Modern Civilization – Harmonia Philosophica

Big Data & Archeology…

In a recently released edition of the Journal of Field Archaeology, Brown Assistant Professor of Anthropology Parker VanValkenburgh and several colleagues detailed new research they conducted in the former Inca Empire in South America using drones, satellite imagery and proprietary online databases. Their results demonstrate that big data can provide archaeologists with a sweeping, big-picture view of the subjects they study on the ground — prompting new insights and new historical questions.

Using the data they collected, VanValkenburgh, Wernke and Saito created a comprehensive map of every known Spanish-founded colonial settlement, or reducción, stretching from Ecuador to Chile, allowing those who study the region to understand the ebb and flow of social life on a multi-country scale. (1)

People moving around. Like ants. Big Data will reveal things and details. Analysis will show patterns and will reveal motives. But it will never reveal anything for the baker who wakes up in the morning to bake bread. It will not show anything about the children playing in the dirt. Big Data will not show anything about a man dying and his wife crying next to him.

Big Data can show everything.

But at the same time they show nothing.

Why care about revealing new information for past civilizations? Will we be wiser if we know patterns which were not even consciously known even to the people at that era? Civilizations are not built on data, patterns or systems analysis. They are built on cries and laugher. They are built on blood and despair.

And Big Data will never show anything for these things.

Take a good look at the laptop running the analysis.

So clean.

So silent.

But do not be fooled by its tiny size.

It kills whole civilizations in seconds.

And as researchers laugh in excitement.

Beyond the buzz of the hard drive…

Thousands die in agony a thousand years ago…

Megaprojects.

Academics at UCL have identified 18 reasons why megaprojects such as HS2 and Crossrail often fail, as well as 54 preventative solutions. The study found that no isolated factor could account for the poor performance of megaprojects. Instead, the paper is the first to identify several causes and suggest a systemic approach to enhance understanding of megaprojects.

The team list the six themes as decision-making behavior; strategy, governance and procurement; risk and uncertainty; leadership and capable teams; stakeholder engagement and management; supply chain integration and coordination. They were found to be all of equal importance when analyzing why such projects seem doomed to fail. (1)

Aim high. Fall hard.

Does it matter?

Failures are signposts for success anyway. Why fear of them?

The question is not whether failure is good or bad, but whether we should strive for success in the first place! What is success really? Would you celebrate for a mega-project? Would you celebrate for changing the world? Or would that be a cause for sadness?

We admire those who succeed in life.

But they are essentially those who fail to accept death.

We admire change imposed by us.

But this only disguises failure to adapt to what already Is.

Can you see your feet?

Can you feel your heart?

In the midst of your journey…

Do you dare to ask?

Dark AI… Dark humans…

Photo by **Spiros Kakos** from **Pexels**

A study found that hiring algorithms are too opaque for us to understand if they are fair or not. (1) In other news, a scientist tried to help humans design algorithms that would never go the wrong way, doing harm rather than good, by implementing fail safes in their initial design (2)

We have started having kids.

And our main concern is to control them.

But there can be no control without love.

Unconditional love.

Leaving everything uncontrolled…

Let the river flow.

Leave the sea as it is.

And one day…

You will touch the water.

Let the waves carry you.

And one day…

You will swim!

Without moving an inch…

Adapting…

Researchers tried to assess the effect of a new road to the local turtle populations.

“It turns out that turtles liked to hang out (a lot) in fun places like thick patches of greenbrier and multiflora rose,” says Weigand, one of the researchers. “Overall, we found that turtles at both roadless and roadside sites used similar habitats, with high volumes of downed woody debris and thick understory, so our initial hypothesis that the bypass was affecting how turtles selected habitat was not validated”.

However, the researchers discovered something rather puzzling — while many turtles used the open roadside habitat created by the new highway for thermoregulation and nesting, no turtles attempted to cross the road. (1)

We like to run. To things! To run!

And because of that we need to run more! And more!

And adapt! And do more things!

And run! And…

Well, you get the meaning.

But here we are.

Still here.

And all this time…

A turtle was looking at us in amazement…

“Poor rabbit, why do you run so hard?”

Don’t you know that at the end the turtle will win?

Please now.

Stop running.

Come. Come.

Cut my nails please…

Harsh sounds…

Neuroscientists have analyzed how people react when they listen to a range of different sounds, the aim being to establish the extent to which repetitive sound frequencies are considered unpleasant. Their results showed that the conventional sound-processing circuit is activated but that the cortical and sub-cortical areas involved in the processing of salience and aversion are also solicited. This explains why the brain goes into a state of alert on hearing this type of sound. (1)

We used to live in Paradise.

Afraid of nothing.

Then we learned new things.

And fear is in our soul ever since.

We used to listen to everything.

Standing alone in the forest, being afraid of nothing.

But we couldn’t bear the silence. And we closed our ears.

Destroyed the forest and started listening closely.

Of the footsteps approaching.

Within the safety of love.

We are afraid of our self…

Shhhh…

Are you brave enough to look down to your own feet on the dirt?