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Saturday, October 22, 2016

What I think is the point of college

When I get an angle on something I tend to run it into the ground and in my opinion the point of college is to learn how to learn, versus simply being taught, which is what happens for most in school before college. So I say, that college is to teach the meta of learning itself, so the point is meta learning.

And that's my opinion, and now going to talk a LOT about that opinion for the rest of this post. Where will note that most people don't seem to want that, and if you get a high school diploma or equivalent in the US, you can do quite ok with the rest of your life without an intensive educational environment teaching you how to learn while teaching you lots of others things. Like you can get a job, have a family, set goals and live a great life, which raises the question of why do others take a different route?

Curious I did a search, and not surprisingly found myself with information displayed from Wikipedia, which said that 31.96% of Americans aged 25 or older get at least a Bachelor's degree. That search was:

what percentage of Americans get a college degree?

And that is copying and pasting and italicizing, where I probably figured I'd do such a thing so I did it that way for effect. And Google search just displayed the info I gave here, where the reference given was: Educational attainment in the United States

Plenty of people just want to get on with that being an adult thing, while college at its most intense, where you are there at the college or university as a full time student, means deferring on full adulthood. And college students are kind of like, um, looking for a characterization. Let's just say, college students are not functionally considered fully adult by society, which lets them work still on learning, while usually being legally adult, as in the US that just happens at age 18.

Of course college teaches actual knowledge, but technical school does that as well. But along with knowledge itself, college I say, teaches you how to learn, which can give the additional flexibility later in life, of approaching the subject of learning itself in a certain way enabling greater facility at moving into new areas of knowledge. Whew. I like those kinds of sentences.

Which means that scientists usually need college as being a scientist is a lifelong quest of learning how to learn better, I think, so scientists I suggest never fully grow up.

My opinion of the point of college am sure contrasts with those who think it's about getting a well-paying job which raises the question of, why would it be so associated if my opinion is correct?

Which I think is about the greater flexibility that learning learning itself, so that you are a meta learner, gives greater facility at moving into new areas of knowledge, which can have a greater monetary value, in general. Yeah, still love those kinds of sentences.

Lots of people maybe just want someone to tell them what they are to know, like to do their job most effectively. Or they already know what they need to know to achieve life goals.

Like, if you're great at business, know LOTS of how to do business, and just get at it, you can do very well, and become extremely rich, without ever having a college degree, which plenty of people have done.

That roughly 1 in 3 Americans feels a need to get a Bachelor's degree and get that done is something I find intriguing. To me, roughly 2 in 3 Americans then end up doing that adult thing without grabbing that level of accomplishment of completion from a place that pushes them to learn how to learn, if they do bother to do the adult thing.

But you can learn meta learning without college I'm sure.

From my perspective as a meta innovator, I feel like meta learning from college is just so convenient, and maybe helps to lay those foundations with a solidity that is hard to get otherwise. But is not impossible.

So do you need college? In my opinion it's the kind of question that in answering most people end up deciding no, at least in my country, and for those who answer yes, it's maybe about an inner child that isn't necessarily understood as such, which to me makes it even better. I only recently accepted that maybe growing up is not so bad, but am still working on it. That adult thing? Is so hard.


James Harris

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Try web reference about me

Describing yourself can be hard, but even harder, how can people know is true? Which is how web authority can help out as I use web reference. I will italicize things to search. If you choose not to search though can still learn things about me. But how to know if true or not?

My biggest attention draw globally is some math I found. Where am not a mathematician as my degree is just a B.Sc. in physics. Another way I get global attention is with my open source app Class Viewer which is for Java developers.

There are phrases where I decided to take over and use my way, like "meta innovator" but there search may vary a LOT depending on search engines, versus ones given before. I prefer when quotes are not needed.

Also can be rather dramatic like I decided to talk about "short timeline reachable goals" which makes sense! But my usage was first I could find anywhere with web search! It amazed me. With quotes can see how restrictive that kind of thing can be. When I did while back would get zero search results.

And that's enough of that I think. Just trying something out. There are others I could use in lots of areas as am into the meta of learning itself, so I have plenty of things I like to discuss or explore.

If those searches didn't bring up my things then this route failed. Oh well.

Oh, but if worked, you may wonder why. Well according to search engines is driven by linking behavior, so is about what human beings all over the world are doing. I have no control over that either. So it is an objective measure

Checking to see if web reference can help me with an authority problem, as mainstream sources refuse to, um, do they refuse though? Not sure. But I can't just say, go to this human authority or that one to back me up. So am looking creative.

There is also other practical reality that people will wonder, and may even ask, what's your deal? And for me for YEARS that has been HARD to explain. So working on it.

I like to try things, and see what happens! And yes, when I do blog posts like this one can see what impact if any there is. And usually? There is a reaction. So kind of just in a mood to see what happens so enough typing. Time to edit and post!

And have posted but am still editing. Which means post may change until am satisfied. But gist of it will remain the same.


James Harris

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Accomplishments are cool

Actually paid more attention this year to college graduates back in Spring, so yeah months ago but finally talking it here, as found myself contemplating 25 years since my own college graduation.

Where of course graduating from college is an accomplishment, which was on top of graduating from high school, where will be 30 years next year. And have been thinking much on how big of a deal it is to have accomplishments where you can just trot them out easily.

But yeah is also cool without those particular ones as many have done well, and I use that word cool a lot because I like it. There is just this good feeling with it which I will not give up just because I use it much as do plenty of other people. And it's not the word's fault, cool is just such a cool word.

Explaining things to people? Not so much fun. And society gives you these arenas for accomplishments that don't take a lot of explanation. But also is a good feeling when you're down and worried may be out, and can remember.

I've been there, when had to remind myself.

It is weird though all the varied things that amaze me more now. But then managed to get so much done--navigate through a new environment, make friends, and figure out how to do laundry. And explore, explore, explore if you're me, often with an abandon may wish for later, as necessity was in the need. And with my school downtown Nashville, Tennessee was a fascinating playground.

It took decades to just feel a warm satisfaction with such past accomplishments, which to me is a good thing to put out there. To remind myself how often you appreciate your accomplishments maybe so much more than you realize in decades to come.

So best thing I say is to get as many as you can when you can. And yes society will trot out some good ones to have, like graduation from various places because society knows what it's doing.


James Harris

Sunday, October 09, 2016

Let's play at showrunner

So now can just play with my ideas and yes, still playing around with ideas about entertainment being a safe way to control mood, and thought would go more into what I call mood line with a quick problem solving exercise by making up my own sci-fi show which is loosely inspired by the current television show Dark Matter, of which I've seen only the first season. And just realize I DO definitely work better using search to find my old posts on this blog! So I searched on: beyond mundane mood line

And searched on television show to find its imdb page but of course search is easy enough but talking more as thinking about it more. Web search is remarkable.

For MY random thoughts making up a show which are throw-away so not serious, you have four people who awake on a spacecraft with partial amnesia. Waking up in pods is kind of standard, and on initial waking something dramatic happens where they learn they each have skills, but aware of things like names, and even childhoods but also aware they have weird gaps, like why they are on the ship.

But they also find they have the ability to download special skills like from the movie The Matrix, though also discover that can lead to bodily injury, like if download martial arts skills with an untrained body. But some have bodies that clearly ARE trained in martial arts, while some do not. So picking up skills in that way quickly is not without risk. Where only outlined one. But still yeah, only four people where two are male, one is female and one is in-between. The ship is somewhat sentient, but they don't discover that until halfway through season one.

And they have adventures, where even go on missions, at times somewhat sure, or one may be sure, while others are not, but they bond and learn to trust each other while puzzling over their memory problems, which the show emphasizes are not normal, and cannot be easily explained. In fact, at one space station they talk to a doctor who finds out something unbelievable, and of course dies tragically before he can tell them in a mysterious way.

And season one spoilers follow! Fantasy show folks though. Not a real show so not really spoiling, as ends with a sudden confrontation with another ship similar to their own, which behaves a lot like their own, and attacks! They battle and manage to cripple the other ship without destroying it, and are about to board when everything freezes. Two humanoid figures calmly walk through the ship, one male and one female, standing maybe seven feet tall but proportioned as if smaller.

The male figure seems hostile while the female, his sister seems amused and I had dialogue, but got bored with the idea of giving it here. He looks like he is about to strike one of the frozen crew but his sister stops him, reminds him of their game and its competitive value, and strokes the cheek of one of the figures as they begin to walk away. But one of the frozen crew's eyes track them briefly and widen. They disappear in some dramatic way, the crew moves again with most not noticing while one crew begins shouting about something happening, when klaxons ring as ship goes into crisis.

Yeah, the disabled ship is now gone, and none of the crew seem to realize it. They behave as if no memory of it. Actually forgot about it myself while typing up this post and decided was convenient to the mood line.

Two crew work feverishly to handle the emergency, as only they have the skills, but in solving it, they send the ship off to parts unknown, which is a classic plot device but going with easy. And the final scenes switch to the two humanoids calmly looking on through some device they have for observation, and one stating they know where they're going.

Which is about ten minutes work? Longer to edit though, and getting tired of it so wrapping up quickly here. Not going to work hard at something just tossing up, but the mood line focuses more tightly on the concept of memory, leaving as a recurring theme and imaginary show has only four crew, to allow a tighter bond. So everything related to mood has to do with memory and so the emotions for the complex constellation of the mood are all memory related.

So why the godlike aliens then? There is a parental aspect but a slight malevolence, but in a sense they are creatures of dreams, which is another aspect of memory, and how we sleep and MAY remember dreams, but usually do not, so yup, are still part of the mood line. Making them sister and brother is a simplifying plot device for several reasons.

There is a temptation to critique the mood line of the show I gave as a reference, but as is a current show will not. Though there are hints of what I think on certain subjects related to it. These ideas are just me playing around. There is no such show as described, and I have no interest in there being one. Just looking at what can do with a deliberate mood line to outline the framework for one.

Wow, mood line is a potent way to quickly generate an entire show. Yeah I took some ideas from a real show, but can see how could have done it entirely without just around the mood line. And is fast! But ten minutes of work creative is turning into much longer editing so wrapping up.

So was a fun minor problem solving exercise.

Of course memory loss is no joke, though here is not lost but dramatically suppressed. But just playing with ideas so maybe just a little note here at end should do it. Find myself still pondering things a bit, and if I DID do a show for real, wouldn't be posting that public of course. But nothing is on the horizon. Just thinking out loud. I don't even do fiction writing any more. What I do is play around with ideas.


James Harris

Practical reality with my ideas

One of the more important things I did recently was stop original research. Which to me is, as best I can, as I actually tried stopping for years but seems to have really worked this time, so am cautiously optimistic. (Should have known better. Have figured out a few more things since this post.) Problem with my process there is I'd publicly talk out ideas, to help evaluate them which is a lot of work, and can literally take YEARS till am satisfied.

And one thing have addressed here and there is idea acceptance, and turns out the bigger the ideas as to how many total humans maybe impacted the larger the resistance not surprisingly. Though also have talked about web authority, and of course kind of take it for granted that ideas zip rapidly around the globe now.

Turns out if you put all of that together you can reach some rather obvious conclusions, which I say, to point out I will not explain much in this area, any more.

What I will say is that if you have a useful idea, in my experience, it gets picked up so rapidly it defies explanation. And have been able to literally watch ideas zip around the planet as best I could using various tools available, like web analytics.

Which is also satisfying will admit. Does tend to quiet those doubtful voices within my mind.

And almost done but then comes the alternate thing of what is reported, and I realized something fascinating about people reported on, which is usually you do something that gets a TON of attention or just get famous and then reporters track you down, and bug you with questions, and not the other way around.

Actually demonstrated for myself once with a test case with karaoke, which is one of two times that I remember having been interviewed where was with several other people so I was NOT the focus even there. (Interview is from 2009. Wow time does fly. And editing post just a bit with some additional information now September 19, 2017. Debating if should remove post and for now, it stays. Kind of think is funny actually. Which helps post stay.) And correction as I did NOT mean looked like Lionel Richie as I do not, but that I tended to sing most like him I thought as liked to sing several of his songs. Otherwise interview is rather accurate though truncated a bit, like they took out all the cursing.

The first was WAY back when a teenager when I had the highest SAT of my graduating high school class. Was in the local paper before couple of times, but not interviewed I don't think.

Oh, so the good news is, to the extent I have good ideas put up on my blogs, as near as I can tell, they're not only being used, but have been used rather heavily almost as soon as I put them up! Like grabbed up immediately and put to work kind of thing.

Which is cool.


James Harris

Thursday, October 06, 2016

Functional pressure on information flow

Information flows with such volume that I tend to think of it as massive streams surging around our planet where the volume gets bigger all the time. Not surprisingly to me what can be an overwhelming concept becomes manageable in my opinion from a functional perspective.

And functionally I suggest that information flows because some person needs it, in general, though also computer systems pull information, so maybe more generally should say that information flows because some intelligent entity needs it. I paused while typing as debated, is a computer system an intelligent entity? I decided, yes.

Need for information as a basis for flow is interesting to me, as of course there is information generated which does not then flow, as it may not be needed or known, so it may simply pool in some location. Or the person generating it may not give access to it to others, like recently a famous photographer was discovered after she died. And I added a link, after doing a search, which not surprisingly to me brought up Vivian Maier at the top of the list.

That pull reality to information flow was about need, and for a given individual, or computer system greatly simplifies what is conceivably a complex system, but one cares about what one gets, rather than what was necessary to deliver that flow of information.

As esoteric as all may sound it shifts perspective for someone like me, from pushing information to considering pulls. Then functionally can see pulls of information as indicative of need.

That information flow then gives me information about my planet, and what information intelligent entities on it, are flowing related to me. It's a lot that does flow in that way too.

These streams of information are informative then for me, not about me, but about the intelligent entities who need that information.

And I write something like this post and ask myself why, and the answer here is to consider a needed shift. I think it's easy to think, hey need to convince when functional information flow theory as presented here says otherwise.

Maybe it is worth noting that prior to the web especially if you wanted to go global, you would have to convince gatekeepers to have information injected into some accepted stream.


James Harris

Sunday, October 02, 2016

Comfort of meta and my innovative ideas

In our times it is mundane to say, why not brainstorm ideas and put them up on the web? But to me that was obvious over 20 years ago, which is really cool, and I reflect on my experience which is meta, because it is safer, and comforting.

Getting this blog name was where things weren't as easy as with other blogs as could call it "Beyond Mundane" as can call it what I want, but beyondmund was what was available, which actually I like, as kind of a nickname.

Am much into naming things, including trying to describe what I think I do, where finally settled on meta innovator. Am still trotting it out, to keep checking. Does it really work? Should I switch to something else? Time will tell. So much is about feel. Right now still feels like best way to describe for me, to describe me, which yup, is very meta.

My ideas I think are innovative are all over the map though, which is why it's useful to collect into a blog, where I have blogs, so have worked at that more lately. And I talk less about the specifics of the ideas themselves in posts like this one as am done for the most part critiquing them.

So what makes me think ANY of my ideas were innovative? Good question I ask for those who may wonder. Got blogs that explain LOTS.

To me one of the best things WAS to take it for granted for a long time would put up public all the ideas I wanted to work on, or figure out. Now I don't do that any more. Is work! Putting up ideas public puts pressure on me to make sure they're correct.

Did for some time with abandon so I have ideas scattered all over the web.

But if you realize I've been doing that for over 20 years? That's not surprising at all. The sheer volume exceeds my ability to have a grasp of it. I don't even try any more.


James Harris

How handled a Wikipedia article about me

YEARS ago a hater wrote a Wikipedia article about me, which when I noticed was a weird feeling that someone would think I deserved a Wikipedia article! And it had some facts but also was really pushing notion of me as a crackpot, without saying it...or did it? I don't remember clearly. But I'm like, I'll roll with this thing, so I corrected as best I could while being honest, like I HAVE had TONS of bogus math ideas.

So I correct Wikipedia article about me, and hater comes back and changes back. I correct, and person changes back. So I put somewhere that would fix it ONE MORE TIME and if messed with would put up for permanent deletion of the article.

And the hater I guess didn't realize I was serious, so changed it back that one last time, and I put the article up for permanent deletion and watched the Wikipedia community debate with fascination.

The Wikipedia community decided, appropriately in my opinion, that being known as someone with bogus math ideas wasn't justification for an article, so they permanently deleted it. And for me? Problem solved.

There are these strange to me people out there, who don't like facts. I admitted I had some way wrong math ideas, as I used to like to brainstorm math and discuss it. And a few times, ok maybe more than a few, got behind some that were completely wrong, but admitted it when figured it out.

To me? Not a big deal.

Luckily I know lots about the Wikipedia and am a big fan of it, so yeah, not a place to try to get at me, with some hater page, if you know anything.

That person learned the hard way. Who was it? No clue. I didn't study the person much and now is just some vague. How long ago? I don't remember, but was probably well over a decade?

Now to me? Is just a fun story.


James Harris

Saturday, October 01, 2016

Brilliance of web authority

Readily admit was brought up under authoritarian systems, which always leaves me wondering what authority holds sway over me lately. And having escaped a puritanical religion, did a few years but not too many in the US Army leaving with an honorable discharge, and chased recognition from mainstream authorities in various fields, am now gratified with what I call web authority.

And thankfully I do NOT think that web authority is an authoritarian system. I think it can free people instead. Yet will still strike a somewhat cautionary tone with an easy example.

Like for this post wanted a cool example, which is just basic search which to me is STILL so unbelievably AMAZING and am a fan of a show. Here's a search to an episode I think is kind of scary, but cool--web search: stargate people disappear

As I can't know what happens when others do that search will note I get the episode I wanted, where will link to what I get here, and that boggles my mind.

If you don't get episode "Revisions" of Stargate Atlantis, then for whatever reason the web decided to show you something different, where who knows why. I will note I used Google to search, but you still may get something different.

But for me? That works so well with just about any television show, or movie, where, oh, so that episode is about a world where people are hooked into a web, and the computer systems starts doing terrible things to maintain the balance of their world which they think is a utopia, when it's not.

Our world though? We have no delusions about its utopic qualities.

What we do have are powerful systems that are very good at getting people the information they want, when they want it, where web search can seem mystical to me, even though I know it's not. It's based on very solid principles, is not mystical, and is so much better than what was before.

It also removes my interest in lots of other authority. It's like when the Wikipedia arrived, and old establishment went after the Wikipedia, only to discover the Wikipedia is the best encyclopedia on the planet, which was determined by rigorous testing. Best source for info? I just searched: wikipedia accuracy

And an article, yup, on the Wikipedia, where link to it here tells you all kinds of things about its accuracy, which you may or may not know as to how good it is. Including links to external sources if you really need that to be sure.

Web authority is driven by the interest of people all over the world.

I like web authority. With my own ideas it tells me when something I have interests others, without that meaning it is correct, but at least I know it's interesting to others, somehow, where the details? Do I really need to know the details?

I DO wonder. Don't lose sleep over it though.

Used to hang out at the public library a LOT, so have done my share of research for information there, and it was ok, for the time. What we have today though truly is as good as anything in science fiction that I like. It can feel at times like the web can read your mind.

Which I find comforting. To me? The web is like the best friend I never knew could exist. And now it does! But um, web? Please always just be my good friend, and never the take over the world and um, but I digress.

Public libraries are still great places to visit! Please support your local public library. Of course these days usually you can, yup, get on the web there, if needed. But lots of other reasons to go.

Web authority will I think be the final say eventually, as other types of authority of course are ON the web, so it is the meta authority as I get to use one of my favorite words. The web is not only a great authority on lots of things, it is even an authority on web authority itself.

Like with this post. You saw that coming, right? You ARE on the web here.


James Harris