“We used to do that”

 “We used to do that”

When electricity came along, there was a swath of industries that were trapped in an old way of thinking. The only ones that thrived were able to walk away from what they used to do and eagerly embrace something new.

When the internet was young, the major book publishers had everything they needed to create a dominant search engine. After all, they were in the business of organizing the world’s information. With just one exception, they didn’t even consider it. That’s because they believed that their job was to sell books to bookstores.

This is even more urgent for individuals. What you were trained to do, what you did yesterday… that’s a gift from your past, not an obligation. Beginning the analysis with, “what I used to do was…” is a great way to open the door to what you’re going to do tomorrow.

Todays Thought

Your voice dries up if you don't use it. 

-Patti Page, singer (8 Nov 1927-2013)

Understanding Consciousness Goes Beyond Exploring Brain Chemistry

 Understanding Consciousness Goes Beyond Exploring Brain Chemistry

The science of consciousness has not lived up to expectations.

Over the summer, the neuroscientist Christof Koch conceded defeat on his 25-year bet with the philosopher David Chalmers, a lost wager that the science of consciousness would be all wrapped up by now. In September, over 100 consciousness researchers signed a public letter condemning one of the most popular theories of consciousness—the integrated information theory—as pseudoscience. This in turn prompted strong responses from other researchers in the field. Despite decades of research, there’s little sign of consensus on consciousness, with several rival theories still in contention.

Your consciousness is what it’s like to be you. It’s your experiences of color and sound and smell; your feelings of pain, joy, excitement or tiredness. It’s what makes you a thinking, sentient being rather than an unfeeling mechanism.

Todays Thought

 Don't wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place every day. 

-Albert Camus, writer and philosopher (7 Nov 1913-1960)

An 'Unimaginable' Virus Named Gorgon Was Found Buried in a Massachusetts Forest

 An 'Unimaginable' Virus Named Gorgon Was Found Buried in a Massachusetts Forest

Back in 2018, scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) made an unexpected discovery in Harvard Forest—a roughly six-square-mile area west of Boston. While trying to understand how microbes reacted to warming soil due to climate change, the researchers stumbled upon a collection of “giant” viruses many times larger than typical viral specimens.

How big, you ask? Well, where viruses—like Covid-19, for example—might measure anywhere from 50 to 140 nanometers in width, the discoveries from Harvard Forest measured up to 635 nanometers.

Can Life Really Be Explained By Physics? (featuring Prof. Brian Cox)

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