Ice Cream

I opened an app I’ve used frequently and found something had changed. All the things I’d requested over time could be seamlessly presented to me. It wasn’t perfect. There were changes I’d like but, it was also right most of the time. Artificial intelligence had crept unexpectedly into my world.

Whenever something radically new is introduced there are, predictably, a bunch of folks who will run around declaring we all need to be terribly afraid. Remember when using a cell phone was supposed to give everybody brain cancer?

Anytime there is an innovation which makes life easier and, importantly, can increase profitability, it will become normalized and no amount of fear mongering can stop it. Innovation comes with problems but the collective will of the people is always greater.

In other news, there was a fascinating article in The Atlantic last year. According to the article, a 2018 research paper, presented to a Harvard thesis committee indicated that eating a half cup of ice cream daily by folks with diabetes resulted in a lower risk of heart problems!

Naturally, such a result was instantly rejected by the experts. Nothing loaded with saturated fat and sugar could possibly be good for a person, just could not be. However since then, no flaws have been found in the analysis. The available commentary now grudgingly admits there’s some truth to it. Of course, they load their opinions down with silliness about portion size and frequency but, I like it and I am definitely going to have a double scoop of vanilla as soon as possible. Sometimes, information which may seem illogical turns out to be of real value.

In addition to information about ice cream, The New York Times recently printed an article about sleep. As one of the millions who have spent more than a few nights tossing and turning and overthinking, I was sure there was nothing new to be discovered I hadn’t tried. The article said folks had discovered that listening to some particular sounds would improve sleep. We’ve all heard of “white noise”, the sound used to mask other sounds so we aren’t disturbed in the night. Now, however, they talked about “pink, green, and brown” noise having a beneficial effect. I was intrigued enough to try putting such on my phone at night. For me the “brown” version seemed to work the best but it wasn’t sufficient to really do what I hoped. However, once I started down that path, I discovered another possibility. Some people found that a background sound produced at 528 Hz helped with their insomnia.

My music app also had that available. It’s only been five nights so far but, I must admit, it seems to work. When I wake up in the night I’m able to go back to sleep instead of solving whatever problem pops into my mind. If you have such an issue it’s worth trying.

New things are possible if we’re willing to admit we don’t have all the answers.