Complexity, revisited

There was a warm glow around the city tonight with an odd colour – pink rose. It was a nice night to enjoy the stars. They weren’t very many but it was nice to see them after what seemed like ages of clouds. It was also quite a bit warmer, thankfully. That’s the thing about Winnipeg, the weather teases you… When you least expect it will change from foul to fair and fair to foul.


So it’s a nice night to stay up late and type away to that ever growing internet. All those millions of connections being made, people meeting new people and the general complexity of the world increases ever so slightly. A slow subtle shift upwards in the global conciousness. Call me crazy, call me a fool, but humans affecting random numbers in such a way that collective focus on global events trigger statistical anomolies around the world sounds like something that people should probably be sitting up and paying attention to. It’s hard to argue with statistical data.
What does it all mean though? How is it in any way important to my day to day life? When is this noosphere ever going to pay my bar tab?
I think the meme saying we’re all connected in some fundamental but unknown way is also a subtle shift, but noticable in shorter time. You begin to appreciate other people more. You can understand that your attitude and actions affect the people around you in small, subtle ways, because the people we learn the most from are our friends and family. These are the people you are most strongly connected to and are subsequently most affected by as they are by you. A friend of mine once told me we are made up of shards of each other’s personality. Of course in order for that to happen there has to be a true self, a uniquness that is wholy and completely you, otherwise what would be reflected? It would all be the same image, like staring to too deeply into an elevator. Wouldn’t that lead to insanity? Surely the universe isn’t insane?
And now onto a bit of other news. I’m very happy with my first experience using the new p2p, Suprnova.org. You need to have BitTorrent to use it, but it works great and the concept is neat. Whenever you download a file, the parts that you’ve already downloaded are uploaded to others at the same time. Now if only these guys had a software client where you could do better searches and having bitTorrent encapsulated within, well that would be sweet. As it is I got to see the Star Wars Clone Wars that’s only available on the cartoon network already. I must say that I enjoyed it, short as it was. I can already feel the old star wars blood pumping through my veins like some endless source of wonder.
I quite enjoy reading Wired Opinion, but I often get upset discussing morality issues. It seems that morals are a behavior that are as good as set in stone for many. Moralistic arguments are frequently futile as neither side will concede to even consider the other’s perception, despite just being values trained into us since birth. Issues like abortion are a typical example. It would seem there are no right answers either way – on one hand the rights of a new living being that hasn’t even been born and on the other the safety and health of the mother. I don’t know where I feel on the issue to be honest. I can see it from both sides and I don’t want to have to make a decision. It’s incredibly hard to find the right answer but you can always find an answer, and that’s what scares me.
Anyways, I’m cutting it short in a vain attempt to cram the birth, adolescence and twilight of the development of a short story in the space of 8 hours tomorrow. Chef’s last stand against apathy and laziness.

20 thoughts on “Complexity, revisited”

  1. Chef,
    I find your writing fascinating. Our four keywords at the top of the page at WiredOpinion are politics, philosophy, issues, and commentary, and you’re the only blogger whose writing about the metaphysical really engages me. I’ve tried (after all, philosophy comes before issues and commentary at WiredOpinion, heh), and I’ve ended up deleting drafts in embarrassment. I’m not really sure what I’m trying to say, except, well, thanks for your outlook. I’m reading it.
    I thought your take on the influence of Christianity in politics was spot-on, and it described exactly the kind of mentality that I wish people like Bill O’Reilly and John Kass (how about Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson?) would simply let go of in the interest of human relations. Your take on the perfect political system was very interesting, as well. We should talk about that.
    Thanks for reading, I’ll keep doing the same,
    -Jon (WiredOpinion.com)

  2. I appreciate the feedback, it’s always welcome (positive or negative – see the kitty). I must admit I’m an amateur – remember that I’m a computer engineer by profession. Philosophy is just a side effect of having lots of free time and reading too much.
    So you like my political system, eh? I’ll repost for anyone who didn’t read it already:
    Why is it that everyone assumes that it has to be either free enterprise democracy or marxist communism? Aren’t there benefits to both systems? Perhaps a democratic communism with information and entertainment as the main currency and not so much the big house, the SUV, the fur coat.
    So basically I’m thinking it’s the rise of the creative class. Emphasis should placed on personal creativity as opposed to manufactured creativity. Information is the foundation of the creative class. The more you know the greater your chance of finding something new is. That’s the root of creativity, discovering or doing something that hasn’t been discovered or done.
    Anyways, I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, as well as anyone elses. Also, why don’t you allow comments on your site? I’ve got plenty to comment on, let me tell you. 😉

  3. Yep that is just what I need in my life, another site for Chef to spend company time posting comments endlessly on. Thank God, I was worried there for a second, Hippie might run out of sites to read and he would have to work out of boredom.
    But at the risk of inflating your ego even more via this comment thread, Jon-boy has a point, you are a moderately good writer. Mind you I have said this before, I believe, in the comforts of our personalized hell here. “positive or negative -see the kitty” my ass…

  4. ………………back to reality……………how strange: I am distorting reality on my site and a
    real reality smacks me…my dog, Sue-Sue is home safe! Catch up: The Bush Resume: Thanks……I had had a copy of it when my computer crashed! I have said for years that the “small c” communism may be the best well-rounded form of government, as long
    as you can keep the big “C” out! …and did you follow the closure of RXDEPOT
    by the FDA because they can’t prove the reliability of Canadian drugs……or is because the US drug “cartels” have a powerful lobby? Peace.

  5. I’m glad to hear you found Sue-Sue. I heard about the rxdepot thing, although I’ve sort of lost interest in starting an online pharmacy… It felt a bit shady to start with so I think I’ll pass on the opportunity. It’s a shame though because selling canadian drugs has become a half billion dollar industry here in Manitoba.
    I’d also say that the drug cartels had a hand in that, it surely doesn’t benefit the US govt.

  6. Chef,
    You know, I’d like to allow comments, but Jonathan and I have to agree on something like that before we make a change, and he disagrees with me. I had a streak of entries open for comments for a while, but Jonathan approached me about it and wasn’t sure he was up for it, so I closed them down. I’d love to hear from you via email, though, and occasionally I will post reader email comments in the journal to respond to them.
    Perhaps someday Jonathan will concede, and then we’ll open up WO for comments.

  7. I’m a big fan of open discussions myself… The more eyes the more perspective you get on an issue. Sure you get some brainless fluff but you can also get a fair amount of insight.

  8. I totally agree. Part of the beauty of this whole wonderful utopian community of the “blogosphere” (you know, I’ve never used that word before) is that the information is open to everyone. This is, to me, all the more reason for everyone to share their opinions on it. I learn more through discussion than I do from anything else, but unfortunately Jonathan, as the webmaster, is against the prospect of discussion on the website.
    With all the brilliant minds out here doing the same thing, I can’t imagine how he could turn down the opportunity to discuss with them, but he does have some fairly convincing reasoning, such as comments allowing anyone access to our CGI thingamajig which will allow them to do something or other with our stuff. Well, when he explains it, it makes sense.

  9. You should tell Jonathan to check out MT Blacklist, a plugin that prevents spammers from easily messing with the comments for a post. Other than that, I think Movable Type is pretty secure, and allowing comments really gives you a heck of a lot more feedback. Without any comments, it’s just your perception, and you cannot do any learning that way. 😉

  10. Scared yet? New survey out: 70% of the GOP say it’s OK for our troops to die to “liberate” Iraq (or is it oil?) AS OPPOSED to 70% of the DEMOS who think the troops SHOULD NOT die for ‘this cause’……………….and the back of my truck is full of DEMO & anti-Bush bumper stickers..Does that mean that 70% of the GOP folks who see my truck would want me to die because of my stance? Later…………………………….

  11. Check out the following post from a photography blog I read. I thought you might find this interesting…
    “Ever wondered what the person behind Conscientious is doing for a living? Probably not, but I’ll show you anyway. If you download a what they call a “VRML client” – like Cortona’s – you can look at one of my cosmological computer simulations by opening this file. The VRML client will allow you to move/turn around the simulation volume so you can see the structure. What you see are the Dark Matter haloes that host galaxies and clusters of galaxies. The cube is about 450 million light years on each side.”
    http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/archives/000670.html

  12. Jesus.. that’s awesome stuff. It looks like neurons in a brain.. Maybe we’re not so crazy after all, eh Wally?
    Ah but oldcatman, at this point there is little choice but to keep the troops there. If they pull out too quickly (which it looks like they’re going to do) then it will leave a power vacuum which will probably be taken advantage of by a religious leader, which will probably plunge Iraq into even greater turmoil. Isn’t there one who’s making a lot of noise right now? Because of the actions of that moron GWB, it will now cost less lives to keep them there in the long run. But then again, that’s just my opinion.

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