Monday's presentation day

i really enjoyed the presentations on Monday. The things I learned about Google Wave were interesting. I liked the Lyrical application that Rachel displayed. Alex had some up-coming technology for video games which mimicked virtual reality.

I think it'll be great to see what the other students bring on Friday. a great site I visit for upcoming designs for tech products is

MIT has great stuff too.

envision center

we went to the envision center this week in lab. it was interesting to see the 3-D room and the motion resistant ping pong game. They also had cameras set-up to do motion capture.

this technology seemed very complex and expensive. I think I'll stick to my Wii for now because anything more "real" than that might as well be the real thing.

biotechnology

The "60 minutes" video clip we watched in class titled "Brain Power" was very interesting and fascinating. The technology enabling the paralyzed to communicate through the computer using only their thoughts has potential but, like anything will take time for the scientists and the users to get better with it.

In the interview the journalist reasons that perhaps if this technology progresses, maybe one day people could control the temperature of their homes, the dimming or brightening of the lights in their homes or turning on and off other appliances that we use daily around our homes or businesses.

My only concern is, Why? why would i want an implant for myself to enhance my abilities to use certain appliances or even enhance my memory or sensory perceptions? It's one thing if I'm 70+ years of age and couldn't remember how to make breakfast, it's quite another when I'm 23 and perfectly able to use my memory and enhance it on my own.

if the technology ever was marketable to the masses, what would entice all of us to actually believe we could have much more memory capacity than we natually have if we're normal, healthy human beings? I wonder what an advertisement would say? "forgot your keys, your grocery list, or just someone's name from a party? the new memory implant will guarentee your ability to remember it. yada yada yada."

I wouldn't want such a technology implanted in my brain to enable me to be "enhanced." I'd feel less dependent on me (however you wish to define that, because believe it or not, a neurologist or psychologist would probably define it differently than most people) and more dependent on my implant.

this arguement of controlling home appliances with your thoughts--Some people enjoy the experience of using their tools and appliances, just like they enjoy cooking or working in the yard. Why would I want to take away that experience of pushing the lawnmower, turning the sprinkler system on, tugging the hose across the yard to water my plants or pushing lots of buttons as I multi-task to make dinner for the family? you may respond, "because it's easier, joe--that's a simple no brainer."

my reply: Did it ever occur to you that 'easy, or easier' is a perception, a concept built in one's mind due to their already existing precepts/ideas or expectations or environmental conditions or surroundings that have made them come to the conclusion due to their inability to be satisfied with their interaction with alll the outside stimuli they encounter daily?

if someone told you running a mile would be easy but after you ran it, you said it wasn't easy at all, then you two have a different expectation and perception of what exactly 'easy' actually means. So you've been fooled due to your own inability to specifically question and define what running a mile will entail and how it might affect you. It'd be important to pose the same question for a technology that enables you to use your thoughts to 'control' things.

Similarly, this argument has come up numerous times with the deaf families who argue with their deaf child as to whether or not to get a cochlear implant because it could make it "easier" to listen. But some deaf enjoy using Sign Language and prefer not getting the cochlear implant due to their concept of what "easier" actually is. Some deaf believe Sign Language IS easier than trying to learn how to listen and speak. being a student in American Sign Language, i can attest that Sign Language can be argued as either easier or harder depending on one's attitude toward what they perceive as 'easier' and why.

Modern Warfare Video game

sitting with one of my good friends, K, he pops in this game on his xbox 360 and says it's one of the most graphic and controversial games yet released.  he continues saying, "yeah, because of scenes like this one it almost didn't get published."  I didn't know what he was talking about momentarily...then I simply saw something that left my jaw literally dropped for the next 60 seconds.

six men. Kevlar jackets. AK-47s in hand.  elevator opens.  silence comes over the atmosphere as innocent by-standers standing in the airport security line slowly turn to see the men surround them.  Mind you, you are one of these six men holding an AK-47.  My friend begins to jab at his controller and the next 3 minutes is full of dead bodies, yells, screams, blood splatting on your screen, and all over the walls, stairs and anything in site.  The screams and yells were what I'd imagine Hell to sound like as people scream in terror as they helplessly try to flee from torture.

My friend's face was emotionless and  had no expression of compassion.  He shot these digital innocent people in the game with the same emotionless effort of shrugging your shoulders carelessly deciding whether to go to Taco Bell or Qdoba for lunch, as if neither held any weight of concern over the other.  I couldn't believe it.  I was kind of saddened, honestly.  I sat there wondering, "What did these INNOCENT people do to you that you felt so COMPELLED to shoot them as if cans lined up in a row?"

My friend, K, told me the scenario is such, "I'm a deep undercover CIA agent who has to pose as a Soviet terrorist in order to find the head Soviet terrorist and kill him."

"Really?  So that justifies your killing innocent people?"  this was a reply I had but kept it to myself for lack of argument or care because i was ready to leave the room anyway and didn't want to see anymore horror or graphic violence, for my Spirit doesn't want to see that or absorb that...besides, you have to ask yourself, who's Spirit would?  Wouldn't that tell you something about one's character and values?

Here's a fun question, What if these digital images of innocent people were actually real people and you had to actually do this?  How or by what morals, beliefs or principles would you stand in order to DEFINE these people as innocent?  Or better yet, define your means of killing them and justifying your means to do so.  This brings me back to the video game we played in recitation.  We as snipers had the option of shooting any of the "terrorists" but when doing so, more would appear therefore posing the question, "Who's the terrorist, honestly?  Is it those we see or everyone we see, (since the by-standers turned into terrorists)?  

The game in recitation posed an actual moral and lesson to the story whereas MODERN WARFARE, as far as I could see, had none.  But I guess, that's what defines one's ability to pull the trigger on innocent people (or representations thereof) is their individual understanding and definition of morality, innocence, and their belief of whether or not the end does justify the means or not.

What is your reaction and personal response to this essay?

The Great Awakening: silence in a loud world

Ever wonder what silence sounds like?  Have you ever been so tired and exhausted of radio, tv, advertisements and products, that you've turned-off, and unplugged everything in your house?  Ever been so bored with being stimulated by tv and radio that you feel saturated? I have.  

There's much to be said about the one who seeks silence on a daily basis, either to meditate, to hear his breathing, to focus his mind on nothing or to journal about one's feelings, etc.  When's the last time you did this for yourself?  Ever think it would be a treat that would taste better than dessert? Ever had a massage? If so, then you know what relaxation feels like--so why not strive for that feeling daily--doing yoga or simply breathing slowly, deeply and allowing your mind to fall away from your body.

I remember early in the semester we watched that interview on the Conan O' Brian show, "Everything's amazing and nobody's happy."  If you remember it, great, if not, it was all about the fact that our generation is less patient, less excited, less understanding, only looking for pleasant gratification rather than critique or satifaction.  Our generation is dulled by this novelty of new technology and yet no one is truly satisfied or in a consistent state of happiness bc they're always looking for the newest, latest and greatest product or "toy" to upgrade to next or buy soon and it makes one's patience and expectations dwindle.

If you think you have patience, you're wrong.  If you want patience, you've only just begun.  Patience begins when you wish to be silent and silence has much to say to you if you're willing to listen.  

Here's something to try.  Catholics have Lent, a 40 day fast from something, something which they desire and wish to do without.  Many other religions have such trials of self-discipline, like Muslims have Ramadahn--fasting alllll day and eating only after the sun goes down.  they do this for 30 days.  Again, self-discipline.  Anyway, Lent is a fast.  So last semester, I was so tired of TV and radio, that I decided to turn it alllll off and not watch nor listen to radio for 40 days.  A fast from TV and entertainment.  

I wanted to see if I could gain wisdom through silence as well as forcing myself to read or write as a means to get in better touch with my emotions and thoughts rather than clouding them with the daily none-sense of tv and radio.  I asked myself, "Would my dreams become more adventurous? Would my conversations become more meaningful?  Would I listen better and more fully since I didn't have as much clutter in the background of my mind?  Could I become more fully aware of myself and truly think before I spoke or acted?  Would my Spirit be quieter? My mind be quieter?  Would I speak with better clarity?  How would I change?"

All these questions I had and wished to seek.  Resisting TV and radio was no sweat for me, honestly.  I found my mind was becoming more clear, my Spirit was calming and my reading soared.  I found myself in deep thought much much more and I really enjoyed it.  On my way to class, no iPod, just sight and senses of everything around me and my thoughts.  I was better able to be in-touch with just what exactly was circling around my head and what was on my heart.

Everyone thinks silence is something external, a physical quieting of one's environment and surroundings, but actually, silence is internal.  Silence is the result of a quiet mind, and calm Spirit, nothing else.  

Brain Plasticity

Ever wonder what happens when you engage in a new activity and repetitively practice it?  No matter if it's a physical or mental activity, your brain, that big organ, is physically changing like your heart, lungs and cardiovascular system do when you exercise.

A new book I'm reading, titled, "Brain Plasticity and Behavior," by Bryan Kolb, elaborates on the adaptability of humans and animals given their brain's ability to physically change due to activity or environment (pages 3-14).

Well, so what? What does this have to do with an argument of technology?  Well how bout the fact that when one is partially deaf and needs a cochlear implant, how does the brain adapt to this?  This is an elctronic device that has to communicate with the victim's brain in order to work.

Another Neuroscience book I read earlier this fall, titled, "Big Brain" spoke about the fact that one who gets such a device in their ear may experience some transition time--why? because their brain is physically re-wiring aka adapting and changing its structure to be able to properly communicate the electrical signals it's receiving.  The book goes on to say that to those wearing them there is a week or two when the transition occurs.  

In this reading, the author (who I forget the name of), used a simile saying, it's similar to when you try to find the juuussst the right radio signal when you're flipping through allll the channels.  The fuzz is something you avoid.  Well the beauty of the brain is that when given this fuzz repeatedly, it physically changes its own structure to be able to use this one signal its given.  But it takes a week or two for the brain to do so.  Another example the authors give was comparing it to when we, humans, hear someone with a thick accent or one we've yet ever heard.  The first time we hear it, it's very difficult to understand for us, but if we're around that person or that culture for a few weeks, we are able to learn and adjust and understand better and better and better, hence the physical structural change aka plasticity in our brains.

If you have any experiences that you'd like to share whether it was a new activity or mental challenge, feel free to tell your experience. 

Form over function

Form over function, this is a recurring phrase one hears when in any design school learning the basics of designing a space, a product or a palette which they choose to draw or create.  Steve Jobs of Apple has been quoted many times for being a strict man when discussing this topic to his design team and his engineers.  I've read articles about him that, if it were up to him, he'd have no buttons or visible seems on his button-up shirts or polos etc.  He was stating his claim of just how much he cares for form when discussing any one of his Apple computers or anything else.  

Form is something that should not dominate, but rather, work in harmony with the function of the object or space which you're creating.  This can be seen in oragomy, Tai Chi (or any martial art), yoga, cars, anything really.  

When reading, "The Brain has a Mind of Its Own" Dr. Restak states this discussion of form and function in terms of the brain and body.  Form, proportion, perfection, harmony--these are the elements that lead to something more---they lead to beauty, the one untouchable, yet tangible feeling we all seek; whether a garden, a good looking watch, car, house, etc.

In his book he states that given one's activities, and as the brain ages, the body is affected; "a person's walk, speech, and posture change."  I've seen this true in my yoga practice, just as Restak saw from his Tai chi practice.  Restak was furthering his argument that the mind, not the brain, but the mind and the body are one.  When you begin to use both in conjunction with the other given a certain exercise you become more in touch with yourself and your movements and see first hand just how intimate the mind and body can become.

I will give an example of this from another book i've recently read, titled, "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, a journalist for Men's Health magazine, wrote this book which describes many different findings about the science and art of running.  In chapter 28, McDougall talks about the Kalahari Bushman, a small tribe in Africa who still hunt kudu (a cousin of the antelope).  In the book, McDougall interviews, Louis Liebenberg, a math and physics junkie who wanted to find his own way of doing things.  So he went to hunt with the Bushman.  "I had a vague gut feeling that the art of animal tracking could represent the origin of science (233)."

"When tracking an animal, one attempts to think like an animal in order to predict where it is going.  Looking at its tracks, one visualizes the motion of the animal and feels the motion in one's own body.  You go into a trancelike state, the concentration is so intense.  It's actually quite dangerous, because you become numb to your own body and can keep pushing yourself until you collapse, Louis said (235)."

McDougall, in response, says, "Visualization...empathy...abstract thinking and forward projection: aside from the keeling-over part, isn't that exactly the mental engineering we now use for science, medicine, the creative arts? 'When you track, you're creating causal connections in your mind, because you didn't actually see what the animal did,' Louis said (235)."

Restak, who practices Tai chi, gave this quote from his instructor, "After you do the form often enough, something marvelous happens: You and the form become one.  Finally it begins to do you (70)."

So, what activities are transforming you?  or making you either more in harmony or less in harmony with yourself?  Do you believe that your activities could benefit or deny your relationships with those you have and those you've yet created?