"This is the idea that we are slaves to Empire, and the world is a prison from which we need to free ourselves, what the gnostics called 'the puny cell of the creator God.' It is what Dick calls the BIP, the Black Iron Prison, which is opposed to the spiritual redemption of the PTG, … Continue reading The Dream Within The Dream
Tag: hupomnemata
Mind Your Mind: Dissecting Astroturf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bz-vTozh1 Above is an interesting piece of astroturf a friend of mine received a few days ago via WhatsApp. There are a couple of things about this that immediately make me question whether this is "fake news." The first question I always ask when I see something like this is: "Who does this message benefit?" … Continue reading Mind Your Mind: Dissecting Astroturf
Quaker Christ
I started reading a number of books on Quakerism years ago. It started with a book on simplicity, which approached the topic from a Quaker perspective. Eventually, I started attending an unprogrammed Quaker Meeting. An unprogrammed Quaker meeting is a religious service where everyone sits quietly, typically in a circle, and waits. You are open … Continue reading Quaker Christ
Biohacking Bullshit
I'm seeing more articles about "biohacking" by rich dudes. One subset seems to be looking for immortality, or at the very least to extend their lives or mitigate the effects of ageing. It strikes me as the archetypical problem of a beautiful woman trying to keep their looks as they get older. All of us … Continue reading Biohacking Bullshit
Sea Change, Rich & Strange
"Nothing of him that doth fade / but doth suffer a sea-change / Into something rich and strange." —Percy Shelley, The Tempest Sea change, rich and strange. Swim in strange waters. Armed with beauty and circus, wage war on the monotony of life. Designate time for what matters, and be a connoisseur of the free … Continue reading Sea Change, Rich & Strange
Keep Striking the Flint of Love
"Escape is the purest form of resistance."Joseph Kelly, "The Masterless People: Pirates, Maroons, and the Struggle to Live Free." Longreads.com. October 30, 2018. God. The United States Government. Money. You, yourself. They are all ghosts, and it is your head that is haunted. There's all kinds of ghosts in our lives. People fading in and out. … Continue reading Keep Striking the Flint of Love
Dead Poet’s Society: Past, Future & Forgiveness
"If our lives are the tales that Allah tells, then we are the audience as well as the players, and it is by living those tales that we receive their lessons...Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough."Ted Chaing, The Merchant and … Continue reading Dead Poet’s Society: Past, Future & Forgiveness
Book Review: Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson
tl;dr: The eight-circuit model of consciousness: survival, emotions, reason, society/reproduction, body connection, imprint selection, connecting to life, and connecting to everything. If this all sounds like some New Age bullshit to you, then you might want to try some of the exercizes at the back of each chapter, e.g., "Try living a whole week with … Continue reading Book Review: Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson
Who Watches the [Artificial Intelligence] Watchmen?
Open Question: What are the unintended consequences of artificial intelligence in the surveillance domain? Recently, I came across a good basic guide for finding hidden cameras and bugs with a level of detail I've never seen online before. As with everything related to security, the first question to ask is: what is your threat model? … Continue reading Who Watches the [Artificial Intelligence] Watchmen?
Life Doesn’t Evolve in a Tomb
Yesterday's clarity is today's stupidity.-Ikkyu Sojun Erikson's stages of psychosocial development provides a useful framework for thinking about individual evolution and the common pattern most human beings follow. It shows that as life progresses, we are dealing with the essential and different questions at different stages of life: What kind of world is it? Do … Continue reading Life Doesn’t Evolve in a Tomb
Slow Travel
"An alpinist develops his power and gives proof of it; he feels and thinks simultaneously; this superior joy illuminates the snow landscape. But he who has taken an electric train up to the top of a famous mountain does not find the same sun."Emile-Auguste Chartier, "Diogenes" in Alain on Happiness. Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 1973. … Continue reading Slow Travel
Politeness is Two-Faced
Note: This is an one-sheet explainer for myself. I have never encountered politeness theory before this week. I wanted to do a quick one page review of the concepts from Wikipedia and a quick web search, then put together a short one-page summary. This summary can serve as a reminder for understanding what politeness theory … Continue reading Politeness is Two-Faced
Rearranging Our Minds
Open Question: Should we make an effort to change our minds in some fundamental way? And if so, how? There are a number of stories of people suffering a traumatic brain injury that results in the brain being rearranged in a way that gives them a new ability. Generally, this involves some skill with art, … Continue reading Rearranging Our Minds
The Problem of Rent
In the United States, just over a 1/3 of people rent with 38% of them paying more than 30% of their income for rent. About 17% of renters pay more than 50% of their income for rent. When you consider the cost of rent, it is not surprising that half a million people are homeless. … Continue reading The Problem of Rent
cafebedouin.org 