tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post7348268068875476939..comments2024-03-27T23:12:08.917-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Worrisome directions for democracyDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87879487839879145452019-02-02T14:23:07.632-08:002019-02-02T14:23:07.632-08:00One reason to keep locum around. hilarity! "I...One reason to keep locum around. hilarity! "I mean, really, what kind of ELITIST would want the opinion of the ignoramus to carry less weight than the opinion of the fact-user??"<br /><br />Choked on my tea!<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onward<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6962755555372481742019-02-02T13:06:33.176-08:002019-02-02T13:06:33.176-08:00To me a "commie" is a radical who believ...To me a "commie" is a radical who believes in the forced collectivization of society, state control of the economy, getting rid of capitalists and aristocrats, burying religions and traditions, forcibly removing human inequality, and exporting this revolution globally. So calling Putin or Confederates commies seems rather inaccurate and laughable, like something an old crank would do at a gym with Fox News on the TV.Treebeardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30045695187811740422019-02-02T10:50:00.715-08:002019-02-02T10:50:00.715-08:00It's the same inside our brains too.
Not alway...It's the same inside our brains too.<br />Not always our top thought is the best one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65583228979362137032019-02-02T09:51:22.609-08:002019-02-02T09:51:22.609-08:00locumranch:
I mean, really, what kind of ELITIST ...locumranch:<br /><i><br />I mean, really, what kind of ELITIST would want the opinion of the ignoramus to carry less weight than the opinion of the fact-user?? <br /></i><br /><br />A stopped clock is apparently right twice a day. Loc said something true (accidentally, I'm sure). <br /><br />Society functions better when the fact-users outnumber the fact-deficient by a supermajority, but there's no way to build that state of affairs into the rules without creating a decider caste who determines which citizens get to vote and which do not. And such a decider caste is always subject to capture. Having everybody vote has its potential setbacks, but it's better than the alternatives.<br /><br />The "wisdom of crowds" isn't a psychohistorical certainty, just something that usually works out in the real world. It can fail, even spectacularly so. If a majority of Americans really are deplorables, then that's what our country is, for better or worse. The options then for decent, compassionate citizens who know what reality is and believe in the rule of law are to submit, leave, or rebel. I'm simply not ready yet to accept as fact that there are more of you than there are of me.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-460857634715414422019-02-02T08:11:48.656-08:002019-02-02T08:11:48.656-08:00And what's your point, locum? ;)
You realy thi...And what's your point, locum? ;)<br />You realy think that you presious "stoner, climate denier, populist, know-nothing, liar, flat-earther, nazi, white supremacist, welfare cheat & hatemonger carries the exact same weight" would vote THE SAME AS YOU? %P<br />Realy? %))))))porohobotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82531339983227954092019-02-02T07:56:41.546-08:002019-02-02T07:56:41.546-08:00David can call me a liar & marginalise my poli...<br />David can call me a liar & marginalise my political opinions as much as he wants, and I don't mind at all because we live in a 'One Voter Equals One Vote' paradise where every vote cast by the stoner, climate denier, populist, know-nothing, liar, flat-earther, nazi, white supremacist, welfare cheat & hatemonger carries the exact same weight as the vote cast by the genius, climate cultist, peacenik, scientist, environmentalist, NASA engineer & social justice warrior.<br /><br />I mean, really, what kind of ELITIST would want the opinion of the ignoramus to carry less weight than the opinion of the fact-user?? <br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06812045410916208141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32644351686552516952019-02-02T07:22:29.397-08:002019-02-02T07:22:29.397-08:00\\"Night of the living dead"(NOT movie, ...\\"Night of the living dead"(NOT movie, SciFi novel) too? ;)<br /><br />That was russian translation which I read. Titled "Night of all dead" in russian.<br /><br /><b>Title "The Days of Solomon Gursky" by Ian Macdonald.</b><br /><br /><br />>> Mike Will said...<br />\\For example, little ones are told scary stories by elders about poisonous snakes. Sadly, some only learn through direct experience<br /><br />Quite contrary. That is great evolutional adaptation.<br />Just try to imagine what it'll be if ancient dogmas would be prserved for eternity. %P<br /><br /><br />\\Thus the propensity for belief in magic is intensified by evolution. Thank God for Darwin :)<br /><br />Yep. Because... I said it earlier and above. It's more important for Evolution to have instant decisions... even if it not efficient.progressbotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69123218022818178992019-02-02T06:51:43.097-08:002019-02-02T06:51:43.097-08:00Richard Dawkins touches on this human lesson learn...Richard Dawkins touches on this human lesson learning in his later books. For example, little ones are told scary stories by elders about poisonous snakes. Sadly, some only learn through direct experience. Thus the propensity for belief in magic is intensified by evolution. Thank God for Darwin :)Mike Willhttp://www.scidata.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-63545949125531070652019-02-02T06:19:31.061-08:002019-02-02T06:19:31.061-08:00>> Larry Hart said...
\\Humans are often stu...>> Larry Hart said...<br />\\Humans are often stubborn enough that we only learn a lesson through painful experience. I should know not to touch the hot frying pan, but I don't really learn that until I do touch it and get an actual lesson in reality. A good writer can give me the experience of having touched the pan without actually touching it first. * <br /><br />Yep. And name of this writer -- Stanislav Lem (shamless adverizing) ;)<br /><br /><br />\\Isn't that the value that the shaman brought to the tribe?<br /><br />No. Shaman's role -- is to keep safe knowledge. As little as it was in that time.progressbotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20232244339946843162019-02-02T05:49:30.505-08:002019-02-02T05:49:30.505-08:00locumranch:
And, as seconded by Mitch McConnell, ...locumranch:<br /><i><br />And, as seconded by Mitch McConnell, the Republican ideal of voter SUPPRESSION only applies to those voters who share America's enlightened values in all respects, but it never applies (apparently) to the denying, deplorable, masculine or majority voter.<br /></i><br /><br />I corrected your typos. No need to thank me.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25244324190573207662019-02-02T05:46:56.007-08:002019-02-02T05:46:56.007-08:00jim:
But I am also sure he would agree that story...jim:<br /><i><br />But I am also sure he would agree that storytelling is a very magical technique.<br /></i><br /><br />Dave Sim used to joke with fellow comics writer Alan Moore that they were really hypnotists. And he was kidding on the square.Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44898287773669621632019-02-02T05:44:49.662-08:002019-02-02T05:44:49.662-08:00Dr Brin:
I am an industrial grade magician who la...Dr Brin:<br /><i><br />I am an industrial grade magician who labels his products truthfully. “This is a subjective experience.” <br /></i><br /><br />Humans are often stubborn enough that we only learn a lesson through painful experience. I <b>should</b> know not to touch the hot frying pan, but I don't really learn that until I <b>do</b> touch it and get an actual lesson in reality. A good writer can give me the experience of <b>having touched</b> the pan without actually touching it first. * <br /><br />Isn't that the value that the shaman brought to the tribe?<br /><br />* In the sense of the saying among writers that "No one wants to write a novel, but everyone wants to <b>have written</b> a novel.<br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48622626113368364352019-02-02T04:08:47.248-08:002019-02-02T04:08:47.248-08:00>> David Brin said...
\\poro: “In movies the...>> David Brin said...<br />\\poro: “In movies they can do many funny things. Like occupation of USA by N.Korea. %) I'm trying to talk about real things here.”<br /><br />\\1. de-extinction of ancient creatures is happening now.<br /><br />And ecological implications are correctly counted for it? ;)<br /><br />\\2. This is a site where everyone reads science fiction, and hence we think farther than next year.<br /><br />Yea? And "Accelerando" and "Night of the living dead"(NOT movie, SciFi novel) too? ;)<br /><br /><br />\\3. I discuss “dual use” technologies that can be mis-used in great detail with many companies and agencies.<br /><br />About existing technologies. I betcha.<br />What about ones? That still not developed? Not imagined even, ones???<br />Because they could emerge, could be imagined ONLY as result of further development.<br />Like Bitcoin/Blockchain for example? Could Charles Babbidge or Turing imagine something like that? %P<br /><br /><br />\\jim, no question that magic is the creation of subjective realities in other peoples’ heads. The shaman could not make rain fall, but he could convince the tribe they needed him.<br /><br />And what alternative they have? I mean... what if that shaman "magic" worked only because there is no alternative to it.<br />IMHO. It poses a good question to our current level of knowledge, our science. We dim as pinnacle.<br />*What if* there is something even MORE advanced out there??? We just dunno about it.<br /><br /><br />\\By that measure, I am an industrial grade magician who labels his products truthfully. “This is a subjective experience.” Unlike, say, Fox.<br /><br /><b>Yep. Science -- that is the Real Magic.</b><br /><br /><br />\\whose book is a classic “B+ student” raging that lists of assertions and anecdotes and quotations should be accepted as proof of a completely counterfactual theory and plan.<br /><br />B+ students always exist more then A+ one. %)<br /><br /><br />>> Mike Will said...<br />\\PZ Meyers talks about magical thinking sometimes. One of the most compelling aspects of AI for me is the lack of such biases and fallacies. Thinking machines are primitive and naive, but that's part of their charm.<br /><br /><b>That's only while they are primitive. I presume. %)</b>progressbotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14336008808339375892019-02-02T01:05:25.302-08:002019-02-02T01:05:25.302-08:00Talking of 'picoderms', de-extinction has ...Talking of 'picoderms', de-extinction has long been touted for their wookier brethren. The mammoth steppes were a surprisingly rich ecosystem, and herds of large, nutrient-spreading beasties were what kept it going. Could they do so again? They also came in miniature form (who coined 'mimmoths'? ... aha! Girl Genius.), the last ones dying out on Wengel Is. at about the time of the later Pharoahs Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40767395131497791372019-02-02T00:04:54.850-08:002019-02-02T00:04:54.850-08:00>> David Brin said...
Have you looked ALL 4...>> David Brin said...<br /><br /><b>Have you looked ALL 4 series of "People and Dolphins?" ;)</b><br /><br />Because it contains peculiar thoughts about (cross-species) communication too.<br /><br />That I dim as important.<br /><br />Did you notice that in Lenin-Bullitt negotiations?<br />That russian WP do says that it's West emissary who proposed terms of a treaty.<br />And Lenin only eloquently agreed on it "for the sake of little this".<br />While english WP promptly stated that it was russians proposal.<br /><br />I bet you saw it. As you readily answered "to hang these English bastards". ;)<br />Am I correct with my understanding here?<br /><br />But... there is one layer deeper.<br />There was Real Circumstances. Facts. If someone could dig into historical materials.<br />Question witnesses. There'd be precise answer. From which one can rightfully deduct -- who are to blame.<br /><br />But... there is ONE more layer.<br />If look at it pragmatically. There is no importance in such question. Whose initial proposal it was.<br />Because Lenin was not dumb and was able to concoct offer West desired.<br />As well as Bullitt, as professional diplomat could light up West needs without making proposals.<br />As well as... he have had no authority to accomplish that treaty without consultations with higher-ups.<br />As well as... it all could be (and was) just a play from Lenin's side. To win some time.<br /><br />See... on that level the whole point of "whom to blame" is moot.<br /><br />And that exact level I'd like to discuss things. (shy)<br />Complicated, isn't it? ;)porohobotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41467148446314999082019-02-01T20:39:25.416-08:002019-02-01T20:39:25.416-08:00Re - tiny elephants
It's probably easier to go...Re - tiny elephants<br />It's probably easier to go smaller than larger but the whole elephant is evolved as big animal its shape and skeleton are all "big animal" <br /><br />I suspect that a tiny elephant would need a complete interior redesign to be viable at all<br /><br />If nothing else it would have a brain and eyes that were too small for it's bodyduncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67255330655791910972019-02-01T17:58:49.808-08:002019-02-01T17:58:49.808-08:00blah-blah-de-blah. Liar. Yawn...blah-blah-de-blah. Liar. Yawn...David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-81018147838551055242019-02-01T16:22:03.986-08:002019-02-01T16:22:03.986-08:00David wants me to "try polling Independents r...<br />David wants me to "try polling Independents re POLICY matters (as) most of them are democrats except in name," and I would, except for the fact that the predictive value of polls approaches zero as evidenced by polled predictions of HRC's Landslide 2016 Presidential Victory.<br /><br />Even so, David's political posts exhibit an undeniably anti-democratic & elitist flavour as he routinely favours fact-using voters over the uneducated, the deep state voter over the polity, the progressive voter over the conservative & the climate change cultist voter over the denier.<br /><br />And, as seconded by Larry_H, the democratic ideal of voter EQUALITY only applies to those voters who share our host's enlightened values in all respects, but it never applies (apparently) to the denying, deplorable, masculine or majority voter.<br /><br />That certain 'approved' voters are more equal than others, this summarises the progressive pro-diversity argument to a 'T'.<br /><br /><br />Bestlocumranchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06812045410916208141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86189983723724347162019-02-01T15:37:16.004-08:002019-02-01T15:37:16.004-08:00PZ Meyers talks about magical thinking sometimes. ...PZ Meyers talks about magical thinking sometimes. One of the most compelling aspects of AI for me is the lack of such biases and fallacies. Thinking machines are primitive and naive, but that's part of their charm.Mike Willhttp://www.scidata.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6956825464861909412019-02-01T14:05:03.755-08:002019-02-01T14:05:03.755-08:00David
I think that JMG would say that a lot of the...David<br />I think that JMG would say that a lot of the tools and techniques of magic should be applied to change your own consciousness in occurrence with your will. That there is a "magical" path for self actualization.<br /><br />But I am also sure he would agree that storytelling is a very magical technique.jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07865068658069680309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78243047541141747752019-02-01T13:51:51.566-08:002019-02-01T13:51:51.566-08:00jim, no question that magic is the creation of sub...jim, no question that magic is the creation of subjective realities in other peoples’ heads. The shaman could not make rain fall, but he could convince the tribe they needed him.<br /><br />By that measure, I am an industrial grade magician who labels his products truthfully. “This is a subjective experience.” Unlike, say, Fox.<br /><br />An interesting scenario by Greer. Thanks for summarizing. An extreme example is the una.bomber Kac z ynske, whose book is a classic “B+ student” raging that lists of assertions and anecdotes and quotations should be accepted as proof of a completely counterfactual theory and plan.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42506476469946296172019-02-01T13:02:34.926-08:002019-02-01T13:02:34.926-08:00OK, the first thing to realize is that John Michae...OK, the first thing to realize is that John Michael Greer believes in the reality of magic. Not the Harry Potter kind, but in tools and techniques that can allow you to change consciousness in accordance with will. <br /><br />https://www.ecosophia.net/the-kek-wars-part-one-aristocracy-and-its-discontents/<br />https://www.ecosophia.net/the-kek-wars-part-two-in-the-shadow-of-the-cathedral/<br /><br />In part one and two he talks about the overproduction of elites and what happens to the people who get the education and training but don’t get the positions of power vs those that do. He suggest that they are trying to change their consciousness in different ways.<br /><br />“though, the magic of the privileged becomes more popular as the number of unwelcome realities to exclude goes up. That happens, in turn, when the number of people whose needs and grievances aren’t being addressed by the existing political order goes up. Thus a society in the face of certain kinds of crisis experiences a double upsurge in magic: among the excluded, as a way of changing things, and among the privileged, as a way of hiding from the need to change things.”<br /><br />In part two he talks about the “chaos magic” that some in the Alt-right seized upon.<br /><br />“As a result, tens of thousands of young and angry outcasts who were part of the chans and a galaxy of similar online communities took up the intensive study and practice of basic magical workings without any sense of how to manage interactions with nonphysical beings—or, indeed, any notion that such interactions might need to be managed. That, in turn, pretty much guaranteed that if something other than human took an interest in the situation, a lot of the graduates of the chans’ magical boot camps were going to be swept up in something over which they had no control at all.”<br /><br />https://www.ecosophia.net/the-kek-wars-part-three-triumph-of-the-frog-god/<br /><br />This essay is about 4 chan, pepe the frog, keck and the weirdness that happened with Alt-right mages in the 2016 election.<br /><br />https://www.ecosophia.net/the-kek-wars-part-four-what-moves-in-the-darkness/<br /><br />In the final post, Carl Jung, Vine Deloria Jr., Wotan, Hitler and Archetypes are talked about before exploring mythical archetypes of North America with the focus on the “Changer” .<br /><br />“That’s one of the things about archetypes. When one of them finds a human vehicle and begins to reshape the collective life of a society in its image, if you know the archetype you can predict exactly how things will unfold. Jung didn’t make many predictions in the essay of his I cited earlier, but it should have been obvious from the start that once the Wotan-archetype found its vehicle and seized the German imagination, it would make a beeline for Ragnarok. What’s more, after his death, Hitler continued to fulfill the myth in classic style, becoming the modern world’s Lord of the Slain, galloping forever through the midnight skies of our collective imagination with six million ghosts following behind him.”<br />jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07865068658069680309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61101488929651026662019-02-01T13:02:15.509-08:002019-02-01T13:02:15.509-08:00>> David Brin said...
\\I mentioned Jurassic...>> David Brin said...<br />\\I mentioned Jurassic World because we watched it the same evening you asked your question. Are you trying to police my conversation?<br /><br />E-em... hard question you are asking me. %(<br /><br />It's obvious as for me. That we have different experiences, different communication habits, different backgrounds.<br /><br />That exactly what makes communication interesting... as for me. But also, it's do create such misunderstandings too.<br /><br />And I can only rely on your judgment here.<br />As I neither have authority (mere anonymous bot) nor experience in such things (usual brawls with vatniks never come to such extents)<br /><br />From my POV I just wanted to instill my clarifications. Manifest that framework in which I trying to present my thoughts.<br />That's not easy to do even in native language.<br />And it can look like "police the conversation". Now I admit it.<br /><br /><br /><br />\\I speak ill of Stalin in many places. Please be patient. <br /><br />My initial contre-argument was about Lenin being Czar... that was what puzzled me.<br /><br /><br /><br />\\“WHY???!!! you hasitate to co-work with ME???”<br /><br />\\I have no idea what you are talking about. You are speaking here and people (sometimes) answer & converse with you. What are you asking for beyond that?<br /><br />E-eh. Sorry. My bad.<br /><br />It was meant to be like Putin's exclamation. I thought that'll be clear from context.<br />Sorry again. %(((<br /><br /><br />\\Lenin was already shooting counter-revolutionary capitalists before 1921.<br /><br />That's like my uncle. Older and full of USSR propaganda asked me: "Are you with Whites? Or you are with Red?".<br /><br />While I tryed to argue with him from objective history standpoint.<br /><br />It was Revolution. And revolution means lots of victims. It's inevitable. And moot.<br /><br />But what is wrong. Very-very wrong. It's attempts to justify that victims as "needed sacrifices" or as "holy martyrs". From this or that political standpoint.<br /><br /><br />\\Death of kings? You are an on-yer-knees asslicker of oligarchs and aristocrats.<br /><br />Name calling, again. %(porohobotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15878058346675170192019-02-01T12:13:54.828-08:002019-02-01T12:13:54.828-08:00jim: cool project. Spoilers please? Summarize the...jim: cool project. Spoilers please? Summarize the Kek wars thesis in a few sentences?<br /><br />poro: “In movies they can do many funny things. Like occupation of USA by N.Korea. %) I'm trying to talk about real things here.”<br /><br />1. de-extinction of ancient creatures is happening now.<br />2. This is a site where everyone reads science fiction, and hence we think farther than next year.<br /><br />3. I discuss “dual use” technologies that can be mis-used in great detail with many companies and agencies.<br />4. All Michael Crichton movies make crazy assumptions. I mentioned Jurassic World because we watched it the same evening you asked your question. Are you trying to police my conversation?<br /><br />I speak ill of Stalin in many places. Please be patient. <br /><br />“WHY???!!! you hasitate to co-work with ME???”<br /><br />I have no idea what you are talking about. You are speaking here and people (sometimes) answer & converse with you. What are you asking for beyond that?<br /><br />Lenin was already shooting counter-revolutionary capitalists before 1921.<br /><br />—<br />Hey, Locum, try polling Independents re POLICY matters. Most of them are democrats except in name. Which is because liberal minded people dislike labels. While Republican confederates are obsessed with symbolism. Naming US Navy ships. A big beautiful “wall.”<br /><br />Death of kings? You are an on-yer-knees asslicker of oligarchs and aristocrats.<br /><br />—<br /><br />Oh, so THAT’s what happened to Occam’s Comic?? Har! Welcome back son. An irritant. And hence welcome here.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14239699848834587752019-02-01T12:12:35.972-08:002019-02-01T12:12:35.972-08:00>> locumranch said...
\\As recent statistics...>> locumranch said...<br />\\As recent statistics of US political party affiliations show<br /><br />It's common knowledge among "elitist & autocratic minority."<br />to provide links/references for data ones provides. ;)<br /><br />Othervise it's just another Locum-bullshit. %Pporohobotnoreply@blogger.com