from the walls of the digital cave
Hi
What is normal? I have to repeat some actions, by that I mean I most certainly don't have to repeat them, but I do. Not always, and you wouldn't notice, probably. Also, let's be real here, things need to even out. If there is two there, then there must be two here, you understand. And, sometimes, a thing that is touched with the left must be touched with the right. So, I am careful casting about with my uninformed conclusions. And I'm certain that it is not imperative to define normal.
The robot decides
AI's "Trolley Problem" Problem
" By asking ourselves what we would do when faced with such an ethically thorny issue, we risk ascribing to AI a “thought process” that it doesn’t really have. The trolley problem is an ethical paradox, which forces us to reflect on our own values and biases. Though the fictitious problem involves the subject making a quick decision, the exercise is useful precisely because it shows how hard making such a decision would be in practice. Paradoxes that are easily solvable are not worthy of the name. "
The trolley problem: what would you do if you had to make a decision to physically act to save five people by sacrificing one person? AI is going to be making these decisions in a car (and, eventually, in many other ways), a machine that has proven on many occasions to be lethal under our control. Who decides what the robot decides? The robot isn’t tethered to philosophical conundrums or moral dilemmas, it will react based on data and programming. Who is doing the programming? Who is giving the robot providence? The trolley problem is of no concern to the AI. It has no problem, it has only the parsing of input and the carrying out of actions that will only be reconsidered as data for the next sequence. Who will decide who decides?
But why?
The Pyramids at Giza were built to endure an eternity—but how?
" The ancient engineering feats at Giza were so impressive that even today scientists and engineers can't be sure exactly how the pyramids were built. Yet they have learned much about the people who built them and the political power necessary to make it happen.
The builders were skilled Egyptian workers who lived in a nearby temporary city sprawling over some 17 acres. The remains of bakeries and piles of animal bones show that they were very well fed for their labor. Archaeological digs on the fascinating site have revealed a highly organized community, rich with resources, that must have been backed by strong central authority. "
A nice article on the great pyramids, a refresher or an introduction, depending on whether you have previously visited this topic, or not. We're still discovering new things about them. As our technologies grow, our ability to understand these monuments to wonder and excess grows. It is unlikely that we would ever again find the confluence of means and labour to create what are, essentially, tombstones. I feel like they are at once the greatest symbols of the human capacity for both ingenuity and waste.
The animal workout
Why isometric exercises are so good for you
" Isometric exercises are associated with a high degree of “neural recruitment”, because of the need to maintain the contraction. This means these exercises are good at engaging specialized neurons in our brain and spinal cord, which play an important role in all the movements we do – both voluntary and involuntary. The greater this level of neural activation, the more muscle fibres are recruited – and the more force generated. "
The simplest way to exercise regularly. No reason not to exercise every day in your own house. No gear is required, no specific space is necessary, any time is a good time. It’s a perfect way to stay, at the least, marginally fit. Anyone can do isometric exercising, all you need is your body and a desire to feel your muscles at work. That’s it. Feeling yourself accessing and engaging your body with some intent. A very useful lifelong habit to form.
February 5, 1917
Constitution of Mexico
Revolutions
Wiki Rabbit Hole
" The current Constitution of 1917 is the first such document in the world to set out social rights, serving as a model for the Weimar Constitution of 1919 and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Constitution of 1918. Some of the most important provisions are Articles 3, 27, and 123; adopted in response to the armed insurrection of popular classes during the Mexican Revolution, these articles display profound changes in Mexican politics that helped frame the political and social backdrop for Mexico in the twentieth century. Article 3 established the basis for free, mandatory, and secular education; Article 27 laid the foundation for land reform in Mexico; and Article 123 was designed to empower the labor sector, which had emerged in the late nineteenth century and which supported the winning faction of the Mexican Revolution. "
It would be too weird
Why don’t you remember all your dreams?
" You may have heard that REM sleep is when dreams happen. And it’s true that many of our most vivid, most story-like, and longest dreams tend to occur during this phase, says Wamsley. However, she notes that dreaming can occur in every stage of sleep, and people do sometimes report intense, narrative dreams when woken from non-REM stages. Yet the odds of remembering such detailed dreams are highest waking up from REM... "
Would you really want to remember all your dreams? I wonder if that would become, and quickly, unhealthy. Reality can be weird enough, memories are already mostly interpretations of things from the mists. Imagine the chaos of adding dreams remembered to your backstory. The difficulty we have in recalling and reliving dreams most likely amounts to an insanity avoidance mechanism.
A not so secret society
Facts About Dungeons & Dragons
" Little did Gygax know that his luck would soon change. Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), the fantasy role-playing game he co-created with Dave Arneson, became a national phenomenon. In the tabletop simulation, players craft their own characters and backstories, becoming anyone from a barbarian to a sorcerer. Working collaboratively over multiple sessions, they explore a fantasy world designed by the game’s all-knowing narrator, the dungeon master, who masterminds the various puzzles and battles the adventurers must face. "
I feel that everybody has had some exposure to Dungeons & Dragons. Whether it's playing it, or they knew somebody, or just from seeing it as a trope in a million different movies. The game that is ruled by the happiest of desires to live outside your box. Where the basement becomes the realm. This is a good introduction and a good exploration of the beginnings of the lord of all fringe games. I'm sure if you show this to a D & D aficionado, they will find reasons to be outraged by things missing or ill nuanced.
We had no idea
In the 200 years since the first dinosaur was named what have we learned?
" William Buckland was an English naturalist, who studied nature, and named the first dinosaur in 1824.
An enormous jaw and limb bones were unearthed in a slate quarry in the village of Stonesfield near Oxford.
Buckland recognised these fossils belonged to a huge reptile that was not a known living species.
On 20 February 1824, he addressed the Geological Society of London, and gave the reptile a formal scientific name: Megalosaurus, meaning 'great lizard'. "
It's startling to consider that dinosaurs were unknown two hundred years ago. Not simply known by a few — known by none. These huge creatures brought to awareness by the discovery of bones. It makes me wonder what else we may not know, what has passed in and out of existence that will not reach out to us. A nice little article, touching on all kinds of dinosaur related things.
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a socialist;|
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me —
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Martin Niemöller
it's your life
you understand
Feel free to share Change Happens with anyone you think might enjoy it, and have a most excellent day
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