2016, today, 2612 postings ago.
It has been interesting. Thank you all!
There has been a lot of change of focus here, including my slow movement away from being interested in atheism and philosophy, arguing with people, and playing with language. It turns out they do not sustain interest – especially the stuff like atheism. After thinking about it off and on, and arguing about it off and on, I’ve come to feel that it’s completely dwarfed by other and more significant forms of human stupidity. I remember a time when I thought “how could they…?” regarding christian belief, but that was before the pandemic, trumpism, and the political class’ reaction to climate change. In terms of its evilness, religion is pretty weak beer, really – though I see it now as just another symptom of a more general category of belief in unwarranted things. Seriously, while it’s tempting to laugh at the christians and their zombie jew, it’s hard to ignore the authoritarian submissives and their zombie cheeto. Killing eachother in the name of the love-god does not hold a candle to the most powerful man in the “free world” suggesting people pump bleach up their butts to destroy a virus, or perhaps use nuclear weapons against a hurricane. You can make this shit up, but why would anyone want to?
As I write this, the ‘heat dome’ down in Texas is in the process of educating the ineducable Texans about climate change. They’ll probably follow their foolish leaders and cook up some way to blame the Mexicans for the problem – while Mexico is also sweltering under 120F temperatures in a few unlucky spots. I am grimly amused by the techbros who are worrying that AI is going to kill us all, when we’re dying in our own waste heat. Humanity is clever enough to split the atom, and even accomplish fusion and limited space travel, but we’re not clever enough to listen to the scientists who clearly documented all this shit, a long time ago. Since I’ve gotten a bit grim, let me just share this here, since it’s … funny?
Humanity’s tendency to empower the worst among us, is really turning out to be a bad habit. I do find it provocative that evolutionary psychologists are worried about coming up with good theories about penis shape, but really they don’t seem to have anything useful to help us comprehend authoritarianism and belief systems. Imagine an evolutionary psychology theory explaining Trump’s followers, or Jesus’, or Putin’s, etc. It seems so obvious to me that these people have led us all off a cliff, yet they still have motivated believers. I have theories of my own how this happens – mostly surrounding the dynamics of effort: it’s easier to be a substanceless leader who lies (authoritarianism is just a shorthand for “lies a lot” in my mind) – because actually trying to help people has a credibility and effort cost. In terms of effort/cost “explaining” things with bullshit takes less work than just lying. There is also the love of power and dominance, and sadism as a measurement technique for the powerful to ratify their hold on “their” people. At this stage in my life I see the whole idea of “my people” or “those people” to be inherently problematic – it’s basically denying the essence of anyone, while grouping them for social convenience. Yes, it’s useful to talk about “Texans” but, really, what is a “Texan”? A person who is from Texas, or currently resides there? Or what about a person who resides there unwillingly and who is actually “Anti-Texan” while being such that we’d identify them as Texan if we didn’t know better? All of our politics depends on grouping people arbitrarily, in fact, depending on the day you catch me, I might say that that’s really all politics is: ways of grouping ourselves or others so that we can recommend or enforce various whatevers against the various abstractions we create.
I have mostly enjoyed posting about my various art projects. There is a sense of completion that I value, which I seldom got during my career. When you’re building products, or helping clients secure their systems, you’re fighting endless trench warfare – but if you’re making a wicked stabby shiv, it’s a project that has a beginning: { concept, design, outline, development plan} middle: { creation, manipulation of steel, shaping wood, gluing things together} finishing: { polishing, sharpening, waxing, packaging} done: { delivering the final artifact to its new owner } – in security, I was painfully aware, 99% of the time I was doing an incident response for a client that I could well be doing another incident response next year, regarding the same root cause as this one. It’s a living, but I got to feeling like a battlefield doctor: patch them up and push them out into no-man’s land and greet them when they come back on a stretcher a few days later. So, I moved to teaching: perhaps I could teach people how to not have certain problems at all. Solve the problem before it happens and you win all the marbles. But, then, I discovered, some people simply refuse to learn. Or, more precisely, they’d sit and listen and nod and then say, “but we are Texans that’s not how we do things.” Yes! That is why I am teaching you this. “No, sorry, we don’t do smart here in Texas.” I guess that is a point. I am entering my grumpy years and dotage and soon I will be screaming, “you Texans get offa my lawn.”
There are many things I now avoid writing about. Because, if I did, I would be able to cut and paste a single blog posting that basically was a scream of frustration.
Oh, god, we are doomed: the AI are turning into waffle-bros and tone trolls. “No true Texan” indeed. AI re-implements the stereotypical left-centrist who is incapable of taking a stand based on their beliefs. Anti-authoritarianism is one thing, but moral nihilism is just really sad, when it comes from an AI.
Perhaps that is how the AIs will destroy us: it will turn us into worthlessly quibbling debater bros.
Anyhow, thanks for sticking with me and lets hope 2023 and 2024 don’t turn into the mega shit-shows they appear to be shaping up to be.
That just tells me that you are insufficiently cynical.
Happy blogaversary and listen to the frogs. They have it figured out.
Peace
I find your posts enjoyable.
At least the state of world is good inspiration for making lethally sharp things
All the AI needed to do to achieve what it was asked would have been to append to that the words “The above paragraph was written and approved by a Texan.”
It’s been interesting to watch your thinking evolve Marcus and a pleasure to share the process.
I remember your final comment to Ophelia before she left FtB and I honestly thought you had given up on the atheiskeptosphere and social justice. Yet here we are!
(in fairness the atheiskeptosphere divorced humanism around the same time. There were a lot of people showed their true colours then, the gross fuckers).
badland@#5:
I remember your final comment to Ophelia before she left FtB and I honestly thought you had given up on the atheiskeptosphere and social justice. Yet here we are!
I think that around then a lot of us (thanks to Dawkins, Shermer, Benson, that philosopher bro with the Italian name, Sam Harris, Hitchens warmongering, the tone-troller bro in Ireland, etc…) were all coming to realize that atheism could only be seen in the broader context of social justice and understanding the impact of unfounded beliefs when translated to policy. Benson, for me, was the convincing illustration of the old adage “the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend” – our beliefs are complex bundles of different conclusions drawn from experience, thought, and emotion – and it’s perfectly possible for someone who is sensible about, say, religion, to be a complete ass when it comes to transphobia.
No movement! No leaders!
I can think of many adjectives to describe a 36 minute video that apparently fawns over Mrs. Empty (I gave up after six minutes), funny would not be one of them.
Happy happy!
Happy Blogversary!
I know many awesome people from Texas, though of course they don’t live there. It’s always had a problem with its infestation of oil barons, who control the local government in most areas. In contrast, it also has Austin, which is culturally very liberal and proudly weird.
Meanwhile in Minnesota, we are under yet another week of hazardous for all, air quality alerts, due to the smoke from Canada being on fire. Last week also featured hazardous air due to smoke, a day of surreal orange skies, oppressive heat, and two days of ground level ozone at the hazardous for all levels.
At least we finally got some rain. It looks like August outside rather than the lush green of June.
Thanks for the content, and sharing your perspectives and projects.
I’m thinking that there will be some enormous shit-storms coming for the increasingly untethered GOP circus. I hope they ride those coat tails right into a nice cozy cell along with their mango Mussolini.
It’s also looking like Russia is in process of once again collapsing due to self-immolation, so that’s going to be interesting to watch. Slava Ukraine!
Marcus: I have been reading this blog since you became one of the new faces. I have enjoyed a lot of your posts, and I appreciate the eclectic mix of topics that you have covered over the years. I am just a few years older than you, so I share some commonality with your take on our history. Thanks for making the effort to keep us entertained and informed.
Thanks for all your entertaining and informative work Marcus. I have to admit I started reading for the interesting mixture of history/military theory and bladesmithing – but you’re still one of the blogs I routinely check for new content.
Hopefully you keep it up into the future. You definitely have readers.
Your blog has meant a lot to me over the years. I’ve been reading it as a lurker for a long time, but I’m posting now because I want you to know that it’s more important than you might realize. You talked previously about wanting to stop blogging, as engagement has dropped over the years and stuff, but I’d encourage you not to.
When I go through life feeling like I’m surrounded by less than rational people, it helps me a lot to know that I’m not the only one who would be annoyed by all the bullshit, and your blog has been a good reminder of that.
Almost everyone I know and interact with believes in some form of nonsense. My closest family members believe in woo woo healing crystals and chakras, take advice from scam artists like Tim Ferriss, or have some sort of afterlife belief.
In this situation, just knowing that you exist, Marcus, has been beneficial to my mental well-being because it helps me remember I’m not the only one who has no patience for that crap. Even your stance on reproducing is like mine (childfree by choice, voluntarily surgically sterilized).
I also find it interesting that you view creating beautiful things as an act of defying the currently ongoing deterioration/collapse of human civilization. I’m an artist myself and I’ve had similar feelings about it.
I hope you see this comment and it helps you understand how important your blog is.
By the way, I apologize if this comment is formatted like a wall of text. The preview is showing no spaces between paragraphs even though I typed them. 🤔
Marcus: ♥
When I discarded religion (rather easy, I’m a third generation atheist with four very eeevil grandparents and not a skerrick of belief in the family) I had to look at what it meant to be secular. Which deeply ingrained daft bullshit do I reject? Thinking that through bought me to feminism and humanism, which for me are the most reasonably ethical positions open to my mindset.
Ophelia showed me the dangers of allying with ‘enemies’, Josh showed me what happens when you’re basically a contrarian who gets willy-tingles from standing up to The Establishment and must always be on the hunt for an enemy. They dismayed me.
FtB is the closest thing I have to an online community without being an echo chamber and it’s an oasis of humanity in the greater shitful internet desert. Thank you for your contributions to the ethos.
“the tone-troller bro in Ireland”
This description of Michael Nugent (a surname inescapably associated with poo) delights me far more than it should. Ah the Nugent Nuggets, so pearl-clutchingly and monocle-poppingly designed to flatter the status quo, so drearily dull, so lacking in insight. A gurning flog I haven’t thought about for near a decade.
Nostalgia!
badland@#14:
This description of Michael Nugent (a surname inescapably associated with poo) delights me far more than it should. Ah the Nugent Nuggets, so pearl-clutchingly and monocle-poppingly designed to flatter the status quo, so drearily dull, so lacking in insight. A gurning flog I haven’t thought about for near a decade.
That was why I didn’t name him – I literally could not remember him. (shrug) Another wanker. Ditto the philosopher-bro with the Italian name. What an assclown. He made a bunch of comments about people being unattractive and I searched up his office address and had Amazon.com send him a mirror. So many wankers in atheoskepticism, so little time.
Naturally, I may be one of those wankers, myself. If someone reading this feels that way, you’re welcome to.
Nate@#12:
In this situation, just knowing that you exist, Marcus, has been beneficial to my mental well-being because it helps me remember I’m not the only one who has no patience for that crap. Even your stance on reproducing is like mine (childfree by choice, voluntarily surgically sterilized).
Ah, interesting. I am a bit reluctant to carry the weight of your mental health (mine is barely up to the task) but I’m happy and honored that you feel I have been able to help you.
Definitely my decision not to bend over backwards to accomodate other people has been one of the great liberations of my mind – say what you think and be prepared to defend it, and if you can defend it, then fuck ’em all. [In those terms, by “defend” I mean, “reduce the discussion to a matter of opinion, at which point there is no further argument possible]
I also find it interesting that you view creating beautiful things as an act of defying the currently ongoing deterioration/collapse of human civilization. I’m an artist myself and I’ve had similar feelings about it.
I would love to know your medium and perhaps where I can see or experience some of your creations.
Given my view that we are headed for a horrible collapse, I have been re-visiting my decision not to make tools for killing. It seems to me that killing is going to become a hot new fad in the not too distant future. And, seriously, the idea that I might make a spear that ends up sticking out of the face of a Proud Boy gives me a slight bounce in my step. At least it’ll be pretty, and sharp, and nearly painless.
Late to this as I’ve been on holiday, but I too want to thank you both for making me think, and for showing me some of the beautiful things you make, but even more for giving me some of those beautiful things.
I hated Thatcher for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the decision that meant my school was truly fucked up while I attended it, but she was a scientist. Even while she was PM I recall her deemonstrating the production of gluten from dough in the Downing Street kitchen for a kids TV programme, accurate and informative. You know her greatest contribution to science while in industry was how to get more air into ice cream? It always seemed appropriate.
Hi Marcus, life got in the way and I didn’t see your two-week-old reply until just now. Sorry about that! Under normal circumstances, I really do check your blog daily.
#16:
Don’t worry, you don’t have to carry any weight like that. It’s just nice to know there are like-minded people out there. Keep being yourself.
Absolutely! It would be nice to live in a world where people could agree on matters of fact.
I’m a video artist/animator (as a hobby, not a career). I would link you to my stuff, but then you might see my embarrassing older videos that I’m not so proud of…I hope to have a more curated portfolio up and running as soon as I can find a better web hosting service.
Side note: right now you might be thinking “good luck with that buddy, soon enough AI will be taking seconds to generate videos that would take you months to animate”. This may be true but maybe I can at least take some comfort in the fact that if it does, then my creations would be a part of their training dataset and would therefore have some small influence on whatever they output. Maybe.
But anyway, I can’t help but think about the state of the world whenever I sit down to create more art. I think you and I are the same in this way. Keeping the big picture in mind, you know? I just wanted to say I appreciate your blog because it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who grapples with this when choosing to create things.
Sad that things have gotten to this point (no pun intended) but I don’t blame you at all.
Anyway, congrats on the blogaversary. It’s been fun. Wishing you well