1950s mentality and scifi shows discussion

 I've been catching up on some scifi series

Dark matter 2015

The expanse 

Asimovs foundation

There are a few spoilers but they don't reveal much.

Some thoughts and bullet points

The negative: all three shows have shown the same disrespect to their fans and viewers. Some producer canceling them for no good reason and not providing fans with at least a longer finale that provides a conclusion. Frequently happens in scifi. All three are formulaic. After the success of game of thrones. Main characters are killed off with impunity. Their arc makes no sense, every few episodes they are different people. All have cliffhangers in every episode.

People liked the expanse. While I thought it's interesting it was too horrific, turned into a battle of various factions and unions in one season. Themes

Memory

Individuality vs hive mind

Terra and bio forming with horrible results

Colonizing

Exploitation of blue collars

War

Science fiction when done well explores current fears and extrapolated them into the future.

Out of all of them I liked Foundation the most although it veers from asimovs work significantly it does include the law of robotics, the fall of the Roman empire repeated into the far future.

Math used as predictive model for human behavior "psychohistory" which asimov should have called behavioral predictions had it been a major field in the 50s. Today we call it AI.

Asimovs writing was based on 1940s/50s fears and science. The world was recovering from a world War. Psychology was a big field. Replaced by neuroscience since then. Fears of authoritarian governments.

Basically scifi progressed in the 80s and 90s with benevolent aliens, peace in the universe and a hopeful future in startrek, iain banks, Alistair Reynolds.

The author of dark matter went public with his dissatisfaction about what was done with his creative work.

Why movie studios are giving us 50s mentality with a little contemporarization instead of telling more hopeful stories when we have progressed and moved on?

Ignorance is not bliss, neither is lack of kindness

 A friend of mine never went to university but is very smart and managed an auto didactic education in chemistry biochemistry and natural health. He sometimes didn't understand the basics and distrusted anything corporate.

One of our conversations involved antiperspirant. He told me that he was using a crystal because aluminum causes cancer.

No it doesn't. How are you using a crystal?

It's a stick. You apply it the same.

What's it made out of?

All natural. Potassium aluminum sulfate.

That's an aluminum salt. You're using the pure mineral.

I told him that my corporate antiperspirant contained aluminum chlorydrate also an aluminum salt, but a weaker one. Diluted with additives for scent, oils for glideability, antimicrobial etc. After undergoing a lot of quality control and testing to reduce irritation. Basically his natural stick was putting more aluminum onto his skin at 18 bucks a stick compared to my run of the mill one.

He's smart and when he fell for the unregulated natural health sector he had consumed so much omega369 oils that he admitted it had made him overweight and ill. When it came to my friend we could agree to disagree or come out wiser and more knowledgeable.

In the last decade ignorance has gotten worse. Keep people ignorant and you can sell them anything. The aggression with which people share their pov has gotten much worse based on what they read online.

Although it makes me unhappy, spouse, my voice of reason, told me that I need to accept that consideration, kindness and knowledge are on hold. It's okay to go after "useless" scientists now. That governments are campaigning against universities to cut funding and research and to turn it over to corporate interests is something that people care as little about as they did about climate change forty years ago . If the public doesn't know, it won't advocate.

I was thinking about about a good example when the universe gave me one. 

There is a hybrid cafe/variety store that I grab a few items from. Sometimes I sit outside for a bit before walking back. I just purchased something so I do not need to consume anything more. It's family run and the owner Linda loves to chat and tell me about conspiracy theories as well as her opinions. Sometimes I correct her, sometimes I don't bother.

I've had to listen to her tell me that the guy who owned an island had been spotted in Dubai (TikTok says). Her indifference to synthetic food replacing more expensive meat products or cocoa for the same price. Despite being a second generation immigrant she voted against herself. I told her about the lack of measures against heat waves. She told me she didn't care if people suffer and it's not the government's responsibility. (Actually, it is). I gave up.

I sat outside for a bit to unwind. The waiter, a new kid, asked if I wanted anything. I'll just sit here for a few minutes. Can't sit here if you don't order anything. Seriously? I just bought something. I wasn't in the mood to explain (i had longcovsssh so i still get sudden fatigue), so I left. He stood up to follow. You could have just asked he said (im also done owing anyone common courtesy when they have none). He wanted an argument I wasn't going to give him one. I wish you bad luck, I said.

He became scared. His belligerence stopped. He was trying to get me to lift the curse. Not how it works, i said. You were mean, i added as i walked away. In his world superstition ruled over science and just being a decent human being.

This is how we got here.

I made the decision recently to go against my nature and stop educating. There's no point. People want to believe what they read, even if it's wrong and not a day goes by when I don't have to listen to a flat earth moment.

The mandela effect

 Is a new term that I am coming across with more frequency.

Some meme is making the rounds that the monopoly man didn't wear a monocle. AI is telling me that no. Never.

I played monopoly as a kid. I specifically remember that he did because I asked my dad how it stayed put as it was the first time that I'd seen one.

Lo and behold:

I don't really care that it was older games from the UK or a difference in printing or editions. It's a trivial question for trivia.

I do care that we are told not to trust our memories or senses. Chocolate that doesn't taste the same because the formula contains more sugar and chocolate flavor instead of cocoa is "nostalgia". 

It's a type of brainwashing. Around 2015 a meme about is the dress white and gold or blue and white made the rounds. Even the geeks offered explanations on color saturation and lighting. There were clearly two images.

People who are susceptible lie. A show which was restarted the xfiles, no longer held it's original charm, became very satirical, but had a very good episode called the lost art of forehead sweat. Here is a great summary 4 minutes where Dr. They explains this:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=z-EfEaFWh3w

It does matter.

Heat wave in Europe 26

 

Heat dome by NOAA

So there it is and I  told you so doesn't give me any satisfaction. This is the feedback loop that climate scientists predicted. Europe is stuck under the Omega dome/block with temperatures that were predicted to occur in 2050, then 2030 as it was happening faster than computer models calculated.

Four weeks at 35 to 42 Celsius in June is 15 degrees above normal.

The big gripe that I have with climate scientists is that while they predicted that this would happen their only solution is to get rid of dependency on oil and gas. Industries and economies don't work that way. Fossil fuels started this process but the methane released from glaciers and the arctic/antarctic is much worse than co2. Nor can certain factories get the energy they need from electricity or solar panels alone.

The middle east is a perfect example. The Saudis, Kuwait, Qatar and other oil rich exporters are able to maintain infrastructure that allows them to live and survive. They've regularly dealt with 40 Celsius (I'm using the scientific system) and can only do so because almost all homes have air-conditioning. This is an oversimplification as corruption plays a big role in the poverty of countries.

So. Who is any country to tell functional countries to stop their exports, roll over and die through climate change?

What stunned me the most is Europe's indifference toward its people and public health.

This isn't a problem of the poor and public health services should be geared toward keeping a population healthy.

Germanys major cities have one cooling center in the main library or airport. Berlin (Population 4 million). The rest are told to go to parks to cool off. Keep in mind that they enjoy living without air-conditioning in office buildings and at home.

Switzerland offered free movie theaters as cooling centers.

Paris well other than lots of fountains not much either.

Europe's railway is struggling because of the heat strain of the tracks.

Vs.

The Japanese. Cooling spots, cooling centers are everywhere and easily accessible. Many trains are so advanced they use magnets which aren't affected unless it goes above 80 Celsius.

The UK London opened all of its air-conditioned museums and galleries for free.

This climate change is here to stay. Too late to reverse it. What if anything is your municipality doing? What have you noticed about the weather?

The Mandalorian and my father

 There's that moment before being pulled into consciousness where I am the most content. Where the anticipation of a new day makes one want to wake up to enjoy the first small pleasure a good coffee and breakfast.

It was in that quiet space that I'd thought of a way to solve a stressful problem. Need to call dad, run it by him I thought. In that quiet space this was reality, I was about to reach for the phone. Pain.

I can't call and ask because he's gone. My advisor is gone. There's a hole that will never be filled by anyone; the combination of a person who I trust implicitly as well as a problem solver with the knowledge and experience that I needed. That's reality. I'm awake. I sat on the edge of the bed, thinking who will I call about this particular issue? Pain was replaced by numbness and I didn't feel like getting up any longer.

Since my father and what was done to him, I've changed and not for the better. There's a sense of pointlessness. At a certain age one becomes disposable. Less than human to others.

I'm not a devoted star wars fan, but while looking through movies I came across the mandolorian/ grogu. It's made for kids, charming and cool at the same time. I liked the combination of puppetry and cgi. I watched a few episodes a father and child team, each with their own abilities. "First the old help the young, then the young help the old. That is the way."

For a brief moment in time, fantasy fixed my reality. I fell asleep again, feeling better when I woke.

That is the way.

Disclosure Day movie review Whatever happened to empathy?

 This contains spoilers.

Disclosure Day is underwhelming and remarkably bad for a Spielberg movie and yet thought-provoking if one takes Spielbergs life into account.

It feels like a small budget movie. The film feels off and subdued. The CGI is remarkably bad and awkward. Unless it's deliberate.

Spielberg is a humanist. Founder of the Shoah project. Many of his movies, even the blockbusters, have a "what have we done" theme to it. Amistad which he produced dealt with slavery. Many of his movies deal with exceptional evil that humans commit. Given the complexity of Schindler list, minority report, ready player one, not to mention his movies that dealt with the cold war and other historical pieces, disclosure day was too simple and almost condescending. 

Spielberg wrote it in 2023. Two wars had broken out. Again. His frustration with the human species is palpable. He even stated that it's not about aliens but what we do to eachother. "Whatever happened to empathy?" was a sentence he uttered about this movie. 

We watch a highly empathetic telepathic species arrive the first time in 1947. A significant year. The war had ended, the cold war had started. And what do humans do? Mistreat an alien species, steal their technology instead of listening to their message: "Lack of empathy leads to extinction." They are so benevolent and empathetic that they keep showing up to warn humanity. Almost as if Spielberg is saying, I'll make the message so simple maybe we finally get it. Communicate before heading into war. His disdain is shown when people are sitting without emotions watching on smartphones.

Even religion is briefly dealt with. Do sentient beings exist elsewhere? Obviously. They're not supreme beings to be worshipped, but God gave us Earth and populated the rest of the universe. Simple explanation given to movie goers by a nun.

Here's Spielbergs brief commentary

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZiDD0bjziS/

The movie feels like part memoir part rant of a person who tried to make this world a better place through his craft and watches it undo everything we've accomplished. There's a reason that the dialogue and people (especially Wardex) are incredibly stupid, because at the moment we kind of are.

Note: I have mentioned before that while I personally believe that there are other civilizations out there, it would be arrogant to think we're it, I do not think we've ever been visited. Roswell was a known military experimental aviation site, which even developed a failed aircraft that was a flying saucer-a round hovercraft. Some of the stealth bombers were developed there. Many ufo sightings by pilots were just an optical phenomenon called "glory" or pilots glory. (Looks like a circle flying along side the plane)

Quoth the Raven...

 Babababababaaa

https://youtube.com/shorts/JwQWzYDezZg

Yes. Been watching videos on Ravens and bumblebees solving puzzles.

Who knew?