One reason I am perhaps a bit quieter on this blog lately than I used to be is because frankly I've reassessed my standards.
I like writing about interesting and (what I consider to be) important things, but I have also become very aware that even the most well-meaning and innocent attempts to share one's interests and opinions publicly can end up adding to the "noise" component of the signal-to-noise ratio on any topic.
Obviously I am not going to demand that either I or anyone else first achieves "perfect" knowledge before writing anything about anything.
(The only people I've seen actually demanding that are people who tend to be enthusiastic about various forms of pseudoscience and superstition. Actual scientists (at least if they're doing actual science), and reasonably scientifically literate laypersons, on the other hand, generally seem to understand that opening up one's ideas to criticism is part of the picture when putting said ideas out in public.)
But: nevertheless, the fact that asking for perfect knowledge of anyone who wishes to communicate about anything is ridiculous does not mean that standards don't matter or that it isn't irresponsible to not check one's own standards frequently. The bottom line is that these days, when I want to write about something weighty or (per my own standards) important, and I have the slightest inkling that there might be actual, factual data pertaining to that thing, I at least make an effort to find and understand the primary sources.
Now, I freely acknowledge that I am not always good about listing citations. And I do not think there is no place for "informal" blogging. I am not suggesting that we ought to all be totally stodgy, never silly, and never say anything without reference to a research paper -- that might help improve accuracy in certain topics, but it would also possibly effectively crowd out people who just might have something worthwhile to say despite not having standard or expected credentials, style, etc.
But when it comes to certain topics I guess I've just come to see it as important to avoid letting either enthusiasm or concern wreak havoc on standards.
For example: If someone tells you something you're writing about is "fringe science", don't take that as an insult -- lots of things start out on the fringes, and certainly it doesn't help your case to insist that science lower its standards to admit your pet idea rather than you going off and trying to actually get your idea tested.
(This is a litmus test I always invoke now when coming across a new claim about longevity medicine -- I am a lot more likely to take seriously efforts that are looking to submit their ideas for testing in stringent conditions than "efforts" whose primary energy expenditure seems devoted to going on about how they "have a secret your doctor doesn't want you to know!")
And if someone tells you that your well-intentioned efforts might actually be having the opposite effect to what your intentions claim, you might want to try and see if you can see what they are talking about.
(This is especially important for people (and groups) who have achieved some level of influence, and it can be very weird sometimes for people accustomed to having little to no influence to suddenly find themselves in the position of having it.
I know I was totally baffled and slightly disturbed when several people e-mailed me after seeing my two minute BBC interview on the Visions of the Future special asking me what I thought about the future of human life -- that definitely gave me a sampling of how even having been on television for a tiny speck of time and portrayed in an even remotely positive light makes people more likely to think you have some kind of "expertise" even when you might be making as wild speculations as anyone else could.)
In short, all humans need to be careful of letting confirmation/deconfirmation bias undermine their goals in trying to transmit accurate information, particularly when the subjects they claim to care about (and the public discussion thereof) has the potential to impact so many who may presently have very little power.
So, when I write these days, it is taking me longer (that is, when I am not making obvious personal speculations that make no claims of being super-sciencey or posting photos or robot-themed artwork or metablogging like this). This does not mean my interest has dropped off in anything -- it means I've realized I really do not want to be part of the noise problem, whether the subject be biogerontology or autism research or anything similarly weighty. I know I won't be perfect at this but I am willing to try harder at least.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Plug and Play Humans: Is Your Cell Phone Getting Under Your Skin?
One common futurist trope I've run across more times than I can count is the idea that the current trend of ever-decreasing-in-size cellular phones will inevitably lead to people routinely electing to have the minuscule offspring of today's phones implanted in their heads.
Now, believe me, I am all for improving human-machine interfacing. One of my own pieces of "fantasy hardware" consists of a kind of heads-up display that would permit the projection of some sort of informational overlay across my field of vision, possibly via a pair of eyeglasses and...
[waves hands, sprinkles pixie dust]
...a system of sensors to detect the state of various bodily systems, in addition to providing navigational and other sorts of useful data.
The nearest imagining I've ever seen of this occurs in the science fiction novel This Alien Shore, by C.S. Friedman.
In that book, characters have internal computers called "wellseekers" that adjust their heart rate, blood pressure, and other variables so as to avoid unnecessary health-damaging effects due to stress and whatnot, in addition to providing reminders about the need to consume food or drink.
Additionally, they can put on headsets that interface with their internal "brainware" and this allows them to navigate the Outernet, which is the book's answer to our Internet, extended to interplanetary scale.
But fantasies aside, I am definitely not holding my breath waiting for "implantable cell phones", and frankly I don't see that idea as being one likely to grab much of a foothold in mainstream culture anytime soon.
I don't doubt that such a thing may become technologically feasible in the next few decades (perhaps dialing would be activated by tongue movements or something along those lines), but my guess would be that anyone who isn't a rather geeky body-modification enthusiast already would shy away from having to get surgery in order to access the latest and greatest phone technology.
Not that there's anything wrong with being a geeky body-modification enthusiast or anything, of course, it's just that that descriptor doesn't seem to apply to the majority of what would be the cell-phone market segment.
Plus, I really have to wonder what the heck people will do if their internal phone breaks or goes obsolete -- are they going to be willing to get more surgery every time they feel like upgrading? I would imagine probably not.
It's 2009 as of this writing and infection remains a risk of implanted medical devices; it's a different thing to accept such a risk when it's your life at stake than when you are simply considering doing something for aesthetic*, social, or curiosity's sake.
Honestly one thing that sometimes gets to me about certain realms of futurist discussion is the way bodies are so often reduced to the abstract, as if surgery is (or will soon be, even though there's no evidence of this) tantamount to snapping Lego blocks painlessly and easily in and out of a structure.
Heck, even relatively "trivial"-seeming operations like getting a small magnet embedded in one's finger entail certain physical realities. Journalist Quinn Norton is one of the few to have actually participated in this experiment; she writes in Wired magazine that:
Now, that doesn't sound totally horrible or anything, but there's still finger-slicing action, sutures, the whole bit. Later on Ms. Norton also ran into infection issues which led to more fun gouging from the family doctor in an attempt to remove the thing; then the implant disintegrated in her finger (though in an interesting twist, the bits of the magnet re-formed and she became able once again to pick up other magnets a few months later).
So while Norton's description of the sensation of having the implant when it was actually working as intended is seriously cool and tempting-sounding:
...clearly this sort of thing, let alone a vastly more complex and probably larger device, isn't about to take the mass market by storm anytime soon.
Again, I have no problem with people choosing to implant whatever the heck they want into their bodies, whether it be magnets or metal spikes or whatnot, but I would hardly figure implanted cell phones can be presumed inevitable based on current conditions and trends.
One of the reasons cell phones are becoming so ubiquitous is the very fact that the devices are getting so cheap to make, replace, and transfer. Putting surgery into the equation would almost certainly entail a totally different market model and one that would not permit the level of growth that has been observed so far.
*Yes, a lot of people these days are getting plastic surgery, but it would be quite a stretch to presume that anyone willing to use a cell phone today would also be willing to get plastic surgery.
Now, believe me, I am all for improving human-machine interfacing. One of my own pieces of "fantasy hardware" consists of a kind of heads-up display that would permit the projection of some sort of informational overlay across my field of vision, possibly via a pair of eyeglasses and...
[waves hands, sprinkles pixie dust]
...a system of sensors to detect the state of various bodily systems, in addition to providing navigational and other sorts of useful data.
The nearest imagining I've ever seen of this occurs in the science fiction novel This Alien Shore, by C.S. Friedman.
In that book, characters have internal computers called "wellseekers" that adjust their heart rate, blood pressure, and other variables so as to avoid unnecessary health-damaging effects due to stress and whatnot, in addition to providing reminders about the need to consume food or drink.
Additionally, they can put on headsets that interface with their internal "brainware" and this allows them to navigate the Outernet, which is the book's answer to our Internet, extended to interplanetary scale.
But fantasies aside, I am definitely not holding my breath waiting for "implantable cell phones", and frankly I don't see that idea as being one likely to grab much of a foothold in mainstream culture anytime soon.
I don't doubt that such a thing may become technologically feasible in the next few decades (perhaps dialing would be activated by tongue movements or something along those lines), but my guess would be that anyone who isn't a rather geeky body-modification enthusiast already would shy away from having to get surgery in order to access the latest and greatest phone technology.
Not that there's anything wrong with being a geeky body-modification enthusiast or anything, of course, it's just that that descriptor doesn't seem to apply to the majority of what would be the cell-phone market segment.
Plus, I really have to wonder what the heck people will do if their internal phone breaks or goes obsolete -- are they going to be willing to get more surgery every time they feel like upgrading? I would imagine probably not.
It's 2009 as of this writing and infection remains a risk of implanted medical devices; it's a different thing to accept such a risk when it's your life at stake than when you are simply considering doing something for aesthetic*, social, or curiosity's sake.
Honestly one thing that sometimes gets to me about certain realms of futurist discussion is the way bodies are so often reduced to the abstract, as if surgery is (or will soon be, even though there's no evidence of this) tantamount to snapping Lego blocks painlessly and easily in and out of a structure.
Heck, even relatively "trivial"-seeming operations like getting a small magnet embedded in one's finger entail certain physical realities. Journalist Quinn Norton is one of the few to have actually participated in this experiment; she writes in Wired magazine that:
The initial cut did hurt, but not unbearably. He sliced open my finger with a standard scalpel, inserted a tool to make a gap for the magnet, and tried to insert the magnet in one nonstop motion. The insertion didn't work, and he widened the cut and tried again. This time it worked, and he closed the cut with a single suture. The suture was the most painful step -- an indicator that the cold "anesthetic" had worn off. The process took less than 10 minutes. My finger was slightly swollen and sported a blue, knotted plastic thread.
Now, that doesn't sound totally horrible or anything, but there's still finger-slicing action, sutures, the whole bit. Later on Ms. Norton also ran into infection issues which led to more fun gouging from the family doctor in an attempt to remove the thing; then the implant disintegrated in her finger (though in an interesting twist, the bits of the magnet re-formed and she became able once again to pick up other magnets a few months later).
So while Norton's description of the sensation of having the implant when it was actually working as intended is seriously cool and tempting-sounding:
I would circle my finger with a strong magnet and feel the one in my finger spin. In time, bits of my laptop became familiar as tingles and buzzes. Every so often I would pass near something and get an unexpected vibration. Live phone pairs on the sides of houses sometimes startled me.
...clearly this sort of thing, let alone a vastly more complex and probably larger device, isn't about to take the mass market by storm anytime soon.
Again, I have no problem with people choosing to implant whatever the heck they want into their bodies, whether it be magnets or metal spikes or whatnot, but I would hardly figure implanted cell phones can be presumed inevitable based on current conditions and trends.
One of the reasons cell phones are becoming so ubiquitous is the very fact that the devices are getting so cheap to make, replace, and transfer. Putting surgery into the equation would almost certainly entail a totally different market model and one that would not permit the level of growth that has been observed so far.
*Yes, a lot of people these days are getting plastic surgery, but it would be quite a stretch to presume that anyone willing to use a cell phone today would also be willing to get plastic surgery.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Comment Policy
last revision: 12/28/2010
Hi! Welcome to Comment Policy. Existence is Wonderful invites and welcomes discussion relevant to the subject matter of its posts. I like lively discussion! Especially when it is scientific! Or actually funny! Or just plain interesting! Or a combination of all those things!
However, seeing as pretty much anyone can go start their very own blog and post whatever they feel like posting, I do not consider myself obligated in the least to host a commenting free-for-all here.
Hence, the following parameters apply to EIW as far as comments are concerned:
(1) "Anonymous" comments *are* allowed. This means that being logged into blogger is not required to comment on Existence is Wonderful. I used to require a login but changed that policy in 2009 for accessibility reasons.
(2) Item (1) notwithstanding, I would like to request that if you must post without logging in, please sign your comments with some sort of distinguishing nickname. Or your initials. Or even initials that aren't actually yours. Or a single letter, like "A" or "J", or heck, even a number. Just something so that I don't end up dealing with five different "anonymouses" commenting on the same post and having to somehow guess who said what. That kind of thing gets incredibly confusing really quickly.
[Note that this is not a "demand", but a request, in order to increase accessibility for me on my own blog. If you cannot sign an initial or some distinguishing mark, or if feeling like you have to do so prevents you from posting at all, I am not going to hold it against you, just bear in mind I may not be able to respond.]
(3) Spam will of course be deleted as soon as I see it. I am not interested in your \/14gr4 or your c14l15 or your 100000 free pix, or in your Mega Colon Cleanse Super Herbal X Formula.
[I particularly despise the kind of spam where someone writes a brief, generic comment along the lines of "Hi! Interesting blog! This is the first time I am reading this blog! Thanks!" and then follows with a spammy URL. Fake nicey-nice marketing = fail.]
(4) Comments clearly intended to incite anger, embarrassment, or endless pointless argument will be terminated on sight. If you're that desperate for attention and/or acknowledgement, perhaps you'd be happier if you logged off the Internet and rescued a Yorkie or something.
(5) Disagreement is fine. Defamation is not. Gossip is not -- I'm not running a tabloid here, nor is this the bathroom wall down at the subway station. I don't care if you think Sally-Anne has cooties; take your speculations elsewhere, or better yet, find a new hobby that doesn't involve manufacturing controversies.
(6) It IS okay to go on tangents, quote at length, and go nominally off-topic if that strikes your fancy. I'm not picky about that sort of thing and I've been known to go on a tangent or three myself. I can understand being reminded of something based on reading something that doesn't look related at first.
HOWEVER, there are particular TYPES of "going off topic" that will not be given free reign here, the primary case of this being tangents related specifically to individual people. E.g., if I quote a biologist, and someone posts a comment linking to photos of said biologist wearing a bikini or Speedo, I will certainly delete that comment as I just don't like it when someone's physical attributes are brought into the picture when it's someone's work or words that my post actually concerned.
(7) Spirited discussion is fine, 300+ posts in which the participants are insulting each other's mothers is not. In other words, lengthy circular arguments between individuals who obviously aren't going to be understanding each other anytime this century will not be hosted here.
(8) Remember that nobody owes you attention or any sort of response whatsoever just because you've posted a comment on a blog. I reserve the right to ignore and/or delete any and all comments that are (if not outright spam) inane, annoying, threatening, defamatory, etc. If this hurts your feelings, you probably need help, and I'm neither equipped nor inclined to provide that here.
(9) Repeatedly asking questions (especially very personal or off-topic ones) bugs me. This is at least partly a quirk on my part and to an extent you shouldn't take it personally if I start ignoring or deleting your questions.
However, if you've been (trollishly OR seriously) trying to ask me for dates, or if you're focusing on personal appearance in your inquiries, or if you're demanding that I explain this or that aspect of autism from a first-hand perspective, you should expect those comments to disappear without response or explanation from me. Remember, if you find yourself suffering uncontrollable crying, sleeplessness, despair, ingrown toenails, tapeworm, or other discomfort due to not getting the attention you feel entitled to, there is help for you out there.
(10) TBD (pending further updates)
:D
Hi! Welcome to Comment Policy. Existence is Wonderful invites and welcomes discussion relevant to the subject matter of its posts. I like lively discussion! Especially when it is scientific! Or actually funny! Or just plain interesting! Or a combination of all those things!
However, seeing as pretty much anyone can go start their very own blog and post whatever they feel like posting, I do not consider myself obligated in the least to host a commenting free-for-all here.
Hence, the following parameters apply to EIW as far as comments are concerned:
(1) "Anonymous" comments *are* allowed. This means that being logged into blogger is not required to comment on Existence is Wonderful. I used to require a login but changed that policy in 2009 for accessibility reasons.
(2) Item (1) notwithstanding, I would like to request that if you must post without logging in, please sign your comments with some sort of distinguishing nickname. Or your initials. Or even initials that aren't actually yours. Or a single letter, like "A" or "J", or heck, even a number. Just something so that I don't end up dealing with five different "anonymouses" commenting on the same post and having to somehow guess who said what. That kind of thing gets incredibly confusing really quickly.
[Note that this is not a "demand", but a request, in order to increase accessibility for me on my own blog. If you cannot sign an initial or some distinguishing mark, or if feeling like you have to do so prevents you from posting at all, I am not going to hold it against you, just bear in mind I may not be able to respond.]
(3) Spam will of course be deleted as soon as I see it. I am not interested in your \/14gr4 or your c14l15 or your 100000 free pix, or in your Mega Colon Cleanse Super Herbal X Formula.
[I particularly despise the kind of spam where someone writes a brief, generic comment along the lines of "Hi! Interesting blog! This is the first time I am reading this blog! Thanks!" and then follows with a spammy URL. Fake nicey-nice marketing = fail.]
(4) Comments clearly intended to incite anger, embarrassment, or endless pointless argument will be terminated on sight. If you're that desperate for attention and/or acknowledgement, perhaps you'd be happier if you logged off the Internet and rescued a Yorkie or something.
(5) Disagreement is fine. Defamation is not. Gossip is not -- I'm not running a tabloid here, nor is this the bathroom wall down at the subway station. I don't care if you think Sally-Anne has cooties; take your speculations elsewhere, or better yet, find a new hobby that doesn't involve manufacturing controversies.
(6) It IS okay to go on tangents, quote at length, and go nominally off-topic if that strikes your fancy. I'm not picky about that sort of thing and I've been known to go on a tangent or three myself. I can understand being reminded of something based on reading something that doesn't look related at first.
HOWEVER, there are particular TYPES of "going off topic" that will not be given free reign here, the primary case of this being tangents related specifically to individual people. E.g., if I quote a biologist, and someone posts a comment linking to photos of said biologist wearing a bikini or Speedo, I will certainly delete that comment as I just don't like it when someone's physical attributes are brought into the picture when it's someone's work or words that my post actually concerned.
(7) Spirited discussion is fine, 300+ posts in which the participants are insulting each other's mothers is not. In other words, lengthy circular arguments between individuals who obviously aren't going to be understanding each other anytime this century will not be hosted here.
(8) Remember that nobody owes you attention or any sort of response whatsoever just because you've posted a comment on a blog. I reserve the right to ignore and/or delete any and all comments that are (if not outright spam) inane, annoying, threatening, defamatory, etc. If this hurts your feelings, you probably need help, and I'm neither equipped nor inclined to provide that here.
(9) Repeatedly asking questions (especially very personal or off-topic ones) bugs me. This is at least partly a quirk on my part and to an extent you shouldn't take it personally if I start ignoring or deleting your questions.
However, if you've been (trollishly OR seriously) trying to ask me for dates, or if you're focusing on personal appearance in your inquiries, or if you're demanding that I explain this or that aspect of autism from a first-hand perspective, you should expect those comments to disappear without response or explanation from me. Remember, if you find yourself suffering uncontrollable crying, sleeplessness, despair, ingrown toenails, tapeworm, or other discomfort due to not getting the attention you feel entitled to, there is help for you out there.
(10) TBD (pending further updates)
:D
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Out of Context, but Still Apt
...I begin indeed to fear that I have undertaken an impossibility, undertaken to tell what I cannot tell because no speech at my command will fit the forms in my mind.
Already I have set down statements I would gladly change did I know how to substitute a truer utterance; but as often as I try to fit the reality with nearer words, I find myself in danger of losing the things themselves, and feel like one in process of awaking from a dream, with the thing that seemed familiar gradually yet swiftly changing through a succession of forms until its very nature is no longer recognisable.
- From Lilith, by George MacDonald.
The quote above? I am taking it way out of context here in lifting it from a Victorian dark fantasy novel that obviously had nothing to do with blogging or any of the usual stuff I write about here (well, when I'm not explicitly writing about fiction).
But it's a great quote and I wanted to put it here because, while again I am applying it way outside the author's use of it, it very well articulates what using language is always like for me.
There's a reason I don't tend to actively engage with lengthy flamewars and why I don't always answer when people ask me a barrage of questions...there's just so much that seems to elude language, even as language facilitates so much in some contexts.
Anyway I just wanted to leave this here so I could perhaps refer back to it later, and/or point others back to it whenever it might seem I am not addressing something that ought to be addressed, or not commenting on some news story that seems like I'd be interested in it.
It's not that I don't have any thoughts in those situations, it's that often it takes me a long time to figure out how to say what I actually mean, and sometimes when I finally do manage to express what I actually mean, it might not even be through the sort of spontaneous, original sequence of words that people seem to expect (but by, say, drawing or quoting or referring to a song or object).
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Robot And Kitten Are Friends (New T-Shirt Design)
As a child I always liked it when restaurants had paper placemats one could draw on. Drawing, in addition to being fun, is also a really useful way of regulating input from my surroundings.
Anyway, though, last weekend, on a short jaunt out of town to attend a wedding, I ended up in a restaurant for breakfast on Sunday. I don't recall whether they actually had paper placemats there, but it did not matter because I'd thought to bring along a small pad of art paper in the army-surplus shoulder bag I usually carry around (as it is of a nice size to contain my nifty netbook computer, camera, wallet, etc.).
So, while I was waiting for my food I drew the following (or rather, a sketched version of it; this version has been colored and edited in GIMP graphics software):
[Click image to view larger]
It is a longstanding personal philosophy of mine that when it comes to drawing, you really can't go wrong with robots or kittens. But lo and behold, here we have a robot and a kitten! I had to work for a while getting the kitten just right (she kept looking like a wolf cub to me until I fixed the nose/muzzle to be properly feline) but overall I am reasonably pleased with the result.
Click here to see (and order, if you are so inclined) the shirt on Zazzle.com.
(As always, I am not doing this to try and make any actual money -- I just figure that perhaps a few Existence is Wonderful readers might share my delight in all things robot and kitten!)
Anyway, though, last weekend, on a short jaunt out of town to attend a wedding, I ended up in a restaurant for breakfast on Sunday. I don't recall whether they actually had paper placemats there, but it did not matter because I'd thought to bring along a small pad of art paper in the army-surplus shoulder bag I usually carry around (as it is of a nice size to contain my nifty netbook computer, camera, wallet, etc.).
So, while I was waiting for my food I drew the following (or rather, a sketched version of it; this version has been colored and edited in GIMP graphics software):
[Click image to view larger]
It is a longstanding personal philosophy of mine that when it comes to drawing, you really can't go wrong with robots or kittens. But lo and behold, here we have a robot and a kitten! I had to work for a while getting the kitten just right (she kept looking like a wolf cub to me until I fixed the nose/muzzle to be properly feline) but overall I am reasonably pleased with the result.
Click here to see (and order, if you are so inclined) the shirt on Zazzle.com.
(As always, I am not doing this to try and make any actual money -- I just figure that perhaps a few Existence is Wonderful readers might share my delight in all things robot and kitten!)
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