Ideas realized
In order of proposed manifestation:
Unknown/unknowable
Random structural (natural law)
Propagation through reproduction
Observational
Cultural (inception of abstract thinking)
Inferred (recognition of abstract thinking)
Deduced
Drops within drops within drops…
Supposition
If it requires force to propel mass through the spatial dimension of spacetime, would it not follow that there be a requisite force to propel mass through the temporal dimension of spacetime?
Thought Experiment
Let us view “time” as a near-infinite well in which an object, that is said to have a beginning, is dropped into the well at its origination. Further let us drop Object A (Origination Event A) into the well and let us let A fall for twenty years (10,512,000 seconds). Prior to dropping Object B into the time-well it can be said that Object B has been falling for zero percent of the time A has been falling, B does not “exist” yet. Dropping Object B (Origination Event B) and allowing it to fall for one minute (60 seconds), it can be said that B has been falling for .0000000951% as long as A has been falling.
Given another 20 years after Origination Event B, Object A would have fallen into the time-well for 40 years and Object B would have fallen for 20 years. Object B would have been falling for 50% of the time A would have been falling. Given 500 years after “Origination Event A, Object B would have been falling for 97% (480 years) of the time A would have been falling (500 years). Ever closer to 100 percent.
In order to attain 100% the denominators would have to be equal in value, the only number that could possibly be is infinity, meaning both objects would have to fall for an infinite amount of “time.” From an independent frame of reference it would seem to a persistent witness that Object B accelerated toward Object A in the time-well but that it can never quite catch up, unless given an infinite amount of time.
Continuum
The above thought experiment simplifies spacetime into the time dimension and one spatial dimension. Let us now imagine that there is a force accelerating the objects through time not unlike how gravity would accelerate the masses of A/B (toward a very massive and distant center of gravity) in the above “time-well” thought experiment. Let us also imagine that instead of “falling” objects particles are accelerated through their worldlines. It would seem to take an infinite (or near such) amount of this supposed “time-force/energy” to propel particles toward infinity (not unlike the requisite amount of energy needed to create a very massive object, propel mass to the speed of light, or even create a universe.)
This “time-force/energy,” it is further supposed, originated at the Big-Drop (a reimagining of the Big Bang), when all particles in the universe were propelled into the time dimension (dropped into the time-well). All particles would appear chaotically random but would follow their predetermined worldine (per primordial rules and conditions) as determined at the origination event, Big Drop, (like surface waves from a disturbance in a pond). All predeterminate temporal “events” can be seen has happening instantaneously in infinity (no-time or end of time). We merely perceive the “passage” of time as our consciousness is a manifestation of an entropic chemical process.
Everything not held together by binding forces (gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak interaction ) would be “seen” as falling away from everything else in all dimensions of spacetime. Given enough “time” or more accurately if able to witness all worldlines in the universe, eventually even the binding forces will succumb to “time” and “return” to the emptiness of no-time/infinity.
Reflective
Can it be said that, “everything”’essentially exists in its own “time-well” receding from everything else?
If cosmic objects were viewed as falling away from each other in the curvatures of time as well as in the three spatial dimensions at ever increasing speed (all dimensions of spacetime instead of falling away in space only), would this “time force/energy”’ manifest in a way similar to the noticeable effects attributed to dark energy?
From the frame of reference of any one observer, would it not appear as if this force was accelerating the longer one observed or the further back in time one looked?
Determine what is desired and assess what is “Known” and “Not Known” toward that end. Map affinities of ”Known” and “Not Known” statements to derive at a set of “First Principle(s)” and “Challenge(s)” respectively.
Modeled as a system, where the stock is comprised of “Concepts,” the inflow into the system (its input)) are the stated “Challenges” (best captured as a problem statement such as “How might I/we…”) Apply Divergent Thinking (<+) to increase the stock of concepts. Apply Convergent Thinking (->) and narrow on practical “Ideas” toward a solution (the system’s output). Ideas flow into a feedback loop. Model Ideas, validate models, reassess what is “Known” and “Not Known” and iterate “Challenge,”
With each iteration what is “Known” increases and what is ”Not Known” decreases while solution becomes less conceptual and more ideal.
Ideas are like seeds, some are annual and others perennial. Some fall upon good earth to take root, Others upon stone to despair. Of those that root and bloom take care, And of their fruit joyfully share.
For it is not only the species but the human spirit that we wish to preserve.
To Elon Musk (and whomever else it may concern),
This proposal is published for any who would have interests but is humbly addressed to Elon Musk, for his shared dream of human perseverance and preservation and recognization that if this proposal were to be deemed in whole or in part viable he is foremost among those who could realize what is now put forth for consideration and iteration.
It is proposed that an economic system built on democratic equity in communal enterprise and the principle of individual and collective freedom is possible. This paradigm (true freedom through means) has been subjected by those who would perpetuate the consolidation of power though political and monetary exclusionary monopoly. The source of economic disparity and growing chasm of the “haves” and “have nots” and tool of enslavement is the perpetual governmental and banking control over a singular monopolistic currency. This consolidates power into the hands of a small minority who in turn wield enormous power over the masses. It is argued that, this creates a non-capitalist society that would appear superficially as capitalist but feigns true capitalist values, that of rights of free enterprise and the rights of individuals to self organize and self govern.
It is put forth for consideration a new economic system built on the principles of empowerment and freedom. The opportunity for such a shift has never been more feasible nor more apparent. The rise of various cryptocurrencies both highlights technology’s role and the demand for a true paradigm shift.
It is proposed that in lieu of an archaic stock certificate denoting one’s equity in an enterprise that a form of open-source cryptocurrency could instead be used. For example, instead of a stock certificate one would own, let us say, SpaceX coins. In aggregate these SpaceX coins would equate to the perceived market capital of SpaceX the enterprising entity and it’s assets. This creates a non-fiat currency one that establishes true equity for those who would own SpaceX coins. These coins could be traded or retained and would grow in value as the value of the underlying asset grew, those of SpaceX in this crude example.
Instead of having to put USD in a bank growing at some measly rate that benefits the banking industry and the elite, one’s wealth would grow along with that of the underlying enterprise merely by retaining equity or said another way, holding coins in a digital wallet on a universal blockchain.
Now the question arises, how are goods bought and sold with all these varying currencies of variable value? A democratic real-time always-open open-source based market and exchange run on a solar system spanning (from satellite servers to servers on Mars as well as Earth) blockchain is envisioned. This exchange would require vast amounts of energy necessitating a growing demand for harvesting solar power and the beginnings of a Dyson Sphere or Chain of satellites (at inception). Using a digital wallet, any one person can instantly exchange one currency for another at a market rate (for example SpaceX coins for USD, should a citizen of Elondia on Mars visits the US and wish to purchase goods on Earth.)
It is further proposed that Bitcoin, or something like it, act as the underlying reserve currency. BTC would replace the role historically held by gold, until the rise of manipulative fiat currencies and central banking. In a future where there is the potential for asteroid mining and a solar-system spanning civilization a digital monetary standard (vs a gold standard) would be requisite in a global and multi-planet economy. The citizens of Mars would not benefit if beholden to a monetary policy guided by any Earthly state. Only a truly free democratic market could sustain a multi-planet economy.
In the immediacy, those who wish to create communities of shared values could combine assets and create a self sustaining economies and exist peacefully within broader existing economies taking advantage of scale, thus far only afforded the privileged, for the mutual benefit of their chosen community (i.e. Enterprising Individuals, Communal Farmers and Homesteaders, Spiritual Communities, Bohemian Artists, Nieghboorhood Sports Leagues..)
In closing, being of little means and not technically inclined but excited about the future prospects of human endeavor and exploration toward the pursuit of knowledge, these thoughts are put forth if only to help further conversation and to spark additional ideas.
Whether valid or not, naive or not, regardless, for the benefit of all those who orbit the same Sun, it is past time we rethink everything (especially inherited systems that adhere to archaic thinking). May we find the Golden Path that preserves humanity.
May all find happiness.
Sincerest regards
Gibran
When the state fears the people
The people are citizens of state.
When the people fear the state
The people are subjects of state.
Summation of the additives, life and liberty equates to happiness.
All are entitled to pursue their own definition of happiness free from any definition that would be imposed by another individual or collective. Any imposition on one’s liberty is a similar imposition on right to life and subtractive of one’s total happiness.
One has the right to defend in whole or in part the principles of this equation that is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
This is not a right that can in any way be infringed upon , it is a fundamental law of nature. As this is not a declaration of rights but an acute observation of natural law.
Those who would be governed choose to allow those who govern to infringe on these rights to the extent that they derive some societal/collective benefit. Any individual must choose whether any subtraction of rights is justified.
Defense of natural law requires no declaration as it is writ by the laws of nature and self- evident to all, who are part of nature.
An editorial plea to our fellow American citizens to recognize a most grievous atrocity committed in our name .
A tragic comedy of errors is unfolding and the U.S. citizen is the punchline. After twenty years of war and occupation, the total cost in lives of the war in Afghanistan (as of April 2021) is 2,448 American Service Members and 3,836 U.S. contractors (as reported by the AP and using data gathered by Harvard University’s Kennedy School and from the Brown University.)
The capital costs, based on official data as reported by the BBC is an estimated $822bn (spent between 2001 and 2019). This estimate does not include expenses accrued in Pakistan, which the U.S. used as a base of operations during the Afghan-conflict.
And what did the U.S. secure after all this? “Guarantees and enforcement mechanisms that will prevent the use of the soil of Afghanistan by any group or individual against the security of the United States and its allies.” A grantee secured from an organization that the US does not even recognize. The ceasefire agreement refers to the other party simply as “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban.”
The U.S. tax payer will be paying for this “war” for generations to come, receiving in return a guarantee from an organization we do not recognize and are told not to trust. Does this seem right to you? More glaringly, American families paid the ultimate price, the lives of loved ones they will never see again.
According to the Council of Foreign Relations “The [Taliban] has withstood counterinsurgency operations from the world’s most powerful security alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and three U.S. administrations in a war that has killed more than 6,000 U.S. troops and contractors”
After all that, it estimated that the Taliban, has between fifty-eight thousand to one-hundred thousand full-time fighters and that it is stronger now than at any point in the last twenty years. Add to that, the United Nations recently reported that the Taliban still maintains a strong alliance with al-Qaeda.
The UN further reports the Taliban still receives resources and training from al-Qaeda in exchange for protection. An estimated two hundred to five hundred al-Qaeda fighters are thought to be in Afghanistan with leaders believed to be based in regions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
As of this writing, the Taliban have retaken most of, and are on the verge of securing all of Afghanistan, with the terms of the ceasefire all but broken. The Taliban are stronger now than when NATO invaded.
One need look no further as to the comedy in this tragedy then to read reports concerning the Taliban’s capture of the Kunduz Airport this week. It is reported that upon overrunning the airport the Taliban seized billions of dollars in U.S. military equipment including MaxPro Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, ScanEagle drones and Humvees. U.S. tax dollars just went toward supplying the Taliban and possibly al-Qaeda with state of the art military equipment.
Was it all worth it?
In future essays we hope to explore that question along with several others. How did we get here? What were the true costs (sunk costs and ongoing future costs) of the war? What are the geopolitical ramifications? What will come of Afghanistan?
From Veitnow by Rage Against the Machine ”Terror's tha product ya push Well I'm a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush Tha sheep tremble an here come tha votes“
As a non-member organization we support the EFA, we believe that technology should support the intellectual freedom at the heart of a democratic society. In the digital age, that entails advancing:
People should be able to speak their minds to whoever will listen.
Technology should be trustworthy and answer to its users.
Technology should allow private and anonymous speech, and allow users to set their own parameters about what to share with whom.
Technology should promote progress by allowing people to build on the ideas, creations, and inventions of others.
Curiosity should be rewarded, not stifled.
We uphold these principles by fighting for transparency and freedom in culture, code, and law.
List of key bias per Munger:
Where a “cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own “subjective reality” from their perception of the input”
Video of full speech: 1hr16m (Youtube)
Transcript (www.fs.blog)
Spotify Playlist: Judgment Night… plus
The use of genres to categorize music, much like the use of taxonomy for the classification of organisms, provides a handy framework but is not without its faults. The shaky scaffolding buckles under the strain of classifying musicians and music that defy or destroy classification with no regard for external constraints.
Those of us coming of age before the commercialization of the internet, in that twilight period when the tape cassette passed into shadow and the CD ascended , movie soundtracks served as a playlist of sorts.
One need look no further than a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack to find some of the best playlists ever created. But where Tarantino movies are both visually and sonically part of my cultural fabric, the movie “Judgement Night” (1993) has all but faded from my visual memory banks. But the soundtrack, that is a different story.
The “Judgement Night” soundtrack was an experimental collaboration between rock and hip hop artist who largely kept to their overarching genre with a few exceptions. It is one of the jewels in the crowing achievements of rap-rock
As stated earlier tracing the lineage of any genre in music is fraught with challenges. But one of the earliest known fusions of rap and rock can be found listening to “Year of the Guru “ (1968) by Eric Burdon & the Animals.
Over a steady bassline, Burdon does not so much sing but speak his lyrics :
Now here I sit in a state-run asylum Limitless, friendless but much more together I decided to do some good book readin’ About the art of people leadin’
The following year The Stooges released their debut single “I wanna be your dog” off of their self-titled debut album. The song features Iggy Pop as he walks the narrow line between traditional singing and the rhythmic speech delivery that defines rap:
And now I’m ready to close my eyes And now I’m ready to close my mind And now I’m ready to feel your hand And lose my heart on the burning sand
The Stooges contribution to the rap-rock hybrid are arguably minimal but they were part of the burgeoning garage-rock/protopunk scene and they along with their peers (The Velvet Underground, The New York Dolls, MC5, The Sonics ) undeniably pushed rock toward more experimentation, smashing rock into its fundamentals components and ushering the eventual emergence of punk.
Punk and early rap shared a common ethos that of being raw, emotional, and honest. Music was the weapon of choice for the masses and it was more accessible then many had realized.
Rap would appear in New Wave with songs like “Crosseyed and Painless” by the Talking Heads and in the Post Punk scene in “Wedding Song” by The Psychedelic Furs. The hard rock band Kiss would use rap in “All hell’s breaking loose.”
Meanwhile hip-hop artist were experimenting with rock in rap. The year 1984 smashed the walls of genre-binding with the release of Run-DMC’s “Rock Box” which utilized rock infused guitar rifts. The Beastie Boys dropped “Rock Hard” sampling AC/DC’s “Back in Black.” LL Cool Jay went heavy, merging hard rock with his lyrics and scratch. That year also saw The Red Hot Chili Peppers release their debut self-titled album, they would go on to push the rap-rock envelope infused with funk in subsequent releases.
The following year, 1985, an Aerosmith and Run-DMC collaboration, “Walk This Way,” essentially a rerelease of an Aerosmith song , exploded into the mainstream. It is considered the first rap-rock song to reach the “top ten” of the Billboards.
From there, Sugar Ray would merge rap-rock with nu-metal on several songs and collaborations. The sound would fuse with thrash-metal in “I’m the man” (1997) by Anthrax.
On the rap-front Public Enemy were dropping anthems of the genre with “Bring the Noise” and “She Watches Channel Zero” On “Bring The Noise” Flavor Flav and the crunch of heavy guitar and driving drums, provided by Anthrax, promise to bring the noise and Chuck D does so with some of the slickest delivery regardless of genre:
Never badder than bad cause the brother is madder than mad At the fact that's corrupt as a senator Soul on a roll, but you treat it like soap on a rope Cause the beats and the lines are so dope Listen for lessons I'm saying inside Music that the critics are blasting me for They'll never care for the brothers and sisters Mow, cause the country has us up for the war
The tag-team battle-royal raged, and the alternative metal band Faith No More (which “paved the way for Nirvana” according to Nirvana’s own bassist Krist Novoselic) pushed the sound even further .
And then Rage Against The Machine dropped their bombshell, their self-titled debut (1992). Fronted by poet and activist Zack de la Rocha, Rage pushed the sound even further but also inherited the raging rebellious spirit opposing oppression from which rap had emerged. rap-rock categorically declared itself as a force to reckon with. And it manifested as sonic energy in songs like “Take The Power Back” by Rage Against the Machine:
Step back, I know who I am Raise up your ear, I’ll drop the style and clear It’s the beats and the lyrics they fear The rage is relentless We need a movement with a quickness You are the witness of change And to counteract We gotta take the power back
And so we have come full circle and back to “Judgment Night.” Rage collaborated with the metal band Tool for the soundtrack and produced “Can’t Kill the Revolution.” Unfortunately, the song fell short of the expectations from both bands and was never officially released.
But what we did get was an album of historical significance in rap-rock, rock and rap. The album itself broke through the top 20 on the Billboard 200 and four singles were released . And at the heart of the genre (rap-rock), at the heart of the album “Judgment Night” and at the heart of the song “Judgment Night” by Biohazard and Onyx. Perfect summation:
Onyx! Watch me wreck shit as they exit But yo I keep em hollerin', screamin' out for mercy Minds of a lowest of enemies, ghetto mentality So blast it as I hit your head you're dead not disbelievin' Got the toxic rock, to bring a nigga biohazard!
As warned this is an incomplete history but we cannot close without acknowledging the contributions of the genius producer Rick Rubin, not only to this genre but modern music production in general.
You can hear many of the songs and albums discussed below:
Spotify Playlist: Judgment Night… plus
Beastie Boys – Rock Hard (Youtube)
Tool & Rage Against The Machine – Revolution (2014 Remastered) (Youtube)
“Judgment Night” tracks:
| No. | Title | Artist / Performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “Just Another Victim“ | Helmet and House of Pain | 4:23 |
| 2. | “Fallin’“ | Teenage Fanclub and De La Soul | 4:28 |
| 3. | “Me, Myself & My Microphone” | Living Colourand Run DMC | 3:10 |
| 4. | “Judgement Night” | Biohazardand Onyx | 4:35 |
| 5. | “Disorder” (Medley of 3 Exploited songs: “War”, “UK ’82”, and “Disorder”) | Slayer and Ice-T | 4:58 |
| 6. | “Another Body Murdered“ | Faith No Moreand Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. | 4:24 |
| 7. | “I Love You Mary Jane” | Sonic Youthand Cypress Hill | 3:52 |
| 8. | “Freak Momma” | Mudhoneyand Sir Mix-A-Lot | 4:00 |
| 9. | “Missing Link” | Dinosaur Jr.and Del the Funky Homosapien | 3:59 |
| 10. | “Come and Die” | Therapy? and Fatal | 4:27 |
| 11. | “Real Thing” | Pearl Jam and Cypress Hill | 3:33 |