Trust_Musings

From the last post/historical experiment on Trust, an email conversation emerged between myself and Mum (a very warm, humble, talented and enlightened woman!) :

Mum:
Did you learn anything from this? Just wondering ...

Donal: yeah!
a) I think about trust a lot
b) trust is not binary, it can be but is mostly aligned to certain traits in others
c) it's predicated on consistency or belief in anothers critical thought, capacity and history/stability/demonstrated path
d) it's not easily re-earned
e) it's hard to create and quantify trust networks
f) transitive trust is the trickiest bit and based upon clusters and dependencies
g) one needs honesty and trust to form community
h) one has to trust themselves before they can extend that understanding and level of trust to others?

What do you think?

Mum:
I think people vary a lot.

For example a child whose trust was broken by say, a teacher or a garda, may have difficulty trusting anyone in authority later on. A child whose trust was badly broken by its parents may have difficulty trusting anyone later on. Both generalisations.

On balance, we're programmed to trust, as it was vital for early man. We're not the biggest animals, or the strongest, and humankind learned early that they survived better in groups/communities. Both for hunting purposes and for their security. So they had to trust others - with their lives.

People with high levels of confidence will trust themselves a lot of the time and not be swayed by others. Those lacking confidence will tend to have less trust in their own judgement. And yes, once broken, it's not easily re-earned.

TrustArchive

From my Twitter/tweet archives this is a story about trust over 2 years:

grep -i trust archive | sort -k6n -k1 -k2 -M -k3 -k4 | cut -d ' ' -f 2,6,8-100 | uniq

May 2009 Trust is indeed an issue for the future. Transitive trust. A<->B<->C Identity and Integrity these are the real issues. #futuresummit
May 2009 Australia as a Swiss bank acc. style nation, but as a proxy for federated digital trust and identity? #futuresummit #innovation
Jul 2009 Trust is predicated on preserved identity and shared expectation of outcomes but transitive to how many degrees and historicals?
Jul 2009 @adzap was kinda more aimed at a mate trusting 3rd parties +large companies to "get it right"" cause they're big.Context not clear.Mybad.
Jul 2009 @rosshill more beneficial to think of a transitive trust model +only a single root node in the hierarchy. Not distributed. Ask Bob + Alice!
Aug 2009 Calling all humans: transparency,self regulating systems,trust, integrity,education vs awareness, growing together.... NOW!
Aug 2009 Loose coupling + autonomous systems, gift economy, transitive trust,complexity, architecture,superorganisms +homeostasis?FAIL@ #alr
Aug 2009 @pat yeah wasn't sure, hence the Tweet (even O'Reilly book ?!?) But peeps have2 start somewhere. #quality #trust requests <> good start!
Aug 2009 @Cama Ahuh,independent verification/specialisation is a toughy? In what r who do u place transitive trust? #absolutetruth #belief #nihilism
Aug 2009 @rosshill attribution is tied to identity,validation,trust,cohesion,anonymity,commerce,longevity,sharing,ain't going nowhere methinks buddy!
Aug 2009 @irlpol projects may have 10's or hundreds of servers/services in disparate TRUST zones running mutiple flavours/types of protocols.
Sep 2009 Infosec=Info/infra/services have value at point of utility.Trust +transitive trust predicated on persistent identity.Non-repudiation.Risk?
Sep 2009 T: "design by committee has not been successful in my experience".. D: "neither was the Homermobile" #architecture #choice #trust
Oct 2009 Decision engines. Inputs, processes, outputs, subject to morphing values? Constructive and destructive feedback loops. Transitive trust, ...
Oct 2009 #GovHack Canberra mesh usage 31.85 GB total (22.61 GB received, 9.24 GB sent) from #nodecity #trustbutverify
Oct 2009 Reviewing #trampoline "Trust + New Economic Model" http://vimeo.com/5026356 +recent use "food trust","time trust" etc sub-trusts FTW :)
Nov 2009 Non-profit IT. Trust. Community. Play. Self-directed learning. #tedxmelbourne #nodecity
Nov 2009 Open my human bandwidth, mindshare, headspace, filters, open, trust, rate-limit, time, slow, fast #quality #interactions is less more?
Nov 2009 I value openness, honesty, trust, integrity, awareness, mobility, choice and preparedness to be wrong or fail, improve on former self..
Jan 2010 Interesting proposition:how well do you trust yourself in different situations? What is your supposedly pre-determined outcome informed by?
Jan 2010 How :an adhoc grp self-polices? :to exp hidden agendas? Trust predicated on?+is it transitive? Commitment demonstration to open system?
Jan 2010 Constantly WAKING UP. Constantly ARRIVING. Who to journey with? #trust #given #offered #expended #rebirth #faith
Jan 2010 Interconnectedness. Spheres. Nodes. Intent. Trust. Love. Beings. Time. Stardust.
Feb 2010 Not sure who to trust? Yourself? http://s.nodecity.com/trust "When we are weak, or feel weak and dis-empowered, we.." @edwardharran
Feb 2010 Trust is not binary. It's an ongoing process of building and re-evaluating at every stage. #subset #superset #sets
Feb 2010 Trust http://bsdosx.blogspot.com/2010/01/trust.html
Feb 2010 Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Test. Trust but Verify. #self-policing
Feb 2010 Trust issues = occupational hazard? ;) /via @kimmwood
Mar 2010 @DDrazic transitive trust and the broken outsourcing triangles... #metrics #out-tasking #governance #accountability
Mar 2010 A wise being lives inside of you, it is your intuitive self; trust the wisdom inside of you: Shakti Gawain /via @TheGodLight
Mar 2010 Understanding.Unassuming. Unadorned. Tolerance. Trust. Wisdom.Strength.Belief.
Mar 2010 AU: Recommendations for setting up a trust fund for a kid?
Apr 2010 Pure, clean, sober Awareness... when to honour, trust & listen to your Intuition above all else? Always?
Apr 2010 Time, love and trust. The ultimate currencies.
Apr 2010 Trust yourself, with great faith and great doubt :)
May 2010 If I don’t trust the people I am with, I can’t be interdependent with them. If I don’t trust them, I can’t build community with them.
May 2010 If I don’t trust myself, I will never be able to trust others. And if I’m not honest with myself, I can never be fully honest with others.
Jun 2010 . @paulzee beware phishing. Check WHOIS. Not Google owned. CAREFUL http://whois.domaintools.com/googlexistence.com #trustbutverify
Jun 2010 @Aida_Lee oceans of trust, love & time.. in fact any logical rep I choose4 anyone/thing ->nrgy, doobies :) http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Metta
Jul 2010 @rosshill Attribution/health of actions and thought! Digital DNA, personal trust & mind (mental health) stability/identity #cloudliving ;)
Jul 2010 @rosshill Trust, community and self-policing, governance. Ever seen Mad Max ;)
Jul 2010 Trust but verify.
Jul 2010 You cannot rebuild trust remotely.
Jul 2010 @jonathannen presence, awareness, social cohesion, edges, motivation, trust, love and time... and doors that say 'No Entry'... +5W's ;)
Jul 2010 @DDrazic @jloidl we aiming VCE/Year 11. a) 3R's b) transitive trust/ interconnectedness c) measure/empirical data d) enforcement capability
Aug 2010 @undrewb me neither, too invasive and overt, feels dirty.. like cheating on someone, breaking transitive trust... hard sell/syntax ☠
Aug 2010 ♫ It takes an ocean of trust...
Sep 2010 Perceived value and transitive trust.
Sep 2010 @nathan_scott @mikala_ it's all about trust bay-bee, it's all about... <3 from D
Sep 2010 What is the smallest trust cluster?
Sep 2010 Connection. Intimacy. Trust @trampolineday #trampoline #trampolineday
Oct 2010 "but trust me on the sunscreen".. ♫ http://youtu.be/OojsLDYr7RY (great way to start Sunday morning :) <3 D
Oct 2010 Mobile version: "but trust me on the sunscreen" ♫ http://j.mp/9SKLeE (great way to start Sunday morning :) <3 D

TheBirthofVulnerablity

#tedx - Brené Brown

Futureself

I write this to my future self, whenever, wherever and whoever you may be.

I do not like the term hope but I have faith that the continuum that is you recognises these words, thoughts and forms as your own. If anything, nourish the stillness inside as it is from this that flows that which is clear, wise and true. Do not forget your core and replenish your lifeforce often. Tune your body vehicle. Perceive everything but pay full attention to those you trust. Minimise harm in all your thoughts, words and actions yet do not be paralysed by the complexity, interconnectedness and beauty.

Hunt your fears. Confront your conflicts. Listen and learn.

Never stop seeking yet know that you never began. Home is constant arriving within yourself and letting go is not a permanent state. The riddle of action and inaction will continue. The drive of the superorganism to survive will persist and will manifest itself in many unexpected ways.

There is no imperative but to exist and leave with a tranquil heart and mind.

Fear may be befriended, our externalities will age, but in love, spontaneity and a pure heart we unlock immortality.

Novelocity and Sustainability

Novelocity is a new term which means the rate of ‘newness’ experienced by a system or an entity. If 'novelocity' is too high, the ability to optimally react to unexpected or even standard stimuli is degraded and harm may occur. Additional energy is drawn from core competencies which subsequently undermine and weaken the system or host. If 'novelocity' is too low, habits and patterns are etched deeper in pathways and the ability of the entity or system to react, learn and adapt is hindered. Another byproduct of low 'novelocity' may be that of stagnation or boredom, which can result in some cases, in a subsequent extreme period of variance (a form of punctuated equilibrium) akin to a kick start to establish an optimal 'novelocity' once again. Change is constant, novelty not necessarily so.

Entities or systems that exhibit a drive for self-preservation (survival) will still cooperate or collaborate amongst themselves in manners which allow for the optimal creation, consumption and sharing of energy. This collaboration inevitably leads to increased production through specialisation and reciprocity in times of need. Whether intrinsic or extrinsic, in what may be deemed a sentient system, the concept of ‘enlightened self-interest’ is demonstrated. Once interconnectedness and interdependence is realised e.g. the underlying participation and involvement in a wider ecosystem, the system attempts to optimise and grow itself by cross pollinating, exploring and refining the intersections with other components of the macro system. The rate at which this exploration is actively sought may not actually be the ‘novelocity’ but is a correlate of the actual 'novelocity' rate. The energy expended in seeking this novelty (and subsequently engaging in it) can drain or dilute a systems core resources by drawing down upon the existing supply channels normally used to service core energies. This creates a negative feedback loop and overall system degradation. This suboptimal or failure mode is similar to that of a collapse or paralysis by virtue of expanding too quickly but is however predicated upon conscious/unconscious desire to seek out novelty whilst ignoring periods of required homeostasis. This is not necessarily ‘future shock’ but a cognitive and physical inability to deal with the rate of novelty.

Sustainability contains aspects of independence, interdependence and replenishment of energies. Sustainability also carries with it a concept of growth, homeostasis and self-awareness. Whether a system/relationship is two or more cells, people or planets; there is continual movement through time and space, thus, an implied ‘novelocity’. Entropy and ectropy notwithstanding, there are only so many states that one can pattern match against.

The question is what role 'novelocity' plays in sustainability? Can the aggregate survive without drawing down excessive energy from other dependent systems or overly diluting itself by constantly seeking out novelty and why?

Can elements of the local system/interdependent components both grow while satisfying the requirements of stability, safety and security all the while maintaining an optimal 'novelocity'?

Further reading:
Cohabitation in the Construct
Love 2.0
Go Deep

Alive

As a physiological battle rages inside me, I bear witness to how my thoughts and feelings differ and how much less energy I have for others currently. As I walk along the packed St. Kilda promenade where people are playing, lazing about and enjoying the energy from the sun, a single thought haunts me like a shadow dancing in my peripheral vision, 'What is living?'.

My first reaction is to be an engineer and break down the question. Three words present themselves: 'What', 'is' and 'living'. Immediately the aggregate of 'What is?' gets replaced with 'What IS' and the application of a Zen like methodology of investigation via direct untainted experience… it recurses back in upon itself… 'IS, IS, IS, is'ing spilling forth'… thought then stops temporarily and the leaves in the tree rustle of their own accord, smells pass through me and sounds dance together in rings of folk celebration.

Then the 'LIVING' word hits home hard. The mind spiders backwards in time searching and indexing so many collected experiences, patterns played out both voluntarily and involuntarily. Patterns and models, nay... modalities of living swim in my oceanmind… individualism, collectivism, survival, procreation, shared experiences, ontologies… my heart both rises and falls simultaneously at the few times in this entity's existence that a very deep 'true love' shone through. Without grasping, seeking or searching, one wonders about the conditions and states that allowed such purity to blossom.

Meanwhile another process running in parallel is both comparing and scaling in and out of the planet, then universe, and back down to my neighbourhood where it focuses finally, fractal like, inside my body where cells fight for dominance. I acknowledge the ecosystem whereby there is no border between my mind, my bodily vehicle and its environment. At the quantum scale and beyond one vibrates while moving through the foam. This observer constantly affects and reinforces the reality it perceives. It touches us.

There is no want, need or desire. Neutral. Are only those privileged enough to have discretionary time the ones wasting it on such a question? The question repeats itself.

What is living?

What-happened-to-true-love

Me to someone else:

Why do people say "can't satisfy all the types of intimacy". I fundamentally disagree with "can't satisfy all the types of intimacy".
This is very sad to me and absolutist.
Never say never and don't rule it out completely even if highly unlikely.
Broken hearts trying to defend themselves.
I think you could explore the 'needs' and 'satisfy' words more from a minimalist perspective as applied to a relationship.
Also, it saddens me to think people around our age don't believe in true love anymore.

Thinking

Utopia

Found @ http://www.cityofsound.com/blog/2010/09/urbanism-in-the-house-tuomas-toivonen.html

Seeding

"Because we've got to get to people's consciousness."

http://www.vallejo.to/articles/summit_pt1.htm

FuckinA.

Meet-The-Parents

This is an email trail from my parents last night that I was cc'd in on (but did not take part in as I was asleep in Antipodean shores). Each line was a one line email with the initial subject line of: 'Translate in to English':

Mum: "Need for research in the paradigm of structured-data retrieval"
Dad: SQL
Dad: Dig up your ancestors.
Dad: Beat Alzheimers - back up your brain. In at least three places.
Mum: Let's see what Donal comes up with ... :)

Incentives

What-is-code

- Code is a set of rules, principles or laws.
- Code is a representation of information or the system for transmitting messages with brevity/secrecy.
- Code in computing terms is a set of instructions that process data (data also ending up a form of code too). At its lowest layers code becomes signals or patterns of electrical current or light travelling from one point to another.

Note: These descriptions are logical frameworks within which an entity operates. They are not natural laws and more often than not can be broken.

Code is used in many facets of modern human life and in many cases controls our financial, utilities, transport and telecommunications systems globally.

What is a node?
Pretty much everything in this universe can be described as part of a greater interdependent system at one scale or another. In Information Technology a node is a representation of an entity in a system. The node can be an intersection point, a discrete entity in itself or an aggregate of components (including other nodes) which have been grouped together based upon shared attributes or functions.

When any node in a system runs software (e.g. code) it may perform and/or offer local or remote services. The service is dependent upon message passing across a medium from point A to point B. This message passing or signaling occurs on top of many predefined layers. Each medium and layer has rules for message passing/interpretation called protocols. The robustness of the code at each layer and the ability to handle exceptions comes in to question at times of failure or unexpected input. Accordingly other similar nodes or code may be affected if vulnerable to the same set of conditions. At different abstraction layers there is generally tight coupling (e.g. a rigid dependence upon other components in the system). The robustness of a system or service is then predicated on how it handles exceptions, failures, unexpected circumstances or changes in its operating environment.

Who or what controls the inputs, processes and outputs of code?
Who or what dictates the command and control channels for certain services and signaling between layers?
Who governs the use of code, the maintenance and the life cycle thereof?

Does the code:
- perform the required functionality?
- fail gracefully and signal as such?
- handle unexpected inputs and conditions?
- prove suitable to the environment where it is deployed?
- operate within certain pre-defined tolerances?
- withstand sentient attackers (does it have to)?
- prove defensible over time?

What and where are the interfaces between local/foreign code or code and humans?
Can the humans inject possible weaknesses or inflict damage to the system?

When one looks at computing resources connected directly or indirectly to a global or local network there are many potential vectors for attack or failure modes to be accounted for. Fancy a nibble or a byte from a Smörgåsbord of code?

If there is one thing that's constant, it's change. IT is about managing change.
People, process and technology are constantly changing but where does that leave the code and previous "point in time" testing? I am going to start arguing for "feature viscosity" and massive warning lists of caveats for "unintended use" as part of End User License Agreements.

Note: There is no globally recognised certification for software engineering akin to other professional trades and there is no line in the sand when the tide keeps changing.



Aside: SEI Certification (http://www.sei.cmu.edu/certification/) and FIPS(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIPS_140) / CC(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Criteria) don't count.

Lessons4Life

I grew up with He Man. This explains a lot in terms of a potential early moral compass and responsible edutainment in the eighties.

Awakening

Parallel consciousness streams will overtake the existing legacy construct to create a new hybrid society. We can only bring the ones that want to come. Seekers. Cross generational mentors. When the students are ready the teachers will present themselves.

Those entrenched in the past will not be able to morph the historical wisdom, learning and legacy system in to the new encapsulations required, dying out.. an accelerated generational breeding out is occurring.

(As long as we don't totally disconnect by racing ahead too far, too fast)

Cohabitation-in-the-Construct

Thoughts / intent ->
Words / conversations ->
Actions / connections / transactions ->

My local and universal influence carries with it a massive responsibility. Interconnectedness and feedback loops abound. Together our power is amplified when aligned. The medium only effectively carries a message when it is in harmony with the change or resonance of the overall superorganism.

This is why (for me increasingly) it is very important to have AWARENESS of all thoughts, feelings, words and actions (including from whence they arise e.g. fear/love/ego/repression/imprints or historical patterns) and also how these things affect the surrounding environment and entities. I must not carry negativity nor reflect it back on others. Constructive criticism and the drawing of contrasts can be positive when stemming from love. Unfortunately many feelings (in my experience) are ephemeral in nature and cannot be trusted especially when built upon automatic thinking and non-reality. Intuition is also a powerful signal, sometimes so loud yet sometimes so subtle that one must have a very quiet mind and open heart to even begin to notice it.

Hence the original and continual journey on the inside to try and understand the triggers and purify the influence I exert on my environment (including back upon myself).

I am you. We are us.

"Meaning no harm" is aside from "doing no harm" and herein lies one of the challenges.

What defines or encapsulates the initial state(s), processes and final state(s)?
In fact, there is no initial or final state... just a complex flux and a replenishing group of cells and entities with a complex aggregate neuroplasticity. Where do you want to grow today?

Survival is a balance between growth and protection. One cannot survive in protection mode all the time, nor can one grow continually without periods of homeostasis. This is all part of the dance. If you listen carefully you may even be able to hear the music. Why rush and who exactly are we competing with or dancing with anyway?

I have intuited and felt something very deep and important for some years now.. yet it's hard to walk the path, let alone find the right trail.. no excuses, just AWARENESS.

How deep is the rabbit hole? Sometimes so deep we(I) block it, numb it, try to escape from it, or fall in...

Much love to all...

Donal (human I think)

Love_2.0

Questioner: Is it possible for a man and woman to live together, to have sex and children, without all the turmoil, bitterness and conflict inherent in such a relationship? Is it possible for there to be freedom on both sides? I don’t mean freedom that the husband or wife should be constantly having affairs with someone else. People usually come together and get married because they fall in love, and in that there is desire, choice, pleasure, possessiveness and tremendous drive. The very nature of this in-loveness is from the start filled with the seeds of conflict.

Krishnamurti: Is it? Need it be? I very much question that. Can’t you fall in love and not have a possessive relationship? I love someone and she loves me and we get married - that is perfectly straightforward and simple, in that there is no conflict at all. (When I say we get married I might just as well say we decide to live together - don’t let’s get caught up in words.) Can’t one have that without the other, without the tail, as it were, necessarily following? Can’t two people be in love and both be so intelligent and sensitive that there is freedom and absence of a center that makes for conflict? Conflict is not in the feeling of being in love. The feeling of being in love is utterly without conflict. There is no energy loss in being in love. The loss of energy is in the tail, in everything that follows - jealousy, possessiveness, suspicion, doubt, the fear of losing that love, the constant demand for reassurance and security. Surely it must be possible to function in a sexual relationship with someone you love without the nightmare which usually follows. Of course it is.

~ Krishnamurti, Meeting Life.

Fear 2.0

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

"Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us."
— Marianne Williamson ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Williamson )

Tribes.

Tribalism. Social Cohesion. Value/Scarcity. Choice Architecture. Complexity. Influence. Amplification. Group entities. Superorganism.

Done.

Kids

For the kids, both old and young.
Unstained eyes, pure love..
Natural forms, sound harmony..
Complex effects, feigned change.
Slower is ok. Don't trust all adults.
Find answers both inside and out.

Go-deep

“And so one has to be free from fear, and that is one of the most difficult things to do. Most of us are not aware that we are afraid, and we are not aware of what we are afraid. And when we know of what we are afraid, we do not know what to do. So we run away from it. You understand, sir? We run away from what we are, which is fear; and what we run away to increases fear. And we have developed, unfortunately, a network of escapes. So one has to become aware not only of the fears one has but also of the network which one has developed and through which one runs away."

"As we said, a mind that is afraid, do what it will, will have no love whatsoever; and without love you cannot construct a new world. Without love there can be no oasis. And you, as a human being, have created this social structure in which you are caught. To break away from that - and you have to break from it completely - you have to understand yourself, just to observe yourself as you actually are. Then out of that clarity comes action. And then you will find out for yourself a different way of living, a way of life which is not repetitive, which is not conforming, which is not imitating, a life which is really free and therefore a life that opens the door to something which is beyond all thought.”

“So we must question, we must doubt, not only the experience of another, but also our own experience. To seek further experience through expansion of consciousness, which is being done through various forms of psychedelic drugs, is still within the field of consciousness and, therefore, very limited. So a person who is seeking experience in any form - especially the so-called religious, spiritual experience - must not only question it, doubt it, but must totally set it aside. A mind that is very clear, a mind that is full of attention and love - why should such a mind demand any more experience?”

“So to free the mind from all authority there must be self-knowing, that is, self-knowledge. I do not mean the higher self or Atman, which are all the inventions of the mind, the inventions of thought, inventions born out of fear. We are talking of self-knowing: knowing oneself actually as one is, not as one should be, to see that one is stupid, that one is afraid, that one is ambitious, that one is cruel, violent, greedy; the motives behind one’s thought, the motives behind one’s action - that is the beginning of knowing oneself. If you do not know yourself, how the structure of your mind operates, how you feel, what you think, what your motives are, why you do certain things and avoid other things, how you are pursuing pleasure - unless you know all this basically, you are capable of deceiving yourself, of creating great harm, not only to yourself, but to others. And without this basic self-knowing there can be no mediation...”

Krishnamurti For Beginners, An Anthology, ISBN:8187326018

Reality.

Beyond explanation and articulation. I am part of it.

Smile

From: http://ffffound.com/image/0bf8bed9dd37c4033ec097b3ae16ecabbd208e03?c=4152632

Future, self-determination, mobility and copyright.

Cory Doctorow, science fiction writer and one of the best known bloggers in the world (Boing Boing) talks about the future, self determination, mobility and copyright.

Trust

"If I don’t trust the people I am with, I can’t be interdependent with them.
 If I don’t trust them, I can’t build community with them.
 If I don’t trust myself, I will never be able to trust others.

And if I’m not honest with myself, I can never be fully honest with others."

With thanks/props to http://www.daddytude.com/2009/09/prequel-humility-arrogance-trust-honesty/

Computer Timesharing Video

Known-Knowns