Month: June 2011

What is infinity?

That is a really hard question and people have spent their lives studying and thinking of this.  And guess what?  They are no closer to an answer than when they started out.

But there are some very insightful things about infinity that really make this world and our idea of existence interesting, to me anyway.   Here is a brief-ish introduction of infinity from Gizmodo.  They do a really good job of presenting the problems that infinity presents.  That is, once you start thinking of it too much, you might very well go mad or get a splitting headache.  Never mind though, you can read their introduction, even if you think know what infinity it, there is some really good information and illustrative examples of different kinds of infinities.

Yes, you read that correctly.  There are different types of infinities.  Infinity by itself is trouble enough.  Infinity-of-infinities is well, infinitely more troublesome.  Hence, why I believe that infinite as an idea is fine, but in any practical sense is just a figment of our imagination, if we are real.  If infinity is real, if the universe is indeed infinite, then we are not real, but rather a simulation, hence making it possibly to render an infinite entity (timeline, number, world, etc.).  In a simulation, I can driver forever, if that simulation is given enough rules to generate more road and artifacts.

So that is my crazy idea, we are a simulation if there are infinite anything.

Man Tries To Patent Godly Powers

What else can I say about this?  Nuff said.

Man Tries to Patent His “Godly Powers”

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 08, @10:17AM
from the this-patent-brought-to-you-by-shampoo dept.
KWInt1601 writes “A man who believes he is Christ files a patent application — and the formal dance of responding to office actions from the USPTO begins. Invoking the 1998 State Street decision, the applicant argues, ‘like software, godly powers is a method, and affects a machine. Like business methods, godly powers produces a useful, concrete, and tangible result, and that should be all that’s needed for statutory material.'”
One of the funnies comments I have seen on this is:
“It would be freaking hilarious if they granted it, and he went around suing all the Churches…”
That would be hilarious.

Farming In The City – A Chicken Story

I was listening to this story about a family, living in the city, having to get rid of there chickens because the neighbor didn’t like it.  I realized that many people don’t want the added noise or possibly smell chickens, goats, or any farm animal near them.  I understand that.

Even though I understand it, I don’t agree.  We live in the city and sure it is not customary to have farm animals.  But we put up with noise from cars, trains, and others.  While we should seek to minimize those noise or all possible noise pollution.  I see raising or maintaining a small farm as something we should all tolerate, even if it is a slight disturbance to us.

Keeping our food close and local, helps the environment in many ways.  Chickens for example, would happily eat certain types of kitchen left overs.  That means less waste to the garbage dump while the family spend less for their grocery, even if it is the cost of eggs and occasionally for meat.

Either way, I think our distaste for the farm like, which we happily consume.  Puts more control of our foods in the hands of greedy corporations that raise thousands of animals in close proximity and thus causes all kind of food related health problems.  Problems, we then expect the governement to fix for us.

Let’s play a more active role in our food production.  Allow, even if you don’t encourage, your neightbors to have a chicken or two, or a goat, or a rooster if they so please.  Those animals will add some noise to your life, but is that really so bad?  I don’t think anyone has gotten sick from animal noises.

May be I am biased because I grew up with chickens, pigs, goats, cows, horses, etc. either on the property or close by.  So I am used to it.  But even if you haven’t, I am willing to bet, people have gotten used to a lot worst in city living.  Not only the noise of the city, but the anonymity of people around you, the hustling and bustling, and other sources of stress.   Who knows, may be some farm animal noise might reduce your stress or talk to that distant part of you when farm animals was crucial to our survival.

Split Brain, The War Within

Okay, so I am being a bit sensational with the title, but not by much.  Consider this, have you ever said I am of “two minds” or “part of me wants to, but another part doesn’t”?  If so, then you are experience the conflict of the many part of your brain competing for control of your action.

I experience something like this almost every day.    Often, I eat not because I am hungry, but because it is time to eat.  Having been eating three times a day as a kid, I still like doing so.  But when I am about to eat, there is this voice/feeling that hey, you are not hungry, don’t eat.  But then another part of me is like, never mine, let’s eat anyway.  So I have always wondered about who is saying don’t eat and who is dismissing that messenger?  This seems to give rise to this idea of me and the other sub-me engaged in decision making.

Another example, this one is from the book “Incognito: The secret lives of the brain” by “Dr. David Eagleman”.   We were told something in secret; we are keeping confidence and want to do that.  But we also want to spill the beans.  The part that wants to spill, knows that keeping secrets is not healthy for us.  So we are always having this tug of war between the part that wants to talk and the part that wants to keep secrets.

What is really cool about listening to the author talk about this is that I often wondered why we said things like I am still deciding or I have to think about it.  It is as if we are waiting for the competing parts to submit their arguments for or against some course of actions.  And then we vote on one.  Listen to the author discuss this here.

Flying The Not So Friendly Skies

Certain things go well together; apple-pie and ice-cream, rice and peas, and even Baseball and hotdogs.  But cramped airplane seats and insensitive passengers is not one of them.  Apparently a flight from Dulles International Airport had to return to the airport being escorted by two US Air Force F-16 fighter jets.

All because someone reclined their seat just after takeoff and the person behind them, hit them in the head.  Which, in turn, caused a fight to break out including yet another passenger and the flight attendant.   On top of the melee and having to the pilot turn the plane around.  The flight was delayed until the next day.

Depending on where I was going, I might have not stressed about being going back to the airport.  But being delayed another day might have really ticked me off.   I hope the two idiots who stated it weren’t allowed to fly the next day.