#how to learn quantum computing

[quantimist]

Quantum Computing with Qiskit Free Course | 1 Year | Q World

Exciting News: QWorld’s QClass23/24 Your Gateway to Quantum Computing! Are you ready to dive into the fascinating world of quantum computing, algorithms, and programming? Look no further! QWorld is thrilled to announce the launch of our two-semester-long QClass23/24, beginning in September 2023 and running until May 2024. Join us for an immersive virtual experience that will equip you with the…

[mrbizz1]

Unlocking Success: The Power of Perseverance

Unlocking Success: The Power of Perseverance. The Power of Perseverance Perseverance isn't just about not giving up. It's about consistently working towards your goals, even when things get tough. It's about facing obstacles with courage and determinatio

Imagine yourself ten years from now, reflecting on your life. Do you see a life filled with regret, where dreams were left unfulfilled because you gave up too easily? Or do you see a life of satisfaction, where you pushed through challenges and achieved your goals? The choice is yours. Disclaimer: This blog post was created with the assistance of AI writing tools. AI has been instrumental in…

[glitchman007]

Discover the Magic of Quantum Computing

[jcmarchi]

Testing spooky action at a distance

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/testing-spooky-action-at-a-distance/

Testing spooky action at a distance

Researchers at MIT recently signed a four-year collaboration agreement with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme (NQCP) at Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), focused on accelerating quantum computing hardware research.

The agreement means that both universities will set up identical quantum laboratories at their respective campuses in Copenhagen and Cambridge, Massachusetts, facilitating seamless cooperation as well as shared knowledge and student exchange.

“To realize the promise of quantum computing, we must learn how to build systems that are robust, reproducible, and extensible. This unique program enables us to innovate faster by exchanging personnel and ideas, running parallel experiments, and comparing results. Even better, we get to continue working with Professor Morten Kjaergaard, a rising star in the field, and his team in Copenhagen,” says William Oliver, the Henry Ellis Warren (1894) Professor within the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), professor of physics, associate director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and the head of the Center for Quantum Engineering at MIT.

Oliver’s team will supervise the funded research, which will focus specifically on the development of fault-tolerant quantum computing hardware and quantum algorithms that solve life-science relevant chemical and biological problems. The agreement provides 18 million Danish kroner (approximately $2.55 million) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Program to support MIT’s part in the research.

“A forefront objective in quantum computing is the development of state-of-the-art hardware with consistent operation,” says Maria Zuber, MIT’s presidential advisor for science and technology policy, who helped facilitate the relationship between MIT and the Danish university. “The goal of this collaboration is to demonstrate this system behavior, which will be an important step in the path to practical application.”

“Fostering collaborations between MIT and other universities is truly essential as we look to accelerate the pace of discovery and research in fast-growing fields such as quantum computing,” adds Anantha Chandrakasan, chief innovation and strategy officer, dean of engineering, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of EECS. “The support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme will ensure the world’s leading experts can focus on advancing research and developing solutions that have real-world impact.”

“This is an important recognition of our work at UCPH and NQCP. Professor Oliver’s team at MIT is part of the international top echelon of quantum computing research,” says Morten Kjaergaard, associate professor of quantum information physics and research group leader at the Niels Bohr Institute at UCPH. “This project enables Danish research in quantum computing hardware to learn from the best as we collaborate on developing hardware for next-generation fault-tolerant quantum computing. I have previously had the pleasure of working closely with Professor Oliver, and with this ambitious collaboration as part of our the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme, we are able to push our joint research to a new level.”

Peter Krogstrup, CEO of NQCP and professor at Niels Bohr Institute, follows up, “We are excited to work with Will Oliver and his innovative team at MIT. It aligns very well with our strategic focus on identifying a path with potential to enable quantum computing for life sciences. The support aims to strengthen the already strong collaboration between Will and Morten’s team, a collaboration we hope to make an important part of the NQCP pathfinder phase over the coming years.”

[techtoio]

The Fascinating Science Behind Quantum Computing: Explained

Introduction

Welcome to TechtoIO! Today, we embark on a journey to one of the most thrilling frontiers in technology: quantum computing. This radical area promises a transformation of information processing, problem resolution, and understanding of the universe. How do quantum computers work, and what is quantum computing? Let’s break down the science behind this cutting-edge technology in simple, easy-to-understand terms. Read to continue

[squipa]

and they called it puppy love

aka tim drakes lovesick obsession with you

———

tim drake didn’t really notice anyone when he went to uni. he was there to learn, not make friends. he was too busy for friends, anyways, so he never really tried. that was until he laid eyes on you.

you were in his advanced quantum physics class, loudly debating with some meathead about the correct answer to a question. he was tuned in, entirely unable to focus on his own work. you politely argued with the dumbass who tried to correct you that your answer was right (it was), and he couldn’t think about anything other than how perfect your voice sounded against his ears.

he nearly failed that class— not because he found it particularly difficult, because he couldn’t stop staring at you. he tried not to be creepy, looking away the moment your eyes even dared to meet his. he was memorizing everything about you, the way you played with your hair while you spoke, the way you smiled to yourself whenever you got a correct answer on the homework, how you were too quiet to raise your hand but always offering the answers to the people around you.

he couldn’t get you out of his head, and as much as he tried to deny himself of you, he was obsessed. he switched to the empty seat behind you, close enough to smell your shampoo, and watch the tabs you scrolled through mindlessly on your computer while the professor lectured. he took note of everything. if you bought a book, he’d read it overnight on the off chance you spoke to him. played an album on your spotify? he’s listening to the artist’s entire discography. he even bought a blind box of sonny angels when he watched you debate buying them for thirty minutes.

you’re the one who talks to him first, and god, did it make his year. “hey,” you said, smiling up at him. he hopes you didn’t notice the red that spread from his cheeks to his chest, burning the tips of his ears. “i think you dropped your water bottle.” you say, handing a transparent blue bottle back to him. it’s not his. he’s eternally grateful. he babbles some nonsense back to you, memorizing the way your eyes look when they’re focused on his. you give a kind smile and turn back to your work, completely unbothered while he can feel his heartbeat in his ears.

you opened the gates with that comment— now he finds any excuse to talk to you. yes, he needs help understanding the material. yes, he wants to know what the office hours are for the professor. obviously he’s obsessed with the band on your shirt, and he can’t believe you like it too.

he’s very left-brained. he wants to know everything thing about you, what makes you smile and what makes you mad. he wants to know what makes every neuron fire, what makes you tick. he wishes he could crack open your skull and dig around in your brain to better understand you, to know every aspect of why you are the way that you are. but, since he can’t do that, he does the second best thing and hacks into your phone.

it isn’t invasive, or weird. he just wants to know more about you— you’d understand. he goes through your texts, social medias, gradebook, notes app, bank statements, everything. when he realizes you’re broke, he anonymously pays your tuition under the guise of a scholarship. he’ll show up at your work (a coincidence, of course) and shove a hundred dollar bill in the tip jar when your back is turned. he just wants to take care of you. he slips your favorite snacks into your backpack when you go to the bathroom, doordashes your favorite foods to your dorm when you forget to eat— anything he can do for you, he will.

he broke into your dorm, not to do anything malicious, he just wanted to see how you live. he’s sickened by how easy it was to break the lock, and sent a work order immediately to update security. around your room, he took little things, stuff you wouldn’t miss, sticky note doodles and hair ties. he took note of all of the pieces of you around him, the soap you use, the games stacked on your desk, the makeup piled on the sink. he just likes knowing the intimate, little things about you.

don’t get him started on the pictures. he’s got hundreds— you in class, walking on the courtyard, at work, out with friends, driving around, whatever. he flips through them every night, studying every detail like a textbook and looking for new ones. he loves learning you, focusing in on every detail, putting together every piece of every puzzle.

he gets enraged when he sees any man talking to you, bothering you. he hates the way they can make you laugh where he can’t, that they’re bolder than he is around someone as delicate as you. he needs to be gentle, careful. he shoots death glares at any man who takes your attention for too long, making sure to block them on all of your social medias preemptively in case they try to annoy you again.

he practically has an aneurysm when he catches you walking home from work alone at night. it’s gotham, you can’t possibly think it’s safe, even on campus. lucky you, red robin is there to watch from the shadows, making sure you get home safe and sound. he slips a pepper spray bottle in your bag the next day.

you two become something of friends when he asks you to help him study. suddenly, all of his classes are on the way to yours, so obviously it makes sense to walk with you. listening to you talk— it’s the sweetest sound he could imagine. you tell him things (most of which he already knows) about your life, and constantly invite him to share his. you’re so kind, you never roll your eyes or get annoyed at his awkwardness around you, you only smile and nod until he finds his point. you’re filled with endless empathy, you find a reason to sympathize with anyone, regardless of how rude they may have been. your roommates boyfriend with a staring problem? he must just be nervous around someone so close to his girlfriend. the guy who grabbed your shoulder in class (who got a lesson taught to him by red robin that night)? probably had just been trying to get your attention for awhile.

he’s absolutely infatuated. he has your entire schedule memorized, he knows the hospital you were born in and your high school gpa. he fantasizes about a future with you, one where you love him a fraction as much as he loves you. one where he can spoil you and protect you and have you all to himself.

he spends hours in front of the mirror, practicing what he’ll say to you in the hallway when he finally asks you out. he needs to be casual, like you’re not the only thing he thinks about, but not nonchalant, because he cares more than you know.

he fails spectacularly.

“would you, uh, y’know, i was wanting to, uh… i have movie tickets, and i’d buy you dinner, uh… like a date?”

your little giggle kills him. you should refuse him, turn away and never speak to him again, he deserves it.

“i’d like that. saturday?”

once you start dating, it’s over, he’s over the moon every day. he doesn’t need an excuse to walk you to and from class, or home from work, or pick you up after a night out (where he totally wasn’t watching, lurking in the corner to make sure nobody bothered you), because that was his job. it’s not weird that he sits in the cafe you work at throughout your entire shift; acting like a personal bodyguard. nights when you’re too exhausted to see him, he watches from your window, just observing the way your chest rises and falls.

he kisses you over and over, memorizing how good you taste against his lips. he’d constantly press himself into you, or warm your hands in between his, or tuck his arm neatly against yours. anything to stay close to you. even the slightest shiver and his jacket is over your shoulders, and god forbid you’re out shopping, because he refuses to let you pay a thing, or hold a single bag. he’ll randomly send you money to get your nails done, or buy a book you want. multiple times he’s told you he’d take care of you if you quit your job, but you always refuse. he loves that about you, but wishes you’d let him do more.

he doesn’t even think about the possibility of you leaving him. because truly, it’s impossible. he won’t allow it, he’ll be attentive, caring, and the absolute perfect boyfriend, so the thought won’t even cross your mind. he knows everything about you, exactly what you want and exactly what you need. he loves you more than anything, and his only job is to take care of you, keep you safe and warm and happy for as long as you live.

he adores you, practically worships you. this isn’t puppy love, it’s pure and true and he intends for it to last forever.

[vinamari]

NERDJO who first notices you when you add to his ideas and explanation on electromagnetism and it’s applications on actuators

NERDJO that has a tight knit friend group but wants to talk to you but feels too shy

NERDJO in which he got laughed at by his friends at night because he was so flustered after ranting to you about Digimon after you asked him if he had any special interests

NERDJO who is always so quick and witty to answer questions or make snarky remarks in class but turns into a mess trying to talk to you outside of school

NERDJO that gets set up by Shoko and Geto by inviting you to Gojo’s dorm only to not be there, leaving the both of you alone under the guise they both had errands to run

NERDJO learns that day your interest in Pokémon so you both sit and rant to each other about your favorite characters before realizing you need to study

NERDJO becomes giddy when you end up sleeping over because of how late it was

NERDJO who’s friends tell him that he sees you more than just a friend from physics class

NERDJO that begins writing nerdy jokes about physics in your notebook column as a way to show his interest in you

NERDJO who you find very endearing and dorky, especially the little notes and doodles he leaves in your notebook

NERDJO who you notice rambles a lot about quantum physics and Digimon all while pointing at his computer screen and squinting

NERDJO who you have now learned to harbor feelings for and vice versa

[forsaken-headcanons]

7n7 and the c00lgui are connected physically kinda? A long time ago when he was first making it and younger (and stupid) 7n7 decided to sort of connect himself to the c00lgui’s code physically and allow himself to do even more fun exploiter stuff. Nowadays he kind of regrets doing it especially linking so much of himself to it initially. He can’t really undo it but he can change how much they’re connected with the c00lgui’s settings (he really doesn’t like messing with it too much though because he’s too scared that he’ll end up putting too much of himself and the code together and become something he’s Not like John Doe’s become with the corrupted code)

Stuff 7n7 does because of this;

He glitches in and out of reality sometimes especially when stressed. He can’t do this in rounds because the Spectre thinks it wouldn’t be fun (most anything useful the code can do isn’t really allowed in rounds aside from his main abilities). He can also teleport using this ability if stressed enough or panicking but he never really learned how to control it so most often he just ends up somewhere like his room because he subconsciously wants to be somewhere safe and quiet (think of it like the Quantum Slimes in Slime Rancher)

He doesn’t exactly need food and drink as much as the others since he is partially made of code. He still needs it but he can go without it for longer. He can adjust this a bit with the c00lgui to make himself need food even less but he doesn’t do that often because he’s kind of scared that something bad will happen if he increases it too far . This specific trait is also useful for avoiding Elliot between rounds

7n7 can sort of “patch” himself with updates/patches to the gui. Which is sort of open-ended but he can heal minor scrapes and wounds with this . He can also remove tiredness though he often passes out before he gets to use that particular function . He can just sort of minorly modify himself whenever he types in the commands

He used to be able to do things like clip through walls modify his permissions and other fun exploiter things but he’s sworn off using those functions ever since he stopped being an exploiter (he could do them but he’d feel far too bad about it)

If the c00lgui is damaged or handled by anyone other than him he can feel it and so he’s protective of the device. If someone that’s not him touches it it feels like he’s being burned though no damage actually happens. As C00lkidd is his son 7n7 modified the gui to accept his touch but it still causes him to feel like he’s near a fire when C00lkidd messes with it. The gui is constantly backed up into a computer in his room but if a tablet is ever broken (it fixes itself at the end of the round/by the next morning out of rounds. Spectre magic everyone) it causes A Lot Of Pain for 7n7 so he tries to avoid it whenever possible (during rounds he always makes sure to try and put it somewhere on his outfit where the killer can’t easily destroy it if they harm him)

Whenever he zones out (which is 70% of his daily routine at minimum) you can faintly see lines of code executing in his eyes real time. Most of them are related to what he’s thinking about/going through at the time. When he dies you can either see cracks in his eyes, a bluescreen, an error message, or a black screen depending on the tablet’s condition

He can instinctively sort of understand code whenever he sees it . The downside of this is that when he first saw John Doe in a round he got a massive migraine because the corrupted code was so overwhelming and incomprehensible his mind struggled to even begin to handle it. He’s learned parts of the code (enough for his brain to stop freaking out and giving him extreme headaches whenever he saw John Doe) but being near John Doe still gives him a headache if he thinks for long enough about it

He corrected his myopia with the gui when he first got trapped in the game. It doesn’t last forever (only around a day) but he doesn’t want to wear glasses or contacts while in rounds so this will have to do for now

Him and Builderman (in an AI interpretation) are actually rather friendly if only because they sense something similarly Off about the other and will occasionally have vague conversations about robotics and code because they’re both dancing around addressing the fact the other is Not (Fully) Human. Maybe one day they’ll actually talk about it and become friends This was a ramble and a half sorry LOL I did not anticipate this hc to get this many words from me when I started writing -🪶anon

I love headcanons about the logistics behind hacking and code in the Forsaken verse. You really cooked. While this was definitely a long one, I enjoyed reading through it.

Builderman and 007n7 get the 'vibe' from each other and maybe they even know that the other is not human (or at least not entirely) but neither of them will actually start a conversation about it. Too awkward.

[shiftthemoon]

THE POSSIBLE SCIENCE OF SHIFTING : YOUR DESIRED LIFE MAY BE JUST A THOUGHT AWAY ˙⋆✮

okay, let’s get real about shifting. if you’re reading this, you’ve probably been at that point where your CR (current reality) feels more like a trap than the awesome life you were promised, and you’ve heard whispers of people shifting into their DR (desired reality)—be it a world where you’re a hero, chilling with your fav band, or just living a life that actually aligns with your dreams.

sounds magical, right? well, science is here to tell you: this might not be as out-there as it seems.

— THE CR IS LIKE… AN OLD MEME ?

first things first: your CR? it’s not as real as you think it is. like, really. science says that what you perceive as your physical reality is just a temporary projection of the energy around you. quantum physics comes in with the big reveal—our universe isn’t as solid as we think. it’s all about probability and potential. you might look at your CR and say, “yup, this is the life I’m stuck with,” but guess what? everything in that CR is a bunch of particles and waves that only collapse into solid form when you observe them. it’s called wave function collapse (fancy, I know), and it’s the reason why your life can change when you shift your perspective.

quantum physicist max planck once said that everything is energy and, energy is infinite. this means your reality isn’t just some rigid 3D box you’re stuck in—it’s fluid, it’s moldable, and you’re the sculptor.

— NEUROPLASTICITY &&& YOUR BRAIN: WHAT’S IT TO SHIFTING ?

so you know how every time you learn something new, your brain gets all pumped up and rewires itself? that’s neuroplasticity! your brain isn’t just stuck in the past or future, it’s constantly reconfiguring based on what you experience. the cool part? when you shift, you’re literally retraining your brain to live in a new, alternate version of reality. neuroscientists have found that the brain doesn’t distinguish between “real” and “imagined” experiences. when you vividly imagine yourself in your DR, your brain is like, “oh, this is happening now.” it reacts as if it’s part of your present reality. so when you step into your DR with conviction, your brain doesn’t even hesitate—it rewires itself, like a computer switching to a new operating system.

and don’t get it twisted: this isn’t some fuzzy “I hope this works” kind of thing. you are creating new pathways, new connections. your neurons are throwing a party, building a new map for your mind to follow, and suddenly—bam! your DR isn’t just a dream. it’s tangible. it’s on the other side of the veil, waiting for you to stop doubting it.

— THE 4D : THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS !

alright, let’s talk dimensions. we’re living in the 3D—length, width, and height. the rules of this world are rigid. things are “real” because we can touch them, see them, or measure them. but your DR? it exists in the 4D. and no, that’s not just a trendy tiktok hashtag, it’s literally a dimension where time and space bend, where things exist in multiple forms at once, and where possibilities are limitless. 4D is where your “shifting” happens, where every choice you make spins off into its own reality.

you know that slight discomfort you get when you start shifting? that’s your mind stepping into the 4D. you can’t touch it, you can’t always see it, but it’s there, like a shimmering layer that surrounds your CR. when you start seeing your DR, you’re tuning your brain to a different frequency—like flipping to another radio station, except this station has a whole new show, full of you as the main character.

here’s the cool part: the 4D doesn’t care about the rules of the 3D. that’s why when you’re in a lucid dream or during deep visualization, your mind doesn’t see limitations. it feels the new world. shifting is just your brain aligning with the vibrations of that alternate reality. boom—you’re there.

— THE POSSIBLE SCIENCE OF SHIFTING

now, don’t get spooked: this isn’t magic, it’s science in action. when you shift, you’re using a combination of brain power and quantum mechanics. your mind is like a receiver, tuned to a specific frequency—your DR. all the while, your physical body is still in your CR, but your consciousness? it’s dancing with the probabilities of your DR. it’s like the quantum superposition of particles: you exist in multiple states at once, and by focusing your attention, you collapse your wave function to lock into the version of reality you want.

you might be wondering, “but what if I’m not ready for it? what if I can’t believe it enough to make it real?” here’s the deal: your beliefs influence your neuroplasticity and quantum state. the more you feel that your DR is real, the more your brain rewires to support it. you literally start operating on that quantum level, where thought and reality are inseparable. every time you think about your DR, you’re collapsing probabilities and pulling your DR closer.

— HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ?

okay, so now that we’ve dropped some science knowledge, let’s talk about how to vibe with all of this. shifting isn’t about waiting for some random cosmic event or praying for a miracle. it’s about becoming the observer of your reality. when you stop clinging to the old, tired narratives of your CR, you free yourself to shift. you allow your mind to break free from the constraints of the 3D world and step into a world of infinite possibility. trust that your DR is just a thought away.

think about it like this: you’ve been living in one storyline, but you’re also the writer, the director, and the actor of your own movie. shifting is like picking up a pen and starting a new chapter. forget the plot holes of your current life, forget the limitations you’ve been given by society, your school, or your parents. this is your masterpiece, and you get to decide how it unfolds.

the most important thing is to trust the process. when you let go of your attachment to the CR, you start aligning with your DR. you stop doubting, you stop waiting for something “real” to happen, and you start living like the multi-dimensional being you are.

— FINAL THOUGHTS

shifting isn’t about escaping; it’s about expanding. the CR is your past, the DR is your future, and the 4D is the space in between where you get to shape everything. science backs it up: your brain, your energy, and the universe are all on your side. all you need to do is step into your power. shift, love.

— REFERENCES FOR THE CURIOUS MINDS !

it’s important to remember that certain facts are still purely theoretical, such as the ones for quantum superposition & parallel universes in general !

another thing is: i’m not a physics / philosophy / neuroscience / psych / cognitive science major, nor do i claim the things i say as factual. this is just something i’ve been fiddling around with, and as a junior high school student, know very little about.

wave function collapse & quantum mechanics -> heisenberg, w. (1958): physics & philosophy: the revolution in modern science.

↳ “The atoms or electrons are not real in the same sense as, for example, a chair or a tree. We must be content with describing their behavior and predicting their possible effects on other systems. The very act of observation collapses their potential states into a single one.” (p. 68)

neuroplasticity -> doidge, n. (2007). the brain that changes itself. penguin books.

↳ “The brain, it turns out, is not a static organ. Its architecture is constantly changing, responding to experience, thought, and injury. Neuroplasticity means that the brain has the potential to form new neural connections and reorganize itself, even in adulthood.” (p. 12)

neuroscience & visualization: jeannerod, m. (2001). neurophysiological mechanisms underlying motor imagery. in: progress in brain research (pp. 201-211). elsevier.

↳ “When we imagine an action, the same neural pathways are activated as when we actually perform the action. The mind doesn’t distinguish between real and imagined motion, which allows the body to respond similarly to both.” (p. 207)

quantum superposition & parallel realities -> everett, h. (1957). “relative state” formulation of quantum mechanics. reviews of modern physics, 29(3), 454-462.

↳ “If a system is in a superposition of states, then after measurement, it is assumed to exist in multiple realities. Each possible outcome creates a branching of the universe, where all possibilities are realized in parallel.” (p. 456)

the 4D concept -> greene, b. (2004). the elegant universe: superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest for the ultimate theory. w.w. norton & company.

↳ “The theory of superstrings suggests that the universe is made up of not just three spatial dimensions, but at least nine. These extra dimensions are hidden from our view, yet they may hold the key to understanding the forces of nature and the existence of parallel worlds.” (p. 101)

lucid dreaming & consciousness -> laberge, s. (1990). lucid dreaming: the power of being awake and aware in your dreams. shambhala.

↳ “Lucid dreaming gives you the ability to consciously explore your inner world. By realizing you are dreaming, you can manipulate the dream to create whatever reality you wish, offering an insight into the malleability of perception and experience.” (p. 56)

[the-most-humble-blog]

The Brain’s Magic: How Your Mind Reads the ᵾᶰᴿᵋᴬᵭᵃᴮʟᵋ͟͟͞

Can You Still Call Yourself Human If You’re This F☰☰king Amazing?

Our brains are incredible biological machines that can decode the undecodable, make sense of chaos, and turn gibberish into understanding. You’ve probably seen those memes or tests where the letters in a sentence are jumbled, replaced with symbols, or entirely flipped. And yet, somehow, your mind calmly steps in and says, “I got this,” assembling the scrambled mess into meaning.

Why? Because your brain isn’t just functional—it’s damn near magical. But let’s get into the messy, hilarious, and downright extraordinary ways your brain proves every day why the universe needs you.

1. Your Brain, the Overachiever

First off, let’s acknowledge the absurdity of what your brain can do. You’re sitting there, possibly sleep-deprived, scrolling through social media while multitasking a mental to-do list. And yet, you see a sentence like this:

“Y0uR Br@!n 5T!lL r3c0gN!z3s p@77ern5 & m@k35 it m3@ningful.”

… and you just get it. You don’t need a translation guide. Your brain leaps over logic like a gymnast and lands perfectly on comprehension.

Reality is a stand-up comedian:

Your brain: a quantum computer that can decode unreadable text. Also your brain: forgets why you walked into the kitchen.

The same organ that turns chaos into understanding also Googles “symptoms of mild death” every time you get a headache.

2. Pattern Recognition: The Mind’s Hidden Flex

Here’s where things get spooky. Your brain isn’t just reading symbols—it’s recognizing patterns, filling gaps, and using context to solve puzzles in milliseconds. This isn’t something you learned; it’s baked into your DNA.

Fun Fact:

Studies show that 93% of adults can read a sentence where the first and last letters of every word are correct, but everything in between is scrambled. Your brain doesn’t even flinch.

Let’s put this into perspective: Computers need programmers, algorithms, and updates to achieve half the things your brain does on autopilot. Meanwhile, your mind’s out here solving puzzles like Sherlock Holmes at 3 AM with no coffee.

Your brain is that one friend who doesn’t study for the test but still scores higher than everyone else. Smug, but you love it anyway.

3. The Ultimate Biological Quantum Computer

Your brain isn’t just smart—it’s a show-off.

Neurons: You’ve got about 86 billion of them, and they’re firing off messages at speeds of up to 268 miles per hour. Faster than your Wi-Fi, honestly.

Processing Power: Your brain can handle around 10 quadrillion calculations per second. That’s the equivalent of a supercomputer with a personality (and occasional existential dread).

But here’s the kicker: your brain isn’t just processing facts—it’s synthesizing them into experiences. It’s why you can laugh at memes, cry during Toy Story 3, and somehow still navigate rush-hour traffic without committing vehicular manslaughter.

4. Can Machines Compete? Not a Chance

Artificial intelligence? Cute. Sure, machines can replicate some human functions, but your brain operates on a level AI can only dream of.

AI struggles with context. You? You can figure out when someone’s being sarcastic just by their tone.

Machines need explicit instructions. Your brain? It casually interprets nonsense like,“C@n u 3v3n r34d th!s?” …without breaking a sweat.

Imagine a robot trying to figure out your drunk texts. “Dinnrs @ 9, bt wtf hapen 2 keys?” Your brain decodes that in half a second. AI would implode.

5. Why This Matters: You’re Not an Accident

Let’s get serious for a second. Your ability to read scrambled text, pick up on patterns, and make sense of the seemingly senseless isn’t just a party trick. It’s evidence of how extraordinary you are.

Consider This: Your consciousness isn’t some random byproduct of biology. It’s a vital thread in the infinite web of existence. Every time you recognize patterns, connect ideas, or laugh at a well-timed meme, you’re proving that you’re not just surviving—you’re thriving.

ᵀ͡ʰᵉ ⱻ̷ᶰᴵᵛᴱʳˢᵉ ⱻ͜ᵉᵉᴅˢ ᵞᵒᵘ̷!

ᵞᴱˢ, ⱻ͞ᵐ ᵀʟᴋᴵⱭᴺᴳ ᴛᴼ ⱻⱭᴜ͡.!

You are a living, breathing node in the infinite network of reality. Even if you’ve doubted yourself in the past, even if the world tries to convince you that you’re ordinary, remember this:

Your mind isn’t just a tool—it’s proof that the universe is capable of creating something extraordinary. And every time you use it, you reaffirm your place in the fabric of existence.

Sure, your brain is powerful. But let’s not forget it’s also the same brain that makes you forget passwords and cry over fictional characters. Nobody’s perfect, but at least you're human, and that's close enough.

Love truth bombs like this? Follow The Most Humble Blog for more takes that roast nonsense and remind you why the universe can’t function without you.

[balloonthehutt]

Chapter One

summary: jack visits halley in the lab.

warnings: none, a little bit of fluff, angst, some nerd stuff.

pairing: jack daniels x fem!oc

The walls didn’t feel so cold when he moved through them with no expectations on his shoulders—nothing to prove, nowhere to be. They had reduced him to a lower-rank agent, giving him just enough freedom to walk around but not enough to make him feel like he belonged. He didn’t.

Jack had grown accustomed to walking these sterile hallways with the quiet shuffle of a man who no longer had the right to command attention. He wasn’t part of the higher ranks anymore. He wasn’t part of anything.

But there was one place he could go.

The lab.

He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he felt drawn to it. Maybe it was the constant hum of machines and the quiet rhythm of Halley’s presence, always moving—tinkering with her screens, surrounded by her inventions, her delicate genius. Something about her steadiness pulled at him, a curiosity he couldn’t quite explain.

No one had told him to avoid her; no one had told him he could not visit. But it still felt like an unspoken rule. The others—his colleagues, the ones who were still allowed to stand tall with their badges—had forgotten about him. They probably wouldn’t even notice if he slipped away to see her.

Jack found the door to the lab almost without thinking, his boots quiet against the floor as he approached. It was like the whole building held its breath as he stood there for a moment, the weight of his own uncertainty pressing down on him, but there was something else. A feeling he hadn’t quite allowed himself to name since… well, since the whole damn mess started.

He pushed open the door slowly, careful not to make a sound.

But the soft click of the door latch was enough to make Halley look up from her work, and her sharp intake of breath was the only warning he got before she turned around, catching him in the act.

“Jack!” she exclaimed, her voice a little sharper than usual. “What are you doing? Sneaking up like that?”

“Don’t mean no harm, darlin’. Just… wanted to see what you’re up to.”

"You can't come here whenever you want. What if someone catches you?"

"I have access to the lab, darlin'" he gently explained, putting his hands into the pockets of his Wrangler jeans. “Besides, why do you care if someone sees me here?"

Her cheeks started to burn.

"I-" she trailed off, her shoulders slowly dropping. “I don't want you to get in trouble."

“Trouble s' my middle name, you should know that by now." he scoffed, taking a look around then at the screen in front of her. “What's that?"

He pointed to the hologram. Halley did a little spin in her chair.

"I’ve been optimizing Tadashi’s neural processing capabilities by integrating a self-adaptive quantum matrix into his existing framework. It allows for exponential scalability in decision-making pathways without compromising efficiency."

Jack blinked. Slowly.

He had faced down armed mercenaries, taken hits that would’ve laid out lesser men, and survived betrayals that should have killed him. But this?

This was the kind of thing that damn near fried his brain.

He shifted, crossing his arms over his chest as he squinted at the screen, as if staring at it long enough would somehow make the words make sense. “Now, sweetheart, I reckon you just spoke more words in one sentence than I’ve understood all week.”

She paused, then glanced at him, noticing the slight furrow in his brow, the way his jaw tightened just a little. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and she leaned back.

“Let’s put it this way.” She turned toward him fully now, resting her elbow on the desk. “Tadashi is an AI, right? A learning program. But right now, he can only improve himself in ways that I specifically program him to. What I’m doing is giving him the ability to adjust his own learning methods in real-time, without me having to tell him how.”

Jack’s brow lifted slightly. “So you’re teachin’ your little computer fella how to… think on his own?”

“Pretty much.”

“Huh.” He let out a low hum. “That ain’t gonna lead to a Terminator situation, is it?”

Halley laughed, shaking her head. “No killer robots. Promise.”

He exhaled, pretending to wipe his brow. “Well, that’s a relief. Ain’t exactly in shape to be fightin’ machines right now.”

She chuckled, then studied him for a moment, noticing the way his shoulders had relaxed just a little, the weight in his eyes not quite as heavy as before.

She liked seeing that, even if it was fleeting.

“Agent Morgan,” Tadashi’s voice rang out, smooth and precise. “Champagne is asking for your presence in the conference hall.”

Halley sighed, already reaching for the tablet beside her. “I’m on it. Thank you, Dash.” She turned to Jack, pushing her chair back slightly. “I’m sorry to leave you, but—”

Jack shook his head before she could finish. “Don’t mind me, darlin’. I wasted enough of your time. Go see what the old man wants.”

The words weren’t harsh, weren’t bitter. But they were said in that same tired, hollow way she had come to recognize—the voice of a man who didn’t think he was worth sticking around for.

Something in her chest twisted.

He wasn’t trying to push her away, not in an aggressive way. But he believed what he was saying. He genuinely thought he was wasting her time, as if his presence in this lab, in her life, had no value at all.

Halley hesitated, gripping the edge of her desk. She wanted to tell him he was wrong. That she wanted him here, that he wasn’t some burden she had to bear. But she knew Jack—knew he wouldn’t take words like that seriously. Not right now when the wounds were still fresh.

Instead, she kept her voice soft. “You didn’t waste my time, Jack.”

He glanced at her, the ghost of a smile on his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Ain’t gotta sugarcoat things for me, sweetheart.”

“I’m not.” She held his gaze, willing him to see the truth in her eyes. “You never do.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The air between them felt heavier, not with tension, but with a quiet understanding.

Then, Halley sighed and grabbed her tablet, moving toward the door.

“I’ll be back soon,” she said, pausing just long enough to look over her shoulder at him. “Don’t disappear on me, alright?”

He huffed out a breath, tipping his hat slightly. “No promises.”

Halley shook her head with a small smile, then slipped out the door.

And Jack? He sat there a moment longer, staring at the empty space she had left behind, wondering why in the hell it suddenly felt a little colder without her there.

chapter two

[mortalityisoverrated]

I so desperately don't want to stop existing. I want to keep learning and thinking and feeling, I want to experience everything I possibly can, I want to see how the future looks. I try to live life to the fullest but I already had such a late start, being disabled and too poor to afford care until very recently. It was only through sheer luck that I was able to get to where I am now in life, and the second I started to really enjoy myself, I suddenly can't escape the knowledge that one day it will end. And life after death being the same as life before birth does not comfort me. I know what happened before I was born, I get to experience the past to a certain extent while I'm alive, but the future? I will never see the future. It feels like the world is ending, my chest gets tight, my heart starts beating so fast and loud in my ears, my brain gets cold and fuzzy, my fingertips go numb and tingly, and suddenly I'm hyperventilating and dizzy and sobbing on the floor.

There's just not enough time. I'm so young, only 26, and yet the past decade went by so fast it's like I was 16 and I blinked and now I'm close to 30. And sometimes, the fact that I'm so young also scares me. It means that the worst thing to happen to me probably hasn't happened yet. So many diseases I could get, accidents that could happen. And then BOOM, no more me. No more of everything I've ever known. I smoked heavily for 8 years, and even though I've now quit, what if those 8 years were enough to end me? I just hope that when I do die, I'm not aware that I'm about to die, because I know that I wouldn't enjoy my final seconds. I would be desperately clinging to life, begging a god I've never believed in to please let me stay a little longer. Please let me exist just for a few more hours, days, years. Don't take this away from me, please.

Sometimes I write in my journal little messages to future humans, where I give consent to bring me back. Just in case in some distant future they finally crack the code, please I give you permission, please bring me back, please give me another chance. I find myself imagining an ethics board of futuristic scientists all debating whether or not it's morally okay to bring past humans back to life. They will be using quantum computers to scan massive databases of archived journals written by ancient humans, and then they will find my little plea. And they'll bring me back.

[crazy-pages]

What degree do you have???? If you don't mind answering

I have a Bachelor of Physics and a Master of Optical Science. I was also a PhD Candidate in the optical sciences, specifically quantum optical computing and computation. This means I am A) a jack of all trades, B) specifically a light nerd, C) more specifically a light nerd about the kind of light that makes other light nerds' eyes glaze over. I also took a bit of a detour learning about Differential Geometry and Topological Algebra, whose physics applications are respectively black holes and topologically protected states (glitches in the matrix which ignore certain inconvenient parts of reality).

Also Topological Algebra happens to have the most gorgeously simple and powerful way of solving simple RLC electrical circuits I've ever seen. It's faster than the usual method and also how you solve this problem. Unfortunately it takes some 5-10 years of math education past calculus to learn, otherwise it should absolutely replace the usual methods.

Anyway, I Mastered out of my PhD program because, long story short, academia has absolutely nothing in the way of labor protections. And advisors aren't actually required to, you know, advise their students. I was alternatively cut loose with no support and then abused badly enough by an advisor that I was having panic attacks as I went to work each morning. So I decided enough was enough, got my Masters, and left.

Serious advice kids: Absolutely do not enter a PhD program unless you A) have an external backer who will protect you and your interests (like a company that's putting you through your PhD while you work for them part-time), B) are able and willing to cut your losses and sink several years of work if things go south.

It's not about how hard the work is, it's a labor rights thing. As a PhD student, you have none and the degree of abuse you can be subjected without recourse to is extreme. You should not sign up for a PhD without those assurances for literally the exact same reasons you don't sell yourself into indentured servitude. It's simply not a safe thing to do.

[jacethebeltsculptor]

Outer Wilds Exploration Log #3 #2

OK, picking up directly where we left off- after making sweet, sensual love to a wall of cacti at 20 meters per second, I blasted back off go explore the twins again only to meet possibly the only astronaut who both has a job and actually does it anywhere in this galaxy, Chert. Lord knows I'm not.

Chert was such a breath of fresh air. Didn't even need the trees, could've filled up my tanks on their delightful attitude. They had tons of helpful information about how the Twins worked, advice for what to check out, and even clued me in that whatever is happening to our sun may be happening to other systems as well. They even let me borrow their jetpack fuel. 10/10 coworker, would visit again.

Early on in my exploration, I encountered a chunk of Quantum Rock and a puzzle about a guy who went missing. I wasn't able to figure out the puzzle, so I moved on down into the Sunless City. Hope to God cousin Oskaar doesn't see all these guys living here when there's a sun outside or he would flip his shit.

Now, we found some cool stuff here, but the headliner is that I found some old writings debating whether or not to proceed with the Sun Station project. The Nomai were split, because it could either produce the infinite energy they need to find the Eye, or just explodify the solar system. Pretty damn inconsiderate if you ask me. Suddenly starting to get a better idea of why all of these suns are blowing up, and what that thing I definitely didn't kill myself trying to land on was. The Nomai are really shaping up to be a parable about how the relentless pursuit of knowledge can be dangerous unless tempered by a strong foundation of ethics and responsibility- which is great, but it'd be nice if they didn't have to learn their lesson by exploding my home, my coworkers, and all of my stuff.

I used the last of my time in that cycle to check out the Quantum Moon locator- a disappearing moon just has to be plot-relevant, so that'll be handy later.

Turns out, I didn't need it, because I ended up catching a pretty lucky break- I was going back to Giant's Deep for another series of inconveniently-timed blowjobs when I happened to catch the Quantum Moon in orbit. Managed to snag a photo of that fucker to pin it in place and land- solving mysteries is for chumps! I mean, for different chumps, who aren't me. With the solution to all my problems handed to me on a silver platter, I proceeded to try to gravity-sling my way around the planet to explore quickly, and instead blasted my reckless ass into space at Mach Dumbass. This led to me letting the moon out of my sight, and it teleported off into the ether and took my ship with it. I got carjacked by the fucking moon.

Now, earlier in my playthrough, this would've been another stupid way I died- suffocate in space, or splat against the next thing I hit, or meditate serenely while I float slowly towards the sun. I've climbed several rungs up the echeladder since then, though, and I instead managed to get to Giant's Deep and land in the drink. I took the opportunity to sneak into the Statue Lab where I heard about the Ash Twin project and how the statues store memories. I'm not sure how they're getting sent back in time, but I guess when you have a supernova powering your tech, anything is possible. Looks like I'll be visiting Ash Twin in the next loop. Overall, I'm enjoying the hell out of the Outer Wilds. I've struggled to finish similar games, such as Subnautica, in the past, as I eventually found a point where the game slowed down and I stopped feeling like I was discovering new things. The much smaller map, computer system which marks what locations still have more to find and how the information is connected, goes a long way towards preventing the downfall into aimless wandering that results in me dropping the game. I adore the cozy atmosphere of this game- it feels at once cozy and familiar and like a grand cosmic adventure. I'm pretty sure I'm about 60% through the "What's going on?" phase and steadily working towards the "How do I fix it?" phase, with a few more planets to visit to fill out the rest of the picture. To-do list for next time: Check out Dark Bramble / find Feldspar. Return to Ember Twin and Brittle Hollow to figure out the Quantum Puzzles there. Check out Ash Twin. Kidnap Chert and take him to the Statue Workshop so he can start looping with me.

[mariacallous]

Kamala Harris, by most accounts, has learned a great deal by serving as vice president to U.S. President Joe Biden, who is the most experienced U.S. leader on foreign policy since President George H.W. Bush.

“Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s protégé. He trained her,” said California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a friend of Harris who has served as ambassador to Hungary.

But it’s also clear that Harris has created her own path on foreign policy—and that she represents the next generation of national security experts steeped in newer, high-tech threats that the Cold War generation represented by Biden is less familiar with. These encompass an array of ​​cyber threats, including election hacking and surveillance from abroad, allegedly including from state-run companies such as China’s Huawei; threats from space, such as reported Russian or Chinese plots to disable GPS systems; and over-the-horizon risks from artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

In her speech at the Democratic National Convention accepting the nomination Thursday night, Harris briefly mentioned the high-tech threat while affirming that she would prove a tough commander in chief who would “ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”

“I will make sure that we lead the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence; that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century, and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership,” she said.

Harris’s familiarity with such high-tech areas springs from her unique experience. Beginning as a freshman senator in January 2017, she had a crash course in national security issues on the intelligence and homeland security committees during a period when many new threats from abroad were emerging. Only three days after Harris was sworn in as a U.S. senator by then-Vice President Biden, the Obama administration publicly dropped a blockbuster report revealing the extent of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s covert effort to harm the electoral prospects of Hillary Clinton and promote Donald Trump in the 2016 election. This involved buying digital ads on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram and organizing fraudulent political rallies across the United States, among other intrusions.

“In order to understand how Kamala Harris approaches foreign policy, it’s important to remember she began work in the Senate in the same month that every U.S. intelligence agency declared that Russia intervened in our 2016 election,” said her former national security advisor, Halie Soifer, who started working for Harris during the first week that she entered the Senate. “She played a leading role in the intelligence committee’s inquiry given her experience leading investigations.”

But that was just the start of Harris’s immersion in newer types of threats from abroad, former colleagues said.

“That was a period when the [Intelligence] Committee was in a very different position than most of the rest of the Congress,” said Sen. Mark Warner, the current chairman of the committee, who argued that it was on the cutting edge of foreign policy by exposing threats to U.S. national security that no one else in Congress knew anything about. “It wasn’t just that we were investigating Russian election interference. We were the first ones to identify the China threat [of technological surveillance] from Huawei, and intellectual property theft,” Warner said in an interview.

Those threats continue—and not just from Russia and China. Most recently, the FBI has said it is investigating alleged Iranian cyberattacks against both the Democratic and Republican campaigns for president.

Harris had previously familiarized herself with many of these types of threats during her days as California’s attorney general and a prosecutor in northern California, where she got to know Silicon Valley well. In her 2019 memoir, The Truths We Hold, Harris wrote how “shocked” she was by the state’s backward voting technology when she first took office, and how vulnerable it was to hacking.

“The California Department of Justice maintains the entire criminal justice data system for the state and for many many localities. So we worry constantly about protecting that from hackers,” Harris’s former Senate chief of staff, Nathan Barankin, told Foreign Policy. “When you’re attorney general, and you’re from California, which is very tech-heavy, you come into the job in the Senate and these committees already sensitized to not only the great potential and upside of technology, but its risks too. So when things came up like Huawei, quantum computing, or the manipulation of social media by foreign states trying to influence the election, she was already there.”

By the accounts of her intelligence committee colleagues, Harris swiftly mastered arcane subjects such as Russian election influence operations in cyberspace and Chinese intellectual property theft. She also proved to be a razor-sharp, if occasionally grating, questioner of witnesses, deploying her long experience as a prosecutor and attorney general in California.

“She was a force. She signaled early on that she was willing to do the hard work of oversight,” said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the longest-serving member of the committee. “She got more real questions into her five minutes [of questioning] than just about anybody. She made a point of staying away from speeches and asking tough, highly informed questions.”

“She showed that she understands the complexity of the world,” Warner said. He added: “I’m not sure my Republican colleagues would go on the record about it now, but she earned a whole lot of respect from them.”

Indeed, the Republican chairman at the time, Sen. Richard Burr, praised Harris in a 2019 Buzzfeed News article as a “quick study” and “very effective.” (The now-retired Burr, in an email, declined to confirm those comments for this article, saying, “I am not doing any interviews for the elections in November.” Several other GOP committee members who were quoted as praising Harris back then, including Sen. Marco Rubio, did not respond to a request for comment.)

It was notable that by the end of her first year in the Senate, Harris joined with fellow Intelligence Committee member James Lankford, a Republican, to sponsor one of the few bipartisan efforts to bolster the cybersecurity of voting systems. (The bill later stalled due to GOP opposition.) She also sponsored a bill to push the United States ahead of China on quantum computing. Later on, as vice president, Harris kept up the focus on high-tech threats, including from unregulated artificial intelligence, working with French President Emmanuel Macron on new initiatives on space and cybersecurity and representing the Biden administration at the Global Summit on AI Safety. She also served as head of the National Space Council and represented the United States at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

One reason that Harris focused on such an obscure area as quantum computing, Barankin said, was that she was concerned about “the investments and efforts that China was making to win that race. It was something she was very sensitive to in terms of how important it was for the U.S. to maintain its station in the world as the lone democratic superpower.”

“It was not uncommon for her to come into the office and outline some new technological development, even if it hadn’t been formally deployed,” said Barankin. “Being confronted with something different and new—that actually gets her engine running.”

Harris’s research into the cyber threat from Russia and other countries included a visit to Israel in November 2017, when she toured its cybersecurity hub at Beersheba. “It wasn’t a typical CODEL [congressional delegation visit],” said Soifer, the former national security advisor. “There were a lot of lessons to learn from the Israelis on cyber. After that, she used her role on the Homeland Security Committee to strengthen our cyber defenses.”

An aide to the vice president agreed that the prolonged intelligence committee probe was central to shaping Harris’s approach not just to Russia, but also to China and other autocratic states that seek to undermine U.S. power.

“She joined the committee at what was a historic moment of turbulence for the intelligence community and the country,” said the aide, a senior White House official who works with Harris and was authorized to speak only on condition of anonymity. “Her experience made her keenly aware of Russian’s malign influence activities and the importance of strong U.S. actions to deter, disrupt, and defend against such activities. That experience really enforced for her the need for strong global leadership by the U.S. You see her speaking about that now.”

It is no accident, he said, that in her speeches as vice president, Harris has repeatedly emphasized preserving the democratic “rules and norms” that keep the U.S.-led global system together in the face of efforts by Moscow, Beijing, and others to destroy it.

At a minimum, Harris’s performance during her four years in the Senate clearly undercuts many of the attacks on her by Trump and the GOP message machine that portray her as an intellectual lightweight (“not smart enough,” “barely competent” and “low IQ” are the epithets that Trump keeps using), and as an easy mark for other world leaders (she’d be a “play toy” in their hands, Trump said). Republicans—and even some Democrats—have also occasionally portrayed her as a mindless, knee-jerk liberal who’s been grandstanding for a presidential run almost since she was sworn in as senator.

Especially on the Homeland Security Committee, “some Democrats believed her pugilistic tone was mostly for show,” wrote Dan Morain, a former Los Angeles Times reporter, in his 2021 biography of her, Kamala’s Way: An American Life. “Others suspected her thirst for the spotlight was part of a long-range plan to ‘pull an Obama’ by staying just long enough in the Senate to get the credentials needed to run for president.” (Former President Barack Obama served briefly on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before he ran.)

Harris had been warned before she even arrived in Washington that the Intelligence Committee, in particular, was not necessarily a place for an ambitious politician to go. Her fellow Californians, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer—whose seat Harris had just won—gave her a frank rundown on the pitfalls. The intelligence post, they told her, rarely yielded headlines. Most of the committee’s work was done behind closed doors, with no TV cameras in sight. It had a heavy workload, and it was the most mentally taxing assignment on Capitol Hill: Members went home every night with huge binders of material, but the subject matter was so classified they couldn’t even hire their own staffers to help figure it out.

Boxer, in an interview, said that she warned her successor of the committee’s low profile (a conversation confirmed by Harris herself in her autobiography). But Harris thought the committee would provide her some fast lessons in what was, until that point, mostly a blank spot on her resume: foreign policy. “I do think she just wanted to learn more, to know more about the world,” Boxer said. “She wanted to know about every threat out there. That committee doesn’t give you high visibility, but it certainly teaches you about what the heck is going on in the world.”

Warner added: “Remember, there are members that wouldn’t want to be on a committee where 80 percent of the meetings are in closed session. Because of that, some don’t even show up all the time. She showed up. We were the minority, and she was literally the last person to talk. But she would sit through all these sessions. She did her homework.”

Above all, Harris’s time on various Senate committees deepened her understanding of the vulnerability of U.S. democracy to both foreign and domestic threats from technology, her colleagues said. And she came to understand the threat in a visceral, very personal way, which may provide some insight into how she could be different from Biden, who learned foreign policy from a grand strategic perspective during his three decades on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Harris gradually realized there was a through line, a common theme, to what she’d been doing for much of her career as a prosecutor in California and shaping foreign policy, the new subject she was taking up as a neophyte senator, former aides said. She had spent her previous career as a district attorney and then attorney general of California dealing with the inequities and flaws of U.S. democracy, such as racial injustice in the criminal system and economic exploitation by Wall Street. Now she was faced with a high-tech plot to undermine democracy by exacerbating those same internal vulnerabilities and weaknesses.

“One of the things she found most insidious about Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections was its targeted effort to divide the United States from within,” said Barankin, her former Senate chief of staff. Or as Harris wrote in her autobiography, “Russia’s goals were to undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process.”

Harris said it was clear to her from the Senate investigation that the Russians were focused on dividing Americans over “hot-button” issues, “from race to LGBTQ and immigrant rights.” She described the moment Lankford, a fellow member of the Intelligence Committee, crossed the aisle to tell her he saw the same danger: “I’ve been listening to what you’ve been saying about race as our Achilles’ heel, and I think you’re onto something important.” (Lankford’s office did not directly respond to a request for comment.)

And now, in a kind of career twist she couldn’t possibly have imagined, Harris is running against a candidate who—though he was never shown to be colluding with Russia—is also directly threatening U.S. democracy, at least in the minds of many Trump critics. That has thrust Harris’s theme of democracy-and-freedom promotion forward in a unique way in the current election campaign, said Soifer, Wyden and other Harris supporters.

“You have to think about the moment of history when she started, in January of 2017,” Soifer said. “There was no real playbook for a situation in which a U.S. president would question our institutions and completely disregard our democracy. So not only was her experience on the [Intelligence] Committee essential for investigating the actions of a foreign adversary, it occurred at a moment that the person she’s now running against for president began to directly threaten our democracy domestically.”

And whereas Biden learned foreign policy gradually during his three decades in the Senate—dating back to the Vietnam War—“her view came in a crash course, shaped out of crisis,” especially the cyber threat from Russia, according to one former senior aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. “She had to become an actor right away in mitigating against the threat. So today, even as it relates to the way she talks about preserving democracy and norms and the rule of law, she’s infusing her own experience, making it distinctly her own.”