Top.Mail.Ru
? ?
Image Khall's Journal
 
[Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View] [Friends]

Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Khall's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]
Wednesday, May 1st, 2024
3:59 pm
Hmph
Well, I managed to get back into my LJ account. It's been a long time, I miss this phase in my life. It's unfortunate that it's changed so much. Hope you are all doing well.

K.

Current Mood: Image apathetic
Monday, March 26th, 2018
12:29 pm
Khallkhall
Hi, now I have internet so you people will never be rid of me again. Also it'll take me like 2 weeks to catch up on all your posts. <3

K.
Tuesday, October 17th, 2017
3:28 am
HI!
I got a new laptop, because my wifey is awesome. However, I still have crappy/intermittent interwebs. So...my backness is spotty right now. I missed you all and LJ so much. It's so nice to be back, even if i have been trying to get posts to load for a week now unsuccessfully.

K.

Current Mood: Image happy
Friday, February 12th, 2016
1:41 pm
Friday, January 22nd, 2016
8:03 pm
Khooking with Call
Schicken dough wraps

You take two of these bad boys. Refrigerated section, french loaves. If you want to get wild, take flour, garlic powder/salt, and water and mix them together into a flatbread dough.

Break your loaves into 'biscuit' size pieces. Flatten them out real good. And flat. And stuff.

Go get all the stuff in your kitchen that you don't know what to do with. Get some chicken or pork or beef. Chop it up into pieces. Take some veggies, I have used spinach, onion, garlic, broccoli, bok choy, whatever. Chop them up into pieces too. Take all the liquid stuff* you have and pour it into a bowl or large cup. Take all the solids and set them out on paper plates or in a bowl.

*soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, wine, A-1, worchestershire sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, unicorn blood, etc.

Now take a big flat piece of dough, and stick stuff on it. Until it is full. Then add some liquid and** wrap it up like a wonton. Or an oyster/clam shell. Don't worry about any recipe. They are stupid anyway. Every one of these is going to taste different. That's the idea. Think of them as garbage wontons.

Put oil in tin foil or parchment paper, wrap it up tight. Put tin foil or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Stick them bad boys on top of that cookie sheet and put it in the oven at about 350 for 45-60 mins. The dough should be brown on the parts that have leaked out of the tin foil, where you fucked up the wrapping, no matter how hard you tried not to, you did. Life sucks, but these are delicious. I recommend chicken spinach and/or bok choy+soy for either a Mediterranean or a more Asian taste.

K.

** Vval says I forgot to add the liquid. *grunt*

Current Mood: Image hungry
Tuesday, January 5th, 2016
9:41 pm
Pfft
Viciousness drips,
like silk slips,
savagery in the room,
fear-slick and kissed by the moon,
silver lightning,
silent thunder,
Down, down to her doom.

Current Mood: artistic
Monday, January 4th, 2016
11:53 am
A helpful pain scale
0-10 Scale of Pain Severity

10 - Mommy!!!
9 - Fuck these people. If they don't give me drugs I am going to start executing them one by one. This is drug-seeking behavior, bitches. Give me fucking drugs. Right now.
8 - They might be stupid, I better bring it up, but in an off-the-cuff manner so they don't think it's just for the drugs.
7 - I'm going to ask them for drugs, but I'll be careful to let them suggest narcotics.
6 - Fucking hurts like a bitch, bro. Better drop two Ibus into the Tylenol cocktail.
5 - I really need some Vicodin, but I don't want to appear to be engaging in drug seeking behavior.
4 - Ima ask granma if she's got any more of them little white pills.
3 - I'd like something stronger than Tylenol, but I'll take Tylenol to avoid the hassle of an ER trip and appearing to be engaging in drug seeking behavior.
2 - It throbs when I'm sitting still.
1 - My toe hurts.
0 - Nothing hurts. You're a little bitch for even consulting a pain chart. What are you, on here just to make the people who suffer chronic pain feel like shit? What an asshole. Go away, jerk.

K.

Current Mood: Image amused
Friday, January 1st, 2016
6:30 pm
Vor, zips, and A New Hope
So I study subcultures, a lot, in my spare time. Criminal subcultures have always been a fascination of mine. Tree-a-bee, in the old Russian mafia, the Vory, there was a saying 'prison is my home'. Imagine that. Imagine that not only are you not afraid of going to jail, but it's literally a place of rest and relaxation for you, where all your friends are, and...through a total loss of any hope to ever be free, has become a prison that can't hurt you.

In the same vein, in the early American mafia, it was common for a new boss (capo) to bring in 'zips', these were native Italians, often Sicilians, who, due to being cut off from any support network and not having local interests could be counted on to be loyal to the boss. Except, in Italy, the distinction between bandit and mafioso and rebel is not so clear. So the 'zips' didn't come to this country planning to commit crimes. They came to this country, with the idea in their head that the mafia was as legitimate as a state (in the international sense) as the federal government was. Imagine that. Imagine someone who treats police, not as an all powerful force that can make your life hell or throw you in prison for the rest of it...but rather as an enemy combatant. Imagine how your perspective would change.

I was just thinking about this and...so you get thought vomit...

K.

Current Mood: Image amused
Sunday, December 13th, 2015
11:43 pm
Mother Goose Poly
One, he loves; two he loves;
Three, he loves, they say;
Four, he loves with all his heart;
Five, he casts away.
Six, he loves; seven, she loves;
Eight, they both love.
Nine, he comes; ten, he tarries;
Eleven, he courts; twelve, he marries.

Found this in a nursery rhyme book.

K.
Friday, December 11th, 2015
12:00 am
Things that make you go wtf
I am blessed with a vast array of inciteful, intelligent, well-read, well-educated, open-minded, creative friends on my LJ, so I need to harness the collective genius of my friends list. Because if you live anywhere near a navy base (and, you know, are in the US) you will have seen this:

Navy 'work' Camouflage Uniform

Look at it. Look. Then come back here. I'll wait...

No, really look at it.

Okay. Wtf. They're sailors, right? So that uniform is...kinda blue. They don't paint the ships blue. Nor camouflage. They paint them grey or titanium white, basically. So when is this camouflage ever, ever going to come in handy? It's made to hide you...and sailors wear it...and it's the color of water...

Where did the 'think tank' that came up with this idea spend that money? I mean...how is this a good thing for a sailor to wear? Isn't this basically going to get them killed if they fall over the ship...because they'll be, you know, camouflaged? I'm so confused. How did this get approved? Who didn't think to themselves...gee, maybe we don't want the sailors to be the same color as the water...when the ship isn't even that color...

I just...what? How did someone get paid to make this happen. I mean, you know our government spent millions debating if this was a good idea or not, and changing all the old uniforms and...why?

K.

Current Mood: Image scared
Tuesday, December 8th, 2015
3:31 pm
Liberalisms
Organic fruit == bruised fruit.

NPR == 6-8 hours of stupid shit Donald Trump says.

Fox News == 12-16 hours of stupid shit Donald Trump says.

K.

Current Mood: Image apathetic
Friday, November 27th, 2015
1:56 pm
9/11 and Syria and Pericles
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/people_n2/ppersons2_n2/oration.html

Pericles speech is one of the most famous addresses in world history and may have influenced the Gettisburg address by President Lincoln more than two thousand years later.

The oration was for commemorating the soldiers who had died in battle. This speech gives one of the best description of Athenian democracy and ancient Athens. In the speech Pericles relates the special qualities of the Athenians, redefining many traditional Greek value systems. The idea that the Athenians are able to put aside their little wants and strive for the greater good of the city is a central theme of the speech. The people of Athens submit to the laws and obey the public officials not because they have to, as in other cities, but because they want to. Athenians had thus achieved something quite unique - being both ruled and rulers at one and the same time (a first step toward democracy). The Athenians had become the new ideal of the Greek world.
Pericles' Funeral Oration
from Thucydides, 'The Peloponnesian War'


Most of those who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. It seemed to them a worthy thing that such an honor should be given at their burial to the dead who have fallen on the field of battle. But I should have preferred that, when men's deeds have been made, they should be honored in deed only, and with such an honor as this public funeral, which you are now witnessing. Then the reputation of many would not have been imperiled on the eloquence or want of eloquence of one, and their virtues believed or not as he spoke well or ill. For it is difficult to say neither too little nor too much; and even moderation is apt not to give the impression of truthfulness.

The friend of the dead who knows the facts is likely to think that the words of the speaker fall short of his knowledge and of his wishes; another who is not so well informed, when he hears of anything which surpasses his own powers, will be envious and will suspect exaggeration. Mankind are tolerant of the praises of others so long as each hearer thinks that he can do as well or nearly as well himself, but, when the speaker rises above him, jealousy is aroused and he begins to be incredulous. However, since our ancestors have set the seal of their approval upon the practice, I must obey, and to the utmost of my power shall endeavor to satisfy the wishes and beliefs of all who hear me.

I will speak first of our ancestors, for it is right and seemly that now, when we are lamenting the dead, a tribute should be paid to their memory. There has never been a time when they did not inhabit this land, which by their valor they will have handed down from generation to generation, and we have received from them a free state. But if they were worthy of praise, still more were our fathers, who added to their inheritance, and after many a struggle transmitted to us their sons this great empire. And we ourselves assembled here today, who are still most of us in the vigor of life, have carried the work of improvement further, and have richly endowed our city with all things, so that she is sufficient for herself both in peace and war. Of the military exploits by which our various possessions were acquired, or of the energy with which we or our fathers drove back the tide of war, Hellenic or Barbarian, I will not speak; for the tale would be long and is familiar to you. But before I praise the dead, I should like to point out by what principles of action we rose to power, and under what institutions and through what manner of life our empire became great. For I conceive that such thoughts are not unsuited to the occasion, and that this numerous assembly of citizens and strangers may profitably listen to them.

Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. Our government does not copy our neighbors', but is an example to them. It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few. But while there exists equal justice to all and alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty an obstacle, but a man may benefit his country whatever the obscurity of his condition. There is no exclusiveness in our public life, and in our private business we are not suspicious of one another, nor angry with our neighbor if he does what he likes; we do not put on sour looks at him which, though harmless, are not pleasant. While we are thus unconstrained in our private business, a spirit of reverence pervades our public acts; we are prevented from doing wrong by respect for the authorities and for the laws, having a particular regard to those which are ordained for the protection of the injured as well as those unwritten laws which Ping upon the transgressor of them the reprobation of the general sentiment.

And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year; our homes are beautiful and elegant; and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to banish sorrow. Because of the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as our own.

Then, again, our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries. Our city is thrown open to the world, though and we never expel a foreigner and prevent him from seeing or learning anything of which the secret if revealed to an enemy might profit him. We rely not upon management or trickery, but upon our own hearts and hands. And in the matter of education, whereas they from early youth are always undergoing laborious exercises which are to make them Pave, we live at ease, and yet are equally ready to face the perils which they face. And here is the proof: The Lacedaemonians come into Athenian territory not by themselves, but with their whole confederacy following; we go alone into a neighbor's country; and although our opponents are fighting for their homes and we on a foreign soil, we have seldom any difficulty in overcoming them. Our enemies have never yet felt our united strength, the care of a navy divides our attention, and on land we are obliged to send our own citizens everywhere. But they, if they meet and defeat a part of our army, are as proud as if they had routed us all, and when defeated they pretend to have been vanquished by us all.

If then we prefer to meet danger with a light heart but without laborious training, and with a courage which is gained by habit and not enforced by law, are we not greatly the better for it? Since we do not anticipate the pain, although, when the hour comes, we can be as Pave as those who never allow themselves to rest; thus our city is equally admirable in peace and in war. For we are lovers of the beautiful in our tastes and our strength lies, in our opinion, not in deliberation and discussion, but that knowledge which is gained by discussion preparatory to action. For we have a peculiar power of thinking before we act, and of acting, too, whereas other men are courageous from ignorance but hesitate upon reflection. And they are surely to be esteemed the Pavest spirits who, having the clearest sense both of the pains and pleasures of life, do not on that account shrink from danger. In doing good, again, we are unlike others; we make our friends by conferring, not by receiving favors. Now he who confers a favor is the firmer friend, because he would rather by kindness keep alive the memory of an obligation; but the recipient is colder in his feelings, because he knows that in requiting another's generosity he will not be winning gratitude but only paying a debt. We alone do good to our neighbors not upon a calculation of interest, but in the confidence of freedom and in a frank and fearless spirit.

To sum up: I say that Athens is the school of Hellas, and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of action with the utmost versatility and grace. This is no passing and idle word, but truth and fact; and the assertion is verified by the position to which these qualities have raised the state. For in the hour of trial Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the report of her. No enemy who comes against her is indignant at the reverses which he sustains at the hands of such a city; no subject complains that his masters are unworthy of him. And we shall assuredly not be without witnesses; there are mighty monuments of our power which will make us the wonder of this and of succeeding ages; we shall not need the praises of Homer or of any other panegyrist whose poetry may please for the moment, although his representation of the facts will not bear the light of day. For we have compelled every land and every sea to open a path for our valor, and have everywhere planted eternal memorials of our friendship and of our enmity. Such is the city for whose sake these men nobly fought and died; they could not bear the thought that she might be taken from them; and every one of us who survive should gladly toil on her behalf.

I have dwelt upon the greatness of Athens because I want to show you that we are contending for a higher prize than those who enjoy none of these privileges, and to establish by manifest proof the merit of these men whom I am now commemorating. Their loftiest praise has been already spoken. For in magnifying the city I have magnified them, and men like them whose virtues made her glorious. And of how few Hellenes can it be said as of them, that their deeds when weighed in the balance have been found equal to their fame! Methinks that a death such as theirs has been the true measure of a man's worth; it may be the first revelation of his virtues, but is at any rate their final seal. For even those who come short in other ways may justly plead the valor with which they have fought for their country; they have blotted out the evil with the good, and have benefited the state more by their public services than they have injured her by their private actions. None of these men were enervated by wealth or hesitated to resign the pleasures of life; none of them put off the evil day in the hope, natural to poverty, that a man, though poor, may one day become rich.

But, deeming that the punishment of their enemies was sweeter than any of these things, and that they could fall in no nobler cause, they determined at the hazard of their lives to be honorably avenged, and to leave the rest. They resigned to hope their unknown chance of happiness; but in the face of death they resolved to rely upon themselves alone. And when the moment came they were minded to resist and suffer, rather than to fly and save their lives; they ran away from the word of dishonor, but on the battlefield their feet stood fast, and in an instant, at the height of their fortune, they passed away from the scene, not of their fear, but of their glory.

Such was the end of these men; they were worthy of Athens, and the living need not desire to have a more heroic spirit, although they may pray for a less fatal issue. The value of such a spirit is not to be expressed in words. Any one can discourse to you for ever about the advantages of a Pave defense, which you know already. But instead of listening to him I would have you day by day fix your eyes upon the greatness of Athens, until you become filled with the love of her; and when you are impressed by the spectacle of her glory, reflect that this empire has been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, who in the hour of conflict had the fear of dishonor always present to them, and who, if ever they failed in an enterprise, would not allow their virtues to be lost to their country, but freely gave their lives to her as the fairest offering which they could present at her feast.

The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs--I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed. For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. Make them your examples, and, esteeming courage to be freedom and freedom to be happiness, do not weigh too nicely the perils of war. The unfortunate who has no hope of a change for the better has less reason to throw away his life than the prosperous who, if he survive, is always liable to a change for the worse, and to whom any accidental fall makes the most serious difference. To a man of spirit, cowardice and disaster coming together are far more bitter than death striking him unperceived at a time when he is full of courage and animated by the general hope.

Wherefore I do not now pity the parents of the dead who stand here; I would rather comfort them. You know that your dead have passed away amid manifold vicissitudes; and that they may be deemed fortunate who have gained their utmost honor, whether an honorable death like theirs, or an honorable sorrow like yours, and whose share of happiness has been so ordered that the term of their happiness is likewise the term of their life. I know how hard it is to make you feel this, when the good fortune of others will too often remind you of the gladness which once lightened your hearts. And sorrow is felt at the want of those blessings, not which a man never knew, but which were a part of his life before they were taken from him.

Some of you are of an age at which they may hope to have other children, and they ought to bear their sorrow better; not only will the children who may hereafter be born make them forget their own lost ones, but the city will be doubly a gainer. She will not be left desolate, and she will be safer. For a man's counsel cannot have equal weight or worth, when he alone has no children to risk in the general danger. To those of you who have passed their prime, I say: "Congratulate yourselves that you have been happy during the greater part of your days; remember that your life of sorrow will not last long, and be comforted by the glory of those who are gone. For the love of honor alone is ever young, and not riches, as some say, but honor is the delight of men when they are old and useless.

To you who are the sons and fathers of the departed, I see that the struggle to emulate them will be an arduous one. For all men praise the dead, and, however preeminent your virtue may be, I do not say even to approach them, and avoid living their rivals and detractors, but when a man is out of the way, the honor and goodwill which he receives is unalloyed. And, if I am to speak of womanly virtues to those of you who will henceforth be widows, let me sum them up in one short admonition: To a woman not to show more weakness than is natural to her sex is a great glory, and not to be talked about for good or for evil among men.

I have paid the required tribute, in obedience to the law, making use of such fitting words as I had. The tribute of deeds has been paid in part; for the dead have them in deeds, and it remains only that their children should be maintained at the public charge until they are grown up: this is the solid prize with which, as with a garland, Athens crowns her sons living and dead, after a struggle like-theirs. For where the rewards of virtue are greatest, there the noblest citizens are enlisted in the service of the state. And now, when you have duly lamented every one his own dead, you may depart.

-P

Current Mood: Image annoyed
Saturday, October 31st, 2015
2:54 pm
Dear Female People
A compliment does != hitting on you.

If someone tells you that you're pretty, or that they like your boots, or that you're wearing a nice necklace/dress/pair of jeans, and your response is "I have a boyfriend" or some other means of expressing "I reject your implied advance" you are A) self-absorbed B) kind of a bitch C) bad at this whole social interaction thing.

It is possible that you can mistake someone's genuine compliment for an advance. This happens. However, responding in a way that communicates "You're not in my league and your advance is unappreciated" when you're not 99% sure that's what it was just makes you a terrible person. That poor guy was just trying to be nice. And/or nattering about something that caught his eye. I wanted to punch you for being such a bitch, for him.

K.

Current Mood: Image cynical
Sunday, October 25th, 2015
11:44 pm
Stop romanticizing the past, please
Please, please stop it. Listen...the stuff people ate in the past? Often times killed them. They ate very poorly, very high calorie diets. When they could get food. Otherwise they starved to death and died. There's nothing 'wholesome' about living in a log cabin or detaching from society and becoming a recluse and living off of huckleberries and squirrels. It's not 'better for you'. Yes, there are some aspects of modern life that are not super-healthy for you. However, if you think it would be 'healthy' or 'better' to trade places with someone from the 200,000 BC-1800 AD time span, you have misunderstood the definition of 'progress' not to mention 'civilization' and/or 'human rights'. Just freaking stop. The 1950s were not a deeply wholesome time in American history. It was a time of oppression, domestic violence, racial discrimination, and active, intentional persecution of minorities including people of any alternative sexual or gender identity. It's better in every measurable way. There are new problems, more modern problems, but...problems existed in the past too. And...just stop the nostalgic delusional state. I hate it.

K.

Current Mood: ranty
Wednesday, October 21st, 2015
1:25 pm
Tuesday, September 29th, 2015
1:45 am
Time A Upon Once
Collapse )

K.

Current Mood: Image cynical
Thursday, August 13th, 2015
3:00 pm
Dear LJ-dev
I hate you. With rabid, raving hate. My friend's list looks like a little kids game on nickelodean.com or something. It's like facebook vomited 'cutesy' little conversation blurbs onto my tab. I want to stab you in the face with an ice pick. Until the sun goes out.

Sincerely,

Your friend,

Khall

Current Mood: hatred burning like a 1000 suns
Tuesday, August 11th, 2015
9:19 pm
Feminism 2.0 or why you should hit women
So girls don't really get hit. I don't mean their husbands/boyfriends/whatever don't hit them. I mean, as a little boy, violence is part of your life. If you're too bad, you'll get a spanking, or a slap, or an aggressive grab followed by being thrust into a chair or corner. If you're too good, you'll get called a teacher's pet or something and get beat up by your peers. If you're a 20 year old male, in any country in the world, and haven't been punched at least once in both the head and the body, I'm 100% sure you're a statistically insignificant outlier. In fact I'd bet that more than 50% of men have been 'beat up' as in being functionally unable to fight back any more against an assailant. Most of boys games (and all sports) revolve around physically dominating each other. Competition or even outright conflict. But even playing cops and robbers, and soldiers/war/army/whatever you called it (as well as a girl's playing house) are psychologically modeling status and socio-cultural constructs. Us versus them, good and bad, better and not, hierarchy, status roles, etc.

But you don't hit girls. Any 'good' boy knows that. As a result, the first time a girl is assaulted...it is horrifying. This maxim both protects, and makes her less able to protect herself. For most boys, that first assault occurred so long ago that we don't often even remember the exact event. It's just "normal". But this also means that women are more vulnerable to violence. Because they have no prior exposure to it. This is not to say that they should. But the world, even the adult world, is permeated by violence. If you don't believe me, walk down a dark alley and tell me you don't feel like your "fight-or-flight" response is the window maximized on your brain's 'screen'. Even in a 'civilized' setting, the office, or the social sphere the currents and penalties are just shadows of physical violence, in a way, gossip or shunning are just more sophisticated ways of bullying someone, than simple physical violence (and in fact, are often the reasons boys choose to fight, or at least the fear of them.)

Also, as a consequence of rights becoming more equal, there will/should be expected to be a rise in 'violence against women' statistics. Until the rates of violence both between and inside genders 'normalizes'. This is why I've always said 'don't hit women' is a...useless slogan or goal, and even, not a feminist goal, at least...end-game-wise. Because, at a certain point, it creates special, protected classes in society. If we want true equality, then...there has to be a girl, who is the best at X position in Y sports, because she's the toughest kid on the block. Or, we have to completely eliminate violence. Which...seems less likely from a realistic standpoint.

I'm not really saying anyone should hit women. I was mostly doing that in a desperate plea for attention. Sry.

(The above is a logically consistent idea, at least to me, or thought-experiment, not a 'fact' or something I would call my ideology even.)

K.

Current Mood: writey
Thursday, July 2nd, 2015
3:25 pm
More rambles
So it occurs to me that driving is mostly 'management'. If you think of yourself as an old-fashioned sonar/radar screen, where the line goes around and 'blips' whatever it detects...each 'detect' (in our brains) encodes estimated speed, direction of travel, mass (inspecifically like 'that's a big truck' or 'that's a bicycle'), to some extent accelleration (though it's notoriously hard to do with any accuracy), and estimated time of impact. ie. he's 10 seconds away. Then, we discard information that's not useful in this moment, or for the next three seconds, or whatever our estimated time for our turn or lane transition or parking job or whatever we're doing.

In other words, a lot of the 'skill' of driving is knowing what information to discard as irrelevant and what is immediately important. As we grow more experienced, we do this more and more, sometimes to our peril as in 'california stops', but in general it works. Because? There is so much information intake involved in driving (or managing) that we simply can't handle it all, at once and use it for any useful purpose. It's just data overdose. This same thing seems consistent with managing a large group or company, as keeping up with all the threads becomes exponentially more difficult as the group grows linearly. It's why we have sergeants and assistant managers, in the real world.

</ramble>

K.

Current Mood: Image amused
Tuesday, June 30th, 2015
11:58 pm
Uncanny Valley
So...in Computer Graphics/Computer Science/Entertainment/Video Games there's a lot of talk about 'The Uncanny Valley'.

I used to have this discussion with professors in college, the 'great writers' people who were renowned for their original thoughts did not write in APA/MLA/Chicago formatted papers. They did it like this:

Have you ever been followed by a camera or other electronic construct? It is eerie. I firmly believe visible cameras with motion sensors that tracked the movement of people in their field of view (maybe after the business closes or something) would dissuade 90% of intrusions or petty crimes committed on the business's property.

Because? It's a danger signal, to us, when something mimics our movements. Look at how a cobra dances. Or even a predator corners prey. They echo the movements of the prey, to prevent it from escaping. I suspect this is why a lot of Am-in-als (mammals at least) react to having a gun pointed at them, even. Not because they recognize it as a weapon, as is the common view, but rather because it is tracking their movements. Which signals danger.

Now, add to that, there's a well known effect in the social sciences that indicates we use mimicry to communicate. Mirroring is discussed a lot as a strategy to make someone like you, or to tell if they like you, or to be successful in an interview. But there's so much more, if someone smiles, you smile, etc. In other words...the person (or CGI/artificial construct) is mimicking the movements of the person they're 'talking to'. The only thing creepier than a serpent mimicking a person, to watch, would be a whole 'cast' of them. Reasonably, even if there were no actual people present, as in a CG context.

I'm probably wrong about this. It's like, a theory or something. And it's midnight and my brain is fried. But? I still maintain it is a perfectly valid scholarly construct. And much more interesting to read than some of the crap I had to read in college.

K.

Current Mood: SKhallorly
[ << Previous 20 ]
About LiveJournal.com
Image