Original RI quotes only

[Allegro]

…you might say that any number of subjects, for example astronomy or music, have no real pragmatic effect on the lives of the world’s needy. Yet hopefully there exists enough bandwidth on the forum to bring minds to bear on their mysteries… [Refer].

[Allegro]

...it's not just injustices we're talking about here, and they are bad enough, but the development of techniques that allow some humans to have nearly mechanical control over other humans. Paraphrasing myself here, as a species we need to be aware of those techniques, and our vulnerability to them, in order to protect future generations from living in slavery. Knowledge of MC must eventually proliferate and then solidify into folk wisdom, something we all understand and accept about ourselves. [Refer.]

[Peregrine]

Suddenly, I have a new plan for retirement: Buy a house at Disney World, eat psilocybin daily, and ride the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom to gawk at the supersized American freaks as they splash down the Log Flume. And ride on Space Mountain.

[Simulist]

Probably one of those models is undergoing a stress test now, in the Gulf. It will be interesting to observe how much abuse the local populations will endure before they rebel and seize back control of their own destinies. If that doesn't happen, if the population simply surrenders after making their reflexive and instinctive displays of outrage and sorrow, then we can be certain that the mad scientists observing the scene behind that invisible two-way mirror that separates the elites from their subjects, these engineers of doom will take notice and will certainly prepare reports for the political and corporate leadership documenting how the regime of total control can be maintained and extended even under the most extreme circumstances.

The illusion of freedom is perhaps the most debilitating and limiting myth we currently have in this country, if not the entire world. This is not the ranting of a conspiracy nut, it's a clinical and cold assessment based on the widely available literature created by advertising experts who describe the numerous ways a population can be easily manipulated to perform its primary function of consumption, within the limits established by the political, military, and corporate elites. Fifteen minutes in front of a flat-screen TV will quickly demonstrate how effective the campaign of control has become. It is truly a dark science combined with elements of crowleyan magick. (No offense to Crowley-ites, but I don't know how else to describe it.) We're transfixed and hypnotized and probably to such an extent that even our intellectual rebels can only operate within the carefully constructed confines of acceptable dissent.

The original quote is here.

[Allegro]

…it really gets quite overwhelming. Communing with nature helps a lot. So spending less time here and out in the natural world is a great prescription for dealing with the madness. [Refer.]

[Peregrine]

So hilarious I had to quote it again...

Yet I do place myself morally above the sex workers of the world because I can honestly say that feigning interest in what one of my customers wants to talk about carries no risk whatsoever of causing the kind of existential pain that drives people to suicide.

[Simulist]

True Christianity would scare the living shit out of every conservative I know.

From here.

[mentalgongfu2]

I think insanity is far more common than we might realize, genius or not.

In our civilization, most of the insane are quiet, unremarkable souls who accept the things they're told they see unquestioningly.

Their delusions are the most dangerous, and the most commonplace.

-Simulist

[Allegro]

...So often epiphanies arise for me out of the most mundane of circumstances. What is it someone once said? Genius consists of presenting what was obvious in a novel enough way that the meaning comes as an aha experience, or words to that effect. It is always preferrable to let people discover their own meaning. It's the process of fascination (as opposed to concentration) and discovery that makes learning worthwhile and nourishing; making unlike, like. [Refer.]

[Simulist]

All of the philosophical problems seemingly posed by materialism and the occasional inexplicable Fortean event (not to mention the apparent success of "magick" and other physical changes brought about by acts of will) are resolvable by assuming that physics is built on a substrate of consciousness, and not the other way around. Every human culture except for our own has this as a fundamental axiom of its ontological system.

In other words, PKD is pretty much on target.

That's worth repeating, even highlighting.

(From here.)

[Simulist]

Anytime you hear a right wing fuck say that he stands for freedom, think the exact opposite.

(From here.)

[Simulist]

Damn, we humans are so smart. The shit we come up with... wow.

Remote control killing, boner pills, poison to paralyze your face, sandwiches made out of sandwiches. How can one not have hope for a bright future?

From here.

[crikkett]

Cheney sums up the ambivalence I hold towards transhumanism. Only those with the most money and a nearly sociopathic wish to live (and presumably hold on to their former power) forever at the expense of all others are going to get a shot at that game.

All we need is an undead bionic Cheney ruling us for eternity.

from "congestive heart failure"

[Simulist]

They're [the intelligence establishment people are] in a panic because people might find out they're all worthless pieces of shit.

Imagine what this country could accomplish if we used all this money and talent to do things that would make life better for people instead of chasing imaginary bogeymen?

From here.

[crikkett]

nevermind.