Where We Go One, We Go All : QAnon and the Mediology of Witnessing

“Where We Go One, We Go All”: QAnon and the Mediology of Witnessing When critics admonish their opponents for circulating mere conspiracy theories, they are disparaging them for subscribing to facile accounts of socio-historical phenomena that are more sophisticated and aleatory than such heavy-handed narratives apprehend. Unfortunately, this kind of disavowal has the side-effect of precluding conspiracy theories from more serious philosophical consideration. Arguably the most notorious information age conspiracy theory of the moment is QAnon, a byzantine, messianic truther echo-system that has recently irrupted into mainstream public consciousness. QAnon derives its name from “Q,” a lurid, anonymous, putatively omniscient insider who has been dropping missives on message boards about Donald Trump’s clandestine war with a satanic, sex-trafficking, election-fixing cabal that lurks beneath the liberal establishment. In order to engage with QAnon as a cultural phenomenon, my article probes the rhetorical coordinates of the popular concept of conspiracy theory through optics provided by Kenneth Burke and Jodi Dean. Drawing on the recent media scholarship of Carrie Rentschler, Kate Starbird, and John Durham Peters, I then examine QAnon culture as a misguided activist modality of witnessing (what Alain Badiou might call a “pseudo-Event”) precipitated, in no small part, by rhetorical and algorithmic architecture that subtends an ever-increasing proportion of human subjectivity. I conclude with some reflections on the viability of what media theorist Jonathan Sterne terms an intervention

Darwin Turing Dawkins: Building a General Theory of Evolution

Living things, computers, societies, and even books are part of a grand evolutionary struggle to survive. That struggle shapes nature, nations, religions, art, science, and you. What you think, feel, and do is determined by it. Darwinian evolution does not apply solely to the genes that are stored in DNA. Using the insights of Alan Turing and Richard Dawkins, we will see that it also applies to the memes we store in our brains and the information we store in our computers. The next time you run for president, fight a war, or just deal with the ordinary problems humans are heir to, perhaps this book will be of use. If you want to understand why and when you will die, or if you want to achieve greatness this book may help. If you are concerned about where the computer revolution is headed, this book may provide some answers.Comment: 247 page

Polynomial time quantum computation with advice

Advice is supplementary information that enhances the computational power of an underlying computation. This paper focuses on advice that is given in the form of a pure quantum state and examines the influence of such advice on the behaviors of an underlying polynomial-time quantum computation with bounded-error probability.Comment: 9 page

Trapping of dielectric particles with light-induced space-charge fields

Light-induced space-charge fields in lithium niobate crystals are used to trap and manipulate dielectric particles on the surface of such crystals. Without any external voltage source, strong field gradients are present in the proximity of the crystal surface. These are used to trap particles with diameters in the range between 100 nm and some tens of micrometers

Towards an Intelligent Database System Founded on the SP Theory of Computing and Cognition

The SP theory of computing and cognition, described in previous publications, is an attractive model for intelligent databases because it provides a simple but versatile format for different kinds of knowledge, it has capabilities in artificial intelligence, and it can also function like established database models when that is required. This paper describes how the SP model can emulate other models used in database applications and compares the SP model with those other models. The artificial intelligence capabilities of the SP model are reviewed and its relationship with other artificial intelligence systems is described. Also considered are ways in which current prototypes may be translated into an 'industrial strength' working system

What Maisie Knew by Henry James: a technical analysis

It is the purpose of this study of Henry James\u27s novel What Maisie Knew (1897) to evaluate the evidence leading to a reliable answer to the question that James poses in the title: namely, whether, by the end of the novel, Maisie has retained her innocent character or has become corrupted by the behavior of the adults who comprise her entire world

3-dimensional electrode patterning within a microfluidic channel using metal ion implantation

The application of electrical fields within a microfluidic channel enables many forms of manipulation necessary for lab-on-a-chip devices. Patterning electrodes inside the microfluidic channel generally requires multi-step optical lithography. Here, we utilize an ion-implantation process to pattern 3D electrodes within a fluidic channel made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Electrode structuring within the channel is achieved by ion implantation at a 40° angle with a metal shadow mask. The advantages of three-dimensional structuring of electrodes within a fluidic channel over traditional planar electrode designs are discussed. Two possible applications are presented: asymmetric particles can be aligned in any of the three axial dimensions with electro-orientation; colloidal focusing and concentration within a fluidic channel can be achieved through dielectrophoresis. Demonstrations are shown with E. coli, a rod shaped bacteria, and indicate the potential that ion-implanted microfluidic channels have for manipulations in the context of lab-on-a-chip devices