Yes, we do have new overlords (and they are closer to you than you might think)

(a review of Cosmic Trigger 1 I posted on Goodreads)

Would give this five but for the outdated predictions. Life extension, increased space travel, a lot of the things haven’t happened yet. But, when I look at what has happened over the past thirty years, it isn’t that surprising. There has been a TREMENDOUS increase in the use and availability of personal technology. People like Elon Musk and Richard Branson are doing good things with regards to space flight. However, a whole lot of the money and research has gone into personal computers -> laptops-> smartphones -> tablets -> smartwatches, Glass, etc. Yes, the internet is a wonderful place and can allow people to connect (to a degree) but to my mind the connections aren’t genuine. Rather than move toward things which could unify us as a world people and possibly realize our common interests, we have managed to come up with more ways to make us more self-involved and things to addict ourselves to. I have had the idea for a while for a scifi story. Basic premise is that the machines are, in fact, taking us over. But they are doing it covertly and by preying on our human weaknesses. They managed to insinuate themselves even more strongly into our lives with the advent of the personal computer (think about the famous Apple 1984 ad – maybe prescient in a different way than intended). In the process of this intrusion into our lives, they manage to interface with us and get into our brains to make us THINK they are more vital to us than they actually are. And make us “need” them more, to do more things. And subsequently convince us that we need to constantly get the latest, greatest, smallest new gizmo out there. This initial entree was so successful that they upped their game and put themselves in our pockets, and upped the ante in terms of how “valuable” and “necessary” they are to us. Their latest strategy is to put themselves directly in front of our eyes at all times, and on our wrists. Of course, this is all leading to the next goal which is to get into our actual bodies. Which they have managed to accomplish to a small degree. The more interaction we have with them, for more hours of our day, the more of our consciousness they take over as they manage to convince us they are so important to us that we should allow them even more free reign. They manage to manipulate and persuade us to allow them even more control over our lives, and that the avenues for connection are more important than genuine connection. We don’t need things like consciousness expanding substances or techniques which might encourage us to have genuine connection with other humans, the beings on this earth and the earh and universe itself. No, we just need them to attain the simulacrum of happiness they offer. It’s all virtual anyway, right?

Bill James (baseball stats guy) on needed changes to our economic system

Bill James’s post on revolutionary changes needed to our economic system certainly has some interesting ideas, ideas with which I am pretty much in complete agreement. We live in an obscene system where so many people do without even the basic necessities of life, while others inordinately profit from the labor of those who are even ABLE to find a job. A system which loses its justifications every day, whether it’s the good old “bootstrap” theory, or any of the other theories people find to explain away what is just plain and simple greed.
Marx was right in more ways than he was wrong. Marxism, however, or the perversion of it called Marxism-Leninism, has its problems. What Marx did was take a look around, in the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, analyze what he saw, and predict what its future effects might be. True, he did have what could be called a political plan of action too, but what he proposed is far, far from what became of his ideas under the autocratic Soviet system. His analysis of what happens to surplus labor value, though, was at the time, and remains, spot on. Surplus labor value is what is allowing the dictators of industry to accumulate their ridiculous fortunes, fortunes which keep growing. It’s a systemic change which is needed, and what James proposes is a good start. We ARE the 99%, and if enough of us rise up and start to demand change, they will have to answer eventually.

Fear is the mindkiller

I think that’s a quote from Dune, or maybe Heinlein, not sure. Regardless, this article resonates with me. I really think the stress we induce by worrying so much does more harm than the things themselves. Are we needlessly living our lives in fear? (from Wilderness Innovation)

A new theory of sleep

A few months ago, I had the idea that in sleep, in dreams, we connect with other dimensions. My belief, as far as other dimensions, is that there are infinite dimensions, infinite universes, in which infinite permutations of events can happen. We are actually connected the whole time we are asleep, but dreams only occur during specific periods of the cycle. We remember them only when our minds are at a point or state of being sensitive enough to apprehend and remember the occurrence. In short, when we sleep we are connected with infinite mind.
So today, reading Robert Anton Wilson’s Cosmic Trigger, another insight came to me. I was going to say, “I had another insight”, but that isn’t my understanding of how these things transpire. It isn’t a thought that BELONGS to me somehow, just one that is “out there” and my own state of being at the time is such that I am ready to receive it. At times in the past I have had similar insights, but was dismissive of them. Either because it seemed too crazy, or usually having more to do with the old bugaboo “But what will OTHER people think if I tell them this?” The two are connected, of course. Now, I believe that I just wasn’t, at the time, at a point in the journey of discovery, partially described in my previous post, where I was really “ready” for it.
So on to the insight (I ramble, I digress, similar to the way my spiritual journey has transpired, but I am just not judgmental of myself for it any more, usually). In sleep, we are in contact with the multiverse, and a process of growth occurs. A growth important for us as individuals, and also for our little piece of the multiverse, if we pay attention. It isn’t a matter where rational thought, such as dream analysis, holds very much sway. It’s more intuitive knowledge, for lack of a better word, which seeps into our psyches like water does into the ground to nourish plants. It is the universe’s, or more accurately multiverse’s, way of imparting to us the information which allows and encourages us to psychically advance as a species and become more responsible citizens of the wonder we inhabit.
I am on my third (or maybe fourth) read-through of Cosmic Trigger. In my previous post, in listing the various schools of thought I have studied at varying levels, I neglected to say much about the Sufis. I did spend some time investigating Sufi wisdom, the dervishes, the Mullah Nasruddin stories, the hashishin connection. As with many other things, I moved on, mostly because of the monotheistic nature of Islam, a way of thinking that just doesn’t resonate with my experience. The Sufis, however, are different; more like an entirely separate religion than orthodox Islam. That is, if mysticism in general has any connection with established religion, which I don’t believe it does. A variety of mysticism seems to be common to just about all the schools of thought I have spent any time considering or studying. It “comes out differently” from all of them simply due to the perceptive, conditioned apparatus of the individual receiving the insights and the cultural milieu he or she has been steeped in. Far more similarities than differences, in other words. In Cosmic Trigger, on page 89 of the Falcon Books edition I am reading, “Many people have had the experience of not knowing who they are or where they are; it usually occurs in the first moments after awakening in the morning. The Sufis say that you are closer to Illumination in that instant of micro-amnesia than at any other time.”
For what it’s worth, the insight which came to me about the nature of sleep came to me a few minutes before I re-encountered this passage in Cosmic Trigger. As a (possibly) tangential bit of information, I was reading, as I always do, as I relaxed before I took a nap for a little while this morning. On this read-through of Cosmic Trigger, I have become more aware of the mind-bombs implanted in me at my first encounter with this book. Just a series of words arranged in a certain way, but seemingly a lot more than that, at least in my experience.

Some personal thoughts on Robert Anton Wilson and his influence on me

Just finished reading Illuminatus! for the second time. I realized that this is one of the few books which have genuinely changed my life. I had no idea how MUCH of an influence it had had until this reread after probably eighteen years, coming across phrases and ways of thinking which had operated as “mind bombs” (I have no idea from whom I stole that phrase). One of RAW’s favorite phrases is Korzybski’s (sp?) “the map is not the territory”, and I became aware that I had been focusing far too much on the “map” of my peregrinations, not really seeing the “territory” I had covered. My personal path has been winding, from Southern Baptist (which I left behind long ago), through a very brief not even quarter-hearted flirtation with Catholicism inspired by Thomas Merton, to varieties of Buddhism (Zen and Tibetan primarily), and back again to Taoism a couple of, or a few, times. There were also diversions into paganism and Celtic spirituality along the way, as well as the Sufis. The Sufis creeped me out a bit, but I’m not sure why. What happened is that I sent off for some information to one of the organizations affiliated with Idries Shah in the late 90s. At the time, I was living in Nevada. I subsequently moved from there to Florida, a couple of different addresses, and the Sufimail followed me for a number of years (it has since stopped). My conspiratorial mystical mind went to work and got a little freaked that they KNEW where I was somehow. The more plausible explanation is that they received change of address notifications from the PO and updated their information. Still, though, I’m not completely sure.
(the journey is its own point).Taoism is the one which resonates most strongly with me, but after reading Illuminatus! again I realized that if I am anything, and I’m not really, I’m a Discordian. I have acquired my own, personal web of knowledge about different ways to look at the world (thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird, as Wallace Stevens might say). I am more comfortable today with the fact that my journey will likely continue as it has, that I will continue learning and hopefully growing. One of my favorite quotes is from one of those Zen guys, Shunryu Suzuki. “The beginner’s mind is open to endless possibilities; the expert’s mind is open to few.” Probably slightly misquoted, but you get the idea. My goal is really simple – to always have beginner’s mind, a flexibility that allows me to encounter new points of view, assimilate what resonates to me, and move on after a time.                                                                                                                                

Robert Anton Wilson on the origins of Discordianism

(book being quoted here is Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler. This is from historiadiscordia.com)

On page 309, RAW drops some vital Discordian knowledge, which stands as probably the most succinct and to the point summary of Eris worship ever writ (maybe):

“Much of the Pagan Movement started out as jokes, and gradually, as people found out they were getting something out of it, they became serious. Discordianism has a built-in check against getting too serious. The sacred scriptures are so absurd—as soon as you consult the scriptures again, you start laughing. Discordian theology is similar to Crowleyanity. You take any of these ideas far enough and they reveal the absurdity of all ideas. They show that ideas are only tools and that no idea should be sacrosanct. Thus, Discordianism is a necessary balance. It’s a fail-safe system. It remains a joke and provides perspective. It’s a satire on human intelligence and is based on the idea that whatever your map of reality, it’s ninety percent your own creation. People should accept this and be proud of their own artistry. Discordianism can’t get dogmatic. The whole language would have to change for people to lose track that it was all a joke to begin with. It would take a thousand years.”

Thoughts on an aborted revolution

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! One more time, just one more time, if I have someone say “Second Amendment! Second Amendment” to me as a kneejerk reaction, I might just have to, get MAD at them or something. This incident has really brought the snarky cynical bastard in me who comes out when the idiocy threshold has been crossed. Just HOW PERFECT is it that these “revolutionaries” were apparently going to take over a WAL-MART and use it as their base of operations. Plenty of food, guns and flag t shirts to be sure. A PA system with which to communicate with your fellow revolutionary who might be goofing off playing a video game or watching FOX on TV instead of preparing their next assault, or out flyering trying to attract converts. Also, just about everything you need to whip up a fine batch of meth in the lab where the garden center used to be.

Dark Souls has stolen mine

Not being sarcastic here, but I am sorry your experience was so negative. No way will I even try to convince you to give it another shot, since you seem pretty committed. But I do want to make a couple of points. This game is different, in every way. I am not a huge gamer, have not played a ton of games, some of which I didn’t stick around with long enough for them to get their hooks in me. I call myself a casul, and wear my “casul” badge on my gear in DS proudly, because I are one, and I’m OK with that. Some games are an acquired taste. DaS is not, for the most part. What I have seen happen with a number of people is that they come in having been a total badass at other games, including sword and sorcery RPGs superficially similar to DS. They try to use the same strategies they used in those other games, and they try them again and again, and they fail and get frustrated. DS is its own beast. It requires thinking more than any other games I have come across, and this is what has kept me coming back for “mor deth, plz”. It took me a WHILE to get the concept through my hard head that I needed to learn from every death. It took realizing that sometimes, through pride, I would go back to where I had lost souls, not that many. Pride and impatience would result in me getting kilt again. By the same guy or guys often. And I would get more frustrated. After a while, I started using brain when appropriate, brawn when it was, thinking about what tools and equipment I had, or might need, and changing what needed changing. Had more success, got hooked by the exhiliration of beating NOT just the bosses and minibosses, but getting through an area where I had been thrashed repeatedly. I finally got it! Death is a necessary evil in this game, not something to get mad about all the time. It’s always MY fault, after all. When I started approaching each death as a learning experience, I started enjoying the game much more and usually, but not always, laughing at myself for being such a goon. I hope you come back, because it seems you want to like it, but just couldn’t. It is NOT for everyone. I read that before I bought it, and even though I am a middling gamer on my best day, gave it a shot. The gauntlet had been thrown down. It didn’t beat me, and won’t, as long as it takes for me to finish the damn thing.

http://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls/comments/27m6zz/so_for_the_first_time_ive_actually_permaragequit/ci25gyc

THIS IS DARK SOULS act appropriately

a little something I wrote for reddit about a game I am totally obsessed with, to someone who ragequit and uninstalled it.

original post http://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls/comments/27m6zz/so_for_the_first_time_ive_actually_permaragequit/.compact

Not being sarcastic here, but I am sorry your experience was so negative. No way will I even try to convince you to give it another shot, since you seem pretty committed. But I do want to make a couple of points. This game is different, in every way. I am not a huge gamer, have not played a ton of games, some of which I didn’t stick around with long enough for them to get their hooks in me. I call myself a casul, and wear my “casul” badge on my gear in DS proudly, because I are one, and I’m OK with that. Some games are an acquired taste. DaS is not, for the most part. What I have seen happen with a number of people is that they come in having been a total badass at other games, including sword and sorcery RPGs superficially similar to DS. They try to use the same strategies they used in those other games, and they try them again and again, and they fail and get frustrated. DS is its own beast. It requires thinking more than any other games I have come across, and this is what has kept me coming back for “mor deth, plz”. It took me a WHILE to get the concept through my hard head that I needed to learn from every death. It took realizing that sometimes, through pride, I would go back to where I had lost souls, not that many. Pride and impatience would result in me getting kilt again. By the same guy or guys often. And I would get more frustrated. After a while, I started using brain when appropriate, brawn when it was, thinking about what tools and equipment I had, or might need, and changing what needed changing. Had more success, got hooked by the exhiliration of beating NOT just the bosses and minibosses, but getting through an area where I had been thrashed repeatedly. I finally got it! Death is a necessary evil in this game, not something to get mad about all the time. It’s always MY fault, after all. When I started approaching each death as a learning experience, I started enjoying the game much more and usually, but not always, laughing at myself for being such a goon. I hope you come back, because it seems you want to like it, but just couldn’t. It is NOT for everyone. I read that before I bought it, and even though I am a middling gamer on my best day, gave it a shot. The gauntlet had been thrown down. It didn’t beat me, and won’t, as long as it takes for me to finish the damn thing.

Yes you are!

Encountering RAW and Terence McKenna 15 or so years ago broke my head open, no substances other than knowledge involved. After all, knowledge, followed by open minded investigation, which might eventually become a sort of wisdom, is more powerful than ANY hallucinogen. Not that hallucinogens don’t have their place.
Challenged my insular worldview, opened my mind to paths of which I hadn’t previously even been aware, paths I still follow to this day. Not so much a purveyor of what even he sees as truth, more of a trickster figure. He in effect says to the reader, “OK, sucker, like 99% of humanity you have taken certain things as gospel your entire life. Like most (shumans? Humeeps?), you may have encountered certain things which have enhanced or even changed your essential worldview. To your mind, possibly even, some of these have been so radical, but the parameters of your worldview remain essentially pretty narrow. NOW, humeep, what if these OTHER things, which might at first glance seem totally cuckoobananas, might be true? Maybe even possibly, just a little? NOW what are YOU going to do with THIS information?”