Luke of Stone

Upload your brain.

December 2010 Archives - 2/2 - Luke of Stone

Why study slime molds?

Why wouldn’t you study slime molds? Heh, well, seriously, why? For starters, they may give humans insight on how to build smarter transportation networks. Some experiments have been done in Japan where small bits of food were arranged like cities. Then slime mold was unleashed in the area. Scientists observed how the slime molds spread and found a shocking similarity between the slimy networks and the Tokyo railway system. Nature is very inspiring, and I think slime molds are one of many examples of nature showing us the way to higher thought.

Mycetozoa from Ernst Haeckel's 1904 Kunstformen der Natur (Artforms of Nature)

Mycetozoa from Ernst Haeckel's 1904 Kunstformen der Natur (Artforms of Nature)

Google phones, cars, TV’s and Chrome OS

In this interview, Eric Schmidt talks about turning our phones into credit cards, self-driving cars, cars wih buggy software being better drivers than drunk humans, attrition at Google, facial recognition, real-time satellite imagery, the line between smart technology and creepiness, Google TV, Chrome OS and Android.

The controversial Milgram experiments where normal people are asked to shock others to death

This is a rather disturbing experiment done by Stanley Milgram where normal people are asked to give electric shocks to another person when they answer questions incorrectly. The shocks started small and increased upon each wrong question all the way up to 450 volts (enough to kill a person). Shockingly, the majority of people went all the way to the end of the experiment. Had it been real, they would have killed the other person. Proceed in watching these with caution.

Part 1

Studying sociology and breaching social norms

Studying sociology at Kilgore College and finding the topic quite interesting. As a primer, I’ve been listening to a podcast on social psychology from UC Berkeley. The subject tries to describe what drives people to make decisions in society. The “breaching” experiments were especially entertaining. This is where students were asked to breach social norms and observe how unsuspecting people respond.

For your viewing pleasure, I present some breaching of the social norms:

The Asch Elevator Experiment