One can never trust written official accounts of history, even events I can recall here in the city have been altered. My dad was a local historian with a fantastic memory right up to the end. I was thinking that if they could digitalise the brains of modern historians/scientists and store them then future generations would get a truer picture of what actually happened.
Writing it all down is not so easy for really old people, and recording it is too laborious, you have to drag it out of them and they can’t be bothered most of the time.
Well I searched around and it seems it can’t be done yet because the brain is not digital it’s analog, all the signals sent to the brain would have to be converted and the receiver, in this case the brain would also have to be digitalised, so far they haven’t come up with a way of doing this conversion.
Reminds me of the pagan who came to Dublin to be converted, they took him down to Lansdowne road and kicked him over the bar.
Get this,
“Organic brains are not like electronic computers: they are analog, not digital.* One critical distinction is simply “Granularity – for a continuously variable analog value to be represented in digital form there occur quantization error which is difference in actual analog value and digital representation and this property of digital communication is known as granularity.”*
Did you get that Captain Kirk? There you have it, if you can figure that out your brain is halfway there.
And there was me thinking ‘granularity’ was a granny who never suffered from constipation.;-)
y0u been on the jungle juice again Jem? they still can’t figure out what appens in the brain when people get depressed; suicidal; schizohrenic ; manic etc etc maybe changing our brains from analog to digital would make us super happy ? I once had a girl friend who I called ‘analog’ when we went walkin in the woods I would ask her “where would you like to lay with me a while?” she would reply “analog” but I could never find a girl who would digital??
I see Prune Harry has got himself engaged at last - the smell of the forest was too strong heh? and his granny is delighted? - pull the other one - commoners in the palace??
Borders and borderlines, looks like the prophecies of old Chief Dan George were right when he said ‘Everyones gotta have an edge”
Who knows whats hidden in the soul of man RJ, shallows can be overlooked, but one must always pay ones depths.;-)
Sometimes it pays to jump in at the deep end Gummy, I jumped into marriage at 19 and never regretted it, and sometimes it can be disastrous, all depends on the luck of the draw, we are all in the hands of fate.
All together now, a blast from “He who valiant be” as remembered from the film “Clockwork” with John Cleese.
“He who would valiant be ’gainst all disaster,
Let him in constancy follow the Master.
There’s no discouragement shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim”
As the gay man said to the salvation band leader when asked what hymn would he like “Him over there with the big drum”
Oh I do feel spiritually uplifted after that, like one of the pilgrims setting out for the new world, God forgive me, one should not knock those gallant folks.
Umm…re the convo regarding the brain…
The difference between analog and digital signals is that analogue information is translated into electrical pulses of varying amplitude.
Digital signals are binary and thus require reformatting into ‘information’.
Signals to the brain HAVE to be analogue,due to the time required to convert received signals into ‘action-information’ which can be then converted into actions perceived as of urgency and immediacy…but digital signals are sent-and received- in binary form [zeros and ones] which would require ‘reading and converting’ prior to re-transmitting to the body in instantly understandable form. Although this would be a very small moment of time,it can be that split-second of hesitation that makes the difference between survival and death.
…and I shall now once again go away…sorry…carry on…
By Jove you know your stuff Pug, very clearly explained, thanks for that. Another problem unpuggled. Are you sure you wasn’t on the Starship Enterprise, a pupil of Mr. Spock perhaps?;-)
That bit about ‘He who valiant be’ is credited to the man with the sore feet John Bunyon, Al Jolson paid tribute to him in the song THE SPANIARD THAT BLIGHTED MY LIFE
(Billy Merson). The connection there must be the Spanish and the Pilgrims heading for America, give or take a few hundred years apart.
“I’ll raise a bunion on his Spanish onion
If I catch him bending tonight”
Wonder what ‘bending tonight’ means? You done any bending lately Gummy? I know poor Spitty is out there on the patio bending his knees night after night, and if it wasn’t so cold I’d be out bending me own elbow tonight.
I don’t like accordion music, well solo accordion music, it goes back to my childhood.
Every last Thursday of the month a farmer friend of my fathers would come to our house to give us poor kids a ‘Treat’ of music, we were all five of us herded into the parlour and seated, nay, nailed to chairs for an hours delight of reels hornpipes and folk songs all performed by this overfed whiskey drinking gentleman farmer, he had a huge accordion and brought his own flask of whiskey, he’s be a long time waiting for whiskey in our house back then if he hadn’t.
It was absolute torture for us kids, his playing left a lot to be desired and his singing was atrocious, but having said that the poor fellow was doing his best, must have been some sort of contrition for whatever sins he committed, couldn’t have been anything to do with sex for no woman in her right mind would go near him, he was very fat, sweated a lot, and had a face like Edward G. Robinson after receiving bad news.
Bless his old heart he would always bring some fresh farm eggs and milk with him for the mother, but the older brother and me wouldn’t touch them because he would always say to the mother “There you are now Katie, sure I always say you can’t beat your own milk and eggs”
The brother and me had visions of Mr Callahan giving his own milk and laying his own eggs, yuk!
Oh course the protests didn’t last long, you ate what was put in front of you and if you didn’t it wouldn’t be there to look a second time.
well since I rucked up me knee and taken to crutches, bending has become somewhat treacherous once I reach a certain fulcrum point I just keep falling until I reach the ground! not a pretty sight when bowing and shakin hands with royalty!
Tonight was exasperating, once again made to feel guilty, for other folks demise, but, as always, mindful of one’s own demise, just around the corner.
So Be It.
well glad you felt you can come along here and let it all out spittie - they’re weren’t giving you advise about building something on the back of the house were they?
Now a bit of psychology here spits - this is my field - you only make yaself feel guilty other people can’t do that to you - remember you can be criticized or laughed at or finger pointed for whatever reason but you are ya own man and I think it would be true to say that on here that we have become to know you well
you can rise above criticism - let the phoenix arise oh man of stone! your a man not to be messed around with!
OMG jumpin jack flash heh - A sight for sore eyes - RJ doin the hippy hippy shake - I think we are probably havin more fun here in cyberspace than if we were sat in a dublin pub havin a guiness [but oh the mind wanders and wishes!]
“As they age, the cumulative damage to the mitochondria makes them less efficient at turning fuel into energy and the number of mitochondria per cell reduces. As a result, the body has to function with one-half to one-fourth of the energy it had in its youth. This has a knock on effect on the whole body, particularly on the organs that require the most energy such as the heart and brain.
Mitochondrial decay is a major contributor to ageing - studies have shown that young people have virtually no mitochondrial damage, whereas the mitochondria in the cells of elderly people are mostly dysfunctional. So improving mitochondrial function may help to protect against, even eliminate, one risk factor for disease.”
It is interesting to ponder about the mitochondrial damage of our little group here - I would put my own hand up for significant damage over the years but I would also guess that other members are doing quite well - Puggsy sounds like a good mitochondrial character and Jem and Spittie but me and JR need a few shovel fulls of new mitochondria ??
Ahhhh,gumbud,how greatly we worry over such small cytoplasmic matrixes,ol’ chap…
The chance-percentage of mitochondrial dysfunction is really not worth your tears,gumbud…so blow yer conk & dry yer eyes,me old mate. Y’see;The most important function of the mitochondria is to produce energy. Fairy Nuff. The simpler [i.e; more basic] molecules of nutrition are passed to the mitochondria,to be processed to produce charged molecules. These charged molecules combine with oxygen and thus produce ‘ATP’(Adenosine triphosphate] molecules. This process is known as oxidative phosphorylation. [sorry!]
Mitochondria help cells to maintain proper concentration of calcium ions within the compartments of the cell,but they also help in building certain parts of blood and hormones,i.e; testosterone and estrogen.
The mitochondria in liver cells,have enzymes that detoxify ammonia. THESE,although not seeming so,are the m/c that are really important to keep operational-they stop you poisoning yourself from within…by accident.
The mitochondria also play important role in the process of apoptosis or ‘programmed cell death’. Which is to say,each-and-every cell & microcell in the human-or any-living framework,has a ‘cut-off’ date after which apoptosis will take place,clearing out used ‘husks’ to be replaced with energetic cells…THIS is the process that slows as the body ages,thus you humans [shuddup] become slower,less ‘sprightly’…and fussier regarding diet. However-the slowing of the process is not in,or of itself,a bad or dangerous thing,as the mitochondria play an important role in the production of ATP via the process of oxidative phosphorylation. At this point,I’ll STFU and suggest that if you’re interested,you Bing,Google,I.E.Safari, or whatever the bloody thing’s called,the phrase ‘Krebs cycle’. Oh…if anyone’s wondering,‘ATP’ is a nucleotide performing many essential roles in body cells. It’s the major energy format of the cell,providing the energy for most of the sometimes extremely energy-consumptive activities within a cell. Damnit…I’m being stared at again…Anon,poppets…
On a somewhat lighter note,because I don’t spend ALL my time immersed in encyclopaedias - I’ve been reading about the Indian filmmaking industry;namely,‘Bollywood’.
It’s ok - but I don’t see why they have to make such a song-and-dance about it.
Mitrochondria my arse, nothing like a pint or two of guinness for all the energy you need, when my missus was a young girl she was anaemic and the doctor prescribed a half-pint bottle of guinness a day for six months, she’s as healthy as sin today.
I’m well used to being blamed for everything that goes wrong in our house, big things and small things, past things and even things to come. For instance this morning herself was talking on the phone for over an hour to one of her sisters, when she finished she asked me did I want anything in the shop as she was going out, I said I could do with a few disposable razors, fair enough out she goes. Five minutes later she is back in again, she forgot her purse “And if I hadn’t been talking to you I would have put it in me bag” says she and storms out. I rest my case yer honour.
Us blokes are there for them to blame, they would be lost if we weren’t, it’s an escape valve for them, a kind of service, all part of the marriage deal, for a peaceful life it’s best to just accept it and roll along.;-)
Granularity. I was pondering this very subject at the weekend when I was making some apple crumble. Icing sugar versus granulated sugar versus soft brown sugar versus demerara sugar. All different levels of granularity tha knows.
As for salt, what makes sea salt so special. Anyone who has ever swimmed in the sea and got a gob full knows it’s darn salty. Why do crisp makers deem it necessary to tell us the salt in/on the product is sea salt. When I was a lad we had salted crisps or salt and vinegar flavour. The only difference I can see by adding the word sea to the packet is the price. Sea salt and cracked black pepper crisps are more expensive than salt and pepper crisps.
… and analogue versus digital brains. The Tornado fighter/bomber engine had one of them. One type had an analogue control unit and the other type had a digital version.
I used to slow cook a pasty on the analogue jobby a-cause the power supply got really hot. Five hours wrapped in baco foil an’ er was steaming all the way through.
If you took the lid off you could see the analogues all rushing along the wuzzy-pipes from one end to t’other, down to th’engine an’ back again. The analogue units were much heavier than the digital jobbies, so I came to the conclusion that analogues weigh more than digits. Simple deduction innit, or is it simple addition?
You had to be careful with the digital unit though. If you took the lid off, all the ones and 'ose would fall out on the floor. The worst ones were the hexadecimal jobbies. The analogues had to be converted to hex then digital, then all the way back again. You never got the number you first thought of.
