tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post3199953273166487276..comments2024-03-28T18:18:37.133-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Science Fictional concepts and the Real WorldDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1517855859214271392018-01-18T16:20:13.584-08:002018-01-18T16:20:13.584-08:00Larry: I know we've been onwarded, but in the ...Larry: I know we've been onwarded, but in the haiku: you can legitimately say "sheltered" as three syllables. Thus, it meets the demands of form. The ellipses aren't needed, though.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74597305270514459702018-01-18T14:41:10.465-08:002018-01-18T14:41:10.465-08:00Dr Brin in the main post:
Oceans everywhere!
...Dr Brin in the main post:<br /><i><br />Oceans everywhere!<br /> Ice roof sheltered, life…<br /> …may fill the cosmos.<br /></i><br /><br />Isn't that supposed to be a haiku? I mean, it almost is.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90233125557957775832018-01-18T14:10:10.176-08:002018-01-18T14:10:10.176-08:00onward
onward
onward<br /><br />onward<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77462303268026050372018-01-18T14:09:57.807-08:002018-01-18T14:09:57.807-08:00"It would make more sense to use time travel ..."It would make more sense to use time travel to play the stock market!"<br /><br />See Ken Grimwood's terrific REPLAY, which has been ripped off more times than one can imagine.<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88529117293027045152018-01-18T12:49:30.700-08:002018-01-18T12:49:30.700-08:00Steven King's novel 11/22/63 dealt with the ca...<i>Steven King's novel 11/22/63 dealt with the canard of a time traveler living off his winnings from sports betting on contests he already knows the outcome of. In the late 50s/early 60s time frame of the novel, sports betting meant dealing with gangsters. And even a single longshot win was enough for them to take notice of you in a bad way.</i><br /><br />It would make more sense to use time travel to play the stock market!Laurencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15525214461529206205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-950873134345296652018-01-18T12:30:17.026-08:002018-01-18T12:30:17.026-08:00Alfred Differ,
(from last time) My problem with s...Alfred Differ,<br /><br />(from last time) My problem with some incrementalism is the phenomena of the local maximum. Disruption can fix that, but it may also make things worse. And regardless of current times, moving backwards really never happens.<br /><br />And some of those neat stories have been written. Many are despised by many people because they don't appreciate anyone questioning traditions, as if those traditions are the only way to do things (hint: they weren't even for the hater's ancestors).<br /><br />As far as driving through intersections, the simplest answer is to keep humans out of it completely.<br /><br />Duncan Cairncross, Winter7,<br /><br />Which is the Spider and which the Snake?<br /><br />LarryHart,<br /><br />The Outer Limits, "Controlled Experiment" (There's a story about that!)<br /><br />raitonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43031029189851692212018-01-18T11:50:43.044-08:002018-01-18T11:50:43.044-08:00Comment correction to change the translator's ...Comment correction to change the translator's catastrophic error:<br />LarryHart. <br />you say:<br />“Now what if time travel is really like someone else proposed, where paradoxes are no problem? That is, you go back in time and kill your grandfather, but you're still here because you "already were" here. Causation does not propagate into the subjective past of the traveler”<br />All right. ¡That would be great! ¡We could change many things!<br />(I could get that world sport calendar) But we will not know if your theory is possible until it is possible to send people to the past. Obviously, the first trips can not be beyond a week in time, to experiment changing facts in an area close to the two laboratories. Only with direct experimentation is it possible to understand what is hidden by the barriers of time. By the way. The journey in time, sending people is not what we see in the novels or in the movies. It is very different. If it's about sending people, it's incredibly expensive. But sending messages is very cheap. Yes, a huge amount of energy is spent to open the portal, but it is only for a few seconds if they are messages sent to the future. Messages sent to the past are more expensive because they can not be compressed and encoded.<br />I must go to eat. ¡Bye! (or, until any other moment in time) 8)<br />Winter7https://www.blogger.com/profile/16829856315044551289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41584816564601419652018-01-18T11:44:46.645-08:002018-01-18T11:44:46.645-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Winter7https://www.blogger.com/profile/16829856315044551289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56456875752720749462018-01-18T11:21:15.667-08:002018-01-18T11:21:15.667-08:00Alfred Differ:
¿Do you want to know how to stop th...Alfred Differ:<br />¿Do you want to know how to stop the eruption of Krakatoa volcano? Yes. If possible. In the eruption of 1883, the Krakatoa volcano exploded because the lava caldera was below sea level, and the lava dome allowed the lava lake to grow enormously. Until suddenly, the dome was destroyed by an earthquake and water suddenly entered the boiler, evaporating the instantaneous, causing the most powerful explosion before the atomic age. (The explosion was heard by the captain of a vessel in Cuba, who recorded the event in the ship's log). Consequently, you must interfere with the process of forming the lava boiler every so often. An agent of the time, could use the resources of the time to carry out the mission. I think it is now clear how the trick could be done and with what materials.<br />You asked:<br />“¿AI's that can't be hacked? ¿How would you know you succeeded or if that was even possible?”<br />All right. I have several ideas about it. But if I tell you the solution to that problem, maybe the malignant AI could get the data if they can find this conversation stored in a database. Which would leave at a disadvantage the benign AI that protect the machines of time and the city. (in the future)<br />Moving to another subject:<br />I suppose you were in the blog of writers of Amazon books.<br />Years ago, when I noticed that my book was not sold, I put it in the option "KDP Select", but, it seems that "KDP Select" is only a place where it is possible to bury books forever.<br />And I've always wondered if the Kindle-Amazon advertising services are useful.<br />In Latin America, people do not read much. The causes are many. (yes, it is also the fault of the plutocrats) and, therefore, only books written in English can hope for success. so you should take more advantage of the favorable circumstance that you are an American citizen. And if you put sexy girls on the covers of the books, that might be convenient.<br />Winter7https://www.blogger.com/profile/16829856315044551289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24302860416688883062018-01-18T10:43:00.034-08:002018-01-18T10:43:00.034-08:00Winter7:
In fact, I suspect that Republicans may ...Winter7:<br /><i><br />In fact, I suspect that Republicans may already have a time machine, which would explain the great success that Republicans have had in tying the laws and will of the American people. <br />...<br />What if we prevent the Donald Trump of the past from entering that brothel in Russia where it was videotaped by the Russians? <br /></i><br /><br />That would actually explain some things. They might be expecting to alter recent memory of the current time come the 2018 elections. Or wipe out evidence that Mueller is gathering on Trump and Russia.<br /><br />Now what if time travel is really like someone else proposed, where paradoxes are no problem? That is, you go back in time and kill your grandfather, but you're still here because you "already were" here. Causation does not propagate into the subjective past of the traveler.<br /><br />Maybe some Republicans from the future of 2012 went back in time to change the 2012 vote totals in Ohio. That's why Karl Rove was so sure Romney would win. But whatever they did had no effect on the actual moment when the votes were tallied. Therefore, Obama won, and the Karl Rove was surprised because the time-travelers who tipped him off were ineffective. Their changes didn't "stick".<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70350024672919848132018-01-18T10:38:39.335-08:002018-01-18T10:38:39.335-08:00Corrected version:
Huuuuuuyyyyy This flu has evolv...Corrected version:<br />Huuuuuuyyyyy This flu has evolved to migraine. It seems that the universe wants to avoid the construction of a time machine. 8) Houuuuuchhhh. I have to prepare my garlic tea with chamomile and oregano. (the antibiotic and natural anti-inflammatory that is more available)<br />Returning to the subject of time travel. <br />Jon S; you say:<br />On a side note, if I did have a time machine, I do not think I'd want to kill Hitler. Then someone competent might become Fuhrer.<br />True. The biggest problem for the agents of time are not tyrants. The biggest problem is the group and the plutocrats who support the tyrant. Which implies more work for the agents of the time ("agents of the time" does not sound good, but, "blades -Runners" yes)<br />No. Do not worry. There will be no agents of time. (I suppose) If we alter major historical events, the chain of events could break in the United States and Europe. But it is very possible that stopping the Second World War did not affect Mexico very much, since Mexico practically did not participate, and the economic fluctuations abroad do not seem to affect the feudal society in Mexico in the period that goes from ten years before my birth and my adolescence in the eighties, when I started to bake the idea of the space-time distorter. (Hell, I'm giving too much data to the agents of the enemy's time 8) (Better not say more details of key dates 8) Therefore, stopping the Second World War, possibly not stop the development of a time machine. Huuuuuuyyyyggggg (migraine, migraine, migraine). But. Anyway. It is not convenient to change large events.<br />Huugg ... I just deleted a huge paragraph. I was giving too many details ... 8) Huuuuugggg Yupy! , I have come up with two ideas for short stories about time travel ...<br />Winter7https://www.blogger.com/profile/16829856315044551289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8629191678751147772018-01-18T10:31:00.160-08:002018-01-18T10:31:00.160-08:00LarryHart; you say:
“That's ultimately the pro...LarryHart; you say:<br />“That's ultimately the problem with many "fixing history" scenarios. Why would an American want to go back and mess with the timeline in which we won WWII? The only scenario that makes a lot of sense is the X-Men "Days of Future Past" one, where the time travelers are at the end of their rope with no hope but a retcon.”<br /><br />¡Retrocontinuity! Yes. And that's why, a time machine is a formidable advantage.<br />In fact, I suspect that Republicans may already have a time machine, which would explain the great success that Republicans have had in tying the laws and will of the American people. But if the Republicans have a time machine, in that case, I am finished, and I will not be able to save humanity. Well, in the past, during my childhood, someone will leave the cage of lions open, that day when I went to a certain zoo.<br />What if we prevent the Donald Trump of the past from entering that brothel in Russia where it was videotaped by the Russians? If we change that event, the Russians can not have total control of Donald Trump, because Vladimir Putin will not have videogames with which to perform extortion, and we will avoid the Russian invasion of the year .... 8)<br />Winter7https://www.blogger.com/profile/16829856315044551289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11849460815528857882018-01-18T10:02:47.300-08:002018-01-18T10:02:47.300-08:00Note that the current budget-shutdown crisis over ...Note that the current budget-shutdown crisis over CHIP gives lie to David's argument that Obamacare should have been instead Medicare-for-all-under-18 (or 26 or whatever) Paul Ryan has admitted that withholding funding for CHIP is being done simply because it is a program the Democrats want to continue. Tribalism for the sake of more tribalism. <br /><br />#ThereAreNoGoodRepublicansmatthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70357756817940785652018-01-18T09:45:53.750-08:002018-01-18T09:45:53.750-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Winter7https://www.blogger.com/profile/16829856315044551289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61314346687815148792018-01-18T07:46:21.563-08:002018-01-18T07:46:21.563-08:00"Maybe it is not prudent for such a dangerous..."Maybe it is not prudent for such a dangerous machine to be in the hands of humans."<br />The aliens, which are utterly inscrutable, seemingly give the humans this technology without explanation or any apparent motive. Since the device are immensely powerful and have unknown capabilities, one of the prevalent theories is that the aliens want the humans to destroy themselves. <br />The problems with such devices become manifest fairly rapidly.Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20398108332340168942018-01-18T06:55:20.760-08:002018-01-18T06:55:20.760-08:00David and Alfred,
You could also have a large Eng...David and Alfred,<br /><br />You could also have a large English sheepdog go around and around the roundabout, courtesy of the same British terrorist organization that gave the world it's most famous time traveler.<br /><br />Bob Pfeiffer.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05763643308644698795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23778649076049536832018-01-18T06:39:21.957-08:002018-01-18T06:39:21.957-08:00Tony Fisk:
I have occasionally dabbled with the n...Tony Fisk:<br /><i><br />I have occasionally dabbled with the notion of a "Panglossian" Universe, wherein the timeline we are/I am on is the most 'fit' to survive.<br /><br />The side view at the moment must be truly alarming!<br /></i><br /><br />That jibes well with a favorite line of my late father's:<br /><br />"The optimist says, 'This is the best of all possible worlds,' and the pessimist agrees with him."<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17152351963821946402018-01-18T06:37:30.880-08:002018-01-18T06:37:30.880-08:00Jon S:
On a side note, if I did have a time machi...Jon S:<br /><i><br />On a side note, if I did have a time machine, I don't think I'd want to kill Hitler. Then someone competent might become Fuhrer.<br /></i><br /><br />That's ultimately the problem with many "fixing history" scenarios. Why would an American want to go back and mess with the timeline in which we <b>won</b> WWII? The only scenario that makes a lot of sense is the X-Men "Days of Future Past" one, where the time travelers are at the end of their rope with no hope <b>but</b> a retcon.<br /><br /><i><br />Instead, I'd want to visit Bavaria in 1905, and persuade His Majesty to permit Freidrich Trump to return home despite his failure to complete his military service. It might save us all a lot of trouble 111 years later...<br /></i><br /><br />But then a more competent Republican might be president. Same problem.<br /><br />Tangentially, why do most "fix history" scenarios assume that the time traveler is the only one with free will in the past? What makes you think you'd have powers to persuade a German Kaiser to do anything, let alone something he's inclined against in the first place? You could go back in time trying to influence a certain change only to find a Rasputin or a Cardinal Richelieu or a Julius Caesar actively working against you. Heck, maybe the thing that prevents you from killing your grandfather is that immediately upon arrival in the past, you are mugged and rolled for your wallet and left to die as an anonymous vagrant.<br /><br />Steven King's novel <i>11/22/63</i> dealt with the canard of a time traveler living off his winnings from sports betting on contests he already knows the outcome of. In the late 50s/early 60s time frame of the novel, sports betting meant dealing with gangsters. And even a single longshot win was enough for them to take notice of you in a bad way.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82539065946127415212018-01-18T06:17:11.802-08:002018-01-18T06:17:11.802-08:00Alfred Differ:
The variation I've been thinki...Alfred Differ:<br /><i><br />The variation I've been thinking about lately is how a properly sized obstruction in the intersection can simplify things and possibly eliminate the need for a stop light completely. Outside the US they are called round-a-bouts, I think.<br /></i><br /><br />Some exist in the US now, but most drivers don't know how to use them properly. When I have the right-of-way, I still have to be careful about the other driver deciding that it's his turn now. That might be true of a driver running a red light as well, but I hardly ever see that, probably because doing so is a clearly delineated violation, whereas the roundabout entry is a judgement call based on relative speeds and distances--a kind of legalized game of "chicken".<br /><br />My issue with roundabouts is that in heavy enough traffic, it is theoretically possible to <b>never</b> have the right to enter. If I were a terrorist intent on disrupting commerce, I would have several drivers enter strategically-positioned roundabouts and just keep driving in circles for as long as their gas tanks held up. <br /><br /><br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66662273696247319222018-01-18T03:36:43.655-08:002018-01-18T03:36:43.655-08:00I, also, enjoyed "No one said it would be eas...I, also, enjoyed "No one said it would be easy", if for no other reason than the title. It seems not not infrequently I see someone stopping by here to present some version of "but even with souveillance, things could still go wrong!" What such people don't seem to realize is that there is no "magic bullet" that will <i>guarantee</i> that things work out well, but only things that make it easier or harder for people to worth things out in better or worse ways. But even the best require people to act.<br /><br />A side note for <b>Duncan Ocel</b>: the issues around "rising expectations" and the like are not new. There is a fairly well-known (?) paper from the APSR of 1977 ("The J-Curve Theory and the Black Urban Riots") that deals in part with that sort of thing.greg byshenknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38909396676546160672018-01-17T23:31:07.504-08:002018-01-17T23:31:07.504-08:00I have occasionally dabbled with the notion of a &...I have occasionally dabbled with the notion of a "Panglossian" Universe, wherein the timeline we are/I am on is the most 'fit' to survive.<br /><br />The side view at the moment must be truly alarming!Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84450599689381340332018-01-17T23:19:26.035-08:002018-01-17T23:19:26.035-08:00On a side note, if I did have a time machine, I do...On a side note, if I did have a time machine, I don't think I'd want to kill Hitler. Then someone competent might become Fuhrer.<br /><br />Instead, I'd want to visit Bavaria in 1905, and persuade His Majesty to permit Freidrich Trump to return home despite his failure to complete his military service. It might save us all a lot of trouble 111 years later...Jon S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13585842845661267920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14183064342190115052018-01-17T22:47:20.021-08:002018-01-17T22:47:20.021-08:00@winter7 | AI's that can't be hacked? How ...@winter7 | AI's that can't be hacked? How would you know you succeeded or if that was even possible?<br /><br />I've been enjoying Duncan's 'We are all DOOMED' explanations. I think some of them might be a bit over the top, but he's on the mark about loops. If a thing is possible with a finite probability in a loop, it becomes a certainty in an infinite loop. I'm not sure how a time traveler to 1800 could alter the eruption date for Krakatoa many years later, but that might be my own lack of imagination. I'm not sure how they would alter the Maunder minimum with a loop reaching back to 1632, but maybe I'm failing to wrap my head around it. I'm also not sure the future is infinite, but an AI can up-clock itself relative to us making a whole lot of the time it needs. There might be physical limits, but one doesn't need to multiply by infinity to turn a finite probability into a practical certainty.<br /><br />Besides, when we get around to building AI's, we will probably build them as IA's. (Intelligence Augmentations) That means we would be redesigning ourselves, so you can't duck Duncan's concern that way either. 8)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83267617275614028972018-01-17T22:35:31.106-08:002018-01-17T22:35:31.106-08:00@winter7 | Me? A writer? I enjoy writing, but ther...@winter7 | Me? A writer? I enjoy writing, but there is a big difference between doing it and getting paid (well) to do it. There is a big difference between someone who can write and someone who can tell a story that will hold people. Storytellers weave a kind of magic. When you are in the presence of someone who is good at it, you'll know whether they write, speak, sing, dance, or mime it.<br /><br />What interests me about some of the space colonization stories science fiction writers build is that they consider timelines that respect the history of human migrations across Earth's continents and the lessons those migrations teach. Humans generally don't pack up in self-sufficient units, travel a long distance, and then plunk down roots with no intention of returning. We certainly CAN and DO at times, but that isn't typical of us. If one is going to write science fiction instead of science fantasy, I argue the humans in the story should behave like actual humans. Our HG ancestors roved, but they also returned to each other and traded goods and children recently grown and suitable for having children of their own. Look at a common urge experienced by teens to JUST GET AWAY from their parents. It is an ancient human trait suitable for HG's swapping genes. A story told of them that involves uprooting to live elsewhere far from such possibilities probably should address the rarity of that undertaking.<br /><br />I've been to a lot of 'space' conventions where the same presenters pitch their ideas year after year. The stories they tell often are NOT about real humans. Instead they are about their idealized view of humans and it is no wonder their pitches flop. As storytellers, their magic fizzles in our minds because we are... human.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52637415067807124282018-01-17T22:17:43.685-08:002018-01-17T22:17:43.685-08:00@David | The variation I've been thinking abou...@David | The variation I've been thinking about lately is how a properly sized obstruction in the intersection can simplify things and possibly eliminate the need for a stop light completely. Outside the US they are called round-a-bouts, I think. 8)<br /><br />There is probably a Navier-Stokes explanation for it, I suppose. Bounding surface shapes, analogous Reynolds number, laminar flow and all that stuff. As little particles in the flow we can do so much more than change our speed, so it should be a wonderfully hairy class of problems.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.com