People and Science

People fascinate me…. which is why I’m going to try to not write too much. (That and that I’m tired and/or really should get to sleep.) I’ve found that the more you talk, the less people will listen to you. It doesn’t matter what the topic is. It could be the most fascinating thing in the world. People in general have very low attention spans. Maybe that can be attributed to the fast paced world we live in. Maybe we had more lengthy attention spans one hundred years ago.

Anyway, I was watching “Beyond Human” on Prairie Public (GREAT show) and it got me thinking. They were talking about neurons and computer chips and stuff.

When you look at a person, you don’t really think about everything that is going on inside them. All the electrical impulses. I love that you can narrow in on something and then narrow in some more. Like a cell can be narrowed into… I forget, the things inside cells, whatever. Do you know what I’m saying? It’s cool at how detailed the human body is. You can ALWAYS look closer.

Then I was thinking about computer chips and how computers work. I don’t really know too much about them but I’ve HEARD that computer chips are etchings on a tiny piece of metal by acid or something like that. Think of all the things that they can do! Who came up with that stuff?! (Any time I ask myself that question, I think of how penicillin was discovered by accident.)

Were computer chips discovered by accident? How would someone do that? “Oops, I spilt acid on this tiny piece of metal that has some scratches on it. Now, let’s see what it can do…” It’s all very cool.

So, anyway, this show was talking about how the two are intertwined now. Microchip implants to correct hearing, restore (or simulate, at least) vision, help paraplegics walk again. Cyborg bodies. Then just let your imagination go wild. The possibilities are endless. And what are the repercussions?

They were showing these inventions of sunglasses with a tiny computer screen in the corner which was wirelessly connected to the web. Think about how obsessed with the internet I am. Imagine if I could take it with me anywhere. The only thing I couldn’t understand was how these people didn’t run into things. Like cell phones and driving. If you’re looking at the bottom of your sunglasses, you’re not watching where you’re going.

They also talked about chips being able to process electrical impulses in the brain and decode the brainwaves to read thoughts. Think someone completely paralyzed being able to communicate by a computer writing down their thoughts. Eventually the chips just being able to interpret the thoughts and turn it into action. Think: pick up glass and the computer makes the body do it. When someone is paralyzed, there nerves don’t respond to these thinking signals. The computer would just reroute the info itself.

They also brought up the issue of no one ever having any privacy (implanted chips acting as a location device). Really, by human nature, everyone “spills it” anyway. If we never had privacy to begin with, I don’t think we’d miss it.

Probably no one has any idea what I’m talking about right now. When I come back and read this later, I probably won’t understand either. I just have so many thoughts going on in my head, I thought it would be a good idea to get some of them out before I go to bed or I’ll never be able to sleep.

One more thought. They kept showing images of big cities with lots of people on the streets, huge buildings, bright lights, traffic, etc. I crave a big city. Winnipeg just isn’t big and busy enough for me. I love the way it looks and I want to be there. It’s all about image, I guess. It’s like the internet, computers, the human body… SOOOO many things going on at once and if you stand there in the midst of it, you can appreciate the complexity of it.

Try this… Next time you’re in a busy place and the crowds are annoying you, take a step back and think about this: All these people have their own lives and problems. They are all thinking about different things.

Then to narrow in more… they are all made up of cells. Then ORGANELLES! (That’s the word!) And then molecules. And really, that’s just what everything is. They come together and perform some really amazing tasks. Just think about all the life going on everywhere.

I think about that on the highways. (I’m not the one driving. I can look around.) Southern Ontario was the best place for this with their 6 lane highways at super speeds. All those cars have people in them. They all have things going on in their own worlds. You don’t know them. They don’t know you. You’ll never see them again but for one fraction of a second, your lives were intertwined with that moment in time. That’s a LOT of people to come across in your life.

To sum it all up… (Sum what up? I don’t understand what I’m talking about. Am I talking about anything?) I love complexity. I love the pace of life. I love being able to stand back to appreciate it all. I love that I share something in common with millions of people, whether it’s driving on the same stretch of road at the same time, or what I write down on the web (also amazing… I’m writing this in my home and I’ll put it up and in five minutes, someone in Kyoto could read it), or anything.

Whatever. I’m just in a good mood. I love life.

One more thing. I’ve ALMOST decided that if I go back to school, I’m going to take a Bachelor of Science instead. I want to go into Biology. I think, and have thought since OAC Bio, that the coolest job would be microbiology. I think I want to be a neuroscientist. (When I really decide what I will do, I’ll let you know.)

~You know what I like MOST about my boyfriend (at this moment, anyway)? When I’m in a mood like this and babble on and on about nothing and his attention span (as opposed to those mentioned in the first paragraph) doesn’t fail. He listens to me. I can talk to him about anything, no matter how stupid. I like that.

I really want to absorb all the information I can about everything there is to know. That’s a lot. I want to be an expert in many things. At this point in my life, and what I rank as most important, I want to know all I can about business and relationships.

So, I wasn’t as short as I said I would be. And also that was three more things. Goodnight.

(originally posted to MSN Communities and then to LiveJournal)

*14 years later, instead of boring me or wondering WTF I was talking about, I am fascinated by this entry and know exactly what I was saying. This is a perfect example of how my brain works. I still have a lot of these same thoughts. That’s pretty cool.
And, yeah… just IMAGINE being able to take the internet with you wherever you go! LOL.