again and again. They're never too far apart, and whenever I come to a fork, no matter how many times I take the path that leads away from his I always find him again running parallel. On occasion I've had to walk his when they've run together, I don't like it. The view down is spectacular, but the trail is rocky and precarious. You must always keep you eyes on the path.
Sometimes he has company. When he does they make a great raucous, singing and clapping and praising the lord, cymbals and bells and loud conversations meant for me to overhear. Then in time they quarrel, parting ways at a fork in the road, some will find me on my path and praise my judgement, walking alongside me and chattering like imbeciles. I shake them at the forks in the road, letting them choose the path up I continue my slow meandering down.
"You're going to Hell, ya know" they say as we part, some good natured, others less so.
The path up the mountain, it's rocky and steep, it affords splendid views to those who'd take a break and look, but they keep their eyes on the path, only looking down to recommend the trail they're on.
The Singularity - Continued...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Technology
- Hits: 2313
SO reading the book ["Science at the Edge"] and watching related videos there are some interesting views about the singularity.
Many of the views are optimistic, technology will be our saviour, we will be able to, courtesy of the nanobots in our blood and brains, tune out at any given moment, sensory overrides will take place, nanobots will feed information directly into the associated sensory neurons and we can join in a virtual universe or worlds that will be indistinguishable from the real world. They will be able to repair every cell and neuron in our body. If that fails we'll still be able to live on by downloading our thought patterns, the essence of ourselves, into computers. Our intelligence will be augmented by an almost instant access to information and an instantaneous ability to process it. AI, if it exists by this point, will be able to score our lives, each one of us sharing ourselves with an AI minstrel only too happy to put a soundtrack to our lives, regulate our moods and physical condition....
The Mousetrap
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2517
I found a mouse trapped in a smooth sided coleman cooler that has been stored in my kitchen. It couldn't get out. And with the hamster gone (RIP), I thought I could begin the big mouse roundup.
I caught it, then released it into Hammy's cage. It hid, afraid, behind Hammy's old straw hut.
The other mouse, if there's only one, began making a pile of noise as if in protest, rattling papers, swinging the chew that hangs from the drawer, always just out of sight, the audible mischief done, but no mice to be seen.
And I went to check up on it a few hours later, but it was still hiding I thought. And so I turned the cage upside-down, mussed in the sawdust, turned over the tropical hut, nothing.
It's escaped. I need to find an old aquarium, something without bars, these mice, they're nimble.
Science at the Edge
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 2179
And so at long last I finally finished "Science at the Edge". Which was interesting, a compilation of essays by leading scientists on what they think are important issues.
It was interesting, and not least because it reaffirmed my belieft that science, in some measure, has become a bit of a religion. And as in any religion there are zealots. They have no problems disagreeing profoundly on just about everything, in almost every aspect those adherents of a particular theory will defend it almost unto the death. While they acknowledge there is the possibility they may be wrong, none will believe it. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence. And, lest you think that by some quantum "viewer creates their own reality conundrum" they're all right, by their own admission and insistence they can't be. Someone must be wrong. Just not the scientist writing this essay.
But it was a book, and the problem with books is that it takes time to edit, proofread, set the presses, distribute, market, etc.
And for books on technology that's a bad thing. Principally because by the time the book makes it to a shelf near you many of the subjects and topics are already out of date. No, there's no general unified theory as of yet, but great strides have been made that answer and raise new questions. And that information can be found online. All of it.
For this, the internet is perfect. Information can be distributed and disseminated instantaneously. For science and technology especially, as information distributed by older means is far too slow to the mill.
So I'll end this by saying, if you want to know what the current top issues in science are today, and get the breaking news, don't read a book. Books are for literature, poetry, plays. And when I say this, bear in mind I am prejudiced in favour of books. A book is, in my mind, far superior to staring at a digital screen. But not for this.
Links to Ezines on Science and Technology:
Links to Video Media on Social, Science and Technology Issues:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Google+Techtalks&emb=0#
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