Don’t Be a Lubricant
Be a lubriCAN!
Your daily word of encouragement brought to you by the letter L.
Tag: Weird Science
I Went to the Jackson 5
I went to the Jackson 5 because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
A Self-Discovery of the Process of Discovery
Note: I wrote this on a whim, not having researched and not having proof. This is a hypothesis of sorts. If you know relevant sources, please advise. After writing this I have discovered this is a plea for the creation of a system of recording and playing back conceptual discoveries.
On Discoveries
Discoveries have a predetermined path of several steps which must be followed in a particular sequence. A person rarely makes a leap over a step. Usually, what seems like a leap is actually a larger step. Sometimes adjacent steps may be taken near-simultaneously, thus appearing that a step was skipped or, perhaps, that the adjacent step was somehow foreknown or assumed. Of course, this is possible. But certainly, without knowing that we have jumped a step (how awesome are we?), we should assume that each point of discovery we make is adjacent to the previous step, regardless of the amount of work necessary to make the step.
I do not say these things to give an individual less credit than is deserved but only to point out that we should not give ourselves more credit than is deserved. Discovery is best made in humility, lest we be humiliated.
The moment of discovery, the a-ha, the oh-I-see-now, is what convinces an individual to change opinions and beliefs and is preceded by a number of smaller pre-discoveries. These discoveries must be made by the individual and cannot be forced upon an individual any more than love or hope or any type of real or abstract knowledge can be forced.
On that last point, I mean to say if we are trying to convince another to join us at our current position along the path of discovery we will be unable to do more than describe our position. And certainly we should if there is interest, even though we know most of that description will fly over the head of the other. We can explain the steps we took to arrive at our position and let the individual decide to take them or not. But it is of no use trying to help another cheat their way to our position (or worse, to force another to our position). Sooner or later, without the foundation of previous steps to rely on, the individual will wander back to the safety and familiarity of known things.
It is only after discovery, of an individual’s arrival at a new position on their own, that the choice is made not to return to previously held positions, thus establishing a new foundation from which to explore.
On the point of making a discovery all by oneself, I do not wish to ignore the collaboration that takes place between physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual connections both in and outside the body. That is to say, I cannot will into being the internal connections that form a discovery in my body, mind, soul, and spirit. Just as there are larger macro steps that are taken from one discovery to the next, there are many micro steps which occur internally to aid my movement along the path and while I am a part of them, I do not make them voluntarily. A physical example would be synapses in the brain. Synapses are a part of my physical being and are the junctions of brain activity—where, according to available discoveries, we still assume the connections of thought take place—but I cannot take credit for their existence, function, or performance any more than I can take credit for my parents.
At this point, then, we know that we are making discoveries and we know that at some point in the future we may wish to describe our position and the necessary steps to others. To do so we will need either a perfect memory or some system for recording our discoveries. We can hardly rely on the former. I am not convinced I have seen a good implementation of the latter.
Thus, a system for recording and playing back discoveries and their steps should be made. Moreover, the system should allow individuals to connect their discoveries and steps to those made by others such that old ground is not retread unnecessarily.
Twitter Updates for 2008-07-15
- Picked up book:Mathematics for Algorithm and System Analysis and book:Game Theory, A Very Short Introduction from B&N today. Happy. #
Unavailable Domain Names and Their Alternatives
Domain names are in short supply. All the best ones are taken. But there are some alternatives.
Twitter Updates for 2008-07-03
- Note to my design self: life is too short for small, unreadable text; use less words and write bigger. #
That Itchy, Itchy Design Feeling
I’m feeling it. Time to explore and move forward, to go beyond what I’m currently capable of. To put clichés behind, as if they could be. To ask not what I can do for my country. Escape country.
Twitter Updates for 2008-06-14
- Master Gardener tip: if you *must* water your lawn, do it before sunrise and after sunset, 20 minutes max each, every other day. #
Twitter Updates for 2008-06-04
- @jrec a nx, r klmo bjc bdu kden klmo, 1:37, pic 1:37, “this is only a test” #
- Discovered a bug in my code right before bed. Like preparing to leave on a road trip and discovering your car doesn’t have seat belts. #
- Thankfully there was a quick solution. I imagine seat belts are a little harder to come by at the last minute. #
- After the Tech Meetup I got a few more ideas for a small web app that I dreamt up last year. A lot less complicated than Jetrecord. #
Twitter Updates for 2008-06-03
- Doctor’s office. Pain on the right side of my throat. #
Twitter Updates for 2008-05-25
- Did the Boulder Creek Festival today. When I moved here (the first time) 11 years ago the festival was the first thing I did. #
Twitter Updates for 2008-05-24
- The word is it’s wise if it makes you wonder, The word is it’s wise if it feeds your hunger, The word is it’s wise if it’s like no other. #
Twitter Updates for 2008-05-18
- Barking prairie dogs, blackbirds, crickets, a slight breeze, sunset, 1554, lawn chair, backyard. #
Twitter Updates for 2008-05-15
- Working for myself, going outside feels like being let out into the yard like a dog. Go out, do your business, and get back inside. #
