It seems that no matter what I go through, I never seem to die. I've had several close-to-death events. Despite many of the things I went through however, I still live.
One event that comes to mind would take place in the summer between 3rd and 4th Grade (IIRC). I was having serious asthma problems and went to sleep with considerably shallow breathing. At approximately 1 AM, I had very EXTREMELY shallow breathing when Dad woke me up. He then took me to a supermarket to get me an inhaler.
Now that I think of it, I think that was very, very miraculous (I assume via divine intervention) because what was Dad doing that early in the morning? How did he sense that I had serious trouble breathing?
But after doing some self-study on Quantum Immortality, I have reason to believe that I died in my sleep that night, but woke up in an alternate universe, of course not being aware of that. I don't remember what my dream was from that night but God knows if I had gone to Heaven briefly only to be told that I'll still live a full life in an alternate universe every time I "die" in a previous one, and certainly not remember such events.
I've had other close calls with death ever since, and am becoming sure that I've died those times in other universes too, but survived so that I'm alive in this one.
Here is something of note from a Quantum Immortality Wiki on Wikipedia:
"Imagine that a physicist detonates a nuclear bomb located beside her. In almost all parallel universes, the nuclear explosion will vaporize the physicist. However, there should be a small set of alternate universes in which the physicist somehow survives (ie. the set of universes which support a "miraculous" survial scenario)."
I think in all of the alternate universes that she survives in, she may have simply decided against detonating the bomb at all, or may have even chosen an entirely different line of work so that she never comes near a nuclear bomb.
Likewise, earlier in my life, I may have decided to turn right at an intersection where I otherwise would have gone straight and gotten killed by an oncoming 18-wheeler!
Now you are thinking, "But why is there still death in the world?"
To that I'd reply, "They're probably alive and well in another alternate universe. They might have been foraging on top of a hill when the tsunami struck, or in some alternate universes, the tsunami never even happened!" As soon as someone dies, they probably just leave this universe and pick up where they (more nominally) left off in another.
Now you see why there have been no widespread nuclear exchanges yet? In previous universes, we may have wiped ourselves out clean. You see, supernatural (and/or quantum) forces were at work to ensure a nuclear holocaust "never" happened. There were times in history that we EASILY could've gone through it and wipe out humanity, but it goes to show you that Quantum Immortality also (possibly) works on a GLOBAL level.
By now, you may have also thought, "But when we get old, will we still live forever anyway, from the first-person point of view?" There have been 900+ year-old biblical characters for one, there were also 150+ year-old people later in human history, and the oldest living human today (if current) is a 125 or 126 year-old woman from Brazil. Not to mention that Ray Kurzweil's dream of immortality due to medicinal advances will (hopefully) come true, or already has, even before Ray was even born (in some universes)!
You think that's unrealistic? Someone on the Mind-X Forum at http://www.kurzweilai.net several weeks ago said Frank Tipler postulated that there are "10^10^123 possible states in the universe" (or perhaps all universes for this matter). You can never imagine how much that is.
But with that many states possible, people may have even found in antiquity an easily-grown herb that universally grants immortality to those who consume it. That herb may have been formed if something different happened in nature 7 millenia ago, or may have been on Lemuria at one point for all we know. This explains the possibility that anyone who died in ANCIENT times whether of old age or anything else in our universe is thriving happily in an alternate one.
So have you ever held a gun? If so, then you've killed yourself in many universes, by accident and on purpose, accidentally discharged the gun and killed others in many others, or someone may have done the same to you. But in this universe, you were more careful while holding it, then put it back, and live the life you're living now.
Bottom line- the Singularity will not kill us. Incomprehensible quantum forces will work to keep us thriving, no matter what happens.
Quantum Immortality: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Immortality
Technological Singularity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_Singularity
My discussion on this subject: http://www.kurzweilai.net/mindx/show_thread.php?rootID=43624
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Friday, September 02, 2005
Audio-enabled Surveillance Cams for New Orleans, like those in Chicago.
Chicago launched a program that installed Surveillance cameras on many street corners, that could watch for crimes, faces that matches mugshot databases, et al. Their program was so successful that it made city-wide crimes their lowest in 40 years!
See article here: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/2005-07-05-electroniccrime_x.htm
They even recently added audio capabilities to these devices so they could detect gunfire (and DOES tell the difference from a car backfiring), and other sounds that share the characteristics of a crime in progress.
Hence, if the NOPD can launch a similar program, the results will have similar rewards for the city. Also, if a city goes through another looting spell for whatever reason, these surveillance boxes will capture many more faces onto digital image or video files and in turn, reduce lawlessness remarkably. There will be less looting (and overall crime) in the first place after security cameras get installed because the news outlets will give a story on them, therefore alert potential looters not to loot whenever an "opportunity" hits, along with anyone else that may commit other future crimes.
These surveillance boxes, by the way, would be powered by a battery backup if the power went out, and the battery would keep recharging whenever the power is on. They should have the most powerful batteries around, so they stay operative for a long time. As a backup to even THAT, solar panels would also work. They can power and recharge in the day, while relegating to batteries at night.
These cams would be mounted atop light-poles and some corner buildings, so they will likely stay out of reach of floodwaters.
Regarding crime's presence after dark, that's why surveillance cams have nightvision also.
The USA Today's statement is valid; the crimes were indeed the lowest in 40 years due to this technology. Faces would be digitally stored so the police can arrest criminals at their own homes, or recognize their faces whenever they see them.
I think these cameras would recognize screams in agony, for help, distress, or otherwise anything needing attention. In turn, that camera would notify the nearest precinct, and dispatch officers to the scene.
And didn't I mention that these cameras would be featured widely on the news? This would cause for the discouragement of would-be criminals. If they have night-vision (which I sure hope they will), the media outlets will feature that too.
See article here: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/2005-07-05-electroniccrime_x.htm
They even recently added audio capabilities to these devices so they could detect gunfire (and DOES tell the difference from a car backfiring), and other sounds that share the characteristics of a crime in progress.
Hence, if the NOPD can launch a similar program, the results will have similar rewards for the city. Also, if a city goes through another looting spell for whatever reason, these surveillance boxes will capture many more faces onto digital image or video files and in turn, reduce lawlessness remarkably. There will be less looting (and overall crime) in the first place after security cameras get installed because the news outlets will give a story on them, therefore alert potential looters not to loot whenever an "opportunity" hits, along with anyone else that may commit other future crimes.
These surveillance boxes, by the way, would be powered by a battery backup if the power went out, and the battery would keep recharging whenever the power is on. They should have the most powerful batteries around, so they stay operative for a long time. As a backup to even THAT, solar panels would also work. They can power and recharge in the day, while relegating to batteries at night.
These cams would be mounted atop light-poles and some corner buildings, so they will likely stay out of reach of floodwaters.
Regarding crime's presence after dark, that's why surveillance cams have nightvision also.
The USA Today's statement is valid; the crimes were indeed the lowest in 40 years due to this technology. Faces would be digitally stored so the police can arrest criminals at their own homes, or recognize their faces whenever they see them.
I think these cameras would recognize screams in agony, for help, distress, or otherwise anything needing attention. In turn, that camera would notify the nearest precinct, and dispatch officers to the scene.
And didn't I mention that these cameras would be featured widely on the news? This would cause for the discouragement of would-be criminals. If they have night-vision (which I sure hope they will), the media outlets will feature that too.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
New Orleans had better stay New Orleans!
Not New Venice, New Baghdad, nor New Mogadishu.
After they drain and put things back in order, they really ought to build stronger and taller levees out of steel & concrete. Earthen ones don't cut it after too long. They can also pave the levee's bottoms and anchor them or even WELD them so they stay in place. Moreover, they should widen them one way, and that's toward Lake Ponchartrain, not the city. This is so development stays.
Sooner or later, carbon nanotubes, much stronger than most all materials, will replace them and save the day each and every time. Not only will sentient working androids maintain and upgrade levees 24 hours a day, but nanos will keep them pristine on a molecular scale. I'm a futurist if you think this is just technobabble. However, those from the Mind-X forum of http://www.kurzweilai.net will relate well to what I'm seeing.
Don't forget: They ought to drain Lake Ponchartrain north via pipelines. Destination? How about Arkansas?
I love Zatarain's jambalaya. I sure hope they're available in grocery markets nationwide despite Hurricane Katrina's disaster. They're based out of New Orleans. Oh my!
I've read a long while ago about prophets saying that natural disasters will become bigger and bigger until it culminates to a huge, huge apocalypse of heavily nightmarish proportions.
I also read & heard that on December 21, 2012, the final "baktun" of the Mayan calendar will end, and plenty speculate that the happenings of end-of-world proportions will occur.
One of those is a sea level rise. Look here: http://resumbrae.com/archive/warming/east.html
Nothing that exists today will pump out an ocean's worth of water. Even a 1-meter rise in sea level will completely drown New Orleans. In the weeks after this disaster, there will be a rebuilding of levees, a draining of the city, and a restoration. What you see on these maps will vastly overpower the efforts that the helpers are doing down there right now.
I hope the Technological Singularity arrives soon enough because it'll know how to reroute ocean water to where it's needed, after taking out the salt. The Sahara Desert will be no more; it'll be rehydrated and useful for agriculture for the first time in many thousands of years. It may also rip the molecular bonds of water so the Hydrogen becomes used for the new fuel-cell vehicles, the oxygen gets used for anything/anywhere that needs it, and the water used to make deserts a thing of the past.
The Singularity will also perfect Teleportation, so we can teleport gobs of water at a time to the Moon, then to Mars, and anywhere we decide to.
Therefore, we'll lower the sea levels as much as we want to. Perhaps 50 feet would be fine. We could also set the levels of different oceans, even if they connect. This is because many, many nano-bots will make upward-flowing water possible. They'll be like nanoscopic "conveyor belts" for the water. Hence, port cities that would otherwise lose their functionality will retain it, through the use of upward-flowing canals (without locks).
This may also give you more about the sea level rise (and fall, which I hope for.): http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=538964
After they drain and put things back in order, they really ought to build stronger and taller levees out of steel & concrete. Earthen ones don't cut it after too long. They can also pave the levee's bottoms and anchor them or even WELD them so they stay in place. Moreover, they should widen them one way, and that's toward Lake Ponchartrain, not the city. This is so development stays.
Sooner or later, carbon nanotubes, much stronger than most all materials, will replace them and save the day each and every time. Not only will sentient working androids maintain and upgrade levees 24 hours a day, but nanos will keep them pristine on a molecular scale. I'm a futurist if you think this is just technobabble. However, those from the Mind-X forum of http://www.kurzweilai.net will relate well to what I'm seeing.
Don't forget: They ought to drain Lake Ponchartrain north via pipelines. Destination? How about Arkansas?
I love Zatarain's jambalaya. I sure hope they're available in grocery markets nationwide despite Hurricane Katrina's disaster. They're based out of New Orleans. Oh my!
I've read a long while ago about prophets saying that natural disasters will become bigger and bigger until it culminates to a huge, huge apocalypse of heavily nightmarish proportions.
I also read & heard that on December 21, 2012, the final "baktun" of the Mayan calendar will end, and plenty speculate that the happenings of end-of-world proportions will occur.
One of those is a sea level rise. Look here: http://resumbrae.com/archive/warming/east.html
Nothing that exists today will pump out an ocean's worth of water. Even a 1-meter rise in sea level will completely drown New Orleans. In the weeks after this disaster, there will be a rebuilding of levees, a draining of the city, and a restoration. What you see on these maps will vastly overpower the efforts that the helpers are doing down there right now.
I hope the Technological Singularity arrives soon enough because it'll know how to reroute ocean water to where it's needed, after taking out the salt. The Sahara Desert will be no more; it'll be rehydrated and useful for agriculture for the first time in many thousands of years. It may also rip the molecular bonds of water so the Hydrogen becomes used for the new fuel-cell vehicles, the oxygen gets used for anything/anywhere that needs it, and the water used to make deserts a thing of the past.
The Singularity will also perfect Teleportation, so we can teleport gobs of water at a time to the Moon, then to Mars, and anywhere we decide to.
Therefore, we'll lower the sea levels as much as we want to. Perhaps 50 feet would be fine. We could also set the levels of different oceans, even if they connect. This is because many, many nano-bots will make upward-flowing water possible. They'll be like nanoscopic "conveyor belts" for the water. Hence, port cities that would otherwise lose their functionality will retain it, through the use of upward-flowing canals (without locks).
This may also give you more about the sea level rise (and fall, which I hope for.): http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=538964
Want to know about the concept of the upcoming Technological Singularity? Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_Singularity
Also take a look here (the graphs should look rather creative) : http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0134.html?printable=1
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