Wk 8: view change on bionic for military ?

I think so.  But my view is more from a civilian point of view.  I would imagine military strategist would think quite differently as they have quite a different parameter to think about; particularly military intentions and influence are global now days.

In one-way, bionic person or soldier can be a wild concept.  Perhaps they can do a good job defending or perhaps not.  Perhaps they can greatly enhance the deployment of a military mission. 

Since I really do not know much about military, I would say my views will change somewhat depending the final intention, i.e. if we ever get to know 😊  

WK8: bionic person?

I think for many disable person or people with certain disease may greatly benefit from some forms of bionic or robotic devices.  For those unfortunate individuals who lost a limb, or with some forms of paralysis, bionics devices may really help them to give back their freedom and self esteem as individual.  A few articles in the class touched upon that like a decoder to turn brain activity into speech, bionics prosthetic-arms for kids; Now days, there are many with pacemaker implanted inside their bodies, the quality and their life have extended for sure.  To say support for a total “bionic” person, I am not sure but yah, I would support bionic in the medical direction.

Wk7: Class Discussion - Golden Flower

The discussion on the Secret of Golden Flower was meaningful as it is considered to be one of the Taoist classics.  Very glad to obtain a copy of Thomas Cleary’s translation.  Not to be surprised it is difficult to read as most ancient classics were written in twilight languages which is codify with much deeper meaning per character.  Also, I pointed out that Chinese is lexicographic that each character may contain various level of meanings which can make it so rich and profound and often impossible to understand without either the oral traditions and/or from a master of the subject.

From my limited exposure, a good friend who is a well accomplished internal Taoist.  He published a book on meditation based on his understanding. His linage was from a master who escaped from Communist China to Taiwan about 70 years ago who held ancient Taoist lineage traced back to 1000 years in China. Luckily that master did not get prosecuted during the Chinese Culture Revolution.  His students/heirs are established in Taiwan.

My friend’s basic instructional commentary describes some of Taoist meditation in a modern and easy to understand language.  Through the reading, I was able to have a glimpse into the deep profound poetic Taoist expressions which elusively describing the minute states of meditative absorption.  So some without background training and even can read Chinese, these expressions may still appears as illusive as reflections of constellations on the surface of a lake at night.   Ultimately, the consummate states of absorption are utterly ineffable.   Thus, to have that translated in English truly be a daunting task!

Wk: 7  Alchemy – science, magic, art – or all three?

In my opinion, the trinity of alchemy are science, magic and art.  There are many alchemical process that were simply define as scientific as process to extract natural chemical elements, observe the interactions between chemicals and extracting essence from various plants or rock or minerals.    Ex.  Hydrosols back in 1800’s were developed to extract essences for healing purposes.  There is also other ancient technique to distilled essence of herbs for medicinal usage. 

Some of the ancient manuscripts on alchemy are filled with exotic pictorial drawings and diagrams or illustrations celestial realms, earthy plants, and minerals.  They are beautiful to behold.  Some of them are truly art pieces displaying with these exotic symmetrical colorful patterns.

So, there is definite the deep dark mystery behind some of these alchemical processes as it might involve planetary positions, timing of the year,  elemental conditions or even natural energy of certain places that they summon upon to aid the process.  These rich symbolism may present as a rich dark tales

Wk6: Zero emissions from trucks? What are your thoughts there – will this be happening soon?

I am not so sure of rolling out zero emissions trucks.  Although the Artificial Intelligence portion is rapidly evolving that some trucks has capability of switching to autopilot.  This is a safe and good options on those long and lonely nights on the interstate highway as they travel through the States.

Yes, zero emissions are super nice, but there are just not enough fueling stations for hydrogen fuel cell and takes a long time to charge up rechargeable battery.  These do not fit the business requirement of most trucking!

One of old coworker’s husband is in the trucking business.  My understanding is many of them are independent contractors with their own trucks.  They are hired as subcontractors for each job.  My coworker and her husband are both working adults to support their growing family.  It would be highly unlikely that they can afford a zero-emission truck.   Perhaps when the markets is more conducive then the demand will arise.

Wk 6:  Hydrogen fuel cells and electric vehicles – are we seeing the end of the gasoline engine, in your view?

I really doubt it as there are still many hurdles in both hydrogen fuel cells and electric vehicles industries.  One is the sustainability of the rechargeable battery.  It’s life and replacement costs which can be astronomical.  How many car manufacturers are willing to offer long term warranty on these batteries?  

Yes, hybrid vehicles are such a buzz word that Mercedes Benz and Lexus have their high-end hybrid.  Since both of their luxury vehicles are very heavy, the average mileage in real life conditions is very undesirably low.  On top, they are very expansive.  The cost-benefit analysis on them would be in the negatives I am afraid.

Currently, hydrogen vehicle is at a premium price and just think how many of us can afford a Tesla right now?  I think the concept is good but there is a still the long yellow brick road to OZ!

WK 5: Alchemy Website

I particularly enjoyed the short introduction to Chinese Alchemy.  It gave a good intro framework and supported with historical records.  Neidan (inner alchemy) is still very popular among Chinese internal art.  These are living lineages that were hidden and not destroyed by the Chinese Culture Revolution and many other lineage holders have escaped to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and rest of Southeast Asia that many of their spiritual heirs still practicing today!   Especially in Taiwan since the official language is in traditional Chinese which all the ancient texts were written in.  The spiritual heirs of these internal arts are still able to fully comprehend and have a great command of the original authentic “traditional” Chinese language in an unadulterated manner.  In other words, new well written commentary is flourishing.   Most importantly, the secret oral pith instructions were retained by these masters in Taiwan mainly she escaped the 10 years of Culture Revolution!    Another example is all Taoist or Chinese alchemist’s talismans (Fu) are drawn in Traditional Chinese characters embedded with some very ancient characters.  With over thousand years of lineage blessing in them and been proven through many dynasties.  This popular practice is still practice today in Taiwan unlike in China.

On the other side of the continent, the famed Elias Ashmole’s  – English alchemist works are fascinated by a glance.  But, I think one needs to be well verse in Latin before diving deeper to understand these alchemical manuscript.

WK 5: Intermittent fasting is one more tool in weight-loss toolbox

Our group had a nice discussion regarding fasting and intermittent fasting.   We discussed not only the health aspect but as a trend.  Decade ago, Master Cleanse was a popular fasting that primarily involve lemon, water, cayenne and honey.   From personal experience shared within the group or their friends experience, the consensus is there is a positive outcome towards fasting in general.  Yet, the concept of intermittent fasting is not fully authenticated by the medical experts.  I had heard some theory of talks on intermittent fasting as its theory is about on intermittently resetting one’s entire system.  In layman’s term, it’s like restart your iPad or your smart phone so that hopefully your hormonal and glandular systems will have a chance to function normally as most of us are stressed and live in a toxic environment!

Week 5: diet suggestions in pH Balance: Acids & Alkalis & Anti-Oxidants

With increasing awareness of cancer today, most of us know someone was afflicted with this disease.  Without knowing the exact cause for cancer, most people are unaware how their diet might induce a cancerous condition within one’s body.   By knowing the PH balance of the food, it helps one curtail their own diet.  From more acidic to basic which may reduce pathogenic bacteria within oneself.  More specifically the various food sources that can be creatively utilized.   By knowing antioxidants rich berry fruits like blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry can help one to bind the free radical inside one’s body so to minimize damages to the cells.  Kiwifruit is another good source of flavonoid antioxidants and vitamin C, A and E.  By knowing certain fruits that are enzyme rich, it can aid one’s digestions for example, papain in the papaya and bromelain in pineapple are wonderful digestive enzyme that we can utilized.