Interests

fanw suggested this crazy idea where you ask people about the interests that they list in their profile. I, for one, had forgotten that I list “interests” in my profile … so it sounded like a fun game. If you want to play, leave a comment. Here are the ones she asked about:

swaziland

redmed was going to go to Swaziland for her research project this summer. It didn’t happen, but I developed a brief interest in this small nation that I had never thought about before.

sentience

I studied machine learning and artificial intelligence in school. I also think a lot about ethics and where they might logically come from. So far as I can tell, the core question underlying ethics is whether I’m doing something to “someone.” Questions of when someone “is,” and whether being them is anything like being me are fascinating … at least to me.

buddhism

My engagement with Buddhism started when my mom stayed at the same hotel as the Dalai Lama. Since then, I’ve taken the opportunity to read up on it … both as a religion and as a rather compelling philosophy of self improvement. I’ve come to believe that once you strip away the ritual silliness … Buddhism (as taught by Buddha) is the best self-help program ever invented. All the rest are pale substitutes.

vinyasa yoga

Vinyassa is a subset of yoga that focuses on a particular core series of postures, and the dynamic “flow” between them. It’s frequently practiced in heated rooms (though not as hot as some of the more extreme variants). Yoga, like the martial arts, is a large place … and it’s important to find a sub-discipline that agrees with your body type and a teacher from whom you can learn. Long story less long – I’ve experienced several quite remarkable moments of mental clarity while practicing in this way. Any *system* that can lead me to *clarity* is of a great deal of interest.

nanotech/genomics whichever you want to talk about more.

I’ll go with genomics. It’s kinda sorta what I do for a living. At least, I support people who are doing genomics. I think that we’re on the verge of a breakthrough on the order of Kepler noticing the elliptical orbits of the planets … if only we could somehow organize the data well enough. I think that genomic science, particularly as it moves from R&D into the clinical realm will have strange and unexpected effects all the way up and down society. As an example, in 10 years it’s going to be beyond easy to figure out approximately how many generations back you and I are related. With that as real data, I suspect that concepts of “race” and “culture” (not to mention “family”) are going to change markedly.