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<p>I always assumed that the chirality asymmetry of organic
molecules on earth was a simple feedback loop or the "sensitive
dependence on initial conditions" of a complex adaptive system
(biosphere). I've heard (but not parsed fully) similar arguments
about matter/anti-matter? Or like the Highlander Franchise "there
can be only one!" (chirality).<br>
</p>
<p>Is the chirality dystopian vision more like "grey goo" or a
protein-molecule "kessler syndrome" scenario from my
pantheon/quiver of existential threats?<br>
</p>
<p>One of my never-to-be-realized novels would be titled <i>"We
Shall Know our Chirality"</i>.</p>
<p>this is a nod to Egger's 2002 "We Shall Know our Velocity", a bit
of an absurdist "road novel" vaguely relevant to Pirsig's earlier
"Motorcycle" one.</p>
<p>I did not remember (or know) that Egger's took the theme even
further in his 2013 "The Circle" novel which became a movie (2017)
by the same name. A dystopian story painfully apropos of the
moment prophecying (sp?) the various parodies and paradoxes of
"complete knowledge" and "whatever I say means what I want it to
mean" (paraphrase of virtually every Right Wing figure today).
Also shared with "follow the science" mantras.<br>
</p>
<p>FWiW GPT 4o mini believes/hallucinates thus: <br>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The phrase <strong>"We shall know our velocities"</strong>
comes from <strong>Mark Twain</strong>’s novel <strong><em>The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</em> (1884)</strong>. It is
part of a speech made by <strong>The Duke</strong> in the book,
where he is talking about his plans to make money by deceiving
people.</p>
<p>The full quote goes:</p>
<p><strong>"We shall know our velocities, and we shall know how
fast we are going, and how far, and where we are going."</strong></p>
<p>It is often interpreted as Twain's satirical commentary on the
human tendency to overthink or complicate matters. Twain is not
only mocking the characters in the novel who are trying to
calculate or control things that are uncontrollable but also
commenting on the absurdity of putting too much emphasis on
knowledge or control over something that doesn't need to be
calculated in such a manner.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I say "hallucinates" because upon searching the text of
Huckelberry Finn I find no such quote (or even a reference to
"velocities" or "velocity". I *was* just asking GPT to help me
find/recognize the *previous* quote from Clemens/Twain regarding
"reading the news two weeks late"... so I think GPTs eagerness to
please me maybe sent it that way?</p>
<p>Others have suggested that soon all original reference material
will be buried by recursive hallucinations of LLMs quoting the
output of LLMs, etc. I was skeptical when this was first
mentioned, I'm now feeling like I might be living it?</p>
<p>Bah!</p>
<p> - Steve</p>
<p>Back to perseverating on Capitol Hill/DC events. Do we think
Hegseth was on the chopper that hit the passenger jet? A last
romantic flight with his next ex-wife, the female combat pilot
just before he drums her out of the military (but before he
discovers she is Trans)? <br>
</p>
On 1/30/25 8:18 AM, glen wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:46d26708-2719-4219-9fa6-10f464442df2@gmail.com">
<br>
Asteroid fragments upend theory of how life on Earth bloomed
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00264-3">https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00264-3</a>
<br>
"Glavin is most perplexed by the discovery of an equal mixture of
left-handed and right-handed amino acids on Bennu. He, like many
scientists, had thought that organic molecules from primordial
asteroids would have had the same left-handed dominance as those
from life on Earth. Now, researchers have to go back to the
drawing board to understand how life might have been seeded on
Earth."
<br>
<br>
I remember but now can't find a recent article about how dangerous
right-handed molecules are to life on earth. Peter Ward's book
gifted me some rhetoric for a basic belief I'd held for awhile.
Renee' believes in (complex) extraterrestrials. I don't, at least
within some observation window (i.e. maybe they're out there but
we'll never meet them). But it's completely reasonable that life
emerged all over the universe. It's just difficult for me to
imagine it (life) jumping through all these gen-phen ratchets.
<br>
<br>
There must be a sci-fi novel out there where some cluster (alive
or not) of right-handed molecules lands on earth and eats away at
the biosphere. I can see 2 basic outcomes: 1. death or 2.
chirality co-evolution (including where 1 or the other wins out in
the "end").
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
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