“Knowledge is MORE than just the index cards at the library.” – Dr. Freckles
The gaslight …
“Your smart device is the gaslight.” – Dr. Freckles
Bouncy Castle: A discussion of EMPIRE, or a random walk around it …
MP3: https://planetarystatusreport.com/mp3/20230421_EMPIRE_AND_A_RANDOM_WALK_WITH_BUGBEARS.mp3
Donate:
Implode or Explode — https://planetarystatusreport.com/?p=5669
Implode vs Explode is NOT all or nothing, it’s always a hybrid.
Implosions: tend to be less catastrophic in terms of EXTERNAL war, and more catastrophic internally.
Explosions: tend to be bad internally, but as bad or even worse in terms of neighbors.
Short, incomplete, list for discussion.
*** empires can also be destroyed by BIGGER empires … “consumption” or “subsumption” … this is a different topic …
- Explode: Austro-Hungarian
- Explode: Ottoman Empire
- Implode: the USSR
- Implode: the Spanish Empire
- Explode: Alexandrian Empire
- Implode: Roman Empire (multi-century implosion)
ODDS of SURVIVAL: https://planetarystatusreport.com/pdf/20160729_Odds_Of_Survival.pdf
Hard versus hopeless …
“Doomism isn’t about the future being hard, doomism is about believing the future is hopeless.” – Dr. Freckles
- They told us in economics classes that FOOD was an inferior good, and basically garbage.
- They told you the SMART GUY leaves home, and you left home … and then you returned one day to find home destroyed.
- They told you “you gotta be happy, if you’re not happy you’re a shit head”, and some of us suffer from actual severe depression, from time to time, and we’re just not going to be fucking HAPPY about any of your wretched bullshit …
- The wars, the prisons, the slaves …
But it’s not hopeless …
Yeah – life has become dreary and ugly, but it’s still life.
We were sold a SHRIMP SALAD MASTERPIECE that turned out to be a turd sandwich van Gogh surprise …
But life goes on – my view of the future hasn’t really changed. I’m just trying to break out of that “what the fuck am I in that future” funk …
I’m an old man, being chased by coyotes …
(and that’s pretty fucking lit)
“Doomism is being trapped in fight or flight … that’s what you have to break out of, even if it means fighting.” – Dr. Freckles
“Fear is the mind killer …” – Dune
Consciousness and culture …
Consciousness or self-awareness, and its concomitant side effect “imagination”, are more or less doomed to create CULTURE. Maybe it won’t be YOUR culture, maybe not particularly advanced – but it’s there …
I’ve noticed it with the dogs I walk, Boomer, Bailey, Kia and even that pimp-daddy Shaggy (the Hungarian Puli) … they share behaviors, and beliefs … like the strange belief that kicking up dirt and making a circle is a way to bring forth more happiness and cheese … which is the same thing.
Whether its crows or dogs … or even the octopus with her gardens … there are these actions that do not simply reduce to instinct.
In fact, I can imagine an old angry grey and black reservation dog, somewhere up in the Uinta Mountains … in a cave. And he’s slaving away on his masterpiece:
“DECLINE of the DOG” by Oswald Spaniel
(a french bulldog is on the cover)
No bad dogs …
“I’m going to BLOW YOUR MIND: there are no bad dogs, but there are a lot of shitty people out there that torture dogs and abandon them.” – Dr. Freckles
Social Media and Narcissism …
“If you understand the nature of social media, the worst thing you can do is block someone.” – Dr. Freckles
“Trolling? – pfft … try blocking.” – Dr. Freckles
“Trolling gets you banned, blocking gives you power.” – Dr. Freckles
Science and cheat codes …
“For modern genetics, the cheat code is: junk DNA. For modern astrophysics, the cheat code is: dark matter.” – Dr. Freckles
GOD can do what GOD does …
“Because the Lord is Great, I am a cosmological agnostic.” – Dr. Freckles
Government …
“Government IS the simulation.” – Dr. Freckles