Just Published: The Time Cheaters, Part 2

Matilda Trumpley, the President of the Clique of Nations, has been murdered before her time. Or, at least, that's what Professor Maxwell Muddle thinks. Max Muddle has been sent from the future by President Dephinius Dreirott to smooth out a few insignificant wrinkles in time. However, every time that Prof. Muddle tries to smooth out one little wrinkle, he creates a tsunami of unexpected convulsions in the spacetime continuum. 

Will Muddle ever be able to carry out his mission and fix the past, present, and future? Or will his enemies track him down and succeed in destroying the future that he has sworn to preserve? 

The Time Cheaters, Part 2 is available in Kindle format from Amazon for the (insanely low!) price of $0.99.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0073NZA8Y  

About the Author

Rocky Ford was born and raised in Colorado. He's always been a big fan of science fiction, and Rocky is particularly interested in the dynamic relationship between science fiction, the human imagination, and the evolution of social reality. For example, Rocky is fascinated by the influence that authors, such as Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and others, have had on the the historical events that have unfolded following publication of their influential stories. In a small way, The Time Cheaters is intended to be an imaginative  commentary on the manner in which science fiction has repeatedly fired the human imagination and, time and again, transformed the substance of social reality.

Just Published: The Time Cheaters, Part 2

Matilda Trumpley, the President of the Clique of Nations, has been murdered before her time. Or, at least, that's what Professor Maxwell Muddle thinks. Max Muddle has been sent from the future by President Dephinius Dreirott to smooth out a few insignificant wrinkles in time. However, every time that Prof. Muddle tries to smooth out one little wrinkle, he creates a tsunami of unexpected convulsions in the spacetime continuum. 

Will Muddle ever be able to carry out his mission and fix the past, present, and future? Or will his enemies track him down and succeed in destroying the future that he has sworn to preserve? 

The Time Cheaters, Part 2 is available in Kindle format from Amazon for the (insanely low!) price of $0.99.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0073NZA8Y  

Excerpt from The Time Cheaters, Part I

At the mention of the conference, Jelli’s visage hardened. She scrutinized Muddle sharply, and opened her mouth as if preparing to deliver a harsh rebuke. Then, thinking better of it, she closed her mouth and let the moment pass. Forcibly suppressing her real feelings, Jelli lifted the corners of her mouth in a humorless smile and sighed, “Yeah, alright, I was just checking in.” Lacking a pretext to extend her visit any longer, Jelli prepared to hop to the floor. However, as she began to turn away from the scenery, Jelli's jaw dropped and she burst out, “Hey! What the heck was that!!”

Taken aback, Muddle responded in alarm, “Wh-, what are you talking about?”

Clutching the bookshelf’s topmost boards, Jelli pressed toward the glass and puzzled excitedly, “No way! That…that couldn't have happened!" Still thunderstruck, she shook her head at Muddle and declared, "That was so weird!”

Impatiently, Muddle demanded more insistently, “Jelli, what on earth are you talking about?”

“Aww, well it’s gone now!" Jelli answered, while still peering intently out the window, "But, sheesh! It was like a...a streak of light. Kind of a silvery flash, and then WHAM!" She slashed hand through the air for emphasis and, as a consequence, nearly toppled from her perch. Heedless, Jelli righted herself while fumbling for adequate words to describe the marvel she had just witnessed, "There was this long, uh...I don't know, it was kind of a thin splash. Um...Sort of like a huge sword had slashed through the water...and…and..."

Suddenly realizing how improbable her description must sound, Jelli halted her monologue. She chewed her bottom lip and then, purely for the purposes of bringing her thoughts to closure, she gestured out the window and stammered, "...I...I don't know...I guess it was about a mile out from the beach...”

Muddle glanced furtively at his dead computer screen, and then, attempting to divert Jelli, he pronounced, “You see, that’s exactly what I'm talking about.” Thrusting an accusing finger toward the windows, he continued, “If I could see out there, I’d be spotting sea monsters all the time.”

Jelli ignored him, so Muddle added coaxingly, “Look, it was probably just a whale. They make big splashes all the time. You know, when they, um...what do you call it? …when they breach?”

This remark drew Jelli's attention. Peering querulously at Muddle, Jelli scoffed, "Breaching whales, Max? You've got to be kidding! Do whales usually hurtle through the sky at a thousand miles per hour before they breach?”

"Okay, okay," suitably abashed, Muddle threw up his hands to concede her point. However, he immediately launched another tactical diversion, “Um, hey, Jelli? Weren’t you just asking me something? Uhh, you know, about the conference?” He motioned invitingly toward her wingback.
 
Torn by rival curiosities, Jelli did a quick double take. With no further hint of abnormality in the sea or sky, she decided that Muddle's offer represented the more appealing of the two available alternatives. Thus, following a final lingering gaze out the window, Jelli hopped to the floor and queried, “Okay, Max. So, where's this conference going to be?”

Gratified that his ploy had succeeded, Muddle settled back and began prevaricating afresh, “Oh, like I said, it’s not really a conference. It’s more of a get-together.” In response to his renewed evasions, Jelli abruptly turned on her heel and headed back toward the stack of books.


The Time Cheaters, Part I is available in Kindle format from Amazon for the (insanely low!) price of $0.99.
http://www.amazon.com/Time-Cheaters-Part-ebook/dp/B0067PI81K/

GoodScience.mov

Good Science on YouTube

Are you too busy to read an entire book? Then check out the synopsis of Good Science on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/kRi2V6F7C64

You'll be glad you did.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Podcast for Good Science

This AAAS Member Central podcast (re-posted at The SocJournal) offers a brief description of Tim McGettigan’s new book, Good Science.
http://audio.sociology.org:777/mcgettigan-good-science.mp3

In Good Science, Tim McGettigan argues that the pursuit of truth has often radically transformed conceptions of the cosmos while also instigating profound transformations in social reality. From Galileo, to Darwin, Einstein and beyond, landmark achievements in science have transformed the way that we perceive and live in the real world. While science has certainly been blamed for many problems (e.g., overpopulation, pollution, global warming, nuclear waste, nuclear Armageddon, etc.), McGettigan also insists that science has also created far more advantages, comforts and opportunities than anyone could have imagined even a generation ago. Therefore, McGettigan concludes that, if we want to create a better, brighter future, then we will need good scientists to continue to pursue more challenging problematics that will, in turn, transform today’s fantasies (such as: artificial intelligence, immortality, and, yes!, even 100 Year Starships, www.100yss.org) into tomorrow’s realities.

AAAS, http://www.aaas.org/

AAAS Member Central, http://membercentral.aaas.org/

Introduction to a New Book: Where Nobody Has Gone Before

Where Nobody Has Gone Before: A Collection of Commentaries about Science, Technology, Society, and the Future 

by 

Timothy McGettigan

INTRODUCTION 

A World of Change, A Work in Progress 

Some of the commentaries in this collection were written to be entertaining, while others are more serious. What is common to all of the essays is an emphasis upon social change, and, even more importantly, the unique capacity that humans have to effect intentional social change. I strongly believe that, when humans have a mind to do so, they/we can purposefully change the world; or, as I like to put it, each and every one of us has an extraordinary capacity to redefine reality. Of course, the challenge is to ensure that, when movers-and-shakers do decide to change the world, they should do so for the better. Though that might sound like a no-brainer, changing the world “for the better” is often much more difficult to accomplish than one might think. What is deemed to be good, right and true by one well-intentioned individual is often perceived to be the apex of villainy by many others.

In a book that I published in August of 2011, titled Good Science,* I argue that humans are the world’s foremost agents of change and I also argue that it remains possible (nay, essential!) for science to cohere around a unitary and unifying definition of truth. By the way, both of these arguments make me a rare bird** among social scientists. The more complex the world gets, the more that people must depend on rational knowledge structures to systematize all of the chaos that an integrated global civilization generates. That said, in Good Science, I also argue that scientific progress is more often a product of intellectual fantasies than fact-based realities. This point is perhaps best illustrated by the discussion in Commentary 15, “There Be Dragons.”

As each new day dawns in the information society, human civilization forges ahead into new territory where, as the title of this book suggests, nobody has gone before. With more than seven billion humans in residence on our planet precedent is literally upon us everywhere we look. Further, the rate of change is increasing with each tick of the clock. The world that we inhabit is very different than the world that we inherited from our parents. So too, the world that we will bequeath to our heirs will be very different than the world that we will inhabit. For example, just imagine what might occur if Aubrey de Grey’s prediction (see Commentary 26, “Holy Megabucks, Batman!”) comes to pass, and, within the next several decades, scientists are able to significantly curtail the human aging process. de Grey believes that by unlocking the secrets of human senescence, medical science will soon be able to achieve the impossible: human immortality!

Thanks to science, de Grey is certain that in the near future humans will no longer need to be haunted by one of the most primal, elemental facts of life: the fear of death and dying. It is difficult to comprehend how liberating it would feel to contemplate life without end. Through the rationality of science, humans might soon be able to claim the immortality that heretofore had been the sole preserve of metaphysical gods. The very idea is mind-blowing, and we would certainly have to revise our most fundamental ideas about life and the essence of “human being” if were able to claim the long sought philosopher’s stone of immortality.

But in a world where humans would age as slowly as the Greek gods we would also have to do a lot of fast—and very uncomfortable—thinking about who should and who should not have a right to live. That is, our planet is already growing painfully overcrowded at a time during which there are very high rates of mortality. If medical science is one day able to eradicate mortality, then unless humans make carefully calculated decisions about fertility, we will succeed in extending our lives only to perish under a crush of youthful humanity.

These are all speculations, but this is what humans do best. This is how we have survived and thrived as the unique problem-solving creatures that we have become. We solve problems and redefine reality by inventing elaborate fantasies and then, through the magic of “problematic innovation” (again, see Good Science if you want to know more about this particular concept) invent the facts that, step-by-step, transform far-fetched fantasies into bedrock realities.

If you doubt my word, then I invite you to read on.



*For more information, visit http://goodscience.sociology.org/
**More than a few of my colleagues hope that this particular species will soon go extinct.

Available exclusively from Amazon in Kindle format for (the insanely low price of) $0.99: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00

4S Announces Where Nobody Has Gone Before

New Book by Timothy McGettigan: Where Nobody Has Gone Before

Updated: January 10 2012

Where Nobody Has Gone Before: A Collection of Commentaries about Science, Technology, Society, and the Future by Timothy McGettigan

Available exclusively from Amazon in Kindle format for (the insanely low price of) $0.99: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006UKHR3W

Some of the commentaries in this collection were written to be entertaining, while others are more serious. What is common to all of the essays is an emphasis upon radical social transformation.

As each new day dawns in the information society, human civilization forges ahead into new territory where, as the title of this book suggests, nobody has gone before. With more than seven billion humans on our planet, precedent is literally upon us everywhere we look.

For example, just imagine what might occur if Aubrey de Grey's prediction comes to pass and scientists are able to achieve the impossible: human immortality! Thanks to new frontiers in medical science, de Grey is certain that in the near future humans will age as slowly as the Greek gods.

This is pure speculation, but that is what humans do best. This is how humans have survived and thrived as the unique problem-solving creatures that we have become. We solve problems and redefine reality by inventing elaborate fantasies and then, through the magic of "problematic innovation" invent the facts that, step-by-step, transform far-fetched fantasies into bedrock realities.

If you doubt my word, then I invite you to read on.

Where Nobody Has Gone Before: A Collection of Commentaries about Science, Technology, Society, and the Future is exclusively available at Amazon Books in Kindle format for $0.99.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006UKHR3W 

Timothy McGettigan is a professor of sociology at CSU-Pueblo and is the author of numerous articles and books that explore the topics of science, technology, society and the future. 

Contact Information:
Prof. Tim McGettigan
Colorado State University
Pueblo, CO 81001
Tel 719-549-2416
tmcgett@gmail.com

New Book: Where Nobody Has Gone Before

Some of the commentaries in this collection were written to be entertaining, while others are more serious. What is common to all of the essays is an emphasis upon social change.

As each new day dawns in the information society, human civilization forges ahead into new territory where, as the title of this book suggests, nobody has gone before. With more than seven billion humans on our planet, precedent is literally upon us everywhere we look. 

For example, just imagine what might occur if Aubrey de Grey's prediction comes to pass and scientists are able to achieve the impossible: human immortality! Thanks to new frontiers in medical science, de Grey is certain that in the near future humans will age as slowly as the Greek gods. 

These are all speculations, but this is what humans do best. This is how humans have survived and thrived as the unique problem-solving creatures that we have become. We solve problems and redefine reality by inventing elaborate fantasies and then, through the magic of "problematic innovation" invent the facts that, step-by-step, transform far-fetched fantasies into bedrock realities. 

If you doubt my word, then I invite you to read on. 

Where Nobody Has Gone Before: A Collection of Commentaries about Science, Technology, Society, and the Future is exclusively available at Amazon Books. 

Timothy McGettigan is a professor of sociology at CSU-Pueblo and is the author of numerous articles and books that explore the topics of science, technology, society and the future. 

'Good Science' links truth and facts | AAAS MemberCentral

'Good Science' links truth and facts | AAAS MemberCentral

Occupying America: Middle Class Outrage Finally Transforms into a Movement

The film, Inside Job, won the 2011 Academy Award for best documentary. Charles Ferguson the director of Inside Job kicked off his Oscar acceptance speech with the following statement, "Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, and that's wrong,"

Truly, there is no place like the USA. In what other country could a bunch of bungling bankers defraud the public of trillions of dollars and get off scot free? Even better, as Inside Job details with infuriating candor, the very same people who were responsible for the 2008 financial crash were also assigned the responsibility of “rescuing” the US from the economic disaster that they had caused. Give me a break. Would anyone care to guess why not even one Wall Street wastrel has been charged with financial fraud?

But it gets better. Recall that Wall Street bankers gleefully accepted billions of dollars from the federal government to bail out their bankrupted financial institutions. Without missing a beat, those villainously incompetent bankers converted taxpayer bailouts—billions that came out of your pocket and mine—into bonuses for their buddies. How’s that for justice?

What a scam. Bankers crashed their financial institutions, extorted billions from the US Treasury and, as punishment for their crimes, those selfsame bankers rewarded themselves with multi-million dollar bonuses at the public’s expense. This is what people mean when they say that reality is often stranger than fiction. Who would believe that Wall Street bankers could be so openly and brazenly consumed by greed?

Hmm,well, come to think of it, that hardly stretches the imagination at all…

Anyway, if the infamies listed above haven’t already got your blood boiling, then don’t forget about the “jobless economic recovery.” With the help of federal bailouts and bonuses, corporate America recovered from the 2008 recession in a matter of months. Yet, even though Wall Street owed the public a huge debt of gratitude for rescuing their sorry butts, no thought of reciprocation ever flitted across their twisted minds. While corporate America popped champagne corks to toast their amazing good fortune, they showered pink slips on middle and working class Americans. No good turn ever goes unpunished. 

If the story ended there, Wall Streeters would certainly be overjoyed, however, I am pleased to report that we have not yet arrived at this tale’s conclusion. Indeed, another chapter is being written as we speak and, best of all, it includes a twist that Wall Street-types really dislike. Beginning on September 17, 2011, protestors occupied Wall Street in an effort to focus public attention on the wanton greed that governs the global economy. Occupy Wall Street protestors have insisted that the economy should serve the needs of the majority rather than the whims of the Wall Street minority: the richest 1% who have repeatedly and shamelessly swindled the 99% majority. However, at long last, the silent majority has decided that enough is enough.

As of this writing, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to over 150 US cities—with more, lots more, getting on board every day. Main Street America has finally decided that it is fed up with Wall Street. If the golden goose is dead, then Wall Streeters have no one to blame but themselves.

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of guys. 

Beam Us Up, Scotty: Science Fiction as the Wellspring of Scientific Progress

Wouldn't it be great to be able to communicate with the computer like Captain Picard or Captain Kirk does on "Star Trek"?*

(David Ferruci, Principal Developer for IBM’s Watson)

Jean Baudrillard (1989, 1994) claimed that Americans were simulations. In other words, Baudrillard argued that Americans had become particularly adept at concocting elaborate fantasies, or simulations (Baudrillard, 1989). However, Baudrillard insisted that Americans were not only the producers of the world’s most extravagant fantasies, but Americans were also, very literally, consumed by those fantasies. By that, Baudrillard meant that, in the post-industrial world, Americans have become so thoroughly cocooned in synthesized realities that it can be difficult to distinguish Americans from the simulacra in which they are embedded. Indeed, it was this insight that inspired the Wachowski siblings to compose their epic Matrix trilogy (Merrin, 2005). Admittedly, Baudrillard’s observations often border on the absurd; however, he does make the valid observation that Americans are becoming increasingly wedded to information technologies—so much so that many find it distressing to unplug from their digitally-mediated realities (Dretzin, 2010).

For Baudrillard, the American obsession with simulations was an indicator of the futility of the postmodern era: when people care more about illusions than reality, the significance of human endeavors dwindles to vaporous insignificance. While I concur with a number of Baudrillard’s observations, I differ regarding the utility of simulations. More than once, artfully constructed fantasies have had a significant impact on the course of human events. For instance, in the nineteenth century, Jules Verne concocted outlandish visions of the future that thrilled his many readers. It would be an overstatement to suggest that Verne’s science fiction fantasies laid the groundwork for the historical events that were to follow. Still, I believe it is fair to say that some of Verne’s diehard readers made a concerted effort to transform his fantasies into reality. For example, in Verne’s day, a fully electronic submarine was a work of pure imagination. However, in the century that has followed, engineering marvels that bear striking similarities to Captain Nemo’s fictional submarine now plumb the depths of the seven seas. Indeed, it is noteworthy that the first nuclear submarine in the US fleet was named the Nautilus. Thus, in some respects, the future is often inspired by fantasies.

More recently, the adventures of Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise have served as an inspiration for an entirely new breed of future-seekers. Though some might think that a cheesy, low-tech, short-lived TV series from the 1960s would have little (if any) impact on the work of real scientists, in fact, Star Trek has captured the imaginations and influenced the work of an extraordinary number of scientists (Jones, 2005). For example, Martin Cooper asserts that he was motivated to invent the cell phone after watching Captain Kirk use a wireless communicator on Star Trek.

Of course, everyone knows that Captain Kirk did no such thing. For the realists among us, it is worth pointing out that Captain Kirk is an imaginary character who was played by William Shatner and none of the technology he used was real. In short, Star Trek is a fantasy, and, as a work of pure imagination, Star Trek is demonstrably disconnected from the realm of the real…or, at least, it was until recently.

Ever since Star Trek hit the airwaves, enthusiasts have been determined to erase the boundary between the realm of Star Trek fantasy and their reality. Although many Trekkies have become submerged in what Baudrillard would consider a pointless simulation (Nygaard, 1997), others have derived sufficient motivation from Star Trek to successfully and substantially redefine reality.

Can fantasies transform reality?

It is worth noting that, just as the first nuclear submarine was named the Nautilus, it was not an accident that the first space shuttle was named the Enterprise. Further, David Ferruci, the principal developer for IBM’s Watson (www.watson.ibm.com/index.shtml **), admitted that, at least in part, his motivation for building Watson was to create an artificially intelligent computer with which he might one day converse as Captain Kirk does with the computer on the Starship Enterprise. Though Ferruci’s admission has the charm of a childhood fantasy, it is also much more than that. Remember, the power of Ferruci’s Star Trek fantasy was sufficient to bring about the development of arguably the “smartest” computer in history (NOVA: Smartest Computer in the World). 

As a result, though Baudrillard (1989) would probably disagree, I would argue that fantasies serve as a wellspring of creativity from which it is possible to draw the requisite enthusiasm to orchestrate extraordinary breakthroughs in science. Thus, the larger and more mind-bending our fantasies become, the greater the chance that knowledge seekers will be inspired to redefine reality. While David Ferruci and his colleagues endeavor to build ever more sophisticated talking computers, other folks are taking up the dream of building starships that zoom through the galaxy just like Captain Kirk’s Starship Enterprise (100 year starship, http://www.100yss.org/).

For some, fantasies are nothing more than a means to escape reality, but for others they provide a means to redefine reality in a way that stretches the imagination and promises to inspire the most extraordinary forms of human progress. Though pessimists like Baudrillard would surely sneer, it is evident that science fiction-inspired dreams have a demonstrated capacity to shift the boundary between fantasy and reality. Thus, for anyone who desires to go where no one has gone before, we can continue relying on Captain Kirk to get us there.

Warp factor nine, Mr. Sulu!

References

Baudrillard, Jean, 1989. America. New York: Verso.

Baudrillard, Jean, 1994. Simulacra and Simulation. Translated by Sheila Farrier Glaser. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press.

Jones, Julian, 2005. How William Shatner Changed the World. Vancouver, Canada: The Discovery Channel.

Merrin, William, 2005. Baudrillard and the Media: A Critical Introduction. Waltham, MA: Polity Press.

Nygard, Roger, 1997. Trekkies. Los Angeles, CA: Neo Motion Pictures.

* The source of this quote is at the following site:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/will-watson-win-jeopardy.html

**Is it just me, or is the IBM researcher depicted in the photo attempting to mind meld with Watson?