Category: SCIENCE

SCIENCE & ART

Science is unquestionably dependent on precise measurement while art or literature may have little to do with it.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Perfectionists

Author: Simon Winchester (How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World)

Narrated By: Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester (British-American author and journalist)

The beginning of “The Perfectionist” has an interesting vignette about Simon Winchester’s father that sets the table for his book. Simon’s father is characterized as an engineer that was asked to investigate why ammunition being used during WWII was misfiring. Bernard Winchester went to the production’ plant and precisely measured the ammunition that was being manufactured. Its quality was found to be well within specifications required to fire properly when used. Simon’s father followed a shipload of the ammunition to its destination to re-measure the specifications after delivery. The on-board jostling of cargo boxes caused miniscule damage to ammunition resulting in misfires in the field. Simon’s father’s discovery led to better packaging of the ammunition. Simon notes his father is highly praised by the military for his diligent investigation which made corrections in the way ammunition was packaged for transport to the front.

Simon’s father followed a shipload of ammunition to its destination to re-measure the specifications after delivery.

Simon Winchester’s story of his father is the subject of “The Perfectionist”. There are many ways of categorizing the advance of civilization. Manufacturing precision is Simon Winchester’s category of choice. Simon explains how improvements in precision, reaching as far back as the 18th century, led to technological advancement in the modern world. To Winchester, much of that advancement came from the needs of the military.

Winchester notes that John Wilkinson standardized and precisely measured cannon barrel rifling in the 1770s to improve accuracy.

The inaccuracy of weapons like cannons, mass production of reliable weaponry, and strategic advantage for military commands were founded on improvements in precision. Winchester notes that John Wilkinson standardized and precisely measured cannon borings in the 1770s to improve accuracy and reliability in battle. In the 1800s, the French began standardizing gun parts to allow interchangeability when field weapons were damaged or just quit working. In visiting France, Thomas Jefferson recognized the value of that interchangeability during America’s civil war when weapons often broke down and could only be repaired by craftsman who understood how a uniquely designed gun could be repaired.

Eli Whitney chose to hoodwink the American government during the War of Independence when he falsely claims to have a manufacturing plant that could produce standard gun parts.

Around 1801, Whitney contracts with the government and is paid but never produces any standardized parts. Whitney puts on a false show of interchangeability with parts that were manufactured by craftsman rather than a standardized process of production. (Whitney is neither penalized or required to repay the government.) The consequence of mass production of precise gun parts and ammunition is to kill more people in war which started an arms race that continues through to today. Progress in weapon design and manufacture is a harbinger of good and ill. Moving away from weapon production to the rise of industrialization, precise measurement remains a critical component of societies’ modernization.

Though there are precursors to the steam engine that reach back before the 18th century, James Watt (pictured here) revolutionizes its design with the help of Matthew Boulton.

Winchester explains how refinement of the steam engine enables the Industrial Revolution. Watt is obsessed with refining the containment of steam from an operating engine. Watt knows leakage of steam is correlated with loss of steam engine power and potential. The key to achieving better efficiency comes from John Wilkinson who develops a machine that could bore a precise hole through solid iron. With that level of precision, Watt recognized he could produce an engine with perfectly cylindrical, leak-proof chambers that could more efficiently power pistons to produce energy. Watt, Boulton, and Wilkinson open the world to the industrial revolution. Winchester suggests precision is the pursuit of perfection, i.e., a preeminent turning point in history. One may take issue with that conclusion because invention and innovation seem more important than precision, which is a tool rather than a cause for modernity.

The remarkable story of the jet engine is told by Winchester.

It is surprising that the jet engine became a reality as early as the beginning of WWII. Like nuclear bomb invention, Germany’s Hitler initially fails to grasp the importance of jet engine propulsion. However, Germany becoming the first to create a jet plane, the Heinkel He 178, to fly with jet propulsion. Hitler is more focused on refinement of the V-2 rocket as a revenge weapon against England than on jet propulsion for airplanes.

Frank Whittle (1907-1996, English aviation engineer and pilot who invented the jet engine.)

The original idea for the jet engine came from Frank Whittle, a British engineer in the early 1930s. Whittle realized Newton’s laws of energy could propel an airplane without propellers. Newton’s third law says for every action in one direction there is an equal but opposite energy reaction. Whittle acquired a patent on the idea of a jet engine but because of the five-pound cost of patent renewal and lack of any financial support for his brilliant idea, his patent expired. As a result, no single entity holds a patent on jet propulsion. It is not until May of 1941, that Frank Whittle’s turbojet engine first flies a plane.

1945 Gloster Meteor British jet.

There are many issues to be resolved for the idea of a jet engine to propel an airplane. There is the extreme pressure and heat generated by fuel being ignited within a turbine that must be designed with precise measurements, i.e., measurements within millionths of an inch. Winchester notes that the slightest deviation in blade shape, alignment, or material composition could cause vibration, inefficiency, or worse–engine failure and pilot death. The jet engine components had to endure extreme temperature changes and withstand metal fatigue while operating with high-speed rotating parts. Thousands of parts had to be precisely designed and integrated to provide the propulsion necessary for flight.

Whittle’s ultimate success leads him to be Knighted in 1948.

Whittle is recruited in 1937 by British Thomson-Houston, an engineering firm, to build a prototype of a jet engine. With money to create a prototype, Whittle turned his design idea into reality. With the help of two retired RAF officers, Whittle formed a company called Power Jets Ltd. In 1944, Britan nationalized Power Jets Ltd and Whittle was compelled to resign from the board in 1946. However, Whittle was ultimately recognized and knighted in 1948 for his contribution to Jet engine development.

The next big area of change addressed by Winchester is computer chip manufacture.

Transistors like these in the early years of computers are used in computer chip manufacture.

Winchester’s primary subject is Moore’s law postulated in 1965 by Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel. Moore predicts microchip computing power and efficiency would double every year and then every two years with continued miniaturization of chip transistors. His prediction, as of today, holds true. The size of computer chip transistors is measured in millimeters in the early 1960s. Today, measurement is at an atomic level, trending toward the use of quantum theory to continue Moore’s law prediction.

The last chapter of “The Perfectionist” is about measurement as a tool. Ironically, understanding measurement evolves through history. It may be a standard of change, but it is also a subject of change. The idea of distance measurement has evolved from an organic explanation that only imperfectly describes the visual world. That imperfectness leads to an obsession with exactness that boggles the mind.

As a caution, Winchester suggests the pursuit of precision may blind us to other values. The aesthetic beauty of a musical composition, architecture, a great novel, or mere thoughts of human beings may have little to do with precise measurement but can change the world. What one sees or feels is what we discount or respond to with emotion and/or appreciation, regardless of measurement analytics. Science is unquestionably dependent on precise measurement while art or literature may have little to do with it.

BECOMING god-LIKE

Before the invention and advance of science, Fry’s reminders of mythological beliefs level up to the brilliance of science in the world. One leans on the hope left in Pandora’s jar to arrive at a time when all human beings are treated equally.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Mythos (The Greek Myths Reimagined.)

Author: Stephen Fry

Narrated By: Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry (Author, British actor and comedian.)

Most reader/listeners are familiar with the Greek gods associated with Zeus and some with his domicile on the island of Crete. It seems odd that Crete would be his chosen home unless one has been there and seen the beautiful island, walked the hills. and felt the warm breeze from the Mediterranean Sea. Stephen Fry fascinates his audience with cultural tales of Greece that meld the myths of gods before and after the birth of Zeus. His writing and narration are like a dramatic, terrifying, unfolding movie in one’s mind.

Theory and Truth.

The origin of life myth is that earth and sky are married in human forms named Gaia (earth) and a father, born of Gaia, named Uranus (sky). They are the calm and storm of human life that is yet to be created. Gaia, the source of life, prophesizes the loss of power by Uranus at the hands of one of his children. To avoid the prophesy, when two of their offspring are ferocious beasts, Uranus forces them back into Gaia’s body to keep himself safe. Gaia is outraged by his cruelty and forges a sharpened sickle and chooses Cronus, a later son, to use it to kill Uranus. Cronus accepts Gaia’s order and attacks Uranus who defends himself but is castrated rather than killed by the first swing of the weapon. That castration severs Uranus’ rule of the cosmos with the dispersal of his privates and sperm that become today’s universe. He no longer rules the cosmos.

Cronus, the son of Gaia is the God of Time in Greek Mythology.

Cronus now becomes ruler of the universe but is also prophesized to fall at the hands of his offspring. Cronus marries Rhea, the sister of Gaia. Cronus knows of the prophesy and chooses to eat every child born by Rhea to avoid his fate. Rhea secretly wraps a stone in a blanket when she births Zeus and Cronus swallows the stone thinking another who might kill him is gone. Of course, Rhea is angry because of her lost children in Cronus’s stomach. Zeus plans to have Cronus drink a specially prepared potion that will cause Cronus to vomit up the siblings he has swallowed. Zeus imprisons Cronus after the freed siblings are returned to life. This begins the rise of the Olympian’ gods with Zeus as their leader.

Athena (The Goddess of Knowledge and Wisdom.)

One of the many gods of Zeus’s time is Athena, the goddess of wisdom and power. Athena’s father was the Titan of wisdom. Zeus had swallowed Athena’s father because of a fear that a child would be born that would surpass him as the all-powerful leader of the gods. There is a story of Athena’s birth from a blow to Zeus’s head because of a headache that would not go away. Athena bursts full grown out of Zeus’s head.

Fry explains Zeus is now becoming bored with his all-powerful life. He and Prometheus, another child of the gods, discuss creating mortal human life as a way of providing a new source of adventure and entertainment for the gods. These created humans become toys of the gods. Zeus and Prometheus search for the best source of clay to create humanity. Prometheus explains Zeus must provide some spit to create these new forms of life. So, humanity is formed from the spit of Zeus and the clay of earth. Prometheus is an artist who is described as a god of forethought and crafty counsel.

Prometheus and the Vulture.

However, Prometheus exceeds his authority by giving fire from the gods to man. Zeus is incensed and punishes Prometheus by chaining him to a rock. An eagle is initially planned to tear Prometheus apart every day to feast on his liver, but Zeus decides an eagle is too majestic for the task and turns the fowl to a buzzard. This occurs every night because of Prometheus’s immortality. Zeus treats people as toys for his amusement because he is incensed by their arrogance for having a power that only gods were to have. At this point, there are no female humans. With the creation of women, Zeus becomes threatened by humankind from increased procreation and capabilities that might grow to compete with the power of the gods.

Zeus (Leader of the Olympus gods.)

Zeus asks other gods to create woman, in part to complicate human life, which is a myth one could argue sets the table for gender inequality. The first woman is Pandora. This newly created woman is given a jar by Zeus and told not to open it for any reason without telling her what is inside the jar. She marries Prometheus’s brother and buries the jar under a sundial. However, her curiosity which is a “gift” given to her by Hermes, overturns the sundial, digs up the jar, opens it and releases the evils of life on the world. The only thing remaining in the jar is hope.

Before the invention and advance of science, Fry’s reminders of mythological beliefs level up to the brilliance of science in the world. One doubts life will ever be fully explained by science. One leans on the hope left in Pandora’s jar to arrive at a time when all human beings are treated equally.

GENDER MATTERS

All gender differences beyond women’s birth of children seem more culturally than naturally determined. Gender does matter but not because of inherent qualities but because of cultural influences.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Why Gender Matters (What Parents and Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences) 

Author: Leonard Sax MD PhD

Narrated By: Keith Sellon-Wright

Leonard Sax (Author, psychologist and family physician, graduate of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania.)

After listening to Sayaka Murata’s satire about gender differences and a future that minimizes the differences between males and females, one may wish to read/hear what a physician writes about gender and why difference matters. In listening/reading Doctor Sax’s book, this review is somewhat skeptical of his judgement about gender differences. Having been raised by a single parent, some of what he claims seems formulaic and based on weak evidence.

Gender differences.

Though Dr. Sax cites studies that support stereotypes of girls who are less inclined to pursue math and science, it seems impossible to separate acculturation from gender bias. One wonders if his opinion is not influenced by his own gender. As is true of all human judgements, we have a tendency to conflate correlation with causation.

Whether there is a direct relationship between two variables like gender and one’s potential in science or math may be culturally reinforced rather than intellectually adduced.

There may be some truth in gender difference based on women giving birth that naturally induces a more nurturing requirement for women than men. The fact that women bare children and traditionally take on the role of caregiving suggests a cultural as well as gender driven characteristic. Inequality of the sexes is well documented by numerous studies that show women are paid less for the same work done by men. Unequal pay has nothing to do with biology.

Gender difference.

It is economic and social circumstance that limits women’s potential. The question becomes whether a woman would run a business any differently than a man based on gender. One might believe women who have given birth may manage differently because of their experience as nurturers of early life. Why else, if education and intelligence are similar, would there be any difference between a woman or man who manages others?

Though most humans wish to be part of something greater than themselves, the shaming in this cell-phone age seems significantly more impactful on women than on men.

On the other hand, there are some observations about gender differences that seem true when one thinks about their own life experience. Though social acceptance is important to both sexes, it seems boys are less likely to be as stressed about not being part of the “in group” than girls. Though even that is challengeable in that males also have a desire to be a part of something greater than themselves.

On balance, this listener/readers’ opinion is that Doctor Sax’s explanation of innate gender difference is suspect with the caveat that women are different from men in that they give birth.

All gender differences beyond women’s birth of children seem more culturally than naturally determined. Gender does matter but not because of inherent qualities but because of cultural influences.

VANISHING WORLD

Murata’s satire infers obsession with sex for pleasure, child rearing collectivization, gender dysphoria, and pregnancy equalization are pathways to societal destruction.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Vanishing World (A Novel) 

Author: Sayaka Murata

Narrated By: Nancy Wu

Sayaka Murata (Author, Japanese novelist.)

Sayaka Murata’s subject is clearly revealed in its title, “Vanishing World”. “Vanishing World” is a provocative assessment of how sexual relationship and sex education has changed. Murata satirically reveals how human reproduction, objectification of life, motherhood, and technology may dehumanize society.

Murata’s fictional story is highly informative in regard to sexual difference and similarity between men and women.

In one sense, Murata’s fictional story is highly informative in regard to sexual difference and similarity between men and women. As a reader/listener, Murata offers a detailed description of the physical difference between the sexes. Many who think they know something about sexual difference will find the author’s candor enlightening. However, her depiction of social relationship is off-putting with a satirical exaggeration of socio/sexual objectification.

Murata writes about a single parent family with a young daughter who lives with her mother and is nearing the age of puberty.

(Though not mentioned in Murata’s story, single family homes in America have grown by nearly 30% in the 21st century.) The main character’s name is Amane and Murata’s story is about Amane’s sexual awakening and how she views social relationship. Amane is infatuated with an animated male character on television. She imagines being married to this character before puberty but holds this character in her mind throughout childhood and later life.

Murata suggests reproduction may evolve into a preferential desire for artificial insemination rather than sexual intercourse between a man and woman.

This idea feeds into a listener/reader’s mind as a diminishment of the need for emotional attachment to the opposite sex for procreation. Sex becomes detached from procreation, evolving into only “hooking up” for sexual stimulation and/or personal gratification. Murata infers desire is no longer needed for procreation but only to experience intercourse as an emotional and physical pleasure. Consequently, it seems perfectly natural to transfer sexual desire to a fictional character because it becomes unnecessary to have emotional attachment to humans when a figment of one’s imagination is available.

Murata creates a bizarre world.

The bizarro world that Murata creates is an extension of a belief that society is becoming less attached to their humanity. Marriage, human relationship, and motherhood are replaced by mindful personal’ inwardness and endless pursuit of physical stimulation without emotional entanglement. By extension, Murata suggests science will create wombs for men so that the difference in sexes equalizes childbirth and care of children. Caregiving becomes bureaucratic and collective because caregiving is no longer personalized.

Murata suggests that a new system of childcare will evolve into collective training camps for working parents who are too self-absorbed to raise their own children.

Collective childcare disconnects parents from the management and development of their children. The sterility of conception by artificial insemination, collective childcare, and social acceptance of multiple sex partners diminishes both familial relations and child development. Birthing and raising children becomes a clinical process, i.e., less personal with both men and women capable of experiencing pregnancy and delivery; all without responsibility or obligation for childcare.

In some sense, this satire illustrates the negative potential of socio/sexual equality.

Murata’s story ends with the birth of their first child from a man who is Amane’s husband. She is torn over not being able to take the baby home because the child is already being “cared for” in a ward meant to raise and nurture all newly born children. A final point is made in the story by a visit from Alane’s mother after the birth. She asks Amane where the child is, and Alane explains the child will not be raised by her and her husband. Alane’s mother is aghast. Her mother falls to the floor and dies without any apparent familial concern for her sudden collapse and presumably, death. The next thing to happen is a visit from one of the children born in this new world. Alane chooses to have sex with him and the story ends.

“Vanishing World” implies 21st century science, organizational bureaucracy, and social change threatens survival of humanity. Murata’s satire infers obsession with sex for pleasure, child rearing collectivization, gender dysphoria, and pregnancy equalization are pathways to society’s collapse.

THEORY & TRUTH

Without a doubt, Einstein was the premier scientist of the 20th century just as Newton was of the 17th. Though their characters were quite different, their thoughts and contributions to the physics of life on earth and in the universe remain world changing.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Perfect Theory (A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity)

Author: Pedro G. Ferreira

Narrated By:  Sean Runnette

Pedro Ferreira (Anglo-Portuguese cosmologist, professor at the University of Oxford with expertise as theoretical cosmologist and astrophysicist.)

“The Perfect Theory” is a history of physics that revolves around Albert Einstein’s brilliant discoveries in the early 20th century. Einstein believed in general relativity that included gravity and acceleration which he argued is caused by the curvature of spacetime. Einstein implies the equality of mass and energy is a precursor to the proof of general relativity. Ferreira argues that post twentieth century physics’ theories have only contrasted and expanded Einstein’s first discovery of the equivalence of energy and mass, which is a part of a “…Perfect Theory”. Einstein’s theory seems perfect in the sense that it is a foundational theory from which most discoveries about physics have been based. This seems hyperbolic with the experimental proof of Quantum Dynamics (a science theory describing the behavior of particles at atomic and subatomic scales), but the idea of a Quantum world seems only a tentative expansion, rather than refutation of Einstein’s “…Perfect Theory”.

What Ferreira shows is how Einstein‘s general theory of relativity shaped modern theories of cosmology.

Though Einstein believed the universe was an eternal existence, that never expanded or contracted, he had to create a cosmological constant to make that theory work. He began moving away from that belief in the 1930s. Edwin Hubble’s theory of an expanding universe led to the “Big Bang Theory” that turned what Einstein suggested was a vindication of his discomfort with the idea of arbitrarily devising a cosmological constant to make his vision of the universe work. (Interestingly, Einstein remained skeptical of the Big Bang model of the universe’s creation when its expansion was proven.) Edwin Hubble proved through observation and calculation that the universe was expanding rather than static. Later science discovery of “dark energy” is thought to be the engine for expansion which ironically revives the theory of Einstein’s cosmological constant.

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953, American astronomer.)

John Wheeler and Roger Penrose in the 1960s confirmed the existence of black holes based on Einstein’s concept of regions of the universe that would have such strong gravity pull that nothing could escape its attractive force. The belief that nothing could escape was challenged by Stephen Hawking who argued that black holes emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Nevertheless, it is Einstein’s early work that initiated further investigation and theory modification.

John Wheeler (1911-2008, American Physicist)
Roger Penrose (British mathematician, born in 1931.)

Einstein predicted gravitational waves that were not confirmed until 2015 by LIGO’s (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) detection. Einstein had predicted gravitational wave existence in 1916 but was uncertain whether they were physically real or just mathematical affects based on his thought experiments about massive accelerating objects, like orbiting planets.

LIGO (Located @ Hanford in the Tri-Cities of Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco in Washington State.)

Ferreira’s book explains how important Einstein’s legacy is in today’s understanding of the Universe, its creation, and possible future.

The most significant curve ball thrown at Einstein’s “…Perfect Theory” of the universe is Quantum Mechanics. Though he grudgingly acknowledged the experimental proof of Quantum Entanglement, he remained skeptical of quantum mechanics and its philosophical implications. The proven predictions of quantum mechanics shake the foundation of what Einstein believed about the universe. Quantum mechanics suggests the universe’s existence, whether it began with a Big Bang or not, is a matter of probability, not predictable certainty. Einstein’s theories were based on a belief in a clockwork universe–where cause and effect would explain everything about the physics of existence.

Though Einstein did not believe in a personal God, he believed in order, harmony, and rationality in a world that has a cause for every effect.

Twenty first century physics’ research owes more to Einstein than any other scientist in history. It is not that Einstein was or is infallible, but his theories are the foundation of physics research. His idea of a static universe may have been wrong, but the story of dark energy makes one wonder if his cosmological constant might have been right. Einstein was skeptical of the Big Bang theory as the origin of the universe despite it being the belief of most scientists today. Though he resisted quantum mechanics unpredictability, he acknowledged its experimental proofs with the caveat that there is an undiscovered law that will return predictability to the physics’ world. What Pedro Ferreira credibly argues is that Albert Einstein provided “The Perfect Theory” to explore truth and falsehood of the physics of the universe.

ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879-1955)
SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1642-1727)

Without a doubt, Einstein was the premier scientist of the 20th century just as Newton was of the 17th. Though their characters were quite different, their thoughts and contributions to the physics of life on earth and in the universe remain world changing.

INTELLIGENCE

Viskontas believes technology is a boon, not bane, of human intelligence. Information recall is food for brains that advances civilization. She argues information recall, with the use of the internet of things, broadens recall to complement human intelligence and improve creativity.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Brain Myths Exploded (Lessons from Neuroscience)

Lecturer: Indre Viskontas

By:  The Great Courses

Indre Viskontas (Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from UCLA, performed at Cafe Royal Opera in San Francisco, studies neural basis of memory and creativity, Lecturer at USF.)

There is a great deal to unpack in Indre Viskontas lectures about the brain and intelligence. This review is an extension of a previous look at her “…Great Courses” lectures on “Brain Myths…”.

Dalton Conley offers a complex explanation of why one child intellectually and financially excels while others are left behind.

Viskontas argues sociability plays an important role in the development of intelligence. As a less social person one wonders what potential may be lost by introversion. Every human being is a mixture of extroversion and introversion. History suggests Benjamin Franklin, Margaret Thatcher, and John F. Kennedy were outgoing extroverts. In contrast, Abrahma Lincoln, Albert Einstein, and Rosa Parks were characterized as less outgoing and more introverted. All were insightful, intelligent leaders that had great impact on the history of the world. Sociability seems of little consequence for one’s intelligence or predictable role in history.

Viskontas explains how important sleep is for mental health.

The effect of sleep deprivation is a form of torture.

During sleep, Viskontas notes the brain is quite active, characterized by different brain wave patterns. Based on periods of sleep, our dreams are like house cleaners clearing the debris accumulated from days past. Some remember their dreams, others do not. That we all dream can be seen with REM, rapid eye movements, that can be seen as eyelid movements when one is sleeping. Viskontas suggests these dreams have hidden meanings that reflect emotions that the brain is actively processing while we sleep. Memories are reconstructed, often distorted, and can cause one to awaken because of their bizarre content. Our brains reconstruct stories in sleep, just as they do when we are awake in that they complete stories of our life whether the facts are true or false. The REM stories are a clearing house for adherent behaviors that may be good or bad.

Viscontas notes low activity in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) causes one to not remember their dreams.

Viskontas explains some do not remember their dreams because of lower activity in a part of the brain that is normally active when dreams are being recalled. She suggests those who wish to remember their dreams can keep a journal of what they do remember when they wake up. This journal can help one understand a little more about why they are dreaming and what their dream may mean by consulting a psychologist or psychiatrist.

A concern that Viskontas raises is that those who do not get enough sleep impair their memory and learning capabilities.

With a lack of sleep the prefrontal cortex functions poorly with poor judgment and impulsive behavior. Further, Viskontas notes the immune system is weakened by not getting enough sleep–with increased risk of anxiety, depression, and mood instability. When deprived of sleep, people become less social and are more driven by emotions than intellect. Viskontas recommends 7-9 hours sleep per night for optimal brain function. A continuous sleep cycle is important for deep sleep and REM that have distinct roles in information processing and a mind’s creativity for healthy living. Though Viskontas does not say anything about napping during the day, some research shows 20-to-30-minute naps can improve memory, alertness, and mood.

Viskontas explains intelligence is not a fixed characteristic but can be shaped by neuroplasticity, environment, genetic inheritance and social interaction.

Humans can rewire their brain through learning and experience. Intelligence rests within every person’s grasp but its improvement is based on genetic inheritance, experience, and effort. Science, with reproducible experiment, has proven intelligence exists throughout the Animal Kingdom.

“Quants” created collateralized mortgages in 2008.

Viskontas believes, on balance, technology is a boon, not bane, of human intelligence.

Information recall is food for brains that advances civilization. She argues information recall, with the use of the internet of things, broadens recall to complement human intelligence and improve creativity. Of course, that food can be poisoned just as the Quants who created collateralized mortgages that nearly collapsed the world economy.

AI & HEALTH

Like Climate Change, AI seems an inevitable change that will collate, spindle, and mutilate life whether we want it to or not. The best humans can do is adopt and adapt to the change AI will make in human life. It is not a choice but an inevitability.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Deep Medicine (How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again)

Author: Eric Topol

Narrated By:  Graham Winton

Eric Topol (Author, American cardiologist, scientist, founder of Scripps Research Translational Institute.)

Eric Topol is what most patients want to see in a Doctor of Medicine. “Deep Medicine” should be required reading for students wishing to become physicians. One suspects Topol’s view of medicine is as empathetic as it is because of his personal chronic illness. His personal experience as a patient and physician give him an insightful understanding of medical diagnosis, patient care, and treatment.

Topol explains how increasingly valuable and important Artificial Intelligence is in the diagnosis and treatment of illness and health for human beings.

AI opens the door for improved diagnosis and treatment of patients. A monumental caveat to A.I.s potential is its exposure of personal history not only to physicians but to governments and businesses. Governments and businesses preternaturally have agendas that may be in conflict with one’s personal health and welfare.

Topol notes China is ahead of America in cataloging citizens’ health because of their data collection and AI’s capabilities.

Theoretically, every visit to a doctor can be precisely documented with an AI system. The good of that system would improve continuity of medical diagnosis and treatment of patients. The risk of that system is that it can be exploited by governments and businesses wishing to control or influence a person’s life. One is left with a concern about being able to protect oneself from a government or business that may have access to citizen information. In the case of government, it is the power exercised over freedom. Both government and businesses can use AI information to influence human choice. With detailed information about what one wants, needs, or is undecided upon can be manipulated with personal knowledge accumulated by AI.

Putting loss of privacy and “Brave New World” negatives aside, Topol explains the potential of AI to immensely improve human health and wellness.

Cradle to grave information on human health would aid in research and treatment of illnesses and cures for present and future patients. Topol gives the example of collection of information on biometric health of human beings that can reveal secrets of perfect diets that would aid better health during one’s life. Topol explains how every person has a unique biometric system that processes food in different ways. Some foods may be harmful to some and not others because of the way their body metabolizes what they choose to eat. Topol explains, every person has their own biometric system that processes foods in different ways. It is possible to design diets to meet the specifications of one’s unique digestive system to improve health and avoid foods that are not healthily metabolized by one’s body. An AI could be devised to analyze individual biometrics and recommend more healthful diets and more effective medicines for users of an AI system.

In addition to improvements in medical imaging and diagnosis with AI, Topal explains how medicine and treatments can be personalized to patients based on biometric analysis that shows how medications can be optimized to treat specific patients in a customized way. Every patient is unique in the way they metabolize food and drugs. AI offers the potential for customization to maximize recovery from illness, infection, or disease.

Another growing AI metric is measurement of an individual’s physical well-being. Monitoring one’s vital signs is becoming common with Apple watches and information accumulation that can be monitored and controlled for healthful living. One can begin to improve one’s health and life with more information about a user’s pulse and blood pressure measurements. Instantaneous reports may warn people of risks with an accumulated record of healthful levels of exercise and an exerciser’s recovery times.

Marie Curie (Scientist, chemist, and physicist who played a crucial role in developing x-ray technology, received 2 Nobel Prizes, died at the age of 66.)

Topol offers a number of circumstances where AI has improved medical diagnosis and treatment. He notes how AI analysis of radiological imaging improves diagnosis of body’ abnormality because of its relentless process of reviewing past imaging that is beyond the knowledge or memory of experienced radiologists. Topol notes a number of studies that show AI reads radiological images better than experienced radiologists.

One wonders if AI is a Hobson’s choice or a societal revolution.

One wonders if AI is a Hobson’s choice or a societal revolution greater than the discovery of agriculture (10000 BCE), the rise of civilization (3000 BCE), the Scientific Revolution (16th to 17th century), the Industrial Revolution (18th to 19th century), the Digital Revolution (20th to 21st century), or Climate Change in the 21st century. Like Climate Change, AI seems an inevitable change that will collate, spindle, and mutilate life whether we want it to or not. The best humans can do is adopt and adapt to the change AI will make in human life. It is not a choice but an inevitability.

HUMAN LIFE

What we see today is not reality, but our minds’ interpretation of the material world. It seems that everything in the world is process, e.g., gravity, or time relativity, or quantum unpredictability.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Brain Myths Exploded (Lessons from Neuroscience)

Lecturer: Indre Viskontas

By:  The Great Courses

Indre Viskontas (Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from UCLA, performed at Cafe Royal Opera in San Francisco, studies neural basis of memory and creativity, Lecturer at USF.)

Dr. Indre Viskontas offers interesting facts and theories about the brain in her Great Courses lectures. Her educational and musical accomplishments are remarkable examples of brain’ flexibility, human intelligence, and life-long potential. Her lectures show cognitive improvement may occur throughout one’s life while recalling incidents of brain damage and discoveries of science experiments that reveal how the brain works.

Viskontas suggests the belief that humans use only 10% of their brain is a myth.

The brain is made of eight distinctive structures which are interconnected and work together for our thoughts, feelings, and movements. A network of neurons sends electrical and chemical signals between parts of the brain that generate human thought and action; some of which are automatic and others cognitively reasoned. Viskontas explains how interconnections allow continued mental and physical functioning even when a part of the brain is damaged. Experiment and human accident have proven that the brain can adapt to loss of normal thought and action by retraining healthy parts of the brain. Retraining the brain can improve lost function. This may not return the perfect function of an undamaged brain, but it will improve function.

Viskontas explains human memory is a reconstructive process with varying degrees of accuracy.

There are people who have nearly perfect recall of their past. However, experiment has shown that even those few who can recall their personal history in detail are affected by emotion that distorts its accuracy. Furthermore, Viskontas explains personal history’ memory is limited to personal experience rather than any measurement of IQ. Of course, there are a few people who are said to have eidetic memories that can recall images with precision. They have so-called “photographic memories”, but IQ is based on problem-solving abilities that, at best, would be enhanced by a photographic memory. It is the application of recalled information to problem solving abilities that make one a genius like John von Neumann and Nikol Tesla who were alleged to have eidetic memories.

The risk is that “eyewitness” accounts can be influenced and totally wrong.

Scientific experiment has proven memory is a reconstructive process. With DNA analysis, a number of convicted murderers have been found innocent despite many eyewitnesses that identified them at scenes of crime. One is reminded of the gorilla experiment where eyewitnesses are distracted when a gorilla is sitting in a chair just as a human action scene is created in the same room. They do not see the gorilla and are surprised when it is pointed out to them later.

In the era of quantum computing, the concept of reality is evolving at a rate that boggles the mind.

The idea of a probabilistic rather than concrete reality reminds one of the differences between the science of Newton and Einstein. Newton thought of things as concrete reality. Einstein takes steps toward relativity with less emphasis on the concreteness of reality. What we see today is not reality, but our minds’ interpretation of the material world. It seems that everything in the world is process, e.g., gravity, or time relativity, or quantum unpredictability. Life and human beings may only be a pile of atoms in an atomic process of birth, life, death, and whatever comes after death.

As human beings grow older, new things take longer to learn but Viskontas explains it is commitment that makes a difference in learning something new.

Taking piano lessons as an older adult, deciding to become an opera singer after graduating from college as a neuroscientist, or reading/listening to books about science when you are not educated as a scientist takes more time as you get older, slower, and less inquisitive. Dr. Viskcontas’ lectures infer it is never too late to learn something new. It just takes longer for it to become a part of who you are.

INTELLIGENCE

After two or three chapters of Huston’s book, reader/listeners will likely complete it. The difficulty, as with all good advice, is following it.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

SHARP (Simple Ways to Improve Your Life with Brain Science)

By: Therese Huston PhD

Narrated By:  Theresa Bakken

Therese Huston (Author, earned an MS and PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University.)

Therese Huston is a well-known public speaker who has written a book that has appeal for those who wish to know what they can do to improve their memory and cognitive abilities. This is not a book some will be interested in either listening to or reading. Many presume they have a proscribed intelligence and memory largely determined by genetic inheritance. Huston infers there is some science-based truth in that opinion but that one’s memory, cognitive ability, and psychological health can be treated, if not improved, at any age.

Huston’s prescription for improved memory and cognitive ability requires effort.

Undoubtedly, we inherit much of our innate cognitive ability but whatever one’s genetic inheritance and age may be Huston argues cognition and memory can be improved. Huston discusses areas of the brain that are the base from which cognition and memory originate, are stored, and then called upon.

Huston notes the hippocampus, amygdala, prefrontal cortex, neocortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia are key brain areas involved in cognition and memory.

The hippocampus is the primary location of memories, but the other five areas interact with one’s personal experiences in ways ranging from emotion, individual understanding, decision-making, reasoning, skill development, and formed habits. As we age, the way we process, store, and retrieve information deteriorates. We lose some memories, process information more slowly, and find it more difficult to process new information in the context of past experience.

What Huston explains is that exercise, visual, and tactical experience can improve memory and cognition at every age.

Staying active, experiencing the world in ways that stimulate the production of dopamine, and exercising effort to learn and do new things improves cognitive ability and memory. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the human body that regulates mood, focus and behavior. It is released by the body when it is stimulated by exercise, engaging experience, and learning new things. Huston offers advice on how one at any age can improve their mental health and care for themselves and others when they are troubled by various common and extraordinary events in life. Life’s events stimulate the release of dopamine which can illicit rage and bad behavior but also provide focus and beneficial behavior.

Huston suggests 14 generally simple ways of helping oneself and others cope with the stresses of life.

Many of her solutions are commonly understood, others less so. Not surprisingly, she notes exercise, proper nutrition, quality sleep, and deep breathing are important for maintenance and improvement of brain function and memory. Some more difficult and less understood aids to brain health and memory are 1) importance of social engagement, 2) learning new things from personal and other’s recorded experience, and 3) practicing ways of reducing the stresses of life in yourself and others you care about.

One who reads or listens to “Sharp” will recognize the value of Huston’s advice for improving memory and cognitive ability.

After two or three chapters, reader/listeners will likely complete her book. The difficulty, as with all good advice, is following it.

MEDICINE

A government designed to use public funds to pick winners and losers in the drug industry threatens human health. Only with the truth of science discoveries and honest reporting of drug efficacy can a physician offer hope for human recovery from curable diseases.

Books of Interest
 Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Rethinking Medications (Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take)

By: Jerry Avorn

Narrated By: Jerry Avorn MD

Jerry Avorn (Author, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School where he received his MD, Chief Emeritus of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics)

Doctor Avorn enlightens listener/readers about drug industry’ costs, profits, and regulation. Avorn explains how money corrupts the industry and the FDA while encouraging discovery of effective drug treatments. The cost, profits, and benefits of the industry revolve around research, discovery, medical efficacy, human health, ethics, and regulation.

Drug manufacture is big business.

Treatments for human maladies began in the dark ages when little was known about the causes of disease and mental dysfunction. Cures ranged from spirit dances to herbal concoctions that allegedly expelled evil, cured or killed its followers and users. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) did not come into existence until 1930, but its beginnings harken back to the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt. The FDA took on the role of reviewing scientific drug studies for drug treatments that could aid health recovery for the public. The importance of review was proven critical by incidents like that in 1937, when 107 people died from a Sulfanilamide drug which was found to be poisonous. From that 1937 event forward, the FDA required drug manufacturers to prove safety of a drug before selling it to the public. The FDA began inspecting drug factories while demanding drug ingredient labeling. However, Avorn illustrates how the FDA was seduced by Big Pharma’ to offer drug approvals based on flawed or undisclosed research reports.

Dr. Martin Makary (Dr. Makary was confirmed as the new head of the FDA on March 25, 2025. He is the 27th head of the Department. He is a British-American surgeon and professor.)

What Dr. Avorn reveals is how the FDA has either failed the public or been seduced by drug manufacturers to approve drugs that have not cured patients but have, in some cases, harmed or killed patients. It will be interesting to see what Dr. Marin Makary can do to improve FDA’s regulation of drugs. Avorn touches on court cases that have resulted in huge financial settlements by drug manufacturing companies and their stockholders. However, he notes the actual compensation received by individually harmed patients or families is miniscule in respect to the size of the fines; not to mention many billions of dollars the drug companies received before unethical practices were exposed. Avorn notes many FDA’ research and regulation incompetencies allowed drug companies to hoodwink the public about drug companies’ discovered but unrevealed drug side-effects.

A few examples can be easily found in an internet search:

1) Vioxx (Rofecoxib), a pain killer, had to be withdrawn from use in 2004 because it was linked to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. It was removed from the market in 2004.

2) Fen-Phen (Fenfluramine/Phentermine), a weight-loss drug had to be taken off the market in 1997 because of severe heart and lung complications.

3) Accutane was used to cure acne but was found to be linked to birth defects and had to be withdrawn in 2009.

4) Thalidomide was found to cause birth defects to become repurposed for treatment of certain cancers.

5) A more recent failure of the FDA is their failure to regulate opioids like OxyContin that resulted in huge fines to manufacturers and distributors of the drug.

Lobbyists are hired by drug companies to influence politicians to gain support of drug companies. In aggregate, this chart shows the highest-spending lobbyists in the 3rd Qtr. of 2020 were in the medical industry.

Dr. Avorn argues Big Pharma’s lobbying power has unduly influenced FDA to approve drugs that are not effective in treating patients for their diagnosed conditions. Avorn infers Big Pharma is more focused on increasing revenue than effectively reviewing drug manufacturer’ supplied studies. Avorn argues the FDA has become too dependent on industry fees that are paid by drug manufacturers asking for expedited drug approvals. Avorn infers the FDA fails to demand more documentation from drug manufacturers on their drug’ research. The author suggests many approved opioids, cancer treatment drugs, and psychedelics have questionable effectiveness or have safety concerns. Misleading or incomplete information is provided by drug companies that makes applications an approval process, not a fully relevant or studied action on the efficacy of new drugs.

Avorn is disappointed in the Trump administrations’ selection of Robert Kennedy as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services because of his lack of qualification.

The unscientific bias of Kennedy and Trump in regard to vaccine effectiveness reinforces the likelihood of increased drug manufacturers’ fees that are just a revenue source for the FDA. Trump will likely reward Kennedy for decreasing the Departments’ overhead by firing research scientists and increasing the revenues they collect from drug manufacturers seeking drug approvals.

Trump sees and uses money as the only measure of value in the world.

It is interesting to note that Avorn is a Harvard professor, a member of one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Harvard is being denied government grants by the Trump administration, allegedly because of Harvard’s DEI policy. One is inclined to believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are ignored by Trump because he is part of the white ruling class in America. Trump chooses to stop American aid to the world to reduce the cost of government. American government’s decisions to starve the world and discriminate against non-whites is a return to the past that will have future consequences for America.

Next, Avorn writes about the high cost of drugs, particularly in the United States. Discoveries are patented in the United States to incentivize innovation, but drug companies are gaming that Constitutional right by slightly modifying drug manufacture when their patent rights are nearing expiration. They renew their patent and control the price of the slightly modified drug that has the same curative qualities. As publicly held corporations, they are obligated to keep prices as high as the market allows. The consequence leaves many families at the mercy of their treatable diseases because they cannot afford the drugs that can help them.

Martin Shkreli, American investor who rose to fame and infamy for using hedge funds to buy drug patents and artificially raise their prices to only increase revenues.

The free market system in America allows an investor to buy a drug patent and arbitrarily raise its price. Avorn suggests this is a correctable problem with fair regulation and a balance between government sponsored funding for drug research in return for public funding. Of course, there are some scientists like Jonas Salk in 1953 who refused to privately patent the polio vaccine because it had such great benefit to the health of the world.

Avorn notes the 1990’s drug costs in the U.S. are out of control.

Only the rich are able to pay for newer drugs that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Americans spend over $13,000 per year per person while Europe is around $5,000 and low-income countries under $500 per year. These expenditures are to extend life which one would think make Americans live longest. Interestingly, America is not even in the top 10. Hong Kong’s average life expectancy is 85.77 years, Japan 85. South Korea 84.53. The U.S. average life expectancy is 79.4. To a cynic like me, one might say what’s 5 or 6 more years of life really worth? On the other hand, billionaires and millionaires like Peter Thiel and Bryan Johnson have invested millions into anti-aging research.

Avorn reinforces the substance of Michael Pollan’s book “How to Change Your Mind” which reenvisions the value of hallucinogens in this century.

Avorn notes hallucinogens efficacy is reborn in the 21st century to a level of medical and social acceptance. Avorn is a trained physician as opposed to Pollan who is a graduate with an M.A. in English, not with degrees in science or medicine.

In reviewing Avorn’s informative history, it is apparent that patients should be asking their doctors more questions about the drugs they are taking.

Drugs have side effects that can conflict with other drugs being taken. In this age of modern medicine, there are many drugs that can be effective, but they can also be deadly. Drug manufacturers looking at drug creation as only revenue producers is a bad choice for society.

Avorn’s history of the drug industry shows failure in American medicines is more than the mistake of placing an incompetent in charge of the U.S.

Taking money away from research facilities diminishes American innovation in medicine and other important sciences. However, research is only as good as the accuracy of its proof of efficacy for the treatment of disease and the Hippocratic Oath of “First, do no harm”. A government designed to use public funds to pick winners and losers in the drug industry threatens human health. Only with the truth of science discoveries and honest reporting of drug efficacy can a physician offer hope for human recovery from curable diseases.