Had a wonderful weekend getaway at nearby Vilano Beach. Weather has been fabulously fall, cool and dry with sunny skies. Mitzi is still struggling with a cough that may be RSV. I haven't seemed to contract it yet. Fingers remain crossed.

I'm still grappling with an "attitude adjustment," but spotted something that seems promising. I can't recall if this came up in an RSS feed or Mastodon, but someone linked to this piece on hopepunk.

Hopepunk is Curtis blowing up the train at the end of Snowpiercer, or Max and Furiosa deciding to risk everything and go back to the Citadel at the end of Mad Max: Fury Road. It’s Naomi choosing to open the Roci’s door to let in as many desperate Ganymede refugees as possible in The Expanse. It’s believing that humanity may not be inherently good, but we’re not inherently bad either, and that giving people the chance to prove themselves compassionate is a worthwhile choice.

Yeah, that's kind of where I was going with Despair Is Not An Option.

Of course, that piece quotes Neo, and now we're being told there's no such thing as "free will."

I'll buy that. Daniel Dennett (another beard-guy), has been telling us consciousness is an illusion for decades. And I pretty much buy that too.

Of course, these remain persistent illusions and I think the absolutism of Dennett and Sapolsky are a bit off the mark, while being more correct than the Invictus crowd.

Everything is contingent (another risky absolutism), which is another way of saying everything is connected, and you might do well to spend a lot of time with Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom of The Middle Way. But it may make your head hurt.

What I find encouraging, perhaps, about Sapolsky is that it does illuminate the profound ignorance behind our notions of "freedom," especially as espoused by the folks most inclined to violently promote it. "Screw your masks! FREEEEDUMB!"

Not that those are the kinds of people who might pause and reflect on that.

Introspection is a superpower. Heisenberg. You can't measure something without changing it in some way. It is self-referential, and contingent, and emergent. But you do, kind of, get to choose. I mean Sapolsky wasn't looking for an argument, but I guess he couldn't help himself?

Anyway. We're dog-sitting this weekend. I've been wrapping up some family matters, and health stuff, so posting has been light. Expect to resume regular production shortly.

All we have are moments to live, and each other. Try to enjoy it.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:05 Friday, 20 October 2023