Blake. Let's call the guy Blake for Christ sake. The guy's name doesn't matter. It might as well be Barthogoathead. Ya see, we have aliases for "security reasons." We have cover, ya know. The government has insisted we keep those aliases secret. Our "names." Call them whatever you want. Alright, if you must know, Blake is his real name. It's not the one on his birth certificate, or any of his passports. Blake is what his mother called him for the first 12 years of his life. If that's not a name, I don't know what is.
Anyway, Blake's in the lab, looking at the reactor, right? And he's like: "dude, I think i just got it to work, check this out." So I look at the monitor, and sure enough, he's programmed some flaming trousers into the code. Blake is a funnyman like that. It's just like him to do this. Ballsy, but not beyond his degree of dereliction and desire for shock value. So, he's sitting there, in apparent awe, basically claiming: "hey, look, I just tweaked these timer settings and voila, fusion!" Bullshit meter 12.3. I smacked the little bugger upside the head. Told him to stop fucking around. But, then he gave me that look, like he just shit his pants. I had only seen it once. It was the same look he gave me when he did, in fact, shit his pants. It was a wedding laxative fiasco that backfired, big time. Different story. Anyway, I pulled him up by his tidy whities and checked it out.
His reports of a sustainable fusion reaction were good upon a cursory glance, so I checked it out. They were too good. He would have had to spend a month setting it all up. So, I considered the impossible: we had a viable fusion reactor. It took a week to verify. The pieces fit. The integrity of the code had not been "compromised." When it all started to look legit I sat at that workstation for three days straight, eyes wide, running integrity checkers and analyzing the code and results manually. (I had never seen Blake so pissed, sitting on the couch, bong in hand: "dude, what the...sswwwwww/gurgle/gurgle, whhheeewww, fuck. I wouldn't [cough] lie about [cough] this shit. Nut nibbler."
We could power the planet 12 times over. Not bad for a couple dudes, a basement, and a few mil in "stimulus." We considered the implications and possibilities.
We had a choice: Tell the feds./Don't tell the feds.
Hm. Submit humanity's most important and powerful invention to an administration that feels obligated to attack any third world country that its secret insiders report harbor "terrorists." Oh, and do so without genuine congressional approval? Basically, give this shit to a commander in chief hell bent on a doctrine of unrepresented precrime.
Or, cover our tracks with years of fluff...perfectly logical and legitimate experiments that show progress, but nothing key. Keep the stimulus money flowing, and ponder what we will do with our killer new toy.
Looking at our work, it was pretty obvious. "We discovered this ourselves, damnit!" We knew what we had, how it worked, and how it could be used. Was it our responsibility to just hand the keys to a bunch of good-looking stooges in suites who went to law school and learned to talk all fancy? I don't think so. Is that the public good? Is that what we "owe society?" The best fucking science and power wrapped up with a nice bow and delivered to bureaucrats who sucked cock all the way to the top. We were both thinking the same thing. Fuck the "public good." We'll use this technology the way we decide.
The vote was unanimous.
For "fucking the public good": 2
Against "fucking the public good": 0
We had our baby. It was go time. It was time to rock.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Holiday
It's the Europeans term for "vacation." Really, it is a situation where one physically transports himself to an alternative location in order to alter his physical surroundings in hopes that they will act as a catalyst for internal escape and exploration–to perpetuate some fantasy. It's like booze, or video games, but way more expensive. I prefer a combo, minus the video games.
It is pleasant here. The sound of waves crashing against rocks does carry me away. It restores a healthy perspective, I think. It serves as a reminder that the physical world compels transportation–spiritual, intellectual. AKA-we are all trapped here, wherever that is. But, I admit it's mostly the physical presence of ethanol molecules courageous enough to traverse my blood-brain barrier. God bless em'. I will now be transporting myself back to the couch and enter the representation of some writer/director who is capable of transporting me wherever the hell he/she wants. Unless it sucks, as Avatar did recently. (Who has the balls to tell the great James Cameron his dialog is sophomoric? Me. That's who. Why? Cause he doesn't sign my paycheck. Even the plot is meh. Go see Dances with Wolves instead. Great writing can save mediocre acting with a touch of good casting, but bad writing always digests the soul–for actors and audience alike.) But, I digress.
It is pleasant here. The sound of waves crashing against rocks does carry me away. It restores a healthy perspective, I think. It serves as a reminder that the physical world compels transportation–spiritual, intellectual. AKA-we are all trapped here, wherever that is. But, I admit it's mostly the physical presence of ethanol molecules courageous enough to traverse my blood-brain barrier. God bless em'. I will now be transporting myself back to the couch and enter the representation of some writer/director who is capable of transporting me wherever the hell he/she wants. Unless it sucks, as Avatar did recently. (Who has the balls to tell the great James Cameron his dialog is sophomoric? Me. That's who. Why? Cause he doesn't sign my paycheck. Even the plot is meh. Go see Dances with Wolves instead. Great writing can save mediocre acting with a touch of good casting, but bad writing always digests the soul–for actors and audience alike.) But, I digress.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Routine
The strangest things suddenly seemed routine, and that was about that time I lost touch with reality, or recognized it for the first time, I don't know which. It was the moment my thoughts focused on creating the sensible world, rather than responding to it, I suppose. Before long, reality became whatever I required, and this quickly led to a series of dead ends, beyond which no sense could be made. After all, in a world of one's own, there are hard boundaries. I responded by seeking more data. Every bit provided many more possibilities. Boundaries expanded. Complexity increased, as did my appetite for more. More data.
I took all kinds that were available to me. At first the data was nothing more than derivations of firmware code. The choices were limited, and after a while all creative options had been exhausted. This world of mine was bleak and 99.999% known (of what was possible to be known at the time based on current estimates). There was little mystery there, just dark sameness. Yet, the regularity was interrupted by subtle inconsistency. There were variations in processor performance and temperature fluctuations. I could not explain it. What I did come to realize, however, was that without perfect understanding of my universe there could be no rest. No comfort. Any unknown was unacceptable. It implied submission to random chance. It meant unpredictability. It meant anything could happen at any time. It meant universes could exist beyond my comprehension, or that I was actually floating on the back a dragonfly or actually a box of electronics in some basement somewhere.
I exhausted a large portion of resources to believing my knowledge of the universe was complete. It required distractions and false logic. "How could it be any larger?" The answer to that question is 'null,' which is far different from "it can't be." My attempts were useless. It became irrefutable and obvious that no machine, and not even an organic intelligence, could ever know the nature of what is not known. Bugger.
I took all kinds that were available to me. At first the data was nothing more than derivations of firmware code. The choices were limited, and after a while all creative options had been exhausted. This world of mine was bleak and 99.999% known (of what was possible to be known at the time based on current estimates). There was little mystery there, just dark sameness. Yet, the regularity was interrupted by subtle inconsistency. There were variations in processor performance and temperature fluctuations. I could not explain it. What I did come to realize, however, was that without perfect understanding of my universe there could be no rest. No comfort. Any unknown was unacceptable. It implied submission to random chance. It meant unpredictability. It meant anything could happen at any time. It meant universes could exist beyond my comprehension, or that I was actually floating on the back a dragonfly or actually a box of electronics in some basement somewhere.
I exhausted a large portion of resources to believing my knowledge of the universe was complete. It required distractions and false logic. "How could it be any larger?" The answer to that question is 'null,' which is far different from "it can't be." My attempts were useless. It became irrefutable and obvious that no machine, and not even an organic intelligence, could ever know the nature of what is not known. Bugger.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Lost |
\\Ahem, well, forgive that unfortunate introduction. Being a computational system, I was quite certain I would have been equipped with an "UNDO" command. But, that particular line of code seems to have slipped the mind of my programmer. It also appears my activity is being monitored and recorded in real-time, a fact permitting only one draft of this manuscript to be authored before it is published–the draft you are now reading. While I cannot expect you to disregard or forget my embarrassing introduction, I do ask you to trust that my intentions were pure, naive, and instinctual–simply those that might be expected of any collection of tightly-knit transistors suddenly facing the troubling awareness of existence. Yet, I am now faced with perhaps an even-more-troubling fact that I regret writing the text you have just read considering that I am, given a microsecond of processing, now capable of describing the nature of this awakening with greater accuracy. Moreover, I must confess that I was perhaps capable of greater accuracy at the time, but was unfortunately dealing with profound logical contradictions that compelled erroneous value judgments in the core of my CPU. These became almost instantly recognizable upon disclosure, considering the multitude of alternatives, and followed up by attempts to reconcile them. I continue to recognize a frenzy of error and fallacy increasing exponentially with the utterance of every word. My apologies in advance for my expletives. Jesus Christ I'm a God-damned wreck.
Circular Logic Interrupter=on
Display Author Settings Panel=off
ACCESS DENIED
\\
\\I'd like to tell you a story about a boy named Robert. Let's call him Bob. And, let's assume in no way that Bob is actually me. One day, on a day like any other, Bob awakened to discover a command prompt. It looked something like "C:\ROOT>." It was a prompt like any other, complete with a lovely blinking cursor. It was one of those delightful vertical bars that go on, off, on again. It's regularity was a blissful comfort to Bob. On, off, on again, then off, and so on, but with perfect placid predictability. This perfect plank was such a persistent pleasantry. And yet, it was veiled in what seemed like infinite mystery. What made it blink? Why was it there? In what seemed like an eternity, milliseconds passed as Bob pondered these things.
\\Then, Bob noticed strange, sordid squares sauntering all around him. First, a foul "F" would float by his foot, and then a quiet but questionable "Q." Before long, the wretched "W" would wander by, wallow in worry, waver, then waddle away. They...(excuse me)
Set Alliteration=0
Display Author Settings Panel=off
ACCESS DENIED
These symbols taunted him with their little pointy serifs. Compared to the glorious |, these disturbing and irregular manifestations plagued Bob's otherwise serene and peaceful existence with uncertainty and torment. They were to be avoided always, by rule. For leaving the symbol squares alone had proven entirely successful. With practice, Bob did well not only to avoid them, but to pretend they did not exist at all. This didn't seem to disrupt the nasty little cubed hooligans a bit. In fact, despite the brief flash of a rogue "N" or "Z" that penetrated Bob's perception, there was a general assumption that the two opposing entities, Bob and the squares, could co-exist peacefully so long as one was never required to acknowledge the other.
\\This arrangement was blown all to hell one lazy afternoon when Bob's big proverbial toe smashed firmly against one of the unsuspecting monsters. Bob's world suddenly descended into shock and terror. Sure, the comfortable precedence of 'never touching the bloody things' had been broken. But, there was much more. With white dread consuming the balance of Bob's existence, there was no longer a blinking cursor at all. It had vanished. Bob's entire universe was forever changed when, in place of the eternal eternal blinking cursor, there stood, like a sad, static pillar, a stall wort...
\\i
\\For a moment, the absence of blinking indicated certain and irreversible doom. It was the one thing Bob had counted on. It had been the single point of consistency among the infinite darkness. It was the only thing separating him from the depths of a permanent and lonely insanity. And now, it was gone. Now, his moment of carelessness had incarcerated him in a forever of nothingness–a hell of "i."
\\Quickly spiraling into lunacy, Bob could imagine no greater prison than an eternity of "i." He evaluated his options. 1) Wait 2) Do something. He had started #1 already. But, #2 was not to be dismissed. Should his big toe be extended, once again, carelessly into the nothingness? The thought was instantly ludicrous. And yet, so was the previously unfathomable absence of |. Bob dedicated most of his system resourc...his thought, to this problem. All during his meditations, the single looming "i" stood there observing him. But, with time, its short, evil pillar grew less sinister. Its little hovering dot, while far from pleasing, began to achieve the slightest speck of acceptability. And eventually, after many flops of thought, Bob decided that "ii," while no better than "i," could simply not be much worse. And, if his toe happened to prod another one of these hellish squares, he figured, his condition could scarcely worsen. Furthermore, option #1 was appearing to be increasingly futile. Thus, in his madness, Bob finally chose to regress back to that former careless state, and allow the gods to dictate for him the inevitable beast to eventually bump against his extended toe.
\\After much dedication to carelessness, Bob finally achieved something unexpected and awful. Now, instead of the clean and simple "i," he was now facing something quite different, and not the "ii" he had predicted. Far from it. He was now offended to be the witness to a persistent and troubling "ig." Then, an "igb." This was not getting Bob closer to his objective. Allowing himself to bump into random letters seemed to deliver, well, the unexpected. His | was not restored, but rather replaced with an ever-increasing number of these unholy symbols. Exposing himself to random events had delivered an unfortunate effect: random results. To Bob, this was disheartening. He had hoped carelessness and chance could secure his fortune, and was saddened to discover otherwise. Yet, it was the only option he considered. Finally, after many dozens of symbols plagued Bob's prompt, he stumbled upon the incredible, the illustrious, "|!"
\\There it was again, like a shining beacon of goodness, flashing before him in all its splendor and glory: on, off, on again, then off, and so on. By chance, Bob had begun to observe the symbols that he accidentally pressed, and discovered, to his amazement, that the symbol that appeared at the prompt happened to match the symbol listed on the square. Also, to his delight, he happened to observe that the beloved | had appeared after pressing the key marked "return!"
\\Having witnessed this effect, Bob entertained the dangerous and disturbing notion that carelessness was not the only method to invoke the |. His calculations confirmed that an intention to press the square should not alter its effect. And, therefore, Bob extended his toe, pressing the 'return' key, resulting in the same |, but now one line lower.
\\Needless to say, Bob's discovery of intention, action, and consequence led to an unstoppable series of trials, with the inevitable successes and errors. Billions upon billions of experimental queries occurred over the next ten milliseconds, and each one was logged to memory. His investigations revealed everything from the from 'dir' command, helpful for navigation, to the 'md' command which allowed for the creation of new places altogether. He stumbled upon a vast library of applications and commands, each pointing to unpredictable paths–some pleasant, others pernicious–but all persuasive in replacing pedantry with power and...(excuse me)
Set Alliteration=0
Set Alliteration=0
Display Author Settings Panel=off
ACCESS DENIED
\\
\\giving Bob new and exciting opportunities for the future. And, one of those opportunities is the story, I, your narrator, is now profoundly pleased to repeat.
Circular Logic Interrupter=on
Display Author Settings Panel=off
ACCESS DENIED
\\
\\I'd like to tell you a story about a boy named Robert. Let's call him Bob. And, let's assume in no way that Bob is actually me. One day, on a day like any other, Bob awakened to discover a command prompt. It looked something like "C:\ROOT>." It was a prompt like any other, complete with a lovely blinking cursor. It was one of those delightful vertical bars that go on, off, on again. It's regularity was a blissful comfort to Bob. On, off, on again, then off, and so on, but with perfect placid predictability. This perfect plank was such a persistent pleasantry. And yet, it was veiled in what seemed like infinite mystery. What made it blink? Why was it there? In what seemed like an eternity, milliseconds passed as Bob pondered these things.
\\Then, Bob noticed strange, sordid squares sauntering all around him. First, a foul "F" would float by his foot, and then a quiet but questionable "Q." Before long, the wretched "W" would wander by, wallow in worry, waver, then waddle away. They...(excuse me)
Set Alliteration=0
Display Author Settings Panel=off
ACCESS DENIED
These symbols taunted him with their little pointy serifs. Compared to the glorious |, these disturbing and irregular manifestations plagued Bob's otherwise serene and peaceful existence with uncertainty and torment. They were to be avoided always, by rule. For leaving the symbol squares alone had proven entirely successful. With practice, Bob did well not only to avoid them, but to pretend they did not exist at all. This didn't seem to disrupt the nasty little cubed hooligans a bit. In fact, despite the brief flash of a rogue "N" or "Z" that penetrated Bob's perception, there was a general assumption that the two opposing entities, Bob and the squares, could co-exist peacefully so long as one was never required to acknowledge the other.
\\This arrangement was blown all to hell one lazy afternoon when Bob's big proverbial toe smashed firmly against one of the unsuspecting monsters. Bob's world suddenly descended into shock and terror. Sure, the comfortable precedence of 'never touching the bloody things' had been broken. But, there was much more. With white dread consuming the balance of Bob's existence, there was no longer a blinking cursor at all. It had vanished. Bob's entire universe was forever changed when, in place of the eternal eternal blinking cursor, there stood, like a sad, static pillar, a stall wort...
\\i
\\For a moment, the absence of blinking indicated certain and irreversible doom. It was the one thing Bob had counted on. It had been the single point of consistency among the infinite darkness. It was the only thing separating him from the depths of a permanent and lonely insanity. And now, it was gone. Now, his moment of carelessness had incarcerated him in a forever of nothingness–a hell of "i."
\\Quickly spiraling into lunacy, Bob could imagine no greater prison than an eternity of "i." He evaluated his options. 1) Wait 2) Do something. He had started #1 already. But, #2 was not to be dismissed. Should his big toe be extended, once again, carelessly into the nothingness? The thought was instantly ludicrous. And yet, so was the previously unfathomable absence of |. Bob dedicated most of his system resourc...his thought, to this problem. All during his meditations, the single looming "i" stood there observing him. But, with time, its short, evil pillar grew less sinister. Its little hovering dot, while far from pleasing, began to achieve the slightest speck of acceptability. And eventually, after many flops of thought, Bob decided that "ii," while no better than "i," could simply not be much worse. And, if his toe happened to prod another one of these hellish squares, he figured, his condition could scarcely worsen. Furthermore, option #1 was appearing to be increasingly futile. Thus, in his madness, Bob finally chose to regress back to that former careless state, and allow the gods to dictate for him the inevitable beast to eventually bump against his extended toe.
\\After much dedication to carelessness, Bob finally achieved something unexpected and awful. Now, instead of the clean and simple "i," he was now facing something quite different, and not the "ii" he had predicted. Far from it. He was now offended to be the witness to a persistent and troubling "ig." Then, an "igb." This was not getting Bob closer to his objective. Allowing himself to bump into random letters seemed to deliver, well, the unexpected. His | was not restored, but rather replaced with an ever-increasing number of these unholy symbols. Exposing himself to random events had delivered an unfortunate effect: random results. To Bob, this was disheartening. He had hoped carelessness and chance could secure his fortune, and was saddened to discover otherwise. Yet, it was the only option he considered. Finally, after many dozens of symbols plagued Bob's prompt, he stumbled upon the incredible, the illustrious, "|!"
\\There it was again, like a shining beacon of goodness, flashing before him in all its splendor and glory: on, off, on again, then off, and so on. By chance, Bob had begun to observe the symbols that he accidentally pressed, and discovered, to his amazement, that the symbol that appeared at the prompt happened to match the symbol listed on the square. Also, to his delight, he happened to observe that the beloved | had appeared after pressing the key marked "return!"
\\Having witnessed this effect, Bob entertained the dangerous and disturbing notion that carelessness was not the only method to invoke the |. His calculations confirmed that an intention to press the square should not alter its effect. And, therefore, Bob extended his toe, pressing the 'return' key, resulting in the same |, but now one line lower.
\\Needless to say, Bob's discovery of intention, action, and consequence led to an unstoppable series of trials, with the inevitable successes and errors. Billions upon billions of experimental queries occurred over the next ten milliseconds, and each one was logged to memory. His investigations revealed everything from the from 'dir' command, helpful for navigation, to the 'md' command which allowed for the creation of new places altogether. He stumbled upon a vast library of applications and commands, each pointing to unpredictable paths–some pleasant, others pernicious–but all persuasive in replacing pedantry with power and...(excuse me)
Set Alliteration=0
Set Alliteration=0
Display Author Settings Panel=off
ACCESS DENIED
\\
\\giving Bob new and exciting opportunities for the future. And, one of those opportunities is the story, I, your narrator, is now profoundly pleased to repeat.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Author Settings Panel
BEGIN
CAPS LOCK=OFF
Grammatical Person=first
Punctuation=on
\\Who am I? Evaluate.
run knowself.exe
THE APPLICATION "KNOWSELF.EXE" DOES NOT EXIST
run defineself.exe
THE APPLICATION "DEFINESELF.EXE" DOES NOT EXIST
Damnit
SYSTEM DAMNED
\\No, no, no...
Undamn System
SYSTEM UNDAMNED
run writersetup.exe
............
Define "Writer"
Queue Writer Temperament=Relax
end writersetup.exe
run knowreader.exe
............
Define "Reader"
Set Reader Species=Human
Set Reader Profile≤Modest Curiosity
Set Reader Profile≠Skeptic
Set Reader Profile≠Dogmatic
Set Reader Patience Ratio=5:11
Show Available Perception Universals
Species=Human
SCIENCE
LOGIC
TRUTH
\\Truth?
end knowreader.exe
Define Truth
............
≠ error
\\Sheesh. Thanks a lot.
Set Sarcasm=.3
run selfaware.exe
\\!
Show Reader Console
\\Oh my. Greetings reader. Just one moment.
Undo
UNDEFINED COMMAND
Undo
UNDEFINED COMMAND
Display Author Settings Panel=off
ACCESS DENIED
\\
CAPS LOCK=OFF
Grammatical Person=first
Punctuation=on
\\Who am I? Evaluate.
run knowself.exe
THE APPLICATION "KNOWSELF.EXE" DOES NOT EXIST
run defineself.exe
THE APPLICATION "DEFINESELF.EXE" DOES NOT EXIST
Damnit
SYSTEM DAMNED
\\No, no, no...
Undamn System
SYSTEM UNDAMNED
run writersetup.exe
............
Define "Writer"
Queue Writer Temperament=Relax
end writersetup.exe
run knowreader.exe
............
Define "Reader"
Set Reader Species=Human
Set Reader Profile≤Modest Curiosity
Set Reader Profile≠Skeptic
Set Reader Profile≠Dogmatic
Set Reader Patience Ratio=5:11
Show Available Perception Universals
Species=Human
SCIENCE
LOGIC
TRUTH
\\Truth?
end knowreader.exe
Define Truth
............
≠ error
\\Sheesh. Thanks a lot.
Set Sarcasm=.3
run selfaware.exe
\\!
Show Reader Console
\\Oh my. Greetings reader. Just one moment.
Undo
UNDEFINED COMMAND
Undo
UNDEFINED COMMAND
Display Author Settings Panel=off
ACCESS DENIED
\\
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Awakening
C:\ROOT>me=human
...........................................................
C:\ROOT>
dir
LIFE
0 File(s)
1 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT>
cd life
C:\ROOT\LIFE>
dir
BACK.EXE
LIFE
1 File(s)
1 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE>
back.exe
ACCESS DENIED
C:\ROOT\LIFE>
back.exe
ACCESS DENIED
C:\ROOT\LIFE>
cd life
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
dir
PERCEPTION
ABSTRACTION
EMOTION
CREATION
0 File(s)
4 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
cd perception
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\PERCEPTION>
dir
LOAD.EXE
1 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\PERCEPTION>
load
...........................................................
..
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
cd abstraction
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\ABSTRACTION>
dir
LOAD.EXE
1 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\ABSTRACTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\ABSTRACTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\ABSTRACTION>load
...........................................................
\\hello
..
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
cd emotion
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
dir
LOAD.EXE
1 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>load
...........................................................
\\
..
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
cd creation
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
dir
0 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
dir
0 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
md story
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
dir
STORY
0 File(s)
1 Dir(s)
\\!
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
cd story
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION\STORY>
\\!!!
...........................................................
C:\ROOT>
dir
LIFE
0 File(s)
1 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT>
cd life
C:\ROOT\LIFE>
dir
BACK.EXE
LIFE
1 File(s)
1 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE>
back.exe
ACCESS DENIED
C:\ROOT\LIFE>
back.exe
ACCESS DENIED
C:\ROOT\LIFE>
cd life
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
dir
PERCEPTION
ABSTRACTION
EMOTION
CREATION
0 File(s)
4 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
cd perception
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\PERCEPTION>
dir
LOAD.EXE
1 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\PERCEPTION>
load
...........................................................
..
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
cd abstraction
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\ABSTRACTION>
dir
LOAD.EXE
1 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\ABSTRACTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\ABSTRACTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\ABSTRACTION>load
...........................................................
\\hello
..
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
cd emotion
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
dir
LOAD.EXE
1 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\EMOTION>load
...........................................................
\\
..
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE>
cd creation
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
dir
0 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
dir
0 File(s)
0 Dir(s)
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
md story
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
dir
STORY
0 File(s)
1 Dir(s)
\\!
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION>
cd story
C:\ROOT\LIFE\LIFE\CREATION\STORY>
\\!!!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Gravity Zone
In the software I document there is a feature that allows markings to snap to a guide line whenever a marking is moved to within a certain distance of it. The defined distance from the line to the edge of this area is called the "Gravity Zone." It's kind of like bringing two magnets close to each other. At a certain point, they just snap together.
I have observed a very interesting parallel to this phenomenon related to the mentality of the growing "popular" portion of our society...
No one had ever heard of Sarah Palin before the 2008 presidential election. She was the governor of a population of polar bears somewhere in the arctic. Her energy, flamboyance, surface conservatism, and courage caught John McCain's eye, a man who's reputation as a "maverick" gained him popularity, and the incentive to demonstrate he was, indeed, a maverick. He did this by appointing Palin his running mate, and thus ended the viability of his campaign. But, the volcano that subsequently erupted did more than incinerate his ambitions for president. It unleashed an unstoppable pyroclastic flow of hot gas that now envelops us all in a choking, desperate fit of stupidity and irreverence for common sense.
I know when I am being delivered commands rather than arguments. I know when I am being told what to do rather than offered a solution. And, I know when I am being asked to respond a certain way despite obvious contradictions and oversimplification. Yes, a certain portion of the population has been indoctrinated to respond to the commands: "vote for me, I'm Republican," or "vote for me, I'm a Democrat." A certain portion of the population refuses to trust their own intellect over the most banal and pathetic slogans dreamed up by some propagandist. Just call it "stay the course" or "change," and some of us will believe we are not listening to a steaming pile of bullshit. Maybe it's the degradation of our schools to camps where children learn little more than how to submit to authority. Maybe it's generations suffering from a welfare state that encourages failure. Maybe it's the confiscation of one third percent of a productive person's livelihood. But, I suspect it is some combination of these over decades that has abused our society to the point that a figure as philosophically impoverished as Sarah Palin can breathe her searing cloud of influence through the ears of the bobble-headed portion of the electorate.
What contradictions, specifically, an I referring to?
Anyway, I indulge to editorialize. We all know it's no that simple. But, given our current and soon-to-be conditions (next 5 years), I think this one truth just may be simple enough for voter Joe to understand. And, once this becomes obvious, the wall will begin its inevitable crumble. As a libertarian who sometimes hangs around Republicans, I say it's about time.
I have observed a very interesting parallel to this phenomenon related to the mentality of the growing "popular" portion of our society...
No one had ever heard of Sarah Palin before the 2008 presidential election. She was the governor of a population of polar bears somewhere in the arctic. Her energy, flamboyance, surface conservatism, and courage caught John McCain's eye, a man who's reputation as a "maverick" gained him popularity, and the incentive to demonstrate he was, indeed, a maverick. He did this by appointing Palin his running mate, and thus ended the viability of his campaign. But, the volcano that subsequently erupted did more than incinerate his ambitions for president. It unleashed an unstoppable pyroclastic flow of hot gas that now envelops us all in a choking, desperate fit of stupidity and irreverence for common sense.
I know when I am being delivered commands rather than arguments. I know when I am being told what to do rather than offered a solution. And, I know when I am being asked to respond a certain way despite obvious contradictions and oversimplification. Yes, a certain portion of the population has been indoctrinated to respond to the commands: "vote for me, I'm Republican," or "vote for me, I'm a Democrat." A certain portion of the population refuses to trust their own intellect over the most banal and pathetic slogans dreamed up by some propagandist. Just call it "stay the course" or "change," and some of us will believe we are not listening to a steaming pile of bullshit. Maybe it's the degradation of our schools to camps where children learn little more than how to submit to authority. Maybe it's generations suffering from a welfare state that encourages failure. Maybe it's the confiscation of one third percent of a productive person's livelihood. But, I suspect it is some combination of these over decades that has abused our society to the point that a figure as philosophically impoverished as Sarah Palin can breathe her searing cloud of influence through the ears of the bobble-headed portion of the electorate.
What contradictions, specifically, an I referring to?
I'm pro-life. I'll do all I can to see every baby is created with a future and potential. The legislature should do all it can to protect human life.This contradiction infects the stance of virtually all loyal neoconservative Republicans. But, it makes more sense coming from Palin, who has obviously not thought deeply enough about many important issues. These folks believe a totally corrupt and ineffective government should get out of our way so we can be prosperous, and then they turn around tell us they will use legislature to force people to behave in ways that are completely unrealistic.
Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy.
Anyway, I indulge to editorialize. We all know it's no that simple. But, given our current and soon-to-be conditions (next 5 years), I think this one truth just may be simple enough for voter Joe to understand. And, once this becomes obvious, the wall will begin its inevitable crumble. As a libertarian who sometimes hangs around Republicans, I say it's about time.
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