Friday, March 12, 2004

SYNOCRACY: True Democracy Through Synergy Barry Carter writes: I could spend several chapters defining the problems with Mass Representative Democracy and why it cannot work in an Information Age. However, we all deep down intuitively know that something is gravely wrong with the system of politicians, taxes, representation and elections. We know that it is so deep it will not be fixed simply by electing a new president or even a whole new congress. However, we simply cannot imagine anything beyond “Traditional Democracy” or what would replace it. Over two hundred years ago Thomas Jefferson, a founding father of Mass Representative Democracy, warned us of the system’s limits: "I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions.  But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, and as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with that change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear the coat which fitted him as a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."  By today’s standards even Jefferson would have to admit that he was “barbarous” as a slave owner. With his own words Jefferson himself sowed the seeds for the replacement of the representative system of government and civilization that he helped to establish. We continuously look back to see what our forefathers intended.  Above all they intend for humanity never to be stuck in outmoded institutions. The monarchy, overthrown by Thomas Jefferson and his associ­ates two hundred years ago, was part of a system of wealth-creation for an agrarian society which was outgrown and replaced with a sys­tem for an industrial society. They needed a new and fresh founda­tion, one that inherently supplied the levels of liberty, own­ership and freedom to harness the power and growth of the coming Industrial Revolution. There seems to be a trend in which humanity requires more liberty and free­dom as it grows and evolves in order to continue growth and development. As human­ity has grown, devel­oped and become mature over the past decades and centuries, we have reached the limits of liberty, ownership and freedom with our present system of represen­tation. We now require a new system that will provide individuals with even more inherent individual liberty, ownership and freedom. Having outgrown the Industrial Age wealth-creation system, it’s time for us to take Jef­ferson’s advice and do what he and his clan did—cast aside the old system and help usher in the new system of social order. (03/12/04) Calming the Savage Beast BBC Technology -- Scientists already know that music can affect a person's physiological state, inducing excitement or relaxation. But researchers have turned the idea on its head with a system that composes music based on how relaxed a person is. The application, under development at MIT's Media Lab Europe, uses biometrics to control what the listener hears. As the listener relaxes more, different instruments start to play. The system could be employed as a useful stress-management application in the future. "The project is based around the idea of drifting deeper into music according to a positive biometric state,¿ said Phil McDarby, research associate with the Mind Games groups at the Dublin labs. "The piece consists of seven distinct layers, including bass, piano, strings and flutes," he told BBC News Online. As the user relaxes the layers are peeled back and they drift deeper into the music." Slipping on two biometrics onto the fingertips is the easy part. They detect specific changes in conductivity that happen - a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) - dependent upon a person's state. The difficult part is concentrating on relaxing in order to "unlock" the seven different layers of the music, and some who have tried the system have only heard a bass line, indicating their stress management is ineffective. "I guess the central idea is to extend music through biometrics, to try and give it a different dimension, a dimension contingent on how the user is 'feeling'," said Mr McDarby. "I've always composed and I just thought wouldn't it be cool if you had a piece of music, a really full piece of music, that you only heard a little of if you weren't in the correct biometric state. By chilling out and relaxing, you drift in and out of the music." Called Peace Composed, the project grew from previous work the Mind Games research group had developed which used bio-feedback technology in a game. Relax to Win was developed to help children with problems like anxiety, phobia, and post-traumatic stress, and has now been installed at Mater Misericordiae Hospital. (03/12/04) Early Spring May Soon Be Routine BBC Environment -- The onset of climate change means there is increasing acceptance by Britons of spring arriving early, scientists say. They believe people are more and more accustomed to seeing spring flowers at the New Year, and other signs of warm weather several weeks before usual. Launching National Science Week, they said the premature arrival of spring displayed Nature's growing confusion. Jill Attenborough of the trust said: "The warm winter weather, until mid-February, encouraged early observations of many species, but recent colder weather has slowed the advance of spring. "We anticipate that warming weather will bring a rapid rush of activity. Bumble bees will become much more frequent visitors to gardens." The project says the earliest recorded sighting of a bumble bee this season was shortly before Christmas near London. In recent years the first sightings of the insects were on average two to three weeks earlier than 25 years ago. Jill Attenborough told BBC News Online: "This would have been very unusual 30, 40 or 50 years ago. Now, year on year, we are beginning to accept it as the norm. "People are used to seeing daffodils in January, and this year Scotland had the first ever sighting of a bumble bee in February." (03/12/04) George Michaels Chooses the Gift Economy BBC Music -- Pop star George Michael is abandoning the music business to release his songs online for free instead. The multi-millionaire singer said he will never make another album for sale in record shops because he does not need the cash and does not enjoy fame. Fans will be given the option to make donations online in exchange for downloading the tracks, and the proceeds will be given to charity. He is promoting his latest album, Patience, which he said is his last. The 40-year-old star made his announcement during an interview with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1. Speaking about his decision, he said: "I'm sure it's unprecedented, it's definitely unprecedented for someone who still sells records. "I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years so I really don't need the public's money." He added that he hoped people downloading his music would donate to his favourite charities. Explaining his decision, the former Wham! frontman said: "It does two things - it takes the pressure off to have a collection of songs every so many years, which is what nearly killed me. "I'm not pretending I won't be famous any more, but in the modern world if you take yourself out of the financial aspect of things, you're not making anybody any money, you're not losing anybody any money. Believe me, I'll be of very little interest to the press in a certain number of years. I'll hopefully be a happier man, giving my music and also doing something really positive with my music if people are generous enough to donate to the site. I'll remove myself from all that negativity." (03/12/04) 5:40:56 AM

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