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Thought 38: Feeling Disconnected

Feeling a little like the world is just a little different at the moment. And maybe I've always been this way, but just starting to see it myself. I feel slightly disconnected with the world. Not sure whether it the endless posts on facebook, twitter, etc. or remembering that work is a business sometimes, not just R&D, or even sometimes at home.

The phrase "thinking outside the box" feels more like there might be a box somewhere, but I'm so outside of it I do not really know where it is.

Examples: A friend asked "If you could live ANYWHERE, where would you live?" My first thought was Jupiter or Venus, because the atmosphere would be very cool to watch. That and in my limited travels, pretty much any place is just like any other, people generally have the same goals and actions. Maybe it's that I've only been to more modern places. But it's really just people are people, cities are cities, and maybe that's it I just cannot live in a city. Everyone else responded with locations on Earth, and all cities.

Other example: A friend noted that perhaps the rants got out of control a bit and maybe needed some device to let them know that he's gone off the handle. Others posted that they could use secret messages, or tell it to his face, or just help clam him down. I went and thought "Could we build such a device?" That is with proper feedback from a bio-sensor/EEG combination and either an injection or electrical stimulus allow him to re-regulate.

I decided NOT to respond to either. When I got finished reading the response I created, I just noticed how much this did not fit with what was being asked or expected. And I got a little scared that maybe I'm just a little more disconnected than I previously thought.

Of course on a slightly more funny side of things: Never call the robot your building 'our baby' in front of your wife. However, I'm currently not sure anymore if I really meant that or not. What I mean, is that there is a STRONG parental feeling toward the robot and simply creating a new life, even if it is not human.

Is it right to have these feelings? or am I slowly turning into a psychopath that sees only global problems and solutions, no longer able to connect with an individual? Do other scientists go through this? It seems that there is some level of disconnect in order to make progress.

Anyway just checking in the world.

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