A Dubai Diary on Spatial Orientation (3)

(image credit)

John Stein, an emeritus professor of physiology at Oxford said that, as with so many Nobel Prize winners, the scientists' discovery was at first ridiculed and dismissed, only later to get the recognition it warrants

"This is great news and well deserved," Stein said. "I remember how great was the scoffing in the early 1970s when John first described 'place cells'. 'Bound to be an artifact' and 'he clearly underestimates rats' sense of smell' were typical reactions. Now, like so many ideas that were at first highly controversial, people say: 'Well that's obvious'!"

Reference: Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to discoverers of brain's 'inner GPS'.

February 12th 2011
 
I drove to Festival Centre to attend Rushdi’s and Noura’s wedding. I saw the InterContinental Hotel from the distance, and kept that visual orientation in mind, as I descended into the parking lot. I was pissed, when the lane I was on exited me out. Oh, what stupid people built this country (rf. parking lot, at the New York University-Abu Dhabi). I navigated myself back into the lot and drove around, but I simply couldn't find parking.  I found my way to one level down, and slid into a space right next to the escalator.

Let me pause, and make notes on the Algorithm for Spatial Orientation:

• It’s worked very well indeed to relax and visualize my route from home to my destination. I mean, concentrate and really visualize it. This process takes just seconds.
• I developed this point further this evening: Look for my destination, or at least markers of it, if I can’t see it. Once, I have found it, then I need to turn the visual orientation into a mental compass. Follow this compass.
• As I leave my car parked, I have to trace my steps from there to my actual destination. Nothing is logical in this country, so I have to rely on my own navigation algorithm. Actually, it’s just a bit more complex, as I have to visualize ‘walking backward,’ that is, as I go from my destination, back to my car.
• This visualizing includes memorizing markers, and their sequence, of course.
• All along, I keep my mental compass of where my destination is.

This worked very well tonight. As it turned out, where I parked was the perfect location. Truly it’s God, because it was closest to the escalator. Where the escalator emerged was at the end of the Centre, where the InterContinental Hotel was situated. Within a minute, I was out by the canal walk, and there was the hotel, just as I had had it in my mind.

I entered the hotel from the canal level, and found my way to the Al Ras Ballroom perfectly, with help from a couple of guys I asked there. Now, the thing that I forgot was, of course, to visualize and memorize my steps from where I entered the hotel and where I found the ballroom. Interestingly, even though it was a bit of stop-and-go, back to that particular hotel entrance, I managed to find it without any difficulty.

• When I’m not sure, go slow. Take it easy.
• My recollection of the visual cues may be hazy and incomplete, but I can still rely, even unconsciously, on those cues. Which is what I did tonight.
• Oh, also, a couple of times, as I was navigating my way back to that hotel entrance, I looked backward. Because that backward look was my forward look, heading to the ballroom.

This last point was a perfect solution in the navigation process, as I saw three desks to my left of the reception clerks, going forward earlier in the evening. Looking backward, then, I saw the same thing, and knew I was in the right direction. Moreover, I could remember approximately where I emerged on that floor. I didn’t remember taking the steps up, only vaguely. But I reasoned that because I did recall approximately where on the reception floor I came in, I must’ve taken those steps. Sure enough, I was right, and within a minute I was out that original entrance. From there, to my car, was very easy, because of the visualizing and memorizing I was doing earlier on. 

A Dubai Diary on Spatial Orientation (2)

(image credit)

While [scientists John O'Keefe, Edvard Moser, and May-Britt Moser's] findings help explain how the brain works, they have no immediate implications for new medicines or other therapies, since they do not set out a mechanism of action [rf. Algorithm for Spatial Orientation].

But knowledge about the brain's positioning system can also help understanding of what causes loss of spatial awareness in stroke patients or those with devastating brain diseases like dementia, of which Alzheimer's is the most common form and which affects 44 million people worldwide.

Reference: Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to discoverers of brain's 'inner GPS'.

I left my job in September 2010, and I didn't anticipate how difficult and stressful things would be in the aftermath.  I worked concertedly and strategically to get back on my feet, but I was often preoccupied and distracted.  My circumstances made it difficult for me to navigate the highway system, especially as I had to travel to new places and visit new colleagues.  Writing in my Theory of Algorithms journal not only allowed me to document, and thus ease, the struggles I felt, but interestingly it also helped me work through my disorientation.  To be frank, I was worried for my mental state, but thankfully it all worked out perfectly well. 

December 25th 2010

An awful week this past week for navigating myself.

Saturday, 18th December. I missed the turn, somehow, for Agnes’ home in Abu Dhabi. I used to say that once I’ve found a place, I’ve got it memorized on how to get there. Apparently, not quite anymore.
 
Sunday, 19th December. From the Emarat Atrium, I forgot that I had to go toward Al Wasl Road, in order to go home. The street and highway system here is stupid, and coupled with my poor spatial orientation, it all makes for an aggravating time on the roads.
 
Tuesday, 21st December. From Jumeirah Beach Residence to St. Mary’s Church, I somehow missed an exit for Oud Metha. I was tired and not paying attention.
 
Wednesday, 22nd December. From home to Burjuman, again I missed the proper exit. I told myself not to connect to my mobile and make calls, especially when I’m going to a place I hadn’t been before. Good. Still, these are all places I’ve been to before. It’s a good idea, in general really, not to be talking on the phone when I’m driving. I’ve got 100 things in my head, and I’m clearly prone to forgetting, being distracted, and getting tired.
 
Friday, 24th December. From home to Arabian Ranches. It’s also a judgment issue, along with a memory and spatial thing. It’s a bit tricky for me, along Emirates Road, to swing left toward AR. I don’t go there much at all, but in the four years since I’ve been in Dubai, I’ve been to AR several times. So I did what I needed to do, from an algorithm standpoint, that is, calmed myself, visualized my movement. I even told myself, staying in the middle lane through the exit. At the last minute, though, I switched to the left lane and it was a mistake. I should’ve stayed in the middle lane. My head is so compromised now, clearly, that even if I’ve been some place more than once, I’m prone to miss something trying to get there.

Oh, how do I suggest improvements to the UAE streets and highway system? You miss a turn or an exit, and it’s lengthy process trying to correct your mistake. All it takes is a simple left hand turn. But this is not a problem worth solving, because this system is embedded in its psyche and history and culture. Whoever advised various agencies on such a system is messed up.

So here’s what I crafted for this algorithm a couple of weeks ago. From what I can see now, it’s actually very good. I don’t have bullets to add, just some comments to specify or elaborate on these components of the algorithm: 

• Meditate. Stay calm. Go slower, I suppose. Don’t rush, as I approach a turn or exit.
• Clear my mind, and visualize my movement through that space. Memorize both the sequence of my movement as well as landmarks that help me remember that sequence. As I’ve already emphasized, avoid or minimize talking on the phone, especially if I’m traveling to a new place. I need to watch out, when I’m tired, and make a concerted effort to pay attention. I will never eliminate mistakes, but I can minimize these and keep their impact harmless (e.g. last night, en route to AR).
• Review directions and the location map, more from a ‘local’ mindset (i.e., non-logical, error prone, landmark based, no compass direction).
• Use the GPS system on my BlackBerry.
• Pray to God for help. God knows that I’ve felt exasperated and angry with Him. I pray that He forgives me. I believe He does. For everything that is happening is for the sake of His purpose. I have begun to feel afraid that I’m coming down with Alzheimer’s (or something). Maybe so, maybe not. It’s all God’s Will. But somehow acknowledging all of this in this particular comment box is helping me to feel calmer and better. I think I’ll be quite OK :)

By the way, I have also had good successes navigating myself through space, over the past week:

I managed to be on time for the meeting with Jatin on Wednesday evening, despite my missing an exit.
 
I managed to find the office to Global Advocates in Garhoud without any difficulty, Thursday morning, after getting Camille’s directions. Of course the building, like the street and highway system, was messed as far as its entrance was concerned. I swear it’s the same band of idiots constructing all of this here.
 
I managed to find Ayad’s place near Marina Mall, yesterday morning, without any difficulty, after getting Ayad’s directions. I actually made a good judgment en route there. I went along Al Sofouh Road, instead of Shaikh Zayed Road, toward the Ritz Carlton, as this was my heuristics for the Marina Mall. Now I have a sense of location for the Marina Walk, when I had such difficulty finding it when I was meeting Katya a few weeks ago.
 
I wasn’t very late to Stephanie’s home last night, despite my missing the proper exit to AR.

A Dubai Diary on Spatial Orientation (1)

John O'Keefe, Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser

British-American John O'Keefe and Norwegians May-Britt and Edvard Moser [recently] won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering the brain's navigation system and giving clues as to how strokes and Alzheimer's disrupt it.

The Nobel Assembly, which awarded the prize of 8 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million) at Sweden's Karolinska Institute on Monday, said the discovery solved a problem that had occupied philosophers and scientists for centuries:

"How does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?"

Reference: Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to discoverers of brain's 'inner GPS'.

I was particularly curious about these scientists' discovery, because of the struggle I had in navigating the highway system when I lived in Dubai.  I had driven around on a few visits there, and one time I got terribly lost and gnarled in traffic, while looking for an apartment in Deira.  So when I moved there in August 2006, I resolved to better familiarize myself.  Friday morning there is like Sunday morning here in the US, and for several such mornings, I woke up early and drove around in the absence of traffic.  Getting to and from work was a priority focus, plus getting to key areas, such as shopping malls, parks and beaches.  This helped me create a mental map of my new locale, and thereby get a bearing on where I was at any given time and how to get to where I needed to get. 

Over 40 years of research, O'Keefe, Moser and Moser found a particular nerve cells in the hippocampus:

These so-called "grid [or place] cells"... are constantly working to create a map of the outside world and are responsible for animals' knowing where they are, where they have been, and where they are going.

I had fashioned a reliable grid system from all of my years of driving around, not just in my locale here but across states I've traveled to.  However, my challenge was (a) to set aside that US grid system and (b) create a new one for the UAE.  It became clear over time that (a) was more difficult for me than (b).  The fact that I was driving around more like an American, instead of a Dubai resident, at times disrupted my efforts to find certain places.  So this week I capture select entries from my journals, which speak to creating my Algorithm for Spatial Orientation. 

December 3rd 2010

I can create an algorithm for solving the more prominent issue, namely, my spatial orientation: 

• Meditate. Stay calm.
• Clear my mind, and visualize my movement through that space. Memorize both the sequence of my movement as well as landmarks that help me remember that sequence.
• Review directions and the location map, more from a ‘local’ mindset (i.e. non-logical, error prone, landmark based, no compass direction).
• Use the GPS system on my BlackBerry.
• Pray to God for help.

I don’t like being in malls. I hate crowds. But while I got disoriented in the underground car park of the Dubai Mall, for example, I found my way from where I parked and entered, to the dancing fountains and Carluccio’s Restaurant, where I met Mai-Li a week ago. I asked someone for directions once. I was also careful to memorize this pathway, so I could retrace it and of course find my car.

The same thing on Wednesday morning, at the Marina Mall. I missed a service road that I normally take to get there. But, no worries I thought, the next one took me inside the underground car park. But this was a bit disorienting, too. I parked, entered the Mall. I somehow managed to keep a mental orientation of how the Mall was situated outside, so I knew generally which direction to head when I came inside. I asked someone for directions once. Again, I memorized my car space number, elevator location, and the pathway from where I came in. But still I found myself saying, “I don’t know where I am. I don’t know where I am.” The security guard said to go up to the 2nd level, so I kept taking the escalator up. I was still lost, when I got to that level. But I must say that God was navigating me. God is always navigating me; He is the only navigator for me.  For as I turned a corner, God only knew where, Nedal was right there, unexpectedly, and he walked me to The Address lobby where we had planned to meet!

It was last week, too, that I was unwittingly developing my Algorithm for Spatial Orientation, when I was going home from Sharjah. I thought I could just drive around, and even see a sign that pointed me toward Dubai. Well, no, this is the Middle East. After driving around for an hour, I thought to use my BB GPS. I was getting really exasperated, so I had to calm myself down and stop the car to orient myself. I did something cool. I checked how the GPS navigator changed, as I traveled from one spot (stoplight) to a petrol station, and thus learned not only how it was representing ‘me’ but also how I was situated vis-à-vis my surroundings (i.e. my orientation). Interestingly, my navigator guided me back to Dubai with a sort of highlighter on its map. So, from that petrol station, for example, I knew I had to make a u-turn at the next roundabout. It was perfect. As I approached an intersection, I knew exactly where to keep going straight and where to turn. I simply would not have found my way home by just driving around. This is the Middle East, so logical means of orientation does not exist.

Climate Change and Magical Thinking

Naomi Klein, in her new book This Changes Everything, argues that billionaires like Richard Branson are not living up to their big green promises.

In Part 2 of her interview with Wendy Mesley, Klein refers to Magical Thinking as the stories we tell ourselves about what is going on, which, however, inevitably prevent us from doing what needs to be done.  Specifically there are three myths dead center in her cross-hairs: (a) the market will save us, (b) billionaires will save us, and (c) technology will save us. We need regulation, or rather to take back regulation, which, if I’m not mistaken, is what neo-Liberalism is all about.

Case in point: Media friendly and wealthy businessman Richard Branson is evidently a hypocrite.  Klein explains that in 2006, he made a splashy announcement at the Clinton Global Initiative that he would divert all profits from his airlines, trains etc. into developing fuel that didn’t emit carbon.  That amounted to about $3 billion over the next decade.   It’s eight years post-announcement now, and just $300 million were pumped into the effort, nowhere near his pledge.  But I suppose that even if we were to believe the sincerity of Branson’s original intent, it is proof, in Klein’s mind, that we cannot leave climate initiatives to the market, a charity model, or the goodwill of business. It’s not going to get us there. If we want businesses to stop polluting, we need the government to tell them not to do it.

But polluting pays and government is reluctant.  That's the rub, isn't it.

Climate Change is a Collective Crisis

Naomi Klein discusses her new book This Changes Everything, in which she says it's time to stop counting on the politicians to save the planet.

I see that Wendy Mesley knows how to challenge and probe a guest, even toss a sardonic quip, and do it all with grace and charm.  In turn, Klein keeps calm and centered, as she relates her book thesis: 

[What people face in climate change is] the essence of a collective crisis: We can’t just respond through individual shopping decisions; we have to respond through bold collective action [particularly from the government]. 

On their own, individual efforts will not get us there (e.g. changing our light bulbs). That has been our model for 20 years, and it hasn’t worked well enough. We cannot rely on politicians, undoubtedly because of their partisan interests and personal motives.  Some leaders are actually on the streets, running movements. Why did you write this?  Having a son made Klein see her research on climate change in an emotional way, which is necessary, she adds.

I might take issue with Klein's seeming diminution of individual effort.  What we do at home, at work, and in the community on conserving energy are all integral to saving money, assuming responsibility, and making a contribution.  I do agree with her, however, that public officials, business leaders, and high level advisers must not fool themselves, or us, into thinking that they are exempt of any responsibility or contribution.  Moreover, her last point is very well taken: While many people may dismiss emotion as a hindrance to effective decision making, emotion is not only a necessary, but also an inviolable, part of any decision making.  It is our nature to be both logical and rational as well as emotional and intuitive.

Climate Change Changes Everything

Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, discusses climate change and the economics of the energy industry.

Economic models were on my mind, so the title of this Bloomberg interview caught my eye.  I hadn't run into Naomi Klein before, but I wanted to find out who she was and what she did.  I Googled her book and watched a couple of her other interviews and talks, and honestly I wasn't quite taken by her tact with This Changes Everything.  For example, her talk at The New School in New York City Climate Action Week: This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein | Capitalism vs The Climate struck me at first blush as a lot of yakking and motivation rant about winning the war against capitalism.  It is the win-lose proposition, alarmist tact that many activists assume, which I argue is not wholly effective or sustainable.  Nevertheless, I didn't dismiss This Changes Everything; I simply set it aside for the time being.  I found Klein's preceding book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism immediately compelling and far more disturbing.  So I spent several weeks studying up on it.

Now I've cycled back to environmental issues, and focus on Klein's perspectives and ideas this week.

So what changes everything?  Climate change changes everything.  Climate activism, Klein says, is the movement of movements.  (Sort of a meta-movement, I suppose.)  To deal with the dire ramifications of climate change, we need economic and political change.  But we’re still locked in the view that government should stay out of the way of big business and economic growth (i.e. a conservative view à la economist Milton Friedman, who is a main subject of The Shock Doctrine).  We're still locked in a short-term push for results à la Wall Street and its merry band of analysts.  It’s very profitable to invest in fossil fuels, and North America is on a fossil fuel boom.   (In fact, when I first consulted for a major oil and gas producer, our client told us that their profit margins exceeded those of top companies in the world combined.  So fossil fuels is obscenely and googly profitable.)  In the meantime, carbon emissions keep going up.  We need a serious debate on what values we need to govern our society.   How do you recognize all these competing interests? Klein challenges false dichotomy, such as economic well being (and dire environmental impact) vs climate driven changes (and economic jeopardy).  (She refers, too, to the stark battle implied in her tagline: Capitalism vs the Climate.)  The fossil fuel business is a very powerful industry (an understatement to the order of John D. Rockefeller since the late 1800s).   So far, all that we’ve done, she says, are marginal improvements, none of which add up to the level of change we need to make.

Ferguson Fury and Fire (6)

Despite calls from Attorney General Eric Holder for Peaceful Protest as Hallmark for Change, Ferguson, Missouri erupted in violence and destruction upon hearing the court ruling on Monday evening, November 24th 2014.  The ruling was on the following fateful incident:

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead on August 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor. All accounts agree that Brown ran and then turned back ... but to attack or surrender?

Reference: What happened when Michael Brown met Officer Darren Wilson.

I posted the following on Google+ last Friday, at the heels of Thanksgiving and on prophetically Black Friday:

Pleas to get off the streets went unheeded; earlier calls for calm simply fell like lead balloons. 
So what do leaders and residents, like those of Ferguson, truly want for their community?  What are the things that grieve them, disenchant them, infuriate them?  How badly do they want a better life in their community? 

The first question isn't What can they do, but rather What do they need to do, in order to have that kind of life they want?  Then, what can they do and not do, and what assistance, guidance and resources do they need vis-a-vis what they want?  What compromises are leaders and citizens alike willing to make, in order to gain a semblance of a better life?

How willing are they to do what they need to do, in order to get what they want?  What are the pragmatics and challenges of making a better life actually happen for themselves?  How will they sustain their effort in this regard, monitor their progress, and adjust their course as necessary?

These are Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3 of The Core Algorithm.

Ferguson Fury and Fire (5)

Despite calls from Attorney General Eric Holder for Peaceful Protest as Hallmark for Change, Ferguson, Missouri erupted in violence and destruction upon hearing the court ruling on Monday evening, November 24th 2014.  The ruling was on the following fateful incident:

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead on August 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor. All accounts agree that Brown ran and then turned back ... but to attack or surrender?

Reference: What happened when Michael Brown met Officer Darren Wilson.

I posted the following on Google+ last Friday, at the heels of Thanksgiving and on prophetically Black Friday:

Ferguson fury smouldering, Ferguson still on fire into the night.

Ferguson Fury and Fire (4)

Despite calls from Attorney General for Peaceful Protest as Hallmark for Change, Ferguson, Missouri erupted in violence and destruction upon hearing the court ruling on Monday evening, November 24th 2014.  The ruling was on the following fateful incident:

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead on August 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor. All accounts agree that Brown ran and then turned back ... but to attack or surrender?

Reference: What happened when Michael Brown met Officer Darren Wilson.

I posted the following on Google+ last Friday, at the heels of Thanksgiving and on prophetically Black Friday:

Thankfully ensuing protests in New York City and Chicago were, by and large, peaceful. 

Ferguson Fury and Fire (3)

Despite calls from Attorney General for Peaceful Protest as Hallmark for Change, Ferguson, Missouri erupted in violence and destruction upon hearing the court ruling on Monday evening, November 24th 2014.  The ruling was on the following fateful incident:

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead on August 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor. All accounts agree that Brown ran and then turned back ... but to attack or surrender?

Reference: What happened when Michael Brown met Officer Darren Wilson.

I posted the following on Google+ last Friday, at the heels of Thanksgiving and on prophetically Black Friday:

Ferguson is the 1960s in 2014: So what kind of progress have we truly made in 50 years?

Ferguson Fury and Fire (2)

Despite calls from Attorney General for Peaceful Protest as Hallmark for Change, Ferguson, Missouri erupted in violence and destruction upon hearing the court ruling on Monday evening, November 24th 2014.  The ruling was on the following fateful incident:

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead on August 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor. All accounts agree that Brown ran and then turned back ... but to attack or surrender?

Reference: What happened when Michael Brown met Officer Darren Wilson.

I posted the following on Google+ last Friday, at the heels of Thanksgiving and on prophetically Black Friday:

Officer Darren Wilson "was cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury."

Ferguson Fury and Fire (1)

Despite calls from Attorney General for Peaceful Protest as Hallmark for Change, Ferguson, Missouri erupted in violence and destruction upon hearing the court ruling on Monday evening, November 24th 2014.  The ruling was on the following fateful incident:

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead on August 9 by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor. All accounts agree that Brown ran and then turned back ... but to attack or surrender?

Reference: What happened when Michael Brown met Officer Darren Wilson.

I posted the following on Google+ last Friday, at the heels of Thanksgiving and on prophetically Black Friday:

It isn't just law enforcement; some communities do not trust local government and court rulings, either.