Archive for the ‘Humour’ Category

Blog Look Will Remain Unchanged

The People have spoken. I will also add a brief (say under 9,000 words!) explanation as to why.

Perhaps my binging of the series Mad Men has inclined me to explain myself more than usual concerning a topic I hardly ever mention but that is actually quite important to me: Aesthetics.

And since you all have short attention spans I put a heading below in underlined bold you can skip to.

The Poll remains open so it may accumulate more votes over time, but I am also quite sure that most of the critics have spoken already.

I also received some texts and emails and one of the most balanced was an email that explained how the eye naturally tracks from top left to bottom right for Westerners, and that while, yes, the fruitfly attention span is a real thing, and people probably don’t even notice the sidebars and links there, this site has a unique look that is not really found anywhere else; and that —for anyone with a little discernment— makes it stand out from the endless deserts of slick, clean, pristine, and sterile sites that all resemble each other.

And he has a point. I don’t know about you, but I can barely stomach seeing another substack layout.

He was probably too polite to point out what my most constructive critic spells out, which is that he thinks the blog looks like a Warhammer 40K site and that there is so much content it looks like a reddit sub with 50,000 posts.

While I resent the Reddit comparison, I understand this site is not one-dimensional, and that can be “overwhelming” for some, after all, I cover everything from Ancient Technology to the Zombie Apocalypse, and everything in between, with serious posts about astronomy, Mars, The Catholic Church, Martial Arts, Christianity, Hypnosis, Science Fiction deeply steeped in Nazi “Conspiracy theories” that are rooted in factual events, random thoughts on the farming life, occasional humorous anecdotes about my not quite feral, but certainly savage children, and many, many, other topics, as the categories list (now fixed after the hack attack) on the right clearly shows.

So, yeah, I guess the average overstimulated, non-existent attention-span, partially woke, partially boomerzeigest infected, possibly apathetic GenXer, depressed Millennial, or stoned GenZ reader may find the site too much “effort” to peruse, investigate, navigate, and explore.

I get it.

But you see, as I wrote back in 2009 when I created this site’s look, from scratch, out of my own ideas and head, and despite it offering both Hypnosis Services (which are actually being requested more lately, with good results in general) as well as a link to my E-store for digital versions of books I wrote (most of which are also on Amazon), and some watercolours I do when time permits, the primary thing this site is about is not what you might think.

It is not politics, hypnosis, science, science fiction, writing, or really any of the categories listed on the right; but rather, it is about an overall, encompassing category I mentioned right at the very origin of this site:

Exploration.

As I wrote in 2009 (the site launched in early 2010 but I had written up the various pieces a few months earlier):

The world we inhabit, and the universe we find ourselves in, is an absolutely incredible and fascinating thing. In truth, almost everything I do stems from my ever-growing curiosity about many, many things. 

This site means to attract a very unique type of reader.

The ideal daily visitor is a person that is still curious about life and the world we live in. Increasingly frustrated or angered by the increasing enstupidation and zombification of humanity all around us, but not crippled by it. Not a nihilist or a person lacking in hope and ability as a result of the grind they put us all under. I want the rebels that prefer to live out in the wastelands with single action revolvers, filtered water catchment tanks, solar panels, and water turbines, far away from the drug-addled inhabitants of the Brave New World Cities where you will be provided for, own nothing, and be drugged, lied to and brainwashed into “happiness”.

Such people will NEVER agree with everything I think, opine on or write. There will be things I say that will piss them off, or they will disagree with, BUT and this is key, they are the type of person that CAN be persuaded by facts. And as such, even the things I write that may piss them off may later, one day, when presented in a way that suits them more, be digested, metabolised and assimilated. They may, in fact, change their mind. And sometimes they may change mine.

Everyone likes to think they are that type of person, who can change his mind based on solid facts, but I estimate that at minimum over 85% of people are simply not. And if I had to guesstimate the actual number of people that can turn their long-held beliefs on a dime when presented with irrefutable evidence, I would say that at the most optimistic and generous, it is under 2%.

So, I know. I am my own worst enemy from a financial, economic, or fame perspective. And while I care absolutely not at all for fame, I could certainly appreciate being able to make a living just from my writing and sharing of concepts, stories, and ideas I have discovered in my rather eventful life. That would be truly awesome.

But not at the cost of my integrity.

I ENJOY writing this blog. And while it lay mostly dormant for years at a time, because my life was too full, chaotic and dynamic for me to give this much thought, since 3 years ago, I have begun an attempt to create a stable family home. It’s not a coincidence given I have also fathered three children in the last 5 years.

And while I have no more time (in fact, probably less), no less chaos, and certainly a LOT more worries and a LOT less money than I did before, continuing to write here actually gives me some of the spiritual fuel that inspires me and keeps me going.

Yes, the Satanists in charge may nuke the site tomorrow from orbit, or I may get droned or microwaved into a “heart attack” for it, or whatever.

C’est la vie.

But in the meantime I’ll carry on as I see fit.

And in doing so, the people that will most likely be attracted to this site are the types who WILL look at the links on the sidebars.

The types of people who DO read full length books and enjoy them, even if they too are harassed, squashed into cubicles, robbed of their time and sanity and souls every day.

They are the people who remain curious, defiant, who are able to change their mind based on facts, enjoy a story or a laugh with a man they agree on some things with and disagree on others, without either one ever losing respect for each other.

They are the type who, perhaps, also understand my sense of taste.

The Aesthetics of this most Excellent and Tonic Verbarium of Ideas

In my opinion, the last natural, real, honest, scientists, were best exemplified in the late 1800s. It was a time when equipment and machinery was crafted with care and skill, but also with a pleasing aesthetic.

Scientific observation was meticulously undertaken with patient recording of results and while the scientific method was held to tightly, the imagination of men was unfettered. We could envision sky-ships and then we built them.

Cognac and good cigars were served in the well-furnished libraries of men who could theorise on the laws of gravity as easily as discuss the possibility of remote areas of the world that might house supposedly extinct species. Men who would travel to far-away lands to explore ancient and mysterious ruins to discover the real origins of mankind. Men who did not fear an intellectual conversation, nor a brawl when the occasion called for it. Men who could argue honestly in search of truth, not the mere satisfaction of ego.

Such is the design of this site.

The slightly baroque look of the wallpaper reminiscent of hand-crafted wood-panelling, the various links and addendums to the site analogous to hidden doors in the library, or a secret panel in the desk, behind which was to be found even more astonishing information and locations.

It was a time where a man could be a real scientist, an explorer, a polymath, hold his own in discussions with the most esteemed experts of various royal societies, but not shy away from a bare knuckle fight or a duel with rapiers at dawn.

It was a better time, when men (and women) of good breeding, or at least quick wit, were naturally more observant, could make something of themselves through their own efforts, and were free to explore thoughts, ideas, lands and cultures with no one bothering them too much beyond possibly trying to kill them for time to time; but usually for economic or personal reasons, which are at least understandable, unlike much of the wokeness of the present day.

So that, is the look I was going for.

And I would say it has stood the test of time.

It is not a design that has “aged out”.

It was intentionally started as something you might expect to find well over one hundred years ago, in a slightly cyberpunkish, Space 1899, Jules Verne and HG Wells novel, sort of way.

The intent here, is that while the tone can range from rough and brusque to rarefied and abstract, the point is freedom to think. Freedom to explore.

And in fact, in writing out this explanation for you, gentle readers and kind supporters of my work (and yes, you too, those who hate-read here in fury, and even you, Dean, 30-year veteran of the NSA/CIA/FBI/Spook outfit that is designated as my personal agent), I am reminded of that original intent as well as the ways I may have strayed from it here and there, as every man will.

At times my tone has been cruder than I prefer, but then, it is a very raw and evil world we inhabit, and I, nor my target audience, is a prude. The odd curse or graphic sentence here and there is not anything I will lose sleep over, but perhaps, I can find a better way to temper my expressions.

I do not know yet if this site will ever reach a large enough readership that it might result in continued patronage of the things I offer and mention here, I hope it does, and soon. But regardless if it ever does or not, I will continue to write here in this spirit; and the changes that might come to this site (other than what Dean and his friends might have in store for us all) will probably be limited to a consolidation, of various concepts or topics. Perhaps an addition of a forum for people to discuss various ideas.

And there is certainly scope for people to contribute.

The SOE side of things has never taken off because the readership I have is small, and we are all increasingly struggling to survive, but the structure for it is all identified and it would be awesome if other natural scientists from around the world took it upon themselves to do experiments, report them back here and get them to be added to the Adventure Science Library, which I have not had a chance to work on and update in years.

Similarly, you might want to actually physically join me in Italy or at least contribute to the efforts of The Kurganate. One man already has bought property near me, another lives here already, and more would come here tomorrow if they had the funds to do so. Some are working towards it.

Or you might just support my efforts by reading my books, or subscribing with a membership to my YouTube channel.

Or… you could simply use the share button at the bottom of each blog post (you need to actually click on the blog post individually for the button to appear at the end of a post, but we are working on it showing even if you are just on the main page) and send whatever post interests you to a friend.

In Conclusion

I know this site is not for everyone.

It was never meant to be.

It was always meant to be for that discerning, objective, rational, curious, adventurous yet scientific type of person. Maybe they all died out in the late 1800s, or maybe I really am from Mars, and was transported here as a very small baby, in a perverse reversal of John Carter’s situation. But whatever the case may be, and as much harder as becoming a Warlord of Terra is, I plan to continue on as a, possibly Martian, erudite polymath, with a large vocabulary, a small to inexistent capacity for suffering fools, and a partiality for rapiers, blades and firearms, exploring ancient ruins, and hunting for cryptids.

As all the best of my kind from 1888 or so did.

You might be interested in the following posts:

  1. What Next?
  2. Why you MUST fight the stupid

By G | 23 October 2024 | Posted in Actual Science, Ancient Technology, Books, Brain-Mind Functionality, Farming Life, Humour, Hypnosis, Increasing Happiness, Poll, Writing

Lost Control

Overheard conversation between Piglet (3) and her brother Little Viking (5).

P: you know when i bashed my nose on the door and I was lying in bed watching telly?

V: yes

P: well auntie Z came up there and switched of the telly. I got so angry! I wanted to punch her!

V: But (Piglet) you could have just said “Auntie Z, I was watching that, can you switch it back on please?”

P: Oh no, I couldn’t. I couldn’t speak. I was so mad I lost control of my mind.

V: (with a deep, knowing understanding tone) Oh, yes.

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By G | 14 October 2024 | Posted in Humour

Little wasp bite

I’ve been bitten by wasps plenty of times before but this is the first time it gives me michelin man hand.

And this is day 3 after the bite.

I blame… you know!

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By G | 13 October 2024 | Posted in Humour

4 Rules

Hat tip to Adam Piggott.

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By G | 11 October 2024 | Posted in Humour, Social Commentary, The Jews

The Most Important Book I Ever Read

For some years now, I have toyed with making some kind of list of the ten most important or enjoyable books I have read (different lists) but it has been very hard, mostly because I could easily extend both lists to 20 or 30, and partly because many books I (most) have been lost to moves and unfortunate storage choices by my relatives when I left them in their care.

Nevertheless, I recently posted on the Best book I ever read. But that was my attempt at mixing what I thought was important with what I enjoyed. By the same token, my own books, The Face on Mars could be of the same category, if for very different reasons. While Reclaiming the Catholic Church – The True History of Vatican II and the Visible Remnant of the Real Catholic Church now that the Vatican is a Pederast Infested Hive of Impostors, to my mind, would be important, but probably not as fun to read (still way ahead of any book on theology I read to date though).

Believe! On the other hand was a short book and to the point, with references, and relatively entertaining too, and it probably had far more of an impact than the detailed deep dive that Reclaiming had. Certainly I didn’t expect whole families to convert to Catholic Sedevacantism as regularly and as frequently as that little book seemed to have inspired. So one could say it was a useful book.

By the above metrics then, I hope to explain why I consider this book, freely available at the link, to be the most important I ever read.

Carlo Cipolla was obviously a brilliant man, but his book, THE BASIC LAWS OF HUMAN STUPIDITY is truly ground-breaking.

He encapsulated in both hilarious yet perfectly accurate scientific notation, just how human stupidity presents itself in observable reality.

As he mentions in his own first edition of the book.

In fact, the publisher’s note alone is worth reproducing in full:

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Originally written in English, The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity was published for the first time in 1976 in a numbered and private edition bearing the unlikely imprint of “Mad Millers.”

The author believed that his short essay could be fully appreciated only in the language in which it had been written. He consequently long declined any proposal to have it translated. Only in 1988 did he accept the idea of its publication in an Italian version as part of the volume titled Allegro ma non troppo, together with the essay Pepper, Wine (and Wool) as the Dynamic Factors of the Social and Economic Development of the Middle Ages, also originally written in English and published privately by Mad Millers for Christmas 1973.

Allegro ma non troppo has been a bestseller both in Italy and in all the countries where translated versions have appeared. Yet, with an irony that the author of these laws would have appreciated, it has never been published in the language in which it was first written.

Thus, more than a quarter of a century since the publication of Allegro ma non troppo, this in fact is the first edition that makes The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity available in its original version.

The private edition of 1976 was preceded by the following publisher’s note written by the author himself:

The Mad Millers printed only a limited number of copies of this book, which addresses itself not to stupid people but to those who on occasion have to deal with such people. To add that none of those who will receive this book can possibly fall in area S of the basic graph (figure 1) is therefore a work of supererogation. Nevertheless, like most works of supererogation, it is better done than left undone. For, as the Chinese philosopher said: “Erudition is the source of universal wisdom: but that does not prevent it from being an occasional cause of misunderstanding between friends.”

Supererogation means to do more than is required (especially in a work). So Cipolla is saying that although it should be obvious that stupid people will not be the ones reading it or making use of it, it is best to state it, even if it should be obvious, and he (politely in my opinion) states that this is necessary even among “erudite” friends, in order to avoid misunderstanding.

Now you know why I have rather long-run-on sentences and verbose paragraphs to make relatively simple points. I could make them in a sentence, but then… the “erudites” who grasp the full meaning would be a tiny number indeed!

I also agree that though he was Italian, the work is really best appreciated in English, which is how he wrote it. I find the same is true of much of my own work. The English language is perfectly technical and lends itself far better to technical explanations, scientific work, and precise language. We Lagos tend to lose something in translation in the written word if we can’t add a look, a hand gesture, or both. And the number of people who can write in technically excellent Italian are probably down to a half dozen. those who can appreciate it may ten or so.

At any rate, you really need to read this short book the Professor left for the non-stupid.

The planet is fast approaching a critical mass of stupidity that may well result in the extinction of the human race, or at least, of that part of it that makes life on this planet marginally tolerable despite the teeming waves of idiots we are constantly surrounded by.

Mostly, this is because of a corollary I would like to add to his Fifth Law of Human Stupidity.

A STUPID PERSON IS THE MOST DANGEROUS TYPE OF PERSON. A STUPID PERSON IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN A BANDIT.

Professor Cipolla himself already understood the inevitable result of the relationship between stupid people and power (in the political and force-projection sense), as he wrote finally at the end of the fifth law:

In a country that is moving downhill, the fraction of stupid people is still equal to σ; however, in the remaining population one notices among those in power an alarming proliferation of the bandits with overtones of stupidity (subarea BS of quadrant B in figure 3) and among those not in power an equally alarming growth in the number of helpless individuals (area H in the basic graph, figure 1). Such change in the composition of the non-stupid population inevitably strengthens the destructive power of the σ fraction and makes decline a certainty. And the country goes to Hell.

Given the current state of affairs however, it is important to spell this out in even simpler terms:

The Bandits use the Stupid to weaponise them against any attempt (by the Intelligent) of removing them from power.

It may be the natural (or Divinely Ordained) order of things that humanity is indeed to go extinct, as some giant Universe 25 experiment with mice, be that as it may, surely, as a member of the Intelligent group, it behoves us to do whatever we can to ensure the continuation of at least our part of humanity, as best we can.

Aside the fact that humans are not mice, and that the Universe 25 narrative played very much in the depopulationist boomer agenda espoused by the culprits of the recent mass-murder event called COVID, with its related fake “vaccines” that are really murderous genetic serums, there is also the fact that if intelligent humans organise and come together, their effect on the planet is far more impactful than the masses of idiots that inevitably get in our way to derail plans and efforts, as they invariably do.

In short, the book Cipolla wrote is extremely important because it formally recognises a fundamental issue that humanity has to face in order to survive the next stage of human advancement: The increasing and intentional stupidification of the human race by a few bandits orchestrating it.

Only a concerted effort by organised intelligent people can counter this global phenomenon.

Which, of course, is why I started trying to build up a Sedevacantist Catholic Community in a remote village in Italy. While my wife and I, despite our rather advanced age for it, certainly did not shirking our duty of making a bunch of children.

It is heartening to see that other sedevacantist couples, younger and therefore likely to produce many more children, are trying to do the same in their own ways in various places around the world.

The independent cell-nature of the Sede Catholics, coupled with absolutely shared dogmatic values, is a strong combination for weathering all sorts of nefarious events and plots by the Bandits; and historically too, no one has been quite as successful at rising from the supposed ashes of their religion.

So we are on good ground.

Go read Professor Cipolla’s Magnum Opus. It is truly wonderful and important.

You might be interested in the following posts:

  1. Life Imitates Art
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By G | 9 October 2024 | Posted in Actual Science, Believe, Book Review, Catholicism, Clown World, Face on Mars, Hard Facts, Human Performance, Humour, Increasing Happiness, Mass Murderers, Reclaiming the Catholic Church, Retards, Sedevacantism, Zombie Apocalypse

Smart Arse Daughters

Some time back, I explained to my eldest the saying “All roads lead to Rome”.

Explaining it had a double meaning, firstly because the Romans were the ones who first build proper roads, in fact, several of them are still in use today millennia later, and secondly, because any version of Churchianity one cares to investigate, if one is honest, inevitably, leads back to Catholicism, which until 1958 and a period of a few decades some centuries ago, has always had its main headquarters in Rome.

In essence, the only true Church has always been Catholicism, and this is partly also why Rome has been thought of as both the Eternal City and the Omphalus of the World (belly button for you ‘muricans and GenZs).

This was several weeks ago.

A little while back, I was driving somewhere with her and had forgot the phone at home, so we decided to wing it and try and figure out how to get to where we were going by rough geographical orientation.

At one point, turning into a road, I said rhetorically to myself:

“Who knows where this road goes?”

Scorpio Girl: “Ask the Romans.”

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By G | 3 October 2024 | Posted in Humour

RPG livestream set in the Dirty Old West – Follow Along Information

It will happen tomorrow, Saturday 28th September, at 9pm Rome Italy time (3pm EST; 2pm CT) on my livestream.

This post will introduce the setting and situation and the player characters too. Because we plan to play for only about an hour tops, I am placing the situation here. it is assumed the characters already know each other and are familiar with the situation, so that (rural internet permitting) we should be able to just start off and get with it. Some players were a little scant on their character’s description, but these will be added when they send them in.

Each player should have his character in front of them, a pencil and eraser to keep track of things like health points, ammunition, or make general notes, and two six-sided dice to roll for various situations or task resolutions they will need to perform.

If you want a copy of the rules, it’s only £5 as a PDF and you can get your copy here and print it (31 pages).

Below, the map showing the area and below that, the situation as our heros find themselves in.

Area Map

The Player Characters

Jack O’Trady (aka Jack O’Trades)

Equipment: Shotgun +10 rounds, .45 Colt +12 rounds, knife, bedroll, satchel, $10

Height: 6’1″ Age: 28

Appearance: sandy blonde hair with a scraggly reddish beard. Twill pants with suspenders and a waist long coat with belt on the outside it that carries his sixgun, ammunition for it, knife and flint and steel kit. He is broad-shouldered and thick at the waist, sure footed.

Bio: A Catholic Irishman, not in search of gold, but freedom. He fled his motherland to escape the ravages of the English – “famine, me arse!” – after politely expressing his disagreement with a couple of the red-coated twats (in Old Testament fashion, anyway). He landed in New York, immediately headed West in search of purpose and modest work and hasn’t stopped for 6 months. Each town showing more disdain for his kind than the last. He’s a simple man, though not as dumb as most. He has a strong will for survival and a moral compass with a needle that could use tightening. 

Leroy Gray (aka The Gray Gunner)

Equipment: Winchester rifle +15 rounds, .45 Colt +30 rounds, knife, bedroll, satchel, $10, Horse (named Whiskey)

Height: 6’4″ Age: 27

Apperance: brown hair, moustache, grey overcoat (confederate style)

Bio: Leroy fancies himself a bit of a gunslinger, having survived one duel that was deemed legal but the local sheriff a couple of months earlier and he is partial to wearing the same grey coat he had on during the civil war.

James (aka Just James)

Equipment: Rifle (Winchester) +15 rounds, .45 Colt +24 rounds, knife, bedroll, saddle bags, Horse (named Strider), $10

Height: 5′ 8″ Age: 22

Appearance: beard, the build of someone who is used to riding a horse. 
Bio: born in the Shenandoah Valley and Civil War veteran (Confederate). James joined the army around the age of 16 and mustered out sometime before the official surrender at Appomattox. He had grown up around cattle but after the War, decided that rather than continue being a cowboy at home, he would try his luck out west on a ranch. 
Habits: Smokes a pipe and appreciates whiskey.  He always remembers to say his morning and evening prayers that his mother taught him. He’s an Anglican, but maybe he’ll start to think differently out west. He keeps a clean room but is forgetful on food, which is curious for a man who is in the saddle herding cattle. He can read.

Philo Jurament (NPC)

Equipment: Shotgun +50 rounds, Whinchester +50 rounds, pair of ivory handled converted Colt Dragoons to take ammunition in gun holster (right and Belt (left) +24 rounds in the belt and another 56 in his saddle bags, Tomahawk, Matches, Cigarillos, Saddle bags (with other basic equipment), Horse (named Horse) Bowie knife, bedroll, Small metal container with strong tequila in it, $10

Height: 6′ 2″ Age: 26

Appearance: Sandy-Brown hair, blue eyes, about 6’2″ he wears a sort of trapper jacket. One of his large .44 calibre six-guns on his right hip in its holster, and the other Mexican style in a front/left holster that is cut down so the gun basically looks as if it’s just held by the belt. He also has a bowie knife on the gun belt, on his left side.

Ex-Indian Scout for the Confederate army. He was raised by Apaches after being sold to them as a boy by his own alcoholic father. Generally ornery and laconic. He smokes cigarillos but only a couple a day.

The Situation

It is 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War. The small town of Silver Hole is a mining town with some small silver deposits, on the edge of the frontier. The mine is not large enough to make the town prosperous, but it nevertheless provides enough to make the place tolerable, with all the basic amenities, two hotel/saloons, a local bar, various shops, a regular stage coach that goes to snowdrift falls twice a week, passing by Fort Bellamy and Lookout point, both army outposts that keep the occasional Indian raids at bay in the general area.

Snowdrift Falls is about 400 miles by stage coach and the nearest actual town served by railway. To the North is a mountain range, the south being gradually drier and more despotic and canyon-like. The Takumseh bridge being a case in point, straddles a canyon of over a dozen metres in height and about twice that in length, in order to allow the stage coaches to cross the river on the way to Lookout point, a small army outpost that is basically an extension of Fort Bellamy, a larger and better equipped Army location.

Last night, a very strange situation took place. Emily Lightfoot, the local hat-maker, went to deliver her latest order to the farmhouse of John and Mary McMasters, but when she arrived there, a large rabid bear had broken into the farmhouse and killed some animal in it. Mary managed to run out of the house just in time for Emily to see her and get her aboard her one horse carriage. The two women rushed back to Silver Hole, abandoning John McMasters to his fate, because he had been ill with a fever upstairs.

In the morning, fearing the worst, the ladies had returned with two deputies (Jim and Bob), but when they arrived at the farmhouse, they found John still with a heavy fever upstairs, alive and otherwise unhurt. The main room of the home was half-destroyed and had a large pool of blood and blood spatter in it, where the ladies assumed the mad bear had eaten the buck they had seen it drag in. However, no part of the dead animal, or the bear, could be found. They took John back to Silver Hole in a carriage as he was delirious.

The local doctor, explained worriedly he did not have the skills to cure the man and they should immediately make for Snowdrift falls.

James, being an adept coach driver volunteered to run John to Snowdrift falls, a trip of at least three days even if one rode hard all the way. Leroy Gray also volunteered to ride shotgun in case of bandits or marauding Indians, and as Mary McMasters offered pay, so did Jack O’Trady, a recent arrival, and an irishman to boot, however he had been in town long enough for people to know aside occasionally needing a bit of “hair o’ th’ dog” in the morning, he was a good worker. As far as irishmen go anyway.

When everything was set and the men were about to set off, a young private came thundering into town to say that the Takumseh bridge had been burnt down by a band of Indians and possibly Mexican. There had been a fight with a patrol from Lookout point, and he had barely got away to this side of the bridge, before it collapsed. The route was impassable.

The local old drunk at the saloon where all this was being discussed mumbled something about the old Indian trail of Frozen Tears, that was a more direct route to snowdrift falls but had not been used by anyone in living memory as far as anyone knew. There was a number of legends that no one who tried survived it and that giants lived in the snow-capped mountains in that area. As the conversation as to what to do carried on, a man known as Philo Jurament, an Ex-Scout in the Confederate Army stood up, walked over, and said he had come to Silver Hole via that path and it was passable for a carriage. The saloon went silent as people wondered if he was just lying or if he had actually done it. The man tended to be a loner and kept to himself, he had not long been in town, and other than playing the occasional hand of poker in the saloon he didn’t mix much with the locals. Even so, Mary McMasters was desperate and offered to pay half the man’s salary on the spot, and a more generous half on the delivery of her husband to the doctors in Snowdrift falls. The man accepted and also said the trip could be done in only two days if they pushed hard, as it was only 200 miles or so by going this route. As afternoon was already fast-approaching, the men all decided to leave forthwith.

They left on a covered carriage where John was bundled into a bed in back of it, Jack rode in the back with him to ensure John was as comfortable as could be, and tending to his need for water, food and so on. James and Leroy rode up front, James driving the carriage and Leroy with his rifle across his lap. Philo out front on his grey mottled horse (which he called horse) leading the way to the path no other man had used in living memory.

They had basic equipment, bedrolls, food and water for four days journey, although they expected to be able to make it in two by keeping up a blistering pace throughout.

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By G | 27 September 2024 | Posted in Humour, RPGs, The Dirty Old West

Pretty much the USA today

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By G | 26 September 2024 | Posted in Humour, Social Commentary

Meme Day

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By G | 24 September 2024 | Posted in Hard Facts, Humour, Social Commentary

The Lost Art of Arguing

Original Philosophy, which was simply the study of the natural world to try and discover its rules, laws and truths, use to be the literal arguing between friends.

The very word philosophy is a combination of the words Philos (friend) which funnily enough is my own surname, and Sophia (story or history).

But arguing was not then the chicken-squawking most done today, and most exemplified by women, who will just shout out insults or their idiotic opinion without the substantiation of any kind of objective fact, logical observation, or even tenuous link to reality whatsoever. Even the “better” versions are mere rhetorical shots straw-manning a false argument.

The procedure for correct arguing by intellectually honest men (women have largely a biological incapacity for intellectual honesty, which is why no female philosophers of any note have ever really existed) is as follows:

1. Present your axioms and agree them in principle as being valid, even if only for the purposes of the hypothetical argument being presented.

2. Present your premises, and again, have them accepted, even if only temporarily, for the sake of the argument, unless the opponent can conclusively dismiss a premise by appeal to facts in evidence to both sides that prove the premise is flawed or erroneous to begin with.

3. Logically work through the axioms and premises to make your hypothesis.

4. Check your logic and thinking with your opponent, inviting valid criticism of the thought process used to come to the hypothesis, based on the agreed upon axioms and premises.

5. Modify the hypothesis on the basis of your joined thought experiment of creating a hypothesis using the agreed upon axioms and premises that work at least in theory.

6. State the hypothesis clearly.

7. Check the real world and/or run experiments to see if the hypothesis is plausible.

8. Use the hypothesis to predict how reality will look based on it.

9. Check if the predictions are correct. And not the frequency. If always correct, then the hypothesis is assumed to be valid at least until a set of results that fits the axioms and premises produces an unexpected result. At that point the theory needs revising/adjusting/correcting until it once again is useful for the prediction of events that fit the criteria.

The arguing part, between honest men, has zero ego in it. Arguing is not about who is “right” winning. Arguing has always intended to be a way to discover the truth. It is certainly the case that a more intelligent person van usually see things more clearly and therefore more often come to correct conclusions and thus better theories of how reality works. I have personally only ever felt euphoria at someone better able than I at, not only managing to see or work out some aspect of reality, but helping me see it too!

But the chickenheads (and women, because they are wired to believe everything is about them specifically) get upset instead of happy if anyone other than them proves a point. Because all they care about is appearance and ego, and not at all about truth.

The biological nature of a woman means that any time anything that is perceived by her as a critique of anything she thinks or does, her emotions flare up. This is because (as per Caveman Theory) the main survival pressure for women has been other women, so anything that can appear to be a criticism of her or her ways, lowers her perceived value in the group of women (and therefore, in turn, by social dynamics, among the men who are available to them). And because women primarily use such tactics to overcome other women and place themselves in a better position vis a vis securing the best available man, the emotions immediately run to the sensation of having to ward off an attack.

Which is why a woman will tend to degrade to personal insults, past errors or flaws (real or imagined) and completely separate issues that have nothing at all to do with the argument at hand. Specific and detailed excuses that are supposedly the reason X or Y was not done, or done badly, will persist for YEARS even when the thing not being achieved is the same one.

For example, my wife is constitutionally incapable of ever being on time. And in every one of the probably thousands of times I brought this issue up, she inevitably had 47 different unique reasons why she was late that specific time. And a whole different and unique 47 reasons for each of the other 2,100 times it happened in the last 7 years. I used to inevitably mention that she must be the unluckiest human being on Earth, and even that is not an excuse, because after a few decades on Earth of you KNOWING that by nefarious magic, every year, after year, day after day, event after event, you ALWAYS manage to have all these wildly unexpected things happen to make you late, well, a normal person would set off 2 hours early on average and thus arrive on time!

This would make her most upset at how unfair and evil I was for blaming her for the obviously unpredictable nature of having to consider things like getting dressed. Or putting shoes on. Or selecting which dress. You know what I mean, wild, wild, unexpected stuff that only happens once in a blue moon when you decide to go somewhere.

Now, in case you are wondering, no, everything is fine between my wife and I and I have grudgingly accepted that there are many other theories this immutable law of her tardiness could be related to. For example:

* Charitably, God could be trying to teach me patience, mercy, and compassion.

* Less charitably, I am burning off some of the many years in purgatory I will have before me if I manage to get in.

* Secularly, Time flows differently in her aura of local space-time and my more powerful aura of local space-time overwhelms hers and thus the perceived locus of interference results in a minor disruption of our combined local space-time. This is most likely the best theory, since we both experience a definite sense of irritation and general wrongness of the other person’s invasive and disruptive space-time aura. I’m sure all you physicists agree with me. There is also further evidence of this because with all other conditions being equal, a trip to the supermarket by me can invariably never take as much as an hour, regardless of how busy the place is, while by her can never take less than one hour, and often closer to two, even if all tills are open and free of any other people shopping. Clearly evidence of time flowing differently. But wait! There is more! Regardless of how much free shelf/table/counter spaces I make available to her, they will ALWAYS become overfilled. Left to my own devices, I on the other hand have endless open horizons of counter tops. Clearly physical space operates differently for each of us.

Also, it is a certain fact that she will be unlikely to take my explanation of the above phenomena as the charitable and loving attempt it is to help her better understand the complexity of local space-time topology and how we each affect it uniquely, and is more likely to unfairly accuse me of maligning her in some public shaming event.

Yet, due to my calm and loving nature, I will accept the inevitable texts she will send me regarding this post in a spirit of saintly charity and patience. Which I am sure she will appreciate and return in kind.

Anyway, putting aside local space-time warping, the point I am making is that the art (and science) of proper arguing, is almost entirely lost.

Even most men have devolved to tantrum throwing little girls who just want their flying unicorn, and ice cream too. It really doesn’t even rise to the level of amusing rhetoric, or, you know, very plausible new theories on personal space-time aura interference.

Even supposedly professional “debates” have become mere spectacle and cheap entertainment, none of them rising to the level of being educational. The only partial exception that comes to mind are the debates of William Lane Craig, but even then it is at best 50%. Craig is capable of arguing correctly, but I have yet to see any one of his opponents being able to do so.

The fact that Craig is a Protestant is quite astonishing to me, and in fact, I am now toying with the idea of writing to him to see if he would debate me on Catholicism vs. Protestantism.

He is certainly far more prepared than I am in things like knowing Bible verses (albeit probably from the wrong versions of the Bible), but that in itself is not an issue, because the point is the logical truth of Catholicism vs Protestantism. Not “winning”. That is, I have absolutely zero fear or anxiety about such a debate, if it were to take place, because my concern is not my ego or my need to “win”, but rather, simply to advance my (or his, or the observers’) understanding of the Universe and the God who created it.

Of course, against intentional deceiver and liars like Jay Dyer, then I do not deny that there is a level of pleasure I take in squashing their ego with the equivalent of a steam roller. But that is still merely secondary to the position of increasing the level of understanding of reality.

Anyway, that is my rant for today done.

No related posts.

By G | 10 September 2024 | Posted in Humour, Social Commentary

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