Area51, here be raliens

An unusual thing happened to me today.

I decided to take an alternative route to the university. I chose a different bus. I got off at a different station, simply because I wanted to walk more. I crossed the street at a different spot.

I enjoyed the great weather, the fresh air, I looked at the sky, watched the clouds and told myself "Wow! it's awesome that we have this atmosphere!". A bird flew by at a low altitude... For a moment, I almost felt like I saw a double-rainbow!

As I was getting closer to my checkpoint, I walked by 2 little girls; there was nothing unusual about them - bags on their backs, probably on their way to school... Except that... one of them was crying. She was very sad, and tears were rolling down her face. The friend held her hand and tried to console her, but that didn't work.

People walked by, but no one cared, no one empathized... A simple exchange of words revealed to me that she couldn't find her keys and could not enter the house. I asked her if there was a phone number she could call and talk to her mom about it - she said yes.

In a few moments, her tiny fingers were dialing a number on my keypad. I witnessed something extraordinary - the mother-child remote neuro-interface. (it is something like RDP, VNC, Teamviewer, or even SSH - but a million times better).

As soon as she was pressing the buttons, she calmed down and self-confidence came back. Her face was like a light-bulb that gradually turned brighter, a few seconds later she was shining at full capacity. It was a motherful scene!

Her friend looked at me, pointing her head towards her peer, and smiled (probably thinking "ah.. kids these days...").

The conversation was over, I asked her if things were fine, she said mom was on her way. Good news! I wished them luck and went to class.

Later that day, someone called. It was her mom, she thanked me for helping her daughter. I was touched.

So... there is a special bond between mothers and their children. I don't know what kind of a protocol it is, what kind of a mysterious signal carrier it uses... But it was effective before I could blink an eye, before she even heard her mom's voice; when she did - the change was instant and amazing. Take a look at the graph, her state changed from -∞ to +∞ :-)

Now... what do we do about those people who just stood there?

You know me as a reckless person;
I'm also called naive...
incompetent, childish, impatient,
and greedy - some believe.

I dare oppose such strong opinions,
for I am not to blame.
Had you been walking in my sandals,
you would have done the same.

I had no voice the day that chances
defined how planets must align.
My choices are a mere illusion
embedded into the design.

Should heavens feignly make exceptions
and drag me out of sorrow bane,
without a moment's hesitation
I'd walk the path again... again...

I killed a baby last night.
Deaf to its cry,
Blind to its smile...
I let the baby die.

I've had my reasons.
Today I'm imprisoned,
my thoughts locked me up:
Whom did I stop?

A teacher? An artist? A chef?
A famous writer perhaps?
Potential surrendered to blight,
for I killed a baby last night.

***

Disclmaimer: no real babies were harmed during the process; only a complex baby with just an imaginary part.

For all the things I have done,
and all the people I've helped,
the universe offers edge cases,
hand-picked from /tortures-in-hell.

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- Hey, it's time for you to quit wearing this cap. It is old, it doesn't stretch properly, and you look dumb in it. Give it up already!

- No mom, don't you understand that this is a special cap? I got it from my sister, it is more than just a cloth, so I'm sticking to it. And while we're at it, the green hoodie you've partially blacklisted is also special - my sister and I got it together several years ago. I know that the colours are worn off, but that doesn't matter. Hold on for a second... let me see...

These boots, I got them with my sister N years ago (before the hoodie). These jeans, my sister and her husband got them for me last year. This blue shirt - you and dad got it for me, remember? Remember? This was a rare case in which I actually embraced the idea of buying new clothes... that was many years ago.. And this coat, we got it on the same day and in the same store as the greenie. This black thing on my neck - my sister again (yes, your daughter). The blue backpack, I know you've patched it multiple times, I know it falls apart, but I got it from my sister, who in turn got it from a close friend; it is a fragment of history.

In fact, my current outfit is made entirely of items that I got from someone special, so it's more than just an outfit.

- Aha, I see. Tell me, who gave you these gloves? ;-)

Morale of the story - perceived value depends on the distance. It shouldn't.

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Many moons ago, I had a class about artificial intelligence. On one of our first meetings, the teacher asked the group which components are required by an intelligent system. "Long term memory", some said; "short term memory" - said someone else; "the ability to learn" - others added.

I raised my hand and said that they need a randomizer. Most people did not pay attention, or just looked at me in a weird way, I was not given an opportunity to explain why that would be necessary. So here we go.

A human life can be seen as a continuous process between decision-making points. Have you ever wondered why you make the choices you make?

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Rezultatele referendumului nu inspiră optimism; chiar după ce pragul validării rezultatelor a fost redus, oricum au venit mai puțin de 1/3.

Opinia și-au exprimat-o doar ~30% din alegători (datele exacte pot fi găsite pe alegeri.md).

Mulțimea alegătorilor dintr-un stat poate fi descompusă în următoarele grupuri (culorile corespund culorilor din grafic):

• X = Pro (verde)
• Y = Contra (albastru)
• Z = Boicot (roșu)
• Q = Nu-mi pasă (galben)

Referendumul este organizat în așa fel, încât comportamentul celor cărora nu le pasă este interpretat ca un boicot - grupul Z primește Q% gratis.

Deci, rezultatul referendumului poate fi interpretat în câteva moduri (notă: graficul nu reprezintă exact magnitudinile, exemplul este unul fictiv):

• (A) Mai puțin de 100% de alegători și-au manifestat interesul, 30% au făcut-o prin vot (verde + albastru), X% au făcut-o prin neparticipare (roșu), iar ceilalți (Y = 100-30-X) au avut lucruri mai importante de făcut (galben).
• (B) 100% din alegători și-au manifestat interesul față de referendum, 30% (verde + albastru) au făcut-o prin exprimarea directă a opiniei iar 70% (roșu) - prin exprimarea indirectă (i.e. neparticipare);

Pentru a evita această problemă:

• Referendumul trebuie să fie validat pentru orice număr de participanți;
• Referendumul trebuie să mai conțină o variantă de răspuns, ex: "contra tuturor" sau "boicot".

În acest fel:

• puterea se ia din mâinile acelor oameni care nu vor s-o utilizeze;
• rezultatul va fi obiectiv, deoarece unul din grupuri nu va primi un procent anumit de "voturi gratuite", ceea ce înseamnă că rezultatele nu vor fi distorsionate.

În urma acestor schimbări, cel puțin vom ști că deciziile se iau de majoritate, și nu de o mână de oameni care nu pot gândi despre viitor.

If you wish to set up a new social movement and make it successful, you'll need to attract followers and ensure that they stay. You also need to make sure that the ideas promoted by the movement are understood by each adept and that they spread among the uninitiated ones.

Disclaimer: some examples are from religion, others are from extremist movements; this is because they are good study cases (since they were, and some still are, historically successful), not because I promote them.

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I was in class with my students. It was quite dark outside, it felt like autumn. I was trying to concentrate on the people around me, but my mind was focused on other activities. Juggling the pieces of the puzzle - phone numbers, names, dates, places... I was looking for new ways to connect the dots and derive some knowledge that would help me in my quest.

Not much progress was made in the last hours. Maybe we had to change our modus operandi? Or maybe we were dealing with a "does not compute" type of problem?

My phone rang. I ignored it,

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