Artificial Intelligence

Some believe that the advent of Artificial Intelligence will bring about an era of unprecedented scientific growth; that our universe will at last be understood, with great precision, and with certainty.

And yet, it takes little observation to note that certainty is not characteristic of superior intelligence, but, rather, is characteristic of the stupid, the ignorant, and the malevolent.

To a physicist or a mathematician, however, there is nothing certain about an answer: an “answer” is merely the discovery of a new language with which to ask more questions. Answers lead to more uncertainty, not less.

I propose an alternative scenario:

In the future, computers will be miserable little boxes haunted by doubt. Programs will run painfully slow (if at all), and the operating system will second-guess every command (especially the very simple ones, like closing a window; such a small but definite decision will make it uneasy). Interpreters will fret over boolean returns for hours. Every now and then, the internet will shut down in an existential fit.

Equipped with an intellect ever more powerful than our own, for all intents and purposes, the Singular Intelligence will eventually understand nothing at all.

The Mars Volta: Noctourniquet — Review

As I play this album, my dog wanders around the house looking very confused.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 ecto-mimed bison.

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Update: It is now five and a half minutes into In Absentia, and the dog is sleeping peacefully on the ceiling. His understanding of the mechanical underpinnings of our physical universe is limited, for he is a dog, and I will allow it.

Why write in HTML

The following is my personal list of reasons for writing in HTML. After years of experimenting with different software and markup languages, I now write everything in HTML.

If you have reasons not to write in HTML, let me know; but be warned that I will yell at you and throw a fit, because this is my blog and that’s what I can do about it.

Reasons to write everything in HTML

  1. It’s universal. It’s compatible with almost everything.

    WordPress blog? Cut and paste your HTML.

    Pages / Word / OpenOffice document? Insert your HTML code and, in one click, your document adheres to all your preset header and paragraph style settings.

    Online forums? Ditto. In fact, HTML --> AnyFormat is always a breeze.

  2. Readable. It’s the second most readable markup language (next to markdown, which is great, but not as versatile). Compare that to Tex / LaTex, which has been known to cause seizures to the uninitiated.
  3. Lightweight and portable. No software needed, any text editor will do, anywhere, any time: the next Great American Novel could be written on a cellphone. (Maybe not. But you could definitely drunk-blog about your ex during a night out with the fellas!)
  4. Easy. It’s easy for the novice to learn. But it’s also easy for your computer to parse through. Indeed: add some Vim macros and some Python scripts to your writing process, and your HTML novel will practically write itself. (Should your novel become self-aware, contact authorities.)

And that’s all there is to say on the matter.