Planning and the Primate Brain

It's forgivable we're not long term planners; it's the primate brain default. But now that we know that, let's figure out how to plan around it!

Alright, perhaps that does sound paradoxical on it's face :-). But no, we really can plan around our short-sighted urges. Like, if you know that you can't help but eat the Dorritos in the closet, don't buy Dorritos so they're not in the closet in the first place. Maybe you already do things like this; what you're doing is not succumbing to your base "you" but instead making room for the you-you'd-like-to-be.

And, on a grander scale, if evidence shows us that complicated systems always eventually fail (which evidence does indeed indicate), don't get caught up in the "but everything's been going fine for years" groupthink. This is complacency, and being complacent means you're institution or company probably doesn't have contingency plans in place to deal with a problem that WILL eventually come to pass in time.

In the micro and in the macro, humans have brain systems designed for immediate action and reward. So let's take steps both in our personal lives and in our society to avoid bad situations and foresee potential for disaster. Who's with me?

Follow Raidon Kane

Wouldn't it be cool if we could interact with our favorite novel characters in real life? Well, short of a schizoid break or some sort or reality rip that seems rather unlikely, all things considered, I bring you the next best thing:

Follow and interact with Raidon Kane on Twitter. Raidon is the character appearing in four of my D&D novels. Experience events inside his head as events draw toward the finale in Key of Stars!

You can find the Twitter feed here; just hit the FOLLOW button:

bit.ly/raidon

Bacon Sandwich in hand vs. Logic

The web article Science, Reason, Critical Thinking, and Bacon Butties is an entertaining read. More importantly, it highlights how even those of us who try to lead lives according to values we've established through reason and critical thinking can fall short, especially when the smell of bacon hovers in the air like the promise of ambrosia.

I too "ate the bacon sandwich" for severals years after knowing the rational arguments why I shouldn't. But over time, eventually, I finally made the switch to a veggie lifestyle, with only a few falls from the wagon since.

On the other hand, I only did so because the argument took on an emotional component, one that appealed to my heart instead of my brain, or at least both in equal measure. So I'm afraid I still don't know that if in the face of a bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo sandwich, purely rational arguments alone would have finally swayed me.

Anyhow, upon reading the article, it looks like the author is going to come down like a hammer on people who refuse to accept overwhelming evidence (in the initial case, on evolution). But keep reading . . .

A snippet:

[...] I came across an anecdote about an educated, seemingly rational person who simply refused to accept Jerry’s overwhelming evidence for why evolution is true.

Living in a country where evolution is only a controversy amongst the hard lined religious fundamentalists, who do their best to stir up a controversy, it’s hard to understand why so many people can reject such solid science.

And so on.

Red Lines

So, check out the two red lines.

The one at the end of the hall is longer than the one in the foreground, right?

Wrong! Get a ruler and measure each one. On the computer screen, they are exactly the same length.

Yes, your brain is lying to you. Isn't that amazing?

For an explanation, check this out. The explanation by Phil Plait also describes the illusion of why the moon looks so huge on the horizon.

Space 2099

Here's what I'd do if I was given the job of coming up with a new treatment for Space 1999, a show that lives on in glorious nostalgia in my memory. No, I haven't seen an episode since I was eight. I don't see that as a problem, do you?

First off, the title. That's easy: "Space 2099." Note the clever timeline advance, given that we're well past 1999 and the Moon remains safely in orbit.

In my update to the 70's classic, the moon base still goes a-wandering. However, instead of being torn out of earth's orbit by a massive nuclear detonation (a nuclear blast that strong would obliterate any artificial structure on the Moon), and instead of being propelled by this blast to a series of other solar systems in a period months (a nuclear blast that strong . . . well, you get the idea), the moon base slips between parallel dimensions.

Whata? Here's the new backstory: The cosmologists have gone through a couple of generations of particle accelerators since the LHC. The newest version requires a mass in excess of 7.30 × 10²² kilograms in order to function. Turns out the Moon is slightly larger than that. You see where this is going? Yep, a moon base is built to oversee the operation of this newest generation atom-smasher. And everything goes swimmingly, until the fatal accident that destabilizes the moon, and sends it on a tour of wacky parallel earths.

This also helps explain why most of the "aliens" the scientists meet in any given episode are essentially humanoid in nature, if not completely human. This compatibility allows for a broad range of interesting stories. Not to worry, this doesn't mean that any given alternate earth can't be ruled by sentient, flesh-dissolving slime molds or something else very alien (even actual Earth-conquering aliens), but this way there's even a chance for romance to brew.

Which brings up the Maya character; in the original series she was a shape-shifter, and the breakout character as far as my eight-year-old self was concerned. In my 2099 treatment, Maya is not an alien per se, but a resident of an alternate earth. She joins the staff much like the character in the original series.

Indeed, if this were to be a mere one-shot movie instead of a series, I'd make Maya the central character, with the main plot of the story revolving around her and what her ability to shift shape really means.

It goes without saying the effects will be updated for the modern sensibility. If we can't afford Avatar in quality, I'm sure we can achieve at least Battlestar Galactica standards (the latest version).

And ... well, that's where we'll leave off for now.

Elysius

Check out the sweet new wallet I got as a pre-birthday gift today: The Elysius Might Wallet. Made of recyclable paper, and is recycle-able in turn.

Professor Darkcoat Foiled

I dreamed I had hot sauce so hot it gave me acid burns on my lips. Oh yeah, and that my dog Hektor could drive a car. I think the dreams were of a piece--I had to allay Professor Darkcoat's suspicions about me. To do so, of course, I had to convince him I was the kind of person who would burn his lips with hot sauce that measured "psychotic" on the Scoville scale, while at the same time, being the kind of person smart enough to train his dog to drive a car, apparently.

Alright, enough messing around on the internet; time to hit the coal face of my next 1000 words. But, hey, I finished proofing Key of Stars! So on that point, I'm made of win.

Holy crap I'm Excited

The Deck of Many Things; past, present, and now in a luxurious new easy-to-be-imprisoned case!

Has this or any form of this deck every appeared in a novel, FR, D&D, Eberron, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, or other?

Because, I think I’d really like to see it. I wonder if there is time to change up the plot in what I’m currently working on. You, know, just to send things careening wildly off the tracks. Hmm… Better think on this further before I do anything hasty.

But, before I go, could I have two draws from the Deck please?

Media Blitz

I am snowed under by media to be read, listened to, watched, played, or written. I'm currently reading 2 books on my kindle app (on phone and mac), listening to an audio book on my phone, in the middle of watching a couple different HBO shows via netflix streaming, and have a couple hard-copy books and DVDs lent to me by friends that I look forward to watching/reading.

Not to mention the huge backlog of podcasts I listen to fairly regularly. Which I'm behind on because of the aforementioned audiobook. As it happens, I signed up for the 1 audiobook a month plan at audible.com, so I've got a lot more audiobooks in my future.

I'm also writing a novel in my free time (and if I could say more about that, I would), and proofing Key of Stars (due back to editor May 3rd).

And as it turns out, I'm also trying to teach myself Objective C, which is great fun. When I can find the time to sit down with my manual!

Time was I used to play Xbox 360, and I was up to date on all the games. No more. Not enough time. Though I suppose when the next must-have title emerges, that'll change. Starcraft II I think. If it ever comes out . . .

So like I said, I've got a lot of media to consume (and produce). Some days, such as right now when I've got a cold to drag me down, I feel burdened. Like it's just too much of a first world problem. So maybe I should give another $25 to Kiva, chuck the rest, and re-read my old copy of The Hobbit for the 20th time.  Sounding pretty good...

Gamma World

I'm very excited to see the art for Gamma World has dropped.


That's right, mutant. It's go time. You can handle a little radiation, can't you? How about if I promise to give you a plasma rifle? Yeah, I thought so.

New Blog Template

I've been sort of jealous of all the folks using wordpress to trick out their blogs with new templates as the mood suits them. I'm on Blogger, I thought, and my only chance for individuality was to design my own theme, which with the help of a friend, I'd sort of done.

I was very surprised and happy to find out today when I did a search for "blogger themes." I discovered a whole world of templates created by designers. For instance, this very cool theme called Starry Night (I think). Isn't it sweet?

T-Shirt

Once my wardrobe consisted mainly of free t-shirts I got through TSR and Wizards. They were uniformly black. These days, the only black game shirt I have is a retro Advanced D&D one I paid for.

But I got a cool new free t-shirt today that says We Make The Rules, with some cool framing art. On the back it reads Wizards of the Coast R&D. And unlike all my old shirts that were 1 size too large for me, it fits!

Looking forward to adding it to the shirt "rotation." Yes, little things like this make me happy :-).

(Speaking of cool t-shirts, today I'm wearing a shirt that show 5 "test your psychic ability cards" Zener cards, under which reads Teach The Controversy.)