Binding of the Roguelike

I've been playing a great deal of the game video game: The Binding of Isaac. This wonderfully disturbing little game has you playing as Isaac, a small child who has been locked in the basement by his religious mother who believed she was obeying God's command.

In the game, Isaac fights his way though the vermin of basement with his tears as his weapon. Yes really. Isaac will barter with curious apparently dead children, make deals with the devil (and possibly fight him), receive angelic gifts, scavenge what resources he can.

What really interests me is that the game is a Roguelike; meaning that when Isaac dies, the game resets and all progress is lost. And further, the game itself randomizes the setup upon starting a new session.

And I've been thinking about life as a Roguelike now and wondering about applying my strategies from Binding of Isaac to playing at life. And of course, wondering why such strategies aren't taught to all children. Of course, if you've been following this page, you probably have a good idea. If not, start reading!

Life is short.
Work is crap.
Join my cult.

The Hell Keys

There are numerous minor realms in the Shadowlands. None of them are so well established as the Realms of Fair Folk. Their realms connect to all the major realms and the liminal realms. And the doors to the various demenses in this realm are the Hell keys.

Why conspiracy is the least scary option

There is no conspiracy.

There are many conspiracies.

As soon as there were three people, two were keeping secrets from the other one. Let's be honest, everyone is keeping secrets and everyone is telling secrets about everyone else. Any conspiracies eventually come out, making the possibility of an illuminati conspiracy so very unlikely.

People who imagine an overarching conspiracy are noticing that our myths and cultural assumptions rhyme again and again. Our culture has unspoken assumptions that lead us to behaviours that are destructive, both externally and internally. Our assumptions create a cultural cult that encourages and venerates a kind of societal murder-suicide.

I very much doubt there is an illuminati directing a master conspiracy from the shadows. Even competing master conspiracies seem unlikely. More likely to me, is a realitybof many petty conspirators imagining themselves to be supervillains. I doubt there is any super conspiracy. But if so, well done?

What there is, however, is a contagious set of assumptions driven by our underlying toxic culture. As soon as we internalize these toxic assumptions, we become contagious to others. And so the same damage is perpetrated by unrelated people apparently acting in concert, but really just infected by the same toxic culture.

And because the infection starts by convincing us that no other cultures exist, or are even possible, but the infection is lying to us.

Life is short.
Work is crap.
Join my cult.

Why I hate YouTube Ads

Once upon a time I saw an trailer ad on YouTube for an upcoming movie. The movie didn't seem mind shatteringly original or shockingly well made. But it looked fun and decent and maybe worth a watch.

That was the first time I saw the trailer.

The fifth time I saw the ad, I decided I would not see the movie in theatres. I felt intruded upon and wanted to punish the film for its advertising.

The tenth time I saw the trailer, I decided I never needed to see the film. Period. Hard stop. I won't even name the film in question, lest I encourage you to see it. That's how much I want to punish the film's advertising team.

I wonder if I'm alone in this attitude. If I'm not, what does this say about the current advertising model? And what does it say about cultural saturation and blowback against the interruption economy?

The human mind is a finite thing. The pop self-help gurus can go to hell. We have a finite fungible amount of willpower. We have a well-documented limit in how many social connections we can keep track in our heads. And though the information overload economy, interruptions may be an effective way of grabbing our attention briefly, thry are also a direct attack upon our limited resources. Something's got to give, although I have no idea what.

Life is short.
Work is crap.
Join my cult

The New Course Reading

I've added a reading list.

I sat down and began to think about the collective research in have done into this grand problem.

And it's a lot of research. So I started compiling a reading list. I've added the list of the site already. The list isn't even close to complete, but it's already fairly large and I think it's a good start.

So a real blog post will arrive tomorrow. I'm considering the reading list to be today's post.

In Which we speak of Cults

Dissent from Decadence

Anyone who has read my work, here or elsewhere, can't help but know that I don't like the results of civilization. Oh, to be sure, I like the side effects of civilization- the fringe benefits if you will. I like technology. I like modern medicine. I like the modern entertainment industry. I like being in the elite 15% of the world population. 

But, although others might argue that these are the fruits of civilization, I would argue that overpopulation, clinical depression, world poverty, species extinction, mass pollution, climate change and ten thousand years of war and conquest are the actual fruits of civilization.  

And I dissent from the popular view that this is an acceptable trade off.

Life is Short

Work is Crap

Join my Cult

Building a Cult

I've been using the above tag line for a week or so now. And the reason is simple. The human mind, as natural selection has crafted it, is drawn towards religion-like social technologies. Philosophy and science are both outgrowths of religion, as is politics and psychology and sociology. Many will take umbrage with this assertion, but the facts are pretty straight forward, all of these subjects are outgrowths of ideas and bodies of knowledge which originated in some religion or in many religions. As hostile as religion eventually became to many of these things, individual religions in some cases and religious thought in general in others, modern abstract thought and epistemology were incubated in the womb provided by religion.

And Cults are what big religion calls little religion.

I have labored some seventeen years now, studying the problem of Civilization. And I have what I believe to be an template for peoples to build their own religion/life philosophies which will be in adherence to the laws of nature and the human mind; religions which will nurture the human condition and protect us from being overwhelmed by our worst impulses. And this, is of course, a mad sounding idea. Hence, I call myself and my idea out preemptively as a cult.

I have studied the destructive nature of what some call cults and others call high control religions. I have built an immune system into my creation to protect against such corrupting ideas. But such temptations are inevitable in systems crafted by man and perpetuated by man. And so the defenses must be visible, and white blood cells must be all members of the congregation.

Another Way

And so, I'm building another way. I've been researching and building and designing for seventeen years. And I'm going to put it out there. And this is my plan. I have enough research and writing, musings and meditations, thoughts and theses to post every day for a decade or so. So watch this space.

If you think another way is necessary, watch this space.

If you want out of the rat race, watch this space.

If you hate Monday mornings, watch this space.

If you have stopped believing in capitalism or democracy, watch this space.

Life is Short

Work is Crap

Join my Cult

Why we are Helpless

I have lived on this planet for approaching thirty eight years.

In that time, I've done some pretty cool things. I've written a few novels (not published, but written). I've run several half-marathons (not full marathons, half marathons). I've earned two first degree black belts (first degree, keep your pants on). I've camped without a tent in mid February.

And most of this has nothing to do with my schooling. School has taught me a great many things, how to take tests, how to switch tasks on command of a bell, how to manage a nine to five workday with lunch and coffee breaks. Oh yes, and I learned a bunch of trivia questions answers to random subjects. I have been prepared should I ever land on Jeopardy.

By the age of fifteen, in traditional cultures, I'd have been prepared to live as a self-sufficient member of the tribe. I'd have been a warrior and a hunter, at home in the world. We could do the same job preparing our children for the world we live in. We don't do this. And why don't we? Why was I, instead, still basically a child at eighteen?

Look back a few hundred years for the answer. Peasants and aristocracy could be trained from day one. You knew your lot in life based upon your birth. Hell, the modern rich and powerful still do this frequently, knowing the jobs they will grow into and the path they will take. But the peasants have rebelled enough times, and chopped off enough rich heads, that they are now told they can be whatever the like and whatever they can achieve.

Given the power imbalance, ninety some percent will still end up as what basically amounts to peasants. And this is required for the system to function. So how do you turn children into Peasants, while convincing their parents that you're giving them a sporting chance? Of you're part of the rich and beautiful; how do you convince the poor to do your labour and fight your wars, and do so without dragging you to the guillotine?

If your rich and beautiful of Prussia, you invent the modern compulsory school system for purpose of turning your peasants into loyal soldiers and obedient workers (this is why kindergarten is named using the German word for child garden). The purpose of the schooling is the format of the schooling itself.  The bells and coffee breaks, the changing shifts, and the adherence to authority and the submission to outside testing; these are the real curriculum. But what then should the would be workers and soldiers be taught in the official curriculum, if said curriculum is purely a show designed to keep the adult peasants from rising up in rebellion?

Teach them to memorize jeopardy trivia. Teach them to answer game show questions during the time when they would previously have learned to be a hunter and a warrior. Teach them to answer pointless questions for authority figures on command when the could have been learning how to live free and walk away. Teach them skills thst only work in the class room and instincts that leave them only prepared for life as a wage slave.

Alex, I'll take Capitalist Shell Game for 600.

Life is short
Work is crap
Join my cult