On Obama, Artificial Intelligence, Getting Ahead at Work

Obama's gonna win again. Is there any doubt? If there is, you’ve been watching too much TV. I mean, Barack’s done nothing horrible, nothing immoral. Maybe be a little un-American (can you blame him from distancing himself from the tacky parts of our country?). This President never dons a cowboy hat. And, Tacky America makes us look like cattle.


I mean, Presidents today do very little when compared to the entire government process. This is not a George Washington running a fledgling nation. We’re pretty much set up. Presidents rubber-stamp regulations, order little things (like the killing of Bin Laden) but chiefly they are P.R. for our nation. And to those who disagree about our current, wonderful USA; those who see the train wreck without the choreography: look at the rest of the fucking world.

I deal very little with politics. And, this is a tremendous advantage, I think. I don’t succumb to the pitfalls of mass media slavery. And, I’m relatively happy. I still read a lot, but it’s mostly second-hand musings about culture, music and science. I think about love and other people, not bureaucratic opinions. Sure, laws affect me, but there's not much I can do to effect change there.

The key to knowing the outcome of an election, I believe, is to ignore all media distraction. Just take a look at Joe Blow and Jane Housewife (not you), and you’ll see which one is the Made Man. I haven’t yet registered to vote in Texas. I’m not a Democrat, but I plan to Yellow Dog it all the way... to keep Austin weird.

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Engineers are obsessed with robotics and making computers faster. It’s been “the thing” since the microchip was invented and the term “space age metal” was coined. This whole deal freaks me out on a nuclear level. Firstly, the warning of Machine vs. Man War has been in our face for a good 100 years. Authors, filmmakers and the like have been warning us about this godless venture—the creation of independent thought machines. It’s unnatural, in more ways than one. I fully predict someone will destroy the human race by trying to get ahead at work.

Secondly, the human brain already has major computing power. Machines have yet to eclipse it--albeit match it--even using a room full of electronics. Let’s focus on something for a second: our Earth has a finite amount of minerals. Wouldn’t it be smarter (and more eco-friendly?) to research the brain, instead of creating a big dumb machine that requires 15 pneumatic tubes and 10,000 volts? The battery, the memory, the intuition are already here, and already mobile. There's geneticists right now working on a way to make a brain with more neurons (or something) per millimeter.

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I heard on a morning talk radio show about the Five Greatest Deathbed Regrets. In no particular order, they were Not Chasing Dreams, Not Keeping Friendships, and Not… Working Less Harder. Number one was Allowing Others to Dictate Your Life. I disagree. It’s important to have checks and balances. In moderation, of course, but, it is quite alright to be a sheep, sometimes. Besides, staying with the herd will let you live longer... so you may get ahead at work.