Author Archives: Michael

Diaphragm FES for ALS

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Though restoring control of every muscle in the body to patients with ALS is far too invasive for current technology to suffice, electrodes on the motor strip and pons, connected to receivers in the lungs and diaphragm seem like they would suffice to prevent further deaths from the disease. And perhaps even tracheotomies.

Is there some reason I’m missing that this wouldn’t work? Because if I can’t find one, I may very well partner with a neurologist and pursue it. I certainly have the neuroinformatics and signal processing backgrounds; I know that this scope and granularity of FES is currently well within the range of what is technologically possible.

Locus of Value

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There is an analogue of the locus of control applicable to morality: there are some who look externally for their values, seeking them in shared communal experiences, culture, economics, politics, or religion. There are others who seek to develop their values internally, through integration of their senses, individual experiences, thoughts, and feelings. The different characteristics of these sources of morality lead to different behaviors, life priorities, social associations (and identities), and leisure activities. Externally derived morality concerns itself with collecting and integrating social perspectives, while internally derived morality emphasizes introspection and expression of the self.

Warning: Self-actualization may lead to pwnage.

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There is a trait which must be coupled to self-actualization: self-*realization*. It is not enough to see what one’s full potential is – one must also find an effective means of expression and self-transformation to see that potential accomplished. This is very hard, and is probably necessary for an actualized state to remain stable.

…Because otherwise the world will pwn you 🙂

Social movements as Fisherian Runaway

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Social networking, for instance, is a good example of an analogue to Fisherian runaway: the desire for the trait and the trait itself coevolve, until everyone has social because everyone wants social, rather than because it adds any functionality, value, or relevance. I suspect most social movements, and in fact traditions, are like this.

Betalactamasease

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Some bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics via enzymes which break components of the antibiotic down (others just evolve completely different strategies to perform their biological functions, which render the antibiotics irrelevant). Trivial idea: subvert this by administering adjuvants which prevent these enzymes from working!

New organizations are like babies

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When opening a business bank account for a new business, I was asked “what is the organization’s date of birth?” Silly, I thought, they mean the date of incorporation. But the more I began to think about it, the more I realized that starting a new organization has a lot in common with parenthood. You watch it transition from something totally dependent on you to an independent self-sustaining “mature” corporation, but only after giving it much love in the form of time, money, and attention. You celebrate similar milestones – first word or first transaction, acquiring the ability to walk or the ability to profit, moving to an office vs. moving out, and eventually, that moment when you realize you have succeeded and the organization has become a totally separate entity from you as a person – still strongly associated, but no longer dependent.