luciferchrist

good stuff source I found it quite helpfull, as I have so little time and so much to do all the time.

Imagine that, you are the first person I have met that shares this interest. This profession is very small, and I am quite sure that if you choose to enter this field we will meet some day, either through lectures or research. I am quite the proactive person, and where ever this technologies epicenter seems to be - I will flock to that area to indulge myself in the available information. I am fully convince the potential exists to take the advantages of man and machine and create a stronger organism. The first biomachine is just over the horizon IMO. To bad we will probably be dead by the time all the really interesting events in this field start taking place, such as the consequences of developing the technologies.

please share your experiances. I have a meeting with the president of student organizations tommorow to discuss this. thank you

I have decided on what I feel will be the correct course of action. I will be helping my roomate get on the Council. I have thought about it and realized this would annoy me more than anything. I want to have impenetrable defenses to my beliefs, and my knowledge is no where near that level yet. So I will instead lead her campaign by spreading fliers, taking petitions, etc. I need to start being politically active, so I will start participating in city council meeting. I will initially observe, but I will slowly began constructing arguments to proposals I oppose. I will do this with facts, logic, and rhetoric. I will also be reading the Objectivism political ideology extensively, as I feel I have a lot to learn from Objectivism. Thank you for all the idea!

thanks for the reply, I will definetely check that book out. I also plan on focusing most of my energy on Objectivism. I believe the best way to tackle this is to read OPAR while reading the other material. That way I can connect ideas and see how they relate to Objectivism. I will be reading Pirsig's book regardless, as it has certain sentimental values to me. It makes me happy to see me father happy, because for a long-time he was depressed that his children all "failed." My mother and stepfather brainwashed me and my brothers to believe my father was evil. Later I found out he lived out of his van so he could afford the child support my stepfather was using to support his drug habbit. When I ended up in jail, and my brothers were following the same path, I realized how much pain we put him in, and I want him to die a happy man. Now I do whatever I can to make sure he will live the rest of his life with a strong, relationship with his children. You see, even though I don't share his enthusiasm with that book, he found it helpful when he was living in a world of shit, so I would at least like to see how it helped him. My degree program will not be focusing on computer and brain analogy's. I am focusing on designing very efficient computer/human interfaces. It is now common knowledge that neurons and silicon chips can interact back and forth with eachother (See Fromherz's research from the Max Planck Institute). My primary goal in this degree is to see the relationship to which we can connect biological systems with electronic systems. Here is the program if you are interested http://www.cogsci.rpi.edu/minds_machines/ BurgessLau: I will make sure I order through this website

Has anyone read this book? It is suggested reading in the curriculum I will be entering next year, so I want to get a start on it. Each semester I like to read several books and connect ideas I learn from the books with course material. I am about to order my personal reading material from amazon, and I would like to see what books you all recommend (they don't need to be Objectivism). So far I am getting: OPAR Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (My father has been telling me to read this book for years, I might as well check it out) Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid I am taking a double major next year in a program called Minds and Machines. The program entails one study area for the mind (I am doing psychology with an emphasis on neuroscience), and one area of study for the Machines part (I am doing electrical engineering). I will be very gracious for any books you can suggest that would corroborate well with my areas of interest. thanks!

I can't see how you can really compare the two. They lived in two different times, and had completely different information to use to actually create their accomplishments. Both obviously worked very hard, although if I had to pick one I would go with Newton, as I believe he would have surpassed Einstein's accomplishments if he had the information avialable to him as Einsteins did - although you can only speculate this.

Talk to people who have gone to fullsail. I have heard more bad then good things about it. Go to www.futureproducers.com and search for fullsail in the forums. Several people there have actually gone to Fullsail and have said it was not worth any of the money, also I don't think the degree is considered a degree at any college - meaning if you want to go back to school you can't use your Fullsail degree for credits.

IMO your academic credentials in your field are meanigless if your engineering isn't on point. My advice is to at least get pro tools certified. This will come in handy if you do freelance engineering, as many producers use pro tools. Being able to work on a pro tools TDM system would be quite helpful I would imagine. In the music world the qaulity of your final product will be judged, not your credentials. Your work will get spread by word of mouth, and you will get costumers if you are able to excell in your field. My advice is to practice, practice, practice. An engineer who can write, and produce is very marketable. Learn the ins and outs of music. See how everything fits together to create sonic masterpieces that brings tears to eyes.

I'm glad I can help. I wish you very well on your endeavors and hope your musical training is fufilling as mine is. You will find the dedication pays off in more areas than music alone. I must say, I am relatively new to this site, but the Objectivist philosophy is really starting to grow on me. I used to be fantasized with mysticism, but since I started reading Rand several months ago my concepts of life have drastically changed. I though I even found flaws in Objectivism, but as I read more about it, I become more aware that the "flaws" I found were only misunderstandings on my part.

I am going to stay on the path I am on. Every once in a while I will question this path, but my mind always seems to end up rationalizing it as being the best one. I am going to finish up my associates in math and sciences, and hopefully graduate magna sum laude and get a scholarship to RPI. At this point I will take on a double major in a degree program called mind and machines (http://www.cogsci.rpi.edu/minds_machines/). I love music, and I feel the appreciation I have for it comes from the limited time I have playing it. I have a very structured practice routine that ensures I am always improving. I look at my life in 10 years and I see a large basement converted into a study area where I can make music as loud as I want, research and contemplate new ideas in neurotechnology, and lift wieghts. I see myself working at my own convience (which will probably be all day, every day) on whatever problem currently has my interest. This is my ideal life. So my perfect life is to expand my mental and physical as much as possible. I love seeing myself improve. I admire skill, as skill develops through thousands of hours of intense deliberate practice. Dedication should have its rewards, and for me the reward would be living a life where I can propose and idea, and then I am given time to work on it in a semi-private environment at my own, structured pace. Thank you for the posts, the articles really helped.

I am quite confused at this point in my life. I several roads I could possible travel, although two appeal to me more then the others. I am fascinated by so many things in life, and my current belief system tells me I only get one chance to live, and that's it. So I have about 60 years to cover as much as possible. I am currently on the road to pursue a career in neurotechnology. I am quite convinced that this will be a very viable field over the next couple decades. I have seen numerous research that is telling me we will soon have direct human/computer interfaces, and I am very interested in pursuing an electrical engineering/ neuroscience degree. Now here is the other side: I love making music. I admire skill more than anything, and I love seeing myself progress day by day with each practice session. My music teacher is fully convinced if I went to school for music composition I would do incredibaly well. I know I won't make anywhere near as much money as I would creating a neurotechnology company, but my life will be as fufilling, if not more. I can't really decide which would make me more happier, as I am so fascinated by both domains. Our attention is limited and I want to give the domain I pick 100% of my attention. I want to spend all day every day pursuing both domains, but I obviously can't. So tell me, how does an Objectivist pick a career?

thank you, and I have read The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. I am actually quite happy working all the time. I have a great deal of passion for being as physically and mentally strong as possible. I need to work 40 hours a week at least, and I need a full-time school schedule. I have chosen to get rid of a social life because I have no time for it. I spend all my spare time working out, making music, or researching neurotechnology so I can obtain a summer research project studying interfaces between neurons and silicon chips after I finish up my associates. So I guess my own hierarchy of values has placed my work at the top, and when I am not working I am most likely practicing the guitar or piano. I can spend the next 8 years doing this so I can spend the rest of my life with friends, and play. Thanks for the posts, this gave me an idea for another post about something that has bothering me for a while. BTW, sorry for not capitalizing Objectivism. I have a great deal of respect for Ayn Rand, and her accomplishments throughout life. I will make sure I do so for now on.

I see the connection between all interests groups and how they operate, I was just showing an example of this particular case. I didn't mean to paint the picture of this happening in all cases. I know I have alot to learn, but I really can't sit by and watch this plan happen. They are trying to close all the stores, they are just starting off small so they don't piss off to many people. After they close the stores they want to start closing the bars and clubs. They have a whole plan that will go into effect if someone doesn't do something about it. I don't go to the bar or eat pizza, but I want every one else to have the right to do these things, and I want the owners to have the right to make a living. They say it is to decrease crime, yet the only time I see police officers on the block is during the day time when all the business leaders are out. At night, when the crackheads, hookers, and drug dealers are on the block I rarely see officers out. A couple weekends ago they were doing registration checks about 40 feet down the street as I walked out of my apartment to see the local crackdealers serving a crackhead. I can't sit by and watch all this happen anymore. I don't care if I am just starting out and I am inexperianced. I can't do any worse than they are doing. They will not listen to us no matter how many signatures we recieve from the cities constituents, thus we have to get on the city council. I don't see any other option.

I am focusing on ideas, and their ideas appeal to their special interests groups, not what's right. You obviously see the connection, but you don't make a big deal out of it because you are accustomed to believing it has happened, and will continued to happen as the bolded line in your statement tells me. This is not my home town, I have actually lived in about 15 towns across the US, I have, however, been living here since I rearranged my life. The race and age are being used to show who the special interest group is in this case. So I would say it has everything to do with it. It is wrong, regardless of how long it has happened, and how long it will continue to happen, I want it stopped. I will read into this tonight, but I believe representatives have failed to do their jobs by representing the principles they are being elected on. I do not plan on neccesarily doing what the masses want in any case. Let's say they want to enact legislation that wants anyone residents who parks on the streets over night to pay a parking fee. Then being that this is immoral, I would not vote for it. So I suppose you are right, a direct democracy is not what I should do, but as a representative I should at least take into serious consideration what the people want. This is something the current representatives are not even doing. They made it clear to my roomates their minds were made up regardless of her petitions with 2000 signatures not to do it. I have spent 4 years improving my record. I was released with youthfull offender status meaning my record is now clear. If my past is brought up I will, however, accept the consequences of my actions, not matter how misguided I was at the time.

I will check it out while I am at the library this weekend. Thanks.

you are right, but please convince me how this would be possible and how we could convince the masses this is right. Does anyone here have any good links on Objectivist political ideology? I am starting to think me view of what Objectivists believe is warped, so I would appreciate a good primer. Thanks

lol, now I see why you have the wrong impression of my use of the term "rich". I was using it to describe demographics. I admire people who have earned money, and I am disgusted in the progressive tax laws that wish to steal these people’s money and redistribute it to other groups. I will be in a position of wealth like that some day, which I will earn because I have disposed of a social life so I can spend all time studying and working. I was a looter years ago. I believed I was entitled to other people’s property, I sold drugs, and I dropped out of high school in 10th grade for a career as thief. I finally realized, as I was sitting in jail and my grandmother died, that my life was worthless. She believed in me so much, and I not only failed myself, I failed her. I will not let myself or another family member leave without seeing me do the best I possibly can. So I got my GED, took remedial courses in college until I got into college level courses. My worst subject in high school was math. I know have a 4.0 and I am getting my first degree in math and science, and I will go to school until I have a doctorate in neuroscience. I am the happiest I have ever been, even though I don't do drugs, get drunk, party, or make allot of money. I won't even steal a pen from my work as I believe my rich bosses are entitled to every last penny they have earned. I am sorry if I am giving all of you the wrong impression here. As I have said in previous posts, my social skills are severely lacking due to my lack of interaction with people, that is another reason for my interest in politics at this point. It will force me to develop the skills I will need down the road when I have my own company, or I need to address research to many people. My interest in politics is more selfish then anything. I am not sorry for trying to pursue something people here don't agree with on reasons people here don't agree with. I am not a libertarian. I am not affiliated with any political party. I am studying objectivism. There are still things that need to be ironed out before I am entirely convinced, but the information here is quite useful. I have read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, what do you recommend I read next? I read a paper a while ago where a marketer did research on what kind of words draw peoples curiosity. He found out that odd combinations that seem contradictory draw people’s interest the most, such as “healthy disease”. Hence, I came up with Luciferchrist. I think it looks rather interesting pairing the two together, don’t you think?

I want a government whose sole duty is protect individual rights, and would not impose its elected representatives beliefs on the citizens. This would include not imposing my beliefs on the people. I would suggest my alternative, but if people decide it is not what they want I will not force them to live by my own standards and beliefs. Elected representatives in this district now, as well as the past, have failed to operate by the platforms that have gotten them elected. Years back the council members said they would not raise taxes, and they did anyways. Guess what’s going to happen if they continue making these laws that close stores? The stores will loose revenues, and thus the city will loose revenue forcing them to raise taxes even more. How is one to trust the elected representatives to do as they say? I certainly don’t, and the only solution I see is a direct democracy. If you have a better alternative, convince me. I am very open-minded and my beliefs change constantly as I come across new information that I feel is more on point than my current beliefs. I’m sorry; perhaps that was bad phrasing on my behalf. How about this: The average voter here is a white male in his late thirties. By the platforms elected representatives have gone by currently, and in the past, I have reasoned that they are fundamentalist. Maybe I should destroy the concept in my mind of the typical fundamentalist as being an older, and rich white male. The Council members do fit this profile however, as they are about 40, white, and live in very nice neighborhoods outside of Troy (my roommate visited all of their houses to deliver the petitions they claimed they never received.) You will find I am a very open-minded person, and if someone convinces me my beliefs are wrong then my beliefs will change. I do not dismiss contradictory evidence to my beliefs. I observe and if I feel the new information is right, I replace the old information with it. At this point, I see no other way to create the connections I need down the road then to get the majority on my side. I know Objectivism is not Libertarianism, but most people do not separate the two. I do not see how such an approach will get me in the position I need to be in to do any good what so ever. If you still think I am wrong, fine, but I am a very ambitious person and I work my ass off to accomplish what I believe is right. Even if you do not help me and every person I seek ideas from looks me over as being a young, ignorant, inexperienced fool I will succeed. Even if I fail again and again I will not give up. I can only see two ways to create a truly free society: 1.) Revolution, which I don’t think anyone here agrees with 2.) A gradual passage of laws (or dismissal of) that gradually eases the population into believing that a free-society can operate. Trying to push this into the public will only receive strong opposition from the media, government, and the masses. People need to gradually accept and believe such radical ideas. They will not accept an entirely new belief system over night. The government will not allow it. So the only possible answer I see is to start creating networks of like-minded people who can silently change the course the government is on. Will do see my thread on emotions in the science section, which I still haven’t receive a satisfactory answer on.

I have alot of ground to cover before I start getting into politics? So I should continue to let this draconian laws pass? They plan on enacting these laws one by one until they close all the bars and clubs around here, impose a district wide curfew, and increase fines for all district wide violations. Okay so I will sit by and let this continue and not do anything about it, happy?

Well last night the district city council passed an immoral law against the will of it's constituents. My roomate obtained over 2000 signatures of Troy residents who opposed this law, and the council still passed it. The law was that all convience stores will close between the hours of 12 and 5 am. Meanwhile the gas stations and supermarkets can stay open all night. This law discriminates against the arab americans who operate these stores, many of whom I am friends with, and whom are working long, hard hours so they can bring their families to America. We live in country where the majority decides what's right for the majority. Despite my disagreement with such ideology, that is what this country was founded on, and how we are "supposed" to operate. Last night a group of 9 people decided what's right for over 7000 people. It has come to my attention that it only takes 800 votes for a city council member to win (on average) and the average voter is 36 years old. Young adults do not vote because they think their opinion doesn't matter. Well it is time to change that. My roomate, myself, and a third person will be running together. We are developing a new polling system where we go out and ask the normal Troy resident what they think is best when major decisions are being taken place. We will then make our decisions on what the people want, not what we want. I will go to my college (which is a community college), and create flyers that will target the students. I think this will get people to vote, as they will be seeing their peers in office making decisions for the majority as opposed to old rich fundamentalists making decisions for their political career. It is time to see political change, and I know we can easily win this election, despite being a 21 year old college student with know political experiance. These council members are incompetent. They lied about so many things last night. My roomate tried to contact them several times, and delivered copies of petitions to all their houses. They denied every recieving them. They also denied recieving her emails, which was funny because she didn't even bring up the fact that she sent them emails. A couple years ago at an open forum they all said they would not raise taxes if they were elected. Guess what...THEY RAISED TAXES! I have alot of ammunition against them, and I am thinking about crafting a carefully constructed straw man argument to really get people riled up against the way our city is being ran. I would love to hear campaign ideas from objectivists. Even though I disagree with some parts of the objectivist philosophy, I believe your political ideology is right on. So I ask of you all, what do you suggest we do in regards to creative campaiging? Thanks, Jiah

your welcome Every once in a while just take a step back, program a beat, and just jam over it. You will see ideas beginning to connect. Learn some licks and put them to use. A little advice: you can improvise at this point if you know scales and have progressions made up in your head. I'll tell you what, tell me a song you like playing that you feel is relatively musically simple, and I will give you a little advice on improvisation. You can take it to PM's if you don't want to hijack your thread. I don't smoke weed all the time either. I usually only get to smoke on the weekends. Like I said, it helps me get ideas, but I usually elaborate on those ideas when I am straight.

The brain is organized to process emotions with logic you say? http://www.psychologytoday.com/htdocs/prod...0218-000004.asp hen it comes to higher mental abilities, man does not govern by logical thought alone. Instead, research suggests that moods help regulate specific tasks performed by the lateral prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain critical to reasoning and intelligence. "The brain is organized to process emotions along with logic," states Richard Restak, M.D., a psychiatrist and professor of neurology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Restak's book Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot provides 28 tips on strengthening mental acuity and, when necessary, turning emotion to one's advantage. A new study, conducted at Washington University (WU) in St. Louis, shows more specifically how emotions and learning interact. Subjects viewed pleasant, neutral or anxiety-inducing video clips, then performed cognitive tasks while their brain activity was monitored by functional magnetic resonance imaging. The results, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that emotional states such as enjoyment and anticipation augment tasks executed by the left prefrontal cortex, while negative emotions, including fear and anxiety, enhance tasks processed by the right prefontal cortex. "This is the first study to show that specific brain regions mediate interactions between emotional states and cognition," says Todd Braver, Ph.D., a WU psychology professor. Co-author Jeremy Gray, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at WU, agrees. "It's not simply that emotion 'hijacks' cognition but that emotions both enhance and impair higher cognition in very specific ways," Gray explains. "To understand how a particular emotion influences performance, you have to take into account the type of task in question. Our results show that the brain takes this into account." Because anxiety enhances visual and spatial performance, subjects who viewed a clip from the horror film Halloween scored 25 percent better on tests of face recognition (regulated by the right hemisphere), than did subjects who watched comedies. Viewing comedies, however, led to a 25 percent improvement in verbal performance. Susceptibility to positive or negative moods can also impact tasks regulated by the lateral prefrontal cortex, according to the study. Those results will be published in Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience. Even though emotion enhances certain types of learning, Restak subscribes to the precept of "mental hygiene," or keeping one's emotions in check. "Don't pay too much attention to your feelings," he advises. "If I only wrote when I felt like it, I'd have two books written." Restak has in fact penned 13.

hmmm maybe emotions are more important then we think? http://www.psychologytoday.com/htdocs/prod...0101-000006.ASP EXPRESSION If you think keeping your head requires keeping your cool, think again. New research suggests that suppressing emotions may actually hamper your memory. In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Jane Richards, Ph.D., of the University of Washington and James Gross, Ph.D., of Stanford University, showed participants a film depicting a married couple arguing heatedly. They asked half the subjects to hide their emotions during the viewing, and while both groups later described similar emotional experiences, those who hid their feelings remembered far less. Next, the researchers looked again at expressive suppression, or hiding emotions, and at reappraisal, or consciously construing negative stimuli as neutral or even positive. Subjects viewed slides of injured accident victims and were told personal information about each. One-third of the subjects were asked to conceal their emotions, another third were told to view the slides with neutral detachment, while the remainder had no special Instructions. The results showed that participants who suppressed their emotions recalled fewer details than the other participants. Richards suggests that hiding emotions requires continuous self-monitoring, tapping mental resources critical in forming memories. But defusing emotions at the outset appears to help people pay closer attention. These findings hold important implications, especially when both emotions and stakes are high, such as in the courtroom. "Expressive suppression on the part of jurors--as they attempt to appear calm in front of an entire courtroom--may drain cognitive resources that are critical for evaluating and remembering instructions and testimony."

what do you think of this? http://www.psychologytoday.com/htdocs/prod...1101-000001.ASP FEELING AND REASON Many of history's enlightened sages, from Descartes to our mothers, have dispensed the following wisdom to those of us trying to resolve an exasperating dilemma: "Calm down." The suggestion stems, of course, from the idea that emotion interferes with rational thinking. But some scientists now think that emotion and reason may be inextricably linked within our brains, so that logical decision making, particularly in social situations, might be impossible without a dollop of feelings. An intriguing bit of evidence: the case of Phineas Gage. Two remarkable things happened to Phineas in fall, 1848. The first was that a tamping iron, 43 inches long, one inch in diameter, pierced his brain in a construction explosion. The tapered metal rod tore through his left cheek, exited via the top of his skull, and landed more than a hundred feet away. The other remarkable thing? Phineas survived. Although his wound healed, our hero was a changed man. According to one acquaintance, Phineas had been a "shrewd, smart businessman, very energetic and persistent." The new Phineas, however, couldn't keep a decent job and reneged on commitments. His formidable intelligence remained intact, yet he now seemed oblivious to social conventions, swearing so vigorously women were advised to avoid his company. More than a century later, a team of scientists thinks it understands Phineas's transformation. Armed with X rays of Phineas's skull and a battery of computers, the neurodetectives recreated on-line the tamping iron's gruesome journey through Phineas's brain. Their conclusion: The rod wreaked havoc on Phineas's prefrontal cortex. According to University of Iowa neurologist Antonio Damasio, M.D., injury to this region of his brain "compromised Phineas's ability to conduct himself according to the social rules he previously had learned, to decide on the course of action that ultimately would be most advantageous to his survival, and to plan for the future." Damasio, in Descartes' Error (Grosset/Putnam), says Phineas's behavior after the accident mirrors that of patients who suffer prefrontal damage from tumors. Their intellect, memory, and language skills are unchanged, but their ability to make social decisions is impaired and their emotion-processing machinery malfunctions or shuts down. The implication, says Damasio, is that reason and emotion are strange but inseparable bedfellows.