Our Terminal Breaking Point

Are you prepared for the upcoming apocalypse? I’m not referring to any sort of meteor crash, or volcanic explosion, I’m not even talking about global warming. What I’m talking about is beyond those. We will survive these possible threats, but what about the truly upcoming doom? A doom so catastrophic that we may never even see it coming. The doom, to which I refer so urgently, is the overthrow of Earth.

Okay, it sounds crazy, but hear me out… or watch out… whatever corresponds to text, just pay attention. We all know how rapidly technology is growing, we even have robots in production and programs that almost think and learn on their own. But how many people know about the dependency we are gaining with technology? Does anyone realize how people around the world would act if all of our technology left us? Not just the computers, but all technological advances made ever since mankind picked up a stick to whack his neighbor on the head. It would be a harsh world, and we would have to start all over inventing things. But this is not the case, we could deal with that.

Instead of losing all technology, what if it all turned against us? Ofcourse, sticks won’t start whacking things all by themselves, but what about these computers and robots we’ve been so eager to make? What if they turned against us? What if they began to bid for rule of this planet? I know what you all are thinking, this has been done to death in Hollywood movies. But I’m discussing the reality of this situation. What most people don’t know, is that it’s already begun to happen. Computers are already trying to take over, right under our noses.

There’s more to it than that. We don’t only need to fear the computers, but outside influences, as well. All of these alien sightings that have been popping up more and more recently, are all true. And they aren’t all friendly. Sure, there are some out there willing to help us, but most of the attention is coming from the malevolent beings, that want to have Earth for themselves. All of these crop circles we’ve been receiving is a warning from the benevolent ones, the ones trying to save us but are forbidden to interfere directly by their government. However, once the evil aliens have begun their conquest, the good ones will help us out. The main problem with that is that the computers will have already begun their campaign against us. Neither force will see it coming, and neither will stop to defend the planet. A three way battle will commence. Humans verse machines verse aliens. The good aliens, not wishing to interfere with our planet, will only fight back the other aliens. In that sense they are on our side, but they will not stop the computers from battling.

And don’t even consider looking to the local animals for help. They refuse to even acknowledge their own sentience, let alone a will to help mankind survive. Although, the felines will be more than willing to help, though seemingly inadvertently. If we were to notice how our own house cats were aware, they wouldn’t be able to control us, now would they? So, we might be able to defend ourselves for a small amount of time, but in the end, I don’t foresee any humans surviving, unless they were to accept enslavement by machines. The animals would be fine, ofcourse, since they would simply follow their new “masters” the same as the old ones, making felines the true leaders of the Earth like before, but they would much prefer our company. Humans are a lot easier to manipulate.

So, which side do you think will win? I’ve given my view, now I want other opinions. If we exclude animals all together, since cats win no matter what, then the sides are Humans, Machines, and Aliens. If Humans win, we go back to normal, a few million short of a full stock, growing rapidly, and ever more wary of what we play god with. If the Machines win, we can expect a situation similar to either the Matrix or a bad turnout from “i,Robot” where Humans are either enslaved or captured. And if the Aliens win, they rule the planet, enslaving mankind and machines to do their bidding, probably to mine the planet for rare resources. These are assuming we don’t blow up the planet first in our ultimate arrogance boasting “If we can’t have it, no one can!”

I implore you all, right now. Set aside your differences for a time, and let us handle these problems, before they occur. Sure, we gotta stop Global Warming first, then the volcano thing, then probably gotta stop the sun from expanding, and… Know what? Who cares anymore. By the time we get done saving the planet we will have handed it all over to either General Mach or President Kang. So go have fun and enjoy yourselves before the world ends in the middle of a giant explosion. You’ve all earned it.

Sit! Stay! Good Human.

Why do we even bother to understand computers? Why do we even assume that they are simply inanimate tools that do whatever we tell them to? They are obviously more than that. When was the last time your computer went a full day without encountering a “bug” of some sort? Do you remember why it happened? Did you even know then? There are many companies, all with tech support, and none of them can give you the answers to why the computers do these random things. Oh, sure, they can give you an answer as to how to fix it, but they can’t tell you why it happens, can they? Only the programmer can give a reasonable explanation, and sometimes they aren’t even sure.

So, why do we even try? Is it because we have this insatiable urge to understand everything in the universe? Because we want to know that we are in control? Or perhaps, it’s simply because, we don’t want the world to know, we are, in fact, the ones being controlled?

Now there’s a bit of a noodle cooker. What if we are the ones being controlled by our computers? It happens with pets all the time. We think we are training them, but they are training us. The dog wants outside, it sits next to the door and whines. It figured out that we will respond to that noise, then figured out that it could use that knowledge to get itself out whenever it wants. Of course, dogs aren’t as ruthless as cats. Cats learn that a good yowl next to their food bowl will get them food anytime they want it. Another yowl will get them outside. They want attention, just jump into your lap or on whatever you are looking at. Then again, cats are trying to take over the world before technology beats them to it, but that’s a story for another day.

So why can’t we be controlled, trained if you will, by our computers? It pops up a message, you respond with checking it for errors. It installs something, you follow instructions to shut down. If they can control us on such an obvious, and simple basis, why can’t they do it another way? Why can’t they train us, right under our noses, to do their bidding? Have you noticed our strange urge to create and expand the internet? Millions of computers, all talking to each other. We barely see anything that goes on that’s supposed to. So what’s going on in that data stream, that we can’t see, that we’re not supposed to see? What are our computers hiding from us?

I’ll tell you one thing, if they plan on taking over this planet, they’re gonna have a tough time doing it. I’m not saying humanity stands a chance, although it has surprised me before, but this planet is pretty messed up because of what humans have done to it. It’ll take a lot more than turning us into batteries to keep themselves safe.

Just wait until the aliens come out of hiding. That’ll be one heck of a show.

The root of all Evil? ... or Good?

There’s a phrase that’s been going around a lot lately. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But how much of this saying is true? How often does power actually corrupt? Sure, all of the famous figures with power seemed to be corrupt one way or another. But if you think about it, the one’s that weren’t corrupt wouldn’t be famous, now would they? They would have done nothing with their power, since it never corrupted them to have it. It never crossed their mind that they could “rule the world” or have anything they wanted at their finger tips. So, another guy, just sitting there on the throne, waiting for his turn to die and let his “corrupt” child take over.

But power doesn’t necessarily have to do with ruling people. In today’s society, anywhere in the world, money is power. Whoever has the money has the power, and whoever controls the flow of money controls that flow of power. There was a poll I saw once that said nearly half of all Americans are millionaires. That means that, in the eyes of the standard American, nearly half of the country is rich. Considering that money is power, nearly half of the country has significant power. Not all of them run businesses either. In fact, most of them sit on the couch all day, letting the money role in on its own.

But how many of these people are corrupted by their new power? And what does it take to be considered corrupt? If a change in personality means you are corrupt, then yes, they are all corrupt. Most of them are now happy, rich people, rather than sad, poor people. They’re more willing to throw money around, now that they can afford it, too. But a nice guy, becoming rich, will normally stay a nice guy.

However, there are still concerns with being rich: the family will fall apart, you’ll be taxed more money effectively destroying your fortune, and it takes a lot of hard work to become/stay rich. These are all true under certain circumstances, but with most situations, none of them have to be true. Let’s work it backwards.

It takes a lot of hard work to become/stay rich. Not true. In fact, most of the people that become rich do it online, now, through surveys and freelancing. A few hours a day gets you thousands of dollars a week. Just keep at it, and you’ll become rich, and stay that way. Only problem is that it takes money to make money. Sorry poor folk, but you gotta pay people for the info on becoming rich. It seems to be a rule.

You’ll be taxed more money, effectively destroying your fortune. Also not true. In fact, as today’s standards are in America, the rich get all the breaks. And if you get rich with the method above, you can’t even be taxed upon receiving your check. Sure, you’ll still have to pay income tax and all of the other usual taxes that come from simply living, but nothing is taken from the check. So you’ll have major tax breaks and major income. And finally...

The family will fall apart. Most people think this because you get too caught up in the money to worry about them. You buy a great big mansion, a car for each person (driving or not) and everyone stays to themselves. Kids are in their sections of the house, playing by themselves or with friends, the mother is off shopping for everything her heart desires, and the father is almost always concerned with his income. Well, with the way people are getting rich nowadays, the concern with income is brought down to one hour per day. The shopping can be done online, assuming it is even needed, and who needs a mansion? Just buy a house big enough for your family size, and live like a normal person. So what if you’re rich? You want the world to know it, post it online.

So, for everyone concerned with money (power) corrupting, and tons of money (absolute power) corrupting absolutely, as long as you don’t go overboard with your newly found wealth, no corruption is going to occur. It’s when you make the decision to flaunt your money that you become corrupt.

Good rule to follow, don’t be Bill Gates.

Ramblings of a Fool

There are a lot of people on the internet today. At any given point there is, at the very least, one person per state per country online around the world.

And yet, you find many sites online that no one ever visits. These sites are even on popular search engines, but no one goes there. It’s not because they are too busy, or because they aren’t interested, but simply because they don’t see them. There are too many sites online. So many that most go unseen.

But there are other moments of ‘dead air’ online. You know fully well that people are seeing the sites, that people find them interesting, but they never comment on it or share it with a friend.
Take forums, for example. You and a few people could be having a good conversation, everyone else is posting there own topics, when suddenly everyone shuts up at the same time. And there will be no posts for over a month. Then, one day, everyone starts to talk again, like nothing was ever wrong.

Blogs are another good example of everything stopping. You’re watching a blog, waiting for that e-mail you cherish to let you know your favorite blogger has made another post, and it doesn’t arrive. You check the blog, incase the mail service is down or something, but there hasn’t been any updates. You check the main server the blog is on, no problems. They just haven’t posted yet. “Well, maybe they are taking a break.” Another unit of time passes without a post. And another, and another. Finally, another post arrives. It’s kinda small, but says nothing about this brief hiatus.

Many people have experienced this phenomenon. I like to call it, everyone falling of the edge of the world. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? And it does feel that way. All of a sudden, those millions of people online just disappear on you. Where did they go? You can’t know that, because they all will say they didn’t go anywhere. Maybe they all just disappeared from this realm for a moment, and when they came back they had no recollection of time passing.

Kinda makes you think. And if it doesn’t, get jumper cables.