Pre-Computing War

Sora’s idea of a Neon Drone War With Audio Track

Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine.

~ Alan Turing

First, i trust everyone is safe. Second, i had a creative spurt of late and wrote the following blog in one sitting after waking up thinking about the subject.

NOTE: This post is in no way indicative of any stance or provides any classified information whatsoever. It is only a thought piece concerning current technology-driven areas of concern.

Preamble

There is a paradigm shift happening that will affect future generations and possibly the very essence of what it means to be human, and this comes from how technology is transforming war. We stand at a precipice, gazing into a future where the tools of war no longer resemble the clashing steel and human courage of centuries past. How important is conflict to humanity? What is the essence and desire for this conflict? The current uptick in drone usage of the past years has created an inflection point for what I am terming “abstraction levels for engagement.”

We continue to underestimate how important drones are going to be in warfare—a miscalculation that echoes through history’s long ledger of missed signals. I’m going to go out on a long limb here and say the future of most warfare will be enabled by, driven by, and spearheaded by drones. In fact, other than some other types of autonomous vehicles, there might not be anything else on the battlefield.

Here is a definition (of course, AI bot generated because really who reads Webster’s Dictionary nowadays? For the record, i have read Webster’s 3 times front to back):

“A military drone, also known as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), is an aircraft flown without a human pilot on board, controlled remotely or autonomously, and used for military missions like surveillance, reconnaissance, and potentially combat operations. “

This isn’t hyperbole; it’s the logical endpoint of a trajectory we’ve been on since the first unmanned systems took flight. And at the end of that trajectory lies something even more radical: autonomous bullets—not merely guided, but self-directed, a fusion of machine intelligence and lethal intent that could redefine conflict itself.

Note: I edited this part as the kind folk on The LazyWeb(tm) were laser-focused on the how of “smart bullets.: Great feedback and thank you. git push -u -f origin main.

Guided autonomous bullets, often referred to as “smart bullets,” represent an advanced leap in projectile technology, blending precision guidance systems with small-caliber ammunition. These bullets are designed to adjust their flight path mid-air to hit a target with exceptional accuracy, even if the target is moving or environmental factors like wind interfere. The concept builds on precision guided munitions used in larger systems like missiles, but shrinks the technology to fit within the constraints of a bullet fired from a firearm.

Autonomous bullets, often referred to as “smart bullets,” are advanced projectiles designed to adjust their trajectory mid-flight to hit a target with high precision, even under challenging conditions like wind or a moving target. While the concept might sound like science fiction, significant research has been conducted, particularly by organizations like DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and Sandia National Laboratories, to make this technology a reality.

The core idea behind autonomous bullets is to integrate guidance systems into small-caliber projectiles, allowing them to self-correct their path after being fired. One of the earliest designs, as described in “historical research”, involved a bullet with three fiber-optic sensors (or “eyes”) positioned around its circumference to provide three-dimensional awareness. A laser is used to designate the target, and as the bullet travels, these sensors detect the laser’s light. The bullet adjusts its flight path in real time to ensure an equal amount of laser light enters each sensor, effectively steering itself toward the laser-illuminated target. This method prevents the bullet from making drastic turns like a missile. Still, it enables small, precise adjustments to hit exactly where the laser is pointed, even if the target is beyond visual range or the laser source is separate from the shooter. It hath been said that if you can think it DARPA has probably built it, maybe.

Given the advancements in drones, unmanned autonomous vehicles, land and air vehicles, and supposedly smart bullets (only the dark web knows how they work), imagine a battlefield stripped of human presence, not out of cowardice but necessity. The skies a deafening hum with swarms of drones (if a drone makes a sound and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?), each a “node” orchestrated via particle swarm AI models in a vast, decentralized network of artificial minds.

No generals barking orders, no soldiers trudging through mud, just silicon and steel executing a dance of destruction with precision beyond human capacity. The end state of drones isn’t just remote control or pre-programmed strikes; it’s autonomy so complete that the machines themselves decide who lives and who dies – no human in the loop. Self-directed projectiles, bullets with brains roaming the theater of war, seeking targets based on algorithms fed by real-time data streams. The vision feels like science fiction, yet the pieces already fall into place.

Generals gathered in their masses
just like witches at black masses
evil minds that plot destruction
sorcerers of death’s construction
in the fields the bodies burning
as the war machine keeps turning
death and hatred to mankind
poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

~ War Pigs, Black Sabbath 1970

This shift isn’t merely tactical; it’s existential. Warfare has always been a contest of wills, a brutal arithmetic of resources and resolve. But what happens when we can compute the outcome before the first shot is fired? Drones, paired with advanced AI, offer the tantalizing possibility of simulating conflicts down to the last variable terrain, weather, enemy morale, and supply lines, all processed in milliseconds by systems that learn as they go. The autonomous bullet isn’t just a weapon; it’s a data point in a larger Markovian equation, one that could predict victory or defeat with chilling accuracy.

We’re not far from a world where wars are fought first in the cloud, their outcomes modeled and refined, before a single drone lifts off.If the future of warfare is of drone swarms of autonomous systems culminating in self-directed bullets, then pre-computing its outcomes becomes not just feasible but imperative. The battlefield of tomorrow isn’t a chaotic melee; it’s a high-stakes game, a multidimensional orchestrated chessboard where game theory, geopolitics, and macroeconomics converge to predict the endgame before the first move. To compute warfare in this way requires us to distill its essence into variables, probabilities, and incentives a task as daunting as it is inevitable. Yet again, there exists a terminology for this orchestrated chess game. Autonomous asymmetric mosaic warfighting, a concept explored by DARPA, envisions turning complexity into an asymmetric advantage by using networked, smaller, and less complex systems to overwhelm an adversary with a multitude of capabilitiesnvisions turning complexity into an asymmetric advantage by using networked, smaller, and less complex systems to overwhelm an adversary with a multitude of capabilities.

“A Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies that players act out, with the property that no player benefits from changing their strategy. ~ Dr John Nash.”

Computational Game Theory: The Logic of Lethality

At its core, warfare is a strategic interaction, a contest where players, nations, factions, or even rogue actors vie for dominance under the constraints of resources and information. Game theory offers the scaffolding to model this. Imagine a scenario where drones dominate: each side deploys autonomous swarms, programmed with decision trees that weigh attack, retreat, or feint based on real-time data. The payoff matrix isn’t just about territory or casualties, it’s about disruption, deterrence, and psychological impact. A swarm’s choice to strike a supply line rather than a command center could shift an enemy’s strategy, forcing a cascade of recalculations.

Now, introduce autonomous bullets, self-directed agents within the swarm. Each bullet becomes a player in a sub-game, optimizing its path to maximize damage while minimizing exposure. The challenge lies in anticipating the opponent’s moves: if both sides rely on AI-driven systems, the game becomes a duel of algorithms, each trying to out-predict the other. Zero-sum models give way to dynamic equilibria, where outcomes hinge on how well each side’s AI can bluff, adapt, or exploit flaws in the other’s logic. Pre-computing this requires vast datasets, historical conflicts, behavioral patterns, and even cultural tendencies fed into simulations that run millions of iterations, spitting out probabilities of victory, stalemate, or collapse.

Geopolitics: The Board Beyond the Battlefield

Warfare doesn’t exist in a vacuum; the shifting tectonic plates of geopolitics shape it. To pre-compute outcomes, we must map the global chessboard—alliances, rivalries, and spheres of influence. Drones level the playing field, but their deployment reflects deeper asymmetries. A superpower with advanced AI and manufacturing might flood the skies with swarms, while a smaller state leans on guerrilla tactics, using cheap, hacked drones to harass and destabilize. The game-theoretic model expands: players aren’t just combatants but also suppliers, proxies, and neutral powers with their own agendas.

Take energy as a (the main) variable: drones require batteries, rare earths, and infrastructure. A nation controlling lithium mines or chip fabs holds leverage, tipping the simulation’s odds. Sanctions, trade routes, and cyber vulnerabilities—like a rival hacking your drone fleet’s firmware—become inputs in the equation. Geopolitical stability itself becomes a factor: if a war’s outcome hinges on a fragile ally, the model must account for the likelihood of defection or collapse. Pre-computing warfare here means forecasting not just the battle, but the ripple effects—will a decisive drone strike trigger a refugee crisis, a shift in NATO’s posture, or a scramble for Arctic resources? The algorithm must think in networks, not lines.

I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I’m rooting for the machines.

~ Claude Shannon

Macroeconomics: The Sinews of Silicon War

No war is won without money, and drones don’t change that; they just rewrite the budget. Pre-computing conflict demands a macroeconomic lens: how much does it cost to field a swarm versus defend against one? The economics of autonomous warfare favor scale mass-produced drones and bullets could outpace legacy systems like jets or tanks in cost-efficiency. A simulation might pit a 10 billion dollar defense budget against a 1 billion dollar insurgent force, factoring in production rates, maintenance, and the price of countermeasures like EMPs or jamming tech.

But it’s not just about direct costs. Markets react to war’s shadow oil spikes, currencies wobble, tech stocks soar or crash based on who controls the drone supply chain (it is all about that theta/beta folks). A protracted conflict could drain a nation’s reserves, while a swift, computed victory might bolster its credit rating. The model must integrate these feedback loops: if a drone war craters a rival’s economy, their ability to replenish dwindles, tilting the odds. And what of the peacetime economy? States that mastering autonomous tech could dominate postwar reconstruction, turning military R&D into a geopolitical multiplier. Pre-computing this requires economic forecasts layered atop the game-theoretic core—GDP growth, inflation, and consumer confidence as resilience proxies.

The Supreme Lord said: I am mighty Time, the source of destruction that comes forth to annihilate the worlds. Even without your participation, the warriors arrayed in the opposing army shall cease to exist.~ Bhagavad Gita 11:32

The Synthesis: Simulating the Unthinkable

To tie it all together, picture a supercomputer or a distributed AI network running a grand simulation. It ingests game-theoretic strategies (strike patterns, bluffing probabilities), geopolitical alignments (alliances, resource choke points), and macroeconomic trends (war budgets, trade disruptions). Drones and their autonomous bullets are the pawns, but the players are human decision-makers, constrained by politics and profit. The system runs countless scenarios: a drone swarm cripples a port, triggering a naval response, spiking oil prices, and collapsing a coalition. Another sees a small state’s cheap drones hold off a giant, forcing a negotiated peace.

The output isn’t a single prediction, but a spectrum 75% chance of victory if X holds, 40% if Y defects, 10% if the economy tanks. Commanders could tweak inputs more drones, better AI, a preemptive cyberstrike and watch the probabilities shift. It’s not infallible; black swans like a rogue AI bug or a sudden uprising defy the math. But it’s close enough to turn war into a science, reducing the fog Clausewitz warned of to a manageable haze [1].

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

~ Ecclesiastes 1:9, KJV

Yet, this raises a haunting question: If we can compute warfare’s endgame, do we lose something essential in the process?

The chaos of flawed, emotional, unpredictable human decision-making has long been the wildcard that defies calculation. Napoleon’s audacity, the Blitz’s resilience, and the guerrilla fighters’ improvisation are not easily reduced to code. Drones and their self-directed progeny promise efficiency, but they also threaten to strip war of its human texture, turning it into a sterile exercise in optimization. And what of accountability? When a bullet chooses its target, who bears the moral weight—the coder, the commander, or the machine itself?

The implications stretch beyond the battlefield. If drones dominate warfare, the barriers to entry collapse. No longer will nations need vast armies or industrial might; a few clever engineers and a swarm of cheap, autonomous systems could level the playing field. We’ve seen glimpses of this in Ukraine, where off-the-shelf drones have humbled tanks and disrupted supply lines. Scale that up, and the future isn’t just drones it’s a proliferation of power, a democratization of destruction. Autonomous bullets could become the ultimate equalizer or the ultimate chaos agent, depending on who wields them.

Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.

~ George Carlin

A Moment of Clarity

i wonder: are we ready to surrender the reins? The dream of computing warfare’s outcome is seductive and humans are carnal creatures we lust for other humans and things, thus it promises to minimize loss, to replace guesswork with certainty, but it also risks turning us into spectators of our own fate, watching as machines play out scenarios we’ve set in motion (that which we lust after).

The end state of drones may indeed be a battlefield of self-directed systems, but the end state of humanity in that equation remains unclear. Perhaps the true revolution isn’t in the technology but in how we grapple with a world where war becomes a problem to be solved rather than a story to be lived.

We underestimate drones at our peril. They’re not just tools; they’re harbingers of a paradigm shift. The future is coming, and it’s buzzing overhead—relentless, autonomous, and utterly indifferent to our nostalgia for the wars of old.

Pre-computing warfare might make us too confident. Leaders who trust the model might rush to conflict, assuming the odds are locked. But humans aren’t algorithms; we rebel, err, and surprise. And what of ethics? A simulation that optimizes for victory might greenlight drone strikes on civilians to break morale, justified by a percentage point. The autonomous bullet doesn’t care; it’s our job to decide if the computation is worth the soul it costs.

In this drone-driven future, pre-computing warfare isn’t just possible—it’s already beginning. Ukraine’s drone labs, China’s swarm tests, the Pentagon’s AI budgets—they’re all steps toward a world where conflict is a solvable problem. It has been said that fighting and sex are the two book ends but one in the same. But as we build the machine to predict the fight, we must ask: are we mastering war, or merely handing it a new master for something else entirely?

Music To Blog By: Project-X “Closing Down The Systems. Actually, I wouldn’t listen to this if i were you, unless you want to have nightmares. Fearless (MZ412 Remix) does sound like computational warfare.

Until then,

#iwishyouwater <- recent raw Pipe footage of folks that got the memo.

Ted ℂ. Tanner Jr. (@tctjr) / X

References:

[1] “On War” by Carl von Clausewitz. He called it “The Fog of War”: Clausewitz stressed the importance of understanding the unpredictable nature of war, noting that the “fog of war” (i.e., incomplete, dubious, and often erroneous information and great fear, doubt, and excitement) can lead to rapid decisions by alert commanders.

[2] Thanks to Jay Sales for being the catalyst for this blog. If you do not know who he is look him up here. Jay Sales. One of the best engineering executives and dear friend.

February 23, 2025February 24, 2025 TCTJr General Discussion|Out In The Fringe|Random_Thoughts|Thoughts_On_TIme

In Memoriam – HAIL David Benson February 10,1976 – February 11th, 2025

Ted Tanner, I’ll wear a tutu if I have to…

~ David Benson

David Benson and Your Narrator at AWS Re-Invent 2015 (photo courtesy of Sim)

First i hope everyone is safe.

Second, this blog took much longer to get out than I expected. Of late, I have had several negative personal situations happen simultaneously. Situations and events that are negative seem or appear to happen in clusters. There must be some psychological word for this perceptual creation. Then again it could be a resonant issue in the universe that i am creating.

Of recent events, for those who know me, the plane crash into DCA hit one network hop away. The immediate family is okay, and we brought home a national medal in the US Figure Skating Novice Pairs. My sincere condolences to all of the families.

Third and of the utmost importance and much reverence, one of my dear friends has passed which occurred right in the middle of so many other occurrences.

David Benson was a son, a husband, and a father. He was also a dear friend who some of you knew personally and professionally.

He passed away due to brutally overwhelming liver cancer. He died a day after his 49th birthday, which is the most important holiday as far as I am concerned.

I had previously talked to him about a month and a half prior as he and his amazing superwomen wife, Jen Benson, were driving south to Cancun, where he was extremely stoked to be creating yet another company. He was a true entrepreneur. He was telling me all about it and how his cancer had gone into remission. I used to tell him instead of saying goodbye, I would say, “Don’t let them get you. They can’t get US!” Then, once over the past year, after much prodding and me asking he didn’t seem “right” to me he told me he had cancer. I adding ” i love you”.

As a man i believe we have three basic “things” we provide if we have a family: Physical Security, Financical Security and Mental Security. i call this the Male Trilogy. In most cases you get two out of someone not three. He had all three.

For those who have a problem with that and think that it reduces the alpha/sigma machismo, please, I’d like to have a word with you in private—five minutes alone, as the song goes, if you know it. I bet you haven’t lived loud enough to understand what it means between men.

David and I met in 2005, when he and Josh Kline were working on digital rights management associated with a global identifier for media called ISAN. We ended up traveling all over the world to some very nice places and worked together on some very cool projects.

As I wrote this piece, I realized that 20 years had passed in the blink of an eye. The days are long, and the years are short.

As time went on, instead of being in the entrepreneurship orbit, we became very close friends separated by the left and right coasts.

Some time ago, i had both of my hips replaced, and David was calling to check on me before and after the surgeries. Before the surgeries, i was all but crippled.

After the surgeries he said that his super wife could fix me. i told him my days of lifting heavy things, paddling into heaving slabs and freediving etc i think might be over but i am open to anything.

She ended up saving my life, both mentally and physically, and i can never thank them enough.

In addition to saving me and allowing me to do what i love, David did some things over the year that maybe one day i might talk about but suffice to say he did some things both professionally and personally i can never repay.

He was the originator of the quote at the top of this blog, which I now constantly utilize.

I’ll never forget the day he said the quote:

We were discussing how far one should go when creating a company to get product market fit and generate cash flow positive revenue.

Me: “i don’t think people really understand the magnitude of making your own company. It will tell you a lot about yourself.”

David: “Well Ted Tanner i know one thing it is part of us and what we do and I’ll wear a f***ing tutu if i have to complete with lipstick. Choose the shade i have a whole box!”

I still laugh. i say it almost once a week to someone. Do what it takes and wear a tutu if you have to get the job done.

David and Your Narrator out-da-back. (photo courtesy of Superwomen)

Fast forward to about a month ago and i got a call from him. He said “goose” ( i never asked him why he called me goose) he said the cancer has come back and I’m having problems. i said whatever you need, man, and know that no matter what happens, I’ll take care of everything as much as I possibly can in the future.

He texted me a week later and said he wanted me to come out to say goodbye. i texted him back but i didn’t here from him and he would always text or call me right back. i knew something was wrong. I was managing several concerns, as mentioned at the beginning of this blog, professionally and personally. i knew i had to make the call that was going to rock me and that was to Jen Benson. i called her on a sunday two weeks ago and asked if i needed to come out and she said he might not make it. i hung up dropped everything and make reservations to come see him.

i arrived and was taken back how far things had gotten in one month as we always utilized video for phone calls.

i sat down and made a joke about how far he would go to have sex with me. He laughed.

Then we were sitting there by ourselves in his den. He said ” i can go now.”

Remember when i mentioned the male trilogy? While we are all Sisyphus, at some point in time, the rock rolled backward over me when he whispered that to me. Stay solid, i was saying to myself.

He waited to go after his sons made him a birthday cake.

David is survived by his amazing, beautiful superwoman wife Jen, Oliver, a music virtuoso, and Tyler, a cook and clothing designer extraordinaire. To them, I will always support you, listen to you, and protect you.

He is also survived by his amazing parents gary and genie as well as his brother Andrew. Other notable folks are Greg, Natalie, Jeremy, Elon, Sean and of course Sim. In the comments feel free to add anyone else.

Note: i wrote a piece a while back entitled It is an honor to say goodbye. <- click here. it describes the feeling of grief as a never ending fractal. The last thing i said to him as i kissed him on the head was “I’ll be seeing you in your tutu. i love you”.

Until Then,

#iwishyouwater <- salt mines bonaire

Ted ℂ. Tanner Jr. (@tctjr) / X

Note: Both David and Jen love the water in fact David was a rescue scuba diver and had some amazing stories. Birds of a feather they say.

Music To Blog By: David Loved Bob Marley, Allman Brothers etc.

SnakeByte[19] – Software As A Religion

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Dalle’s Idea of Religion

First as always i hope everyone is safe oh Dear Readers. Secondly, i am going to write about something that i have been pondering for quite some time, probably close to two decades.

What i call Religion Of Warez (ROWZ).

This involves someone who i hold in the highest regard YOU the esteemed developer.

Marc Andreeson famously said “Software Is Eating The Word”. Here is the original blog:

“Why Software Is Eating The World” by Marc Andreeson

There is a war going on for your attention. There is a war going on for your thumb typing. There is a war going on for your viewership. There is a war going on for your selfies. There is a war going on for your emoticons. There is a war going on for github pull requests.

There is a war going on for the output of your prompting.

We have entered into The Great Cognitive Artificial Intelligence Arms Race (TGCAIAR) via camps of Large Languge Model foundational model creators.

The ability to deploy the warez needed to wage war on YOU Oh Dear Reader is much more complex from an ideological perspective. i speculate that Software if i may use that term as an entity is a non-theistic religion. Even within the Main Tabernacle of Software (MTOS) there are various fissures of said religions whether it be languages, architectures or processes.

A great blog can be found here -> Software Development: It’s a Religion.

Let us head over to the LazyWeb^TMand do a cursory search and see what we find^[1] concerning some comparison numbers for religions and software languages.

In going to wikipedia we find:

According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns, which at some point in the future will be countless.
Wikipedia

Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group. i suppose even though we don’t like to be categorized, we like to be categorized as belonging to a particular sect. Here is a telling graphic:

Let us map this to just computer languages. Just how many computer languages are there? i guessed 6000 in aggregate. There are about 700 main programming languages, including esoteric coding languages. From what i can ascertain some only list notable languages add up to 245 languages. Another list called HOPL, which claims to include every programming language ever to exist, puts the total number of programming languages at 8,945.

So i wasn’t that far off.

Why so much kerfuffle on languages? For those that have ever had a language discussion, did it feel like you were discussing religion? Hmmmm?

Hey, my language does automatic heap management. Why are you messing with memory allocation via this dumb thing called pointers?

The Art of Computer Programming is mapping an idea into a binary computational translation (classical computing rates apply). This process is highly inefficient compared to having binary-to-binary discussions^[2]. Note we are not even considering architectures or methods in this mapping. Let us keep it at English to binary representation. What is the dimensionality reduction for that mapping? What is lost in translation?

For reference, i found a very precise and well-written blog here -> How Much Code Has Ever Been Written?

The calculation involves the number of lines of code ever written up to that point sans the exponential rate from the past two years:

2,781,000,000,000

Roughly 2.8 Trillion Lines of Code have been written in the past 20 years.
Sage McEnery 2020

As i always like to do i refer to Miriam Webster Dictionary. It holds a soft spot in my heart strings as i used to read it in grade school. (Yes i read the dictionary…)

Religion: Noun

re·li·gion (ruh·li·jen)

: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Well, now, Dear Reader, the proverbial plot thickens. A System of Beliefs held to faith. Nowadays, religion is utilized as a concept today applied for a genus of social formations that includes several members, a type of which there are many tokens or facets.

If this is, in fact, the case, I will venture to say that Software could be considered a Religion.

One must then ask? Is there “a model” to the madness? Do we go the route of the core religions? Would we dare say the Belief System Of The Warez^[3] be included as a prominent religion?

I have said several times and will continue to say that Software is one of the greatest human endeavors of all time. It is at the essence of ideas incarnate.

It has been said that if you adopt the science, you adopt the ideology. Such hatred or fear of science has always been justified in the name of some ideology or other.

If we take this as the undertone for many new aspects of software, we see that the continuum of mind varies within the perception of the universe by which we are affected by said software. It is extremely canonical and first order.

Most often, we anthropomorphize most things and our software is no exception. It is as though it were an entity or even a thing in the most straightforward cases. It is, in fact, neither. It is just information imputed upon our minds via probabilistic models via non convex optimization methods. It is as if it was a Rorschach test that allowed many people to project their own meaning onto it (sound familiar?).

Let me say this a different way. With the advent of ChatGPT we seem to desire IT to be alive or reason somehow someway yet we don’t want it to turn into the terminator.

Stock market predictions – YES

Terminator – NO.

The Thou Shalts Will Kill You
~ Joseph Campbell

Now we are entering a time very quickly where we have “agentic” based large language models that can be scripted for specific tasks and then chained together to perform multiple tasks.

Now we have large language models distilling information gleaned from other LLMs. Who’s peanut butter is in the chocolate? Is there a limit of growth here for information? Asymptotic token computation if you will?

We are nowhere near the end of writing the Religion Of Warez (ROWZ) sacred texts compared to the Bible, Sutras, Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita, Quran, Agamas, Torah, Tao Te Ching or Avesta, even the Satanic Bible. My apologies if i left your special tome out it wasn’t on purpose. i could have listed thousands. BTW for reference there is even a religion called the Partridge Family Temple. The cult’s members believe the characters are archetypal gods and goddesses.

In fact we have just begun to author the Religion Of Warez (ROWZ) sacred text. The next chapters are going be accelerated and written via generative adversarial networks, stable fusion and reinforcement learning transformer technologies.

Which, then, one must ask which Diety are YOU going to choose?

i wrote a little stupid python script to show relationships of coding languages based on dates for the main ones. Simple key value stuff. All hail the gods K&R for creating C.

import networkx as nx
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def create_language_graph():
    G = nx.DiGraph()
    
    # Nodes (Programming languages with their release years)
    languages = {
        "Fortran": 1957, "Lisp": 1958, "COBOL": 1959, "ALGOL": 1960,
        "C": 1972, "Smalltalk": 1972, "Prolog": 1972, "ML": 1973,
        "Pascal": 1970, "Scheme": 1975, "Ada": 1980, "C++": 1983,
        "Objective-C": 1984, "Perl": 1987, "Haskell": 1990, "Python": 1991,
        "Ruby": 1995, "Java": 1995, "JavaScript": 1995, "PHP": 1995,
        "C#": 2000, "Scala": 2003, "Go": 2009, "Rust": 2010,
        "Common Lisp": 1984
    }
    
    # Adding nodes
    for lang, year in languages.items():
        G.add_node(lang, year=year)
    
    # Directed edges (influences between languages)
    edges = [
        ("Fortran", "C"), ("Lisp", "Scheme"), ("Lisp", "Common Lisp"),
        ("ALGOL", "Pascal"), ("ALGOL", "C"), ("C", "C++"), ("C", "Objective-C"),
        ("C", "Go"), ("C", "Rust"), ("Smalltalk", "Objective-C"),
        ("C++", "Java"), ("C++", "C#"), ("ML", "Haskell"), ("ML", "Scala"),
        ("Scheme", "JavaScript"), ("Perl", "PHP"), ("Python", "Ruby"),
        ("Python", "Go"), ("Java", "Scala"), ("Java", "C#"), ("JavaScript", "Rust")
    ]
    
    # Adding edges
    G.add_edges_from(edges)
    
    return G

def visualize_graph(G):
    plt.figure(figsize=(12, 8))
    pos = nx.spring_layout(G, seed=42)
    years = nx.get_node_attributes(G, 'year')
    
    # Color nodes based on their release year
    node_colors = [plt.cm.viridis((years[node] - 1950) / 70) for node in G.nodes]
    
    nx.draw(G, pos, with_labels=True, node_color=node_colors, edge_color='gray', 
            node_size=3000, font_size=10, font_weight='bold', arrows=True)
    
    plt.title("Programming Language Influence Graph")
    plt.show()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    G = create_language_graph()
    visualize_graph(G)

Programming Relationship Diagram

So, folks, let me know what you think. I am considering authoring a much longer paper comparing behaviors, taxonomies and the relationship between religions and software.

i would like to know if you think this would be a worthwhile piece?

Until Then,

#iwishyouwater <- Banzai Pipeline January 2023. Amazing.

@tctjr

MUZAK TO BLOG BY: Baroque Ensemble Of Vienna – “Classical Legends of Baroque”. i truly believe i was born in the wrong century when i listen to this level of music. Candidly J.S. Bach is by far my favorite composer going back to when i was in 3rd grade. BRAVO! Stupdendum Perficientur!

[1] Ever notice that searching is not finding? i prefer finding. Someone needs to trademark “Finding Not Searching” The same vein as catching ain’t fishing.

[2] Great paper from OpenAI on just this subject: two agents having a discussion (via reinforcement learning) : https://openai.com/blog/learning-to-communicate/ (more technical paper click HERE)

[3] For a great read i refer you to the The Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker: Software (1982), Wetware (1988), Freeware (1997), Realware (2000)

[4] When the words “software” and “engineering” were first put together [Naur and Randell 1968] it was not clear exactly what the marriage of the two into the newly minted term really meant. Some people understood that the term would probably come to be defined by what our community did and what the world made of it. Since those days in the late 1960’s a spectrum of research and practice has been collected under the term.

January 25, 2025February 17, 2025 TCTJr Complete Stupidity|Direct Thoughts|General Discussion|Out In The Fringe|Thoughts_On_TIme

What Is Your Eulogy? (Memento Mori – Memento Vivre)

Dalle’s Idea of a Crypt Monument

One life on this earth is all that we get, whether it is enough or not enough, and the obvious conclusion would seem to be that at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can.
Frederick Buechner

First, as always, i trust everyone is safe. Second, i trust everyone had an amazing holiday with your family and friends hopefully did something “screen-free”. It is the start of a new year.

i am changing gears just a little and writing on a subject that, at first blush, might appear morose, yet it is not. in fact quite the opposite.

What Is Your Eulogy?

Yep i went THERE. (Ever notice that once you arrive, you are there and think about somewhere else?)

If you go to my About page, you will see that I set this site up mainly to be a memory machine for me and a digital reference for My Family and Friends in addition, if along the way, i entertain someone on the WorldWideWait(^tm) all the better. A reference for a future memory if you will.

I am taking complete editorial advantage of paying the AWS bill every month, and there is a “.org” at the end of the site name denoting a not-for-profit site supposedly like a religion. i can say what i want, i suppose—well, still within reason nowadays. Free Speech, They Said… Yet, I digress.

I will persist until I succeed.

I was not delivered unto this world in defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep. I will hear not those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious. Let them join the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.

I will persist until I succeed.

~ OG Mandino

For context, this subject matter was initiated on the conflagration of several disparate events:

i introduced one of my progeny to Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626, aka Lacrimosa. We discussed the word Requiem, and then she immediately informed me that Lacrimosa means Sorrow in Latin and in the key of D minor. Wow, thank you, i said. (maybe something is sticking…)
An old friend whom I hadn’t seen in years passed away the day after I emailed him I contacted him to discuss some audio subject material that I enjoyed speaking with him about in detail. Alas, another cancer victim.
i took a class put on by Mathew McConaughey and Tony Robbins called “The Art of Living” and the book The Greatest Salesman by OG Madino was featured in class.
i took yet another class from the amazing Flow Research Collective Group. You can read a review here.
Since I started this piece, even more humans who are dear to me have passed or received extremely dire news.
i just wanted to scribe these thoughts in order to “remind me to remember”.

Life Should be One Great Adventure or Nothing.
Helen Keller

So here we go… it is tl;dr fo’ sho’.

In one of the aforementioned classes, the subject matter was the title of this blog. I originally had planned to calll this blog “Do Not Be Awed Into Submission,” where most people nowadays are “awed” by TikTok,Instagram or YouTube videos of people doing stuff and keep themselves from truly creating and DOING stuff in their own lives. They just sit and watch sports, listen to podcasts and “consume” without using that information to create. It seems to me, at least, that most people nowadays spectate instead of create or participate.

Yet i started reflecting on the subject matter as this blog has been in draft form for over a year. Another year passed, another amazing birthday (afaic the most important holiday), and here we are, a New Year into 2025.

So given all that context and background:

What do i want to be known for when Ye Ole #EndOTimes is forthcoming? (Note: for those word freaks out there, it is called Eschatology from Greek (who else?) ἔσχατος (éskhatos).

This is the CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER
Joe has just worked himself into an imaginary frenzy during the fade-out of his imaginary song,
He begins to feel depressed now. He knows the end is near. He has realized
at last that imaginary guitar notes and imaginary vocals exist only in the mind
of the imaginer.
And ultimately, who gives a f**k anyway? HAHAHAHA!…Excuse me…so who gives a f**k anyway? So he goes back to his ugly little room and quietly dreams his last imaginary guitar solo…

~ Frank Zappa From Watermelon In Easter Hey

i believe at this point, at the end of this thing called life, pretty much for me, are the following attributes that i want to be known for as best as possible i can be:

Honor and Integrity
Brutal Honesty
Living Life Loud
Improving Oneself Daily (mentally, physically, emotionally)
Loving (and Hating)
Quality Over Quantity
Maintaining a sheer sense of wonder and awe for Life

If you note, most of these items are items i can control or affect. You say well, what about being a good friend, spouse, parent? Well, to the best of your ability, you can try to be the best at those, but ultimately, someone else is judging YOU. In fact, we are always judged, and in fact, I will say that most people judge – consciously or subconsciously, ergo, Judge as Ye Be Judged.

As well as, and i hope duly noted, some of those items are controversial. Oh Dear Reader, this wont be the first time i have been associated with controversial.

You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything that shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear.

~ Victor Hugo

To the best of my ability, I will attempt to provide definitions and context for the above attributes. One additional context is that these are couched in “individualistic” references, not societal norms, overlays or programming.

Honor and Integrity

Honor and integrity are ethical concepts that are often intertwined but have distinct meanings:

Honor

Honor refers to high respect and esteem, often tied to one’s actions, character, and adherence to a code of conduct. It is about upholding a personal set of values considered virtuous and deserving of respect and maintaining one’s reputation and dignity through ethical behavior and moral decision-making.

Integrity

Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. It involves consistently adhering to ethical standards and being truthful, fair, and just in all situations. Key aspects of integrity include being truthful and transparent in one’s actions and communications and acting according to one’s values and principles even when it is challenging, inconvenient, or, in many cases, seemingly impossible.

Essentially, it is standing up for “what is right” (as one views in and unto oneself), even within and to the point of adversity or personal loss.

What is good? – All that heightens the feelings of power, the will to power, power itself in man. What is bad? – All that proceeds from weakness. What is happiness? – The feeling that power increases – that a resistance is overcome.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Honor and integrity form the foundation of a trustworthy and respected character. Honor emphasizes the external recognition of one’s ethical behavior, while integrity focuses on the internal adherence to moral principles. Your moral compass is extremely individualistic. In full transparency given that i believe there is no original sin some have questioned how in the world can i have such moral character. Literally, someone said to me: “Given how you view things, how do you have such high morals compared to everyone else.” (NOTE: This question came from a very religious, devout, wonderful person i love.).

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.

~ Andre Gide

Brutal Honesty

Brutal honesty refers to being extremely direct and unfiltered in communication, often to the point of being blunt or harsh. This form of honesty prioritizes telling the truth without considering the potential impact on the feelings or reactions of others. It sorta kinda exactly goes hand in hand with Integrity which in turn connects to Honor.

Key aspects of brutal honesty include:

Directness: Providing straightforward and unvarnished truth without sugarcoating or softening the message.

Bluntness: Being frank (or Ted) and candid, even if the truth may be uncomfortable or hurtful.

There isn’t a coffee table book entitled “Mediocore Humans In History”

~ C.T.T.

So why try to toe the Brutal Honesty Line?

Clarity: It can eliminate misunderstandings and provide a clear and unambiguous message. Also, it lets people know where you stand.

Trust: Some people appreciate brutal honesty because it demonstrates a commitment to truthfulness and transparency. I’ve had folks come back to me later and thanked me. Which is really rad of them.

Efficiency: It can get to the heart of an issue without dancing around the subject. Once again, note the time savings component. It saves a ton of time. HUUUUUUOOOOOGGGEEE time saver.

Potential Drawbacks

If you are delivering negative information to someone this can have drawbacks. If you are delivering positive news, do it with gusto! However, this situation can occur.

Hurt Feelings: It can cause emotional harm or strain relationships due to the harsh delivery. Deliver honest negative information with proper propriety and courtesy. They will hopefully get over it if they have any self-reflection.

Perception of Rudeness: It may be perceived as insensitive, disrespectful, lack of empathy, or unnecessarily harsh. However, if you are running a company or in a particularly toxic relationship, great results take drastic measures.

Conflict: It can lead to conflicts or defensive reactions from those who receive the message. Some say life is all conflict. Once again don’t go looking for trouble but you cannot shy away from interactions.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

~ Thomas Paine

Caveat Emptor: As implicit in the above commentary, Brutal Honesty should be balanced with surgical and thoughtful empathy and, shall we say, nuance to ensure that the truth is communicated effectively and respectfully. For instance, it is okay to lie and say someone’s baby is cute. In the same fashion, eating everything on your plate when they have asked you over for supper at a neighbor’s house is also good manners, even though you probably do not like well-done pot roast and peas. Say thank you, and it was delicious. In Everything, practice propriety and courtesy.

When you have lived your individual life in YOUR OWN adventurous way and then look back upon its course, you will find that you have lived a model human life, after all.

Professor Joseph Campbell

2. “Living Life Loud” is a phrase that conveys embracing life with enthusiasm, boldness, and authenticity. It suggests living in a way that is vibrant, expressive, and true to oneself. To be authentic and true to yourself, and to embrace your passions and unique perspectives. It can also mean living intentionally and unapologetically, pursuing your dreams with enthusiasm, and stepping outside of your comfort zone.

Here are some aspects of what it means to Live Life Loud:

Authenticity: Being true to yourself and not being afraid to show your true colors, even if they differ from societal norms or expectations.

Boldness: Taking risks, stepping out of your comfort zone, and confidently pursuing your passions and dreams.

Enthusiasm: Approaching life with energy and excitement, making the most out of every moment.

Courage: Facing challenges head-on and standing up for what you believe in, even when it’s difficult.

I wonder, I wonder what you would do if you had the power to dream any dream you wanted to dream?

~ Alan Watts

This seems rather nebulous in some cases, so let us get a little more specific with some examples.

Pursuing Dreams: Actively chasing your goals and aspirations, regardless of how daunting they may seem. Most dreams are impossible; otherwise, they wouldn’t be dreams.

Taking Risks: Being willing to try new things, even if there’s a chance of failure. It goes hand in hand with Pursuing Your Dreams. Someone once said “I need to surf big waves with two oxygen tanks,” i said well you cant surf them then. In the same vein someone told me when discussing my view on creating companies: “I cant take that risk.”, i asked well you drive a car? Trust me that is a much larger risk everyday.”

In the next five seconds what are you going to do to make your life spectacular?

~ Tim O’Reilly

Being Outspoken: Sharing your opinions and ideas confidently, without fear of judgment. Not bragging. Being forthright in your views and taking responsibility for those views. Owning them and being prepared to defend them.

Celebrating Uniqueness: Embracing what makes you different and showcasing it proudly (not loudly). However, not to the point of narcism. Of course, I hear Tyler Durden saying, “You are not a unique snowflake,” whilst also saying, “You are not your f-ing khakis!”

So why live life loud? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here are just some that I wrote down: Being open and expressive can help build deeper, more meaningful relationships. Brutal Honesty with Onesself and the Universe.

This chooses by definition a life of surprise. Living outside the realm of societal norms in most cases.

Potential Challenges

Judgment: Judge So Ye Be Judged! Others may not always understand or accept your loud approach to life, which can lead to criticism or judgment. THEY are going to judge anyway. In fact THEY have judged even before you started living life loud. Why? Because most who judge follow The Herd mentality of Social Norms.

Risk of Failure: Taking bold steps can sometimes lead to setbacks or failures, which require resilience to overcome. However my “hot-take” (isn’t that the lingo?) is once you have stepped out on the edge and attempted to create or do or launch yourself into the air over ice or over the ledge of a heaving wave – YOU WON! Analysis to paralysis is death. Hesitation Kills folks. Remember if you fail you have no where to go but up and if it is a big enough failure you have a great story!

Vulnerability: Being authentic and expressive means being vulnerable, which will be in most cases uncomfortable, I’d rather crawl through glass attempting to obtain My Personal Legend that sit back and think i could have done or what might have been. In fact, most people are frightened more of living the extreme dream than failing. they would rather fail or even said they failed and quit.

All we hear is radio ga ga

Radio goo goo

Radio ga ga

All we hear is radio ga ga

Radio blah, blah

~ Radio GA GA, Queen

Living Life Loud is about making the most of your existence, embracing who you are, and not being afraid to live boldly and authentically. Go to the extreme of that dream, as extreme as you can obtain because, Dear Reader, there are no circumstances, and once you move toward Living Life Loud, there are even as i once believed – no Consequences.

Caveat Emptor: There is no free lunch here at all. The path you choose for your bliss is expensive. The collateral damage is mult-modal. it has been said Humans love a winner but they love a looser more because it makes them feel better about themselves. This also gets into our subconscious programming from society and our families. My Mother not too long ago when i was discussing a subject concerning “taking care of them” and she responded: You go live your life and make no decisions based on others. Others should be so lucky, but they aren’t. The hardest path is YOUR true path. Choose it. Hold It. Protect IT.

Respice post te. Hominem te esse memento. Memento mori.” (“Look after yourself. Remember you’re a man. Remember you will die.”).

~The 2nd-century Christian writer Tertullian reports a general said this during a procession

3. Improving Oneself Daily

Improving oneself mentally, physically, and “spiritually” daily involves a commitment to continuous personal development in both the mind and body. This holistic approach to self-improvement includes activities and habits that promote mental clarity, emotional well-being, and physical health. Here’s a breakdown of what it means:

Mentally

Learning: Engaging in activities that stimulate your mind, such as reading, studying, or learning new skills.

Mindfulness: Practicing mindfulness or meditation to enhance self-awareness, reduce stress, and improve mental clarity.

Positive Thinking: Cultivating a positive mindset by focusing on gratitude, affirmations, and reframing negative thoughts. Stay away from pessimistic people and naysayers.

Problem-Solving: Challenging yourself with puzzles, games, or new experiences that require critical thinking and creativity. Study the subject of neo-plasticity. Brush your teeth with the opposite hand for a week. Drive a new path without Apple/Google/Waze Maps. Or do what i like to do Freedive. Click and read.

Emotional Health: Managing emotions effectively through journaling, therapy, or talking to trusted friends or family members. Take martial arts for defense and emotional health. Punch a bag. Lift heavy weights. Love animals.

Reading: Read, Read and Read More. Not trash novels but deep nonfiction and fiction. Write, take notes when you read.

Physically

Exercise: Engaging in regular physical activity, whether it’s strength training, cardio, yoga, or any other form of exercise that keeps your body active and strong. Get up and MOVE!

Nutrition: Eating a balanced and nutritious diet that fuels your body and supports overall health. i happen to trend towards canivore. It’s difficult, but it changed my life. Again, eating meat lifts heavy things.

Sleep: Ensuring you get adequate and quality sleep to allow your body and mind to recover and function optimally. i can sleep standing up in an airport. Learn how to take power naps.

Daily Habits

Consistency: Make these activities a part of your daily routine to ensure continuous improvement. Discipline above all. Not grit or determination but Discipline. Have a morning routine. Or any routine then allows you the mental freedom to go to other places mentally and physically. Takes cognitive load off you and reduces friction. Eat the same things, dress the same way.

Goal Setting: Setting small, achievable goals that contribute to your long-term personal development. Make your bed everyday. Set goals in the am then reflect in pm. How could you do better tomorrow? Take time each day to reflect on your progress, identify areas for improvement, and celebrate your achievements.

Adaptability: Being open to change and willing to adjust your habits and routines as you learn what works best for you. Try things you wouldn’t normally do – listen to smooth jazz. Try Hot Yoga. Do stuff then you can optimize to your liking. You might try it and like it.

Improving oneself mentally and physically daily is a lifelong commitment to becoming the best version of yourself. It involves dedication, consistency, and a willingness to learn and adapt continually. It is all based on discipline. Full stop. Not motivation, not grit not anything but getting up and MOVING. Go do the thing that scares. you the most or the thing that you deplore the most – D I S C I P L I NE. i lift every day and read something every day.

Without contrairies there no progression. Attraction and replusion, reason and energy, love and hate are necessary for human existence.

~ William Blake

4. Loving (and Hating)

The idea of experiencing both love and hate at their fullest potential emphasizes the importance of embracing the full spectrum of human emotions to lead a richer, more authentic life.

Emotional Authenticity

Full Range of Experience: Experiencing the full range of emotions allows for a deeper understanding of oneself and others. It means accepting and acknowledging all feelings rather than suppressing them. i call this the dynamic range of life. Western society suppresses everything except sadness. it is ok to be sad. Be enraged. Be Full Of Lust and Desire. Know were your limits are if there are any and learn to regulate them as needed.

Self-Awareness: Fully engaging with both love and hate can lead to greater self-awareness and insight into what matters to you and why. If i have been guilty of something is not being aware enough. If there is original sin afaic it is stupidity and non-awareness. Funny how they go hand in hand and do related to loving and hating.

Learning Opportunities: Intense emotions, whether positive or negative, can be powerful teachers. They provide opportunities to learn about your triggers, strengths, weaknesses, and values. Putting yourself out there past the pale teaches you quickly and well. Strong emotions can inspire creativity, leading to profound art, writing, music, and other forms of expression.

Resilience: Navigating through both love and hate can build emotional resilience, helping you manage future challenges more effectively. Experiencing hate or intense dislike can make you appreciate love and positive emotions more deeply, providing a balanced perspective on life. Salt and Pepper anyone?

Remember when you were young, you shown like the Sun. Shine On you Crazy Diamond!

~ Pink Floyd “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”

Loving and Hating will lead to Authentic Relationships.

Deeper Connections: Loving deeply fosters strong, meaningful relationships. Being open about negative emotions can also lead to more honest and authentic interactions. Strong emotions can inspire creativity, leading to profound art, writing, music, and other forms of expression. Confronting and understanding negative emotions can lead to healthier conflict resolution and stronger relationships in the long term.

Caveats and Considerations when Loving and Hating

Caveat Emptor: It’s important to express both love and hate in healthy, constructive ways. While deep emotions are natural, how you act on them matters significantly. Ensure that the expression of intense emotions does not harm yourself or others. Finding healthy outlets for negative emotions is crucial. While experiencing emotions entirely is valuable, maintaining a balance is important. Overwhelming negativity or unchecked hatred can be destructive, so it’s essential to seek ways to manage and balance these emotions. Also sometimes we must practice complete indifference. Embracing both love and hate fully can lead to a richer, more nuanced understanding of life, fostering personal growth, deeper relationships, and a more authentic existence.

And the Germans killed the Jews
And the Jews killed the Arabs
And Arabs killed the hostages
And that is the news
And is it any wonder
That the monkey’s confused

~ Perfect Sense Part 1, Roger Waters

5. Quality Over Quantity

The phrase “quality over quantity” as a human value emphasizes prioritizing the excellence, depth, or meaningfulness of something over merely having more of it. It’s a mindset that values richness, purpose, and intentionality over excess or superficial accumulation. i have a saying: “Best Fewest.” You get the best humans that know how to do something together they can create anything.

Relationships: Valuing meaningful, deep connections with a few people rather than having a large network of acquaintances. Iihave a very small network i can count on one hand, i completely trust. Once you get over 30 you find out who really cares about you. See the quote at the end of the blog. Really those who matter just want you truly happy.

Work: Focusing on producing exceptional work or projects instead of completing many tasks without significant impact or value. That 9 am standup is it really needed? Cant we automate this excel spreadsheet? Think much? Work yourself out of a job and into your passion.

Material Possessions: Preferring fewer high-quality, durable items rather than many cheap, disposable ones. But a high quality custom suit or dress – three of them. Prada, Sene etc. Black, navy, or dark blue with custom shirts. i happen to prefer fench cuffs with cuff links. They never go out of style and will last forever.

There are many who would take my time, I shun them. There are some who share my time, I am entertained by them. There are precious few who contribute to my time, I cherish them.

~ A.S.L.

Time Management: Spending your time on activities that matter and bring fulfillment rather than filling your schedule with things that feel busy but are unimportant or things that people put on you. The above quote is my favorite quote in my life, and if i do have a tombstone, i want it on it. EMBLAZONED!

Essentially, it’s a principle that asks, “What truly matters?” and reminds us to focus on what brings genuine value and satisfaction rather than chasing quantity for the sake of just having more of something.

6. Maintaining a sheer sense of wonder and awe for life

Maintaining a sheer sense of wonder and awe for life means approaching the world with curiosity, gratitude, and an openness to its beauty and mysteries. BE AMAZED AT THE THRALL OF IT ALL! It’s about deeply appreciating the small and large marvels around you—whether it’s the intricacies of nature, the complexities of human connections, or the endless potential for discovery and growth. YOU ARE READING <THIS>. Check out my blog Look Up and Down and All Around – has some cool pictures as well.

It involves letting go of jadedness or routine and instead choosing to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. This mindset keeps you engaged, inspired, and connected to the richness of life, no matter the circumstances. It’s like seeing the world through the eyes of a child, where everything holds the potential for fascination and joy. Turn up the back channel like when you were a child. Be Aware! Be Amazed! Wonder what it is like to be a tree or a rock!

i can say unequivocally that while i have many more mistakes than “performing tasks in a correct fashion” that i have lived a loud and truly individuated life. Would i do things differently? Sure some. I probably would have “sent” it even harder, and past eleven pretty much on everything. i can truly say that i left everything out in the ocean, nothing in the bag and gave it my all. Remember: Take care of those you call your own and keep good company:, storms never last and the forecast calls for Blue Skies!

Enough for now.

For those that truly know me, you know, and I cherish you. 🤘🏻💜.

Until Then,

@tctjr

#iwishyouwater <- if i could do it again, i would live this life. He got the memo.

Music To Blog By: All Of the versions of “Watermelon in Easter Hay”, full name “Playing a Guitar Solo With This Band is Like Trying To Grow a Watermelon in Easter Hay, by Frank Zappa (covers etc) i could find and just loop them. There is even a blue grass version. In their review of the album, Down Beat magazine criticized the song (i despise critics), but subsequent reviewers championed it as Zappa’s masterpiece. Kelly Fisher Lowe called it the “crowning achievement of the album” and “one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever produced.” I must agree. Supposedly, Zappa told Neil Slaven that he thought it was “the best song on the album. “Watermelon in Easter Hay” is in 9/4 time. The song’s hypnotic arpeggiated pattern is played throughout the song’s nine minutes. The 9/4 time signature keeps the song’s two-chord harmonic structure which until you really listen you don’t realize its a two chord structure. For me i think it is one of the most sonically amazing pieces of music ever written and produced. Sonically, the reverb is amazing. Sonically, the maribas are astounding. Sonically the orchestral percussion is mesmerizing. The song after Watermelon on Joe’s Garage is completely hilarious, “Little Green Rosetta,”and I am putting that on the going away party playlist, and I hope people dance in a conga or kick line and sing it. The grass bone to the ankle bone (listen to the song…).

Think about it a very mediocre guy imagining how he could play, if he could play anything that he wanted to play? Get the reference to the entire blog? Ala Alan Watts, if you could dream any dream, you want to dream? Then what?

The song is, in effect, a dream of freedom.

Here are some other details about “Watermelon in Easter Hay”:

The song’s two alternating harmonies are A and B / E, linked by a G#.
The song is introduced by Zappa as the Central Scrutinizer, which then gives way to a guitar solo.
The song’s snare accents have a lot of reverb and delay, creating a swooosh sound that sometimes sounds like wind.
The song’s guitar solo is the only guitar solo specifically recorded for the album. All others are from a technique known as xenochronous.
Rumor has it Dweezil Zappa is the only person allowed to play it.
Someone called the song intoxicating in one of my other blogs on the Zappa Documentary. Kind of like a really good baklava.

And a couple more items for your thoughts:

Its so hard to forget pain but its even harder to remember hapiness. We have no scar to show for hapiness. We learn so little from peace.

~ Chuck Palahnuik (author of fight club, choke etc)

Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

~ Dr. Suess

i listen to this every morning. Rest In Power Maestro with the amazing Susanna Rigacci:

August 6, 2023August 7, 2023 TCTJr Direct Thoughts|Human-Performance|Out In The Fringe

Quality Over Quantity

Dalle’s Idea of Quality Over Quantity

Be a yardstick of quality.

Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
S. Jobs

First i hope this finds everyone safe. Second, your humble narrator has been incognito of late and re-emerged safe and sound as the CTO of a really cool company called BigBear.ai . Third, for some reason or another several folks have been talking to me about risks and reward in life as of late. i haven’t written a blarg in a while so i figured i would take the time to jot down some thoughts.

i dedicate this blarg to my parents. Here is why.

A long time ago in a land far away i lived in a modest ranch style house in Charleston,SC and in the den area there was a sign that said:

It is better to live one year as a lion than 20 years as a chicken.
Anonymous

This is a modified quote that can be tracked to several people in history. i am by no means referencing any political or religious views herewith so please check yourself. Someone somewhere could play the same music and someone would hate them for it on the internet.

i read this everyday coming in and out of the house and it had a profound effect on me later in life. Without me even knowing it i gravitated towards living on the creative side or maker side of life or let’s say risk taking side of life.

If you obey all the rules, you’ll miss all the fun.
Katheryn Hepburn

In the same fashion, for some unknown reason, people have been asking or talking to me about the creative process as well as having hobbies that appear to be risk taking.

For the record i don’t view anything that i do as a i hobby nearly as dangerous as driving. i’ll probably do a blarg on one activity everyone seems to be asking about is freediving but that isnt the subject of this blarg.

Life is to be lived folks. Social norms keep many from going and doing and living a life they DREAM. i hear you saing: “Well you know how it is life gets in the way.” Nope boys and girls your brain gets in the way and says “Oh you could never do that what would people think?”. “My <insert person here> would just disown me.”

What if you do it and you are truly happy?

The other thing people have been saying to me lately is “How’d you do that?” Well i just went and did it. Once again someone somewhere isn’t going to like whatever you do and you can’t please everyone so you might as well please yourself as the song says. (Rick Nelson – Garden Party).

Most people who really care about you just want you to be happy. They might not like or agree with you when letting your freak flag fly or even imagine how you could live in such a manner but i guarantee you show up to those you love truly happy then everything will be really OK. This is on YOU as it is on THEM. This is a two way street folks. You choose a difficult path not everyone is going to be “accepting”. The road will be strewn with stones to your path of righteousness. Trust me – Caveat Emptor.

The goal is living in a high quality life over a mundane mediocre life. The moments that take your breath away versus the number of breaths in a life. Where do you see a coffee table book entitled “Lives Of The Mediocre.”

Which is very closely related to the creation process. Putting yourself out there is scary. “Yes but i don’t have the courage or the skills.” You know what? Neither did anyone else who went and did The Thing.

Go do the thing that scares you the most then get the courage. That fine line is living. In fact it has been my experience it is a near life experience. Standing at the edge and looking down. Where you even surprise yourself.

“Yea but what if something goes wrong?”

Once again great question. It will. Yes Oh Dear Reader it will but guess what sitting in the recliner or couch every night for the rest of your life or looking out the window and thinking “I wish i would have done…” is way more painful than either pissing someone off for a little while or a broken leg, All will heal with love and happiness.

So put me on a highway
Show me a sign
Take it to the limit
One more time
The Eagles

Recently after a lengthy discussion about risk taking, mental gymnastics or physical hobbies someone asked me about my injuries. Here is a partial list:

Right shoulder replaced, Plates and 8 screws in my right forearm, Two left shoulder reconstructions, Two hip replacements, Broken right ankle and leg twice, Broke ribs, hernia operation, broken nose, cracked back, whiplashes, concussions, the list goes on…

Why would someone put themselves through this? I don’t know sounds like a startup co-founder huh? Because you MUST.

Because living at that level of passion is everything. There is nothing else. Because you know what? The crash is almost as amazing as making it! Quality Over Quantity Folks!

Taking this view In sports, companies and most importantly your relationships is crucial. Most will say they cannot live like that and they do not understand. Well just hand them a big cup of NOPE YA CAN’T. They will get very frustrated as well. Most people of that nature want their predictable life and the ability to dictate to others their lives.

So this morning i called my parents. Luckily both my parents are alive and very married. I told them thank you for having that sign in the den and it would be great if they could find the sign. They informed me it “wore out”. Get the symbology there? They said they had toted it from house to house.

After hanging up i went online to everyone’s favorite online retailer and bought this for my home gym:

Because i needed a reminder. Just like when i was a kid.

Enjoy it while you can
It’s just like the weather
So quit complaining brother
No one lives forever

Let’s have a party there’s a full moon in the sky
It’s the hour of the wolf and I don’t want to’ die

Oingo Boingo

So go create, make, live, and love like there is no tomorrow. You and the people around you will be better off and you will definitely find out who loves you when you are truly happy. Trust me in this area of life you will not have many if any followers just those who truly desire you to be happy.

Until Then,

#iwishyouwater <- near life at Mavericks in 2022.

@tctjr

Muzak To Blag By: Danny Elfman’s “Big Mess”. He is truly a genius. Yes the same person who created Oingo Boingo and all of the great soundtracks.

NOTE: i can also recommend several books on these views such as Tim Ferris’ “Tools For Titans” and Rolo May’s “The Courage To Create”, hit me up on the comments if you want more. Also please tell me a story where you put yourself out there. i’d love it hear about it.

What Is Love?

Love is a complex and multifaceted emotion that is often defined differently depending on cultural, social, and individual perspectives. At its core, love typically involves strong feelings of affection, caring, and attachment towards another person, often accompanied by a desire for intimacy, closeness, and mutual support.

Love can take many different forms, including romantic love, familial love, platonic love, and self-love. It can also involve a range of different experiences, such as joy, happiness, excitement, passion, and sometimes even pain and heartbreak.

Ultimately, love is a powerful and transformative force that can have a profound impact on our lives, shaping our relationships, beliefs, and sense of self.
~ ChatGPT

First Oh Dear Reader, i trust you are safe. Second, we are taking a slight detour into squishy, non-exact, messy, and truly complicated land: Emotions. This comes on the heels of Snake_Byte[14] Coding In Philosophical Frameworks. Also if you haven’t seen the news, the Cognitive Computing Arms Race with Large Language Models is in full swing. Boy Howdy Do We Love Us Some Anthropomorphism! ( i personally think its funny the parlor trick of auto-typing makes ChatGPT and all the other ones appear human to most. )

Turns out there is a class at Stanford on Computational Philosophy which is in the same realm as what i would love to discuss however slightly obtuse. It is a good read.

If we can compute Philosophical frameworks, could we or do we need to compute emotions in the future?

It was not random i started with the terseness of Stoicism. As this philosophy trends towards being objective in your emotions, akin to a more recent philosophy, “Objectivism.” We can quantify the aspects thereof. Or at least we think we can quantify them to some extent.

We know from a physiological standpoint that bodily metrics and chemicals can be measured for systematic responses to emotions. Dopamine, Vasopressin, Oxytocin, Serotonin, heart rate, sweat level, skin clamminess, and eye dilation are just a few measurable considerations.

However what does it mean?

Let’s take some bookend emotions: Love, Hate, Fear.

Some consider Fear to be the only true emotion. Flight or Fight. i’m also positive we can duplicate this in a machine or at least make it plausible to appear the machine is scared. (Also, it will make humans “feel” better one day but that is for a different discussion and different blog.)

Being that Spring Is In The Air let us choose LOVE.

There are so many types and kinds of Love.

Love of a Mother to a child
The Love you have for your pets
The Love of eating a doughnut.

i’m not referring to these types i am referencing:

You are the Love of My Life Companionship – Love

Books, signs, poetry, and yes, humans’ most deplorable creation War has been created over Love of Another. It is genuinely innate in the Human_Condition.

People acting a fool, if you will. You have seen it many times, and maybe (hopefully) you have done it.

As the famous song says, “What does love have to do with IT? What is love but some secondhand emotion?”. Great questioning Tina. We love you.

Have you ever been in The Love? How do you know that person Loves YOU?

i asked one of my progeny that question:

Me: “Do i Love you?”

Them: “Yes.”

Me” “How do you know?”

Them: “Dad i just know.”

This is not to be confused with infatuation, which is in and of itself an extremely intense feeling usually associated with a physically idealized version of the receiving person. Infatuation is initially overwhelming but then quickly fades. Love, on the other hand, appears to be a much deeper, almost seemingly “infinite forever-giving” emotion.

i was wondering how many times “Love” has been mentioned over the years. Below is a plot thereof:

i thought the drop in the 1980’s was interesting. If anyone was around in the United States in the 80’s that was the period of certain illegal chemicals, neon, 80’s metal and madonna. The Me Generation.

So what has happened in this area with using technology of Love? Well we scan our noggin:

**From The Journal of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience**

When I take you in my arms gathered forever. Sometimes it feels like a dream. Sometimes it feels like a dream; to be with you.
~ Feels Like A Dream Lyrics

Research has shown that certain brain regions are activated when a person is in love or experiencing strong feelings of affection, including the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and striatum. These regions are associated with reward, motivation, and emotional processing. Brain scans have also revealed that the levels of certain neurotransmitters, like dopamine and oxytocin, can change in response to being in love. So while there is no one-size-fits-all image of someone in love, there are certain brain patterns and chemical changes that can be detected in those experiencing the emotion.

Furthermore on the chemical brain related activity research has shown that during the early stages of romantic love, there is a decrease and increase in serotonin levels in the brain^[1]. Serotonin can have direct affects on anxiety, insomnia and depression. For men there is a decrease and for women and increase in serotonin. Strangely this is similar to what is observed in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder, suggesting that the intense focus and preoccupation with the loved one may be related to changes in serotonin levels. Additionally, it has been found that long-term couples who remain in love have higher levels of serotonin than those who have fallen out of love. This suggests that serotonin may play a role in maintaining long-term relationships.

Our study provides the first evidence of love-related alterations in the underlying architecture of the brain, and the results shed new light on the mechanisms of romantic love.
~ Professor Xiaochu Zhang

So if there are (and there are injectable adjuncts to all of these chemicals) that can be augmented and tailored with specific dosages, this led me to ask the questions:

can we compute a model of Love?
can we fool the brain into thinking it is in Love?
do we want to augment the brain so we feel like we are in Love?
Do we want to make Love a thing of the past with future tech?
The list could go on…..

Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.
~ That Romeo Guy

When people meet, go on a date, shack up, get hitched or get married, i have heard it said:

“You will grow to love them.”
“Well, the person doesn’t really have the attributes i am looking for in a mate, but i can adapt.”
“They share the same interest as you!”
“They can cook or fix stuff for you!”

Why would we want to change or have that person change? Are social norms so strong that there are unwritten rules that we as a so-called society must follow, With a hard rule of it must be two consenting adults in a relationship, what is it of anyone’s business? Do most want to do what they feel they should do? Do we want a best friend to watch the big game with or play golf? Why not a companion that you can dance with now and when your old and just look at each other? To idealized? Oh life gets in the way. i see it is hard and you have stuff to do – yep i get it. Then is Love that important? If not then what is?

Love in a relationship is it needed?

How do you know when you’re really in Love? Do violins play when you’re touching the one your Lovin?
~ The Tubes

Most often, love is due to their connection with their partner. This connection can be emotional, physical, spiritual, or intellectual (or hopefully all of them). People may also fall in love or grow into love because they appreciate their partner’s qualities or values, such as kindness, honesty, or intelligence. Sometimes, people are drawn to others who are different from themselves because they find them intriguing or exciting.

This room is bare
This night is cold
We’re far apart, and I’m growing old
But while we live
We’ll meet again
So then, my love
We may whisper once more
It’s you I adore
~ Palabras de Amor from Queen

Other factors that contribute to love include shared experiences, common interests, and mutual respect. When people feel like they’re a team with their partner and can rely on them, it can deepen their love. Additionally, physical attraction and chemistry can significantly influence romantic love.

However, what if it is all of these with the same partner? Isn’t that what you truly desire? ALL THE THINGS! To truly know that there is one – what would you do to have that person show up on your porch?

This is what i believe we need to understand as we trend toward a world of distributed disconnected artificial intelligence.

In one kiss, you’ll know all I haven’t said.
~ Pablo Neruda^[3]

Even post the pandemic, we see people hug and kiss less. There is less physicality which as we all know for most, a hug feels good for both and releases several proof-positive chemicals. i would tend to think at some point you want to rub against your significant other instead of smooching in cyberspace or sleeping in separate beds.

Is Love now an algorithm? i know in the age of match.com and tinder this appears to be monday morning quarterbacking but at least i believe there is something more to it than a list of attributes. In fact one of the startups i worked at started with the premise, “What are the three main questions you ask someone on a blind date?” Here they are:

What is your favorite travel spot?
What is your favorite wine (assuming one drinks)
What type of music do you like?

From a cognitive standpoint the most difficult one was music recommendations. This by the way Oh Dear Reader was circa 2001 before Pandora, Shazam or any other music recommendation system. We based it on a cognitive model of music perception and cognitive psychology of inter-relations^[2].

If we already know the future and can match it aren’t we living in a world of no surprises? What happens to that special glance? That special smile or touch or a good morning hug? That true everlasting one that loves you for you and only you not because your father mother or your in-laws approved. (If course it has been said you marry the family not the person. )

i am sure by now you have heard of the term Twin Flame. This is different than a soul mate. A Twin Flame is a mirror of oneself, a yin-yang type entity. The biggest distinction between a twin flame and any other type of soul mate is that twin flames are two halves of the same whole. A soul mate, on the other hand, can be thought of as someone cut from the same cloth as you. There’s a deep familiarity, and you feel very close, but you aren’t the same soul.

i wonder if we can compute and create a Twin Flame Agent of oneself?

i’m not sure i want to work on those future algorithms folks. Some things i want to be a mystery^[4].

i’d love to hear some stories, comments, and possibly even rants as this is some very esoteric area we have paddled into so to speak. i’d love to know if you have the love of your life, twin flame or a tinder swipe of the night, i hope you just know.

Until Then,

#iwshyouwater <- alexy molchanov sets a new world record in Bonaire. i was just in the same spot freediving.

Muzak To Blog By: All The Love Songs by Queen. i miss you Freddy and recently brian may was knighted.

References:

[1] Scans Say Its True Love Link

[2] For the record, i tried the system, and no one liked strict cathedral organ works.

[3] Pablo Neruda is the most prolific poet when it comes to love and beaches i have ever read. there is a connection there.

[4] In blade runner, harrison ford knows full well racheal is a replicant yet he Loves her. Question is – Is He? That would be a twin flame. robot love.

Snake_Byte:[14] Coding In Philosophical Frameworks

Your vision will only become clear when you can look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people. We cannot change anything until we accept it.
~ C. Jung

(Caveat Emptor: This blog is rather long in the snakes tooth and actually more like a CHOMP instead of a BYTE. tl;dr)

First, Oh Dear Reader i trust everyone is safe, Second sure feels like we are living in an age of Deus Ex Machina, doesn’t it? Third with this in mind i wanted to write a Snake_Byte that have been “thoughting” about for quite some but never really knew how to approach it if truth be told. I cant take full credit for this ideation nor do i actually want to claim any ideation. Jay Sales and i were talking a long time after i believe i gave a presentation on creating Belief Systems using BeliefNetworks or some such nonsense.

The net of the discussion was we both believed that in the future we will code in philosophical frameworks.

Maybe we are here?

So how would one go about coding an agent-based distributed system that allowed one to create an agent or a piece of evolutionary code to exhibit said behaviors of a philosophical framework?

Well we must first attempt to define a philosophy and ensconce it into a quantized explanation.

Stoicism seemed to me at least the best first mover here as it appeared to be the tersest by definition.

So first those not familiar with said philosophy, Marcus Aurelius was probably the most famous practitioner of Stoicism. i have put some references that i have read at the end of this blog¹.

Stoicism is a philosophical school that emphasizes rationality, self-control, and inner peace in the face of adversity. In thinking about this i figure To build an agent-based software system that embodies Stoicism, we would need to consider several key aspects of this philosophy.

Stoics believe in living in accordance with nature and the natural order of things. This could be represented in an agent-based system through a set of rules or constraints that guide the behavior of the agents, encouraging them to act in a way that is in harmony with their environment and circumstances.

Stoics believe in the importance of self-control and emotional regulation. This could be represented in an agent-based system through the use of decision-making algorithms that take into account the agent’s emotional state and prioritize rational, level-headed responses to stimuli.

Stoics believe in the concept of the “inner citadel,” or the idea that the mind is the only thing we truly have control over. This could be represented in an agent-based system through a focus on internal states and self-reflection, encouraging agents to take responsibility for their own thoughts and feelings and strive to cultivate a sense of inner calm and balance.

Stoics believe in the importance of living a virtuous life and acting with moral purpose. This could be represented in an agent-based system through the use of reward structures and incentives that encourage agents to act in accordance with Stoic values such as courage, wisdom, and justice.

So given a definition of Stoicism we then need to create a quantized model or discrete model of those behaviors that encompass a “Stoic Individual”. i figured we could use the evolutionary library called DEAP (Distributed Evolutionary Algorithms in Python ). DEAP contains both genetic algorithms and genetic programs utilities as well as evolutionary strategy methods for this type of programming.

Genetic algorithms and genetic programming are both techniques used in artificial intelligence and optimization, but they have some key differences.

This is important as people confuse the two.

Genetic algorithms are a type of optimization algorithm that use principles of natural selection to find the best solution to a problem. In a genetic algorithm, a population of potential solutions is generated and then evaluated based on their fitness. The fittest solutions are then selected for reproduction, and their genetic information is combined to create new offspring solutions. This process of selection and reproduction continues until a satisfactory solution is found.

On the other hand, genetic programming is a form of machine learning that involves the use of genetic algorithms to automatically create computer programs. Instead of searching for a single solution to a problem, genetic programming evolves a population of computer programs, which are represented as strings of code. The programs are evaluated based on their ability to solve a specific task, and the most successful programs are selected for reproduction, combining their genetic material to create new programs. This process continues until a program is evolved that solves the problem to a satisfactory level.

So the key difference between genetic algorithms and genetic programming is that genetic algorithms search for a solution to a specific problem, while genetic programming searches for a computer program that can solve the problem. Genetic programming is therefore a more general approach, as it can be used to solve a wide range of problems, but it can also be more computationally intensive due to the complexity of evolving computer programs².

So returning back to the main() function as it were, we need create a genetic program that models Stoic behavior using the DEAP library,

First need to define the problem and the relevant fitness function. This is where the quantized part comes into play. Since Stoic behavior involves a combination of rationality, self-control, and moral purpose, we could define a fitness function that measures an individual’s ability to balance these traits and act in accordance with Stoic values.

So lets get to the code.

To create a genetic program that models Stoic behavior using the DEAP library in a Jupyter Notebook, we first need to install the DEAP library. We can do this by running the following command in a code cell:

pip install deap

Next, we can import the necessary modules and functions:

import random
import operator
import numpy as np
from deap import algorithms, base, creator, tools

We can then define the problem and the relevant fitness function. Since Stoic behavior involves a combination of rationality, self-control, and moral purpose, we could define a fitness function that measures an individual’s ability to balance these traits and act in accordance with Stoic values.

Here’s an example of how we might define a “fitness function” for this problem:

# Define the fitness function.  NOTE: # i am open to other ways of defining this and other models
# the definition of what is a behavior needs to be quantized or discretized and 
# trying to do that yields a lossy functions most times.  Its also self referential

def fitness_function(individual):
    # Calculate the fitness based on how closely the individual's behavior matches stoic principles
    fitness = 0
    # Add points for self-control, rationality, focus, resilience, and adaptability can haz Stoic?
    fitness += individual[0]  # self-control
    fitness += individual[1]  # rationality
    fitness += individual[2]  # focus
    fitness += individual[3]  # resilience
    fitness += individual[4]  # adaptability
    return fitness,

# Define the genetic programming problem
creator.create("FitnessMax", base.Fitness, weights=(1.0,))
creator.create("Individual", list, fitness=creator.FitnessMax)

# Initialize the genetic algorithm toolbox
toolbox = base.Toolbox()

# Define the genetic operators
toolbox.register("attribute", random.uniform, 0, 1)
toolbox.register("individual", tools.initRepeat, creator.Individual, toolbox.attribute, n=5)
toolbox.register("population", tools.initRepeat, list, toolbox.individual)
toolbox.register("evaluate", fitness_function)
toolbox.register("mate", tools.cxTwoPoint)
toolbox.register("mutate", tools.mutGaussian, mu=0, sigma=0.1, indpb=0.1)
toolbox.register("select", tools.selTournament, tournsize=3)

# Run the genetic algorithm
population = toolbox.population(n=10)
for generation in range(20):
    offspring = algorithms.varAnd(population, toolbox, cxpb=0.5, mutpb=0.1)
    fits = toolbox.map(toolbox.evaluate, offspring)
    for fit, ind in zip(fits, offspring):
        ind.fitness.values = fit
    population = toolbox.select(offspring, k=len(population))
    
# Print the best individual found
best_individual = tools.selBest(population, k=1)[0]

print ("Best Individual:", best_individual)

Here, we define the genetic programming parameters (i.e., the traits that we’re optimizing for) using the toolbox.register function. We also define the evaluation function (stoic_fitness), genetic operators (mate and mutate), and selection operator (select) using DEAP’s built-in functions.

We then define the fitness function that the genetic algorithm will optimize. This function takes an “individual” (represented as a list of five attributes) as input, and calculates the fitness based on how closely the individual’s behavior matches stoic principles.

We then define the genetic programming problem via the quantized attributes, and initialize the genetic algorithm toolbox with the necessary genetic operators.

Finally, we run the genetic algorithm for 20 generations, and print the best individual found. The selBest function is used to select the top individual fitness agent or a “behavior” if you will for that generation based on the iterations or epochs. This individual represents an agent that mimics the philosophy of stoicism in software, with behavior that is self-controlled, rational, focused, resilient, and adaptable.

Best Individual: [0.8150247518866958, 0.9678037028949047, 0.8844195735244268, 0.3970642186025506, 1.2091810770505023]

This denotes the best individual with those best balanced attributes or in this case the Most Stoic,

As i noted this is a first attempt at this problem i think there is a better way with a full GP solution as well as a tunable fitness function. In a larger distributed system you would then use this agent as a framework amongst other agents you would define.

i at least got this out of my head.

until then,

#iwishyouwater <- Alexey Molchanov and Dan Bilzerian at Deep Dive Dubai

Muzak To Blog By: Phil Lynott “The Philip Lynott Album”, if you dont know who this is there is a statue in Ireland of him that i walked a long way with my co-founder, Lisa Maki a long time ago to pay homage to the great Irish singer of the amazing band Thin Lizzy. Alas they took Phil to be cleaned that day. At least we got to walk and talk and i’ll never forget that day. This is one of his solo efforts and i believe he is one of the best artists of all time. The first track is deeply emotional.

References:

[1] A list of books on Stoicism -> click HERE.

[2] Genetic Programming (On the Programming of Computers by Means of Natural Selection), By Professor John R. Koza. There are multiple volumes i think four and i have all of this but this is a great place to start and the DEAP documentation. Just optimizing a transcendental functions is mind blowing what GP comes out with using arithmetic

Look Up Down All Around!

Your Brain 3D Printed ^[1]

The effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or concepts. Rather they alter patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance.
~ Marshall McLuhan

First i hope everyone is safe. Second, this blog is more meta-physical in nature. The above picture is a present i received from a dear friend who 3D printed it for me. A transhumanist pictorial if you will for accelerating our wetware. This brings us to the current matter at hand.

i was traveling recently and i couldn’t help but notice how many humans are just sitting, walking, running and even biking looking at their mobile devices. Families no longer talk to each other, couples no longer kiss. Kids no longer day dream. All no longer LOOK UP, DOWN and ALL AROUND.

i must confess at this juncture that, as a technologist, i am conflicted. As they say we make the guns, but we don’t pull the trigger. As a technologist, i truly love using and creating with mathematics, hardware, and software. it is an honor as far as i am concerned, and i treat it as such, yet when i have time to sit and ponder i think of the time i held the first telegraph in my hands. Yes, the FIRST telegraph that read:

What hath God wrought!

Invented and sent by Samuel Finley Breese Morse 24 May 1844. I held it. Of course it was behind plexiglass, and this is a link to said telegraph.

Why is this important? It converted numbers (morse code in this case) into a readable document, content if you will. Even if you do not believe in higher-order deities or some theistic aspects what was transmitted and received via the message of the telegraph herewith was multi-modal and carried some weight to the message.

There seems to be a trend toward a kind of primitive outlook on life a more tribal attitude and i think its a natural reaction to industrialization. Unfortunately i think it is a bit naive because the future is going to become more mechanized, computerized as you call it and i dont think there is any turning back.
~ Jim Morrison

Intelligence it seems, is now but a search engine away or if you will a “tic-tok” away. It also seems due to this immediate gratification of content and information that, we no longer talk to anyone. “The Pandemic” seems to have modified several aspects of our existence. The results of this i believe will take decades of evolution before this change is truly understood from a systems theory and first principles engineering view.

We have been sequestered into a living environment tethered to the LazyWeb_^(TM). Per my commentary about seeing families with their heads buried in their phones during all modes of so-called social engagement, this is creating considerable fractures in how we deal with friends, families, and most importantly ourselves.

Now in recent times, Humans are going into the office or “back to the hybrid workplace” and taking a zoom call in the adjacent meeting room to where the REAL PHYSICAL meeting is occurring. So the more i pondered, the more i thought i would post a bunch of pictures and talk about cyberspace vs real space.

i have read all the books: “Neuromancer, Cyberspace, SnowCrash,Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (DADOES), Super Intelligence, 1984, Brave New World, Realware etc”, i first worked on full Virtual Reality applications in 1993. Yes there were computers back then, big red ones called Silicon Graphics Crimson machines. These augmented with fixed point digital signal processing equipment created the first six degrees of freedom ( 6DOFS) head tracked stereoscopic renderings complete with spatial audio. So it is nothing new just executed in a different fashon.

i recently went to the NASA Astronaut Training Experience at the Kennedy Space Center with my eldest daughter and we took a walk on Mars and did some trivial tasks. It was tethered environment with mono-based audio however it was impressive from a simulation standpoint. When the alert system informed me that a sandstorm was coming, i was non-plussed. Having worked on top-secret systems, i understand the need for simulations entirely. Simulate all the emergencies over and over again that you can think of when going into an environment of conflict.

On a regular basis “Humans being” and living do not constitute simulation unless you buy into Bostrom’s theory that we are living in a simulation, then what of it? Please make the most of IT. Talk to that person across from you. What color do they love? What is their favorite food? Do they like puppies? If they are close friends and family, above all – show them how you feel. Hug them.

I believe that computers have taken over the world. I believe that they
have in many ways ruined our children. I believe that kids used to love
to go out and play. I believe that social graces are gone because
manners are gone because all people do is sit around and text. I think
it’s obnoxious.
~ Stevie Nicks

If you are not the talkative type go outside build a fire, Walk through the city. Go sit under a tree. If you live in a place where you can see the sky go outside and just stare at the sky and let your eyes adjust. The stars will come out and think about the fact you are made of the same substances.

Reflect on and into yourself. Shut down all the noise and chatter. Listen. What do YOU hear?

I can’t fax you my love.
I can’t e-mail you my heart.
I can’t see your face in cyberspace,
I don’t know where to start.
~ Jimmy Buffet

When you get up in the morning, don’t start the Doom Scroll. Contemplate. Get a notebook and write some thoughts. The visceral act of writing activates differing neural patterns that allow us to remember and learn. Think about what you would like to accomplish. Hopefully, you made your bed. That is at least one thing you can check off that you did accomplish, and your parents would be proud.

i wrote a blog a while ago called Its An Honor To Say Goodbye. Many seemed to enjoy it for several different reasons. As you look up from your phone and are around, folks play a game. What if that person just disappeared as though they were shot by a BFG (Big F-in Gun) in one of the first-person shooting games and could not re-frag? Just gone from the simulation? Poof!

How would you feel?

i’ll have to say if this is a simulation, it is pretty good and has to be some quantum information theoretic manifestation^[2]. Yet! Feeling that embrace from a friend or loved one, feeling the spray from a wave, smelling and touching a rose, A dog licking you in the face, tasting that steak, the carnality and sensuality of it all transcend, at least for me, the “meta” aspects of the online experience.

Go Outside! The Graphics are Great!
~ Sensai Todd

So folks, when in doubt, put that device down for a bit. Go for a walk. Say hello to that person across the room and ask how the day is going, and mean it and listen. Go outside and sit against a tree at night, or take a walk near the ocean or body of water (my favorite). Draw. Shut your eyes and deeply listen to music. Dance. Make stupid sounds. Try something you have never done before. Do something besides being fed programmed content.

Look UP DOWN and ALL AROUND.

So question for all of you:

Q: Would you prefer a telegraph, facsimile or simulation of this life?

Until Then,

tctjr

#iwishyouwater <- Nathan Florence on a hellish scottish slab paddle out. He aint worried about who clicked like….

Muzak To Blog By Forestt “Into The Woods”. i would classify this as Martial Folk if i may use genre classification liberally.

[1] Someone i really respect technically and now consider a dear friend printed this out for me. He also prints body parts. Heavy stuff. He is a practicing ER doctor and also codes.

[2] On the above commentary concerning simulations, i do believe in the Minowski multi-verse theory and view of The Universe. Its all happening NOW with multiple probabilities, our noggin cant sample fast enough to reconstruct all of the information simultaneously. Also, remember, girls and boys, YOU are the universe.

[3] i took all of the pictures included herewith except the last one.

references:

[1] this is a great interview with The Lizard King (aka Jim Morrison when he was 26 in 1970. Listen. This isn’t hippie stuff. Click HERE.

September 11, 2012 TCTJr Direct Thoughts|Out In The Fringe

In Memoriam – Steven Swenson March 13, 1967 – September 11, 2005

“With heart and hand I pledge you while I load my gun again, you will never be forgotten or the enemy forgiven, my good comrade.”

~ A.S.L.

As is usual this time of year most think of heading back to school, the coming of autumn and even some are contemplating the winter holidays. I am usually stuck betwixt the mental gymnastics of the proverbial Indian Summer and the Weather Channel fervently watching for the next storm barreling up the Carribean Corridor. True waterman know that one should never take your eye off the ocean or take your gaze off the skyline. The relationship a waterman has with the ocean is an extremely complicated Mars/Venus – Love/Hate – Yin/Yang existence especially for those that would love to see The Kracken, Leviathan or Neptune emerge from the deep. Secretly I believe we are ‘Oceanic misogynist’ as most watermen look at the ocean as a lady and actually dislike her yet at the same time are drawn to Her love and terror.

Yet as much as I truly love this time of the year when most start tweeting – “We will never forget!” – in honor of the 9/11 terrorist attacks my mind wanders to few days before 9/11 and the last time I talked to the waterman and my comrade: Steven Swenson (aka Sven).

Some of you know that I write this dedication every year. It is neither cathartic nor is it pining in squalid sorrow for my lost commrade. I cannot bring myself to such pitiful acts when I know the loss is much greater for his family. In some ways it reminds of the book by C.S. Lewis – A Grief Observed.

I do find it curious that such independent men could forge such a relationship as ours.

Even so, it is not, shall I say upstanding character in the truest sense in the manner that I sometimes react. My melancholy compassion or even sometimes, sheer anguish, lies in the mere fact that, The Sven was an Elite Performer and was a better person than most and honestly there are others who would have been better off going into the great sleep – than him. So maybe its anger yet I digress here is a succinct example of how Brutally Honest he was with people.

For example in discussion:

Person 1: Well here is my idea and blah blah blah blah… What do you think?

Sven: You know what i think? I think its fucking stupid. (laughs)

yet another:

Person2: Hey man how are you today?

Sven: Like shit – how are you?

Person 2: no response just keeps walking.

(to me: see exactly as you said they dont even pay attention)

Most people dont have the cajones or they are caught up in their own pathetic, self referenced heads to say anything out of the ordinary, for fear of reprisal or what others might “think” of them.

Some of you know that I wear a Skeleton Head Ring on my right hand. I believe in the ethos: Life The Great Indulgence! I do not go the for the Gothic ‘I want to die” crap nor is it some Rock N Roll Hootchie Coo affect. So why do I wear it? It came from a discussion the Sven and I had years ago. We were talking about Schrodinger’s Cat. The Sven once said the Cat is dead because he destroyed the box.

So one day we were talking about the cat, women, boats and music, mixed in with a little software engineering, and he drew a skeleton face on a napkin and threw it over to me. He said, “It all comes for us.” I folded the napkin up and kept it and had a ring made out of it. Solid Silver. Of course the Silver Smith took some artistic freedoms and added some realism and ferocity. It is beautiful to me. It is a constant reminder that the Great Reaper is after us. It is also a reminder concerning the discussion he and I had that day.

It is also a reminder the feeling of immortality should be crystallized and adored.

A feeling of immortality was occurring the last day I talked to him.

Sven was sailing around the world and being a true waterman he was prepared. He owned a satellite phone for his sailing trip around the world. I never could stand that damn satellite phone he had and he loved that damn thing for whatever reason. Probably because it provided him total freedom. On numerous occasion I tried to call him and he tried calling me etc. I finally sent him a message via carrier pigeon to just wait and call me when he gets settled in the port of call we had decided to meet. As a note we had planned all of this years earlier to meet around the world whenever Sven bought his boat which in an of itself is a great story. So finally I suppose he was settled and one day…

(Phone Ringing)

Me: Hello?

Sven: Hey man!

Me: I hate that piece of shit phone of your’s where are you?

Sven: I have been hanging out at this cantina all day long and the guy is letting me use his phone to call you. You guys have your tickets?

Me: Not yet.

Sven: Man go get them! It is crazy they have been playing Latin music all day and when I just called you they started playing “Gimme Back My Bullets” its a sign!

Me: Well then it must be so. Yeah I will get them today. So tell me something man how is it?

Sven: Well it took me about 3 months just to realize that I didnt have a fucking schedule. It is so stupid running around like a squirrel.

Me: I hear ya man. So tell me somethin’ ya’ happy?

Sven: Yea man if I would have known how this was going to be I would have done it a long time ago. It really puts things in perspective. The responsiblity is all on you but it places different responsibilities that are more real than the rest of the stuff, ya know?

Me: Yeah man I know its the crap that is what they lead you to believe – the stuff that is all important. I just wanted to know that you are happy.

Sven: Yea man really. I am. Thanks.

Me: You dont have to thank me. Ok man we will see you soon! Go Big!

Sven: Ok man I’ll see you soon.

Never again did I get to tell him how stupid his phone was or that I believed he did destroy the cat in the box.

sven in boat — **Yea it looks like what you are thinking. We were laughing.**

In the last months Steven experienced life that most dream about and yet are to scared to go after for fear of so called personal failure. Most cling to the fallacy of societies trappings and the “thou shalts” of our existence which most deem rules created by so called social norms. Living outside of those social norms brings great freedom and at the same instance great responsibilities that most are afraid to experience.

He died doing what he loved – free diving in the ocean he so loved.

“You Only Suffer As Long As You Want To
Men Like Us Do Not Let Each Other Drown
We Share The Sweetest Black Bread
That Delicate Grain Of Scorn
No God, No Master, No Master Slave.”

~ Rome- “We who fell in love with the sea (Jérôme Reuter)

“Our life passes like idle chatter.” ~ Karl Maria Willgut

Here is the infamous PC Destruction video:

This was one of the songs he liked off the Fight Club soundtrack. We used to listen to it everyday at Apple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOb7lcto0k

And if he was here I believe he would like this song or then again he would tell me it was fucking stupid and laugh.

Rome – We Who Fell In Love With The Sea

I miss him.

ALL HAIL STEVEN!

September 11, 2012 TCTJr Direct Thoughts|Out In The Fringe

In Memoriam – Steven Swenson March 13, 1967 – September 11, 2005

“With heart and hand I pledge you while I load my gun again, you will never be forgotten or the enemy forgiven, my good comrade.”

~ A.S.L.

I do find it curious that such independent men could forge such a relationship as ours.

For example in discussion:

Person 1: Well here is my idea and blah blah blah blah… What do you think?

Sven: You know what i think? I think its fucking stupid. (laughs)

yet another:

Person2: Hey man how are you today?

Sven: Like shit – how are you?

Person 2: no response just keeps walking.

(to me: see exactly as you said they dont even pay attention)

It is also a reminder the feeling of immortality should be crystallized and adored.

A feeling of immortality was occurring the last day I talked to him.

(Phone Ringing)

Me: Hello?

Sven: Hey man!

Me: I hate that piece of shit phone of your’s where are you?

Sven: I have been hanging out at this cantina all day long and the guy is letting me use his phone to call you. You guys have your tickets?

Me: Not yet.

Sven: Man go get them! It is crazy they have been playing Latin music all day and when I just called you they started playing “Gimme Back My Bullets” its a sign!

Me: Well then it must be so. Yeah I will get them today. So tell me something man how is it?

Sven: Well it took me about 3 months just to realize that I didnt have a fucking schedule. It is so stupid running around like a squirrel.

Me: I hear ya man. So tell me somethin’ ya’ happy?

Me: Yeah man I know its the crap that is what they lead you to believe – the stuff that is all important. I just wanted to know that you are happy.

Sven: Yea man really. I am. Thanks.

Me: You dont have to thank me. Ok man we will see you soon! Go Big!

Sven: Ok man I’ll see you soon.

Never again did I get to tell him how stupid his phone was or that I believed he did destroy the cat in the box.

He died doing what he loved – free diving in the ocean he so loved.

“You Only Suffer As Long As You Want To
Men Like Us Do Not Let Each Other Drown
We Share The Sweetest Black Bread
That Delicate Grain Of Scorn
No God, No Master, No Master Slave.”

~ Rome- “We who fell in love with the sea (Jérôme Reuter)

“Our life passes like idle chatter.” ~ Karl Maria Willgut

Here is the infamous PC Destruction video:

This was one of the songs he liked off the Fight Club soundtrack. We used to listen to it everyday at Apple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOb7lcto0k

And if he was here I believe he would like this song or then again he would tell me it was fucking stupid and laugh.

Rome – We Who Fell In Love With The Sea

I miss him.