Open Thread - 02-11-22 - Mewlings from Earth
Let's imagine that the universe is a living entity and every heavenly body in the universe is but a cell comprising the totality of said entity. What kind of cell in that living entity would the earth be?
How will future historians view the internet? Will it be viewed as uniting or dividing humankind?
Is mankind doomed? If so, what besides greed is the damning factor?
Is the internet causing people to have split personalities with differing online and real life personas? Do people act differently online than they would face to face? If so, why? And how does that portend for the future?
In the future if the internet leads to a one world consciousness, like the Borg, which yin and yang aspect will win out, good or evil?
This is an open thread. Have at it.
Comments
Good morning folks...
gotta' go to work this morning. Damn capitalism.
Big Questions, JtC
Good morning.
https://nypost.com/2022/02/11/thousands-of-nyc-workers-to-lose-jobs-frid...?
My concerns today are earthbound. Here and now, kinds of situations.
While we can celebrate an apparent victory in Canada this morning, NYC is falling apart. The Mayor without a Brain is following a long dead playbook from the Michael Bloomberg era. The Nanny State was what we called it then.
Nanny State is a pleasant mask on surveillance and oppression of our most vulnerable residents.
Poor, Black and Brown New Yorkers have responded with tremendous violence in the 40 days or so since Puppet Mayor strutted into office. A Police Officer seems to be getting shot every day. All of us understand that putting more Police Officers into our communities and reinstating Stop and Frisk will be a Bad Thing.
NYC school children are being given Vegan meals at lunchtime. Vegan means no cheese. The New Mayor has declared cheese addictive.
People who care about kids and have worked with them, ( Early Childhood Teacher, Master's degree here) understand that children can be very picky eaters and will be hungry all day if you serve them food they are unfamiliar with. The NYC School System does have Meatless Fridays, which is fine, because the meals include Pizza or mac and cheese, which kids are happy with.
Mayor without a Brain has clearly not spent much time around kids, or normal humans who call him out for his idiocy, either.
Rant concluded.
Have a happy day, everybody.
NYCVG
They just need toi get vaccinated, thats all.
Its not the same as if their unionized jobs were being offshored or outsourced which is what I expected to read on the other side of that link. Just sayin..
Sugar is addictive, cheese is healthy
Cheese is high protein, and sustains life as its made from milk.
sugar kills people.
Good morning...
I used to be a pretty good library researcher. That is I could find journals and books with that tidbit of needed info. The internet made those skills largely obsolete.
So here I am back in a rural holler, and most factoids I want to know are at my fingertips. I can visit the world's museums, hang out this week in Ottawa, and learn about repairing most anything. It is amazing. What a wonderful tool
I'm not a facebagger, nor twatter, so the social aspects don't figure into my experience. The control of those companies is oppressive. Say the unaccepted thought and you're banned. That is frightening, but fortunately I don't use those platforms.
I find MSM more damaging than the internet, because you choose where you surf, whereas the MSM feeds you purposeful, direct propaganda.
Like most things, there's good and bad with the internet. I find it mostly on the upside for me. YMMV.
Don't work too hard. I'm on to chores today. A little carpentry, gardening, and cleaning/organizing. Have a good day everybody!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning JtC. Remember that you have the right to
unionize. Tell your boss that you demand 1/2 hour coffee breaks on the hour and internet access. She isn't the Simon Legree type, is she?
Oh goody, a quiz.
1) What kind of cell in that living entity would the earth be?
Infected with parasites and virii
2) How will future historians view the internet? Will it be viewed as uniting or dividing humankind?
Consider that this might be the future. The internet is a tool, its usage depends on who owns and controls it.
3) Is mankind doomed? If so, what besides greed is the damning factor?
Very likely, ask again next year. Jealousy, fear, ego and mostly hubris. (you remember hubris, right?)
4) Is the internet causing people to have split personalities with differing online and real life personas? Do people act differently online than they would face to face? If so, why? And how does that portend for the future?
Beware of non causa pro causa. Also, missing word - SOME. The, ahem, "behavioual sciences" allege that if given the opportunity for anonymous communication, some humans will behave differently than they will in face-to-face situations. They might indulge in or give vent to any of numerous things, but these things or tendencies are/were there all along. Could be hostility or kindness, repressed sexuality or puritanism, etc. You might try Google or Wikipedia for more info. So What's it to ya anyway? You lookin' fer trouble or sumpin?
5) In the future if the internet leads to a one world consciousness, like the Borg, which yin and yang aspect will win out, good or evil?
Oatmeal! Global total consciousness is most likely to be something we cannot currently express or comprehend; either samadhi, wu wei, or yakitori.
================== Magic 8 Ball Follows ++++++++++++=
● It is certain.
● It is decidedly so.
● Without a doubt.
● Yes – definitely.
● You may rely on it.
● As I see it, yes.
● Most likely.
● Outlook good.
● Yes.
● Signs point to yes.
● Reply hazy, try again.
● Ask again later.
● Better not tell you now.
● Cannot predict now.
● Concentrate and ask again.
● Don't count on it.
● My reply is no.
● My sources say no.
● Outlook not so good.
● Very doubtful.
Input following and refer to above
rand -M 20
========================
Mebbe mo bettah da kine I-Ching?
access hexagram 1 thru 64 via input
rand -M 64
---------------------------
OK, my turn: why do so many more people quote Alice than perhaps Krapp's Last Tape, The Balcony, or Waiting for Godot?
[Insert soothing musical interlude here]
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
The earth would be
a cell that has recently (in the last 10,000 years or so) absorbed a few too many photons of some ionizing radiation, mutated, and turned cancerous.
The only question will be whether the cell will die off on its own, or some cosmic surgeon will have to come remove it before it metastasizes (and hopefully be able to leave some clean margins, say 25 or so light years).
When I had my last skin cancer removed, I wasn't particularly concerned about whether the cells had developed city and county government, or any easily abused communication mechanisms, let alone Facebook. For all I know, all those cells got along just fine; I just wanted them gone- despite the crater it left behind on my face. It was worth it to me.
Stretched the hell out of that metaphor, huh?
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Today I realized the Earth is closer to nuclear destruction
than I had thought. Because of this Russian "Dead Hand" doomsday device nuclear weapons system which they say is still in place.
Also..
Its terrifying that somebody as old and mentally infirm as Biden could be empowered with causing wars that could end up triggering this automated destruction system they have over there.
He is just very old and not in particularly good mental shape for someone his age. Isnt there some kind of retirement age in Washington? Shouldn't there be?
Glutathione
NAC helps your cells stay non-cancerous. So take NAC or consume more dairy (good source of cysteine) as you get older.
lotta questions, Mr. JtC
1. What kind of cell in that living entity would the earth be?
The rear-end outlet, known as arsehole
2. How will future historians view the internet? Will it be viewed as uniting or dividing humankind?
internationally dividing, personally uniting.
3. Is mankind dommed?
Sure is. Because we were stupid enough to invent the internet. Shit happens. Next question.
4. Is the internet causing people to have split personalities with differing online and real life personas?
If you easily to be split, sure thing. But then a persona can't be split, but the role the persona plays online, can. So, the answer is yes.
5. Do people act differently online than they would face to face? If so, why?
Sure they would, if they can handle it. Why? It's tougher to lie face to face. The business of online conversation is lies. The more, the better, and the more profit.
6. In the future if the internet leads to a one world consciousness, like the Borg, which yin and yang aspect will win out, good or evil?
That is an evil question, so you win.
Thanks for the entertaining questions. I hope you served capitalists sufficiently for the last hours or so and enjoy a real good socialist steak.
It is early evning here. And I do the only meaningful socialist activities. Reading Mr. JtC and the glorious c99p community musings.
Have a good one fi you can.
Let me stop you right there....
...Then IT NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED RIGHT NOW.
What you are describing is a literal fate worse than death.
It has already become a cancer, replacing and controlling our lives.
It reached its zenith in 2005, and should have just stayed that way.
Either we roll it back to that, or we live without it entirely.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Don't forget, all that takes form in the visible universe
....does so in state of polarity. Yin and yang. Positive and Negative, Protons and electrons. Good does not have meaning without evil. Darkness is merely a void without light to give it context. To me, your musings have a decidedly American context, and appropriately so. The United States is a insane psychopath that poses the greatest threat to life on this planet that the earth has ever faced.
Yet like everything else, the US cannot be seen except in the context of the rest of the world. And, in that context, the US is a flash in the pan. It has no history to speak of. It is rooted in no enduring civilization. It played no role in the history of the world. It has no wisdom and no universal aspirations. The US is not part of the world, and it does not want to be. It wants to possess the world, and rule it with an iron fist.
The lonely scenario of your philosophical query is one that seeks some kind of pattern or connection that can make sense of the free-floating chaos that surrounds our culture. It's not really difficult to predict where its going: Facism is always born out of capitalist democracies. The American people are helpless to do anything about it, so their attention seizes upon any passing distraction, every morsel of manufactured propaganda about the enemy-du-jour, any opportunity to demonize someone they disagree with, any controversy where they can focus their general frustration and fear.
Deep down, I think they know their government doesn't have their backs.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato