from the walls of the digital cave
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Doesn't every conflict begin with two combatants? For fire to take flight, there are things that need assembling; oxygen, fuel, and heat. Add a reaction and nothing is the same. For stupidity to reign, there are, likewise, things that need to gather; ignorance, ambition, and fear. Stir in agenda, moths to the flame. Once the mob has massed, ignited and united, against the greater good, it burns, on and on, until it can't. Found outside the wreckage lays the blame. Millions of years have passed in walking upright, all spent carrying the same demons, yet still no will to end a fiery and foolish game.
Unprepared
The Breakthrough Problem, or Why the Drugs Don’t Work Like They Used To
" Vaccination had been known of since at least the late 18th century, when Edward Jenner realized that cowpox could create immunity to smallpox, a devastating killer. And inoculation, the principle behind vaccination, had been known about much longer. But until Pasteur, no one had generalized from there to form a foundational medical principle. He saw the link between his spoilt culture, cowpox, and immunity. Despite everyone knowing about vaccination, it was only he, at this moment, who made the decisive breakthrough. “Fortune favors the prepared mind” is one of Pasteur’s most famous quotes. Few if any minds were as prepared as his. "
As much as anything, this is an excellent article about Louis Pasteur and just what an exceptional mind he was. A reminder of the extent of his contributions to us. It’s quite incredible. It’s worth reading this article just to get a better understanding of him.
It’s not that he invented vaccination. What he did was see the possibilities of directing the process. Taking it from a discovery of chance and making it specifically applicable to existing disease.
Rabies vaccine or anti-rabies vaccine, pasteurization, essentially inventing what we would consider the modern vaccine, germ theory of disease, understanding of sepsis, the importance of clinical cleanliness, microorganisms and how they interact with us in our existence. It’s unbelievable the contributions he made.
The second part is a consideration of why the efficacy of these drugs is waning, and it talks about Eroom’s law. The idea that it takes more and more money and effort to develop new drugs. So it becomes increasingly difficult to find breakthroughs.
The article ends with some discussion of immunotherapy as possibly the next step in having the same kind of effect that the invention of vaccination had. That it is time to have more of an emphasis on causality, rather than waiting until a problem has arisen and then trying to combat it.
An interesting consideration of how far we have come and the difficulties we face in maintaining a trajectory of progress.
Recycling dreams
The Science of Recurring Dreams Is More Fascinating Than We Ever Imagined
" Why does our brain play the same dreams over and over again? Studies suggest that dreams, in general, help us regulate our emotions and adapt to stressful events. Incorporating emotional material into dreams may allow the dreamer to process a painful or difficult event.
In the case of recurrent dreams, repetitive content could represent an unsuccessful attempt to integrate these difficult experiences. Many theories agree that recurring dreams are related to unresolved difficulties or conflicts in the dreamer's life. "
An interesting review of the concept of recurring dreams. Most of us have had, or will have, this experience. There’s nothing really new here. It touches on why we get them, how they’re usually deemed a manifestation of waking emotion while sleeping.
Most of us are familiar with the dreams of being chased, falling, not ready for something, or simply too late. It also points out that they can be positive — flying, discovering something new.
The authors refer to physiological phenomena. That there could be evolutionary advantages embedded in these repetitive dreams. Simulations of real life situations that allow for us to prepare to act when awake. A rehearsal.
It’s interesting to consider that when we sleep our brains are not completely cut off from the outside world, that we continue to perceive smells and sounds. That sensory input is not shut off. Perhaps even our internal body sensation can contribute to this sense of a recurring dream, simply because it’s an external stimulus that is, most likely, recurring. So our response to it is recurring.
Or maybe it’s just us glitching.
Paying for convenience
The hidden cost of AI: Trading long-term resilience for short-term efficiency
" Automation doesn’t just make us more efficient — it makes us more dependent. And over time, dependence erodes resilience. At first, automation feels like an unqualified win. It removes friction, accelerates decision-making, and eliminates tedious tasks. But the more we offload to machines, the more we risk losing the skills, judgment, and adaptability that make us capable in the first place. "
AI from the point of view of not what it can do, but what the cost of what it can do may be. We’ve had examples before of new technologies that we worried would take traditional skills and make them disappear.
But we often don’t stop to ask: What are we losing when we introduce technology that does a thing for us? Efficiency versus resilience. I really enjoyed this read.
It touches on things like GPS, most people can’t find anything now without the robot. Or literacy, many people can’t spell any more without the robot. We can say these are of nominal importance because, you know, who cares? You don’t need to be able to know how to get somewhere because you have the robot. You don’t need to be able to know how to spell because the robot can spell for you.
And that’s exactly the problem, we’re losing the ability to build resilience, we’re losing our ability to adapt. Should these systems fail, which is a very real possibility, whether the failure is temporary and isolated or permanent and universal, then what?
How do you get from A to B if you have no idea what north, south, east, and west are? How do you convey information to somebody if you need the robot to write for you, which is where we seem to be heading collectively.
It opens up a lot of things that are important without it just being a discussion of AI and what it can do and blah, blah, blah. Which we are inundated with now, in large part because AI is a self-consuming beast. Gazing inward endlessly, with little concern for our resilience.
March 8, 1917
February Revolution
The End of the Romanov Dynasty
Wiki Rabbit Hole
" The main events of the revolution took place in and near Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg), the then-capital of Russia, where long-standing discontent with the monarchy erupted into mass protests against food rationing on 8 March. Revolutionary activity lasted about eight days, involving mass demonstrations and violent armed clashes with police and gendarmes, the last loyal forces of the Russian monarchy. On 12 March, most of the forces of the capital's garrison sided with the revolutionaries. In the same day, the Russian Provisional Government, made up by left-leaning Duma members, was formed and seized the railway telegraph and issues orders claiming that the Duma now controlled the government, this was followed by a second telegram, prohibiting trains from traveling near Petrograd, ensuring that loyal troops could not arrive by railway to restore Imperial Authority. Three days later, Nicholas II, stranded in his train in the city of Pskov while trying to reach the capital, and with the Provisional Government preventing his train from moving, was forced to abdicate, ending Romanov dynastic rule. "
Muscle up
No pain, all gain: how to get stronger and build more muscle
" When it comes to choosing machines or free weights, take heed of the legend of Milo of Croton, a six-time Olympic champion wrestler in the sixth-century BC, whose training is said to have involved lifting a calf over his head every day until it became a fully grown cow. Milo’s beefy exploits show that your workload needs to progress if you want to keep on improving, and also indicate that the precise usage of specific equipment isn’t the be-all and end-all. "
A nice reminder from the always reliable Guardian about the role that weightlifting can play in a healthy lifestyle.
It’s a very simple, concise and encouraging read for anyone interested in the advantages of strength training and how it could be easily, and simply, incorporated into any fitness routine.
Whether you need an introduction or a reminder, it’s a very good place to start. Not overwhelming, or pumping iron zealotry, just research based study of the benefits of working your muscles.
It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can greatly increase your quality of life by making yourself stronger.
Word temples
Unusual Libraries From Around the World
" In the words of Stephen King, “books are a uniquely portable magic.” They have to be stored somewhere—and the buildings created to house them can be equally as magical. There are 2.7 million libraries scattered across the globe, and while there are many beautiful ones, there are also a number of more unique ones. Here are 10 of the most unusual libraries—ranging from creative architectural wonders to libraries that aren’t housed within buildings at all. "
A fun article well worth investigating for anybody who loves books, who’s still enamoured with the idea of a library.
A place of the worship of reading and the written word, where you can walk in and explore and maybe find something that you didn’t expect to find.
Everybody out there who shares my love for books will understand how important a library is. The church of the reader. And regardless of your feelings for Stephen King, having a quote from him at the beginning of this article is apropos, you know that that guy loves books.
Nice kitty
Tiger facts
" Tigers are the biggest of the big cats. Adult male tigers weigh 100-260kg, while females weigh 75-180kg. They also range from 1.5m (5ft) to over 4m (13ft) from nose to tail tip, making them almost four times as large as the next biggest cat in their habitat; the leopard. Of all the tiger subspecies, the Amur tiger is the largest.
Tigers are apex predators, meaning they are at the top of their food chain. All tigers have bodies that are specialised for hunting large prey, with their thick necks, long muscular forearms, powerful jaws, large teeth and claws, and keen senses. Like domestic cats, their claws (which measure up to 10cm (4in) long) are retractable to keep them sharp and ready for hunting. "
Today’s venture into the animal kingdom is a consideration of tigers, because they’re amazing. They’re just magnificent creatures.
I thought that I’d include this because everybody knows of, or has had some experience with, cats. It never ceases to be a source of fascination for me that everything you see a house cat do, these humongous beasts do the same, only on a much more frightening level.
Imagine your house cat with its retractable claws, its stealth, and it’s casual ruthlessness. Then grow that to 260 kilos. Yeah. With four inch claws. So there you go. Enjoy.
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.”
E.F. Schumacher
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