The World of No.

Is this a World of No?

In Mr. Cook's mind...

Possibly the most intelligent political insult came from Barack Obama referring to the U.S. Repulican party as the party of no. This is not necessarily a proper fact, 'cause in truth, all parties are likely the party of no. Indeed, this is a World of No. No? Why it was so politically clever is because it places all the world's problems in the hands of anyone who says "no" to progress. Whether or not Obama's plans involve true progress is aside from this matter.

All crimes, sins, problems, crises, difficulties, pain and/or regrets are largely due to the fact that someone somewhere said "no" somehow along the line. If you are having a financial crisis, you said "no." If you are suffering, it's because you said "no." If you are having anything other than the best day of your life, then odds are you or someone around you said, "no." And even if you said nothing, you still said "no." For what is nothing? No-thing. Anything other than a positive, resounding yes is the greatest of the world's problems.

Here is the basis Mr. Cook builds this from:

Premise:

Mr. Cook began his exploration in technology at age 12 when he began learning the programming language Basic. He wrotes numerous programs on his Commodore 64, games, problem-solvers and the like. He even coded the first computer fishing game, a child's game, but animated and fully logical long before such a game began showing up in bars around the U.S. At this stage in Cook's life, he saw that programming code had no limitations but one's own imagination. There wasn't any no at this point, which thrilled him.

The first no:

At age 20, Cook left East Europe to return to the U.S. after touring with his band, and had an urgent and pressing desire to record his band's album on a computer. Digital recording at this time occured only on DAT, and computer technology was still only in the MIDI stage. Cook was extremely frustrated with the slow pace of technology when he was told back in the states, "no," one cannot record more than short samples on personal computers without it crashing terribly. He felt the pain of no.

The second no:

He instead found new musicians to agree with such a "radical" idea, but ran into problems anyway. When trying to have his guitarist over-dub his part, it always seemed out of sync. The other musicians accused him of not being able to keep beat to the computer. Cook looked at all the wiring, interfaces and the like and came to the notion that perhaps what went to his headphones travelled faster than what was being recorded as it was a direct connection to the playback. The other musicians said, "no," that's just not possible. He must simply not be able to keep beat and the recording never materialized. Again, Cook felt the pain of no.

The third no:

Cook lost the band and decided to stick with MIDI, began composing more complex pieces with it. Without being tied down by other's no he decided to explore other options than basic rock songs. He began composing a complete symphony. It took years. Once finishing it, however, he explained to others what he had been up to and was explained, "no," one cannot compose orchestral music in MIDI. "Frank Zappa tried this and failed terribly, wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars in the studio," they told him. "He even wrote a book on it. Even if it sounds good on the computer, it won't sound good with actual instruments. It's just not possible. The intonations of real instuments cannot be replicated by a computer." The pain of no.

The fourth no:

Cook struggled for years trying to find musicians for his symphony until all universities and/or studios he spoke with said, "no," it simply costs too much to pay individuals musicians. He was explained by a fellow composer at one university that the only way is to implement a few real musicians up front in the mix with electronic instrumentation in the background. Such a lack in a quality finish would lead to the painful reminder of no.

The first no proven wrong:

Cook began stalking musicians, attending quartet concerts and smaller projects where he could meet up with the musicians in order to get them interested. But he could only find one, a student oboe player who he paid $50 to record seven minutes of music in one hour with only a couple takes. He took her to the studio and found out that the first no was not impossible after all, and that professional computer recording was now a practical thing.

The second no proven wrong:

He also discovered in the studio that digital delay was a very real thing indeed and needed to be accounted for in one's wiring and setup.

The third no proven wrong:

Not only did Cook's music sound great with a real oboe player, but it also sounded more beautiful than he had imagined. He had not a single problem whatsoever that Zappa had. But where were those others who had said "no?" They could not be found.

The fourth no not admitted to:

With $, no one will say no. This is what he learned. It did not cost too much after all to pay a single musician. Cook was given limited resources and needed to pay with his own efforts, so he paid just one. While this may have been understandable, as it was Cook's own composition, it is not what he wanted: just one musician. He wanted a collaborative effort with other musicians. But all the other musicians couldn't say anything but "no," so he had no option but to work on his own. Never did the musicians ever come back to him and admit their err. The pain of a silent no.

The fifth no:

With Cook's recording in hand with numerous digital instumentation recordings, he was offered a job working on the audio and music for computer gaming company, the makers of MS Golf 1998 and 1999. His task was not only to compose and record all the music, but to implement all the audio effects as well for their next golf game project. He was given $8 and hour and less than a month to do everything and then...perhaps, they might, if they so chose, offer him fulltime employment. He asked if he could replace the notion of an ambient back-ground loop with smaller pieces of individual samples in order to provide better quality. The benefit would be smaller audio file size over all and better sound quality. He was explained, "no," this is not possible. Everyone in gaming uses background loops for ambience. If it were possible someone else would have done it by now. Painful, ugly no.

The sixth no:

Cook asked if he could implement a "swoosh" sound before the golf swing in order to make it more realistic than just a sudden whack of the club. He was told "no," this was not possible with sprite animations, as there is a timing issue where the sound needs to coincide immediately after the sprite animation. It cannot be initiated during. If this were possible, someone else would have done it by now. A nice thought, the others said, but just not possible. Enduring, painfully no.

The seventh no:

Cook asked his employer if he could get the funding for some studio time for real musicians for the game's music. He was explained, "no," it simply was not necessary when computers can replicate real instruments just fine that money need not be expended for such things. He thought back to the irony of the fourth no above, from just a handful years earlier. The ever-growing ridiculous no.

The fifth no proven wrong:

Cook took aside the audio programmer, far from the others and explained how he could implement the back-ground amibience without a loop by using individual sound points with random parameters and a strong realistic sound. All that he needed to do for this was to provide Cook 3 numbers (parameters) 0-10 to modifiy and link it to the sounds and he would do the rest. This was to take place without the boss's knowledge until it was proven more successful and beneficial in every way Cook suggested it would be. Thus, not only did it work exactly as Cook suggested, but he finished the entire task in under 2 hours with the help of the programmer who at least had hope for something better. It was completed just as Cook said.

The sixth no proven wrong:

Cook took aside now three programmers about the swoosh sound, as others began listening to Cook's "radical" ideas. He said, I can add silence before each audio sample of the club sound and place the "swoosh" sound there. This way we could start the audio for the swing before the sprite animation began and there'd be no conflict. They were convinced, but again needed to do this behind the bosses back and was told if it didn't work the absolute very first time, they could not risk spending any time on it. But it did work the first time, exactly as Cook said it would. It was brilliant and it was obviously brilliant...brilliantly simple.

The seventh no proven wrong:

Cook invited musicians to record with him in the wee hours of the weekend, paid for out of Cook's own pocket for the benefit of an employer who paid him $8 and hour. On the last night, Cook didn't even sleep so that he could present the already finished music for the Monday meeting. It went in. But without respect or thanks of course.

More no's not admitted to:

Cook was given below the minimum resources to accomplish what was thought to be impossible and did it without error. And not one compliment came to him. While he was given fulltime employment for then as a Audio Project Manager / QA Engineer, which he took as their appreciation, his salary was utterly unliveable. He lost his car, his apartment and gym membership, and needed to move into a 5X5 meter room in a fellow employee's apartment who lived close to the office, thereby destroying Cook's financial reputation permanently in the computer bank's eyes. Such simply became worse over time. In the end, where were the thanks and admissions to what he had been told no, but provided even without their thanks? They were again no where to be found. Yet, today, all his implementations for the audio, as well as the actual recorded samples of Cook's are being sold by this company today for $20-50k / simulator machine around the world. The company makes millions at it. While every piece of code in the program has been changed for the animations, ball physics, logic from the open to close of the program from 2000 to 2009, the very same audio design of Cook's is selling for that company around the world. Not one piece of Cook's work has been changed for them. It was prefect then and needed not one improvement for now almost 10 years, long after Cook quit the company and took his skills to Silicon Valley.

The next 72 no's:

These all took place in Silicon Valley. While Cook's ideas and implementations were still met with no in the same manner as he had seen all his adult life, his co-workers in California, at the end of the Internet Boom-Bust, were simply too paranoid to implement anything without a very strict directive coming down from those who only could say "no." Upon leaving Silicon valley, these companies with millions, sometimes 100's of millions of dollars of investment, began to disintegrate at Cook's heals, as he left them. The last company became so paranoid of one another after he left (not necessarily due to it), that half the company had private investigators watching the other half, from directors to CEO and back on down to the programmers. The company that Cook, second employee hired, helped build from 2 to 72 in under a year found out that the other half was spying on them, such that they both collapsed as the foundation of yes that Cook built into the company had left with his exit. They are no more. The painful reminder of no.

More no's:

Once solidly placed in poverty, Cook had the idea to build a coil is such a way that had never been done. With it, he forsaw properties yet unexplored that could lead to numerous technologies, properties that opened the doors to new takes on mathematics and physics that have ever been done. He saw that with such a coil, he could at least levitate a magnet to begin to illustrate what he forsaw. He discussed such matters with as many people as he could on the Internet, but they all said no, this could not be done. It breaks too many laws of physics and if it were possible, someone somewhere would have done it by now. The utterly remarkable no.

Yet more no's:

He said he could take the principles he saw and apply it to an electrical circuit, to begin with...a relay switch, to use it's spring with a short circuit in order to pulse this coil in unique ways in order to study new effects of nature ever seen. He was explained no, such a relay circuit would not even turn on, as could be represented in simulators. Any electrical engineer student could easily explain why in a matter of seconds. Or so they said. No's crawling out of the woodwork.

Fulfilling the work of the no's:

Cook went on to explain by posting his work on the Internet, providing mathematical equations, videos, reproducible experiments for all to validate. But they said one of 3 very recognizable words, no, nothing or no-thing.

All the no's not admitted to:

Still in poverty, as with each of his "radical" ideas from age 20 proved correct, people began to agree with the more recent, always 3-5 years behind where he suggested. People began to see, but the consequence was always the same, beginning with "it's not possible" to Cook proving it indeed possible before their eyes and ending with their response, "it's no big deal" and/or "we're not interested." No.

Today's results of no:

Failing to say "yes," the world was thrown into the greatest wartime events since WWII, economy has hit the bottom more than once and continues to decline around the world. Illness, madness and violence is continuing to spread. Politics has stagnated. Taxes are being raised on the poor. And so on...

And all the while, Cook's crying out to them with the sincerest question: why?

Why do you continue to do this to yourselves? Do you really not believe you will meet the same consequences as those who have said "no" in the past? Such problems you create are utterly, childishly simple to repair, yet you continue to say, "no." I have demonstrated yes over and over and it still has not opened a single person's eyes. It would almost be excuseable to me if you at least recognized your disease of no, but you simply do not even grasp the concept of yes to think it even exists to see. You cannot admit to what I've been saying all my adult life, that the correct answer is yes! I know you think you know better than me. I know you think your expertise and education trumps all my ideas, but I have easily demonstrated over and over and over again to you how you cannot be correct in any of this. All my life I have been demonstrating yes repeatedly, but it changes no-thing.

Then Cook hears a quiet, passive voice in his head, perhaps from another world, perhaps from the world of yes. It explains to him this: the world can only see what it sees in itself.

And then he responds to the World of No with this wisdom, you say no to me because you cannot say yes to yourself. You want to make this a worse world to live in even after all the evidence to the error of your ways, because you feel you deserve it. Sadly, you may be right.

But if you only knew how to say "yes," your world could brighten immediately. I want you to see it.

So, Cook supports the insult, the "party of no," so long as it is understood that you've all been in that party before, and most likely are still in it right now. It's a world party...

The world's problems are due to each and every one of you who has ever said "no." It must be this simple. It must be. There is no other explanation to describe such silliness.

The latest no:

Okay, so Mr. Cook set aside all his confusion in order to back down, to dumb down his ideas for the World of No. Mr. Cook saw that people are being robbed blind by themselves every day, so he decided to try to communicate in ways that technology has already proven to make/save them money, the single, solitary source that people say yes to, $. He said this, "I have a way to protect your online transactions from the world you have created upon no. It is mathematically simple to do." He gained a business partner, the one person Cook thought might be able to see yes. He spoke with numerous investors. He explained his ideas. He spoke with numerous programmers and spoke in a language he thought they could understand, say "no" to online theft. This is what you want, right, to hold onto your money?!

But they said no to even this. Even no to this rudementary process! It's just not possible, they told him, else someone somewhere would have already done it by now.

The beauty of no.