Category: Philosophy

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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:

SUDAN: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/72-hour-ceasefire-declared-sudan-death-toll-surpasses-400-killed

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 …

  1. Explode: Austro-Hungarian
  2. Explode: Ottoman Empire
  3. Implode: the USSR
  4. Implode: the Spanish Empire
  5. Explode: Alexandrian Empire
  6. Implode: Roman Empire (multi-century implosion)

ODDS of SURVIVAL: https://planetarystatusreport.com/pdf/20160729_Odds_Of_Survival.pdf

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Hard versus hopeless …

“Doomism isn’t about the future being hard, doomism is about believing the future is hopeless.” – Dr. Freckles

  1. They told us in economics classes that FOOD was an inferior good, and basically garbage.
  2. They told you the SMART GUY leaves home, and you left home … and then you returned one day to find home destroyed.
  3. 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 …
  4. 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

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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)

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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

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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

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Cops and Crime

You know what game theory tells me? – people are MORE LIKELY to commit crimes in a world of cops and prisons.

If they had to handle REAL consequences? – like a voluntary posse with some rope? – I think they would be less likely to commit a crime.

Legal system is a moral shield.

More COPS equals MORE CRIME for the same reason more pads under the uniform means more concussions for NFL players …

It seems counter intuitive, but both are examples of perverse incentives.

Cops/prisons/courts: make crime less dangerous for criminals …

It’s just like “pads” and helmets in football …

The naive woolly headed types say: it’s for protection …

But in reality: it allows for bigger players, harder less elastic collisions – which translates into more brain injury …

We protect the superficial, and sacrifice the irreplaceable …

That’s cops …

That’s the NFL …

The reality: from a game theory perspective, there’s simply too much incentive for cops to break the law as well. So the net effect of “more cops” is more crime.