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misc ideas.
author Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date Mon, 10 Mar 2014 12:58:36 -0400
parents 1904bdd70254
children e0f8793b7aaf
comparison
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82:1904bdd70254 87:79d17299ada0
28 28
29 #+begin_quote 29 #+begin_quote
30 There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care about 30 There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care about
31 getting credit. 31 getting credit.
32 #+end_quote 32 #+end_quote
33
34 - suicide parasite :: sometimes, people kill themselves for no good
35 reason. We often explain this with things like "hidden
36 depression" or we say that they had something like chronic jaw or
37 back pain. I think that smells of rationalization. I don't buy
38 it. I propose that in many suicide cases there is a disease that
39 causes the suicidal behaviour. We already know that certain
40 parasites have mind-bending properties in other animals, even
41 mammals like mice. It's not much of a stretch to imagine a
42 parasite that causes suicuides in humans. Some problems:
43 - What does the suicide parasite get out of it? :: This might be
44 answered by the whole thing being a glitch caused by
45 cross-species contamination. Toxoplasma works this way.
46 - What predictions does a disease model make :: suicuide should
47 be more common amone people who share a contaion
48 vector. There should be suicuides that don't make any
49 sense : people who weren't really depressed, who had no
50 reason to kill themselves. People who have killed themselves
51 should have a higher incidence of some unknown parasite in
52 their brains.
53
54 - domestic insects :: People should eat more bugs, but why not do some
55 major domestication research to make very appealing bugs?
56
57 - birth-clones :: What if each person was intentionally split at birth
58 into a normal embryo and a few "backup" cells which
59 is then frozen. The backup cells are created just
60 the same way as natural identical twins. The backups
61 can be used to regenerate organs. ect. Also, it
62 would be a good sci fi concept, because you could
63 have a culture where people reward people who were
64 especially awesome are "reborn" from their
65 backups. Imagine having a young bach every
66 generation, etc.
67
68 - cortex-search :: use the repertoire of actions learned to limit the
69 search space of possible actions.
70
71 - no-float-ice :: cup that has cross beams at the bottom where ice
72 forms. Then when you drink liquid from the glass,
73 the ice stays at the bottom and doesn't hit your
74 lips. For bars and fancy things.
33 75
34 - bitcoins for immigrants :: A common case with Mexican immigrants 76 - bitcoins for immigrants :: A common case with Mexican immigrants
35 (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned 77 (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned
36 in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this 78 in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this
37 through things like Money Gram or Western Union, and they get 79 through things like Money Gram or Western Union, and they get
672 difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain 714 difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain
673 other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from 715 other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from
674 knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to 716 knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to
675 guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of 717 guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of
676 knowledge. /One./ 718 knowledge. /One./
677 719 - * Invalid capture template
678 720
679 ** From Jacob's idea list 721 ** From Jacob's idea list
680 722
681 - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed 723 - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed
682 noise cancellation alg in your headphones (would this 724 noise cancellation alg in your headphones (would this