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The Circle

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The film The Circle is an excellent movie, in my opinion. It can be classified as “future fiction” rather than “science fiction”. It stars folks like Emma Watson. Tom Hanks, John Boyega, and Bill Paxton. It really feels like the Silicone Valley of now: fast. fresh and optimistic.

There are so many negative reviews about the film that I have begun to wonder it the critics are being led by the big tech companies that might feel it shows them in a negative light. The movie isn’t nearly as bad as “they” say. so I have begun to smell a rat.

Mick LaSalle of The San Francisco Chronicle praised the film’s timeliness: “What makes The Circle so valuable is not only that it’s showing us a ghastly possible path that the world may take. but that it articulates the mentality that could create and sustain it.”

It you enjoy movies with disturbing visions of the future, you should really make an effort to see The Circle. The ideas presented about privacy are important now, we must think about them, evaluate our own opinions, and not let financial motives of others push us in a direction we don’t want.

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World Book Day

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In honor of World Book Day on Sunday 4/23/2017, billionaire Richard Branson has put together a list of 70 “must-read” books. One of my recent most favorites is # 70!

Here’s the full list:

1. Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
2. Tales of the Unexpected – Roald Dahl
3. George’s Marvelous Medicine – Roald Dahl
4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
5. Oh, The Place You’ll Go – Dr. Seuss
6. Peter Pan – J. M. Barrie
7. The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling
8. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain
9. Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
10. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Douglas Adams
11. Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stephenson
12. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
13. Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton
14. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne
15. 1984 – George Orwell
16. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
17. The Quiet American – Graham Greene
18. The Dice Man – Luke Rhinehart
19. Shantaram – Gregory Roberts
20. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
21. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World – Tracy Kidder
22. The Outermost House – Henry Beston
23. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China – Jung Chang
24. Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege – Antony Beevor
25. The Right Stuff – Tom Wolfe
26. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex – Nathaniel Philbrick
27. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
28. Travels with Charley – John Steinbeck
29. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela – Nelson Mandela
30. Mao: The Unknown Story – Jung Chang
31. A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety – Jimmy Carter
32. No Future Without Forgiveness – Desmond Tutu
33. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time – Dava Sobel
34. Mandela’s Way: Lessons on Life, Love, and Courage – Stengel
35. Limitless: Leadership That Endures – Ajaz Ahmed
36. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World – Adam Grant
37. If I Could Tell You Just One Thing: 50 of the world’s most remarkable people pass on their best piece of advice – Richard Reed
38. Remote: Office Not Required – Jason Fried
39. Start With Why – Simon Sinek
40. 101 Reasons to Get Out of Bed – Natasha Milne
41. Letters to a Stranger: A publishing project in aid of MIND – Various
42. Self Belief: The Vision – Jamal Edwards
43. The Meaning of the 21st Century – James Martin
44. Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill – Matthieu Ricard
45. A Time for New Dreams – Ben Okri
46. A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking
47. The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution – Frank White
48. Beyond The Blue – Jim Campbell
49. Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think – Peter Diamandis
50. Ending the War on Drugs – Various
51. The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth – Tim Flannery
52. Big World, Small Planet – Johan Rockström and Mattias Klum
53. An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It – Al Gore
54. Necker: A Virgin Island – Russell James
55. Lost Ocean – Johanna Basford
56. Arctica: The Vanishing North – Sebastian Copeland
57. In Patagonia – Bruce Chatwin
58. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster – Jon Krakauer
59. The World Without Us – Weisman
60. In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules – Stacy Perman
61. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto – Michael Pollan
62. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal – Eric Schlosser
63. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption – Bryan Stevenson
64. Lean In – Sheryl Sandberg
65. Cosmos – Carl Sagan
66. Obama: The Historic Presidency of Barack Obama – 2,920 Days – Mark Greenberg
67. Little Wins, The Huge Power of Thinking Like a Toddler – Paul Lindley
68. Black Box Thinking – Matthew Syed
69. Winners: And How They Succeed – Alastair Campbell
70. Homo Deus – Yuval Noah Harari

So, print this “check list” and start reading! Ready, set, go….

and on the eighth day God said, “OK, Murphy, take over.”

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Make a resistor hat and march for science

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Scientists and their friends need to stand up and demand evidence-based policy and facts. Science is not partisan. Protecting our world and the people in it is not a partisan issue. This is why I will march on April 22nd. I hope you join in the cause!

Check out this “show and tell” video about the Resistor HAT and the designs that were inspired by it.

You can get a PDF of the pattern by Clicking here.

Thanks to Heidi Arjes of Craftimism.com for making this pattern available to the marchers. BTW, don’t underestimate Heidi. She is a scientist in the Department of Bioengineering and Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University. Enjoy

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Real Patriotism

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‘Real Americans’ have always been rebels: a guide for progressive patriotism

by Micah White in The Guardian newspaper March 2017

to see the full article Click Here

Thomas Jefferson, an author of the Declaration of Independence, once wrote in a letter to James Madison, architect of the US constitution and bill of rights, that “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical”.

Jefferson also advocated only mild punishment for rebellions so as to avoid discouraging them too much. And, in a wakeup call to today’s Americans, Jefferson famously advocated revolutions every two decades, writing in 1787: “God forbid we should be 20 years without a rebellion … What country can preserve its liberties if the rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?”

Abraham Lincoln echoed Jefferson during his inaugural address in 1861 when he said: “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember, or overthrow it.”

And so too did Ulysses S Grant in 1885 when he declared: “The right of revolution is an inherent one. When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of the oppression if they are strong enough, either by withdrawing from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable.”

and

Nowadays, the right of revolution is as inalienable as ever, yet it is rarely acknowledged by those in power. Unlike presidents Jefferson, Lincoln and Grant today’s leaders are loathe to concede that if their government is oppressive, then the people have a duty to revolt. Notice how Barack Obama is fond of praising protesters’s right of assembly but stops far short of celebrating the right of revolution.

All this leads to the final epiphany that we, the people, have a patriotic duty to defend our country whenever our governments conflicts with a higher, democratic ideal.

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Human Existence Is in Peril

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Whitney Robson Harris (August 12, 1912 – April 21, 2010) was an American attorney, and one of the last surviving prosecutors from the Nuremberg Trials. He wrote the following piece in 2006 at the age of 94.

Given the issues that Donald Trump has brought to our country and our world, I think it is important that we remember that God isn’t going to come along and save us from him, after the fact. We are going to have to solve the Donald Trump issues ourselves. As my Dad used to say: “Get up and do it yourself.” We can’t wait, get involved now. Don’t wait until it is too late.

This paper has always impressed me. So I am sharing it now with a spirit of hope. Be sure to read the finale.

Human Existence Is in Peril — by Whitney R. Harris — June 2006

If we attempt to comprehend this vast universe with its millions of fiery stars and frightening dark holes, and say for comfort that only God could have created it, and therefore, there is a God, we default in our reasoning, for we are unable to answer the further question, “who created the God who created the universe?”

We do know that we live on Earth, spun off from the sun and, therefore, on a planet with a beginning. Moreover, we know that, once a fiery ball, the Earth has cooled and gained life upon its surface — static, nonthinking plants and mobile, thinking animals. We do not know whence came the first manifestation of that life — the tiniest amoeba — capable of discernible thought and movement. To ignite the spark of life requires the hand of God. Never mind the universe. Here on Earth, we find the quintessential role of God.

Hence, I believe first, that God exists.

Until this time at least, man has evolved far beyond any other animals on Earth in comprehension and intelligence. The carnivores exceed his strength on land; the amphibians surpass his power at sea. But man has the gift of reason, which enables him to dominate life on Earth — and the chance to survive as long as the solar system remains hospitable to him. That chance, alas, is not eternal.

And, thus, I believe human life is finite.

Within these limits of survivability man holds his destiny in his own hands. He has yet to prove his worthiness. In the last century, he destroyed more of his own kind in war and in merciless murder than in any other time in history. He is fated to acquire the capability of obliterating himself and all other life upon this planet. And he seems unable to appreciate the consequences of that power. The life that God gave to him may be by him destroyed.

And so, I believe human existence is in peril.

The challenge to man is to establish and to maintain the foundations of peace and humanity upon the Earth for the centuries to come that God has allotted him to live upon this planet. He must learn to end war and protect life, to seek justice and find mercy, to help others and embrace compassion. Each man must respect every other man and honor the God who made this incredible mystery of human life a reality.

I believe there is God,
I believe God is merciful and just,
But if man desires to destroy himself
I believe God will not save him.

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New films

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A couple of neat films have been released this week.

The first is short, about 6 minutes long, is from the American Museum of Natural History about human population growth over the last 200,000 years, called Human Population Through Time. It is a relaxing view.

Watch it by clicking here.

The other is from Leonardo DiCaprio as he explores the topic of climate change. This one is longer, about 1.5 hours, but I think it is well worth it. This is an excellent movie, in my opinion, and we should really thank Leonardo DiCaprio for the time and money he spent on this film.

You can see it by clicking here, to go to into YouTube

www.youtube.com/watch?v=90CkXVF-Q8M

or even watch it here directly.

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Don’t try to extend your life span, instead, improve your health span

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Dr. Vijg, an expert on aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, says humans will never get older than 115. The paragraphs below are from this New York Times article.

New York Times 06 October 2016, Science section

Some of those improvements have come from quitting smoking and having better diets. Antibiotics and drugs for chronic disorders like heart disease have also helped. But all of the improvements of modern life, Dr. Guarente and others argue, have not turned back the underlying biological process of aging.

Based on his own experimental research, Dr. Vijg describes aging as the accumulation of damage to DNA and other molecules. Our bodies can slow the process by repairing some of this damage. But in the end it’s too much to fix.

“At some point everything goes wrong, and you collapse,” Dr. Vijg said.

The best hope for our species is not to extend our life spans, Dr. Vijg argues, but to lengthen our years of healthy living — with healthy habits and perhaps drugs that can repair some of the cellular damage that comes with time.

“There’s a good chance to improve health span — that’s the most important thing,” Dr. Vijg said.

You know how…. the old standards do work. Watch your diet, do regular exercise, beware of stress (perhaps meditate) and visit your doctor at least annually.

“Your experiences today will influence the molecular composition of your body for the next two to three months, or, perhaps, for the rest of your life. Plan your day accordingly.” – Steve Cole

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Some thoughts from October 2016

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Random quotes from magazines.

Nature 20 October 2016 World View

It’s worth noting that a conscious superintelligent AI might actually be less dangerous than a non-conscious one, because, at least in humans, one process that puts the brakes on immoral behaviors is ‘affective empathy’: the emotional contagion that makes a person feel what they perceive another to be feeling. Maybe conscious AIs would care about us more than unconscious ones would.

There is a chance that the first superintelligent AI will be the only one we will ever make. This is because once it appears – conscious or not – it can improve itself and start changing the world according to its own values.

Science 21 October 2016 Science Lessons for the Next President

As the world warms, its oceans are swelling by an average of 3.2 millimeters a year; they have risen by nearly the height of a playing card since 1993. Some 40% of this increase stems from the physical expansion of water as it heats. The rest is mostly caused by melting mountain glaciers and retreating ice sheets in Greenland.

Because of regional geology, ocean currents, and shifts in gravitational pull caused by changes on Earth’s surface, such as the melting of massive ice sheets, the ocean does not rise evenly everywhere. Much of the East Coast is sinking as Earth’s mantle continues to adjust in complex ways to the disappearance of weighty ice age glaciers. …. These forces mean East Coast sea levels are rising at double the global rate, and at triple the average in Virginia and many points north.

Just a quote

“People worry that computers will get too smart and take over the world, but the real problem is that they’re too stupid and they’ve already taken over the world.” – Pedro Domingos in his 2015 book The Master Algorithm