To Control Machines with Thoughts, To Control Thoughts with Machines

http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/04/the_unclear_boundary.html

Brain researchers Olaf Blanke and Jane Aspell wrote in [to Nature] to warn about the use of brain-machine interfaces, not to control machines with thoughts, but to control thoughts with machines.

Imagine if insights from the field of cortical prosthetics in human and non-human primates were combined with research on bodily self-consciousness in humans. Signals recorded by multi-electrodes implanted in the motor cortex can already be used to control robotic arms and legs. Cognitive cortical prosthetics will allow the use of other cortical signals and regions for prosthesis control. Several research groups are investigating indications that the conscious experience of being in a body can be experimentally manipulated.

The frontal and temporoparietal signals that seem to be involved encode fundamental aspects of the self, such as where humans experience themselves to be in space and which body they identify with (O. Blanke and T. Metzinger Trends Cogn. Sci. 13, 7–13; 2009). If research on cortical prosthetics and on the bodily self were applied to humans using brain-controlled prosthetic devices, there might be no clear answer to Clausen’s question: which of them is responsible for involuntary acts?

It may sound like science fiction, but if human brain regions involved in bodily self-consciousness were to be monitored and manipulated online via a machine, then not only will the boundary between user and robot become unclear, but human identity may change, as such bodily signals are crucial for the self and the ‘I’ of conscious experience. Such consequences differ from those outlined by Clausen for deep brain stimulation and treatment with psychoactive drugs.

Internet Ideas – Brides for Somali Pirates

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/09/somali-women-flocking-to-ports-in-hope-of-marrying-pirates/

T.J. Holmes: We know that piracy pays. What is it that’s going to break this cycle if every time they take a ship, they get paid. Why stop it?

Kaj Larsen: That’s the 50 or $100 million question, which is about the money that the pirates took in last year in ransom. The solution unfortunately is not going to be a military-centric one. Ultimately, you to have to find some way to govern this ungoverned space, this lawless sanctuary that the pirates have in Somalia. That’s really the only long-term solution you’re going to see to this problem.

Holmes: Let’s start with the military solution. Why not send a message?

Larsen: Certainly there would be some deterrent effect. I think in this case, the incentives are so large. The money that they’re making is so extraordinary, especially by Somalia standards, that it would be difficult. However, in this particular situation, the goal is to solve it as quickly and as safely as possible without putting the hostage in jeopardy.

Holmes: There are hopeless, deplorable conditions in Somalia. A life of piracy looks pretty good for some of these young men compared to the conditions in Somalia,

Comments:

Ian R. : “There’s actually a relatively simple and cheap solution to this problem.

Merchant vessels are unarmed; however, they carry a ton of fuel oil to run their main engines. Simply run a pipe into the fuel tanks, add a pump, then run pipes down each side of the ship with some atomizer nozzles and an ignitor.

When the pirates pull alongside, you active the pumps, spray fuel oil on them and their boat, ignite it, and leave them burning in your wake.

Cheap and easy.”

Larsen: You couldn’t have said it better, T.J. I’ve been on the ground in Somalia. One of the interesting demographic things that’s happening right now is that single Somali women are flocking to the port town Bosaso where these pirates come out of in the hopes of marrying a pirate. So you can see that it really is — the root conditions of poverty, lawlessness and civil war on the ground in Somalia are really what are breeding this problem.

Holmes: Is it worth the risk for these companies to continue to go through the Gulf of Aden? Does it cost much to take another route? Is it worth it to take the chance, pay the ransom, and keep moving?

Larsen: So far, that’s been the model. As these attacks increase, we’ve seen six in the last week alone, the cost of doing business in that area is just going to be too high. The insurance companies are going to jack up the rates of insurance. And at some point, they’re not going to be able to continue without taking much more serious security measures or without finding an alternative route.

Holmes: Do you think this situation will begin to draw more attention to what’s happening there off the Horn of Africa and maybe more action will begin to be taken by countries all over the world?

Larsen: I think this is a clarion call to the international community that Somalia is and continues to be a failed state. And that if we don’t continue to pay attention to it, if we don’t start changing the conditions on the ground there, if we don’t start governing that ungoverned space that it’s going to be a breeding ground for piracy and possibly international terrorism. So yes, I would hope that this situation, that the silver lining in the cloud is that people would start paying attention to this horrific situation in the country there.

Internal vs External Motivation

As I struggle with finding the
beginning,
ending,
voice and
person,
for my Secret Novel, I return each time to the characters themselves. Many of you have given me the advice, “Listen to what the characters tell you.”

I pondered this wisdom deeply and realized something profound. I have no frickin’ idea what my characters are telling me.

Here’s the problem. I know the shape of my story well… but only from the outside. I know what happens to my characters. But I don’t know what happens within my characters. I realize this is odd. Usually, I know what my characters want before I know what will stop them from getting it. For various reasons, mostly because my secret novel is inspired by real events, I know all the obstacles but none of the aspirations.

My characters have external motivation. Bad things happen to them. But what is their internal motivation? What keeps them going despite the bad things? This is what I have to discover.

I usually write characters from the inside out. This time I have to write them from the outside in.

UPDATE: Apparently, this is Vonnegut’s Third Rule of Writing.

Blind Picket Author’s Guild

Here’s another view of the Author’s Guild dispute with the Kindle.

The National Federation of the Blind’s Imbroglio with the Author’s Guild and their distaste for the Kindle 2’s text-to-speech function is heating up. Today they took it to the Guild’s own doorstep here in NYC.

Basically the story is this: the Author’s Guild raised issue with the Kindle 2’s new robotic text-to-speech feature, which can read any Kindle book aloud in a synthesized voice—naturally, a feature that would be an absolute delight for the vision impaired. The Author’s Guild, however, saw things differently, stating that eBooks are not sold with “performance” rights and that the Kindle’s read-aloud feature would cut into the sales of audio books. And last month, Amazon caved to the Guild, giving individual publishers the ability to disable the text-to-speech reader for specific books.

…We’re all about getting people paid for their work, but to cite lost royalties and audio book revenues as the main reason to deprive the blind community from the full Kindle archive —which, if you remember, Jeff Bezos hopes will soon include every book ever published—seems kind of ridiculous.

It’s my personal opinion the Author’s Guild is wrong on this — for a number of reasons, though this is one of the more poignant. I say that as someone who would like someday to earn money from selling audio books.

Ending – Twist or Plunge

The End.

I always type those words at the end of my first draft. (Sometimes, if I’m trying to be sophisticated, I type “Fin” instead.) Fins are considered fishy these days, but I still like the taste of them.

There’s a lot to say about endings, and Natalie the Ninja has some good advice on writing endings, especially for those who are nearing the completion of a manuscript right now.

My concern at the moment is a little different. My Secret Novel is not yet begun, never mind near complete. As I’ve mentioned before, I seldom begin a book without knowing how things will end. So, in a sense, this post is actually the counterpart of my discussion of beginnings.

Just as beginnings can be marathons or relays, so endings can be likened to the final run on a roller coaster: the Plunge or the Twist.

The plot of a book is like a roller coaster, full of of ups and downs, twists and curves. At the climax of the ride, you have to decide — how will the ride end? Some roller coasters climb up a big hill. As your car rachets higher and higher on the track, you know it’s going to have to go back down in one huge plunge which will have you screaming your head off.

Or maybe not. Some rides don’t end with one big plunge, but with a final gravity-defying twist which takes you by surprise.

Now, all books, if they are any good at all, have some twists at the end, otherwise they would be thoroughly predictable. But this doesn’t make them Twist Ending books. Take Lord of the Rings. There’s a slight twist at the end involving Frodo and the Golum, but you don’t find out that Sam is actually Sauron.

Compare with the The Life of Pi or with Ender’s Game where at the end, you realize you have been reading a different book than you thought. All through the story you’ve seen things in a certain light, perhaps because the protagonist has seen things this way, but now you realize the protagonist either missed or withheld vital information. The revelation transforms your view of everything which went before.

The Empire Strikes Back ended with a twist. (It’s become cliche now, but at the time, the boy who seeks to avenge his father but finds his enemy is his father was a marvelous twist.) Return of the Jedi ends with a plunge.

I do already know how my Secret Novel needs to end, and it isn’t much of a plunge. The tension rises a bit, perhaps, toward the end, but is it sufficient for a satisfying ride? I’m not sure.

The alternative to a scream-worthy plunge is to throw in a extremely clever twist, so I’m considering that option. Problem — I have no clue what the twist will be. And this is why I can’t start a book before I know the ending, and what kind of ride the book will be.

I have a vague idea involving a postcard.

Endings

The End.

http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/2009/04/writing-endings.html