Today's Humans, Tomorrow's....Robots?

Last night, my fiance and I went with another couple to see Iron Man 3.  I won't share too much of the story line but it did bring up a thought to me that I considered worth pondering.  With the evolution of warfare, our soldiers are always expected to be faster, stronger, more cunning and more developed in their skills.  There have been developments in uniform with possible cloaking mechanisms and robots have made it possible to avoid soldiers from charging into battle without knowing what or who was waiting.  But what if they were asked to take it a step further?  What if being simply human stopped being enough?

Our imaginations have driven this concept to heights that I am certain our ancestors couldn't have conceived. Artwork and music imagine robots being an integral part in society.  Movies have shared this vision as well with movies such as I Am Robot, in which robots are depicted as being a part of the household.  Robots have even been painted as human's future permanent companion, with studies being conducted on human interaction with "Lovebots."  Perhaps the epitome of the human-robot interaction was most capitalized by the movie series Terminator.  If you have seen these movies, you know that the premise behind them is a future world where humans and robots, that once stood side by side, now battle against each other.

But how real can this be?  Our media and society seem to become more and more wrapped around the concept of robotics and human interaction with robots.  Some of my peers would say this is something to fear and be concerned with.  Ideas and thoughts that the robot that cleans your carpet may be mapping your house or that we and our youth are being indoctrinated and becoming use to robots as it is the future of our nation.  Could we become obsolete and non-essential part of the world?

In the movies of robots and robots soldiers, ideas of a stronger genome of human is introduced.  What if the genetic material of people can be altered to ensure that they can not only resist injury but they can become weapons within themselves?  Are we far from our soldiers being asked to undergo such life altering suggestions?  Consider this: something as simple as a microchip can have great influence over your life.  Depending on how it can be implanted, there is not telling what can be sent, injected or otherwise infiltrated into your system.

I am not trying to have a conspiracy theory.  On the contrary, I am merely bringing up something that I am certain flits across the human psyche at least once in a life, even if just for a fleeting moment.  The idea that we can be replaced, become obsolete or otherwise lose a sense of purpose.  The idea that one day, improvements and predictions of DNA could be made, much like in the movie Gattica and ideal children can be created.  At what point will the quest to perfect what was already made cease?  For now, society has accepted plastic surgery that changes bits and pieces, sizes and heights even.  But what is the next step?

And when will we have gone far enough?

Soft, Gray Skies and Dandelions

The drive to work is never overly enjoyable. I find small consolation in the scenery I pass but it has become rather monotonous. The same tree, same flowers, same houses. Yesterday, while driving to work, the sky was covered with a soft, gray cloud. You could see the clouds straining to contain the sun, evident by the cracks that were white and almost glowing. Suddenly, I felt extremely small…

Soft, gray sky not unlike the one I saw

Here I was, driving a car. A car that weighs far more than I do and I am controlling it. In this car, I was driving under a sky. A sky that looked somber, reminding me of getting caught in the rain during a Girl Scout hike. Or, rather, walking in downtown Wexford, Ireland, and getting caught in the Irish rain that rises without fail. Scurry into a nearby shop to seek shelter or reprieve or perhaps, to wait it out with a pastry and a hot cup of tea.

I then passed by a lumber yard while I was driving my car under the soft, gray sky. I saw a bucket truck lifting what appeared to be as mulch, steaming as the water began to fall from the cool sky, into a dump truck. Then the logs from the trees who can tell us stories, if only they could speak. Alas, they stand silent. In the lumber yard, we humans, again, take control of their fate and destiny. The rain came soft and light, a drizzle, as I drove my car.

I felt so small. Here I was in this world that I drive by continuously. What had I forgotten that I had witnessed on my drive? Oh yes, it come flooding back. The crime scene. The evidence of a building standing a mere shell to its former self. The hole left in wake appeared to be that of a car’s doing. The yellow tape stretched across the opening of the building, its black lettering screaming its warning to all who come near.

Here I was, a humble woman, living in a world that is so much bigger than myself and I get sometimes so ignorant to what is around me. I forget to look at what I am going past and what is in the line of vision. I have become so enslaved in my pattern I forget to step out of the rut. We all get that way.

I know I talk a lot about nature, about pattern, about the magnitude of what is around us. I have written about enjoying nature and embracing what is around you in the past. I have touched on how we get so involved in our lives that we forget to look up. But now I have a word for it…

Enslavement

We are all guilty of it. Furthermore, this can be present in both positive and negative ways. If we become involved in a substance, in work, in vices, these are examples of negative enslavement. If we become caught up in outlets, creative expression, problem solving or the like, these are examples of positive enslavement. For example, the daily grind I go to, while I like my job, is negative. I may come home and not have the most positive attitude or be as upbeat as my fiancé may want me to be. This causes me to be ignorant of the people and things around me, in effect blinding me to their needs. This blog, however, is positive enslavement. It is a creative outlet for me, a way to express myself. It is also a way I communicate with my family, friends, my fiancé as well as you, Reader, and the rest of the world. This is also positive because when I talk about it with my fiancé or he asks me questions, I look forward to answering them. I have no problem discussing Writer’s Block or that I am going to write something a little daring (See “The (D)Evolution of Sex”).

But even with both my positive and negative enslavements, there needs to be time for me to be caught up in nothing. Just the world. To walk, to embrace my fiancé, to simply exist, all done without a care,

As though the seeds on the wind....

without concern or without an agenda. Sometimes, I miss the days when recess consisted of going on a playground and running around, climbing, jumping, swinging…or simply sitting in a field picking dandelions. Only can the simple child see the elegance and beauty of what we, as adults, perceive as weeds. We can all admit that we would be lying if we pretended to not acknowledge this fact. I can remember the joy I felt whenever I came across the delicate, seed portal of the dandelion, of picking it gingerly and closing my eyes, making a wish. Softly blowing the seeds helter-skelter everywhere, watching as the wind swirled and picked them up.

Just remember to stop every once in a while and enjoy what is around you.  The world, the sky, the flowers even the weeds.  They all play an important role not only in nature but in your life as well.  Try and remember how we saw them as a child, how we stood in awe of everything.  That is the way we should try to see the world and embrace it.  Enjoy it, embrace it...most importantly, don't forget to live Life.

Luck has Nothing to Do with Birthdays

Last night, I was looking up from my chair.  The white string tied to the right arm of my chair lead up the way to find a balloon wafting in the cross breeze of the air.  The bottom of the balloon is surrounded by bright colors leading up to a colorful "Happy Birthday!" topped off by a candle.  I found this balloon, along with a card and a gift on my desk Monday morning.  It was from a close colleague of mine, one with whom I have worked since day one.

Like the balloon I have!

As I looked to the underbelly of the balloon, I began to think about meaning of all the traditions in birthdays. While driving home, these thoughts turned to the origins of the celebration.  I thought about how families traditionally worked.  When most of the country was still being settled, even in the rural areas of Europe or other nations, having a large family was imperative to running the farm.  There were animals to feed, crops to care for and good to sell.  Childbirth carried dangers to the mother, a woman who was crucial to the raising of the children.  Death was prominent in a world where medicine consisted of bleeding or balancing the Four Humors.

Having children was, while important, not a luxury either.  All the girls needed dowries to marry appropriately, money or gifts to offer their future husbands.  All the goods (woman included) were given to the husband to become his property (thus the changing of the last name).  There were more mouths to feed in the home, availability of food depending on the success of the crop and how well it did at market.  Many famines occurred.

On the drive home, I thought about how when my family came to celebrate my birthday.  How my mom embraced me, wishing me a happy birthday "to my eldest girl!  Happiest day in my life!"  I am being celebrated when really, it is she who should be celebrated.  Mothers get one day to have all they do celebrated when really it should be celebrated everyday, including on a child's birthday.  We are very fortunate in this day and age to have the luxury to celebrate the birth of a child.  In the past, it was out of necessity and motherly/wifely duty that children were born into a marriage.  Now, having children is something that can be almost predetermined (if you include the availability of birth control).

Every birthday is a gift in life.  Many won't see as many birthdays as you or I might see.  The world is quick to take gifts like life away from us.  It seems as though every medical advance we have made is met by an improvement on the part of illness.  We are seeing more and more "superbugs" that medicine is constantly trying to keep up with.  But for now, let's celebrate the world and the day as it comes.  I have had my breakfast and enjoying my second cup of coffee.  My morning is about halfway completed.  Our little dog is chasing after flies and all I can think of is how blessed I am to be a quarter of a century old and enjoying the world I am in.

If they say it on the Internet/Radio/Television...

Modern TV family

...it must be true!

Are you familiar with that ad?  I believe it is for State Farm insurance.  The gentleman is mapping his accident on his cell phone when a women walks up.  She is all about how they can't post any lies on the Internet.  Then she says her date, who is a French model, is coming who she met on the Internet.  He is far from a model and, from the look on his face, you can tell he lied to her.

Why am I bringing this up?  These media sources (radio, Internet, television) are ways we learn about how to deal with things and how products come into our homes.  Last night, on the way home from work, I heard a radio ad aimed at parents of unfocused children.  The advertised product was a game, a video game, that your child was able to play and learn to focus and learn overall.  They were giving away demos.  Not only did just this idea make me sad but at the very end of the ad was a startling statement.  It was not in the wording of a typical disclaimer.  Instead of "May not be effective for all children," it said, "Your child may not be successful."

How powerful.  Parents only want the best for their children, only want their children to succeed.  Otherwise, why would they buy such a product.  But the power in the statement that takes the blame of effectiveness off the product and places it on the child.  Therefore, if your child does not improve or succeed, it is the fault of the child, not the product.

The other component that blows my mind in this advertisement is the idea that a child can gain these skills all through a video game.  But then again, we are a generation that let's our televisions babysit for us.  Whenever we have my fiance's son over, I am amazed at how much his life revolves around the TV.  We try to turn it off for him to settle down for the night, only to be met with cries that a certain show was about to come on or should be coming on.  He has asked us if he can fall asleep on the sofa, watching TV.  When he is watching it, he is in a trance.

I will admit that when I watch TV, I sometimes tune the rest of the world out.  My escape.  It shouldn't be.  My art should be my escape, my music should be my escape, as should my relationship and my family and friends.  Unfortunately, by the time I get home some nights, there isn't time.  For example, all this week, I do not get home until after 9:30 every night.  Once home, it's time for me to finish everything else that needs to be done around the house, for myself and the meal.

Life gets crazy and hectic.  But that is never reason enough to set aside the relationships between people in order to hush a room with a movie or TV.  And these things will not help our children, our youth get better in school.  When I heard the radio commercial, I immediately tried to reflect back on how I was taught to focus.  I wasn't taught with TV, video games or Internet.  Those were things I was privileged to if I earned them.  Otherwise, I knew to pay attention, to listen, to do well in school.  I knew how to play by myself and with my sisters.

Perhaps with having television babysitting our children, it causes inattentiveness.  We try to talk to the youth while they are lost in another world.  It could be teaching them that it is OK to ignore an adult.  If we don't like something on TV or on the radio, we just change the channel.  At school, there is no channel to change.  If a student gets "bored," they will lose focus and have difficulty refocusing.  When children play by themselves or with other children, they learn important social skills, creative thinking and problem solving.  When they watch TV, they learn a completely different set of values and not actively either.  There is both active and passive learning.  Active learning is when the child is participating in an activity that helps them retain this information.  It could be singing a song, writing something down.  An example of this is when I wrote the alphabet and challenged my fiance's son to write each letter.  Passive learning is when you watch something and absorb the information.  At a young age, however, not all the information may be absorbed in this manner.  Maybe some facts will and others will not.

Maybe no more than a year ago, my mom handed me an article about games.  It was teaching parents ideas of games to play with their children outside.  They were games I played when I was a child.  Seeing something like this makes me very sad.  I know we are a world that is constantly rushing around until we are exhausted, not leaving time enough to enjoy with our families.  But is the extra three dollars worth losing your family, losing your relationships with your family, your children?

The (D)Evolution of Sex

Over the span of time, sex has evolved in its meaning, acceptance and description.  Sex in itself has a dual definition.  Not only does it define the act of mating and reproduction taken on by the majority of species (with the exception of asexual beings), it is also defined as the biological makeup and organs of an organism as one of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species.  For all intensive purposes of this post, sex will be referring to the act of reproduction that commonly occurs within a species.  The second definition of sex is room enough for another post by itself.

In the beginning of time, sex and the act of mating in the human species is characterized by the act of a caveman hitting a woman over the head and dragging her back to his cave.  It was a more primal instinct.  While that still is within our being, the modernity has changed the acceptance of this practice to being void.  But when there were few people on the Earth, the reasoning behind sex was to populate the world.  The picture of the caveman could also be an explanation of expanding the gene pool, as well as an expression of power.

This expression of power did not become extinct with the evolution of the species.  On the contrary, it was adopted as a ready expression and method of warfare.  Along with this, pedophilia was adopted in early armies, especially found within the Greek armies.  I will not speak much on this as I would have to do extensive further research to have a better understand as to the reasoning behind.  But sex as an expression of warfare had primal reasons.  You breed them out.  This is why warfare is sometimes connected with the phrase "rape and pillage."  You steal their wealth and impregnate the women, the nation has in effect lost a piece of its identity.  What is more, the winners write history.  Whenever you read history or study history, consider that half of the story is not expressed from anyone's view but the victors and that there is always two sides.

There has been records during WW2 that when foreigners stepped foot on Japan, whole families were found to be dead in their homes.  Women were told that if invaded, they would be taken and raped, the ultimate disgrace against honor and the family.  As a result, they would kill themselves to avoid their bodies and bloodline being defiled.  War, rape, sex and self-protection has at some point in time been intertwined together.

To this day, there is a battle occurring with power and sex intermixed.  Rape is a prominent under belly of society.  And rape is nothing other than power.  There is nothing sexual influencing the "choice" to rape a woman (or a man, as they too can be raped).  Men can be raped.  It is still an act of power.  This is a major issue in society.  There are mixed signals expressed by society.  The media depicts women as objects, as something to be demeaned, taken advantage of and torn apart.  Then the act of rape is wrong.  Is it any wonder that there is possible ingrained confusion in our youth?  The popular media objectifies women and has lyrics glorifying the act of rape while the law reads that it is wrong.

Women at one time were nothing more than living, breathing property, to be bought, sold and traded.  To be treated as cattle, where the "rule of thumb" came into play on the steps of Town Hall.  Dowry was paid to husbands.  Women were expected to carry, bear and keep children and house.  They had no rights and no privileges in society.  While much of this role in society has changed, equal rights still do not exist.  In my blunt opinion, it will not exist until I can finally walk down a street in a seemingly safe neighborhood without fear for myself.  And yes, I have had that fear even while in college, on campus.

Sex is ever evolving.  The definition of what is acceptable within the sex world is constantly changing, including accepted acts with items, such as dolls (NatGeo "Taboo" had an episode based on the attraction to dolls, robots or inanimate objects).  But there is never excuse for rape.  My jeans may be tight and my dress may graze the top of my knee.  But that is no reason to say "She was asking for it."  Too many women have been subjected to this horrifying crime and will continue to be subjected until we change our societal perception and address the situation accordingly.  Instead of teaching how to avoid being raped, why not teach NOT to rape?

I believe I have gone on a sufficient rant for the day.  I must get ready for work but please keep in mind when read this that no deep research has gone into this posting.  This is just a collection of observations and studies and lectures over the years of education.  I hope you all enjoy this thing called "La Vie."

Birthday Wishes on Butterfly Wings

What has happened to me??  I know, I have been MIA for several days.  It has been a crazy few days, too!

My blooming tulips

Friday, we got my fiance's son for the weekend.  I got home around 7 and immediately went to making dinner and talking and entertaining the five year old.  He is very sweet but was a complete handful this weekend!  The most difficult ever!

Saturday, all three of us went to where my fiance graduated from high school with his sister and her two daughters.  All six of us were invincible, conquering arguments and hiking around a festival, saying "no" and "yes," backing each other up all the way.  We went to lunch shortly thereafter and then, visiting other family members.  We got back late that night and we all went straight to bed.

Cards and rhubarb tart!

Yesterday, Sunday, was my birthday!  Quarter of a century old, there was a packed day ahead of us.  Unbeknownst to us is exactly how long it would extend.  We took my fiance's son back by noon.  While there, my fiance took a tumble.  His ankle become swollen and he was in pain.  He bit his bottom lip, knowing my family was coming for dinner.  We drove back home (he drove) and he propped his foot up with ice while I did laundry.  My family came and brought strawberry-rhubarb pie (I LOVE rhubarb!  Try cooking with it, it is awesome!), presents and tons of well-wishes.

When we bid them adieu (much to our puppy's displeasure), Ryan admitted to me that he was in a lot of pain.  He asked to be taken to the Emergency Room.  What else was I to do but oblige?  I drove him to the hospital, helped him into the waiting room, where we awaited Triage and a bed.  His blood pressure was sky high as well as his pain tolerance.  When we finally got a bed, I helped to take his shoe off.

The doctor walked in.  He kind of stooped a little when he walked, had a beard and tired eyes.  He expressed he was already on his 6th cup of coffee and there since Friday.  Probably working a 72-hour, I told my fiance.  The doctor joked with us, trying to be good natured and make light of the situation.  Once my fiance got back from X-ray, he expressed that he was becoming annoyed by the jokes.  I also had been joking with him.  This launched us into a conversation about making light of the scenario.

I admire those men and women who work in a field such as medicine or law enforcement or any of the fields that are very serious and grave situations.  I can appreciate someone trying to have a sense of humor in the setting as well.  I love to joke when I am not feeling well.  I would rather bring smiles to a room and make myself feel better, than sit in silence while a busy room passes around me.  If I am not smiling in a situation like that, I feel as though everyone else is going at the speed of light and I am left behind.  I try and bring my fiance a smile every day, my family a smile every chance I can.  I try to smile every chance I can as well.

The butterfly

Friday night when I got home, I was welcomed with a kiss and two hugs, a bouquet of mixed-color tulips and a butterfly necklace.  Now, I stand in my kitchen and the tulips are blooming and perfuming the room.  My birthday wishes still linger in the air, the last bars from "Happy Birthday" echo in the apartment.  I saw my fiance off in his air cast and crutches, teaching him as much as I learned when I was on crutches a few years ago.  Sitting here now, enjoying some corn muffins and coffee before work, I reflect on the reasoning I was given the butterfly necklace by my fiance.

"It is said that when a dream is coming true, someone will see a butterfly crossing their path.  Well, honey, you are my dream come true."

Patience is a Virtue

Patience (n):

1. The capacity, habit or fact of being patient (bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint)

Patience is something that we as people have always struggled with.  This is exacerbated by the fact that our society is an instantaneous one.  We want what we want now.  The irony of the JG Wentworth commercial (It's my money, I need it now!).  You may think what is wrong with this mindset?  We work hard, why shouldn't we expect something in return?  And we should get that reward immediately!  Yet "Patience is a virtue," and "Good things come to those who wait" have echoed my childhood and follow me into adulthood, as well.

A couple of days ago, I happened to catch "Sex and the City" on TV.  It was one of the final episodes.  You know, the one right before the movie?  In this episode, Charlotte and her husband (Harry, I think?) are trying to adopt a baby.  They thought they would have a child from a couple in Charlotte, NC.  However, once the couple got to New York, they revealed they changed their mind.  At the end of the episode, Harry comes in the door and says that he has something from China too (Charlotte said she got Chinese).  "They are giving us a baby," he said.

Cast of Sex and the City

"How?" Charlotte replies, puzzled.

"I guess God remembered our address," Harry says, smiling.  He holds up a picture, "And here she is."

All throughout the beginning of this episode, this couple was agonizing over the lack of having a child to adopt.  It proves to be a difficult process to endure, leading them to almost give up hope.  But with patience, they were blessed with the adoption of the little girl from China.  

The most annoying thing I have heard is that things don't happen in our time, it happens in God's time.  It always frustrates me.  I can't see the plan, I don't know where He is leading me, how can I trust so blindly and have patience in something I don't even understand?  That is why it is a virtue (a conformity to a standard of right; morality).

I wish I had more patience.  I wish I had more understanding of waiting and why the reason to wait.  I wish I didn't stress as much or handled it in a better way.  There are a lot of things I wish I could better myself with.  But I can only work at one thing at a time.  What better time to start than today?

....Or tomorrow....tomorrow may be better.  Hey, I didn't say procrastination wasn't a problem either!