My new Hero

I've heard of Spinoza but never actually checked him out. Watch this kiddies

More free will than before

This references a previous post about free will

Determinism vs free will in Science and Religion both claim legitimacy by explaining the cause of the cause (of the cause ...) Both of which seems to lead to doom at the end of the tunnel. I think that's pre existing insecurity. Our amygdala(s) survival instincts require some kind of stimulation and a threat works as well as social acceptance or sex.

We not only dream of optimum scenarios, we also imagine negative ones. Just surf popular media. Somebody is scamming the group you along to and it never ends well (they're despicable, and they'll get away with it unless you send $5).

Bring this attitude (mortality + Hormones) to the cause of the cause (when nobody really knows what it is) and of course that light will be an oncoming train.

Determinism is built around inescapable influences. Like someday you'll die & have to account for your lack of compassion for starving innocents, and butterflies flapping their wings in China can(will) cause catastrophes somewhere else years later. Science mostly admits there's not much to be done about it ^*.

OK what to do? Here's the work around: determinism is incompatible with randomness (yay!). A determinist would say there's no such thing as true randomness, only approximations. A Freewill-ist would say that Determinism can't be proved because though it's true that physical processes can be traced down to the atomic level, and therefore follow a predictable trajectory back to whatever they manifest, the inherent randomness of the universe prevents duplication under any but original conditions which change immediately and continually, so it's always going to be a one-off event. And while it sounds nice, If the universe COULD be run in reverse, everything would go back the way it started at the Big Bang, except it won't. The randomness is provided by natural atomic decay of elements and particles. Each element has a number of isotopes that loose ions at a statistically predictable (but individually inconsistent) rate called the Half Life, which is how long it takes for them to become non-radioactive and or transmute into a lighter isotope. Half lives last from a few milliseconds to millions of years depending on the element. Most of those newly freed ions get gobbled up by other nuclei to make other kinds of atoms. This is happening constantly everywhere, especially in plasmas inside stars.

OK, given there are 10 to the quadrillion-quadrillion-etc. atoms in the universe and 118+ elements, each with a half-life that looses ions which interact with the half-life of every other atom, produces randomness that would make Schrödinger swoon (but his cat would still have PTSD). It might also allay any existentialistic fears some people might have of Astrology: that our every action is fore-spoken thus we're nothing but puppets designed to suffer.

Fine: so none of it can be proven either way ergo ignorance is still bliss.
and that's why we love cats.

*except for the cryogenic-reincarnation people which is more like blind faith and belongs among religions. Religions though claim ETERNAL salvation! If you can (only) believe it. Pretty clean scam w/ no accountability & it's all on you. Thank God trump didn't go down that road instead of Real estate.

Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit:

Tools for Thinking Critically & Knowing Pseudoscience When You See It (Openculture.com)
Also works well for religious, political, or any authoritarian hype where you're not looking down a gun barrel.

also Trump Declares Atheists are Terrorists Yay that's me!

:)

Faith

I like to claim to be anti-religious, but actually it's the toxic nature of crap hiding under righteous purity that pushes my buttons. Personally I think Jesus is a good idea but maybe a less elaborate version. It's not that Jesus isn't real, see, but he's imaginary. Like numbers are real too (sort of) but (like Jesus) they exist entirely in your head. Same with finance or any definition of anything. All the Son of God bullshit & immaculate birth are obsolete metaphors promoted like they're historical facts. Good 'ol Jesus is always your friend & always on call for advice about how to be good & happy to take a bullet for you. Nice plan but come on, religions then hang bags of qualification on the "service" that it supposedly provides in brushing away your existential fears. Fine: be good, forgive your enemies, be a punk for any priest or gangster, they're the same thing. Just keep those tithes a-comin' folks. It's ok to raze forests, pump the aquifers dry, dump Nitrates and radioactive waste because god gave the earth to us to do anything we want with, so it's not being irresponsible; it's Capitalism (or Communism, whatever).

Religion is an interesting scam. Before facebook or Truth Social, prehistoric people had to rely on popular rumor for direction in their lives, whoever controled the rumor controled the people. What happens when I die? Well you have this thing called a soul that you need to entrust to a proper authority (definitely not the devil) along with financial support or you burn in hell for eternity. Always trust the official rumor. By the way, it's entirely true that preparation of Holy water requires inclusion of a grain of salt.  

“If there’re monsters moving in next door, Danny, you just ignore them. The more you believe in them, the more they’ll try to get you.” (The Far Side)

    ( Existentialcomics.com)

 

 

 

 

Putin Must Die

Putin is the perfect soldier, he has no soul.
There’s nobody home,
only the echo of his heroes.

As the perfect soldier
he must praise them
and die by the sword.

But Putin fears death.
Because he is rational
In this we are the same.

I can see his humanity.
But he can’t see mine.
I’m not his friend.

Oh if only I was his friend
We would be equals
But he must die

Maybe I will too.
It is a good day... (part of an old Klingon homily).

The War of Art

OK, I’m up and running (sort of): The short version is I tripped last July and cracked my tailbone which released shingles virus, causing my lower orifices to cease function. While inserting a catheter, an ER nurse punched a hole in my prostate and gave me a bladder infection. So there I was: nearly struck down in the prime of my manhood, I contemplated stalking the dark streets with an axe, searching to rid the world of incompetent medics. I ultimately didn’t, but had time to reflect. I didn’t write it down because I couldn’t think, sit, or stand. This below is a summary of head trips remembered flawlessly after 6 months.

~

There are people who strive and fight to leave their mark on the world. Wars driven by scrabbling politicians disguised as patriots eager to impress perceived peers and take slaves and resources for their own personal fame. But the mothers of Ramses, Hitler, or Putin, would be outraged to have their names associated.

This seems odd from a moral perspective, maybe the current meaning of defining words has changed, or maybe they’re just plain biased in favor of winners. Lots of Germans supported the Nazi party because of the way it was presented, same thing for Trump & Putin. Winners write history and propaganda gets a jump on the process.

Later on, the persistence of survivors selects for the values of the next generation who followed the proven path. Most sane people prefer to fish and drink beer … until the tribe upstream puts in a dam. Then it’s feud or intermarriage.

The War of Art

So: deep in the wilds of darkest genesis there were 3 dudes and a babe.
The babe spake: To whichever one of you can beat best in providing the manner to which I am accustomed I shall grant my totally not-dubious favors.
The Dudes said: OK. Like, ‘the hell does that mean?
The Babe said: Oh, you know, something nice, I’ll leave it up to you.

So Dude 1, inspired by Babe’s perfect symmetry, commenced to construct a perfectly symmetrical house of straw. And she was delighted.
Then Dude 2, likewise inspired and improving somewhat on the efforts of Dude 1, built a perfectly symmetrical house of sticks and dimension lumber with a composition roof that didn’t leak. And she was even more delighted.
When Dude 3 saw what was happening, he forced a hostile takeover of the finance company and foreclosed on Dudes 1 & 2 obliging them into capitalist servitude. “If you wish to pay off your debts, gain independence, and find true love, you must build a mansion for me, the likes of which Caligula would never dare to dream (much less Trump, Putin, Saddam, or the Pope). You are now my paintbrush and I am the artist. You may create so long as M’lady and I are not offended”

Anything orderly including Jackson Pollock and battlefield deployment is art. The meaning of life is finding order that will impress babes. Thus does art underlie the expression of society.

How about that, Sugarcakes?

~