I’m constantly amazed by our capacity for ingenuity. My mother sent me this video which for me is testament to what we can achieve.
I find it a really beautiful machine. Totally useless as far as I can tell -- but beautiful nonetheless.
Musings On A Laptop
I bought a new laptop last week and am still getting used to it. It’s a replacement for my well used and much appreciated old one. When I say ‘old’ I mean it had just turned 2 years. The sparkling new one is twice as fast, twice the memory, double the gadgets and I paid less money.
And it got me thinking about all the wonderful things to celebrate that were born from our ingenuity -- I’m just surrounded by examples.
I pick up a little black box I call my mobile phone, press a few buttons and talk to someone on the other side of the world almost as clearly as though they were in the next room.
I switch on the TV and see actual images from all over the world and beyond, side by side with fantastical images of amazing creativity -- I’m thinking of political broadcasts here 
I look out of the window and see huge buildings that seem to defy gravity.
I get on a machine that flies through the air and in a matter of hours can be pretty much anywhere in the world.
I can see pictures taken of far away galaxies of unimaginable size and beauty.
We’ve invented machines that can see inside the human body and chemicals that boost our immune system and heal diseases that were fatal to our ancestors.
I could go on and on …
On the other hand …
We produce things that kill, destroy, pollute and poison.
I find it important to remember these things while we pat ourselves on the back for everything we’ve achieved. Our ingenuity is truly a cause for celebration and I look forward to the day when we can also fully celebrate our compassion for each other and care for the world we live in.
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When you want to make a point, boy do you do it in a big way! That segue “on the other hand” followed by the atom bomb is an extremely powerful juxtaposition.
P.S. For technology I am thankful for all things music related.
Sad, but true, my friend. Spidey’s uncle said it best: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Unfortunately, too often that power is abused.
On the other hand, I love the really cool innovations (especially airplanes!).
Spidey’s uncle was a great man! Even Spidey was known to abuse his power from time to time.
That is absolutely the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. I mean the musical instrument. Yes, this is an awesome post, but man! I want one of those music machines! I wonder if it can be programmed to play other songs…
Sorry to disappoint you Jay .. but it’s not actually a real machine! It’s a CGI creation, which in some ways I think makes it even cooler. There’s a DVD of these things called ‘Animusic’.
I’m with Jay – I LOVE LOVE LOVE the musical contraption!
Of course, I loved those crazy things back in cartoons – where balls traveled along tracks, fell onto the coffee maker to make it percolate, then tripped the shower, then opened the front door (remember those types of cartoons?).
I agree, technology can be a bitter pill. I’m a scientist type (by training) and even I am a bit weirded out by how far we are along with cloning and genetic “tinkering.” You can even use high-speed centrifugation now to effectively selected boy- or girl-producing sperm!
Great post, Ian. I hope all is well and you found an oral version of Vit K for the baby! (Needles = yucky!)
~xo
Yes I do remember those things .. there was even a game called ‘Mousetrap’ where you made such a contraption!
I haven’t heard of that centrifugation device – freaky! Presumably the guy needs to get into the machine just before sex? Or is it like ‘the pill’ and only works on the woman? Or am I missing some obvious design flaw here?
PS Yes, I did find the Vit K! No needles for this baby at birth!
I loved Mousetrap! Ha! I forgot about it, but you just reminded me of it. I think I should’ve studied to be an engineer as opposed to a molecular biologist.
About the centrifugation – the guy submits sperm to a lab (yes, in a vial), they spin it really fast and the X- and the Y-containing sperm separate from each other. The Xs are a bit heavier than the Ys (with that extra arm, as you know), so those cells migrate to the bottom of the vial.
It’s certainly not a guarantee, but definitely tips gender the chances one way or the other – depending on which gender of child one wants.
Freaky, yes?
Have a great week, Ian!
By the way, Anonymous is me, Lori.
I hit the submit button as I realized I forgot to fill in the name/email/website header.
Talk about absent-minded professor!! ha
Lori – I guessed it was you! I never had one of those ‘Mousetraps’ but was always envious of anyone who did.
And that sperm thing sounds like one of those things that we do because we can and not because we should.
Is that a real machine though? I think it is CGI. There is a DVD with a whole bunch of these videos – the music and visuals are FANTASTIC. Certainly a shining example of human ingenuity.
Yep, you’re right! The Email my Mum sent me had some caption about it being made by students from tractor parts and it’s now in a museum somewhere. It sounded pretty feasible .. but checking it out .. completely made up. It’s from the DVD as you say … Animusic – A Computer Animation Video Album , to give it the full title. I confess I haven’t seen the DVD but it does sound intriguing! And ingenious!
Ingenuity in itself is one of the greatest blessings of human. However, our hearts are clouded with vices.
Hi Walter. And the wonderful thing about clouds is that it only takes a little sunlight to burn them off. There is hope for us I think!
Hi Ian — well, I think that’s where you come in — helping to bring the world to a state of consciousness where we can use the technologies available to us responsibly.
I hope so! Thanks for the kind words, Chris.