(no subject)

First off, a signal boost from mizkit (who got it from a reader):

A friend of a friend of mine, Amy Ahonen, disappeared on 7/8 from the highway west of Golden, CO. Her wallet, keys, and cell phone were all still in her car. The official search for her was called off after a day and a half. Recent information suggests she may have been abducted, and could be anywhere. Now family and friends are trying to harness the immense power of the internet to get the word out, and try to connect with anyone who might have information regarding Amy’s whereabouts. They have created a Facebook page, Help Find Amy, and a Twitter feed at #findamy, and are asking that people simply pass her picture around.

Also from mizkit but much less serious is the old interview meme. (I'd put it in a separate post but I don't want to spam you, especially as there's another random post buzzing around my brain.)

Here are the rules:

1. If you’d like, leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions of a very intimate and creepily personal nature. Or, you know, not so creepy/personal. Whatever. (Note: I suck at coming up with interesting questions, but I'll do my best. Or maybe I'll just recycle mizkit's, because they're really good.)
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. If you so wish, include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you ask them five questions.

I was asked:

1. Is money the answer or the problem?

Yes. And no. To both.

Money is a huge problem in that it causes people to act selfishly and screws up the distribution of resources. A small percentage of people, often as much by luck as anything, end up with far more than they need, sometimes more than they could ever use. At the same time, a large percentage of people are deprived of the resources to fill the most basic human needs.

On the other hand, money is the answer to other problems. It can be used directly to fix problems. And it can actually channel our innate selfishness to motivate us to do important things. At its best, it allows people to be rewarded for their contributions to our society in a form that they can use directly to get what they want or need when and as they choose, without having to go through complex barter exchanges.

In short, I'm in favor of a combination of capitalism to motivate people and socialism (and social programs) to see to basic needs: food, water, shelter, medical care, eduction, etc.

2. Would you sign up for a generation ship?

Whoa. There's an interesting one. And it kind of comes with some big assumptions, since I don't think I'd be a candidate for one in my current condition.

But, you know what? I think I would. It would be exciting and fascinating. It would be hard to leave my family behind, though. And I'm fairly certain they wouldn't go.

3. Mutant power! What would yours be?

Oh boy. I should have a good answer to this.

I kind of want to say that I want Jean Gray's power. But that's kind of cheating, because Jean can do pretty much anything. Flight, telekinesis, and telepathy (both send and receive). But I so want to be able to fly. And there's so much you can do with TK. And telepathy... I wish the whole human race was telepathic. It would change everything. You can't lie telepathically. And you can't be misunderstood. It even transcends language barriers. And it allows you to actually get to know people in a way that isn't possible any other way. To truly understand their point of view.

But, like I said, that's kind of cheating. I could wish for the power to heal. Because I don't want a destructive power, and I do want to be a healer. But that carried with it such a weight of responsibility. I'm not sure I could handle it.

And the thing is that I have a superhero alter ego. HatMan. The guy in my default userpic. And he has a super power. And, in a way, it's a healing one. HatMan, at his best, has the power to be funny. Which is no small thing. Laughter is medicine for the mind.

4. There's a Zen saying, "If you leap the net will open." Are you a leaper?

I'm not familiar with that saying. (And it sounds oddly un-zen, encouraging rash action.)

Am I a leaper? In a way. Probably not. I'll put it this way: I will happily go on a road trip with no route and no destination. I will improvise. I will make plans and then throw them out the window with no regrets when something else comes up. But I'll do all of that with a stack of maps and guidebooks and a full suitcase. I'll sign up for the generation ship, but I'll do so knowing that the thing is well built and stocked. I'll go out into the world, but I'll do it with a bag full of stuff to prepare me for any reasonable contingency.

In short: I'll leap, but only after I've made my own damn net.

5. You're given the chance to join a fictional world (um, not the one I'm going to write you into). Which one would you choose, and why?

Now that's a fascinating question. I'm not sure how to answer it.

I could pick a kids' universe. Sesame Street or My Little Pony or something. A place where life is simple, there's some real magic in the world, friends are true, and life's problems can all be solved. But that's kind of a cheap choice, isn't it? Limiting. And besides, it could get boring fast, living it 24/7.

I could pick a comic book universe. Where super powers exist, the world is filled with shining examples of heroism, and good wins out over evil in the end. But those worlds are incredibly chaotic and dangerous for ordinary folk. And I think real live super heroes can encourage complacency and humbleness as much as they can inspire people to better themselves.

Maybe one with magic? But that's as much a double-edged sword as anything.

You know, for all the time I spend with fictional universes, it's surprisingly difficult to answer this.

Wait. You know what? Star Trek: TNG. I want to explore the universe, and I want to do it with advanced technology, and I want to do it in a world where people have hope and where they look out for each other. Oh yeah, and meet aliens. And doctors who can fix me by waving a few blinking lights in my general direction. You'll find me in Main Engineering.

(no subject)

I've seen a few fireflies buzzing around the area at night. The ones I've seen have been near the roads. And it makes me feel bad for them. They depend on their lights to find each other, and here they are being flooded with streetlights and car headlights and all sorts of other artificial light and light pollution. It must make things so much harder for them.

And yet, somehow, they're doing it. Clearly. Because those lights have been there for years, and the fireflies are still around.

But it also makes me wonder what it was like when fireflies first evolved. "Hey, baby! Mate with me! I can make my butt glow!" And, somehow, that worked.

But then that got me thinking about how evolution got sidetracked. Firefly mating is, as far as I know, largely based on the glowing butt. Which serves little to no other purpose. Which, in all likelihood, actually serves to attract predators like... well, like a beacon in the night.

It's kind of like the birds of paradise, which have all sorts of bizarre and complex mating displays. Like this:



One of dozens of species classified as "birds of paradise," each with its own unique mating display. That black oval with the strange neon smiley face is a bird, about the size and shape of the brown female looking at him. Except that, in hopes of mating, he has puffed out a special ruff of feathers which exists solely for this purpose. The female will look at it. She'll consider it for a while. If she's impressed, she'll mate with him. If not, she'll fly off. Either way, once mating season has passed and the girls stop looking, he'll put it away for the rest of the year. Because it's not good for anything else.

In a way, it's cool. Because you get all these beautiful things. Fireflies, birds of paradise, peacocks, and so on. But it's strange. Evolution is supposed to be about survival of the fittest. And instead of leading to useful adaptations (which it generally does) here are cases where it leads to day-glo makeup and boob jobs and setting your butt on fire for no better reason than to attract girls. (Which, granted, is a pretty good reason. But it's not how the system is supposed to work.)

It's a strange, beautiful world we live in.