Tara paduchilor

Intr-un sat de la poalele unui deal, alunecarile de teren fac sa se darame cateva case din zona afectata. Se constata ca taierea copacilor de pe deal fusese o idee proasta. Consiliul judetean, care semnase si contractul cu firma de exploatare forestiera, promite sa se implice in rezolvarea unor asemenea probleme pe viitor. Primarii tuturor satelor din judet, le impun satenilor sa semneze un contract cu o firma de asigurari. Indiferent de pozitia caselor pe care le detin, satenii trebuie sa fie asigurati impotriva alunecarilor de teren. "Avem o comunitate foarte bine sudata.. oricand poti sa te afli in vizita la cineva care are casa la poalele dealului si pac, esti tocana!"

Dupa cateva discutii mai aprinse, cei care se impotrivesc sunt numiti satanisti si reprezentatii asociatilor fermierilor din judet, in frunte cu preotul, decid ca asigurarea trebuie sa fie facuta impreuna cu rugaciunea, fiindca "Doamne fereste, cate se pot intampla".

Firma de asigurari face o inspectie in zonele afectate si decide ca toti satenii, pentru a fi protejati trebuie sa poarte neaparat casca. La magazin, la biserica, la sapa, la cosit, la birt, unde-o fi.. Se mai impotrivesc cativa, dar preotul organizeaza o campanie de vopsit cruci intoarse pe usile acestora si in curand, toate vocile care mai indraznesc sa spuna ceva, sunt unanime.

Dispar frizeriile si coafoarele, nu se mai vinde sampon, in schimb se deschid magazine care vand casti in diferite culori sau abtibilduri cu tot felul de mesaje care mai de care mai progresiste.

Tot mai multi copii si oameni cu capul mic, se impiedica de obstacole sau se izbesc de pereti din cauza castii care, fiind prea mare, le vine peste ochi.

O parte dintre satenii cu casca, continua sa-si construiasca case in zone cu risc ridicat de alunecari de teren, insa spre marea surprindere a acestora, unele dintre alunecari, inca le mai darama din case, chiar daca nu in intregime, iar daramaturile care le cad in cap, inca dor. Cazurile au fost putine, insa unora le-a fost rupt chiar gatul, cu toate ca purtau casca.. Firma de asigurari spune ca in aceste conditii nu poate sa reinnoiasca polita si propune sa fie purtata o a doua casca, cu curele mai lungi ca sa poata sa fie asezata deasupra celeilalte. Aceasta urmeaza sa fie o conditie irefutabila. Dupa un mini-vot formal, cei de la asigurari distribuie castile suplimentare prin intermediul firmei producatoare.

Dupa ce zonele defrisate sunt reimpadurite, casele afectate sunt reconstruite cu ajutorul fondurilor generoase ale comunitatii si dupa ce se constata ca nici doua casti nu sunt chiar super eficiente sub un tavan care are mai mult de 40 de kg, oamenii incep sa abandoneze casele de la poalele dealurilor, dar preotul spune ca la biserica nu se vine fara doua casti, brutarul nu vinde nici el fara, barmanu' nu-ti da nimic, bilet de tren nu-ti primesti. Prima firma de casti pentru bebelusi fusese numita "Prichindeal"

Valoarea de Post-Adevar

Am decis sa scriu acest text pentru a lansa o provocare intelectuala celor care sunt interesati, dar si pentru a-mi largi propria perspectiva cu ajutorul interactiunilor la care sper. 

As incepe cu o intrebare: Credeti ca traim deja intr-o era post-adevar, in care valoarea unei idei e direct proportionala cu popularitatea ei?
Sau ca adevarul exista doar daca e aprobat de constiinta?

Cum am aflat cu totii, omul modern care vrea sa socializeze si sa fie conectat la "realitate", trebuie sa proceseze informatiile intr-un ritm tot mai alert.  

Institutile care mediaza aceste informatii, stiu foarte bine cum sa le ambaleze in asa fel incat sa ne scoata din indiferenta si apatie.  Au reusit sa angreneze oamenii simpli in probleme globale. Cand zic oameni simpli, ma refer la cei care in general nu inteleg evenimentele din satul sau din blocul vecin, dar care sunt invitati sa discute despre ce-ar trebui sa faca marile puteri.
 
O alta conditie pentru a fi social acceptabil e sa-ti reglezi foarte rapid valorile, pentru a te plia pe noile realitati. Cei care petrec prea mult timp investigand un subiect, raman in urma cu celelalte. Creierul insusi a devenit o aplicatie care cere update-uri tot mai frecvente. Elon Musk cu al lui Neuralink o sa ocupe si de procesor. 

Suntem conditionati sa avem neaparat o parere, sa reactionam, sa devenim agenti ai unor idei pe care n-avem timpul sau capacitatea sa le digeram, dar care sunt servite zilnic de algoritmul care ne defineste si redefineste Realitatea. Tribalismul online si afinitatile ideologice tot mai cristalizate fac dialogul cu rezidentii unei alte bule informationale aproape imposibil, pentru ca nici unii, nici altii nu facem altceva decat sa reiteram agenda si propagandele la care suntem abonati. 

Prin urmare, incepem sa ne uitam unii la altii ca la niste pacienti de sanatoriu cu care trebuie sa fim foarte atenti ca nu cumva sa declansam o criza de isterie. Asteasta precautie e desigur apanajul oamenilor mai delicati.. militantii vor sa faca scantei, sa strige la opozantii reali sau imaginari, sa nege pana si valoarea umanitatii care nu se aliniaza cu ideologia pe care o servesc ei. 

Dialectica a fost si ramane o indeletnicire pentru filosofi, iar filosofatul e astazi sinonim cu a fi un pierde-vara intr-o lume alerta, in care primeaza dezvoltarea cu orice pret, fast food-ul emotional si intelectual, productia in masa si uniformizarea.   

Speculez ca Judecatile apriori si concluziile nascute din premise neverificate, sunt si ele efecte secundare ale unei suprasolicitari mentale. Aceste scurtaturi ne sapa insa o capcana in care se cade foarte usor: anume Sofistica.

Daca ar fi sa o stratific in stilul lui Aligheri, ar arata cam asa: 

Stratul inferior, care e si cel mai gros, e format de cei care efectiv nu au capacitatea pentru logica. Ei sunt nascuti cu proverbele si concluziile in gura si capata migrene sau devin recalcitranti daca cineva incearca sa le deschida perspectiva.   

Al doilea strat e format de cei care, desi au discernamant,  sunt hipnotizati de personaje carismatice ce le suspenda abilitatile critice; temporar sau uneori chiar permanent. Influencerii care vand majoritatea produselor si ideilor in ziua de azi sunt superstaruri din lumea muzicii si a sportului, dar si personaje care au talentul de-a castiga followeri cu diferite forme si talente de care dispun. Politicienii o fac mult mai putin decat in trecut. 

Al treilea strat e format de cei care se conving pe ei insisi ca 2+2 e 3 pentru a supravietui in sistemul care ii hraneste sau pentru a fi acceptati in cercul lor social. Acestia aplica tot soiul de axiome si truisme, in functie de circumstante si sunt imuni la ipocrizie sau disonante cognitive. 

Un ultim strat, e format de oameni care au suficiente chei, capacitatea de analiza, inteligenta necesara sa identifice tipare si sa faca analogii corecte in orice domeniu, dar care se folosesc de sofisme pentru a-si exercita influenta si puterea asupra celorlalti. Scopul lor e puterea in sine, dar fiind competitivi din fire, ar fi mai putin plictisiti daca publicul ar fi ceva mai inteligent. Initial, sofismele sunt pentru ei o strategie, nu o capcana, dar cu cat le exerseaza mai mult, cu atat mult sunt prinsi in acest joc, pana la punctul de non-return.

Idealistii care dau share la caricatura aia in care un politician sta deasupra prapastiei pe o barna care e contrabalansata de o multime, vor sa glorifice adevarata putere a maselor in relatia cu autoritatile. Ei bine acesti idealisti nu inteleg ceva: majoritatea cazuta la fundul capcanei sofistice e sufocata de alte straturi de sofisti care creaza o delimitare insurmontabila intre ei si adevarata putere. 

Avansul tehnologic din secolul XXI a fost incredibil. Ganditi-va doar de cate ori a trebuit sa va adaptati si redefiniti in ultimii 20 de ani. Bunicii nostri si cei dinaintea lor, cu toate razboaiele si crizele economice pe care le-au suferit, au ramas mult mai consistenti de-a lungul vietii lor. In interiorul comunitatii lor, au avut linistea necesara pentru a-si defini propriile valori, au avut credinta ca si punct de reper si lumina calauzitoare. Oare suntem mai fericiti decat ei sau am devenit cumva mai valorosi decat ei, acum ca lumea e deschisa? 

P.S. Astăzi, bucuriile sunt mai diluate, nevralgiile dor mai tare, stresul e mai apăsător, rezistența la suferință e mai mică pt că suferim împreună pe internet, toți pentru unul, unul pentru toți. Francis Bacon spunea ca un prieten bun iti dubleaza bucuria si injumatateste tristetea, dar expunerea bucuriilor si tristetilor unei comunitati globale, plina de necunoscuti, s-ar putea sa aiba un efect exact invers. 

Intermission

If you get caught up in the utter Absurdity of various political scenarios for the future, you will completely lose control of your own life.

You will become just as helpless as a dreamer who has no power over the dream sequence.

When people talk about "waking up", they mostly don't know what they're saying. Waking up doesn't mean that you can wander the dreamland in search of a better dream. There is a dream machine at work and it can keep you busy processing the endless visions and dreams that it's sending your way; these are very powerful spells. In fact so powerful, that by merely acknowledging their existence, you won't be able to wake up anymore. It's like binge watching an endless TV show and being so captured by the random scenarios that you forget to do the dishes, feed the cat, see your family, call your friends, live.

Also, if someone proves to you that you are dreaming and you feel that you woke up as a result, it means that you are still asleep. It's just that you've started a new dream..

The God trade

In about 500 B.C., Xenophanes (pre-Socratic philosopher), asserted that animals, like us, would also draw gods in their own image, if they had the ability to do so. 

This was a criticism directed at the Greeks who were acceptant of the anthropomorphised images of their deities. And this has been our privileged species' bias for many millennia. 

2.500 years after Xenophanes, the deities are starting to lose their grip on humanity (thanks, Nietzsche!), but secularism has pushed more and more people on their own little ideological islands, where they rarely trade in ideas with anyone else; but they are quick to go to war fluttering their own unique island flag.

A new belief is being pushed onto us which says that no amount of diversity is too much diversity, that there is no normality, that our identities are limitless and that our billions of cells function according to the laws of quantum mechanics. We are being told that morality itself is a construct, that all values are debatable, that we've been doing it wrong for many, many millennia. 

The internet and its storytelling is expanding at a rate which is faster than any of our forefathers could have ever imagined. For instance, YouTube alone uploads 100 hours of video every minute!! 

Does this endless dilution of content, stories and heroes coincide with a richer set of values or will it lead us astray, following a personalized maze that will ultimately end up in a mental asylum, were everyone is raving about their own little philosophies and special illusions? Has it already happened with the perfection of the algorithms which recommend content for our little bubbles? 

One could argue that a limitless diversity of choice is helping all disenfranchised individuals find an identity thus spurring them on in their pursuit of happiness. 

But there are also those who see the social fabric coming apart at its seams. The super-educated youth is encouraged to roam free, away from the herd; But isn't this also an unprecedented opportunity for all sorts of predators? 

For an inquisitive mind, all universal truths should be challenged and put under scrutiny. Many of the very intelligent people, in pursuit of their epistemological Zenith will use compelling arguments against the unifying ideas of religion, even against the idea of God. They will say that believing this story has only brought misery and intellectual stagnation for "the many". Are they truthful? Humanitarians?  I have the feeling that not many wise people will agree.. 

Welcome to my pond

Dear friends, I fear that I have gone mad, so I warn you that what I am about to write could have been tainted by the machinations of a f(r)oggy mind. Continue reading at your own risk of contagion.

I don't know exactly when this could have happened, but I think I have become a frog. I am able to recall a time before this current state I am in.. but to my disappointment, I was a simple man, never a prince. This might make it a bit harder to return to my previous human condition, knowing that my reversed metamorphosis would not promise a significantly better situation. 

Of course, I have learned to be especially alert around snakes and birds, I am still developing my croaking skills and catching insects has proven to be harder than I thought. But aside from all that, the pond is really welcoming and I don't pay rent. I especially like the crickets at night.. how often does your food sing for you? 

There's a enormously long list of things that I like, but my absolute favourites are jumping and croaking with my army in the dead of night. The stars aren't so bad either and I can still remember some of the constellations from when I was a little kid. 

I'm pretty old for a frog; while I was checking my reflection in the pond, I noticed that I share the features of maturity common to the group's elders. However, they have not invited me to join them, seeing how clumsy I was at the most trivial frog tasks. If they could speak, they would probably express their perplexity at how I had managed to stay alive for so long. The same day I had joined them, a youngster had to kick me into the water in order to save my life. My skin was dry and I was choking.. I had no idea what was happening to me. To this day, I haven't been able to learn how to communicate verbally with them, but I now understand the basic does and don'ts. 

As a human, I had always called myself a night owl, the other night I was snatched by one. It let me go when I used my human voice and as I was falling from the night sky, twisting and turning through the air, I was concerned that, having heard me, my army would finally banish me from the pond. I landed in the water, next to my Lily pad. I climbed on top of it and started croaking the best I could. 

It might have been my loudest and most confident croaking yet and the others soon joined in with the same level of enthusiasm. 

No, I don't think I'm going back to being a human.. sure, I miss some people, my REM sleep and some comforts here and there, but this life is mostly better. I don't miss my stupid human brain. I now believe that the capacity to understand freedom is directly proportional with the capacity to invent reasons for slavery. 

P.S. many people I know have also been transformed into frogs and some have accepted the invitation to climb into a very very large pot filled with water. 

I sometimes miss a hot bath as well..

Life in a Supermarket

How Supermarket discounts have conditioned people to accept the lockdowns and even the vaccine mandates.

I know, this might sound a little bit far fetched, even ridiculous.. However,  please bare with me while I attempt to give this purely intuitive, non-scientific affirmation some context. 

I hope we can agree that feeling "free" only happens in our imagination, for being satisfied with your level of freedom (like with many other abstract feelings) is relative to your capacity to endure their opposite.  

"Freedom" meant something completely different a few centuries ago for instance.. It means something completely different today, for all the contemporaries of this planet, depending on the region and political system that you live under, e.g. North Korea vs. Norway.  And within those countries it means something completely different for people who want more or less of it.  

Another thing to keep in mind is that throughout the course of human history, freedoms had to be won, they were never granted! Once we became the "rulers" of all the beasts of this planet, our will to dominate did not subside and the only thing that was left to subjugate were other humans. 

If people could really achieve freedom on this planet, they would probably feel trapped anyway. If they could achieve freedom both on Earth and on Mars, they would feel confined to this stupid Solar system and so on. Some would argue that Freedom in its purest form will remain impossible to achieve. 

But enough about this elusive freedom! I could have said a platitude like "Freedom is relative" and carry the hell on, right? 
We're trying to connect Discounts to Lockdowns. Here's my attempt: 

Do you know those Supermarkets where some products are always  40% off and the "real" price is always crossed out? This is an obvious strategy to make you buy more things, including some that you don't need, do you agree? But most people will end up buying it, especially if they've seen it advertised! 

The government, irrespective of the country you live in, manages their own chain of Supermarkets and it's really difficult to find the Exit. But the legislators and politicians are merely the Supermarket managers, i.e. the marketing department. And you don't get to vote for the many owners of the Supermarkets you live in. They have inherited this business from their forefathers who have claimed it by force (mostly by murdering the competition). 
The guys that you are allowed to vote for, are nominated by these owners and they don't go into politics because they envision a better world or crave an attractive state salary. Time and time again, it has been revealed that the big prizes are the bonuses that they score when they promote a new product for their owners.  
With this pandemic, they had an initial offer for the product of Safety in exchange for Freedom and so we bought it quickly. Especially if you saw the commercial for Safety! And how can you not see it? The marketing strategy was so efficient that the product was omnipresent. The Supermarket had a really good offer for our Safety. The discounted price was 2-3 Weeks of Freedom  
The next Product, which will enable you to live "freely" inside of this Supermarket had to be sold quickly, i.e. mandated, because it has an expiry term.
But this will not be enough! From Youtubers, Podcasters and Vloggers to shoe shiners ,mechanics or prostitutes, they all want you to buy subscriptions.  

We're all in the same Supermarket! Respect the decisions of the ones who don't buy the same product as you. What is good for you, might not be good for the others. We should be kind, understanding and compassionate with our fellow shoppers. 

The year was 2163, but most of humanity did not know or care about it anymore. Time did not mean what it used to and death was not considered to be a tragedy by anyone. The people stopped trying to pretend to be something they were not because there was no need to save any kind of appearances anymore. In a way, these were the most honest times that the human civilization had ever experienced.

The Sun explosion of 2149 had made most people blind, and some deaf as well. The experts had initially warned about the potential hazards, but later changed their minds and announced that it was safe to watch it wearing nothing but "dark sunglasses". Some influencers who had read that the eyes could suffer no permanent damage from looking directly into the Sun, had also decided for their followers that no extra protection was needed. The governments, who were not hiding that they could control the weather, made sure that all the biggest cities of the planet would have a clear blue sky at the time of the explosion. 
The solar event had been heavily promoted for months and not even the most isolated people in the world would remain unaware of the coming event. They would ask their friends questions like "where are you going to watch it?" or declare  "I wouldn't miss it for the world". 
There was a huge debate around the coming explosion, new scientists and experts, even some cults and sun worshipers would attach a great significance to it. Some would say that it could mean the end of our solar system and of life on Earth. Life on the planet would go on, but humanity would embark on an irreversible course to damnation.  
The Sun flares were indeed the most powerful in recorded history and no one could really understand the consequences of an explosion of that magnitude. 

The show was unique, the spectrum of colors and the unbelievably bright, beautiful lights had mesmerized all the onlookers to such an extent that even when their retinas were being burnt beyond repair, they were still smiling. 

The ones who were in the right place at the time when it happened or had the instinct to hide were very few. They were now either rulers of the world or part of the Resistance, trying to protect nobody but themselves.
The most powerful and ruthless among the rulers were the prisoners of the darkest underground cells. Those were the prisons where the most heinous criminals had been incarcerated at the time of the explosion. They had been serving life sentences or were on death row*. The soon to be blind guards had left them unattended because they all wanted to watch the phenomenon. The prisoners needed very little time to break free and just over 10 years to organize and take over the world. They re-formed the gangs, reinforced them, adding more and more members, they shared the continents and countries amongst themselves, ruled through fear, abuse and violence. Their absolute power was beyond question, it would surprise no one that they were killing all who would challenge them.  

*The death penalty was a relatively new thing in 2139 and had been abolished and then reintroduced several times throughout the decades, depending on the media's shift in direction, political regime and especially when the public outrage was stirred by some particularly gruesome murders. The most significant moment in criminal criminal law history happened in the year 2055, when Pascal Tirbutiwi had become the most notorious neuroscientist on the planet. He had published and successfully promoted his studies and scientific work which proved beyond any doubt that humans could never possess free will.  Once the theory was accepted, it followed that due to the lack of free will, nobody should not be held accountable for their actions. After the whole scientific community got behind this study, it triggered an unprecedented reform in the justice system, which of course could only operate on the assumption that people are responsible for their actions.  

In the year 2160, the advancements in the field of neuroscience had allowed the scientists to capture and record what people were dreaming. The recording was an accurate motion picture of the all the dreams and it included all the characters and the events that had taken place within the oneiric realm. The dreamer could re-watch everything in VR.

Shortly after this incredible experience became available, an even more powerful one was developed and perfected by the same scientists. They managed to create a VR Set that allowed the users to live other people's dreams and later completely evade their own reality and engage in an alternative scenario which they could choose in advance.
Once the technology had been perfected, the inventors were all assassinated by the Rulers who had secured all the data and know-how. They had a group of 250 people connect their brains to the machines while they were having multiple sexual experiences in different settings, with different partners of different sexes. Whosoever would put on a VR set loaded with this " recorded reality" would have an incredibly vivid experience, exactly like the ones of the protagonist. They could feel the same pleasure, pain, the smells, the tastes, they could see, touch, hear.  Once connected to the specific experience that they had they paid for, the users' brains released adrenaline, serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins in the exact same way as in the "real" world. And here, they could also see again!!  Humanity now had the possibility to connect to an alternative Universe and there was no turning back.