#progress that my brain was able to access that thought/strategy in the moment! but then i had to fucking sit+think abt how like. THAT was my

[poychachi]

How to Write About PTSD

@writinghaven on instagram [source: https://lisahallwilson.com/how-to-write-about-ptsd-in-deep-point-of-view/]

PTSD is featured in many fictional works, primarily as a source of internal conflict for a character. However, many writers simply research symptoms and run with it. There is so much more to PTSD than flashbacks that can add emotional layers, depth, and connection to readers, as well as increase the accuracy of the representation. Here are some important things to remember/consider when writing about PTSD! 

What do writers get wrong about PTSD? 

Giving characters a traumatic past and an ongoing condition that hinders their ability to move on is great for character arc if you can pull it off. Otherwise it can come off sounding trite or melodramatic. The character struggling with PTSD is facing overwhelming odds, and any character who stands up to a bully of any kind (even when it’s a mental illness) is someone readers will cheer for.

Do more research than just symptoms. Flashbacks seem to be the most appealing aspect of writing a character with PTSD, but actual recurring flashbacks are a symptom of very severe PTSD which is absolutely debilitating in every way. Try talking to someone who struggles with this. Read blogs written by those who live with or struggle with this, or have a loved one who struggle with this. Know that the symptoms don’t encompass the whole struggle but are simply the tip of the iceberg.

What else is there to PTSD other than flashbacks? 

Yes, flashbacks can happen with PTSD, but here’s the truth about flashbacks – not everyone has them frequently or even at all. Most writers love the idea of using flashbacks, I’ll admit they’re fun to play with, but where writers often miss the mark with PTSD are all the OTHER symptoms that are debilitating and soul-crushing. Far more common are triggers which require more subtlety and art to really convey how devastating they can be.

PTSD is a filing problem – basically. Where most brains are able to process and appropriate file away a traumatic memory, for whatever reason – a particular memory or file gets left out and never gets filed away (processed). It’s kept front and center for easy access essentially rewiring the brain.

When triggered, (a smell, a place, a feeling, a person, etc.), the inner-most part of the brain (the amygdala – stay with me) sounds off like a fire alarm. When that fire alarm goes off, the rest of your brain diverts all power/energy to that alarm center. So, once the fire alarm goes off, you’re incapable of “thinking” your way out of a situation. Instead, you’ll instinctively react in the way that’s most likely to “save you” whether it’s fight, flight, or freeze.

When PTSD rewires the brain, that fire alarm (which is useful, which is necessary) is now super super sensitive. It’s like placing a fire alarm over your toaster. You’re going to get a lot of false alarms. So, in real life we might take the battery out of the alarm, move the alarm or move the toaster. But with PTSD, because the brain can’t figure out where to file that memory, you’re kind of stuck with these constant false alarms. So most or at least a lot of energy goes into avoiding setting off that fire alarm.

This creates a near-constant hyper-vigilance that is exhausting. Utter, soul-draining, bone-weary exhaustion. To the point where you can’t think clearly – you struggle to order your thoughts or prioritize things correctly. It’s debilitating and can very thoroughly undermine your self-confidence. Every small task or outing gets weighed against the emotional and physical and mental toll it could exact. And let me tell you, this foggy thinking makes life seem pretty hopeless pretty fast.

And while only the most severe cases have persistent flashbacks, that hyper-vigilance and exhaustion is pretty common. The mental fog caused by the hyper-vigilance or a trigger is common. The frustration and internalized shame of not being able to sort your thoughts, or trust your own thinking is intense.

Give your character a coping mechanism

Most people learn coping mechanisms to manage the symptoms of PTSD simply to function, but those mechanisms wear out, their effectiveness wanes over time, our tolerance of them grows thin. If a trigger is the fire alarm, the coping mechanisms are essentially the broom being used the fan the fire alarm to prevent it from going off.

If that “broom” is the only way you can manage life at all, you’ll go to some pretty extreme lengths to prevent having it ripped from your hands. Now, that “broom” can be expressed in a wide variety or combination of ways: anger or violence, self-medicating with drugs or alcohol, workaholism, eating disorders, becoming a hermit, suicidal, etc.

At the same time, someone with PTSD is going to cover up their pain at all costs. People stare. They avoid you. They whisper. And all of that gets internalized over time. They’ll be fine in a social situation until they aren’t and they react in (what might appear to be) an irrational or erratic way, but internally they’ll have clamped down and “soldiered up” as long as possible.

Show the consequences of how ineffective that bloody broom strategy is! Show what happens when the broom is taken away (alcohol, a person, a schedule, etc.).

Show don’t tell a PTSD Trigger

You want to show and not tell, right. The person struggling with these kinds of anxiety or PTSD is going to go to great lengths NOT to think about the original traumatic event. Who consciously relives traumatic events? Nobody.  

More likely, the traumatic memories are shoved to the very back of the mind and actively avoided, and numbed when avoidance isn’t possible. They’ll be ruled by emotions, and unless they dig down into the WHY of their strong emotion, the PTSD may go untreated for a very long time.

Instead, show the coping mechanisms (the broom) used to control the symptoms or turn their mind off (escapism, fantasy, porn, drugs, alcohol).

“For me there’s a predictable progression that happens that tips me off to that fire alarm detecting smoke. I feel it in my gut first, a clamping down, a tension, a tightness, and a feeling like I don’t want to be in that place. Then I start to blush, my face feels like it’s on fire. Then I start to tremble. I’ll look down and notice my hands trembling, but at times it won’t feel like I’m looking at my own hands at all. Then my last warning is profuse sweating – regardless of the environmental conditions.” - Lisa Hall-Wilson

When PTSD is triggered you’re at war with yourself quite literally. It will seem to come out of nowhere or can build up slowly to a crashing crescendo. A moment ago you were rationally able to recognize there wasn’t any danger, but then the switch is flipped and your body is absolutely convinced you’re in mortal danger.

Know what your character’s primal goal is when they’re triggered. Is it safety? Is it survival? Is it escaping? Have them seek that out at all costs.

They could have a mantra they recite to control their thoughts. They might have a safe person, someone they trust to watch their backs in new or upsetting situations. The slow removal of their dependence on their grounding techniques or coping mechanisms is a great way to show growth.

Those who know what their triggers are will actively avoid situations that might set them off. This is a potential for conflict – force them into a situation where they’re uncomfortable, where they feel threatened or unsafe. Spring it on them. Put them in new situations. 

“I wasn’t aware that exercise fatigue mimicked my PTSD symptoms, so I was triggered by a jerk at the gym and couldn’t feel it coming on because I was in the middle of a workout. The times when you’re triggered without warning are the worst. Being blindsided sets you back days, weeks, even months.”

A blindsided character could be an “all is lost” moment

Being blindsided by a trigger at any point. A situation that’s been fine a thousand other times can trigger you that one day because someone new is there, because you can’t get your usual seat by the door, because someone’s wearing the cologne that your attacker wore. This is a great device to save for a pivotal conflict.

It’s like a two-by-four to the head. Show their emotional wounds bleeding all over the floor and have them keep going anyway. Show them growing stronger, trusting people again against their instincts, forgiving themselves because they couldn’t get a hold of themselves again, etc. Let the whole process be messy, two steps forward and one step back. The stories that end in a pretty bow and leaves everyone “cured” simply aren’t authentic.

SOURCE: https://lisahallwilson.com/how-to-write-about-ptsd-in-deep-point-of-view/

[ninamontagutbordas]

HOW CAN I KNOW WHO I AM IF SOCIAL MEDIA DICTATES WHO I SHOULD BE?

The first time I joined Facebook, I was thirteen years old. It was 2008 at the time and none of the existing social media platforms were a big thing in Spain yet. I had a total of seven facebook friends and I only used it to talk to my sister, who introduced me to the social network, while she was away during the summer. Actually, facebook was just a great solution to connect with people traveling or living abroad.

I didn’t understand the power of social media then and, to be honest, it’s still difficult for me to have an accurate understanding of how its power can affect people. It sure has affected me countless times to the point where social media was controlling the way I felt and, it still controls me sometimes.

I am about to turn twenty-five and I am very happy with who I’ve become this past decade. Obviously, I had to go through all the faces the majority of kids go through between the ages of fifteen and the mid-twenties (hopefully I’m not the only one!): I was a stupid teenager at times (to be fair, sometimes still am), there were moments were I behaved as a bad daughter, a bad sister, a bad friend, a bad girlfriend and as a bad “all the roles that a human being can possibly be”, but, still, I am very happy with who I am today and I have forgiven myself for all the damage I may have made.

During this past decade, I’ve managed to create different abilities that helped me understand a bit more how to navigate the awkward early twenties, such as pushing away toxicity, standing up for myself, accepting constructive criticism, and facing mistakes as soon as possible.

BUT, what if social media is dictating what’s toxic and what’s not, when do I need to stand up for myself and when I don’t, which criticism is constructive and which is not and which are the things I should see as mistakes and which are not?

It got me thinking.

I feel like the power of this digital “era” we are living in (is it even an era anymore or at this point is just our reality?) has brought us a lot of good, but also a lot of bad. There have been moments in my life where I found social media was actually very dangerous for me and reflecting on it now, I think my experience may be helpful to some of you as well.  

At the beginning of this crazy 2020, I was in a very bad place. I had just quitted a job that was very damaging for me, I wasn’t comfortable with the way I looked, and I felt very isolated from the important things in life. I have suffered from severe anxiety since I was twelve and had to learn to manage that at a very early stage in my life, but it had never been as bad as it was in January. First world problems? Indeed. I totally agree, but it was a very dark period of time for myself and there was nothing I could do to feel better -or at least I thought so-.

I have the most amazing parents and the most amazing family, a great group of friends who have always supported me no matter what and I had a great loving boyfriend who not once made me feel non-deserving of a happiness that seemed impossible to reach at the time. My support system wasn’t the problem.

SO, why wasn’t I happy?

I knew I had to stop complaining and start doing things that would make me feel better, which would make me heel. Had I known at the time social media was a key element to get there, it would have been a lot easier.  

My body had changed a lot during the past few years, I wasn’t exercising, and I handled my anxiety by eating literally my feelings. My pants didn’t fit, my body was way different than my friend’s bodies (yeah, I know, “don’t compare yourself to others” and “all bodies are beautiful” but still, we all know how it works) and I felt very insecure in general. I never have had the patience or the strength before to beat my laziness and it’s safe to say I had zero trust in myself then, but again, it was time. I had to do something.

I decided to start a severe diet.

If you know me, you know I have had a terrible habit in the past where I start things and never finish them, so of course, I didn’t think I was going to go through with an entire diet. I didn’t see myself capable.

It took me six months and nine days to finally feel healthy and good again, but I did it. (Two out of six months I was quarantined at home, which was not great neither mentally nor physically for the process I was going through). I discovered a lot of myself during that time though.

However, not everything I discovered was actually good, believe it or not. I discovered a lot of bad stuff and not necessarily was I aware of all the negative inputs I was receiving from the internet. One of those things was the social media strategies to engage with users in the wrong way and how that can control a person’s feelings. I was a victim of social media.

During the lockdown, I had to beat my anxiety in different ways so that none of them lead me up to interrupting the diet-plan my doctor had provided me. I had a commitment to myself and the more I proved myself wrong, the better I felt. I’m not a quitter and I wasn’t a quitter back then, but I just didn’t know it yet.

One of the ways to beat my anxiety, strangely enough, was sitting home to my computer and lose myself on social media, as many of us did during the quarantine. Without even noticing it, I ended up falling into a rabbit hole: Instagram food accounts.

Isn’t it so paradoxical? I was doing a diet but still, I was spending my hours looking at thousands of videos of people baking cakes, cooking pasta, and reading recipes I know I couldn’t have as long as I wanted to keep doing this.

Some said I should be proud of myself - being able to look at these videos and not once cheat or interrupt my diet is a great way “to train my strength”. I fully disagree. To me, this was not about strength, to me this was about how the channels in my brain had been educated to think this was normal behavior. It was not. Social media was tempting me.

What I’ve realized through this process is that, it wasn’t actually my choice whether to stop looking at them or not. The less I wanted to see, the more videos I had access to because of the complexity of the social media algorithms. They decided I needed to see that kind of content.

Social media was proving myself and it became an interesting yet dangerous dynamic for me, which is why I find myself writing down this essay. For months, I’ve been having conversations with my parents and my friends about the danger of social media.

BUT, where is the real danger?

In the months that followed, I was starting to feel better. Actually, I was feeling pretty good. Not just physically, but also mentally. I was better than ever and people around me started noticing the inside glow I was feeling.

The problem is that feeling good and being in charge of your own life are two very different things. I was happy but my life was not under control, quite the opposite. I wasn’t in control. Social media algorithms were controlling me.

That’s when it got tricky for me – How could I be the happiest I’ve ever been but feel so frustrated? Was I really happy? Was I pretending to be happy because everyone else seemed so happy? Was I really being myself or was I just pretending to be somebody who I wasn’t? Was social media training myself to think I was happy? Was social media LYING to me?

All of these questions were hunting me, and I just did not know what to do. I was back in shape yet all the pictures I saw on Instagram of these beautiful women in their amazing bikinis during their amazing vacations made me feel self-conscious about myself.

Why did I do this diet? Did I do it for myself or for the benefit of a social network that had thousands of pictures of myself where I could prove to people graphically I had lost a lot of weight?

Social media has an interesting way to make people feel bad and create this interesting millennial feeling of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – the problem is, we only share 10% of what’s really going on with us. That’s why it was important to me to share this story – I wanted to use social media in a different way. Maybe I’m oversharing, but at least I’m oversharing in a true and authentic way, not in an unrealistic scenario.

A while ago, I decided I would delete all the pictures on my Instagram page and I was only going to leave there the ones that captured the moments where I was really happy and really present. From around 600 pictures I had posted over the years, I chose around 20. They could stay. Twenty-something pictures that reminded me of the important things in life, at least the important things to me. But then I said to myself: “Did I just chose when I felt happy because I deleted some Instagram pictures? This makes me so sad”.

Going through these old pictures, I could clearly tell how my body has changed “for the better” this past nine months but I realized very quickly something very unexpected - I was really happy back then. For sure I had that puffy face and a bigger body, but I was really happy and really secure. And that’s when I realized, social media was dictating what should I do and who I should be. Not because I decided to, but because I allowed it to. 

The thing is that I don’t feel threatened by social media itself. I feel threatened by the way we consume digital content without even thinking of the impact this can have not only on ourselves but on others. 

We get carried away because we don’t use social media in a smart way. We use it to compare ourselves and our life with others, directly or indirectly, whether we like it or not. We don’t consume media to complete ourselves with information and use it for our own profits. We consume media to fill the blanks we are missing in our journeys. 

I’m scared of how fast the world is evolving and how fast digital progress is happening. Let’s see where my relationship with the internet stands in five years when my twenties are over. Until then, I’ll try to use social media for the benefit of the people around me. I feel like we all have a responsibility and, I’m going to commit to it.  

The question is, are you?

[journeysintowebcomics]

Worm Liveblog #107

UPDATE 107: The Classic Question

Last time there was an interlude. Defiant and Dragon continued their hunt for the Slaughterhouse Nine, finding they had caused carnage in a hospital. So now it’s back to Brockton Bay with the Undersiders. Will they have some peace? Let’s find out.

Looks like Taylor is still hanging out in her territory, watching things happening and the construction progress. I suppose she’s without her costume, so it should be easy for her to go around without being noticed. The construction is progressing nicely, and it doesn’t seem like there are any problems going on. This makes her think about the current situation, she’d have liked to go demand Coil for him to let Dinah go, since they fulfilled his demand of keeping their grip on the city. Even though Coil had promised to let go of Dinah, I really don’t think he’ll fulfill it. Call me a skeptical, I just don’t think he’ll let go of someone who’s been such an advantage for him.

It wasn’t like she could have gone to make her own demands; Trickster had already gone to have a talk.

Trickster’s focus was on Noelle, though, and nothing I’d seen indicated that Coil had made any advances on that front. All I knew, really, was what Tattletale had told me and the little things that had come up in our brief discussion with the Travelers about our strategy.  She’d been a girl, maybe not in the best of health.

It was possible Trickster had been trying to save Noelle in the same way I was trying to save Dinah.  The circumstances were different, obviously: Coil was the best answer the Travelers had to Noelle’s situation, but he was the cause of Dinah’s.

You know, if Skitter takes Coil out of the way, I wonder how she’ll handle Noelle’s situation. She can’t just walk away and pretend nothing is happening, she’ll have to at least give a temporary solution. The problem is that neither she nor anyone reading this story at this point knows what exactly is going on. There’s enough evidence it’s something very nasty and needs a lot of precautions, but without any information she can’t even do anything. If only she had an idea of what was happening...I’m not saying she’d be able to come up with a solution Noelle and the Travelers need, but clearly the Noelle Situation is going to be something to consider and deal with.

Oh, looks like I misinterpreted the stuff so far. Taylor is not going around in her territory; she’s examining everything with her bugs. It’s the next day, but she’s currently in the hideout, lying on her bed with her eyes half-open.

Somehow Brian managed to sleep somewhat. It’s not a good night of sleep, but it must have been better than any of the last few nights, no? It’ll do him good, physically he’s in perfect shape, but mentally he’s...well, he’s still traumatized, so sleeping may do him some good. I just hope he’s not having bad dreams. He doesn’t want to see a therapist yet.

Now that I think about it, what are the Undersiders’ options for mental health? Can they go see a therapist? Can they ask Coil for help about this? I’m not sure they can have access to psychologists or therapists due to their status as villains, and they can’t talk to a civilian therapist given their issues stem from supervillainy. All in all, they seem to be kind of screwed.

As if to show how not okay Brian is, he says how he has to force himself to lower his guard while he’s here spending time with Skitter, not because he doesn’t trust her or anything, but because he’s perpetually on alert.

“That’s not what I mean.  I mean, you know.  I… I can’t relax.  Can’t stay still, can’t stop watching over my shoulder or make my brain stop replaying scenes in my head.  Except I can, if I’m active, if I’m doing something like we were against those Dragon suits, or if I’m with you, and I’m lying here in your bed, trying not to wake you up.  Then I know I can’t get worked up, it gives me these boundaries I can force myself to work inside.”

There’s this saying that says the devil loves idle hands, but I guess when you’re as traumatized as Brian is, the devil also messes with the heads. Damn, I hope he’ll be okay...

Ah, Taylor has plans with Dad Hebert! It has been so long since she spent time with him, so I’m glad to see this. I hope this family time will go without any trouble! A nice day, without having to worry much about the villainy and everything it brings along, would do her some good.

Breakfast time, where they try to avoid talking about anything related to work. The most they did was comment about how Skitter hasn’t progressed in mastering the listen through the bugs part, and at this point I don’t think she’ll be capable of doing such a thing without a second trigger...and I really, really don’t want her to have a second trigger. It just is something nobody should go through – heck, the first trigger is something nobody should go through.

Brian talks about his past, and other than his martial artist proficiency there’s not much detail even though Brian talked about some heavy stuff. I imagine it was nothing that wasn’t known before, then. After their conversation, they took a walk around the territory, seeing how the civilians help the construction crews. This makes her wonder how it’s possible she has civilians on her side after everything that was happened.

I felt like I should be losing people each time I got pulled into a fight against a major threat.  I had, when Mannequin and Burnscar had attacked, but I’d walked away from the first Mannequin fight with something of a following, and I’d expected to see my people leaving in droves after Dragon made her move. Except it wasn’t happening, and I wasn’t entirely sure why.

I’m not certain either, I have to admit, but if I had to guess, maybe Skitter’s sincere efforts to help and work for the territory’s wellbeing has been noticed and are now being rewarded. I admit I’m not entirely certain that’s the reason, though. In my opinion, everyone’s opinion of Skitter will be revealed further once the territory is fixed and in decent condition. Only then everyone will show what they truly think. I’m positive Skitter will continue working for everyone’s wellbeing, but will people still accept her after things are okay?

Still, fighting Dragon’s drones was quite a risk and not the action of someone who doesn’t support her, so I’m sure Skitter has fans anyway.

Family time! Taylor walks to her home, seeing a lot of cars in front of the house, cars she doesn’t recognize. For a moment she fears Coil is backstabbing her and putting Dad Hebert in danger, and she mentions in the narration how he has a knife and pretty much a nest of wasps and spiders in her pants – oh god, the mere thought of that is incredibly unnerving – so she takes the plunge and goes to the front door.

Dad Hebert has guests! Family friends and work pals, judging by the person who opened the door. I’m glad despite everything things are well enough for socialization. Taylor is greeted, she doesn’t seem...very enthused about seeing people here, I guess because she expected to be alone with Dad Hebert.

This wasn’t Dad Hebert’s idea; it was an impromptu social visit. Personally I think it’s good, some levity is good in their lives, what with the current situation in the city and all.

Nobody that could be a threat, none of Coil’s people.  I let myself relax.  What had I been thinking?  That he’d strongarm my dad?

In Skitter’s defense, it’s not really impossible. Coil is capable of doing anything if it helps his goals, and Skitter is a liability with her pesky moral opinions. I wouldn’t be surprised if he attacks Dad Hebert at some point to try to dissuade her.

There’ll be a mayoral debate later, and it sounds like afterwards there’ll be votes to define who the mayor will be. I remember Coil had said he had a couple puppets in that race, so in 24 hours he both got the heroes out of his hair and most likely will win the mayoral race. It’s like in this day everything he had worked for is solidifying.

They want Dad Hebert to come by and ask questions about the ferry they all work at, so they all have one thing more to be dissatisfied about with the current mayor – the guy who, may I remind everyone, was intimidated in his own home like three days ago. That incident must have been kept under wraps, judging by how everyone has a very negative opinion of the mayor arguing in Washington Brockton Bay shouldn’t be quarantined and evacuated.

That surprised me.  “You’re not happy the city was saved from being condemned? Did you want to be kicked out of the city?  To leave your home?”

“It’d suck, but the way they were talking about it in the paper, there’s a big fund that’s set aside for covering the damages those Endbringer motherfuckers cause.  Idea was that they’d dip into those funds, give everyone that they ousted a bit to cover the cost of their homes.”

Given the amount of people I don’t think it’d have been much money given to everyone. While I’m sure it’d be a decent amount, I’m not sure it would be enough for the cost of relocating and having to acquire a new place to live in, as well as furniture and everything a home must have. Besides, I’m sure wherever they all go, there’ll be villains too, so...to me as a reader it’s a bit hard to know what’d be the best situation for someone.

They’d give what the houses are worth right now. How much would that be...a couple hundred thousand dollars, perhaps, per home owner? Golly, the government would have needed a huge fund.

Since everyone seemed to have given up on Brockton Bay despite the construction work, Taylor may have felt like her efforts were getting disrespected, because she brings up a “hypothetical” question: would it be better to live in a city where the villains rule but things are actually okay, or where the villains have no control but things are awful?

Turning to me, he said, “I suppose you’re asking the classic question, Taylor.  Would you rather be a slave in heaven or a free man in hell?”

Call me selfish, but I sure would rather live in a place where things are okay, even if...there’s this cloud of terror over everything. Not having immediate safety is terrifying, let me tell you. When you have immediate safety, you can plan for a future where you can get out from under that cloud of terror.

This meeting is a reminder that there will always be people who don’t like the idea of being under villains’ benevolent reign, and it’s a completely valid position. Honestly I can’t say there are many positions that aren’t acceptable here, as long as said positions don’t involve hurting your fellow citizens.

“I’d rather not be a slave or in hell,” my dad responded.  “But sometimes I worry I’m both.  Maybe we don’t get the choice?”

Honestly, in the city’s current situation? Yeah, that sounds about right. It’ll be a while before things get better.

They ask Taylor why she’s bringing such a thing up, and Taylor takes the chance to point out the villains are the ones making noticeable steps to make things better. I don’t doubt the heroes have done their part as well, frankly, but given how what they have done hasn’t been mentioned yet, maybe their work is behind the scenes, instead of immediate relief.

“The problem with that,” my dad said, “Is that we’d be setting humanity back by about three thousand years if we let that happen.  It’d be falling back into an iron age mindset and leadership.  The people with the numbers and the weaponry lay claim to an area through sheer military strength.  They stay in charge as long as they can through family lines, merging families with whoever else has the military strength.  That lasts until the family in power peters out or someone smarter, stronger or better armed comes in to seize control.  Might not sound so bad, until you figure that sooner or later, the person who gets control is going to be someone like Kaiser.”

Hate to admit it, but he’s right. There’s no guarantee the Undersiders will always have control, or even that their reign will be good for the civilians forever. It’s possible in the future someone will try to take them off their thrones. I just hope when such a thing happens a hero’s the one to do it instead of a villain. But hey, silver lining! The world is going to end in less than two years, so it’s not like there will be time for any villain to defeat the Undersiders and take over Brockton Bay! Haha! Ha! Ha...oh man, that’s grim.

Either way, as I see it, the best course of action would be to play along in the hopefully peaceful Brockton Bay the villains will have – apparently – and try to get money and everything in order to get the heck out of the city, go somewhere else where things aren’t like this. That’s going to take a long while to do, though, so...yeah.

Sounds like in this debate there may be talk about the villains and the superheroes! Great! Time to find out about the public opinion.

“I’d offer you a drink,” Kurt said, chuckling, “But that’d be against the law.  How old are you, anyways?”

“Fifteen,” I said.

“Sixteen.”

I turned to look at my dad.

“It’s the nineteenth,” he said.  “Your birthday was a week ago.”

“Oh.”  I’d been a little distracted at the time.  A week ago, that would have been around the time we were wrapping up our confrontation with the Slaughterhouse Nine.  Lovely.

You know, with everything that happens, sometimes I forget Taylor isn’t even an adult yet. Many of the things she and her friends do and think make me forget they’re teenagers. A bunch of teenagers control half of the city. Oh god, if I didn’t know like half of those teenagers are trustworthy enough I’d be kind of scared.

Time to go! While they get into a car, Dad Hebert comments Taylor has changed, that not long ago she’d have stayed silent while everyone talked and she wouldn’t have offered her opinion. He’s right about that, yup. If there’s one thing her villainy has done is make her more assertive. Good for her!

Taylor warning Dad Hebert led to everyone else’s safety. I’m glad! I’m also glad Dad Hebert has friends he can be with. He deserves much better than what his life during Worm has been, seriously. I just hope he doesn’t die anytime soon, or at all.

There are just like five hundred people in the town hall, not a lot when it’s a city. Taylor can see the candidates, three in total. Doesn’t that mean Coil pretty much bought the rest of the competition? Any result that isn’t the current mayor keeping his job will be favorable to him. I really thought there would be more candidates, although I never doubted Coil would get his puppet in the seat of power.

While they wait for everything to start, Taylor makes her usual examination of the surroundings, finding a lot of vans with soldiers – soldiers that aren’t with the PRT. Is it a military presence, perhaps sent by the government? For security reasons?

The armored limousine pulled into the middle of the street, just outside the front doors.  By the time Coil climbed out of the vehicle, his soldiers were either just past the doors on either side of the building or standing at the ready to accompany him by the front.

Oh. He’s here, at the town hall. Things are going to happen and they won’t be good at all. Will he claim credit for everything that’s happening in the city, both good and bad? I don’t think he’ll try to make himself the mayor right then and there, because then what would be the point of having two candidate puppets? He’s planning something, that’s for sure, but I’m not sure what it’ll be. I almost never can figure out what it’ll be before it happens, hah.

Either way, this should be a good place to stop. There’ll be some stuff happening next time! What I wonder, though, is if it will be in a new arc or in this one. I can’t wait to find out what’ll happen!

Next time: in two updates

[westphotolukedas]

Production Journal - Being John Malkovich

210220

Being John Malkovich (1999) is a haunting film that asks viewers to surrender to a fantastically absurd premise. It was Spike Jonze’s directorial debut and he received an Academy Award nomination for such a bold undertaking. The plot follows Craig Schwarz, a struggling street puppeteer, his affectionate wife Lotte and his office infatuation Maxine. Relations between them cycle between attraction and repulsion when they discover a portal into the brain of John Malkovich. Its intrepid moments of comedy were met with praise and fascination from critics. ‘Put simply, Being John Malkovich just has to be one of funniest, cleverest films of the year, a Fabergé egg of comic delight,’ were Peter Bradshaw’s closing remarks in his review. (Bradshaw, 2000)

Director of Photography Lance Acord (Born 1964) is Jonze’s long term collaborator. Between them they have the hipster credentials to deliver trendy music videos, independent films and Hollywood blockbusters. With Being John Malkovich (1999) they developed a visual language which was darker derived from traditional set ups and framing. ‘We shot most of the scenes very simply. We didn’t have that much time to do them, and instead of breaking down each scene into ten setups, I wanted to spend my time getting performances from the actors,’ Jonze explained in interview. He continued, ‘That was a conscious decision, but I thought it worked for the movie - not to make it big, flashy and overly into technique. Lance can confidently and quickly work with little equipment. And, also, he doesn’t care so much what his peers are going to think.’ Given that the film explores such abstract concepts, it is largely due to Accord’s efforts that the viewer is able to suspend disbelief and lose themselves in the cinematography. (Macaulay, 2019)

Being John Malkovich (1999) has philosophical appeal for its portrayal of same-soul theory - a model of Cartesian dualism that suggests individuals identify with a consciousness unique to them. In essence, a person may be themselves within the vessel of someone else. The functionality of the portal may be likened to a cerebroscope - a fictitious device capable of relaying the contents of someone’s brain to another individual. The film addresses this phenomenon by switching to an occluded camera view analogous to peering through a periscope. The feeling of voyeurism is elevated by drawing attention to Malkovich’s bodily processes akin to the auditory effect of an isolation chamber. In a comically pedestrian scene, he orders a bath mat and scours his kitchen for Chinese food; however, the cinematography makes the act seem supernatural. Several levels of this interaction are explored when Maxine has a date with Lotte as Malkovich and Malkovich enters the portal to witness his own conscious mind in a perverse paradox loop. The filmmakers breech the fourth wall and meander either side of it to the point that it is accepted these characters are familiar with the real actor John Malkovich and his friend Charlie Sheen. (Koch, 2011) (Shaw, 2006) (Weinstein, 2008)

Summary

Jonze’s classic film takes time to develop layers of reality that act as a platform for facets of philosophy and science. In comparison, my film will be minutes long and undertaking anything of the same magnitude would be ambitious. I would like there to be a change in the rhythm of the footage that I will create with my own production technique. During an email conversation with lecturer Teemu Hupli, we discussed this issue and the potential avenues that I may partake.

‘Something has been ringing in my head since we spoke last Friday, and I want to voice it. You said a sentence in our chat to the effect that ‘the toil’ behind finished pieces of dramatic art (by which I understand films, plays, TV performances of various kinds) is ‘often not seen’ and your proposed project would expose that side of things. I am not saying it is often seen, but I would suggest you research the basis of this assertion. We do have films / representations of the work that goes into making pieces of dramatic art - cinema by now has a lot of them e.g. Synecdoche, New York, Being John Malkovich, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire, and theatre has messed around with the fourth wall at least since the modernist times. In general, the idea of exposing the structures ‘behind’ finished products of art falls under the broader rubric of self-reflexivity, which has become a relatively widely used strategy for slightly more experimental dramatic art. I did mention structuralist film in our chat, which was based exactly on that idea, although it was not always about exposing the toil of actors alone, but often focused on the materials and editing structures of film e.g. Michael Snow’s Wavelength, which is essentially one very long inward zoom with marginal - literally in the margins of the frame - events occurring in the room.

I believe it would be important for you to acknowledge that your project might be operating in the context of such experiments in film / theatre. This is not to say that you should not follow your idea, but that you need to ensure that you are as fully cognisant as possible about the art / film historical context in which you work, in order to develop a clear sense of where you might be doing things similarly and / or differently from the context.’

Production Notes

An original musical score by György Englert provides some clue that Natalie might be an actor playing an actor. Lady Gaga’s Shallow (2018) and Joseph Arthur’s In the Sun (2003) were the inspiratory prompts that I gave him. I like the way both songs become more upbeat as they progress; however, melancholic accents are apparent throughout. Englert’s gypsy jazz roots contribute a playful quality that is also implicit of these shifting intentions.

After the title fades the film begins with a conventional shot seen in television interviews - framing tight to the subject and emphasising facial gestures. There is a second shot positioned further away to add some variation and then photographs from Natalie’s career roll across the screen. Momentum is broken for the first time when she slips and I encourage her to recuperate her thoughts. In the last scene of the interview there is an inaudible background comment from me, although this might be too elusive for the viewer to notice. These remarks were left in the final edit to break the fourth wall - the actor and the director are aware that they are part of a fictional narrative. In the scenes that follow, I added extracts from the scratch audio that are revealing of the filmmaking process. A focusing error while Natalie drinks tea was also left in. An early commercial cut of the film had these parts removed. It had a more mainstream tone and the intentions of the piece were lost. My peers encouraged me to be bolder with my post-production choices and this was the right direction for the project.

Being John Malkovich’s (1999) cerebroscope is recreated in the line reading sequence. The audience has a first-person view of Natalie’s performance as if they are me. There is a familiar fluidity to the play that she exudes. She waits in anticipation of her opening gambit and then launches into the role. Glances down to the paper script and then back to camera were the exact nuances that I wanted to capture. Scratch audio of me monotonously rattling off lines is heard at the start and then there is a fade away to a voice over. I selected the passages about her acknowledging nerves prior to a performance and method acting to superimpose over the visuals. Both give insight into the feelings that she may be experiencing in real time. Various edits exist where the scratch audio was omitted or faded out at a later frame. Feedback from these versions led me to believe that my speech was needed to frame the situation. Finally, I am pleased with the way that Natalie’s staring eye dominates the closing shot before the next scene.

Bibliography

Bradshaw, P. (2000). Bonkers but Brilliant. The Guardian. Available from www.theguardian.com/film/2000/mar/17/1 [Accessed 10/04/2020]

Koch, C. (2020). Consciousness Redux - Being John Malkovich. Scientific American, 22 (1), 18-19

Macaulay, S. (2019). I’m In You - Director Spike Jonze and Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman Talk Being John Malkovich. Filmmaker. Available from www.filmmakermagazine.com/107755-im-in-you-director-spike-jonze-and-screenwriter-charlie-kaufman-talk-being-john-malkovich [Accessed 10/04/2020]

Shaw, D. (2006). On Being Philosophical and Being John Malkovich. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 64 (1), 111-118

Weinstein, L. (2008). The Perverse Cosmos of Being John Malkovich - Forms and Transformations of Narcissism in a Celebrity Culture. Projections, 2 (1), 27-44

Final Cut, Manual Mode, 25 fps, WB Natural Light

[mrlongkgraves]

Your child and chronic pain: How to ‘dial down’ the agony

PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK

Sheer panic. It’s all I can remember.

Out of the blue, while enjoying his morning snack one day, my toddler started having seizures. And they didn’t stop. It was terrifying. He was admitted to the intensive care unit. Between seizures he was scared, flailing on the hospital bed, totally out of control. I wanted desperately to help soothe him but didn’t know quite what to do. My first intuition was to distract him. I remember grabbing a jungle pop-up book out of my diaper bag and springing the pictures open right in front of his face to block out all the doctors scurrying about. I made loud roaring sounds like a tiger to drown out all the scary medical noise. It didn’t help.

After a few moments, his nurse gently tapped me on the shoulder. “I wonder if you might instead try singing him a gentle lullaby?” she asked.

When I think back on this moment from more than 10 years ago, I can still vividly recall the feeling of helplessness. I remember wanting to do something to make my son better. And I remember that my first intuition — my excited attempt to distract with a book — turned out not to be the best choice. Indeed, the lullaby worked much better. Why hadn’t I thought of trying that?

I’m working with kids who are in constant pain and with parents who are panicking over their child’s suffering. I know how they feel.

Although my son was having seizures, the distress I felt as a parent in this situation has come to inform my work as a pediatric pain psychologist. In the counterintuitive world of chronic pain where I work, I often feel like the nurse in the ICU when I gently suggest to families that they try a new approach.

It’s not easy. I’m working with kids who are in constant pain and with parents who are panicking over their child’s suffering. I know how they feel.

My first goal is to help parents understand that psychological treatments are among the best tools to reduce chronic pain, regardless of what is causing the pain. Research shows that the impact of many different types of pain — including headache, abdominal pain, nerve pain and musculoskeletal pain — can be lessened with interventions that are rooted in psychology. While pain itself is not just a psychological problem, scientific studies spanning more than two decades consistently find that kids recover better when they are engaged in a multidisciplinary recovery plan that includes evidence-based psychological care.

To understand this, parents and kids need education about how the nervous system works: namely, that all pain sensation is actually processed in the brain, not in the tissues of the body. This means we can use brain-based strategies to “dial down” pain sensitivity, much like you might use a dimmer on a lamp to turn down a light. Understanding this fundamental concept opens the doors to teaching a variety of evidence-based, mind-body strategies — such as deep breathing, guided imagery and mindfulness — that reduce pain as well as pain-related difficulties, such as poor sleep and anxiety.

In addition to learning how to dial down pain sensitivity, psychologically based strategies are directed toward modifying how we think about pain.

It’s fairly easy to understand that ongoing pain is a scary experience for kids, but most people are surprised to learn that this innate fear of pain actually amplifies the pain signal leading to more physical discomfort. The antidote to this lies in retraining the brain to think about pain differently. For example, when kids shift from thinking, “This pain is unbearable,” to thinking, “Today is a tough day,” they almost immediately have less fear, and in turn begin to feel better physically.

Another target of psychological care, the structured behavioral approach to help kids return to activity, can also be confusing for children and parents, at least initially. As an early step in treatment, kids are often encouraged to get back to their daily routines even when pain is present. Some worry this could exacerbate pain. Our mind and body, however, are equipped with the capacity to rewire and adapt; through successive exposures to typical activity, we can often retrain the brain and body to move without fear — and eventually without pain.

Families often ask me how this array of child-centered psychology skills fit together in a pain recovery plan. To understand this, consider one of the most common hurdles that kids with pain must tackle: getting caught up in school. It’s common for a child with pain to fall behind in school. Getting back on track can be difficult. A pain psychologist can intervene by teaching a child mind-body relaxation skills to reduce pain sensitivity, advocating for supportive school-based accommodations, developing a stepwise plan for increased school activity (such as attendance or work completion), and monitoring progress by assessing pain triggers and alleviating factors along the way.

Intended to be warm, supportive and productive, the habit of checking in about pain many times throughout the day is one of the first things I advise parents to stop.

Notably, the psychology of pediatric pain also extends directly to parents. Though chronic pain affects 1 in 5 children, parents are seldom taught how to help manage symptoms. For example, when parents routinely ask a child with chronic pain the simple question, “How is your pain today?” or even, “How are you feeling?” they are inadvertently increasing a child’s focus on pain and this too can amplify the sensation of pain. Intended to be warm, supportive and productive, the habit of checking in about pain many times throughout the day is one of the first things I advise parents to stop.

Unfortunately, a family can find it tricky to access the targeted psychological intervention for pediatric chronic pain management, collectively included in a type of psychotherapy called cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. There aren’t enough pediatric pain psychologists to go around, there can be insurance barriers and there are often long waits for service.

So, I began providing one-day CBT workshops for teens with pain and their parents. I had three simple goals:

Increase access to care for children and parents.

Help families gain a deeper understanding of how chronic pain cycles can be reversed.

Empower kids and parents in the recovery process by teaching some of the evidence-based CBT skills that can help to reduce pain and improve function.

Additionally, within these group-based workshops, I wanted teens and parents to recognize that they were not alone in their struggle. Connecting to others who have a shared experience and learning from peers who have successfully returned to their full lives after dealing with chronic pain are essential for instilling hope and promoting engagement with these evidence-based skills. Now in their seventh year, these pain-management workshops have been replicated by more than a dozen children’s hospitals in the United States and Canada and have served as a first step in treatment for many families who have a child with chronic pain.

The good news is I can see that some families are starting to think about the psychology of pain in a new way.

I recall how panicky I felt when my child was sick. And I often place myself in the shoes of the parents with whom I work. What would it feel like as a parent to have a child who hurts every single day? What parents need to know is that with targeted skills and strategies, kids and parents can shift from feeling helpless to feeling hopeful, and from barely getting through the day to getting back to their full lives.

The good news is I can see that some families are starting to think about the psychology of pain in a new way.

I recently met a 9-year-old girl who had pain for four months in her wrist. From a functioning standpoint, she was doing pretty well and our team doctor didn’t have much to offer. Still, her parents were concerned and they turned to me. “She seems so sensitive to pain. We’re not sure how to help,” they said.

In that instant, I recalled my feelings in the ICU with my agitated son. I remember how grateful I was to learn how to best help and know that all parents desperately need this kind of support. When I started to sing that gentle lullaby to my son, he almost immediately began to relax. And seeing that he was calm, I was able to relax a bit, too.

I wasn’t focused on what this meant to me as a pediatric psychologist at the time, but this memory serves to remind me still: parents and children are truly in this together. While the treatment for chronic pediatric pain is best informed by a multidisciplinary approach — often including medications and physical therapy — it’s essential that parents and kids learn the evidence-based interventions that psychology offers.

With these important skills in place, many kids and parents may begin to relax and to chart the path forward.

About our blogger: Rachael Coakley, PhD, is a pediatric pain psychologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of “When Your Child Hurts” and launched The Comfort Ability, a CBT-based program that provides one-day workshops on pediatric chronic pain management.

    Learn more about the Pain Treatment Center.

The post Your child and chronic pain: How to ‘dial down’ the agony appeared first on Thriving Blog.

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[3ezentrum3-blog]

Lessons on Drugs, Sickness and Living Life

I adore change. I adore how we develop as people, when we permit it. Advancing and contemplating things from an alternate level - a higher viewpoint - is a mind boggling thing.

I consider how my contemplations and sentiments have changed throughout the years. My center standards and conviction framework are unflinching. However, how the subtle elements play out inside those parameters has increased some adaptability, comprehension, acknowledgment and even some appreciation.

I understand that the greatest occasions throughout my life in the previous decade have educated diverse exercises in acknowledgment and associations as people. My standards and convictions, with regards to wellbeing, don't should be high contrast. Truth be told, they don't fill in also when they are so closed minded.

My first involvement with this significant move in intuition happened when I was pregnant with our first youngster. Following quite a while of concentrate the most beneficial approaches to encounter pregnancy and conceive an offspring, I had made a reasonable rundown of wants for my own particular pregnancy and labor understanding. No specialists or attendants, no healing facility or birthing focus, no medications, no shots, no dread based tests, systems or medicinal registration performed all through my pregnancy, no instigating, no obstruction to what is normal... period! (Except if, obviously, there was a crisis.)

There were a couple of more things on my rundown, yet you get the point! I had plainly chosen what would make the most beneficial, most secure involvement for my child and me. Gratefully, both our kids were conceived at home, with everything going as nature proposed. We were honored with our experience.

Be that as it may, not some time before my first birth, I went to the birth involvement of a dear companion whose labor "list of things to get" was fundamentally the same as mine. Twilight of birthing, her maternity specialist concluded that it was the correct choice to make a beeline for the clinic where my companion wound up having a crisis C-segment.

At to start with, she was distressed. This isn't the means by which she had imagined her ideal birth. After for a spell, she understood that the pregnancy and birth were simply ventures to bring her toward parenthood, and that was the prize! My brain moved, as well. Inside reason, regardless of what we pick amid our pregnancies or birth encounters - whether it's regular pre-natal care and birth in a working room, encompassed by medicinal faculty, or it's the tranquil care of a maternity specialist and a supporting home birth encounter - we as a whole move toward becoming mothers. Every mother needs to feel protected and secure keeping in mind the end goal to have a positive ordeal.

Indeed, there are impediments of issue. There are tests, strategies and mentalities that are factually turned out to be less protected and powerful for the mother and infant. Yet, I don't trust any parent would purposefully make the less protected, less solid decisions in the event that they knew about the entirety of their alternatives. We settle on the best decisions we can with the data accessible to us at the time, inside our own conviction framework.

We should be proactive with our learning and assume liability to guarantee the most advantageous, most secure result. Once more, the street may appear to be unique for every one of us, yet the goal is the same.

The following huge life occasion that opened my eyes and moved my reasoning happened when my father was determined to have prostate disease 8 years back. By strolling that stroll with him, I found that tumor, or some other finding, is anything but an uneven thing. In spite of the fact that I comprehended what medicines were completely hazardous and had problematic adequacy, and also numerous methodologies that could encourage him, my eyes were opened to the significance of extremely hearing a 'patient's' wishes and fears.

Father wound up picking a more all encompassing way to deal with reestablishing wellbeing and he has done by and large. In the recent years, he has had a few therapeutic techniques and medications that have made me quietly flinch and question the rational soundness of the 'wellbeing' specialists that-be. Be that as it may, I presently have a total comprehension, acknowledgment and regard for every individual making the right decision for them.

He got his work done and he knew about the entirety of his alternatives. What more would you be able to request? On the off chance that the patient feels sure and certain with regards to their treatment and care, I trust the beneficial outcomes are limitless. Not every recuperating appear to be identical. Some of the time it's taken cover behind a remedy bottle!

One of the greatest exercises for me accompanied my mother's voyage with bosom disease. I'm so pleased with the beauty with which my mother strolled her stroll amid this experience. Our involvement with the growth business was not positive. Be that as it may, my mother transcended everything. At the point when at first analyzed, she picked a mix of regular allopathic treatment and in addition more all encompassing methodologies.

She was derided for picking something besides allopathic treatment and was excluded for not following the oncologist's correct suggestions. My mother essentially carried on with a high caliber of life as long as she could, as opposed to invest a very long time in the growth ward getting interminable chemotherapy and radiation. It's a decision. It was her life and HER decision.

She did well and completely making the most of her life and her family for another couple a long time before things got extremely troublesome. My mother, more than anybody, knew my heart. She knew how energetically I put stock in making wellbeing as opposed to assaulting the body or any side effects display. It was trying for her to acknowledge the allopathic treatment approach of medications and medical procedure, in light of the fact that making wellbeing and tending to the reason had progressed toward becoming piece of her conviction framework too.

At last, we needed to understand things from with a better point of view. Despite the fact that she and my father regardless I waited for a supernatural occurrence, we knew we were never again searching for a fix from the medications she was being recommended. We needed to make the colossal mental, enthusiastic and otherworldly change to making whatever personal satisfaction was as yet conceivable. It wasn't high contrast - good and bad. It was about this one woman, this one family, this one experience... what's more, what it would take to give her some solace and peace for her outstanding weeks.

There was no judgment. No second thoughts. There positively was some longing this had never happened, however we were ready to take a gander at things through various focal points now - from an alternate worldview. In the event that there was ever an opportunity to veil the indications and conceal the agony, this was it. We weren't attempting to settle the reason for the issue any longer. We simply needed to be with mother and she simply needed somewhat more time to appreciate with us.

I discovered that, in spite of the fact that I'm not a devotee of the deceptive data with respect to assumed fixes and fruitful medications being passed along in the malignancy business, that I do bolster every individual's entitlement to pick the approach that gives them the best true serenity. That is giving a man regard and pride. That is a piece of mending and living.

Without the medications, I don't figure we would have had those most recent few weeks with mother. In spite of the fact that those were some completely severe days, they were additionally bound with impeccable snapshots of affection, happiness and unadulterated soul. I don't know whether it was the correct choice to take the medications. Just God knows. What I do know is that there are a great deal of families that simply need somewhat more time.

My mother's experience shown me that a ton of living can occur in a brief timeframe. A few people carry on with an extraordinary personal satisfaction for just a brief timeframe, while others walk along for a lifetime with no delight, no appreciation and very little personal satisfaction. In mother's withering she trained me how to live.

Most as of late, we're back to my father. An ongoing session with some somewhat life changing joint pain left him with the choice regardless of whether to take medicine steroids. He had similar concerns I have with respect to the inborn perils of this treatment alternative. Eventually, he started a short spell with steroids to check whether he could diminish some torment, reestablish any versatility and enhance his personal satisfaction.

It has been momentous to perceive how rapidly and altogether he is enhancing, from an indication point of view. I don't care for the possibility of steroids, however of course, I don't care for the possibility of joint pain existing in any case! Furthermore, I absolutely don't care for the possibility of my father being crippled in any capacity.

This latest involvement with father has shown by and by that we will all get to our goal by taking diverse ways. Some are less significant than others. Some are more risky than others. Some enable you to appreciate the view, despite the fact that they may be a shorter trek in general. Furthermore, there are times when the drive was coming wonderfully with no difficulties, when things arrived at an unexpected and sudden conclusion.

We don't know to what extent we'll be here. We might be determined to have something 'significant' just to live for a long time. Or then again, we may carry on a brief timeframe... in any case, we can genuinely appreciate and value that time. For others, there may never be any sign of a medical issue, yet disaster may strike. I think the fact is to LIVE life!

In the event that you've been proactively finding a way to make wellbeing and joy with consistency after some time, however you've achieved a divider because of restrictions of issue, at that point you have a few decisions to make. Now and again, that brief symptomatic approach may be the best approach with a specific end goal to give your body - and psyche and soul - any evident shot of re-making ideal wellbeing and joy. Why should I judge?!

I absolutely don't prescribe this approach or this worldview as a lifestyle - making wellbeing through insightful way of life decisions still bodes well and accompanies no negative symptoms. Be that as it may, I transparently recognize that there are times when this allopathic approach may give choices that give the absolute best at living while you're here!

It is safe to say that you are confounded by the staggering, regularly opposing wellbeing data nowadays? Worried that your family may not be as sound as they could be? So you get a handle on pushed and depleted... what's more, just too darn tired to make positive, solid way of life changes? I'm here to help! My name is Dr. Colleen Tro

[jonmccaw]

How to Stay Positive in a Negative World

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How to Stay Positive in a Negative World

I have been looking around the internet and also hearing people talk about being positive. So, I thought I would write a post about how to stay positive.

Nothing in this world matters for the most part unless you know how to be positive.  This type of attitude will attract the things in life that you have always desired.

When you are negative, you are literally shutting down your power.  But the truth of the matter is that you are not at fault for this.  However, if you want to change, it’s up to you.  You cannot walk into what you were created for unless you change your mindset.

Your success all depends on how well you can change your mindset to become one of positivity.

Understand that in the grand scheme of things:

We are human beings.

We are not perfect.

It can be difficult to choose to respond in a positive way to negative events.

But, realize that it’s not impossible and in fact, it’s quite doable if you have the right mentor and/or strategy in place.

Our Programming

We have been taught and programmed throughout life to respond negatively.  Think of how you were treated as a child.  You were told to stay out of the kitchen and especially away from the stove.  The reason is that of fear that you would put your hand on the burner.  It isn’t your fear but that of your parent.

Then when you are out and having fun in the city you were told, “STOP! LOOK BOTH WAYS!”.  We are told to do that so we don’t get run over by an unsuspecting car coming by and hitting us.

Yet another fear tactic.  Although it’s based out of care and love for your health and safety.

Some of the areas in our life that perpetuate the negative thinking can start at a very early age.  Teachers are synonymous with using fear to get the children to respond to what they want them to do.  If their plans are not followed, they could lose their job and you the child would not be able to learn from that day.

How do we change our mindset so that, it’s reflection is that of a positive mindset?

Change begins with awareness of the way we react and respond.  That’s the first way to measure if you’re a walking negative time bomb who could at any moment say something rude or worse yet, ruin someone’s day.

It only takes a second to make a new choice.  New choices are how you begin to embed new thought pathways in your brain.

SIDE NOTE:

Did you know that you have the ability to store 3000 years of data in your brain?  It would take a city of skyscrapers in LA and New York to equal what 1 brain can do.  Now you can have an idea as to how powerful you are with just your brain.

Now on to the method to show you how to stay positive when the world is so negative.

My number 1 method of becoming more positive is also accessible to EVERYONE.

Read Books

I know that as a kid this method, we call reading was not popular among some of the students.  I WAS one of those students that opted for watching the movie rather than read the book.  I’ve since changed my tune and am an avid reader.

Listen To Audio or Video

Listen to an audio or watch a video.  This can be done as an add-on task during the day to maximize your time.  Sure a video has the watching element but mostly talking head videos (such as the one above) can be “viewed” and still consume the audio.  Generally, you won’t miss much in the video.

The other option for audio is to have an audible account and listen on your phone or in your car while you travel to work.  Maximizing your time when starting out any business is key to getting success faster.  This also helps you in your life balance involving your family and work time spent.

Interact With Like-Minded Individuals

This one has revolutionized my life because it doesn’t really take you being in the presence physically anymore to get the same effect.  You can do a Skype chat or a weekly meeting with a webinar.  As long as you are able to interact with those that are in the place you set your goals to be.  You’re hanging out with them!

Skype has been an integral part of any online business along with zoom hangouts.  I have found that even an hour or so on a zoom hangout sharing ideas has

How To Stay Positive By Measuring Your Reaction Or Responses

Have you ever thought about how you react to certain situations?  Perhaps you have flown off the handle while driving because someone came along and cut you off?  If you pay attention to how you react to situations that tend to irritate you or cause you to go toward the negative spectrum.  You will be leaps and bounds ahead of changing your thoughts and you’ll no longer be asking how to stay positive in a negative world.

One of the strategies that I like to implement is to have a scripture verse that I can think on during the day.  This verse will speak to me about having the mind of Christ.  It does a mind good to have a connection to your source all throughout the day.  Try it out and keep track of your progress by writing it down on a ledger or piece of notebook paper.

This is the best way to keep your progress in front of you so you don’t get discouraged.

The attitude you take in life is going to foretell your future in both your relationships and your financial future.

Be sure to always be working on yourself. The better you are personally on the inside, the better you will be on the outside. Click To Tweet

Why I Wrote This Blog Post

During my twenties, I found myself getting depressed and that turned into negativity. People all around me started telling me how I viewed the world in a negative way.  I never dawned on me that I could change how I viewed things and even my mindset.  I thought you had to take what was given to you.

This thought pattern has changed drastically since going through all sorts of rough experiences.

Had I known what to do about it, I probably would have spotted it much sooner and made some changes.  The good news is that it’s never too late to be positive in life.  It just takes a split second decision to change how you are responding to the daily inputs of life.

[journeysintowebcomics]

Worm Liveblog #70

UPDATE 70: Mannequin

Last time Mannequin had arrived to crash Skitter’s attempts to do damage control in her territory. Things are bound to get bloody if these civilians don’t get away as soon as possible! Which seems...rather unlikely. So all they can do is hope for the best. Let’s continue.

Mannequin doesn’t waste time! Mr. Wildbow continues his streak of the chapters starting with action immediately, with Mannequin lunging forward so quickly his arms just...flail behind himself. It’s scarier than it sounds when I put it like that, because, you know, blades. Besides, it’s effective, the speed gives momentum to the arm when Mannequin stops and swings, the arm at the end of the chain flying forward to slice Skitter’s head off.

I parried it with my baton.  The hit was heavy, more like trying to fend off a sledgehammer than what I’d expected. I almost lost my grip on my weapon.

What was Mannequin’s...entire being made of, again? He was a parahuman that was pretty good with self-sustaining enclosed environments, so I’m sure he had access to rare stuff. I thiiiiink I once read something about this shell being made of a ceramic-looking material. I bet he made it specifically to give strength to his attacks. Weight can increase the force of impact, as far as I know.

Mannequin’s first attack was blocked, he spun in the opposite direction, flailing his other arm towards her, without missing a beat. Instead of blocking, Skitter dodges, the chains wrap around Mannequin. Looks like his strategy is to make circles with his arms and blades. Keep Skitter away, all that. Not that she could do much, anyway! Armsmaster could, because he had the nanomachine halberd. Skitter doesn’t. I think all she can do in this fight is try to keep him away from the civilians, deter him in some way. Defeating him seems like a bit too tall of an order.

As his detached arm reeled in, the fingers folded backwards around the end of one of his feet, gripping it.  He retracted the blade at the toe of the other foot and dropped that foot flat on the ground.  The motion seemed to unbalance him, and he teetered, almost falling over.  Then in one sudden motion, he righted himself and thrust out with his other leg and the three-foot blade that was now attached to it.

Hm. Maybe that can be a way to try to get an edge over him. I’m not sure, but this gave me the impression making him lose his balance could be a possible strategy. How to do such thing, though? And how would that help? Because he could right himself up with ease, you know, a strategy can’t rely on that too much.

I didn’t have time to get out of the way, to bring my baton up to defend myself or even to do more than belatedly realize his near-collapse had been a feint.

Oh, nevermind. Good thing her costume is very resistant against blades. Skitter can only be on the defensive, try to conceal her movements and roll around. It fails and she gets struck, chance Mannequin uses to come and slit her throat – or at least try to.

In one heartbeat, I formed and initiated a plan.  I grunted and made a choking sound, which was all the more realistic because he’d just pulled a length of metal hard against my windpipe; I did want to grunt and I did choke.  Then I went limp and had every bug in the area cease moving.  Like snowflakes, the flies began drifting down from the air.

Kudos for thinking of a plan so quickly. I hope she can think of something else just as quickly, because if he thinks Skitter is dead now, then he’s going to kill everyone else here, that’s a guarantee, and it won’t take him long to slice through many civilians. The challenge here is that Mannequin excels at endurance. He can’t feel tired, so he’ll continue pressing on no matter what. He’s strong, fast, has range...and some extent of physical resistance against attacks. Honestly I’m stumped. I can’t even begin to think of a potential plan.

He could sense me somehow.  How? It had been reckless of me to assume that he used sight to get by, especially when he didn’t have eyeholes in his mask.  The fact that he hadn’t noticed I was faking meant he wasn’t relying on sight, or his sight was limited enough that he couldn’t make out the lack of blood through the cloud of bugs around us.  If he wasn’t hearing my breathing, I doubted he had super hearing either.

Well...on his favor I’ll say that a swarm of insects isn’t a good wall when it’s about hiding from sight, unless it’s really cluttered, and even then if the swarm moves along with her that would make it easy to pinpoint her location. That said, maybe something like heat sensors? That could be it! It’s not like a dead body would cool down immediately, he wouldn’t notice right then and there that she isn’t dead.

It’s said in a moment of crisis the processing power of the brain increases. I can believe all these thoughts are happening in the half a minute or so that’d take for a civilian to lose their cool and try to run.

If I was going to attack, I needed to find a weak point.  But he was smart.  Before the disaster that had turned him into this, he had been on the brink of solving many of the world’s crises.  Overpopulation, renewable energy, effective recycling, world hunger.  Even with tinker abilities offering the means, it took someone special to manage that and actually make progress.

I had to go check what Dragon had said about Mannequin, about how his wife and children were killed by the Simurgh. I can imagine Jack and whoever else was in the team back then would get a kick out of destroying a promising parahuman’s future and life by throwing salt into his wounds until he joined the team. Something like what Bonesaw did to Panacea! But it sure sucks that one of the few people who would be able to improve the world went into the hardcore villain life.

Despite that, being smart at these science feats doesn’t make him invincible. There must be a weakness somewhere, right? Because Worm isn’t ending here. Skitter must have been able to do something.

What would I do in his shoes, with his power?

I wouldn’t leave any vital openings uncovered.  That was a given.  My focus -Mannequin’s focus- would be on designing way to make himself a completely closed system.  It wasn’t just sensible, it was the whole point of his transformation.

In that case...hm. Well I think it’s a given he won’t be destroyed by Skitter, no way, no how. Maybe she could disable him for enough time to get everyone away from him? Hardly, since once he recovers he would go pursue them. The more I think about this the more it seems like driving him away is the only option, and that can only be done with something he can’t overcome. The problem is that an abandoned warehouse/factory/where they are right now is not the kind of place that has anything that could be used that way.

intake of energy by absorption of heat

For a moment the possibility of depriving him of heat crossed my mind, but there are problems: one is that they have no way of depriving him of heat, the other is that I bet he has some sort of batteries inside to supply energy if that’s cut.

I’m growing more convinced he may perceive the world around him thanks to heat.

Putting myself in his shoes, I had to think of his motivation.  Why this form?  I’d make myself resemble a doll or a store mannequin because… it was an eternal reminder. Didn’t his wife and kids die when the Simurgh attacked?  There was a story there.

But what else? Why resemble a human?

Mobility’s sake? Being used to a humanoid shape for who knows how many years and not wanting to delve into uncharted territory? A wish to use the uncanny valley effect to unsettle people? Who knows.

To mislead? Maybe the configuration of ‘my’ organs and parts wasn’t human in the slightest.

And then it will turn out Mannequin divided his brain into pieces and buried them in, say, his ankle. Hah! Okay, no, I think many physical attackers would be deterred by the hard carapace, and even if they got through it, I’d have a few failsafes. Just in case. I think Mannequin’s brain or something is here, inside the body instead of somewhere else.

If I were him… I would have spent hours carefully balancing the ‘ecosystems’ of each individual part of my body.  Something that exacting and that fine tuned would be sensitive, fragile.  They’d be resistant to impacts, I wouldn’t go around getting into fights if they weren’t.  But heat and cold?  A crack in that exterior of his?  It could wreak havoc.

Then I insist he’d have failsafes for such situations. Crush anything he has? Another three start working surreptitiously. I’m just picturing Mannequin as if he’s some sort of underwater city: since it’s, you know, underwater, you need to have there everything you need in case something breaks, like replacement pieces, machinery, etc, already inside the environment. That’s the logic I’m following with Mannequin here, that it’s likely he’d be ready for when anything breaks inside him.

Bugs dealt with threats that were encased in hard shells all the time, didn’t they? They dealt with other species of bugs. There were a hundred solutions there, if I was willing to look for them.

That was the spark of inspiration I needed.  In a matter of seconds, I had a plan.

You know what, I’ll ask Google. No useful results. That’ll make whatever Skitter planned a surprise, then. I sure won’t see it coming because I’m still stumped, haha.

It wasn’t a good plan, but it was something.  As a just-in-case measure, I could try some other smaller plans, on the off chance that they might distract or even work.

...hm. In personal experience, no plan worth doing is started with ‘it wasn’t a good plan’. I hope it goes better than I expect by now, Skitter.

Whatever plan she has right now requires two minutes of preparation, since she needs materials from her lair in order for it to work. Meanwhile she has to wait, hope nobody will make Mannequin attack, and try not to move. It’s nerve-wracking for her to have to do all that, to stay still and not let anyone know she’s still alive, and keep hearing how Mannequin is getting ready for mass murder. A kid gets Mannequin’s attention. She can’t afford to wait any longer and stands up, all bugs in the area rising from the floor. So...all she can do is try to endure until the supplies are here. With as little pain as possible, hopefully!

Mannequin either doesn’t care Skitter just told him to stop and fight her, or he wants her to do something harsh in her attempt to save somebody from him. Most likely the second one, I think. So of course Skitter obliges, thanks to the hero instinct that makes her fight for the civilians, and tackles Mannequin’s legs. He does fall down. Hah! Well that gave enough time for Mannequin’s targets to run, so sure, that works! Except the part of getting a leg around her throat, but that’s nothing she didn’t see coming, I bet.

Not counting the time I’d spent lying on the ground, buying time, how long had I lasted? Less than thirty seconds?

You make it sound like nothing, Skitter! That’s a fourth of the time you need. Good enough! Supposing she was lying there on the floor for another thirty seconds, that’d mean she’d have half of the time already. Not bad, I’d say!

Mannequin has Skitter in a headlock, and he’ll try to chop her into bits with his blades as if they were a fan, she manages to damage those blades enough to make the unable to spin quick enough for that. In a rather daring effort, she strikes at the joint of the leg several times, mere inches from his face. That’s dangerous! She must have one heck of a steady hand! Even though her costume is good against blades, something with enough force to pierce it could injure her, right? I bet this didn’t amuse Mannequin at all, because he throws Skitter into a pile of wooden boards with nails and screws, while still holding her. It’s the perks of having limbs that are attached to your body with a chain.

To get herself free, Skitter uses her knife as a crowbar, getting away with just a headache, bruises and a blurry spot on a lens of her mask. All in all, she’s not doing too badly against a Slaughterhouse Nine member! She sure has lasted much longer than before this time. Still not enough for the bugs to arrive with what she needs for her plans, apparently, but that was longer than when she got shoved into the floor and Mannequin tried to kill her

Could I hold out for long enough?  Could the bystanders?  The moment my bugs arrived would be the moment I could begin my plan.  I’d still have to survive after that, and there was no guarantee it would work.  In fact, my gut was telling me it was a long shot.

A long shot is better than nothing. I don’t think Skitter has mentioned exactly what supplies her bugs are bringing. It can’t be anything too heavy. Whatever she’s planning will have to be very clever, since she can’t rely on strength or weight for whatever she wants. She needs around a minute more before her bugs arrive.

What was going on behind that expressionless mask?  Was he coming up with a battle plan?  Maybe, maybe not.  He didn’t really need one.  It could be that he was calculating how best to destroy me: not just killing me, but ruining me.  There were enough ways he could do it.  Inflicting lifelong scars and injury.  Or he could go down the opposite road and murder the civilians, leaving me as the only one standing.  Both were very real possibilities, both devastating in their own way.

He already tried to kill Skitter, I really doubt he’d maim her, kill everyone else and call it a day. He’s going to try his best to destroy her. Kind of a double-edged sword here, the more he thinks, the more time the bugs will have to arrive, but he also may think of better and cleverer plans.

Or maybe, behind that hard shell, he was in the throes of mental anguish.  Maybe he was spending every second of every day reliving the day he lost his family and his dreams to a nigh-unstoppable, malignant force.

I don’t know if at this point that’s possible. Wouldn’t anyone take measures to not to think about that? He sure has the means better than anyone, being a tinker and also having Bonesaw in the team. I lean more towards he planning Skitter’s horrible, horrible demise.

Not having any other option and maybe not wanting him to come with novel ways to kill her, she goes with Plan A: jam the mechanisms with bugs. While he bludgeons Skitter with some of his weapons, she manages to cram insects inside the slots those weapons came out from, and tries to clog the system. Well if the bugs are large enough and the mechanisms are small enough that could work.

Mannequin stepped back, and I watched as he retracted all of his blades, the slots they’d speared out of sealing closed behind them.  A wave of pressure and heat killed off every bug and likely most of the gunk I’d managed to smear inside.

Ooooor he could do that. Self-contained environment, with ways to counter common problems like insects. Oh well. It was worth a try. For Plan B she’ll need her baton. How exactly she’ll use it...well she sure won’t be able to jam the baton anywhere, that’s for sure! While her bugs go fetch the baton, he lunges at her.

This time, his attack was frenzied.  If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought he was irritated.

She said heroes and villains better than her have faced Mannequin before, but I wonder how long they have lasted? Because Skitter sure hasn’t done badly! And maybe that does irritate him. I’d like to think it does.

Mannequin flails around, blades and limbs going around, hitting her and throwing her back into the pile of wood. She acquires one to try to deviate a blade towards the floor, another two strike her chest, getting stuck in her armor. See, I bet that’s another thing that may be frustrating Mannequin. Skitter is not a parahuman known for being invulnerable, she has no amazing physical strength, she’s as squishy and defenseless-looking as she can be, yet he can’t kill her, he just hasn’t been able to do it yet. That must be frustrating, especially for a killer, yeah?

She lasted long enough for her swarm to arrive. They don’t seem to have brought anything. Hm.  But if they had to come all the way from her lair instead of using bugs that are here and now, then...I think I’m onto something, but I just can’t take this train of logic to the last station. I feel like I’m forgetting something important, like I should have figured it out already, but I just can’t pinpoint it, no matter how hard I think.

There’s emphasis on how the bugs are moving in a symmetrical pattern, and on Mannequin’s peculiar way of sensing things. He can feel the bugs somehow, so maybe I was wrong about it working with heat sensors. Every time the swarm sweeps over him, he staggers. Hm... Skitter’s getting her behind kicked pretty hard here, yet the bugs keep passing over him, three times by now.

The swarm consisted of pairings of flying insect and arachnid.  Every spider from my lair was clutching a bee, a wasp or a larger dragonfly, who clutched the spider in turn.  A thousand pairs.

That’s what I was having a hard time remembering! Right, she has all of her strong silk-making spiders in her hideout! The ones with the strands that can get really strong when weaved correctly. If she had to bring them, then her plan is to use it against Mannequin somehow. So the reason why the swarm is passing over Mannequin is because they’re leaving silk on him, then? Trying to...restrain him? That’s where this thought is kind of falling apart. True, these strands can be resistant, but that’s only when weaved properly and when there are many strands together. They’ll have to pass many times more over Mannequin to have enough silk for that.

That said, looks like Mannequin can’t detect something as minute as spiderweb strands. That could be worth noting and remembering, perhaps? Hm...

The very next paragraph confirms what I think Skitter is doing. Her focus is on his joints; I suppose that means she’s going to again try to mess with the mechanisms inside his body. What may stop this from not working just like it happened with Plan A is that he can’t notice the spiderweb, as I said not too long ago, I think. So...the moment he realizes it is the moment the plan is over, most likely. Hey, worth a try, anyways, since the Plan B of bending and damaging his blades didn’t work.

When Mannequin fires the arm aaaaaall the way to where Skitter is, she focuses her spiders and webs onto the chair, trying to gum it up as much as possible.

The last quarter of the retraction process was a fraction slower.  Silk glue gumming up the works, I could hope.  I saw him look at his arm, then flex the fingers, as if to test them.

It’s working! I admit I’m surprised. She wasn’t wrong when she said it was a long shot, it’s a good thing it’s working! It doesn’t take long for him to realize what Skitter’s doing, but he doesn’t seem able to counter it. He swings a blade, most likely trying to sever any strings that may be around him, and strikes down a couple civilians. Dang, it was all going so well and not-so-bloody so far. It’s a good thing he’s far too busy to keep slicing at people.

When he moved to retract that chain, the mechanism stalled.

I remember he had closed everything before he was able to incinerate the stuff inside the shell. If he can’t retract the chain all the way, then maybe he can’t. So now he’s going to have that arm hanging around, that may throw him off balance a bit.

A better cape than I might have had a quip there, an insult.

Add a campy pose and maybe it will work.

Since he can’t retract the chain, Mannequin snaps the chain and slams the hand in its spot again and, in what I’m interpreting as a move that shows how irritated he feels right now, he gets all his blades out and spins them to cut as many webs as possible and goes towards the civilians. Even though he managed to cut most of what was over him, Skitter wastes no time in throwing more webs on him.

He doesn’t stop advancing towards the civilians, so Skitter goes with the second part of the plan: turns out half of the swarm did bring objects, and they throw everything on Mannequin. Pieces of costume, paints, glue, everything. There’s a lot of stains on Mannequin, the pieces get stuck on him, it’s...it’s actually rather rewarding to read about. Against all odds, she’s managing to fight and humiliate him. It’s very impressive.

Taking advantage of the moment, Skitter hits with a piece of wood and makes him fall to the floor, chance she uses to grab the arm and pull, pull so hard she snaps the hand off. She also throws from the head, until she separates it.

Mannequin must be lighter than I expected, Skitter’s managing to drag him a bit. She’s struggling, so a burly civilian comes forth to help. Good thing it’s safer now than before. Between the two of them they manage to get the head all the way to a few steel bars, where she ties the head. Her plan is that Mannequin may not want to leave without his head, so...if the chain is too strong, then he won’t break it, and therefore he won’t be able to leave.

Even with stuff gumming up the works, his chest clearly had stronger mechanisms inside it than the rest of his body did.

Guess that confirms all that’s important is right there in the chest instead of the head. She tries to continue, but she can’t, she wanted to hit the head with the cinder block. Hoping to crack it open? Unlikely she’d have been able to do it, anyway. Mannequin stands up...

Had I pissed him off?

Oh, definitely. No doubt about it. His body is all damaged, he lost an arm – arm that’s trying to crawl towards the rest of his body – and he has a lot of spiderwebs and many assorted stuff all over him. He never seemed to me like someone who didn’t have emotions anymore, so yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s royally pissed off right now.

To stop him from reaching his hand, Skitter gets in the way. That must have been the last straw, because he reaches into his neck and takes out a knife that has Armsmaster’s nanomachine technology. Ah. I suppose he took it with him when he went to recruit him, or he recreated it from what he saw at that moment. Okay, Skitter has to dodge that no matter what.

She’s actually dodging it! And while she does, that burly bystander does what she wanted and hits the head with the cinder block a few times. Say, maybe you should consider offer him a job, Skitter. He deserves some sort of reward. He may have saved your life right now. The head disconnects from the chain and falls onto the floor. The hand tries to return to the body, Skitter covers it with more webbing, stopping it in its tracks. Victory?

If disabling the hand wasn’t decisive enough, then carrying and gluing the arm to the ceiling may be, Skitter even uses that chance to make him lose his balance again, falling to the floor. She even asks him if he wants to keep going. It takes a moment for him to answer, he stands up and makes a gesture of disapproval before...leaving. He’s actually leaving. I think I need to say it again:

Skitter just managed to drive away Mannequin of the Slaughterhouse Nine. That’s a feat no matter how you look at it.

The moment Mannequin is many blocks away, Skitter gives herself time to rest, falling to her knees. All around her people start murmuring, and Charlotte comes to help. Oh hey, Charlotte, you still were around! Quite an impressive show, eh?

I couldn’t take the criticism, and I didn’t deserve any praise.  How many people had been hurt while I fought Mannequin?  How many people had died because I hadn’t been on the alert?

The narration said like five people got hurt during the fight, and before it all happened, Mannequin killed two paramedics and the woman who was so against Skitter. Not a negligible amount of wounded and casualties, but...she really stopped it from getting worse. If it hadn’t been for her, maybe someone would have been found cut and strung with chains, just like one of the unfortunate victims from the Wards interlude.

Mourning the loss of the lives that were lost, Skitter apologizes to the corpse of the woman that was killed, and instructs Charlotte to throw the head and the arm down into the ocean. Mannequin abandoned the head because it seems it was damaged enough to require being abandoned, there’s some fluid starting to leak from it. Leaving it all in any random place could be risky in case Mannequin can track it down and wants to recover it, so yeah, to the bottom of the ocean it will be. Not wanting to face the residents of her territory, Skitter leaves.

I’d won. So to speak.

Somehow. Seriously, that was a feat.

Now that was the end of the chapter. That was the fight with Mannequin! I...I have a couple opinions. Judging by the reactions I got from my inbox when I expressed my dissatisfaction last update, I think one of those opinions may not be entirely welcome, but hey, that’s what happens with a liveblog. It’s the risk I take when I say what crosses my mind about a story!

Before voicing them, though, I’ll do what I said I would do. An anonymous contributor messaged me. There were reasons as to why this was a good place for the Mannequin fight, and why it’s good it’s happening. At the time I didn’t read more than a few words, so I wouldn’t be influenced and I could get to the fight in more or less the same state of mind I had when I stopped last time. Blind liveblogs thrive when opinions are authentic at the time of the reading, I’d say! So now that I finished reading the fight, I think I can pay due attention to the message. Let’s see...

Anonymous says: We know from 11.d that Mannequin likes to target people who are helping others or trying to make the world a better place. Basically anyone who's trying to succeed where he failed. Right now, skitter is doing more than basically anyone else in the city to help people survive the attack. It makes sense that that world make her his number one target.

Good point. It was mentioned that was some of Mannequin’s preferred targets. He did show disapproval at Skitter’s actions of trying to save people. Quite the fast reaction from Mannequin, though. It has been...what, an hour since Shatterbird made all glass and sand explode? Word sure traveled fast to Mannequin. I’m blaming Cherish for that.

Anonymous says: Plague stands for the spreading of scourge. This arc is the stablishing of how to deal with the arrival of the S9: You dont. Because this isn't your generic story where by villains throw themselves one at a time to be picked off. The group acts as this individual all-encompassing threat of escalation, where each member is going so all out each of them is an umoredictabke disaster. Except we KNEW Mannequin hates people trying to help others. The glass thing was a tone set for the scale of CONT...

Nnnnnot entirely convinced. When you put it like that it makes it essential for every other member to be out there causing chaos right now. Maybe they’re doing it offscreen, maybe they’re not, but right now, from what I read and see here in the story, and leaving Shatterbird’s song aside, Mannequin’s looking a bit like a lone incident, in terms of attacking people in the city.

Anonymous says: Cont... Things to come, how terrible is the plague. I cant imagine writing an entire arc of skitter and co helping people in the sameish manner while the S9 just stand by when they have just officially announced that they are here and the games have begun. It just doesnt make sense tome that the murder hobos wouldn't be out there murdering, just for the sake of our character having a breather. All other problems at the start were for groups. Even the glass, but its a testament to WB's CONT...

...yeah, I suppose...it wouldn’t make sense. I thought they’d be busy enough...I don’t know, discussing what to do regarding Tattletale’s challenge. They have/had to discuss it, after all. Change their plans accordingly. Modify their tests plans to make sure they’d win. Maaaaybe they already did so, and now they’re out there having fun. I don’t know.

Anonymous says: Writing that we were so into Taylors mind that it seemed like her problem to solve. "but fuck me most of all" she says as she walks away from the HUNDREDS of people she just saved while her legs probably cramp up from all the lactic acid. Now mannequin, THIS is a threat to Taylor as a powered individual, THIS is the response for her first majorly heroic acts in a while. I would love to hear more of your opinion though!

I like the thought that this is the consequences of her efforts to save as many people as possible, I admit. The universe balances good actions with bad consequences, that’s how the Worm universe works. All in all...hm...well it’s time for my opinions now that I read the fight.

First, I’ll admit it was better than I expected. I came to this fight without many expectations, mostly because, well, you know by now I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. Now that it’s over, I’m looking back and I find my opinion has improved. It was mostly the last part what made me change my mind, though. Until then, I was feeling kind of underwhelmed – because I couldn’t know what exactly Skitter was planning, and because if she had lost and everyone had been slaughtered, well, it’d have looked like gratuitous death to make things harder for Skitter. It’d have been a sentiment stemming from how outmatched she’d be against a killer that’s a worldwide threat.

But that didn’t happen! She actually was able to fight and do her best. Even if she hadn’t won, the fact she was able to hold her own would have been enough for me. I think that’s what turned this fight into something worthwhile. I didn’t take for granted she’d win since Mr. Wildbow isn’t afraid of letting the main characters suffer defeats, and this time I’m glad it didn’t happen.

So...yeah, I’m okay with this turn of events now. Fine. You win, Mr. Wildbow, you convinced me. Kind of at the last moment, but you did.

I will stop for now. See you next time.

Next time: in two updates

[dillonstoltzfus-blog]

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If this's about battle, starvation, fatality, love or initiation rite, your inescapable task is actually to see to it that the piece ought to have the ability to draw in an individual empathy or even identity off a. greater amount of targeted audiences that have to be actually of right presuming people. Positive discontent is actually essential for a creative complication solver, for if you enjoy along with everything the method it is, you will not would like to alter everything. Pretty soon these activities will certainly come to be a part of you as well as you'll be addicted to these imaginative workouts. Lots of people known for being innovative usage these techniques, yet are not conscious they are doing so due to the fact that they have certainly not been formally trained in all of them. You are actually currently efficient in creativity in all opportunities, yet you need to strip away the fictional psychological blocks (or even cartons) that you have actually picked up along the way to everywhere you are actually today. You don't must be actually a creative thinker to be able to assume outside the box, you just should do even more things that activates creative thinking. All plus all, simply be actually artistic and attempt to think about the most ideal ways in which your aged fitness tools can be placed to excellent use. The emphasis gones on venture control abilities and also the progression from negotiable capabilities including preparation, budgeting, group structure, leadership and sensible measures to shield exactly what is actually special concerning your suggestions. Leisure approaches like meditation and exercise such as playing your favorite sporting activity could provide your thoughts a rest from the continual noise as well as requirements of life. Described detailed: each card shows a series from steps to follow in order to help you get inspired, organise your tips as well as improve your creativity skill-sets. First, our experts need to identify what reduces, or even ceases creativity and also exactly how we can easily conquer the barriers that are actually invisible to us. If you cherished this article and also you would like to acquire more info regarding yellow pages residential directory uk (Continued) nicely visit our website. This is actually a very satisfying process, due to the fact that huge rewards arise from possibilities to develop something that works a lot better, or addresses a problem. Everything off the simple flash to several other scripts and also protocols are actually used to code these exciting video games. When you ¡ ¯ ve picked the greatest choice, below ¡ ¯ s a means to increase the artistic impact this physical exercise: Transactions the solution to the best from a brand new webpage and after that compose TWENTY tips for applying that in your lifestyle. Reacting to the challenges of the twenty-first century - along with its complex environmental, financial and social pressures - demands youths to become imaginative, ingenious, enterprising and also adaptable, with the motivation, assurance and also capabilities to make use of crucial as well as imagination actively. We commonly deal with companies to design a straightforward yet powerful modification method to drive clean, creative thinking, accordinged to a few picked components from our Capacity Property ® Unit.. Promote character creating which certainly not only enhances communication skills yet likewise assists the youngster to communicate along with good friends as well as relatives. My story attempts to demonstrate how a trigger of moment incorporated with a great request from usual proficiency (the genes ...) cause an imaginative service that was required since the outdated strategies were actually not effective any more. Psycho therapist Mihaly Csikszentmahalyi has analyzed this condition-- which he phones innovative circulation-- as well as concluded that this is very strongly associated with impressive imaginative functionality. When each are solid and also communicating successfully on an equal manner, assuming is made the most of. The 6 Hats Body is actually certainly not straight an artistic strategy, but this makes time as well as area for innovation. And yet, creative power raises a young kid's wish to know as well as assists mental development. Concentrating on a subject in a logical, logical way for a long time, thinking through feasible remedies. In reality, lots of believe that all innovative creativity comes using the subconscious, which the most artistic folks are those which have located techniques to access it as well as carry this to aware understanding. Along with being actually artistic, exhibit designers have to have exceptional communication skills. Before explaining this reputation, nonetheless, it is vital to keep in mind that imagination is actually a brainpower anyone can, certainly not just the performers among us. When a lot of us think of creative individuals, our team usually mention a special talent including the capacity to draw, coat, shape, create, play music, perform, dance, etc And likewise, without successful processes in place to enhance creative ideas right into sensible, actual, market value added request, creative thinking is from currently industrial worth whatsoever. They have gained the pupils and also instructors a large amount, however they have actually not changed the value of team work, creativity physical exercises, and also one on one partnerships along with educators and also various other students. Creative thinking is the end result from right-brain activity - intuition, idea, ideas.

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Artificial Intelligence: Implications On Marketing, Analytics, And You

A rare post today. It looks a little further out into the future than I normally tend to. It attempts to simplify a topic that has more than it’s share of coolness, confusion and complexity.

While the phrase Artificial Intelligence has been around since the first human wondered if she could go further if she had access to entities with inorganic intelligence, it truly jumped the shark in 2016. Primarily because we got our first real everyday access to products and services that used some form of AI to delight us. No more theory, we felt it!

I’m going to take a very long walk with you today. This topic has consumed a lot of my thinking over the last year (you’ll see the exact start date below). It’s implications are far and wide, even in the narrow scope that I live in (marketing, analytics, influence). I have so much to tell you, stuff I’m scared about, and so much I’m excited about.

Here are the elements I’ll cover:

+ AI | Now | Local Maxima. + AI | Now | Global Maxima. + What the heck is Artificial Intelligence? + Machine Learning | Marketing. + Machine Learning | Analytics. + Artificial Intelligence | Future | Kids. + Artificial Intelligence | Worry about Humanity.

Through it all, my goal is to make the topic accessible, get you to understand some of the key terms, their implication on our work, our jobs, and in a bonus implications on the future we are responsible for (your kids and mine).

Let’s go!

AI | Now | Local Maxima.

AI also seems so out there, so hard to grasp. Let me fix that for you.

Here’s a really simple example, easily accessible. Google Photos.

Humans took 2.5 trillion pictures in 2016. As you are trying to find that one special picture, it feels like all 2.5 trillion are on your phone! A real problem for all of us. Google Photos uses AI to solve this problem.

For example, I want pictures of Sushi… I simply type in Sushi… Boom!

Clearly I’m not your classic I love my food so much I must Instagram every meal person. :)

Notice nothing is categorized or tagged in the pictures above. Google Photos has to be able to recognize the content all on it’s own.

It is actually smarter than what you see above. When I type in the name of my son and Sushi, I get just one photo back! If I type in his name and the word beach, I get pictures of him on a beach… throughout his entire life! Photos can keep track of him from baby to today.

Cool, right? AI.

On your phone, try to search for people in your lives by name, by faces, combine their name with events/things/locations and you’ll be surprised at what the AI returns.

One more.

In trying to see how smart Google Photos really is, I wanted to try something harder… I typed in the query pain (French for bread)… and I got this…

This really delighted me.

On top is a Hong Kong Pineapple Bun, in the middle is an Indian Chapatti, and at the bottom is my wife’s Italian focaccia bread infused with our home grow rosemary. All, breads.

Think of how insanely cool it is that Google Photos can translate pain into bread and find all different kinds of breads that our family enjoys. From tens of thousands of photos in my album. Instantly.

(We’ll touch on this topic later but…) These are moments when I really worry that my job will soon become irrelevant. I mean, just imagine how hard it is to do what you see above, and everything I do is actually so much easier!

AI | Now | Global Maxima.

On that topic… My first true moment of worry about my professional future came in March 2016 when AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol, the unassailable Go grandmaster. It was believed, due to the immense complexity of the game of Go, that computers were at least a decade away from beating humans. The potential legal board positions in Go are greater than the number of atoms in the universe. AlphaGo not only had to compute all the possible positions to play, but to pick the best one it also had to have some kind of intuition and strategic thinking – a challenge beyond raw compute power.

The specific scary moment was on 11th of March. The kids and I were watching the livestream of game two from Seoul on our TV. During the game AlphaGo made its now famous Move  37. We were so confused. The expert commentators on TV thought it was a mistake. It is worth watching the minute of so of the video on YouTube.

It’s the black piece being moved next to the white one almost exactly in the middle of the board, to your right.

The game continued for another three hours, but it was over at move 37. Only AlphaGo knew that, it took a while for humans to come to that realization. It was, in the letter and spirit of the word, inconceivable by humans.

See, why it freaked me out that I might not have a career? Why do we need all these white collared jobs populated by people who will always be slower, more inefficient, and vastly less smart? Even a narrowly specialized AI entity in the short-term can replace their value in a professional environment. As we make progress towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), that entity will do 50 more than in addition to your one thing.

It is important that I share that being scared or freaked out can co-exist with excitement. You know the quote about the importance of being able to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time.

I am excited about AI, and perhaps beyond excited about AGI as it promises the scaled application of intelligence that will truly change the world in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. Consider Move 37. Maybe there is a Move 37 to solve Global Warming, and we simply can’t conceive of it. Maybe there is a Move 37 for fusion. Or perpetual motion. Or… Love. And, there has to be a Move 37 for politics. Consider how incredible it will be that we’ll have AGI around to solve these impossible problems.

I am also excited because I believe that, at least as far out as I can see, the human brain and the human heart will be valued – we will identify new things to value, it just won’t be Digital Marketing Evangelist. Perhaps you now see why I’ve pivoted my career to Storytelling with data over the last couple of years. :)

I realize there are people throwing up red flags, warning us. They are smarter and vastly more knowledgeable on this subject than I could ever hope to be. We should listen to them carefully. I’ve watched at least 30 hours of lectures on YouTube on this topic.

My personal reaction to AI emanates from three things:

1. There really is no turning back. Humans push forward.

2. It is impossible to imagine what 2057 will look like. Our current red flags are sourced from what human means today, what works means today, what our relationship with technology means today. None of this might be relevant by then (even less relevant by 2100).

3. Between 2057 and now, I humbly believe that AI will function to extend our own intelligence, fill our gaps, and will find solutions inconceivable to humans to intractable problems (see above)

My personal strategy: Understand reality. Invest in continuous learning. Adapt. Add new/different value. Rinse and repeat. 

The most conservative estimate is that AI driven changes are expected to replace 25% of jobs across the world, by 2026. My goal: Stay ahead by solving new challenges.

If you’ve thought about it, please share yours in comments below.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s really understand what this thing is.

What the heck is Artificial Intelligence?

People tend to use these phrases almost interchangeably: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning.

It does not help that there is genuine ambiguity about each of them as we are still in the early evolutionary stages.

Let me share a simple definition that helps me understand each phrase.

AI is an intelligent machine.

ML is the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. Currently, ML is the most exciting application of AI.

Deep Learning is a specific ML technique.

Most Deep Learning methods involve artificial neural networks, modeling how our bran works. At the moment Deep Learning forms the basis for most of the incredible advances in Machine Learning (and in turn AI).

A pinch more about Deep Learning as it plays such a critical role in all the current AI excitement.

There are some who believe that anything modeled on the human brain, like Deep Learning, will be limited in it’s intelligence, that it will inherit the limits and flaws that our intelligence possesses. This will then cap what an AI might be capable of. An additional problem to worry about with Deep Learning is that we might not have massive training datasets for every problem we want to solve (mandatory for Deep Learning).

Hence, while Deep Learning is rightly getting lots of focus and affection at the moment, I’m excited that some outliers, :), are investigating other techniques. One of my favorite alternatives is Counterfactual Regret Minimization.

In summary: Deep Learning is a specific Machine Learning technique which currently powers the most exciting applications of Artificial Intelligence.

Now you know how to use each phrase correctly. :)

Machine Learning | Marketing.

I use the phrase AI sparingly, preferring Machine Learning instead since it is the primary technique that is powering the changes you see in our context.

You are seeing many applications of Machine Learning being applied to Marketing. Here’s a collection of ideas to push your thinking.

The one that I’m most excited about (because we suck so much at it) is the ability to personalize content delivered via our ads. Right message for the right person.

I am also impressed with the advances ML is powering in smart bidding (particularly in AdWords). You set your desired outcomes (target CPA, ROAS, enhanced CPC) and let intelligence help you get to your goals – sans human micro fidgeting! Right message for the right person at the right time.

Broadly speaking it is important to internalize that humans are going to get out of the campaign business (campaign management, content, offers, manual spreadsheet massaging, handful of keywords/pages/whatever focus, etc.).

Here’s one illustrative example. Most manual touch (even with a tool) search campaigns take into account three or four signals. Keyword. Time of Day. Location. Something else. Even the most “automated” approaches from your advanced agency will use a handful more. Yet, an entity like Google or Facebook has hundreds (not a metaphor) of signals it can use to deliver the right ad. There is no way any manual approach can solve for this. Machine Learning to the rescue.

Oh, and you can deliver the right message in a billion queries world (check the size of your current search campaigns for a contrast).

Let me bring some of this home by sharing an actual example from last year.

A large hotel chain wanted to solve this problem: 90k travelers are stranded every day in America across 5,145 airports. How can the hotel ensure that they show up at the right moment for all these people? The solution was to leverage real-time signals like bad weather, flight delays at 5,145 airports, and other such data, combine that with ML powered algorithms to automate ads and messaging in the proximity of local airports. All sans human-control. Result? 60% increase in bookings in targeted areas. ML + Automation = Profit.

Oh, and of course if your company’s data is not limited (and you have solved identity, please, please solve identity) you can leverage ML to do the above campaign across Search, Display and Video. AND (are you sitting down?) rather than guessing how much credit to give each marketing strategy from hundreds of thousands of customer touch points, ML powered attribution can magically analyze every individual’s journey and automatically recommend shifts to your media budget! O. M. G.

This is not some future fantasy. This is last year. Using Machine Learning.

Does it give you a sense for how far behind your company might already be?

Consider the implications of ML on your email marketing program. The dataset you have contains every piece of data about all the people on your mailing list, all the content that has ever gone out, every click they have every interacted with, every product you have, every product’s lifecycle, purchase cycle, attach rates, every outbound click, unsubscribing rates (and on and on) across all of your company history. Can you create the perfect email campaign for every person to maximize their happiness and your profit, always?

With ML, you can imagine that this is just a mid-sized difficult problem to solve.

I’m unaware of any ESP at the moment who is doing this (that does not mean it is not happening). What I’m confident of is that it is coming. So, if you are in the email business as a vendor, as an agency, or as a company…. You should be planning to live in that world now. You should be pushing your people, your agency, your vendor into that world. Now.

One key thing that stymied my efforts, and likely your ML efforts, in 2016 was Identity. Solving Identify will allow us to join isolated pools of data, give them a stronger purpose. While we all work to do that (and it really is your problem to solve primarily and not a vendor’s), it is important to realize that each marketing channel has gotten so much more advanced in being able to identify a singular human on it’s own platform. Yes, a silo but so much better than 2015.

What is great about this is that you can take one important pool where you’ve solved Identity already, your customer data, and all the signals you get from customer scoring, propensity modeling, past purchase behavior, lifetime value and other orgasmic goodness you already have, and combine it with the Identity signals from your marketing platforms to solve some very tough problems you have today.

Your kilobytes of golden signals merged with the gigabytes of customer and intent signals in their terabytes of data. You throw in some Machine Learnings into that and it truly is magic.

Another example from last year.

For a consumer electronics company, rather than engaging with everyone and slathering them all with a spray and pray generic message… The strategy deployed was to classify the existing customers, take into account their predicted value to the company, their past behavior, current expressed intent-signals, the predicted value to the company from that signal, and context the human is in. All this data, across tens of millions of identified signals to deliver a deeply unique message to humans that mattered the most – at scale. A 30 point increase in conversion rate. Thirty points.

And, this is not unusual. I’m thinking of one more example I’ll share with you in the future about an insurance company and being able to combine audience signals with machine learning to deliver a 58% increase in conversions of people who had the same attributes as their top 10% most profitable customers. Insane, right?

All the examples above, all the stories above, are not future looking. They are all real things you can do today, and results we delivered last year. That is how far along marketing already is in its ML journey. I cannot even begin to tell you how pumped I am about the changes coming this year.

All of the above is still at least to a degree human assisted. I expect, looking forward, that the human assisted part will peel off. Sooner rather than later. It is important that you consider this as you plan your career over the next three years. If you want to know what I’m doing, search for the phrase “my personal strategy” above.

For a little bit, I expect that some humans will still be required to fill data gaps (Identity!), humans will still be required for imagining brand copy or coming up with centerfold creatives. But anything that is done often in a repeatable manner is already headed to be sans human.

I really cannot stress this enough… If your marketing’s foundation is to keep adding more hamsters to run on wheels to achieve scale, you are doomed. Even if you find enough hamsters, it is critical to realize the game has changed.

While it is a little sad that our primary job as Marketers won’t be to press the relevant buttons and twist the relevant knobs on the machine, I am happy that in the end the winner is the human at the other end of our marketing. More relevant messages (if not perfectly relevant), at precisely the right time (and perhaps delivered just once!), to the human in the most meaningful moments.

Win-Win-Win.

Yes. I do have a sense for how disruptive the implication of all this change is for me, for you and for our co-workers at a deeply personal level.

Machine Learning | Analytics.

This story is much more straightforward. More and more humans are going to be transitioned out of the business of analytics. There won’t be any need for them. The pace will accelerate over the next handful of years.

We are needed today because data collection is hard. So, we have an army of implementers.

Most humans employed by companies were unable to access data – not intelligent enough or trained enough or simply time pressures. So, we have an army of glorified data regurgitators. I kid. I mean Analysts. They send out reports and dashboards. They are in the business of answering known knowns.

Some companies, some of the times truly want strategic questions answered, and they hire a small platoon of Analysis Ninjas. Most of the times they are in the valuable business of answering the known unknowns, they aim to get to the priceless unknown unknowns.

[Sidebar: If you don’t know these three phrases, please watch my short talk: A Big Data Imperative: Driving Big Action.]

Insane as it seems like, data collection should get sorted out in the next few years. As close to perfect data, with little to no instrumentation, because it will all already be built in.

The current crop of Analytics tools are getting better and better at the known knowns, the process of disintermediation of the humans doing that work is only going to accelerate… And then that work will disappear. If you are solving for the known knowns, and ML can do that a million times better than you AND can take the necessary action, why are you or I needed in the data puking business?

If you are a report writer in your company most of the time, ponder the above thought. Here’s the great news: Time to move up the food chain or move to a different chain. Hurray!

The Known Unknowns are going to be a source of job security for the next two or three years (perhaps less on the Marketing side). As ML creates new possibilities whenever people give you a finite, repeatable question, for which they don’t have an answer, ML will ask: Why do you need the answer? Why don’t I just go take the action for you?

Ok, it literally won’t say that, but for predictable questions there are predictable actions to be taken. Why can’t we automate them and infuse them with intelligence?

The barrier to this is that your Analytics vendor is in a silo, your campaign vendor in their own, your CMS in it’s own, your mobile anything in it’s own. None of them caring to extend and collaborate. Still, a solvable problem. And, if you read my marketing stories above carefully, this is already solved in those examples. So, there is a blueprint.

If you are in the business of answering unknown unknowns, you have job security for another five years or so. This is simply because analytics vendors are still not taking the ML revolution seriously. Not at Adobe, not at Google, not at SAP, not at IBM. There are small efforts. Click on link called Assistant in the left nav of the Google Analytics app, or click on the link in Analytics that says Data Driven Attribution. They should you hints, even as they leave the action entirely on the human. I think we need our version of the Manhattan project. Hopefully analytics vendors will pivot in a big way – why solve the pressing, surely going to go away in two years, problems of today?

Here’s the higher-order-bit…. Anthony Goldbloom phrased this beautifully: Machines will excel at frequent high-volume tasks, humans can tackle novel situations.

In Analytics and Optimization, almost everything we do today would fit in the category of frequent high-volume tasks. It puts pressure on the longevity of our jobs. Until complete disruption arrives, try to migrate your job’s focus on the unknown unknowns – that is still a novel situation.

Analytics was a means to making smarter decisions. I am glad analytics as we know it will go away. It will be automated, scaled, faster, more delightful and deliver higher impact.

Over the last few years you’ve seen a huge infusion on this blog of business strategy, of influencing shifts in direction, of trying to fill gaps in people’s thinking where no data exists, of being able to function in ambiguity. All of these, until we get truly Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), will still continue to be a source of gainful employment. Hence, that’s the Analyst of the near-future in my humble view.

Artificial Intelligence | Future | Kids.

I don’t normally talk about this, but in context of this discussion I wanted to be a bit more open.

All this time I’ve spent on AI, on the acceleration of change, on the massive disruption that’s coming, it got me thinking about my kids and the world I have to get them ready for.

Two thoughts to share with you, to spark your imagination in case you have kids or you play an influential role in a child’s life.

The Strategic.

Our kids are young, hence almost nothing they are learning in school or they’ll learn at University will really get them ready to live in the world they’ll graduate into. And. What scares me is that I can’t even predict what that world will be like. What will work actually mean? I don’t like being helpless, and hence I gave some thought to what key skills / attributes could I possibly want them to have that will help them to be ready to tackle what might be coming.

We choose three that might serve them well:

1. Emotional resilience. (A handful of things in there. A strong emotional core, in the face of challenging situations – love, work, insane people etc. The ability to be happy – I'm paranoid about this one.)

2. Recognize, and exploit change. (Hardest thing for a human to do, we like status quo. I'm thinking of how to give them a portfolio of skills, rather than just be happy they are an engineer or a teacher or a plumber.)

3. Discipline. (Be laser focused, ability to get things done, ignore distractions – not the same as focus -, a certain amount of ruthlessness in getting to a pre-determined valuable end.)

There are more of course. One that came close was the ability to always know one’s unique strengths. These three felt right to us.

I invite your suggestions via comments below.

The Tactical.

My son has a propensity towards computer science. Even at his young age he programs in Java, he has learned Perl, JavaScript, and other web technologies. He is working on his second Android app. While all that, and his Sunday tutoring at Stanford, is helping stretch his brain, training him to think in clever ways, he will start his professional life, less than a decade away, with no jobs where those skills are going to be required.

Because he is headed into this specific direction, we are pivoting our strategy for him. We are going to prepare him for the world that will be well here, by the time he is in his chosen field of interest. The team at Facebook had a very nice article that collected their guidance. It is going to help inform my son's strategy.

Here’s the relevant excerpt from their blog post:

How do we prepare for jobs that don’t yet exist?

If you’re a student:

+ Math and physics classes are where one learns the basic methods for AI, machine learning, data science, and many of the jobs of the future. Take all the math class you can possibly take, including Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Linear Algebra, Probability, and Statistics. Computer science, too, is essential; you’ll need to learn how to program. Engineering, economics, and neuroscience are also helpful. You may also want to consider some areas of philosophy, such as epistemology, which is the study of what is knowledge, what is a scientific theory, and what does it mean to learn.

+ The goal in these classes is not simple rote memorization. Students must learn how to turn data into knowledge. This includes basic statistics, but also how to collect and analyze data, be aware of possible biases, and to be alert to techniques to prevent self-delusion through biased data manipulation.

+ Find a professor in your school who can help you make your ideas concrete. If their time is limited, you can also look toward senior PhD students or postdocs to work with.

+ Apply to PhD programs. Forget about the “ranking” of the school for now. Find a reputable professor who works on topics that you are interested in, or pick a person whose papers you like or admire. Apply to several PhD programs in the schools of these professors and mention in your letter that you’d like to work with that professor, but would be open to work with others.

+ Engage with an AI-related problem you are passionate about. Start reading the literature on the problem and try to think about it differently than what was done before. Before you graduate, try to write a paper about your research or release a piece of open source code.

+ Apply for industry-focused internships to get hands-on experience on how AI works in practice.

Summary: Loads of Advanced Math, Engineering, Neuroscience with a pinch of philosophy, and loads of analytical thinking.

If you have a child in your life who is headed in the "IT" / "Computers" (or honestly any job that will come in five years), please consider this valuable guidance.

Artificial Intelligence | Worry about Humanity.

I can’t cover AI without at least touching on this thought:

AI is going to wipe out humanity. To a super intelligence that is in control of the planet, we will appear to be the equivalent of how ants appear to us – mostly pests who get in the way, even as we express passing appreciation for their “primitive intelligence.”

It is important to understand two incredibly valuable definitions that I’ve paraphrased from the brilliant Yuval Noah Harari.

Intelligence is the ability to solve problems.

Consciousness is  the ability to feel things.

People who express the thought above mix the two things.

Absolutely no one can predict the future a hundred years out (I encourage you NOT to Google Mr. Harari’s prediction about what he sees happening 300 years out). But, everything we know at the moment, everything we can see peeking into the future to the best abilities of our best thinkers, indicates that we are solving for Intelligence, there is no current path to Consciousness.

It does not mean we will keep control of the Super Intelligence or that we or a Super Intelligence won’t want to solve for Consciousness (honestly, why would it?).

It is important to understand the difference, if only to be able to see through the hysteria and think cogently.

Speaking of thinking cogently, if you want to have a broader imagination related to AI’s potential to be valuable and disruptive to the current order, here are a clutch of articles…

NTT Resonant, a Japanese tech company, has trained an AI to give love advice to troubled hearts. This is not a lame chatbot with very short answers. Oshi-el can take in complicated pages long questions, which often family and other context, and responds with answers. Not perfect, but so incredible even today.

Health is a space that is seeing some exciting progress. 415 million (!) people are at risk worldwide and you need a medical specialists to detect it – specialists who are not available in many parts of the world. Google’s algorithm, leveraging ML and Computer Vision, is already on-par with Ophthalmologists in being able to detect Diabetic Eye Disease. There is more work to be done, but how cool that so many lives can be saved. And, this is one of so many health related efforts leveraging ML.

Augmentation is perhaps the most optimal way to think about the near-term future. The world will find some use for what we are good at, and we’ll use AI for what it is good at. Maurice Conti presents a cluster of ideas that are in the play today that demonstrate the incredible inventions of intuitive AI. Mind-blowing what is already possible.

It is not clear what the future beyond the next 50 years will bring. I hope the articles above give you clues.

Please be curious about AI and its implications on your job today, and on the generation you are helping prepare for the future. Now's the time to pivot.

As always, it is your turn now.

Are you leveraging Machine Learning in your job or as a personal curiosity? If you’ve already downloaded TensorFlow, what are you doing with it? Is a piece of your marketing strategy leveraging ML powered options Facebook or Google are making available to you? If you had to give advice to an Analyst to get ready for an AI-first world, what would it be? Have you thought of the implications of all this change on your children? Any tips for me and my kids?

Thank you.

Artificial Intelligence: Implications On Marketing, Analytics, And You is a post from: Occam's Razor by Avinash Kaushik

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TFW u failed to meet your regular bodily needs for so long that when you finally piss its physically painful Dear god I'm glad I don't have a prostate Count this as the one and only time I'm grateful for being born in the wrong body! Tho seriously I am not grateful for whatever fuckd up god decided to build me with a brain that shuts down from sensory overload half the damn day. And is somehow able to get that kind of panic attack from a goddamn VIDEOGAME I think that's why I play it so much, I don't zone out cos I'm enjoying myself like with rune factory, its the sort of 'holy shit I lost three hours in the blink of an eye and I'm only compelled to keep going for the sake of a mythical stress relief at the end, and a sense that I'm a failure if I want to put the game down' Its not exactly a mood that makes it easy to win, when I'm degrading down to minimal brain function and sobbing XD This is how I was after that creepy rape imagery in Digimon cyber sleuth, I had no idea I could make myself equally as freaked out just by playing a story less sim about people suffocating. I guess suffocating is one of my biggest fears, huh... I thought I was only scared of swimming but that probably all wires up the same in my brain! Gahhhh this game makes me remember having my face slammed into the carpet with my dad trying to choke me. I blame the new headphones cos they have a bit of weight on them, I think that adds to the subconscious or something :P My forehead is so tense now! It hurts to wear them unless I flip the loopy thing behind my head but then I have to balance it on my chair and also I'm really sweating for some dumb reason and I wanna curl up under a blanket but also stick my head in the fridge God maybe that's a kind of warning games could have: warning may cause sensory overload in autistic people Tho I didn't even realise it could happen until now, seriously! I dunno it'd take a lot of playtestibg to figure out how to predict what would cause problems for different anxiety disorders. But man I wish there was a site where you could leave your own feedback and collect feedback from different disabled people. If I ever finally complete any of my visual novel ideas I wanna make sure there's stuff like this during playtesting! I wanna make all my stuff accessible! And I think its probably an important thing to think about. The podcast Extra Credits called it 'exit points', points where the player feels able to put the game down for the day. It can be bad to have too many of them in the wrong way cos it encourages people to get bored of the game. But also having too much pressure to keep playing can cause problems for moments like this. Especially when it's a scary or depressing game, but even when its like this- a completely story less puzzle sim thing that's merely very frustrating. Most people won't have a sensory overload freakout cos of frustrating stuff, but they'll still enjoy the game less if they play too long and that frustration piles up. So try and have less gameplay/story/interface/etc that makes a game 'un-put-downable', even if it seems like that'd be universally a good thing. Some games don't fit well with that! Its a shame that super difficult roguelike sim strategy whatever's are the genre most likely to have this developer strategy, when its the biggest thing that kills people's love for the game. Well, that and the heavy 'no casuals allowed, my game has to be difficult and clunky and have no form of experience system between reloads lol git gud'. Gittin gud requires practise and I hate the idea that people are just wimps if they don't wanna practise, and any form of actual encouragement to practise or reward for practise or even way of logging your progress in practising is somehow bad to put in your damn game... Gahhhh this is making me think of every bad thing in the genre gahhhh I really need some sort of ice cold drink to cure my headache and like five hours laying on the floor I was gonna make sprites today and now its 8pm gahhhhhh why did I even Turn the game on Okay I'm done now and no matter how many cravings I get to be all 'oh I'm sure if I tried again I could win', I'm not gonna do it Game deleted Need an iced juice Gahbhhh But I might try playing it again like next year or whenever it comes out of beta See if it got better, I guess Gaghhhhhh why am I so weak minded