It’s fucking exhausting. All these “luminaries” going on and on about how you have to kowtow to what is popular. Thomas Paine’s counterpoint: “What’s right is right and fuck you if you don’t like it.”
Body in the twin cities, mind in the 16th-early 20th century. Thomas Paine was robbed…and so were we.
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It’s fucking exhausting. All these “luminaries” going on and on about how you have to kowtow to what is popular. Thomas Paine’s counterpoint: “What’s right is right and fuck you if you don’t like it.”
Erin has delivered the meme and the context. (Thank you!) Bertrand Russell has an old philosophical tablecloth upon which we can set both of these….and tie it all together. harpers.org/archive/1932...
“The shit i’m about to say is unpopular, but I don’t give a fuck because it’s the truth….”
The Summer Poaster “Ready to reply.”
Surprised we haven’t seen an article pining for the return of “big johnson” and “coed naked” shirts.
Wahahahahahahaha!
They see them as weak and the weakest should go to the wall. Unsocialized misanthropes just like Heraclitus.
Yep. All the way back to at least Heraclitus.
If dude can’t connect fascism to “the weakest should go the wall” and what is happening as “the strife that will cull the weak”…..his check critical thinking engine light is on….
We are in the most recent battle in the centuries long war between “the miserable” and “the cheerful”.
During all this talk of eugenics and fascism, I think we should remember that this goes back much much much further than Nazis. I present to you Heraclitus, a miserable asshole who believed that for humanity to survive, it had to allow “strife” to kill the weak. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracli...
Hell, go all the way back and introduce him to Heraclitus.
You are 100% correct. “The weakest should go to the wall” idea has been around for a long long time and goes hand in hand with fascism.
This “philosophy” has been around for a long time.
I think Bertrand Russell explains it well.
If you’ve not read B. Russell’s “impact of science on society” (1953), I highly recommend it.
The “weakest should go to the wall” philosophy has been around….for a while.
It’s just a fancy way of “the weakest should go to the wall” - I think Bertrand Russell nails it here. (From “The impact of science on society”, 1953)
Bertrand Russell called it in 1953.
“It would be odd if the last effect of science were to revive a philosophy dating from 500 B.C.” Read this excerpt from Bertrand Russell’s “Impact of science on society” (1953). We are in the odd place.
I’m coming around to the idea that all portraits and statues should just be in museums. And nothing should be named after a person. So sick of this shit.
Please tell me you nodded approvingly, stroked an imaginary beard and said: “Well done, my grasshoppers.”
I PREFER SYRUP! Apropos of nothing, is there a word for the fear of going all in on something but no one will get the reference so they’ll just think you’re just nuttier than squirrel shit? If not, we need one.
*the leg pattern reminds me. Only 2 coffees this am….3 short of acceptable brain function
The feathering reminds me of a peacock feather…and peacocks are nice so maybe if it added color and….OH GOD NO! This is worse - now it SEES me and was sent by the god-queen Hera to kill me!
“Why the black eye?” “I had to stand for my principles!” “Against fascism?” “Well, not egg-zactly*.” *yeah, I did it. Will make the ketchup punch feel even more deserved 😂
*Marcuse But Marcus (Aurelius) is relevant too. His works should have been what these poor souls clung to instead of Joe Rogan. There isn’t even 2 seconds of self-reflection between all these people….
This was excellent! I’m glad he’s taking breaks…if you read too much Camus (or Horkheimer, Marcus, Huxley, Russell, Adorno, Jung, Skinner, etc) all at once and then look at the world today, it isn’t unlike the Fear and Loathing adrenochrome scene. Too much, too much…
Me, looking at the meetup options in Minneapolis: “In which of these will I find the ‘enjoys Bertrand Russell and is excited about the new Demon Slayer movie’ crowd?” Throwing axes first and hoping you have shared interests second seems like a silly way to do this.
We all deserve a loving family. One would think that being denied this would make people do things differently but often it is too much a part of their identity and there is too much resentment. Love and praise for those, like you, who are breaking the cycle. I know the wound never fully heals.
I’m so sorry, Prim. Family is almost always our first long-term exposure to reality, an environment and people. We have no problem recognizing the value of a loving family, but we really do not appreciate the extent of the immediate and lasting damage caused by its absence.
That sounds exhausting. I cannot imagine the stress of having to constantly apply and re-apply the makeup of lies. It defeats the entire point of interacting with others - to be seen for who you are (and to see others in return).
That’s not paradise or utopia. It sounds like an eternal punishment straight out of Greek mythology. “You will live forever and become more intelligent, but with every increase in intelligence, you will only become more aware of how useless you are.”
So let’s examine the techbro endgame here: -They want to live forever via science. -They want to make their intelligence limitless with implants. -But they want robots to do everything physical -and AI to do everything creative. Making the perfect toothbrush while ripping out all their teeth.
The worst part would be Carl Sagan and Neil Postman standing beside them…not yelling, but just looking very disappointed.
If I even considered talking dirty to a chatbot, my inner monologue would say “dude, what the fuck are you doing? Do I need to get THEM out here?” If I persisted, every letter typed into the box would lead to jeers from my id, along with Carlin, Burr and Leary. “It’s a fackin calculator, asshole!”
I think that’s why so many modern day books are written in a “how to” style and with “finality” of thought. Very unenjoyable to read when youre used to books where the author is mostly transcribing his thoughts around ideas. Those books tend to be longer but are worth it for the theory of mind.
Fuck me running, it takes so little anthropomorphizing of inanimate tools/tech to get humans to start sputtering about “meaningful experiences” and “spirits” and “ghosts in the machine”. Starting to think if we put googly eyes on hammers and screwdrivers, Home Depot could host a singles night.
Yeah, there’s not gonna be a “Professor Legasov” scene explaining how science, human nature and how factors known and unknown contributed to the explosion. “They filled a swimmimg pool with gasoline drums and gunpowder cans and rolled a flaming haybale into it while every screamed ‘STOP!’”
“Phew, that took care of all the uncivilized people who should have forever remained at the breast. Now we philosophers can get to wor….what’s that? You still have some openings? Really? *looks at the stack of books* “Y’all start without me…I’ll be right back” (Never returns)
How I long for the day when the tactic of making 99% of people fight over chicken bones in the arena fails….because the combatants paused for a moment, collectively turned their heads to the balcony and saw the endless trays of plump suckling pig being delivered to the 1%.
Nepo baby with a net worth of >10 million who lives in a >$8000 month apartment and owns a home: “Mamdani, you and your wife are living in a one bedroom apartment and ONLY paying $2300??”
"I am Andrew Cuomo of the Clan Cuomo. I was born in 1518 in the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel. And I am immortal."
“Im a nepo baby and a tool - observe my unforced ham-handed replies.” Weak sauce.
I would pull over and, unable to navigate, be forced to start nomadic life. “My cell battery is dying, honey. I must say farewell forever and take my place as a warrior of Hwy 23.” “Da fuck? You’re like 15 minutes from the house!” I follow the advice of Neil Postman, but GPS has me by the hip.
100%. Reminds me of the opening paragraph of Common Sense.
Downward dog, meet recumbent rabbit.
But if we don’t, we undermine (destroy) the preamble…which we often forget is the whole point of the constitution. It’s a real shame that most folks see the amendments as the goal rather than the means to a more perfect union. Thank you for all you do, Chris!
“Magnetic telegraph” = “generative AI” “Princess Adelaide’s whooping cough” = “baywatch trump with exposed middle finger genitals” Everything else can stay the same…especially “broad flapping American ear.” It’s a fun template for most “great haste” technology/techniques.
“We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas…have nothing important to communicate... perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad flapping American ear will be that Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough.” -Thoreau
Blowing the toy bosun whistle from a cap’n crunch cereal box into a payphone to produce a 2600hz tone and seize the trunk line to make a free long distance phone call. Well, I never did this, but it was a real thing and man would it confuse the hell out of the young’uns
It was the books. We read too many of them.
Self reflection and critical thinking have to be developed over time, but the testosterone is injectable. Awesome. 😑
“Sam Adams. Samuel. He invented beer - lot of people don’t know that.”
Murderbot final episode review: -perfect -will make you cry ugly, warm and wholesome tears
For me, it was the 1968 Romeo and Juliet movie during freshman english in High School. I’ll never forget because the teacher was very proper and straitlaced (wonderful teacher - make no mistake). Her reaction when she was across the room and forgot about the topless scenes….
Really need the history and philosophy departments to start eating lunch with all the other departments.
My condolences.
“NOW TO THIS BEAUTIFUL MIXTURE, WE ADD A WHOLE BLOCK OF VELVEETA!”
“Common Sense” - the pamphlet that galvanized the American colonists immediately kicks off by saying: “The shit im about to say isnt popular. And pseudo-intellectual douchebags are going to attack it. But it has to be said - because it is RIGHT.” (Paraphrasing, but, honestly, not that much!)
Exactly. The people who live by reading the temperature will always be behind the people who control the thermostat.
Let me try something I once learned from a fool. Block.
To your mind. Not to mine. I say that without casting any aspersions.
Basic theory of mind comprehension question: I just told you the point I was trying to make. So what’s the issue?
The haste, my good sir….the haste is the mistake.
“We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.” -Thoreau We never think about the goddamn consequences.
Big mistake. You have to hit the power line going 88mph or it doesnt work.
“Mechahitler is getting old, my burrito taxis are way too expensive and I can’t afford to buy ninja stars…maybe I should go outside. Sigh. I’ll have to be less of a dick to people, but I have no choice.” Do it!
That would be excellent. “Want me to take away your little treat and get your mind off ‘the woke’?”
I suppose I could have said “I look for the readers” and saved myself some typing. 😂
I look for the people who are interested in walking into your mind, taking a seat and quietly watching how things work. Finding excitement in the differences and comfort in the similarities. It reinforces that, while you are one person and they are another, you are sharing moments together.
Make sense, since it was a republican who initiated the Apollo program. Oh. Wait. It never makes any sense, does it?
But, um, didnt Aldrin support Trump?
“Before we begin, I need to lay out the reality we need to share in order to be successful. How’s next week looking? As in, the entire week. We need to nail down kindergarten through at least 5th grade.” It’s not like “+” is used as OR in any code (that I am aware of)….how does this even happen?
This. Absolutely. Fucks. You all did an amazing job!
Oh no. Don’t let Slotkin and Gallego see this. They’ll start using it over and over and it’ll join the excerpt from the “man in the arena” as “quotes that give me hives”. Sadly, Yeats would probably agree with them.
Great tip! You don’t want to your overstuffed sentence to turn out under stuffed…you’ll run the risk of having a point. Or worse, getting your point across. I also forgot: Be sure to garnish liberally with “orthogonal”. That’ll really bring out the taste of asshole in the dish.
I believe this a recipe for the dish “Overstuffed Sentences”. Serve room temperature with no seasoning. Pairs well with OwnFart Vapors, sniffed from a glass. Warning: causes confusion and heartburn. Unpalatable to all but the chef.
The people pushing it are the weirdest/richest (redundant?) folks ever…..and not exactly socialized and civilized. Does not surprise me that they would believe this could replace humans, given that they have forgotten (or never knew) just what humans do and how society works.
“Don’t tell me about no separation of church and state…I can’t separate my belief because I’m an elected official.” -Adams, Feb 2023 Well then… “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” — Acts 2:44–45
Someone’s been watching “Dredd” ‘Mega blocks. Mega highways. Mega City One. Convulsing. Choking. Breaking under its own weight. Citizens in fear of the street. The gun. The gang. Only one thing fighting for order in the chaos, the men and women of the Hall of Justice. Juries Executioners Judges’
“Told ya!” -the Amish
100%. I got a pair of Audeze Maxwells about a year ago and - while they are great sounding headphones - the adhesive started melting a few months ago. The pads are still attached but it is weird as hell to have a weeping, sticky outline around headphones that retail for $299….
Hey! AURORA! I havent heard them since I played their “Dreaming” album disc in my car’s CD player so much it practically melted. Thanks for posting this - looking forward to going down the rabbit hole of what they’ve put out. If this song is any indication, ive got a lot to look forward to!
The analysis of Huxley, Russell, the Frankfurt school, Camus, Arendt, DuBois, etc etc etc fits just as well today as it did decades ago.
Honestly, after devouring Postman’s books, I worked backwards to writers of the 1930s-1970s and have stayed there ever since. Their style of writing is often much more slow, deliberate and well reasoned (they are walking you through how they think rather than just telling you things)
Same here. In particular, it kicked off my wanting to understand the relationship of humans to technique and technology, as well as the importance of reading in the development of critical thinking and theory of mind. Very grateful for him and his work.
Absolutely. Postman’s books are outstanding and everyone should at least read his “trilogy” (i guess you could call it a trilogy) What’s crazy is that if you work backwards in time from Postman, you see the warnings from Ellul, McLuhan, Russell, Huxley, the Frankfurt school, EM Forster…etc etc
*fist bump*
Beat me to it.
“Walter Peck was actually the good guy. Peter Venkman was an asshole and should have been arrested.” Are you to that stage yet?
Someone needs to make a full RPG about this. Crusader Heads of State maybe? I want to be able to select “now is the winter of your discontent, motherfuckers” as a dialogue option when setting progressive tax rates that would make Thomas Paine say “daaaaamn”.
Loved this. I especially enjoyed that taxes were the final part of the game. “This education increases is amazing! But how will be fund it?” “This healthcare increase is amazing! BUT HOW WILL WE FUND IT!” “THIS INFRASTRUCTURE INCREASE IS AMAZING! BUT…THE FUNDING!” “Oh…wow. That’s how.”
“Menacing”? That is not at all how I would describe his character. And then they double down with “fleet footed menace”? Unreadable noise.
The Ben Ryan NYT “scoop” is corrosive dogshit, so I won’t repost it. But it is worth looking it up here on Bluesky and reading the comments. So refreshing to see thousands of voices calling it out for what it is.
Well done, bro. All around us, horrible people are doing horrible things and the US and the world need honest journalism now more than ever… …but you decide to write a bullshit hit piece on one of the few decent people standing up to all of this. Your work is hurting people. Self-reflect.
*squints looking for kojima productions logo* (laudatory)
Man, singers don’t make it easy. “Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong and Paul David Hewson” Dido and Bono.
I think we can make exceptions when the person is most commonly known by one name. “Taylor Swift and Bono” would be fine.
