Ambulance Chasers

When I heard about the crash ("water landing", I'd say) of US Airways flight 1549 I did a google for it to see what other news was available. I'm as curious as the next guy and it sounded like it landed about as safely as one could expect - I was hoping someone had posted pictures, or even videos of the plane landing in the water.

There wasn't really anything new yet, so I went about my business. Later, A bit less than two hours after the crash/water landing/epic save, I refreshed the search results. This is what came up...


Click on it for a clearer view if you want, but it's pretty clear to me. This is what they call an ambulance chaser. Nice job guys. Real tasteful.

Some Of My Photos - I - San Gervasio on Cozumel

One of the Mayan ruins at San Gervasio on the island of Cozumel off the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. San Gervasio was dedicated to the Mayan goddess Ixchel, goddess of midwifery, fertility, medicine and weaving. We visited on our honeymoon, which was of course when I took this picture. We didn't have a guide or anything, and my wife wasn't quite as interested in Precolumbian civilizations, or walking, as I was, so we mostly poked around the ruins nearest the parking area. I'd like to go back again some day, and I think my wife would be more up for exploring these days too.

Prints and other items featuring this photo are available for purchase.
San Gervasio Custom Framed Prints and Cards at imagekind.com
San Gervasio Posters and Gifts at cafepress.com

Big Bang or Big Boot?

I just browsed (via this blog entry at the Scientific American web site) an interesting site exploring the question of whether we are all living in a computer simulation: The Simulation Argument.

Don't laugh. I did at first, but it's an interesting question. It is put forth here in a very interesting paper written by the director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, Nick Bostrom, and published in Philosophical Quarterly. Okay, you can laugh if you want to, but you really should read the paper.

One thing you should realize, though, if you're thinking otherwise at this point, is that Bostrom is not actually claiming that we are living in a simulation. He only claims that if humanity or its descendants survive long enough to develop the required computing capability, and there are not barriers in the way of such simulations sufficient to prevent their being run in significant numbers, this world we are living in is much more likely to be one of the many simulations than the one true original history of humanity. Or at least that's as I understand it.

Personally, I think that there is, at least currently, strong societal pressure and barriers against running such simulations. You see it in the recent frenzy of anti-human-cloning laws and in countless examples in both literature and reality of the vilification of those who would dare to "play god." But, of course, there are always those who want to play anyway, and they often find ways to do it.

I invite comment, but first make sure you read and understand the paper, at least in its essentials if not the math.

A Thought On Civilization

I realize it's simplistic, but it occurred to me that as our degree of civilization increases, we include more and more people in the group we consider to be "us". And as we include fewer and fewer people in that group, and exclude more and more, civilization breaks down.