The central contention of physics has it that the building blocks of the universe will endure even if, or even when, the humans who tally them, and the planet we live on, all die. To see into the deathless universe is to try to see nothing so flamboyant as [William] Wordsworth’s favorite daffodils and walnut groves, but to peer into the coldest spaces, the black holes and the fractional electric charge of theoretical subatomic particles. These entities have no blood flow, of course, but also no DNA; they’re not susceptible to pandemics, however virulent, or the dividends and ravages of carbon. They don’t live, so they don’t die. To model the universe as precisely as possible is to try to see the one thing that even the strictest atheist agrees is everlasting — to try to achieve, in a lab, an intimation of immortality. | |
Back to the living world that’s under our feet. [Carlo] Rovelli is right to caution against the potential delusions of those who are greedy for eurekas. But, as a fellow physicist with a radical streak, he is also sympathetic to their ambitions, a drive to “learn something unexpected about the fundamental laws of nature.” To Rovelli, whose latest book describes quantum mechanics as an almost psychedelic experience, a truly radical discovery entails the observation of phenomena that fall outside three existing frameworks in physics: quantum theory, the Standard Model of particle physics, and general relativity. Only by blowing up one of those frameworks can one achieve the kind of immortality that scientists get, the glory of someone like Einstein or Heisenberg. | |
But to keep looking, as Rovelli has, as Fermilab has with this study on the muon’s magnetism, is also to apprehend hints. To follow hints. In that way, the physicist’s work and the poet’s are the same. And if Wordsworth is right, immortality can be found, of all places, in the hint — the staggering proposition by nature itself that, in spite of all the dying around us, something of all we love might be imperishable, might still flicker or shine or wobble when the rest of our world is gone. | |
— Virginia Heffernan | |
From her article: “Muonstruck“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine; dtd: June 2021 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Keep Growing |
I Keep Looking | |
2020 | I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Plans |
One Earth | |
2019 | Beautiful Rules |
2018 | Skepticism |
2017 | WWGD? |
2016 | Growing Greatness |
2015 | When It Is Darkest |
2014 | Knowledge And Doubt |
2013 | Three Thoughts |
2012 | Gentle Reader |
2011 | Leave The Light On For Me Anyway |
Posts Tagged ‘Wired Magazine’
Might Still Flicker Or Shine
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Albert Einstein, Carlo Rovelli, Daffodils, Fermilab, General Relativity, Muons, Muonstruck, Philosophy, physics, Quotes, Science, The Standard Model Of Particle Physics, Virginia Heffernan, Werner Heisenberg, William Wordsworth, Wired Magazine on April 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Whatever One Can
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged A Gigantical Tale Of Laffervescent Genius, Jason Kehe, Philosophy, Quotes, R. A. Lafferty, Wired Magazine on April 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »
One does whatever one can for oneness that is greater than self. | |
— R. A. Lafferty | |
Quoted by: Jason Kehe | |
From his article: “A Gigantical Tale Of Laffervescent Genius“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine; dtd: June 2021 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Horticulture Anyone? |
Take To The Sky | |
2020 | Heroes Die Too |
Front Update | |
Still More Hope Than Fact | |
2019 | The Ones Worth Remembering, Anyway |
Boot Edge Edge (My New T) | |
2018 | To Reach The Next Threshold |
2017 | Streaking Tales |
2016 | Singular Reality |
2015 | He Says It’s Hard To Get There From Here |
2014 | Question From A Founding Father |
2013 | Make Heroes |
2012 | See And Hold |
2011 | Am Not, Are So |
Completely Reasonable To Worry
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Automation, Dear Cloud Support, Dear Cloud Support: My Car Is Making Me Feel Useless, Meghan O'Gieblyn, Philosophy, Quotes, Technology, Wired Magazine on March 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »
What I’m suggesting is that there’s a self-fulfilling element to conversations about automation. It’s not so much that machines are relieving us of activities that are intrinsically rote and mechanical; it’s more that a skill comes to seem rote and mechanical when a machine learns to do it. An ability only begins to appear “worthless,” as you put it, when it can be executed by highly profitable technologies. At the moment, our talents and aptitudes are being made obsolete at such a rate that many people, like you, are uneasy about where this trajectory might end. | |
… | |
We consumers are not asked to vote or weigh in on the new devices, features, and apps that will inevitably shape our lives. It’s completely reasonable to worry that you might look up at some point and find yourself at a historical destination that you never consciously chose. | |
All of which is to say, you’re right to pause and question this technology. Given how quick we are to adapt to and assimilate novel forms of automation, it’s doubly important to consider whether a given skill is something you’re willing to relinquish. In that spirit, I’m going to avoid prescribing anything concrete (what is advice but one more automated solution?) and instead encourage you to continue thinking about what you are prepared to give up. Are there certain boundaries that you’re not willing to cross? Or is your humanity just a moving target, its definition staked on whatever remains after the rest has been offloaded onto devices? The willingness to think through these questions, consider their consequences, and commit to a course of — literal — action is itself virtuous and worthwhile. It’s one thing, at least for the time being, that we alone can do. | |
— Meghan O’Gieblyn | |
From her “advice” column: “Dear Cloud Support: My Car Is Making Me Feel Useless!“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine; dtd: May 2021 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Seeking Happiness |
Check Your Watch | |
2020 | Expectation For The Near Future |
2019 | Indian Myth |
Did He Even Have The Courage To Ask? | |
2018 | Nothing |
2017 | Approval First |
2016 | In Search Of Words |
Day 2 – Blending | |
2015 | At What Price? |
2014 | Intricate And Subtle Order |
2013 | Attention To Detail |
2012 | Aequanimitas! |
2011 | Consider This |
One Hour Per Year
Posted in Education, Environment, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Decisions, Paul Ford, Philosophy, Quotes, Technology, The Great Unbundling, Wired Magazine on March 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »
If we’re going to live together, the [tech] giants and me, I’d like to ask them something. Humbly. If you’re a product manager working on a feed or search interface inside of a giant tech company, you have access to hundreds of billions of hours of human attention. Could you help your users spend one hour a year learning about what’s coming for the world, climate-wise, with a small dose of civics to go with it? | |
Because, if you did, that would be 2 or 3 billion hours of shared experience. Two to 3 billion hours of people learning how important it is that we come together calmly. And that is a beautiful canvas of time upon which to paint a future. It would be one hell of a product. We’re counting on you. | |
We have no choice. You won. | |
Billions of us need help making millions, billions of decisions. Decisions about whether to upgrade HVAC systems, or how to fuel our shipping, or what to plant in the backyard. Sometimes it feels like the paradigm has inverted. Technology was the mold growing across human systems. Software was eating the world. Now it feels like humans are the mold growing on technology. | |
I said that there’s no next big thing. But deep in my soft, uncynical heart, where I keep my most embarrassing predictions, I do know what it is. The next big thing is us. Just plain old people. Humans using language. Humans accepting limits. I can’t help you turn it into Q4 results. I don’t know how to invest in it, nor who should run the conference series. Nor could I tell you who should host the podcast. | |
I just know that it’s got to be our turn. I love technology, but this is faith. | |
— Paul Ford | |
From his article: “The Great Unbundling“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magzine; dtd: May 2021 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | If You’re A Lucky 11 Year Old |
Just Got To Be | |
Masked Countdown And Gratitude | |
2020 | Democratic Aspiration |
2019 | Soul Before Will |
2018 | Small Things |
2017 | Clear And Warm To Me |
2016 | Ripple |
2015 | Amazing Or Full Of Wonder? |
2014 | Are You Confused? |
2013 | But The Odds Are Against It |
2012 | Far Better Off With Books |
2011 | Timid And Fainthearted |
Looking For Treasure Troves
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Erdal Arikan, Philosophy, Quotes, Science Discoveries, Steven Levy, The Man Who Conquered Noise, Wired Magazine on January 9, 2022| 1 Comment »
The key to discoveries is to look at those places where there is still a paradox. It’s like the tip of an iceberg. If there is a point of dissatisfaction, take a closer look at it. You are likely to find a treasure trove underneath. | |
— Erdal Arikan | |
Quoted by: Steven Levy | |
From the article: “The Man Who Conquered Noise“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine | |
Dtd: Dec. 2020 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | True Originality |
There Must Be Peace And Understanding | |
2020 | #45: Lies And Hate-Speech Are Not Moral Leadership |
2019 | Be Brave |
2018 | What Else Matters? |
2017 | Slow Go |
2016 | A Tiny Ripple Of Hope |
2015 | Liberating Books |
2014 | Discover God |
2013 | Without Witness |
2012 | Nutritarian |
Just That Strange Peace
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Christof Koch, Consciousness, Is the Internet Conscious? If It were How Would We Know?, Meghan O'Gieblyn, Philosophy, Quotes, The Internet, Wired Magazine on January 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »
When asked how we will know when the internet is becoming conscious, [Christof] Koch [Ph.D] replied that the surest sign will be when “it displays independent behavior.” It’s hard to imagine what exactly this might look like. But considering that this process will also involve the waning of human consciousness, you might look inward, at the state of your own psyche. | |
The early stages of this process will likely be subtle. You might feel a bit scattered, your attention pulled in multiple directions, such that you begin to suspect that the philosophers are right, that the unified self is an illusion. You may occasionally succumb to the delusion that everyone you know sounds the same, as though their individual minds, filtered through the familiar syntax of tweets and memes, have fused into a single voice. You might find yourself engaging in behaviors that are not in your self-interest, mechanically following the dictate to share and spread personal information, even though you know the real beneficiary is not you or your friends, but the system itself. | |
The great merging, when it comes, might feel — and I confess I find this most probable — like nothing at all. There will be no explosion, no heavenly trumpet, just that strange peace that is known to overcome tourists standing in Times Square, or walking the Las Vegas strip, a surrender to overstimulation that is not unlike the numbness that sets in after hours of scrolling and clicking. In such moments, the noise is so total it becomes indistinguishable from silence, and even there, amidst the crowd, it is possible to experience a holy solitude, as though you are standing all alone, in the center of a great cathedral. | |
From an article written by: Meghan O’Gieblyn | |
The article: “Is the Internet Conscious? If It were, How Would We Know?“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine | |
Dtd: Dec 2020 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Have Republicans Figured Out Biden Won Yet? |
Sleepin’ On Your Doorstep | |
2020 | Careful About Myth Telling |
2019 | My Irish Diet |
Fighting With Oneself | |
2018 | Feeling Both |
2017 | Just Start |
2016 | Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall |
2015 | Restraint At The Inn |
2014 | To Not Discovering |
2013 | I Have Less To Say |
2012 | Not The Best Prediction I’ve Ever Read |
Likely To Be Subtle
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Christof Koch, Consciousness, Is The Internet Conscious?, Las Vegas, Meghan O'Gieblyn, Philosophy, Quotes, The Internet, Times Square, Wired Magazine on November 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »
When asked how we will know when the internet is becoming conscious, (Christof) Koch replied that the surest sign will be when “it displays independent behavior.” It’s hard to imagine what exactly this might look like. But considering that this process will also involve the waning of human consciousness, you might look inward, at the state of your own psyche. | ||
The early stages of this process will likely be subtle. You might feel a bit scattered, your attention pulled in multiple directions, such that you begin to suspect that the philosophers are right, that the unified self is an illusion. You may occasionally succumb to the delusion that everyone you know sounds the same, as though their individual minds, filtered through the familiar syntax of tweets and memes, have fused into a single voice. You might find yourself engaging in behaviors that are not in your self-interest, mechanically following the dictate to share and spread personal information, even though you know the real beneficiary is not you or your friends, but the system itself. | ||
The great merging, when it comes, might feel — and I confess I find this most probable — like nothing at all. There will be no explosion, no heavenly trumpet, just that strange peace that is known to overcome tourists standing in Times Square, or walking the Las Vegas strip, a surrender to over-stimulation that is not unlike the numbness that sets in after hours of scrolling and clicking. In such moments, the noise is so total it becomes indistinguishable from silence, and even there, amidst the crowd, it is possible to experience a holy solitude, as though you are standing all alone, in the center of a great cathedral. | ||
— Meghan O’Gieblyn | ||
From the article: “Is The Internet Conscious?“ | ||
Appearing in: Wired Magazine; dtd: Dec 2020 | ||
The article also appears online at: https://www.wired.com/story/is-the-internet-conscious-if-it-were-how-would-we-know/ | ||
(I don’t guarantee the printed article matches the online version — KMAB) | ||
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On This Day In: | ||
2020 | A Word Of Assurance They Are Not Alone | |
Is #45 Still Crying? | ||
2019 | It’s Obvious | |
2018 | Passed Too Swiftly | |
2017 | On Our Wall (Part 1) | |
2016 | Or The Ripples From A Good Life | |
2015 | Titles And Reputations | |
2014 | Unfolding | |
2013 | Again | |
2012 | Needs | |
Damned | ||
2011 | Potter & Prejudice | |
Blink, Blink | ||
Hold That Thought
Posted in Faith, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Clean Conscience, Consciousness, God, Philosophy, Quotes, Rodney Brooks, Virginia Heffernan, Wired Magazine on September 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »
“I sort of have this joke theory,” Brooks says, “that consciousness is put there by God, so that he has this very quick interface to find out what we’re thinking about.” | |
— Rodney Brooks | |
Quoted by: Virginia Heffernan | |
In her article: “Clean Conscience“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine; dtd: Nov 2020 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Everyone I’ve Ever Met |
A Secret Chord | |
2019 | A Big “IF” |
2018 | Silence Presence |
2017 | Feeling Small Standing In Front Of My Shelves |
2016 | Show Willing |
2015 | If He Only Knew… |
2014 | Dared To Love |
2013 | Strong Kung-Fu |
2012 | Two Tribes |
2011 | Made Any Assumptions Lately? |
Access Is Good
Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Democracy, Gilad Edelman, Government, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, Stacey Abrams, Stacey Abrams on How We'll Beat Back Voter Suppression, Voting, Wired Magazine on September 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Democracy is not partisan. That’s where I begin this conversation. Who I choose once I’m inside the voting booth is my business. Ensuring my ability to get inside is the responsibility of government. I’m a progressive Democrat in part because I want the system to be fair. We should not be guaranteed victory, but we should be guaranteed access. Anyone who believes in our democracy should hold that to be a good. | |
— Stacey Abrams | |
Quoted by: Gilad Edelman | |
In an interview: “Stacey Abrams on How We’ll Beat Back Voter Suppression“ | |
Published in: Wired Magazine | |
Dtd: 15 September 2020 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Give Me A Minute To Think About That… |
November 3rd Is Coming! | |
An Eye For An Eye | |
2019 | Is #45 Warning Alabama Again? |
Day 11: 49ers Win | |
2018 | Worry (x2) |
2017 | Still Working |
Gold In The Morning Sun | |
2016 | Power Inside |
2015 | Sometimes I Feel Small |
2014 | It Slipped Away |
2013 | Corollary |
2012 | Working Retired |
2011 | The Web Is Not Authoritative! (Really?) |
Families
Posted in Faith Family and Friends, Family and Friends, History, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged Families, History, Kurt Vonnegut, Laurie Penny, Live Wrong And Prosper: Its The Future of Fimilies, Living Together, Love, Nuclear Family, Philosophy, Quotes, The Sirens Of Titan, Wired Magazine on July 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »
… | |
The nuclear family, in its brief heyday, was fundamentally an economic strategy, one that made it easier to control the supply of workers and organize childcare and domestic work so that women were doing as much of it as possible for free. This arrangement no longer makes economic or emotional sense — and millennials know it. Almost half of us, after all, grew up with parents who were divorced, or in single-parent households. But the nuclear family remains the only form of family with cultural legitimacy. | |
… | |
Here’s the lesson I had to learn: “Traditional” nuclear families today are no more stable or secure, no more or less likely to lead to lasting happiness, than “alternative” households. In “The Sirens of Titan“, Kurt Vonnegut spends hundreds of pages coming to the conclusion that the purpose — or at least a purpose — “of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” The problem with found families is exactly the same as the problem with every other sort of family. There is no perfect structure, no single set of rules, that can guarantee that people will always be decent to each other, will never have growing up to do, and that nobody will ever get their heart broken ever again. | |
… | |
And that, I suppose, is what family means. | |
It means you love whoever is around to love. That doesn’t mean you have to like them all the time. Love takes work. Living together takes work. Sick and tired of waiting around in the antechamber of socially sanctioned adulthood, millennials are setting up home right here. We are not waiting for our “real lives” to start. We may never have the security or stability we were raised to desire, but we can still have commitment and community. For me, this is my real life. These are the households and relationships where I have grown up, learned how to take care of myself and other people, had my heart and brain and favorite mugs broken. These are our real lives, brief and beautiful, stupid and unlikely, and we would live them far better if we were given permission — beyond the wish fulfillment of fiction — to believe in them. | |
— Laurie Penny | |
From her article: “Live Wrong And Prosper: It’s The Future Of Families“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine, dtd: July / Aug 2020 | |
Online at: https://www.wired.com/story/live-wrong-prosper-covid-19-future-of-families/ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | A Message To Optional Trump Supporters (Basically Everyone) |
2019 | Bigger Jaws |
On The Other | |
2018 | Hoping For A Blue Wave In November |
2017 | Garden Dreaming |
2016 | Well, Maybe Not “No” Talent |
2015 | An Appetite For Life |
A Trip To The Library | |
Great Expectations | |
2014 | Pass The Soul |
2013 | Zapping Music And Art |
2012 | Not Quite Fantastic |
That Kid Is Back | |
2011 | Wolves At The Door |
2010 | I’m Feeling Patriotic… (Well, more than usual, anyway.) |
Beating the Heat… | |
They Don’t And They Aren’t
Posted in Health, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Divine Punishment, Health, Philosophy, Plagues, Quotes, Rapture, Science, Tribes, Virginia Heffernan, Wired Magazine, Words To Live By on May 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Plagues don’t come for one tribe or another; they don’t smite a population because it’s gone astray; they’re neither divine punishment nor a sign of the Rapture. | |
— Virginia Heffernan | |
From her article: “Words To Live By“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine; dtd: May 2020 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Social Distancing |
2019 | Touched? |
2018 | Chillin’ With My Bro |
Inconvenient Adventure | |
2017 | Genuine Tragedies |
2016 | Why I’m Scared Of November |
2015 | I Can Tell Too |
2014 | In Hand |
2013 | No Fear |
2012 | Comic Books |
Keeping The Peace | |
2011 | You Still Have To Pay For It |
If You’re A Lucky 11 Year Old
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, tagged An Awesome Question, Consciousness, Imagination, Limitations, Luck, Nicholas Thompson, Obligations, Philosophy, Quotes, Wired Magazine on March 27, 2021| 2 Comments »
From our first moments of consciousness up through childhood, the things we think we might be able to do with our lives broaden and broaden. And then, at some point around adolescence, they start to narrow. Our imaginations shrink, our obligations grow, we charge ahead on certain roads and avoid the ones less traveled. Eleven is wonderful. You’re aware of the world and its limitations, but if you’re lucky your imagination hasn’t been crimped yet. Really, maybe, you can do anything. | |
— Nicholas Thompson | |
From his editorial: “An Awesome Question“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine, dtd: Apr 2020 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Democratic Aspiration |
2019 | Soul Before Will |
2018 | Small Things |
2017 | Clear And Warm To Me |
2016 | Ripple |
2015 | Amazing Or Full Of Wonder? |
2014 | Are You Confused? |
2013 | But The Odds Are Against It |
2012 | Far Better Off With Books |
2011 | Timid And Fainthearted |
I Like Curves More, Too
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Curves, Generation Vexed, Great Muchness, Humanity, Metcalfe's Law, Moore's Law, Paul Ford, Philosophy, Quotes, Technology, Thumbnail Rules, Wired Magazine on February 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Generations imply some giant disruption in the universe. I like curves more. Moore’s law (always more transistors), Metcalfe’s law (bigger networks are more valuable), experience curves (making things gets cheaper when you learn by doing), and so forth. I like these thumbnail rules because they encapsulate the Great Muchness more than some theory of intergenerational strife. It’s terrible that we’re headed into global climate catastrophe, but then again, we’re only facing doom because for 75 years no one started a nuclear war. | |
… | |
So our sleep will be transcribed and robots will deliver our sneakers, which will themselves be computers. Technology will not solve bad marriages, bad eating, or racist thoughts, nor stop DisneyWarnerNetflixQuibiPlus from making superhero movies. I find it profoundly helpful, then, to not just reject the concept of generations but to invert it: The immense changes in technology show us, again and again, year after year, that we are basically the same as ever, just reacting to our place along curves of life well out of our control. One can get very mixed up about what makes us human. And it would, in fact, behoove all of us on the grayer side to get to know and love our peculiar youths, so that they might speak well of us when we do not matter anymore. | |
— Paul Ford | |
From his article: “Generation Vexed“ | |
Appearing in: Wired Magazine, dtd: March 2020 | |
Online the article is titled: “How Technology Explodes the Concept of ‘Generations’“ | |
The link is: https://www.wired.com/story/millennials-genx-technology-explodes-generations/ | |
(You may have to go through a “pay-wall” to view the article.) | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Pay It Forward |
2019 | From My Sullied Prison |
2018 | In My Room (2) |
2017 | Pretending |
2016 | And Songs Too… |
2015 | On The Road To Failure |
2014 | Each Moment |
2013 | Conversation |
2012 | 4 Down, 11 Done (At Last) |
I’m Not Afraid | |
2011 | Who’s Risk Is It, Anyway? |