23 MAY 2015 by ideonexus
Human Propensity for Making More Complicated Things Out o...
A child stacks and packs all kinds of blocks and boxes, lines them up, and knocks them down. What is that all about? Clearly, the child is learning about space! But how on earth does one learn about time? Can one time fit inside another? Can two of them go side by side? In music, we find out! It is often said that mathematicians are unusually involved in music, but that musicians are not involved in mathematics. Perhaps both mathematicians and musicians like to make simple things more complic... 1 
notes
notes28 MAY 2013 by ideonexus
Human Brain is "Conserved"
evolution conserves things that work. We have a conserved brain, with different ages for its different parts—in effect lizard at back and bottom, mammal in the middle, human at the front and top. Lizard brain to breathe and sleep, mammal brain to form packs, human brain to think it overFolksonomies: evolution
Folksonomies: evolution
1 It conserves the ancient parts that work, adding complexity onto those.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
A Multi-Bodied Alien Considers a Single-Bodied One
Even if there had been no Dataset, even if Johanna Olsndot had not come from the stars, she would still be the most fascinating creature in the world: a pack-equivalent mind in a single body. You could walk right up to her, you could touch her, without the least confusion. It was frightening at first, but all of them quickly felt the attraction. For packs, closeness had always meant mindlessness—whether for sex or battle. Imagine being able to sit by the fire with a friend and carry on an i...Folksonomies: otherness
Folksonomies: otherness
1 notes
notesA race of aliens like wolves, who form beings made of packs that share thoughts through short-range sounds, so that they cannot get too close to other packs without getting their thoughts confused, wonders at a little human girl.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Primitive Aliens Encountering a Laptop
“I have a suggestion,” said Scriber. His voice was slurred from the effort of concentrating over Scrupilo’s thoughts. “When you touch the four/three square and say”—he made the alien sounds; they were all very easy to do—“the screen shows a collection of pictures. They seem to match the squares. I think we … we are being given choices.”
Hm. “The box could end up training us.” If this is a machine, we need some new definitions. “ … Very well, let’s play with it....Folksonomies: technology magic
Folksonomies: technology magic
1 notes
notesVinge describes a clan of alien wolflike being with mideval technology encountering a computer carried by a human alien visitor.
04 JAN 2011 by TGAW
Eisenhower and the Ability to Snear
While he was at Key West, Eisenhower had been told by [his doctor] that he would have to cut down from four packs of cigarettes per day to one. After a few days of limiting his smoking, Eisenhower decided that counting cigarettes was worse than not smoking at all, and he quit. He never had another cigarette in his life, a fact that amazed the gang, his other friends, the reporters who covered his activities, and the public. Eisenhower was frequently asked how he did it; he replied that it ...Folksonomies: eisenhower cigarettes
Folksonomies: eisenhower cigarettes
1 notes
notesA passage describing how Dwight Eisenhower found his ability to snear at weaklings to help motivate him to quit smoking.
