Thursday, October 31, 2019

Caitlin Johnstone — Things Are Only Going To Get Weirder

I often hear people in my line of work saying “Man, we’re going to look back on all this crazy shit and think about how absolutely weird it was! 
No we won’t. Because it’s only going to get weirder.
It’s only going to get weirder, because that’s what it looks like when old patterns start to fall away.
The human mind is conditioned to look for patterns in order to establish a baseline of normal expectations upon which to plan out future actions. This perceptual framework exists to give us safety and security, so disruptions in the patterns upon which it is based often feel weird, threatening, and scary. They make us feel insecure, because our cognitive tool for staying in control of our wellbeing has a glitch in it.
When you’re talking about a species that has been consistently patterned towards its own destruction, though, a disruption of patterns is a good thing....
Caitlin Johnstone — Rogue Journalist
Things Are Only Going To Get Weirder
Caitlin Johnstone

13 comments:

Matt Franko said...

“The human mind is conditioned to look for patterns ”

Artists are trained this way... not science people...

“a species that has been consistently patterned towards its own destruction”

LOL there are over 7B people and climbing....

Nebris said...

there are over 7B people and climbing....

"But Calhoun’s work was different. Vogt, Ehrlich, and the others were neo-Malthusians, arguing that population growth would cause our demise by exhausting our natural resources, leading to starvation and conflict. But there was no scarcity of food and water in Calhoun’s universe. The only thing that was in short supply was space. This was, after all, “heaven”—a title Calhoun deliberately used with pitch-black irony. The point was that crowding itself could destroy a society before famine even got a chance. In Calhoun’s heaven, hell was other mice.

So what exactly happened in Universe 25? Past day 315, population growth slowed. More than six hundred mice now lived in Universe 25, constantly rubbing shoulders on their way up and down the stairwells to eat, drink, and sleep. Mice found themselves born into a world that was more crowded every day, and there were far more mice than meaningful social roles. With more and more peers to defend against, males found it difficult and stressful to defend their territory, so they abandoned the activity. Normal social discourse within the mouse community broke down, and with it the ability of mice to form social bonds. The failures and dropouts congregated in large groups in the middle of the enclosure, their listless withdrawal occasionally interrupted by spasms and waves of pointless violence. The victims of these random attacks became attackers. Left on their own in nests subject to invasion, nursing females attacked their own young. Procreation slumped, infant abandonment and mortality soared. Lone females retreated to isolated nesting boxes on penthouse levels. Other males, a group Calhoun termed “the beautiful ones,” never sought sex and never fought—they just ate, slept, and groomed, wrapped in narcissistic introspection. Elsewhere, cannibalism, pansexualism, and violence became endemic. Mouse society had collapsed." ~The Behavioral Sink: The mouse universes of John B. Calhoun http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/42/wiles.php

Kaivey said...

Crikey!

Matt Franko said...

Right every other species reaches equilibrium but obviously not mankind we just keep growing in population....

FYI in Johnstone you’re taking information from a 20something female art student who appears not very well educated and extremely biased...

Peter Pan said...

I am one of the beautiful ones. Left the hive when I was 7.

Matt Franko said...

Proper education and training:

https://twitter.com/assaadrazzouk/status/1190191112910061568?s=21

Greg said...

Science people aren’t trained to look for patterns?!!


Maybe the single dumbest thing ever written on an internet comment section.

Well done Franko

Peter Pan said...

The macroscopic universe is an enormous pattern...

Matt Franko said...

they are trained to look for functional relationships....

You can get a BA in Physics or Chemistry you know... at Liberal Art Schools...

You can get a BA in Accounting at one of those schools too...

BA in Economics...

BA in "Environmental Studies" which is where all the people who the climate nutters refer to as "science!" come from... "hey I have a BA in Environmental Studies!" = FAIL....
etc...

Its the Methodology that matters not the Discipline...

I have a BS I was never trained to "look for patterns!"... sounds like that comes from a BA form of so-called "science"... ie Platonistic "science" as if there could ever be such a thing ... non discriminatory... ie "doing the same thing and expecting a different result" .. ie "broad gate" ie morons...

"Correlation is not causation" if you are looking for patterns you will only see correlations and never the causation...

Nassim Taleb a current prime example he is Mr Stochastics and yet thinks we're going bankrupt and is a full bore Monetarist... probably never took a course in Accounting Science in his life...

But he sure can document "patterns!" all day long....

Matt Franko said...

According to Greg we should make Vincent Van Gogh the head of NASA because he painted "Starry Night"....

Greg said...

Way to deflect Franko


Just because some people see “patterns” that are meaningless doesn’t mean real scientists don’t have to find patterns.

Science is hard, coming up with meaningless theories that art degrees are the reason we are fucked up is ........ fucked up
I guess we can now say that theories are worthless since you have a theory that is laughable


Keep digging moron. I’m sure you’ll be able to continue to pacify yourself that you have found THE problem......Art Degrees!!!!

Greg said...

Example of Franko science:


Caitlin Johnson- "Humans are conditioned to look for patterns"


Franko- HA!! Not us science people only art degree morons see patterns!!!


Greg- ???? Oh really Matt ? Science doesn't require finding patterns?! OK .....OK (backs away slowly to exit room, never taking his eyes off Franko)

Franko- Greg... why do you want Van Gogh to head NASA??? Cuz he paints pretty pictures???? !!!!


Greg- Ok Matt, Ok (still backing away slowly not taking eyes off Franko)

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Mike

You really should consider if Frankos rants are detriment to your site. He is not well. He's cracked.... off the deep end..... coo coo for coco puffs..... take your pick.

Peter Pan said...

MNE demonstrates that levity is good for business.