alborz
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The great enhancement debate

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The great enhancement debate
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Alborz Kamalizad (M)
Los Angeles, US
Immortal since Feb 20, 2007
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An artist has got to be careful never really to arrive at a place where he thinks he's at somewhere. You always have to realize that you're constantly in the state of becoming. ~ Bob Dylan
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    Tue, May 15, 2007  Permanent link

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    necromelia;     Tue, May 15, 2007  Permanent link
    morals- v. the act of supreme disorder in a petri dish (i.e. "moral dilemma")

    I am taker so it seems, love the idea.
    alborz     Wed, May 16, 2007  Permanent link
    Cool. Not sure I follow your morals definition though. Can you use it in a sentence? Moral should definitely be one to define/redefine.

    We should definitely work collectively on each word, until we come up with the fullest definition(s) possible.
    alborz     Fri, May 18, 2007  Permanent link
    I could swear I woke up in the middle of the night last night and knew exactly what you ment for your morals definition and even came up with a sentence to use it in...but it all escapes me now.

    I may have dreamt it as well.

    spiritual - adj. relating to or having a sense of connectivity to anything beyond the practical day to day needs or desires of one's life: The theory of evolution was, to her, the most spiritual explanation for it all.
    folkert     Tue, May 22, 2007  Permanent link
    Ok I am totally joining this project. This one was brilliant:
    space-col·lect
    verb
    1. to engage in post-ideological, non-partisan, forward thinking activities or discussions: He tried to space-collect his way out of the mindless political argument.

    SpaceCollective should have a glossary of words that it has redefined. Once the Project page is ready, we could propose one word per post and use the comments to collectively come up with its new definition. Then, whenever one of these redefined words show up in any post at SC, it should be highlighted and present its new definition when it is rolled-over or cliked-on.
    folkert     Tue, May 22, 2007  Permanent link
    psy·cho·sis |sīˈkōsəs|
    noun ( pl. -ses |-ˌsēz|)

    a mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality, known to occur in people that have never taken psychedelics.
    folkert     Tue, May 22, 2007  Permanent link
    PS: Just remembered that fUSION Anomaly does something like this in its own, not un-inspiring way. (keep clicking on the yellow links)
    Xarene     Thu, May 24, 2007  Permanent link
    I have a hard time accepting embodied philosophies (the embodied mind, etc.). However, MW —taking into account how conservative and general their definitions are—has a definition which surprised me:

      em·body
      2a: to deprive of spirituality

    No, wait I agree. Yes, the mind is embodied; it is trapped.

    The definition for body is also interesting. The body is defined and referred to using the same language, in both its states of a dead and living person. What about the mind? All the definitions for mind relate to the conditions of being alive, as if the mind is gone when the body changes state.

    It's all backwards.
    alborz     Fri, May 25, 2007  Permanent link
    I looked up brain on Merriam-Webster and found that the definition was strangely biased towards vertebrate. Xárene, if you haven't already, you should check out Superfamous' posts regarding mind/body: 1, 2

    I think the SpaceCollective glossary is a great idea - especially the roll over, pop-up definitions. I do think there is something terribly attractive about publishing a book to sit on a dusty shelf next to the Oxford Dictionary and the like. Hopefully we'll get that far.

    Also, what does everyone think of this: It seems that there already are some open/interactive-dictionaries around, doing similar things. Along with fUSION Anomaly, Megan pointed out Merriam-Webster's own open-dictionary, and I happened upon this one. So what if, to do something different and perhaps more interesting, we put together a glossary/dictionary of the near future - say 5-10 years from now. That way it becomes an exercise in linguistics and the future - a projected reality. Instead of looking at how words are used, and then coming up with a definition that describes that - a retroactive approach, we'll be creating meanings for words and causing them into usage - a proactive approach.
    Xarene     Fri, May 25, 2007  Permanent link
    Yes! Let's do it. I am not the trickster linguist, but will try.

    That brain definition is so matter-of-fact. Hahahaa! I guess it's okay though. For now.

    The brain-in-a-vat theories overlook the irrelevance of the existence of the brain whithout the body, and the irrelevance of a housing situation for the mind. Which (somehow?) leads me to the future dictionary... Can the definitions be as long as they need to be? Can they turn into short essays with usage of the new words—and possibly—within new theories?
    alborz     Wed, May 30, 2007  Permanent link
    I think we should keep the final product as much like a dictionary as possible - I think a lot of the subversion comes from that. Essays would make it more of an encyclopedia - or wikipedia. But obviously there will be plently of opportunity for writing and discussion on the actual project page.
    meganmay     Tue, Jun 5, 2007  Permanent link
    exhausted
    verb: to be assulted with toxic fumes from the tail pipe of a gasoline powered motor vehicle.

    the trash truck exausted in my face as i sat on the 101 (parking-lot of a) freeway for two hours.



    folkert     Tue, Jun 5, 2007  Permanent link
    Damn. I was exhausted twice today.

    It's a good one, but at the same time talking about a similar root concept. This new definition should not replace the original because we still need both. Al—what should we be doing here, redefining or adding-on definitions?
    folkert     Tue, Jun 5, 2007  Permanent link
    concrescence
    noun: qualities or energies that aggregate and form a critical mass resulting in something entirely new. Something that has never been seen or done before.
    alborz     Wed, Jun 6, 2007  Permanent link
    "Exhausted." That is a great one.

    Yeah - that's a good question Superfamous. I think probably both. Like you said the traditional definition of "exhausted" is still useful, so we'll add Megan's onto it as a second definition. Same with "concrescence." (Photosynth technology concresces the power of the Internet as a collective medium. Yeah?) If we feel like some words should completely be done away with or redefined, we can completely ignore the old definition or list it as an "archaic" usage.

    religion
    noun
    1. anything that strongly defines or shapes one's beliefs regarding any or all things. As a guitarist, Jimi Hendrix was his religion.
    2. an ancient form of human government with constructed superhuman agent(s) as the arbitrator(s) of human laws and morals
    3. Archaic. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe usually as defined by superhuman agent(s)

    And we can always create completely new words. Once the project pages are up, we can probably start by discussing some of the words we already have up.
    3LSZVJA9     Thu, Dec 20, 2007  Permanent link
    Communist

    1. That finds satisfaction in communing.
    "The internet is a new institution. I like that. It satisfies the tendency to commune".

    Home

    1.to go back home
    to disconnect from the internet.

    Freedom

    1. FREEDocument Object Model.

    2. (Vacant).
    eyeclipse     Thu, Dec 20, 2007  Permanent link
    Interesting project...
    I'm happy to be here and sorry for my english -_-

    Everyday I see how people try to adapt their space to their capacities or knowledge; it's a fascinating process of acts with and awesome human calm. In fact, I think that this human feature moves us.

    Like our knowledge of all our world or space grows, grows and mature our human being, and the capacities of this make rethink a lot of things. When you "think" about "rethink", usually "transform" is a more productive way :)
    Because, this way will test you thinking new solutions, and always, you will have to taste (with little bites) the huge "rethink" concept.

    Otherwise, a dictionary or a guide will be an interesting way to explore and test. Better a guide of the galaxy (I’m not joking ;)

    Again, sorry for my english, but I'm not thinking of lose the chance to participate in this collective :)
    feanne     Thu, Dec 27, 2007  Permanent link
    Awesome project idea! I don't have anything to contribute at the moment; just putting in a word of support/encouragement. :)
    meganmay     Fri, Dec 28, 2007  Permanent link
    I just want to point out that awesome is a great word when stripped of it's associations with 12 year old girls and boys shopping in the mall. AWESOME = worthy of awe. Remarkable is another really good word. REMARKABLE = worth remarking on.
    aeonbeat     Sun, Dec 30, 2007  Permanent link
    nature is awesome
    feanne     Wed, Jan 9, 2008  Permanent link
    megan & gouranga— I agree!

    I love words, I keep a list of words I enjoy (just because I think they sound pretty). More good superlatives—
    FANTASTIC/FANTASTICAL
    MARVELOUS
    WONDERFUL
    EXTRAORDINARY
    AMAZING
    SPECTACULAR
    LEGENDARY
    SUBLIME
    aeonbeat     Wed, Jan 9, 2008  Permanent link
    I have such list of words in my mind, but in my own language, which sound awesome! :D
    alborz     Wed, Jan 9, 2008  Permanent link
    Hey! Somehow this flurry of activity has gone unnoticed by me. Thanks for the input. I particularly like turning "home" into a verb: Nah man, let's just home. And revitalizing words like awesome, marvelous and wonderful.

    "Spectacular" is also a personal favorite word of mine feanne.
    alborz     Mon, Feb 25, 2008  Permanent link
    lateral reminds me that "natural" - needs to be redefined.

    A couple thoughts on the dictionary:

    Should there be opposing or contradictory definitions for our words? I think this might be an interesting approach - both as a PR move for the project (not alienating contributors with particular and well thought out ideas) and as a way of enriching our understandings of words.

    Once we start to get a list of words that are somewhat defined (they should always be open to expansion/elaboration), we should try to use them in our regular posts elsewhere on the site - and link them to the dictionary project. This way we can create a sort of member-created SpaceCollective glossary.

    Just wanted to re-awaken this project idea since the new project spaces have been launched.
    domestickitty     Sat, Mar 29, 2008  Permanent link
    One of the key points here is not just that language (signifier vs signified) can mean really anything a collective of folk want it to mean, its also that you (meaning the reader) has the personal authority to change/alter/work within the language given to convey the meaning. Playing with meaning is a basis for poetry.

    This is an awesome project idea.
    GhostsInTheMachine     Sat, Mar 29, 2008  Permanent link
    I myself am tired of language being thought of as something that should be controlled by some authority and can't be created or edited by anyone who wants to. We speak it, don't we in a way own it? I rarely use dictionaries anyway, preferring to give people my own personal definitions of words or ask them what it means to them. Set definitions for each word doesn't work anymore. The less we become dependent on something created by a small group of people and the closer we move to have such things written by all of us the better off our society becomes. Great idea, hadn't really thought about this much before. Maybe someday people will think back on your project with fondness, the beginning of a different way to look at words.
    meganmay     Tue, Jul 22, 2008  Permanent link
    though this may be contrary to the current stipulations of this project i propose extinguishing the following phrase from our vocabularies, if not forever and always, at least as a challenge experiment to all space collective members:

    should have

    Eliminating this conjunction is an attempt to eliminate a useless and potentially destructive state of mind: regret.
    Wildcat     Wed, Jul 23, 2008  Permanent link
    meganmay, I salute thee for the proposal of eliminating regret via eliminating " should have"

    accepted, adopted, recycled and actuated. thanks

    here is another proposal:
    let us re-introduce into our common language the greeting "salute", salutes' and salutations

    Salute: the mental /emotional state of greeting in a respectful, courteous and collaborative manner, when in the act of salutation it is implicit in the mind of the greeted that she is accepted on an unconditional manner.
    Moreover, when extending salutations, the greeter, implies an inherent care for the well-being and future evolutionary prospects of the greeted.
    Finally, Salutes in this new fashion of understanding can be seen to counter the official salutes, which are basically ritualistic and empty.

    meganmay     Mon, Jul 28, 2008  Permanent link
    SPACED OUT _ a state of mind that takes hold after reading space collective for more than 8 hours (amount of time varies depending on frequency of use, new users may experience this state of mind immediately after happening upon space collective for the first time).
    connor     Tue, Sep 16, 2008  Permanent link
    I love this. I think that this is a great direction:
    So what if, to do something different and perhaps more interesting, we put together a glossary/dictionary of the near future - say 5-10 years from now. That way it becomes an exercise in linguistics and the future - a projected reality.

    This isn't mine*, but I think it fits:
    illiterate [Il•lit"er•ate]
    adj.

    Those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
    Inable to keep up with the pace of the 23rd century, the illiterate human is faced with a long life of confusion.


    *part of a quote from Alvin Toffler's, Rethinking the Future

    I have also noticed that this post is somewhat dormant, was it moved into a project?

    SAILOR     Tue, May 26, 2009  Permanent link
    I salute you all.
     
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