What Book Are You Reading at the Moment?

[SuburbanFarmer]

Just looking him up a bit, his idea of looking for the connection between biology and history interests me.

I think his main problem here rests in the fact that he really doesn't understand the technology. He gets how technology impacts human society, but I don't think he understands technology itself enough to make good recommendations to kids. For instance, "don't learn C++" because some other language might replace it strikes me as rather silly. It's not as if the skills you pick up learning C++ are non-transferable. Programming languages are not like natural languages and it's not like when your VHS tapes became fucking pointless.

Its absurd to tell kids not to rely on older people. You have to survive to the singularity for there to be a singularity or some transhumanism event to take place, no? And contextualizing history/society has a function all in itself as well.

The singularity will not come from machines. It will come when we eradicate aging and death by old age.

That would actually suck. A lot.

If we aren't on other planets by then, we'd go extinct pretty quickly.

[Speaker to Animals]

Its absurd to tell kids not to rely on older people. You have to survive to the singularity for there to be a singularity or some transhumanism event to take place, no? And contextualizing history/society has a function all in itself as well.

The singularity will not come from machines. It will come when we eradicate aging and death by old age.

That would actually suck. A lot.

If we aren't on other planets by then, we'd go extinct pretty quickly.

That is what will cause us to colonize the galaxy.

You need to look at it from a demographic science perspective. Most of the innovation and scientific breakthroughs are made by three races (Jews, whites, East Asians), by males, and more specifically by the males of those races in their thirties and forties.

If those males did not age, then they are innovating and discovering nonstop until they die from disease, accident, or war. Which, if we protect the best minds, could mean centuries of productive life for a single scientist or engineer.

Further, each decade adds more scientists and engineers to the pool.

That pool grows very, very big within about fifty years. A kind of network effect causes innovations to multiply rather than increase arithmetically.

Once we cracked aging, we are not long for mass colonization.

[heydaralon]

Im a fan of Campbell in so much as he's good at getting people to think about and explore mythology. He's good at breaking down World myhtologies and comparing them and finding connections.

Berlin seems like an interesting dude. Its funny that he's wiki page says he was somewhat adverse to writing so his talks were later made into transcripts
his improvised lectures and talks were recorded and transcribed, with his spoken word being converted by his secretaries into his published essays and books."

I'm more recently intrigued by this dude.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Girard

mimetic desire and scapegoat mechanism. These things are real.

Yes! That mimetic stuff is discussed in Age of Anger. The idea that everyone lacks a sense of being. Where do we get our sense of being? We look at those more succesful than ourselves, their objects, their sexual conquests, their lifestyle, and we try to imitate it. We try to copy them, in the hopes that by acquiring these things, our identity becomes solidified and we become content. I don't think advertising and politics would work without mimetics, and even nations engage in this. Germany (before it was Germany) was humiliated by Napoleon, so it copied France's militarism and Nationalism. This worked so well that after the 1870 Franco Prussian war, France's elites and academics attempted to replicate the culture of Prussia in the hopes of becoming militarily dominant. Germany then attempted to mirror this attitude leading up to WW1. This shit happens all the time. Think of Ataturk. Think of Ghandi. Think of the Shah of Iran. Think of Mao. Think of Julius Nyerere and the scores of African despots whose hare brained schemes toward modernity turned their nations upside down. These third world countries are utterly envious of the West and the way they percieve it has made them irrelevant, so they attempt to copy its economic models, its laws, and its culture. They often do this while feeling a strong contempt for it, but it is a perpetual ongoing process. If mimetics isn't true, than the last two centuries have been a lie. It is a major driving force on a human and civilizational level.

Please tell me you see some serious holes in this "trending" historian...*(lets discuss)
https://medium.com/s/youthnow/yuval-noa ... 72a3fb4bcf

GloryofGreece:
I had a chance to really go through and read the article. My previous post was about my thoughts on his books.


This guy makes some interesting assumptions. He is under the impression that things will continue to change rapidly and that this state of affairs will be indefinite. Looking at the present, that is a safe bet. But if you read stuff written 50 years ago that predicted our current time, even the brightest minds were way off. Remember Future Shock by Toffler? Shit, even in the 90's there were people saying that Greenspan, Rubin, and Summers had cracked the economic riddle, and we were past boom and bust cycles. Phillip K Dick and Arthur C Clarke were able to percieve some of our current problems, but they were unable to correctly percieve many huge points about our culture and tech. The best author I can think about that was able to do this was JG Ballard. His books really do a good show depicting the nihilistic violence we are seeing in civilized hyper modern society.

I am guilty of this too. I am terrified of automation. I see it being very disruptive in the coming years, but I could be way off the mark. I think Harari is trying to say that conventional wisdom in the present is usually wrong, especially since things advance more rapidly now. But old people do have good insight. I don't think my dad could give me a good answer on metaphysics, but he learned fortran decades ago and his insight into cockroach languages still gave him a major edge when I would go over C programs with him (not that C is that advanced now). He is very frugal, and good at budgeting, and as a result is living well in retirement. He is also very handy, and is a great problem solver (he makes all kinds of intricate devices with a lathe and table saw in his shop). I think these types of skills are timeless. I know more about history than he does, but I would trade brains with him in an instant. In the future, I still think his type of mind will fare far better than mine will. I wouldn't write him off. Now, there are a bunch of old lazy pieces of shit at my retail job that I absolutely write off. These people give all kinds of unsolicited advice and they are essentially just people who are at the exact place I am, even though they had decades of a head start. And yet they still feel like they are in a place to lecture me about life and stuff. LOL.

[GloryofGreece]

His overall worldview is Hegelian or progressive or Whiggish etc. There's no guaranteed destined finish line or greatness to come.

[Montegriffo]

Not a great read but very informative.
Nearly lost a rear wheel on the way back from Oxford. Had to drive the last 25 miles with two studs missing and the remaining four loose. Hub, brake drum and both wheels are too damaged to use so I've got to fit second hand parts from the local scrapyard.
Starting work on a film on tuesday so have the weekend to sort it out...

[GloryofGreece]

Yes! That mimetic stuff is discussed in Age of Anger. The idea that everyone lacks a sense of being. Where do we get our sense of being? We look at those more succesful than ourselves, their objects, their sexual conquests, their lifestyle, and we try to imitate it. We try to copy them, in the hopes that by acquiring these things, our identity becomes solidified and we become content. I don't think advertising and politics would work without mimetics, and even nations engage in this. Germany (before it was Germany) was humiliated by Napoleon, so it copied France's militarism and Nationalism. This worked so well that after the 1870 Franco Prussian war, France's elites and academics attempted to replicate the culture of Prussia in the hopes of becoming militarily dominant. Germany then attempted to mirror this attitude leading up to WW1. This shit happens all the time. Think of Ataturk. Think of Ghandi. Think of the Shah of Iran. Think of Mao. Think of Julius Nyerere and the scores of African despots whose hare brained schemes toward modernity turned their nations upside down. These third world countries are utterly envious of the West and the way they percieve it has made them irrelevant, so they attempt to copy its economic models, its laws, and its culture. They often do this while feeling a strong contempt for it, but it is a perpetual ongoing process. If mimetics isn't true, than the last two centuries have been a lie. It is a major driving force on a human and civilizational level.

Please tell me you see some serious holes in this "trending" historian...*(lets discuss)
https://medium.com/s/youthnow/yuval-noa ... 72a3fb4bcf

GloryofGreece:
I had a chance to really go through and read the article. My previous post was about my thoughts on his books.


This guy makes some interesting assumptions. He is under the impression that things will continue to change rapidly and that this state of affairs will be indefinite. Looking at the present, that is a safe bet. But if you read stuff written 50 years ago that predicted our current time, even the brightest minds were way off. Remember Future Shock by Toffler? Shit, even in the 90's there were people saying that Greenspan, Rubin, and Summers had cracked the economic riddle, and we were past boom and bust cycles. Phillip K Dick and Arthur C Clarke were able to percieve some of our current problems, but they were unable to correctly percieve many huge points about our culture and tech. The best author I can think about that was able to do this was JG Ballard. His books really do a good show depicting the nihilistic violence we are seeing in civilized hyper modern society.

I am guilty of this too. I am terrified of automation. I see it being very disruptive in the coming years, but I could be way off the mark. I think Harari is trying to say that conventional wisdom in the present is usually wrong, especially since things advance more rapidly now. But old people do have good insight. I don't think my dad could give me a good answer on metaphysics, but he learned fortran decades ago and his insight into cockroach languages still gave him a major edge when I would go over C programs with him (not that C is that advanced now). He is very frugal, and good at budgeting, and as a result is living well in retirement. He is also very handy, and is a great problem solver (he makes all kinds of intricate devices with a lathe and table saw in his shop). I think these types of skills are timeless. I know more about history than he does, but I would trade brains with him in an instant. In the future, I still think his type of mind will fare far better than mine will. I wouldn't write him off. Now, there are a bunch of old lazy pieces of shit at my retail job that I absolutely write off. These people give all kinds of unsolicited advice and they are essentially just people who are at the exact place I am, even though they had decades of a head start. And yet they still feel like they are in a place to lecture me about life and stuff. LOL.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/ ... -democracy

Another similar article from Harari. I hope for a conversation between him and Peterson or even Bishop Baron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ba ... #Education

Harari is an android.

[Fife]

Just released today from my boy C'lay. #DBAP

Republicans Buy Sneakers Too: How the Left Is Ruining Sports with Politics

Pretty awesome cover art. I'm debating on getting the Kindle version today or the audible when my next credit pops up in a week. I'll make him come off a signed hardback gratis when I see him.

Sports media superstar Clay Travis wants to save sports from the social justice warriors seeking to turn them into another political battleground.

Have you ever tuned into your favorite sports highlights show, only to find the talking heads yammering about the newest Trump tweets or what an athlete thinks about the second amendment? The way Clay Travis sees it, sports are barely about sports anymore. Whether it’s in the stadium or the studio, the conversation isn’t about who’s talented and who stinks. It’s about who said the right or wrong thing from the sidelines or on social media. And we know which side is playing referee in that game.

Having ruined journalism and Hollywood, far left-wing activists have now turned to sports. Travis argues it’s time for right-thinking fans everywhere to put down their beers and reclaim their teams and their traditions. In Republicans Buy Sneakers, Too he replays the arguments he’s won and lays out all the battles ahead. His goal is simple: to make sports great again.

Travis wants sports to remain the great equalizer and ultimate meritocracy—a passion that unites Americans of all races, genders, and creeds, providing an opportunity to find common ground and an escape from polarizing commentary. He takes readers through the recent politicization of sports, controversy by controversy and untalented-but-celebrated hero by hero, and skewers outlets like ESPN which spend more time mimicking MSNBC than covering sports.

Travis hopes that if we can stop sports from being just another political battlefield, and return it to our common ground, we can come together as a country again.

B-DOUBLE 0-B boobz???

[heydaralon]

Just released today from my boy C'lay. #DBAP

Republicans Buy Sneakers Too: How the Left Is Ruining Sports with Politics

Pretty awesome cover art. I'm debating on getting the Kindle version today or the audible when my next credit pops up in a week. I'll make him come off a signed hardback gratis when I see him.

Sports media superstar Clay Travis wants to save sports from the social justice warriors seeking to turn them into another political battleground.

Have you ever tuned into your favorite sports highlights show, only to find the talking heads yammering about the newest Trump tweets or what an athlete thinks about the second amendment? The way Clay Travis sees it, sports are barely about sports anymore. Whether it’s in the stadium or the studio, the conversation isn’t about who’s talented and who stinks. It’s about who said the right or wrong thing from the sidelines or on social media. And we know which side is playing referee in that game.

Having ruined journalism and Hollywood, far left-wing activists have now turned to sports. Travis argues it’s time for right-thinking fans everywhere to put down their beers and reclaim their teams and their traditions. In Republicans Buy Sneakers, Too he replays the arguments he’s won and lays out all the battles ahead. His goal is simple: to make sports great again.

Travis wants sports to remain the great equalizer and ultimate meritocracy—a passion that unites Americans of all races, genders, and creeds, providing an opportunity to find common ground and an escape from polarizing commentary. He takes readers through the recent politicization of sports, controversy by controversy and untalented-but-celebrated hero by hero, and skewers outlets like ESPN which spend more time mimicking MSNBC than covering sports.

Travis hopes that if we can stop sports from being just another political battlefield, and return it to our common ground, we can come together as a country again.

B-DOUBLE 0-B boobz???

loool I remember this video. I like how the lady got furious but the guy just doubled down not giving a fuck. Classic player move.

[Fife]

Tiny Books Fit in One Hand. Will They Change the Way We Read?

I don't know if these will catch on or not, but any kind of dead-tree reading innovation has my attention.

[Zlaxer]

Woh....Barney makes a comeback in the avatar realm.....