Matt’s Blog

I stumbled upon (using StumbleUpon of course) a few articles about futurists, and one of the main ideas I found were essays about “the Singularity” Put simply, “the Singularity” is a theoretical period in time when our inventions, generally computers, become so intelligent that they are able to recreate themselves without human intervention, doing so faster and better than we ever could. Thus the time to intelligence curve becomes extremely exponential. A post singularity world would be made of the stuff of science fiction movies. Super intelligent humans (assuming we’re invited to the party) would interface their minds with computers and understand the physics of the universe with such clarity that none of the human problems that exist today would trouble us.

I have no problem with optimism, but I’m also a fan of reality. Some futurists predict singularities in a spectacularly short amoun of time. Maybe they should watch the futuristic science fiction movies of the eighties, and see if any of those predictions came true. The problem with the whole idea in my opinion, is that the whole thing is based on an exponential learning curve. Moore’s Law is no law at all, it’s already failed. Advances in computing power are going to start coming at high prices. We’re going to have to start using our brain power to maximize computer use, instead of just relying on next years processors.

No human has ever learned anything exponentially. You learn the easy things first, which feels exponential, and then things level off, and you get into the unexplored territory where you have to struggle to pick up anything, which is when most humans give up. Learning curves are logarithmic for us, and they will be for computer intelligences if we ever manage to create them.

The whole thing is kind of fun to think about, but leave it for the movies.

I’ve often been caught criticizing these two so called scientific phenomenons (oops, I did it again) because of their apparent popularity and lack of evidence.  My skepticism is evidenced by my best friend, who is sure to send me every dark matter/dark energy article he sees.  I appreciate the articles of course, because they are always good reading and very informative.

My main argument against their existence is that scientists theorize about them simply because they make our equations work.  Whether or not that’s true is not what interests me, I’m sure I’m wrong about one thing or another, being that I have only basic backgrounds in math or physics.

What does interest me however, is the amount of coverage these topics receive in scientific media.  While I grant their obvious importance to astronomy and physics (origin and fate of the universe, yada yada), the topics come up again and again with little new information.

Science must be sold like any other commodity however, and I’m certain there’s great pressure at academic levels for grants for funding.  Science has to be new and exciting.  Unfortunately, it’s not always like that, especially with such advanced equipment and precise methods as we have.  Most scientific endeavors are not on the orders of magnitude as they once were.  Yet they are still important, and science and the pursuit of knowledge must be high on our list of priorities, exciting or not.

I’ve often been caught saying that Hollywood was definitely lacking in creativity.  I had to eat my words after seeing “Stranger Than Fiction.”  Despite it being a Will Ferrell movie, it was very entertaining.  The idea is fresh and original and the movie is well made.  The style of directing was original and creative.  Best of all, it wasn’t too long, coming in at just under 2 hours.

Here’s some pictures of the people I went to see in Brazil

The flights back were mercifully quick and uneventful.  I’m really glad I went, even though I only had one week.  It was actually more than enough, being alone and all.  Even though Brasil is a great place, nothing can compare to one’s home.

I spent the day out in Macaiba today.  It was a lot better this time.  I guess I had a little case of culture shock before.  But I spent most the day with them and things were great.  I found out that they all have cell phones though.

It’s kind of amazing how Brazil is.  They really fail at a lot of things in their cities.  Their education is messed up, the infrastructure of their cities is of very poor quality, and the classes are separating rapidly, rich getting richer, and poor getting poorer, but they’ve got all the tech toys that every American family has.  TV’s, DVD players, the works.  I kind of wonder if it has something to do with the relationship between Brazil and Japan.  There are a lot of Japanese living in Brazil, and the two countries seem to have a good relationship.
I still have trouble communicating.  I think it’s because now I’m more apt to talk to them about regular things, and I’m missing the vocabulary for it.  It was great though, tomorrow I’ll spend some time on the beach, and then I’m headed home on Saturday.

I forgot what open sewers smelled like. That may not be what it actually is, but there’s some kind of smell there. The family I went to see was excited to see me. They didn’t think I was actually going to show, though they did receive the letter I sent to tell them I was coming.

Walking into an old area was not exactly like I expected it to be. I thought I would be overwhelmed with recognition. But in truth, the place I had in my mind doesn’t match up very well with the place in reality. I recognized some places, but I never would have made it to their house on my own. I brought their address, but I stupidly forgot to take it with me out there. One of the sons works in a shoe store in the center and I was able to find that, then he walked me out to their house.
Anyways, it was great to see them. They seem to be doing pretty well. One has gotten married and will have a baby soon. Another is waiting for her boyfriend to get off the mission. The city put in a public computer lounge with about 50 computers and free access to the internet, so the kids spend a lot of time there. They’re not kids anymore though, but they still look incredibly young. The people in Brasil just don’t seem to age, until they turn into old people and their hair turns gray, they just look the same.

I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it, at least, when I was supposed to.  After a 12 hour layover in Sao Paulo, all I had left was a flight to Natal with a connection in Brasilia.  The flight to Brasilia was late though, and so I missed the connection to Natal.  It was so late and I was incredibly tired, having felt like a giraffe in a high chair trying to sleep on the overnight to Sao Paulo.  Luckily though, the airline found another flight for us, which got me here at just about the time I was supposed to arrive.  So, I’m here, I haven’t actually made it into any of my areas yet, because I just got out of bed (it’s 1:30 here).  I’m planning on heading straight to Macaiba though, as soon as I get a look at the beach and some lunch.

I nearly missed my first flight.  Not exactly missed, that is to say.  My ticket said the flight left at 1:00 pm.  I showed up at 11:00 and found out that it actually was scheduled to leave at 11:45.  Not sure what the mix up there was, but I guess I’m lucky because I made it!

I’m in Hartsfield-something or other international airport in Atlanta. My next flight leaves in two hours and it’s straight to Sao Paulo. I’m way excited. I think I didn’t really believe I was actually going until now. This place is huge, I’m not sure but I think I came through here on my way home from my mission. There’s a train inside the airport to shuttle you around to the gates.

There’s a lot of soldiers here, all of them very young. I wanted to talk to them and see where they were going. I’m sure that most of them are heading home for leave though. They’re all very young, with the exception of their commanders.

I left my camera cable home, so there might not be any pictures until I get back. Perhaps I can find a place in Natal which will transfer the photos to cd. My next entry will be from my hotel in Natal tomorrow night. Ate la!