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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


Registered: 06/13/04
Posts: 10,685
Loc: On the Border
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: MarkostheGnostic]
#26738335 - 06/12/20 12:22 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Hell yeah in that time we went from a primitive agricultural species to a space faring species. The rise of the industrial age is like science fiction. I personally believe the next 100 years will see us spread out to the farthest reaches of the solar system and likely the first unmanned missions to our nearest stars and the planets that surround them returning data in the lifetimes of the people who launched them. Humans are nasty and destructive...but industrious as hell. Judging that technology doubles every ten years as a solid rule...the hundred after that will see humans to the stars if we can keep our fighting to a minimum.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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InnerWisdom



Registered: 08/09/19
Posts: 1,936
Loc: North EU
Last seen: 4 days, 9 hours
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: RJ Tubs 202] 1
#26738791 - 06/12/20 06:30 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Well just for the sake of argument: yes and no. Living in a time of war for example would be less certain than living in a time of peace in some country. Right now times are uncertain especially in the US it seems but of course globally as well with covid19. Maybe times like these break that illusion of certainty some what more and increase the desire for it. I just watched a video yesterday where it was mentioned that before WW1 there was a belief that rationality and technology have gotten to a point where big wars are not necessary, and perhaps it was this arrogance that exacerbated the risk of war. Too much certainty in anything is bad I think.
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redgreenvines
irregular verb


Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 37,531
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: InnerWisdom]
#26739060 - 06/12/20 08:59 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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well at least we have uncertainty plenty of it.
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Rahz
Alive Again



Registered: 11/10/05
Posts: 9,230
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: redgreenvines]
#26741369 - 06/13/20 08:45 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Something interesting I read.
"May you live in interesting times" is an English expression that purports to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. While seemingly a blessing, the expression is normally used ironically; life is better in "uninteresting times" of peace and tranquility than in "interesting" ones, which are usually times of trouble.
-------------------- rahz comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace "You’re not looking close enough if you can only see yourself in people who look like you." —Ayishat Akanbi
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RJ Tubs 202



Registered: 09/20/08
Posts: 6,014
Loc: USA
Last seen: 3 hours, 56 minutes
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: InnerWisdom]
#26748625 - 06/16/20 09:43 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
InnerWisdom said:
Well just for the sake of argument: yes and no. Living in a time of war for example would be less certain than living in a time of peace in some country. Right now times are uncertain especially in the US it seems but of course globally as well with covid19. Maybe times like these break that illusion of certainty some what more and increase the desire for it.
I appreciate those points. Especially that last statement! We forget that at any moment we could die of a heart attack or brain hemorrhage and many people die in car crashes every day.
This topic reminds me of the practice of meditating in a cemetery. We forget that every moment is uncertain, and that's one way to break free from the dream - the illusion, as you say. To wake up. I really enjoy walking thru a cemetery! It puts things into beautiful perspective. We all really should attend more funerals. And for people we did not know. It would be great for our mental health.
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redgreenvines
irregular verb


Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 37,531
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: RJ Tubs 202]
#26748700 - 06/16/20 10:44 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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love cemeteries except when needed
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Darwin23
INFJ



Registered: 10/08/10
Posts: 3,277
Loc: United States
Last seen: 1 day, 13 hours
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: DividedQuantum]
#26752836 - 06/17/20 09:16 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
DividedQuantum said: Right now is, to me, without a doubt the most interesting time in the last four billion years to be alive. So there’s that. Personally, it gives me no special satisfaction to live through and observe this. I generally tune out as much of it as I can. And, try as I might, I can see no way for it to go, or to end, well.
There is no shortage of tragedy and travesty and death and destruction and habitat loss and poisoning and meddling and corruption and dysfunction and lies and you just have to let it wash over you at this point. The catastrophe is so overwhelming that you just have to grow numb. One must simply understand that these seem to be the long-awaited end times – they really do – and that the only consolation we can get from being alive right now is that it’s fabulously interesting.
Is that a consolation for you? Do you feel things will grow better or worse? Or are they somehow okay? There are over 3.5 billion people living on less than $5.50 per day (adjusted) who might disagree if you answered in the affirmative.
In terms of sheer information coming out, no other generation comes close. I ultimately think that humanity will be humanity, though. Our last real major pandemic was the Spanish Flu in the 1910's. In the end, with that illness, we basically let it run its course and kill millions of people. We have the technology and the capabilities now to not follow the same path, and yet, that's exactly what's going to happen. Humanity doesn't change a whole lot even when the technology does.
People are sheepish (I know, treading dangerously close to "sheeple", lol), and by that, I mean that people move in herds. Everyone gives a shit right now about police brutality but I've already watched them drop away. Imagine the issues that aren't trending. I may sound a bit misanthropic, which is strange, I think people are mostly good, but I don't have faith that things will change for the better on any real fundamental level.
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Take a look at my journal
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Peyote Road
Stranger

Registered: 09/02/15
Posts: 3,527
Loc: Great Lakes State
Last seen: 1 year, 3 months
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: Darwin23]
#26755506 - 06/18/20 08:07 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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I would say no but I can't recall living in any other times so it's hard to compare. I don't find today's times all that interesting though.
-------------------- The path of the herbalist is to open ourselves to nature in an innocent and pure way. SHe in turn will open her bounty and reward us with many valuable secrets. May the earth bless you. - Michael Tierra
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redgreenvines
irregular verb


Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 37,531
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: Peyote Road]
#26756345 - 06/19/20 05:17 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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up the dose or increase your frequency or shift to salvia if nothing is interesting
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DividedQuantum
Outer Head


Registered: 12/06/13
Posts: 9,818
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Re: Do you think we are living in the most interesting times ever? [Re: Darwin23]
#26758446 - 06/19/20 08:09 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Darwin23 said: People are sheepish (I know, treading dangerously close to "sheeple", lol), and by that, I mean that people move in herds. Everyone gives a shit right now about police brutality but I've already watched them drop away. Imagine the issues that aren't trending. I may sound a bit misanthropic, which is strange, I think people are mostly good, but I don't have faith that things will change for the better on any real fundamental level.
Right, the term "herd mentality" takes on a whole new dimension atm. The issues that aren't trending aren't profitable, I guess. The Navajo Indian reservation in Utah and Arizona was one of the hardest-hit areas in the whole country by the coronavirus, but no one seems to care. I still haven't seen a shirt or a banner that reads, "Native American Lives Matter." Maybe even black people don't care about them.
And no, nothing fundamentally will change. This will all be past history, and we'll still be stuck in the mud as a country and a civilization.
-------------------- Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici
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