Would there be an imperative to conform? Would we be drones in a self-perpetuating machine? What am I saying, we already do, conform, we already are, drones.
Bigger question, would we care? If our basic needs are met, then the power structures that control us, propel us through contemporary life, would melt away.
Also consider who is saying this, the World Economic Forum. The WEF “is mostly known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos” that “brings together some 3,000 paying members and selected participants – among whom are investors, business leaders, political leaders, economists, celebrities and journalists”.
Basically all those vested interests who benefit from most of us owning nothing, and having no privacy.
While I find the Swedes optimism towards this kind of technology refreshing, recent scandals around Facebook and Cambridge Analytica give me serious concerns about how this technology is used, or more specifically used against us.
I’m really interested to see comparative costs with traditional construction methods. Could it be one part of the solution to the housing crisis in the UK. At the very least it’s another square on the Grand Designs bingo card.
This TED Talk “How the blockchain will radically transform the economy” from Bettina Warburg, may help understand the power of blockchain technology. As for putting your genetic data on the blockchain, it does offer control, by guaranteeing proof of ownership, and decentralisation wrestles control from centralised entities the likes of 23andMe, who offer a cheap service, then sell your information for their profit.Â
The key word in all of this is artificial. Artificial is defined by The Oxford English Dictionary as, made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural. Logic tells me anything made “as a copy of something natural” is just that, a copy.
The food industry is massive chemistry experiment. We are consuming vast mounts of artificial sweeteners, flavourings and colours without really understanding the long-term consequences they have on our bodies.
That’s not entirely true. We know we’re getting fatter.
“Researchers from Stanford University were “stunned” at the positive results they obtained after injecting stem cells directly into stroke patients’ brains” making neuroscientists “re-evaluate the notion that brain damage is permanent and irreversible”. Putting aside the possibility that the procedure produced a placebo effect, this is amazing.
As I work though the ideas for a redraft of Carrion, it has become necessary to consolidate my understanding of the drug eating insect that are such an important part of the story.
One of the first ideas I had for Carrion was the image of insects eating drugs. Initially I though it would be enough to have a species just feed on drugs. I thought these insects could be either a naturally occurring or genetically engineered blight, eating their way through the stockpile of illicit drugs. I envisioned a plethora of subspecies, one for each substance, migrating from stash to stash, decimating the supply. I quickly realised this would probably end the war on drugs, and my story with it.
Then I read about cocaethylene. Cocaethylene is the drug formed in vivo when cocaine and ethyl alcohol are ingested simultaneously. Studies suggest that it may be more cardiotoxic, and possess a longer duration of action than cocaine taken in isolation. The thing I find most interesting about cocaethylene, is that it is only produced in vivo, in the body. From this small revelation, I quickly got to the image of insects feeding on drug users.
I had the notion that a species engineered to feed on drugs in vivo would plague drug users. Logic dictates that this strategy would limit attacks to those under the influence. Once they stop producing the drug, the insects would migrate to another user. While this provides more story, there still isn’t enough drama.
So while looking for a more dynamic scenario, I started to research the various insect species that might be spliced together. While I have been unable to find any species of insect that targets drugs in their refined state, I was able to find several species that attack drug precursors like coca, the source of cocaine.
Aegoidus pacificus lays it’s eggs in the plant bark. The beetle’s larvae then burrows into the stem, irrevocably damaging the plant.
As my research progressed I started to understand more clearly the role the insects would play within Carrion. In a previous post, Drugs as a tool, I described the insects as the “physical manifestation of prohibition. A tool that takes the ruthless unrelenting enforcement of prohibition to its merciless conclusion. The physical destruction of anyone who takes drugs.”
For the insect to have this quality, I realised they needed to be more aggressive. So I started to look for insects that might attack humans, insects that are carnivorous. The insects I found most intriguing are those species attracted to humans post mortem.
From the moment of death legions of insects start to feed on human remains. Calliphoridae (blowflies) lay their eggs around wounds and natural openings in the body. Their eggs hatch, and maggots move into the body secreting digestive enzymes, and tearing tissue with their mouth hooks.
As the rate of decay increases, the smell attracts more blowflies, and species of Coleoptera, including Staphylinidae (rove beetles), silphidae (carrion beetles), and Cleridae (checkered beetles). These late-arriving insects are predators, feeding on the abundant supply of maggots as well as the decaying flesh.
They’re joined by parasitoid wasps such as Brachymeria calliphorae, that lay their eggs inside the maggots, injecting venom into the host along with the egg. This venom is a highly complex mixture of chemicals, that not only paralyse the host, but also modifies the host’s tissue, making it more nutritious for the developing larva.
As the decaying body passes through the stage known a black putrefaction, the predatory insects become more abundant, until the body enters butyric fermentation, when the remaining flesh is removed, and the body dries out.
The reduction in soft food makes the body less palatable to the mouth-hooks of maggots, and the amount of predatory insects declines. The remains become more suitable for the chewing mouthparts of beetles. As the body enters the final stages of decay, mites, tineid moths, and bacteria feed on the remaining tissue.
All insects progress through one of two main types of metamorphosis, complete and incomplete. Complete consists of egg, larva, pupa, adult. Incomplete, egg, nymph, adult.
I envision insects going though the complete metamorphosis. The genetically engineered adults feed on drugs, then much like the parasitoid wasps, lay their eggs in the users. Employing a strategy know as polyembryony, a single egg continues to divide, cloning itself into a mass of individual larvae. These larva then hatch, and start to move around the host, feeding on the non-essential parts of the body, until they are mature enough to pupate.
After complete metamorphosis, the adult insects must then escape the host. I imagine a swarm gnawing free of the host in a bloody explosion. This image is the origin of the name Carrion. Infested users are the living dead, walking through the stages of decomposition, treated as carrion, destroyed by insects. The “physical manifestation of prohibition”.
I got a new iPhone 4s yesterday. I’m not a natural Apple customer. So this is something of an unknown for me. To date I’ve avoided all things Apple. My main discomfort with the mighty fruit, apart from the price, is that while Mr. Jobs products look wonderful. The whole top down, total integration, of Apple’s product line feels a little fascist.
I know that’s a bit harsh, and mostly it was said for effect, but it does feel bit like I’ve joined a cult. Someone said to me yesterday when they saw the phone. “They’re like crack cocaine.” I can only think he meant the iPhone will take over my life. A sobering thought as I am tied into this thing for two years.
Why choose an iPhone? I’ve been looking to get a new phone for while, and spent a long time weighing the pros and cons of a replacement for the dinosaur I used to carry. To date most of my phones have been supplied by Sony Ericsson. So I checked out their latest incarnations. While they were packed with features, and Android’s latest operating system, they were on the whole flimsy. They felt like they’d crumble over time. I had a look at a couple of phones from Blackberry. The build quality was better, but their screens are too small, and I knew that would become an issue.
In the end I took the plunge, and got the new iPhone. Out of the box it feels substantial. Its features and apps all seem intuitive. The first negative I’ve come across is the calendar app. For some reason you have limited control of repeat appointments. I want to repeat an appointment every twelve weeks, but find myself limited to every week, month, or year. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a replacement, but it’s still annoying that you can’t control appointments adequately.
The phone’s on-screen keyboard might take a little getting used to, but I’ve managed to write this whole thing without too much trouble. Cut and paste options are still hard to control. My fingers are imprecise tools, something more delicate is needed. Overall the whole experience reminds me a little of typing on my old Psion Revo, and I wrote a substantial amount of my first screenplay on one of those things.
It might not be such a problem once I get to grips with the Siri function. I tried it out yesterday with limited success, felt a bit of an idiot talking to myself. Amused my girlfriend though.
In the end I think I chose the iPhone because it seemed like the best choice from a quality standpoint. It feel like I’m holding something that will last. Still not a hundred percent though. Feels a bit like I’ve gone and drunk the cool-aid.
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