21C Man part 13: Wetware Problems Don't Matter if the Job Gets Done.

[Doktor Howl]

28 hours without sleep.  Again.  Past what you'd call "fatigue."  Also, brain flukes v2.0 is in overdrive, and brother, I wish I could show you what I'm seeing.  What's funny about it is that the illusions don't stand up to change very well.  Go out to the post box.  Find the keyhole, very cleverly hidden, and open the door.  Inside, my car is normal.  So I drive the post box to work, listening to Lady Gaga and ELO, wondering why postal employees never thought of this.  Why sort the mail when you can send the box?  Get out of the car, leave the post box double parked.  At least they'll know where to put the ticket.

All the other cars on the road looked normal.  This seems to fix on one particular object for each "misrepresentation" in what is now a very crowded visual cortex.  (Oh, and yes, Nigel, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is - most times - spot on, although it can make trips to the mall interesting when it's acting up.)

Science Gestapo business later this week.  If I'm still in this shape, I think I'll scare the poop right out of whomever it is that has what we want, whatever it is.  No reason to be scared, though.  We're not that kind of goon.  We're just The Collectors.  The janitors of the halls of power.  The boys that come around and make things make sense, at least to people with fully-functional brains.  ME understanding it?  That's not required.  Get the job done, worship at the altar of Uncle Isaac.  For are we not priests?  Do we not minister to the unworthy, bring the holy writ to people who don't understand it, CAN'T understand it, because the CEO has a head full of numbers with no room for opera.  No appreciation for the sacred work that We do.  He does not believe what we believe, and neither does Lillie.  We don't have the same values.

And that alone is reason to leave. 

But not until this job is over.  I don't know what it is yet, the files have not been made available this early, but it's going to be big and weird and grotesque, and more fun than I really wanted.  I can sense it, way down in my bits.  Maybe that's just the insomnia talking, or the flukes.  But still, a man can dream.  And I have very large dreams.  Huge, in fact.  Dreams so big I may never have to sleep again.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.  Hugo Gernsback laid out the plan.  It was going to be a future of rocket ships and weird science.  It was going to be a future without the hooks and razors and cheap fixers.  It was going to be a future where execs don't kill profitable ideas just because they're bizarre enough to make the other corporations crowd over to the far end of the country club bar, muttering inane shit about "going too far".  There IS no "too far".  But you can't tell them that, so I guess we all just got lost in the dark.

If you went back in time and told Mr Gersback about the present day, he'd spoo all over himself about the gadgets.  And then when you told him how They shit all over the future in every other metric, he'd shit blood in rage, call you a liar, and then beat you senseless with a grounding rod.  Hugo was a beast of a man, and he had a temper like a bottle of mercury fulminate.

Whoops.  Got a little side tracked, there. 

Anyway, like I was trying to say, we have to steal the future back from Them.  I have to, anyway.

But I can't do it here.

More after the trip.

[Eater of Clowns]

I like to use dissociation as a tool for horror. What makes the post box bit so visceral is that the dissociation is real here.

I'm glad you didn't let this one die. I think the real strength of this series is how much your voice comes through in it, and this one in particular.

[Doktor Howl]

I like to use dissociation as a tool for horror. What makes the post box bit so visceral is that the dissociation is real here.

I'm glad you didn't let this one die. I think the real strength of this series is how much your voice comes through in it, and this one in particular.

Yeah, I think I only discussed this with Nigel, on account of her being a badass brain expert thingie.  As my brain has tried to route around the damage, after 6 years it is interfering with my visual cortex.  So what happens is that sometimes I see something, and my brain LIES to me about the data it's receiving.  It's not "hallucinations", because I know it's not real, so it's classified as "illusions" or some shit.

But it can make driving interesting.

[Eater of Clowns]

I like to use dissociation as a tool for horror. What makes the post box bit so visceral is that the dissociation is real here.

I'm glad you didn't let this one die. I think the real strength of this series is how much your voice comes through in it, and this one in particular.

Yeah, I think I only discussed this with Nigel, on account of her being a badass brain expert thingie.  As my brain has tried to route around the damage, after 6 years it is interfering with my visual cortex.  So what happens is that sometimes I see something, and my brain LIES to me about the data it's receiving.  It's not "hallucinations", because I know it's not real, so it's classified as "illusions" or some shit.

But it can make driving interesting.

Yeah I wouldn't say an illusion screaming at you at 80 on the highway is the best time to experience them.

[Doktor Howl]

I like to use dissociation as a tool for horror. What makes the post box bit so visceral is that the dissociation is real here.

I'm glad you didn't let this one die. I think the real strength of this series is how much your voice comes through in it, and this one in particular.

Yeah, I think I only discussed this with Nigel, on account of her being a badass brain expert thingie.  As my brain has tried to route around the damage, after 6 years it is interfering with my visual cortex.  So what happens is that sometimes I see something, and my brain LIES to me about the data it's receiving.  It's not "hallucinations", because I know it's not real, so it's classified as "illusions" or some shit.

But it can make driving interesting.

Yeah I wouldn't say an illusion screaming at you at 80 on the highway is the best time to experience them.

Or just seeing a single car as something else entirely.  It's not like the whole scenery changes (at least not usually, and then only for a second).  The persistent ones are single objects.

The good side of this is that the paranoia aspect of the flukes has faded almost out of existence, to be replaced with visual issues (which I'd rather deal with any day of the week), and some left-handed thinking.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

"Wetware problems" 

I'm wondering if what's happening is that after information leaves the visual cortex and is routed to the identification pathway, some connections in the identification pathway are, um, a little miswired. So V1 goes "HEY BOYS WE HAVE A FAMILIAR OBJECT HERE, WHAT'S THIS ONE?" and the where pathway says "POSTBOX"! So you see a postbox.

[Doktor Howl]

"Wetware problems" 

I'm wondering if what's happening is that after information leaves the visual cortex and is routed to the identification pathway, some connections in the identification pathway are, um, a little miswired. So V1 goes "HEY BOYS WE HAVE A FAMILIAR OBJECT HERE, WHAT'S THIS ONE?" and the where pathway says "POSTBOX"! So you see a postbox.

Yeah, I've been reading up on it.  The data is received, but is coupled to the wrong identity, much like an IRS file or a military DD214 record.  The person exists, the record exists, but the relationship between them is both false and hopelessly tangled.

On occasion it is entertaining or even brilliant accidental satire.  It's also more frequent, which the neurologist said was one possibility.  It may or may not slow down.  The good news is that it's not debilitating, just occasionally a hassle.  I have yet to run into a situation where I didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing, and could ignore the misrepresentation.  That is bound to happen, though, but I am not worried about it.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

"Wetware problems" 

I'm wondering if what's happening is that after information leaves the visual cortex and is routed to the identification pathway, some connections in the identification pathway are, um, a little miswired. So V1 goes "HEY BOYS WE HAVE A FAMILIAR OBJECT HERE, WHAT'S THIS ONE?" and the where pathway says "POSTBOX"! So you see a postbox.

Yeah, I've been reading up on it.  The data is received, but is coupled to the wrong identity, much like an IRS file or a military DD214 record.  The person exists, the record exists, but the relationship between them is both false and hopelessly tangled.

On occasion it is entertaining or even brilliant accidental satire.  It's also more frequent, which the neurologist said was one possibility.  It may or may not slow down.  The good news is that it's not debilitating, just occasionally a hassle.  I have yet to run into a situation where I didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing, and could ignore the misrepresentation.  That is bound to happen, though, but I am not worried about it.

It's certainly one way for life to be more interesting.

[Doktor Howl]

"Wetware problems" 

I'm wondering if what's happening is that after information leaves the visual cortex and is routed to the identification pathway, some connections in the identification pathway are, um, a little miswired. So V1 goes "HEY BOYS WE HAVE A FAMILIAR OBJECT HERE, WHAT'S THIS ONE?" and the where pathway says "POSTBOX"! So you see a postbox.

Yeah, I've been reading up on it.  The data is received, but is coupled to the wrong identity, much like an IRS file or a military DD214 record.  The person exists, the record exists, but the relationship between them is both false and hopelessly tangled.

On occasion it is entertaining or even brilliant accidental satire.  It's also more frequent, which the neurologist said was one possibility.  It may or may not slow down.  The good news is that it's not debilitating, just occasionally a hassle.  I have yet to run into a situation where I didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing, and could ignore the misrepresentation.  That is bound to happen, though, but I am not worried about it.

It's certainly one way for life to be more interesting.

But the paranoia is almost entirely gone, and I would have - no joke - cut an arm off to get rid of that.  I feel like maybe someone who got cured of cancer and wound up with some radiation scars.  BIG HAIRY DEAL, I may have some indexing problems, but I'm not actually crazy anymore.

It's hard to articulate how happy I am about this, especially since the problem stayed static for a long time.  Apparently, if the brain doesn't re-route itself in a certain period of time (a year or so, IIRC, but I am not an expert, and the neurologist wasn't wanting to give me straight answers), it almost never does. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

"Wetware problems" 

I'm wondering if what's happening is that after information leaves the visual cortex and is routed to the identification pathway, some connections in the identification pathway are, um, a little miswired. So V1 goes "HEY BOYS WE HAVE A FAMILIAR OBJECT HERE, WHAT'S THIS ONE?" and the where pathway says "POSTBOX"! So you see a postbox.

Yeah, I've been reading up on it.  The data is received, but is coupled to the wrong identity, much like an IRS file or a military DD214 record.  The person exists, the record exists, but the relationship between them is both false and hopelessly tangled.

On occasion it is entertaining or even brilliant accidental satire.  It's also more frequent, which the neurologist said was one possibility.  It may or may not slow down.  The good news is that it's not debilitating, just occasionally a hassle.  I have yet to run into a situation where I didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing, and could ignore the misrepresentation.  That is bound to happen, though, but I am not worried about it.

It's certainly one way for life to be more interesting.

But the paranoia is almost entirely gone, and I would have - no joke - cut an arm off to get rid of that.  I feel like maybe someone who got cured of cancer and wound up with some radiation scars.  BIG HAIRY DEAL, I may have some indexing problems, but I'm not actually crazy anymore.

It's hard to articulate how happy I am about this, especially since the problem stayed static for a long time.  Apparently, if the brain doesn't re-route itself in a certain period of time (a year or so, IIRC, but I am not an expert, and the neurologist wasn't wanting to give me straight answers), it almost never does.

I think it's really interesting that it did so after you started traveling a lot. There's been some research into exploratory behavior and neurogenesis, but of course it's really hard to study in conjunction with brain damage in humans.

[Doktor Howl]

"Wetware problems" 

I'm wondering if what's happening is that after information leaves the visual cortex and is routed to the identification pathway, some connections in the identification pathway are, um, a little miswired. So V1 goes "HEY BOYS WE HAVE A FAMILIAR OBJECT HERE, WHAT'S THIS ONE?" and the where pathway says "POSTBOX"! So you see a postbox.

Yeah, I've been reading up on it.  The data is received, but is coupled to the wrong identity, much like an IRS file or a military DD214 record.  The person exists, the record exists, but the relationship between them is both false and hopelessly tangled.

On occasion it is entertaining or even brilliant accidental satire.  It's also more frequent, which the neurologist said was one possibility.  It may or may not slow down.  The good news is that it's not debilitating, just occasionally a hassle.  I have yet to run into a situation where I didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing, and could ignore the misrepresentation.  That is bound to happen, though, but I am not worried about it.

It's certainly one way for life to be more interesting.

But the paranoia is almost entirely gone, and I would have - no joke - cut an arm off to get rid of that.  I feel like maybe someone who got cured of cancer and wound up with some radiation scars.  BIG HAIRY DEAL, I may have some indexing problems, but I'm not actually crazy anymore.

It's hard to articulate how happy I am about this, especially since the problem stayed static for a long time.  Apparently, if the brain doesn't re-route itself in a certain period of time (a year or so, IIRC, but I am not an expert, and the neurologist wasn't wanting to give me straight answers), it almost never does.

I think it's really interesting that it did so after you started traveling a lot. There's been some research into exploratory behavior and neurogenesis, but of course it's really hard to study in conjunction with brain damage in humans.

That never even occurred to me.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

"Wetware problems" 

I'm wondering if what's happening is that after information leaves the visual cortex and is routed to the identification pathway, some connections in the identification pathway are, um, a little miswired. So V1 goes "HEY BOYS WE HAVE A FAMILIAR OBJECT HERE, WHAT'S THIS ONE?" and the where pathway says "POSTBOX"! So you see a postbox.

Yeah, I've been reading up on it.  The data is received, but is coupled to the wrong identity, much like an IRS file or a military DD214 record.  The person exists, the record exists, but the relationship between them is both false and hopelessly tangled.

On occasion it is entertaining or even brilliant accidental satire.  It's also more frequent, which the neurologist said was one possibility.  It may or may not slow down.  The good news is that it's not debilitating, just occasionally a hassle.  I have yet to run into a situation where I didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing, and could ignore the misrepresentation.  That is bound to happen, though, but I am not worried about it.

It's certainly one way for life to be more interesting.

But the paranoia is almost entirely gone, and I would have - no joke - cut an arm off to get rid of that.  I feel like maybe someone who got cured of cancer and wound up with some radiation scars.  BIG HAIRY DEAL, I may have some indexing problems, but I'm not actually crazy anymore.

It's hard to articulate how happy I am about this, especially since the problem stayed static for a long time.  Apparently, if the brain doesn't re-route itself in a certain period of time (a year or so, IIRC, but I am not an expert, and the neurologist wasn't wanting to give me straight answers), it almost never does.

I think it's really interesting that it did so after you started traveling a lot. There's been some research into exploratory behavior and neurogenesis, but of course it's really hard to study in conjunction with brain damage in humans.

That never even occurred to me.

If I could prove it I could probably win a Nobel. But all I got is this case study of a guy I know. 

[Doktor Howl]

"Wetware problems" 

I'm wondering if what's happening is that after information leaves the visual cortex and is routed to the identification pathway, some connections in the identification pathway are, um, a little miswired. So V1 goes "HEY BOYS WE HAVE A FAMILIAR OBJECT HERE, WHAT'S THIS ONE?" and the where pathway says "POSTBOX"! So you see a postbox.

Yeah, I've been reading up on it.  The data is received, but is coupled to the wrong identity, much like an IRS file or a military DD214 record.  The person exists, the record exists, but the relationship between them is both false and hopelessly tangled.

On occasion it is entertaining or even brilliant accidental satire.  It's also more frequent, which the neurologist said was one possibility.  It may or may not slow down.  The good news is that it's not debilitating, just occasionally a hassle.  I have yet to run into a situation where I didn't know what I was supposed to be seeing, and could ignore the misrepresentation.  That is bound to happen, though, but I am not worried about it.

It's certainly one way for life to be more interesting.

But the paranoia is almost entirely gone, and I would have - no joke - cut an arm off to get rid of that.  I feel like maybe someone who got cured of cancer and wound up with some radiation scars.  BIG HAIRY DEAL, I may have some indexing problems, but I'm not actually crazy anymore.

It's hard to articulate how happy I am about this, especially since the problem stayed static for a long time.  Apparently, if the brain doesn't re-route itself in a certain period of time (a year or so, IIRC, but I am not an expert, and the neurologist wasn't wanting to give me straight answers), it almost never does.

I think it's really interesting that it did so after you started traveling a lot. There's been some research into exploratory behavior and neurogenesis, but of course it's really hard to study in conjunction with brain damage in humans.

That never even occurred to me.

If I could prove it I could probably win a Nobel. But all I got is this case study of a guy I know. 

I may only be a single data point, but I am a dead sexy single data point.  What are they gonna do?  Say no?  I'll flex at them, and they'll hand you the sheepskin so fast you'll get friction burns on your fingertips.

[LMNO]

I, for one, am massively happy that the paranoia has been fading away.  You didn't deserve that, man.  It looked rough, and I only saw what you chose to type at the time.

[Cain]

Yeah, like you say, paranoia is definitely less fun than visual hallucinations.

Admittedly, the having them while driving part may not be perfect...but at least hallucinations are sorta fun.