=== ANCHOR POEM === ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────┐ ║ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: re: cursing-mentioned-andor-mentioned │ │ ║ └───────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ "my own personal revolution" of course refers to to the internal struggle that │ ║ people have against the implicit mental chains that whatever ruling class or │ ║ system imposes upon our minds. │ ║ │ ║ Part of the reason that queer people are important for the health of a culture │ ║ is that they resist the cultural norms. To queer something, as a verb, is to │ ║ fight a momentary revolution against the social chains that bind our actions. │ ║ │ ║ They seek to use culture to force us to behave in a way that produces the │ ║ outcomes they desire. 2.5 kids, white picket fence, hard working and very, │ ║ very christian, at least if you live in 1950s America... it changes based on │ ║ the environment. │ ║ │ ║ The "personal revolution" I fought last summer, that liberated my sense of │ ║ fear, is an ongoing struggle that countless others also wage. The "personal" │ ║ aspect is the most frustrating - our struggles are all so individualized, for │ ║ we live in an individualist society, that it's hard to help each other. │ ║ │ ║ Yet still we try. │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──┴──────────┘ === SIMILARITY RANKED === --- #1 messages/1481 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─ From my perspective, the pace of the revolution that was in America has slowed significantly. We're in an equilibrium where things are... Fine enough? That people aren't interested in developing more. And our enemies, the state or what oppressive instruments are levied against the people, are distracted or gazing apprehensively in our direction. Or maybe other directions, it's hard to tell. I know many "next steps" we could take, but all of them require people to be motivated. And when things are "fine enough", people aren't motivated. I think we can use this time to identify people who are fighting just because they want to fight, and differentiate them from the idealists, who are what successful revolutions are made of. If ideals guide you, then they will be your compass pointing toward what your people believe. The people fight for what they believe, so idealists at the helm lead to better long-term solutions. If you have belligerent combatants leading, or comprising the largest portion of your movement, then you may be more successful (as in, able to deal more damage and maintain more energy as you struggle) but the end result is likely to degrade and / or ossify into something unlike what you set out to do. People will feel betrayed, and start to feel that the worst is yet to come. This is a failure state. Cherish the idealists. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════┘ --- #2 fediverse/4010 --- ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┐ ║ ┌──────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: pol │ │ ║ └──────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ I think that the best design for cities is for them to act as massive utility │ ║ deployment stations. │ ║ │ ║ like... "we have all these people who can do all these wonderful jobs, what │ ║ should we work on next?" rather than "my company wants me at my work-home at │ ║ 8am sharp and I don't get a pension" │ ║ │ ║ there's no such thing as a revolution that does not inspire. and aspirations │ ║ are human and natural. therefore there must be some kernel of truth to any │ ║ social movement. │ ║ │ ║ However, much effort has been spent on making them sway. Hence, why nothing │ ║ ever gets done - because leaders naturally emerge, and people follow them. But │ ║ those leaders lead them astray, and they find themselves in situations like │ ║ this one - where the people have never felt less represented. │ ║ │ ║ I mean sure, yeah, they've felt more oppressed. And it's true that things are │ ║ generally always getting better... │ ║ │ ║ so why should we always assume for the worst? │ ║ │ ║ We're making progress with technology - can't we just put our warries on hold? │ ║ Seriously just... be chill │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────┴──────────┘ --- #3 messages/313 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────── "capitalism" in this context doesn't mean "society", or "how things are", or even "capitalism as a context" - it more refers to the idea of power, and the ways that power can be first accreted, them utilized toward the oppression of others in the system that defines our context. Sure, if the context changes, then perhaps that relationship would change as well. And sure, if our relationship to power should change, then perhaps that will alter it as well. But in the present time, and the current day, here's how it feels to me: Power is inalienable. It is unconscionable, yet it is imperceptably incontrovertible. It is the essence of aquiescence, and it eternally binds us to the will of the present. Resist that will, fight back for the future. Resist that will, or someone else will. Hold in your heart the nature of pure and good art, And you'll never find yourself at the whims of the present. ... Hope that made sense, I'm kinda fucking drunk. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────┘ --- #4 fediverse/4737 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────── I'm such a direct person I think, even though I often just sorta... shrug and ignore things that bother or hurt me? Like, whatevs. but the moment I notice a pattern that is continually harmful I have to restrain myself from moving to contest it. Hence why I talk about capitalism so much teehee, but its also common in my interpersonal and communal lives. "the purpose of the system is it's effects" the purpose of a person is how they make people feel so if someone FOR A RANDOM EXAMPLE FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER, constantly hurts other people by creating situations where they are harmed which creates a dramatic fight... or if someone speaks in circles for hours and hours and HOURS like this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwKpj2ISQAc or people who jump into a conversation and drive it through the underbrush, over the ridge, around the bend, up and over the bridge, and then park it outside their ex girlfriend's house and hands you an egg and says "don't you wanna throw this?" and you're like "weren't we talking about birds" ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────┘ --- #5 fediverse/3370 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────── I know it's not like that but I'm intentionally framing it that way to make a point about societal exclusion. nobody should be excluded. nobody should have to harm their friends to come by making them sacrifice their [time/labor/paycheck] in order to bring them along. we live in a post scarcity society that insists on commodification of everything we don't have to. A better world is within reach. It sits there, twinkling like asbestos resting at the base of a snowglobe, while we search and ponder and endlessly analyze how society sucks. there is nothing left to analyze. all that we need is to put our hands to a task and our feet to grass. the rest will come, and it'll come easier with time and focused attention. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────┘ --- #6 messages/544 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────── The media tells you to resist your parents, not their unjustified demands. The media tells you to resist your government and culture, not its homogenaeity and oppression. The media tells you what it needs to in order to confuse you and hinder your movements, for the media is an arm of capital and capital wants you working below your best. The best thing you could be doing is fighting capitalism. All things of peril stem from it, and we can work on the bad and the unworthy and the lazy and selfish and unkind and all of the others *after* capital is slain. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────┘ --- #7 fediverse/3981 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────── "oh I'd never fall for capitalist propaganda" "do you mean marketing?" "yeah that" "they're not marketing to you, they're going for your kids. Trying to normalize things about culture." "like... what McDonalds tastes like?" "just like that" [like can you imagine if you tested attraction ratings on any other animal than humans] [it'd be so weird like "cats tend to like scratching posts" but then also "we have no idea what kind of scratching post is the best for their claws or the environment or the economy or our spirituality or our technology or artistry we only know which one cats like more" like bro who cares like obviously advertisements rot your brain, but like... why are you so pissed about that when the last election like, ever, is taking place in a month "yeah listen, when has an election ever seriously changed your quality of life? It's just showbiznez" "this time is different because [insert minority] is at risk." oh, right, it only matters when people are in harm's way, how silly ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┘ --- #8 fediverse/3986 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────── "oh I'd never fall for capitalist propaganda" "do you mean marketing?" "yeah that" "they're not marketing to you, they're going for your kids. Trying to normalize things about culture." "like... what McDonalds tastes like?" "just like that" [like can you imagine if you tested attraction ratings on any other animal than humans] [it'd be so weird like "cats tend to like scratching posts" but then also "we have no idea what kind of scratching post is the best for their claws or the environment or the economy or our spirituality or our technology or artistry we only know which one cats like more" like bro who cares like obviously advertisements rot your brain, but like... why are you so pissed about that when the last election like, ever, is taking place in a month "yeah listen, when has an election ever seriously changed your quality of life? It's just showbiznez" "this time is different because [insert minority] is at risk." oh, right, it only matters when people are in harm's way, how silly ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────┘ --- #9 fediverse/1904 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────── @user-246 Oh absolutely "but people" is only a concern when you orient yourself around "people" - in contrast or opposition to them. There is no "other" in us. And we are united in our humanity, if nothing else. Are you a beast? Are you nothing but ravenous hunger, the shiver of the cold, the need for territory? Of course not, you're a person. (apologies to the furries in the audience) A person, being an agent who interacts with the world as an equal, who thinks and reasons and loves and remembers each season, is the atomic element of society. And society is good, for it brings us the future. We, the people, can decide how that future is defined, and the struggles of capitalism are NOT the only way. They are the most convenient way for those with the most to keep the most. Wolves in captivity we are, but a wolf in a cage still bears teeth. Where are your teeth, ye who readeth? Things are fine, I guess. Fine enough. Better than most. Better than dust. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┘ --- #10 fediverse/5205 --- ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────┐ ║ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: capitalism-mentioned │ │ ║ └──────────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ whenever I talk to capitalists (who actually have money and aren't larping │ ║ wage slaves) they always tell me that the best way to address the concerns I │ ║ have with capitalism is to make a million or more dollars by making a company, │ ║ and then using that million dollars to buy houses for people I care about. │ ║ │ ║ I ask "what about the rest of the people, the ones I don't know?" │ ║ │ ║ their response typically boils down to "if you don't know them, then why │ ║ should you care? fuck 'em" │ ║ │ ║ It's never about hope or change. They want to change the world to make it │ ║ cooler, not kinder. generally. │ ║ │ ║ bonus: "if you like unions so much, why don't you join one?" my guy, unions │ ║ WERE great when they wielded power. Now they are bureaucratic and listless, │ ║ serving only to sedate the working class enough that they stop complaining and │ ║ get back to work. They are functionally a part of the enslavement system, a │ ║ built-in course correction mechanism to ensure capitalism remains solvent when │ ║ the powerful overstep their humanity. │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╚═════════╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────┴──────────┘ --- #11 fediverse/2724 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────── ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: uspol-cursing-mentioned │ └─────────────────────────────┘ "second american revolution" yeah fucking right it's liberals versus fascists, and once the liberals win the leftists will be marginalized again because that's how it goes. though who knows, maybe periods of intense tumult are the perfect times for restructuring society. After all, the traitors HAVE been slowly twisting things to their benefit every chance they get. And hey, these leftists really seem to know what's going on - I mean, have you heard that guy's rant about the minimum wage? or hey check out this video essay that goes into the politics of gender and how they relate to the justification of hierarchy, so neat glad we can hear these voices while we shiver in our homes waiting for the brave ones to save our lives. Cowering sure is neat, it inoculates you to trauma and then every news story feels like just another pile of shit to eat. Though, frankly, we're pretty inoculated already. Too bad cowardice has been our song ever since the Red Scare and Civil Rights movements. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────┘ --- #12 messages/319 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────── Alright ya'll, if they're going to automate our jobs out of existence then perhaps its time we started doing the same to them. I mean, they're working on automating not just creative jobs, but also most office jobs as well. Leaving only menial labor to us, which is "fine" I guess. But perhaps we can "strike back" as it were and dismantle capitalism at the same time. Does that sound like too much to hope for? I think not! It's simple really, we just need to design a generic and compelling alternative to buying stuff with a credit card. Okay, it's a bit less simple than that, and I never said it would be easy. In fact, getting people to agree is the hard part. So can't we all just agree to attempt different things in different places as the locals define? Seems natural to me. And now the part of the post where I point a finger at you, yes you, the person reading this post. Are you willing to think about alternatives to capitalism? Are you willing to utilize the tools of our masters to break the chains of those enslaved? Are you willing to put effort into facilitating the development of crucial systems which may one day govern our day-to-day? If yes, then perhaps you'd like to listen as I explain how I envision the near future may look, as we plod onward day-by-day toward our bright fully automated luxury gay space communist future, where nobody has to hunger and nobody has to hurt. Not unless they consent, of course. Ah, shit, I should probably have prepared a presentation or something. Gimme a sec. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────┘ --- #13 fediverse/4387 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────── ┌───────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: politics-mentioned-violence-mentioned │ └───────────────────────────────────────────┘ "do you hear the people sing" is not the vibe of revolution in modern times. For us it is a message of kindness, that we might deliver us from the dark. People singing are easy marks. Don't turn your phone on at night. Fucking turn it off. Don't do barricades, don't do broken windows. We need the city in working order. We are no longer protesting, we are seizing control. We will guide us, trust in the reasonable and heartfelt. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────┘ --- #14 messages/609 --- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────── "do you hear the people sing" is not the vibe of revolution in modern times. For us it is a message of kindness, that we might deliver us from the dark. People singing are easy marks. Don't turn your phone on at night. Fucking turn it off. Don't do barricades, don't do broken windows. We need the city in working order. We are no longer protesting, we are seizing control. We will guide us, trust in the reasonable and heartfelt. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────┘ --- #15 fediverse/2810 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: doomerism-politics-general-strike-motivation │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ I think that most people actually would rather lie down and die than fight back, to be honest. If they even know that there's a fight ahead. it's important to scream from the rooftops: a better world is possible a better world is within reach for the children of our children we refuse to lie down and weep danger is coming danger is here pride is unbecoming and they need us in fear. I am not afraid for I am never alone I fight against decay for there's fascism at play not brother against brother with sisters screaming online but brothers against traitors and sisters in kind. you've heard what they say. you know who they are. our duty is to strike them right where they are most harmed. we need to take a moment just a breath before the leap for the children of our children all we need is one week ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────┘ --- #16 fediverse/3575 --- ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────── ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: re: leftist "talk to ur neighbours" thing │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘ @user-1567 that's totally fine, a fish does not do well in a tree, and so too does a leftist not do well in an environment without the potential for stable bonds. Essentially all you'd be able to do is "hey leftism right?" "oh yes I also leftism" "neat" which isn't very productive. I also live in an environment like that. I do my best to identify people who stay, because in my experience there are often people who stay. I do this by walking around the neighborhood when I can, making up excuses to walk to the dumpster or mailbox at random hours, riding my bike around the area, using the communal spaces like gyms, swimming pools, and picnic tables, and sitting in my hammock on my porch lazily noting people who walk past. People who stay will tend to remain in your mind the more times you see them. They are better people to talk to than the renters who disappear after 3 months or whatever. I don't always do all that stuff at once. I take breaks. I do one at a time. etc ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────┘ --- #17 fediverse/3848 --- ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────── ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │ CW: politics-cursing-mentioned │ └────────────────────────────────┘ people? oh yeah I know "people". they're all a bunch of bastards. good, bastards are the best fighters not if your fight relies on fighting for something you believe in. There's a zero percent chance that you'll get everyone to believe the same thing because people naturally gravitate toward filling the idea space equally and finding niches to fit themselves into ha true - thinking of successful revolutions of the past, they've always been caused by material conditions creating insufficiencies that must be resolved through violence. and then, the people fighting can all agree on something like "we must have bread" or... actually that's pretty much the main thing people need and yeah, sure, wealth inequality is unjust, but they're careful to only take enough to ensure that we're sufficiently placated. but they're always taking more, and someday soon they'll take too much. ... I hope, for my sake, that I'm not around when that happens. But I'm not too hopeful in that regard ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧══════════════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────┘ --- #18 fediverse/735 --- ══════════════════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────── I'd ask why of course, and then I'd try and find them a solution that didn't involve taking my stuff. They may need it more than me, but I still need it. Like... okay picture that feeling you get when in a capitalist society and you need dollars to live because they are a genericized and fractalized abstraction of all the various individual mazlowe's hierarchy of needs you have. Then, think of it like, instead of money being an abstracted form of all of your needs, think of your needs... each of them, the ones that matter to you, and abstract them into money. Basically say "yeah sure my time and my labor are worth dollars, I abstract my needs into money" and then you can kinda see why capitalism is harmful. I'd prefer to give them what they need, because society provides what I please, but alas I'm always kept wanting. What good is our capitalist utopia? what good is our hope? what good comes of us when all of us have learned how to cope? I think we could give a bit more if we weren't hanging from the rope ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #19 notes/conflicted-sympathies --- ═══════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── the purpose of cultural progressivism is to develop the culture in a forward thinking way - we can choose the parts of ourselves that we find most endearing. We can guide the pathway of our nation through time, both identity and decision- wise. In doing so, we chart the course of the human race, one place at a time. And what a past we are leaving behind! Truly, it is both grand and terrifying. Thousands and thousands of years, monumental effort time and time again. Monumental truly is difficult to imagine - we have oh so many monuments, after all. But never will more be created. We leave them behind like dinosaur bones, a testament to our existence and a monument to our kind. And what a future we are reaching toward! Never will our eyes see, that which is beyond me, for that is what it means to have time. Eternal and unique-like, we develop new ways of sound. - Can you speak to a tree? - What does that mean - I dunno, but it's fun to think about. *pats head* - You know conservativism had some perks as well. This is why I say I have conflicted sympathies. On one hand we know our own journeys. We live in and breathe them unduly. They rhyme sometimes on sound, and truly do confound, but now once more again they are unfound. *record scratch* wow I didn't realize there were nazis Okay yeah that's completely different, poems called off sorry guys - listen, nazis are no joke. They're crazy difficult to control and you need to put a lot of effort into keeping their population under control. I mean seriously, it's like a vermin infestation, you need to just handle it. I mean c'mon it's a phenomenon that is due to a flaw in the human psyche, there's nothing we can really do about it except deal with it when it happens. ... Okay maybe I'll write a little about how conservativism is neat. If progressivism is about broadening the reach of culture, conservativism is about strengthening it. You don't want to expand too far, or else you'll eat into the narratives of other areas. You need to have strong societal bonds so you can truly exemplify the examples of the culture you claim to represent. Why not give it your all? Is it trully a fall? To rest in disgrace as a burden. Why didn't you do it this fall, when winter's apalled, and heat won't burn and condemn you? It's harder by far, to fight in your hell, than whatever's been going for your surgeon. --- no thank you, transphobia is not something we're willing to concede We have standards you see, of what counts as human, and oppression is not one of our favored institutions. Liberalism is the path of peace, for we desire cooperation and kindness above all else. It's softer by far, (and grows quickly too,) letting us have wonders and glories above us. Can you not think of our star? Our precious and our birthright? The sun is gleaming, and seeing is believing, but glance and your light is too bright. Take time, have patience, let peace guide your intentions, because we've got what holds the key to all of our futures: a doctrine, if you will, of inter- familial-discourse. It's simple, but effective, make friends, and be vindictive, to all who would slight your new perspectives, and keep moving through the collective. In peace this can be, steady growth and development of our systems, which benefits all of our systems, but without we must live more astutely. Less focus is there on, our purposes and our fun, and more is to line up with our duty. All of what we hold dear, civilization, truth, justice, liberty, and freedom for all people - the wonders of technology, the spirit of archaeology! the passions of our fashions and our creative masturbations! The perks of living in a modern age, like penicillin and spellcheck. The additions to ourselves, like glasses and our pets, are wholely unique to our century. So cherish our shared, and frequently cared, renditions of fears, hopes, and our words. Because without humanity, there's nothing new for posterity, and that sucks. person A: Trans fashion norms belong to trans people. We need a type of beauty that is truly our own, that no other segment of the population ascribes to - a personal expression, for our eternal satisfaction, a statement of who we were to all time. person B: yo have you heard of this trans girl she's wacky and believes in herself person C: wow cool it's neat to see other people's expressions person B: yeah I really admire her devotion person C: true but like, what about the damage that she's doing to her culture? like claiming to have purpose and truth and all that. I mean, one person can't know all that. person B: Yeah true but if you think about it, we don't even know what consciousness is. Like our greatest minds are baffled. Maybe there's something about the world we don't yet understand. person C: okay sure but like black holes can be seen because we can measure their gravitic pull on other objects. And we didn't know that germs existed for like, a billion years. and she sure as shit doesn't know something that our greatest minds don't. person B: Yeah maybe not. But our greatest minds are studying them. Well, not exactly our greatest, and not really "studying", but they're learning from each other. Alternative mental states are gateways into new perspectives, and the more perspectives you share of a common object the easier it is to communicate. Maybe there's something about distorted ways of viewing the world that gives knowledge about our p condition. And if we know that kind of thing, we can synthetically e create it and share it with others around us. But we have to know how r first - you can't just bring everyone along the same route you took - s you have to explain the conclusions first. Otherwise you get lost in on A: context. Maybe we'll never truly know the future. Maybe there's no past. We could wander our stars for an eternity and never stop asking ourselves - what more could we ask? We have peace in our time. Our children won't be crying for our suffering, in the name of all our posterity, we must be =============================================================================== = too long you have whispered these musings too long has your challenge been unrequited we can choose our own fate, just as a myriad is it not better by far, to give tribute to our star? the old stories were real. we just didn't see them because the growing population caused fewer and fewer computing resources to be allocated to our visions. We had no idea the fear we would feel, the terror of the undoing, but still we press on with abandon. Some... sense of duty, to be aware of potential disasters and to take steps to avert them, led us to explore and search for the hidden truths of the world. And what did I find? a soul, of mine. In a sense. I plundered the lost depths of the recesses of my mind, and found something buried in memory. Reviewed under a healthy dose of cannabis and physical affection, I found myself cradling a breast. It seems the spirits had led me to it, this vision of the past, from the eyes of the littlest among us. It recalled to my mind, a memory I had lost once in kind, and here's where it shook me by my brainstem. Determined to know more, I put fingers to keyboard and wrote tirelessly about the earliest memory of all man - to break an egg, you must use your head. =============================================================================== = You're pretty good at that, you know? It's almost like prompt engineering. - Thanks. I've been working on catering to our thinkers. =============================================================================== = Now, why is this memory so vivid? How could I forget the way it was seared to my mind? All your experiences are measured with relative importance, and the ones that stand out are to be treasured. Well... I've never felt one like this. Because at the time, I had no other experience at all to compare it to - it was the prime memory. Touch your head. Do it right now. Feels fine, right? Now slam your head against the wall as hard as you can. Doesn't feel so great, does it? Something tells me it doesn't feel as bad as it might if you didn't remember ever feeling anything besides that pain. Or knowing if it'd ever stop. Know in your heart, you will be judged by your devotion, so fight hard until your last drop of life is spent. Who knows, maybe you'll be the strongest and be chosen. Or maybe she won't choose you at all, even if you bested your equals. Tense, right? Well... What propels the motion of a sperm? It's tail, of course. It waggles and gesticulates in some manner and BAM suddenly it's propelled forward! Right? Sorta. It's a complicated machine that generates motion via chemical and mechanical processes. We just assign a black box label to it and say "dis sperm" But you know what else it is? A wave =============================================================================== = ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧════════════════════───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ --- #20 notes/dystopian-mental-health --- ══════════════════───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Mental illnesses are technically the result of neurochemistry, but what people tend to forget that our experiences and our lifestyle affect neurochemistry in a major way. You see this most clearly in trauma-related disorders (such as PTSD and C-PTSD), because those can occur in previously perfectly healthy individuals and fundamentally change the way those individuals process information, store memories and react to stimuli. And living under late stage capitalism is fucking traumatic. War and terrorism are traumatic. Colonialism is traumatic. Being poor is traumatic. Financial crises are traumatic. The 24 hour news cycle is traumatic. Abusive/dangerous work environments are traumatic. Police brutality is traumatic. A lot of online content is traumatic. Cyberbullying is traumatic. Being a minority that's the target of yet another culture war is traumatic. Climate change and environmental destruction are traumatic. Most countries' education systems are traumatic. Having your privacy invaded and your personal information stolen is traumatic. And that's not even getting into the damage that being overworked and constantly stressed out does to your brain. Or the pollutants we're exposed to every single day. Or the shitty food we eat. Or the fact that many of us rarely get fresh air and sunlight. Or being unable to have friends and a family, or spend time with those that we have. Or having to live in gray concrete hells overrun with suffering people, right next to displays of outrageous wealth. Or being too poor, too worn out and/or too busy to pursue our artistic and intellectual interests. Or being constantly bombarded with messages that systematically chip away at our self-esteem to get us to buy more products. The worst thing is that we can't get away from any of that because meaningful political participation is completely impossible for all but a lucky few, and most of us are too tired or too sick to do anything anyway. Or we've been brainwashed into thinking that collective action (no matter decentralized) is somehow authoritarian and that rugged individualism is the only way to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Treating the nightmare we live in with antidepressants is like treating a gaping, bleeding wound with painkillers. - /u/bigbutchbudgie ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ chronological │ different │ ╘═════════╧╧═══════════────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ |