Going to sleep with computer addiction

So, I have computer addiction. I don't want to miss out on anything (massive FOMO) and will stay up till I am extremely tired. This is due to blue light https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30557479, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30506899, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30311830, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30568927.

I have remedied this with a few major changes in my life.

Firstly, by going to bed at a regular time. This has been incredibly difficult. Many people have trouble sleeping. I don't; I have trouble going to bed.

To resolve this, I went to Windows Task Scheduler:

I then clicked 'Create Basic Task' and enter the following information:

Then I clicked 'Next' and set the Trigger as a Daily task:

Then I clicked 'Next and set the time to 11:00 PM (as this is when I should be getting off the PC), recurring every 1 day. 

I then set it as 'Start a program' and click 'Next'.

Here are the details:

For 'Program/script': C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe
For 'Add arguments (optional)': -s -t 300 -c "Goodnight Ben!" -d p:4:1 

I then click 'Next', then 'Finish'. This sets up an automatic prompt for shutting down my computer at 11:00 PM, with a 2 minute warning window.

This has helped me significantly, allowing me to get off the computer and get to bed, so I can retain regular sleep habits.

Secondly, I have added f.lux to my desktop, which removes blue light. This kicks in around 7 PM and slowly removes blue light from the computer screen, which has been demonstrated to keep people awake.

Thirdly, using a Samsung Galaxy S9, which copied f.lux's blue light filter technique, I have turned on the 'Blue Light Filter' setting. 

Finally, I have set my phone alarm for my phone for 11:00 PM, which tells me to GTFO the computer, my phone and get ready for bed. I have time to shower, read and get into bed for a 12:00 AM sleep.

Going to sleep on a regular hour, and waking up regularly at 8 AM has been a legitimate boon for me. I highly recommend it.

I designed a new Australian flag

Inspired by Roman Mars’ (99% Invisible) TED Talk, I designed a new flag for Australia based off Ted Kaye’s rules for good flag design. This is most likely in the event of Australia becoming a republic. Below is my flag design and reasoning, but before that I think it’s important to talk about why Australia should have a redesigned flag.

Australian flag since 1901

It’s been spoken about before, but let’s go through it quickly.

 Things I like about it

• I like the colours of the flag. They are a well-chosen trio of colours (borrowed from Britain) which are aesthetically pleasing to me.
• The Federation Star (below the Union Jack) is a great example of a simple and powerful symbol. Children can draw it and it has great historical value.

Major design issues

It is cluttered with three different symbols and therefore  three major focal points.

• The Union Jack, while nice on its own, floats awkwardly in the top corner of the flag. How relevant is the Union Jack and Britain to the Australian way of life now? Forty-four out of forty-nine nations of the Commonwealth have abandoned the Union Jack on their flags? Why? I assume not out of spite, but because they have forged their own national identity, and it is probably only proximally related to Britain.

• The Southern Cross is not a constellation unique to Australia (the seven-pointed star modifications are, however). The Southern Cross is currently found on the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Samoa and Papua New Guinea.

• The seven-pointed Federation Star sits centered below the Union Jack. I feel like its purpose has already been served by having seven-pointed stars in the Southern Cross, making it a tautology. It was possibly only included for visual balancing.

Current national flags with the Southern Cross on them. From the top: Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Samoa and Papua New Guinea

Designing a new flag could allow inclusion of the Indigenous Australians into our national identity. That might be nice. It would also give Australia an opportunity to have a modern, simplified flag which represents us today. My proposed flag is below: 

Flag available here in scalable svg format

Design philosophy

Keep it simple

• This flag is simple, anyone could draw it and it would be easily recognisable. There is one clear focal point: the Federation Star.
• The flag has standard flag dimensions of 1:2. 

Use meaningful symbolism

• If Australia was to become a republic, then we would most certainly ditch the Union Jack. The most important part of the Australian flag from my perspective isn’t the Southern Cross (which can be seen predominantly across the Southern hemisphere). Instead I utilised the seven-pointed Federation Star, symbolising the Federation of Australia (in 1901) and all the territories and states within.
• I would have liked to use a kangaroo, but it seemed gimmicky and QANTAS would love it too much. Would it be weird to have an animal on our flag that we also eat?
• The Indigenous Australian flag is quite elegant in my opinion, so I borrowed heavily off its design. The Federation Star is seen here in place of the sun, coloured gold.

Use two or three basic colours

This was the trickiest bit of the flag because using colours that represents all Australians is hard.

• The Australian green and gold combination looks terrible. Green does not go with ‘gold’ in my opinion. It looks tacky.
• The black in the Indigenous Australian flag represent the Indigenous Australians, so this wouldn't be representative of everyone.
• I got around this by going with dark blue. This represents the sky, as well as being reminiscent of the British Blue Ensign currently displayed on the Australian flag. This works well with the red (representing the earth just as in the Indigenous Australian flag), and the golden sun/star. Technically, most stars in the sky we see are suns, so it works.

No lettering or seals

None included

Be distinctive or be related

• I designed the flag in this way to marry the two major components of Australian history; the pre-colonised indigenous Australia and the British-colonised Australia. This was done in an effort to reconcile both histories within today's modern Australia.
• The flag contains elements of both the current Australian flag and the Indigenous Australian flag to reflect this. Also creating new things is hard, and using currently established symbols seems like a much better idea.

So it was pointed out to me that I basically created an inverted Viet Cong flag. Lol. This is hard.



Should Australia become a republic?

I mean, probably, I guess? I think it makes sense, but I wonder what the actual changes to society would be, because I assume not much. There are many more pressing and existential issues such as climate change, nuclear escalation and wealth inequality which deserve the full attention of legislators. If it’s not going to cost too much (besides souvenir shops who will have to restock thousands of little koalas which clip onto pens, holding little flags) and create legal issues for citizens then sure. I can’t see why people would be against it.

Even if Australia does not become a republic, there is still an opportunity for us to pick up a new and improved flag. In reality, this isn’t a big issue and barely registers as one. I just got caught up in trying to design a new flag. It was much harder and took much longer than I thought. I am actually too embarrassed to publish the trial and error flags I designed along the way. Below is my alternative design.

S'truth m8

I don't think what I have designed is perfect, but I can't be bothered spending any more time on this. If you have any alternatives or any feedback, let me know.

The job of scientists and journalists

In my opinion, the thing these professions have in common is the communication of facts and truth. They are very similar, and I am personally attracted to both.

My job is to disseminate what is true. To further develop that point: to communicate information which is most likely true, given the information/evidence at hand.

I like that. I like that a lot. It's a cool job with a lot of responsibility to not only scientific peers but also to the public, and future generations of humans.

Fight club: human identity in a commercialised world

It's important to talk about the faux relationship forged between identity and commercial products by advertisers and manipulators of human emotion and psychology, an amoral trade which has been honed since commerce began. 

"You are not your job, you're not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are the all singing, all dancing crap of the world."

The endlessly quotable Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk dissects identity on a level that I like to think about. I watched it at 15 and it altered the course of my personal development entirely. I owe much of my own identity and the way I engage with society to it. I've also done a lot of thinking since then. In truth, I think this book (or the film) should be required reading by every modern human, along with 1984. It adds untold value and insight into navigating a world in which the ruling elite AKA hucksters (should totally be 'huxters' - the 'x' efficiently obviates letters 'cks') have reprogrammed society into a state of perpetual consumption by exploiting biological reward pathways and human patterns of behaviour all in the vain attempt to accumulate the most toys before they die. The true slaves of the coin are the ones at the top. Unfortunately the world at large bought it, and we're forced to pay retail prices.

 If Fight Club is your jam, consider checking out Mr. Robot. It may be the greatest torch-bearing contemporary which refined and modernised the message. 

"Self-improvement is masturbation. Now self-destruction..."

Fight Club was never about selling you something, it was getting you to buy out of perpetual consumerism and self improvement that people have tried to tie to your identity. Advertisers and merchants have been perfecting the craft for centuries. This here's the real con in consumerism. The promise that if you use a product or service it will improve or carve out your identity, then others will like you more. Then you won't be lonely.

In truth, the thing people are really trying to sell you is something you can't actually purchase. You can't buy it. It's just not that easy. There aren't even any reliable shortcuts with regards developing a robust identity. Working out who you and developing your identity is a gradual, lifelong journey which involves periods of stagnation, isolation and deep self-reflection in a punctuated equilibrium-type model. Propping up an identity with commodities, objects or hobbies is a superficial mask rather than a bypass. It gives the impression of an identity without having to do any of the work. Your identity is everything you are once externalities are stripped away. It's defined by the absence of confounding variables, not the sum total.

"Let go!"

Fight Club is constantly reminding you of this throughout. The most clear to me is the car scene. Abandoning the relationship between commodities and self is freeing. You learn the shape of your identity once you remove the putty covering the imperfections. Only then can you see who you are. Looking inward is the only way forward. It's raw, flawed and unfiltered, but it's who you are. In the age of social media and serotonin saturation, a flawless facade of identity can be carefully synthesised, and even believed. But it's not real. It's not you. It's just PR. Even #nofilter is part of the narrative of a calculated and constructed identity. The unhealthy obsession with maintaining a well-filtered online identity is a real issue we need to deal with both on a societal and individual level. The cons probably outweigh the pros here. Imagine being able to change the world with a version release. Humanity hyperconnected but everlonely.

"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything".

I think it's probably a common thought process that if you don't build up a dynamic personality of interesting interests, objects and hobbies that people will be bored by you and therefore not like you, leading to loneliness. Ironically, loneliness is something we all go through together, separately. I think it's a bug/feature of the human experience. Existence just happens to be a lonely thing, even for the hypersocial. Personally, I don't think it ever goes away - loneliness that is. It will always encapsulate your entire existence like an enteric coating, as life slowly digests you back into nutrients, not that you ever weren't. That's not entirely a bad thing though. That nakedness that loneliness exposes gives you a chance to see yourself for who you are. Only then can you evolve.

Your human experience is totally novel, yet completely common. This means two major things: you are not special, but you are unique. Therefore, your identity has value because there is no one else like you. You don't have 'value' in the intrinsic sense that 'all life and opinions are valuable' etc, but for the simple fact that there is no one else exactly the same as you. It's a pretty amazing thing to think about. In all of human existence, there has never been another you. There will be others highly similar to you or will share similar patterns of behaviour, but for now you can rest easy with your distinct but meaningless existence.


As a sidenote: in the future if cloning/brain uploading becomes legal/possible then there will be beings that are almost you, but they will be completely disconnected from your personal human experience.


The double-edged sword of uniqueness cuts through everyone. It's a festering wound of isolation and loneliness because no one can ever really understand what it means to be you. Understandably, they either don't care nor have time to find out because they are busy feeling the same way about their own existence. This is why trimming the fat and excising the shit you patch your identity with is liberating. You are not your taste in music, nor the number of social media followers. You are a unique but inconsequential organism. You are flawed and one day you are going to die and never come back. Once you really understand that, you'll start to see the fuzzy outline of who you really are, then there's nowhere you can go but up.

AFL and CTE

The AFL most likely has links to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an acquired neurodegenerative disease resulting in behavioural issues, altered thinking, mood changes and as a strong predisposing factor for dementia and Alzheimer's.

The AFL has refused to cooperate in a two-year study to look at the effects of the game on players. Sadly it's not in their best interest to do it, it is putting profits (as well as an entire game and culture above the long-term health and mental wellbeing of athletes.

If you think Aussie rules doesn't have a concussion issue, be concerned. Turns out CTE is also caused by a build-up of sub-concussive blows. Research has shown CTE in soccer players (due to heading the ball), as well as skiing.
The next generations will look upon us as barbarians for risking the long-term health of our children's brains over a game.

I'm not saying there's no benefit to AFL/contact sport, or that it isn't fulfilling to play or entertaining, but the way it is played right now most likely isn't healthy for the players. Significant changes to the game will most likely improve player outcomes.

I'm posting this because Google needs some indexed links talking about the AFL and it's probable link to CTE.

Sources:

• https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/concussion-research-worthless-due-to-afl-attitude-doctor-20180914-p503tk.html
• https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170215131600.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_health_in_the_Australian_Football_League
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_injuries_in_the_Australian_Football_League
• https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/cte-authority-likens-australian-footy-codes-to-gladiatorial-sports-in-ancient-rome-20160212-gmsrle.html
• https://freeskier.com/stories/brain-busters-will-ski-community-react-cte-sudden-presence-action-sports

The regulation of methyltheobromine

Methyltheobromine

Methyltheobromine is a regulated stimulant freely available in global markets, isolated predominantly from Coffea arabica. 

Common side effects

It produces a number of side effects such as addiction, chemical withdrawal, increased blood pressure, diuresis, mild anxiety, jitteriness, insomnia, increased sleep latency, and reduced coordination. When taken with other drugs such as alcohol, it can mask depressant effects, allowing people to drink more.

Dosage

People usually consume 280 - 400 mg of methyltheobromine daily, which helps the world go round. The lethal dose of methyltheobromine is somewhere between 5 - 10 grams in a day (150 - 200 mg per kg body mass). Injecting unknown quantities into the bloodstream or using the purified compound is dangerous and has on several occasions resulted in death. Thank god it is a regulated market with a safe delivery method. Imagine we treated other drugs the same way as we do caffeine.

As Paracelsus said: "The dose makes the poison".

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea
• http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/nurse-kills-patient-injecting-coffee-drip-article-1.1189969
• https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/exmwka/how-much-caffeine-will-kill-you-127
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine
• https://www.popsci.com.au/science/fyi-how-much-caffeine-would-it-take-to-kill-you,378464

The dangers of advertising

Source

Advertising by nature is parasitic

It means us harm. It is just legal and semi-regulated social engineering (hacking human behaviour). By regulated, I mean they can't show genitals or too much violence. Advertising tries to change your regular patterns of behaviour by tricking your brain into subconsciously associating a product or brand with an emotion or sensation. Basically, the more associations a particular memory has, the greater the chance of it being triggered and remembered. This is what advertising preys on. Attaching itself to your emotions like a leech.

Everyone is effected

Advertising has negatively impacted all of us. We've been bombarded our entire lives. Companies have tried to alter the way we behave and permanently rewired our brains, all for the grand purpose of selling us shit we probably don't need. Cue Fight Club. This has resulted in literally generations of unconscious consumption.

Advertisers have hijacked our thought processes and tried to weld their products and brands to our base desires; to the very things that make us human. If you were to have therapy to even attempt to dissociate all the brand names that have been paired with your emotions, you'd be in therapy for the rest of your life.

Targeted advertising

Personalised, targeted advertising is already effective now and is still a blunt instrument. In the near future it will be irresistible and totally integrated into your life that you won't even realise you are being marketed to. I don't know why this type of emotional manipulation and brainwashing to this extent is both legal and a booming business. Scary to think about in my opinion.

See the following studies for further, alarming information:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27427474
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24583854
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4359675/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29971684
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17655834
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5671759/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28661044
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27793520