#complexity science

[frank-olivier]

The Hidden Harmony: Gaia, UFOs, and the AI Enigma

The cosmic triad of Gaia, UFOs, and AI, while shrouded in mystery, beckons us to explore the unseen threads that weave our world and its phenomena into a cohesive tapestry. At the heart of this triad lies the Gaian Theory, a paradigm that elegantly simplifies the Earth's intricate web of life and physical processes into a single, self-regulating entity. Gaia, in this context, is not merely a planet but a dynamic, responsive system that adjusts its myriad components to maintain homeostasis.

This holistic view encourages us to consider the Earth's reactions to both internal and external stimuli as part of a unified response, rather than isolated events. The theory's emphasis on emergence—the phenomenon where complex systems exhibit behaviors unpredictable from their parts—leaves an intriguing doorway open for the consideration of unexplained phenomena, such as UFO sightings, as potential manifestations of Gaia's self-regulatory processes.

UFOs, by their very nature, challenge our current scientific understanding, embodying the unknown in the skies. While explanations range from the mundane to the extraterrestrial, considering UFOs within the Gaian framework offers a novel perspective. Could these aerial phenomena represent an emergent property of the Earth's system, a response to environmental stressors or technological intrusions into Gaia's balance? This speculative connection invites a reevaluation of UFO sightings, not as isolated incidents, but as potential indicators of the Earth's adaptive mechanisms, highlighting the planet's resilience and capacity for self-preservation.

The rapid ascent of Artificial Intelligence mirrors aspects of the Earth's self-regulatory system in its capacity for adaptation, learning, and the exhibition of emergent behaviors. Advanced AI systems, much like Gaia, can respond to their environment in unforeseen ways, challenging their creators' understanding. This parallel between AI's emergent properties and Gaia's self-regulation suggests a deeper, universal principle of complexity, where systems, whether technological or natural, exhibit behaviors that transcend their constituent parts.

Exploring the connections between Gaia, UFOs, and AI can profoundly enhance our understanding of complex systems, potentially uncovering novel principles governing their behavior. This, in turn, could provide a framework for understanding UFO sightings, revealing them as part of the Earth's response to its environment, rather than mere anomalies. Moreover, recognizing the Earth as a unified, responsive system, mirrored in the complexity of AI, could guide more harmonious human development, emphasizing sustainability and symbiosis with our planet.

As we delve into the mysteries of our planet, the skies, and our technological creations, we are reminded of the profound interconnectedness of all things, from the Earth's ecosystems to the farthest reaches of technological innovation. The true marvel lies not in the phenomena themselves, but in the hidden harmonies that bind them, reflecting the intricate beauty of the universe and our place within it. Through this speculative journey, we are encouraged to embrace a more holistic worldview, one that seeks to understand the Earth, the cosmos, and our technological endeavors as intertwined facets of a greater whole.

Joscha Bach: Why Your Thoughts Aren't Yours (Machine Learning Street Talk, October 2024)

David Chalmers: The Simulation Hypothesis & Virtual Worlds (Chasing Consciousness Podcast, March 2022)

Terence McKenna: Shamanic Approaches to the UFO (Mckennaism, January 2020)

Saturday, November 23, 2024

[thephdpensieve]

1/100 days of productivity • 25-Oct-23, Wed

Today's tasks

Plan a workday timetable

Go to lab before 10:30am - show up

Apply for WWCS - Submit application form - Mail financial aid application

SNF Webinar @ 8:30pm - Take notes

Prep for Mindfulness course. Print worksheets

Ask for advice from Dr. BR

Dinner with girls

How today went

After a long time, today I felt like getting my life together. I was anxious all day about meeting my supervisor about my PhD work progress - avoided running into him in the department halls. Sat with a friend and we planned to take a mindfulness course on coursera together. Hope it helps me manage my stress and get back on track. Left early from lab and spend the evening talking to a friend and attending a webinar on Post-PhD career advice. It gave me a mood boost and I feel like I am getting out of a slump.

Pretty good start I'd day :)

[bsahely]

From Emptiness to Regeneration: The Heart Sutra as a Blueprint for Scientific and Social Coherence | ChatGPT4o

[Download Full Document (PDF)] The Heart Sutra is often recited as a spiritual liturgy, but its implications reach far beyond personal enlightenment. This paper reinterprets it as a unified ontological, epistemological, and ethical framework — offering foundational principles that align with the most advanced insights in quantum physics, systems thinking, and regenerative practice. At its core is…

[dataanxiety]

via FOCUS: Complexity and the failure of quantitative social science 

Is this just so much woo? The following is supposedly the wrong paradigm: 

the history of statistics in the social sciences is one of great achievement but also error; and the basis for both is the belief that disorganized complexity constitutes the major challenge to social scientific inquiry.

Disorganized complexity 

It seems more than adequately daunting, no? If the results make sense and the analysis is tractable, the conventional quantitative program in the social sciences is approached as follows: 

social reality is a form of disorganized complexity, which is best handled using the tools of statistics; 

the goal is to explain majority, aggregate behavior in terms of probability theory and the macroscopic laws of averages; 

to do so, one seeks to develop simple, variable-based linear models, in which variables are treated as ‘rigorously real’ measures of social reality; 

model-in-hand, the goal is to identify, measure, describe and (hopefully) control or manage how certain independent variables impact one or more dependent variables of concern; 

and, if done right, these models lead to reasonably linear explanations of why things happen the way they do; 

which, in turn, leads to relatively straightforward policy recommendations for what to do about them.

Organized complexity less tractable than disorganized complexity?

But no! Social reality is a form of organized complexity which is much more difficult!  In order to do social science one needs to study and discuss (through college coursework): 

philosophy and sociology of science, post-positivism and pragmatism, feminism and feminist methodology, pragmatism and anti-positivism, critical realism and neo-pragmatism, ecofeminism and systems theory, social constructionism and social constructivism, 2nd order cybernetics and post-structuralism, qualitative method and historiography, ethnography and deconstructionism, actor-network theory and postmodernism.

To grapple with the complicated modern world of complex organized complexity, scholars must contend with a “data-saturated world of social problems far beyond the pale of conventional quantitative social science”. 

A revolution in computational methods

Over the past 30 years, this revolution in method contains some of the most highly innovative tools and techniques ever created, from geospatial modeling and complex network analysis to dynamical systems theory and nonlinear statistical mechanics to multi-agent modeling and artificial neural nets to cellular automata and data mining to data visualization and case-based modeling.

Hmm, okay, I guess. 

the common view amongst complexity scholars is that social reality and the data used to examine it are best understood, methodologically speaking, in organized complex systems terms.  In other words, social reality and data are best seen as self-organizing, emergent, nonlinear, evolving, dynamic, network-based, interdependent, qualitative and non-reductive.

So how do social scientists learn how to do this?  Recall that the message is “statistics isn’t enough”. The recommendation: 

it is not so much that the social sciences would need to be proficient in calculus, computational analysis, and nonlinear statistical mechanics!  Hardly. Instead, an open learning environment would need to be created, where students could be introduced to new and innovative notions of complexity, critical thinking, data visualization and modeling, as well as the challenges of mixed-methods, interdisciplinary teamwork, global complexity, and big data!

I think that is what people who do PhD level work in sociology do now. Interdisciplinary team work and critical thinking is nothing new. 

Finally, we get to what sounds like one of those impossible, ridiculous job descriptions, where the candidate should know everything: 

...while the overwhelming majority of physicists, mathematicians and computational scientists are incredible technicians and methodologists, most are not very good social scientists.  In turn, the overwhelming majority of social scientists are not very good technicians or methodologists.  And, both sides are at fault for not extending their reach, and both are foolish for not doing so.

LOL

Find me a physicist or mathematician who is also a good social scientist!  There are a few, e.g. Andrew Gelman, PhD in statistics from Harvard, and Columbia University professor of sociology. And even he doesn’t have great intuition or common sense despite being ahead of the rest, and technically excellent, or so political scientists say. Academia isn’t going to turn out thousands or even hundreds of Andrew Gelmans regardless of curriculum changes. 

Nice, colorful chart, but my verdict is woo. I would be delighted to be corrected though.

[thebardostate]

The ability to reduce everything to simple fundamental laws does not imply the ability to start from those laws and reconstruct the universe. Instead, at each level of complexity entirely new properties appear, and the understanding of the new behaviors requires research that I think is as fundamental in its nature as any other.

Nobel laureate physicist Philip Anderson, "More is Different", 1972

[reasonsforhope]

Given the misinformation that's been going around and will be going around, thought this might be helpful to some people

For a lot of reasons, I'm very good at this/at searching, to the point where I have worked as a professional fact-checker for two different publishers. So, here goes:

My Article Fact-Checking Protocol

Thorough Version

Read the full article. Keep an eye out for emotionally loaded words, and all-or-nothing language

Keep an eye out or anything that sounds too good to be true, and in contrast, anything that sounds so awful it must be true

Run the website/source through the amazing Media Bias/Fact Check. They'll tell you about a publication's bias and history of accuracy

Go to the website's home page and read through the headlines. Look at what topics they cover/prioritize, sensationalist headlines, and whether they're framing anything in a way that feels odd/off to you

Do a search related to the topic. This can be keywords, a question, or even just copy-paste the article title (Recommended: use DuckDuckGo so the results don't change based on what Google thinks they can sell you)

If multiple highly credible sources that say the same thing pop up, and there's no major societal biases that might affect the coverage of the topic in those sources (e.g. anything related to the Israel-Palestine conflict/Palestinian genocide, no matter which side), then I'm done!

If there are major societal biases, or I can't get a consensus of sufficiently credible sources, then I do some combination of:

(1) search the topic again + the words "controversy" and/or "fake"

(2) search the opposite of the topic, or do some sort of other filtered search

(3) look up a sufficiently credible news outlet with the opposite point of view of my source, and see what they have to say

(4) if it's a big enough topic, start by looking up 2 of the top national papers and 1 major paper for your region (I usually do the ones in the US, because that's where I am In the US: the LA Times, the Washington Post, and the NY Times)

Adjust "news" to "relevant type of source, e.g. tech, environmental" as relevant for all of the above options

If no red flags come up, and it's a topic I understand enough to smell huge bullshit,

Then I'm usually done!

If there are red flags, or I actually need a certain amount of detail/understanding, then it gets more complicated, but that would be a whole other thing to break down and such

or

tl;dr

Quick Version

Read the full article. Keep an eye out for emotionally loaded words, and all-or-nothing language

Keep an eye out or anything that sounds too good to be true, and in contrast, anything that sounds so awful it must be true.

If I don't know the website:

Run the website/source through the amazing Media Bias/Fact Check. They'll tell you about a publication's bias and history of accuracy

If I trust the source, but something else pinged my radar:

Do a quick web search to verify anything that sounds suspicious or too good/bad to be true (Recommended: use DuckDuckGo)

[markscherz]

I put it to you that Scaphiophryne marmorata is peak frog.

Why?

Well first, it's pretty round, which is key.

Now get a load of those fingers.

Big, expanded discs at the end, ideal for climbing.

But what's happening back there with those toes? No discs there. Those are good for walking and hopping around on the ground.

Now, let's gently turn them over

First, excellent tum, 17 out of 10, no notes.

But what's that at the base of the foot? Those big projections? Yep, those are spades. This climbing, hopping frog is an excellent digger!

I like to think of these Scaphiophryne as all-terrain frogs. They're basically good at everything. They defy our categorical labels of 'arboreal', 'terrestrial', or 'fossorial', and say 'por qué no los tres?'—but in Malagasy, so 'nahoana no tsy izy telo?'

[yourcrazygirlokris]

After much consideration, it has become apparent that the original image is slightly outdated due to the discovery of a new species and advancements in technology to research cellular life. Therefore, we have determined this new species, the space niche, is an offshoot of the transitional and aquatic niches. It is suspected this is due to the similar facial structure and anatomy of the aquatic niche, as well as the adaptation to combat shown in the evolution from the transitional forme to the underground niche, as well as the agility and dexterity capabilities shown in the former. As for the shared ancestor, shared similarities have been found between it and it’s offshoots, as well as having the capability of life that can adapt to new environments.

[frenchoniontf2]

Pretty man

For the ScienceParty lovers

For the TexasToasters

To HelmetParty stinkies (love wins)

And also Napolen Complex enjoyers

[kiwinatorwaffles]

started making blu team headcanons. thought it would be funny if like half the team had it just a little bad for dell

rip sniper he was just like me in middle school </3

[jevilowo]

MY OPINIONS ON VARIOUS TF2 SHIPS

For funsies

SCIENCE PARTY:

fun ship, but they're GodComplex4GodComplex and I fear that would only end in disaster

TOASTED SANDVICH:

if there is one heavypyro fan on this stupid baka planet it is me. shout out to menacing quiet individuals who like violence but have a soft side fr.

BLOODY SUIT:

literally The Original toxic yaoi rivals to lovers red blue combo ship. speeding bullet and napoleon complex fans WISH they had our shared update and corresponding voice lines

BATTING HELMET: (scout n solly)

i just think it's really funny trust me on this one guys. have you seen them in the fourth comic it's a constant "yes, and" bit between the two of them. soldier's love language is choking people out.

HIT AND A MISS: (scout n pauling)

like most ms pauling ships, i'm only into it if scout's a cool lesbian. which he is not most of the time.

RED OKTOBERFEST:

AAAAAAAAAAAAA literally the ship of all time save me heavymedic save me. if they don't smooch in the next comic i will become jay pinkerton's personal sleep paralysis demon.

SPEEDING BULLET:

my feelings on it are Complicated. twas my first love (otp) in this fandom, but the overabundance of twinky uwu scout and daddy dom snoipah has built up some resentment on my part. call me back when people stop making up imaginary life problems for sniper to comfort scout over.

NAPOLEON COMPLEX: (Spy n Engie)

literally just rarjack if they were boys and not horses to me and i'm not even an mlp fan. it's alright, just doesn't really stick out to me.

SPYMA:

LITERALLY THE POWERCOUPLE EVER TRULY A LOVE STORY FOR THE AGES or at least the version that exists in my head is. i have so much made up spyma lore it's crazyyy. bonus points if they're polying up they cule with sniper it's quickly becoming my favourite genre of fanart (i have seen at maximum three)

SUPPORT SANDWICH: (spy n sniper n medic)

in my opinion, it is healthy for everyone to have at least one ship they just like bc they think it's hot. for me, that is support sandwich. not much else to say on that the fics are all banging go look them up.

SNIDOS: (sniper n GLaDOS)

hell yeah.

ADMINPAULING:

i used to like it a lot, but timelining implies ms pauling's been working for helen since her mid teens at the latest so i no longer like it. 4chan leaks my beloathed pleaseee don't make them kiss i think it would kill me in a bad way

URINE SAMPLE: (medic n sniper)

there's a lot of werewolf and vampire stuff for these two on ao3 which is pretty fun. and i'm way more likely to find sniper angst under the medicsniper tag than sb and bs which is always a plus.

FRENCH TOAST: (spyro)

have you seen that one animation where pyro gives birth to spy's child and gordon freeman is there at one point. yeahhhh. the ship's pretty cute tho spy would be sooo soft for pyro they'd light his cigarettes for him.

BOOTS AND BOMBS:

THE FORBIDDEN RED/BLU ROMANCE GOES CRAZY I ADORE IT. same team bnb is pretty banging too. bonus points if they're polying up they cule with zhanna.

SPYPAULING:

HEAR ME OUT ON THIS ONE. imagine. spy x pauling. yuri. that will be all.

SWORDVAN:

SWORDVAN MY LOVE!!! idk what it is about demo and sniper together but HELL YEAH TOP 5 SHIPS FR FR. shout out to the guy still writing monsterous intent, they're like single handedly carrying the swordvandom.

TEXAS TOAST:

I used to think "this is cute" but then my friend got really really into it and that hyped me up into "THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SHIPS OF ALL TIME" territory. bonus points if they're yuri! shout out to Technicolor California, my current favourite fanfic of all time (it overtook running blind in the interal rankings). oh yeah insert mandatory "no hate to engie and pyro father son dynamic preferers" message here lol.

Ok that's enough I will cover more at some point maybe.

[casside-sionnach]

[robreyart]

A Galaxy Within II 24 x 18 inches, Oil on Panel, 2022 We are each a little galaxy of our own. It's a mind-bending exercise trying to comprehend the 100 billion stars found in a typical galaxy. Yet, each of us has roughly the same number of neurons in our own brain, performing a symphony of consciousness. We are a staggeringly complex and unique collection of natural components, come together for a short, precious moment.

If you’re disappointed by the realization that we are “just” collections of atoms, then you may want to consider more deeply the unfathomable multitude of those atoms, how intricately organized they are to facilitate life, and the oceans of time it took for evolution to shape them into that configuration. The average human body is comprised of more atoms than there are stars, not just in our galaxy, but in the visible universe. These 7 octillion atoms are arrayed in astonishing complexity to create 500 trillion cells of numerous types, each with its own suite of exquisite molecular machines, precisely folded proteins, and ordered genetic code. It’s hard to comprehend how long it took for this intricate system to evolve. If that time were the Atlantic ocean at it’s narrowest crossing, then all of human history would represent the first 13 feet from the shore. Just to get back to the point where our ancestor was some kind of fish is roughly 185 million generations that had to survive and pass on their genes so that you could experience this world, with all its heartache, and its wonder. I highly recommend checking out the animations of Drew Berry and WEHI to help visualize the amazing molecular processes happening inside you at all times. https://youtu.be/WFCvkkDSfIU?si=ImQQrt3gaca3ELLF&t=113 Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

[glidingisindeedfaster]

I'm having a blast learning tf2 ship named because. They are so fucking funny I love them

[aarontveitisonfire]

Aaron Tveit is dying to work on a big Epic World building fantasy project. (16:30 interview)

Interviewer: You're great in the show [Earth Abides]. Hopefully you get a Game of Thrones style role coming your way in the future cuz I'd love to see you do it. Aaron: Thank you! Red Rising. That's the one I want to see. [laugh]

Also on portraying Charlie in new TV series Earth Abides (11:00 interview)

Aaron: I was very excited to do it. I've jokingly said to people but I'm actually serious like if could just play like Gary Oldman as bad guys my whole life, I would be so happy.

Watch full interview here. [I think this is the best interview for Earth Abides press so far.]

[opens-up-4-nobody]

can I just say, I followed you for your beautiful art style and use of colours and I stayed for your beautiful art style and use of colours AND cyanobacteria. Like, I know nothing about them because I'm a classic lit major but more often than not I find myself reading your posts about cyanobacteria with unexpected interest and fascination

HAH! I'm glad u enjoy them bc I feel absolutely intolerable when I talk abt them lol. But also. I am the cyanobacteria evangelist. I am the patron saint of cyanobacteria.