Journal of No. 118

 
What similarities are there in the works of Lovecraft and Douglas Hofstedter?

H.P. Lovecraft and Douglas Hofstadter are two very different authors with distinct styles and subject matters. Lovecraft is known for his horror fiction and cosmic horror, while Hofstadter is known for his work in cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and mathematical logic. However, there are some similarities that can be drawn between the two authors.

One similarity is their interest in exploring the limits of human knowledge and understanding. Lovecraft often wrote about the dangers of encountering knowledge that is beyond human comprehension, while Hofstadter has written extensively on the nature of consciousness, the limits of artificial intelligence, and the mysteries of the human mind.

Another similarity is their use of intricate and complex language. Lovecraft was known for his verbose and ornate prose, often using archaic language and obscure words to create an otherworldly atmosphere. Similarly, Hofstadter is known for his playful and witty writing style, often incorporating puns, paradoxes, and wordplay into his works.

Finally, both authors have been influential in their respective fields and have inspired others to explore similar themes and ideas. Lovecraft's horror fiction has inspired countless writers and filmmakers, while Hofstadter's work has influenced the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind.

While Lovecraft and Hofstadter are very different in many ways, their work shares some common themes and ideas, making them both significant figures in their respective fields.

You can see the PTSD building and building



'That rabbit smiled at me.'

Yeah, we moved. I may get around to journaling about it the whole thing, but it's too big a topic, and I'm too tired.

But more importantly, the digital antenna seems to really work like a charm. I was so happy the setup was so easy, and the results so good. I know we're probably weirdos for only having basic cable before, but we've stopped paying Time Warner a buttload, and we get more channels. Sure, half of them are foreign language (including like a dozen in Armenian), but my mind boggled when the initial scan dredged up like 158 channels. OK, some turned out to be just beyond the antenna's range, but still.

So if you only want basic channels, and you don't need cable for internet, and you have a line of sight to Mt. Wilson, ditch your cable.

[The internet thing may be a bigger pain point; we've yet to get U-verse set up for internet, but I wasn't encouraged by the CAPTCHA when I tried to check on the order:

I'm worried AT&T may be no better than Time Warner.]

For the interested, the antenna is a Mohu Curve. Since our TV is older, we also needed a digital tuner, so I just picked a top seller on amazon, which can also function as a DVR if you plug in a USB hard drive or even a flash drive. Total cost = less than 1 month of our Time Warner bill (for TV & internet).

Plug antenna into tuner, plug HDMI from tuner to TV, turn it all on, and then the tuner was raring to go scan for channels. After that, I cruised through Armenian, Vietnamese, Khmer, Spanish, Chinese, and a dozen variations on the Home Shopping Network (including several in those preceding languages) and stopped on some random channel (Get TV) showing the Caine Mutiny. Jackpot.

ETA: LA TV Stations.

The Invention of Air provides a biography and more of Joseph Priestley. Priestly wore three hats (um, metaphorically so far as I know): scientist, radical theologian, and radical political theorist. Johnson does a great job of showing the connections between these three strands, and how they exemplify the Enlightenment, although I think he oversells the idea about how intimately connected they all are.

Priestley got started in science by first just trying to be something of a compiler of a history on the new science of electricity. But he was encouraged by Ben Franklin and others to carry out his own experiments, and soon became a leading 'electrician' of the day. From there, he went on to the study of gases. PETA would be a bit unhappy at the number of mice he asphyxiated, but it ultimately led to the discovery for which he's most famous: oxygen. Noting that mice snuff it after breathing up the air in a closed container, he wondered what would happen to plants. They didn't seem to give a shit. Even if you let a mouse breathe up the air until it dies, and then put a 'sprig of mint' in there, it doesn't seem to care. Priestley seemed to try all sorts of combinations almost at random, but in hindsight the crucial experiment was letting a mouse asphyxiate, then putting a mint plant in there for a few days, and then putting another mouse in there. Instead of quickly suffocating, the mouse seems to do just fine. A little more investigation, and Priestley announced the discovery of dephlogisticated air. Of course, there's no element DphlgstctdA on the periodic table, because the word oxygen is due to Lavoisier, who also has a good claim to the discovery of oxygen. Better yet, Lavoisier didn't stubbornly stick to the phlogiston theory of heat, as Priestley did.

Although I like that Johnson takes some well-calculated swings at Kuhn, I'm not sure I entirely buy his replacement idea, which is the ecosystem theory of scientific advances. Although ecosystem gives it a very eco-friendly name, I'm not sure it adds anything more to the idea that Priestley was a man of his day and age, and in constant contact with other thinkers and ideas. Johnson tries to add in an idea of 'energy flow' in the ecosystem -- that the availability of coal power helped to fuel the scientific revolution of its time. But again, I think incorporating this into the idea of an 'ecosystem' seems to be taking the analogy or metaphor too literally.

The book spends the least time on Priestley's religious dissent, which led to him becoming an early Unitarian. And as was possible in the day, this was not a codeword for sneaky atheist. Despite his rational materialism, he seems to have had a deep and abiding faith in God. Johnson credits Priestley with giving Jefferson a way to have a real faith while rejecting irrationality.

Though living in England most of his life, Priestley was a supporter of the American Revolution. And later a supporter of the French Revolution. This led to a bit of unpleasantness when his (and his friends') support for the French Revolution was seen as an attack on English monarchy. A riot ensued, and his house was burned down.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, he eventually relocated to America, where he settled in a relatively obscure spot in Pennsylvania. He couldn't keep his firebrand mouth shut, and ultimately fell afoul of the Alien & Sedition Act. Adams apparently intervened to prevent his prosecution. The book then turns more toward the discussion by letter between Jefferson and Adams which took place after Priestley's death, and when both of them were past their presidential years. Apparently Priestley is named more frequently than Washington or Franklin.

Truly a fine book about an interesting character with a lot of aspects to his life.

I was surprised when I looked at the blurb that Johnson's bio includes the fact that he is a founder of plastic.com

In the HPLHS FB group, someone was reading HPL's work chronologically and wondered out loud, "Where are all the tentacles? I'm a decade into his writing career and nary a tentacle!"

Me: It might just be that gluing tentacles onto monsters is not actually Lovecraft's primary contribution to weird fiction.

---

And since it happened about the same time, I may as well record a bit of this IM with Prime:

Prime: Mrs. Prime is using feedly, too. I use Mrs. Prime (who emails me 10 articles/day from feedly)

Me: Using a non-Artifical Intelligence to prioritize things. That's clever.

Prime: well, there is a certain inherent bias
Prime: I read a lot about babies and nutrition

Me: They're pretty nutritious, I imagine

Prime: and tender

Holy shit!

In my battles with creationists, I... okay, let me sum up, I posted a picture of the Artemision Bronze:



and my post was "reported and deleted for review"

I presume, because of that prurient wiener. In protest, I make you look at a wiener. Wiener. Penis. Schwanschtucker.

So I'm researching a lot of Chinese companies, and trying to poke around their websites. Many don't have English versions, and I do the best I can with Google Translate. Some of the companies have defunct websites, where the host is trying to get a little ad revenue with spammy links. Running their keywords through Google Translate generates some interesting things:

The latest microblogging Cock wire
Beauty female private enlarge
Maintenance the buttock contrast
How do hymen repair
Postpartum breast so plump
Magic price hardcover room rental
Office building full of beauty
Adult comics Training
Cheating weapons
Personal loans do not pay back the money
Hymen pictures

(more)

Interesting interview with virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier in Smithsonian:

“I’d been an early advocate of making information free ... I’d had a career as a professional musician and what I started to see is that once we made information free, it wasn’t that we consigned all the big stars to the bread lines. Instead, it was the middle-class people [in the music industry] who were consigned to the bread lines."

"[Anonymity on the internet] slowly is turning us into a nation of hate-filled trolls." (This last quote is actually the interviewer, not Lanier, but I think he'd agree with the sentiment.)