Soccer and SA
Andre Willers
19 Jun 2010
Synopsis:
Why do societies expend such large resources on sports ?
It seems that politicians ( administrators with a short-term view) try to harness the Hysterical Focus . The results are unpredictable : a tiger by the tail
(The Hysterical Focus article is repeated in Appendix A for convenience or http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Financial Crisis 30 April 2009 ")
Discussion :
This is widespread over space and time .
Even in time of widespread and continual warfare , Sport took place . Eg Aztecs , Greeks , Chinese ,Romans , Japanese , etc . Every human civilization .
So , it is not a war-substitute .
Indeed , war gets suspended for the Games .(eg Ancient Olympics , Aztec Wars of the Roses)
You can visit massive ruins of old sports stadia and massive present stadia . What's in it for civilizations ?
So , what gives ?
What benefit does any civilization get to spend large resources (like stadia) on a sporting event ? Note that every Greek or Roman or Aztec town of note had stadia .
Internal Cohesion :
One school of thought is that it fosters internal cohesion . Yet Rome and Constantinople were wracked by sporting riots . (Reds , Greens and others .)
Social Mobility :
A good sportsman could , and can today , move between societal levels even in very stratified civilizations . This encourages others in different spheres of endeavours to do the same . This benefits the society as a whole . But only in the long term .
Meme Mixing .
Like Sex .
A Civilization , like any organism , requires diversity of input . It is subject to the onslaught of whatever combinations evolve outside it . Cutting itself off has been tried (eg China , Japan . ) Geographical isolation led to tragedies like AmerIndians and Khoi-San , where diseases killed off 90 % in indigines .
Civilizations thus has a vested interest in gene- and meme-exchanges on a fractal scale . We've handled long-term meme systems above .
Genes.
Specifically , disease genes .
Gene Exchanges are much more short-term . It is the link .between long-term and short-term sports .
A Civilization that does not have peaceful , large-scale mixing of snot-and-tears genetic material like sports is doomed within about 4 years . Cf Athens in Peloponesian Wars .
It takes about 4 years to evolve significantly different disease variants .
Isolated systems have no resistance . Hence the plagues in Athens , or in any long-term besieged city .
The Hysterical Focus :
(See Appendix A)
All good politicians are aware of the effect , though they call it by different names . They also think they can harness this tiger for their personal benefit . Hence the short-term allocation of resources , with suitable spin for the tax-payers and electorate .
South Africa and the World Soccer Cup 2010
This will be studied for years to come .
A convergence of marketing and nationalistic feeling has ignited an Hysterical Focus .
It is extraordinary to be in an Hysterical Focus ,
an event I have only read about .
Staid Afrikaner matrons paint themselves and end up cavorting in Soweto shebeens .
Quite safely .
Everybody is polite and full of ubuntu .
Violence and crime falls .
The state actually supplies services like Police and swift Justice that works .
Public transport actually works (most of the time) .
The Ignition Event :
The incompetent FIFA system of selling tickets .
South Africans were very lukewarm about attending matches , intending to milk the hyped hordes of visitors . But the teasing manner of selling tickets hardened South Africans' attitudes and the system suddenly ignited , via communication routes like radio , Facebook , Twitter , eMail etc .
Suddenly , everyone wanted tickets .
More importantly , everyone wanted the event to succeed . Rules and laws were interpreted accordingly .
A fantastic atmosphere , as any visitor will attest .
Like a nationwide Woodstock on steroids .
This is typical of an Hysterical Focus .
A seemingly trivial matter precipitates a phase change , focusing large-scale frustrations into a Focus . The Focus then fractures the society in totally unforeseen ways . When the breaks anneal , you have a new , more competitive society (cf French Revolution) .
So , what will the effect be ?
RSA had faced two choices :
1. Most probably a failed state fracturing and civil wars . This has been relegated to a low order of probability by the Hysterical Focus of the World Cup . So , even if RSA ends up losing 40 Billion Rand , it is still cheap at the price to avoid civil breakup .
2. Emperor Zuma scenario .
This now has a very high probability (85%) . Both external threats (Chinese , Indian) and internal threats (high unemployment in male youths ) can be resolved by a Zuma Empire . (It also has a nice sound-bite) .
The question being asked even now , if Government can be effective for the World Cup , why can't it be effective all the time ? The Hysterical Focus is fracturing the society . The politicians hope that it will go away , but tigers are not unsaddled that easily .
The Armoured Impi's lunging northward is at 85% probability and counting .
Summation :
1.The optimal period for Hysterical Focus fracturing seems to be about four years .
Cf Olympics , USA elections , etc . (USA elections are hysterical foci)
2.The Hysterical Focus cannot be manipulated by individual humans . It can be ignited by individuals , but , like Frankenstein's monster , it rampages on . This suggests that the Hysterical Focus is of an order of AI(3.8)
3.Moving the Hysterical Focus is essential , since it is an exclusion device . Somebody has to mind the home
4.Are Neanderthals welcome ?
As long as they can kick a ball .
Being the coach of a team of sociopathic Neanderthals should be quite a challenge , but on second thought would it be that different ?
And here we are , monkeys hunting for Jung in the jungle .
Andre .
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Appendix A .
Financial Crisis 30 Apr 2009
Andre Willers
30 Apr 2009
Synopsis :
The movement of the Hysterical Focus from the Financial Crisis to the Mexican-flu Crisis enables the measures put into place to ameliorate the Financial Crisis to take effect without too much further interference from the Focus .
Discussion :
The Hysterical Focus .
The Friendly Giant .
The strong point of freedom-systems is the independent , multi-faceted , in-force approach to problems .
The weak point is the inability to concentrate forces when needed .
The evolutionary meme that evolved in the surviving societies was the Hysterical Focus .
"Hysterical" because all items outside the focus are excluded .
Humans are a hysterical species . Watch any group of apes in the zoo . This has evolved into a strong point .
They and the media have a very limited range . That is the whole point . (The Schwerpunkt , to be exact.)
"Focus" because all the resources of the society are mobilized on this particular problem .
(Think columns of armour advancing independently , then converging on the target co-ordinated by urgent command signals .
Blitz-krieg . The Hysterical Focus .)
This is very powerful , especially after mass-media was invented .
Anything in the Hysterical Focus gets amplified , examined from every angle . The whole resources of the society gets mobilized . Huge resources are allocated .
Long-term administrators use it to secure funding . Politicians , fashionistas and other various sundry hangers-on try to catch some of the largesse .
Media owners and journalists have a conceit that they steer the process , forgetting that they are just a part of the feedback process .
The Hysterical Focus has this teensy-weensy drawback : if it stays too long on one spot , the cure is worse than the disease .
The process lacks proper feedback-control safeguards . Something like an immune system overreacting (think SARS flu)
Normally , the Hysterical Focus moves on rapidly , as the short attention span of it's components (humans and media) is exhausted . Always a new Paris Hilton .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "The sources of the Nile"
The Financial Crisis was over in Oct 2008 (see previous posts on "Fin*******" in http://andreswhy.blogspot.com )
But the continued focus was beginning to harm recovery efforts by Apr 2009 .
Politicians (like Bush jr with 9/11) tried to keep the focus on the thing that gave them power , not realizing that more power is available by moving the focus on . Notice the adept use Clinton made of the effect .
So , the Mexican flu comes as a relief to the system . The Hysterical Focus has shifted to something that can be handled (since it has been handled before ) . Enormous resources will be allocated , careers will be made , institutes founded , bureaucracies initiated . The usual suspects .
The economic system will quietly rebound . The professionals would have gathered enough support to follow through on the enormous energies released on the problem while it was at the Hysterical Focus .
This is happening as we speak .
The economic consequences of Mexican Flu .
1.Food-production and distribution : nil .
Most food production not on subsistence level is done by machines with a few operators . Distribution is done by containerized holders or ships .
2.Others : these might even benefit , as costs are cut by limiting unnecessary travel .
3.The Losers: Third world countries . The tourism industry .
4.Big Winners : the gene-technology industry . A general flu vaccine was at the start of FDA certification . This will be fast-tracked . Vaccines in general might shift into a subsidiary Focus .
5. Short-term effects :
Barely a hiccup . Even if the mortality rate is 50% .
About 80% of the labour force is unnecessary to produce all the goods for society . The credit crunch means that they are not necessary for the consumer side , either .
6. Long-term effects : acceleration of change towards the singularity , as bio- and nano- safeguards are relaxed
The Hysterical Focus as an Artificial Intelligence .
This would be valid if there were boundary conditions . Even as is , I would classify it as AI(3.05) .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Artificial Intelligence"
It has one of the primary characteristics : elements of it (ie humans) cannot understand it or manipulate it successfully .
Infinite series like the reserve arguments are applicable , but is doubtful in steering . The system is self-aware to a degree (ie all those hardnosed editors , businessmen and politicians .)
This leads to some fascinating examples :
History and Power .
The Hysterical Focus is the fount of Power for humans . They fight and scheme to get there , then it burns them to frazzle .
Their problem was that they could not get out of the focus . It followed them .
Recent examples : LouisIV , Napoleon , Stalin , Hitler , Mao.
They were forced into playing the roles at the apex of power that they crafted themselves into .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Competition and Co-operation"
It turned them crazy . They were at most AI(2.25) , trying to handle problems AI(3.1) would be pressed for .
Those who managed to duck by passing the buck : (that we know of)
Washington (who did it while leaving a legacy) . Not bad for a farmer . Much underrated .
Kemal Ataturk (who showed that it can be done in the modern age)
Wellington (the Turtle-finger defence .) . Hunker down and show the Focus the Finger .
Washington was more effective , but Ataturk 's job was more difficult . Both were lucky . But Ataturk made most of his own luck by manipulating long-term probabilities .
Still , Washington managed to set up a system where the Hysterical Focus passes on fairly regularly (by declining the Kingship)
Ataturk did the same .
What does this have to do with the Financial Crisis on 30 Apr 2009 ?
Why , everything .
The systems are accustomed to a moving Hysterical Focus . Boundary conditions are slowly seeping in as the system evolves towards AI(4) . The USA is more comfortable with Turkey as an ally than with most European countries . (Their founders , Washington and Ataturk , were brothers under the skin.)
A quiet Spine is emerging : USA and Turkey , with Mexico and India as junior partners . High-tech with man-power . And a liveable compromise with Islam .
The whole Middle East is kept alive by US subsidies to Egypt ( Ramses would never have gotten into this fix!) .
If they cease this , Egypt has a choice of seizing the Saudi-Arabian oilfields or starving . Attacking Israel is not even an option .
But this window is rapidly passing (http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Negative Pressure : An Important Update ." ) .
July to Aug 2009 will see a big change .
The Hysterical Focus will pass to the Middle East , an ever popular destination . Why , if it did not exist , one might think that it would need to be invented .
The world economy would quietly knit itself back together .
The Bright Star has passed . For now .
The Lidless Eye .
Tolkien must have had some acquaintance with accountancy firms .
They see everything but observe nothing .
But the random Hysterical Focus overrides all . This threat will concentrate many minds wonderfully .
Isn't randomness a wonderful thing ?
The wicked does not flee when nobody pursues , but they damn'well do if there is a finite probability that the Lidless Eye will turn in their direction . Especially if the full force is at random .
Can you see the Lidless Eye sighing for the days of Mordor ?
At least it would have known what to with the Wizards of Enron .
Andre.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Monday, June 07, 2010
Why Pudding ?
Why Pudding ?
Andre Willers
7 Jun 2010
Synopsis :
High glucose concentration of the pudding decreases insulin intolerance quickly via oral to nervous system interaction .
This gives the pulse of lower GI glucose of the main meal a chance to catch up .
Coffee plus stroll afterwards further lowers the glycemic spike .
Discussion :
It has been known for quite a while that oral sensors distinguish between sweetness and sweetness + glucose or sweetness + fructose or the other sugars . (fMRI)
NewScientist of 1 May 2010 p14 describes experiments by Nicholas Gant at the University of Auckland in New Zealand where swilling the mouth of an athlete with a glucose solution (not swallowing) increases nervous impulses from the motor cortex by about 30% .
Promises , promises .
The body always holds reserves .
We know from general arguments that this is around 33% .
Even in extremis , it keeps thirds of thirds etc,etc in reserve .
A rapid response mechanism is insulin resistance .
The promise of an influx of glucose is detected by the mouth and neurally signaled to the cells . This normally would result in a decrease in insulin resistance , as this has greater survival potential . The actual new glucose would follow later , but in the meantime the body can afford to release some reserves .
However , if there has been a lot of lying (ie artificial sweeteners , sweet drinks without meals , etc) , the system developes a hardened insulin resistance . This is what happens to most humans in old age and diabetesII .
We expect the Oral->Brain->Cell mechanism to go via the amygdala , because it is very old and touches threat-reward systems (eg energy systems) very directly .
Hence , basic memory retraining systems like Propranolol (or beta-blockers in general) , should have an effect .
If you use beta-blockers , diabetic medication or ACE inhibitors , do NOT use the algorithm below without proper medical supervision . Severe hypoglycemia might result .
Algorithm to retrain the bodily glycemic system :
0.Test blood glucose .
1.Take beta blocker , preferably Propranolol
2.Eat about 50 gm of food with no carbohydrate content (eg meat )
4.Wait about 5 minutes .
5.Rinse mouth with sugar solution 3 teaspoons sugar per glass . (The kicker)
6.Test blood glucose .
7.That’s it.
8.Repeat.
If you drink coffee , tea or minerals with artificial sweeteners , make sure you eat something afterwards . The body expects at least some reward from the promises .
If you don't , the insulin resistance hardens .
The insulin resistance is addititive , and can only be reset via some mechanism like beta blockers . Or learned helplessness . And you do not want to go there .
Andre
Andre Willers
7 Jun 2010
Synopsis :
High glucose concentration of the pudding decreases insulin intolerance quickly via oral to nervous system interaction .
This gives the pulse of lower GI glucose of the main meal a chance to catch up .
Coffee plus stroll afterwards further lowers the glycemic spike .
Discussion :
It has been known for quite a while that oral sensors distinguish between sweetness and sweetness + glucose or sweetness + fructose or the other sugars . (fMRI)
NewScientist of 1 May 2010 p14 describes experiments by Nicholas Gant at the University of Auckland in New Zealand where swilling the mouth of an athlete with a glucose solution (not swallowing) increases nervous impulses from the motor cortex by about 30% .
Promises , promises .
The body always holds reserves .
We know from general arguments that this is around 33% .
Even in extremis , it keeps thirds of thirds etc,etc in reserve .
A rapid response mechanism is insulin resistance .
The promise of an influx of glucose is detected by the mouth and neurally signaled to the cells . This normally would result in a decrease in insulin resistance , as this has greater survival potential . The actual new glucose would follow later , but in the meantime the body can afford to release some reserves .
However , if there has been a lot of lying (ie artificial sweeteners , sweet drinks without meals , etc) , the system developes a hardened insulin resistance . This is what happens to most humans in old age and diabetesII .
We expect the Oral->Brain->Cell mechanism to go via the amygdala , because it is very old and touches threat-reward systems (eg energy systems) very directly .
Hence , basic memory retraining systems like Propranolol (or beta-blockers in general) , should have an effect .
If you use beta-blockers , diabetic medication or ACE inhibitors , do NOT use the algorithm below without proper medical supervision . Severe hypoglycemia might result .
Algorithm to retrain the bodily glycemic system :
0.Test blood glucose .
1.Take beta blocker , preferably Propranolol
2.Eat about 50 gm of food with no carbohydrate content (eg meat )
4.Wait about 5 minutes .
5.Rinse mouth with sugar solution 3 teaspoons sugar per glass . (The kicker)
6.Test blood glucose .
7.That’s it.
8.Repeat.
If you drink coffee , tea or minerals with artificial sweeteners , make sure you eat something afterwards . The body expects at least some reward from the promises .
If you don't , the insulin resistance hardens .
The insulin resistance is addititive , and can only be reset via some mechanism like beta blockers . Or learned helplessness . And you do not want to go there .
Andre
Thursday, June 03, 2010
The Chef
The Chef .
Andre Willers
3 Jun 2010
For Peet .
Synopsis :
Functions of a Chef :
1.Definition and distribution of Food . This includes enforcing a safe environment The diner should not end up on the menu . See Addendum A .
2.Storage and preparation of nutritional Food .
3.Taste and fashion .
Discussion :
1.References :
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "The Origins of War and Peace" 21/4/2007
Reproduced in Addendum A for convenience .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "The Collapse of Civilizations" 24/9/2005
Works by Margaret Visser .
2.Toba .
The invention of the Chef , together with Peace , enabled humans to survive a global catastrophe . (See addendum A)
2.1.The Chef enforced the definition of allowable prey . Cannibalism was forbidden by political dictat , but other foods were at the disposal of the Chef .
2.2.The Chef controlled the gathering , storage , distribution and preparation of food .
This was enforced by the whole group , if necessary .
2.3.Taste and fashion went their own inimitable , chaotic ways .
3. Consequences :
3.1.The Restaurant was born . A central gathering and distribution point of all food for the tribe . Enforced by the warriors of the tribe . This was essential so that the group could survive .
The Chef's primary function then , as now , is to ensure a peaceful eating place where everybody could eat their share without ending up on the menu .
This authoritarian role of the Chef has survived for 70 000 years . Even the name reflects it . Chefs are allowed extraordinary leeway even today .
Dining at "Fat Sam's" in 50 000 BC would not be much different from today , except that the waiters would be enforcers (warriors) as well . Diners Clubs to be checked in at the door .
3.2 Storage and preparation of food .
The Chef was responsible for storage (ie preservation) of food for winter . A critical role . Eg developing and using methods like salting , smoking , drying , grinding , etc
Equally important , these preserved foods had to turned back into appealing , nutritional dishes , with Death as the most critical of Critics .
Systematic testing (a meme forerunner of the Scientific Method) followed . Record keeping of some sort evolved (see "Stone age writing" in NewScientist . Not hunting . Recipes .)
Writing evolved out of record-keeping for stored foods .(Besserat)
3.3 Shamans :
For systematic testing , guinea pigs are needed . Enter the group of humans who are sensitive and willing to do test safety concentrations of known poisons and hallucinogens . These evolved into the shaman class .
But they had an impressive record . Ash in maize (release of niacin - Visser) , Cassava , etc , etc . Rendering poisons into nutritional food . All at the control of the Chef .
Notice ritual cannibalism and transubstantiation .
In a symbolic sense , God is seen as a Chef .
The Chef keeps order and turns bad things into good things .
Kosher , Halaal , Hindu cows , etc .
Every culture has taboos tying religion and food together .
Note that Grace at the table in Christian tradition is always said by the dominant figure present (usually male) . The pecking order is quite strict .
But the granddaddy of them all is Cannibalism .
You know , Civilization .
3.4 Travel Food :
The one single rule of food that I could find that always holds :
Long-lasting concentrates developed for travelers across space or time tend to become staples .
Pasta's , meal(ground seeds) , tins , dehydrated foods (packets) , minute-noodles , tins , etc, etc . The reasons are obvious .
3.5 The Celebrity Chef :
This is the slot of the original Chef in society . Still hanging in there .
3.6 Advertising:
History has many examples of entire populations starving to death in the midst of plenty because of lack of a Chef .
Greenland (fish) and South France (potatoes) are two examples .
Hence the power of the celebrity Chef to assure the Diners that it is safe , kosher , halaal , etc .
A Celebrity Chef in Kosher , Halaal , etc tradition would be a very powerful combination .
This is why such powerful niche has remained in societal meme-structures . A strong Chef can be trusted more than politicians not to poison you .
4. Taste and fashion .
These are chaotic by definition .
Humans get bored easily , but like new things only in small doses , and best if recommended by a Chef .
4.1 Subliminals
4.1.1 Sugar , Salt , Fat .
Bad in large doses .
Food tastes flat with zero doses .
But fMRI lights up in recognition of even small doses .
Eg Sweetness :
The brain recognizes very small glucose concentrations , way below taste sensations . This activates metabolic pathways not activated by artificial sweeteners .
Just dip the teaspoon point (a few grains = millions of molecules) in sugar and sweeten the rest with artificial sweetener .
The same with salt and fat (no artificials needed) .
Great coffee , but at a subliminal level .
This is the basis of any sauce .
Never mind the sizzle . The sauce should only hint , like a Circassian slave-girl after your last drachma .
4.2 Food Idoru
Hyper pheromones . Like truffles .
5. The Ideal Restaurant .
5.1 The Chef must be seen to be the central Authority figure .
The Waiters , Security (Warriors) and Kitchen Staff must be seen to defer to him .
This is critical .
The Diner is literally putting his life in somebody else's hands . He would prefer it to be one single person with a known reputation of independence . (Cf Gordon Ramsay)
A virgin whose assets are barely covered by gold Krugerrands must be able to prance all night unmolested .
5.2 Humans want the familiar , with a small dash of exotic , but at their control .
And not too large a choice ,either .
Five basic dishes , with a variation of five different sauces on each .
Eg Curry Sauce : strength 1-5 on pasta's , meats , fish .
This gives 5x5x5 = 125 different dishes at modest cost .
Give three random small sample containers with a sample main dish for decision point to be reached . Then serve main and sauce choice at Diner's discretion .
Diners will try all 3 sample sauces , serving as an entrée .
The Chef personally , or via TV screen discusses available choices and makes his recommendation .
Remember , your diner is having a major night out with some significant other .
He cannot afford more than 1/3 on a possible mistake . (Reserve argument)
The point is to have at least 2/3 familiarity , and 1/3 adventure from a trusted authority figure .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "New Tools Reserves"
6. Big Money :
Eg minute Noodles .
Find a traveller's food that can be microwaved .
Systematically trawl through foods . Dates spring to mind .One of the oldest concentrated , travelers' food . Ditto copra .
Fat is even older and available in lake sizes .
A recipe is needed to turn it into healthy , nutritious food .
A job for Super Chef .
Andre
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Addendum A
The Origins of War and Peace
Andre Willers
20 April 2007
( see previous discussions in http://andreswhy.blogspot.com)
Synopsis :
War is when a society sanctions other humans as prey .
If the other humans belong to another society , it is Classical War . If not , it is a Police Action .
Endless fun is had by playing around with the definitions of “human” (Nazis) , “society” (religions , political movements , criminals , etc) .
Discussion:
Humans have a hard-wired brain center that classifies something as “prey” . Once this switch has tripped and the fixation has taken place , it is extremely difficult to change.
Evolutionary , it derived from pack-behaviour .
Pack hunters need to identify the chosen prey which the pack-leader has designated . The pointers derive from the leader’s social behaviour like pointing , eye-fixation , words etc .
Then they need to fixate on this prey to exclusion . (The nuts-and-bolts neuronal arrangement can be traced back to infant-imprinting.)
Successful packs are those that can focus the full pack on a particular prey , even if individual members of the pack might suffer injury or death .
A subsidiary hard-wired complex developed monitoring fellow-pack members . Any attack has to have some co-ordination . Call this Social-feeling .
Counting :
An iterative counting brain center that could count to three evolved .
(This center’s precise location has been identified (via fMRI). Rendering it inoperative (via magnetic focused pulse) led to a normally very rare inability to gut-feel numbers . Like reading by consulting a child’s primer every step .) Called anacalculus .
Us , Them ,Prey .
Each system is iteratively further broken down into threes , etc .
Three is necessary , since Us and Them is insufficient .
The Prey has to be identified , leading to Them being broken up into Them and Prey .
An intriguing corollary is that while the sets Us and Them may comprise many diverse elements , the Prey has to be constrained to one easily identified element . This explains why hate merchants like Hitler , the schoolyard bully , etc pick on specifics . Why neighbours who know each other kill neighbours in Uganda . Why the wife/husband is the most frequent unsanctioned homicidal victim .
There can only be One Prey .
(Apologies to the Highlander.)
Certain elements in martyr religions can be more easily understood this way .
Packs .
Packs are innate in any organism that cares for it’s young .
Parent(s) + kids = pack .
Iterative congeries across time of genetic relationships leads to complicated social relationships ( see inheritance of dominance in monkeys ,etc)
Human ancestors underwent a prolonged period of being cursorial raptors , developing pack behaviour on a genetic and social level to a high degree . This was convergent evolution with dogs . It is no wonder then that dogs and humans understand each other at such a deep , non-verbal level .
Parts of humans are the same as dogs .
Query : Why the insult of calling somebody a dog , a cur , a son-of-a-bitch etc ?
Answer : The insult is to the human being addressed , expressing dominance , not to dogs . In many cases , the only cultural referent understood by both human parties were doggish loyalty , which translated as slavishness between enemies . Indeed , many humans expressed their loyalty as being dogs of their ruler .
The dogs of war :
An interesting bit of propaganda by the Condottierri to put a spin on their faithless conduct .
Cannibalism .
Let’s face it , our ancestors ate each other until about 72 000 years ago .
The population density was low , making disease like kourou unlikely .
A large number of hominid evolutionary steps were driven by genetic deficiencies , necessitating obligate hunting . ( see previous discussions in http://andreswhy.blogspot.com)
Prey was everybody else except Us . This is the default Homonid setting .
MkI Homo Sapiens .
They evolved around 150 000 to 200 000 years ago .
The body was small by our standards , with little sexual dimorphism . The males were not much bigger , stronger or more aggressive than the females .
Great strength was not needed when hunting with weapons , snares and nets .
Indeed , big mass was selected against because of the significant higher energy needs that made starving to death much more likely during down-turns like droughts . Remember , there was little surplus and no way to store it .
Language was the main purview of the females . Gossiping and politics . The females were the central point of each group , together with the children . The males formed a cloud around this group . But arrangements were very loose and easy , as the living was easy .
Numbers were small , game was plentiful and other hominids made nice little packages of essential nutrients for these obligate hunters .
There is no culture as we even vaguely understand the term .
This was the end-line of development of pre-cultural homonins .
The default was that all not-Us were prey . ( Not War , not Peace , but anarchy)
MkII Homo Sapiens .
The Invention of Peace .
Then Toba happened . (72 000 BC )
The supervolcano in Indonesia caused the equivalent of a nuclear winter across the globe . Snow fell in equatorial regions and there was mass die-off of plants and their dependant animals .
The cold and hunger caused a concentration of numbers around some volcanic hotspots in the highlands of East Africa ( Remember , it snowed on the equator) . It did not happen all at once , so refugees fluxed into the survivable spots . In this crucible , human culture was invented . The numbers were small enough that certain existing epigenetic centers in the brain/body were forced evolved .
Remember , it took centuries for the land to recover .
From the genetic bottle-neck evidence , human numbers fell to between 3 000 and 10 000 . These are extinction levels
Cannibalistic diseases and inbreeding are particularly vicious in small , poorly nourished communities like these .
Co-operation and expansion of the gene-pool was essential .
The surviving communities were the ones where females took control and forced co-operation by designating non-prey .
In other words , the females ( probably led by some redoubtable dowager ) , invented Peace , and what’s more , enforced it .
This was Humanity’s greatest invention . The woman who did it deserves a Nobel prize for each year her Peace lasted .
Population was rigorously kept to sustainable levels by Matriarchal control of breeding lines and birthrates .
They did it so well that the Peace lasted about 60 000 years .
Note that the American and Australian continents where massive and quick animal extinctions took place , were populated from areas probably outside matriarchal control . Note also that the continent with the most extant animal megafauna (Africa) was where the matriarchy originated . Not too shabby ,eh?
One effect was thus the extreme taboo against cannibalism . This is an epigenetic inheritance ( ie data transmitted by mother to offspring , not in the DNA , but not cultural either .)
Inherent in this is that the Prey designation mechanism (now also epigenetic) came under social control . Elaborate rite-of-passage ceremonies evolved to certify an organism as human . (Failures were killed or expelled)
High on the list was Prey designation : hence the emphasis on starving candidates . The original rites featured humans as prey , and the candidate who could not control himself , failed .
This became putting off present gratification for future reward , what we think of as defining feature of cultural humans .
This also means the invention of religion , since the reward can be put off into the hereafter .
They also invented clothing , many uses of fire , hairdressing , makeup , jewelry , beads , gourmet cooking and the other things that make life worthwhile
Co-operating instead of hunting each other made trade and diversication of labour possible . Tools increased in sophistication from about 70 000 BC .
There was a significant human mutation in genes controlling brain growth . This has been very roughly dated as occurring about 40 000 – 50 000 years ago . The significance is not known , but it is speculated that it has to do with the growth of human culture .
The culture was explosively radiative . The advantages of a better and richer life through the material benefits sucked in even non-human homonins ( hence the gene mixing) . Anti-social elements were designated Prey and declared outlaw (this is what it means . The ultimate sanction then and now . Declared non-human , their only options were to die or to flee . )
When these MkII Humans exploded out of Africa , they did not kill the Neanderthals and Sinienses found in Europe and Asia . Their prey instincts were under social control .
Hence the interbreeding results now being found in the fossil record or the genetic evidence of the human flea .
( Some skeletons found indicate a mixture of Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens . Doubtlessly , more will be certain once the Neanderthal genome has been sequenced in about three years . More certain seems recent evidence of Siniens interbreeding , especially the genetic evidence that some species of human lice seemed to have crossed over back to Homo Sapiens from Siniens(Erectus) . The main-line Homo Sapiens fleas evolved into head and body lice after the invention of clothing after Toba .)
The other Sexes of Man
(see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com “The Sexes of Man”)
An intriguing speculation is that various null-sexes and homosexes got an evolutionary push from the reduced fertility in crossbreeding between MkII Homo and other various cousins that were subsumed into the Homo gene-cultural pool . This would have had a major effect on the evolution of the meme of property and inheritance .
MkII Humans .
What did they look like ?
The closest survivors we have are the Bushmen .
The female is the basic unit . There is little sexual dimorphism . The male is slightly larger than the female , but not significantly better muscled or more aggressive . Weapons and intelligence are more important in hunting than strength .
Females are the cultural guardians and control the group , both epigenetically and culturally .
Their Culture:
In fertile regions , the females and children form a nucleus with a floating cloud of males . Females select males to have children , either from personal taste or by direction of the Matriarchy . As expected , about 90% of males do not have children , as the females all select the alpha-males . This creates tension .
A Matriarchy .
Overpopulation was kept under check by infanticide of weaklings (bushmen , greeks , romans) . The limits of population were precisely known after literally tens of thousands of years of hunter-gatherer interactions .
An extremely stable form of government .
MkIII Homo Sapiens .
As can be seen from the above , the matriarchs naturally thought in terms of selective breeding . Hence their invention of agriculture and domesticated animals . (The were the finest genetic engineers the planet has yet seen , including the present poseurs.)
Yet the invention of both held the seeds of their destruction .
Domestication of animals and agriculture (circa 10 000 years ago) went hand-in-hand . Even today , most agricultural produce go to feed animals .
The net effect was a population explosion .
The old methods of estimating the carrying capacity of the land did not work with this new-fangled agriculture . The large groups of feral males expelled into the borderlands during the last 60 000 years now also increased in numbers due to end of the Ice-Age . They could be hired by surplus agricultural produce and promise of breeding women .
The matriarchs now had physical locations they had to defend against marauding clouds of feral males or males from other villages . Down-turns ( drought , winters , etc) made it worse . The inexorable logic of evolution means that no matter how many times you succeed , only one failure is enough to destroy you .
Increasing populations had led to population centers (cities) , that traded . Trade on this scale unleashed what we would call globalization . Cheaper produce and manufactures from the peripheries destroyed the livelihood of local farmers and artisans . The resulting social unrest necessitated breeding warriors from the outside stock to keep control for the oligarchy of matriarchs and priestesses .
This happened over a period of about 6 000 years . ( A Matriarchy is a really , really stable form of government .)
The result was an arms-race . The matriarchs either deliberately , or as a desperation measure , bred males for aggression and strength . This was easy in a culture that already practiced infanticide and death-by-neglect . Nubile females were directed only to mate with the jocks . Breeding stock was imported or required as tribute from the Outlands ( cf remnants like Theseus , etc)
The social structure (what we would call the Bronze Age) slowly broke down .
The Matriarchs also designated the competing groups as prey to their warrior clouds . War had arrived ..
MkIII Homo Sapiens was the result .
There is marked sexual dimorphism . The male is significantly bigger , but also grossly overpowered . Sinews and bones break continually from the overbred power .
The biggest difference is in aggression and Social-feeling . (see above)
There is a positive feedback between Aggression and Fellow-feeling . A large group focusing on a prey is more successful if the elements of the group share values more intensely . All we need to add is that large numbers of combatants are more successful than small numbers (generally true for low-energy weapons) , and you have an Army and War .
Social-Feeling:
The increase in social-feeling leads to large hysterical-type religions , and (not too put too fine a point on it ) large mobs .
The other whammy :
Horses .
Villages on the edges of the Ukrainian Steppes domesticated horses . Over hundreds of years , young men drifted into the steppes . Matriarchs could not follow them , since a pregnant woman cannot ride . The result was the formation of the Sky Gods religions . The horsemen turned around and made the originating villages their fiefs . From this basis they exploited every weakness of the Matriarchs .
Patriarchal religion arises .
The big Crack.
The collapse of the Late Bronze Age civilization (see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com)
This was not an overnight affair , but the later stages makes “Apocalypto” look like a picnic .
It was a combination of factors :
The breakdown of the social systems led to continual internecine warfare between city-states (ie groups of Matriarchs) . The males were being force-bred to be bigger and more aggressive . Then a climate shift caused a series of prolonged droughts from about 6 000 to 4 000 BC , seriously increasing unrest . The destruction of Minoan sea-power due to tsunamis and the inability to rebuild their fleet because they had denuded all readily accessible timber was the last straw . It took about 200 years , but the resultant spasm of war , destruction and cannibalism destroyed the matriarchies around the Middle-East and the Mediterranean .
The horse patriarchs swept over the remains and stamped patriarchal memes very firmly on the twitching remains .
Some Matriarchal memes remained in the far-west (Britain) . Hence the Druids .
Egypt and some surviving cities in the middle-east retained underground matriarchal cults ( Isis , Cybele , Earth Mother , etc , etc)
The Romans destroyed the corrupted Druid remnants .
The Roman Catholic Church later incorporated the main elements of the surviving matriarchy in the Roman Empire in the female saints and the Virgin Mary . The rest were ruthlessly exterminated . (Literally)
The only remnants of the Matriarchy that had ruled for nearly 70 000 years were some nunneries . Even here they were meme controlled ( Brides of Christ : ie connected to a male .)
Islam did the same . Note that the nun’s habit is identical with the chador .
It makes one wonder : why did the Council of Nicea decide on such a radical step ?
After all , the Roman Empire toward the end had little sex-discrimination . Constantinople had many empresses .
Why did the West suppress matriarchies ?
The suspicion arises that they did it because they felt threatened .
A meme structure like the Matriarchy that thinks in terms of 70 000 thousands of years and selective breeding of generations does not let a temporary hiatus of 5 000 years stop them . Indeed , elementary consideration would show that this could not have been the first or only reverse . Thus , they would have evolved mechanisms to survive what they consider temporary setbacks , together with some aggressive bounce-back mechanisms .
They probably tried to take over control of the Roman Catholic Church and the Western Empire . The Church destroyed most evidence , but there is Constantine’s mother , a taverners daughter who came up with some serious money to hire troops .
The killer , though , was probably the shenanigans with Attila . The Western Court at the time was even a bigger nest of snakes than usual . This was also the last time women played a significant role . If Aetius had not stopped Attila , the West would probably be a matriarchy now .
The Patriarchal meme-set seems to be long-lasting , but scared .
Some examples :
The refusal to aid Constantinople in 1453 . Indeed , the whole split . The West feels more comfortable with a patriarchal Islam than a matriarchy . Even so , Turkey seems to have been hit by a double whammy from the women : Naksh , and the enfolding and vanishment of the Circassians circa 1820 .
For those not up to speed :
Naksh (the Beautiful ) was a cousin of Josephine Bonaparte . They both came from Martinique and both became Empresses . Naksh was captured by Barbary pirates , and given as a virgin present to the Sultan . She must have been something exceptional , since he made her his principal and only wife , and more importantly , allowed her to educate her son the heir . This guy broke (well ,exterminated) the Janisseries (no mean feat) . He embarked the Ottoman Empire on the route that led to Turkey of today being a secular Islamic state (the only one) .
The Circassians were a tribe in the Caucasian mountains that reputedly for thousands of years bred their women for beauty and then sold them . This is like saying Elizabeth Taylor or Madonna is a slave . As you can imagine , even if it was not a matriarchal scheme to start off with , it would not be soon before the women ran the scheme . Reputedly , their beauty approached super-image quality , to such an extent that they had to be veiled so as not to drive men mad with visions of unattainability .
Of course the other side of the coin is more likely . For 60 000 years the matriarchy had bred and perfected women that could freeze men’s souls with their beauty and pheromones (cf Sirens , Circe , Gorgons , etc) . Brainy too . So the Circassians were breeding the beauty out , not in , to fit with modern society .
By 1820 they had to move , as the entire Caucasus mountains became very unsafe due to the Russian Empire expanding . Bullets or cannons do not care about beauty . The entire tribe moved to Constantinople and was not heard of again (of course) .
An interesting note here is that they probably had a copy of the Library of Constantinople . Very probably many of the originals . One of those ironies of history is that the Library everyone is looking for (including most of the Library of Alexandria) is right back where it started . A further ironic note is that Templars got obliterated mainly for having a copy . Contaminated by the Matriarchy . Fallout was the Albigensians and the Spanish Inquisition .
The question is : what on earth did the matriarchy do to provoke such an extreme response , one that has reverberated for thousands of years ? Even the memory of the deeds are gone (except maybe in some dusty archive) , but the emotions evoked still seem to be alive .
The only thing I can think of is a monstrous betrayal and perversion of the very bedrock of the Matriarchy’s social contract : when things got bad , they designated their people they considered useless as Prey and ate them .
This is like the Pope cutting out some nice fat American tourists on St Peter’s square and having a braai , with them as the guests of honour on the spit , all the while intoning that they should be honoured to serve .
Worse . Christianity has ritual cannibalism . No wonder this has reverberated down the ages . And it must have gone on for at least 200 years .
Shit . And I thought the high death rate in the Late Bronze age collapse was due to the quick conquest by the Sea Peoples . Instead , for hundreds of years the matriarchy and attendant nobles ate their people . The logic from their point is that the plebs should be honoured to feed their betters who know better and would be able to pull things together once the drought ends . And even when the drought ended , they could not stop . They were caught in the vested interests and , besides , it would take years before trade picked up and their shares paid a decent dividend .
The Sea Peoples were what we would call Liberators and Freedom Fighters . The capital letters are justified . Not even the Nazis or the Soviets ate the inmates of the camps , never mind put them in camps just for this purpose .
I always wondered how Rameses III could trust the Sea Peoples after the battle of the Nile to withdraw to southern Palestine . How could they exist if the area was so drought stricken ? But it wasn’t . It could support a lesser number , but not the overpopulated cities before . He had to promise to cleanse his country as well .Something he was not averse to .
But besides that , the Sea Peoples were fighting to cleanse the world of a great evil . The last holdout was in Egypt . They would have kept coming . All of them had family that was eaten .
This monumental blunder took place after the invention of agriculture , when overpopulation got out of control . I presume the present Matriarchy is determined not to make the same mistake . Overpopulation is once again out of control .
A note to the Matriarchy :
Kindly do not attempt to dispose of the surplus biomass through your stomach . It did not work too well 5 000 years ago . This time you will get crispies all round . The contract of 72 000 years ago is that either all pull through , or none do . Got it ?
The crucial Patriarchal meme:
No woman shall be without a connection with some male .
It does not matter if the male is a father , brother , husband ,son ,etc .
The intention is to prevent the build-up of a purely female powerbase . (ie a Matriarchy)
It worked for about 5 000 years .
Why it broke down :
The hidden assumption:
A high death rate due to high female death rate in childbirth .
This assumption steadily diverged from reality since about 1850 , as asepsis and birth procedures progressed .
The result was that woman outlived men by about 7 years on average . Rich woman in the US inheriting all their husband’s assets is a bigger percentage since the 1920’s . The US is a matriarchy by now .
Some symptoms:
Some 66% of US families have only one parent , namely the mother .
Crime rates have increased . This is because clouds of males are forming ,without matriarchal systems to keep them in control . At the levels of aggression and
testosterone the females have bred into them , only one thing will work :
UltraMama
A discreet word with Marvel Comics or some games designer might be appropriate .
And please , not SuperMama . Every Mama is a SuperMama .
MkIV Homo Sapiens .
Around 1800 the New Model Homo Saps was rolled out .
The new model is emotionally cool and is inclined to compulsive behaviour .
It welcomes uberbabes , but vehemently rejects a role as appetizer or even main course .
Aggression is not impulsive , but compulsive .
This is epigenetic .
This means that he can only be reasoned with . Emotional pressure points like fear , hate , love will play no role in behaviour .
Once an aggressive course is determined , nothing will stop it except superior force or logic .
The development of industrial technology required people that can concentrate for hours at a time on technical things like lathes , mathematics , etc , etc . The Fellow-feeling center in the brain suddenly became the cannon-fodder center .
A previous pathology ( Autism spectrum ) was dusted off and selection pressures are busily selecting and modifying . Aspergers (which did not exist before , suddenly is a desirable condition . The rough edges are being filed off .
It also means that the political control both Patriarchies and Matriarchies had is evaporating . The levers are turning to mush under their fingers .
Both have failed . They think the solution is in killing off their constituents when things get tough . This is no longer a viable solution from their viewpoint , as they have already lost control of the technical aspects . They are the most likely ones to do the tumbrel dance when things go ape .
Andre
Andre Willers
3 Jun 2010
For Peet .
Synopsis :
Functions of a Chef :
1.Definition and distribution of Food . This includes enforcing a safe environment The diner should not end up on the menu . See Addendum A .
2.Storage and preparation of nutritional Food .
3.Taste and fashion .
Discussion :
1.References :
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "The Origins of War and Peace" 21/4/2007
Reproduced in Addendum A for convenience .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "The Collapse of Civilizations" 24/9/2005
Works by Margaret Visser .
2.Toba .
The invention of the Chef , together with Peace , enabled humans to survive a global catastrophe . (See addendum A)
2.1.The Chef enforced the definition of allowable prey . Cannibalism was forbidden by political dictat , but other foods were at the disposal of the Chef .
2.2.The Chef controlled the gathering , storage , distribution and preparation of food .
This was enforced by the whole group , if necessary .
2.3.Taste and fashion went their own inimitable , chaotic ways .
3. Consequences :
3.1.The Restaurant was born . A central gathering and distribution point of all food for the tribe . Enforced by the warriors of the tribe . This was essential so that the group could survive .
The Chef's primary function then , as now , is to ensure a peaceful eating place where everybody could eat their share without ending up on the menu .
This authoritarian role of the Chef has survived for 70 000 years . Even the name reflects it . Chefs are allowed extraordinary leeway even today .
Dining at "Fat Sam's" in 50 000 BC would not be much different from today , except that the waiters would be enforcers (warriors) as well . Diners Clubs to be checked in at the door .
3.2 Storage and preparation of food .
The Chef was responsible for storage (ie preservation) of food for winter . A critical role . Eg developing and using methods like salting , smoking , drying , grinding , etc
Equally important , these preserved foods had to turned back into appealing , nutritional dishes , with Death as the most critical of Critics .
Systematic testing (a meme forerunner of the Scientific Method) followed . Record keeping of some sort evolved (see "Stone age writing" in NewScientist . Not hunting . Recipes .)
Writing evolved out of record-keeping for stored foods .(Besserat)
3.3 Shamans :
For systematic testing , guinea pigs are needed . Enter the group of humans who are sensitive and willing to do test safety concentrations of known poisons and hallucinogens . These evolved into the shaman class .
But they had an impressive record . Ash in maize (release of niacin - Visser) , Cassava , etc , etc . Rendering poisons into nutritional food . All at the control of the Chef .
Notice ritual cannibalism and transubstantiation .
In a symbolic sense , God is seen as a Chef .
The Chef keeps order and turns bad things into good things .
Kosher , Halaal , Hindu cows , etc .
Every culture has taboos tying religion and food together .
Note that Grace at the table in Christian tradition is always said by the dominant figure present (usually male) . The pecking order is quite strict .
But the granddaddy of them all is Cannibalism .
You know , Civilization .
3.4 Travel Food :
The one single rule of food that I could find that always holds :
Long-lasting concentrates developed for travelers across space or time tend to become staples .
Pasta's , meal(ground seeds) , tins , dehydrated foods (packets) , minute-noodles , tins , etc, etc . The reasons are obvious .
3.5 The Celebrity Chef :
This is the slot of the original Chef in society . Still hanging in there .
3.6 Advertising:
History has many examples of entire populations starving to death in the midst of plenty because of lack of a Chef .
Greenland (fish) and South France (potatoes) are two examples .
Hence the power of the celebrity Chef to assure the Diners that it is safe , kosher , halaal , etc .
A Celebrity Chef in Kosher , Halaal , etc tradition would be a very powerful combination .
This is why such powerful niche has remained in societal meme-structures . A strong Chef can be trusted more than politicians not to poison you .
4. Taste and fashion .
These are chaotic by definition .
Humans get bored easily , but like new things only in small doses , and best if recommended by a Chef .
4.1 Subliminals
4.1.1 Sugar , Salt , Fat .
Bad in large doses .
Food tastes flat with zero doses .
But fMRI lights up in recognition of even small doses .
Eg Sweetness :
The brain recognizes very small glucose concentrations , way below taste sensations . This activates metabolic pathways not activated by artificial sweeteners .
Just dip the teaspoon point (a few grains = millions of molecules) in sugar and sweeten the rest with artificial sweetener .
The same with salt and fat (no artificials needed) .
Great coffee , but at a subliminal level .
This is the basis of any sauce .
Never mind the sizzle . The sauce should only hint , like a Circassian slave-girl after your last drachma .
4.2 Food Idoru
Hyper pheromones . Like truffles .
5. The Ideal Restaurant .
5.1 The Chef must be seen to be the central Authority figure .
The Waiters , Security (Warriors) and Kitchen Staff must be seen to defer to him .
This is critical .
The Diner is literally putting his life in somebody else's hands . He would prefer it to be one single person with a known reputation of independence . (Cf Gordon Ramsay)
A virgin whose assets are barely covered by gold Krugerrands must be able to prance all night unmolested .
5.2 Humans want the familiar , with a small dash of exotic , but at their control .
And not too large a choice ,either .
Five basic dishes , with a variation of five different sauces on each .
Eg Curry Sauce : strength 1-5 on pasta's , meats , fish .
This gives 5x5x5 = 125 different dishes at modest cost .
Give three random small sample containers with a sample main dish for decision point to be reached . Then serve main and sauce choice at Diner's discretion .
Diners will try all 3 sample sauces , serving as an entrée .
The Chef personally , or via TV screen discusses available choices and makes his recommendation .
Remember , your diner is having a major night out with some significant other .
He cannot afford more than 1/3 on a possible mistake . (Reserve argument)
The point is to have at least 2/3 familiarity , and 1/3 adventure from a trusted authority figure .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "New Tools Reserves"
6. Big Money :
Eg minute Noodles .
Find a traveller's food that can be microwaved .
Systematically trawl through foods . Dates spring to mind .One of the oldest concentrated , travelers' food . Ditto copra .
Fat is even older and available in lake sizes .
A recipe is needed to turn it into healthy , nutritious food .
A job for Super Chef .
Andre
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Addendum A
The Origins of War and Peace
Andre Willers
20 April 2007
( see previous discussions in http://andreswhy.blogspot.com)
Synopsis :
War is when a society sanctions other humans as prey .
If the other humans belong to another society , it is Classical War . If not , it is a Police Action .
Endless fun is had by playing around with the definitions of “human” (Nazis) , “society” (religions , political movements , criminals , etc) .
Discussion:
Humans have a hard-wired brain center that classifies something as “prey” . Once this switch has tripped and the fixation has taken place , it is extremely difficult to change.
Evolutionary , it derived from pack-behaviour .
Pack hunters need to identify the chosen prey which the pack-leader has designated . The pointers derive from the leader’s social behaviour like pointing , eye-fixation , words etc .
Then they need to fixate on this prey to exclusion . (The nuts-and-bolts neuronal arrangement can be traced back to infant-imprinting.)
Successful packs are those that can focus the full pack on a particular prey , even if individual members of the pack might suffer injury or death .
A subsidiary hard-wired complex developed monitoring fellow-pack members . Any attack has to have some co-ordination . Call this Social-feeling .
Counting :
An iterative counting brain center that could count to three evolved .
(This center’s precise location has been identified (via fMRI). Rendering it inoperative (via magnetic focused pulse) led to a normally very rare inability to gut-feel numbers . Like reading by consulting a child’s primer every step .) Called anacalculus .
Us , Them ,Prey .
Each system is iteratively further broken down into threes , etc .
Three is necessary , since Us and Them is insufficient .
The Prey has to be identified , leading to Them being broken up into Them and Prey .
An intriguing corollary is that while the sets Us and Them may comprise many diverse elements , the Prey has to be constrained to one easily identified element . This explains why hate merchants like Hitler , the schoolyard bully , etc pick on specifics . Why neighbours who know each other kill neighbours in Uganda . Why the wife/husband is the most frequent unsanctioned homicidal victim .
There can only be One Prey .
(Apologies to the Highlander.)
Certain elements in martyr religions can be more easily understood this way .
Packs .
Packs are innate in any organism that cares for it’s young .
Parent(s) + kids = pack .
Iterative congeries across time of genetic relationships leads to complicated social relationships ( see inheritance of dominance in monkeys ,etc)
Human ancestors underwent a prolonged period of being cursorial raptors , developing pack behaviour on a genetic and social level to a high degree . This was convergent evolution with dogs . It is no wonder then that dogs and humans understand each other at such a deep , non-verbal level .
Parts of humans are the same as dogs .
Query : Why the insult of calling somebody a dog , a cur , a son-of-a-bitch etc ?
Answer : The insult is to the human being addressed , expressing dominance , not to dogs . In many cases , the only cultural referent understood by both human parties were doggish loyalty , which translated as slavishness between enemies . Indeed , many humans expressed their loyalty as being dogs of their ruler .
The dogs of war :
An interesting bit of propaganda by the Condottierri to put a spin on their faithless conduct .
Cannibalism .
Let’s face it , our ancestors ate each other until about 72 000 years ago .
The population density was low , making disease like kourou unlikely .
A large number of hominid evolutionary steps were driven by genetic deficiencies , necessitating obligate hunting . ( see previous discussions in http://andreswhy.blogspot.com)
Prey was everybody else except Us . This is the default Homonid setting .
MkI Homo Sapiens .
They evolved around 150 000 to 200 000 years ago .
The body was small by our standards , with little sexual dimorphism . The males were not much bigger , stronger or more aggressive than the females .
Great strength was not needed when hunting with weapons , snares and nets .
Indeed , big mass was selected against because of the significant higher energy needs that made starving to death much more likely during down-turns like droughts . Remember , there was little surplus and no way to store it .
Language was the main purview of the females . Gossiping and politics . The females were the central point of each group , together with the children . The males formed a cloud around this group . But arrangements were very loose and easy , as the living was easy .
Numbers were small , game was plentiful and other hominids made nice little packages of essential nutrients for these obligate hunters .
There is no culture as we even vaguely understand the term .
This was the end-line of development of pre-cultural homonins .
The default was that all not-Us were prey . ( Not War , not Peace , but anarchy)
MkII Homo Sapiens .
The Invention of Peace .
Then Toba happened . (72 000 BC )
The supervolcano in Indonesia caused the equivalent of a nuclear winter across the globe . Snow fell in equatorial regions and there was mass die-off of plants and their dependant animals .
The cold and hunger caused a concentration of numbers around some volcanic hotspots in the highlands of East Africa ( Remember , it snowed on the equator) . It did not happen all at once , so refugees fluxed into the survivable spots . In this crucible , human culture was invented . The numbers were small enough that certain existing epigenetic centers in the brain/body were forced evolved .
Remember , it took centuries for the land to recover .
From the genetic bottle-neck evidence , human numbers fell to between 3 000 and 10 000 . These are extinction levels
Cannibalistic diseases and inbreeding are particularly vicious in small , poorly nourished communities like these .
Co-operation and expansion of the gene-pool was essential .
The surviving communities were the ones where females took control and forced co-operation by designating non-prey .
In other words , the females ( probably led by some redoubtable dowager ) , invented Peace , and what’s more , enforced it .
This was Humanity’s greatest invention . The woman who did it deserves a Nobel prize for each year her Peace lasted .
Population was rigorously kept to sustainable levels by Matriarchal control of breeding lines and birthrates .
They did it so well that the Peace lasted about 60 000 years .
Note that the American and Australian continents where massive and quick animal extinctions took place , were populated from areas probably outside matriarchal control . Note also that the continent with the most extant animal megafauna (Africa) was where the matriarchy originated . Not too shabby ,eh?
One effect was thus the extreme taboo against cannibalism . This is an epigenetic inheritance ( ie data transmitted by mother to offspring , not in the DNA , but not cultural either .)
Inherent in this is that the Prey designation mechanism (now also epigenetic) came under social control . Elaborate rite-of-passage ceremonies evolved to certify an organism as human . (Failures were killed or expelled)
High on the list was Prey designation : hence the emphasis on starving candidates . The original rites featured humans as prey , and the candidate who could not control himself , failed .
This became putting off present gratification for future reward , what we think of as defining feature of cultural humans .
This also means the invention of religion , since the reward can be put off into the hereafter .
They also invented clothing , many uses of fire , hairdressing , makeup , jewelry , beads , gourmet cooking and the other things that make life worthwhile
Co-operating instead of hunting each other made trade and diversication of labour possible . Tools increased in sophistication from about 70 000 BC .
There was a significant human mutation in genes controlling brain growth . This has been very roughly dated as occurring about 40 000 – 50 000 years ago . The significance is not known , but it is speculated that it has to do with the growth of human culture .
The culture was explosively radiative . The advantages of a better and richer life through the material benefits sucked in even non-human homonins ( hence the gene mixing) . Anti-social elements were designated Prey and declared outlaw (this is what it means . The ultimate sanction then and now . Declared non-human , their only options were to die or to flee . )
When these MkII Humans exploded out of Africa , they did not kill the Neanderthals and Sinienses found in Europe and Asia . Their prey instincts were under social control .
Hence the interbreeding results now being found in the fossil record or the genetic evidence of the human flea .
( Some skeletons found indicate a mixture of Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens . Doubtlessly , more will be certain once the Neanderthal genome has been sequenced in about three years . More certain seems recent evidence of Siniens interbreeding , especially the genetic evidence that some species of human lice seemed to have crossed over back to Homo Sapiens from Siniens(Erectus) . The main-line Homo Sapiens fleas evolved into head and body lice after the invention of clothing after Toba .)
The other Sexes of Man
(see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com “The Sexes of Man”)
An intriguing speculation is that various null-sexes and homosexes got an evolutionary push from the reduced fertility in crossbreeding between MkII Homo and other various cousins that were subsumed into the Homo gene-cultural pool . This would have had a major effect on the evolution of the meme of property and inheritance .
MkII Humans .
What did they look like ?
The closest survivors we have are the Bushmen .
The female is the basic unit . There is little sexual dimorphism . The male is slightly larger than the female , but not significantly better muscled or more aggressive . Weapons and intelligence are more important in hunting than strength .
Females are the cultural guardians and control the group , both epigenetically and culturally .
Their Culture:
In fertile regions , the females and children form a nucleus with a floating cloud of males . Females select males to have children , either from personal taste or by direction of the Matriarchy . As expected , about 90% of males do not have children , as the females all select the alpha-males . This creates tension .
A Matriarchy .
Overpopulation was kept under check by infanticide of weaklings (bushmen , greeks , romans) . The limits of population were precisely known after literally tens of thousands of years of hunter-gatherer interactions .
An extremely stable form of government .
MkIII Homo Sapiens .
As can be seen from the above , the matriarchs naturally thought in terms of selective breeding . Hence their invention of agriculture and domesticated animals . (The were the finest genetic engineers the planet has yet seen , including the present poseurs.)
Yet the invention of both held the seeds of their destruction .
Domestication of animals and agriculture (circa 10 000 years ago) went hand-in-hand . Even today , most agricultural produce go to feed animals .
The net effect was a population explosion .
The old methods of estimating the carrying capacity of the land did not work with this new-fangled agriculture . The large groups of feral males expelled into the borderlands during the last 60 000 years now also increased in numbers due to end of the Ice-Age . They could be hired by surplus agricultural produce and promise of breeding women .
The matriarchs now had physical locations they had to defend against marauding clouds of feral males or males from other villages . Down-turns ( drought , winters , etc) made it worse . The inexorable logic of evolution means that no matter how many times you succeed , only one failure is enough to destroy you .
Increasing populations had led to population centers (cities) , that traded . Trade on this scale unleashed what we would call globalization . Cheaper produce and manufactures from the peripheries destroyed the livelihood of local farmers and artisans . The resulting social unrest necessitated breeding warriors from the outside stock to keep control for the oligarchy of matriarchs and priestesses .
This happened over a period of about 6 000 years . ( A Matriarchy is a really , really stable form of government .)
The result was an arms-race . The matriarchs either deliberately , or as a desperation measure , bred males for aggression and strength . This was easy in a culture that already practiced infanticide and death-by-neglect . Nubile females were directed only to mate with the jocks . Breeding stock was imported or required as tribute from the Outlands ( cf remnants like Theseus , etc)
The social structure (what we would call the Bronze Age) slowly broke down .
The Matriarchs also designated the competing groups as prey to their warrior clouds . War had arrived ..
MkIII Homo Sapiens was the result .
There is marked sexual dimorphism . The male is significantly bigger , but also grossly overpowered . Sinews and bones break continually from the overbred power .
The biggest difference is in aggression and Social-feeling . (see above)
There is a positive feedback between Aggression and Fellow-feeling . A large group focusing on a prey is more successful if the elements of the group share values more intensely . All we need to add is that large numbers of combatants are more successful than small numbers (generally true for low-energy weapons) , and you have an Army and War .
Social-Feeling:
The increase in social-feeling leads to large hysterical-type religions , and (not too put too fine a point on it ) large mobs .
The other whammy :
Horses .
Villages on the edges of the Ukrainian Steppes domesticated horses . Over hundreds of years , young men drifted into the steppes . Matriarchs could not follow them , since a pregnant woman cannot ride . The result was the formation of the Sky Gods religions . The horsemen turned around and made the originating villages their fiefs . From this basis they exploited every weakness of the Matriarchs .
Patriarchal religion arises .
The big Crack.
The collapse of the Late Bronze Age civilization (see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com)
This was not an overnight affair , but the later stages makes “Apocalypto” look like a picnic .
It was a combination of factors :
The breakdown of the social systems led to continual internecine warfare between city-states (ie groups of Matriarchs) . The males were being force-bred to be bigger and more aggressive . Then a climate shift caused a series of prolonged droughts from about 6 000 to 4 000 BC , seriously increasing unrest . The destruction of Minoan sea-power due to tsunamis and the inability to rebuild their fleet because they had denuded all readily accessible timber was the last straw . It took about 200 years , but the resultant spasm of war , destruction and cannibalism destroyed the matriarchies around the Middle-East and the Mediterranean .
The horse patriarchs swept over the remains and stamped patriarchal memes very firmly on the twitching remains .
Some Matriarchal memes remained in the far-west (Britain) . Hence the Druids .
Egypt and some surviving cities in the middle-east retained underground matriarchal cults ( Isis , Cybele , Earth Mother , etc , etc)
The Romans destroyed the corrupted Druid remnants .
The Roman Catholic Church later incorporated the main elements of the surviving matriarchy in the Roman Empire in the female saints and the Virgin Mary . The rest were ruthlessly exterminated . (Literally)
The only remnants of the Matriarchy that had ruled for nearly 70 000 years were some nunneries . Even here they were meme controlled ( Brides of Christ : ie connected to a male .)
Islam did the same . Note that the nun’s habit is identical with the chador .
It makes one wonder : why did the Council of Nicea decide on such a radical step ?
After all , the Roman Empire toward the end had little sex-discrimination . Constantinople had many empresses .
Why did the West suppress matriarchies ?
The suspicion arises that they did it because they felt threatened .
A meme structure like the Matriarchy that thinks in terms of 70 000 thousands of years and selective breeding of generations does not let a temporary hiatus of 5 000 years stop them . Indeed , elementary consideration would show that this could not have been the first or only reverse . Thus , they would have evolved mechanisms to survive what they consider temporary setbacks , together with some aggressive bounce-back mechanisms .
They probably tried to take over control of the Roman Catholic Church and the Western Empire . The Church destroyed most evidence , but there is Constantine’s mother , a taverners daughter who came up with some serious money to hire troops .
The killer , though , was probably the shenanigans with Attila . The Western Court at the time was even a bigger nest of snakes than usual . This was also the last time women played a significant role . If Aetius had not stopped Attila , the West would probably be a matriarchy now .
The Patriarchal meme-set seems to be long-lasting , but scared .
Some examples :
The refusal to aid Constantinople in 1453 . Indeed , the whole split . The West feels more comfortable with a patriarchal Islam than a matriarchy . Even so , Turkey seems to have been hit by a double whammy from the women : Naksh , and the enfolding and vanishment of the Circassians circa 1820 .
For those not up to speed :
Naksh (the Beautiful ) was a cousin of Josephine Bonaparte . They both came from Martinique and both became Empresses . Naksh was captured by Barbary pirates , and given as a virgin present to the Sultan . She must have been something exceptional , since he made her his principal and only wife , and more importantly , allowed her to educate her son the heir . This guy broke (well ,exterminated) the Janisseries (no mean feat) . He embarked the Ottoman Empire on the route that led to Turkey of today being a secular Islamic state (the only one) .
The Circassians were a tribe in the Caucasian mountains that reputedly for thousands of years bred their women for beauty and then sold them . This is like saying Elizabeth Taylor or Madonna is a slave . As you can imagine , even if it was not a matriarchal scheme to start off with , it would not be soon before the women ran the scheme . Reputedly , their beauty approached super-image quality , to such an extent that they had to be veiled so as not to drive men mad with visions of unattainability .
Of course the other side of the coin is more likely . For 60 000 years the matriarchy had bred and perfected women that could freeze men’s souls with their beauty and pheromones (cf Sirens , Circe , Gorgons , etc) . Brainy too . So the Circassians were breeding the beauty out , not in , to fit with modern society .
By 1820 they had to move , as the entire Caucasus mountains became very unsafe due to the Russian Empire expanding . Bullets or cannons do not care about beauty . The entire tribe moved to Constantinople and was not heard of again (of course) .
An interesting note here is that they probably had a copy of the Library of Constantinople . Very probably many of the originals . One of those ironies of history is that the Library everyone is looking for (including most of the Library of Alexandria) is right back where it started . A further ironic note is that Templars got obliterated mainly for having a copy . Contaminated by the Matriarchy . Fallout was the Albigensians and the Spanish Inquisition .
The question is : what on earth did the matriarchy do to provoke such an extreme response , one that has reverberated for thousands of years ? Even the memory of the deeds are gone (except maybe in some dusty archive) , but the emotions evoked still seem to be alive .
The only thing I can think of is a monstrous betrayal and perversion of the very bedrock of the Matriarchy’s social contract : when things got bad , they designated their people they considered useless as Prey and ate them .
This is like the Pope cutting out some nice fat American tourists on St Peter’s square and having a braai , with them as the guests of honour on the spit , all the while intoning that they should be honoured to serve .
Worse . Christianity has ritual cannibalism . No wonder this has reverberated down the ages . And it must have gone on for at least 200 years .
Shit . And I thought the high death rate in the Late Bronze age collapse was due to the quick conquest by the Sea Peoples . Instead , for hundreds of years the matriarchy and attendant nobles ate their people . The logic from their point is that the plebs should be honoured to feed their betters who know better and would be able to pull things together once the drought ends . And even when the drought ended , they could not stop . They were caught in the vested interests and , besides , it would take years before trade picked up and their shares paid a decent dividend .
The Sea Peoples were what we would call Liberators and Freedom Fighters . The capital letters are justified . Not even the Nazis or the Soviets ate the inmates of the camps , never mind put them in camps just for this purpose .
I always wondered how Rameses III could trust the Sea Peoples after the battle of the Nile to withdraw to southern Palestine . How could they exist if the area was so drought stricken ? But it wasn’t . It could support a lesser number , but not the overpopulated cities before . He had to promise to cleanse his country as well .Something he was not averse to .
But besides that , the Sea Peoples were fighting to cleanse the world of a great evil . The last holdout was in Egypt . They would have kept coming . All of them had family that was eaten .
This monumental blunder took place after the invention of agriculture , when overpopulation got out of control . I presume the present Matriarchy is determined not to make the same mistake . Overpopulation is once again out of control .
A note to the Matriarchy :
Kindly do not attempt to dispose of the surplus biomass through your stomach . It did not work too well 5 000 years ago . This time you will get crispies all round . The contract of 72 000 years ago is that either all pull through , or none do . Got it ?
The crucial Patriarchal meme:
No woman shall be without a connection with some male .
It does not matter if the male is a father , brother , husband ,son ,etc .
The intention is to prevent the build-up of a purely female powerbase . (ie a Matriarchy)
It worked for about 5 000 years .
Why it broke down :
The hidden assumption:
A high death rate due to high female death rate in childbirth .
This assumption steadily diverged from reality since about 1850 , as asepsis and birth procedures progressed .
The result was that woman outlived men by about 7 years on average . Rich woman in the US inheriting all their husband’s assets is a bigger percentage since the 1920’s . The US is a matriarchy by now .
Some symptoms:
Some 66% of US families have only one parent , namely the mother .
Crime rates have increased . This is because clouds of males are forming ,without matriarchal systems to keep them in control . At the levels of aggression and
testosterone the females have bred into them , only one thing will work :
UltraMama
A discreet word with Marvel Comics or some games designer might be appropriate .
And please , not SuperMama . Every Mama is a SuperMama .
MkIV Homo Sapiens .
Around 1800 the New Model Homo Saps was rolled out .
The new model is emotionally cool and is inclined to compulsive behaviour .
It welcomes uberbabes , but vehemently rejects a role as appetizer or even main course .
Aggression is not impulsive , but compulsive .
This is epigenetic .
This means that he can only be reasoned with . Emotional pressure points like fear , hate , love will play no role in behaviour .
Once an aggressive course is determined , nothing will stop it except superior force or logic .
The development of industrial technology required people that can concentrate for hours at a time on technical things like lathes , mathematics , etc , etc . The Fellow-feeling center in the brain suddenly became the cannon-fodder center .
A previous pathology ( Autism spectrum ) was dusted off and selection pressures are busily selecting and modifying . Aspergers (which did not exist before , suddenly is a desirable condition . The rough edges are being filed off .
It also means that the political control both Patriarchies and Matriarchies had is evaporating . The levers are turning to mush under their fingers .
Both have failed . They think the solution is in killing off their constituents when things get tough . This is no longer a viable solution from their viewpoint , as they have already lost control of the technical aspects . They are the most likely ones to do the tumbrel dance when things go ape .
Andre
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Valveless PulseJets .
Valveless PulseJets .
Andre Willers
2 Jun 2010
Synopsis:
A cheap and easy pulsejet engine that operates at low speeds .
Discussion :
References :
Actual working engines : see PopularMechanics.com , May 2010 , p79 .
See also http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Tornadoes and V1" 15 Mar 2010
Google "Hilsch tubes" , "valveless pulsejets" , "Madagascar Institute NY"
Safety :
This is old technology , dating back to 1938 .
How it works:
The valveless pulsejet is at heart a classical T-shaped Hilsch tube , but the stem of the T is replaced by the combustion chamber . This provides the pressurized gas-input .
The Tricks :
1.The exhaust is bent in a U shape . This is where the Hilsch effect appears . Part of the pulse-effect appears here .
2.After the U bend , the exhaust flares . This regulates back-pressure and the pulse effect .
Low speed .
The Hilsch-effect makes the process much more efficient than the old V1 motor .
Much lower speeds are required for the motor to operate .
Hence the tornado-effect .
Manufacturing costs :
Can be made out of a U-shaped car-exhaust , a cylinder of gas for fuel and a modest compressor (eg leaf-blower) to kick-start it .
Enhancements:
The system can be significantly enhanced by incorporating the spiral-shaped Hilsch washer into the bend of the U-shape .
The vortices inside the tube can be tricky . Use a powerful computer for optimization calculations . This was not available in the past , hence the falling into abeyance of this technology .
Ram-jets .
These are back in fashion for hypersonic jets . Their main drawback is the high speed necessary before the ramjet becomes self-supporting .
Pulsejets are low-speed ramjets .
The most elegant solution would simply be to switch the ramjet's intake scoop into the pulsejet's combustion chamber once ramjet threshold speed has been slightly exceeded . This modifies the low-speed pulsejet into a hypersonic ramjet and vice versa .
Historical note :
Possible Past and , hopefully , not possible future .
This classically simple and elegant technology could have been manufactured soon after the metallurgy for high-speed turbines became possible : Ie 1890's .
This would have resulted in a completely different historical pathway .
Even as late as 1938 (Std Timeline) , low-speed pulsejets would have radically altered the European and Pacific theatres . Notice the effect of the V1 .
Combine with hovercraft , and large war hover-platforms (millions of tons) , populated initially by regiments , but later tribes careen over the plains of Northern Europe and Oceans of Terra at hundreds of kilometers per hour . (Note that pulsejets can run on bio-manufactured gas like methane ,etc . The platforms can be fuel-selfsufficient.) .
A return to the days of Attila and Genghis . The Knights-and-Castles defence would require nuclear weapons to maintain itself .
Note James Blish "Cities in Flight" , but these platform-cities would be on a planetary surface . The constraints should give a lively time to all .
Their only vulnerability would be from orbit . A lively armed discussion about sovereignity and free-passage should ensue .
The surviving platforms would be forced to become launching platforms , culminating in Orion-type space platforms . The planet would be a wreck .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Orion , Gaia needs you" et al .
To paraphrase Tolkien :
"One tube to bind them all ."
Andre
Andre Willers
2 Jun 2010
Synopsis:
A cheap and easy pulsejet engine that operates at low speeds .
Discussion :
References :
Actual working engines : see PopularMechanics.com , May 2010 , p79 .
See also http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Tornadoes and V1" 15 Mar 2010
Google "Hilsch tubes" , "valveless pulsejets" , "Madagascar Institute NY"
Safety :
This is old technology , dating back to 1938 .
How it works:
The valveless pulsejet is at heart a classical T-shaped Hilsch tube , but the stem of the T is replaced by the combustion chamber . This provides the pressurized gas-input .
The Tricks :
1.The exhaust is bent in a U shape . This is where the Hilsch effect appears . Part of the pulse-effect appears here .
2.After the U bend , the exhaust flares . This regulates back-pressure and the pulse effect .
Low speed .
The Hilsch-effect makes the process much more efficient than the old V1 motor .
Much lower speeds are required for the motor to operate .
Hence the tornado-effect .
Manufacturing costs :
Can be made out of a U-shaped car-exhaust , a cylinder of gas for fuel and a modest compressor (eg leaf-blower) to kick-start it .
Enhancements:
The system can be significantly enhanced by incorporating the spiral-shaped Hilsch washer into the bend of the U-shape .
The vortices inside the tube can be tricky . Use a powerful computer for optimization calculations . This was not available in the past , hence the falling into abeyance of this technology .
Ram-jets .
These are back in fashion for hypersonic jets . Their main drawback is the high speed necessary before the ramjet becomes self-supporting .
Pulsejets are low-speed ramjets .
The most elegant solution would simply be to switch the ramjet's intake scoop into the pulsejet's combustion chamber once ramjet threshold speed has been slightly exceeded . This modifies the low-speed pulsejet into a hypersonic ramjet and vice versa .
Historical note :
Possible Past and , hopefully , not possible future .
This classically simple and elegant technology could have been manufactured soon after the metallurgy for high-speed turbines became possible : Ie 1890's .
This would have resulted in a completely different historical pathway .
Even as late as 1938 (Std Timeline) , low-speed pulsejets would have radically altered the European and Pacific theatres . Notice the effect of the V1 .
Combine with hovercraft , and large war hover-platforms (millions of tons) , populated initially by regiments , but later tribes careen over the plains of Northern Europe and Oceans of Terra at hundreds of kilometers per hour . (Note that pulsejets can run on bio-manufactured gas like methane ,etc . The platforms can be fuel-selfsufficient.) .
A return to the days of Attila and Genghis . The Knights-and-Castles defence would require nuclear weapons to maintain itself .
Note James Blish "Cities in Flight" , but these platform-cities would be on a planetary surface . The constraints should give a lively time to all .
Their only vulnerability would be from orbit . A lively armed discussion about sovereignity and free-passage should ensue .
The surviving platforms would be forced to become launching platforms , culminating in Orion-type space platforms . The planet would be a wreck .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Orion , Gaia needs you" et al .
To paraphrase Tolkien :
"One tube to bind them all ."
Andre
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Mediterranean Canyons
Mediterranean Canyons
Andre Willers
27 May 2010
Synopsis :
The deltas of large , old rivers on the Mediterranean shore has huge , waterfilled caverns under them . A relatively thin and unstable layer of compacted silt overlies them . This liquefies easily in tremors , and is sensitive to the Med level , salinity and riverflows .(ie climate)
Discussion :
Recent archaeological of sunken Egyptian constructions and statues in Alexandria have once again highlighted the essential soil-instability in the Nile Delta .
What gives ?
This is old knowledge , but worth a revision .
The Med has at least three episodes of drying up in the last 10 million years . The last as recent as 1 million years ago . The Straights of Gibraltar close due to earthquakes .
The evaporation rate is higher than river-inflow rate . So the Med dries up .
But look at the rivers . They keep flowing , but now they have to fall at least about 1500 feet to the new level . In the process , they carve out huge canyons . The silt gets deposited around the delta of the river , as the drying-out is a relatively slow process
(Think Grand Canyon in USA) . The Nile and Rhone , for example , were not little streams , but drained large parts of continents .
Spectacular waterfalls .
Then another earthquake opened the Straights of Gibraltar again . Even more spectacular waterfall as the Atlantic surges into the Med to fill it in a relatively short time .
Notice what happens in the canyons :
The warmer , fresh riverwater slides over the heavier , colder saline seawater . The silt in the riverwater compacts in arches , forming huge caverns in the old canyons . Remember , this happen much more rapidly than the drying-out episodes .
Repeat this three times .
What can we see today ?
The old , large rivers like the Nile and the Rhone has extensive deltas and a large underwater shallow sediment field . There are extensive and very large underwater caverns , in what used to be the old canyons .
The surface soil liquefies easily in earthquakes . Entire cities can and have disappeared overnight . Some are known in the Nile delta . Not much search has been done in the Rhone delta (Marseille) .
Where Else ?
The last 10 million years had a number of episodes when Northern Africa was well-watered with large rivers draining half a continent .
Keeping the above in mind , a cursory look at a topographical map suggests the following (or use GoogleMaps) :
1.Gabes (Tunisia) (10 Degrees East , 34 Degrees North) . Large silt plains in the Med and very large drainage hinterland , with remnants of rivers and lakes .
Note that Carthage was on the edge of this system . Deep soil and steady water .
2.Marsa-al-Burayab (Libya) (19 Degrees East , 31 Degrees North)
Large silt plains in the Med and very large drainage hinterland , with remnants of rivers and lakes . Very wide delta .
3.Ebro (Spain) :
An extensive flood plain , both on land and underwater) . The main outlet seems to have switched often . Notice the similarity with North Africa .
4.Malta .
Intriguing . There should be deep caverns connecting Southern Sicily and Malta .
Also between Western Sicily and the Island of Pantalleria . Note effect of strong currents .
5.Po river .
Look between Venice and Comacchio . The Po with its raised banks would wander over a large delta . But look at the peninsula around Ca Tiepolo .
Black Sea Event .
About 8000 years ago a series of earthquakes on the Anatolian Faults opened the Black Sea to the Med (Straights of Dardanelles) . Salt water flooded in and changed a lake into a Sea . Plenty of archeological evidence .
If this has been a frequent geological occurrence , as seems likely , we can also expect very large caverns at the old mouths of the Danube , Dnepr , Bug , etc .
Note that this event would have lowered the Med level , leading to large-scale instability on all Med deltas . Maybe some old Egyptian records indicate this . It will show up as lowering of the Nile flooding in the delta , especially .
Shallow harbours unusable all over the Med . This should have left some traces .
Adjustments to changes in sea-depths around sensitive tectonic areas would probably lead to some strong earthquakes , maybe even swarms of quakes .
Speculation :
Even a moderate quake can shut the Dardanelles again . What will be present consequences ? Note the ecological results and possible human intervention (canals , even using nuclear devices to redig the Dardanelles)
Cities :
Note that cities are built on the site of maximum instability . This is to be expected .
Remember , this where maximum rewards in short term can be obtained . Skating on the edge of strong attractors . Humans are suckers for this .(Cf Vesuvius)
So , if you are looking for caverns , look to Cairo , Marseille , Carthage , Venice , Valencia , Odessa , etc .
This is where the soil is deepest , most well-watered and fertile . Where the most fishes are . Also the least pollution .
Ecological note
Fishing in the Med and Black Sea should have been wiped out long ago . But the fishes have a refuge cycle in the caverns .
The cost of getting them out of there exceeds value .
If the fishers go in aggressively , they risk collapsing or poisoning the cities on top of them .
The caverns are very large , and in many cases the volume exceeds the productive land capacity of the country above them (eg Libya) .
Energy is provided by "pollutants" , (eg nitrogen fertilizers , detergents , etc,etc . This is filtered through the cavern's compacted many-pocketed silt walls .
And they all need carbon , being carbon-based life-forms . A huge carbon-sink .
The combination of filters and life-forms create a huge garbage disposal in the basement .
Humans can expedite this process by processing their garbage directly into the basement caverns . With a modicum of care , this would create a bio-reactor that would easily feed and water the top-side population .
The ultimate sub-urbanites .
Andre
Andre Willers
27 May 2010
Synopsis :
The deltas of large , old rivers on the Mediterranean shore has huge , waterfilled caverns under them . A relatively thin and unstable layer of compacted silt overlies them . This liquefies easily in tremors , and is sensitive to the Med level , salinity and riverflows .(ie climate)
Discussion :
Recent archaeological of sunken Egyptian constructions and statues in Alexandria have once again highlighted the essential soil-instability in the Nile Delta .
What gives ?
This is old knowledge , but worth a revision .
The Med has at least three episodes of drying up in the last 10 million years . The last as recent as 1 million years ago . The Straights of Gibraltar close due to earthquakes .
The evaporation rate is higher than river-inflow rate . So the Med dries up .
But look at the rivers . They keep flowing , but now they have to fall at least about 1500 feet to the new level . In the process , they carve out huge canyons . The silt gets deposited around the delta of the river , as the drying-out is a relatively slow process
(Think Grand Canyon in USA) . The Nile and Rhone , for example , were not little streams , but drained large parts of continents .
Spectacular waterfalls .
Then another earthquake opened the Straights of Gibraltar again . Even more spectacular waterfall as the Atlantic surges into the Med to fill it in a relatively short time .
Notice what happens in the canyons :
The warmer , fresh riverwater slides over the heavier , colder saline seawater . The silt in the riverwater compacts in arches , forming huge caverns in the old canyons . Remember , this happen much more rapidly than the drying-out episodes .
Repeat this three times .
What can we see today ?
The old , large rivers like the Nile and the Rhone has extensive deltas and a large underwater shallow sediment field . There are extensive and very large underwater caverns , in what used to be the old canyons .
The surface soil liquefies easily in earthquakes . Entire cities can and have disappeared overnight . Some are known in the Nile delta . Not much search has been done in the Rhone delta (Marseille) .
Where Else ?
The last 10 million years had a number of episodes when Northern Africa was well-watered with large rivers draining half a continent .
Keeping the above in mind , a cursory look at a topographical map suggests the following (or use GoogleMaps) :
1.Gabes (Tunisia) (10 Degrees East , 34 Degrees North) . Large silt plains in the Med and very large drainage hinterland , with remnants of rivers and lakes .
Note that Carthage was on the edge of this system . Deep soil and steady water .
2.Marsa-al-Burayab (Libya) (19 Degrees East , 31 Degrees North)
Large silt plains in the Med and very large drainage hinterland , with remnants of rivers and lakes . Very wide delta .
3.Ebro (Spain) :
An extensive flood plain , both on land and underwater) . The main outlet seems to have switched often . Notice the similarity with North Africa .
4.Malta .
Intriguing . There should be deep caverns connecting Southern Sicily and Malta .
Also between Western Sicily and the Island of Pantalleria . Note effect of strong currents .
5.Po river .
Look between Venice and Comacchio . The Po with its raised banks would wander over a large delta . But look at the peninsula around Ca Tiepolo .
Black Sea Event .
About 8000 years ago a series of earthquakes on the Anatolian Faults opened the Black Sea to the Med (Straights of Dardanelles) . Salt water flooded in and changed a lake into a Sea . Plenty of archeological evidence .
If this has been a frequent geological occurrence , as seems likely , we can also expect very large caverns at the old mouths of the Danube , Dnepr , Bug , etc .
Note that this event would have lowered the Med level , leading to large-scale instability on all Med deltas . Maybe some old Egyptian records indicate this . It will show up as lowering of the Nile flooding in the delta , especially .
Shallow harbours unusable all over the Med . This should have left some traces .
Adjustments to changes in sea-depths around sensitive tectonic areas would probably lead to some strong earthquakes , maybe even swarms of quakes .
Speculation :
Even a moderate quake can shut the Dardanelles again . What will be present consequences ? Note the ecological results and possible human intervention (canals , even using nuclear devices to redig the Dardanelles)
Cities :
Note that cities are built on the site of maximum instability . This is to be expected .
Remember , this where maximum rewards in short term can be obtained . Skating on the edge of strong attractors . Humans are suckers for this .(Cf Vesuvius)
So , if you are looking for caverns , look to Cairo , Marseille , Carthage , Venice , Valencia , Odessa , etc .
This is where the soil is deepest , most well-watered and fertile . Where the most fishes are . Also the least pollution .
Ecological note
Fishing in the Med and Black Sea should have been wiped out long ago . But the fishes have a refuge cycle in the caverns .
The cost of getting them out of there exceeds value .
If the fishers go in aggressively , they risk collapsing or poisoning the cities on top of them .
The caverns are very large , and in many cases the volume exceeds the productive land capacity of the country above them (eg Libya) .
Energy is provided by "pollutants" , (eg nitrogen fertilizers , detergents , etc,etc . This is filtered through the cavern's compacted many-pocketed silt walls .
And they all need carbon , being carbon-based life-forms . A huge carbon-sink .
The combination of filters and life-forms create a huge garbage disposal in the basement .
Humans can expedite this process by processing their garbage directly into the basement caverns . With a modicum of care , this would create a bio-reactor that would easily feed and water the top-side population .
The ultimate sub-urbanites .
Andre
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Optimal Cost of Cars
Optimal Cost of Cars
Andre Willers
25 May 2010
Synopsis:
If accumulated maintenance(excluding fuel) exceeds 1/3 of remaining book-value , sell it .
Discussion :
The argument used in http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "New Tools" "Reserves" is ideal here . We argue on the number of errors in the vehicle , without necessarily specifying the particular errors .
Book Price :
The optimum usage is 1/3 of the price . The reserve . The book price costs in future expenses . This includes the Industry's expectancy of future expenses .
Maintenance :
Service and repairs . The Accumulated Maintenance is the sum of these since you bought the vehicle .
Optimal usage :
When Accumulated Maintenance = 1/3 Book Price .
This is a Retrospective argument , hence very accurate .
It is also fractal . The car can be second hand . Note that this is how second-hand car dealers work . What you may have spent on the car does not add an iota to his offer .
Example :
Renault Scenic 1998 : 81 000 km
Book Price 36 000
Accumulated Maintenance = regular services and 3 new tyres .
=approx 8 000
Room for future maintenance = 1/3*36000 – 8000
= 4000
Dicey .
A blown gasket will cost about 6 000 . But the car is in good condition and has low km's . But , it is on the downhill slide of needing increasing repairs .
A bargain for a do-it-yourself person , but not ideal for a little old lady .
Flip a coin .
Andre
Andre Willers
25 May 2010
Synopsis:
If accumulated maintenance(excluding fuel) exceeds 1/3 of remaining book-value , sell it .
Discussion :
The argument used in http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "New Tools" "Reserves" is ideal here . We argue on the number of errors in the vehicle , without necessarily specifying the particular errors .
Book Price :
The optimum usage is 1/3 of the price . The reserve . The book price costs in future expenses . This includes the Industry's expectancy of future expenses .
Maintenance :
Service and repairs . The Accumulated Maintenance is the sum of these since you bought the vehicle .
Optimal usage :
When Accumulated Maintenance = 1/3 Book Price .
This is a Retrospective argument , hence very accurate .
It is also fractal . The car can be second hand . Note that this is how second-hand car dealers work . What you may have spent on the car does not add an iota to his offer .
Example :
Renault Scenic 1998 : 81 000 km
Book Price 36 000
Accumulated Maintenance = regular services and 3 new tyres .
=approx 8 000
Room for future maintenance = 1/3*36000 – 8000
= 4000
Dicey .
A blown gasket will cost about 6 000 . But the car is in good condition and has low km's . But , it is on the downhill slide of needing increasing repairs .
A bargain for a do-it-yourself person , but not ideal for a little old lady .
Flip a coin .
Andre
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Itarin v12
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
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
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Design-a-Sun.
Design-a-Sun.
Andre Willers
18 May 2010
Safety :
A Level III Civilization would be needed to implement these ideas .
Though indications are that LHC and Tokamaks may develop localized pockets of higher-orders of randomness near the boundaries of the containers due to small fluctuations in magnetic fields , leading to fusion effects .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Orders of Randomness"
But this already-released technology .
Safety is estimated at 0.98
Synopsis:
A big ball of gas is so boring . We design more interesting suns .
Discussion .
We follow the known laws of physics : ie you can calculate each of the shapes below .
Driver Engine :
A rapidly rotating quasar .(Rroq)
The shapes we envisage are possible , but not stable . They will need an input driver .
1.Toroidal Sun.
Spin up a sufficiently large star using a Rroq . It will form a toroidal sun .
2.An Orbit of Toroidal Suns .
Like rings on an elliptical string .
Spin up a sufficiently large , dense gas-cloud using a pulsating Rroq . It will form a number of toroidal suns . By varying and steering the pulses , an orbit of toroidal suns can be formed around the center of gravity . A planet there would have a really interesting sky , not to mention geology .
3.Possible Orbits .
NewScientist in the early 2000's published an article showing some possible orbital configurations . While there was no proof that an infinite number are possible , the about 40 shown had some very fancy shapes . Non-intuitive curliques , loop-crossing , etc . They were not stable , but that is not a concern here .
4.Square , triangular , pyramidal and other simple geometrical Suns .
Fourier transforms can be executed upon stars . A combination of Para(3) above and a single Rroq should make these possible , though your sun might wobble a bit . Not very esthetic .
5.Multiple Rroqs .
Fine control is possible . Hollow square suns , etc become possible . Multiple vacuoles or holes inside stars . Really fancy suns and orbitals of suns .
Any topological form .
6.Controlled , repetitive novae .
A bit like Cepheids .
7.Self-powered Tippler-like machines to move between dimensions , universes and branes .
Hint : paths through topological "holes" will lead to alternate universes or branes (sets of universes)
8. This is about kindergarden level for a post-singularity system .
9. Add habitats
For life-forms from gas-cloud level , biological level , electronic level down to Planck level and sprinkle with suitable seed-lifeforms . This would be about Grade 1 for a post-singularity system .
"Design-a-Sun" kits are available from God@Universum.cosmos
Andre .
Andre Willers
18 May 2010
Safety :
A Level III Civilization would be needed to implement these ideas .
Though indications are that LHC and Tokamaks may develop localized pockets of higher-orders of randomness near the boundaries of the containers due to small fluctuations in magnetic fields , leading to fusion effects .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Orders of Randomness"
But this already-released technology .
Safety is estimated at 0.98
Synopsis:
A big ball of gas is so boring . We design more interesting suns .
Discussion .
We follow the known laws of physics : ie you can calculate each of the shapes below .
Driver Engine :
A rapidly rotating quasar .(Rroq)
The shapes we envisage are possible , but not stable . They will need an input driver .
1.Toroidal Sun.
Spin up a sufficiently large star using a Rroq . It will form a toroidal sun .
2.An Orbit of Toroidal Suns .
Like rings on an elliptical string .
Spin up a sufficiently large , dense gas-cloud using a pulsating Rroq . It will form a number of toroidal suns . By varying and steering the pulses , an orbit of toroidal suns can be formed around the center of gravity . A planet there would have a really interesting sky , not to mention geology .
3.Possible Orbits .
NewScientist in the early 2000's published an article showing some possible orbital configurations . While there was no proof that an infinite number are possible , the about 40 shown had some very fancy shapes . Non-intuitive curliques , loop-crossing , etc . They were not stable , but that is not a concern here .
4.Square , triangular , pyramidal and other simple geometrical Suns .
Fourier transforms can be executed upon stars . A combination of Para(3) above and a single Rroq should make these possible , though your sun might wobble a bit . Not very esthetic .
5.Multiple Rroqs .
Fine control is possible . Hollow square suns , etc become possible . Multiple vacuoles or holes inside stars . Really fancy suns and orbitals of suns .
Any topological form .
6.Controlled , repetitive novae .
A bit like Cepheids .
7.Self-powered Tippler-like machines to move between dimensions , universes and branes .
Hint : paths through topological "holes" will lead to alternate universes or branes (sets of universes)
8. This is about kindergarden level for a post-singularity system .
9. Add habitats
For life-forms from gas-cloud level , biological level , electronic level down to Planck level and sprinkle with suitable seed-lifeforms . This would be about Grade 1 for a post-singularity system .
"Design-a-Sun" kits are available from God@Universum.cosmos
Andre .
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Education.
Hi ,
Grade 8 (old std 6) literacy skill seems terrible , but this was where the Afrikaner and lower class English were in the 1920's .
More important , what are the variances ?
Are the smart children getting educated?
This whole problem is at root a problem of the technological age . The percentage of working population needed to produce all the hardware goods for a society is now about 5-10 percent . The rest are soaked up by civil service , soft careers like primary nursing and care for the increasing number of elderly as life-expectancies increase , trade , etc .
Only the top 10 percentile need strive for production employment or get it . And all the learners know it . Why should they bother ?
The New Model (call it the Spaza model)
Teach them redistribution of wealth skills .
Barefoot nursing , elementary computer skills (note computer tracking system developed for completely illterate San) , hairdressing (the oldest human profession ) , child-caring , etc , etc .
The successful ones will need to top up their education . Classes for these should be available on demand . This is already available in the private sector , but there are a lot of charlatans . This is where the education Dept should be focussing . The ones who want to learn and are willing to fork out money for it .
But in the meantime teach elementary survival skills to the hordes (90%) who are unemployable .
Ways of redistributing wealth that does not involve crime .
This is not just a problem in RSA . It is worldwide .
Old age care is going to become a very valuable skill . (Like an English teacher in the Far-East during 1980 - 2000 period .)
A series of reputable certificates and diplomas leading into Baccalaurate levels of old age care will become increasingly valuable . The lower levels does not even require literacy , but ascending levels will require increasing levels of literacy . Human greed will do the rest .
Helpfully yours
Andre
Grade 8 (old std 6) literacy skill seems terrible , but this was where the Afrikaner and lower class English were in the 1920's .
More important , what are the variances ?
Are the smart children getting educated?
This whole problem is at root a problem of the technological age . The percentage of working population needed to produce all the hardware goods for a society is now about 5-10 percent . The rest are soaked up by civil service , soft careers like primary nursing and care for the increasing number of elderly as life-expectancies increase , trade , etc .
Only the top 10 percentile need strive for production employment or get it . And all the learners know it . Why should they bother ?
The New Model (call it the Spaza model)
Teach them redistribution of wealth skills .
Barefoot nursing , elementary computer skills (note computer tracking system developed for completely illterate San) , hairdressing (the oldest human profession ) , child-caring , etc , etc .
The successful ones will need to top up their education . Classes for these should be available on demand . This is already available in the private sector , but there are a lot of charlatans . This is where the education Dept should be focussing . The ones who want to learn and are willing to fork out money for it .
But in the meantime teach elementary survival skills to the hordes (90%) who are unemployable .
Ways of redistributing wealth that does not involve crime .
This is not just a problem in RSA . It is worldwide .
Old age care is going to become a very valuable skill . (Like an English teacher in the Far-East during 1980 - 2000 period .)
A series of reputable certificates and diplomas leading into Baccalaurate levels of old age care will become increasingly valuable . The lower levels does not even require literacy , but ascending levels will require increasing levels of literacy . Human greed will do the rest .
Helpfully yours
Andre
Super Truffle
Super Truffle
Andre Willers
16 May 2010
Synopsis :
Hyper attractive pheromones for mammalians are possible .
Discussion :
This includes humans .
Catnip for the feline family is well-known and used . A sexual arousal pheromone .
The Perigord Truffle :
The genes for this has been sequenced recently . About 7 500 genes .(NewSci of 3 April 2010 p5)
Pigs and squirrels are particularly susceptible , but so are humans . Ask any chef .
(They eat the fungi and excrete the spores , spreading the fungi. )
The sewerage works of France should be a rich source vaseromonal activation chemicals .
Pheromones and scent .
This is first time that a pheromonal arousal system could be tied to a particular gene-sequence . Scents previously were mixtures . We can now create a hyper-truffle pheromone by tweaking the genes . Already ongoing , using human greed as a standard . E-coli tweaks for manufacture . .
What will be the result ?
Extensive usage by fast-food joints like MacDonalds , Burgers , etc will lead to activation of human pheromonal organs long dormant . The perfume industry will jump on the bandwagon .
Initially it will be very successful , but large concentrations will be needed . We have been through this before . Satiation neural responses have evolved .
It is not for nothing that vasemoronal networks have been de-activated .
But a large concentration pheromones will overwhelm neural inhibitions .
A sniffed drug that enhances computer game playing .
The brain synthesizes enhanced smell experiences from learned pheromones , but many of them are addictive .
By gad , a new perversion ! I should stop doing this .
How many smells do you need ?
Luckily , we already know that .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com
Look it up .
A photic–vasemoronal interaction .
We can use this in reverse .
Use e-pheromones to entice e-viruses into traps .
Or more intriguingly , then reverse the process again to entice real viruses into traps .
This can be done , because (A + ~A < Universum) . Discussed before . The pathway back does not have to be the pathway forward .
I am not going into virtual viruses.
What does this mean ?
Shine a very bright light in the mouth cavity and fluctuate it In and out seems to be sufficient . The light dentists use to set fillings .
If you have flu , go to your dentist and ask him to shine that very bright light in your mouth for about 2 seconds .
That's it .
And you thought you would only see the Bright Light when you die .
Andre .
Andre Willers
16 May 2010
Synopsis :
Hyper attractive pheromones for mammalians are possible .
Discussion :
This includes humans .
Catnip for the feline family is well-known and used . A sexual arousal pheromone .
The Perigord Truffle :
The genes for this has been sequenced recently . About 7 500 genes .(NewSci of 3 April 2010 p5)
Pigs and squirrels are particularly susceptible , but so are humans . Ask any chef .
(They eat the fungi and excrete the spores , spreading the fungi. )
The sewerage works of France should be a rich source vaseromonal activation chemicals .
Pheromones and scent .
This is first time that a pheromonal arousal system could be tied to a particular gene-sequence . Scents previously were mixtures . We can now create a hyper-truffle pheromone by tweaking the genes . Already ongoing , using human greed as a standard . E-coli tweaks for manufacture . .
What will be the result ?
Extensive usage by fast-food joints like MacDonalds , Burgers , etc will lead to activation of human pheromonal organs long dormant . The perfume industry will jump on the bandwagon .
Initially it will be very successful , but large concentrations will be needed . We have been through this before . Satiation neural responses have evolved .
It is not for nothing that vasemoronal networks have been de-activated .
But a large concentration pheromones will overwhelm neural inhibitions .
A sniffed drug that enhances computer game playing .
The brain synthesizes enhanced smell experiences from learned pheromones , but many of them are addictive .
By gad , a new perversion ! I should stop doing this .
How many smells do you need ?
Luckily , we already know that .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com
Look it up .
A photic–vasemoronal interaction .
We can use this in reverse .
Use e-pheromones to entice e-viruses into traps .
Or more intriguingly , then reverse the process again to entice real viruses into traps .
This can be done , because (A + ~A < Universum) . Discussed before . The pathway back does not have to be the pathway forward .
I am not going into virtual viruses.
What does this mean ?
Shine a very bright light in the mouth cavity and fluctuate it In and out seems to be sufficient . The light dentists use to set fillings .
If you have flu , go to your dentist and ask him to shine that very bright light in your mouth for about 2 seconds .
That's it .
And you thought you would only see the Bright Light when you die .
Andre .
Solar Shield II
Solar Shield II
Andre Willers
16 May 2010
Also known as Space-based reflectors , Sun shields , Sun umbrellas , Solar umbrellas .
Safety :
These technologies are not safe , but are already in public domain .
But they are safer than most proposed geoengineering schemes in that they are dynamic and can be stopped fairly quickly if unforeseen deletrious effects occur .
Synopsis :
Geoengineering is suddenly fashionable after the expected failure of protocols to limit CO2 emission on planetary scale . (Expected because of Tragedy of the Commons argument.)
See NewScientist of 3 Apr 2010 . There has also been a meeting at Asimolar , hopefully similar to a meeting at the same venue 35 years ago to get some ethical order in bio-engineering .
Republished in Addendum A below are some old arguments of mine.
This gives some fairly safe technologies to accomplish these aims .
Note that a major advantage is that these technologies do not need a consensus to be effective . Rich enough nations (USA , Russia , China , Japan , India) can implement them unilaterally or in small coalitions for a modest price . These nations also badly need projects like these to soak up the differences between wealth-creation and monetary-unit creation . See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Financial Crises 14 May 2010"
Be cool , Man .
Andre.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Addendum A
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Solar Shield"
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Orion , Gaia needs you"
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Training the Immune system"
Solar Shield
15/5/2005
Andre Willers
Global warming is not just a short term problem . Barring catastrophe , human energy generation from fusion and non-solar sources will within a few centuries exceed the solar influx . We will need planetary air-conditioning .
(See Larry Niven's Puppeteer Planets)
At first , the simplest way is to put up an umbrella .
A simple solar Umbrella can be created by injecting Lunar reflecting dust into a hyperbolic orbit between the sun and Earth by mass-drivers on Luna .
The space elements of a moonbase and mass-drivers an be done with existing technology .
The Terran climate models needed for effective climate-control also exists , but can do with some refining .
The political control of an effective climate control system still needs some work .
The money , paradoxically , is the easiest . Big insurance companies (like Swiss Re , etc ) can easily fork up the estimated $60 billion this will cost . ( One big hurricane can cost $20 billion in damages .)
Later on it gets trickier .
At higher levels of planetary energy generation , Hilsch-tube lasers could directly pump energy out . A model that springs to mind is a fairly massive object (a few billion tons) in a perpetually skipping orbit . Propulsion would be by Hilsch-tube lasers (existing technology) and fusion (Orion-type existing tech.) More elegantly , the lasers would be boosted by fusion processes in the laser . This could be made made fairly fail-safe , so that there would be a nett energy loss to the planet . The matter-loss would have to be topped up ( comets?)
Of course , the same technology could be used to strip-mine a planet or sun .
Cascaded Hilsch-tubes were used in the South-African Uranium235-enrichment process for weapons purposes . A large physical or magnetic Hisch-tube cascade can be used like a mass-spectrometer to separate elements .
It would make a great booster for light-sails , or an awesome weapon . Also , cheap , pure elements
Time horizen : since all the above elements are based on standard physics , it can be done . Whether it will be , depends on humans .
Regards
---
Reusable reaction mass.
15/5/2005
Andre Willers
Illustration:
Imagine a 50 ton solar-powered launching satelite with a set of mass-driver rings in LEO at 18 000 mph in a West-to-East Low Earth Orbit .
Let it accellerate a 50 ton payload via mass-driver to 36 000 mph in some tangential direction .
In reaction , the Launching satelite will now orbit at 18 000 mph in an East-to-West direction .
Of course it is a bit more complicated than this , but the orbital mechanics are well within present technology (and really old maths) .
Docking new craft with the Launching satelite is also proven technology (ref International Space Station). This can then be relaunched in the opposite direction .
Essentially , the same reaction mass can be used over and over again , as long as it has been in orbit and an energy source is available (solar power , nuclear , etc).
All you need to do is get off-planet . Later on , the most valuable real-estate becomes in-vacuo mass (because you can use mass-drivers cheaply).
The orbit can be around any planet or sun .
The station need never decay .
One can imagine a Solar System ( at various ages ) with literally millions of millennia-old booster-stations in various solar and planetary orbits , each of various technological levels of development . They are inhabited , of course . Throw in some collapses and a singularity or two .
The political system and races will be quite fragmented .
Alien invaders would only consider a system with a developed transport infrastructure and fragmented culture .
This stellar signature should be quite distinct . The end result should be a Dyson-sphere or Ringworlds . But the intermediate stages will vary considerably .
They should also be observed more easily .
Jupiter class worlds will be moved closer to the sun for more efficient dismantling .
Planetary blobs and ringworlds should be observable by striations . Technological ramp-ups up waste-energy dispersal should be measurable if there are handy gas-clouds of various distances nearby . Reflections of planetary laser-heat dispersals varying over time might give a clue .
As can be seen , arriving at the optimum Dyson sphere stage will be outmatched by the number of civilizations either en-route or become agley .
To quote a Sol humanoid , each happy civilization is the same , but each unhappy one is unhappy in its own way .
Happy universes !
---
Andre Willers
16 May 2010
Also known as Space-based reflectors , Sun shields , Sun umbrellas , Solar umbrellas .
Safety :
These technologies are not safe , but are already in public domain .
But they are safer than most proposed geoengineering schemes in that they are dynamic and can be stopped fairly quickly if unforeseen deletrious effects occur .
Synopsis :
Geoengineering is suddenly fashionable after the expected failure of protocols to limit CO2 emission on planetary scale . (Expected because of Tragedy of the Commons argument.)
See NewScientist of 3 Apr 2010 . There has also been a meeting at Asimolar , hopefully similar to a meeting at the same venue 35 years ago to get some ethical order in bio-engineering .
Republished in Addendum A below are some old arguments of mine.
This gives some fairly safe technologies to accomplish these aims .
Note that a major advantage is that these technologies do not need a consensus to be effective . Rich enough nations (USA , Russia , China , Japan , India) can implement them unilaterally or in small coalitions for a modest price . These nations also badly need projects like these to soak up the differences between wealth-creation and monetary-unit creation . See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Financial Crises 14 May 2010"
Be cool , Man .
Andre.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Addendum A
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Solar Shield"
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Orion , Gaia needs you"
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Training the Immune system"
Solar Shield
15/5/2005
Andre Willers
Global warming is not just a short term problem . Barring catastrophe , human energy generation from fusion and non-solar sources will within a few centuries exceed the solar influx . We will need planetary air-conditioning .
(See Larry Niven's Puppeteer Planets)
At first , the simplest way is to put up an umbrella .
A simple solar Umbrella can be created by injecting Lunar reflecting dust into a hyperbolic orbit between the sun and Earth by mass-drivers on Luna .
The space elements of a moonbase and mass-drivers an be done with existing technology .
The Terran climate models needed for effective climate-control also exists , but can do with some refining .
The political control of an effective climate control system still needs some work .
The money , paradoxically , is the easiest . Big insurance companies (like Swiss Re , etc ) can easily fork up the estimated $60 billion this will cost . ( One big hurricane can cost $20 billion in damages .)
Later on it gets trickier .
At higher levels of planetary energy generation , Hilsch-tube lasers could directly pump energy out . A model that springs to mind is a fairly massive object (a few billion tons) in a perpetually skipping orbit . Propulsion would be by Hilsch-tube lasers (existing technology) and fusion (Orion-type existing tech.) More elegantly , the lasers would be boosted by fusion processes in the laser . This could be made made fairly fail-safe , so that there would be a nett energy loss to the planet . The matter-loss would have to be topped up ( comets?)
Of course , the same technology could be used to strip-mine a planet or sun .
Cascaded Hilsch-tubes were used in the South-African Uranium235-enrichment process for weapons purposes . A large physical or magnetic Hisch-tube cascade can be used like a mass-spectrometer to separate elements .
It would make a great booster for light-sails , or an awesome weapon . Also , cheap , pure elements
Time horizen : since all the above elements are based on standard physics , it can be done . Whether it will be , depends on humans .
Regards
---
Reusable reaction mass.
15/5/2005
Andre Willers
Illustration:
Imagine a 50 ton solar-powered launching satelite with a set of mass-driver rings in LEO at 18 000 mph in a West-to-East Low Earth Orbit .
Let it accellerate a 50 ton payload via mass-driver to 36 000 mph in some tangential direction .
In reaction , the Launching satelite will now orbit at 18 000 mph in an East-to-West direction .
Of course it is a bit more complicated than this , but the orbital mechanics are well within present technology (and really old maths) .
Docking new craft with the Launching satelite is also proven technology (ref International Space Station). This can then be relaunched in the opposite direction .
Essentially , the same reaction mass can be used over and over again , as long as it has been in orbit and an energy source is available (solar power , nuclear , etc).
All you need to do is get off-planet . Later on , the most valuable real-estate becomes in-vacuo mass (because you can use mass-drivers cheaply).
The orbit can be around any planet or sun .
The station need never decay .
One can imagine a Solar System ( at various ages ) with literally millions of millennia-old booster-stations in various solar and planetary orbits , each of various technological levels of development . They are inhabited , of course . Throw in some collapses and a singularity or two .
The political system and races will be quite fragmented .
Alien invaders would only consider a system with a developed transport infrastructure and fragmented culture .
This stellar signature should be quite distinct . The end result should be a Dyson-sphere or Ringworlds . But the intermediate stages will vary considerably .
They should also be observed more easily .
Jupiter class worlds will be moved closer to the sun for more efficient dismantling .
Planetary blobs and ringworlds should be observable by striations . Technological ramp-ups up waste-energy dispersal should be measurable if there are handy gas-clouds of various distances nearby . Reflections of planetary laser-heat dispersals varying over time might give a clue .
As can be seen , arriving at the optimum Dyson sphere stage will be outmatched by the number of civilizations either en-route or become agley .
To quote a Sol humanoid , each happy civilization is the same , but each unhappy one is unhappy in its own way .
Happy universes !
---
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Failed State
Failed State
Andre Willers
14 May 2010
Synopsis :
Failed states have one and only one characteristic : They cannot defend or maintain themselves .
Discussion :
Is RSA a failed state ?
.
It has been seen as a failed state since 1977 , during the Apartheid Regime .Kissinger's infamous grunt when asked about SA troops in Angola said it all . The US State Dept , CIA , Defense Dept has written RSA off as a failed state .
This was held in abeyance during 1994 – 1999 . During the Mbeki and then Zuma administrations , RSA was seen to go down the normal tubes of African failed states .
Argument :
The State has two primary functions:
1.Defend itself .
2.Use taxes to get the money to defend itself .
If it cannot do these two elementary functions , it is a failed state .
Discussion :
1.The SANDF has about 60 000 members , which a third are HIV positive . Experienced non-coms have been maneuvered out in the name of BEE .
They have mutinied at least once in a public manner .
Rating (1/10)
Private armies of 3 groups number about 180 000 , mostly veteran old SADF troopies and non-coms .
Rating (1/10)
The Militia Reserve (Commando's) have been disbanded .
There is no military reserve .
2.SARS
This used to be the only well-functional government department .
Sigh .
The consultantcy firm that made them efficient has been moved to HomeAffairs . SARS has decayed back into the incompetent mess it was before . My personal experience :
Rating (4/10)
The other State Functions:
The State is supposed to do large scale things outside private enterprise .
1.Education . A lamentable failure . The biggest budget item .
Rating (3/10) . Official stats . Only a third are literate.
2.Power (ESKOM)
Rating (6/10) At present
3.Water
Rating (5/10) . Big cities still have water .
4 Sewerage
Rating (0.7/10) Official Stats . A disaster.
5.Transport :
5.1 Roads . Municipal roads are a disaster . National roads are passable , but expensive due to tolls .
Rating (3/10)
5.2 Railways . Rural lines are a disaster . National lines are maintained .
Rating (6/10)
5.3 Pipelines .
Rating (9/10)
5.4 Ports .
Rating (6/10)
5.5 Airports
Rating (7/10)
6. Health
A disaster .
Rating (2/10)
7. Justice
The State cannot safeguard it's citizens .
Rating (2/10)
8 Food. RSA is now a net food importer .
Rating (3/10)
9 Security of land tenure
Rating (8/10) A lot of fraud via CIPRO.
10 Security of intellectual property rights (CIPRO)
Rating (3/10)
11. Water .
Rating (4/10)
12. Financial systems .
Rating (4/10)
These express existing conditions . After 15 years of rule by the same incompetents , I see no reason why it should suddenly change . It will get worse .
Summing :
Essential State functions:
PEssential =6/10 = 0.6
Other :
POther= 71.7/160= 0.448125
PState= (0.6 + 0.449)/2 =0.524
A failed state would be if PState <0.33
A succesful state would be if PState >0.66
Not what I expected . RSA can go either way , but the critical elements are the Defence Forces in the Essential State functions . These can be ramped up within about 6 weeks . But Reserves are a major problem .
Basically , the State is weak in service delivery and even in the Army , but has strong enough monetary systems to hire mercenaries like the private armies (called security firms)
Expect militarization of RSA and aggressive expansion into Africa . This is already happening economically . But more efficient usage of land and mineral resources would pay for cost of the military machine .
If you look at all the elements of the Other state functions , you will see that most of them will get better by exporting an aggressive expansionist groups of persons .
Zuma seems ideally positioned .
From a Real-Politik viewpoint , if Africans do not take control of their territory , the Indians and Chinese will (they already are doing this)
So Emperor Zuma is a high probability , and even desirable
And White Afrikaners ?
They make superb lieutenants . But they have failed twice in 100 years to run their own national affairs . (Boer War , 1994)
Many of them will come back if there is an aggressive incursion into Africa , resulting in an Empire of Africa .
Timespan is about 1.5 to 2 years from now before the Armoured Impis lunge northwards .
All hail Emperor Zuma .
Andre
Andre Willers
14 May 2010
Synopsis :
Failed states have one and only one characteristic : They cannot defend or maintain themselves .
Discussion :
Is RSA a failed state ?
.
It has been seen as a failed state since 1977 , during the Apartheid Regime .Kissinger's infamous grunt when asked about SA troops in Angola said it all . The US State Dept , CIA , Defense Dept has written RSA off as a failed state .
This was held in abeyance during 1994 – 1999 . During the Mbeki and then Zuma administrations , RSA was seen to go down the normal tubes of African failed states .
Argument :
The State has two primary functions:
1.Defend itself .
2.Use taxes to get the money to defend itself .
If it cannot do these two elementary functions , it is a failed state .
Discussion :
1.The SANDF has about 60 000 members , which a third are HIV positive . Experienced non-coms have been maneuvered out in the name of BEE .
They have mutinied at least once in a public manner .
Rating (1/10)
Private armies of 3 groups number about 180 000 , mostly veteran old SADF troopies and non-coms .
Rating (1/10)
The Militia Reserve (Commando's) have been disbanded .
There is no military reserve .
2.SARS
This used to be the only well-functional government department .
Sigh .
The consultantcy firm that made them efficient has been moved to HomeAffairs . SARS has decayed back into the incompetent mess it was before . My personal experience :
Rating (4/10)
The other State Functions:
The State is supposed to do large scale things outside private enterprise .
1.Education . A lamentable failure . The biggest budget item .
Rating (3/10) . Official stats . Only a third are literate.
2.Power (ESKOM)
Rating (6/10) At present
3.Water
Rating (5/10) . Big cities still have water .
4 Sewerage
Rating (0.7/10) Official Stats . A disaster.
5.Transport :
5.1 Roads . Municipal roads are a disaster . National roads are passable , but expensive due to tolls .
Rating (3/10)
5.2 Railways . Rural lines are a disaster . National lines are maintained .
Rating (6/10)
5.3 Pipelines .
Rating (9/10)
5.4 Ports .
Rating (6/10)
5.5 Airports
Rating (7/10)
6. Health
A disaster .
Rating (2/10)
7. Justice
The State cannot safeguard it's citizens .
Rating (2/10)
8 Food. RSA is now a net food importer .
Rating (3/10)
9 Security of land tenure
Rating (8/10) A lot of fraud via CIPRO.
10 Security of intellectual property rights (CIPRO)
Rating (3/10)
11. Water .
Rating (4/10)
12. Financial systems .
Rating (4/10)
These express existing conditions . After 15 years of rule by the same incompetents , I see no reason why it should suddenly change . It will get worse .
Summing :
Essential State functions:
PEssential =6/10 = 0.6
Other :
POther= 71.7/160= 0.448125
PState= (0.6 + 0.449)/2 =0.524
A failed state would be if PState <0.33
A succesful state would be if PState >0.66
Not what I expected . RSA can go either way , but the critical elements are the Defence Forces in the Essential State functions . These can be ramped up within about 6 weeks . But Reserves are a major problem .
Basically , the State is weak in service delivery and even in the Army , but has strong enough monetary systems to hire mercenaries like the private armies (called security firms)
Expect militarization of RSA and aggressive expansion into Africa . This is already happening economically . But more efficient usage of land and mineral resources would pay for cost of the military machine .
If you look at all the elements of the Other state functions , you will see that most of them will get better by exporting an aggressive expansionist groups of persons .
Zuma seems ideally positioned .
From a Real-Politik viewpoint , if Africans do not take control of their territory , the Indians and Chinese will (they already are doing this)
So Emperor Zuma is a high probability , and even desirable
And White Afrikaners ?
They make superb lieutenants . But they have failed twice in 100 years to run their own national affairs . (Boer War , 1994)
Many of them will come back if there is an aggressive incursion into Africa , resulting in an Empire of Africa .
Timespan is about 1.5 to 2 years from now before the Armoured Impis lunge northwards .
All hail Emperor Zuma .
Andre
Financial Crisis 14 May 2010
Financial Crisis 14 May 2010
Andre Willers
14 May 2010
Synopsis:
Wealth grew faster than the number of monetary units . Misguided monetary policies created huge vacuoles of monetary demand . These are being filled in by a series of burps , called crises . See discussion in Appendix A .
Discussion :
A Salute to Angela Merkel .
On Sunday , 9th of May 2010 , she saved hundreds of millions of lives .
She forced the German cabinet to bail out Greece , against 90% opposition .
Consequences if she had not :
Greece , then Spain , then Italy , then eastern European states would have seceded from the EU monetary union , and thus the EU . Europe would have been back in the early 1930's . A Failed State , fracturing on ethnic lines .
General warfare like the collapse of Yugoslavia would have followed within 2.5 years. While this would not have been in Russia's optimal interest , it would have no choice but to become involved . This would have dragged in the USA (there are still large USA garrisons in Germany) , and China .
A right mess .
WW 2.5
As an Ossie , she at least had learned enough from history not to repeat it .
A salute is definitely called for .
What will happen now ?
Very little . Stock markets will keep on rising .
Stock markets will keep on selling discounted future values a bit more enthusiastically as number of monetary units more closely match wealth .
The trillions were simply soaked up by the accumulated difference between wealth creation and monetary creation .
Big inflation has not happened after the trillions created in the USA burp .
See the gold price . The slight increase was created by uncertainty , not massive inflation .
There is still not enough monetary units to soak up the surplus wealth .
And as we go into the Singularity , wealth is being created at even higher rates .
India and Russia
There will probably be a smaller burp in India and Russia .
And China ?
There are no large vacuoles of monetary demand . By keeping the yuan tied to the dollar and encouraging capital inflow , there are sufficient number of monetary units to match wealth creation .
Internal property values show a tendency towards a bubble , but this is not a vacuole .
Maybe they read my blog .
Why are we in this mess ?
The failure of academia .
I'm afraid the mathematicians have to carry the can .Economic models are based on mathematical models . The latest disaster is called the Black-Scholes equations , the basis of hedge funds .The basis of this is that the highest order of randomness is flip a coin . Yet we know this is not true . See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Order of randomness" or "New Tools" .
The result was the collapse of Long Term Capital Management , which had to be bailed out . Losses were a modest 50 Trillion . Yet they still persisted in a failed model , because the short-term gains were great and long-term losses were guaranteed by big institutions or governments and they still thought it was right .
The system has decoupled into two streams since WWII .
1.Institutional : military-industrial complex , where most blue-sky research now take place . But they do not publish , leading to a fracture of society .
2.The best of mediocre academics with a viable idea go private (eg Craig Venter , Black-Schole) . A leaching effect .
This has already happened in fields like cryptology . British civil servants developed the basis of RSH encryption about a decade before the commercial model .
Both of these streams follow a budget-approach for allocating resources .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Fuehrer Prinzip:
Originality decreases .
Now you see why there has been no paradigm shift since Godel .
The system has been shoving inconvenient items under the carpet .
The resultant paradigm shift will be more like a revolutionary explosion . Sociological elements will be involved .
Andre
============================================
Appendix A.
See discussion below .
Financial Crisis 4April 2009
Andre Willers
4 Apr 2009
"A trillion here , a trillion there . Pretty soon we'll be talking real money ."
Or any money at all .
Post-Monetarism .
Money's only purpose is to serve as a one-to-one counter for real wealth .
Real wealth is measured according to the criteria set out in
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Financial Crisis 31 Jan 2009"
Mainly
It is to satisfy the human needs , weighted according to the Maslow hierarchy .
1.Air to breathe
2.Water to drink
3.Food to eat
4.Clothes
5.Shelter
6.Weapons
7.Novelty
Deflation .
This happens when real wealth increases faster than the growth of the monetary system .
This has been of real concern just before the present crisis .
In fact , it is the present crisis .
The system hunts for stability by creating money in futures .
It creates money by discounting future earnings .
The Central Banks are not creating money fast enough to keep up with the accounting demand .
Literally billions of people are hauling themselves up by the their bootstraps . Creating enormous wealth . The number of dollars , euros , yuan , etc in circulation is not sufficient to reflect the wealth . But the governments concerned try to limit the creation of new money , under outdated theories .
The system promptly bubbles up in futures , which are inherently more unstable than a currency .
Historical examples :
There are many . I will mention two :
1.British Empire circa 1880
A gold based trading empire in an industrial revolution created wealth faster than the discovery of new gold , until the South African goldfields . This created an explosion of wealth .
2.The 1929 crash .
Post-WWI created new wealth , but the monetary system did not keep pace . A bubble in futures (stock exchange) followed . In the ensuing collapse , wealth-creation was decreased . War , in other words .
But the system enforced balance .
And for now ?
The fear is that inflation might follow the creation of trillions of dollars .
The real problem is that they are too modest .
The point is that the excesses of futures transactions reflect a real shortage of money .
The system needs and will need a continuous creation of money just to keep up with the demand in real-wealth creation .
Look at the scale . The world economy is about 100 trillion a year . Wealth creation is about 10% per year . This can be summed , even for the last 10 years this gives a demand for money of about 100 trillion dollars . The money creation systems cannot keep up .
Can you see why we are talking about post-monetarism ?
Any conceivable command-and-control mechanism cannot hold .
It will , and has , fractured .
An example :
See
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Negative pressure : an important update"
If this technology is patented through the Danish embassy in Second Life , future income streams are irrevocably fractured . Linden dollars will become one of the hardest currencies on the planet .
How does this affect you right now ?
If you have any exposure to hedge-funds or futures , get out now . Immediately .
As far as I can see , the funds have been given an extraordinarily wide leeway , but they still have been using short-selling to panic the sheep .
I estimate their exposure to be about 10 trillion on the positive side . This will be dumped into the Market as the new measures come into effect .
The day of the unbridled hedge-fund , like the cheap car , is over .
After that , roughly 20 trillion a year for 5 years will have to be created just to wipe out the back-log .
But in the meantime , wealth-creation will be proceeding at an exponential pace .
Money will become increasingly fractured and meaningless .
New ways of accounting will develop .
I draw your attention to Denise Schmandt-Besserat "How writing came about" (ISBN 13 978 0 292 77704 0 .
She shows conclusively that writing developed out of accounting practices over a period of 4 000 years .
Similarly , new accounting practices for fractured systems will need new descriptive terms .
And so it goes .
Andre
Andre Willers
14 May 2010
Synopsis:
Wealth grew faster than the number of monetary units . Misguided monetary policies created huge vacuoles of monetary demand . These are being filled in by a series of burps , called crises . See discussion in Appendix A .
Discussion :
A Salute to Angela Merkel .
On Sunday , 9th of May 2010 , she saved hundreds of millions of lives .
She forced the German cabinet to bail out Greece , against 90% opposition .
Consequences if she had not :
Greece , then Spain , then Italy , then eastern European states would have seceded from the EU monetary union , and thus the EU . Europe would have been back in the early 1930's . A Failed State , fracturing on ethnic lines .
General warfare like the collapse of Yugoslavia would have followed within 2.5 years. While this would not have been in Russia's optimal interest , it would have no choice but to become involved . This would have dragged in the USA (there are still large USA garrisons in Germany) , and China .
A right mess .
WW 2.5
As an Ossie , she at least had learned enough from history not to repeat it .
A salute is definitely called for .
What will happen now ?
Very little . Stock markets will keep on rising .
Stock markets will keep on selling discounted future values a bit more enthusiastically as number of monetary units more closely match wealth .
The trillions were simply soaked up by the accumulated difference between wealth creation and monetary creation .
Big inflation has not happened after the trillions created in the USA burp .
See the gold price . The slight increase was created by uncertainty , not massive inflation .
There is still not enough monetary units to soak up the surplus wealth .
And as we go into the Singularity , wealth is being created at even higher rates .
India and Russia
There will probably be a smaller burp in India and Russia .
And China ?
There are no large vacuoles of monetary demand . By keeping the yuan tied to the dollar and encouraging capital inflow , there are sufficient number of monetary units to match wealth creation .
Internal property values show a tendency towards a bubble , but this is not a vacuole .
Maybe they read my blog .
Why are we in this mess ?
The failure of academia .
I'm afraid the mathematicians have to carry the can .Economic models are based on mathematical models . The latest disaster is called the Black-Scholes equations , the basis of hedge funds .The basis of this is that the highest order of randomness is flip a coin . Yet we know this is not true . See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Order of randomness" or "New Tools" .
The result was the collapse of Long Term Capital Management , which had to be bailed out . Losses were a modest 50 Trillion . Yet they still persisted in a failed model , because the short-term gains were great and long-term losses were guaranteed by big institutions or governments and they still thought it was right .
The system has decoupled into two streams since WWII .
1.Institutional : military-industrial complex , where most blue-sky research now take place . But they do not publish , leading to a fracture of society .
2.The best of mediocre academics with a viable idea go private (eg Craig Venter , Black-Schole) . A leaching effect .
This has already happened in fields like cryptology . British civil servants developed the basis of RSH encryption about a decade before the commercial model .
Both of these streams follow a budget-approach for allocating resources .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Fuehrer Prinzip:
Originality decreases .
Now you see why there has been no paradigm shift since Godel .
The system has been shoving inconvenient items under the carpet .
The resultant paradigm shift will be more like a revolutionary explosion . Sociological elements will be involved .
Andre
============================================
Appendix A.
See discussion below .
Financial Crisis 4April 2009
Andre Willers
4 Apr 2009
"A trillion here , a trillion there . Pretty soon we'll be talking real money ."
Or any money at all .
Post-Monetarism .
Money's only purpose is to serve as a one-to-one counter for real wealth .
Real wealth is measured according to the criteria set out in
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Financial Crisis 31 Jan 2009"
Mainly
It is to satisfy the human needs , weighted according to the Maslow hierarchy .
1.Air to breathe
2.Water to drink
3.Food to eat
4.Clothes
5.Shelter
6.Weapons
7.Novelty
Deflation .
This happens when real wealth increases faster than the growth of the monetary system .
This has been of real concern just before the present crisis .
In fact , it is the present crisis .
The system hunts for stability by creating money in futures .
It creates money by discounting future earnings .
The Central Banks are not creating money fast enough to keep up with the accounting demand .
Literally billions of people are hauling themselves up by the their bootstraps . Creating enormous wealth . The number of dollars , euros , yuan , etc in circulation is not sufficient to reflect the wealth . But the governments concerned try to limit the creation of new money , under outdated theories .
The system promptly bubbles up in futures , which are inherently more unstable than a currency .
Historical examples :
There are many . I will mention two :
1.British Empire circa 1880
A gold based trading empire in an industrial revolution created wealth faster than the discovery of new gold , until the South African goldfields . This created an explosion of wealth .
2.The 1929 crash .
Post-WWI created new wealth , but the monetary system did not keep pace . A bubble in futures (stock exchange) followed . In the ensuing collapse , wealth-creation was decreased . War , in other words .
But the system enforced balance .
And for now ?
The fear is that inflation might follow the creation of trillions of dollars .
The real problem is that they are too modest .
The point is that the excesses of futures transactions reflect a real shortage of money .
The system needs and will need a continuous creation of money just to keep up with the demand in real-wealth creation .
Look at the scale . The world economy is about 100 trillion a year . Wealth creation is about 10% per year . This can be summed , even for the last 10 years this gives a demand for money of about 100 trillion dollars . The money creation systems cannot keep up .
Can you see why we are talking about post-monetarism ?
Any conceivable command-and-control mechanism cannot hold .
It will , and has , fractured .
An example :
See
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Negative pressure : an important update"
If this technology is patented through the Danish embassy in Second Life , future income streams are irrevocably fractured . Linden dollars will become one of the hardest currencies on the planet .
How does this affect you right now ?
If you have any exposure to hedge-funds or futures , get out now . Immediately .
As far as I can see , the funds have been given an extraordinarily wide leeway , but they still have been using short-selling to panic the sheep .
I estimate their exposure to be about 10 trillion on the positive side . This will be dumped into the Market as the new measures come into effect .
The day of the unbridled hedge-fund , like the cheap car , is over .
After that , roughly 20 trillion a year for 5 years will have to be created just to wipe out the back-log .
But in the meantime , wealth-creation will be proceeding at an exponential pace .
Money will become increasingly fractured and meaningless .
New ways of accounting will develop .
I draw your attention to Denise Schmandt-Besserat "How writing came about" (ISBN 13 978 0 292 77704 0 .
She shows conclusively that writing developed out of accounting practices over a period of 4 000 years .
Similarly , new accounting practices for fractured systems will need new descriptive terms .
And so it goes .
Andre
Monday, May 10, 2010
Tarot II
Tarot II
Andre Willers
10 May 2010
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "The inside of Zero"
You need 26 dimensions to describe a non-rotating ArithI system .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "NewTools-Reserves" for the argument that any reserve should be 1/3 .
Tarot =26*3=78 . The minimum sufficient necessary . The alphabet .
Subsets:
With rotations you need minimum sufficient 2x26=52 .
The rotations at minimum necessary should be through 4 dimensions . 3 Space and one time at a minimum necessary sufficient . These are the ArithII dimensions , and are completely specified by the rotations .Notice that they are subsumed by the 26*3 dimensions above .
This gives 52+4=56 , the number of minor arcana .
We know we only need 78 . So the remainder must be 22 .
So we have
26+26 = 52 (min necessary suff through dim rotations for ArithI systems)
4= dimensions needed for rotation (see 4colour theorem)
78 = 26x3 The minimum necessary sufficient for any set of dimensions .
The remainder is 78 – (52+4) = 22 dimensions for infinite feedback . Quite remarkable .
Note that 52/78 = 0.66666 . The reserve (remainder 1/3) is then the indeterminate element .
The major Arcana .is then Major . Not what I expected . 1/3 of the data in the system is in the Major Arcana . Make of it what you will .
A bit further on , you will be a really good poker player .
Andre
Andre Willers
10 May 2010
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "The inside of Zero"
You need 26 dimensions to describe a non-rotating ArithI system .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "NewTools-Reserves" for the argument that any reserve should be 1/3 .
Tarot =26*3=78 . The minimum sufficient necessary . The alphabet .
Subsets:
With rotations you need minimum sufficient 2x26=52 .
The rotations at minimum necessary should be through 4 dimensions . 3 Space and one time at a minimum necessary sufficient . These are the ArithII dimensions , and are completely specified by the rotations .Notice that they are subsumed by the 26*3 dimensions above .
This gives 52+4=56 , the number of minor arcana .
We know we only need 78 . So the remainder must be 22 .
So we have
26+26 = 52 (min necessary suff through dim rotations for ArithI systems)
4= dimensions needed for rotation (see 4colour theorem)
78 = 26x3 The minimum necessary sufficient for any set of dimensions .
The remainder is 78 – (52+4) = 22 dimensions for infinite feedback . Quite remarkable .
Note that 52/78 = 0.66666 . The reserve (remainder 1/3) is then the indeterminate element .
The major Arcana .is then Major . Not what I expected . 1/3 of the data in the system is in the Major Arcana . Make of it what you will .
A bit further on , you will be a really good poker player .
Andre
Friday, May 07, 2010
Neanderthals
Neanderthals
Andre Willers
7 May 2010
The latest from the Neanderthal Genome project is that genetical mixing with humans did occur as late as 45 000 to 50 000 years before present. Humans and neanderthals could interbreed .And recently .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Death of the Neanderthal"
The interbreeding occurred outside of Africa , in Europe and middle Asia .
To be picked up on genetic evidence after such a remove , it had to be on a big scale .
What does this mean ?
Neanderthals were heavily cold-adapted . Big noses , furry , big torsos with relatively short arms and legs .
They also smelled differently (MHC complex)
They were also significantly smarter (bigger cranial size)
From the ripple effects , they were also severely sociopathic . Which is why they lost against the humans .
But the hybrids were a different story . We call them the Nordic types .Stunted neanderthals .
They did not lose . They simply got outbred .
As I said , their descendants were outstanding heavy cavalry .
My only surprise is that Anatolian Sheepdogs are not more prevalent in nordic countries . They really like the smell of neanderthals . Human dogs are inclined to attack neanderthal hybrids .
And here I thought I was a Mongol .
Andre
Andre Willers
7 May 2010
The latest from the Neanderthal Genome project is that genetical mixing with humans did occur as late as 45 000 to 50 000 years before present. Humans and neanderthals could interbreed .And recently .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Death of the Neanderthal"
The interbreeding occurred outside of Africa , in Europe and middle Asia .
To be picked up on genetic evidence after such a remove , it had to be on a big scale .
What does this mean ?
Neanderthals were heavily cold-adapted . Big noses , furry , big torsos with relatively short arms and legs .
They also smelled differently (MHC complex)
They were also significantly smarter (bigger cranial size)
From the ripple effects , they were also severely sociopathic . Which is why they lost against the humans .
But the hybrids were a different story . We call them the Nordic types .Stunted neanderthals .
They did not lose . They simply got outbred .
As I said , their descendants were outstanding heavy cavalry .
My only surprise is that Anatolian Sheepdogs are not more prevalent in nordic countries . They really like the smell of neanderthals . Human dogs are inclined to attack neanderthal hybrids .
And here I thought I was a Mongol .
Andre
Tarot
Tarot .
Andre Willers
7 May 2010
Synopsis:
Tarot is a finite representation of complexity to up Beth(4) level .
Discussion:
1.Can infinite manipulations be represented by finite rules?
Yes . Done all the time with the finite rules of differentiation and integration in mathematics.
2.Archetypes:
Postulate an infinity of delineated entities interacting . Two varieties of interactions can be found : Euler (ie infinitesimal with e as basis . Newtonian or Einsteinian systems)
or Fibonacci , (a finite change interaction . Also known as Quantum systems).
Both self-generate finite rules for infinite processes .
These finite rules are known as archetypes .
And there are a finite number of them . And we can enumerate them .
Why?
Also known as the Power Law . Infinite feedback systems of delineated entities self-combine to form hierarchical systems below Beth(4) levels .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "AI"
Quantum systems , by definition , can only be enumerated in qubits .
An Image to illustrate this :
Imagine a hologram of n dimensions sliced by a plane . The plane is a computer screen or your 2-dimensional mental screen .
Past Beth(4) , the mind is acting in it's native mode , which is quantum mode .
The n-tuple entendre is standard for information transfer .
Information bleed-through from quantum systems leads to a finite number of rules .
Sigh . I cannot make it simpler than this .
Why there are 40+16=56 minor cards I have discussed before . It is intimately tied to ArithI and prime numbers .
Why there are only 22 major arcana cards to handle the rest of the infinite feedback systems up to Beth(4) levels I will have to think about . At the moment , I simply do not know why there are so few . But there it is .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Betablockers and Trauma memory"
Tarot cards represent a finite (less than 100) images's and procedures of infinite processes below native quantum processing .
Happy hunting!
Andre
Andre Willers
7 May 2010
Synopsis:
Tarot is a finite representation of complexity to up Beth(4) level .
Discussion:
1.Can infinite manipulations be represented by finite rules?
Yes . Done all the time with the finite rules of differentiation and integration in mathematics.
2.Archetypes:
Postulate an infinity of delineated entities interacting . Two varieties of interactions can be found : Euler (ie infinitesimal with e as basis . Newtonian or Einsteinian systems)
or Fibonacci , (a finite change interaction . Also known as Quantum systems).
Both self-generate finite rules for infinite processes .
These finite rules are known as archetypes .
And there are a finite number of them . And we can enumerate them .
Why?
Also known as the Power Law . Infinite feedback systems of delineated entities self-combine to form hierarchical systems below Beth(4) levels .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "AI"
Quantum systems , by definition , can only be enumerated in qubits .
An Image to illustrate this :
Imagine a hologram of n dimensions sliced by a plane . The plane is a computer screen or your 2-dimensional mental screen .
Past Beth(4) , the mind is acting in it's native mode , which is quantum mode .
The n-tuple entendre is standard for information transfer .
Information bleed-through from quantum systems leads to a finite number of rules .
Sigh . I cannot make it simpler than this .
Why there are 40+16=56 minor cards I have discussed before . It is intimately tied to ArithI and prime numbers .
Why there are only 22 major arcana cards to handle the rest of the infinite feedback systems up to Beth(4) levels I will have to think about . At the moment , I simply do not know why there are so few . But there it is .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Betablockers and Trauma memory"
Tarot cards represent a finite (less than 100) images's and procedures of infinite processes below native quantum processing .
Happy hunting!
Andre
Wars
Wars
Andre Willers
5 May 2010
"It takes two to Tango" 20th Century song
Discussion :
We sneak up on it by examining unlikely combinations .
Like Substitution Chess , this develops a deeper insight into the board .
Given N nations , there are a possible N*(N-1)/2 possible conflicts .
The upper boundary of all possible number of combinations of alliances is 2^N
The present number of nations on Terra is about 200 . So we have a potential 19 900 conflicts .
The War Algorithm :
1.Choose any two nations at random (eg from an atlas)
2.Work out a scenario where these two would go to war .
3.Repeat.
4.That’s it .
Some historically unlikely conflicts .(Reason in brackets)
1.USA vs Granada (morale)
2.USA vs Vietnam (greed of US Military-Industrial complex)
3.Paraguay vs Argentina (pride)
4.UK vs Argentina (Falklands I) (election of Thatcher)
5.Cuba vs RSA (internal stability)
As you can see from these very few examples , we can learn more about the reasons for war by examining the forcing of war between low-probability combatants and looking at the factors .
Illustration :
Please create credible scenario's where there would be war between the nations in the list that follows:
1.Lesotho vs Switzerland .
2.Chad vs Peru.
3.Iceland vs Turkey
4.Kazakhstan vs New Zealand .
5.Nepal vs Chile
6.Japan vs Jamaica.
7.Samoa vs Greenland
I would have to think about these myself . But notice how it enhances your insight .
And there are 19 900-7 = 19 893 remaining . Have fun .
World wars:
N gets restricted to 3 : For , Against and Neutral . This has been the pattern in WWI and WWII .
Civil wars :
These arise , by definition , from failed states . The fracture lines are usually ethnic (eg Yugoslavia , Africa) . The center cannot hold , usually due to corruption . External forces like arms dealers stimulate conflict . But there are also scarce minerals .
RSA and Chrome :
Chrome is absolutely essential to low-weight turbines and chemical reactor vessels .
(ie tanks , fighters , explosives)
RSA and Zimbabwe are the largest available deposits (coming from the old Vredefoort impact) . There are smaller deposits in Kazakhstan and Sweden (Why Sweden could remain neutral in WWII . Hitler , quite correctly , blocked the production of Me262 jet fighters in 1940 . The severe shortage of chrome meant that one fighter was about the same as a ton of explosives . If he needed fighters like the Me262 , the war would have already been lost .)
The weakness of the central RSA government has encouraged adventurism in both China and the USA . They are encouraging the secession of the northern provinces where these deposits lie via surrogates like Zimbabwe and Venezuala . I presume that Cuba will be roped in eventually , as they have had a long history of interfering in African affairs (courtesy of Che Guavara)
In their scenarios , they have already written RSA off as a failed state , and would rather squabble like vultures with each other over the chrome deposits . The rest (platinum , manganese , diamonds , remains of gold) are not strategically necessary and will go to fund the civil war between the various provinces . Something like Somalia or Sudan .
But how failed is it?
Let us look at the numbers .
The three large private security firms have about 180 000 members , based on the old SADF forces .(Like Buffalo , 32 , etc) . The SAPS has about 200 000 members , of various effectiveness . The SANDF has about 80 000 members , of about zero effectiveness . The old Commando and police reservists are still on the books , but ,frankly , they were useless even in the Apartheid era . Poorly trained and even more poorly disciplined drunken militia . Licensed bullies .
The memes:
The main elements of the RSA government comprises the Zulus and Whites(Afrikaners) . Both are very aggressive .
An armed incursion will come to an abrupt end (Cf Jamieson)
What will happen eventually is a South African Empire , as the energies are channelled outward .And a Napoleon equivalent is waiting in the wings .
Plus la change.
Andre
Andre Willers
5 May 2010
"It takes two to Tango" 20th Century song
Discussion :
We sneak up on it by examining unlikely combinations .
Like Substitution Chess , this develops a deeper insight into the board .
Given N nations , there are a possible N*(N-1)/2 possible conflicts .
The upper boundary of all possible number of combinations of alliances is 2^N
The present number of nations on Terra is about 200 . So we have a potential 19 900 conflicts .
The War Algorithm :
1.Choose any two nations at random (eg from an atlas)
2.Work out a scenario where these two would go to war .
3.Repeat.
4.That’s it .
Some historically unlikely conflicts .(Reason in brackets)
1.USA vs Granada (morale)
2.USA vs Vietnam (greed of US Military-Industrial complex)
3.Paraguay vs Argentina (pride)
4.UK vs Argentina (Falklands I) (election of Thatcher)
5.Cuba vs RSA (internal stability)
As you can see from these very few examples , we can learn more about the reasons for war by examining the forcing of war between low-probability combatants and looking at the factors .
Illustration :
Please create credible scenario's where there would be war between the nations in the list that follows:
1.Lesotho vs Switzerland .
2.Chad vs Peru.
3.Iceland vs Turkey
4.Kazakhstan vs New Zealand .
5.Nepal vs Chile
6.Japan vs Jamaica.
7.Samoa vs Greenland
I would have to think about these myself . But notice how it enhances your insight .
And there are 19 900-7 = 19 893 remaining . Have fun .
World wars:
N gets restricted to 3 : For , Against and Neutral . This has been the pattern in WWI and WWII .
Civil wars :
These arise , by definition , from failed states . The fracture lines are usually ethnic (eg Yugoslavia , Africa) . The center cannot hold , usually due to corruption . External forces like arms dealers stimulate conflict . But there are also scarce minerals .
RSA and Chrome :
Chrome is absolutely essential to low-weight turbines and chemical reactor vessels .
(ie tanks , fighters , explosives)
RSA and Zimbabwe are the largest available deposits (coming from the old Vredefoort impact) . There are smaller deposits in Kazakhstan and Sweden (Why Sweden could remain neutral in WWII . Hitler , quite correctly , blocked the production of Me262 jet fighters in 1940 . The severe shortage of chrome meant that one fighter was about the same as a ton of explosives . If he needed fighters like the Me262 , the war would have already been lost .)
The weakness of the central RSA government has encouraged adventurism in both China and the USA . They are encouraging the secession of the northern provinces where these deposits lie via surrogates like Zimbabwe and Venezuala . I presume that Cuba will be roped in eventually , as they have had a long history of interfering in African affairs (courtesy of Che Guavara)
In their scenarios , they have already written RSA off as a failed state , and would rather squabble like vultures with each other over the chrome deposits . The rest (platinum , manganese , diamonds , remains of gold) are not strategically necessary and will go to fund the civil war between the various provinces . Something like Somalia or Sudan .
But how failed is it?
Let us look at the numbers .
The three large private security firms have about 180 000 members , based on the old SADF forces .(Like Buffalo , 32 , etc) . The SAPS has about 200 000 members , of various effectiveness . The SANDF has about 80 000 members , of about zero effectiveness . The old Commando and police reservists are still on the books , but ,frankly , they were useless even in the Apartheid era . Poorly trained and even more poorly disciplined drunken militia . Licensed bullies .
The memes:
The main elements of the RSA government comprises the Zulus and Whites(Afrikaners) . Both are very aggressive .
An armed incursion will come to an abrupt end (Cf Jamieson)
What will happen eventually is a South African Empire , as the energies are channelled outward .And a Napoleon equivalent is waiting in the wings .
Plus la change.
Andre
Friday, April 30, 2010
BetaBlockers and Trauma memory .
Andre Willers
30 Apr 2010
This technology is safe and cannot be leveraged beyond Beth(3) levels . AW
Synopsis:
Trauma memory at synapse level can be edited .
Discussion:
How it works :
Specialized glial cells label synapse memories (arbitrary scale 1-10) on the difficulty of changing . This has major evolutionary advantages in preventing learned-helplessness lock-ups in the neural feedback networks .
But , a traumatic event (say scale 10) may lock in a memory unable to change .
Propranolol is a beta-blocker chemical that blocks the signal from the glial cell to the synapse .
The synapse can then be edited .
But synapse memories are holistic , while glial memories are specific . Thus a memory of a memory remains without the toxic inability to remove it's specificity .
Notice the similarity to lower-back pain (see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Peripheral Neuropathy" )
This is used extensively in trauma therapy :
Quote:
"Twelve years ago, two men robbed the pet-food store where Coutu was manager, put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him. Coutu played dead after one of the criminals bashed his head with the weapon. For years, he had nightmares and flashbacks. He broke up with his girlfriend; he quit a job he loved as president of a bird club in Montreal. Usually upbeat, Coutu became depressed. "Inside, I was dying," he says.
On his first visit with Brunet, Coutu wrote down the details of his trauma. Once a week for six weeks after that, he received propranolol, then read the disturbing account. At first, it was agony. "I realized all these emotions I thought were gone weren't," he says. But the fifth time, Coutu noticed a distinct change. "I felt like smiling. All of a sudden, it wasn't me anymore." At his last session, doctors tested Coutu's physiological reactions—his heartbeat, his palm sweat, his facial muscles—to his script and to neutral stories, like a beach scene. His response was similar. "It feels like there's been water poured on the fire," he says. Brunet's early data are compelling: participants' symptoms dropped by 50 percent, and 70 to 80 percent no longer meet the full criteria for PTSD.
What's so fascinating about this research is how it plays on the geography of memory. We often think of memory as one entity wrapped neatly in a bow. But our remembrance of a single experience lands like confetti in the brain, scattered into different locations. The dry facts about what happened—I was walking home, a man assaulted me—appear to lodge in the hippocampus. But the emotional trauma of that same event—the anger at the man, the horror of the moment—seem to be housed in the amygdala. When the memory is recalled, both parts emerge together, like the sound and images in a movie, says Brunet. This is critical to the science of forgetting: researchers believe they may be able to target the fear part of the memory but leave the details of what happened intact. "People cherish their memories, even their bad memories," says Brunet. "They don't want them to be erased, they want to recall them with less pain." "
Other beta-blockers ?
I don’t know , but I suspect that they all have varying degrees of the same property .
Targeting the memories:
As Eben said , propranolol has been used as a general lowering of anxiety at the basic neural levels .
But I want to do better , and target the exact memories .
But the holistic structure of the brain makes this difficult . What we want is a self-focussing system . And we have one that has evolved for about 3000 years at least .
It is called Tarot cards . Archetypes that are provably minimum necessary sufficient for n inclusive singularities . But not for higher Beth(n>3) orders . Don't worry about it .
The Tarot Algorithm :
1. Take the betablocker (preferably propranolol)
Look through all the tarot cards .
2. Repeat 1 to 2 at least 5 times .
3. That’s it .
Other ways :
1. Exposure
The memory to be meaning-apoptosed is presented via an external feedback loop .
The problem is that memory elements not directly associated with the traumatic event will also be locked .This can lead to learned-helplessness very quickly .
2. Beth(n) choices .Not advised unless you know what you are doing .
3. Therapy (which is a combination of 1 and 2 above)
What I am trying to say , is that the best general therapy is the Tarot Algorithm . All the rest must involve individual , non-self-focussing mechanisms .
Ironically , a virtuality is not the optimum . (It does not have enough discontinuities to satisfy a human mind)
Instead of Tarot , a composite of Bosch , Giger , Escher ,et al can be used , but these are not necessarily as complete as the Tarot in a mathematical sense .
I would have expected that Virtual Systems to be the optimal . But they cannot search transfinities . Just looking through Tarot card pack is superior .
It does not matter what they mean , only that they are complete . The system will self-focus and assign values according to the individual .
I looked at iChing , NLP , Chritianity , Islam , etc .
But Tarot is the optimal system for general usage .
Now cut the cards .
Andre .
30 Apr 2010
This technology is safe and cannot be leveraged beyond Beth(3) levels . AW
Synopsis:
Trauma memory at synapse level can be edited .
Discussion:
How it works :
Specialized glial cells label synapse memories (arbitrary scale 1-10) on the difficulty of changing . This has major evolutionary advantages in preventing learned-helplessness lock-ups in the neural feedback networks .
But , a traumatic event (say scale 10) may lock in a memory unable to change .
Propranolol is a beta-blocker chemical that blocks the signal from the glial cell to the synapse .
The synapse can then be edited .
But synapse memories are holistic , while glial memories are specific . Thus a memory of a memory remains without the toxic inability to remove it's specificity .
Notice the similarity to lower-back pain (see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Peripheral Neuropathy" )
This is used extensively in trauma therapy :
Quote:
"Twelve years ago, two men robbed the pet-food store where Coutu was manager, put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him. Coutu played dead after one of the criminals bashed his head with the weapon. For years, he had nightmares and flashbacks. He broke up with his girlfriend; he quit a job he loved as president of a bird club in Montreal. Usually upbeat, Coutu became depressed. "Inside, I was dying," he says.
On his first visit with Brunet, Coutu wrote down the details of his trauma. Once a week for six weeks after that, he received propranolol, then read the disturbing account. At first, it was agony. "I realized all these emotions I thought were gone weren't," he says. But the fifth time, Coutu noticed a distinct change. "I felt like smiling. All of a sudden, it wasn't me anymore." At his last session, doctors tested Coutu's physiological reactions—his heartbeat, his palm sweat, his facial muscles—to his script and to neutral stories, like a beach scene. His response was similar. "It feels like there's been water poured on the fire," he says. Brunet's early data are compelling: participants' symptoms dropped by 50 percent, and 70 to 80 percent no longer meet the full criteria for PTSD.
What's so fascinating about this research is how it plays on the geography of memory. We often think of memory as one entity wrapped neatly in a bow. But our remembrance of a single experience lands like confetti in the brain, scattered into different locations. The dry facts about what happened—I was walking home, a man assaulted me—appear to lodge in the hippocampus. But the emotional trauma of that same event—the anger at the man, the horror of the moment—seem to be housed in the amygdala. When the memory is recalled, both parts emerge together, like the sound and images in a movie, says Brunet. This is critical to the science of forgetting: researchers believe they may be able to target the fear part of the memory but leave the details of what happened intact. "People cherish their memories, even their bad memories," says Brunet. "They don't want them to be erased, they want to recall them with less pain." "
Other beta-blockers ?
I don’t know , but I suspect that they all have varying degrees of the same property .
Targeting the memories:
As Eben said , propranolol has been used as a general lowering of anxiety at the basic neural levels .
But I want to do better , and target the exact memories .
But the holistic structure of the brain makes this difficult . What we want is a self-focussing system . And we have one that has evolved for about 3000 years at least .
It is called Tarot cards . Archetypes that are provably minimum necessary sufficient for n inclusive singularities . But not for higher Beth(n>3) orders . Don't worry about it .
The Tarot Algorithm :
1. Take the betablocker (preferably propranolol)
Look through all the tarot cards .
2. Repeat 1 to 2 at least 5 times .
3. That’s it .
Other ways :
1. Exposure
The memory to be meaning-apoptosed is presented via an external feedback loop .
The problem is that memory elements not directly associated with the traumatic event will also be locked .This can lead to learned-helplessness very quickly .
2. Beth(n) choices .Not advised unless you know what you are doing .
3. Therapy (which is a combination of 1 and 2 above)
What I am trying to say , is that the best general therapy is the Tarot Algorithm . All the rest must involve individual , non-self-focussing mechanisms .
Ironically , a virtuality is not the optimum . (It does not have enough discontinuities to satisfy a human mind)
Instead of Tarot , a composite of Bosch , Giger , Escher ,et al can be used , but these are not necessarily as complete as the Tarot in a mathematical sense .
I would have expected that Virtual Systems to be the optimal . But they cannot search transfinities . Just looking through Tarot card pack is superior .
It does not matter what they mean , only that they are complete . The system will self-focus and assign values according to the individual .
I looked at iChing , NLP , Chritianity , Islam , etc .
But Tarot is the optimal system for general usage .
Now cut the cards .
Andre .
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