Hypermentilating Inside The Interweb

Change Happens — Vol. 122

Entertaining, informative and thoughtful

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From the walls of the digital cave, have a great day, find your way

Hi

Isn’t the lesson the lighter load to carry?

Are you gentle with your mistakes, do you leave them at the door, or carry them always everywhere, as if that is all you have to share

Do you feel the weight of them carried endlessly about the day? Who made you think a misstep was a burden to bear forever, whose gift was this to you

What if all you did was learn from them another way, if you held them thoughtfully and turned them inside out, then let them fall away

Be gentle with your mistakes, and let them carry on alone.

Embracing nonsense The “Nietzsche Thesis”: Why we don’t really care about truth

“ There is one important observation about modern society that might lend credence to Shiber’s ideas: the popularity of conspiracy theories and echo-chamber nonsense. If epistemic vigilance were true, we would all be fact-checking and dismissing conspiracists all the time. But we don’t. When a charismatic or compelling speaker delivers a statement, we accept it much more often based on Machiavellian lines. I will nod along if others nod along. I will accept it if it preserves my social status. “

A questioning of the idea that we have built in systems for detecting nonsense, for uncovering lies that people tell. It questions the idea of epistemic vigilance, a concept which suggests that we do have this sort of tool in our kit, that we possess the ability to recognize deceptions.

The article suggests that this may not be true, that we are not programmed to care about truth. The hypothesis here is that we are programmed to look for self-presentation and social standing as opposed to truth seeking, that we don’t really value truth. We value instead how we are perceived and received.

Nietzsche’s position here lends weight to the ideas presented. He felt we look for truth only when it is pleasant or has life preserving consequences, and we are ill-disposed to potentially harmful and destructive truths.

So we are less fact based truth seekers and more moustache twirling schemers. Social media and the widespread acceptance of nonsense would bear witness to this conclusion.

In our image Humanoid Robots in Use Right Now

“ While many humanoid robots are still in the early stages of development, a few have escaped research and development, entering the real world as bartenders, concierges, deep-sea divers and as companions for older adults. Some work in warehouses and factories, assisting humans in logistics and manufacturing. And others seem to offer more novelty and awe than anything else, conducting orchestras and greeting guests at conferences. “

An interesting collection of humanoid robots at work and at play. A small description of each robot is accompanied by a photo of the all grownup toys.

I am struck by the fact that we are compelled to make robots and give them heads with eyeballs. It’s to somehow make them what? I don’t know why we feel compelled to anthropomorphize the machine.

Does it make us more comfortable that our robots are running around with a human like mien? A god complex in play? Trying to make it less weird that we are ceding human tasks to machines? I don’t know.

I suppose if you are building your replacement, you may as well leave something of yourself as a reminder.

*Genius abused *Alan Turing: Creator of modern computing

“ Alan Turing was not a well known figure during his lifetime.

But today he is famous for being an eccentric yet passionate British mathematician, who conceived modern computing and played a crucial part in the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in WW2.

He was also a victim of mid-20th Century attitudes to homosexuality — he was chemically castrated before dying at the age of 41. “

In today’s edition of people you should know about, or be reminded about, we visit with Alan Turing.

As the headline suggests, he’s known mainly as the creator of modern computing, but there is a lot more to him than that. The fascinating and tragic man should be much more well known and celebrated than he is.

It kind of makes me mad thinking about him and how much we lost when he was essentially pushed to suicide. Somebody well worth knowing something about if you don’t or revisiting if you do.

So many contributions in a very short life. From the modern concepts of computing to the critical contributions to the Allied war effort in breaking the German Enigma code. And well beyond that. His theory of life that attempted to find reason and purpose in the patterns of flora and fauna was kind of beautiful.

Sometimes we do not treat the beautiful gently.

March 27, 1915 Mary Mallon Typhoid Mary quarantined for life

Wiki Rabbit Hole

“ Mary Mallon (September 23, 1869 — November 11, 1938), commonly known as Typhoid Mary, was an Irish-born American cook who is believed to have infected between 51 and 122 people with typhoid fever. The infections caused three confirmed deaths, with unconfirmed estimates of as many as 50. She was the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogenic bacterium Salmonella typhi. She was forcibly quarantined twice by authorities, the second time for the remainder of her life because she persisted in working as a cook and thereby exposed others to the disease. Mallon died after a total of nearly 30 years quarantined. Her popular nickname has since become a term for persons who spread disease or other misfortune. “

As yet unknown Science Mysteries No One Has Figured Out

“ ‘To know, is to know that you know nothing,’ said Socrates, the famed ancient Greek philosopher. And while we know a LOT thanks to science, there’s still so much that we don’t know. These mysteries have stumped scientists throughout the ages — and will leave you scratching your head. “

From how did the universe form, to what comes first: the chicken or the egg? A look at different mysteries, life, and things that we haven’t yet come to understand to any great degree.

A fun little article that ponders puzzles that are as yet unsolved. A fine diversion for a rainy day.

Winter rain What is snow?

“ Snow is precipitation that forms when water vapor freezes. It is not frozen rain, but a crystallization of ice that typically forms in clouds.

When temperatures drop below 0°C (32°F) and there is sufficient humidity in the atmosphere, water vapor condenses directly into ice without going through the liquid stage. Once an ice crystal has formed, it absorbs and freezes additional water vapor from the surrounding air, growing into a snow crystal or snow pellet, which then falls to Earth. “

In discussion with one of my associates in the house, it was determined that we should do a little investigation of snow. So here it is.

We’ve just recently relocated for a while to an area that is snow friendly, having previously resided in an area that was most certainly not.

So, a refresher and consideration of the thing that makes winter bearable with its potential for fun, and it’s enduring beauty.

Who’s a big lizard? Komodo Dragon

“ Giant Komodo Dragons are the heaviest lizards on Earth with scaly skin, huge tails and long, flat heads. They can reach up to 3 metres in length and weigh over 70 kg!

Giant Komodo Dragons are carnivorous (meat-eating) reptiles that are only found in Indonesia on four islands called Komodo, Rinca, Flores and Gili Motang. These giant lizards have been around for millions of years. They can live up to 30 years in the wild. “

Today’s contribution from the animal kingdom is the Komodo Dragon. If you’re not interested in these wonderfully bizarre creatures, I can only assume you have never given them any thought. Because they are amazing.

They’re weird, potentially deadly, humongous and very rare. If nothing else, go now and look up one of them making its way across the earth, because they are the most spectacular lizard on our space rock.

“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.” Jane Goodall