arraignment or computer says no

Thanks to the discerning eye of Nag on the Lake, we are directed to very important back-pocket thought that’s really in the forefront of things, presented in a quite clever and accessible way. First reading the title of this offensive called “Weapons of Math Destruction,” I took it initially as a needed critique on the poor state of mathematical literacy and how easily people can be manipulated by bald statistics that someone along the telephone-tree didn’t understand or made up altogether—which was not the thesis—but I think a part of it does fall to us as the creators of, contributors to Big Data to take a responsibility for our own leavings and to try to dispel confirmation-bias (which comes honesty to machines by end-users’ trust in incomplete scenarios). The responsibility is ours no matter how powerless and misused we might feel since it is our measureable actions and reactions that school our trial by algorithm.  Naturally, as we feel the stare of prying eyes that have reduced privacy and disengagement as a potential customer to a rare commodity, we can anticipate the next level when we potential face condemnation and punishment for our actions before we do them. 
While it is certainly a mixed-bag of results and hard to gauge the true benefits we’ve gotten by bearing our souls and movements and preferences to a human moderated internet, there is good to be had out there, not forgetting we are responsible and heir to any and all outcome.  As machines learn at a rate that outstrips our ability to react, the formulæ that govern our credit-worthiness and interest will unfold into something larger to affect notions of free-will and executive-agency. It is unacceptable surely that anyone is judged and sentenced for pre-crime, but it may come in forms more unintentionally insidious than that, if we’re not careful. Without ill-will, the Internet of Things may conspire against you to discourage you from pursing that job-application, ballot or travel plans, thinking it is doing you a favour by sparing you the disappointment. What sort of strength of character does it take to survive in a world where not only that corrects one’s spelling or makes recommendations based on one’s purchasing history but to face a systematic and coordinated battery of disengagement and discouragement?  Or alternately, support and cheerleading?  One’s history could just as easily suggest that one is not worth the effort medically or won’t be buying anything anyway and ought to be banned transit as facilitating pathways to success, and I think that that takes a critical eye, just like dharma and motivation in the real-cum-virtual world. Are we prepared to have that built into our infrastructure, as we might experience the Universe as sending us messages? What do you think? 

cassis

Though not persuaded to go out and “taste the rainbow” and draw the comparison myself, I found it pretty interesting to learn that whereas purple coloured candies and drinks for American palettes might be conditioned to expect a grape taste (natural and artificial flavouring), for Europe and elsewhere, purple signals blackcurrant, as Atlas Obscura informs.
Although I had only ever heard of it as a fancy infusion for imported vodka, I think they are delicious—I might be a bit partial since it is called (Schwarze) Johannisbeere in Germany—and are kind of a super-food. The shrubs were kept out of the Americas for a long time because it was thought that they carried botanical disease agents, but the moratorium is being relaxed because there’s little scientific evidence of this correlation. “Grape-Drank” might no longer be the default for those in the States.

fahrradtour: baderland

H and I took a little bike trip from Bad Karma, our fair city, through Bad Kissingen to Bad Bocklet to have a drink and rest for a minute before heading back in the twelfth century palace, Schloss Aschach.
Biking along the flood plain of the Fränkische Saale, a tributary of the River Main, we got to see Bad Kissingen from a new point of view and saw sites that we didn’t know where there, like a regional airport, mainly for hobby-gliders, and this fascinating Salien, a saltern—that is an installation constructed for extracting salt by evaporation, and has been in operation since before the year 800.
It was a pleasant day and not too hot but the blast of cool, salty air emanating from the was more amazing than the best, optimised air-conditioning system.
A bit further on, we passed the bore-fountain (Bohrbrunnen) called Luitpoldsprudel. Named after the Bavarian Prince-Regent of the early 1900s, it produced naturally carbonated water (Sprudel) for decades.

open-house

As part of a European-wide Heritage Days, this weekend in Germany marks der Tag des offenen Denkmals (Day of Open Monuments), when historic attractions which are not normally open for public inspection (due to lack of funds, etc.) are made accessible and often special exhibitions and excursions are included. Sometimes parts of museums and great houses usually off limits are open as well and is also a vehicle to highlight and promote little known histories. If you are out and about this weekend, be sure to pay special heed to local lore to support this movement and the conservation of heritage.