We Are Curvature.
We are curvature.
If one thinks of life as a series of moments with good and bad wrapped into them, then is would life be worth living if the net sum of the good - bad was bad?
My initial gut feeling was yes, but as in mathematics we cannot just say things are so because of a gut feeling. After all, one could argue that my intuition says so, because the net sum of my moments has been positive.
Consider net happiness as being approximated by the riemann sum of the given good or bad of a set of adjacent short periods of time. Now take the limit of this as the change in time approaches 0. In short, I invite you to consider happiness as the integral of some curve. Where the curve is defined by f(t)=lifes instantaneous happy levels (positive or negative) and the area underneath which is net good/bad.
This is similar to how the integral of position with respect to time is displacement aka net change in position.
Now determining if life is worth living should be a nice integral of a function (which for most would be continuous) and a simple little apple of the fundamental theorem of calculus.
But consider this:
1. We dont know the bounds, so unless a nice little trick or assumption comes in we cant apply FTC. Also of one factors in considerations of life after life on Mars then this becomes an improper integral from 0 to infinity. If you believe that you are reborn then the bounds become negative infinity to infinity. Both very improper.
2. We don't know the function, so we cant integrate it.
3. Even if we could integrate it, we couldn't solve for C, so integrating f(t) as an indefinite integral would be pointless.
So what do we know?
We aren't very good judges of if things are getting better or worse at any given moment so we only have a very rough guess at the rate of change.
We aren't very observant, so we can only notice a few things at a time.
We really only know the moment that we are in, and not where we are going, and what's more I'd like to purpose that our lives are affected by more than one thing.
I purpose that we experience at any given moment the second derivative of the function of life, which is not simply f(t) but rather, a function of infinite (as many as necessary) variables. We know not where we are or where we are going, we dont know how the future will change us. We simply know where we are and have an idea of whether allong a particular direction we are concave up or down.
Life is a n'th dimensional hyperspace and we experience it as the curvature allong whatever path we trace allong whatever level surface we happen to have focused in on.
Aka, we experience life as the curvature (k, second partial derivative) of one level surface of it's n'th dimensional hyperspace.
So we don't know, but just the mere thought of riding allong this hyperspace brings a certain kind of satisfaction, and a unique quest for knowledge.
More Posts from Arthurwatney and Others
Martian Cocktail
How to mix a Martian Cocktail:
1. Grab generic cup
2. Add cranberry juice
3. Add orange juice
4. Add ginger ale
Why make a Martian Cocktail?
Because all the juice options separately tasted a little off. It's not quite the American summer camp classic "Bug Juice" (that is more based in color than flavor) but a slightly more grown version. Still non-alcoholic, but named for its color.
A cheap solution to heat problems:
A dear friend is working a factory job and has had heat stroke several times due to the recent heat wave. Said friend is in a financial position that limits options and resources. Time to put my overpriced engineering education to work. Here's what we came up with.
Resources required:
Watter bottle, preferably plastic though any will work.
Long sleeve T shirt
Implementation:
Fill watter bottle with water and place in freezer with lid removed
Roll in T-shirt
Use sleeves to tie around body like a belt/fanny pack.
Limitations: This is a minimal, temporary solution. Once the ice is melted it will no longer help.
Benefits: Acess to a freezer, a bottle, water, and a shirt is all that is required.
Injustices on Mars: 200 years of Backwards Thinking
Several young women have expressed to me in the past week their frustrations with improper treatment and I would like to speak here regarding the attitudes that are unfortunately still present in the universe.
A student looking who dreams of designing hospitals and other places of healing that have a more positive affect on the mentalities of their inhabitants.
A mechanical engineering student pursuing her education far from her family, looking to improve the world she lives in, whether that be her home country or America.
A freshman nursing student, who came looking to obtain a top tear education, that would ultimately provide a pathway to help those who need it most.
Three intelligent young women who are both capable of and motivated to change the world for the better. All of them have overcome obstacles to ultimately leave their homes and families far behind to come study on Mars. These young women, are students deserving of our highest respects and yet I am anguished to hear of the unkindly and demeaning way in which they have been treated in this particular community.
Our first student in seeing a freshman struggling, became somewhat of a mentor for this student. She shared with him advice she had learned on the subject he struggled with, and surviving school in general. He in turn treated her as something to be obtained, and saw it fit to text her with questions that... did not pertain to studies.
Our second student, living in a whirlwind of learning about both engineering and other cultures and yet smiling through it all. I think we all have much to learn from her. This young woman came to me to discuss engineering. She wears a ring on her left hand, worn as a way to deter young men. She expressed that someone was speaking to her that “wanted to be more than friends” and was not deterred by her expressed lack of interest. So, having learned that a ring worn on the left ring finger is an American indication of being committed, she began wearing one.
She is committed. Committed to her studies and herself. She is clever and I hope her promise ring keeps its promise of deterring those who don’t listen to her. That said, this is an approach I have seen used before in this community and elsewhere with mixed effectiveness. The unfortunate nature of this approach is that it only deters those who have enough sense not push unwanted attention on those who are committed to someone. The issue here is not that people are expressing romantic interest, but that they are not respectfully heading requests to discontinue certain behaviors. Another unfortunate drawback to this method is that it deters people whom one might actually be interested in getting to know.
Our third student, excited in the days approaching college, started talking via social media to another student. They talked almost every day and she was excited to have a friend at school who had been nothing but kind and respectful. Her ‘friend’ began to express interest in taking her to a school event. She hoped that her ‘friend’ would meet her in the library so they could talk. This is when he expressed that he didn’t have enough time to bother for a conversation and made implications that suggest he was only kind to her at first in hopes he would get to be with her for what many do after this particular school event. She has found other accompaniment for the school event.
These young women have shown exceptional strength in not allowing idiots to affect their studies, but they shouldn’t have to. This kind of thing happens everywhere and time and time again these young women will have to show strength in the presence of the universe’s worst, but these attitudes are not consistent with the direction the world is headed. I have omitted from this writing things that were said that I feel more specific than needed in this context. I find this behavior particularly ridiculous as the organization approaches 200 years, pledging pretty words of honor, respect and dignity, while preserving ideas that should have died in the last 200 years.
Additional Statement:
Other events have also elapsed in the past week that lead to me writing this particular piece. The female representing figure was removed from a gender neutral single stall restroom, leaving women to have to find an alternate restroom on the other side of said building and leaving few options for those who do not fit the binary genders. Meanwhile an individual originally dismissed for predatory behaviors was allowed to return.
I would also like to point out that these occurrences do not only happen to women. In this sometimes stiflingly traditional culture, I have seen objectification and mistreatment of a great diversity of people in a diverse number of forms. I would like to suggest this is not the kind of diversity that we should encourage.
I would like to formally conclude with a request. Students, Mentors, Creators, Be Respectful to the best of your ability, and when the best of your ability isn’t good enough, Get Better. Most of all it is important to Try.
Please Don’t Be Ashholes. And don’t say things worthy of Vogon poetry.
It doesn’t get easier…There isn’t an answer…But there is a right thing to do.
I used to believe that qualified adults were less afraid and more proficient in handling critical issues. I thought that perhaps their age, wisdom and expertise granted them skill and grace in handling human desperation. I now know it doesn’t get easier.
I know now that when someone close to me first opens up to me about self harm, suicidal thoughts or actions, etc. I will always be initially choked by fear. And every time, I will push aside my fear to talk with them. I think all who have opened up to me have been worried about causing this fear. This initial fear comes from love and an overwhelming desire to keep my friends safe. The initial tightness in my chest comes from knowing that now in context my actions and words matter. It’s terrifying, but I can’t let it petrify me.
This initial fear is worth the knowledge.
Ignorance does not make it better.
The initial fear is mitigated by presence. To be there. To be committed to being there.
And I assure you, dear anonymous reader, that it is worth it. That this presence, commitment and closeness is worth the fear.
As life has progressed, I have spoken with and listened to presentations by several professionals, trained in helping people overcome mental health struggles. I’ve been told the same things on repeat.
I’ve come to realize that they don’t have the answer either. There isn’t an answer. It will never not be hard. There is no answer, and it will never be easy, but there is a right thing to do, and there are things that make it less hard.
The Right Thing To Is To TRY.
There are resources, some of them are good, some of them are not. Some of them make it better, some of them make it worse. You have to use your best judgement, your intuition, and do the best you can. Sometimes the best you can do is sit somewhere with someone and listen.
One piece of information, a test of character.
If you could give the man on the tractor only one piece of information, and had to choose between the following, which would you choose?
a. the moment produced about the point at base of the tree is (-16.5i + 5.51j)kN-m
Or
b. Your distance from the tree is less than its height, if the tree falls faster than your tractor moves... you splat
Credit due to R.C. Hibbeler Statics&Dynamics 14ed
Welcome to life on Mars
The Devil Wears A Suit And Tie
He has been reported multiple times. He has a known track record and some young women are lucky enough to be warned to avoid him...
Others are not.
He invites the younger of the college girls, particularly ones with rough home lives, depression, anxiety, self doubt, anyone who is vulnerable or *has a reason to drink*. And then they get drunk and him and his friends take advantage of them.
He does not know who I am.
About a year ago, I stood with another pushing a door open against the cold beconing in two young women. They had made it out of one of the "parties".
We had acquired information about the "party" and one handed under the table I had passed just enough on to an SRA. The party was "not found". The young women had made it out on their own. We snuck them in through the side door of our residence. They would likely have had to leave school if caught.
As we got them warmed up and sobered up (blankets, soda, water), one of them told us half sobbing what happened, the other sat in near silence and said she was fine. They got out before the night was over, but others don't.
Once I saw a man standing outside, a tall almost iconic image of a businessman, smoking a cigarette, wearing a suit. And then he turned and I saw his face and some cold reality hit me. He looks like he owns this place. He does.
May hell be real & worse than any literature imagines & may his cigarettes send him there.
One step closer to becoming iron man
Even Tony Stark would be impressed with this Iron Man suit. 🔥
An Exercise in Unpacking & Havin' More Fun:
Imagine this:
Your shuttle, a lovely blue craft old enough to vote, returns you to mars late enough in the sol that it is already dark and you can feel the cold of the atmosphere in spite of your insulative layers.
Alone, you must unpack your craft and the extensive resupply materials it contains. Because you are alone you cannot leave the craft docked in front of the mass housing unit and since nearby docks are taken you must dock up hill from the housing unit.
How then do you get the supplies into your personal chamber???
Well, if you're me...
While wearing full insulative equipment you drag one of the carts up the hill, load it with the supplies, increasing its mass significantly. Then you push it and a rolling desk chair toward the hill, hop into the rolling desk chair and hold on.
I may be many things, but I'm certain I had the most fun in unpacking.
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arthurwatney reblogged this · 5 years ago
This blog is the synthesis of my love of science fiction and my day to day experiences traversing the universe. Welcome to life on Mars.
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