Hello friends,
We’re celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow (New Zealand rules), and then I’m spending some time with my family (my mom’s visiting from the States). So I’ll be offline until Wednesday NZ time (Tuesday in the US).
Keep me posted on your activities and I’ll look forward to picking up the gauntlet when I get back!
All the best,
Kaila
You guys have got to check this out: Mod My Life takes actors, wires them up with headcams and audio, and gives the audience the collective right to control their behavior. Want to see someone spit on people in Times Square? If enough people vote for it, the ‘modstar’ is obliged to comply. If you want to be a part of the beta population, visit the site now.
Or perhaps you want to be the one obeying audience capriciousness, pulling pranks like hailing taxis in Manhattan and asking them to drive you to Philly. No problem; they’re also looking for more modstars—you could be the lucky lead in the next big thing to hit ‘reality TV.’
Invasion of privacy? Not really—these are actors, who theoretically should know exactly what they’re signing on for and who are getting paid for the privilege of acting like idiots. Counter to purpose and values? Remember that here at VortexDNA we have no stance whatsoever on ‘good’ or ‘bad’ values—we only look at coherence and incoherence. So if a show like this is consistent with the life focus of the cast, crew, and audience, more power to ‘em.
No, I think this is just good old American fun, coupled with a need to continually up the attention-capturing-ante in a world where little seems shocking. The superbugs have grown resistant to antibiotics, so we have to come up with something even stronger. Eventually, though, you start to wonder if increasing escalation will ever win you the war, and you start to think that maybe instead of just upping the dose we have to change our entire mindset.
I’m registered for the beta. I may watch tomorrow’s session (8 pm Eastern, if you’re wondering). But I look at the reality trend and can’t help but wonder: where does it go next?
This story is terrible!
Philip Thomson committed a crime in Nevada. He was using a fake Oregon driver’s license. The license had the name of Neerav Shah and the number of Joseph Parker. Now Shah and Parker are being sued for—wait for it—failing to protect their identities.
“Shah and Parker had a duty of care to keep their identifies (sic) from being used unlawfully and fraudulently and/or actively participating in the act of creating or allowing others to create the fake driver’s license. Shah and Parker breached that duty when their information was used to rent the Jeep,” said Parker, reading from the lawsuit.
Parker says he was stunned to find out he was named in a Nevada lawsuit. “And really I consider myself to be a victim in this as well — not one of the culprits,” he said.
He was being sued essentially for being the victim of a crime. “”Right — which this person committed against me who rented the vehicle,” he said.
“Somebody used my name and committed a crime,” said Shah. Neerav Shah has credit card receipts for the dates in question — showing he was at home in Oregon. And while the suit does not accuse him of being the driver — he feels victimized.
Lament, lament, lament. Wringing of hands.
Paul Miller from Talis is doing some terrific work to move forward the conversation on the semantic web. He’s spoken with luminaries like Danny Ayers and Nova Spivack, and last Friday he had a chat with us.
From our perspective, it was a real pleasure. Paul is wonderful and wonderfully intelligent; he had obviously done his homework. We spoke about mapping human intention, privacy, user experience, and the semantic web. I hope you enjoy it and I welcome your feedback.
Listen Now
Download MP3 [40 mins, 19Mb]
On his post, Paul included the below information; I thought it was both professional and useful so I’m copying him!
During the conversation, we refer to the following resources;
Summary: In this post, I look at the distinction between genetics and epigenetics. Genetics says it’s your genes that determine who you are, and that there isn’t much you can do about it. The more current epigenetics says that environmental factors determine whether or not genes get switched on. These environmental factors include psycho-social attributes like stress level and belief system. This understanding provides the scientific framework for what many have known for generations: people to have total freedom to choose the lives they want.
The other day, I wrote a piece in response to the numerous mentions of DNA in varying contexts (Social DNA, 23andme, etc.) in recent media stories. Today, I’d like to focus on the science side of it, specifically how current science paints a more complete picture of how your genes affect who you are.
When the Human Genome Project first started, they figured they’d find somewhere between 80,000 and 140,000 genes: the amount it would take to account for human uniqueness in all its glory.
Instead, they found a measly 30,000 genes, roughly the same number a rat has.
What, then, could account for the obviously greater complexity evidenced by humans? I’ll give you a hint: the genes don’t tell the whole story.
Epigenetics—literally, the study of factors in addition to or on top of genes—has been around for over sixty years, but it is increasingly filling the void of understanding the root causes of who we are. This field of science has demonstrated that a mother’s diet and lifestyle can affect not only her children but also her grandchildren. As reported by the BBC:
The conventional view is that DNA carries all our heritable information and that nothing an individual does in their lifetime will be biologically passed to their children. To many scientists, epigenetics amounts to a heresy, calling into question the accepted view of the DNA sequence ? a cornerstone on which modern biology sits.
Epigenetics adds a whole new layer to genes beyond the DNA. It proposes a control system of ’switches’ that turn genes on or off ? and suggests that things people experience, like nutrition and stress, can control these switches and cause heritable effects in humans.
The things people experience can control their genetic switches.
So who you are can be affected by your genes as well as whether your grandma was stressed out. It may seem like a there are a lot of factors beyond your control in play here. But in reality, the opposite is the case.
Traditional genetics is deterministic. It says that your genes determine what’s going to happen to you, and you don’t have much of a say in the matter. Epigenetics, on the other hand, says that it’s your environment, the one you experience in addition to the one your grandmother experienced, that has the final say in determining who you are as a human being.
This environment has physical attributes, like what you eat and the amount of pollution in the air; it also includes psycho-social attributes, like how stressed you are and what your belief system is.
The physical factors, of course, are also driven by your belief system, which results in a bit of a loop. If I believe that McDonald’s is no good for me, I’m not going to eat it. If I feel strongly that I need to avoid air pollution, I’m going to move house, as well as rally the troops and fight for clean-air protection.
Here’s the thing, though: your belief system can change. Your core beliefs, values and purpose can change and adapt over time. And this evolution has a profound effect on who you are and the direction of your life.
If you can change your thinking, and your thinking can change your life, the implication is clear: you are totally free to be whomever you choose.
You are not determined by or limited to your genes.
You may decide what you want your life to be.
This is why studying purpose and values isn’t just some airy-fairy touchy-feely huggy-wuggy concept. It is what defines the shape of our society. It is the most current science and the most up-to-date evolutionary theory.
The other day, I asked whether finding out that you had a tone-deaf gene would stop you from aiming for Carnegie Hall. Today I’ll ask the bigger question: do you believe that you have this power? Do you feel that your life is pre-determined, or do you think your core beliefs can actually change the physical world? I’d love to hear from you on this one.
Thanksgiving has just drawn to a close in New York, where I was born. In California, where most of my family is celebrating, they’ve got another three hours to go before they close the book on this year’s turkeyfest. And next Saturday in New Zealand, which for obvious reasons doesn’t celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock, my partner and I will host our third annual Thanksgiving Extravaganza. If we can’t bring the mountain to Thanksgiving, we’ll bring Thanksgiving to the mountain.
This holiday has always been exceptionally special for me. Every year, for the past two decades or so, my full extended family has come from all over the U.S. to gather in the house of a chosen relative. We’ve feasted together in Chicago, ridden snowmobiles together in the Colorado Rockies, and gone swimming together in the murky waters of the Baja peninsula. We’ve rejoiced babies and mourned deaths. We’ve agreed to appreciate this holiday—discussions of historical hypocrisy notwithstanding—for its highest self and true nature: a reminder to be thankful, for each other, for all of our blessings, and for every day.
Yesterday, a client of mine passed away suddenly, of a heart attack. He was only 50 years old. His death reminds me to be thankful for my heart, which beats tirelessly, without reward or punishment, without holiday or overtime, without rest or remuneration. This is not an entitlement, or something I can take for granted.
I think of the six children that he left behind and I’m thankful that my own father passed away with nothing left unsaid between us; I am grateful for every moment I was lucky to share with him.
I appreciate my body, which works when I ask it to and allows me to enjoy the beauty of hiking through the New Zealand bush and kayaking through Lyttelton Harbour. I am lucky to have all of my organs and limbs intact; many people don’t. My brain ticks and whirrs and allows me to enjoy books and movies and good conversation.
I am privileged to have a stable roof over my head and food on the plate at every meal, clean water to drink and a partner who loves me. I have good friends who are there when I need them and fresh vegetables growing in the garden.
And last, but most certainly not least, I am deeply, profoundly, gut-wrenchingly thankful that you have trusted me with a bit of your most precious asset, time. I am truly grateful that you marry my writing with your reading; I am exceptionally grateful to those of you who are moved to take up the gauntlet and join the conversation.
I would love to hear from you about your own Thanksgiving thoughts and experiences (or more general ones if you choose not to celebrate Turkey Day), and I am thankful for them, in advance.
Have a wonderful holiday.
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