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Real life can be much more fantastic than anything we can create in fiction. Even the great bard Shakespeare is said to have based his play Othello on a real African military man who commanded soldiers during the Medieval Ages when Europe was conquered by Africa. Many popular cinema and TV cowboys were based on Black Buffalo soldiers who roamed the country after the American Civil War. As the United States became an international power to be feared, Black enlisted men, military officers and political statesmen risked their lives in foreign lands; they became legendary and help to spawn our courageous interstellar starship captains and masked, caped heroes wielding super powers to protect our planet. Sport figures such as Jack Johnson may have forged the template for Luke Cage, a popular comic book superhero.
There have been and always will be many great men and women of African descent who inspire visionaries to capture the essence of incredible deeds within the timeless realm of literature and art.
Doubtless, with the passing of an individual such as Nelson Mandela, many seeds for science fiction and fantasy have been sown. These works will propel us into the impossible as we follow the exploits of heroes who struggle and win against the odds in short stories, novels, theatrical productions, comic books, art and dance.
Even after life, Mandela can become a new beginning for creative minds seeking to bring forth extraordinary characters and themes in their works.
Reach beyond yourself; visit the official Mandela Foundation website at: http://www.nelsonmandela.org/
You can find me at: http://www.staffordbatttle.com
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| At City College of San Francisco, student Daniela Cardenas prepares DNA for analysis during the biotechnology module of Bio 11: Introduction to the Science of Living Organisms. This course was developed with funding from the NSF-ATE grant titled, "Incorporating Molecular Biology into the Undergraduate Curriculum." Credit: City College of San Francisco, Biology Department |
In the U.S., almost half of all undergraduate students are educated at community colleges. The most recent data show that about 40 percent of community-college students represent the first generation in their family to attend college. Eighteen percent are Hispanic, 15 percent are Black, and 12 percent are students with disabilities.
The community college environment reflects not only demographic changes in the population, but also changes in the economy. As less-skilled jobs are less available, there is a need for more education and training in specialized fields to build or rebuild a career path toward a secure future.
This microcosm of students is key to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) commitment to support high-quality educational experiences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (the STEM fields) while recruiting underrepresented groups into STEM and building the STEM workforce.
In 1992, Congress presented NSF with its first-ever mandate for program creation, known as the Scientific and Advanced Technology Act. In response to this legislation, the NSF established the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program, with the overall goal of increasing the knowledge and skills of technicians who are educated at associate-degree-granting colleges.
In funding community colleges, the program gives them a leadership role in strengthening the skills of STEM technicians. The community colleges work in partnership with universities, secondary schools, business and industry and government agencies to design and carry out model workforce development initiatives in fields as diverse as biotechnology, cyber security and advanced manufacturing.
National Science Foundation: Preparing high-tech workers, meeting needs of employers
"Those in America with the most favorable view of science tend to be young, well-to-do, college-educated white males. But three-quarters of new American workers in the next decade will be women, non-whites, and immigrants. Failing to rouse their enthusiasm - to say nothing of discriminating against them - isn't only unjust, it's also stupid and self-defeating. It deprives the economy of desperately needed skilled workers."
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan, Chapter 19: "No Such Thing as a Dumb Question"
Dr. Maya Angelou, I will always appreciate your light while it shines...
By Khafra K. Omrazeti "ancient text"
Hayashi's "Darkside Trilogy" is shaping up to be a masterpiece, one that provides an exciting reading experience. This book is an amazing adventure and a science fiction journey that will keep you engaged for over 600 pages.
I started this trilogy on the second book, however I'm now convinced that I should also read the first book and I'm waiting anxiously for the third book to be completed. As coauthor of "Black Futurists in the Information Age: Vision of a Technological Renaissance in the 21st Century", I found this book fascinating on many levels:
(1) The reality of African American involvement in revolutionary science and technology developments (in both the industrial age and the information age) is significant, and Hayashi has the vision and courage to bring this out in this extraordinary story
(2) The institutionalize racism that is prevalent throughout American culture is brought to the surface in this exciting journey; Hayashi is relentless in making sure that we understand the consistency of how people (of all races in America) are being "dumb-down" and kept ignorant about the truth concerning many things regarding Black people and the world at large
(3) That given the opportunity of a self-imposed exile on the moon, Black people demonstrate their brilliance in science and technology that far exceeds anything that they could have achieved in an American society that place severe limitations on their abilities and creativity
(4) Hayashi demonstrates an excellent grasp and working knowledge of the scientific discoveries discussed in this saga and brilliantly uncovers the fact that many Black people are working in these fields and unveiling the mysteries of the universe and
(5) In knowing the true intellectual and scientific capabilities of Black people, from the ancient world (ancient Kemet (Egypt), Kush, the Moors, Songhay, etc.) to the present, it is my hope that this book and others in this science fiction genre will bring forth an awakening in the Black world for extraordinary scientific achievement in the 21st century and beyond.
Writers like William Hayashi are invaluable to our present-day civilization, especially when it comes to helping Black people break FREE of the severe mental, scientific and creative limitations that this civilization seeks to impose on the Black world.
The fruit of a lot of labor from some very talented people (and me too!) has produced the first edition of O.T.H.E.R. Sci Fi Magazine, a Journal dedicated to the promotion and review of speculative fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction and fantasy that have world-building and inclusiveness at their center.
We invite you to take a tour and to consider contributing, joining the staff or submitting your works for review!
O.T.H.E.R. SCI FI THE MAGAZINE
Join the Facebook event here - https://www.facebook.com/events/350703228408079/?notif_t=plan_user_joined
Since Where the Monsters Are came out it has gotten six 5-star reviews! It's on pace to be the most well-reviewed story I've ever written! So to say thanks, I'd like to give away 6 copies. All you have to do is tell me about a childhood encounter with an under-your-bed or in-your-closet type of monster. I'll pick the six I like best and post them on my site. And in case you'd like to check it out, here's the link to the eBook! http://amzn.to/1aYa92y
Message from The Nelson Mandela Foundation, The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation
5th December 2013
It is with the deepest regret that we have learned of the passing of our founder, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela – Madiba. The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa will shortly make further official announcements.
We want to express our sadness at this time. No words can adequately describe this enormous loss to our nation and to the world.
We give thanks for his life, his leadership, his devotion to humanity and humanitarian causes. We salute our friend, colleague and comrade and thank him for his sacrifices for our freedom. The three charitable organisations that he created dedicate ourselves to continue promoting his extraordinary legacy.
Hamba Kahle Madiba
Site: NelsonMandela.org
I will never cease to be amazed at the sheer callousness of our species.
During postings honoring the death of Nelson Mandela, someone took offense at his stance of forgiveness; could not fathom how he could forgive his enemies after such harsh treatment. More "eye-for-an-eye" than anything civilized. At issue was a quote from Madiba expressed in a similar meme as below:
"No person can forgive/love their enemy," and then referred to this great man as weak and by an epithet I assume would also culturally insult them if applied. I've also found those who advocate armed insurrection usually are armchair enthusiasts with no history nor track record of successful violence. I won't bother repeating it: profanity is evidence of limited vocabulary, shallow values and underdeveloped thought processes.
Madiba was 95 as he passed on, his frame worn out from trial, imprisonment and abuse by the system the world would come to know as Apartheid.
It mirrored almost without variation, the system of suppression and segregation in the Jim Crow south, just as unfair, brutal and deadly.
Yet, like King, he refused to hate. Like Gandhi and King, his nonviolent methods were identified with weakness, not strength. [He was a part of forming a counter insurgency after slaughter by the police leading to his arrest and harsh imprisonment, the more remarkable that with that memory, he could still forgive and not forget.] We no longer have segregated lunch counters, education, water fountains, transportation; South Africa and finally America shattered the opaque ceiling of presidential exclusion to their respective highest offices. Sadly, both nations still have a long way to go, even achieving so much.
Despite evidence we've all descended from the same genome that had its origins in Africa, some insist on their specialness; their apartness by essentially giving divine powers to Melanin and particular exalted shades of its gradient hue. It is no wonder the heavens are silent: ET does not phone, and refuses to be bothered with our present unevolved drivel.
Mandela refused to let the psychopathology of others in charge of an unfair and brutal system - Apartheid/Jim Crow - define his humanity: after arrest and imprisonment on Robbin Island, presumably at the time for life. He and F.W. de Klerk - despite a stormy relationship born of those tensions - would share the Nobel Peace Prize and usher the nation's 1st multicultural elections. For that, he was an inspiration in South Africa and the American South.
No, this post has nothing to do with science. But science, like the pursuit of human dignity, should be a shared, noble endeavor. Sometimes the best among us set the example by their humility and courage in the face of crushing adversity. Such courage may be cursed by a demented, myopic few as cowardice; I prefer instead to celebrate it as it passes on to the ages.
World English Dictionary hamba kahle (ˈhæmbə ˈɡɑːʃlɪ) — sentence substitute goodbye, farewell (esp to the dead) [from Xhosa, literally: go well]
Go well, Madiba...go well.
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| Source: Link below |
It starts like a textbook physics experiment, with a ball attached to a spring. If a photon strikes the ball, the impact sets it oscillating very gently. But there’s a catch. Before reaching the ball, the photon encounters a half-silvered mirror, which reflects half of the light that strikes it and allows the other half to pass through.
What happens next depends on which of two extremely well-tested but conflicting theories is correct: quantum mechanics or Einstein’s theory of general relativity; these describe the small- and large-scale properties of the universe, respectively.
In a strange quantum mechanical effect called “superposition,” the photon simultaneously passes through and reflects backward off the mirror; it then both strikes and doesn't strike the ball. If quantum mechanics works at the macroscopic level, then the ball will both begin oscillating and stay still, entering a superposition of the two states. Because the ball has mass, its gravitational field will also split into a superposition.
But according to general relativity, gravity warps space and time around the ball. The theory cannot tolerate space and time warping in two different ways, which could destabilize the superposition, forcing the ball to adopt one state or the other.
Knowing what happens to the ball could help physicists resolve the conflict between quantum mechanics and general relativity. But such experiments have long been considered infeasible: Only photon-size entities can be put in quantum superpositions, and only ball-size objects have detectable gravitational fields. Quantum mechanics and general relativity dominate in disparate domains, and they seem to converge only in enormously dense, quantum-size black holes. In the laboratory, as the physicist Freeman Dyson wrote in 2004, “any differences between their predictions are physically undetectable.”
In the past two years, that widely held view has begun to change. With the help of new precision instruments and clever approaches for indirectly probing imperceptible effects, experimentalists are now taking steps toward investigating the interface between quantum mechanics and general relativity in tests like the one with the photon and the ball. The new experimental possibilities are revitalizing the 80-year-old quest for a theory of quantum gravity.
Download a copy of Where the Monsters Are for only $0.99 - http://amzn.to/1aYa92y. Join the Facebook Giveaway Event!
I'm truly surprised. This is probably the best response I've gotten to any of my books. I'd written Where the Monsters Are way back in 2006, maybe even earlier and shelved it because I didn't like it. But I chanced across it, read it again and thought it only had 'potential'.
Since I only had it in hard copy I had to scan it and re-type the stuff Adobe Reader didn't recognize (which gave me an opportunity to edit) and when I came to the ending which actually was bad, I changed it, then changed it again.
What a difference a little a few years makes. Check out CM Briggs' review!
Actually, the reverse of the cliche is true: It's no fun writing a rave review especially if the reviewer wants to work in the same genre as the author. Folks, don't read this stuff! Gerald, get's writer's cramp or blocked or something because this one's so good that it's scary on many levels.
It's difficult to discus a short story (not quite a novelette by my word count, but why split hairs?) in any detail lest you ruin it for the reader. I can tell you that "Where the Monsters Are" is metaphorical little gem of a fright, ambiguous enough to keep you guessing long after you've finished reading and yet immdiately accessible. I agree with the reviewer above who states that you want to go back and reread it a few times to get the full flavor, all of the psychological nuances, of the work. So, not to put you off, let me tell you that there is substance here. This isn't pretentious in a college, lit class kind of thing written to impress a girlfriend, but an intellectually stimulating and yet emotionally gripping to challange you.) The basic story is vivid and well written enough to keep you reading up until the end as the problems escalate and the narrator's life gradually goes to to Hell - maybe. Then again, it could be his mind. Nicely done. "Where the Monsters Are" is a perfectly balanced outing from a rising star. If this guy doesn't end up anthologized along with some of the big, big guns in the horror field.... well, there just isn't any justice in this world..
There are a hundred, masterful touches here as Gerald builds the suspense, from the initial appearance of "The Man in Black" in the narrator's favorite coffee shop to several rather cool Raymond Chandler style turns of phrases. When the bad guy's assistant is introduced part of the description reads: "a smile that should have been sexy but wasn't." Just enough.
Right now this is a Lindle "dollar baby" and cheap at half the price. It's no fluke. There's real talent at work here. I've seen an advance of the author's newest, "Dead Pictures." The concept is killer, the execution, even in its unfinished state, chilling.
This is a talent to watch.
There are many things that an artist can do to fulfill himself, paint, drawing, storyboarding, etc.
I have always been fond of the Dr. Seuss books, even unto this day and wanted to illustrate
something that would be just as unique as his titles.
I think this is it.
My Father Found Bin Laden is about following the humorous misadventures of a young
girl who adores her father who is a navy doctor and wishes for him to come home
dearly... but first Bin Laden must be found.
Yes, indeed... he must.
Brought to you by Window Sill Children's Book headed by writer Donna Matthews.
She has received a BA in Social Work from Morgan State University and a Masters in Fine Arts from the American Film institute. Donna is a strong advocate for children and cares about the issues children must contend with on a daily basis. The Window Sill Children’s Series was created to give children a voice. Many of these generations’ children are dealing with abandonment issues.
For me as an artist, this is a goldmine for creativity... since I have been assigned to illustrated
all six titles in the series.
I hope that you will find this children's literature interesting enough to pick up a copy
at amazon.com... or tell your friends about it. Here is the link below.
Download a copy of my latest story, Where the Monsters Are. It already has six 5-star reviews and is only $0.99!
Like many other authors last month, I accepted the NaNoWriMo challenge last month. And like many of those authors, I fell way short of my goal. Part of the problem was not seeing how much I was writing. Sure, I could check my word count, but that wasn't really putting it in the proper perspective for me.
So I wanted to pick up from where I fell down miserably sometime in mid-November (approximately 7,000 words). I've already espoused the virtues of Google Drive and writing with your smart phone. Now while I'm currently having some issues with writing on my smart phone, it's still beats the hell out of writing in a notebook and transcribing later.
I wanted something more concrete for me, a definite means of seeing exactly where I was and how much further I have to go. So I created a spreadsheet to do just that. This is my actual spreadsheet, titled Goals. Feel free to look it over and if you think it might be of use to you, copy it for yourself.
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| Source: Link below |
In the course of exploring their universe, mathematicians have occasionally stumbled across holes: statements that can be neither proved nor refuted with the nine axioms, collectively called “ZFC,” that serve as the fundamental laws of mathematics. Most mathematicians simply ignore the holes, which lie in abstract realms with few practical or scientific ramifications. But for the stewards of math’s logical underpinnings, their presence raises concerns about the foundations of the entire enterprise.
“How can I stay in any field and continue to prove theorems if the fundamental notions I’m using are problematic?” asks Peter Koellner, a professor of philosophy at Harvard University who specializes in mathematical logic.
Chief among the holes is the continuum hypothesis, a 140-year-old statement about the possible sizes of infinity. As incomprehensible as it may seem, endlessness comes in many measures: For example, there are more points on the number line, collectively called the “continuum,” than there are counting numbers. Beyond the continuum lie larger infinities still — an interminable progression of evermore enormous, yet all endless, entities. The continuum hypothesis asserts that there is no infinity between the smallest kind — the set of counting numbers — and what it asserts is the second-smallest — the continuum. It “must be either true or false,” the mathematical logician Kurt Gödel wrote in 1947, “and its undecidability from the axioms as known today can only mean that these axioms do not contain a complete description of reality.”
There are many reasons why the nations of Africa should set aside their religious conflicts, invite the African Diaspora to return home, create a common currency and go to the Moon. India just launched a probe to Mars. The Chinese are planning a space station and an effort to put a base on the Moon. The Western powers are retooling to reach out to the distant moons of Jupiter and Saturn. There is even talk of colonizing Venus and building cloud cities. The Japanese seek to go to Earth's moon and build a power station to beam electricity back to our planet. International corporations have formed collaborations to go into deep space and capture asteroids that can be mined for metals and minerals as well as precious water valuable for fuel and breathing.
Space agencies exist on every continent except Antarctica. However, if there is a race to the Moon, or any moon, sadly, Africa is sitting in the bleachers in the cheap seats watching other players commit to winning. But that could change dramatically, once Black people are inspired to setting higher goals in today's rapidly evolving global society.
There is an entire solar system within our grasp to explore and exploit (hopefully, there will be no intelligent life that we abuse). Incredible possibilities exist. But how do we influence farmers, fishermen, bus drivers, students, housewives, and dictators to focus on the big bright orb that we see almost every night.
We can use science fiction to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds to set their sights on a lofty goal. We need stories. We need movies. We need music and art. An effort to establish a base on the moon would create millions of jobs (or at least thousands). The technologies developed would greatly benefit all people. We are talking more than just making space juice such as Tang. But we have to inspire people to think bigger-- there is more than one moon, there is more than one dream.
This is the breakdown of planets with moons (but subject to change as humans stretch out into their local solar neighborhood).
Mercury and Venus-0.
Earth-1
Mars-2
Jupiter-63
Saturn-60
Uranus-27
Neptune-13
Pluto which has been demoted from full planet status to dwarf planet has five moons. And Pluto sits on the edge of the solar system where there are billions of orbiting bodies possessing the riches of the universe.
I haven't read or reviewed it yet, but we need more tales like this to help Africa go to the moon.
LOOK at your cell phone. No, seriously: the embed below will hopefully inspire you to.
Your smart phone, your Kindle, your Nook, your pad (name the brand), your flat screen mounted proudly above your fireplaces are not the result of "magic," wishful thinking or dumb luck. The skills required to understand and design them are as accessible as an open book, electronic or analog pulp variety, and the will to read it and work out the difficulties with the material.
The technological advances you enjoy will not create themselves in perpetuity. You need scientists, engineers; you need an education system that prepares our youth for the competition that in every other country is advancing quite successfully. We are once again lagging international PISA results, albeit in this country, biased by socioeconomic factors (purposely, my hypothesis) not accounted for in the PISA eval. Wealthy kids against the globe do reasonably well; inner city children have myriad challenges for their attention. The testing curriculum in this country also assumes no impact from social stratification.
We can, as national ostriches with our heads buried in sand and up our collective anal cavities, ignore this disparity; continue on our inane "teach-to-the-test" regime, or accept our coming decline gracefully. Magic nor magical thinking* will be our salvation (STEM will, if allowed), and grace is something from the American electorate I've seen wanting.
* "A new era of the magical explanation of the world is rising, an explanation based on will rather than knowledge. There is no truth, in either the moral or the scientific sense." Adolf Hitler (Carl Sagan, "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as A Candle in the Dark," Chapter 14 - Anti-science)
* "The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
—Unnamed White House aide[1]
The quote is now widely attributed to Karl Rove. (Rational Wiki)
More at: Science.NASA.gov
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| An Oscillating Graphene Drum. Source: Link below |
Researchers at Columbia University in the US have built the smallest frequency-modulated (FM) radio transmitter ever. Based on a graphene nanomechanical system (NEMS), the device oscillates at a frequency of 100 MHz. It could find use in a variety of applications, including sensing tiny masses and on-chip signal processing. It also represents an important first step towards the development of advanced wireless technology and the design of ultrathin mobile phones, says team co-leader James Hone.
"Our device is much smaller than any other radio-signal source ever made and, importantly, can be put on the same chip that is used for data processing," he explains.
Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like lattice that is just one atom thick. Since its discovery in 2004, this "wonder material" has continued to amaze scientists with its growing list of unique electronic and mechanical properties, which include high electrical conductivity and exceptional strength. Indeed, some researchers believe that graphene might even replace silicon as the electronic industry's material of choice in the future.
Physics World: Nanomechanical FM transistor is smallest yet
One of the things that stands out as the deliminator between great fiction and mediocre fiction is the ability to build credible worlds.
Building a credible world is more than a sweet premise, like say Vampire Ninjas who wear awesome reflective ninja suits (Ed. Sparkly Ninja Vampire Boyfriend: coming soon from Moorsgate Media). A credible world starts from a reasonable (or not so) premise, and then builds a realistic world around that premise. Credibility in world building comes from making the incredible credible.
If upon reading your story or your game plot summary, your testers keep telling you "I don't understand why Ninja Vampire Lestapolizes would rebel against the Triamphumphrate of Zoldan?" then you have a credibility problem.
However, solutions to the credibility problem are easier than you think. One of the reasons that A Song of Fire and Ice is so popular is that the author has taken a fairly fantastic premise and built a credible world around that premise. Sure, dragons and ice zombies are fairly fantastic notions. However, backstabbing alliances of rich people, wars over rightful succession, and the obligations of a liberating power, are all credible everyday topics. GRRM has explained that most of his source material comes from "The War of the Roses" a 15th century British civil war. GRRM added fantastical elements to a historically supported story and wound up with a massive hit that has spawned a hit TV show and a legion of fans giving Tolkien a run for his money.
While not everyone's story will take off like GRRM's, there is no reason to not explore the possibility of using a historical platform to tell an ahistorical story. Human history, written and oral, is full of tales of heroes and villains and political machinations. A story can not be hurt by researching a historical event that has parallels to the world you are building.
Writing a zombie apocalypse story? Check our the Black Death for inspiration. What did people do when faced with the seemingly realistic proposition of the end of the world? Alien invasion? Look to the Macaque, the Sioux, the Taliban (depeding on your character's POV).
The world building process does not have to take place in a vacuum. Science Fiction is built on historical allegories, there is no reason to abandon that path. If you are finding that your world isn't credible, motivations are murky, check to history, and it might provide the future.
reprinted from:
Site: www.moorsgatemedia.blogspot.com
Twitter: Moorsgate
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| Source. Note: not an advertisement for the movie |
Nerd fist!
Source of this post is my two grown sons in Texas. We discussed Thor via Skype, and how they missed our Sci-Fi movie romps together. I admit, so do I. I did have my issues with some of the plot devices, and hanging Mjolnir on a coat rack: dude, we're suspending belief knowing you can't even LIFT a hammer "forged from the heart of a dying star" (i.e. a white dwarf?) let alone hang it on a hook on an apartment wall! Yes, I'm in too deep...
Interstellar is a movie coming out in November 2014. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan co-writers - the same Christopher Nolan that brought you the Dark Knight Trilogy. Hans Zimmer is is scoring the thing! I've been a fan of his since the 80's with "Miami Vice."
Yes, it's a year out to wait, but it's based on Kip Thorne and Stephen Hawking "Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy." The plot is a little dark, and maybe we need to be shaken out of our doldrums with a dark foreboding possibility regarding an engineered willful ignorance of science (3rd link, next paragraph). I think the function of science fiction, especially Dystopian types, should serve as a warning.
It's exciting when a little science winds its way into our fiction (thinking of "Ender's Game" and "Gravity"), since fiction is cramming its way rudely into our K-12 science...which could result in sadly, a Dystopian future for all of us in the long run.
Your Primer:
Leo Susskind giving a lecture on Inside Black Holes (source of embed: Physics Database):
You should see a short trailer in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug."
I just gave you another good reason to go to the movies...hopefully, with your family.
Movie site: Interstellar
Thank you for reading about the adventures of The Shining Star, The Fiery Furnace,The Human Pearl, The Buffalo Soldier, John Henry-The Steel Driving Man, The Black Dove and, The Mysterious Maestro.
Heroes Like Me Entertainment is here to showcase stories of action/adventure, sci-fi, mystery and suspense.
We have some great plans for 2014.
First of all, we will be adding a new hero to our roster
Introducing The Flying Bullet Tuskegee Airman Lt. Curt Master finds himself in the far flung reaches of outer space and DANGER!!!
Also stay tuned and come back to Heroeslikeme.com on December 24th 2014. We will premiere the short video for The Alien Ambassador which will be the launching pad for The Alien Ambassador: The Movie.
That will make a great early Christmas present.
The movie will premiere in the summer of 2014. A teaser trailer for the movie will be at the end of the Alien Ambassador short video.
If you like what you see so far, then please tell a friend about Heroes Like Me.
We believe that everyone deserves heroes that look like them.
We will see you on January 15th 2014. We will have some great new stories waiting for you in the New Year.
-Thanks
Chris Love
To say the very least, it's been a challenging year. I had a final with Stevens, and as finals in Solid State Electronics go, it was adequately challenging, but doable. Solid State II in 2014. There's a lot of breadth in physics as far as areas of study; I seem comfortable working in the area of the very, very small.
Without going into a lot of detail, I've had to fill in as operations manager on 2 night shifts while holding down a load in online graduate school. That yellow orb in your sky is for you day walkers...
I've also been thinking about Maslow's pyramid of basic needs. Initially, there were 5:
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| Simply Psychology |
That list now includes beyond the apogee of actualization (and sandwiched right after Esteem: Cognitive Needs, Aesthetic Needs, THEN Self-Actualization and finally Transcendence. Elaborated further:
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| Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs |
So, as stressful as the year was, it was also rewarding.
It's the top of the hierarchical structure where I think many of us - STEM people included - become discouraged in the sheer difficulty of understanding, let alone mastery in your chosen field (many drop out and go the non-technical route mid matriculation); or, on-the-job many may get confused and frustrated by the slow pace of our careers; the biases we may encounter; the "politics" we say we don't play (but on certain levels, we all do). That frustration can lead you astray to outside interests that have no bearing on what, and more importantly: WHY you initially chose a career based on studying the hard sciences and applying them to solving problems. Astray meaning in activities outside of STEM; investing time in businesses that function more like authoritarian cults without structure and realistic goals whose achievements outside its echo chamber makes a notable difference in the world. Desperate for the esteem/actualization portions of this new, faux pyramid (and, INTJ types are not very good at selling), every conceivable person you meet becomes a "mark"; no relationship or conversation about the weather seems genuine. Social media automates the process of commodification. You loose yourself in this wilderness of distraction, departing from your "first love," when you did science for the sheer joy of it. I speak from experience.
Similar to Rubik's cubes (dating myself); crossword puzzles or Sudoku, self-actualization is at the end of any struggle in STEM. Every expert started out as a novice; every scientist and engineer have/had problems that stump (ed) them. You've put pencil-to-paper or spent hours banging at a keyboard to master a software package. Whole forests have died in wastebaskets due your efforts in Calculus, Chemistry, Differential Equations (affectionately referred to as "Diffy Q") or the Schrödinger equation; sweat, body odor, unkempt hair (if, unlike me, you have any) and for men at least, the "5 o'clock shadow" dominates. Like a chess match when you have your opponent in check; like a fencer that finds her/his mark, there is a euphoria that is quite pleasant; not sure if that's "transcendence." Two quotes from Einstein come to mind:
"Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."
"Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas."
Looking forward to the middle of the pyramid now that this semester is over...and a shower.
"Word porn" on Facebook is the source of this post's title, an encouragement never to lose the poetry of mathematics; the transcendence (if, or not STEM) of your first love.
