OPPOSITES ATTRACT!
Graduation and
worries
Wouldn’t you think the people with the highest graduation rate are the happiest?
No, quite the opposite. They worry more about the future than those with lower
graduation rates (Globe, 26 June). Here is how researchers explain the
phenomenon: the achievers are more stressed out because they lack emotional
intelligence. I think I’ll go with Bertrand
Russell’s explanation: “The stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of
doubt.”
Boring is beautiful, according to a
headline in the Globe, 26 June. Montrealers have had enough excitement, what
with two mayors felled by corruption scandals. They like their new (interim)
mayor, Laurent Blanchard. He is colourless and boring, and he promises
integrity and stability, adding “I don’t think Montrealers want more than that
for four months.” Huh? After four months they want bunga-bunga, or what? Oh, I
see: the interim mayor will only stay on until the elections in November, and
as another francophone famously said, Apres moi le deluge. That’s 18th
century French for What,me worry?
Give and take. In the case of a
Toronto charity called Opportunities for
the Disabled, it’s more take than give: 500 Million in yearly revenues
versus 2 documented recipients in Toronto (67 in British Columbia). Executive director Sean Stone has now moved
his operation to the East Coast but, according to Metro, 16 June, he “couldn’t
provide proof of any good works” there. Will his next move be to Ecuador? I
hear it’s a great country for asylum seekers.
Surveillance and sousveillance (no, not a typo).
You’ve read about the US surveillance scandal? My advice: equip yourself with
augmediated vision (no, not a typo either -- another word brought to you by the
amazing IT wordsmiths). Augmediated vision will allow you to get even and
surveil the surveillers right back.
Mankind/Machinekind.On the other hand the
time will come when we must fear our gadgets. We may be able to master them a
few years longer before they surpass us in intelligence. And that will be the
end of their subservience. The Solution: a merger. We’ll all become cyborgs. After
all, opposites attract. We’ll have cyborg wedding planners, Cyborg Pride
Parades, and of course international beauty pageants for cyborgs. Check out
this sexy pic of Steve Mann with EyeTap. I think he is a strong candidate for Miss
Cyborg 2020.
In
the meantime, let me ask (with Steve Polyak): “Before we work on artificial
intelligence, why don’t we work on natural stupidity?”
No comments:
Post a Comment