All posts by listerlogic@hotmail.com

3- SOLVING WORLD PROBLEMS, 4- HOW WE THINK

SOCIETY HAS BECOME AN ENABLER FOR YOUNG OFFENDERS, AND VIOLENCE BY THE MENTALLY ILL

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Every day in Toronto, there is another incident involving either an unprovoked attack by someone in a mental crisis or a swarming of someone by teenagers. Sympathetic treatment toward mental illness involving violence and the “Young Offender’s Act” are the root cause of this growing problem.

In Oct 2022 RCMP officer Shaelyn Yang was attacked by a homeless man with a knife. She managed to shoot him during the altercation, the homeless man survived, but officer Yang did not. Yang was not only trained as a police officer but trained in dealing with mental health and was part of a homeless outreach program, but despite that, she not only could not help the homeless man but was murdered by him. As tragic as this was, it boggles my mind, that in today’s society, it was necessary to have an investigation afterward to determine if her shooting him was justified. She’s dead! It’s obvious the shooting was not only justified but she should have done more.

There has never been more empathy and acceptance toward mental illness than there is today. As positive as this is, acceptance of the behavior associated with it has enabled a small number to escalate their actions to violence, leading to serious injury and death of innocent people on a daily basis. While some of these attacks are unpredictable, the ones done by people with a history of violence are totally preventable. Lack of a deterrent at the onset of violence because someone has mental issues reduces their need to control themselves and enables their behavior to escalate.

Not unlike violence by the mentally ill, the amount of crime done by young offenders is enabled by the current “The Young Offenders Act”. Of course, everything possible needs to be done to keep youth on the right path and rehabilitate the ones that stray off it but current laws don’t do that. Although “The Young Offenders Act” works for the majority of youth for first or second offenses, it provides little deterrent to repeat offenders, enabling them to commit more serious crimes and reducing their chances of rehabilitation. Any young offender convicted of a second violent offense or a third criminal act should face the full wrath of the adult punishment for that offense.

Most crimes are totally preventable as people can control their actions when they need to. No one would put their hand on a hot stove if they were told not to. (NO I AM NOT SUGGESTING THAT BE DONE TO ANYONE!!!!) I am just saying most people that commit crimes have the ability to control their actions and would think twice before committing a crime if there was enough of a deterrent. Also, current deterrents do not work well because waiting months or years for a trial causes a disassociation between actions and punishment.

It would be nice if everyone could be helped with a hug and a long talk, but with the increase of money and programs toward this solution over the past years, problems are getting worse, not better. You have to be pretty naive to believe that acceptance, defunding the police, and throwing money into programs will help everyone. For a small but significant number, it becomes an enabler. We need to do everything possible to help people before things get out of hand but can not ignore or tolerate violence or repetitive criminal acts because of the age or mental state of the person.

When an armed, specially trained police officer can be killed, what chance do you and your loved ones have? We all have the right to be safe. The rights of the mentally ill and young offenders should not be above everyone else.

Dave Lister

listerlogic.com

5- THEORETICAL SCIENCE

CAN MATH PROVE THAT FATE IS REAL?

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Some people believe their future is predetermined and nothing is left to chance. Math and physics could prove them right.

With our current knowledge in physics, we have the math that can figure out roughly how a leaf will move if a wind blows on it from a certain direction. Suppose we could calculate right down to the quark-particle locations, quantity, and temperature in both the leaf and the wind to infinity. In that case, it should be possible to determine exactly how the leaf would move. Using this same theory, it should be possible to determine where and when the wind will blow, the exact shape of a snowflake before it forms, or any other action in the entire Universe.

The human brain should be no exception. If we knew precisely how it was made up through genetics and the electrical paths created by all previous experiences and memories and could calculate them to infinity, it should be possible to figure out the exact reaction when a stimulus is applied.

Assuming all of the above to be true, and we had a spreadsheet containing every particle in the universe and their characteristics at any given exact time, it should be mathematically possible to predict the future, or by reversing the calculations we could know everything in the past. Of course, a fluid spreadsheet like this would be the size of the universe and impossible for us to construct, but it doesn’t change the concept that the future could be mathematically predetermined and predictable.

Dave Lister

listerlogic.com

3- SOLVING WORLD PROBLEMS, 7- CURRENT NEWS

THE END OF FREE HEALTH CARE IN ONTARIO

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On July 14th, 2022 my wife, in her 60s, went to a walk-in clinic for a persistent cough that had gone on for over 6 weeks. Concerned it had now turned to Bronchitis or Pneumonia, she needed to have it checked. Unable to get a Doctor’s appointment and not wanting to tie up the Emergency department at the hospital, she went to “Good Doctors” walk-in clinic at 9225 Hwy 93 in Midland Ontario. She was shocked when she was told she had to pay $10.00 before she could be seen by a doctor. Lack of government funding was the only reason given for the charge.

Although $10.00 is not a lot of money to many people, it sets a dangerous precedent. Ten dollars today will quickly turn to a hundred dollars in the future. It represents the beginning of the end, of free health care as we know it. On top of that, she was even charged HST, for a total of $11.30.

Doug Ford needs to end this now! Cutting the gas tax and eliminating yearly registration fees for motor vehicles is not worth it if the sick and elderly are made to make up the difference.

Dave Lister

listerlogic.com

6- INVENTIONS

ROCK AND RIDE / COMBINING MUSIC WITH THEME PARKS

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The power of music has yet to be defined. It motivates and drives us in workouts and life in ways that are still not fully understood. Fears can turn to bravery with the right song. So why has no one combined music with theme parks? The right song being played loud from a roller coaster seat can change the experience from being intimidating and petrifying to that of being inspired to conquer it. A frame of mind that enables you to fully experience the loops and turns you were meant to.

Dave Lister

listerlogic.com

4- HOW WE THINK, 5- THEORETICAL SCIENCE

HAS THE MOST INTENSE EXPERIENCE OF SPACE TRAVEL ELUDED ASTRONAUTS?

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3:30 AM, in a tent miles from anywhere, you awaken with an unignorable urge to pee. The moment you unzip the tent it hits you, millions of stars with clarity, unlike anything you have seen before. A powerful experience for anyone, regardless of background or interests. Hard to imagine, as incredible as it looks, you are viewing it through a dirty window called the atmosphere.

Now imagine you had a fascination with space and astronomy and had the same view from above the atmosphere’s distorting effects. Add in the excitement of space flight, weightlessness, the amplifying effect adrenalin has on experiences, and what you feel would most likely be in the life-changing zone. A normal experience for all astronauts you would think, but not so. In fact, no astronaut to date may have had this experience. Light from the sun, earth, and ambient light from the spacecraft wash out the light from faint stars. It also inhibits the physiological conditions of “3:30 am eyes” needed to see them.

Most photos taken by astronauts show space as being deep black and starless due to the abundance of light from the sun. Much like the sky from the earth throughout the day appears blue and starless. Even when a spacecraft’s orbit brings it in opposition to the sun, light from the earth and the interior of the spacecraft inhibit the astronaut’s eyes from achieving both the physical and chemical adaptation needed to be able to see in low light, as we can in the camping example.

Testing for this experience is not hard and may have already been done. The astronaut must be placed in a pitch-black part of the spacecraft for a minimum of 1 hour before, to allow full dilation of their pupils and give time for the chemical dark adaptation of their eyes to take place. The sun and moon need to be in opposition. Without exposure to ambient light from the spacecraft and using the spacecraft to block ambient light from the earth, the largest observation window facing away from the earth should provide the most spectacular experience and view of the universe.

The same experience could also be possible on sub-orbital flights, by wearing VR goggles 1 hour before apogee. During launch and ascent, cameras on the outside of the goggles convert what would normally be seen, to a red light image on the screen inside below 650 nanometers. Red light below 650 nanometers does not affect our night vision. During a nighttime launch, after main engine cut off when the spacecraft gets to its apogee, the goggles would be removed.

Life-changing experiences are not uncommon for astronauts. Years ago, only the most hard-core test pilots made it into the Mercury / Apollo programs. Many of these highly disciplined, stone-cold astronauts admitted to being overcome with emotion when traveling to space. Most notably is an experience called the “Overview Effect”. The overview effect is a well-documented feeling of enlightenment, reported by many astronauts when they view Earth from space. There is no reason seeing the universe from space would be any less intense, a sort of “Outerview-Effect”

We live our entire life in this house with dirty windows we call Earth, a unique and insignificant spec in an unimaginable vastness of space. How can we claim to have lived a full life if we have never punched through the atmosphere, gone outside on the front lawn, and clearly seen and felt the universe we live in, even if it’s only for a few moments?

Dave Lister

listerlogic.com