If we think about it all, we tend to take our consciousness for granted. We wake up in the morning, and our brain does this effortless puppetmaster routine of pulling the strings of our tendons in our body to get us out of bed. Once we're up, it begins lightning fast interactions with our surroundings. But in order to analyze the incoming data correctly, our mind must make certain assumptions. It assumes that we live in a predictable environment where the sun always comes up in the east, things fall when we drop them, and the people we know remember us and what we're like. Assumptions require belief and belief systems can be tricky...or tricked.

When we attempt to build a machine in our image, like a robot, we start to realize just how incredibly complex of creatures we have evolved into. We come pre-assembled with multi-layered memory banks; visual, audio, and olfactory analyzers and vast databases to filter and interpret those sights, sounds and smells; and stability and motion guidance mechanisms, just to name a few of the physical hurdles facing the robot builder.

While technology marches on and researchers chip away at these obstacles a little more each day, one they are going to have some major trouble reproducing in a machine is replicating human emotion. From my favorite Uber-thinker Stephen Pinker, whose books have completely altered my vision of extra-terrestial life (see blog entry 7/14/04), and behavioral psychology (see 10/05/05) now throws some water on my geeky boyhood robot/artificial life hopes by noting that our behavior/emotions come from intricate interactions between the computing mind and the organic workings of the body. A robot may be able to process a speeding car bearing down it, but there is no interaction with adrenal glands to give it that 'holy shit!' emotional response. Or a robot might be able to see, hear and smell a beautiful woman or flower, but without the interaction with the meat of a body, there can be no spine tinglings, stomach clenching, palm sweating, pleasure center pinging that we associate with awe, lust, or love. Which, in thinking about it, may not be a bad thing - a creature with far superior strength and intelligence with a bad attitude could ruin your whole day.

posted by bluematrix at 04/25/06 09:51 | link | comments (2)

my parents have this thing about never asking anybody for anything. and while i get the whole 'neither a borrower or lender be' thing, i think they take it too far. yes, i may be partially to blame because as a rebellious teenager, when asked to do things like clean my room or mow the yard, i usually responded with exasperation, heavy sighs, and complaints. and i will concede that there are certainly lots of examples where asking for things is not so good like... the neighbor asking to borrow another tool he won't return for awhile, a roommate asking for another beer when he hasn't bought any in months, door to door salesman asking you to buy things, and the thousands of ad messages we receive every day imploring you to buy buy buy.

but, asking for things is a very important part of personal communication. consider...

the implied compliment - 'can you tell me where you got those shoes? i love them.'

the positive stroke - 'could you play me a song on your guitar?'

the 'you never know until you ask' positive outcome - 'would you go out with me?' how many times have you waited or did not ask at all, only to find years later that that person always wondered why you didn't ask them out. or that your boss had no idea you were interested in that marketing position he gave to a co-worker. we either think people can read our minds, or we're too afraid, or don't want to come across as pushy, or whatever.

then there's the biggie, the minor indebtedness that is a common basis for friendships - 'i was making a birthday cake and realized i didn't have enough sugar. can i borrow a cup and pay you back later in the week when i go to the store?' this is not only a way to begin socializing with your neighbor, but by asking for a small thing, you become slightly indebted to them and open the door for a return visit to repay, and also for them to ask your help in time of need, which is an important part of friendships. my parents would rather drive 15 miles to the store to buy a cup of sugar than to walk next door to their neighbor of 20 years and ask for it.

you never know 'til you ask - they may say no, but they won't hate you for asking...it's just communicating.

posted by bluematrix at 04/20/06 11:41 | link | comments (2)

i've had these moments, moments where a veil of 'reality' parts and i see things in a different way. i realize that it's always back there, this hidden beauty in the workings of the universe, but i'm usually caught up in my little life dramas and don't see it. when i travel its easier, because i'm away from my comforts, and i'm open and expecting. and its so fleeting when it comes, and i recognize that it's only in my awareness for a few precious moments then the lighting changes, the tape ends, or i get cold, or i have to pee, or what ever it is that yanks the veil back in place. but each time is a reminder. each time is a little jewel that i add to the personal highlight reel of my life. each time reassures me that i belong right here, right now.

awhile ago i was caught off guard when this experience was exquisitely captured in a movie that i didn't expect much from but was really taken with...american beauty. there's a scene where this kid is videotaping this bag swirling in the wind in an alley, and while it sounds silly, the scene really resonated with me. especially when i had a dervish of leaves dance just for me in a similar way while i was shooting some video and was mesmerized for minutes on end with the simple display that only i, in all the world, got to experience.

"it was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing. And there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it right? And this bag was just... dancing with me... Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That's the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... I need to remember. Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it... and my heart is going to cave in." - american beauty

posted by bluematrix at 04/12/06 23:23 | link | comments (3)

i have always liked playing games. i like the mental challenges, the creative problem solving, and the social aspects of them. it's a part of how many mammals are wired to learn. watch a kitten bat a small toy around a room and you can see it's not just people who like to play games.

but, having a bit of an addictive personality, i don't play a lot of videogames because i find them so interesting i would have trouble getting things done...like sleeping and working. they often get a bad rap, but there are some real positives to playing them... and not just as a short escape from reality. they develop problem solving, hand eye coordination, and for the ever more popular online versions, a sense of community. and they are becoming lucrative - the jobs and even playing in tournaments can be big money these days.

wired magazine wrote recently 'Like the toys of our youth, modern videogames rely on the player's active involvement. We're invited to create and interact with elaborately simulated worlds, characters, and story lines. Games aren't just fantasy worlds to explore; they actually amplify our powers of imagination.

Most technologies can be seen as an enhancement of some part of our bodies (car/legs, house/skin, TV/senses), From the start, computers have been understood as an extension of the human brain; the first computers were referred to as mechanical brains and analytical engines. We saw their primary value as automated number crunchers that far exceeded our own meager abilities. But the Internet has morphed what we used to think of as a fancy calculator into a fancy telephone with email, chat groups, IM, and blogs. It turns out that we don't use computers to enhance our math skills - we use them to expand our people skills.

The same transformation is happening in games. More games now include features that let players invent some aspect of their virtual world, from characters to cars. And more games entice players to become creative partners in world building, letting them mod its overall look and feel. For these players, games are not just entertainment, but a vehicle for self-expression.'

game on.

posted by bluematrix at 04/10/06 11:31 | link | comments

the Z Machine running at Sandia National Laboratories created a plasma that was unexpectedly hot - it reached a temperature in excess of two billion Kelvin, making it arguably the hottest human made thing ever in the history of the Earth and, for a brief time, hotter than the interiors of stars.

it creates these high temperatures by focusing 20 million amps of electricity into a small region further confined by a magnetic field. during the unexpected powerful contained explosion, the Z machine released about 80 times the world's entire electrical power usage for a brief fraction of a second.

experiments with the Z Machine are helping to explain the physics of solar flares, design more efficient nuclear fusion plants, test materials under extreme heat, and gather data for the computer modeling of nuclear explosions.

rumors of U2 planning to use it on their 'meltdown' tour next year are unconfimed at this time.

posted by bluematrix at 04/03/06 20:11 | link | comments (2)