There is an interesting interview with Aubrey de Grey, the biogerontologist and life-extension researcher, in The Manitoban here  which is worth reading.   

Apparently if you write down your goals and share them, you're much more likely to actually achieve them than if you merely cast a few thoughts in the general direction of Wishful Thinking.  So, here's my list of goals for the next year, in no particular order of importance.  I'll review them in twelve months and let you know how I got on. Publish 2nd poetry collection. Publish 2nd short story collection. Publish Rowan . Write one short story per month (minimum). Write one poem per month (minimum). Publish a free ebook (possibly with Riverside Writers). Complete 1st draft of Fabian. Add one new design to Spooky Cute Designs per month (minimum). Those with sharp eyes might notice I've already achieved one of these goals, as Threads , my second collection of poetry, was published today.  Sceptics might say this is cheating as the project was already nearing completion, but if a bit of positive psychology helps to achieve the remaining nine items then that

Apparently, Italian scientists have recently decided that the Turin Shroud was created by a supernatural event.  This seems an odd conclusion for scientists. Surely our lack of understanding of a thing does not mean that same thing is of supernatural origin.  It simply means we don't understand it yet. The cloth of the Turin shroud has been carbon dated.  Three seperate investigations - Oxford University, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona - all concluded that the fabric was from the Middle Ages, somewhere between 1260 and 1390.  It was woven on a perfectly ordinary loom of that era. The real mystery surrounds the image itself, which some people insist is the face of Jesus, if only because it's a bloke with a beard.  This actually only demonstrates that people choose to believe whatever is convenient or satisying to believe. There is, however, another explanation which is rather more rational, as this video suggests. It might be not

Are you ready for a new kind of physics?  The universe which we're aware of  is only one system within an infinity of larger and smaller universes.  Jacques Vallée discusses this, among other things, in the video above. Picture a Russian Doll, filled with smaller and smaller similar Russian Dolls.  The outer doll represents the universe which we're aware of, filled with atomic then sub-atomic then sub-atomic particles and so on, infinitely smaller - as represented by the increasingly smaller Russian Dolls.  But that outer doll is also surrounded by a bigger doll (which we're maybe unaware of), and that is also surrounded by an even bigger doll, and so on, infinitely.  Or to phrase it another way:  As above, so below. Emerging technology will allow us to communicate directly, not just with an ex-school pal who now lives on the other side of this planet, or with a relative stranger who shares an interest in collecting hand-made dolls, for example, but with some of

Researchers have learned that they can train volunteers to meet aliens in their dreams by focussing on a half-dream state, ie. lucid dreaming, and seeking out ETs with their minds. In this recent post I offered this idea: "The potential of the mind is immense. What if...the universe is all mind? What if the world you see when your brain interprets light beams caught on your retinas is really a creation of your mind? What if the whole of Planet Earth is, in effect, a giant holograph kept in place by mutual unconscious agreement? What if other collectives of mutual conscious agreement could create for themselves another kind of holograph - a parallel dimension, in other words?" Is it really so difficult to accept that if a person determinedly sets out to visit other dimensions via their own will power - which, like most abilities, can be improved upon with practice and persistence, that it is possible to slip from one dimension to another?  Contemporary terms

Looking forward into the future... And further into the future... One of the arguments against cryo-preservation and life extension insists that humanity will run out of space.  Earth is already a cramped cosmic island, so where are we all going to fit? Firstly, not everyone will choose an immortal life.  How many times have you heard people say they'll be glad when life is over?  To an immortalist, this is the statement of someone with suicidal tendencies but many think this way, imagining that death will always be inevitable and unconquerable despite the continuing progress of sciences which - given proper investment and further research - will overcome present limitations. Secondly, look up.  It's a big universe up there...  Big as in infinite .  If the "universe" is expanding, logic dictates that it has to have something into which it can expand.  If it had a boundary, an edge of some kind, there would have to be something beyond to define that boundar

Apparently, former SNP leader Gordon Wilson wants a referendum on the government's proposals to allow same-sex marriage.  In  a nine-page document he allegedly described same-sex marriages as an assault on Xtian values which could lead to social disintegration and sexual confusion. Excuse me, but exactly how can two people loving each other and deciding to get married bring about the end of life as we know it?  Who is anyone to declare how love should be expressed or where love should blossom for anyone other than themselves?   And how do gay people become a social hazard through marrying each other; does this mean that by remaining unmarried they're somehow more safe?  How ridiculous. As for Xtian values, how about:- “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” Matthew 7:1 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 Ac

"The notion of the "swerve" is taken from Lucretius, who lived in the first century B.C. and taught that the world, uncreated but infinite in extent, is composed of nothing but atoms and the void.... "The message of Lucretius' poem was subversive and liberating. Following his master Epicurus, the poet placed the highest value on pleasure (voluptas)...." Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904353504576566621864350318.html?mod=googlenews_wsj (From a review of a new book, The Swerve , by Stephen Greenblatt). And yet people today generally refer to people in the distant past as being ignorant.  Ironic, hmm?   

CERN scientists have allegedly broken the speed of light by sixty nanoseconds.  It might not sound much, but if these claims are verified by further tests then this discovery could herald the final nail in the coffin of classical physics - much of which has been disproved already by quantum physics. News article:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/8782895/CERN-scientists-break-the-speed-of-light.html The long-held theory is that if things can move faster than the speed of light, then time travel and inter-dimensional travel ought to be possible. Ideas about time travel and inter-dimensional travel were around long before the commercial success of Dr Who .  Actually, Dr Who was around long before the current commercial success of Dr Who...  UFOlogists have been debating the possibility of UFOs being inter-dimensional rather than interplanetary craft for decades, and HG Wells published The Time Machine back in 1895.  But tales of side-stepping into other dimensions can be found

  

"...Robotic labor seems like a brilliant idea that will ultimately create more wealth, and open up more opportunity for humans to pursue enjoyable work ."  - Aaron Saenz Source:  http://singularityhub.com/2011/09/12/robotic-labor-taking-over-the-world-you-bet-here-are-the-details/ Following from  this post , when I wrote about the changing role of employment in the future, I now turn to the idea of robots.  The article linked to above offers a concise summary of the way things seem likely to go.  But I don't want to write about automated manufacturing or similar.  Much more fun is an idea I've touched on with Seth's Basement.  Artificial companions, in other words.  For around $6,000 USD it's possible to purchase a male or female life-sized doll from a company like Real Doll .  Dress 'em how you like and go play.  They're an excellent solution for some people's needs.  The first person to combine these with (improved) robotics, AI, and the be

Aleksander Iljaszewicz shared an interesting article with me today, in which the author pondered on how our idea of working for a living may change in the future.  Douglas Rushkoff wrote:- "The question we have to begin to ask ourselves is not how do we employ all the people who are rendered obsolete by technology, but how can we organize a society around something other than employment? Might the spirit of enterprise we currently associate with "career" be shifted to something entirely more collaborative, purposeful, and even meaningful?" Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/09/07/rushkoff.jobs.obsolete/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 How many of us would turn up for work each day if we didn't get paid, hmm?  Equally, don't most working people resent those who make a career out of living off state benefits which our taxes pay for?  And yet there are those who insist that if all unemployed people found jobs then this would immediately create more unemp

Have a play with this Death Clock.  No, not the cartoon death metal band; this gadget is supposed to be able to calculate the date of your death.  I got July 8th, 2054 - but this date doesn't take into consideration my cryo-preservation contract, or my other (shall we say philosophical?) pursuits. 

" We believe that the world needs a different ideological paradigm...  The new ideology should assert, as one of its priorities, the necessity of using breakthrough technology for an improvement of man himself and not only of his environment.  We believe that it is possible and necessary to eliminate aging and even death, and to overcome the fundamental limits of the physical and mental capabilities currently set by the restrictions of the physical body. "Scientists from various countries in the world are already developing technology that ensures the creation of an artificial human body prototype within the next decade.  We believe that before 2045 an artificial body will be created that will not only surpass the existing body in terms of functionality, but will achieve perfection of form and be no less attractive than the human body." Source: http://2045.com/plan/

I watched the recent TV documentary - on iPlayer as I have no desire to own a TV - which featured the popular Fantasy author Terry Pratchet at Dignitas Clinic. He spoke to two people before they chose to take their own lives at the clinic, and he watched as one of them did so. We, the viewers, watched too. Inevitably the programme has caused a storm of protest. People argue about the sanctity of life being violated, and are concerned about the dismissal of various religious ideas, the ethics of money earned through aiding suicide, the potential exploitation or ‘removal’ of vulnerable people, and the possible grim ramifications of state-sanctioned suicide. These are valid points which need serious consideration. Who has the right to define any standard on what is a good and worthwhile life for anyone other than themselves? My definition will differ from yours, and yours will differ from the next person’s, and so on and so on, endlessly. Pratchet’s documentary emphasised that

"It is my view that long before that there would be a big population of people who are several hundred years old...." Nick Bostrum is the Director of the Future of Humanity Institute. Source: http://www.bedeutung.co.uk/magazine/issues/3-life-death/withey-interview-bostrom/

"The paradigm experience of solitude is a state characterized by disengagement from the immediate demands of other people - a state of reduced social inhibition and increased freedom to select one's mental and physical activities." Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201105/solitude-vs-loneliness/solitude-part-2-the-benefits-it-brings-and-the-special-str This reminds me of Tristan.  He was certain that the only way to develop any real knowledge of the self was through embracing solitude.  By removing the demands and distractions of other people, he hoped to then focus on discovering the true essence of his inner immortal self, (or soul, if you prefer that term).  I tend to stand somewhere in-between, in that while I'd agree that solitude offers uninterrupted opportunity for inner work, I find also that a deliberately created contrast between solitude and socialising presents a greater strengthening of unfolding knowledge.  In plain English, it'

    Ducklings are extraordinary characters.  Something about them makes just about everyone smile.  They're cute and fluffy,  so tiny and yet so brave. Imagine how big their pond looks to them, and how much courage it must take to waddle away from the only place they've ever known - the nest - then leap into water without even knowing what will happen next.  To a duckling, that pond and muddy bank is the whole world. Have you ever  considered what ducklings make of us, watching them?  What does a duck know of our lives - of vehicles, cookers, DVDs, Prada and all the other stuff with which will forever remain irrelevant to a duck's life.  Nothing, of course. Think about a ladybird, then, crawling along a rose.  If the ladybird sees you watching it, how does it react?  It might fly off or, more likely, ignore you completely.  You're not relevant to its sphere of life; and why should you be. We're surrounded by animals, insects and plants that, similarly, get on

If someone stole your car, would anyone suggest this wasn't so serious an offence if the vehicle was later found abandoned and in a repairable condition?  Hey, you got your car back when it was all over. Or if a burglar broke into your home and stole favourite, valuable or useful items, would the fact that the house wasn't also set alight and reduced to rubble mean that the burglar should then be handed a lesser sentence?  There was no visible damage, not even chipped paintwork, to show for the invasion of a person's private sanctuary. What if a team of professional criminals broke into The Louvre and swiped the world's most beloved paintings, then later admitted, "Sure, it was us!", should they then be made to do a spot of community service, perhaps, since no real harm has been done?  The paintings survived.  And if these same thieves claimed they'd merely misunderstood the exact meaning of the phrase "public ownership", would any jury belie

I could use a new garden shed. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/7928348/The-tumbledown-Italian-shed-that-will-sell-for-1.2-million.html Or... http://www.buyshedsdirect.co.uk/ No need to guess which offer makes the most pragmatic sense, hmm? Seriously, I do not understand the adulation which Aleister Crowley attracts.  He died a drug addict and alcoholic, and his only income came via donations from his supporters, thus demonstrating that he had not mastered the art of looking after himself - physically or financially.  I can see no reason to applaud self-proclaimed occultists who can't even summon the skill to pay their own bills. Crowley was supposed to have been rather good at climbing mountains and playing chess but otherwise left behind a trail of disasters for other people to deal with.  He penned a number of mostly self-published books and wrote flowery, verbose poetry, and certainly he daubed colours on canvas and walls alike - though sorry,