Bountiful questions, barely answers.
There are still two things I wanted to write about that are relatively recent additions to my to do list (which is plenty long enough already) and while I'm already tired I should at least mention them.
One of them is about an article I read a few (two, three?) days ago about being able to reprogram cells and I couldn't help but to start to extrapolate the possibilities. It's incredible and will either lead to a dark or a bright future, it's the risk associated with each of the outcomes that concerns me because we don't have a very good track record. The things that will be important to keep in mind and that we'll really need to think about with developing this advance will likely be placed on the back burner in favour of exploiting the advance for short-term gain without concern for things like security. I know it sounds unrelated but trust me, it's important.
Which is exactly the kind of thing I could see myself working into this crazy sci-fi novel about the future.
It will be (has been) added to the list of ideas. It plays perfectly into an existing theme I already had and will allow me to further explore it now.
I remember coming across something, I don't remember if it was the radio, or a news article online, or something else but there was talk of how as you climb the "corporate ladder" taking on different roles once you become proficient in one it means that you're always in a role that you aren't necessarily competent at, and once you do master it you move on.
While they had a point, and I realize that some people will stay in a role that they enjoy rather than immediately moving on once they have mastered it, so the point is imperfect.
What does that say about us and our work philosophy?
Compound that with America's "work harder, not smarter" philosophy and I feel that we need to stop and ask questions.
That is another post that I've been neglecting to write.
I'm pretty tired. I had a good night hanging out with a couple friends, and some people one of them knew most of whom I'd met once before. It was a good time overall. I felt a bit socially awkward, mostly anytime I opened my mouth. (Maybe The Conversation Handbook would have been useful here?)
Once everyone had arrived myself, my friend that lived there, and our other friend (the three musketeers?) set about preparing dinner and getting everything ready for food. It worked out pretty well. When I wasn't doing something I often found myself standing about, either in a corner or near something I could lean against or rest my hands on (such as furniture) generally a bit removed from the rest of the guests for the evening.
I'm not exactly certain how much of that distancing I was doing intentionally and how much was more of a subconscious statement about how alienated I felt from the girls that had joined us since I didn't know any of them very well.
There are many things that I would be okay discussing in the right company. (Those who are suitably open-minded or can discuss such subjects without putting much meaning/weight to them. I feel that may not be an ideal way to describe it and I can't decide if I think describing it as an emotional weight/meaning is quite right or not.)
I am still, and admittedly always have been, very guarded.
None of my close friends I hang out with know about what I write here. I don't know how much they even suspect about what goes on in my mind. It's a busy place that I normally don't share with them. Some of that is related to conversation and the flow of it, if I get cut off or conversation moves away from what I'm trying to talk about with them I tend to just let it go. If I try to come back to it and things zig away again sharply I take it as a sign they aren't interested and let them move on.
This can be challenging because it leaves me feeling disconnected from them. I've never really thought of there being an emotional connection other than that I'd miss them if I moved away. I know I can trust them and count on them. We're there for each other.
That's all well and good but it leaves me seeking an intellectual connection with people who can keep up about things I'm interested in. It leaves me feeling socially disconnected when I feel like I'm there only because they accept me even without really fully knowing me. It leaves me feeling emotionally disconnected because I'm not getting the kind of really engaging intellectually stimulating conversation that I'm seeking with people who I can have fun with and not have to necessarily worry about boundaries with. I want to feel that I have a group of friends who I can really connect with and I'm not getting that.
They are really good people but that doesn't help me feel those connections.
The other day...no...it was on the drive up before dinner, it feels like such a long time ago now, I was thinking about what happens if I die. What if it's suddenly? The point was, in the unforeseen event of my death would I want this journal revealed? Part of me doesn't see what the problem with revealing it would be. Part of me thinks it would be wise to entrust the password to my father in the event of my death and that way he could always back it up so the family has a record.
Then that begs questions like how to approach it so that it's only revealed upon your death and not before. What other information would I want revealed? Would I want notes on any story ideas shared with family? Would I leave information/instructions on how they are to be shared/used/etc? (No movies without the family retaining the rights? Publishing considerations, stuff like that.)
Would I leave all my writing to/for them? Including notes on ideas for future stories? I feel like if anyone tried to do anything with that it would be my sister, but I have to question if she'd write an actual science-fiction story or if she'd do something she liked that I would have, quite honestly, she might see it as turning my nose up at.
The actions that would be most consistent with what I would have wanted when it comes to story ideas is writing out about that idea, that technology, the pitfalls or prosperity it could provide to our civilization. Looking at it in such a way that it steps far beyond the obvious, "This is what it can do today," to ten or more steps down the road into, "This is what it can do once it develops, and develop it shall."
I wonder what personality types some of the most prolific and prophetic authors are/have been. Mostly the prophetic/futurist ones.
As usual despite being tired I wrote more than I really thought I'd knock out here in front of the keyboard. I need to sleep so I can be up early enough for tomorrow afternoon's gathering.
Somewhere in the last eight or nine hours I was also thinking about the news. It was within the last...two hours. News reporting just disappoints me now. The bar has fallen so low.
Have you noticed that often one article will be published and then suddenly the constant twenty-four news cycle (I need a catchy name for this) will leap upon it like a pack of jackals (Is the actual imagery I'm describing a suitable comparison or do jackals not pounce on things this way?) and copy the sentiment and publishing in other locations without bothering to check the facts?
This is one of the downsides to global communication.
Nobody wants to check the facts anymore. Our collective knowledge is moving to the cloud. Depending on your field you don't really have to know and memorize things anymore. Will the number of master craftsmen and artisans decrease over time as this cultural and social shift increases with time?
As a child when the internet was new to me (and long before the 28.8 baud modem) that was something I always envisioned. The internet as a global library of all of the knowledge of the human race. The national archives and your public library would pale in comparison to the breath and width of all of the knowledge of the human race amassed in one place.
It's too corporate, and spied upon now (and other problems). I keep hearing privacy is dead. Privacy is discretion. Privacy is choosing who you share with and who you keep it from. There are some things the NSA doesn't need to know about and I think it's pretty safe to say Americans sexts (Sexting texts? What is the correct plural form?) is one of them.
Why am I not surprised I kept writing? I think a lot. I wanted to write it down before I went to bed where I may have forgotten it and then it would have bothered me for days until I remembered or forgot that I'd forgotten as I became distracted by other thoughts.
Dashboard is done. That's it, bedtime and this time I mean it.
[This was long so I cut it all up for a nice neat friend's feed.]
One of them is about an article I read a few (two, three?) days ago about being able to reprogram cells and I couldn't help but to start to extrapolate the possibilities. It's incredible and will either lead to a dark or a bright future, it's the risk associated with each of the outcomes that concerns me because we don't have a very good track record. The things that will be important to keep in mind and that we'll really need to think about with developing this advance will likely be placed on the back burner in favour of exploiting the advance for short-term gain without concern for things like security. I know it sounds unrelated but trust me, it's important.
Which is exactly the kind of thing I could see myself working into this crazy sci-fi novel about the future.
It will be (has been) added to the list of ideas. It plays perfectly into an existing theme I already had and will allow me to further explore it now.
I remember coming across something, I don't remember if it was the radio, or a news article online, or something else but there was talk of how as you climb the "corporate ladder" taking on different roles once you become proficient in one it means that you're always in a role that you aren't necessarily competent at, and once you do master it you move on.
While they had a point, and I realize that some people will stay in a role that they enjoy rather than immediately moving on once they have mastered it, so the point is imperfect.
What does that say about us and our work philosophy?
Compound that with America's "work harder, not smarter" philosophy and I feel that we need to stop and ask questions.
That is another post that I've been neglecting to write.
I'm pretty tired. I had a good night hanging out with a couple friends, and some people one of them knew most of whom I'd met once before. It was a good time overall. I felt a bit socially awkward, mostly anytime I opened my mouth. (Maybe The Conversation Handbook would have been useful here?)
Once everyone had arrived myself, my friend that lived there, and our other friend (the three musketeers?) set about preparing dinner and getting everything ready for food. It worked out pretty well. When I wasn't doing something I often found myself standing about, either in a corner or near something I could lean against or rest my hands on (such as furniture) generally a bit removed from the rest of the guests for the evening.
I'm not exactly certain how much of that distancing I was doing intentionally and how much was more of a subconscious statement about how alienated I felt from the girls that had joined us since I didn't know any of them very well.
There are many things that I would be okay discussing in the right company. (Those who are suitably open-minded or can discuss such subjects without putting much meaning/weight to them. I feel that may not be an ideal way to describe it and I can't decide if I think describing it as an emotional weight/meaning is quite right or not.)
I am still, and admittedly always have been, very guarded.
None of my close friends I hang out with know about what I write here. I don't know how much they even suspect about what goes on in my mind. It's a busy place that I normally don't share with them. Some of that is related to conversation and the flow of it, if I get cut off or conversation moves away from what I'm trying to talk about with them I tend to just let it go. If I try to come back to it and things zig away again sharply I take it as a sign they aren't interested and let them move on.
This can be challenging because it leaves me feeling disconnected from them. I've never really thought of there being an emotional connection other than that I'd miss them if I moved away. I know I can trust them and count on them. We're there for each other.
That's all well and good but it leaves me seeking an intellectual connection with people who can keep up about things I'm interested in. It leaves me feeling socially disconnected when I feel like I'm there only because they accept me even without really fully knowing me. It leaves me feeling emotionally disconnected because I'm not getting the kind of really engaging intellectually stimulating conversation that I'm seeking with people who I can have fun with and not have to necessarily worry about boundaries with. I want to feel that I have a group of friends who I can really connect with and I'm not getting that.
They are really good people but that doesn't help me feel those connections.
The other day...no...it was on the drive up before dinner, it feels like such a long time ago now, I was thinking about what happens if I die. What if it's suddenly? The point was, in the unforeseen event of my death would I want this journal revealed? Part of me doesn't see what the problem with revealing it would be. Part of me thinks it would be wise to entrust the password to my father in the event of my death and that way he could always back it up so the family has a record.
Then that begs questions like how to approach it so that it's only revealed upon your death and not before. What other information would I want revealed? Would I want notes on any story ideas shared with family? Would I leave information/instructions on how they are to be shared/used/etc? (No movies without the family retaining the rights? Publishing considerations, stuff like that.)
Would I leave all my writing to/for them? Including notes on ideas for future stories? I feel like if anyone tried to do anything with that it would be my sister, but I have to question if she'd write an actual science-fiction story or if she'd do something she liked that I would have, quite honestly, she might see it as turning my nose up at.
The actions that would be most consistent with what I would have wanted when it comes to story ideas is writing out about that idea, that technology, the pitfalls or prosperity it could provide to our civilization. Looking at it in such a way that it steps far beyond the obvious, "This is what it can do today," to ten or more steps down the road into, "This is what it can do once it develops, and develop it shall."
I wonder what personality types some of the most prolific and prophetic authors are/have been. Mostly the prophetic/futurist ones.
As usual despite being tired I wrote more than I really thought I'd knock out here in front of the keyboard. I need to sleep so I can be up early enough for tomorrow afternoon's gathering.
Somewhere in the last eight or nine hours I was also thinking about the news. It was within the last...two hours. News reporting just disappoints me now. The bar has fallen so low.
Have you noticed that often one article will be published and then suddenly the constant twenty-four news cycle (I need a catchy name for this) will leap upon it like a pack of jackals (Is the actual imagery I'm describing a suitable comparison or do jackals not pounce on things this way?) and copy the sentiment and publishing in other locations without bothering to check the facts?
This is one of the downsides to global communication.
Nobody wants to check the facts anymore. Our collective knowledge is moving to the cloud. Depending on your field you don't really have to know and memorize things anymore. Will the number of master craftsmen and artisans decrease over time as this cultural and social shift increases with time?
As a child when the internet was new to me (and long before the 28.8 baud modem) that was something I always envisioned. The internet as a global library of all of the knowledge of the human race. The national archives and your public library would pale in comparison to the breath and width of all of the knowledge of the human race amassed in one place.
It's too corporate, and spied upon now (and other problems). I keep hearing privacy is dead. Privacy is discretion. Privacy is choosing who you share with and who you keep it from. There are some things the NSA doesn't need to know about and I think it's pretty safe to say Americans sexts (Sexting texts? What is the correct plural form?) is one of them.
Why am I not surprised I kept writing? I think a lot. I wanted to write it down before I went to bed where I may have forgotten it and then it would have bothered me for days until I remembered or forgot that I'd forgotten as I became distracted by other thoughts.
Dashboard is done. That's it, bedtime and this time I mean it.
[This was long so I cut it all up for a nice neat friend's feed.]