“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.” – Henry David Thoreau
Super Cities
“Nothing is TOO BIG TO FAIL, and if you live in a supercity you will be super disappointed.” – Dr. Freckles
“Supercity: you share the same gravestone …” – Dr. Freckles
What recovers last …
Fun fact …
It’s not the bone that recovers last …
It’s all the parts of you that had to compensate OR were immobilized …
(they recover last)
Success and its critics …
“People that succeed are not afraid of their critics, people afraid of their critics are doomed to fail.” – Dr. Freckles
Voting and Democracy
“The final stage of voting and democracy is communism, and then extinction.” – Dr. Freckles
a) democracy
b) communism
c) extinction
Commies talk about the “state withering away” at some point, and this is great …
What the commies DON’T tell you is that the human race also withers away …
200 years in the future of communism? – you have 2 people, huddled by a fire, covered in tumors, being yelled at by a third person dressed in tore up Stalin style pant suit …
(that’s the state withering away)
Seeing the world …
“The more accurately you see the world, the less disappointed you will be.” – Dr. Freckles
Stuff
“Democritus said ‘stuff’ is made of smaller stuff, but that’s not enough.” – Dr. Freckles
Necessity …
“Necessity is the mother of necessity.” – Dr. Freckles
ORCA
Clear lens …
“Some people have a clear lens, others need some Windex.” – Dr. Freckles
Your Own Private Idaho
“We really are living in a world now where everyone inhabits their own designed reality.” – Dr. Freckles
- Cities is where it started
- The conversation with my cousin, Jan 2016
- On the METRO in 2019, heading to RED MOUND, with all the smart device zombies
ANARCHIST TEAM BUILDING
Don’t waste time on the rock or the reef,
simply flow around,
one day they might become water,
and you become the reef,
or the rock,
again.
So let them be.
ROBOT LIFEGUARD PROBLEM
Link: https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/robotic-lifeguard-changes-water-rescues
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/new-robot-lifeguard-will-save-people-from-drowning
Robot lifeguard … at pools.
So if your kid falls in, they don’t drown if you’re not around.
(wake me when that happens)
(it seems like a trivial problem – or is it?)
Think about the swimming pool scene in the movie “Caddyshack” (1980), how does a robot navigate that scenario? – lots of kids screaming, superficially they seem like they’re drowning.
A heuristic database might include a rule that says: “must be below the surface, this long …” … That’s a simple rule. As long as the robot can determine if a child has been below the surface too long – but this too gets harder as you add children to the pool, or other objects.
It’s not a non-trivial problem.
- threat detection
- spoofing
- belligerent human
Science …
“Science is philosophy with more discipline.” – Dr. Freckles
Science and engineering … (truth and cool)
“I want to find out the truth, and then do something cool – if that’s not science and engineering, then what is it?” – Dr. Freckles
The old school house, in the film “Over the Edge” …
There’s an old school house in the parking lot, almost as if it’s on display, a monument, to a time now forgotten. Next to this is the “New Granada Jr High”, flashy and modern and plastic and aluminum.
With the old school house – there’s more “outside” than “inside”. You get the sense that it’s a limited space, but still a space of control – without any pretense.
The new school has it all. Food, fun, sports, drugs. The new school is a place you can dump your kid for the day.
The old school house had a way out for every room.
The new school house has a way in for every kid, and no way out.
Consistent …
“Really dumb, stupid, dangerous things can be consistent.” – Dr. Freckles
Time Travel
“Time travel and fracking have a LOT in common.” – Dr. Freckles
Nothing is …
“Nothing is … UNTIL it is.” – Dr. Freckles
- alt: Schrodinger’s Cat interpretation
- time travel
- total oblivion
- survival of the fractor