8/16/01

Christian social tradition is one of minimalism, of ascetism, of denying the baser instincts of the flesh in order to cultivate spirituality. One does not give into "temptation" or "sin". One in essence does not seek or indulge in the pleasures of the flesh. One lives strictly by a set of rules, as with any other Orthidox religion. One strives to live simply, uninterested in wealth beyond what is necessary for immediate survival. One only has sexual relations within the confinies of marriage. One fasts.

All primal urges are thus controlled by some set of rules. Each is subject to its own complicated rituals and regulations, so that the urge in question, which is in essence a physical need, not become corrupted. One controlls one's urges, one is not controlled by them. In so doing, a society is made where the impetus to cause harm is removed. Society is functional, safe, and reliable. Individuals needs are fulfilled, and they enjoy the spiritual purity of "right" living.

Society also lives under a constant shadow of guilt and impending punishment from above. One cannot find joy in the physical, only the spiritual. The ascetic lifestyle does offer great and pure spiritual existence, though it is clearly not for everyone.

As a counter, observe the neo-pagan movement. One is encouraged to rejoice in all the things the Christian viewpoint discourages. One eats as they need, not to excess, whatever they choose to eat or what is available. One cares not for silly things like clothing. One has sexual relations more freely, as an expression of love. One makes sacred pleasure, rather than making it sinful. Pleasures and life of the flesh become the spirituality, in a sense, All the things made not OK in Christianity are made OK in modern paganism. The only rule is that what you do not harm anyone. One respects ones self, others, the physical and the spiritual.

As a society, there is a sense of community to support unplanned children, share in foods and shelter needs, and generally tend towards adopting a commune style living. Not following the rules of Christianity has many problems. However, these are dealt with by the society itself, so it remains functional.

One way cherishes inner beauty, and rejects the physical. The other, cherishes the physical as spiritual, and does not restrict itself any more than absolutely necessary. Which is better? Well, there's the rub. Both are perfectly functional, and offer the follower a satisfying lifestyle. Of course, neither lifestyle is right for everyone. By diametrticly opposing eachother, functional options are made available for the lifestyle one preferrs.

The whole point is, it doesn't really matter. You can be happy either way. There are many options beyond these, even. If one's physical needs are fulfilled, one is secure. If one's needs are filled in abundance, one is prosperous. If one feels spiritually content, one is holy. If one is at peace with themselves and the life they lead, one is happy. If one has all of these things, one has reached heaven.

8/24/01

Technology is ever advancing. This is a given. As our machines become smarter, so too does the interface we use to access them. Interface becomes smoother, easier, more natural, higher bandwidth. We have gone from wired circuits to punchcards to keyboards to fully graphical displays with a variety of pointing devices. We even have voice. Each advancement smooths the interface, makes it more like the machine is merely an extension of the self. Ask anyone who touch types. Are they aware of the keyboard? Not really. One merely thinks what one wants to enter, and one's fingers hit the appropriate keys. The hands are trained to be a part of the interface, the mind can abstract and assume it is a part of the functions of the body.

We want as an ideal to simply plug a wire into our heads, do nothing with the body, and have a direct neural control over our interface. Indeed, such may eventually come to pass, though it is a long time in the making. At the moment, what we have is pretty close in effect, if slower than pure thinking would be. Indeed, how different is full immersion when you have a 21" monitor, headphones, and are so into what you are doing that you are completely unaware of the world outside of your machine? We already have full immersion, it just takes a bit of work on our parts to do it.

The problem with these interfaces, is as they become more advanced, they become harder to learn. Each advance is an abstraction. Each abstraction separates the use of the interface from the natural monkey manipulations our bodies are initially trained to do. Each tends to rely on givens learned from other forms of interface. Some realize this, and strive for intuitive markings, which helps greatly. But still, as our systems become more advanced, the interfaces become more reliant on terms and conventions used in other forms of interface. The learning curve gets steeper, the more advanced and abstract the work being done.

It may well be soon that one will need to learn one interface before one can learn to use a more advanced one. Once one is proficient with the mouse, one can use an optical pointer attached to the eye. One learns to use a standard keyboard before learning a Cording keyboard. It only becomes more difficult for new users of computers to learn their use as their complexity increases. We may soon have to offer starter PCs, such as designed for children, before turning someone loose on a commercial product. We already have AOL for those who can't handle the Internet.