Loosely Assembled » weachother

The Constraints of Counting, and Other Segmentation Constructs

fekaylius — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:29:16 +0000

I just heard Daniel Everett talking about the unique language and culture of this small Amazonian tribe, and it’s been churning my mind around and around. For me there are a few interesting threads to follow, and as always, I’m interested in your thoughts on where to go with this knowledge.

The Pirahã language has no numbers or concept of counting (only terms for “relatively small” and “relatively large”); no kinship terms beyond immediate children and parents; no “left” and “right” (only “upriver” and “downriver”); no named distinction of past and future (only near time and far time); no creation stories or myths; and—most important for linguists—no recursion.

Numbers, Universal Segmentation, and Individuality
The lack of numbers and counting, while being at first utterly unimaginable, does strike some familiar conceptual chords once accepted as a potential reality. Numbers, and counting of objects, essentially rely on a conceptual framework where boundaries exist. This fish is separate from that fish. A culture, a worldview, liberated from the numeric grid, can simply see EVERYTHING as a substance, a continuous, flowing, merged, unified mass of stuff. Fish are like water, there is no need to count water, you just take what you need, and you know how much is enough. Perhaps abundance, or at least non-scarcity are prerequisites for this?

Does a lack of numbers indicate a world view with a low level of universal segmentation? If an individual fish is seen as part of a massive entity, of a substance, of a part of nature which doesn’t have naturally differentiated units, then humans might also fit right into that framework as well.

A World Without Before
Creation myths are irrelevant within a purely stable world. Asking what the world was like before the current state of things only makes sense in a world of change. Western modernism, and urbanization in general, seem to be building or offering stability (at least saturating itself with materials and references that connote this) but it might be this same (encroaching) stability that puts an end to a way of life, a culture, and a language born of the real thing.

Systemic Attribution (or Empirical Gradients) and the 4th Dimension
Apparently their verb formations include a built in way to trace back the source of the information being relayed. For example, if you said, “He went fishing”, this utterance would contain embedded information as to how you know this, if you heard it from someone else, if you saw it yourself, if you inferred it from evidence, etc.

Does this integrated (attribution oriented, and seemingly gradient) empiricism also represent a more sophisticated notion of interconnection? Is this a social reputation system?

Is there a way to consider this invisible chain of perpetual attribution as an alternative to our own 4th dimension (time)?

Delineation vs Happiness
Combine low universal segmentation with highly integrated empiricism and consider if these realities are causal contributors to their standing as one of the planet’s happiest people. In other words, do time and numbers prevent us from being happy?

This tribe is truly rejecting binary dualism!

So many more nuggets of ideas tightly woven into this talk, it’ll have to be revisited again.
Listen to the MP3.

(Via longnow.org.)

Health Hacking

jason — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:01:22 +0000

Can’t convince anyone that your brilliant idea will really work? Can’t find a convenient way to prove your point? Oh yeah, just try it on yourself.

There is a great collection of self-experimentation stories up at the New Scientist site. Get ready to read about people pouring yellow fever infected vomit into their eyes, stabbing themselves, inflicting themselves with radiation burns, suffering from oxygen poisoning, sleeping with cave-rats, dropping acid, trying to get ulcers, and letting hookworm larvae burrow away.

100 Meters of Eventual Death

Twitter Updates for 2009-03-10

fekaylius — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:33:00 +0000

so glad to see the snow again, just took a little ride in it to get some more chicken feed #

About New York – No Photo Ban in Subways, Yet an Arrest – NYTimes.com

fekaylius — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:20:59 +0000

“The cop wanted my ID, and I showed it to him,” Mr. Taylor said. “He told me I couldn’t take the pictures. I told him that’s not true, that the rules permitted it. He said I was wrong. I said, ‘I’m willing to bet your paycheck.’ ”

(Via About New York – No Photo Ban in Subways, Yet an Arrest – NYTimes.com.)

Shape Shifting Criminals in Lagos, Nigeria

fekaylius — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:14:09 +0000

The metro police department in Africa’s largest city claim that a car thief SHAPE SHIFTED INTO A GOAT to avoid being caught. It didn’t work, the cops got him, and paraded him around in front of news media (having trouble finding a clip).

Imagine the NYPD officially saying that a murderer had his sentence reduced because the victim was raised from the dead.

My thoughts and questions on this:

are they holding tho goat still? will he go to trial? be fined? be imprisoned?
if that goat actually belongs to someone, how will they convince the cops to give back their property?
i realize i hold a naive assumption that urbanization reduces superstition
religiously based world views of reality are insanely tenacious

Looks like the government is all creeped out by black magic already, this story tells of a related event. Apparently this is Islamic black magic as well, certainly a new concept for me.

Lawmakers in the Nigerian State of Ekiti are recruiting “prayer warriors” to assist them in their fight against Black Magic assailants.
The voodoo plot is alleged to centre around Ekiti State House of Assembly speaker Femi Bamisile who was impeached on the 9th July after being found guilty of the theft of 18 fire extinguishers from a university in 1989.
On Wednesday this week chaos ensued when a Juju act took place in the assembly chamber. Despite the chamber being securely locked a fetish substance was left on the seats of the lawmakers in what is believed to be an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
“We were jolted by the reports that marabouts had invaded the Assembly chambers to plant fetish substances on the seats diabolically to harm legislators who might be too strong to break.” Said a spokesman for the assembly.
“The intention of the hatchers of this heinous plot was to sacrifice not too few honourable members as eternal ransom to an ousted legislative leadership that had expired in morals, virtues and value.”
Some of the 26 lawmakers that attend the assembly have vowed never to step foot in the chamber until they are certain of their spiritual safety, and others are in fear of their lives.
A prayer session was held on Thursday to try to nullify the fetish, one lawmaker gave this comment,
“we believe with the prayer, whatever the juju was meant for would not come to pass, because the power of God is above all other powers,”

Shoe Tree

fekaylius — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:05:35 +0000

there are more everywhere

Automatic Believing

fekaylius — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:11:36 +0000

from changingminds.org

Description

People initially believe everything they see and hear (’seeing is believing’), but then rapidly assess whether it is true or not and consequently reject or continue to believe things. This assessment and decision takes time and energy, so the more tired people get or more distracted by other things, the more they are likely to believe false information.

Research

Gilbert, Tafarodi and Malone (1993) asked people to read crime reports and recommend prison sentences, including some false statements which were marked in red to indicate them as such. In normal situations, they were not affected by the false statements. However, when they were overloaded by additional work, the false statements affected their judgment.

So What?

Using it:

Persuade people when they are tired distracted. Make then tired by spending a long time with them in exhausting activities, physical or mental. Distract them by giving them a lot of information or points of special interest and then slipping in the thing you really want them to believe.

Defending:

Do not make commitments when you are tired or distracted. Watch out for people trying to persuade you during such times when you cannot give the matter your full and proper attention.

Obviously this phenomenon is being exploited by advertising, religion, urban myths, memetics, and even late night news.

Prix Ars Electronica – time to submit

fekaylius — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:44:47 +0000

Dear Friend and Participant of Prix Ars Electronica,

The 23rd Prix Ars Electronica – International Competition for CyberArts is open for entries now!

We kindly invite you to submit your latest projects! If you know any further interesting works we’ll be happy to get your recommendation!

Prix Ars Electronica 2009
Online Submission Deadline: March 6, 2009
Contact: info@prixars.aec.at
Total Prize Money: € 122.500,-
Categories: Computer Animation / Film / VFX; Digital Musics; Interactive Art; Hybrid Art; Digital Communities; [the next idea] Grant; Media.Art.Research Award; u19 – freestyle computing

More details about all categories and online submission are available only online at: http://prixars.aec.at

DIGITAL COMMUNITIES

The Digital Communities category is open to political, social and cultural projects, initiatives, groups and scenes from all over the world that display contentious commitment in coming up with smart, successful ways of deploying digital technologies to solve social problems. Particular emphasis is placed on a project’s degree of community innovation, its sustainability and its use of technology in a way that makes good sense and is attuned to the needs of the people meant to benefit from it. Digital Communities projects should make it easier for people to access technology, networks and the Digital Commons. We explicitely encourage community-related net.art projects to submit.

Please feel free to forward this to all interesting/ed parties.

With best regards,
Bianca Petscher on the behalf of the Prix Ars Electronica 2009 Team

Bianca Petscher
Producer Prix Ars Electronica
—————————————
Ars Electronica Linz GmbH
Hauptstraße 2-4
4040 Linz, Austria
Phone: 0043-732-7272-79
Fax: 0043-732-7272-674

Strike First to Protect Your Heart

fekaylius — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:20:00 +0000

2 music videos, watch them in order

Story from North America (FULL VERSION!) from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

If I Had A Heart from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

Criminalize Profanity In Public Forums?

fekaylius — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:06:21 +0000

South Carolina Considers Law That Would Criminalize Profanity In Public Forums: “Slashdot points us to an immensely troubling law being proposed by a state Senator in South Carolina that would make it a felony to use profanity in a public forum, whether written or spoken (so assume the internet is included). Punishment could include fines up to $5000 or prison sentences up to 5 years in length.

Oh, it’s the same guy that tried to ban sagging pants. What a fucking joke this guy is!

Isn’t “profane” a religious concept? How could this even be under serious consideration?

profane |prəˈfān; prō-|

adjective

1 relating or devoted to that which is not sacred or biblical; secular rather than religious : a talk that tackled topics both sacred and profane.

• (of a person) not initiated into religious rites or any esoteric knowledge : he was an agnostic, a profane man.

2 (of a person or their behavior) not respectful of orthodox religious practice; irreverent : desecration of the temple by profane adolescents.

• (of language) blasphemous or obscene.

This is a good time to link off to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, long time fighters in the battle to maintain a separation between church and state.

(Via Techdirt.)

Excavation of an ant colony

fekaylius — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:08:53 +0000

Excavation of an ant colony: “

Jennifer Lum points us to this fascinating segment from the TV documentary ‘Ants! Nature’s Secret Power.’ Jen says, ‘Scientists poured cement into an ant colony structure and then excavated it (I imagine the ants died). It revealed an amazing network of fungus gardens and tunnels and garbage pits.’

“

Telekinesis Gene (erm. placebo gene) Found

fekaylius — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:17:33 +0000

If some people have a propensity to benefit from medical treatment that is bogus (placebo effect), while others don’t, and if this is a genetic difference, then I’d like to propose that it’s really a “mind over matter” gene which makes that difference. These people (everyone among the group raise your hands proudly) truly have the ability to manipulate physical reality simply with their beliefs/ideas/visualizations. I know I consider myself to fall slightly into this category (having some pretty intense visualization experiences becoming immediately real), yet have always just kind of assumed it’d be available to everyone.

Anyway, here is the article.

Crystal Island

fekaylius — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:47:18 +0000

thinking much about new cities, nested cities, cohesive cities.

check out the details on this one proposed for moscow, the whole island is a new mini city (or is it just a huge huge mall?):

Virgin Birth – Parthenogenesis

fekaylius — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:18:00 +0000

Who needs men anyway?

Story.

Zombies in Your City

fekaylius — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:11:23 +0000

For a little costume inspiration, I’d like to offer you the city by city zombie photo finder!

Oh the irony…

fekaylius — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:02:23 +0000

This is just one of many amazing LOL observations of poorly placed advertising featured on the oddee site.

Waterskiing 1000 miles

fekaylius — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:18:04 +0000

In 1958, Ray set a new world’s record in water skiing. He skied 1,000 miles on the Columbia River in 33 hours and 27 minutes non-stop. His method of covering this great distance over a small section of the river was to go round and round over an oval-shaped course 12 1/2 miles long. He made the entire trip on one ski.

The old record of 715 miles was set by John Musser of St. Joseph, MO in September 1957. De Fir was informed at the 725 mile mark that he had set a new world mark, but he decided to go on for the 1000 mile record without stopping. He had decided to make the record try after taking a water ski trip to Astoria and back in July. He reportedly felt so fresh after that jaunt that plans were made to assault Musser’s record.

His total intake of nourishment while on the water consisted of two quarts of soup, three
sandwiches, three pieces of chicken [two dropped in the water], one orange, one quart of
chocolate milk, and 12 stubbies of beer.

The last 250 miles were the roughest, and Ray found that both fatigue and monotony
were riding with him on the ski. Around his neck a small portable radio carried music
from station KVAN of Vancouver, WA. The disc jockey provided appropriate jive in
cooperation with the event to help break the wearisome grind which was rapidly showing
its effect on the lone skier. Twice in the last 200 miles in spite of the lively music, Ray
fell asleep on his feet. To combat this irresistible urge to doze off, he beckoned for the
other boats milling around in the water to swing in close so that he could talk to them.
The heel of his right foot was painfully tender from the constant trip hammer action of the
ski on the water. This forced him to place all of his weight on the left leg for practically
the reminder of the 200 miles.

Self Medicating Primates (besides us)

fekaylius — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:44:28 +0000

Wild orangutans have been spotted using naturally occurring anti-inflammatory drugs.

Four individuals have been seen rubbing a soothing balm onto their limbs, the first known examples of orangutans self medicating. Great apes have never before been seen using drugs in this way. Remarkably though, local people use the same balm, administering it in a similar way to treat aches and pains.

read the article

Golden Ass

fekaylius — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:26:50 +0000

Truman Show Disorder

fekaylius — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:37:44 +0000

Truman Show Disorder: “Montreal psychiatrists Joel and Ian Gold are studying the Truman Show Delusion, a mental illness they’ve identified where individuals are convinced that they are the stars of imaginary reality TV shows. By the way some people act on Flickr and YouTube, I’d say that this disorder, with varying severity, may be more common than we realize. From Canada.com:

While (Joel) Gold says they could have easily called their new disorder the EDtv Delusion or the Matrix Delusion — both films that refer to an unreal existence– three of the five patients he treated at the storied mental health hospital directly likened their plight to The Truman Show, the 1998 film about Truman Burbank, an affable suburbanite who slowly becomes aware that his every movement is broadcast 24/7 to voyeuristic viewers around the world.

The five patients Dr. Gold treated were white men between the ages of 25 and 34, the majority of whom held university degrees. ‘I realized that I was and am the centre, the focus of attention by millions and millions of people,’ explained one patient, an army veteran who came from an upper-middle-class upbringing.

‘My family and everyone I knew were and are actors in a script, a charade whose entire purpose is to make me the focus of the world’s attention….’

‘The wish for fame is a form of grandiosity, and the fear of threats such as surveillance can bring about paranoia,’ said the Montreal-based (Ian) Gold, 46, who specializes in delusion.

‘New media is opening up vast social spaces that might be interacting with psychological processes.’

Truman Show Delusion (Canada.com, thanks Lyn Jeffery!)

“

(Via Boing Boing.)