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My ratings (R) are from 1 to 9. My Dates are also permalinks. Click on the column headers to sort Jots. Feel free to use the address bar like a command line interface by setting the optional query string parameters: Dtm1 (10, 20, 30, YYYYMMDDhhmmss), Dtm2 (YYYYMMDDhhmmss), IsJot (Jot or Not), Tag (zero+ times), NotTag (zero+ times), OrderBy (PostForDate, PostTitle, PostLink, PostText, PostSource, PostRating, PostSize) & Desc(Desc), and Limit(integer).

1. 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species TAGS: Chill. Comics. Evolution. Images. Inspiring. Life. Maroon. My Stuff. Orange. Philosophy. Politics. Quotations. Ramblings. Science. Space. USA. Videos. World.
2. The Democrats Are Doomed, or How A ‘Big Tent’ Can Be Too Big TAGS: Chart. Life. Politics. Relations. USA.
3. What is recoverable TAGS: Death. Life. Mind. Philosophy. Quotations. Ramblings. Self Improvement.
4. Life Log SS TAGS: Comics. Death. Life. My Stuff. Ramblings.
5. Watch the wind TAGS: Beauty. Chill. Cool. Life. My Stuff. Play. Poetry. Ramblings.

Date	Text	Link	Source	Tags	Note
20090813 185033 Z	How Different Groups Spend Their Day	www.nytimes. … ics-graphic.html	digg.com/peo … _Day_Infographic	Life, Psychology, Relations, TECH, Work	Ooh an interactive graph/chart that can be consumed by the masses. I love it!
20100316 182114 Z	Top 10 Things That Annoy Programmers	www.kevinwil … noy-programmers/		Cyber Life, Life, Mind, Programming, TECH	So true.
20101216 213121 Z	Holiday Hoopla Emotional Bomb			Family, Inspiring, Life, Mind, Ramblings, Sad	I'm such a sucker. Every year I forget that the holiday show at the grade school is such an emotional bomb. There are babies there and then the show has the full range from pre-schoolers to 8th graders, so it's like watching the lives of your kids flash before your eyes. By the time I get to the 8th grade show, I'm realizing (again) that that's their last grade school show, that they're practically adults. Where have my children gone?! I'm so sad and happy. Jeez. I ended up literally bawling in the car. Things and events don't mean anything unless you buy into the story. People die all over the world, all the time, but you don't know them, you aren't vested in them, so their deaths are meaningless to you. But once you get involved ... Bam!
20110123 195945 Z	The U-bend of life	www.economis … tory_id=17722567	www.crossfit … ive2/007386.html	Death, Introversion, Life, Self Improvement	I think the past year was my "mid-life" crisis complete with getting hit by a taxi. However I think the article and Obi-Wan Kenobi were right: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." As far as personality the article contrasts neuroticism with extroversion. It seems right, but I should point out that introverts don't have to be neurotic.
20130124 173607 Z	Machine v Garden			Artificial Intelligence, Life, Nature, Ramblings, TECH	Life is tech, but not all tech has life. Usually tech is a machine where the vitality us without. Sometimes tech is garden with the ki within. Some people focus on the code as machine. Some focus on the code as machine supporting the life about it. Some are trying to awaken the ghost in the machine --AI. Some focus on the life all about and use machines only as needed.

It's been a while since I've done one of my litte free association scribble sessions, so here goes.

Today is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species [W]. It's a good and grand occassion for celebration. I don't mind that Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort are giving away copies of the book with an anti-evolution introduction --the book, the evidence, the testing, and the ideas are simply blow away the stuff that Kirk and Mr. Banana come up with.

I have loved science and the philosophy of science for most of my life. Last month I saw David Deutsch: A new way to explain explanation [http://www.ted.com/talks/david_deutsch_a_new_way_to_explain_explanation.html], a video of David Deutsch talking science philosophy. Good stuff espencially its tie ins to Karl Popper [W].

By coincidence, I've been having an email exchange with my Conservative/Republican/Right-leaning friends. They were trying to slam Hawaiiaan health care with this article: Remember Hawaii's Health Care Lessons [http://sweetness-light.com/archive/lessons-from-hawaiis-health-care-system]. I countered with this email (which has been edited for privacy and formatting):

As is in the lowest costs per beneficiary in the country?

The attached chart is from last month's article: In Hawaii's Health System, Lessons for Lawmakers [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/health/policy/17hawaii.html].

"Hawaii's health care system insures over 95% of residents. Under the state's plan, businesses are required to provide employees who work more than twenty hours per week with health care. Heavy regulation of insurance companies helps keep the cost to employers down. Due in part to the system's emphasis on preventive care, Hawaiians require hospital treatment less frequently than the rest of the United States, while total health care expenses (measured as a percentage of state GDP) are substantially lower. Given these achievements, proponents of universal health care elsewhere in the U.S. sometimes use Hawaii as a model for proposed federal and state health care plans. Critics, however, claim that Hawaii's success is due at least in part to its mild climate and to its status as a chain of islands whose economy is heavily based on tourism: features that make it more difficult for businesses unhappy with paying the plan's premiums to relocate elsewhere."

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii#Health

My brother lives in Hawaii and so does Linda. We can ask them.

Epistemology [W] because there's more than Fox and Rush.

From the responses, at first I thought I went over with the thing about epistemology, so I wrote this:

Sorry if talking about epistemology sound pretentious, but I've been reading about Karl Popper [W] and the philosophy of science, which all ties in to epistemology, as in what distinguishes common knowledge from scientific knowledge? What makes knowledge objective or subjective? How do we know? I think people like stuff that's very objective (science) or very subjective (art), but when things get in between (politics), it gets very muddy. Another important aspect is that somethings that "should" be objective may actually be quite subjective and vice versa. Certainly scientific/objective knowledge isn't everything, but knowing the distinctions between approximating the weight of a thing versus whether you like your weight are interesting to me.

Popper says some interesting stuff about freedom too, which BTW supports fighting: "The so-called paradox of freedom is the argument that freedom in the sense of absence of any constraining control must lead to very great restraint, since it makes the bully free to enslave the meek. The idea is, in a slightly different form, and with very different tendency, clearly expressed in Plato. Less well known is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal."

It's all good considering that today is the anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species". It's a theory right? What makes it "better" than say a theory that claims that we were created by Zeus? Knowledge are theories and conjectures, but scientific knowledge is testable and falsifiable.

However, further discussion seemed to indicate that it was actually my quip against Fox and Rush that totally sidetracked what I thought was going to be a discussion about health care. So later on in the email thread I said this:

My exact words: "Epistemology because there's more than Fox and Rush"

My words insult Fox and Rush and those who listen predominantly to them. If you have more sources than Fox and Rush, then you shouldn't be insulted.

You could take the same phrase and replace "Fox and Rush" with a comparable pair of terribly left-leaning sources. Would I be insulted? I don't think so. I for example, don't follow any specific blogs these day.

Hmm. I'm having deja vu. This sounds similar to the race discussion we had a little while ago. Am I really so brusque in my communications? My wife gives me a similar attitude sometimes too. I think we're just talking --and then all of the sudden I'm in trouble. Am I becoming some sort of Archie Bunker?

Ewww. Sorry: I'm over-quoting. Anyhow, it seems that as a species, we can be very good at objective/scientific/mathematical thinking as well as subjective/creative/artistic/magical thinking. We can make great science and great art. What gets me is when they clash poorly or maliciously or both. Religion and politics are the primary examples. Religion and politics can be so inspiring, creative, and constructive for society, but they are often abused, dogmatic, and destructive. It seems to me that the problem is largely political (in the sense of people promoting and protecting their own interests). People squibble about power, resources, time, love, ideas, popularity, money, justice, attention, and so on, but if we could all be less trivial, we could do some really great stuff.

I'm tired of being trivial, of being morose and maroon. I want to do great things, feel great love, think great thoughts, share great wealth, be patient, be "orange", foster the good. It's time to maximize that signal-to-noise ratio. Big bold words, idealistic words. I know, I know. But it's hard to not be so when you watch Hans Rosling: Asia's rise -- how and when [http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_asia_s_rise_how_and_when.html], and you clapping and really believe that India and China and other lagging countries will become first-world countries by 2048! OK, so maybe we'll lose our polar caps and polar bears by then as well, and maybe we'll run out of oil too, but still, there's a lot of good we can do.

Is it such terrible hubris to believe? I love science, but I'm a believer. I believe that we want what's best for our kids, for all the kids, for our race, for our species, for our planet. We may indeed be a flash in time, an effervescent moment, a fleeting arrangement of legos [http://xkcd.com/659/], but oh how we dazzle, oh how bright are those shinging eyes [http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html].

Pffftt! I can almost hear those Republican friends of mine tell me about drinking the tree-hugging kool-aid. You know what I say?!? FFFFFFUUUUUUUU!!!! Yeah baby! I'm living large! I'm breathing fire! I'm eager for my next CrossFit workout! I'm ready to cross swords! I'm watching too much TED and South Park and Heroes!

Phew. Slow down, slow down. Take it easy. I can breath fire calmly. I have the hubris to save the world. I'll do it Kill Bill style: I'll make a list.

• Health
• Education. Wikipedia.
• Wealth
• Sustainable and Robust. Solar.
• Maximize Signal-to-Noise Ratio
• Global
• Tech and Science. Nanotech. Space Elevators.
• Epistemology
• Beauty
• Orange
• Save history. Build future.

Gaah! It's a crappy list, but it's a start. Time's up: Spell check and post. GO DARWIN!

OK Cupid has turned up interesting stats not directly related to dating. They have other charts, but in this chart the upper right is roughly Democrat while the lower left is roughly Republican.
I was in the shower this morning thinking about the Napoleon quote: "Space we can recover, lost time never". In a sense we can recover lots of things: space, land, money, resources, love, fame, honor, and so on. The concept is related to entropy and the arrow of time [W], that much is obvious. We all get older and pass from age to age. However, there is also the matter of particular object instantiations. People die everyday, but the death of a loved one is not only irreversible but personally significant and irreplaceable. The same can be said for "firsts" such as first kiss, first love, first car, first child, first time reading a particular book, and so on. Realizing limitations and stuff like this keeps life fresh and vital, and can help fight off the blasé.

I've kept a "Life Log" for years. It's a short document (only a few pages long) with a chronological listing of important events, places, people, things, jobs and salaries, medical incidents, births, deaths, etc. in my life.

The format of my Life Log is simple. For each year I have a short line with the year, my age on my birthday of that year, my "grade" if I was in school that year, and similar info for my wife and kids. EG: 2011. 43. JH XX. CH 13/8. YH 10/5. AH 7/1. Then for each year I have bullets for the important things, nested by date and time if possible.

Recently I rediscovered the comic "936 Little Blobs" [http://abstrusegoose.com/51] where the each of the blobs corresponds to one month in a typical lifespan of 78 years. I like it because it gives you a one page view.

However the blobs don't provide much metadata so I decided to transform it into a Life Log spreadsheet [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Anl6QqLgOdR9dFNZTDBERGluYWhiUzFYNG1LQmdlWXc] where each cell represents a month. You can enter as much or as little info in each cell. When you're done entering info, just turn off word wrap and the cells shrink, thus allowing you to see your life on one page. As a spreadsheet, it also does things like calculate your age on your birthday for each year.

A Life Log has a lot of practical uses: Medical history, resume building for job hunting, credit reports, legal issues, etc. However its most important function is to give me perspective on where I've been, where I'm going, what's important, and that time is passing.

Watch the wind
    uproot and uplift
        the discarded debris
    of paper and plastic
into fanciful flights
    overhead, on high,
        soaring out of sight.

Page Modified: (Hand noted: 2007-07-19 21:41:10Z) (Auto noted: 2010-12-24 22:08:01Z)