I know this isn't quite following the form I want this blog to go in, but I thought I would share the essay I had to write for my final project in English. May as well be read by someone more than my teacher. Sadly I was forced to argue one side of this rather than explore the whole idea but I liked how it turned out anyways. So here it is!

Also, I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this! Comment or tweet me: @Sabin2k

Humans strive for perfection. We are all brought up with that idea that gaining more knowledge is vital to our success. I think it is very important for us to evolve naturally. While there are many benefits to artificially increasing the intelligence in humans, I am going to explore some of the dangers and downfalls of how we might progress if this became plausible on a large scale. A few main ideas I would like to focus on are how this may have affected our natural evolution so far, what it would mean presently both socially and technologically, and the many dangers it could create for us in the future.

Around 200 years ago, in 1812, English mathematician Charles Babbage created what is considered to be the forerunner of the modern digital computer. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that computers started to become actually viable for practical uses in everyday society and today have, without a doubt, totally changed the way our entire world functions. This is a great example of how quickly technology can advance naturally, but with such quick advancement comes many problems. If such advances are not able to be controlled, are abused by the wrong people things can quickly get out of hand. Fraud, content rights violation, illegal pornography, privacy rights are only a fraction of the problems we see with our current state of technology. If we were able to simply create more intelligent people advances like this would be even more rapid and uncontrolled and consequentially more prone to disaster.

Now how might the ability to artificially increase human intelligence affect us socially? One of the first problems is cost. Who will be able to afford it? How do we choose who gets the increase? Does everyone get it?  “The rich get richer, and the poor stay poor” as the saying goes. This could become a problem if only the rich and powerful have the ability to increase their intelligence as greed and corruption is the biggest flaw in our society at present. Artificially increased human intelligence could compound this problem by giving the corrupt more tools to carry out such corruption. We would become even more socially separated then we already are.  Most of the people who would use this increased intelligence would not be in a position to receive it.

So will artificially increasing the intelligence in humans help our evolution in decades to come? Possibly, but once again, how do we control it? It is very unlikely that advancement like this would stay out of government control.  The movie “Repo: The Genetic Opera” explores the idea of a future of leasing organs. If you can’t make your payment, they send someone to reacquire their “product”. Something similar could be argued for increasing human intelligence. Who owns the ideas that are created from an artificially enhanced person? A discovery like this could bring up a huge civil rights issue with governments trying to use citizens as tools for innovation and advancement.  Another thing to note as I mentioned about the past, is how this could affect our future evolution. As a race most nations and powers are allocating more resources to war than anything else. Undoubtedly this increased intelligence would be used to create the next wave of weapons of mass destruction, creating an unprecedented arms race as well as similar races in space and aviation technology. We have had enough trouble handling these things at our natural growth; speeding up the entire process could be devastating.

So while at first you might find many benefits in artificially increasing intelligence in humans, some of the drawbacks and consequences that would arise are not worth the risk. He we made this discovery centuries ago we may not have lasted this long to begin with. The world we might be living in now may be a much more dangerous place than it already is, separating us in another way beyond race, religion, sex, wealth or class. We are already driving towards a very dangerous future for our planet and the power struggles and corruption that could arise from trying to control this technology would expediate this future. Allowing ourselves to evolve naturally is the safest way to ensure these things don’t happen. While striving for perfection is an admirable goal for us as a species, it needs to be done with caution and foresight. This is why artificially increasing human intelligence would not be a wise technology to aim for. 

Native Americans in Video Games

Here’s something I wrote a few years ago. I’m not going to bother editing it or changing anything, but if you are curious about how Native Americans have been portrayed in video games you might find it interesting.

Native Americans have and continue to be very under-represented in video games. Back in the 1980’s, there were almost virtually no indigenous characters in video games. Things were a lot different back then as they were not in many other veins of popular culture. Besides the oh so familiar Mario Bro’s, this wasn’t a huge trend. There was one game in the 80’s, Custer’s Revenge, which features the apparent rape of a Native American girl. It sparked a lot of controversy from woman’s rights groups and Native American activists.

In the 1990’s, we had one of the first games to have a centralized Native American hero character. “Turok: Dinosaur Hunter” was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997.  The game play itself was highly praised and was a huge selling title on the platform, but it also held all the stereotypes we usually give to Native Americans, feathers, mystic powers, ECT. I can’t really decide if that should be considered bad or not, as that IS a very important part of their culture as far as I understand. There was also some other Native American characters in games but they still were not very dominant.
Between 2000 and 2005, the Native American presence in videogames had completely dwindled. But in 2006, we had a new game coming out with a Native American hero.

It was titled “Prey”. Prey is a First Person Shooter revolving around a Cherokee hero. The game begins on a reservation in Oklahoma at a casino (okay, THAT’s a stereotype). The game then jumps into a sci-fi alien story that is very compelling from what I have heard. I haven’t played the game for more than an hour. It seems to, on the most part; fairly represent the Native American culture. A few stereotypes might include the use of a bow and arrow, and a spirit form where you exit your body. From what I remember, these were both used as very defining game play elements and weren’t simply tacked on to support the native theme. Two voice actors, the main lead and another supporting role, are both Plains Cree and it felt like 3D realms did a great job of representing the culture.

Other than what I’ve posted, there have not been many more titles to truly represent Native Americans as a culture. Not sure what the reasons are behind this, but game companies DO know what sells and what doesn’t. I will be keeping an eye out from now on in the games I play to take notice of Native American characters and how they are portrayed.
*Much of the information in this article was derived from THIS ARTICLE.

You can follow me on Twitter: @Sabin2k

An old post with random thoughts.

So I was playing Minecraft last night, and as I was mindlessly breaking apart cobblestone I like to have the Minecraft IRC on my other moniter to talk about the game with other players or just chat about random stuff. Eventually the conversation flowed into evolution as it always seems to do in chat rooms at one time or another. I am not a big fan of discussing philosophy. I've spent too many days wasting my time on stupid theories with "intelligent" stoners. Ones who think they are helping the planet by discussing the existence of intelligent design, or how gravity affects the bong they are smoking out of, without basing any of it on scientific fact. Regardless, I can't help but voice my opinion in chat rooms, or in games when these topics come up, simply because the internet (and how uninhibited people are on it) fascinates me.

One of the users brought up that it's the "fittest" that are eventually going to survive. I made the quick assumption he meant physically and replied that I think the intelligent and innovative are the only hope we have of progressing as a species. He shot back that it could go either way.

I find it a little hard to believe I am wrong. I feel it can't really be argued that technological innovation (or lack thereof) will not have one of the greatest roles in our future. I believe their are a few things holding us back from that innovation. Mainly greed and not sharing the same beliefs/values. But before I get into that, I wanted to mention "luck".

Another user amidst this conversation brought up that "luck" will play a large part in our evolution. My obvious first response was to tell him "luck" is just a human facade. A fancy word for CHANCE. I think it's safe to say that anyone who thinks their are external forces that will change the outcome of a situation with 50/50 odds is a moron. Now obviously their are things that we can try to predict by watching patterns. In weather, the movement of tectonic plates, ect. We also have sensors to detect planets and their movements, and warn us of meteors and other threats, ect. So of course their is a "chance" that some things will happen and some things wont, and we should try to allocate our resources in certain areas to try to work it to our advantage.

But onto what I think it probably the biggest detriment to us progressing as a race. Greed. And I don't want greed to be confused with survivability. Obviously people do what they need to survive, and selfishness sometimes goes with that hand in hand. If you've seen "A Beautiful Mind" or know anything about the Nash Equilibrium, what I'm getting at is to do not what is best for you, but best for you AND everyone else.

Greed is the staple of how our societies are run. It's one of the most notable and pronounced of human traits, seen from children on the playground, to relationships, to our world leaders. Everyone wants to live comfortably, which is fine. Where the problem lies, I believe, is how people think they should achieve that. People are so intent that what they think is "the right way" and everyone else should agree. Greed and difference are what is causing our wars, our conflicts , a lot of our poverty, and prejudices. Obviously money is one of the largest factors in this greed. But it's also control of the people, land, resources, technology, religion. Everyone thinks their way is right, and they do whatever it takes to prove it, and get things the way they want. They will kill, they will steal, they will violate rights. Whatever it takes.

Now I'm not entirely sure what the solution to this is. Of course this isn't going to change overnight. Their is a lot going wrong in the world. A lot of bad people, doing very bad things. And mostly, it's for selfish gain. If all the people that actually control our world realize that the best way to thrive as a race is cooperation, or even if all the citizens who blindly follow them realize this, we will be much better off. Maybe an external threat has a hope. I discuss this a lot with my brother. If something is threatening our world SO gravely, that as a race we MUST work together to survive it a lot of eyes might be opened. And I mean a CLEAR threat. An invading species would be the first I think of. Something telling us our ENTIRE earth and it's survival depend solely on us setting aside our differences for the time being, and struggling together, with everyone having the same goals in mind.

It infuriates me to think what we are doing with our world. If we took a quarter of the resources we put into fighting each other and put it into technological advancement we could be so much further along. Spent it on science, medicine. On space exploration. Biodomes. Self-sustaining environments. Reducing fossil fuels. Renewable resources. We could have been living on the damn moon YEARS ago. We have been fighting each other for so long over money, beliefs, values, traditions, morals. I wonder if we are ever gonna see a time when, at least as a world in general, we are working together.

Anyways, I realize I'm not treading new ground here. People have been talking about this for ages it's just that lately it seems to be in my mind a lot and I needed to get it out. I have lots of other stuff on my mind but it's a little scattered.

I encourage you to tell me how you feel about this, or if you'd like to add/argue anything. I could use some provoking.

Nerds are Everywhere....

I was listening to a podcast the other day and they brought up an interesting subject about nerds. Now when most people think of the term “Nerd” they are most likely going to see one of two things in their heads. First, they see a secluded, intelligent “bookworm”, maybe skinny with glasses that knows the first 500 numbers in Pi. They think of someone who can solve a Rubik’s cube in less than a minute while blindfolded and simultaneously playing Fur Elise with their feet. Whatever. Another person is going to see a tech nerd. Maybe someone more commonly referred to as a geek. This is someone who can put together a computer in an hour, devotes a copious amount of time isolating themselves and playing videogames in their parents’ basement and can list off all of the major space bearing vessels in the entire Star Trek legacy. I fall under the latter of these two. What most people don’t notice is how they are surrounded by them every time they go down to the local watering hole on a Sunday evening.

Wikipedia defines a “Nerd” as “a term that refers to a social perception of a person who avidly pursues intellectual activities, technical or scientific endeavors, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests, rather than engaging in more social or conventional activities.”. Now I don’t entirely agree with that as I, simply put, would couple “Nerd” with “Obsession”.
Think about the last time you went to dinner at a bar and a football game comes on. You might observe a group of people sporting all their favorite jerseys, team colors, face paints and arguing over a player’s touchdown ratio or dissecting the last season of games trying to predict who is going to win. How is this any different than any stereotyped “Nerds” you see talking about the latest game releases or how fast the new GPU is in their new computer? I don’t see it. While gaming and geek culture is becoming more prominent than almost anything (1 out of 8 households in North America has a copy of the new Call of Duty), it is still looked upon as a negative thing. A group of avid hockey fans will make fun of a group of Sony fans all dressed up as their favorite characters waiting in line for a new console. Then they go back to their buddies and pound out fantasy leagues. What about that is so much “cooler” than obsessing over anything else?
Things are starting to change though. Nintendo has pretty much put a game console in every damn household with the massive success of the Wii. You be hard pressed to find any mother in North America that doesn’t know what it is. You could barely find them for more than a year because they were getting snatched up off of shelves so quickly. A game like Black Ops has the largest entertainment launch in history, making Activision over 550 million dollars in the first five days of release. Although I must say there is a large gap between the Halo and Call of Duty players and the average gamer, but that’s another topic.
I feel like the bridge is getting smaller, and the whole “nerd” perception is becoming less of a negative term. But when the hell am I going to be able to watch a Halo or Starcraft 2 competition on my TV every few weeks? The whole scene is blowing up fast, and I can’t wait till the perception is gone and the media starts realizing that not only do we have just as much passion as a sports fanatic, but there are mad amounts of cash to be made.

This has gone on much longer than intended and I still have lots to say but I’ll leave it at that. Leave a comment, whether it is to ask a question or to demean my writing. Both are encouraged.
Expect more content soon, maybe a review?
Or leave a comment and follow me on Twitter @Sabin2k

Rough story intro

I woke up with Greed resting her head on my neck. She gently nudged me and whispered in my ear.

"What do you want most in the world?"

I didn't know how to answer.

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Walking up the cement stairs out of my apartment and feeling the moisture on my skin is always a welcome "Hello". Rain rarely hits the ground in this place. With how hot this city can be I decided for a place almost underground. I should be asking myself how the I woke up from what I can only assume was a dream, or at least something I created. The details are fading every second. All I can clearly remember is her face, smooth skin and comforting green eyes. I strain to remember the house and the people. The conversations I had are all mixed it up. It went all wrong though. Quickly.

I was headed to Mandolins for a coffee, which is something I usually do when I am thinking. Mandolins is a very calming place. A small coffee shop on the corner of my street. I sat down in one of the few chairs. They always have dangerously cute girls working here, who I always feebly attempt to flirt with, usually resulting in disappointment. I walked to the counter as a young girl I knew came out of the back room with some large boxes in her arms. Her face was hidden but I recognized the smell of her perfume. She is small, thin, with shoulder length black hair and her bangs are cut short around her eyes.

“Hey Jess” I said as I reached across the counter and grabbed a cup from beneath the cashier.

 “I get paid to serve you coffee you know, Ethan.” She replied, gently placing the boxes in front of the coffee makers.

“But I like this cup.”

I filled up my cup with coffee and sat down on one of the stools and looked back up at as she started to unload bags of coffee from the boxes up onto to the shelves above the machines. I have known Jess for years. She had been working at Mandolins for a year when I moved into the city. We never spend any time together outside, so I’ve only really seen her wear her green apron and blue jeans. I was very interested in her when we met, but after awhile we just kind of just became outlets for each other when we wanted to talk about something. She was the exception to the rest of the girls that hung around here.

“Any luck finding work?” She asked.

She hit some buttons on the till, opened it and then closed it again without depositing anything. I never pay for my coffee here.

“You know I don’t need to work.” I smiled at her and put some more sugar in my coffee. "My parents have left me more than I could ever need." 

“Don't you live in a small apartment on Lexin?" She teased, pulling up a stool to join me at the counter.

"Yes, but I've been trying to get away form the luxuries that I grew up with." I shot back.

"Well it would be good for you. All you do is roam the city. At least find a hobby or something.” She said with a slight smile.

“Roaming is my hobby. A lot of interesting things happen around here.” I replied, grabbing a copy of the The Estis Daily News.

"Well we are the largest capital in the country" She noted.

I took a look at the front page. In the main column was a picture of a small pile of blue pills. They were the size of a dime and etched in to the middle of each one was a symbol.

“Here we go.” I said, folding out the paper on the counter. Jess went back behind the counter to fill up the coffee machines as I began to read the small caption below the picture.

“Estis City Police have been investigating what appears to be a new pill that is being created in the underground. We have not been able to get any more information from the department but will be making  investigations into the new drug and will report any news as it surfaces."

Note - More needs be added here

I am supposed to be finding some sort of employment, although it is hardly necessary. I have enough money in my account to afford me, along with a few others, a long lifetime of care free living. I always find it unfair that I should be given so much opportunity. All based on chance. Typical story. Born to rich parents. They were killed in an unsolved homicide. When I say unsolved, in no way do I mean that their was ever much of an investigation. I still haven't found out what they did or why they seemed to be victims of such loathing by, well, everyone around them. Despite all that, the result was me growing up with a very indulgent lifestyle. Never really longing for anything, as almost anything I could think of was easily attainable. I can safely say I've experienced more of what is out there than mostly anyone my age. Which is 18, by the way. It isn't too hard to find time for travel when your name is pretty much paying for your honor roll.

I was walking home from downtown late last night, when I heard raised voices from a group of men one street over. I decided to take a detour in their direction. People fascinate me, and I usually take any opportunity I can to understand how we think the way we do. Just as I was approaching the dim street corner they were standing at, I heard a sobbing voice quietly trying to raise her voice back at the men. She sounded scared.

“Hello gentlemen. Having a good evening?” I said calmly to the back of the first man.

There were three of them. It sounded like a large group of them from where I was standing earlier.

“Things are starting to look up” One of them replied.

I could tell he was already grinning before he slowly turned his head around, locking eyes with me. The man on the right had a knife in his hand, but I wasn’t sure at the time. I got cautious. Just as I was about to ask them what they had intended to get from conversing with the girl, the man swung at me. I broke his arm in 3 places and grabbed the knife as the others lunged at me. I stabbed them both. One in the femur and the other in the stomach. Just enough so they couldn’t walk.

“What are you doing out here by yourself?” I asked the girl. 

I said it calmly. I didn’t wait for an answer and tossed the knife to the ground by her feet. I started back towards the street I was on. Still about 10 blocks from home. It was getting late. That's when I heard sirens. I sighed.

Now here I am.

I’m waiting for the officers to fill out paperwork and come get a statement from me. As far as they know I had assaulted the men without cause. The girl somehow managed to avoid running into the police. I don't blame her for avoiding them. She knows very well those men that were harassing her are not the only evils in the world. I know this too. After about 45 minutes I hear them finally coming back. I have been smoking cigarettes this whole time. Not that I am anxious, but these plain interrogation rooms bore me, and they took my damn phone. The cops must have brought up the other mens records. They all got handcuffed and brought to the cells, no doubt with some court orders being written up.

“Your free to leave” The officer said after opening the door. He didn't even step inside.

“Excuse me?”

“Have a good evening, sir” He said and closed the door.

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Her breath was cold on my neck. I was shivering as she placed her frozen fingers on the back of my spine, cutting deep into my skin with her nails. Everything was cold except the steady stream of blood between our chests, running down my waist and collecting on the floor. I always knew it would end this way. I fought so hard to avoid it but always knew it would come to this, just as it had all began. A beautiful girl, confused and betrayed. I know she didn't deserve this. Neither one if them did. They were self-less and caring. Thoughtful and intelligent.

I watched the focus fade from her eyes and saw her tears freezing to her cheek.

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I open my eyes and things begin to focus. I see her. She doesn't belong here and I tell her so. She walks around me without shifting her eyes from mine. Through the green I can see vengeance. She puts her hands on shoulders and leans her head to my ear.

"How can you be so sure?" She whispers.

I reply.

"By the softness of your voice. By the feeling of your rough hands. By the small scar on your neck."

I breathe in.

"And your eyes."

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Writing Prompts - Thoughts on Networking.

 80 Journal Writing Prompts #1 - Found at http://www.tomslatin.com/80-journal-writing-prompts/

All credit to him for the prompts.

Prompt: Name something you lost or gave away that can never be replaced.


I have lost many great things over the years. After all, I am quite careless. This has become so frequent and expected I can't even think of something important I may have lost or given away.  I've never really been attached to my possessions, with some exceptions. The most notable would have to be technology. I lose my mind without my computer. If I don't have my phone on me, the thought of getting it back consumes me. Of course, this isn't surprising these days. I think it is safe to say most people share this "problem" with me. We live in a world of constant connectivity, whether it be to friends, information, news or media in general. We are consumers. We consume. The faster and more efficient the better. I don't find this to be a problem for me. Some people seem to carry this stigma that this desire to take in information is detrimental. Sure, I will agree that most of the people checking their Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts every second aren't doing anything more than simply networking, gossiping or spouting every random thought they have, but how is that new? We can just do it faster. Before we had the Internet you would do the same thing when you went to the bar, called up a friend, wrote a letter or went to a social club. You would listen, talk, yell, voice your opinion, force your opinion, verbally attack, physically attack, defend yourself, laugh, cry, complain, beg, taunt, cheer, meet new friends, despise new enemies, flirt, date and ultimately, consume. You can worry about what you say and how you might affect people, or you can not care at all. Now it's instant and without the need for a filter. You can post every thought you have and share it with the world, right away. As someone interested in social movements, journalism and humanity in general I couldn't ask for a better time to be alive. Information spreads like wildfire. An opinion can spread and grow and turn into a general way of thinking in a matter of days.  A flood in Asia will be known about all over the world in a matter of minutes and I can let all my friends know what I'm eating for dinner in seconds. I could probably turn this into a whole discussion about my opinions on social and political globalization but this was a simple prompt to get me writing again. Job well done. Maybe I'll write more on it later.

Thoughts?