Etc, etc, #4

Hehe. So, even on my road trips I can still make posts that no one ever reads. I am a genius. Admit it...

Emile Michael Vagrans was a Canadian scientist, born in 2000. He had started his career with the notable publication of his doctor’s thesis, titled Technology and Humanity: The Symbiotic Relationship. In this landmark publication, he set forth the basis for much of the research that came after it. He was the first to postulate that technology could someday be used in correlation with brain matter as it had already been used with the ears and other such organs. His own research, however, only went as far as to produce an artificial kidney replacement to be implanted in the body. This helped cement his reputation, but it had nowhere near the revolutionary impact that his next publication would have.
In 2060, three years after the first successful intra-oxygenary-cortex microchip had been implanted, Vagrans noticed subtle changes in the patients with these chips. At the time, he couldn’t explain what he saw, but he knew that he had seen it. The next years of his life were dedicated almost tirelessly to the exploration of what he had seen. Mountains of data was collected. People waited eagerly to discover what he would say about it. The end of his researches came after the first ISM had been successfully implanted. He arranged to observe the patient for three months to study behavior and interactions. What he saw then gave him all the confirmation he needed.
“Everyone knows that when we toy with the human brain, there is a reaction to each of our actions. Stimulating one part of the brain may cause the patient to kick or speak in a foreign language. Cases like this have been recorded numerous times and the truth of their occurrence and implication is not disputed. That is why when the scientific and medical community undertook the production first of the intra-oxygen-ary-cortex, then of the Impulse Stimulating Microchip, they very carefully studies how such a procedure would affect the brain and the patient. The study is very well known now, having been hotly disputed, intensely analyzed, and summarily accepted by professionals and the public. Simply, its conclusion was that by doing the procedure in the way it is done now and by using the products carefully, no harm would come to brain or patient. In fact, the patient’s brain function is improved by the increased strength of the impulses from the chip and, subsequently, overall quality of life improved as well. These were the medical and scientific findings of the published study.
“It is here that we find the greatest breakdown of relations between the sciences and philosophy that has occurred in the history of either. If the study had been approached from the standpoint of the moralist, the philosopher, or even someone as simple as a good man, the findings of the study would have been very different. I have observed changes as simple as disregard for the common courtesies to some as radical as reckless disregard for the sanctity of human life. The cause of this, as shall be shown, is not in the procedure or in the interaction of brain matter with the materials of the chip. It is, in fact, the actions of the chip directed against the brain. This isn’t a malfunction of the apparatus, either, but simply the effect of the chip on the brain. In short, the ISM, while improving brain function and causing no “harm” to the patient, seems to strip the subject of the common morality of man even to the degree of murderousness.”
This was met with scorn by everyone. Vagrans, for all his brilliance in science, was little more than an overreacting Christian, an Organic Scientist, a traitor to his profession. He was laughed out of his own classrooms by his students; the president of the college where he taught had to fire him because of omplaints that he was preaching religion during class; his reputation was ruined by reports of insanity, religious fanaticism, and a rumor of falsified data. With his reputation destroyed by a Technocratic media and the integrity of his research called into question, there was nothing left for him to do but retire in shame. The man lived the rest of his life in quiet solitude with his wife at their home in Washington state, watching as Vagrans disease was laughed into the category of Organicist scare attempts and never given a second serious thought.

Look! I can count to "Sci-Fi Failed Attempt #3"

Bugger! So, I have reached the point here where I have no idea how to end this. Writers block is my kryptonite. Any suggestions are welcome! (In other words, save me from myself)

Lily and her entourage spent the night in a collection of cabins further north, just below the border with Oregon. It had been a long day and they were all pretty tired, so they trouped into the bar next door for a few drinks. The bus driver would drive in the morning, so it didn’t even matter how many they had. This was a happy thought.
Lily sat at the bar while the students crowded around a pool table. She ordered a half-pint of beer and relaxed in a secluded corner, watching her students. They were all exceptionally intelligent people, good humored and funny to boot. All together, they were an enjoyable lot, but Lily didn’t feel like socializing tonight. She had been reviewing the diagnostics from Miss Edner’s scan and the results were not good. That meant that on this road trip, her students would get the most instructive lesson of all, giving a death sentence. As she looked at those happy people, really just kids despite what their ages were, she felt old and tired. In her career, she had handed out only four of these sentences; this would be her fifth and it probably wouldn’t be her last. So she let them have their fun, remaining alone to consider the wisdom of her career choice.
A young man walked in and ordered a drink at the bar. Lily noticed him because the bartender laughed as he gave him his drink. It wasn’t a friendly laugh either, it was “you didn’t seriously just order this here, did you?” laugh. Incredulous. The young man laughed back and said something; Lily thought she heard the word driving but couldn’t be sure, because the noise from the jukebox was deafening now. The young man took his drink good naturedly and turned to face the room, obviously looking for someone. Lily ignored him now, thinking that it would not be polite to stare if he was meeting a friend or a woman. She returned instead to her observations of her students.
Soon enough, however, the young man joined their group and set up a game of pool with on of the girls. He was a good player, but luck seemed to be on the girl’s side and he spent most of the game on the sidelines, speaking alternately with whomever happened to be standing nearest. He had an easy air about him, one that seemed to promote talking, but Lily thought it was somewhat studied. She could easily imagine that such converse with other people had been learned and that he was more comfortable somewhere else, though where that could be she had not a guess. After a little while, perhaps after the third or fourth game of pool, she saw herself pointed out to him. He walked over to her then, something which, uncharacteristically, made her a bit nervous.
“Hi,” he said, over the sound of the jukebox. “My name’s Liam.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” she said.
He smirked, noting that she didn’t offer him her name, or even a seat. “May I?” He sat as she inclined her head. He motioned over to the group of students, “They tell me you’re their teacher. I told them you look too young for that.”
“Maybe I’m older than you think, just well preserved.”
“You’re in your early thirties,” he said.
Lily was taken aback at the surety of his answer. “Do you go around bars guessing the general ages of women?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know that?”
“Why don’t we call it a lucky guess?” he suggested. “I really don’t think your age is important, do you?”
“No,” she said cautiously. From the look of things, he was just looking for a one night stand. “But I depends on what you want, Mister… Well, I guess I didn’t catch your last name.”
“No, you didn’t. I want to talk to you about Vagrans Disease in patients with the ISM implant. And my last name is DeGuin, if you want to know. Can I get you a drink, Miss Tossi?”
Lily stared at him for a moment with ill-concealed astonishment, then with even less concealed anger. “Who the hell do you think you are?” she said. “This is a bar for Christ’s sake.”
“You’ve been out of your office for the past two weeks,” he said. “I had to find you somewhere. Its not my fault you like to frequent bars more than your place of work. Now, will you talk to me?”
“No, I will not. This is highly inappropriate. Besides, Vagrans Disease is little more than a myth.”
“I can show that its not,” he said calmly. “I have more evidence that supports its existence as a legitimate syndrome than you do for the effectiveness of the ISM. And we all know that it is effective. What’s more important is that I’ve discovered that the higher the effectiveness of the ISM, the worse Vagrans gets. There are proportions here that we have only begun to discover.”
“That’s a load of rubbish.”
Liam shook his head. “I know what you think. I used to think the same thing. Just give me ten minutes to try and change your mind and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
She looked at him for a moment. Here was a prime example of a kook Organicist. She knew the story behind Vagrans Disease and as far as she was concerned, it was bullshit. Just another attempt by the opposition to scare people out of helping themselves and improving their lives. It was a shame he had fallen for it. He looked like such an intelligent type of person.
“I think not, Mr. DeGuin,” she said coldly. “Now of you will excuse me, I’m tired and I would like to get some rest. And I would thank you not to follow me any more or I will have a restraining order put in place.”
He stood with her and gave a slight bow. “I’m sorry, Miss Tossi. I can understand how you feel. I won’t bother you again, but should you wish to contact me, here’s my information.” He gave her a business card. “The website on the back is where you can view all my research on Vagrans. Just give it the last four digits of my phone number when prompted.”
She laughed sarcastically. “I’ll be sure and do that.” Lily walked to her cabin, stopping only to remind her students that they were leaving early the next morning. She went through her nightly routine, relieving herself of the last vestiges of irritation her short conversation with Mr. DeGuin, or whatever his name really was, had caused. Once she had relaxed a bit, she lay down in bed and went immediately to sleep.

Sci-Fi Failed Attempt #2

Continuing in the vein of yesterday, we continue with our survey of the year "2057."

Lily had wanted to be a scientist her entire life. Or a doctor. Either one. Maybe both. Every since the time she was ten, she knew that her path lay somewhere amidst the innovations of either. She was eighteen and just about to graduate high school when the first intra-oxegenary-cortex microchip had been successfully introduced into the human brain. There, in that meeting of technological science and medicine, she knew what she was going to do with the rest of her life. She would be one of the first Technicians.
As yet there was no formalized course in becoming a Technician. It was too new of a profession. Anyone wanting to become a Technician, however, had to first complete their Bachelor of Nursing degree, then go on to the beginning courses taken by Neurosurgeons, and upon passing that, make a complete study of the technologies involved in the microchip. The whole process took about six or seven years, depending on which school attended. Most schools, because of the shortage of Technicians, the whole idea, again, being so new, waived their regulations for participation in the liberal arts and all but the non-electives necessary for the position. Lily was accepted to University of California at Davis and went through the entire program, graduating top of her class. She became one of the most sought after Technicians and a pioneer in the development of a specific course for the position. Lily’s name, in the world of techno-medicine, was synonymous with innovation and passion.
She was thirty-three this year and still as passionate about her work as she had been at age ten. Ever more advancements were made, and many of them had her name on them. She was justifiably proud of her achievements. This summer, 2072, she was on a roadtrip visiting patients who had had the “brain” or, as was its technical name, the Impulse Stimulating Microchip (ISM) implanted in their brain. Accompanying her on this trip was a group of the select Technician students from all over the world who were observing the long term effects of the chip. So far, the trip had gone exceedingly well.
Today, the second Monday in July, they were visiting Eva Edner in Northern California at her house near Whiskey Town Lake. As Lily stepped out of the bus, she thought how perfect the setting was. Here amidst the grandeur of the universe was the grandeur of the medicine of man allowing the middle aged woman to step out of her house to greet them.
“Miss Edner,” said Lily, extending her hand, “I’m Lily Tossi. Thank you for allowing us to see you today.”
“It’s a pleasure to have you,” said Miss Edner. “Please, come in.”
She took them inside the house and settled them in the living room. She offered them drinks before sitting down herself. Lily began the actual process of examination, just as she had on the previous subjects. There were a series of questions she asked first, all in order to assess the level of intellectual functionality available to the woman. Next, being careful to ask permission first (she had learned from experience that some subjects were touchy about this), she began the actual examination of the head. Carefully lifting the hair away from the temples, she showed her students the scars left by the procedure and explained part of the process of making them. It was the same routine every time. After the assessment and examination, the students plied Lily and Miss Edner with questions about the procedure and the patient’s experiences.
“I haven’t noticed anything different about myself,” said Miss Edner to one question. “Of course, I’m not sure how much I remember about before. There seems to be these stages in my memory of light, and then a brighter light, and then to now, which is somewhat darker than I remember. But I would guess that’s just a trick of the mind, you know. I function normally, I have no motor problems, in fact I probably function better in that regard. But I don’t know for sure. Perhaps I just don’t remember how I functioned before.”
“What Miss Edner is experiencing,” explained Lily, “is the higher quality of electric impulses stimulating the brain. The impulses emitted by the chip are sharper and of a higher energy than the regular impulses of the brain. These impulses result in such things as improved vision, motor skill, even memory. Remember, the original microchip was used in people with Alzheimer’s, autism and the like. S o it makes sense that a technology derived from that would show some of the same improvements we found in those initial subjects.”
“These sharper impulses, are they of a high enough energy to short out the brain, as it were?” asked one student.
“No, and since we haven’t touched on this before, let’s talk about it now. You’ve heard people say that we probably don’t use all of our brain capacity. This isn’t strictly true. While the brain is a bit like a file bin, it can also be likened to a major league slugger. The more strength he has with which to hit the ball, the farther that ball will go. The greater energy stored in one impulse, the better the brain will operate. So, we have not only restored the brain, we have improved it.”
There were a few more incidental questions and review of theory. Lily finished her diagnostic of the chip while her students recorded their observations. The diagnostic consisted of putting a slightly magnetic sensor behind one ear and what was called a post behind the other. This had been likened to Frankenstein’s electrodes on either side of the head, and was always cause for some laughter. Sci-fi had met the world. With the sensor/post combination in place, Lily applied a wire to the sensor and plugged it into her computer. There, a program ran all checks it needed to, recording the results as it went. A final notification gave the all clear and once the apparatus was turned off, Lily removed the sensor and post. Once this was done, all questions answered, Lily and her students left Miss Edner to the peace and quiet of her home. One down, thought Lily, seven more to go.
As they were driving out of the long dirt driveway, Lily noticed a silver Pathfinder enter and drive towards the house. She didn’t think about it too much. Miss Edner probably just had a visitor.

Sci-Fi Failed Attempt #1

Hehe. So, are we ready for some fiction now? It is so nice to post randomn homework on a blog, you have no idea, but I really want some good stuff in there, too. By now, everyone is either having flashbacks to their high school days or feels like a badly used tutor. Thus, to lighten the mood, here is some science fiction. Keep in mind that this is my first attempt at complete sci-fi. I usually do fantasy. But I was spending time with some friends in the Bay Area and one complained of how there was so little reputable science fiction nowadays. I completely agree. There is a dearth even among the fantasy (I almost broke down and bought the World of Warcraft series yesterday). So, in an attempt to inject some of myself into sci-fi, I now present to you part of a piece I am calling "2057".

In the year 2057, a year in the not too far distant future, a brilliant doctor discovered a microchip to be implanted in the brain in order to fix various dysfunctions. His chip reversed Alzheimer’s Disease, cured children of autism, and other mental retardations. People with seizures could be cured forever with his tiny microchip and people wanted to be cured. A fund was set up by a collection of charities making the chip affordable for everyone and soon, no one had to suffer from a brain disease. This doctor was given every prize imaginable, from the well known Nobel prize to a new prize called the Technology/Medicine Interfunctionary Prize for Exceptional Contributions to Humanity. A new era was rising, many said, with the advent of the microchip, one in which technology would not be merely used to diagnose, but to treat as well. This was an advance akin to walking on the moon and the first 3d ultrasound. The world was assuredly better for it.

The journalist known only as I.O. had struck again. In his weekly column known as the Bosporus Dispute, he put to use his brilliant intellect in questioning the wisdom of technology. “What will we be when a computer replacement for the entire brain is found?” he asked. “Will we be human or droid? Has Star Wars finally come to roost in the chicken coop of our time? And is this a good thing? With the dramatic step of the intra-oxegenary-cortex microchip created by that brilliant doctor we’ve heard so much about, not only our world but our bodies have come into a new age. Already, technicians and researchers are searching for a cure for the brain dead, the only group of people this chip seems not to help. They want to make a replacement brain in order to bring these people back from a state of unconscious existence. We are told they are close. But I dispute the wisdom of such a thing. A chip has no personality, no morality, no philosophical connection to the world. The impulses that make us hug trees and save animals will not be found in an a-human piece of plastic and metal. However misguided these impulses may be, they will be lost to those given this new ‘brain.’ I, for one, am not for it and I think the rest of humanity should be considering the question as well, ‘Is this a good thing?’”
This column was read by people all over America, all over the world via the internet and it created quite a stir. Finally, something had been found to unite the most hardened conservatives and the most radical liberals. Neither wanted to be made into mere robots. Jokes were made about A.I. and how everyone with this new implant would be the next Haley Joel Osment, an actor no one had heard of in nearly half a century. Of course, this shot everyone into throwback mode and teens suddenly found it to be cool to watch movies from the previous millennium. It was like bellbottoms all over again. But the fundamental thing that it did, was to split the two original opposing groups into two new opposing groups, generally referred to as the Technocrats and the Organicists, one in favor, one against.
The Technocrats argued that the new “brain” would bring people back to their loved ones, revive them so they could live their lives again. It was a mission of love and charity made possible by a tiny piece of technology. What an amazing advance in the history of the world and the human race! Besides, the Organicists didn’t even fully understand how the chip worked. It was not a wholesale replacement of the brain; indeed, this could never be possible, since the body would reject the chip immediately. Instead, an incision was made in the brain far enough to hit the direct center, where all the different sections of the brain met. There, the chip would be implanted in order to touch all those parts. Electrical impulses first administered from the outside would stimulate the rest of the brain and run through the chip, causing the brain to function again on the basis of the chips A.I.. The patient would wake up, revive, during the procedure while their skull and brain was still exposed and certain tests would allow the technicians and doctors to determine whether the operation had been a success or no. That was how the chip worked in a nutshell. It didn’t replace the brain, it reactivated it. As long as the subjects’ body didn’t reject the chip, they could go through rehab and then live the lives they had so far missed. They could hug their loved ones again and see their children. This was a good thing.
The Organicists’ arguments were harder to find since a media sympathetic with “love and charity” tended to bury their rational arguments in a shell of “redneck” characterizations and stereotypes. Whatever scientific or medical evidence they had for the negative effects of the chip was ignored. The common people, the citizens of every country, were torn between the information readily available and the information they had to work to find. The odds for and against were far from even, but neither were they stable enough to require a vote in the government or a process of legislature for or against use of the chip. There was a tense stalemate for a long time. Finally, however, in a world setting, the entire collection of countries and governments called for action regarding the issue. Enough noise had been made, they thought, to warrant government intervention. Through the efforts of the democratic countries, especially the United States and Britain, the matter was to be set for a vote by the people on the world’s first international ballot. Over the course of an entire year, the world voted and their votes were counted painstakingly. The final results in percentages was, 51% to 41% (all figures rounded up from 50.8% and 40.2%). By such a narrow margin, on of the biggest controversies of our age was decided.
The first test operation was undergone very publicly in a facility built especially for the procedure. It was televised in primetime. Everyone waited with baited breath as the chosen surgeon made the initial incisions. For hours, people watched in wonder as the human body was split open at the head with a tool looking strangely like a can opener, the internal organs manipulated in a horrendous fashion, for the chip was large enough to warrant something like “putting the pistachio back into the shell,” said I.O. later that week. When finally it was done, the subject opened its eyes for the first time and a cameraman named Joe Slater gave the world the most iconic image of the century or even the millennia. From above, the lens looked down at the face of the subject chosen and with the top half of its skull removed, brain exposed, the head opened its eyes and looked straight into the soul of the world. If after that moment, anyone thought to themselves, “Oh God, what have we done?” they didn’t say. For the world had gone too far to turn back now and, in the manner of the Jews who executed Jesus, the most famous man of the previous age, the guilt of the deed was on them like blood and it would be on their children after them. Something had been killed in that procedure while something had been re-gifted life. What that something was, or why, or for how long, no one wanted to know.
The media was very quiet about the whole thing after that initial success. They instead chose to make it commonplace, to numb people to the horror of it all. Soon, no one gave it a passing thought except to shiver and wonder at the great, powerful institution that was medicine.

Sooooo...

I'm not exactly sure why they do this to me, but my school wants me to write three separate essays for the book analysis. Its mean, I tell ya, but luckily I worked on destressing this quarter. So, I wrote this last essay real quick last night because I could not handle doing it today and doing an assignment redo at the same time. Kudos to my mom and brother for really helping me pull that thesis statement out of my thick skull. Oh, and because I can't remember if I already said this, the randomn numbers in parenthesis are page numbers for the quotes. I have a nifty footnote for these on the actual document but it doesn't seem to have made it into the posts.

Essay III (Morality Essay)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is the story of the upstanding scientist, Dr. Henry Jekyll. Jekyll, however respectable he might seem on the outside, is greatly enticed by immoral pleasures. With a view of enjoying these off-limits adventures, he creates a potion that turns him into his alter-ego, a truly evil creature known as Mr. Edward Hyde. After awhile he realizes that Hyde is growing stronger and that he might not be strong enough to control him for long. Jekyll’s immoral tendencies manifest themselves in his desire to use Mr. Hyde as a cover to indulge in sinful pleasures, but the realization that he is losing control leads him to seek the moral life once more.
Jekyll creates Hyde in order to indulge in sinful pleasures that a respectable gentleman is not allowed. For the majority of his life, he has been resigned to “a profound duplicity of life” (61). He has had to “conceal [his] pleasures” (61). When he finally turns into Hyde, he enjoys it, finding the experience to be freeing and delightful. It “delighted [him] like wine” (64). With this perfect disguise, he can do all those things he cannot do as the straight-laced doctor. While other men hire men to commit crimes for them while they retain their stature in society, “ [he] was the first that ever did so for his pleasures” (66). Such a disguise is only necessary because “the pleasures which [he] made haste to seek in [his] disguise were undignified“ (67). Thus equipped with the vesture of Hyde, Jekyll begins to enjoy himself with impunity.
Jekyll, however, soon finds that he is losing control over his impulses. This is made especially evident to him in the brutal murder of Sir Danvers Carew. As Hyde, he beats to death simply because he was bored by the “civilities of [his] unhappy victim“ (71). “I declare,” he says, “at last, before God, no man morally san could have been guilty of that crime upon so pitiful a provocation” (71). What is all the more shocking to Jekyll is how utterly Hyde enjoys the experience. As Jekyll drinks the potion, Hyde “had a song upon his lips” and gleefully “pledged the dead man” (72). Jekyll, realizing that he is “slowly losing hold of [his] original and better self“ (70), sees that this has to end. He can no longer allow Hyde to walk the streets.
So Jekyll resolves to become and remain a good man again. This means “Hyde was thenceforth impossible“ (72). On top of this, he resolves “in [his] future conduct to redeem [his] past“ (73). In order to accomplish this, he becomes the charitable doctor to an even greater extent. “Whilst he had always been known for charities, he was now no less distinguished for religion” (34). With this resolve and life change, Jekyll looks forward to enjoying “the better part of [his] existence” (72) again.
Dr. Jekyll is an upright man who creates a potion that turns him into his evil alter-ego, Mr. Hyde. As Hyde, he has an untraceable disguise with which to enjoy the pleasures of sin. Once he realizes that he is losing control over the evil impulses served by Hyde, he resolves never again to indulge himself in such a way. He also sets out to do a penance for his sins in the form of charity and religiosity. Jekyll uses the manifestation of his evil tendencies as a cover for his indulgences in sin, but the realization that he is losing control over his life makes him turn away from sin to the respectable life he had once enjoyed.

More Homework...

Three essays in three days is my personal record. And this is not counting the extra essays I do just to torment my self. Here is number two, and number three will follow it tomorrow when I am actually awake with brainpower. BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ANY LEFT RIGHT NOW! And for those of you who want fiction, I am working on a brand new piece that I will put up in about ten days. You can't rush genius, my friends, you just can't.

Essay II (Theme Essay)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is the story of Dr. Jekyll, a scientist who creates a formula turning him into his evil alter ego, Mr. Hyde. Jekyll does this because he believes it will perfect man: “The unjust might go his way; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path” (62). He soon finds out that this is not the case. His story presents the theme that man’s life cannot be improved by separating the two opposing forces of his nature.
Firstly, Jekyll is not successful in his attempt to create two autonomous beings. Hyde, at first, cannot be brought forth unless Jekyll drinks the formula. Even after the potion has been drunk, Jekyll can at any time drink it again and “Edward Hyde would pass away” (67). It is only after Hyde is “much exercised and nourished“ (69) that he is able to bring himself into power without the aid of the potion. This begins a long struggle for control between Jekyll and Hyde. If they had been truly separated, they would have been completely autonomous from each other instead of struggling for mastery.
Secondly, Jekyll has not accomplished a complete separation of good and evil. In fact, “the movement was wholly toward the worse“ (66). While Hyde is completely evil, Jekyll is not made completely good. “Hence, although [he] had now two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil, and the other was still the old Henry Jekyll, that incongruous compound” (66) of good and evil. Thus, Jekyll has not accomplished what he set out to do.
The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde shows that Jekyll was never fully separated from his evil side, represented by Hyde. They are not independent of each other, causing them to engage in a fierce power struggle. Also, there is no separation of good and evil, only the creation of Jekyll’s completely evil alter ego. Jekyll himself remains a combination of both. Thus, through the example of Dr. Jekyll, it is shown that man cannot be perfected by separating the two opposing sides of his nature.