http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Ephemeral-Reality&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Ephemeral-Reality en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:49:57 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Ephemeral-Reality.deviantart.com/journal/23817399/ http://Ephemeral-Reality.deviantart.com/journal/23817399/ Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:23:33 PDT
Connecting the Dots

Human beings, through the phenomenon of cognition possess the ability to observe with their senses the world around them. We take in this data and then measure and reason through it to make connections between the stimuli perceived. This leads to the formation of thoughts. As our brains take in the perceived senses, imprints are left on the brain as neurons begin to arrange and network themselves in a manner as to organize the data and store it for later processing. This gives us the ability to make connections between other stimuli in order to form basic thoughts. These thoughts enable us to interact with our environment, and leads to the formation of more advanced and complex ideas. Ideas such as language, creation of tools, domestication of plants and animals, and harnessing natural processes for personal benefit. A certain utterance is a signifier linked to a signified which when the connection is made forms a sign, or idea that is intended. It is only through making this connection that ideas are able to be transmitted between humans. These signifiers could be gestures, body language, verbal utterances, signs or drawings, or writings. No matter the medium, from the point of birth we begin absorbing and processing the data about the world around us and continue to make connections to improve our ability to interact with our environment.

From birth each individual human has a unique experience of the world around them, or their reality. That is to say that everyone’s experience of the universe is a subjective one. Two individuals can perceive the same stimulus and derive very differing opinions or descriptions about what the stimulus is and what it means. However, there are many similarities as well that the two individuals may find that allow them to come to some mutual agreement about the object or stimuli. It is this ability that I believe is the most integral to human society as well as human progress.

If it were not for the ability to transmit ideas and share data and experiences with other individuals, then at the point of death all of the information that the individual had gathered over his or her lifetime would be lost. To get around this problem we have created means of communication; grunts, gestures, drawings, writings, etc. Through these mediums, ideas are transmitted on to other individuals and the idea is able to be stored in the minds of more human beings. For example: One individual, through observation, learns that by collecting clay and bricking it and allowing it to dry he can form a material that is suitable for building that is superior than that of say wood and straw. The other individuals around him would observe his method and try to replicate it; however this replication of ideas can lead to mutation. It is also important to point out that the individual that the idea of creating mud bricks would not be an original one. First someone had to reason the idea of building structures, then observations about the properties of mud had to be made; countless ideas which were not in the mind of the individual at birth, but instead gathered and stored in that individuals mind are all arranged in a manner that allow the individual to come to the thought of creating mud bricks. In short, the idea is not original and cannot be attributed to the “creator” as his or her invention, but instead a collection of information about the environment which came to yield a new idea. This idea can then be spread through others observing the practice, or the individual promoting the idea to others through language and communication. As others perceive this then new idea, their brain along with all of its collected data and experiences are able to process it and mutate the idea into another new idea.

With the importance of transmitting ideas established and how this transmission can occur we can now look at human society and progress on terms of availability of information. The first and probably most basic form of communication is gestures and audible noises. Soon however, to store information in a more permanent manner, creation of symbols, pictures, and eventually written language was developed. Written language can then be reproduced and spread in more efficient way and also provide a way to more permanently store the information for later generations.

There are direct correlations between complexity of society and the information that the society collectively possesses and shares. There is also a direct co... ]]> ~Ephemeral-Reality http://Ephemeral-Reality.deviantart.com/journal/15799951/ http://Ephemeral-Reality.deviantart.com/journal/15799951/ Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:12:15 PST If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.
-René Descartes


You know, I love reading about technology and the new technologies on the horizon. Today I started thinking about all of the stuff that I've read about, and all the advancements we're making every day. We have the promise of nuclear fusion on the horizon. Fusion promises loads of energy with little radioactive waste and, once we get it working, will provide energy for our ever growing demands. This technology would also have implications in space travel as it could provide a great source of energy to power shuttles.

Then we have advancements in computing. Processors double in power every year-and-a-half. Here recently, a company in Canada announced they created the world's first quantum computer. Quantum computing will be important in moving nanotechnology forward and help in advancing medicine and molecular engineering technologies.

IBM's BlueBrain project is an attempt to make a working computer model of the mammalian brain, no small feat in deed. With a working computer model of the brain, drugs could be developed without having to use lab animals for development. Also, it would allow us to better understand brain disorders and how exactly the brain functions. This will also be very important in developing Artificial Intelligence.

Development of artificial intelligence is something that I hope to see happen in my lifetime. The reason for this, is because if we can create a machine that matches our intelligence, and the trend of computing technology doubling every year-and-a-half, that means that after a year-and-a-half, the technology would be double that of human computing capabilities. Granted this may seem threatening to some people, it shouldn't. I believe that this is when we will start to see more integration of man and machine.

We already have technologies being developed for human and machine integration. Honda has been working on it's humanoid robot ASIMO, and it is making great progress in robotics. I saw the other day on CNN a company was developing an "Exoskeleton" for soldiers to wear in combat. The "exoskeleton" gives the soldier great strength and I imagine if armored, would offer great protection to soldiers. I can also see applications of this for work in space, or for here on Earth, work in shipping and logistics, or just about any job requiring physical strength. Kevin Warwick, from the University of Reading, had an implant put in his arm that was connected to his nerves and transfered the electric impulses sent from his brain into FM frequencies and he was able to control a robotic hand with the device and also open doors and perform other tasks simply by thinking about it.

I also heard that NASA is planning a mission to Mars, and this prospect is very exciting to me. If we make it to Mars, and eventually are able to settle Mars it would be amazing. Mars lies close to the asteroid belt in our solar system and Mars could be used as a resource station. This would resolve alot of the problems we have here on Earth with resources, and may resolve issues of "Resource Wars." Or, Mars could eventually turn into a new home for man. It is likely that the Moon will be colonized first, but eventually man will make it to Mars. The great thing about man colonizing other planets is that it better insures the survival of the human race. In the event of some catastrophe, like an asteroid collision with our planet, man would still be able to continue living on.

One important step in being able to leave Earth and begin colonizing space is the development of cheap travel to space. Right now it is rather expensive to launch people and materials to space, but there are ways that are being developed that are cheaper. One interesting way that I saw was a "space elevator." I can see people going to a one of these "space elevators" similar to going to the airport, then getting on board, blasted to space where they walk on to a space station and then get a ride on a shuttle out to wherever they're headed. Steps towards living in space are already being taken. A company named "Galactic Suites" has plans to have a space hotel operational by 2012.

These are just a few of the things that I read about, and I see more and more advancements every d... ]]> ~Ephemeral-Reality http://Ephemeral-Reality.deviantart.com/journal/15148979/ http://Ephemeral-Reality.deviantart.com/journal/15148979/ Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:54:17 PDT really foggy this morning and visibility was next to nothing. On our way to Jekyll Island, we came across an accident. It soon became apparent that the driver was dead. I had a chip on my shoulder at the start, but after seeing that accident it occurred to me that the person that had died in that vehicle didn't wake up this morning thinking that "I'm going to die today." So, I decided I'd make the best out of the trip and I actually ended up having a fun time. The only real problem I had was the voices of the frat boys as they made random movie quotes, occasional grunting noises, and to prove their manliness, they decided to start killing every crab they encountered, hurray for asshole frat boys!

The trip was rather enjoyable though, I never realized how much there was to know about the beach. I guess it was the first time I went to the beach for something other than a few days of drunkenness, and it was a pretty peaceful experience. The weather was great and the beach was wonderful. There were big pieces of driftwood along the beach and I was able to get a few pictures of it. I'll put them up whenever I can find the USB cable to my camera

I need to get back to creating art, but I haven't had any real inspiration lately Hopefully something will come along soon.

]]> ~Ephemeral-Reality