Sunday, October 5, 2014

Scientific Underpinnings of Agartha

Scientific Underpinnings of Agartha

Water became a valuable commodity, having moved from being free when water was in sure supply to being a scarce resource. Once water had a price, there were controls to try and provide equity in water distribution. But in a way only humans can do, that was an ideal which was unattainable, in fact the disparity between those with and without would become the single greatest disparity in human history. Unlike gas or oil or yachts, water is a human necessity.

What is the logical next step? Create a way to sufficiently hydrate without water. Alter the human body to regulate with less water. Find a way to create synthetic water. Create a planet that has less people to ease the issue of scarcity.

By the time the problem got to Clementine it was a mess, there became five solutions being advocated and this issue eclipsed any other political issue. All the politicians had to take a stand and they did so with passion, conviction and a kind of desperate vehemism. It was about saving the world, right?

Impact on the earth was that humans were made priority for hydration over animals, plants, the earth itself. Humans became gluttons for water. The earth dried up, water sources for beauty or pleasure were abandoned, even the ocean was found to be of use. But the price we paid for it was dear.

Politicians clamored, national patriotism became irrelevant, race became inconsequential, what mattered was your belief and devotion to the water solution. It became the central focus of everyone, despite there being very few who actually understood the problem and even fewer who publicly admitted that the five solutions that the people were rallying around were all insufficient.

The world was ready for Clementine.

Her rise to power was based on the scientific facts that she eventually enlightened the world on. She took each of the five solutions and neatly, categorically and permanently debunked them. Five in a row. As each fell the world was putty in her hands. Looking to her, the genius, the wise sage, the newly created President of the World, a world now renamed Agartha. Her credentials were never questioned (she had none). Her motives were never explored (she had many, none altruistic). And then she presented the True Solution. And her solution was never debated. Just implemented.



The experiments began with this little “cycle of solutions.” Huge labs called Enduring Research Medical Institutions were built. The first protocols were developed based on these four truths. The priority was given to diminishing human population and altering humans to maximize hydration through implants that worked synergistically with the kidney, the human fluid balancer. The first ones were crude, thousands of prototypes were developed, the currency for propelling the experiments forward was the human life. Sacrifices. The greater good. With a golden chariot and trumpets blaring - for the salvation of the human race. Who can argue with that? The one in many.  Which became hundreds of thousands for the decreasing majority solidified as those in power.

The haves and have nots. The COrE and the rest of them. The poor, dehydrated masses, unable to contribute adequately to the cause. They procreate without concern for the crisis. So their children are taken, a draft of sorts implemented. First in the masses. Then classes emerge in the CoRE itself and only the elite are spared. The elite who plan on catapulting humans into the future. They have a handful of back up plans for them and them only. Abandoning the earth to an alternate place (yet to be determined). Slow starvation, dehydration, and basically the squeezing out of all life for the masses, and when the last one takes their final breath the elite will emerge. Healthy, happy, mentally balanced, fully functioning kidneys, ALIVE and ready to repopulate and rejuvenate the earth (implausible). Or actually finding a cure to the human ails and beginning the rebuild of life on earth (not probable given the present success rate of the experiments).

The experiments started with the kidneys. The kidneys being the key to fluid balance.

Eventually, many many lives later, they developed the hydroplant, an imperfect solution but one that could work in the interim. For those in the COrE these were as ubiquitous as clothing, everyone had them as a matter of course. You didn’t really think about them, they just did their job without much tinkering. No 3-year tune up required. Regardless of the clumsy success of the implants, a large portion of the greater experiment budget and resources continued to be used to improve the implants. Those experiments continue to this day. They couldn’t protect you indefinitely without any water, they worked best for those in the CoRE who had access to water with some regularity.

The next set of experiments emerged as the crisis in the world became more acute. Squalor, shanty towns, starvation, the have nots were really taking a beating. So their children were first. They were going to die anyway. It was the only ethical thing to do. In this way, the cutting edge experiments were begun. The scientific community grew large, they grew open minded, they were creative. Boy were they creative.

  • Find the genetic code for efficient hydration and replicate it. Or mutate the gene and see the effects.
  • There are a few parasites that can actually excrete hydrates in their feces. These should be tested.
  • What if we amputated both legs, how would that impact hydration needs?
  • Viruses typically consists of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat, microscopic and makes copies of itself in the cells of the host. Viruses are parasites. A certain type of virus quasi-spherical viruses, can theoretically be introduced to the human body and the antibody made could be the crucial link we are looking for.
  • Mitochondria (energy centers of the cell) transplants could be expanded from just fertility based issues and applied to all different kinds of undesirable characteristics

Creative experiments began and expanded and contracted with the time and resources available. Everyone did their time. Hundreds of thousands of subjects were utilized. Many of them were used twice, usually first for a hydroplant experiment, perceived by the public as harmless, and then on to a true experiment - one that had no reasonable hypothesis but the line of inquiry was too tantalizing to not pursue. And as creative and cruel as the human mind can be so were the nature of these experiments.

From this “solution” came a number of unexpected consequences. There became a crisis for how to dispose of human bodies. The nobel prize winner in the year 2067 came up with the InsineratorX5-4000. The problem was solved. There were a few viruses that escaped the labs and infiltrated the masses. One virus killed 467,300 people within a two year period. Eventually they created a vaccine and celebrated it as a great success. With another, they were not so lucky. It was a sneaky virus, only replicating in a certain type of host, host characteristics were unknown. This virus surprised them with its skill and cunning and to this date no cure has been found. Unfortunately, it assures the destruction of the human race is now a certainty. The host characteristics were discovered in 2084. Now the scientists are focused on how to weed out these host characteristics out of the human genome. A promising solution lies in mitochondria, the energy centers of the cells. The hypothesis is that a mitochondrial transplant could be used to replace the bad cells with the cure cells. The mitochondria experiments have been underway for over 20 years but they have yet to find the gold standard: the cure cells. Once they find those they will have this one licked.

Early in the experiments they discovered they could use xenon gas to essentially wipe away memories. This process seemed to work even better in children. This became an SOP used by the Ministry in hopes of containing the truth about the experiments and the extent of the suffering the children underwent. Like anything else humans do, this idea when implemented fully operated in the extreme. Why stop at the children? The Ministry wanted to contain the masses and quell their restlessness with myndESC holograms. But some ripples of reality underneath these facades, some started to “not believe” and they, of course, had to be dealt with. These dissidents were experimented on with higher doses of xenon gas and hundreds of other compounds aiming to strip humans of their memories. If you can’t remember, how can you rise up?

The Institutes became competitive, racing to the “panel” that solves the problem. So the Ministry allows and encourages physicians to rule Agartha if they solve either the water crisis or the viral anomolies.

During this time period, "hybrid humans" were created in genetic facilities with the belief that physicians can manipulate the genes elegantly to create a new human. One that resists drought and illness- these are the Addonexus, or what the Addonexus strive to be.

References
“The kidneys thus play a key role in regulating fluid balance. As discussed later, the kidneys function more efficiently in the presence of an abundant water supply. If the kidneys economize on water, producing a more concentrated urine, these is a greater cost in energy and more wear on their tissues. This is especially likely to occur when the kidneys are under stress, for example when the diet contains excessive amounts of salt or toxic substances that need to be eliminated. Consequently, drinking enough water helps protect this vital organ.”

Side effects of dehydration: PHysical performance, cognitive performance, delirium, GI function, kidney function, heart function and hemodynamic response, headache and skin dryness
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954/

Potential for Human Engineering
Human consumption is based on weight and size - engineer humans to be smaller.
http://www.smatthewliao.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/HEandClimateChange.pdf

Virus as a parasite.

Sea water for drinking

Mitochondrial DNA

2014 map of “hot spots” for world water conflicts

PTSD sufferers can have their memories erased to help them cope


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Bringing You up to Speed

I have been negligent of this blog, but I want to make things right. Here is a list of the books I have been reading (tracking them on Goodreads). Two of these books will get their own review at some point (Surviving Survival and Rape of Nanking). 


25. The 5th Wave
26. Reboot
27. Forgotten 500
28. Ready Player One
29. Imperial Cruise
30. Queen of the Air
31. The Fault in our Stars
32. Escape from North Korea
33. True Refuge
34. Surviving Survival
35. Allegiant
36. Facing the Torturer
37. Rape of Nanking

38. Coraline
39. Ender’s Shadow
40. Shadow of the Hegemon
41. Shadow Puppets
42. The Power of Six
43. Neverwhere

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Over the Edge of the World

Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe

By Laurence Bergreen

Book 24

Saturday, May 11, 2013

The Eternity Cure

Julie Kagawa

This was an excellent book 2 in the Blood of Eden series begun with The Immortal Rules. Kagawa takes both the story and the characters to the edge of logic within her world (I hate it when they can't do that, its your own made up world so why can't you go all in?). I like some of her vampire nuances, clever and yet consistent with vampire lore. A great read!

Book 23

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

By Barbara Demick

This is an excellent record of real life in North Korea. It makes a great companion read to The Impossible State as it really brings to life the points made in a more historical book. 

"North Korea invites parody. We laugh at the excesses of the propaganda and the gullibility of the people. But consider that their indoctrination began in infancy, during the fourteen-hour days spent in factory day-care centers; that for the subsequent fifty years, every song, film, newspaper article, and billboard was designed to deify Kim Il-sung; that the country was hermetically sealed to keep out anything that may cast doubt on Kim Il-sung's divinity. Who could possibly resist?" Page 45

Vinalon - fabric unique to North Korea

"If you wanted to make a major purchase - say, to buy a watch or a record player - you had to apply to your work unit for permission. It wasn't just a matter of having the money." Page 63

"The North Korean regime understood you couldn't keep Koreans happy without kimchi." Page 63

"Enduring hunger became part of one's patriotic duty. Billboards went up in Pyongyang touting the new slogan, 'Let's Eat Two Meals a Day.'" Page 70

"In order to fit in, the average citizen had to discipline himself not to think too much. Then there was the natural human survival instinct to be optimistic.  . . North Koreans deceived themselves. They thought it was temporary. Things would get better. A hungry stomach shouldn't believe a lie, but somehow it did." Page 70

"Dr. Kim hadn't been a doctor long enough to have erected the protective wall that would insulate her from the suffering around her. The children's pain was her pain. Years later, when I asked her if she remembered any of the children who had died on her watch, she answered sharply, 'I remember all of them.'" Page 114

"When North Korea runs short of food, the regime feeds its population with more propaganda." Page 290

Book 22

Eye to Eye with Eagles, Hawks and Falcons

Glenn R Stewart

This is a wonderful, fun read. I loved learning about the birds but equally enjoyed the story of Glenn's life (which is intimately tied to the birds). I loved his descriptions of nature and our human need to be connected to it. 

"I believe, and I think many agree that intimate contact with nature is a fundamental human need, one that is increasingly going unfulfilled." Location 82

"Wilderness contact was a kind of grounding that was lacking, but needed, in our world of bustling modernity where anchors to place were few, ad caring for natural features absent." Location 651

"I found the notion of a collective unconscious compelling. As a young advocate for environmental protection, it provided a logical foundation for protecting nature as a source of psychological well-being. I reasoned that a simple experience, alone in the wilderness - such as my time in the Dosewallips River drainage - could awaken a person's ancestral memory, and with it a sense of belonging or connectedness to nature and all humanity over all time. That feeling of connectedness and its solace could be what we lack in the increasing isolation of the modern world." Location 798

Book 21

Prodigy

Marie Lu

This book was just ok. A lot of potential but the author just doesn't go deep enough. 

Book 20

Wool Omnibus

Hugh Howey 

This book was self-published and released as short stories, which in the version I read were combined into one volume and presented as one book. Because of this, I felt the read was a little bit choppy. But taking into account that it was released in pieces without the luxury of being able to smooth over the rough edges (or a publisher to help with this process) it was a great book. I really got into the characters and wanted to understand what they were experiencing, just as they were trying to understand. A really good sci fi read.

Book 19

Scarlet

By Marissa Meyer

I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed the first book Cinder. I like the premise and the characters. An entertaining cyborg read.

Book 18

The Russian Concubine

By Kate Furnivall

I really didn't like this book. I think I just don't like the lightly historical romanceish novel genre. I find it boring.

Book 17

Between Shades of Grey

By Ruta Sepetys

YA historical fiction taking place in Russia under Stalin. I loved this story. It was well written, historically pretty accurate and a great read. A young girl, talented artist and daughter finds herself in Stalins brutal wave of mistrust and violence as everything she knows crumbles in front of her and life becomes imprisonment in Siberia. I loved the main character! My only complaint was I felt the story ended quite abruptly.

"I thought of Munch as I sketched, his theory that pain, love, and despair were links in an endless chain." Pg 125

Book 16

I Am Number Four

Pittacus Lore

This was a pretty interesting YA read. It had a good story line, a pretty well told story and it was action packed. There wasn't a lot of depth to it, but an entertaining read.

Book 14




The Power of Six

Book 2 in the Lorien Legacies series

Great follow-up book to I Am Number Four.

Book 15

Outlander

I really didn't like this book. It was ridiculous on so many levels. Not my cup of tea.

Book 13
Gillian Flynn

Book 12

Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Impossible State

North Korea, Past and Future

By Victor Cha

This was an incredibly good exploration into the modern North Korean state. Cha worked in the Bush administration as a diplomat to North Korea so he comes with an incredible depth of knowledge and hands on experience. With the on-going "problems" that North Korea poses to the modern world it is of great importance that we understand what is going on there. Cha does wonderful job exploring the history of South and North Korea, the role that other countries (Japan, China, Russia, US) play with their competing interests in this region, the history of the Kim family and North Korea's own self perception as it has been shaped by the Kim family. This book helped me to make sense of the on-going saga that is North Korea. 

"The cold war era was North Korea's heyday. But if adherence to juche ideology during the cold war was considered a successful practice, the rise of neojuche conservatism today is an act of desperation. It represents a last-gasp effort to define a new legitimacy for the state that has failed miserably in fulfilling its end of the social contract. For reasons discussed in the ensuing pages, North Korea has become a prisoner of its own ideology and its own Cold War successes. Its hope to return to the 'good old days' is severely misplaced. Juche was possible then because of massive inputs from the Soviet Union and China. Even with continued Chinese assistance, it is not possible to sustain today. And yet, the regime knows of no other way to try to justify its continued hold on power. This is an unsustainable situation." Pg 63

"A North Korean propaganda expert B.R. Myers attests, over the course of the past sixty years, through state propaganda, the people of North Korea have been led to believe that they 'are too pure-blooded, and so too virtuous, to survive in this evil world without a great parental leader.'" Pg 73

"This combination of strenuous, unrelenting labor and the meager portions of food prisoners subsist on results in what North Korean human rights expert David Hawk calls 'permanent situations of deliberately contrived semi-starvation.'" Pg. 173

"One can say without prejudice that the Bush administration did more to take on the human rights problems in North Korea than any other administration. . . .His concern for the plight of the people was about as genuine as any human being could have had. His conviction on this issue was deep, as he told Woodward, 'Either you believe in freedom, and want to - and worry about the human condition, or you don't.'" Page 205

"The most significant conventional deterrent is the North's artillery arrayed along the DMZ." Page 219

"All key buildings and palaces are linked with a deep underground network to allow for quick escape if attacked. . . Beneath Kim Il-sung Square reportedly lies a bunker command post large enough to accommodate a hundred thousand men with a fresh-water and ventilation  system, and a thirty-kilometer (19 mi) tunnel that leads out of the cities into nearby mountains." Pg 222

"Pyongyang's devotion of massive amounts of very scarce resources to such projects suggests it actually wants to acquire these capabilities and be accepted by the world as a nuclear weapons state. It is unlikely to be willing to trade them away in return for international acceptance and a peace treaty with the United States." Page 300

"The fourth basic fact is perhaps the most significant and disappointing: despite China's frustration with its poor and pathetic neighbor, it will never abandon it. . . And as the only patron supporting the decrepit regime today, it is, ironically, more powerless than it is omnipotent  because the regime's livelihood is entirely in Chinese hands. It must, therefore, countenance bad DPRK behavior, because any punishment could stabilize the regime. Pyongyang knows this, and deftly leverages its own vulnerability and risk-taking behavior to get sustenance, diplomatic support, and protection from its ambivalent big brother against the South Korean and American 'aggressors.'" Page 317

"Despite making all of the wrong economic decisions throughout its history, the country eked out an existence. Despite propagating and ideology that provides luxury to the Kim family and very little to the rest of the population, the people, even defectors, retain affection for the dynasty. Despite engaging in the most threatening behavior in East Asia, including military attacks and building nuclear weapons, the regime has yet to suffer punishment in the form of retaliation or preemptive strike. In each case the regime has survived, though not through extraordinary shrewd statecraft or policy making  On the contrary, historians will remember North Korea for all the ways not to run a country." Page 429

Book 11

Monday, March 4, 2013

Nexus

By Ramez Naam

Holy mary mother of god. This was quite a book. And a perfect read to finish over a few days and half the world away (I started reading it in San Mateo and finished it in Munich). And I read Nexus on my Nexus.

I will start with the obvious. This is an action packed book from cover to cover. The fight scenes practically leap from the book and smack you on the face. Many of them were so enjoyable, so jaw dropping I had to read them twice. Admittedly, sometimes even three times (just for the cheap thrill). 

The second obvious point is WOW. Where can I get some Nexus? And Nexus with the Buddhist monks? Terribly mind blowing and compelling. And equally scary in the wrong hands. But isn't that just like life? Blow my mind.

On top of these two overwhelming points, Naam writes cleanly, without a lot of extra words, honing in on what he is saying with clarity and precision. I can't believe this is his first work of fiction, but then again he was busy building interfaces with the internet and writing books about biological enhancements so he hasn't really had a lot of time on his hand for pleasure writing.

I hope he also gets credit for introducing sci-fi to transhumans. 

"The sound of the bell was the sound of everything she'd ever tried to communicate." Pg 25

"The Aryan Rising incident (2030) was an attempt to wipe out the bulk of humanity, paving the way for the repopulation of the world by a race of genetically engineered neo-Nazi transhumans." Pg 55

"We must all walk the path ourselves. We must all choose our own karma. We must all allow others to choose their own karma as well." Pg 119

"I would become no better than our masters, and no more effective. No. We're most capable as autonomous beings who choose to come together. Our associations must be voluntary." Pg 141

"Briefing: The Chandler Act (aka the Emerging Technological Threats Act of 2032) is the opening salvo in a new War on Science. To understand the future course of this war, one need only look at the history of the War on Drugs and the War on Terror. Like those two manufactured "wars", this one will be never-ending freedom-destroying, counterproductive and ultimately understood to have caused far more damage than the supposed threat it was aimed at ever could have. Free the Future, 2032" Pg. 147

"Briefing: We find that the Constitution guarantees protections only to human persons. Non-human persons such as those created by the combination of non-human genes with human genes, by the integration of technology that affords non-human abilities, or by any significant deviation from the existing spectrum of human characteristics, are afforded no special protections. As such, Congress and the states may legislate the status of nonhuman persons without regard to the Constitutional protections afforded to humans. Dyson v Department of Homeland Security, Supreme Court of the United States 2036" Page 201

"This court has committed a great crime today. To assert that a living thinking being, of any sort, is deserving of no rights is to ignore the lessons of two hundred and sixty hears of democracy. We invite tyranny, atrocity, and slavery with this judgement." Justice Elena Martinez, Dissent in Dyson v Department of Homeland Security 2036" Pg. 201

"'Imagine a world where it took most of a lifetime to learn to speak, to learn to read or write, where many never even reached that point.' 
Kade closed his eyes, tried to picture it.
'Imagine that you could show people a faster way,' Ananda continued. ' That in a year or two you could show them the basics of language, of literacy.'
Kade imagined.
'Would you do it?' Ananda asked.
'Yes.' Kade replied.
'Even though it would surely be used at times for profanity or vile speech?' 
'Yes.'
'Even though fools might read dangerous things written by bigger fools, might follow their instructions and hurts themselves or others?'
'Yes.' Kade replied
'Even though writing might be used to describe weapons that could be used to kill others?' Ananda asked.
'Yes.' Kade said.
'Even though charasmatic fascists might use the power of speech to stir people up, to incite violence, to stoke hatred, to create war?'
Kade swallowed. 'Yes.?'
'Why?'
'Because I think people would use it for more good than harm.'
'Is that the only reason?'
'And because I think its just good.'" Page 269

"This is the same logic of inhumanity that's been applied in the past to slaves, to women, to Jews, to members of any group which those in power with to persecute. Every attempt through history to limit the definition of humanity has been a prelude to the subjugation, degradation and slaughter of innocents. Every one." Page 308

Book 10

Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Alienist

By Caleb Carr

This book was a disappointment. It had all the elements of a great historical fiction - interesting historical characters woven into the story, a grimm serial murder and a team of people just discovering the art of criminal profiling and forensics - but somehow I found it fairly boring.

Book 9

Enclave

Book 2: Outpost

By Ann Aguirre

A young adult series about a post-apocalyptic earth where groups of humans have been forced to live underground to escape a virus and the mutants. The mutants are zombie like but even through book number two we don't know a lot about them except that they are fearsome, brutal and the enemy of the main characters in the book (all humans).

The writing is a bit choppy for me at times, although the story was compelling enough to read both books in the series. While there are a lot of interesting components to the books they are missing some level of depth  to me which left me feeling a little disconnected form the story and characters.

Books 7 - 8

Ender's Shadow

By Orson Scott Card

Review pending book club discussion about Ender's Shadow.

Book 4 - 6


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Blood Meridian


By Cormac McCarthy

This book is a good counter point to the typical western which glorifies these kind of men in this time period. There is nothing glorious here. It was beautifully written and I didn't mind the violence, but there was a level of tedium that was almost unbearable. I get it. McCarthy is depicting a time period with a lot of uncertainty and tedium. But the descriptive words were almost the main character, keeping you engaged with the story without any support. 
"The Mennonite watches the enshadowed dark before them as it is reflected to him in the mirror over the bar. He turns to them. His eyes are wet, he speaks slowly. The wrath of God lies sleeping. It was hid a million years before men were and only men have power to wake it. Hell aint half full. Hear me. Ye carry war of a madman's making onto a foreign land. Ye'll wake more than the dogs." Page 63 

"They passed old alms-seekers by the church door with their seamy palms outheld and maimed beggars sad-eyed in rags and children asleep in the shadows with flies walking their dreamless faces. Dark coppers in a clackdish, the shriveled eyes of the blind. Scribes crouched by the steps with their quills and inkpots and bowls of sand and lepers moaning through the streets and naked dogs that seemed composed of bone entirely and vendors of tamales and old women with faces dark and harrowed as the land squatting in the gutters over charcoal fires where blackened strips of anonymous meat sizzled and spat. Small orphans were abroad like irate dwarfs and fools and sots drooling and flailing about in the small markets of the metropolis and the prisoners rode past the carnage in the meatstalls and the waxy smell where racks of guts hung black with flies and flayings of meat in great red sheets now darkened with the advancing day and the flensed and naked skulls of cows and sheep with their dull blue eyes glaring wildly and the stiff bodies of deer and javelina and ducks and quail and parrots, all wild things from the country round hanging head downward from hooks."

"They saw blackeyed young girls with painted faces smoking little cigars, going arm in arm and eyeing them brazenly. They saw the governor himself erect and formal within his silkmul-lioned sulky clatter forth from the double doors of the palace^ courtyard and they saw one day a pack of viciouslooking humans mounted on unshod indian ponies riding half drunk through the streets, bearded, barbarous, clad in the skins of animals stitched up with thews and armed with weapons of every description, revolvers of enormous weight and bowieknives the size of claymores and short twobarreled rifles with bores you could stick your thumbs in and the trappings of their horses fashioned out of human skin and their bridles woven up from human hair and decorated with human teeth and the riders wearing scapulars or necklaces of dried and blackened human ears and the horses rawlooking and wild in the eye and their teeth bared like feral dogs and riding also in the company a number of halfnaked savages reeling in the saddle, dangerous, filthy, brutal, the whole like a visitation from some heathen land where they and others like them fed on human flesh."  Page 119



 Book 3