Random and useless thoughts and facts

That does not compute. In my admittedly limited experience psychedelia and mysticism supersede logic, they do not incorporate it.

 

Maybe human logic and the logic of the universe differ.

 

Maybe life and the universe supersede logic altogether. Logic is a human attempt to make sense of the insensible, to fit existence into mental boxes. IMHO.

 

This reminds me of the famous syllogism:

1. All dogs have four legs.
2. My cat has four legs.
3. Therefore my dog is a cat.

By the same token, you could create the Politician's Syllogism:

1. We must do something.
2. This is something.
3. Therefore we must do it.

But doing something is sometimes worse than doing nothing. (And some people would argue that doing anything is worse than doing nothing ... which is also called Creative Inertia, i.e. coming up with excuses for not doing anything. Thank you, Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, for creating "Yes Minister").

Then you may find Bill Hicks to be exactly your cup of tea.

 

But some stroke of coincidence, yesterday I came across an article in the Marginalian, entitled: The Great Indian Poet and Philosopher Tagore on Truth, Human Nature, and the Interdependence of Existence

The article quotes excerpts from Tagore’s book The Religion of Man – drawn largely from his Hibbert Lectures given at Oxford University in May 1930 - that lend meaning to our discussion about the shared-self and logic.

 

Watching some of the Kentucky Derby coverage, a turf race came up, and I decided that if I were there, I'd put money on Hammerhead, who was listed at 35-1 odds. I just had a feeling. He started last, moved up to second-to-last, and finished last. I'm glad I wasn't there.

 

Late this morning the power went out. Not weather-related and not a large number of people affected. Apparently a squirrel got a bit careless playing on transformer and was electrocuted. Anyway, amazing how much that affected our daily life -- lunch became a challenge and other little tasks that would have been unnoticed. It was restored after a couple hours, but it made me think how dependent we have become on the grid; if it went down when it goes down in a major, long-term event, I wonder how society would will cope. Scary.

 

I'm sorry to say, it will cope badly.

A few summers ago, both I and everyone in the four apartment blocks where I live were in a similar situation: we were without power for about 36 hours. (And last summer, an underground water pipe exploded, so the entire street was without water for about 5-6 hours).

Neither situation was easy, of course. Thank goodness our power and water were restored.

But if the power grid went down permanently? Or for a long time? We would be back to electric torches and/or candles ... and that would be just the start. I wonder how many (or few) of us have thought of what it'd mean.

No lights, fridges, freezers, TV, or internet. No way recharge a mobile phone (or electric car). But worst of all? Medical equipment that relies on power.

In short: anyone without a generator would be SOL. People's patience would wear thin. Fists flying. Maybe even riots.

As you say, scary. Terrifying, even. Let's hope the day never arrives.

 

Today, I determined not to reheat chicken from that famous Cajun chain anymore. It’s just not quite satisfying reheated. Fresh out of the fryer, it’s my favorite.

 

Fully automated driverless semi-trucks are now running between Dallas and Houston on I45.

Some of my fellow Texas drivers are skeptical, a not unexpected reaction to progress. I'd like to offer a calming perspective.

These trucks are designed to respond to anything. Rigorous development invested in these systems gives them immediate options.

For instance, if a fully automated semi encounters a red light, it will instantaneously query vast databases of driving history. It will find meek drivers slowed to a full stop. Drunken frat boys in Corvettes hit the gas so their dates would scream. Input from hospital records weight each decision so the truck knows instinctively what to do.

If a fully automated semi turns a blind curve and sees an adorable little kitty in the road, in microseconds it will evaluate options and outcomes, survey its available resources, and will use both steering and brakes to avoid harming the little fellow. Onboard cellular communications will summon the nearest no-kill animal shelter.

Once again, the truck assesses, computes, and leverages design features to respond to the unexpected.

And, if a fully automated semi-truck comes upon a stretch of highway awash in gore from earlier fully automated semi-trucks blue-screening at disadvantageous moments, design features will immediately respond to inch-deep blood on the highway.

The truck will hydroplane. The laws of physics and robotics will all remain flawlessly intact.

Rest assured. There really isn't any situation these trucks won't handle, one way or the other.

 

All this talk of automated vehicles and power outages have me confident that the terminators are still some years away.

 

When said cowboy retires from touring, will he stand on the cinder blocks, since the truck isn't there any more?

Suddenly I have a mental picture of a terminator rising up, with ferocious scowl and a red light in its eyes ... and then the camera pans out, and we see a kitten waving a laser pointer around, and the terminator chases after it.