Dec
28
2008
Tom Munnecke presents “The Good Ancestor Principle” at the
International Symposium for the Study of Time at Asilomar, Ca. July 29, 2007. He discusses topics of late- vs future binding, diachronic information systems, transactional vs transformational systems, autocatalytic spaces, and approach called Diachronos to serve as a framework for understanding the flow of activities.
Dec
24
2008
Mark Frisse, now of Vanderbilt University, was one of the reviewers of Tim Berners-Lee’s original paper presenting the concepts behind the World Wide Web in 1989. Mark describes how he thought that the architecture would not scale, and that Tim’s decision to allow “broken” pointers (i.e. violate bidirectional integrity) would lead to a “spaghetti bowl of gotos.” Tim’s paper was relegated to a poster session, which turned out to be wildly successful. Tim’s decision to relax the requirement for bidirectional integrity (allowing 404 not found error) turned out to be one key features for the success of the web.
Dec
24
2008
Philip Longman is author of
The Best Care Anywhere – Why VA Health Care is Better than Yours He was asked by Fortune Magazine to find the “Jack Welch of Health Care” and after some time, discovered that the VA was one of the top providers. He discusses his journey, partially triggered by his experiences with the health care system during his wife’s death from cancer. He presents his research on the VA Hardhats, who created the VistA system, as well as his thoughts on centralized vs. decentralized systems. Produced by
Tom Munnecke, 2008
Dec
24
2008
Presentation by
Dr. Robert Kolodner, Director of the Office National Coordinator, Department of Health and Human Services responsible for the
National Health Information Network. Presented at the Feb 8, 2008 VA Underground Railroad banquet (Hardhats) in Bethesda, MD. Rob is shown receiving a VIP Underground Railroad membership card from Tom Munnecke, which includes a 1982 microprocessor chip laminated to the engine on the card.
Dec
22
2008
Barbara Marx Hubbard has a conversation with
Tom Munnecke about Conscious Evolution, the visions of Jonas Salk, Buckminster Fuller, and Abraham Maslow, her new book about Supra Sex, as well as her vision of a better world.
Jon Haidt appears briefly. Filmed at her home in Santa Barbara, Ca. Dec. 10, 2008. Videography by Jeremy Saville, music by Kevin MacLeod.
Dec
19
2008
False Kiva in Canyonlands National Park
I just got some photos that I ordered from Wally Pacholka, an astro photographer who produces the most evocative images of the universe that I’ve ever seen. Always including a terrestrial foreground, he manages to bring out the night sky against an intriguing foreground that connects our earth-bound vision with a love of the universe. This image is a real photo, not a kluged-together photoshop project.
I’ve tried to shoot images like this, but somehow, it just doesn’t look the same. Great work, Wally.
Dec
13
2008
Jonathan Haidt and
Tom Munnecke talk about Positive Psychology, the emotions of elevation of elevation and awe, Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Languages, Group selection, morale psychology, evolutionary systems theory, fitness functions, Martin Seligman’s Akumai meetings, and the possibility of creating cascades of goodness. Barbara Marx Hubbard, who was
interviewed separately, appears in the background. Filmed on the campus of UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 10, 2008. Videography by Jeremy Saville.
Dec
02
2008
Interesting article on ties between genetics and the placebo effect in Science News
Of the 25 patients who received the placebo, 10 reported reduced anxiety by the end of the study. (Numbers for the treatment group were not released because the trial is ongoing.) Brain scans during the second speech showed their amygdalas were also less active. Genetic analysis revealed that eight people who got relief from the placebo had a particular version of a gene that regulates serotonin production called the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 promoter (TPH2)… This is one of the same genetic variants linked to heightened amygdala activity in healthy people. TPH2 is the first genetic marker tied to any placebo response, the team reports.
Getting back to my rants about Positive Genomics, this is yet another assumption that we can negate the negative to get the positive. Figuring out genomics in the purely positive is a different quest.
