Down these mean streets by Thomas Piri Essay Example for Free

Down these mean streets by Thomas Piri Essay Years after its original publication, Piri Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets remains as powerful, immediate, and shocking as it was when it first stunned readers. In this classic confessional autobiography, firmly in the tradition of Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Piri Thomas describes the experience of growing up in the barrio of Spanish Harlem, a labyrinth of lawlessness, drugs, gangs, and crime. The teenaged Piri seeks a place for himself in barrio society by becoming a gang leader, and as he grows up his life spirals into a self-destructive cycle of drug addiction and violence, the same cycle that he sees all around him and hardly knows how to break. Piri is also troubled by a very personal problem: much darker than his brothers and sisters, he decides that he, unlike his siblings, is black, and that he must come to terms with life as a black American. Eventually arrested for shooting two men in an armed robbery, Piri spends six years in Sing and Comstock prisons. With insight and poetry he describes his time in prison, the dreams and emotions that prompted him finally to start life again as a writer, street poet, and performer, and how he became an activist with a passionate commitment to reaching and helping today’s youth. One of the most striking features of Down These Mean Streets is its language. â€Å"It is a linguistic event,† said The New York Times Book Review. â€Å"Gutter language, Spanish imagery and personal poetics†¦mingle into a kind of individual statement that has very much its own sound. † Piri Thomas’s brilliant way with words, his ability to make language come alive on the page, should prove attractive to young people and inspire them to look at writing and literature in fresh new ways. Thirty years ago Piri Thomas made literary history with this lacerating, lyrical memoir of his coming of age on the streets of Spanish Harlem. Here was the testament of a born outsider: a Puerto Rican in English-speaking America; a dark-skinned morenito in a family that refused to acknowledge its African blood. Here was an unsparing document of Thomass plunge into the deadly consolations of drugs, street fighting, and armed robberya descent that ended when the twenty-two-year-old Piri was sent to prison for shooting a cop. As he recounts the journey that took him from adolescence in El Barrio to a lock-up in Sing to the freedom that comes of self-acceptance, faith, and inner confidence, Piri Thomas gives us a book that is as exultant as it is harrowing and whose every page bears the irrepressible rhythm of its authors voice. Thirty years after its first appearance, this classic of manhood, marginalisation, survival, and transcendence is available in an anniversary edition with a new Introduction by the author. The questions, assignments, and discussion topics that follow are designed to guide your students as they approach the many issues raised in Down These Mean Streets. The questions of race and culture, of drugs, and of crime and punishment are all treated in the book, and should provide jumping-off points for many fruitful discussions. Another important element of the book is its vivid description of the youth culture of the barrio. Ask your students not only to pay special attention to that culture, but also to compare it with their own, and to look for similarities even when similarities might not be immediately evident. Piri Thomas gained the distance and objectivity to observe his world without prejudice or self-deception; your students should try to do the same. Finally, the students should be encouraged to look at the book not only as a cultural document, but also as a work of literature. Ask them to examine the language Thomas uses, his choice of words, the â€Å"flow† of the story. How does he create his informal tone, his sense of immediacy? This work might help change your students’ ideas about the â€Å"right† way to write, and inspire them to try to find their own individual voices. To what extent is Harlem’s communal code of pride, masculinity, and â€Å"rep† re-created in prison life? How does life inside prison resemble life outside? â€Å"The reasoning that my punishment was deserved was absent. As prison blocks off your body, so it suffocates your mind.† [pp. 255–56] Does this indicate to you an essential fault in the prison system? Do you think that the advice Piri gives Tico about how to deal with Rube is good? Is prison a purely negative experience for Piri, or are there good things about it? Which of the people he meets while in prison enrich and improve his life? Does Piri decide not to join the rioters, or is the decision essentially made for him by the hacks? Why does Chaplin/Muhammed believe that Christianity is the white man’s religion, Islam the black man’s? Do outside or societal factors play a role in Chaplin/ Muhammad’s choice of religions? As he leaves prison, Piri says, â€Å"I am not ever going to be the same. I’m changed all right. † [p. 306] In what ways has Piri changed, and what has changed him? Which of his ideas have been altered by his time in prison? Piri presents himself as a product of his race, culture, and community, but many of his traits are purely his own. How would you describe Piri’s personality? Poppa: What kind of a person is Poppa? What makes him proud, what makes him ashamed? Is he a good or bad father, a good or bad husband? Do you find him sympathetic? Trina: Piri sees Trina as nearly perfect. How would you describe her? Do you think that she behaves passively toward Piri, or does she demonstrate spirit of her own? What do you think of her response to Dulcien’s baby? Brew: How would you describe Brew’s character? What has given him his outlook on life, and how does it differ from Alayce’s? How does he perceive Piri? Why does he agree to go south with Piri? Chaplin/Muhammed: What has made Muhammed hate Christianity? What does Islam mean to him? Piri Thomas uses a number of pungent expressions, both in Spanish and English. How does the language he uses express his character and his world? Write a two-page essay describing one day in your life. Use your own style of talking, and try to be as colloquial as possible. What might your essay tell the reader about you, your friends, and your world? The youth culture in Spanish Harlem to which Piri and his friends belong has certain firm, if unwritten, rules. Would you say the same is true of your own school or neighborhood? What are the rules that govern the behavior of young people you know? What do you feel you have to do to be â€Å"cool,† to be accepted, to belong? Write a short essay describing the social rules your own friend’s follow. Piri is describing a specific period in time: the 1940s. Do you find that the life a family like the Thomas’s lived has changed much since that time? Make a list of the things that have changed for teenagers like Piri, and of the things that have stayed the same. Reference †¢ Down these mean streets by Thomas Piri

Giving Back To My Community :: Contribution to My Community

My plan after college is to become a Sociologist or a Social Worker. With a college degree in one of these areas, I hope to impact my community in various ways. First, with the knowledge obtained from college, I hope to counsel with young people who are on the verge of going astray. In today's society, there are so many negative factors that influence young people. I want to help them understand the importance of setting goals and striving to become productive citizens. I also want to give them a sense of hope that with perseverance, they can become great role models for other young people. Secondly, I have been a community volunteer worker for several years. Being a community volunteer has helped me to understand that by obtaining a college degree, I can help impact the lives of many homeless individuals. Recently, as a volunteer of United Methodist Metro Ministries, many of the homeless individuals were amazed that I am almost finished with high school and plan to go to college. One man that I had the opportunity of meeting saddened me because he could not even write his own name. I thought about how his life is forever impaired by his inability to read and write. Perhaps that is one reason he is economically poor. My relationships to persons such as this man have inspired me to want to continue my formal education so that I can help people who have somehow seemed to have lost their way. Also, a college degree as a Sociologist or a Social Worker will require me to become engaged in the lives of people, many who are socially, mentally and economically disadvantaged.

No Laughing Matter: a Comprehensive Overview of Nitrous Oxide Abuse

No Laughing Matter: A Comprehensive Overview of Nitrous Oxide Abuse Ryan Ardelle Anatomy & Physiology, Period 3 Mr. Syvret Due: March 14, 2013 SUBSTANCE OVERVIEW The issue of inhalant abuse is a multifaceted problem, stretching across many communities and locales in the entirety of the United States. Inhalants as a class of drug vary widely, ranging from volatile solvents and aerosol propellants, to more broadly, any drug delivered by inhalation. Nitrous oxide straddles these categories, as it finds use not only a common dental analgesic, but also as a propellant, in such uses as whipping cream, automotive racing, and rocketry.As a result, nitrous oxide is found in many forms: medical-grade, food-grade, and industrial-grade, with various purities (Erowid). Commonly known as â€Å"laughing gas,† nitrous oxide wears many hats and goes by many names. For example, those who use nitrous oxide in automotive racing or rocketry applications know it as NOS (Alai). In this usage, nitrou s oxide is applied as a powerful oxidizer, allowing a vehicle’s engine to combust gasoline more rapidly, with an associated increase in horsepower (Winter). This form of nitrous oxide is packaged with many additives to not only improve its performance but also to deter its abuse (Erowid).When abused recreationally however, nitrous oxide finds many more colorful nicknames, such as â€Å"hippie crack† and â€Å"nangs† (Erowid). It is a true gas, existing as a gas under atmospheric pressure at room temperature, although it assumes a liquid state when compressed in a gas cylinder (Alai). Nitrous oxide is a strong oxidizing agent with a density of 1. 9kg/m 3, and it has a linear molecular form consisting of two atoms of nitrogen and one atom of oxygen (Winter). Nitrous oxide has no color and has a sweet odor, familiar to anybody who has tasted whipped cream (Erowid).Nitrous oxide is commercially manufactured by heating ammonium nitrate to 240C. Impurities such as amm onia and nitric acid in addition to excess water vapor are removed through an extensive gas scrubbing process. Food-grade nitrous oxide is often stored in white, 8-gram cylinders with a sealed metal puncture cap and packaged in boxes of 100 cylinders. Medical-grade nitrous oxide is stored in French-blue cylinders and is pressurized to ~4400 kPa at room temperature. The Pin Index Safety System configuration for nitrous oxide cylinders is 3-5 (Banks and Hardman). HISTORY OF NITROUS OXIDE ABUSEBritish chemist and Presbyterian minister Joseph Humphrey first synthesized nitrous oxide gas in England in 1772. Priestly later published his work in a 1776 journal, â€Å"Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air† (Priestly). This publication proved extremely intriguing to the scientific community, leading to additional research and Humphry Davy’s influential 1800 book, â€Å"Researches, Chemical and Philosophical: Chiefly Concerning Nitrous Oxide. † Throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century, nitrous oxide’s usage as a recreational drug became increasingly popular.Traveling medical shows and carnivals featured affectionately named â€Å"Nitrous Oxide Capers,† in which attendees paid a small fee to inhale a minute’s worth of gas (Brecher). In 1844, Dr. Horace Wells, a British dentist, first demonstrated the use of nitrous oxide as a dental anesthetic. His initial testing on a patient at Harvard Medical School was unsuccessful, resulting in the public dismissal of nitrous oxide as a legitimate anesthetic. Nevertheless, nitrous oxide had a sudden resurgence in the dental community in the early 1860s, thanks to a series of dental institutions opened by lecturer and showman Gardener Quincy Colton.These practices utilized nitrous oxide as their primary form of dental anesthesia, henceforth standardizing its usage in the United States (Erowid). METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION Nitrous oxide is administered via inhalation o f compressed gas. Users most frequently obtain nitrous oxide from small, 8-gram canisters used to charge whipped cream dispensers. These canisters are readily available for purchase in most restaurant supply stores, on the Internet, and in head shops across the nation (Narconon).Once obtained, the contents of the canisters are released into empty whipped cream dispensers or into a balloon. A pressure release valve, or â€Å"cracker†, must be used in order to safely siphon the gas into a balloon (Erowid). These valves are also available for purchase online or in head shops (Narconon). Users with access to larger cylinders of nitrous oxide sometimes inhale the gas through a nasal hood or anesthesia mask, as used in dental surgery. However, this method is extremely dangerous without proper medical supervision, as users can inhale larger amounts of gas without access to fresh oxygen.As a result, the vast majority of nitrous oxide users prefer to use the aforementioned whipped cre am dispenser or balloon methods of inhalation (Wagner, Clark, Wesche, Doedens, and Lloyd). Whipped cream canisters and standard latex party balloons have a maximum capacity of approximately three 8-gram cylinders. Depending on personal preference, users can fill their vessel of choice with one, two, or three cylinders at a time (Creamright). Once the whipped cream dispenser or balloon is filled to the user’s liking, the gas inside is rapidly inhaled into the user’s lungs.The gas is often held in the lungs for twenty to sixty seconds to induce hypoxia and enhance the euphoric effects. The gas is then exhaled normally, and the user resumes regular respiration of room air (Erowid). IMMEDIATE EFFECTS Once inhaled, nitrous oxide is immediately absorbed through the lungs, dissolving directly into blood plasma. Within ten to fifteen seconds, nitrous oxide molecules replace oxygen molecules in the user’s lungs, thereby stimulating a euphoric sensation. Users then experi ence a brief â€Å"high† usually lasting between thirty seconds and two minutes with a standard dose (Erowid).Symptoms of nitrous oxide abuse include slurred speech, impaired coordination and balance, difficulty thinking clearly and processing information, unresponsiveness to verbal and painful stimuli, and occasionally loss of consciousness. Assuming the user returns to regularly breathing room air after the initial gas inhalation, these symptoms should subside within two minutes. The onset and peak effect timing of nitrous oxide is determined by the quantity consumed (Narconon). Nitrous oxide inhalation impacts the function of numerous physiologic systems.First, nitrous oxide decreases tidal volume and increases respiratory rate following activation of the central nervous system. Myocardial depression and an increase in central sympathetic outflow also occur following nitrous oxide inhalation. Inhaled nitrous oxide may produce the second gas effect, as nitrous oxide has a m ore rapid rate of diffusion across alveolar basement membranes than nitrogen gas. This rapid exit of nitrous oxide from the alveoli initiates a concentration of other alveolar gases, thereby accelerating the uptake of nitrous oxide into the bloodstream (Banks and Hardman).The primary method of nitrous oxide elimination is via the exhalation from the lungs. Nitrous oxide exits the body entirely unchanged in chemical formula and structure. Small amounts of nitrous oxide diffuse through the skin and the renal system, and anaerobic bacteria in the GI tract reduce any outstanding nitrous oxide into nitrogen gas (Erowid). ACTION ON THE BRAIN Nitrous oxide causes vasodilatation, resulting in an increase in cerebral blood flow and causing a corresponding increase in intracranial pressure (Erowid). Unlike most inhalants, nitrous oxide does not augment the effects of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blockers.Accordingly, nitrous oxide does not produce the same neuromuscular depression experienc ed with other inhalant abuse. Nitrous oxide activates opioid receptors in the periaqueductal grey of the midbrain, stimulating a release of norepinephrine and activation of 2-adrenoceptors in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord (Banks and Hardman). LONG TERM EFFECTS Risks involved in nitrous oxide inhalation revolve primarily around displacing oxygen. Although nitrous oxide does not bind with hemoglobin and instead dissolves into the blood, continued inhalation of pure nitrous oxide without supplemental oxygen can lead to hypoxia.Nitrous oxide-induced hypoxia is especially dangerous because users may not realize that they asphyxiating themselves – the impulse to breathe is triggered by a build-up of carbon dioxide, rather than a lack of oxygen (Banks and Hardman). Aside from hypoxia, there are relatively few physiologic dangers associated with nitrous oxide abuse. The most significant of these effects is Vitamin B depletion and deficiency. This can potentially lead to acute or chronic paresthesia, the sensation of â€Å"pins and needles,† and can inhibit the activity of methionine synthetase, thereby interfering with DNA synthesis in leukocytes and erythrocytes.However, Vitamin B and Folate supplements can prevent these side effects (Banks and Hardman). Nitrous oxide can also induce potentially dangerous airspace expansion in the body, such as pneumothorax or bowel obstruction, due to its rapid diffusion properties. Other potential side effects include respiratory depression, apnea, hypotension, cardiac arrhythmias, dizziness, neuropathy, nausea, vomiting, ileus, bone marrow depression, and malignant hyperthermia. Pregnant women should not use nitrous oxide, as the gas diffuses into the placenta and can cause fetal depression (Erowid).A few cases of frostbite on the vocal cords have been recorded following direct inhalation of nitrous oxide from a canister (Banks and Hardman). Also, nitrous oxide users are at risk of traumatic fall injuries such a s broken extremities and concussions due to impaired balance and possible loss of consciousness (Narconon). STATISTICS Nitrous oxide abuse is most common among younger adolescents aged 16-17, although abuse does occur among older individuals. A 2011 study from the University of Michigan showed that 13% of 8th grade students reported abusing inhalants at least once (National Institute on Drug Abuse).A similar study from the University of Virginia revealed that nitrous oxide was one of the top five substances abused by adolescent inhalant users (Narconon). According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the rates of inhalant abuse â€Å"increased steadily from 3. 4 percent at age 12 to 5. 3 percent at age 14, then declined to 3. 9 percent by age 17 from 2002-2006. † Data from this study also showed that â€Å"adolescents age 12 to 17 represented 48 percent of all substance abuse treatment admissions reporting inhalants. Among these adolescent admiss ions reporting inhalant abuse, 45% had a concurrent psychiatric disorder (SAMHSA). Erowid. com, a popular website that provides information on psychoactive drug use, conducted a series of online surveys in September 2009 in a study examining the possible presence of contaminants in nitrous oxide chargers. One of the surveys asked regular nitrous oxide users their preferred method of inhalation; 46% preferred using a cracker with a balloon, 34. 4% preferred inhaling directly from a whipped cream dispenser, 11. % percent preferred a whipped cream dispenser with a balloon, 1. 7 % preferred a cracker with a bag, 0. 7% preferred a whipped cream dispenser with a bag, and 5. 0% preferred other methods (Erowid). Nitrous oxide is not physiologically addictive, although certain individuals can use it compulsively. While psychological addiction is possible, the only symptom of withdrawal is the desire to inhale more nitrous oxide (Dartmouth College). Furthermore, statistics on inhalant-related deaths are difficulty to determine, as most deaths are severely under-reported.Most of the time, death is attributed to cardiac or respiratory failure subsequent to inhalant abuse. Studies from the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse between 1990 and 1993 revealed an average of 15 inhalant abuse-related deaths per year in the state of Texas. Of those deaths, 94% of victims were male, and 91% were Caucasian, on average (National Inhalant Prevention Coalition). Most recreational nitrous oxide-related deaths are caused by hypoxia when users affix masks without oxygen or place bags over their heads to concentrate the gas (Erowid). EFFORTS TO ADDRESS ABUSEThe topic of inhalants has been addressed by multiple small grass-roots efforts in local communities, but has also seen national discussion. Although no national legislation is in place restricting the sale, consumption, and distribution of nitrous oxide, several states and municipalities have passed laws in an attempt to curb u sage. Most of these laws specifically target underage consumption and sale of nitrous oxide to minors (Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics). For example, the Article 34 Title 7  § 3380. 5a-5b of the New York State Controlled Substances Act states: a) No person shall use nitrous oxide for purposes of causing intoxication, inebriation, excitement, stupefaction or the dulling of the brain or nervous system of himself or another. (b) No person shall sell any canister or other container of nitrous oxide unless granted an exemption pursuant to this subdivision. In no event shall any canister or other container of nitrous oxide be sold to a person under the age of twenty-one years. â€Å"Any person who violates any provision of subdivision four or five of this section shall be guilty of class A misdemeanor† (New York State Legislature).A number of non-governmental organizations such as the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition work to educate the public on the facts and dangers of inhalant abuse. These organizations frequently lobby on the state and federal level in attempt to pass more restrictive anti-inhalant abuse legislature. These preventative efforts have helped to several states integrate inhalant abuse education into primary and secondary school health education curricula (National Inhalant Prevention Coalition). Works Cited Alai, Nili N. â€Å"Nitrous Oxide Administration. † Ed. Rick Kulkarni.Medscape Reference, 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . Banks, Amelia, and Jonathan G. Hardman. â€Å"Nitrous Oxide. † British Journal of Anaesthesia: Continuing Education in Anaethesia, Critical Care, and Pain (2005): 1-4. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . Brecher, Edward M. â€Å"The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs. † Consumer Reports Magazine 1972. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"Drug Facts: Inhalants. † Inhalants. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . Erowid Nitrous Oxide Vault. Erowid, 21 Feb. 2013. W eb. 4 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"Frequently Asked Questions. † Nitrous Oxide Whipped Cream Chargers. Creamright, 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"Nitrous Oxide (Laughing Gas). † Health Promotion. Dartmouth College, 21 Jan. 2009. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. lt;http://www. dartmouth. edu/~healthed/groups/dapa/otherdrugs/no. html>. â€Å"Nitrous Oxide. † Nitrous Oxide. Narconon, 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . Priestly, Joseph. Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air. Vol. 2. London: n. p. , 1776. 6 vols. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"Public Health. † Laws of New York. New York State Legislature, n. d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"Statistics on Inhalants Show Young Teens at Risk. † SAMHSA News. SAMHSA, Mar. 2008. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"US Nitrous Oxide Laws. † State Laws Concerning Inhalation of Nitrous Oxide. Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics, May 2002. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"View Point. † National Inhalant Prevention Coalition Quarterly Newsl etter.National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . Wagner, Scott A. , Michael A. Clark, David L. Wesche, David J. Doedens, and Alan W. Lloyd. â€Å"Asphyxial Deaths from the Recreational Use of Nitrous Oxide. † Journal of Forensic Sciences 37. 4 (1992): 1008-15. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. . â€Å"Winter, Mark. â€Å"Nitrous Oxide. † WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements. WebElements, n. d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. .

Elon Musk Tesla Motors and SpaceX Founder

Elon Musk is best known for being the co-founder of PayPal, a money-transfer service for Web consumers, for founding Space Exploration Technologies or SpaceX, the first private company to launch a rocket into space and for founding Tesla Motors, which builds electric cars. Famous Quotes from Musk Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.It is where great things are possible [Musk on moving to the USA] Background and Education Elon Musk was born in South Africa, in 1971. His father was an engineer and his mother is a nutritionist. An avid fan of computers, by the age of twelve, Musk had written the code for his own video game, a space game called Blastar, which the preteen sold for a profit. Elon Musk attended Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned two bachelors degrees in  economics and physics. He was admitted to Stanford University in California with the intention of earning a PhD in energy physics. However, Musks life was about to change dramatically. Zip2 Corporation In 1995, at the age of twenty-four, Elon Musk dropped out of Stanford University after just two days of classes to start his first company called Zip2 Corporation. Zip2 Corporation was an online city guide that provided content for the new online versions of the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune newspapers. Musk struggled to keep his new business afloat, eventually selling majority control of Zip2 to venture capitalists in exchange for a $3.6 million investment. In 1999, the Compaq Computer Corporation bought Zip2 for $307 million. Out of that amount, Elon Musks share was $22 million. Musk had become a millionaire at the age of twenty-eight. That same year Musk started his next company. Online Banking In 1999, Elon Musk started X.com with $10 million dollars from the sale of Zip2. X.com was an online bank, and Elon Musk is credited with inventing a method of securely transferring money using a recipients e-mail address. Paypal In 2000, X.com bought a company called Confinity, which had started an Internet money-transfer process called PayPal. Elon Musk renamed X.com/Confinity Paypal and dropped the companys online banking focus to concentrate on becoming a global payment transfer provider. In 2002, eBay bought Paypal for $1.5 billion and Elon Musk made $165 million in eBay stock from the deal. Space Exploration Technologies In 2002, Elon Musk started SpaceX aka the Space Exploration Technologies. Elon Musk is a long-standing member of the Mars Society, a nonprofit organization that supports the exploration of Mars, and Musk is interested in establishing a greenhouse on Mars. SpaceX has been developing rocket technology to enable Musks project. Tesla Motors In 2004, Elon Musk cofounded Tesla Motors, of which he is the sole product architect. Tesla Motors builds electric vehicles. The company has built an electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, the Model S, an economy model four door electric sedan and plans to build more affordable compact cars in the future. SolarCity In 2006, Elon Musk co-founded SolarCity, a photovoltaics products and services company with his cousin Lyndon Rive. OpenAI In December 2015, Elon Musk announced the creation of OpenAI, a research company to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. Nueralink In 2016, Musk created Neuralink, a neurotechnology startup company with a mission to integrate the human brain with artificial intelligence. The aim is to  create devices that can be implanted in the human brain and merge human beings with software.