Friday, April 29, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
From the paranormal files...
In the general weirdness department...this face appeared on a tree outside my house about a month ago. I swear before you now that this photo is not retouched, nor did we do anything to alter the tree in any way. I assume the bark fell off in this pattern.
Tree spirit, the Green Man, Jesus or pareidolia ??? I'll let you decide.
The tree sits just beyond my small smoking porch on the side of the house and this guy stares at me as I puff away. He's creeping me out and making me feel guilty. He looks so disappointed in me. Maybe I should finally give up the nicotine.
Oh, and to all you Christians out there...Happy Easter. If this face disappears after Sunday, I'm converting.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Game Theory Takes On Life After Death
Any writer delving into paranormal subject matter, particularly related to life after death, runs the risk of crossing the line on some readers' religious beliefs. Mindful of this problem, I made a deliberate attempt to keep The Case Files of Thomas Carney religion neutral. Tom starts the book as an agnostic--he states neither belief nor disbelief in God--and his outlook remains the same to the finish. When confronted with his new situation in Afterlife, he deals with what he knows to be materially true as events unfold, not what he expects to be true out of a preconceived spiritual framework.
As part of a recent issue on the new theological rendering of hell and expectations of the afterlife, Time writer Bill Saporito included this interesting assessment:
French mathematician Blaise Pascal famously pondered ROE (return on equity, or in this case, eternity) in the spiritual-investment quandary called Pascal's Wager. It's an exercise in game theory. A rationalist, Pascal thought about how he might bet against God's very existence and behave accordingly: more rosé, fewer rosaries. But he also knew that had he pursued a hedonistic lifestyle and God existed, a negative outcome would ensue. And he'd be totally, eternally screwed. Better to believe, he reasoned. In Pascal's logic, the rational spiritual investor becomes risk averse and spends a big chunk of the portfolio with God. Pascal, in other words, recommended that you hedge your spiritual investment.
If, in mathematical terms, you assign a zero probability that hell exists, then the rational spiritual investor reduces his exposure, since the expected ROE has been declined. "What do you give up?" asks Yale University professor Keith Chen, a game-theory expert. What's relevant in game theory is the difference between the good and bad outcomes. "If the idea is everybody goes to heaven and everybody enjoys the same privileges, then it unwinds Pascal's Wager," he says.
But both Chen and another game theorist at Yale, Barry Nalebuff, immediately posed another possibility: Is there a nonhell that's still not heaven? (Bell even suggests as much.) If there is heaven and a not-so-good nonhell, there's still a wager, although the spiritual investor might adjust it. Says Nalebuff: "The trick is, what's the cost of leaving?" In this view, Pascal's Wager is more like playing the lottery, says Nalebuff. If you win, heaven is the prize. If you don't, it's just a couple of spiritual bucks lost.
Read more: A Threat to the Evangelical Business Plan
For those who prefer the old school, here's a photo series: A Brief History of Hell
French mathematician Blaise Pascal famously pondered ROE (return on equity, or in this case, eternity) in the spiritual-investment quandary called Pascal's Wager. It's an exercise in game theory. A rationalist, Pascal thought about how he might bet against God's very existence and behave accordingly: more rosé, fewer rosaries. But he also knew that had he pursued a hedonistic lifestyle and God existed, a negative outcome would ensue. And he'd be totally, eternally screwed. Better to believe, he reasoned. In Pascal's logic, the rational spiritual investor becomes risk averse and spends a big chunk of the portfolio with God. Pascal, in other words, recommended that you hedge your spiritual investment.
If, in mathematical terms, you assign a zero probability that hell exists, then the rational spiritual investor reduces his exposure, since the expected ROE has been declined. "What do you give up?" asks Yale University professor Keith Chen, a game-theory expert. What's relevant in game theory is the difference between the good and bad outcomes. "If the idea is everybody goes to heaven and everybody enjoys the same privileges, then it unwinds Pascal's Wager," he says.
But both Chen and another game theorist at Yale, Barry Nalebuff, immediately posed another possibility: Is there a nonhell that's still not heaven? (Bell even suggests as much.) If there is heaven and a not-so-good nonhell, there's still a wager, although the spiritual investor might adjust it. Says Nalebuff: "The trick is, what's the cost of leaving?" In this view, Pascal's Wager is more like playing the lottery, says Nalebuff. If you win, heaven is the prize. If you don't, it's just a couple of spiritual bucks lost.
Read more: A Threat to the Evangelical Business Plan
For those who prefer the old school, here's a photo series: A Brief History of Hell
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Easter Eggs and Other Delights
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m addicted to PC games. I’ve played since the early 80s, when I ordered a 5” floppy disc version of Adventure for my shiny new, state of the art, amber screened IBM PC XT. Adventure was one of the first forays into interactive fiction—a text-only game in which the player controlled the action with simple typed commands that went something like this:
Computer: You’re in a forest.
Player: Go north.
Computer: A ferocious dragon blocks your path.
Player: Kill it.
Computer: How?
Player: Stab it with my sword.
Computer: Your attack has no effect.
Player: Throw a rock at it.
Computer: Your attack has no effect.
…One hour and 50 attempts later…
Player: Strangle it with my bare hands.
Computer: Congratulations. You’ve just strangled a dragon with your bare hands.
…AAAAAHHHHHH!
Computer: A dead dragon lies across your path.
The history of interactive fiction, interactive storytelling and hypertext fiction makes interesting reading in itself: Interactive Fiction. For more about narrative structure in the digital age, I also recommend the book Hamlet on the Holodeck.
In time, I moved on through a succession of upgraded computers and upgraded games with graphics: Zork Nemesis and Grand Inquisitor; Myst (damn those brothers!) and its sequels Riven and Exile, Shivers I & II, and my all time favorite-Dungeon Keeper. Eventually I found RPGs (role playing games) and never looked back—i.e., “hang on, I’ll be with you in a minute, right now I have to kill this f**#!ing cave troll.” I’ve played the fourth installment of the Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion, on and off for over 2 years and am eagerly awaiting the release of #5, Skyrim, on 11/11/11. Hey, I’m the Champion of Cyrodiil five times over, fool. Just who might you be? I’m lettin’ my geek flag fly!
One of the great things about these games is finding easter eggs.
Computer: You’re in a forest.
Player: Go north.
Computer: A ferocious dragon blocks your path.
Player: Kill it.
Computer: How?
Player: Stab it with my sword.
Computer: Your attack has no effect.
Player: Throw a rock at it.
Computer: Your attack has no effect.
…One hour and 50 attempts later…
Player: Strangle it with my bare hands.
Computer: Congratulations. You’ve just strangled a dragon with your bare hands.
…AAAAAHHHHHH!
Computer: A dead dragon lies across your path.
The history of interactive fiction, interactive storytelling and hypertext fiction makes interesting reading in itself: Interactive Fiction. For more about narrative structure in the digital age, I also recommend the book Hamlet on the Holodeck.
In time, I moved on through a succession of upgraded computers and upgraded games with graphics: Zork Nemesis and Grand Inquisitor; Myst (damn those brothers!) and its sequels Riven and Exile, Shivers I & II, and my all time favorite-Dungeon Keeper. Eventually I found RPGs (role playing games) and never looked back—i.e., “hang on, I’ll be with you in a minute, right now I have to kill this f**#!ing cave troll.” I’ve played the fourth installment of the Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion, on and off for over 2 years and am eagerly awaiting the release of #5, Skyrim, on 11/11/11. Hey, I’m the Champion of Cyrodiil five times over, fool. Just who might you be? I’m lettin’ my geek flag fly!
One of the great things about these games is finding easter eggs.
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