I've been thinking and writing about the whole steampunk and tranhumanism 'movement' (if it can be called as such) all over the net. Though they were nothing more than novelty writings, jumbled things that came straight out of my mind without much introspect, I think I'm beginning to see some underlying pattern here. I do not particularly believe in attitude or belief of any particular cultural movement like the steampunk or the transhumanism. As someone dedicated to the study of sciences the ideas of transhumanism does appeal to me, but I still think appeal alone doesn't make for a sound prediction of the future, and the St. John's apocalypse-like images espoused by some of the more enthusiastic believers of the transhumanism thinking doesn't really help either.
What I am really interested in, is the shape of the world that is beginning to emerge underneath all the superficial beliefs and cliques of various social/cultural movement. A human network that is being accelerated and consolidated into an emergent and concrete form by the technology of near instantaneous connection between individual members of the humanity, which seem to form the backbone of the majority of the changes that make up what we call the 'modern age.' It's really just a thought, nothing eloquent and lucid enough to be a theory... Perhaps this is merely adaptation of the mathematical theory of networks and links in the fashion of Barbarasi to the perspective of social theory... But something doesn't sound quite right to refer to it as such.
Formation and linking of human beings to ideas, the belief and search for the method to change/control the world through variety of means, linking which leads to a form of phase shift, the compounding between the idea and the human being... A history is a fundamentally human story... If linking between ideas and human beings, ideas and ideas, human beings to human beings is viable and displays emergent characteristics so common in their physical equivalents, the term zeitgeist begins to take more significant meaning in the structure of the world.
How would I be able to form the ideas into a coherent structure befitting that of an actual theory...
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Steampunk
I'd love to do a decent write up on the genre/culture/movement of steampunk someday, so I thought I might as well do some jotting down on livejournal, to be later cleaned off and combined into a real write-up.
The primary trait of steampunk-related world view that stands out most of all is the opening of possibilities. In a way it would be possible to consider steampunk as a reaction against the previous era of popularized digital cyberpunk, where the population became introverted in self-imposed blurring of the boundaries between the real and the virtual. Instead of wondering around in clearly imperfect landscapes, steampunkers are attempting to create in reality what the incomplete practice of the virtual reality haven't been able to execute, on the accounts of both the technology and economy.
Simply put, steampunk is the movement of people who refuses to draw their dreams in ephemeral numbers and abstractions, instead opting to create the vision in the reality, using the pieces of the reality already here. The very idea of the linkage between the world and the human mind is at the heart of the attraction of the steampunk, the belief that what you dream in your heart will be able to come true without substitutions of the virtual reality. In that way, steampunk is intimately linked with the artscience movement and biohackery, both of which are results of the post-industrial modern age, where things and ideas are both designed to be mass-produced and malleable to the extent that they act as components to the whim of the wielder regardless of the original intention of the things and ideas themselves.
The analysis of the steampunk on many levels seem to be representative of the modern zeitgeist. Something is happening on global scale under the surface of the superficial events and advances of the world that is redefining the relationship between the humanity and the world, the relationship between the body and the mind...
More or less a confusing jumble I thought up in a few minutes, but it'll still prove to be a suitable introduction in understanding of the steampunk culture and all its requisite/resulting cultural and scientific significance in this world. I must also note that what I've written so far is more on the lines of pertaining to the promises of the steampunk, not what it is at this moment in time.
The primary trait of steampunk-related world view that stands out most of all is the opening of possibilities. In a way it would be possible to consider steampunk as a reaction against the previous era of popularized digital cyberpunk, where the population became introverted in self-imposed blurring of the boundaries between the real and the virtual. Instead of wondering around in clearly imperfect landscapes, steampunkers are attempting to create in reality what the incomplete practice of the virtual reality haven't been able to execute, on the accounts of both the technology and economy.
Simply put, steampunk is the movement of people who refuses to draw their dreams in ephemeral numbers and abstractions, instead opting to create the vision in the reality, using the pieces of the reality already here. The very idea of the linkage between the world and the human mind is at the heart of the attraction of the steampunk, the belief that what you dream in your heart will be able to come true without substitutions of the virtual reality. In that way, steampunk is intimately linked with the artscience movement and biohackery, both of which are results of the post-industrial modern age, where things and ideas are both designed to be mass-produced and malleable to the extent that they act as components to the whim of the wielder regardless of the original intention of the things and ideas themselves.
The analysis of the steampunk on many levels seem to be representative of the modern zeitgeist. Something is happening on global scale under the surface of the superficial events and advances of the world that is redefining the relationship between the humanity and the world, the relationship between the body and the mind...
More or less a confusing jumble I thought up in a few minutes, but it'll still prove to be a suitable introduction in understanding of the steampunk culture and all its requisite/resulting cultural and scientific significance in this world. I must also note that what I've written so far is more on the lines of pertaining to the promises of the steampunk, not what it is at this moment in time.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Changing settings
I reverted my account back to the basic account. While having the extra benefits of the upper level accounts were nice, I was hardly using them anyway, and the advertisement was getting on my nerves somewhat.
It seems that I prefer simple things on my blog. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy, just simple monotone colors and writings. Not even pictures are necessary, and if I really want something moving or colorful I find it much better to link to it or embed it within the blog page itself. The cell-phone SMS support is something I'd miss, but then again, I never used it (only planned to).
I've been watching the anime series Monster, based on the manga of the same name created by Naoki Urasawa. He is possibly the greatest manga creator of our age. I've already read through the entirety of the Monster manga series and his other major work the 20th century boys (which isn't complete yet), and I have yet to find a single flaw within any of them. Beautiful art, tight storyline, deep introspection into the depth of the author's and the reader's souls characterize his works. Despite the depth his manga never come off as preachy or pretentious as some of the 'deep' manga out there, instead opting for identifiable, normal characters with normal traits, each with a gentle understanding of life that goes beyond the preset notions of what life should be.
My study on plasma is coming on nicely. I might be able to see something interesting in a few days.
It seems that I prefer simple things on my blog. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy, just simple monotone colors and writings. Not even pictures are necessary, and if I really want something moving or colorful I find it much better to link to it or embed it within the blog page itself. The cell-phone SMS support is something I'd miss, but then again, I never used it (only planned to).
I've been watching the anime series Monster, based on the manga of the same name created by Naoki Urasawa. He is possibly the greatest manga creator of our age. I've already read through the entirety of the Monster manga series and his other major work the 20th century boys (which isn't complete yet), and I have yet to find a single flaw within any of them. Beautiful art, tight storyline, deep introspection into the depth of the author's and the reader's souls characterize his works. Despite the depth his manga never come off as preachy or pretentious as some of the 'deep' manga out there, instead opting for identifiable, normal characters with normal traits, each with a gentle understanding of life that goes beyond the preset notions of what life should be.
My study on plasma is coming on nicely. I might be able to see something interesting in a few days.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Typing and writing
There is a strange difference between writing things by hand and typing things by hand. When I'm writing, I feel as if I'm drawing using limited set of symbols in order to convey or record meaning, while when I'm typing I feel as if I'm playing an instrument on a set of scale.
The difference is pronounced when i don't know what to write about. When I am writing on paper I can scrape by, writing more and more until I can draw some distinct frame of thought in my mind. But when I'm typing, I frequently get stuck, and I make bunch of mistakes (of both thought and mechanics) that I usually wouldn't make when I am writing on paper.
The mechanics of the brain doesn't seem to have multiple dedicated physiology for each action it is capable of doing. Rather, brain seem to be running on a single physiology capable of running multiple actions using a single function, through a mechanism of replication. So when I am typing, it might be that the part people use in playing an instrument is actually being diverted for the action of typing, and when I'm writing things by hand, the part of brain dedicated to the act of drawing might be diverted to the act of writing. Would it be going to far to suppose that even the part of the brains dedicated to the act of playing instrument and drawing that I described as being diverted are actually replications of a single, simpler action? A sort of fractal branching that resembles each other while being capable of generating unique novel landscapes....
The difference is pronounced when i don't know what to write about. When I am writing on paper I can scrape by, writing more and more until I can draw some distinct frame of thought in my mind. But when I'm typing, I frequently get stuck, and I make bunch of mistakes (of both thought and mechanics) that I usually wouldn't make when I am writing on paper.
The mechanics of the brain doesn't seem to have multiple dedicated physiology for each action it is capable of doing. Rather, brain seem to be running on a single physiology capable of running multiple actions using a single function, through a mechanism of replication. So when I am typing, it might be that the part people use in playing an instrument is actually being diverted for the action of typing, and when I'm writing things by hand, the part of brain dedicated to the act of drawing might be diverted to the act of writing. Would it be going to far to suppose that even the part of the brains dedicated to the act of playing instrument and drawing that I described as being diverted are actually replications of a single, simpler action? A sort of fractal branching that resembles each other while being capable of generating unique novel landscapes....
Squeak
I've been pondering between learning squeak and python. Python seem to be very capable and widely used, so it has a lot of decent prebuilt and free libraries and decent tutorials. On the other hand, squeak, which is an implementation of the smalltalk language, seem to be more elegant on the fundamental level despite its relatively paltry community (no offense here, the quantity doesn't represent quality) and smaller third party support (which is evident in the fact that I had a relatively hard time trying to find a decent artificial life or physics related introductory tutorial of the language/IDE, while I practically ran into one of those every five seconds while browsing for python resources). Most programmers would recommend python to me... The problem is that I myself am not a programmer. I don't need to earn a living programming, and I'm (usually) not under a tight deadline and limitations on what I can and can't do with a programming language. In that light, squeak, with its integration to graphic environment for quick visual prototyping (for swarm simulation for example) is very attractive... Yet should I ever consider the possibility of doing hevay duty programming for artificial life or mathematical simulation purposes I'm not quite sure if squeak can handle it as easily as an equivalent python implementation.... Choices choices.
Strangely enough though, I'm finding python itself to be a lot more easier to understand compared to squeak. Maybe it had to do with how I first started my programming experience with C/C++. I can already write a simple mathematical simulation program for elemental fractal simulation, while I'm still a bit confused between all the three button mouse schemes and menu items in squeak. While I can write something in python however, I had quite a trouble making a graphical output of the fractal algorithm, which I believe would be a lot simpler in squeak once I get past all the menus and button confusions (seeing that a simple swarm simulation algorithm and graphic output in squeak takes about 15 minutes to implement... Which is not quite the case for python, although I might be simply because of my lack of skill in the art of programming).
Again, I am quite lost, and don't know what to do. Both the python and the squeak language seem to have some nice things going for them... To be honest, I'm leaning toward squeak, but its unfamiliar interface is putting me off somewhat, and the uncertainty in what I can do with the language in the future doesn't really help things either.
Well, I guess I should be glad that I at least narrowed down my choice to one of the two programming language/environment. I was wondering between half a dozen languages before this.
Strangely enough though, I'm finding python itself to be a lot more easier to understand compared to squeak. Maybe it had to do with how I first started my programming experience with C/C++. I can already write a simple mathematical simulation program for elemental fractal simulation, while I'm still a bit confused between all the three button mouse schemes and menu items in squeak. While I can write something in python however, I had quite a trouble making a graphical output of the fractal algorithm, which I believe would be a lot simpler in squeak once I get past all the menus and button confusions (seeing that a simple swarm simulation algorithm and graphic output in squeak takes about 15 minutes to implement... Which is not quite the case for python, although I might be simply because of my lack of skill in the art of programming).
Again, I am quite lost, and don't know what to do. Both the python and the squeak language seem to have some nice things going for them... To be honest, I'm leaning toward squeak, but its unfamiliar interface is putting me off somewhat, and the uncertainty in what I can do with the language in the future doesn't really help things either.
Well, I guess I should be glad that I at least narrowed down my choice to one of the two programming language/environment. I was wondering between half a dozen languages before this.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Transhumanism, and the network of the world.
The term transhumanism is thrown around a lot these days. It's almost as if it is fast becoming a whole generational movement instead of a novelty philosophy catering to a limited cadre of technophiles. The true attraction of the movement I believe, is the real possibility that many things currently considered impossible might become possible in the future, not through any institutional reform but through a technological revolution capable of suiting individual tastes and goals. In many ways the movement of transhumanism is intensely political yet at the same time as politically neutral as it can be.
It seems transhumanism is about increasing the capacity to do things on the individual level without regards to a unified direction. After getting the ability you want using technological means, you can be a hardcore communist or a hardcore libertarian. The movement of the transhumanism itself doesn't dictate what its proponents should do after becoming 'transhuman', and the only political ideal directly associated with the philosophy of transhumanism is the one necessary in making it come true, free and unrestricted access to technology and information. It can be said that the transhumanism and the theory of singularity so many people attribute to the movement of transhumanism is like deus ex machina come to life, the proverbial genie of the lamp given flesh in human adaptation of technology. However, it should be noted that the post-cyberpunk transhumanism ideals aren't quite as clean and wish-wash as some of its predecessors of the enlightenment and industrial revolution, instead opting to put its faith in the very opening of the possibilities themselves rather than what those possibilities can ultimately achieve, and I dare say that it is this new way of thinking that defines the current generation's zeitgeist regardless of geological locale or technical proficiency. Propagation of systems of thought through generational sentiments instead of any strict governmental or academic structure (that might even go beyond regional and cultural taboo), a sort of social-blogging approach to the propagation and practice of systems of thought. Yet in this case, the physical entity of the net is not a necessity. Instead, majority of the network-forming, linking and subsequent emergent behavior results from interactions between people and ideas, the technical infrastructure only acting as a catalyst for already present elements in precipitating metamorphosis.
As the idea of physical distance becomes fuddled in the future and virtual density of the human population increases, the idea and practice of the net-less networking built into all conscious life forms in the innate interaction between life forms themselves and the life and idea-structures will become more and more profound, its effects more and more pronounced, perhaps enough to truly dictate the course of human history, and perhaps, even human beliefs.
It seems transhumanism is about increasing the capacity to do things on the individual level without regards to a unified direction. After getting the ability you want using technological means, you can be a hardcore communist or a hardcore libertarian. The movement of the transhumanism itself doesn't dictate what its proponents should do after becoming 'transhuman', and the only political ideal directly associated with the philosophy of transhumanism is the one necessary in making it come true, free and unrestricted access to technology and information. It can be said that the transhumanism and the theory of singularity so many people attribute to the movement of transhumanism is like deus ex machina come to life, the proverbial genie of the lamp given flesh in human adaptation of technology. However, it should be noted that the post-cyberpunk transhumanism ideals aren't quite as clean and wish-wash as some of its predecessors of the enlightenment and industrial revolution, instead opting to put its faith in the very opening of the possibilities themselves rather than what those possibilities can ultimately achieve, and I dare say that it is this new way of thinking that defines the current generation's zeitgeist regardless of geological locale or technical proficiency. Propagation of systems of thought through generational sentiments instead of any strict governmental or academic structure (that might even go beyond regional and cultural taboo), a sort of social-blogging approach to the propagation and practice of systems of thought. Yet in this case, the physical entity of the net is not a necessity. Instead, majority of the network-forming, linking and subsequent emergent behavior results from interactions between people and ideas, the technical infrastructure only acting as a catalyst for already present elements in precipitating metamorphosis.
As the idea of physical distance becomes fuddled in the future and virtual density of the human population increases, the idea and practice of the net-less networking built into all conscious life forms in the innate interaction between life forms themselves and the life and idea-structures will become more and more profound, its effects more and more pronounced, perhaps enough to truly dictate the course of human history, and perhaps, even human beliefs.
It's been a while
Wow. I can't believe it's been 5 days since I've uploaded something on livejournal. My life had been a little hectic lately, lot of excited air around the lab. I might not be able to make it this week either. I'll be updating my wordpress journal a it more often though.
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