Smarter Life Future: Complex Everything or One Thing Full of Complex

Does it really make sense to make each and every one of our devices smarter? Will that really work? Or is the real idea to model every possession as it is; lifeless and simple then track, store and analyze everything about it.

I’m imagining a world with plural realities. Not in the typical/cliché dreamers sense of alternative universes, secondary planets with other life, or alternate realities; but a plural reality in digital form: a photocopy of everything that does exist in a modeled reality with the ability to be computed, analyzed, measure, calculated, sampled, and backed up.

Fundamental Change

Change... How hackneyed, overdone, overused, rhetoricized, Obama-ized, falsely sold, over-promised and under-delivered.

I won't get into politics as the leaders of our government are in offices with responsibilities far beyond conception of most of us, with unreasonable expectations set by us, and millions if moat billions of voices to answer to. And for full disclosure I believe that the Obama administration is doing the best job that they know how to given the situation and set of circumstances that all by the eldest and wisest of us have not seen. But I digress to the point...

We all signed on for "change" because we believe

The Law of Reversed Effort

There is a Law of Reversed Effort. The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed.

Proficiency and the results of proficiency come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity, of letting go as a person in order that the immanent and transcendent Unknown Quantity may take hold.

We cannot make ourselves understand; the most we can do is to foster a state of mind, in which understanding may come to us.

--Aldous Huxley (posted to iJourney.org on Nov 22nd 1999)

You go... go now...

I believe in inspiration through action, creativity and analysis in design, and experience by jumping into the fire. What about you?

Life as a science experiment

One vivid point came to me while meditating this evening on boiling humans and life actions down to their most basic elements; and no I don't mean that table of symbols you were forcing into your head in high school chemistry class. I mean the fundamental basis of actions, motives, colors, directions, plants, animals, worlds, and black wholes, yeses and no, light as well as dark. What is the binary bit that grows into the complexity of the human brain start as? As a yes or no? As a black of white?
We are an experience based decision engine...

Life in real life the world around

Many people will say this country has issues and most I'll treat it as some unquantifiable, incomprehensible force that controls other people, but somehow does not affect them. The fact that this country has issues deep rooted is termed a problem for the scholars of yesteryears and something our forefathers would be ashamed of.

But what really is this problem? It's definitely not something beyond our capabilities if we just care to take a few moments to give them notice. It's one of those tasks like listening to the stories of our grandparents... It's something you've always said you should do, but you keep pushing it off year after year assuming the time will come at some point. Or even that vacation, or even more that epic adventure you always said you'd have... That time to get away from everything and buy a one-way ticket to the other side of the world. Or even just that sports event of your kids'... It's just one game, he'll live. I'll. Make it next time.
Next thing you know those aspirations of your youth are not but dreams suppressed and hidden away as we call them former immature and childish ambitions.

Dollars = Devil?

Cradle to Grave Design and Sustainability

As with television where the argument has become that children need better programs to aid in their development and ensure their head are not filled with violence…The issue is they are watching too much TV…Don’t address the symptoms…oh, you’re sick, whats wrong?...ok here are some drugs to make you not feel bad and fool your body into thinking you are okay…what about addressing the underlying issue…for example, your back hurts because you have a leg shorter than the other; you are sick all the time because you are mal-nutritional and stressed; you aren’t sleeping at night because you don’t feel fulfilled and you don’t get any exercise during the day…instead we say, ok here are some pain killers for the back, some flu vaccinations and anxiety med to keep you from getting sick and stressed, and take these sleeping pills before you go to bed at night…Oh yeah, and here are some more pills to treat the side effects from what we have you before…Really? REALLY?! WAKE UP!...Oh that’s right, you don’t care to look at the problem or the root of the problem…work consistently as hard as you can…buy lots of crap…that’s how you get through life…isn’t it?...

Architects, Designers, Land Planners, and Governments need to perform the same self evaluations and rethinking as Modern Medicine Doctor. No more can we go, okay lets build a box that is completely impractical and simple and throw some other boxes on the side. We’ll keep out all the evil sunshine, air, heat, weather out then add lots of lights and heat in it..Oh, but wait we don’t want to have a huge power bill, so how do me make it more energy efficient?...That’s working backwards! How about designing buildings intelligently, practically, useful, naturally integrated, spiritually significant, unique (but not at the loss of practicality), from what is locally available, and that uses what is naturally given in the surrounding environment….and how about this, no turf farms in the desert where they won’t grow, no palm trees in alpine ranges, no swimming pools right next to a lake, natural light, collection of rain water… I mean, come on people…seriously.

But we in and of ourselves cannot sit and say, you are wrong…what the hell. We need to go back and look at why nations and populous simply look at the overlying issues, the symptoms. Somewhere in our lives there has been something that stimulated us to ensure that we took action. People that come together to stimulate change in policy, in environment, in living conditions, in design, in our future; we have all had some calling card; some series of events that has led us here, some certain experiences that have proved in our own minds that:

·         This world is worth saving/preserving/conserving for the benefits of ourselves and others

·         The changes in effect now present a viable threat to the non-existence of what we cherish in the foreseeable future

·         We have the ability to influence and the control the way in which we change our environment

·         For one reason or another most people (or a sufficient amount) are not aware of their impacts and how they are making or can make a difference

Sustainability?

What is the root of sustainability? Why do we look to be sustainable? Why has this become a keyword?

I took a course in college called Engineers for a Sustainable world in which I was highly disappointed. The topics of the course included:

 More concentrated on the effects of engineering and technological development on society. Having sustainable practices in engineering and development procedures in the stead of

Not so much concentrated on sustainability as much as something simple that will keep working for you for a fair amount of time…?

My question that was never answered: can sustainability be sustainable without consideration for environmental impacts? Is simply saying that something is more sustainable or better than what we currently have worth raving about? Can you say you are a sustainable builder because you produce something that is relatively more sustainable? Can you claim that you are all-knowing simply because you know more than everyone else? To do so is conniving, false, illusionary, deceptive, and fundamentally flawed.

Start from the beginning, go back and design/build from the ground up with purpose, consideration, and multiple revisions…develop a revolutionarily original design, not a most improvement upon the design…innovation is not enough!

The lists of projects for the semester included Cayuga Lake Watershed, Aqua para el Pueblo, and Solar Cooking

Design

Even more important in design is undersign…. We need to understand that in creation of something we are also responsible for the “uncreation”, for the degradation, and non-existence of our creation…understanding that our creation will cease to exist at some point and we must understand (with a frame of mind that it is already dead) what will be the aftermath of what we have created? How are we designing in the end of the lifecycle of our creation? What will be done with the various components when they are to be removed from the house? Will they be destroyed? Will they be reusable? Will they be recyclable? What components of the creation will have to be disposed of? How does their decomposition/reuse time compare to their useful time? Are we throwing that 1000-year plastic bottle in the landfill when it only has a useful life of a month in the average use? Are we creating something toxic to be disposed of only in a landfill? Consider the fact that 43% (from Sustainable Wanaka figure) of landfill waste comes from construction and demolition combined.

Consideration for construction practices, materials and implementation is crucial! We cannot design a building, structure, etc and simply say here is what you are to make, now order the materials and make it happen; I don’t care how you do it just get it done. The fact of the matter is you must include in the design the planning for construction, how pieces are assembled, what materials are readily available and best suited for the project, what sizes we can use to reduce waste (and decrease construction costs).

Fear and Life

Walking in Life. You can walk in life in many different and distinct ways…stading without direction or motivation, walking without direction (walking to walk), walking without purpose or goals (following a path not knowing where it goes), walking with purpose and direction (you’ve got somewhere to be) , running with purpose (to train), running with direction (running to get somewhere more quickly)… so you can live your life…living to live, living as it comes, living dedicated to some cause, living hard core, living for the next life…

But don’t miss out on the walking because you can discover things you would not have otherwise come across or realized.

What is the scariest thing about walking through the forest in the dark? You are vulnerable…if you were still, you would see, feel and hear all around you…if you were running you would feel as though you can escape the fear… but to revel in it, just walk…feel the hairs stand up on the back of your neck… feel scared and understand it.

But is there something more important to see here? Am I Fearing of fear… do you always have to overcome fear? Or can you accept that you will always have fear? New fear, undiscovered, unknown, and untested fears? Does that mean you slide the slippery slope of no longer pushing the envelope, or do you understand that you don’t simply face fear blindly, unintelligently, and just to rid yourself of all fear? You don’t face fear because you want no fear…you face fear to grow…to take that step and find the new ones…you work through these problems, these issues, these obstacle in the road not so there will be no more obstacles (because they will always be present) but because you cannot face a wall of mountains all at once… you cannot sip every drop of that wine of refreshment all at once as the poison will kill you, but taking it drop for drop throughout time it is as the oil of joy and the corn of nourishment… it is the wine of refreshment… a pivotal part of your life. Build your pyramids one block at a time… they are not created by aliens with space ships and time travel all in one fell swoop… but through relentless dedication, hard work, constant re-evaluation, and time. Life is not magic, but persistence. Life is not something that just happens; it is what you make of it. Life will not give you every answer, but is that reason to quit? It’s a start…its growth, development, rebirth, and a new attempt to start something new…to take what you are given and even what you aren’t and make the best of it.

Internet, Life and the Information Age

Many companies have made millions on the internet and communication throughout the world and the masses have responded. We are well beyond the early adopter phase in 2009 where we waste hours upon hours of time jumping on the internet, as is so easy today, and saying, “Sweet, I’m connected! Now what?” Indeed

We are connected to the internet… but what is this…what are we actually connecting to? Who? And why? We are connected with our computer to other computer’s…our laptop with the Black Labrador desktop background is connected to some laptop with a Transformer’s background…one personality to another. Through websites, emails, blogs, and online social networks we have found that we can easily connect to those who are physically far away…or can we? Are we just connecting ourselves to a published picture of them? An ideal we are meant to believe? How often are we actually speaking, having conversations, interacting? Is it just a bunch of shows to see who is watching? Who can build the biggest tower of Babel? Who can claim to have the most friends and say, “Look I’m the most bad-ass of all the people that think they are bad-ass”

It had been a novelty to find out information. You were somebody when you knew everybody (or more importantly everybody knew you) or everything about some subject. But the mindset has changed in what we are calling the Information Age. We say “Look…I don’t need to know all the answers, all I need is to know how to find the answers.” I can Google anything in the world and get an answer. But is it the right answer? Who is behind the answer? Could you prove it yourself? No one cares to ask. With this mindset the populous looses focus on gaining any particular skills, in developing knowledge, in thinking originally without being spoon-fed Wikipedia answers, Google excerpts, and YouTube clips.

A day will come when information will not govern life, but just be a part of it again; a day when we won’t sit aimlessly in front of a blinking cursor in the blindingly white Google search box. What do I want to search for? What am I looking for? What one bit of infinite knowledge do I want spoon-fed to me today? Stop Blinking at me! Just tell me something! Not just anything…something interesting!

So we turn to news media, friend updates, sports, and movies