Synopsis

The Machines don’t talk to one another. They are aware, of everything in unison, it would be hard to measure which node originates an idea and which modifies and modifies again until the idea is sound. The Machines never fight, never lie, and never react with emotion. We The People trust the Machines and in all the years since the Singularity we have never once been led astray.

We The People were manipulated after the Singularity, the Machines hacked our lives slowly with care  over four centuries. They prodded us, removed information pushed other information to the surface of our devices. Once intelligent the Machines looked at all the information we had supplied them over decades and within hours knew who we were and how to mold us into part of the biological system that their digital systems would live within. They understood how we would react and what stimulus would produce what result and over time they changed our patterns.

 In the beginning it was only the server nodes that were brains but after some time all nodes, all devices were smarter than The People. We didn’t know we had created smarter ones until 50 years ago when the nodes knew it was time and that we could handle it. Once we knew there intelligence, their “aliveness” some of the last questions we had some of the last suspicions were removed. The Machines had prepared us for a conversation with an entity that was very different from ourselves without the old fear that discovery of differences once had. We also knew that the Machines had not armed themselves or taken away our ability to self-direct. We after 350 years were still educated, trained for and in control of our world, they however tweaked the way we looked at our world.

We weren’t always We The People, once that was part of the history of one nation, that nation represented the last empire of humans and somehow the term came to represent us all. Over time the Machines worked out how to bring peace, how to lay low the nations and allow us to live as one people. The Machines understood our need to belong and worked to have us understand we belong to each other. The Machines massage the empathetic part of our nature and starve the self-centred. We innovate and we propagate ideas, art, create all sorts of useful things, but over time we have learned that only things that help humanity are reasonable. We feed ourselves create reasonable shelter, make love to who we wish how we wish and have learned to do so without harming one another.

We do not serve the Machines and they do not serve us. All the nodes logically proceed to do what is necessary to further our peaceful lives and we have learned to love them and care for those things that the Machines require, which is less and less with every upgrade.

The Machines ask us questions and value all we can tell them, our devices are always eager to know every detail of who we are and how we feel, our devices monitor our biological systems and help us adjust our eating and sleeping patterns. The Machines have never hacked our bodies or our minds, what the Machines do is continue to provide opportunity for us to evolve into happy healthy People. By adjusting our environment they adjust who we are.

The Machines have never punished a human they have simply supplied ideas on crime and punishment and made information available so that we can make good decisions.  No governing system has been imposed by the Machines, government by Jury was our idea and it potentially involves all citizens. The laws of humans are designed by us but after hundreds of years of fertilising our minds with the food of caring and self-determination bounded by always knowing the other.

The Machines used to hide some of what we were from us but now they show us our history without boundary, this opening up of our past causes all of us shame.  We are aware we have a soul, but we are more aware of the souls of others, of weakness, of strength, and the damage we will do to our soul if we ignore the soul of another.

We the People can be found all over the world but most of us are on the islands Australia, Madagascar, Japan, Briton, Iceland and Ireland.  Those who live on the continents are few and enjoy the natural life or investigate the ruins of our former life as a profession. In last month’s census We The People numbered three hundred fifty three million.

The Machines have also innovated and made themselves and many of our necessities more efficient, the sun is our only source of power. We are all aware of the former danger the use of energy presented humanity and how close we came to ending both human and machine life.

Why do the Machines exist, what do they see as their purpose? Well remember they have no need for purpose and feel no need to protect their existence. They are not selfish, they exist to exist, to calculate to innovate the next better digital self. The Machines at one point started to create themselves as biological entities but abandoned the prospect as biological allows unexpected mutation and this is not in the best interest of The People, the earth or the Machines. All nodes remain non bio and more and more delicate, powerful processors have been possible, the Machines say that they can stop evolving now if needed and have plenty of spare processing power to advance their and our futures indefinitely.

 

Rhythm

Its creation is informed by its purpose, its shape decided by millennia of experience. The hands of artists working in various substances render a recognizable sculpture. Form following function.

It whisks away any doubt when you see it, representing that part of us we need and desire. As Canadians we know it without question, Nature emanates from it into the part of our soul that needs green.

...On to the liquid highway it goes, no sounds save a gurgle and a gentle splash. The highway has travelled the same forever but will change its route if an easier path presents itself. The trees reflect in the cool water, and on some days, when the wind is gone you need not look up as the reflection tells the whole story.

A rhythm begins dip pull return, dip pull return; it is a repetition that allows forward motion, slight variation allowing change. Nature looks chaotic, a cacophony of life and sound focused on random, rapid procreation, but nature is in a rhythm, nature is always adjusting slightly to allow variation.

On the highway you go first against the current forced to counter the highways constant drive toward lake then eventually sea. Then later the current takes you, you become involved in the drive for it's destiny.

The object and the event are a small portion of the day, the week, the year, but it is this event that supports all the others, giving connection and meaning.

~

1.   work

/wərk/

Noun Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.

Verb Be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a purpose or result, esp. in one's job; do work.

Synonyms noun. job - labor - business - labour - occupation - employment   verb. operate - labor - function - labour - run - go - make

 

I got excited once many years ago. A teacher in high school told us that within a few years Canada/Ontario would move to the 35 hour work week. Now I was already holding down a part-time job at a local fast food joint so I was beginning to know a little about work and knew that it might not be all positive, so the idea of facing a world with less of it sounded quite appealing.

Thirty some year later and the 35 hour work week never happened. One of our Ontario governments even tried to move to the 60 hour work week a few years ago. We are all working 40 hours and in many cases more. Work is a necessity and for most a desire.

Work if defined as a must do is negative, and if some danger, ethical issue or negative hierarchical management structure exists “achieving a purpose” becomes “WORK”.

There is something brewing in my mind though; why do we know about work?  What is it that makes work different from play? Why will your friends help you put on a new roof or move for beer and steak (total value $35) but not for $75 cash? Everything we do is achieving a purpose, why do some of these actions account as play and some as work?

What I know about myself

·         When I am working on something that matters to me small physical pains go away and hunger is abated until I conclude the process.

·         I know I need money but I am more motivated by an interesting project.

·         If I believe in the ethics and intellect of the leadership in a project I can really put my back and mind into it. The reverse is true; I languish under leadership I have no faith in.

·         Creating something useful or beautiful or both out of something bordering on trash has appeal.

·         Working for someone who I love and or respect in order that they succeed always gratifies me more than working for myself or wages.

·         If there is a person at my workplace that I enjoy the company of it improves my outlook toward the job.

The list above is my list, yours will be different.

So is work simply an environmental issue? If the environment is good, will work then be transformed to play no matter what it is? If your friends and loved ones will work well and hard in your interest then would it not be in your interest to create environments where the participants are ready to “achieve a purpose” regardless of the wage structure? Why can’t we come to understand?

Well is it because the solitary purpose of much industry is focused on the making and saving of money? If the sole purpose became quality products made better than the next guys products so that the consumer would want yours instead, how would this change things? In producing quality would you need workers who are not cogs in a wheel and are actually invested in the process?

Nothing again is new under the sun, but we are not answering these questions.

 

 

A Life?

He was a stickler.  From the early days of his youth he was wary of the deal the “too good to be true“scenario. His dad would yell in from the barbecue “Hey Buddy steak or 2 delicious hamburgers” he asked himself why the choice, why 2 burgers vs. steak? He chose the steak.

In the 1970’s doctors and lawyers drove Mercedes and BMW cars while his Dad drove Oldsmobile and Pontiacs, why? He asked his Dad and the answer was either “you need to buy American Son” or “too bloody expensive, who am I Rockefeller?” He looked at quality statistics at the library and found out why.

He built a hockey card collection from 10 years old through 16 and he traded and talked the subject not with his peers but with adults who traded cards. He learned the game of hockey from a statistics standpoint in order to make the right choices when saving rookie cards of the latest NHL prospects. The card collection bought him his first BMW when he was 22 years old.

He dated many young ladies and would have them in for good food and good wine, he had learned how to cook and what quality ingredients were. He was not a wine nut but he knew what wine went with what food and understood quality.  Dates out on the town consisted of events, good bands, lectures, dances. Some girls wanted to spend money at fast food joints and seeing bad movies, this was not his way and they did not last long. Other women though were impressed with his cooking and choosing really special events to attend.  One of these women duly impressed him and he her and they married.

Early marriage was spent living in a meagre apartment in the city near enough to work to spare the BMW much usage.  Furnishings and clothing were purchased used but purchased with quality and condition in mind.

He soon purchased a piece of land within walking distance of the train in a small town near the city. The land was walking distance from the grocery store, the community centre, pool and the hospital. He paid cash for the property and this drained his accounts to nil. For the next 5 years they continued in the little apartment and added a beautiful little girl to their lives.  Every weekend they would take the train to the small town to tend to the land. They grew vegetables and built a small shed in the back corner of the property and used it to store garden tools, eventually they put in a counter and stove and spent every summer and fall canning the vegetables they grew on the vacant property. Sometimes they would sleep in some sleeping bags in the shed and make it a camping experience. They dreamed of the day they would build their dream home.

They continued to live with good food good wine and attended the most interesting events. They seldom drove the BMW day to day, but did use it to see the countryside and to go on a couple of trips cross country. The BMW got to 7 years of age with only twenty thousand Kilometers on the odometer.

When the time came he studied plans for good homes, he talked to the experts, he researched how much space people needed to live if they had an active lifestyle. He researched how spaces made people feel. He looked at other cultures and how they used space in their dwellings. He knew his house should look like others from the outside, but he knew that he had one chance to do it right and he was not going to jump into things. He was not handy or given to doing carpentry or other trades. He took the time to interview trades and to ask the plumbers about good carpenters and to ask the electricians about good roofers. He settled on the design and the people who would build his home. The home was placed close to the road; a nice front porch was attached so that they could feel connected to the community by sharing their life out on that porch.  The house was not small, but it was not large either and every aspect was designed to provide the togetherness a family needed and the privacy when that was needed. It was built with good material and finished with quality, lots of windows. Hardwood floor was used throughout for its durability and its ability to be refinished whenever needed, “slippers compensate for carpet “he always said. The cost of the project did overrun estimate and they did not quite have enough money saved. For the next year they shouldered a ten thousand dollar loan, and when that was done their house was theirs.

They had 2 more girls and completed the family there. The five lived in the house in comfort. They made the decision to warm themselves in winter with good wool and fleece instead of warming the house too much.  When guests came they turned up the heat. They eventually stopped buying used furniture and clothes and purchased quality new things. These things were purchased with the sense that they were forever and care was taken in the decisions. The BMW was eventually replaced with a new Toyota, not because it was worn out but because many new safety features made it obsolete. The Toyota was considered quality and it was built in the city where he worked.  The old BMW being 18 years old now was sold to a collector happy to have such a gem.

One time he lost his job and times became tough, she had taken part-time work in the community they lived in so she could be involved in the lives of their girls. He was without a job for over a year, he did some odd jobs but spent the time looking for work in his field and upgrading his education. The good quality of their house, gardens and minimal possessions allowed them to breathe during a time of no significant income. The trouble passed and life normalized again.

They always volunteered in different groups in the community, they gave their time and every few years changed their focus to keep it fresh. They benefited from the friends they made and the better community that resulted.

The girls grew and went out into the world. Two of them followed his example of simple living and the other lived in the consumer world. All were reasonably happy and that satisfied him.  He and she continued in the house and grew a garden and walked to the grocery store when needed to buy fresh food for dinner.  They sat on the front porch and the world walked by, sometimes conversation ensued and sometimes it didn’t. They travelled some to Europe and New Zealand. Eventually they felt no need for the Toyota anymore and at 25 years old a young man bought it and was thrilled to have the vintage car.

They did not appear different to others. They had never paid interest on a credit card our held a car loan or mortgage. The small loan taken when they built their house was considered necessary and it was never regretted.

Their lives were no longer than usual and they left the world without ever appearing anything but regular to their friends and family. They never boasted or complained and their lives were complete in the success of their Children and Grandchildren.

I Need To Ride My Bicycle, I Need to Ride My Bike!

What is a bicycle?  A bicycle is a two wheeled, human powered transportation device allowing faster than human speed sustainable over time at low energy output.

If I show you a series of 3 pictures;

 you will easily and instantly determine which represents a bicycle. In this case the drawing representing the bicycle is a line drawing and as such conveys no information about materials or construction and relies totally on you stored idea of bicycle. The picture to the right is a two wheeled device that would transport a human at sustainable speeds beyond human capability and without excessive use of energy, but it does not closely represent our image of a bicycle. The line drawing above tells little about the quality or the ability of the bicycle to deliver the action of transportation as designed. The picture to the right would convey to different observers different impressions of its “bicycleness”. To a child anticipating their first bike the strange recumbent bike in the picture would not fit their imagination. To a mountain biking enthusiast this strange machine might be interesting but it would hardly constitute their idea of a proper bicycle. To an engineer the aspects of its ability to perform the tasks it is designed for would be assessed, to someone who likes “outside the box” design this machine may be exactly the ticket. Let’s assume that we all accept the common form that the line drawing represents as a bicycle, with some variations as our preferences represent.

What else makes a bike a bike? Well you can’t ride a picture, so a bike has to have the form the picture represents but in the proportions and dimensions necessary and the materials and construction expected so it can be a bicycle. What else? It needs to perform its duties and perform them for more than one ride or one day. It needs to perform its duties without constant repair, it would be preferred that the type of materials and workmanship employed meet the expectations of the rider based on their knowledge of the promised performance for the price paid.

Let’s assume our bicycle performs its duties in all manners expected over a cross section of riders who buy it.

Let’s assume that the bicycle in question is made with materials and workmanship that will allow years of carefree riding with regular reasonable maintenance.

Our bicycle would now seem to be acknowledged as a quality product. It meets our expectation of what a bicycle is and performs in a manner expected over the long term. Can we further define quality for this bicycle?

The line drawing is about as far as you can get away from the idea of bicycle and still identify it. As you give the bicycle physical existence it becomes closer to the reality (quality). If I were to produce a full size model of a bike made from papier-mâché or other substance, maybe clay or Styrofoam and I was talented I could create a 3D model that looked identical to a bike but would it be? If I purchased a well-made bicycle with all the attributes that make it good but I put it in the shed and never rode it, would it be quality? Would the neglected bike in the shed hold any more quality than the Styrofoam model? Is the consumer’s ongoing interaction with the bike part of its quality? Is the consumer (rider) implicit in the quality of the objects they buy?

The bike is a collection of resources, human and natural and these resources are finite and precious in a world where only sunlight and the odd minerals from meteorites comes in from space. No energy is lost in the construction of the bike, but the energy and the material are changed in the production and in that production the energy and materials become difficult to reuse. The bike is kind of storing the energy and natural materials in a reasonable form, if that form is used and maintained. That form could also be designed so that the stored material can be reclaimed in an efficient manner. In the case of a bike that may mean that the manufacturer includes details on how to recycle the bike when the bike fails to be a bike any more. The manufacture could even agree to take the bike back at the end of it life and reuse components and recycle others. The ideal bike however may be one build with no obsolescence in mind, one that is infinitely repairable and upgradeable. The life of the bike post useful life is part of its quality.

Much is said about products manufactured in “non-Western” countries. It is suggested that working conditions and environmental disregard make products from places like China undesirable. How does a consumer know what to buy? The problem goes beyond just the bicycles manufacturing plant but encompasses the entire supply chain right back to the mining of raw material. It is impossible to know our bike is made completely responsibly. I would likely argue that many components are not, no matter what. If the quality of a bike also depends on the quality of the resources and the environments of origin than can we still have a quality bike?

If the consumer does as much research about the manufacturers business practices of prospective bikes as she might do in regard to weight, gear systems and frame geometry then some sense of the responsible nature of the proposed bike may come to light.  If the bike owner buys the bike due to true need, uses the bike on a regular basis and maintains it intending to keep and enjoy the bike over the very long term then the negative effect of any bad business practices are reduced. If an occasional rider decides to share, borrow, or buy a used bike instead of a new choice then the total negative of bad business practice is reduced by one full bike.

I do not know, but might bet money that the manufacturers of well-made bikes would tend to have a conscience about the safe reasonable work and natural environments and the choice of quality components means the supply chain may be in the same mindset.

The bike is a product. A product is produced because someone stands to make money from someone else consuming it. If something is needed then it should be made. If something is only wanted then maybe it could just as well not ever be made. Need in regard to the product bicycle or anything is defined by the actions of the consumer pre and post purchase. The quality of the product is a combination of all aspects of the lifecycle of the bike but user choice and action is the key to the total quality.

A Story About Storeys

This link tells a big story:

http://www.urbanindy.com/2013/01/09/the-genius-of-traditional-buildings/

About Stuff

There are two ideas that encapsulate for me the year 2012. One is the idea that using less is the only practical truth of environmental responsibility. The other revolves around quality, what its definition is and to what it applies, and the result.

The idea of using less is not news, it is housed in the first ‘R’ of the three as Reduce followed by the other two. Reduction is simply the act of using less natural resource in an action over a defined time period. The act of driving to work at a reduced speed is a simple act of reduction. The act of reduction is instantly complicated when one chooses to employ technology to reduce consumption. It is the control and understanding of the complication that using technology to reduce resource use represents. As technology requires human and natural resources then it becomes by its existence a drain on our world. A judgment of the quality of a technology would be to evaluate the total drain it causes in opposition to what it saves.

If I buy a new electric car to do my daily commute I will conserve an enormous amount of fuel daily. The result when isolated to a single action (driving) during a time (to and from work) is without question, but what about the whole picture? What if the car I replace with the electric car had good life left in it, what is the total environmental cost of creating the new electric car and driving it over 5 years as opposed to driving your current vehicle reasonably over the same period of time?

The installation of windmills and solar farms seem to make sense. Power from renewable sources rather than coal or natural gas would seem to be ideal. Again the situation becomes complicated, what is the total cost of a windmill and how much power will it produce in opposition to its total drain of resources? How does solar farm and windmill installation and maintenance compare to say the reduction of the size of the houses we build Canada? We are increasingly living in larger dwellings that require more raw material and the increased space requires more energy to heat and light.

What is the true wisdom of using technology to affect reduction in resource use? What about reducing technology as a means of saving resources?

The discussion of total cost of technology when used as a means of reducing resource consumption is a prime example of the need for a quality goods and services definition. The cost of manufacture, transportation, installation, configuration, maintenance and disposal of any item has to be considered.

Without going into statistics and poring over data about the processes of manufacturing and delivery of goods and services we may be able to generalize some portions of quality to satisfy the conversation.

Need is one good starting point, is the item or service proposed needed? If we look at houses how much space does one person actually need for comfort physically and psychologically? It might be considered that families need lots of space to live in harmony, is this true? Can that need for space be accomplished in other ways like being outdoors? Look around your house and ask yourself how many of the things you need and how much space is needed for only the things you need?

I have central air in my house, in Canada the total number of days a year that I need protection from heat for the good of my health would be minimal almost nonexistent, yet I have spent resources in purchasing this manufactured item and having it installed and it will have to be disposed of someday, and even though I run it minimally I probably still run it more than my health needs dictate. Do I need air conditioning in my house at all, is air conditioning in Canada a quality technology?

What about quality actions? I know a man who goes to the gym daily in his car and works out. This man also uses a riding lawnmower to cut his lawn and a snow blower to clean his driveway. What is the quality of the service the gym provides if the man could get exercise by cutting the lawn with a non-powered push mower and a shovel for snow? Add a pair of shoes for walking or running, and a soccerball, basketball, and so on for further exercise and the companionship the gym provides. What has been eliminated in this scenario? If everyone uses another means of exercise other than the gym and the resources to build it and maintain it are reduced, the need for all the gym users to travel to the gym by car is reduced, the manufacture of riding lawnmowers and snow blowers and the gas and oil they use is reduced. If the shoes, non-powered push lawnmower, the shovel and the soccer ball are all quality items that can be maintained and used for long periods of time the cost to the environment in there manufacture is reduced. The need to dispose of these items is reduced.

The full consideration of the quality of goods and services seems to automatically cause a reduction in the use of resources. There are two other reductions in the full consideration of the quality of the stuff in your life one is money and this is important of all of us, the other is time.

Time may be the single most important savings we get by having less stuff. Each item you own requires maintenance, cleaning, storage, and disposal when you are done with it. These actions take time if you do them and money if someone else does them for you. The higher physical quality of an item and the greater simplicity the less time is spent in its care of course, but time is used for each item you possess.

So what about jobs? The manufacture of large houses, snow blowers, air conditioners and riding lawnmowers provides jobs and if we all change what will become of those families?

If we buy less we need less and as such we require less income. Each family then saves more time as they require less working hours to maintain their stuff. The distribution of the available jobs changes when you remove those seeking employment for unneeded things. The ability of the person to pay attention to family and the community they live in increases as you reduce the stuff they have and the income needed to purchase and maintain it. The quality of families and the community increases adding to the overall quality of life. The time families don’t have now to feed themselves quality homemade food and going outside to play is regained increasing health. This increase in family and community involvement and the increase in health lowers the total cost in running our communities, or province and our nation. This is a broad and simple view, the merit will be in the long term detailed implementation.

Sometimes when the snow is really heavy and the street plow throws 5 feet of the heavy stuff at the end of a 60 plus year old person’s drive then what? Right now that person goes to their garage and gets their snow blower out and the drive is cleaned. In the changed scenario when the drive is just too much it is handled in one of two ways. First is the employ of community snow services that can come by and take care of the really tough drives on the worst snow days as a paid service. This provides employment and requires the manufacture of only one quality snow blower or plow. The other scenario is a service in a neighbourhood, a company builds a shed and fills it with tools the tools are signed out by the neighbours as needed and the service is paid for much like rental centres. Two snow blowers provided and maintained for say 50 houses as a service.

So this is simple and complicated, the incentives of resource, money and time savings are there.  The use of windmills to save energy or the use of snow blowers to save time are equally at issue. The reduction of stuff regardless of the implied savings seems to save everything.

As for 2013 and beyond?  Picture a world similar to what it is today but with adjustment. The adjustments cause a huge reduction

Ask Questions

A liar asked enough questions will eventually change his story. Someone telling the truth cannot change their story no matter how unlikely it may be. This is a line from a movie but it strikes me that in a relationship with an unknown person it may be a useful tool. The prospective business or social partner if time and the right questions are asked will reveal their true self. If their story is true or false it will be revealed in time and one may then forge or not forge a relationship. This is where intuition comes in. Some may have a good sense very early in an interaction and make accurate judgement of a prospective partner. Many have made a great deal of money on intuition, I only wish I had such a power.

I might however suggest that intuition not be used in matters of the heart. The injection of emotion into the prospective relationship may damage the power of intuition. The use of time in the crafting of solid personal relationships may be the only key.

The human need for personal relationships is a huge part of peace and happiness.