# HG changeset patch # User Robert McIntyre # Date 1394470908 14400 # Node ID 09d093d9b61f83defc06961e8289727c933ec192 # Parent e0f8793b7aaf94b8b8821474215a10c0f6f14797# Parent 8bd81d22ae93428786640854cc629264b19195c9 merge ideas together. diff -r 8bd81d22ae93 -r 09d093d9b61f org/ideas.org --- a/org/ideas.org Thu Jan 23 11:18:36 2014 -0500 +++ b/org/ideas.org Mon Mar 10 13:01:48 2014 -0400 @@ -33,13 +33,49 @@ getting credit. #+end_quote -- Brain silo :: dyl +<<<<<<< local +- suicide parasite :: sometimes, people kill themselves for no good + reason. We often explain this with things like "hidden + depression" or we say that they had something like chronic jaw or + back pain. I think that smells of rationalization. I don't buy + it. I propose that in many suicide cases there is a disease that + causes the suicidal behavior. We already know that certain + parasites have mind-bending properties in other animals, even + mammals like mice. It's not much of a stretch to imagine a + parasite that causes suicides in humans. Some problems: + - What does the suicide parasite get out of it? :: This might be + answered by the whole thing being a glitch caused by + cross-species contamination. Toxoplasma works this way. + - What predictions does a disease model make :: suicide should + be more common among people who share a contagion + vector. There should be suicides that don't make any + sense : people who weren't really depressed, who had no + reason to kill themselves. People who have killed themselves + should have a higher incidence of some unknown parasite in + their brains. +- domestic insects :: People should eat more bugs because they're much + more efficient, so why not do some major domestication research + to make very appealing bugs? + +- birth-clones :: What if each person was intentionally split at birth + into a normal embryo and a few "backup" cells which + is then frozen. The backup cells are created just + the same way as natural identical twins. The backups + can be used to regenerate organs. etc. Also, it + would be a good sci fi concept, because you could + have a culture where people reward people who were + especially awesome are "reborn" from their + backups. Imagine having a young Bach every + generation, etc. - pronuncation guide :: a simple webpage where you type in a word and it returns a simpe, English sentence describing exactly how to pronounce the word. For people who don't want to learn IPA. +- cortex-search :: use the repertoire of actions learned to limit the + search space of possible actions. + - learning to teleport :: scifi idea, this is a story about a person who is struggling with his/her society's ideas about teleportation. It's considered a fundamental part of being a @@ -51,6 +87,11 @@ off a diving board into a pool (which I simply /could not do/ for a long time), etc. +- no-float-ice :: cup that has cross beams at the bottom where ice + forms. Then when you drink liquid from the glass, + the ice stays at the bottom and doesn't hit your + lips. For bars and fancy things. + - bitcoins for immigrants :: A common case with Mexican immigrants (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this @@ -699,7 +740,6 @@ guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of knowledge. /One./ - ** From Jacob's idea list - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed