Ancient Redwood

Through ancient history to the present day, in homage to those who came before us, whose words echo through time.

[Ancient Redwood @AncientRedwood]

Being a simp can be fatal. She pushed him once, and he went with her again, to the same location!

[Hot Baddies Stuff @HotBaddiesStuff]

This Ketan Agarwal case proves one thing:

Sometimes the most dangerous person is not a stranger its the person you trust the most 🥶

Police allege Siya Goyal was preparing to marry Ketan while being involved with Chetan Chaudhary.

How do families even trust arranged matches?

[Mambo Italiano @mamboitaliano__]

Social media trends have turned the world’s most beautiful places into endless bathroom lines at a concert, where everyone waits for hours just to take the same photo to show to people who couldn’t care less 🌎📸

Nothing captures the shallow decay of our time better than this

[FischerKing @FischerKing64]

Also the sky looks so different at night in the middle of nowhere. In the city there is so much going on that interferes with a clean view of what’s above. This is a trite and obvious observation - but it’s so easy to forget in this busy modern world.

[FischerKing @FischerKing64]

People go hiking/camping to get exercise and be in nature - to ‘touch grass.’ But the best part IMO is silence. We are surrounded in modern urban life at all times w/noise - radios, phones, traffic, people. It generates anxiety you don’t know is there until you’re away from it.

[Andrew Tate @Cobratate]

Poor people fight over 400 dollar AP swatches risking life and limb to try and look rich.

The irony is that not a single rich man wants a 400 dollar AP.

Owning one just proves to the world that you wish you were rich.

And you’re not.

[Bronze Age Pervert @bronzeagemantis]

I need to clarify that I would oppose the latest Iran intervention (especially the insane "regime change" speech) even if it had zero casualties or was a fast and great success. The Libyan intervention was also fast and "well-executed" afaik no Americans died in that, and no European soldiers (it was the European powers who dragged USA into that btw). It was still a great disaster that both USA and Europe are continuing to pay for, both materially and in reputation. I've talked about the insanity of deposing Gaddafi for a while now. Also btw similar stupid arguments were used against him (e.g. RE events from 1980s) even though America had normalized relations and given him guarantees.

But there's another more fundamental reason why I oppose such things even aside from their immediate "geopolitical" consequences. Trump was elected to effect massive reforms at home, where America as a whole and his supporters are in a dire situation. To be invested in a significant way in "foreign policy" exploits their patriotism and uses the illusory benefits of "having a nation" for ends that don't solve any of their actual problems.... engender cheerleading or simulated feelings of success to replace domestic frustrations. But again, the American social compact is BROKEN and the situation is as dire as can get. Can't afford these distractions and no you don't have energy to "do both."

It's a historically constant and powerful force: for analogy, Kennan mentioned that Russian rulers pacified the bad domestic life of their subjects through foreign conquests, expansion and interventions that brought glory and prestige to make up for it. I don't want to extend the analogy too far in terms of other nations and human nature as such, but it has many direct parallel in American history too...however...the Russian rulers at least actually expanded the territory that the Russian empire genuinely ruled.

Teddy Roosevelt came to office with extremely bold national reform plans. He soon found out that as energetic and smart as he was, and as much of a mandate he thought he had, the American constitution greatly limited his ability to get anything close to what he wanted domestically. He had always had international ambitions, but the frustrations he had domestically accelerated the foreign adventurism. All his energy went into that.

In Trump's case he is a vain and manly man, who feels maybe at times personally insulted by certain foreign leaders; then the people around him as well as foreign "allies" like Bibi etc. can play on both his vanity and his legitimate sense of being frustrated domestically to substitute instead with ready and spectacular actions abroad, which brings him immediate acclaim. Much of the old GOP infrastructure and even electorate is still around and also others too, feeling frustrated at home will give Trump the adulation he desires right that momet. This is very powerful motivation.

I mentioned TR: the other part of it is that Teddy Roosevelt and his main man Elihu Root actually had the ability to greatly reform America's military, diplomatic, etc., sectors (though not as far as they wanted); they created the American foreign policy and business establishment that has since become unworkable. Trump inherits even in foreign affairs a rickety machine that can't serve America--this is always a historical constant, e.g., Rome's external conquests no longer were congruent with inherited political and social forms it had around the time of Caesar...Caesar's and Octavian's reforms were inevitable if Rome was to persist...

But the thing is this all becomes a blind "prestige and frustration relief machine" I mean to say that at least TR used the foreign activity valve to actually achieve aims, because he structured the American foreign and security establishment to where it could do that; whereas that option isn't open anymore to Trump or really any other modern president. Not unless there are reforms on the scale done 1900-1910.

[Cernovich @Cernovich]

Scott Adams could have kept his mouth shut in 2015, kept those lavish corporate speaking gigs where he'd earn 50-100K per talk, and have died with an extra zero or two in his bank account. Instead he chose courage and died surrounded by the love of tens-of-millions.

[Ancient Redwood @AncientRedwood]

Rest in peace @ScottAdamsSays. You were unique, influential and you made a difference for the better in so many lives.

[⚡️🌞 Sol Brah 🌞🐬 @SolBrah]

If I were Scott - I’d get out of the hospital, stop taking the poisonous chemo, lay on the beach and in the sun, eat fresh foods and move my body, take hot baths and relax in nature

And stop listening to the doctors that tell you you’re going to die

Either you live a great rest of your life, or you get better (there’s a much higher chance of getting better doing what I say).

[Marc Randolph @marcrandolph]

One of the best gifts I was ever given.

When I was twenty-one years old, fresh out of college and about to start my first job, my father gave me a handwritten list of instructions.

Here are my dad’s rules for success:

> Do at least 10% more than you are asked.

> Never, ever, to anybody, present as fact, opinions on things you don’t know. Take great care and discipline.

> Be courteous and considerate always— up and down.

> Don’t knock, don’t complain—stick to constructive, serious criticism.

> Don’t be afraid to make decisions when you have the facts on which to make them.

> Quantify where possible.

> Be open-minded but skeptical.

> Be prompt.

I’ve passed these same rules on to my own children and the original copy hangs next to my bathroom mirror.

[AJAC @AJA_Cortes]

Theres a very real, widespread effect of 3rd world countries getting internet access, smart phones

Being able to see content from the 1st World West

And then realizing

"damn, we really live like this?"

[Ancient Redwood @AncientRedwood]

@macroschema Advaita is not really rational. It is differentiated by being non-pagan, but ultimately it is a mystical, world-as-a-dream, reality-beyond-the-mind, you-won't-understand-only-experience spiritualism that does not stand the test of rigorous philosophical analysis.

[Ancient Redwood @AncientRedwood]

@esrtweet @StefanMolyneux I think @StefanMolyneux was being facetious. You are echoing him in different words.

[Eric S. Raymond @esrtweet]

@TheCalvinCooli1 Wait. There are people who haven't figured out yet that DGT is a dimwit who's been propped up for decades by reason of being semi-articulate while black?

[Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius]

You didn't do that.

A generation of actual scientists years ago did that.

Your generation of "scientists" became political hacks who cared more for fame, power, politics and entertainment than science.

-"Two weeks to stop the spread"?
-"Wuhan wet market"?
-"The lockdowns can stop for BLM protests"?
-"Man-made climate change"?
-"Bill Nye the Science Guy"?
-Anthony Fauci?
-"Gender assigned at birth"?
-Social justice causes masquerading as "science" funded with our tax dollars as scams?
-"MIami will be under water by the year 2000"?

The list goes on and on.

Modern "scientists" forsook science for power.

Average people now rightfully do not trust you. Do not blame us. We have very good reasons to distrust you. Look inside your own community.

You did this to yourselves, and only you can fix it.

End the politicization of science and maybe you can be trusted again.

Maybe.

[Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump]

A very Happy Thanksgiving salutation to all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the World, for being “Politically Correct,” and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration. The official United States Foreign population stands at 53 million people (Census), most of which are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels. They and their children are supported through massive payments from Patriotic American Citizens who, because of their beautiful hearts, do not want to openly complain or cause trouble in any way, shape, or form. They put up with what has happened to our Country, but it’s eating them alive to do so! A migrant earning $30,000 with a green card will get roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their family. The real migrant population is much higher. This refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America, something that did not exist after World War II (Failed schools, high crime, urban decay, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages, and large deficits, etc.). As an example, hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota. Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for “prey” as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone. The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both, while the worst “Congressman/woman” in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how “badly” she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, which is essentially not even a country for lack of Government, Military, Police, schools, etc. Even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization. These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long!

[Moses Kagan @moseskagan]

Very important to understand:

Maintaining optionality is, itself, very costly, bc, by delaying commitment, you miss out on compounding, and compounding is the most powerful force in business (& life).

[Eric S. Raymond @esrtweet]

When I was in elementary school (I was 10 or 11, maybe), a bright-eyed young teacher, probably working through some lesson plan about "values clarification", posed the following hypothetical to the kids in my class:

"I hand you a little box with a button on it that can be pressed to make you obey a command from whoever pressed the button. Who do you give the box to?"

I listened to several kids answer "My father," or "My mother", or maybe other answers I don't remember (I think at least one person said they'd give it to the police). When she got to me, I said:

"I'd smash the box with a hammer, then burn and scatter the pieces."

I was certainly also thinking that I would find and kill whoever manufactured the box; I'm not sure I said that out loud, though I certainly would have if the question had been posed to me after my balls dropped two or three years later.

I remember that the kids, and the teacher, were shocked by my response, so I probably did say I'd kill the box-builder. Whether I did or not, the teacher was nonplussed that I didn't answer the question within its implied terms. Which led me to conclude that this authority figure was an idiot - a pretty mind-stretching thought for a pre-teen boy in the 1960s, and probably the first time I judged an adult that way and that definitely.

That was my introduction to the wonderful world of evil artificial moral challenges. Later I would encounter others - the trolley problem, the Milgram experiment.

From the day that teacher braced me about the first one I have always known that the moral answer to such questions is to break the frame.

Milgram experiment? The "scientist" is trying to use the authority of his lab coat and the setting to make you torture someone. The correct response is to notice that this is evil and kill him; with your personal weapon if you have one, with your bare hands and teeth if you don't.

Trolley problem? Jump on the trolley and find the fucking brake. In a case like that, breaking the frame may not be within your power, but refusing to accept the premise and directing your actions towards breaking the frame is always the right thing to try first.

Recently I gave a similar answer in a reply here on X, only to be told that I was being "petulant" and "refusing to engage the question".

Fuck that sideways with a rusty chainsaw. "But you have to follow the rules!" whines the slave, when the correct answer is to kill the master or die trying.

This is not refusing to engage the question, it's paying attention to the entire moral context. Including the evil implied by anyone deliberately setting up that kind of experiment in the real world.

And if the trolley runs over someone while I was wrestling with the brake? My conscience is clean, because I was fighting for the outcome that didn't require any evil choice.

Now I'm going to pose the Kantian completion of this question. You have a choice between two futures...

In one of them, most people have a slave-mentality, rule-following mindset and accept the premises of the Milgram experiment or the trolley problem. Or hand their obedience button to someone else.

In the other future, most people think like me and believe you should break the frame or die trying.

In which universe will less evil be done? In which universe will manipulators be more likely deterred from tricking or coercing others into doing evil?

When you've thought that out, what - even given the assumption that breaking the frame may sometimes be impossible - is the proper moral stance to assume?

I don't think this question is even difficult.

[Hunter Ash @ArtemisConsort]

The reason atheists could never cohere into a subculture is because atheism, taken seriously, is right-wing, but almost all the prominent atheists are left-wing. Thus, the movement is schizophrenic.

If you don’t believe in supernatural creation, then you believe that evolution by mutation and selection is the *only process* known, or even imaginable, that can construct value from non-value. We are not exempt from this: memetic and cultural evolution drive progress far more than reason. Indeed, reason is just a particularly fit metameme that evolved because it granted power to its hosts. It is not categorically special, nor is it capable of producing progress on its own. Reason can criticize but it cannot create.

Evolution, taken seriously, is colder and more brutal than the most vicious human tyrant. It is alien, hideous, captivating. Cleave the emptiness in two, smash the halves into each other, then cleave the winner in two, on and on forever. I must emphasize: this is not just the only process that *has* produced progress. It is the only process that *can* produce progress in the absence of the supernatural.

It follows that every transfer from the fit to the unfit which hinders the power of the giver or artificially boosts that of the receiver undoes the work of creation. The egalitarian tribe of lions where every male gets to mate and food is redistributed will be pathetically weak in a few generations compared to the tribe where the strongest male kills his rivals and has a harem.

To be right-wing is to accept this process as the only real engine of truth, beauty, and power. To be left-wing is to believe in miraculous exemptions to its iron logic.

PS: yes there are forms of religion and mysticism that accept this one and only Law, including some rare clear-eyed Christians. I’m not talking about those.