Jamee Adams
For my surprise statement this week I would like to comment on both required readings. I really enjoyed reading the "Why our brains love the ocean..." piece, and I feel like I related to a lot of what the author was saying. I especially liked the part of the reading that mentioned diving into water and being completely surrounded and immersed, and how singular a feeling that is. I often feel that way when I am on, in, or near the water, so it was nice to read. The second reading, about technological advancements and "Moore's Law" seemed to hit on the fact that humans are creating technologies that eventually will be able to do everything a human can, and how impersonal certain everyday activities (like driving a car for example) will become. What I found surprising was when I compared these two readings to one another. One felt incredibly personal, while the other felt the opposite. As we move toward a world that seeks to discover more and more about one of the most personal and beautiful parts of the planet, the ocean, by means of the least personal type, robots, what might this do to our perception of the oceans and what we see when we look out over the open ocean, that at this point in time most people do not know many facts about, but feel a lot when looking at.
Rayn Allen
This week I thought the article on technology was most interesting. As Drake Baer mentioned in his article it’s really amazing how quickly technology advances. Back in junior high I had a flip phone then in high school one of those simpler cell phones then in college I got a smart phone this happened over a period of only about 5 years meanwhile my youngest brother’s probably never seen any cell phone besides a smartphone. When I was little I always dreamed of having a touchscreen computer but figured I’d never be able to afford one now I have a touchscreen laptop which wasn’t much compared to other laptops out there. I do have to say I do agree with Elon Musk, the idea of artificial intelligence does scare me a little though that’s due to their movie representation, they always end up turning on us humans.
Frigyes (Mano) Barkovics
For this week’s Surprise Statement, I would like to reflect on the Europa Lander Mission from the 2016 Report. I’m still in the progress of reading the 200-page long article but I successfully went through and extracted the main information’s that I would like to work with. The material is dense but it was an incredible feeling to actually hold the report in my hand that John brought to class and feel the backbone of the information that will get a rover to Europa, land and collect samples of the water beneath the ice. By far this plan will be one of the most complex mission humanity is pursuing other than transforming our species multi-planetary on Mars. When I was reading through the report I caught off by surprise that the lander will be using a very similar deorbit, descent and landing sequence methods to Curiosity that landed on Mars in 2012. The process of this sequence is that when the rover and its modules enters into the atmosphere of Europa the deorbit burn will start to slow down the craft, once that’s’ over the rocket jettisons to save weight. Throughout the guide critical measurement’s will be taken to determine a safe landing spot and to also collet samples. Once the landing point has been confirmed the sky-crane that is holding the rover deploys and lands the rover on the surface of Europa. This information will also be critical for my final project since I will be showing all of the different phases of this mission by illustrating the rover lifting-off from Cape Canaveral, cruising towards Europa, lands and collects samples from the surface and also what’s below it.
Signe Bergman
I was surprised when Nichols described how human development is so closely linked to water. He said that “our ancient ancestors came out of the water and evolved from swimming to crawling to walking.” At first I was confused, and thought maybe he was talking about the “aquatic apes” hypothesis of human evolution (that apes emerged from water, lost their fur, and began to walk upright). More likely, he was referring to the evolution of tetrapods from fish. Fetal “gill-slits,” existence in the “watery” womb, and similarities between cell water and sea water were interesting to consider; I hadn’t thought of human beings so literally connected to the ocean. I wonder if this connection plays a role in our fascination with the ocean, since for me at least, it isn’t obvious.
Adam Binford
It's wild how absolutely critical water is in the lives of every organism we have ever observed. It only makes sense that water would be so ingrained in our minds. Water is just a small molecule, but its properties gave rise to all life on earth. It's really quite humbling to think about.
Marisa Borreggine
This week's reading surprised me because of it's relation to my own life. My mother is a psychologist who studies "flow", which is basically a way of accessing our unconscious mind through doing something we love, usually exercise. The way the writer describes our relationship with water and its cathartic effect on our mood and general human existence reminds me of that place we can reach via flow, a place of pure happiness and self-betterment. I had also never really thought of how connected the water makes us-summed up beautifully in the quote about how none have lived without water.
Lisa Burk
I was really pulled into this reading, and I would honestly love to read the whole book. I kept hoping for a true glimpse into the findings from the device he wore into the water and tested at the conferences. I have never truly thought further about my own love for the water as it just seemed like a normal thing to love amd fear the ocean because there is so much to learn as we have much to explore. It is big and beautiful, and fascinating. The way he discusses it being tied to our human condition basically and instinctual needs makes so much sense as to why we find these scenes to be the most appealing and less stressing. I am wondering why this scenery remains a huge impact on our brains and the responses generated if our nuroplasticity is so ever changing. I would imagine we would change with this world. Possibly it is too powerful of a response to write over. In addition, human fetuses have "gill-silt" structures? That is new information to me and exciting. Maybe it is an indication of whence we came or where we are going. The poetry provided within the article was lovely as well, it spoke to my heart. I certainly believe emotion and science are intertwined deeply. I am certainly an emotionally driven being.
Frances Eshom-Arzadon
I thought the excerpt from Wallace J. Nichols’ Blue Mind was very interesting. I would love to read more of his book at some point! I have always felt connected to the sea and to water in general. What I found most interesting was when Nichols talked about how water is physically such a large part of our being, and that as we age we lose water from our bodies. I had always know that, but never seen the statistics. I also loved the quote from Alan Watts just shortly after.
Kate Griffin
Water, like in Europa’s oceans has the potential to support life. This excerpt from Blue Mind discusses the innate role of water in our ancestry, development, body composition, as well as the external, often recreational experiences with water. Water not only gives us life and keeps us alive, it also provides us with the profoundly visceral experiences that make us ‘feel alive’. I greatly enjoyed the final point stating humans live their lives “perpetually exhausted” and suffocated, but also how incorporating water in some form can improve our quality of life. Maybe it’s because water purifies us and humbles us. It seems that it has the power to center us as busy beings and to remind us of who we are and how we are connected: which is primarily through water. We live on land that is connected by bodies of water. Our economies and livelihood are connected by trade via water. Historically, water has been a place where people gathered to carry out various ceremonies. It is even woven into religion in the form of holy water and stories. One could exhaust themselves thinking only of the many ways life itself is connected through water. However, if I gathered anything from this piece, it is that it would make the most sense to be doing such pondering alongside an ocean or river.
Alyssa Scott
Here's my surprise statement after reading Wallace J Nichols' piece:
With the article bookmarked, Blue Mind alreadyrequested from the library, and an email sent to my closest friends urging them to read this article, I find myself so utterly taken aback by what I just read. I don't think I've ever said, "yes, oh my god, yes" so many times to something I've read. I wish I could add more to this discussion, but I genuinely feel like the article has worded perfectly everything I have ever felt on the topic of the impacts that the ocean has on our lives and mental state.
However, here were some of my favorites parts of the piece:
- "Blue Mind, a mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peacefulness, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment."
- '“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean'"
- "You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here" — Alan Watts
- The story of the boy going to the ocean for the first time.
- "This isn’t touchy-feely 'let’s save the dolphins' conservation: we’re talking prefrontal cortex, amygdala, evolutionary biology, neuroimaging, and neuron functioning that shows exactly why humans seem to value being near, in, on, or under the water."
- The entire third to last paragraph giving an all-too-detailed description of what I believe describes the lives of many people - myself often included.
One last thing: Nichols writes at one point about being a doctoral student writing his dissertation and being told to "keep that fuzzy stuff [feelings and emotions] out of your science". When and why were science and art/feelings/emotions separated? Because of biases? Biases exist no matter what! They're close to inevitable, in my mind. This is one of the reasons I'm enjoying Ocean 340 so much - it's the first class I've taken at UW (or in my entire education, if we're going to be honest) that intertwines marine science and affairs with arts and human connection.
Anna Sulc
For my weekly surprise, I was intrigued by the article on our own acceleration. What struck me the most was the notion that humans are linear while technology is exponential. It is true that our world seems to move faster and faster every year and that discoveries are constantly being made in every field. However, while it is fascinating to learn more, to do more and most importantly to control more, what are the consequences We are getting better at what we do and how we do it, we are constantly innovating, making things more powerful, more effective and making our world more transparent but we are perhaps doing so too quickly. Isn’t that also dangerous? Humans have a tendency to be curious, to experiment and to seek out new knowledge but I think that we also neglect an aspect that continues to get more and more important: what responsibilities come with new knowledge? Already with weapons and nuclear technology many have spoken about their fear of the destruction of humanity in another world war (agreement of mutual destruction). Authors like George Orwell or Kurt Vonnegut have presented visions of a dystopian future, warning humanity about the pitfalls of having too much knowledge and power and not enough restraint and responsibility to use it wisely and for the good of our society. As we continue to invent, discover and put newer and newer technologies to the disposition of the public I think it is vital to educate users about the “how to use” just as much as about the consequences of what can happen if it is used for a destructive purpose (genetics, cloning, development of weapons, monitoring systems,etc).
Byron Walker
"The rate of change of change is changing" - John Delaney
It's changing exponentially in fact, a facet of math and progression that our brains aren't programed to understand. Kurzweil's arguments about the singularity and its impending nature are certainly enough to give anyone pause. As well it should I think, the prospect that the things we create will be more intelligent than us by the time I have grandkids... Sheesh, and we're currently flabbergasted by the fact that kids nowadays have never not known the internet of a phone/ipad at their fingertips, just think about a world where kids were never even as smart as the smartphones (or what? smartchips? smartbrains?) that they will use. I think we need to put a hold on all work on AI (Artificial Intelligence) until we have come up with a good AM (Artificial Morality).
On a lighter note related to the reading from earlier in the week as to why humans love the ocean so much, I have a poem for you.
“I Go Down To The Shore
I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.”
