tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post5611971681068925292..comments2023-12-23T05:14:34.273-05:00Comments on Wit's End: Extinction Goes GlamGail Zawackihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-7741607055842834162015-12-10T19:05:21.289-05:002015-12-10T19:05:21.289-05:00I also meant to mention that I had read the "...I also meant to mention that I had read the "Born to Be Conned" article when you'd posted it earlier on DoTE. First, I found it "amusing" that the article was written by someone named KONnikova! I know, it's somewhat <i>juvenile</i>, but I still had to chuckle. However, I was puzzled by how much Maria got right versus how much she got wrong. It's true that "<i>...honesty has precious little to do with it</i>." The ONLY <i>potential</i> defense against a conman is to be MORE <i>knowledgeable</i> about the subject of the con and MORE <i>aware</i> of ALL the circumstances in which you're involved. Of course, that is nearly impossible for ALL possible cons, just look at the shenanigans of "investment banks" and "hedge funds," not to mention politicians and "spin-doctors." Nonetheless, knowledge and awareness are the best bet in perceiving liars and cheats. In fact, Maria also indicates this when she wrote "<i>What matters instead is greed of a different sort: a deep need to believe in a version of the world where everything really is for the best — at least when it comes to us.</i>" Put more simply, this is known as <i>naivete</i> and, perhaps, <i>gullibility</i>. This is a <i>lesson</i> that I "learned" too late. My parents had always "taught" me, late 50s thru late 60s, to "trust" people, be kind and generous and they will return that. There have been shit-few of my <i>acquaintances</i>, I can no longer say any were truly "friends," from which I've ever seen anything remotely close to reciprocation of my efforts and intents. Moreover, what few reciprocations I did experience actually turned out to be yet another con. Again, Maria is spot on when she wrote "<i>It’s not about honesty or greed; we are all suckers for <b>belief</b>.</i>" You'll note my emphasis (bold text) as a "frequent" theme of mine, i.e. <i>belief</i> is the domain of fools and suckers (i.e. dimwits) and it is the purpose of <i>belief</i> to maintain a patsy population on which manipulators can exploit for personal profit. ANY and ALL dogmatic systems of <i>belief</i>, whether it's a "recognized" religion or Buddhism or Scientology or even vast swaths of "science" is only a tool to keep the intellectually-challenged in a condition ripe for exploitation and allow psychopaths and sociopaths to remain at the apex of power and wealth. Well, I'm sure I've rambled too long, once again, and will leave it to other readers to "decode" the rest of "Born to Be Conned." Final remark, both Machiavelli and Shakespeare should be vilified rather than idolized, much of their writing has been nothing but a scourge to the development of the human species and anyone who <i>believes</i> differently hasn't really "thought" about it and is most likely a moron.colinchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16925142870563262957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-60215616294152213172015-12-07T21:58:19.456-05:002015-12-07T21:58:19.456-05:00Thanks, Tom, and back at ya'. I always check y...Thanks, Tom, and back at ya'. I always check your posts here, and elsewhere, even when they are from seemingly <i>suspect</i> sources. My apology for not acknowledging your similar comment on <i>that other blog</i> a few days (weeks?) ago.<br /><br />Gail, yes, the "middle of the night" seems the most <i>prone</i> to circumspection. Alas, from the evidence I've seen, from the mathematics and physics I <b>know</b>, and my well-honed capacity of reason, your doubts are unfounded. Much that I, and many others, <i>wish</i> they truly had some merit, they do not. The WAIS <b>will</b> fracture in an <i>unprecedented</i> way within the next decade, raising sea-levels (in a general sense and at profound locations) by 1-2 meters, at least. Think Miami, DC, NYC, Beijing, Mumbai, Venice, London etc. Of course, some other locations MAY see a slight decrease in MSL. Will that be the <i>wake-up call</i> for the masses? Will it be something else occurring sooner? Will <i>the masses</i> EVER <i>wake-up</i> and recognize the foolishness to which we've all been party, to one degree or another? Only observation and one's <i>reaction</i> to it remains. Nature does NOT "bat last," Nature never leaves home plate and ALWAYS swings for the fences, regardless of what mere mortals <b>believe</b>. (FUCK ME, I HATE baseball and ALL analogies to it. Evidence of the cultural programming to which we have been subjected for far too long.)colinchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16925142870563262957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-32101839142404608162015-12-07T07:49:14.847-05:002015-12-07T07:49:14.847-05:00I appreciate the compliment but it is sort of depr...I appreciate the compliment but it is sort of depressing that I have apparently failed in imparting the entire point of this post!<br /><br />Hollywood celebrities are merely players writ large, they are just gargantuan reflections of the lowliest among us. NOBODY escapes the hypocricy because it's impossible to escape the deep conviction that humans are unique and priviliged.<br /><br />Anybody using a laptop is desecrating nature, and they make their excuses for it just like the individuals mentioned, no more or less ludicrous. I'm not judging the most carbon gluttinous because they are simply extreme examples of identical behavior - like someone who lives in a place so cold they have to burn stuff to keep warm. It's the same egoistic excuses made by permaculturists who use plastic and imported tools, and the activists at Occupy who chain-smoked, supporting the world's most evil corporations and violating everyone else's air while protesting corporate hegemony - because they were special, and stressed, and on the vanguard.<br /><br />Here's the latest example, Roy Scranton, who authored the thoughtful essay "Learning to Die in the Anthropocene" and now seems to feel that his writing is so special that it requires him to take a cruise ship into the Arctic. "Generally speaking, the hope was that the experience would make passengers more conscious of the very history of the despoliation it reprised, and that the positive increase in social awareness thus achieved would outweigh any negative impacts—not the least of which came from burning 10 to 20 tons of fuel each day." No, the increase in awareness DOESN'T outweigh the negative impacts, but we all, all of us, pretend they do, because our egos are us. http://www.thenation.com/article/what-i-learned-on-an-arctic-cruise-through-the-global-warming-apocalypse/<br /><br />Here's a brilliant essay that was published too late for me to include:<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/opinion/sunday/born-to-be-conned.html?<br /><br />“When people want to believe what they want to believe,” David Sullivan, a professional cult infiltrator, told the Commonwealth Club of California, a public affairs forum, in July 2010, “they are very hard to dissuade.” And the reason it happens (and often happens to the most intelligent people) is that human nature is wired toward creating meaning out of meaninglessness.<br /><br />“There’s a deep desire for faith, there’s a deep desire to feel there’s someone up there who really cares about what’s going on,” Mr. Sullivan said. “There’s a desire to have a coherent worldview: There’s a rhyme and reason for everything we do, and all the terrible things that happen to people — people die, children get leukemia — there’s some reason for it. And here’s this guru who says, ‘I know exactly the reason.’ ”<br /><br />Meaninglessness is, well, meaningless. It’s dispiriting, depressing and discouraging. Nobody wants reality to resemble a Kafka novel.<br /><br />Before humans learned how to make tools, how to farm or how to write, they were telling stories with a deeper purpose. The man who caught the beast wasn’t just strong. The spirit of the hunt was smiling. The rivers were plentiful because the river king was benevolent. In society after society, religious belief, in one form or another, has arisen spontaneously. Anything that cannot immediately be explained must be explained all the same, and the explanation often lies in something bigger than oneself....<br /><br />That is the true power of belief. It gives us hope. If we are skeptical, miserly with our trust, unwilling to accept the possibilities of the world, we despair. To live a good life we must, almost by definition, be open to belief. And that is why the confidence game is both the oldest there is and the last one that will still be standing when all other professions have faded away."Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-44716715145062474442015-12-07T01:06:40.002-05:002015-12-07T01:06:40.002-05:00Hollywood, the entertainment industry and celebrit...Hollywood, the entertainment industry and celebrities reside in the territory of hyper make believe, hyper fiction, hyper mythology, hyper narcissism and hyper pretense. It is not surprising that they have little capacity for seeing their own hypocrisy. Wealth and privilege create myopia, a sense of entitlement and a sense that one no longer needs to answer to others or to oneself. All of this opens the door to hypocrisy. <br />Hollywood along with the consumer advertising that supports much of its output has shaped our society into a mostly somnolent, passive, unaware and conforming blob. All of us have been steeped in this culture for some period of time. Most succumb to it for a lifetime, however a few of us manage to claw our way out and begin to see truth. The unmasking process requires an open mind, critical thinking, research and time. The goal is not only to see the truth, but to move away from one's own hypocrisy toward a life where belief and action are aligned. Thank you for your superb analysis and for reminding me of the importance of applying this in my own life. Well done!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-25866324493821164862015-12-06T10:57:53.505-05:002015-12-06T10:57:53.505-05:00I was thinking in the middle of the night...what i...I was thinking in the middle of the night...what if we're all wrong, and civilization limps along for another hundred or two hundred years in horrible decline, and there's no collapse? We (or at least, I) would have wasted all this time worrying and warning. Who knows when the WAIS is going to crack off, or when the methane clathrates will explode, or when the last trees and phytoplankton expire? Meh. Then I think about the absolutely insane record breaking temperatures we are having right now and all the birds and insects that are just...gone... and I don't see how this centre can hold - It has been swell knowing all you doomsters, one way or another!Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-82919855061705783202015-12-06T10:54:13.006-05:002015-12-06T10:54:13.006-05:00Polish up that denial essay RobM, so I can post it...Polish up that denial essay RobM, so I can post it! :)Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-30145265920881004932015-12-06T10:05:13.405-05:002015-12-06T10:05:13.405-05:00Great job, once again Gail! Good to see you still...Great job, once again Gail! Good to see you still around and kickin' (ass) colinc! i'm running out of words - becoming speechless, as it's all been said so many times before, and yet we continue . . . until we can't, indeed.<br /><br />TomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-58037373578020676252015-12-05T16:53:33.180-05:002015-12-05T16:53:33.180-05:00Well done and thanks for shining a light on our da...Well done and thanks for shining a light on our dark denial.RobMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264138186584547148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-27190583137252688622015-12-05T14:54:20.179-05:002015-12-05T14:54:20.179-05:00"Priceless," indeed and in spades! Thank..."Priceless," indeed and in spades! Thanks, Gail. I am amused by the TP(?) staff's mangling of Minik Rosing's first name in your quoted bit. However, most amusing was the closing sentence, "<i>[The purpose] is not to instigate fear and gloom and doom, but rather to make people optimistic and happy,” he said. “I think that is very important in Paris these days.</i>" Yes, people MUST become "optimistic and happy," else the fuck-wits may not be able to continue fleecing them. Priceless and oh so precious. I had also meant to mention earlier that I had watched "Racing Extinction" and was utterly appalled by the ignorance and complete lack of humility displayed by the "journalists" (can't bring myself to type "scientists") responsible for making that mockery. The repugnance generated by the mutilation of manta rays by the Bali people paled in comparison. McPherson's paraphrasing of Al Bartlett's famous phrase is most apt, "The greatest failing of humans is their inability to <i>understand</i>, period!" There will be no <i>forgiving</i> of those who know not what they do.colinchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16925142870563262957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-18283915606922632332015-12-05T14:19:09.817-05:002015-12-05T14:19:09.817-05:00Thanks Colin! I'm only sorry I wasn't abl...Thanks Colin! I'm only sorry I wasn't able to add the latest examples...<br /><br />"The project was initiated to raise awareness about climate change" - Check out these photos, they're so cool...and it will surely make all the difference that they photographed models in front of storms they chased from state to state!<br /><br />http://news.yahoo.com/photos/chore-nado-storm-chasers-1449261603-slideshow/chore-nado-storm-chasers-photo-1449261427931.html<br /><br />This one is priceless:<br /><br />http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/12/05/3728651/greeland-icebergs-ice-watch-paris-art/<br /><br />"Simply getting the icebergs to Paris was an immense task. For days, workers around the Greenland ice sheet had to approach the icebergs via boat, choosing pieces of ice that had already broken off of the ice sheet naturally. Once the pieces were selected, they were lifted out of the water using a special frame that was submerged under each iceberg. Then, the pieces of ice were placed in a cold storage container — similar to what fish products are shipped in, Mink said — and sent first to Denmark via ship, then finally to Paris via train. Altogether, the process took a couple of months." ...and how much CO2??Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-69894148751935073072015-12-05T11:55:15.559-05:002015-12-05T11:55:15.559-05:00This may well be your best effort to date, Gail! C...This may well be your best effort to date, Gail! Concise and on-point, highlighting the confluence of <i>hubris</i> and <i>hypocrisy</i>, a most lethal cocktail. Alas, as you note, it is what it is, we are what we are, TINA and there is no way out! However, for the pathologically <i>sharp-eyed</i>, there's still plenty of money to be milked from this cow. Oh what tangled web we've wove. Regardless, The Piper is warming up, The Fat Lady is loosening her vocal chords and the orchestra will continue until it can't. The pace of thrills, chills and uneven vibrations will continually, inexorably accelerate through the remaining years of The Endocene, which will diminish apace. Appropriately timed, too, being that this is the time of year for <i>peak hypocrisy</i>!!colinchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16925142870563262957noreply@blogger.com