Itarin Update

Itarin Update .
Andre Willers
2 Jan 2012

“Full many a flower is born to blush unseen” Thomas Gray

Synopsis :
You can now buy an iPhone App that helps train the eye to see better by compensating for presbyopia in the retina-brain . See Appendix A below .

Discussion :
The idea has been around since biofeedback became known .

I wrote and successfully used a program “Itarin” (see Appendices D,C,B in chronological order)

It never took off , though I tried in a desultory fashion .

The reasons why not says a lot about our civilization .

Primary reasons:
1.There is tremendous competition from various memes via internet and media .
2.The end-user has to rely on some fairly trustworthy agency (eg FDA) to do the evaluations he cannot .
3.Agencies like these do not even consider ideas coming from outside the academic establishment .
4.The academic establishment does not even consider ideas coming from outside the academic establishment .
5.This leaves only commercial interests pushing for innovation , and only if there is enough money to be made .
6.Even academic innovators get frustrated and go the commercial route .
7.Look at the pricing in Appendix A . It should be cheap , but it is being marketed for all the traffic can bear . The same for vaccines , etc .
8.An ironic example is the cancellation of the Very Large Collider by the US Congress . The unintended consequence was the collapse of the US financial system . All those physicists ended up working for Hedge Funds as “quants” , greatly exacerbating the complexity of the system beyond human control .

9.Exceptions :
9.1Charitable Foundations (Gates , Rockefeller , etc)
9.2The Wright Proof . Incontestable and visible proof .
9.3Ostrum Systems (see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com “The Ostrum Game” Oct 2011)

10.Drivers.
Sadly , all the systems above except the Ostrum system requires a “Driver” . An individual without whom nothing happens . The Boss , the CEO , the Fuehrer , the Vodzh . Etc
Innovation then just swaps bosses .

Except for the Ostrum System . This works by internal self-regulation .

Sigh . There is a teensy-weensy problem in the recovery from a “Tragedy of the Commons” collapse via the Ostrum System . The system can segue into Empire , and the cycle repeats .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com “Genghis Khan and Ostrum” Jan 2012

On a clear night , you can see forever .

Andre


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Appendix A

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2011/09/29/5814468.htm
App for sore eyes
(New Scientist of 1 Oct 2011 p21 Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
Improve your vision with an app . A system that trains your brain to overcome degrading vision as you age will soon be available as an iPhone app . An iPhone app could teach your brain to overcome ageing's effect on eyesight WE HAVE gotten used to the idea that smartphone apps can substitute for devices like GPS navigation systems or portable music players. But the latest item on the list may come as a surprise: reading glasses.
Early next year, a company called Ucansi will launch GlassesOff, an iPhone app that could help older people shed their reading glasses for at least part of the time?- and may allow others to carry on reading without optical aids for years longer than would otherwise be possible.

The app helps people compensate for deterioration in their eyes' ability to focus on nearby objects by training the brain to process the resulting blurred images. "We're using the brain as glasses," says Uri Polat of Tel Aviv University in Israel, and co-founder of Ucansi.



As we get older, the lenses in our eyes become less elastic, and so can't readily be adjusted to focus on nearby objects. Known as presbyopia, the condition is almost ubiquitous among people in their early fifties and older. In addition to the obvious reading problems, symptoms include tired eyes and headaches.
Polat's software trains users to detect patterns called Gabor patches?- blurry lines created by varying a grey background. In a typical training session, the user fixates on a white circle, which then gives way to a rapid succession of images. Some are blank, but others show Gabor patches at different places on the screen, one of which will appear where the circle was (see diagram).

Users must determine when in the sequence the pattern appeared at the target position. As they become better at the task, the software adapts to alter the orientation of the patterns, place them closer to the target, or speed up the sequence.

At last week's meeting of the Entertainment Software and Cognitive Neurotherapeutics Society in San Francisco, Polat's team described tests of the software that Dennis Levi ran in his lab at the University of California, Berkeley. After 40 training sessions, volunteers averaging 51 years of age showed impressive gains in contrast sensitivity, measured by similar tests with Gabor patches.
This translated into real-world improvements in vision. After training, the volunteers were able to read more than two lines further down an optical chart held 40 centimetres from their eyes?- corresponding to a reduction in "eye age" from 50.5 to 41.9 years. Reading speed increased by about 4 seconds per sentence, which would cut the time to read a page of The New York Times without glasses by an average of 5.3 minutes from the pre-training performance of more than 12 minutes.

As expected, there were no differences in the eyes' ability to focus after the training. "Every single change is in the brain," says Polat.

Although Levi's experiments were run using a PC, the first product will be an iPhone app because of the convenience of the device and its high-quality screen. The cost of the app is expected to be around $95, covering an initial training period of about three months during which users will train for 15 minutes, three times a week. After that there will be a small monthly fee for less-intensive "maintenance" training.

Given that our eyes eventually lose their ability to focus on close objects, the app is unlikely to be a panacea for presbyopia. But Lee Duffner, an opthalmologist in Hollywood, Florida, who serves as a clinical expert for the American Academy of Opthalmology, suggests that it might delay the need to adopt reading glasses. "I think they're probably on to something," he says. 

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Appendix B
Itarin v12
Andre Willers
20 May 2010
 
Synopsis :
Optimization of visual modalities using lenses .
 
Discussion :
Previous Itarin discussions involved training the normal eye's retinal neural networks to compensate for eye-lens and corneal defects using Itarin v1-v11 . This was useful for about 10 years , but now external lenses have to be used .
 
Multifocals :
I was handed a pair of multi-focals (after paying a small fortune) , with the blithe assurance that I would adapt to it within about two weeks .
1.This adaptation is by the retina-mind complex .
2.This adaptation is sub-optimal , by definition . A hit-or-miss affair .
 
What is needed is a theory and a training program .
 
Theory :
See previous Itarin documentation . But we expand it to include different modalities of retina neural-network processing . One for each set of lenses .
There has been hints of it . Training processed faster and better by alternating glasses and unaided vision .
 
1.Are the retinal neurons complex enough to handle multiple modalities ?
Yes . See work done on single-neuron recognition of faces .
 
2.Automatic switching .
Portions of the network would change between modalities with very little training .
This is inherent in the nature of neural networks .
This surfaces as "bleedthrough" . A gestalt effect . All modalities get better .
 
3.How many modalities are minimum necessary sufficient ?
From previous dimensional systems work , four .
Unaided vision , Multifocal lenses usually includes 2 new focals . An extra pair of cheap reading glasses makes four .
 
4.Diet .
Initially , the training process would require the formation of extra connections and maybe neurons in the retina-brain . Brain food like essential fatty acids (cod liver oil , flaxseed oil) and perhaps HGH promoters will help .
 
5.Time required:
Long-term neural potentiation thresholds (about 5 minutes) have to reached and slightly exceeded for optimal effect .  The boring bit .
Once a day for about a week .
Then once a month.
Research is needed .
 
6.Subjective experiences :
Even a short training session gives a feeling of relaxation and stress relief . This is because of unconscious squinting and facial muscle tensing relaxing as vision improves .
 
Natural vision improves because of "bleedthrough" effect . The training has to be carried through , as this short-term relief will probably lead to relapse of training . A common enough problem . Taper off and have a refresher training session about once a month .
 
The Training Systems .
1.Each session has to be about 5 minutes per set of glasses (multifocal , reading) and unaided vision (ie normal lenses) .
Fifteen minutes in all . Boring .
 
2. Itarin v1 to v11 can be used . Some quick results .
 
3.Itarin v12 .
Populate the screen of a spreadsheet (like Excel) from a master cell (like "B") .
"B" gives the most bang for a buck in terms of visual training (curve , line, corner)
Squash the Column Width ("Format-Column-Autofit Selection") to minimum size .
 
The Trick : The Modified Owl Maneuvre (MOM) .
1.Look at the centre . Move the center of your gaze in an infinity figure . ("8" on it's side)
2.Do the same with the "8" upright .
3. Do the same with the "8" tilted 45 degrees to the right .
4. Do the same with the "8" tilted 45 degrees to the left .
5.Repeat for five minutes for all 4 (1.25 mins for each rotation)
6.Then repeat for each set of lenses . Use a kitchen timer .
7.That’s it .
 
You will find items (3 and 4) quite difficult initially .
 
Why the modified Owl Maneuvre ?
The owl only needs to calibrate two eyes in two dimensions (+) , ie up and down , right and left , as it has nearly no visual defects like astigmatism . An astigmatic owl is a dead owl .
With visual defects , an entity has to have loops around the ends of the crucifix figure. Hence the "8" rotated around at 45 degree angles .
 
The end result :
You should end up with a unaided visual system suitable for most tasks . The lenses would still be needed for training or tasks at the extremes .
We cannot dispense with the lenses , but can expand the useful boundaries of unaided vision .
 
Here's looking at you , kid .
 
Andre
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Appendix C
Itarin 2
Andre Willers
14 May 2007
 
Synopsis :
Very large amounts of pre-processing is done in the retina by neural networks . These networks are trainable .
 
See:
“Scientific American” p55 “The Movies in our eyes”.
“Parallel processing in Retina Ganglion Cells” by B. Roska et al. in Journal of Neurophysiology , vol95 p3810-3822  2006
Cellular Neural Network (artificial retina chip) , L Chua , UCAL
www.sciam.com/ontheweb
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com  “Itarin” etc
 
Discussion:
To those who sneered at Itarin , I take great pleasure in saying :
 “I told you so. So wheh !”
 
Some familiarity with neural networks is assumed .
 
The Retinal Network consists of :
 
Rod or Cones to capture light (in a 2 dimensional square )
Two types of dopsins  (chemicals sensitive to certain frequencies of light.)
 
The Neural Network :
1. Input . Bipolar cellbodies of  ( at least 10 types ) . Excitatory .
2. Intermediate .Amacrine cell bodies ( at least 27 types , in 10 layers (the plexiform layer) . Inhibitory .
3. Output : Ganglion cell (12 types) to brain .
 
The output forms a streaming video of each of the 12 pictures (ie contrasts , edges , shadows , highlights,becoming brighter , becoming darker,etc.
 
This is assembled in the brain .
Data missing or fuzzy in the retina stage cannot be compensated for in the brain (except for context guessing or dithering) .
 
But , the retinal network can be retrained .
 
The retinal network is ridiculously overpowered for only rod and/or cone input . Evolutionary , insects , dinosaurs and very early mammals had another dopsin than was receptive to ultra-violet . This was lost by mammals . Birds and insects live in another dimension of colour that enhances their experience of their environment by an order of magnitude . We cannot imagine what it is to see like an insect or bird , as little as a colour-blind person can imagine blue , green or the whole colour spectrum .
 
During mammal babyhood , as sight is trained , the neural connexions in the retinal neural network (and especially the plexiform layer) are pared away  to a very simplified form . But the complex number of neural network analysis layers are retained . The UV analysis can be excised , but to reduce the number of neuronal network layers would necessitate re-evolution of the whole business . This was simply too complex an endeavour for modest gains . So the layers remained .
 
However , the retina and iris still retain a large number of stem cells .
 
Retraining the plexiform layer that already has a memory of the shape of a letter would then be a simple matter of shifting “weights” in an already existing neuronal configuration . Itarin can easily compensate for this . ( Distortion due to myopia ,etc)
 
If the original pattern was distorted by something like astygmatism , then new neuron connexions would have to formed . (There is no original pattern.) This will take longer .
 
How much longer ?
The visual system has top priority in body . Hence the few cancers in a system loaded with stem cells . Daily for 3 months should do the trick (trimester) .
Top up as needed . The learned system is dual , so alternate with glasses/without glasses .
 
 
Metamaterial :
The 10 x 27 plexiform layer is more than sufficient to enable metamaterial and stochastic resonance effects .
 
Example : Hold the page at an angle to a single-point light . The micron-small elevations of the print will cause slight shadows and highlights , which your eye can recognize as patterns . The reason : the metamaterial effect enables you to see little bumps smaller than the wavelength of the light .
Waving the page slightly will cause stochastic resonance , which biological systems are really good at interpreting . (Look it up.)
 
This is not trivial , since it means that certain fonts are easier to read than others .
And a book is always better .
 
An optimal font has not yet been constructed . It would involve shadings and highlights in the letters themselves . A single letter (by inkjet , for example) would be constructed of a bold , delineated left half ,  a middling half and shaded right half for left-to-right readers .
 
As it is , you will be able to read better if your reading light is to the left of the page at about a 45 degree angle (If you read left to right)
 
This is also why reading from the screen or palm-books never took off .
 
There is no shadow .
 
And only the Shadow knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men .
 
Andre .


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Appendix D
Itarin Theory
The site for the discerning extropian is
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com
What they said :
“Obvious “  Buddha
“Too much blood between the lines. “  Genghis Khan
“Needs some more dimensions”  Gauss
 
 
Itarin v9 .
Dated 10 th May 2006
 
By Andre Willers .
 
This is voetstoots . Any possible usage is at the user’s risk only .
Do not use the program if in physical , psychological or spiritual trauma .
See Trauma over-write in para’s 4 and 16 below .
 
What , When , Who , Where and Why ?
Itarin is an anagram of  “ITRAIN” .  The core program was developed during the period 1994 – 2003 in Cape Town , South Africa , to remedy the increasingly poor vision in the author ( Andre Willers , born 1949 ) caused by  increasing  age .
 
See Personal Experience : does it really work ? at the end of this document.
 
Theory :
 
This program trains the retina and brain to perceive a sharp image .
 
This program works primarily via neural-network programming  and multi-channel redundancy .
But a number of other factors are involved . See Important points to consider  below .
 
The program:
A character is presented in the center of the screen . This is the focus character .  The same character is flashed around the screen as per the parameters of the program . These are the peripheral characters .
 
The user focuses on the central focus-character only , while the same character is flashed around the screen , but not followed by the eyes . The central focus-character must be seen clearly , as this is the target part of the neural-network . Wear glasses if necessary . The central image must be sharp .
 
The default setting of the program is that the  peripheral character images are in a rotating circle around the central-focus character . See the Owl-Maneuver in para 6 below .
 
The retina-brain is then retrained to use the extra information supplied by the peripheral character images on the retina to form the perception of the focus-character .
This is the neural-network part .
 
The multiple images are analogous to multi-channel information transfer . The multiple redundancies in pattern recognition are used to sharpen the end out-put .
 
The net effect is to train the whole retina to see your critical set of images , even when not wearing glasses .
 
When not wearing the glasses , all the images , central as well as peripheral , might be fuzzy , but together they give a sharp image to the brain . This is what you see.  This is ITARIN .
 
But read the following :
 
Important points to consider :
1. Single neurons can do quite sophisticated pattern-recognition . (ie fMRI has shown that recognizing a celebrity faces in humans fires up only one neuron , bees have been trained to recognize human faces ) . Hence , retraining neurons to recognize peripheral retinal patterns to complement the central focus pattern should not strain the system .
 
 
2. Stochastic resonance effect :
The neurons co-ordinating the peripheral and focusing patterning neurons will see poor information (eg lack of focus , astigmatism) as random fluctuations in information . Using this optimization method is a deep-rooted , essential mechanism in the body . (Cf foot-soles and balance).
3. Potentiating short-term memory to long-term memory.
A learning-stimulus to a neuron is only translated to long-term memory if the same stimulus is presented after 10 minutes . Before ten minutes , it seems to remain short term memory .
This means that the ideal ITARIN training period should last longer than 10 minutes , but less than 20 minutes .
 
4 . Furthermore , presentation of a primary trauma-stimulus resets the potentiating mechanism in the neuron ..  See Trauma Overwrite in para 16 below .
This is based on experimental evidence .
This means that learning a better way can overwrite previous bad ways .
This is the basis of present  interventions using some beta-blockers , VR therapy , psycho-babble analyses , etc .
Here it means that visual systems that were effective for youthful acuity , but no longer cut mustard ,  can be overridden to compensate for old-age hardware defects in the eye-brain .
An added plus is that poor reading skills due to bad or traumatic training can be painlessly bettered. 
 
5.Reading speed increases.
To be expected . In normal reading , the brain scans the retinal images to the sides , top and bottom of the fovea  ( focus point ) . The better the pattern recognition from these areas , the faster the shift in focus can move . Hence an increase in reading speed . There should be a slight increase in comprehension as well , as previous characters are better recognized without retracing the eye-scan.
 
6.The Owl Maneuver.
Depth effects cannot be really mimicked on a flat screen . But the head can be moved .
Owls increase their depth perception by moving their heads from side-to-side , while keeping their eyes in the same plane (like an Egyptian dancer) . This can be done on the vertical dimension as well  . It has the added advantage of reducing tension in the neck-muscles and frontalis muscles . The head should also be moved back and forth to change the focus of the eyes .
This is very relaxing if you spend a long time in front of a screen .
 
7. Subliminals .
This whole process as described above is essentially subliminal , since the user focuses on central focus-character and does not pay any attention to the peripheral characters . Since only characters ( not words or phrases ) are used , only potentiated time-sigma sequences need to be considered  for abuse .  Hence the random sequence of characters . The potential for mischief seems limited , especially in an environment of high-density advertisements .
 
8. Chirp
Humans have powerful recognition systems for patterns in short-term frequency change . Notice the tonal effects in languages , alarms signals in birds and animals . Very old and very smooth . Chirping the cycle presentations in Fibonacci-patterns should tweak powerfully . ( Golden ratio)
 
8. Learning new alphabets.
Neuronal paring down in childhood means adults have problems learning an alphabets like Greek , Arabaic etc.
If a Latin-alphabet trained person has to learn to read the Greek , Arabic , Chinese , etc writing he has a major problem  . But , if the focus character in Itarin is Latin and the peripherals are (say ) Greek , and it is chirped , learning capability can be drastically bettered .
You can learn to use it like a well-educated native (see arguments above ).
 
Note the argument that a character-set with a long history (like the Roman alphabet  , Chinese characters , etc ) have been subject to strong selection pressures to be easily identified in their distinctness by the human eye-brain system . Each set forms an optimally selected group of images as far as edges , curves , lines and other primitive visual elements are concerned . 
 
This is why ASCII chars are used . These are the set of edges , curves , lines , etc that people in the West have trained on since childhood .
 
9. Sleep.
After an Itarin session , sleep . I have found that the major effects are found after a night’s sleep . The neuronal learning systems have to have a chance to do their thing .
 
10. Testing
No testing system is included . A self-testing system of this nature is worthless . Either see dramatically better or see your oculist  . Also , see the caveats and the potential drawbacks below . The system is surprisingly difficult to misuse , but someone will manage .
 
11. Underwater.
Humans have trained themselves to see well underwater without artificial aids . See the Thai divers that have trained western children to see clearly underwater without goggles . This can be mimicked in Itarin by showing the focus-character clear and the peripherals as if they underwater .
Try water filled goggles with a air-bubble over the central target ? Research needed .
 
12. Stem cells
The rim of the iris is pure stem cells . All this activity in the area will have unknown effects on the expression factors controlling the stem-cell genes . I suspect that it will have a rejuvenating effect on the iris and cornea systems . The hippocampus might well be involved , since learned-helplessness is so heavily expressed in visual systems . More research is needed .
 
13. Colour perception.
I refer to the experiments where it has been shown that speakers of languages ( like English )  , which differentiate between light-blue and  light-green , lose this differentiation when put under left-brain processing stress . In other words , the language we speak can even influence the colour we perceive .
Using different lenses for each eye , and Itarin , we should be able to influence colour perception .  Inversely , it might help colour blind people . The shades of gray in a person lacking the necessary colour receptors might be trained to perceive the actual colour ( by stimulating the brain-area identified by fMRI )
 
On the darker side , soldiers with infra-red or ultra-violet sensitive eye-enhancements can be taught to use the new colours .
 
14 . Rhodopsin stimulated endorphin release (RSER)
Another dark side . Itarin by it’s very nature causes stimulated rhodopsin release . Rhodopsin release stimulates endorphin release . By saving the most successful programs , a user will tend to breed the parameters with the highest endorphin release .
Idoru (super images) have thus far been limited to the human-biosphere . (ie female shape , etc) . Itarin combined with fMRI will enable an automated Idoru generation system . This is a virgin field . Do we really want AE van Vogt’s Rull–type compulsive images ? Can we avoid them ?
 
15. Nerve Foods.
All this extra activity requires more than normal resources . Energy and nerve foods .
Suggestions are welcome .
 
16 . Further research on all the above is needed :
ITARIN v9 does not support Chirping or other alphabets than Roman  .
 
Since the visual system is so central in humans , immune-system effects and stress-effects should be explored . It is a non-invasive system to make major alterations in the human nervous system . Since the immune system uses the same synapse-chemistry as the nervous system , this gives us a further method of influencing that .
 
Persistence of the effect varies . Research needed!
Would it work better with a monocle over the target char and rest natural ? My guess is that it would , the degree depending on the factors above . Research needed .
Diabetes and other degenerative diseases . Effect unknown . The mobilization of the iris’s stem cells might have some effect . Research needed.
 
Trauma over-write : as far as I know , the system learns new complementary sets of characters , but does not over-write unless some trauma-memory re-initializes the long-term potentiating effect (see para 4 above ) .  Do not use the program if in physical , psychological or spiritual trauma . You might run the risk of  unlearning .
 
17. Peripheral vision.
The program should enhance peripheral vision highly above normal . Remember , normal vision is a haphazard affair , not using the information processing capabilities of the eye-brain to anywhere it’s capacity . ITARIN trains edge , curve , and other primitive recognition visuals at the sides of the retina in a systematic way .
 
18.Spinning balls .
The human eye-brain has had no evolutionary history to force an ability to predict the trajectory of a spinning ball . ( ie it does not have a primitive center for spin trajectories. But we can create one) We can make one that acts at a retina-lower brain level fast enough to be useful in real life . ITARIN can do this easily enough .
At first , put identifiable markers on the balls , spin them at slowly increasing speed and vary thair trajectories as per aerodonamics (ie rule based) . Start with zero spin ( straightforward trajectories ) , then increase spin .
The low-level eye-brain (equivalent to a primitive complex in the brain ) can thus be trained .  Later on , the markers on the balls might be removed and the system must work only on the fraction of the trajectory observed .
 
This brings us to
 
19. New and Enhanced Primitives.
A primitive is defined as clump of cells in the brain that does certain very basic functions very quickly .
 
Examples of existing primitives are counting ( 1,2,3) , trajectories , language , core mammalian postures involving domination , submission , co-operation , writing . Without them , the organism cannot function in reality or a society .
 
Note that all of them involve a visual element that we can influence using some element in ITARIN .
 
The exception is sound without visuals : radio or Greek chorus or Kabuki ( Voices with masks . Ancient radio).Humans have no primitives for this . A TV show with masked performers should be very unsettling .
 
Aargh!!  This means  TV makes lying more easily detectible . Radio only societies ( like the 1920-1940 ones) cannot easily tell if someone is lying because they lack the visual cues . They are more  unstable .  Hence , Mussolini , Hitler , and Rooseveldt .
 
Training in existing Trajectories , as well as a new primitive (see para 18 above ) has been shown .
 
Training in existing languages (lip and facial movements) are rather ho-hum . You do them .
 
Mammalian postures I think should be a co-operative effort . You do them.
 
Counting can be improved upon . At present , only idiot-savants seem to have primitives better than 1,2,3 .  While limitation of this talent has virtues as far as abstraction is concerned , counting 123 rapidly has sort of reached a sell-by-date . The thing is to ask why . Why don’t we have it ? The answer is , of course , that we do have it  . The problem is that we cannot integrate it into our sensorium . And the reason for that was that it was not necessary for our survival . But now it is . This is where ITARIN can help .
 
Feedback ? Required . I am watching the freeloaders .
 
20 Sports.
All visual sports can benefit by increasing sharpness of vision and peripheral vision . 
Reaction speeds should be higher too , as clutter is cleared up in the visual processing .
 
The most interesting sport is chess . Since most of the processing in a good chess player’s mind is done on the mind-eye level below conscious perception , just cleaning up some the clutter should improve the player . (It does – AW)
More interesting is to have a chess-board as a visual field , and to have the target the checkmate position , and the start flash at various removes .
 
This would put a strong bias on the player to make the correct move .
 
This is also applicable to any sport (like baseball ,rugby , soccer , etc) , where split-second decisions are applicable and the results are based on such complicated factors that  steered chaos is the only way to describe it .
 
Spin primitives ( see para 18) alone should give an unbeatable initial advantage .
After a while , everybody will be doing it and the competitive advantage will disappear .
 
 
Personal Experience :
 
Does it really work ?
 
Yes .
 
The answer is that it works for me . Without extensive testing of other people , I cannot give any other answer .
 
I developed the initial program in 1991 to counteract blurry vision caused by age (I was 42) .
I got glasses , but couldn’t see why all that fancy wetware could not compensate for a relatively mild aberration . So I wrote the first program , and got it right accidentally .
 
It was supposed to be only a neural network program , but the flashing of the same training character all over the visual field gave rise to the most powerful feature : the multiple , parallel processing of the same character recognized in different parts of the retina . The neural-network trained them to be processed into one brain-image . The redundancy gave a very sharp image .  But I didn’t know this until much later .
 
Initially , I used it without glasses , since I was afraid that otherwise I would be training bad vision .
I used it daily for about 5 mins   till about 2001 ( I didn’t know about long-term potentiating then ) . Then , in typical human fashion , I neglected it . No problems  for a while.
 
Till about 2004 (age 45) things went fine  , but by middle 2005 I noticed that things were getting blurry.  I ran the program , but the improvement was not great . Placebo effect sprang to mind .
Horrors!
Was I wrong ? The whole thing a boondoggle?
 
I thought , what the hell , tried running it for a few minutes with glasses  , then without glasses . The improvement was immediately noticeable , even more so after a night’s sleep .
 
This caused a deep problem . The program was doing what it supposed to do , but much better than it should .  I was not learning to see worse without glasses , but much better . A purely neural-network should not be able to do this .
 
Luckily , by now I knew about the huge neuronal capacity for pattern recognition . The retina can easily have clumps of neurons trained to recognize the small set (+- 200) of characters all over the retina . Their output can be trained to combine to present a sharp ,processed and cleaned-up image to the brain .
 
Why release it now ?
I  have no pressing need to prove myself  or make a lot of money . On the contrary , the knowledge and program is free  , and I have to square any misuses with my conscience . I am not a believer in “the end justifies the means “ . It didn’t work for the Jesuits ( who were extreme practitioners ) , or Machiavellians . Human systems are too chaotic .
 
Blame my nephew , Eben Swart . He highlighted the importance of diversity in the survival of meme-groups important to me . The probability of any small element groupings in a meme-gene discontinium surviving is greater if the diversity is greater .
 
In other words , diversity is a positive feedback system . An interesting corollary is that systems like empires , globalization , etc are doomed .They are essentially restrictive systems competing with an open-ended positive feedback system .
 
Therefore it behooves me to release this . Nothing much will change initially , but anybody not using the systems in about 10 to 15 years time will be at a distinct disadvantage .
 
As far as I can see , it is far too late for things like sustainable development , cutting down on greenhouse-gasses , etc to save the memes on the planet .
 
Besides which , Gaia depends on humans to save her from the fate of solar over-heating .
 
In other words , Humans are screwed unless they go the hitech route . If they don’t  they are screwed too , as Gaia has reached the end of her adaptability to rising solar temperatures . ( See “Orion , Gaia needs you “)
 
So , while I under no illusions as far as the probability of survival of any of my gene or meme groupings are concerned , I suppose I can stir a finger or two to promote the survival of anything above the level of an amoeba .
 
But it is not a very strong urge .
 
Your choices are simple :
 
Write your own programs ( the relative sports advantages are great enough to ensure this)
Ask me for the program . This has to be explicit .
Tell me how to send the Itarin.exe via MS . It won’t let me send an exe . Precisely the nannyware I am talking about . But if you humans want it that way…I don’t care .
 
Yours indifferently
 
Andre Willers
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