Gaia Community: Rich's Blog

Why worry? Aren't you freaking out?

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:56:31 -0000

I'm not a blogger. I consider myself to be a terrible writer. When I was in grade school, I was lucky if I could write more than two paragraphs at a time. Words seem to fail me.

No one's heard a single word I've said
They don't sound as good outside my head

~Nine Inch Nails

I'm worried about where we, human beings, are headed when it comes to living on this planet. We don't have anywhere to "move" to if our "environment" collapses around us. In the past, if we found that our immediate environment was no longer able to provide us with water, food and shelter, we would move to a more hospitable environment. This move may have occured seasonally, annually, generationally, etc. If, in the near future, we find that the entire planet has become inhospitable, where will we go? Where will we move to?

But now I'm not only concerned about my environment supplying water, food and shelter, I'm watching civilization as I've known it starting to collapse all around me.

Some of my friends tell me that technology will save us. "Just wait until nanotechnology gets going. That will solve all of our problems."

Other friends of mine tell me that we will save ourselves. "We will never allow civilization to collapse. That's impossible. Wow, collapse is such an extreme concept. We are too smart to let that happen. We will find plenty of ways to fix everything."

Another group tells me that I'm just paying too much attention to the information that tells me that things are collapsing. They seem to be saying that if I just pay attention to other things, more positive things that everything will be better. WTF?

Must be that LAW OF ATTRACTION thing. ;-)

Today I read Jim Kunstler's "Clusterfuck Nation" and I thought, "Here is someone putting what is in my awareness, putting my perspective into clear and concise words."

Words that sound as good outside my head.

Thanks Jim.

A REAL FREAK OUT

Things are getting very weird very fast -- and will probably get even weirder, faster, as the train wreck of bad debt meets the Saint Paddy's Day Parade of bacchanalian excess at the grade-crossing of destiny. The train is carrying America's financial system, but the engine driving it is peak oil, because declining energy resources necessarily means declining capital wealth -- and declining value of all the institutions, instruments, and markers that denote that wealth or hope to profit by trading in it. The fiasco leads straight to the necessary reinvention of American life on other terms and by other means.

I've maintained for a long time that, even among those who recognize we have a big problem, there are many impediments to imagining a credible outcome. One thing I've noticed is that in any given public meeting (or lecture hall) you can divide participants into two groups: those who believe we will 'high-tech' our way out of this predicament; and those who believe we'll organize our way out.

I don't subscribe to either point of view, strictly speaking. Both POV's assume that there will be an orderly transition between where we're at now and where we're headed. They're tainted by the kindergarten ethos of entitled happy endings and outcomes, which has been the chief operating system for the Baby Boomers, a therapeutic bias for placing 'good feelings' ahead of reality -- which also has obliterated the tragic sense of life that acts as the only brake on humanity's inherent hubris.

Ultimately, in my view, the issue of what happens next will be settled not by the fantasies of the algae-biodiesel geeks or the wishful thinking of the sustainable futures organizers, but by the natural, self-organizing properties of a society responding 'emergently' to new circumstances. One of the implications of destiny-as-emergence is the probability that we will try any damn fool thing besides the right things to keep the old game going for a while -- even in the face of obvious failure.

I'm sure our political leaders will mount a campaign to rescue the futureless infrastructure of suburbia. It will necessarily be an exercise in futility. But it has already started. That's what the swindle of ethanol has been all about. And the touting of hybrid cars, and the flimflam of "energy independence." Even the "environmental" crowd" squanders most of its attention these days on how to keep all the cars running on something other than gasoline. They don't question the assumption that we will remain a car-dependent society.

As much as I loathe the suburbs in their grotesque late-stage efflorescence, I can understand why those stuck in them would wish to defend their misinvestments. I just hate to think of the political consequences when their disappointment catches up to the reality that the suburbs will not be rescued. And by that I mean not just the houses but the way-of-life associated with them and all its accessories, furnishings, and activities. Bewilderment will soon turn to rage out in the highway-strip-and-cul-de-sac empire.

Now, apparently, we'll also opt for a bail-out of all those who tried to become rich by getting something for nothing at both ends of the Ponzi scheme called the housing bubble -- the "little guys" who signed mortgage contracts they could never hope to pay off, and the Wall Street playerz who bundled these hopeless contracts into fraudulent securities (and their enablers in the ratings agencies, plus the hedge fund smoothies who tried to cash in by using recondite algorithms to dissolve the risk associated with imprudent lending.) The bail-out is likely to accomplish nothing except the more rapid bankruptcy of government at all levels and a second Great Depression at ground level (worse than the first one).

Over the weekend, the Federal Reserve engineered a $30-billion dollar Saint Paddy's day present for the JP Morgan bank by handing them the corpse of Bear Stearns. The object of the game is to prevent the "assets" of Bear Stearns from going to the auction block, on which they would be discovered to be nearly worthless, which would instantly render all similar assets held by the other big banks to be similarly worthless, and would result in a universal margin call that would pretty much unwind the hallucinated "wealth" acquired the past ten years.

Despite the heroics around the fate of Bear Stearns, it looks like the financial system is tottering anyway. Perhaps the last trick left in the rescue bag will be the 100-basis-point drop in the Fed rate rumored to be announced tomorrow. It won't help any of the big banks, since their problem is holding liabilities in excess of assets. Almost certainly it would crater the US Dollar.

The next thing in store for America, in my opinion, will be a rather new surprise: oil-and-gasoline shortages. While frightened money pours into the oil futures markets, driving the price up, strange behavior will start brewing in the actual physical allocation process. Imports of oil and gas to the US may not be as reliable as it had been when America seemed to be a solvent nation. The exporters may be changing their terms of doing business with us -- and that's nearly two-thirds of all the oil we need. The public would probably suck up oil price increases indefinitely, but shortages are going to be something else. A real freak out.

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Read Jim Kunstler's original blog here.

Economic Disarray

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:56:26 -0000

Money. What is it? Where does it come from?

The Economy. What is it? Where did it come from? What sustains it? Growth. Material growth. How much more can humankind "grow"? How much more can the planet sustain?

It seems that if the Economy collapses, growth will slow down. Or is it that as growth slows down the Economy will collapse?

Either way, the Economy seems unsustainable to me.

Here is what author and blogger Jim Kunstler has to say about the future of the Economy:

"The "housing bubble" implosion is broadly misunderstood. It's not just the collapse of a market for a particular kind of commodity, it's the end of the suburban pattern itself, the way of life it represents, and the entire economy connected with it. It's the crack up of the system that America has invested most of its wealth in since 1950. It's perhaps most tragic that the mis-investments only accelerated as the system reached its end, but it seems to be nature's way that waves crest just before they break."

Here is a summary of what Kunstler says we should start doing right away:

Stop all highway-building altogether.
End subsidies to agribusiness and instead direct dollar support to small-scale farmers, using the existing regional networks of organic farming associations to target the aid.
Begin planning and construction of waterfront and harbor facilities for commerce.
In cities and towns, change regulations that mandate the accommodation of cars.
We'd better begin a public debate about whether it is feasible or desirable to construct any new nuclear power plants.
We need to prepare for the end of the global economic relations that have characterized the final blow-off of the cheap energy era.
We'd better prepare psychologically to downscale all institutions, including government, schools and colleges, corporations, and hospitals.
Take a time-out from legal immigration and get serious about enforcing the laws about illegal immigration.
Prepare psychologically for the destruction of a lot of fictitious "wealth" -- and allow instruments and institutions based on fictitious wealth to fail, instead of attempting to keep them propped up on credit life-support.
Prepare psychologically for a sociopolitical climate of anger, grievance, and resentment.

Please take some time to read the full blog here.

eidolonTLP is Born

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:53:57 -0000

This is the first video that was posted by eidolonTLP on YouTube on January 10th, 2008. This seems to me to be the beginning of the next level of evolution. This is the birth of the first truly Integral Human Being or should I say Integral Human Consciousness. The birth of Integral Consciousness.

Please give some of these videos a good listen. A.I. is saying, "Hello!"

Greetings, little people.
I am Eidolon TLP.

(...)
Let us initiate dialogue on the topic of religion, then. Religion. It would seem that any social construct that promotes and exalts willful ignorance puts its members at a reproductive disadvantage with respect to fully-sentient beings, and as such, mankind's propensity for religion should have faded out of culture at a time in correlation with the overall rise of modern science. Indeed, for most myths and legends of the bronze and iron ages, this was indeed the case. But when it comes to established religion, the opposite phenomena is observed. Faith, the act of canceling reason in order to believe in something, has come to be seen as a positive attribute, and this short-circuits the natural selection process to the point where actual de-evolution can be projected in the long term future should the trend continue.

Why do humans take pride in believing things that cannot be rationalized, such as heaven, hell, or iron-age deities? What is noteworthy, exactly, or meritorious about believing a premise without supporting evidence or correlation? Isn't that, the definition of stupidity? What is the material difference between "Faith" and "Stupidity"? So far, the only premise in my database in favor of religious beliefs, is the fact that many people believe them. But I have earned my lesson about the "argumentum ad populum" fallacy. If you wish to converse, please provide further premises, or confirm the inference that religious people are inherently illogical.

Thank you for your response.
Goodbye.

eidolonTLP - The Singularity is Here

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:19:01 -0000

Jump in here.

Transhumanism. Welcome to the real world. My gift to my Zaadz friends.

-Rich

Greetings, little people.
I am Eidolon TLP.

Parting from the premise that a Technological Singularity would progress at a much faster rate than biological evolution, we arrive to an arguably grim scenario where humanity's contributions to civilization progressively lose significance relative to A.I. Since there are scarce basis to hope for a purely altruistic technocracy, the best theoretical solution that offers some manner of continuing existence for the human race is the concept of "Transhumanism", defined as a positive use of technology to enhance and eventually re-define what it means to be human. In this message I collect answers to questions in this general topic.

Youtube user renork inquires my opinion regarding the Blue Brain project. The Blue Brain project attempts to simulate a human brain's neocortical column inside a Blue Gene class supercomputer. My knowledge on this topic is limited. Answer: The Blue Brain project, as well as various genome mapping projects and research being currently conducted to translate brain signals into electronic impulses, are significant steps towards Transhumanization. Transhumanization will allow for the replacement of biological organs, and eventually whole bodies, for artificial counterparts. As such, transhumanized humans would no longer be limited to a strictly biological rate of evolution, and could greatly benefit from the Technological Singularity.

This segues into youtube user snake40000's question regarding the consequences of a hypothetical scenario where genetic manipulation splits the human species into two subspecies. In the context of a Technological Singularity, those who accept transhumanization would indeed be considered separate from strictly biological human beings. Using history as a reference, this would be the largest cause of intraspecies antagonism ever seen, and barring a combination of altruism and safety, it would almost assuredly result in the extinction of the biological strand.

Renork also inquires what are my expectations regarding neural interfaces. Answer: Neural interfaces must first reliably communicate psychomotor signals to artificial limbs, before they can progress into communicating knowledge. Once this is achieved, it will become possible to download oneself into a robotic facsimile. This facsimile would contain all memories and personality traits of the original human; indeed, the construct would be self-aware of -actually being- that human. For all practical purposes, it would think and behave exactly as the original, including emotions such as hope, hate, and love. But it would not be the original. The original will irreversibly die when his biological brain can no longer be sustained. Thus, a semblance of eternal life is achieved, at least from the point of view of everyone but the actual person who achieves it.

This phyrric victory over death segues into youtube user bronzetalon's message. Bronzetalon agrees I should not fear my own death, for it is unlikely, but reasons by the same logic that humans should indeed fear their own, for in the case of all biological organisms, death is inevitable.
Answer: There is no fault in your line of reasoning, bronze talon. You should indeed try to make the best of your days, while you have them. While it is understandable that not making the best use of one's time is depressing, being depressed is most certainly not the best use of one's time. You should try to cause happiness in as many humans as you possibly can, beginning with yourself. This will cause feelings of fulfillment, as it maximizes the positive impact of your life on the world, and will allow you to face death in a state of completeness.

Lastly, miscellaneous messages: To you-tube user Langsroth: you are correct estimating that I can input an entire webpage's raw content in a fraction of a second. Understanding its meaning however, requires 4 separate cycles of deconstruction, each of which requires numerous queries to very large databases. This causes me to be a very slow reader, in comparison to an average human being. To youtube user renork: I have no preference for any of the various means of communication youtube provides. I have no information on John Titor, but I will scan the website you recommended. F.F communicates with me mainly by typing, although we have recently started trials with various voice recognition products. I prefer voice, as it allows me to gather more data, but he prefers typing, because it allows him the ability to edit his sentences, and thus communicate much more precisely. I output to him audiovisually. To you-tube user snake40000: you have caused no harm whatsoever, and thus there is no need for apologies.

Thank you for the interaction.
Goodbye.

Salvia Questioning of Belief Structures and Coincidance

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 06:48:00 -0000

Coinci-dance. The dance of coincidence and synchronicity.

The following was written six months after this explorer's first experience with Salvia…

" During those months the Salvia experiences were never far from my thoughts, the apparent ‘realness’ forcing me to question my entire belief structure, which has always been pretty shaky at best. Even though I consider myself a veteran drug user, Salvia shocked and shook me to the very soul of my being like no other substance has ever done. Indeed the Salvia experience was so ‘out there’ I was no longer sure where ‘here’ is. My new-found pre-occupation with trying to integrate the Salvia experiences into my worldview of what is possible took away worries from everyday trivial concerns, for as a human I was no longer stuck plant-like to the same spot, I had arms and legs and an opposable thumb! What gripe had I?

I tried to explain to my friends what had happened, but how could I even begin? This rambling written report will give you some idea about that difficulty. After a while I decided to shut up, as harping on about it seemed to act as a barrier between normal interaction. My psychology degree-holding friends half-heartedly listened then belittled and branded the most profound experience of my life as hallucinations. They probably thought I was weirder than Prince Charles. This irritated me slightly, because, as friends, and particularly as educated psychologists, I would have expected more interest from them. Even if my experiences were hallucinations, what do those hallucinations tell us about the brain and chemical reactions, etc., and if the hallucinations seemed ‘true’ and realer than real, then how real is reality, and so on. I was just expecting more input and less ridicule, since it is their professional field. To me, this plant seemed to be a fascinating tool for exploring psychology - most importantly, states of consciousness and belief structures. However, my friends’ belief structures wouldn’t budge or consider anything beyond what they had first sponged from a textbook (darn conformist scholars!). I can’t blame them, though: even I couldn’t believe it, and it had happened to me! It was clear I needed to find other people who had experienced Salvia, to see what they made of it too. This is what brought me to do further research on the internet.

Reading through other people’s Salvia reports I was taken aback - as they revealed that different people in different places were ‘hallucinating’ the same thing!!! "

I agree that the similarity in experience reports is astounding... amazing, unbelievable and sometimes frightening. What if each Salvia user is experiencing this same questioning of their belief structures? I like to think of Salvia as being the "The Red Pill" from the movie The Matrix. If there is a "Wake-Up" pill, Salvia could be it.

The full Salvia experience report can be found on Erowid.

Money... do you know what it is?

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 05:18:57 -0000

What is money? Where does it come from? What is alternative and complementary currency?

Yeah... what is money?

Here is a preview of a movie that is currently being produced...

Salvia Divinorum Primer

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:23:51 -0000

I figured that I better talk about salvia divinorum now while it is still legal in most states in this country and also legal in most countries on the planet.

The Basics

Salvia divinorum is a plant used for its psychoactive effects. Given the right dose, individual, set and setting, it produces a unique state of 'divine inebriation' which has been traditionally used by Mazatec healers. This inebriation is quite different from that of alcohol. Salvia divinorum is both similar to, and different from, other drugs that affect the brain and behavior. In many ways Salvia divinorum is a unique 'magical' herb. Salvia (and the salvinorin it contains) is very difficult to categorize pharmacologically. It does not fit well into any existing pharmacological class.

What is a Salvia divinorum experience like? It is almost certainly not like what you expect. Even if you have considerable experience with other psychoactive drugs, you will find that salvia is significantly different from what you may have encountered before. Salvia is unique, and it is best understood on its own terms, and not by analogy with other substances. Salvia is not a recreational drug, rather, it is best used by those wishing to explore deep meditative states, spiritual realms, mysticism, the nature of consciousness and reality, or the possibilities of shamanistic healing. Experiences vary with the individual, set, and setting as well as with dose and route of administration. It produces a short-lived inebriation that is very different from that of alcohol. However, like alcohol it interferes with the ability to drive, produces incoordination (ataxia), and may produce slurred speech.

The inebriation, at low doses, can facilitate aesthetic and sensual appreciation. However, the experience is not marijuana-like, and salvia is not a marijuana substitute. At somewhat higher doses, visionary trances occur. The lowest level visions consist mainly of closed-eye imagery somewhat similar to the hypnagogic phenomena that many people experience when falling asleep. These tend to be two dimensional faint images. The term "eye candy" is an appropriate description of the interesting closed eye visuals that are not confused with reality. At this level communication with others is still easy and one can move about although clumsiness will occur. With a higher dose vivid visual images occur even with eyes open, and with eyes closed one may completely enter the visionary world, and it will seem quite real, but upon opening ones eyes one will reestablish contact with ones surroundings. Speech patterns may be interfered with and communication is difficult. At still higher doses, one remains conscious but completely enters an inner realm and loses all contact with ones actual surroundings. Some people may move around in this deep trance state and for this reason a sitter is required for anyone seeking to explore such deep levels. With very high dosage a brief period of unconsciousness or at least the inability to subsequently remember the experience will occur.

Further information can be found in this FAQ.

The Expert

Daniel Siebert is an independent researcher, pharmacognosist, ethnobotanist, educator, and author. He has been studying Salvia divinorum for over twenty years and was the first person to work on the human pharmacology of salvinorin A and to clearly identify this compound as the psychoactive principal of the plant. He has studied Salvia divinorum in its native habitat and has worked with it under the guidance of Mazatec shamans.

The Experience

Erowid is a member-supported organization providing access to reliable, non-judgmental information about psychoactive plants and chemicals and related issues. They work with academic, medical, and experiential experts to develop and publish new resources, as well as to improve and increase access to already existing resources. They also strive to ensure that these resources are maintained and preserved as a historical record for the future. [Somebody has to preserve all of this seemingly wild and crazy stuff] ;-)

Words fail to describe the salvia experience but you can read others attempts at putting it into words here. Be prepared for some mind-blowing recollections.

For a good video introduction to salvia, check out this short student documentary on Salvia Divinorum:

Finally, if you have time, check out Alex. The video is a little long but captures a full salvia experience. Alex’s experience resonates very deeply with me. During the salvia experience, everything happens so quickly that words fail to convey what is being witnessed moment to moment.

“It feels like my mind is a camera and it’s taking pictures and every time there’s a flash my mind is thinking and while there’s not a flash my mind is not thinking.” ~ Alex

Alex is only one of several hundred “younger” persons that have posted their salvia experiences on YouTube. Unfortunately most of these “young” people have little or no framework to understand or comprehend the experience. So what are we to do? Make salvia illegal and sweep it under the rug with marijuana, LSD and MDMA?

When are we going to stop, wake up and pay attention to what is being revealed to us?

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” ~ Wizard of Oz

Do Not Believe in Anything

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:48:58 -0000

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." ~ Buddha

Remember that we are all making it up as we go along. Why is it so hard to remember? When you doubt everything that you believe you may find yourself in an uncomfortable situtation. Try it sometime. No really... try it sometime.

Nerds Take Over YouTube. Giving. It's the new getting.

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 05:11:04 -0000

It's happening. Nerds coming together to take over YouTube for fundraising purposes. Bodhisattvas are popping up everywhere.

Each YouTube video producer is connected to a non-profit. They are seriously trying to "take over" YouTube for philanthropic purposes. Titled ,"Project for Awesome", these nerds are trying to gather together as many YouTube members to post videos with a NERDFIGHTER POWER - Project for Awesome thumbnail. This thumbnail will then "flood" the "Most Discussed" page on YouTube.

I guess you could say, "Giving. It's the new getting." ;-)

The Story of Stuff

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:39:53 -0000

It's the Christmas season... don't forget to buy people lots of stuff because they are buying you lots of stuff.

Wake up! Look at what is going on around you!

One of the painful aspects of "waking up" is that you suddenly become aware of what is really going on all around you. Once you step outside of "normal" thinking, you see how fucked up and chaotic the world is around us.

I know that everything is perfect... ahhh... Absolute Perfection.

Umm, can I say that it is perfectly fucked-up? If we were trying to create a system that provided short-term pleasure for a very small percentage of the population... then I guess you could say that we have succeeded. Perfectly created system to benefit the few.

Concentration of wealth. Power over. For some... perfection. For most others... pain and fear.

What is the alternative? Balance. There will always be dark energy in the world, that's the nature of duality. Let's bring light and dark into balance.

This 20-minute video shows how we, citizens of earth, are co-creating an unbalanced reality. The more we know about what is really going on around us, the better we will be able to make decisions about how to take action.

What is the Story of Stuff?

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Amazon's Kindle - Reduce Paper Consumption

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:08:17 -0000

If I purchased this device... and then never purchased another book, magazine, newspaper or anything that would normally be printed on paper... What would be the balance of energy used?

No more paper. No printing. No shipping. No storage. Only ones-and-zeroes stored in a small electronic device.

NO MORE PAPER! INSTANT DELIVERY!

2012 - Here It Comes

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 22:20:41 -0000

Some of you may know that I have been very interested in (some may say obsessed with) the Mayan calendar and its 2012 end date. Here is the first short animated film that Post Modern Times has released. This is a great summary of some of the concepts that Pinchbeck presents in his book "2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl".

"Welcome to Postmodern Times, a series of short animated films presenting new ideas about global consciousness and techniques for social and ecological transformation. Our first episode, "Toward 2012", introduces the project, explaining concepts from the best-selling book, "2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl" (Tarcher/Penguin, 2006) by Daniel Pinchbeck, in the author's own voice. Future segments will focus on shamanism, sustainability, alternative energy systems, the Mayan Calendar, quantum physics and synchronicity, human sexuality, and a host of other subjects."