It's not a new world--it's a very old world. Human beings have always had a very superficial veneer of civilization, particularly young males. Almost all social species of animals have a young male problem, which they solve in one of two ways--either by expelling them from the group (elephants) or submitting them to harsh discipline. Despite that, young males often rove in gangs wreaking havoc. Dolphins, for example, gang rape females with impunity. We are unrealistic if we are shocked that human males, when unsupervised, don't behave in a civilized fashion. This is why we have such a problem in the military with rape and sexual abuse. We need to stop being shocked and start getting real.
Ha ha--yes. Meta should have made a decision from the get go about whether this platform is a free for all or not. It's a displacement issue--do we let young men do in a virtual world what they can't do in the real world (such as commit mass murder during gaming), or do we say that they can't do it in a virtual world either. Or do we, a la Tipper Gore, suspect that doing such things virtually makes them easier to do in the real world?
"Young men" are not the problem. The problem is this plan to move our entire lives, including all our interactions and transactions, into cyber-space (where they can all be constantly surveilled, or even blocked), and the concomitant divide-and-conquer trick of demonizing ANY group of have-nots AS "the problem." In short, transhumanism, and NOT any multitude of other humans, is "the problem" here.
I agree with this, but don't you think this same thing happens in the real world? No matter where human interactions occur, they are culturally controlled, and the divide and conquer demonizing technique is used.
I don't know. The moral panic about the metaverse is reminiscent of that surrounding video games, satanic heavy metal, hip-hop and pop music lyrics and so on, a la Tipper Gore, as Linda Hagge mentions.
And if there are "plans" to have us move our lives into that realm, we do have the agency to opt out. I think parents will have to be vigilant about what their kids are up to and provide sound guidance.
Absolutely! I'm glad someone finally said the "Transhumanism" word. That's what the vaxx is about. Technology is designed to be addictive so it's not a stretch for young people to be attractive to the Meta Verse. It's a death trap, not a play thing.
I think it involves avoidance of internet activities that require avatars. Or, conversely, just realizing that it's a blip on a screen and not really you.
Virtual rooms are creepy and pointless. I tried it once, and it was just me sitting at my computer making the avatar walk around, looking at other avatars, not real at all. Why not go somewhere for real--go to the mall, walk down the street, anything but that virtual stupidity.
Are dolphins getting gang *raped* or are they getting gang *banged*? Is rape even a notion that dolphins have or a word even applicable to them? Let's avoid the temptation to anthropomorphize animals.
Oh good grief. When male animals gang up on a female and force her to have sex even though she is trying to get away, that is the same thing that happens with humans. It happens with other primates too. We all share the same DNA and evolved from the same ancestors. Humans are not somehow apart from the rest of nature. The "anthropomorphize" argument is based on a fundamental fantasy about human beings. The same people think only humans have consciousness, even though that flies in the face of all common sense.
We aren't in much disagreement on this. It's just that dolphins don't have a frame of reference to make such occurrences outlaw behavior or a crime. It's probably happened since the beginning of time and is part of the complexity of their reproductive life.
It's probably quite traumatic for the females. But, you know, it must serve some purpose in perpetuating dolphins. If such behavior was caused by some new stresses (such as caused by humans) then we need be concerned. Otherwise, labeling some animal behaviors as being like human crimes is kind of ridiculous because the creatures don't have a need for or a notion of a code of law.
That is a straw man. It doesn't matter whether something is a crime or not, or what its label is. The point is that it's an evolved behavior, whether it is a dolphin or a human. Therefore, whether it is legal or illegal, or shocking or unshocking, we must admit, because we see it around us in the animal kingdom, that it is to a certain extent "natural" behavior. Cultural taboos will only get you so far, and that is true whether the "world" is virtual or real. It is obvious that for the male avatars mentioned, taboos don't exist in a virtual world. Mark's point, which he explained in a comment, is that the Meta world is just a new way to control people. To me the more interesting question is how far the woke world has moved into denial of our animal ancestry.
I've heard that when they mate a champion racehorse stallion with a mare, they'll first send in some old workhorse to get the mare worked up, because female horses kick hard during mating and they don't want the racehorse stallion to get damaged.
It might be easy to conclude, out of ignorance impossible to overcome over what's going on in the mare's head, that she was resisting the whole affair. So that would be an example of anthropomorphizing the mare's reaction.
I know I'm beating, well, a dead horse here. But, attributing human motives to animals can be like the fallacy of projecting one's own cultural motivations onto events happening in distant lands, and that can be dangerous.
I'm very impressed with your well-organized comments.
You are assuming that human motives are different from animal motives. But how can that be, since our brain architecture is exactly the same? Humans have a thicker top layer of the brain than most other animals, but the differences between humans, dolphins and elephants in that respect are negligible. With rape, it is not the pre-frontal cortex at play anyway, but something much older, which we would call a drive rather than a thought. Those we share with most other animals. And also, an animal's desire not to be coerced is much more primitive and common to most of us as well. It is certainly not higher thought. Nothing about coerced sex has anything to do with cultural motivations. You seem to be irresistibly drawn to a fallacy yourself--your desire for humans to be distinct. Our ability to think about and name our own drives and emotions does not make those drives and emotions different from those of other animals. This is a trap, and leads to arguments like "Well, a dog can't think about its trauma the way a human can, so therefore it is okay to cause a dog severe trauma in a scientific trial." (Aside: this is Anthony Fauci level thinking.) But a moment's further thought (and experience) would show us that even though the dog can't ruminate on its suffering, it has learned the lesson of that suffering permanently, and will forever avoid similar situations, and may in fact never again trust humans. That is the very purpose of the suffering evolutionarily speaking. So a female dolphin who is gang raped by a pack of young males will learn from that experience to stay within a larger protective group and avoid situations in which she can be exploited. THAT is how we know her experience is negative and similar to a human's.
Dolphins will gang rape other species of dolphin (both male and female too) to death. For fun. Dolphins are sick creatures. Give me a shark any day of the week. :)
I was wondering how hard it would be for multi player games to have a "block" or "ignore" feature that would allow any player to make themself invisible to any other specific player, or that player invisible to them, or both. (Not just invisible, but unable to interact.)
LOL-yes. The report about the virtual assault seems to be part of the new triggering culture in which one has the "right" not to be affronted. It is supposed to culturally shock us.
'Of course I'm guilty!' cried Parsons with a servile glance at the telescreen. 'You don't think the Party would arrest an innocent man, do you?' His frog-like face grew calmer, and even took on a slightly sanctimonious expression. 'Thoughtcrime is a dreadful thing, old man,' he said sententiously. 'It's insidious. It can get hold of you without your even knowing it. Do you know how it got hold of me? In my sleep! Yes, that's a fact. There I was, working away, trying to do my bit -- never knew I had any bad stuff in my mind at all. And then I started talking in my sleep. Do you know what they heard me saying ...
"Down with Big Brother!" Yes, I said that! Said it over and over again, it seems. Between you and me, old man, I'm glad they got me before it went any further. Do you know what I'm going to say to them when I go up before the tribunal? "Thank you," I'm going to say, "thank you for saving me before it was too late.
Who would've "thunked" it, 198_ came and went and we were
smug, "those poor people in the USSR". Not much to laugh about now when it is so close to the skin. Oh, God help us because we sure, can not help ourselves.
My first response is, SO WHAT?! I think getting into a moral argument about what happens in a computer reality gives it legitimacy. It's not a legitimate reality, let's treat it as such.
It's also an easy fix; if your male or female avatar is beginning to be raped, press the power button. In real life, it's a harder fix but needs to be repeated; the way to stop rape is for men to quit raping. Men need mature support and guidance to develop healthy outlets for their sexuality and aggression. I wish our culture did a better job at that, and hopefully that's changing.
Responding to the clip where Albert Bourla (Pfizer) said by 2023 he wanted to "reduce the number of people in the world by 50%"... full interview is below.
The context (sentence prior to the clip) was that he wanted to reduce the number of people who didn't have access to Pfizer products by 50% (in other words, increase the reach of their crappy products by a billion people).
Frankly, I can't figure out which is worse. To say that he wants to kill 50% of the global population by 2023 is incorrect / out of context. However, increasing Pfizer's products (including the jab) will not only kill millions, but permanently maim millions upon millions.
Trust me, living with iatrogenic (Pharma-induced) chronic illness that is difficult (if not impossible) to treat, is hell on earth. Either way, they are taking away human life, human potential. Killing minds, bodies, and dreams. Robbing countries of productivity, robbing the future of brilliant minds. Diverting precious R&D funds from worthwhile causes. And bragging about it:
What we’re seeing unfolding here almost makes sense based on what has already unfolded. What we don’t know is how bad will it get. Society is breaking down and this is what it looks like.
Ritualistically murdered, to be more precise, in a formal ceremony (proof of vax required) officiated by High Priestess Joy Reid and His Most Reverend Jimmy Kimmel, the pod from 'The View', text provided by Ibram X. Kendi, and music provided by 'The Boss', Michael Stipe, Billie Eyelashes, and the remaining Foo Fighters.
I have seen this comment but since I don't game and refuse to engage in Metaverse couldn't she just quit the game or leave the virtual room? Why would she stay and allow them to play out such a violent satantic situation? This generation is in real trouble....
Brave New World indeed. Thank you for posting this piece. As one over sixty and with absolute no interest, ever, in meta anything I now am catching up.
One needs to know, regardless... I like your work very much, appreciate every post that comes to my inbox.
It's not a new world--it's a very old world. Human beings have always had a very superficial veneer of civilization, particularly young males. Almost all social species of animals have a young male problem, which they solve in one of two ways--either by expelling them from the group (elephants) or submitting them to harsh discipline. Despite that, young males often rove in gangs wreaking havoc. Dolphins, for example, gang rape females with impunity. We are unrealistic if we are shocked that human males, when unsupervised, don't behave in a civilized fashion. This is why we have such a problem in the military with rape and sexual abuse. We need to stop being shocked and start getting real.
"Getting real" is problematic in this case.
Ha ha--yes. Meta should have made a decision from the get go about whether this platform is a free for all or not. It's a displacement issue--do we let young men do in a virtual world what they can't do in the real world (such as commit mass murder during gaming), or do we say that they can't do it in a virtual world either. Or do we, a la Tipper Gore, suspect that doing such things virtually makes them easier to do in the real world?
"Young men" are not the problem. The problem is this plan to move our entire lives, including all our interactions and transactions, into cyber-space (where they can all be constantly surveilled, or even blocked), and the concomitant divide-and-conquer trick of demonizing ANY group of have-nots AS "the problem." In short, transhumanism, and NOT any multitude of other humans, is "the problem" here.
I agree with this, but don't you think this same thing happens in the real world? No matter where human interactions occur, they are culturally controlled, and the divide and conquer demonizing technique is used.
Wouldn't let me like, I agree with you.
I don't know. The moral panic about the metaverse is reminiscent of that surrounding video games, satanic heavy metal, hip-hop and pop music lyrics and so on, a la Tipper Gore, as Linda Hagge mentions.
And if there are "plans" to have us move our lives into that realm, we do have the agency to opt out. I think parents will have to be vigilant about what their kids are up to and provide sound guidance.
Yep, and I think that's why Mark is seeing it as a new way to institute cultural taboos that can be monitored.
Absolutely! I'm glad someone finally said the "Transhumanism" word. That's what the vaxx is about. Technology is designed to be addictive so it's not a stretch for young people to be attractive to the Meta Verse. It's a death trap, not a play thing.
https://twitter.com/yasmintwinkle/status/1530576174790889476
I think it involves avoidance of internet activities that require avatars. Or, conversely, just realizing that it's a blip on a screen and not really you.
Virtual rooms are creepy and pointless. I tried it once, and it was just me sitting at my computer making the avatar walk around, looking at other avatars, not real at all. Why not go somewhere for real--go to the mall, walk down the street, anything but that virtual stupidity.
It all makes sense when you realize that the people who invented this stuff are on the spectrum. See Billy Gates for corroborating evidence.
Are dolphins getting gang *raped* or are they getting gang *banged*? Is rape even a notion that dolphins have or a word even applicable to them? Let's avoid the temptation to anthropomorphize animals.
Oh good grief. When male animals gang up on a female and force her to have sex even though she is trying to get away, that is the same thing that happens with humans. It happens with other primates too. We all share the same DNA and evolved from the same ancestors. Humans are not somehow apart from the rest of nature. The "anthropomorphize" argument is based on a fundamental fantasy about human beings. The same people think only humans have consciousness, even though that flies in the face of all common sense.
We aren't in much disagreement on this. It's just that dolphins don't have a frame of reference to make such occurrences outlaw behavior or a crime. It's probably happened since the beginning of time and is part of the complexity of their reproductive life.
It's probably quite traumatic for the females. But, you know, it must serve some purpose in perpetuating dolphins. If such behavior was caused by some new stresses (such as caused by humans) then we need be concerned. Otherwise, labeling some animal behaviors as being like human crimes is kind of ridiculous because the creatures don't have a need for or a notion of a code of law.
That is a straw man. It doesn't matter whether something is a crime or not, or what its label is. The point is that it's an evolved behavior, whether it is a dolphin or a human. Therefore, whether it is legal or illegal, or shocking or unshocking, we must admit, because we see it around us in the animal kingdom, that it is to a certain extent "natural" behavior. Cultural taboos will only get you so far, and that is true whether the "world" is virtual or real. It is obvious that for the male avatars mentioned, taboos don't exist in a virtual world. Mark's point, which he explained in a comment, is that the Meta world is just a new way to control people. To me the more interesting question is how far the woke world has moved into denial of our animal ancestry.
I've heard that when they mate a champion racehorse stallion with a mare, they'll first send in some old workhorse to get the mare worked up, because female horses kick hard during mating and they don't want the racehorse stallion to get damaged.
It might be easy to conclude, out of ignorance impossible to overcome over what's going on in the mare's head, that she was resisting the whole affair. So that would be an example of anthropomorphizing the mare's reaction.
I know I'm beating, well, a dead horse here. But, attributing human motives to animals can be like the fallacy of projecting one's own cultural motivations onto events happening in distant lands, and that can be dangerous.
I'm very impressed with your well-organized comments.
You are assuming that human motives are different from animal motives. But how can that be, since our brain architecture is exactly the same? Humans have a thicker top layer of the brain than most other animals, but the differences between humans, dolphins and elephants in that respect are negligible. With rape, it is not the pre-frontal cortex at play anyway, but something much older, which we would call a drive rather than a thought. Those we share with most other animals. And also, an animal's desire not to be coerced is much more primitive and common to most of us as well. It is certainly not higher thought. Nothing about coerced sex has anything to do with cultural motivations. You seem to be irresistibly drawn to a fallacy yourself--your desire for humans to be distinct. Our ability to think about and name our own drives and emotions does not make those drives and emotions different from those of other animals. This is a trap, and leads to arguments like "Well, a dog can't think about its trauma the way a human can, so therefore it is okay to cause a dog severe trauma in a scientific trial." (Aside: this is Anthony Fauci level thinking.) But a moment's further thought (and experience) would show us that even though the dog can't ruminate on its suffering, it has learned the lesson of that suffering permanently, and will forever avoid similar situations, and may in fact never again trust humans. That is the very purpose of the suffering evolutionarily speaking. So a female dolphin who is gang raped by a pack of young males will learn from that experience to stay within a larger protective group and avoid situations in which she can be exploited. THAT is how we know her experience is negative and similar to a human's.
Dolphins will gang rape other species of dolphin (both male and female too) to death. For fun. Dolphins are sick creatures. Give me a shark any day of the week. :)
Cats and dogs do that, too! They are such animals!!!
Cant they just logout?
I was wondering how hard it would be for multi player games to have a "block" or "ignore" feature that would allow any player to make themself invisible to any other specific player, or that player invisible to them, or both. (Not just invisible, but unable to interact.)
So just carry a virtual gun. Problem solved.
This whole thing is sort of mind-blowing. I mean, we are slowly turning ourselves into “virtual” persona, crimes and all.
If you are in the metaverse and are assaulted, sexually or otherwise, you have options such as logging off.
LOL-yes. The report about the virtual assault seems to be part of the new triggering culture in which one has the "right" not to be affronted. It is supposed to culturally shock us.
The worst transgression: thought crime.
'Of course I'm guilty!' cried Parsons with a servile glance at the telescreen. 'You don't think the Party would arrest an innocent man, do you?' His frog-like face grew calmer, and even took on a slightly sanctimonious expression. 'Thoughtcrime is a dreadful thing, old man,' he said sententiously. 'It's insidious. It can get hold of you without your even knowing it. Do you know how it got hold of me? In my sleep! Yes, that's a fact. There I was, working away, trying to do my bit -- never knew I had any bad stuff in my mind at all. And then I started talking in my sleep. Do you know what they heard me saying ...
"Down with Big Brother!" Yes, I said that! Said it over and over again, it seems. Between you and me, old man, I'm glad they got me before it went any further. Do you know what I'm going to say to them when I go up before the tribunal? "Thank you," I'm going to say, "thank you for saving me before it was too late.
Who would've "thunked" it, 198_ came and went and we were
smug, "those poor people in the USSR". Not much to laugh about now when it is so close to the skin. Oh, God help us because we sure, can not help ourselves.
How exactly does one rape another avatar?
My first response is, SO WHAT?! I think getting into a moral argument about what happens in a computer reality gives it legitimacy. It's not a legitimate reality, let's treat it as such.
It's also an easy fix; if your male or female avatar is beginning to be raped, press the power button. In real life, it's a harder fix but needs to be repeated; the way to stop rape is for men to quit raping. Men need mature support and guidance to develop healthy outlets for their sexuality and aggression. I wish our culture did a better job at that, and hopefully that's changing.
Responding to the clip where Albert Bourla (Pfizer) said by 2023 he wanted to "reduce the number of people in the world by 50%"... full interview is below.
The context (sentence prior to the clip) was that he wanted to reduce the number of people who didn't have access to Pfizer products by 50% (in other words, increase the reach of their crappy products by a billion people).
Frankly, I can't figure out which is worse. To say that he wants to kill 50% of the global population by 2023 is incorrect / out of context. However, increasing Pfizer's products (including the jab) will not only kill millions, but permanently maim millions upon millions.
Trust me, living with iatrogenic (Pharma-induced) chronic illness that is difficult (if not impossible) to treat, is hell on earth. Either way, they are taking away human life, human potential. Killing minds, bodies, and dreams. Robbing countries of productivity, robbing the future of brilliant minds. Diverting precious R&D funds from worthwhile causes. And bragging about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ccd3LMNMl8&t=5s
That's right Paul, one way or other we're done for. There is some hope
for those 28 "poor" countries if they're lucky to have decent leadership.
Your "by 2023 ..." article is DOA, was it censored or did you delete it? Detected any problem?
I was looking at the video from the link in the mail, to see if I detect any editing, so far not, although I don't have a trained eye for it.
Why would he say something like that semi-publicly... I wonder who filmed that & released it.
Noticed that too...
https://twitter.com/yasmintwinkle/status/1530576174790889476
What we’re seeing unfolding here almost makes sense based on what has already unfolded. What we don’t know is how bad will it get. Society is breaking down and this is what it looks like.
I can't tell whether MCM is mentioning this with dismay, or whether it's with droll humor.
I guess "dismay" comes closer to the mark.
I sort of wondered the same thing. His comments cleared up the matter.
Civilized society is dead!
Ritualistically murdered, to be more precise, in a formal ceremony (proof of vax required) officiated by High Priestess Joy Reid and His Most Reverend Jimmy Kimmel, the pod from 'The View', text provided by Ibram X. Kendi, and music provided by 'The Boss', Michael Stipe, Billie Eyelashes, and the remaining Foo Fighters.
I'm a bad person and wish that all mentioned above and then some, experienced the full benefits of the safe profilactics
they so happy to advertise/push.
So what? They can go to their Meta Safe Place for a few days. Grow up!
I have seen this comment but since I don't game and refuse to engage in Metaverse couldn't she just quit the game or leave the virtual room? Why would she stay and allow them to play out such a violent satantic situation? This generation is in real trouble....
Brave New World indeed. Thank you for posting this piece. As one over sixty and with absolute no interest, ever, in meta anything I now am catching up.
One needs to know, regardless... I like your work very much, appreciate every post that comes to my inbox.