Oh my god, it’s still breathing!

Blog of me. I’m Alexander Jones.

06 June 2014

Consciousness, Abortion, Swarms and the Mind

I consider myself a man of reason and skepticism, fully invested in the scientific method. Such an inclination makes it quite difficult to justify even entertaining the kind of questions I am purporting to answer here, not least because my anti-theistic streak might make me somewhat hypocritical to even suggest that I have anything close to an untestable belief system. Regardless, we all ponder the questions no one can answer. Even the most hard-line rationalists such as myself.

What triggered these thoughts most recently was an article discussing the time at which an unborn child becomes a person, in the eyes of Arizona legislation. The suggestion was that according to the law, a child has rights at ovulation, even weeks before it has been conceived, which is laughably preposterous by conventional standards.

But still, it prompted me to consider (as I have done on numerous occasions before) what it is that makes us, the postnatal homo sapien, so apparently special. Yes, we have opposable thumbs, we walk upright, we have unusually large brains capable of complex thought processes, but what is it that makes us feel so entitled, as developed members of a species, to act on either other species or the unborn members of our own with such little regard for their own wellbeing? What makes it OK to abort a foetus or slaughter a delicious cow, but not to stab someone and take their money, or abduct and molest a young child to satisfy your own decadent desires?

When considering unanswerable questions, it does no harm to use a scientific foundation. In fact I would argue its case as a requirement, otherwise it becomes a futile exercise in quasi-intellectual masturbation, of little inherent value outside fantasy fiction (but let's leave religion out of this, for now). Scientific knowledge and logical reasoning is the best system of constraints within which to work, if we are to approach anything resembling a truth.

Biologically speaking, what separates us as humankind from the rest of life as we understand it is not a great wall or crevasse, but merely a fuzzy border embedded in the highly multidimensional, vast continuum of genome-space. The genome is sufficiently expressive to encode even the tiniest variations in life-building processes, most of which would be undetectable to the naked eye. Such variations may have compounding effects due to selection pressures, and at some point a new species may be considered to have emerged—to have diverged—when it is no longer possible for it to successfully interbreed with its cousins.

So we as humans may be considered "different", by the above standards at least, from modern primates such as the chimpanzee. However, inbreeding issues notwithstanding, had selection pressures been sufficient enough to effect divergence, yet relaxed enough to keep all intermediate species alive somewhere on Earth, enough of an overlap would exist such that it would be possible for humans to successfully procreate, albeit in a large number of intermediate steps, back up the "evolutionary tree" to the point of a common ancestor, and back down to the chimpanzee. I'd imagine that the fruits of such labour—namely a continuum of human descendents who, at one extreme, are technically no longer a human, but are indistinguishable from chimpanzees—would be extremely challenging to most legislation!

But need we take such a long-winded path, or is there a more direct possibility? The "miracle of birth" is no longer much of a miracle. We now understand the biological processes that occur during conception well enough to avoid invoking the supernatural—for all except one thing: the creation of a consciousness.

Do we have any reason to believe the creation of a consciousness is limited to times when a loving couple copulate naturally? If so, we have to consider those born of e.g. rape or otherwise unloving sexual acts such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF, "test tube babies") to be somehow less human. But if not, we have to abandon the requirement of some magical process involving love, and conclude by accepting that artificial creation of life is equivalent to the natural phenomenon. Even if one were to (absurdly) attempt to argue the case for non-equivalence, what would they make of a child of a pairing of a natural born human and a rape child? Is the "consciousness allele" (to abuse the term allele) recessive or dominant in such circumstances? And is it manifest in any observable way such that it could be subjected to selection pressures either encouraging or discouraging its propagation? These questions are moral minefields, but for the sake of rigour I must acknowledge their existence.

So let's suppose that artificial creation of humans is sufficient to create a consciousness. In such a case, what if we perturb the genome in some way? What if we combine it in a fashion similar to that which occurs during sex? What if we mutate it so much that it is no longer possible to reasonably call it a "human" genome? And supposing it survives beyond a few agonising minutes, what do we make of the life we have created? Is it a conscious being?

Due to the approximately continuous, infinitesimal nature of such genetic perturbations, if one was to argue the case for a lack of consciousness in arbitrarily created life, they would have to propose a threshold of human-likeness (or otherwise) under which consciousness was no longer possible. I believe this possibility to be highly unlikely—if the only way we could fall short of such a threshold is by mutating the genome, then consciousness would have to be part of a poorly understood part of the genome, or otherwise encoded within it in some undetectable way. The poorly understood parts are shrinking as we discover more about the genome, and I may simply assert that the Universe is not conspiring against us to invoke steganography or similar deception techniques on the human genome. Therefore my conclusion is that artificial life created from an arbitrary genome does qualify as conscious.

If we are satisfied that both naturally born humans and artifically born, arbitrary lifeforms are conscious, then I make a small jump to generalise and assert that all life is conscious, to some extent.

People who accept the consciousness of other lifeforms might associate greater levels of consciousness with larger, more complex beings. We may use emotional language and say that humans have "feelings", whereas ants have none (or at least very little). Really, we're talking about the complexity of the brain and its capacity to process high level emotions such as love and empathy. Ant brains and nervous systems consist of around a quarter of a million neurons, a minuscule amount compared to the human's 85 billion. That's a ratio of 340,000:1. While this is not a fair representation of relative intelligence (the brain is not simply a homogeneous, single-purpose mass of neurons) it does establish some sense of scale. So if ant life and human life is considered similarly capable of consciousness, a fertilised embryo should be granted the same low consciousness level as an ant. How many ants, or indeed other insects did you step on this week? Did you even notice?

What makes ants an interesting vehicle for this argument is their tendency to swarm. While each individual ant in a colony is not capable of much, the colony as a whole is a highly intelligent entity, capable of devouring beasts and plant life orders of magnitude greater in size. (The BBC ran a two part nature series entitled Swarm documenting the incredible behaviours of a range of wild, swarming species. I strongly encourage people to watch it, if only for the breathtaking high-definition footage!)

It is fascinating to contemplate the power of combining such beautifully simple components into larger machines. We have ants comprising very little individual intelligence, in some cases completely blind and relying on pheromone trails alone (occasionally to their ultimate demise), banding together by the thousands or millions to not only survive but prosper. We have the humble 20 nanometre transistor, capable of switching a current on and off, etched a billion at a time onto a silicon wafer to produce a microprocessor that will compute billions of calculations each second. We have the human neuron, a simple nerve cell, connected to billions of others via synapses in the nervous system, allowing its host to contemplate and type out this essay.

All of these systems share the trait of being simple, massively connected entities. It's the co-operation of a large number of simple pieces that creates an otherwise impossible machine. I argue that it is this co-operative nature of a network of connected, highly interacting matter that quantifies consciousness in a being.

At this point, you may be gagging at the suggestion of a microprocessor—a machine—possessing a consciousness. Let's look at some more scientific facts.

The nodes in neural networks, namely the synapses, communicate through electrical and chemical signals for which we have proven physical theories. It is these same theories that allow us to create electrical components such as transistors, and by extension microprocessors. Fundamental physics—the most basic mechanisms of the universe we currently aim to understand—is all about interactions of the different physical "fields": the electromagnetic force, the strong and weak nuclear force, the gravitational force, etc. When you downcast the issue of co-operating networks to this level, there isn't a whole lot separating the interactions of neurons in the brain from the interactions of ants in a colony, or from those of transistors in a working microprocessor. What clearly does differ, however, is the nature of information stored in each of these three examples, which is what ultimately determines the behaviour of the being.

All of these networks exhibit programmed behaviour in response to external stimuli. A human is programmed to tend to a crying baby, an ant colony to seek out food, a microprocessor to calculate curiously eyebrowed avian trajectories. These behaviours are not inherent to the design of the networks, but are the result of evolution in the natural case, and intentional human design in the computer case. Other programmed behaviours in the human brain include the capacity to love, to feel anger, compassion and empathy, to respond to pain and to another's display of pain, etc. Many would like to think that these behaviours are aspects of the consciousness, but in truth we know that this can simply not be the case—to reiterate, they are evolved behaviours that would still exist even in the absence of consciousness.

So, we have reduced the definition of a consciousness down to something more fundamental, but far from trivial. It is the I in me and the you in you. Perhaps we are connected as one, but without the neural connectivity to realise it, we could never "know" that feeling on any human level—we don't just wake up with each others' memories. I like to think of my own consciousness as being the Universe's ability to experience itself through the lens of my mind.

In conclusion, I propose that all matter is capable of consciousness: the brain in your head, the ants in your garden, the unborn foetus in an expectant mother, the chair you are sitting on, the earth beneath your home and the stars in the sky. The degree of consciousness is a function of network expressiveness and bandwidth, and the boundaries of a network are perhaps not as simple as we may think.

Tumbleweed

Wow. It's been two-and-a-half years since I last blogged. It's not that I don't have any interesting (toot toot!) thoughts anymore, it's just that Facebook swallows them up amongst all the asinine nonsense I keep myself amused with. That's a shame.

01 December 2011

How to remove a password from a USB enhanced removable storage device in Windows 7

This took /way/ too long to work this out... so posting here in the hopes it will help someone else.

So basically my friend has Windows 7 Ultimate and had 'set a password' on her cheapo USB disk. She then found out she couldn't use the disk on anyone else's computer. She knew the password, she just wanted it removing so the disk would work on other computers again. The disk had no files on it.

Turns out this password protection is IEEE 1667, and the only real world implementation of this appears to be in Windows 7. It's implemented at the hardware level, so if you try to use the disk on any other OS you get zilch. Nada. NOPE.avi

What we finally figured out is that if you type your password incorrectly upon plugging your disk in, you get an option to 'reset' the device. This wipes it clean and removes the password protection, and makes it work on other systems again. Obviously, note the 'wipes it clean' bit there -- you should back up the contents of the disk before resetting.

God bless Microsoft usability...

19 August 2010

All Grown Up

It's been a while since I blogged about anything, so I thought I'd fill the void with some personal updates.

I've finished my degree at Imperial College London. Those of you who are close to me will know that the few months leading up to my final exams were some very difficult times for me, least because of the pressure to do well in exams. Turns out I made it through OK, but I owe a lot to the very good friends who lent me their support. You know who you are, and I love you all. Anyway, my mum is now in possession of a certificate saying that I'm an absolutely first class master at physics, or something. Graduation is in October and she can't wait. Super.

After my massive snowboarding credit card binge this year (two holidays in the Alps and countless trips to the Milton Keynes Sno!Zone adds up to a lot), I didn't waste any time after exams finding a source of income. Since the beginning of June I'm very proud to say I've been working for one of the major players in the world of CG visual effects - Soho-based Double Negative.

DNeg have worked on many major titles of recent times including my own personal favourites Inception, Cloverfield, The Dark Knight, The Bourne Ultimatum and Hot Fuzz. I work as a Research & Development Programmer, and hack on the software that we use to make sweet shiz like this happen. I learn so much every single day and it's awesome to be given the opportunity to solve such unique and interesting problems. Still getting used to the whole "waking up in the morning" thing, though - in fact, I'm lucky to be there before eleven. It's a good job they are flexible on working hours else I would have been P45'd a long time ago. (For our US friends, that's a "pink slip", not some kind of submachine gun.)

I think, without question, the best thing about working for DNeg is that I get to sit on this beast. I have not fussed about a chair so much in my life and I doubt I ever will again. You could probably buy a house in Darlo for the price of one of these, but believe me when I say it is worth every last penny. I actually get a bit of a semi just thinking about it. If there's one office chair you save up for all your life, make this it.

Music is still on a break. I banned myself from producing till my exams were over and then when I've tried to get back into it I'm still not making anything good, so it's time to shake it up a bit. I'm going to get hold of a pair of BeyerDynamic DT 880s (probably), Ableton Live, a few new synths (Sylenth, V-Station, Massive?) and some sample packs (probably get VEC3 because my drums feel somewhat outdated), and actually make a real effort to learn some theory and produce something good. I cannot actually believe I've let four years go by since my LXJ remix of Dan Stone - Road Test was released. While there have been a few tracks in the pipeline since, most of them have admittedly been pretty sub-par. Hopefully things will change if I get my act together. Wish me luck.

kthxbye!

01 March 2010

PHP wart of the day

Just spent about a half hour debugging this. It's such a shame that if you try to do anything neat in PHP, stupid behaviour foils your plan:

php > $n = NULL;
php > var_dump($n['something']);
NULL
php > var_dump($n[0]);
NULL

How this makes any sense is beyond me. It even happens if $n is FALSE...

Python, for comparison, throws an exception sanely:

In [1]: n = None
In [2]: n['something']
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is unsubscriptable

24 February 2010

Python tip: enumerate(list) vs. xrange(len(list))

For a long time, when wanting a counting variable with which to index some list in a Python loop, I've used for i in xrange(len(some_list)). However, I've since discovered the built-in enumerate function, so you can instead do for i, item in enumerate(some_list). This has the benefit of already giving you effectively item = some_list[i] for each iteration of the loop, and also working on iterators that don't necessarily have a length. (enumerate simply gives you an iterator that returns each item of the input collection back together with a counting number. Far too simple!)

Hopefully this will help someone, but if not, it’ll remind me later!

29 November 2009

Some Short Tune Reviews from TATW 296

Thought I'd review the tracks played on this week's Trance Around The World to force me to listen properly! Here it goes.

Dan Stone "Fahrenheit" (Anjunabeats)
Arbitrary piano over stock pads and plucks with a standard bass progression. As expected from Dan Stone, crisp production, but can't help think that this track is born of a need to get another pay cheque in from Anjunabeats. 2/5
Hydro Aquatic "Moon River" (Monster Tunes)
Overused techy side-chain-compressed bass line with a Nitrous Oxide "North Pole"-style theme that Above & Beyond are absolutely caning right now (see "Anjuna Beach"). Nothing much going on here. 2/5
Angelic "It's My Turn 2009" (Darren Tate Remix)
Not much to offer over the older versions other than an updated sound set. Nothing very interesting above that. 2/5
Boom Jinx & Jaytech "Milano" (Anjunadeep)
Wouldn't expect anything less than lush, edgy sounds from Boom Jinx and Jaytech, and they deliver on those grounds. Reasonably funky bass pattern, but gets boring quickly. Good warmup material. 3/5
Mat Zo "Rush 2009" (Anjunabeats)
I'm still caning the original of "Rush", and I was surprised to see an updated version so soon. Borrows even more from the world of tech house. Mat's production is as always very refreshing, but I feel this remake deducts more than it adds. I will forego this one for the original. 3/5
Temple One "Sahara Nights" (Steve Brian Remix) (Enhanced Recordings)
Typical Anjuna-fodder. Good production, but totally generic sounds and theme. Also, the guy has two first names. 2/5
EverLight "Colours" (Cressida Remix)
Delightful themes with a blissful atmosphere. Adventurous accompanying parts give this track some nice originality. Great flow and solid production. 3/5
Everything But The Girl "Missing" (Greg Downey Remix)
Greg delivers a typically techy concoction balanced with the iconic breakdown lifted from the original Todd Terry mix. Absolutely fantastic take on the theme, I just wish he could have made something out of it for the main part instead of resorting to pretty generic tech trance beats. Regardless, how can this not go off in a club? 3/5
Edu pres. Time Traveler "Save The Planet" (Cramp Remix) (Levare)
Arbitrary piano and more boring plucks on the break, but the build up seems to pay off. The theme brings a smile to my face, even though it's quite simple. 3/5
Filo & Peri feat. Aruna "Ashley" (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix) (Vandit)
Heavy peak-time tech trancer with pretty good vocal work and disgusting(-ly good) bass programming. Not much love, but very functional. 3/5
Chapter XJ "Resurrection" (Jorn van Deynhoven Remix) (Monster)
Almost-arbitrary piano breakdown, but completely forgiven by a real crowd-pleaser of a theme. This is big-smile, textbook trance. I have been going absolutely nuts for this in the clubs. 4/5
Paul Keely "Cloud 9" (Anjunadeep)
Eighth-note progressive house. Functional, but somewhat uninspired percussion. A gorgeous and well programmed 4 bar theme, but not much going on other than that. 3/5
Jerome Isma-Ae "Hold That Sucker Down" (Pilot 9)
Tech house beats with a classic-sounding, dark and moody theme. Pretty cool, but I don't feel much emotional attachment. 3/5
Sunny Lax "Misgrey" (Anjunabeats)
Now this is a side of Sunny Lax I didn't expect to see. Techy beats and fresh, interesting sound work. I absolutely cannot resist the theme! Mesmerising bass, decorated beautifully and tastefully. Just try and keep me off the dance floor. 4/5
Markus Schulz "Do You Dream?" (Grube & Hovsepian Remix) (Coldharbour)
Nice theme with a big spacious sound. Ticks all the boxes, but somehow doesn't really do that much for me. 3/5
Mark Pledger feat. Melinda Gareh "Time Stands Still" (Solaris)
Gorgeous sounds and and a theme that, if a bit indulgent at times, practically melts my spine. Hypnotic, progressive and full of the trance sensibilities I long for. A genuine, refreshing arrangement and form, though, like "Fallen Tides" I am left feeling a little lost in the theme sometimes. Looking forward to remixes. 3 4 3 4/5

10 September 2009

Today’s hack: CD wallet inlay track listings generator

If you’re a CD DJ, and, like me, you’re used to scrawling the names of the tracks you’ve just burnt down onto a piece of paper and slotting it into your CD wallet, you probably know how difficult it is to write legibly in a small space.

So, I hacked this Python tool together to generate a printable PDF from some simple text files. There is no graphical interface (yet), just a simple command line interface.

All you have to do is:

  1. Create a folder full of plain text files like such:

    LABEL GOES HERE
    Artist 1 - Title 1
    Artist 2 - Title 2
    Artist 3 - Title 3
    ... etc.

    that is, the CD label goes on the first line, and then the track listing goes on each line after that. The file names do not matter, but it's probably a good idea to use the same thing for the label and filename.

  2. Run the tool as such:

    python /path/to/tracklisting.py /path/to/tracklisting/files/*
  3. Out pops the PDF “output.pdf” in the working directory. Print it off, and cut it out! Happy times!

The code is up on Launchpad at https://code.launchpad.net/~alex-weej/+junk/tracklisting. Please feel free to submit patches or suggestions for any improvements you may have!