Nice article but I with there was something more authoritative to compare it to. I know controlled in-lab sleep studies are expensive but this would be the key data to have in the mix.
170 karma · joined March 15, 2022
However, there’s a strong argument to be made to to the question, what does our socio-politico-economic system look like if we leave it “un-designed” and let it grow in its natural direction? To which the answer is royal-subject-feudalism.
We’re seeing the decline of constitutional democracies before our eyes. Was it a grand experiment that will give way to the lazier solution to human order?
Feudalism is the multi-polar trap we snap back to when the serfs don’t actively put energy into a better system.
Maybe some would say fine to that. Because nowadays the serfs could have laptops and nice houses. And the freedoms that you would have limited by your rulers would be minimal.
But even so, the idea that sliding back into feudalism would defer a path to more decentralized sovereignty seems obvious.
Key traits associated with psychopathy include: 1. Affective Traits: • Lack of empathy (emotional detachment from others’ suffering) • Shallow emotions (restricted emotional range) • Absence of guilt or remorse • Callousness 2. Interpersonal Traits: • Superficial charm • Grandiosity (inflated sense of self-worth) • Manipulativeness • Deceptiveness or pathological lying
People defend planetary scale psychopathy because it’s quite literally business as usual.
Abroad there are some bright spots, though Americans will sparsely here of them:
1 Taiwan’s civic tech - using software to aid in crowdsourcing democratic options and discussion
2 Amsterdam’s circular economy project - investing in comprehensive analysis and rule-making focusing on reducing waste of all kinds - construction, pollution, consumables etc
I’ve looked at these last two personally, here’s a short list of similar projects (from chatgpt) if you’re interested
Barcelona Superblocks
New Zealand Wellbeing budget
Estonia’s e-governance
South Korea Smart City initiatives
Finland’s basic income experiment
Portugal’s participatory budgeting
Also El Salvador’s interests in Crypto is … interesting though too early to tell if this will be of real benefit to citizens at scale.
Historically all great “empires” have all fallen, and the US is right on pace for academics who study these things - our descent has begun. However there is one thing that’s different now. The speed of tech development will begin to outpace all other human forces that shape our civilization.
Taiwan is the leader in using tech for enhancing democratic participation. Can’t stress enough how valuable that might be if used correctly.
And of course, AI should accelerate the bioengineering, geoengineering, and perhaps some type of financial/economic engineering that could pull us from the brink.
I’m hoping that an AI future may make us happier and more sovereign, but the momentum towards a corporate techno feudalistic dark age, where government, citizens, and institutions are all bought and paid for by private mega corps, is growing.
However, there is one more culprit that is have recently been getting educated on. Blue light pollution.
I’ve been learning how the more we disrupt our circadian rhythm with screens and artificial light, especially at night, we massively disrupt our natural hormone cycles (master hormone leptin for example). This makes it impossible for adults past a certain age to lose any weight (regardless of diet and exercise), exacerbating the already growing obesity problem.
While the last 20 years we have made progress on a some acute problems like heart disease, complex ill-health is very much on the rise - Cancer, nearly all mental health issues, obesity & diabetes, suicide. Poverty is on the rise, literacy rates are down.
Human flourishing is just keeping its head above water in these places. Humans are resilient, but there are limits.
Capitalist-fundamentalists will also throw up their hands when asked how we might solve existential problems for which the is no end in sight - eg global warming, the toxifying of our food systems with plastics and industrial chemicals, government debt, etc.
> Capitalism is a system built by people that recognize that humans are reliably selfish and seeks to align their selfish interests as best as it can with the rest of the populous.
You just described mass institutional psychopathy.
I also was explained a definition of respect that forever changed my relationship to the word and it’s lived embodiment.
The Latin meaning of the word: Re-Spect - to see again. That’s it.
The second definition you gave- to treat someone like a human is way too low a bar. Because one might think that humans are generally POS. Also a person who has a problem with self-respect, does not lack seeing themselves as human per se.
If we elevate it a bit - from treating someone as human, to something like, treating someone with basic dignity, i think that’s an improvement. However it’s still basically passive and allows room for a lot of laziness and prejudice.
This is why i found the Latin meaning so helpful. Give that person a 2nd look. With each interaction try to see them again and again.
It’s much more active, it improves others in our eyes over time (usually, but not always). And I find it improves me over time, as i continue to remember to use my sight.
This definition helped me capture the more elevated aspect of respect, the one i felt the word already connotes, but had such a vague definition. A high virtue indeed.
Except any executive or employee not willing to bend the knee and gargle will be fired or perhaps a re-education retreat.
I don’t understand all the constitutional hurdles. However, we know that Russia has heavily invested in disinformation and destabilization for decades. We can and should expect the same from China.
As long as there are financial speculators, price bubbles will happen. A massive recession can clear out speculators and burst price bubbles, whom will have in the meantime, fleeced the public for billions, as will as made many be homeless.
In commodities markets, the CFTC has different rules about what speculators can do vs real market participants (real producers and consumers). There are very few rules/laws that disincentivize real estate speculation and many forces that incentivize it. These algorithms are additional tools that help speculators maximize profit.
Housing has very limited supply and very inelastic demand. Prices will not come down unless there is another 2008 style recession. Speculators will continue to pile in and fleece renters maximally.
You might say well that’s just business, but the algorithmic price collusion is really not my biggest issue. I think there’s a different moral question we should ask. What is the number of single family properties a single company should own in a given market. Should they be allowed to own 100%? My silly libertarian friend would say why not? The market will correct. A stronger thinker would probably see that a legal limit probably makes sense.
Additionally this might be a good opportunity to donate to a F Apple campaign by donating to this guys legal battle. Just to send the message.
I wish i could upvote this more
>> and at that level, no health impacts have been demonstrated
There’s a really important distinction between these two mindsets. The presumption that small amounts of chemicals should have to be demonstrated harmful to be considered toxic, is a mindset that is common in the self-identified scientifically skeptical, yet is anything but. It’s somewhere between careless - something like “humans have always consumed whatever is in the environment, therefore that’s the baseline” - and simply parroting corporate propaganda and lobbyist talking points.
I believe that it is very hard to capture these types of effects because measuring quantum systems impacts them, but I think (fully speculatively) it’s a matter of before we find more and more biochem systems that exploit quantum mechanical effects.
In Wilber’s system he describes the follies of advanced waking up without growing up (the many scandals re sex money & power), a thing that’s common in cultures that have spiritual gurus.
I think one of the misses is the implication that we can treat people like intelligent adults, and allow them to show up as adults. Vs if we censor conversations (infantilizing the audience) the bad ideas will metastasize.
If we if had to choose between metastasize and sepsis, the choice is clear.
If we are talking about a school environment i would 100 agree with Jon. But i think the larger population has proven that they are not intelligent adults (a really sad state) and can not be trusted with bad ideas prone to virality.
I lean with Jon’s idealism. I prefer the new Twitter over the old. But the tradeoffs are nuanced. There are not many clear and articulate thinkers equipped for the insanely complex times we find ourselves in.
Seems like this needs to be updated.