I (literally) think this will work!

Countdown to the Peace Intention Experiment:

The Intention Experiment is embarking on a series of scientific studies to determine whether ‘group mind’ has the power to increase peace and cooperation in war-torn areas around the world experiencing high levels of conflict and violence.

…

Although many meditation groups and other peace initiatives are being formed and studied, the Peace Intention Experiment represents the first scientific study of whether collective targeted intention can restore peace.

One should always try a simple solution before a complex solution, they say. It makes sense, does it not? Won’t our government with its massive defense budget look silly if it turns out we can end global conflicts and violence simply by utilizing the power of our minds, and from the comfort of our homes!

If this sounds too good to be true…perhaps we should do something to make it true. I would like to suggest the following supporting experiment — let us all focus our intentions into making sure that the above experiment is a success!

Who would like to step forward and propose an experiment to support my experiment?

For your reading pleasure

I have replaced the About page with Five things the Den loves.

Evolutionary computing close to proving the superiority of the Zerg

Lee Graham has developed software which allows users to simulate Darwinian evolution on their home computers. He asks for a little use of your CPU in exchange for a download of the program.

The software generates virtual creatures in a 3D environment and tests them based on their locomotive capacities, or other user-controlled selection criteria. Generation after generation is spawned, with the “genes” of the more successful creatures propagating, and mutation allowing for new body structures to come into being. Youtube hosts numerous videos of creatures that users have submitted after running the software long enough to get interesting results.

Of course evolution, like geopolitics, isn’t fun without the competition getting violent! What would happen if you put all the most successful creatures in a single environment and ran the program allowing them to duke it out for as long as it takes in order for one species to convincingly establish itself as dominant? I think you would be left with a creature that looks kinda like this:

Argentina is the best place for digging a hole to China

But dig anywhere in the continental United States and you will come out in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Also, you will probably drown before the ocean drains into the hole.

More on the theory of historical relativity

Just as it was difficult for a lot of people to accept the discovery that spacetime is curved, it is difficult for some people to accept the scientific report of my previous post. To assist in this regard, I will take questions.

Q: What about the legions of facts that substantiate al Qaeda’s culpability in the September 11 attacks? Haven’t numerous intelligence agencies inside and outside of the United States documented reams of evidence that all establish the conclusion that al Qaeda planned and organized the attacks beyond any reasonable doubt? Hasn’t Osama bin Laden himself on repeat occasion claimed responsibility for the attacks of that day? Are you telling me that these facts, too, can turn on or off depending on one’s position in spacetime?

A: Yes. That is the power–dare I say the majesty–of the theory. It traverses chains of factuality backwards into history as far as it needs to.

Q: According to that poll, 43% of Egyptians report that Israel was behind the September 11 attacks. Why on earth would Israel mastermind a plan to destroy American cities and murder thousands of Americans?  Doesn’t the United States supply Israel with billions of dollars in foreign aid, military technology, warm good will, etc?

A: The correct question is not “why on earth” but “where on earth”. 43% is very roughly half of Egypt. So in half of Egypt, let’s say north of Cairo, it may be a fact that the United States has been sending Israel billions of dollars in foreign aid, but south of Cairo, the United States has actually been sending them billions of forced subscriptions to magazines published by American Media, Inc.

Q: Did the Holocaust really happen?

A: Are you standing in or out of Tehran?

Q: Have we been able to map out the complete factuality patterns of any historical statements?

A: We have been able to determine that the statement “George W. Bush won the 2000 United States Presidential election” is a historical fact across most of the mainland, but is less likely to be a fact when you are in close proximity to either the east or west coast. The factuality pattern of this historical statement apparently has something to do with oceanic coastlines, although we are not sure why.

Q: I think you’re making all this up!

A: The factuality pattern of the statement “Den of Hydralisks made all this up” is as yet unknown.

Q: What practical applications of this science can we look forward to once we fully comprehend the laws governing it?

A: I’m planning on going some place where it is fact that I once ruled the entire world, personally. I’m curious to see how much damage I did.

Einstein’s general theory of historical relativity

Did you know that historical facts can actually change depending on where in the world you are? It’s true, and the phenomena is fascinating. It may be close to the kind of thing Richard Feynman was getting at with his concept of multiple histories.

Consider a Reuters global opinion poll in which respondents were asked who was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

The survey of 16,063 people in 17 nations found majorities in only nine countries believe al Qaeda was behind the attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 3,000 people in 2001.

In Europe, al Qaeda was cited by 56 percent of Britons and Italians, 63 percent of French and 64 percent of Germans. The U.S. government was to blame, according to 23 percent of Germans and 15 percent of Italians.

Respondents in the Middle East were especially likely to name a perpetrator other than al Qaeda, the poll found.

Israel was behind the attacks, said 43 percent of people in Egypt, 31 percent in Jordan and 19 percent in the Palestinian Territories. The U.S. government was blamed by 36 percent of Turks and 27 percent of Palestinians.

In Mexico, 30 percent cited the U.S. government and 33 percent named al Qaeda.

Now we have known for a long time that facts can change depending on the observer’s state of motion. What we are beginning to learn is that motion seems to have little to do with it. Facts just seem to change depending on which patch of the earth you are standing on at the moment.

What is not fully understood is the mechanism by which this occurs. I have heard top physicists postulate the existence of some kind of dynamic and invisible field, not unlike the electromagnetic field, which toggles historical propositions on or off according to laws which are not yet evident to us. If this hypothesis turns out to be valid, it may begin to explain many strange anomalies that have baffled observers, such as the way in which basic facts about who started what war for what reason change completely according to one’s present geographic location.

For example, the proposition “North Korea fought a defensive war in response to the invasion by the United States and South Korea past the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950” becomes factually true when you are standing in the geographic region which lies between Russia and South Korea.

Much research needs to be done before we are able to crack the mystery conclusively, but one thing is clear — this is an exciting new area of scientific inquiry that everyone will want to pay attention to.

Educational site of the day

Anyone looking for excellent reading material should stroll over to The Heretical Press Directory, a repository of writings by Simon Sheppard and his pals. Just click on a random essay and start reading! Amusement–and enlightenment–is all but guaranteed.

Aren’t women amazing?

Based on my observations, there are three things which men are better at doing than women–hurting each other, hurting women, and playing chess. But for the things that matter most, men are outclassed.

Alfred Kinsey once interviewed a woman who could be brought to orgasm by stroking her eyebrows. In my research I found a case study of a woman who had an orgasm each time she brushed her teeth (followed by a mild epileptic seizure). Barry Komisaruk and Beverly Whipple, researchers at Rutgers University, have studied a dozen or so women who can “think” themselves to orgasm. Some use imagery, some use breathing techniques. The woman I met who could do it (she demonstrated her skill for me on a bench outside a sushi bar in Oakland, California) had taught herself using imagery and breathing skills learned in a weekend workshop given by sex educator Annie Sprinkle. It took her two years to master the technique.

Article at New Scientist.

Off-topic: Is anyone else on WordPress having trouble posting comments at blogs on Blogspot?

Scripture study

Today I would like to share with you a few verses from the true account of Genesis, as recorded by John Launer. Please study with a prayer in your heart that what you read may fill your understanding and enrich your soul.

1. These are the generations of man. In the beginning was deoxyribonucleic acid which begat more deoxyribonucleic acid, like unto itself.
2. And Lo, there were rays from the heavens, and mutation came to pass. And the deoxyribonucleic acid begat unicellular organisms, which we call prokaryotes. And there was variation amongst them, and competition, so that some thrived; but others vanished from the earth, which we call natural selection.
3. And prokaryotes multiplied upon the face of the earth: the true bacteria and also the mitochondria and the chloroplasts; and the archaebacteria. And the mitochondria and chloroplasts knew the prokaryotes, and they cleaved to one another. And together they begat the eukaryotes, which were nucleated cells. But the prokaryotes are the inheritors of the earth to this day.

Read the rest.

Why men grade on the curve

Curvy women are more intelligent and make smarter children.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, Santa Barbara took a good look at 16,000 women and found the hourglass-figure correlated closely with intelligence.

This is why curviness is paramount when choosing a mate. Clearly, men are thinking ahead about how smart they’d like their children to be.

Let’s hear it for men. Our hard-wired wisdom is conducive to the betterment of our species.