I'm going to wear a blindfold for 3 hours this Sunday. There are 3 reasons for this:
A) I just rewatched The Book of Eli. Not a very good movie. But it made me think about being blind.
B) It's like fight training with one arm behind your back -- just forcing the brain to expand, to use other senses, to adapt.
C) It is literally the most exciting thing I can think of doing on my free day. Yes, it's true.
If you haven't seen this short video, check it out now. It's the lady with no arms, who has a pilots license. Now, if she can brush her teeth, using her feet, I'm sure I can shuffle around home for a couple of hours without sight.
In fact, if my hunch is correct (and they rarely are), my brain will actually experience more growth during those 3 hours, than during 6 months of normal life! By removing the primary sense (sight), I hope to force the brain to adapt it's neural pathways, building new connections between synapses and other awkwardly-spelled parts, enhancing my other senses and ultimately making me a more efficient animal.
Anticipated Problems:
* Using the toilet. How to aim? Should I pee sitting down just to avoid any accidents?
* Making a cup of tea.
* Boredom. I can't leave the house -- well maybe sit in the garden I suppose, listening to birds, and trying to interact with them using a complex series of shrill sounds from my nasal passages. But that's not going to be as fun as playing Star Trek Bridge Commander, is it?
But such is the price of scientific experiments. I'll post again on Sunday after I have removed the blindfold.
-Gray
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Dolphins, ghosts and facehuggers - wow!
Greetings fellow snorkellers!
First post on my new (2nd hand) laptop. With barely enough horsepower to run Windows XP, and less RAM than most desktop calculators, it is still serving me well by letting me do the most essential computing tasks -- post to my blog, check Facebook, watch stupid but entertaining YouTube clips (Bert & Ernie try gangsta rap ) and most importantly -- play Minecraft.
Anyway, back to the snorkelling! I went with my sister this morning. Today was overcast, cool, and with a brisk easterly wind. I wasn't expecting a very good snorkel ... But the ocean has a way of surprising us.
Before even getting into the water, we saw a dolphin(s) splashing around out past the reef. As I observed it, I realized that dolphins are clearly not as intelligent as people think. While his family are probably in the Pacific somewhere getting chased down by Japenese whaling ships, and being served in sushi bars, this little guy was spending his time splashing around the West Australian coast. Completely unproductive, failing to provide for his/her offspring, and generally making a pain of himself. Why do dolphins seem to have so much free time on their hands? It's strange.
After hitting the water we headed straight out to the depths, leaving the kiddies and the breast-stroking grannies behind. The first thing I noticed was the water became about 5 degrees warmer. Also, it was clearer -- much clearer. There were fish everywhere. I mean, it was getting to the point where we couldn't swim for all the fish. Slightly annoying to be honest. I can't see why fish have so many babies -- from what I've seen this morning, the oceans are already overcrowded.
Aside from all the time-wasting dolphins and annoying fish, we did see a couple of other fascinating things today. The first was some bubbles, rising from the rocks about 15 feet below us. I thought it was a diver, and even thought I saw his air tank retreat under a rock. But no diver surfaced. Passing the spot again later, I noticed that the bubbles had decreased to a sporadic trickle. My theory here is that what we saw was some type of ghost -- a diver who had died, some years ago, and was now haunting the depths with his ghostly bubbles. It's the most plausible theory I can come up with. Unless dolphins release bubbles when they are underwater? If anybody has further info / suggestions, please leave a comment, because I'm scratching my head on this one people.
Also, there was jellyfish. They were swarming with obvious intelligence, gradually surrounding the high-energy source of protein that foolishly swam amongst them (that would be us). Why can't we invent some type of "pesticide" to spray into the ocean, that will eradicate this dangerous pest once and for all? There is simply no need to have them, floating about and stinging people.
Finally, on the way back in I came across a patch of clear sand, which was home to several dozen "sacks". They were about 5 inches long, attached to the sand by a small black spot, and waving freely in the current. I dived under to check them out closely, and saw that they were pulsing with life. Anybody who has seen the movie Alien, or it's superior sequel Aliens, will know what I'm talking about. It looked exactly like the eggs that facehuggers emerge from. Scary stuff, and again, amazing that I can snorkel the exact same beach 25 times, and still be finding new lifeforms and new civilizations, boldly going where no man has -- oh never mind.
Blog posts may be few and far between -- my waking hours are now divided between work and Minecraft, which is the single most addictive(*) and compelling game I've ever played. I think it just taps into the primitive part of our brains that says "hunt, gather and build". It's silly how fast this game eats up the hours.
Cheers all and stay safe out there!
-Gray
* - I maintain that the word "addicting" can't be used in this sentence. If you are one of those people who use "addicting", please slap yourself in the face for me. Thankyou.
First post on my new (2nd hand) laptop. With barely enough horsepower to run Windows XP, and less RAM than most desktop calculators, it is still serving me well by letting me do the most essential computing tasks -- post to my blog, check Facebook, watch stupid but entertaining YouTube clips (Bert & Ernie try gangsta rap ) and most importantly -- play Minecraft.
Anyway, back to the snorkelling! I went with my sister this morning. Today was overcast, cool, and with a brisk easterly wind. I wasn't expecting a very good snorkel ... But the ocean has a way of surprising us.
Before even getting into the water, we saw a dolphin(s) splashing around out past the reef. As I observed it, I realized that dolphins are clearly not as intelligent as people think. While his family are probably in the Pacific somewhere getting chased down by Japenese whaling ships, and being served in sushi bars, this little guy was spending his time splashing around the West Australian coast. Completely unproductive, failing to provide for his/her offspring, and generally making a pain of himself. Why do dolphins seem to have so much free time on their hands? It's strange.
After hitting the water we headed straight out to the depths, leaving the kiddies and the breast-stroking grannies behind. The first thing I noticed was the water became about 5 degrees warmer. Also, it was clearer -- much clearer. There were fish everywhere. I mean, it was getting to the point where we couldn't swim for all the fish. Slightly annoying to be honest. I can't see why fish have so many babies -- from what I've seen this morning, the oceans are already overcrowded.
Aside from all the time-wasting dolphins and annoying fish, we did see a couple of other fascinating things today. The first was some bubbles, rising from the rocks about 15 feet below us. I thought it was a diver, and even thought I saw his air tank retreat under a rock. But no diver surfaced. Passing the spot again later, I noticed that the bubbles had decreased to a sporadic trickle. My theory here is that what we saw was some type of ghost -- a diver who had died, some years ago, and was now haunting the depths with his ghostly bubbles. It's the most plausible theory I can come up with. Unless dolphins release bubbles when they are underwater? If anybody has further info / suggestions, please leave a comment, because I'm scratching my head on this one people.
Also, there was jellyfish. They were swarming with obvious intelligence, gradually surrounding the high-energy source of protein that foolishly swam amongst them (that would be us). Why can't we invent some type of "pesticide" to spray into the ocean, that will eradicate this dangerous pest once and for all? There is simply no need to have them, floating about and stinging people.
Finally, on the way back in I came across a patch of clear sand, which was home to several dozen "sacks". They were about 5 inches long, attached to the sand by a small black spot, and waving freely in the current. I dived under to check them out closely, and saw that they were pulsing with life. Anybody who has seen the movie Alien, or it's superior sequel Aliens, will know what I'm talking about. It looked exactly like the eggs that facehuggers emerge from. Scary stuff, and again, amazing that I can snorkel the exact same beach 25 times, and still be finding new lifeforms and new civilizations, boldly going where no man has -- oh never mind.
Blog posts may be few and far between -- my waking hours are now divided between work and Minecraft, which is the single most addictive(*) and compelling game I've ever played. I think it just taps into the primitive part of our brains that says "hunt, gather and build". It's silly how fast this game eats up the hours.
Cheers all and stay safe out there!
-Gray
* - I maintain that the word "addicting" can't be used in this sentence. If you are one of those people who use "addicting", please slap yourself in the face for me. Thankyou.
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