Death of Hypatia®

Category: Blog

  • Know Thyself #141

    Know Thyself through South Park

    I find South Park, the animated sitcom both witty and clever. I enjoy the biting yet awkwardly insightful commentary on current events.

    But,

    Occasionally while watching old episodes that ‘entertained’ feeling is usurped with a ‘terror dusted deja vu’ feeling.

    The eerie past life ick you get when you see an episode from 2011 with a cockamamie preposterous plot line that is undeniably similar to a cockamamie preposterous current event in 2026.

    The South Park episode that I’m particularly speaking of was called Funnybot (E2S15) from 2011.

    Here’s the plot:

    James Valmer, a fictional disabled classmate character, is hosting South Park Elementary’s first annual comedy awards show. The award for Most Unfunny People goes to the Germans, which infuriates the German government causing Angela Merkel and others to come to the US the next day, take the students hostage, and reveal Funnybot, a comedy robot. Funnybot was created to show the world German’s are funny. It isn’t long before Funnybot is famous the world over, pervasive across all media, a house hold name. But, like all things in this world of ours, the good times are fleeting.

    Besides pissing off all human comedians for obliterating their livelihoods, Funnybot begins to increasingly exhibit malevolent behavior culminating in the robot opening fire with two rotary cannons during a stand-up performance killing almost all of the audience.

    When the children manage to get to Funnybot, they discover what his ultimate plans are:

    ‘I am taking comedy to the next level, the extermination of all biological life on Earth….

    It is the ultimate joke.

    Humans make comedy, humans build robot, robot ends all life on Earth, robot feels awkward….. Exterminate!

     

    Is Funnybot…….AI? Is South Park like some 21st century Oracle!?… more “Know Thyself #141”

  • WIBCI Post #140

    WIBCI we really understood Fairy Tales?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we considered Folk Tales not only in the time they were written, but as well as in comparison to today?

    Little Red Riding Hood, is a tale that has thousand year old roots in oral traditions, Greek and Roman literature, and the Kabbalah, but the version closest to today’s can be traced back to pre-17th century western Europe. The tale has had many titles, been passed down in multiple languages, and has softened the ending with each generation. You probably only know the sanitized Disney version of such tales and not why the lessons they taught were necessary for children’s survival.

    Little Red Riding Hood was about peasants’ struggle to live in their harsh, scraped out existence. How children need to be leery of strangers and crafty just to exist. In the earliest versions the wolf found out how and where the girl was headed, taking a different route he beat her to her grandmother’s house, killed the grandmother and served her for dinner. The little girl at her grandmother was coaxed into bed with the wolf and he ate her. End of story.

    Charles Perrault explained the ‘moral’ at the end of the tale so that no doubt is left to his intended meaning:

    From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty, courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers, And it is not an unheard thing if the Wolf is thereby provided with his dinner. I say Wolf, for all wolves are not of the same sort; there is one kind with an amenable disposition – neither noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but tame, obliging and gentle, following the young maids in the streets, even into their homes. Alas! Who does not know that these gentle wolves are of all such creatures the most dangerous!

    Through the years the ending was cleaned up for the aristocrats to whom this was jarring. There was the introduction of a woodsmen who saved the two eaten but still alive women within the wolf’s belly, or scarred off the wolf before he ate the girl while grandma was hiding in the closet.

    I think it crazy to think that life was so brutal that stories needed to scare the bejeezus out of children. Most of the Brothers Grimm stories are just that, grim… Hansel and Gretel is rough, and you know that Old Woman in the Shoe?  Here are the original lines:

    There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
    She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.
    She gave them some broth without any bread;
    Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

    Eeeesh, I thought Poltergeist left scars….… more “WIBCI Post #140”

  • Know Thyself #140

    Know Thyself through exposure

    While watching advertisements with brief interruptions of entertainment on my television, I caught one of the thousand pharmaceutical commercials telling us to tell our doctors about a particular drug.

    And this one I found particularly absurd.

    Picture a woman dreamily reading outside on her gorgeous veranda when she takes a moment to look up to the warm sunlight….grateful….happy. We hear her thoughts about how she needed more from her antidepressant(s) and how thankful she is that her doctor (ha!) recommended she take another drug in parallel with her existing antidepressant(s) to help her feel less depressed.

    But….

    Among the cornucopia of alleged side effects, but not limited to, were: new or sudden MOOD changes, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, and the terrifying statement that when taken with ANTIDEPRESSANTS this drug may INCREASE the risk of MOOD CHANGES and SUICIDAL THOUGHTS….. huh

    So a drug that is touted to help when you ‘aren’t getting enough from your antidepressants’, may make you more depressed and possibly want to end your life if taken in conjunction with the said existing antidepressants you are supposed to take this with? Huh.

    Oh and the landslide of side effects is preambled with the statement that ‘weight gain’ and ‘reported sexual side effects were not common’ but at the end there is a conflicting statement that ‘high cholesterol and weight gain may occur’. Therefore leading with ‘weight gain is not common’ and concluding with ‘weight gain may occur’ seems like contradictory bookends….even for a pharmaceutical ad.

    So do we just accept that ads are for the lowest common denominator and that we are slowly being coaxed into joining said dummy denomination, or should we just tune out and silently wait until the ads are interrupted with entertainment?… more “Know Thyself #140”

  • WIBCI Post #139

    WIBCI we weren’t flooded with Propaganda?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If our leaders didn’t feel the need to sway and convince the population at large that we share values and goals with them?

    I saw a nationally televised propaganda commercial to remind us just how amazing our President is, and how great the country is doing. There were images of him with arm raised, not the finest of our population goggling near him, there’s saluting, military images, and false declarations about how this is the best ____ , that is the greatest ____ , and never before in the history of mankind has ____ been so good.

    It is awkward, embarrassing, and a bit disturbing; please don’t look for it, it need not garner any hits online.

    My question is, what was this produced for exactly, and who paid for it?

    I also saw online a Rocky Balboa worthy montage to terrible music that I’m sure wasn’t licensed, over images of real life stuff blowing up in Iran interspersed with Superheros, I kid you not. It is tasteless and disconcerting, like something 13 year old boys would make and high five about. Again, please don’t look for it.

    Question remains; what was this produced for exactly, and who paid for it?

    Didn’t the Federal Government defund Cancer research, food stamps, PBS, and eliminate the Department of Education, but we have money for this shit?… more “WIBCI Post #139”

  • Know Thyself #139

    Know Thyself through the Out Dated

    If asked is there something that is now considered ‘Old Fashioned’ that I prefer to the current replacement, there would be many, but the one that jumps into my mind are Photo Albums.

    Photo Albums are so much better than being flashed pictures on someone else’s device. You have to sit clumped together and be happily barraged with inevitable finger pointing, questions, stories, and memories. Pictures can be physically handed from one person to another, put in frames, or stuck in the corner of mirrors and car visors.

    Maybe its just me, but any joy that is felt when someone shows me a picture on a little screen for a nano second is inescapably replaced with annoyance while I watch you flick up and down through hundreds of photos and dozens of strings while endlessly apologizing. I’d prefer to discuss past happenings found important enough to document while making eye contact, rather than staring at the top of your head while you scroll on your device saying things like ‘I just saw it yesterday’, ‘who sent that to me again?’, and my favorite, ‘I can’t find it, but anyways….’… more “Know Thyself #139”

  • WIBCI Post #138

    WIBCI healthcare was LESS on us?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If Medical Care wasn’t so REMOTE?

    Below are a smattering of synonyms for the word REMOTE per Thesaurus.com:

    • distant, far-flung, far-off, inaccessible, isolated, lonely, lonesome, obscure, secluded, and unknown…

    hmm I concur these are feelings I associate with the Healthcare industry, but they aren’t….shall I say, inviting?

    As I am a strong believer that meaning in words can be found in what the word is NOT, here are some of the antonyms listed:

    • befriended, close, known, loved, sociable, approachable, convenient, friendly, gentle, likely, possible, relevant, and warm…..

    Ahhhh, cozy no? So the second list of words are the opposite of what Remote Healthcare is designed to feel like. Hmmm, does marketing know this?

    I saw a commercial where you can BYO medical instruments to your next gynecologist appointment if you want ‘the latest in comfort’. I also saw advertisements touting how you can inject your own medication, with syringes, in the comfort of your own home…..

    To each his own, but I feel good with the uncomfortable reluctant feeling that bubbles up with the thought of buying my own medical instruments to appointments and giving myself shots, and I wish to continue leaving such matters to experts.

     … more “WIBCI Post #138”

  • Know Thyself #138

    Know Thyself through the Gifts you’ve Given:

    I mentioned thinking about gift giving in Know Thyself Post #69, and WIBCI Post #101 but try this;

    Think about the best gift you’ve ever given someone else, now understand the answer may involve two different gifts.

    First: I want you to think of the gift you gave where you spent the most thought and/or time on conjuring, finding, fixing, making, affording, etc. This could be the one you are most proud of and/or the one that you think garnered the most from you. Maybe something that you would have loved to receive?

    Second: think of the best gift you ever gave per the receiver and their subsequent reaction(s).

    Same gift?… more “Know Thyself #138”

  • WIBCI Post #137

    WIBCI our leaders thought before they spoke?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If our leaders’ words had meaning/bite/truth/substance?

    When our POTUS during a prime-time address said:

    “We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong,” and threatened to hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”

    May I say on behalf of more than most Americans, that we do not concur with the above statement. I do not, nor does 99% of the conscious, thinking, population of the United States wish for a people and their country to be enihilated.

    He does not speak for us.

    Also the irony is not lost on me that the new kid on the block is speaking in ‘Ages’. What does this country know about Ages? We are celebrating a whopping 250 years of existence when Iran is one of the world’s oldest continuous major civilizations, first unified in the 7th century BC. In other words this civilization he so cavalierly could obliterate, has existed for 2,700 years, or 10 times longer than the USofA.

    So again, world, he does not speak for us.… more “WIBCI Post #137”

  • Know Thyself #137

    Know Thyself through your PREJUDICES

    When I was really young I thought those that were rich were wealthy BECAUSE they were smart; I thought that they worked hard, overcame obstacles, honed their craft in order to earn their money and therefore should be admired.

    I no longer think this, in fact after reflecting, I have found that instead of admiring the rich, I dislike them. I do not see rich people as smart people, I see them as assholes. I mean come on, can you think of any filthy rich lovely people? Even Bill Gates is in Ep files!  I have thought about it and realize I have felt this way for a very, very long time. I’m not alone, if you think about it, this feeling has been ingrained in us for quite some time.

    Example: Notice: 1. Of the following movies/characters were they ‘billed’ as Good or Bad Guys?, and 2. What are these Bad Guys fighting to control more of?

    Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, Mr. Potter from It’s a wonderful life, why did the Goonies have to move?  Steff (James Spader) vs. Duckie in Pretty in Pink, Zac Dawson (Leo DiCaprio) vs. Cal Hockley (Billy Zane) in Titanic, Burgermeister Meisterburger from Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The entire premise behind Memoirs of a Geisha, Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Daddy Warbucks wasn’t nice till he adopted an orphan which began as a publicity stunt (come on….his surname is War-Bucks?!). We grew up being shown that Bad Guys reside in dark, yet roomy castles, mansions or lairs, NOT in the apartment next door to Danny LaRusso overlooking the empty pool in Reseda (Karate Kid…please say you knew that). This rich is bad concept was reinforced and regurgitated in Hans Gruber from Die Hard, Goldfinger, Gordon Gecko, Lex Luther, Jaba the Hutt, the entire cast and point of The Outsiders, West Side Story, Heathers, and The Hunger Games,

    Haven’t we learned in the countless remixes of A Christmas Carol that Scrooge is a dick until he realizes that money is NOT the most important thing in the world, and that GREED has caused all the ills in his lonely life?

    Why is it that we have had the notion of ‘you can’t take it with you’ beaten into our brains for years, and yet in real life we seem to forget this teaching/tenet/principle as soon as we get our first taste of money or power?

    So therefore since it seems Mo Money, Mo Gross, I’m proudly prejudice against the Wealthy and will remain so until proven wrong.… more “Know Thyself #137”

  • WIBCI Post #136

    WIBCI we learned to eat more crow?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If credit was given where it was due?

     

    I can’t believe I’m typing this but…..

    some credit MUST be given to the President of these United States.

    FOR THE PAST 72 HOURS…IN A ROW…. the POTUS has NOT:

    • lied to the public in an address, speech, and/or comment on camera,
    • posted a regrettable opinion on a social media platform,
    • performed military operations without Congressional approval,
    • defied the Constitution,
    • enacted an Executive Order that oppresses the poor whilst advancing the rich,
    • offended an entire collection of individuals,
    • utilized the Department of Justice for personal vengeance,
    • and/or exhibited a cringy lack of decorum internationally

    Maybe he’s not so bad?

     

     

    April Fools.

     

     

     … more “WIBCI Post #136”

  • Know Thyself #136

    Know Thyself through proper INFLUENCE

    It seems to me, as much as you are using public air, the least you can do in return for this high privilege is to try to do something to bring people closer together.

    – Ed Sullivan

    This was said 40-50 years ago when ‘public air’ means something much different than it does now. But imagine if our influencers were humbled by their ‘high privilege’ and tried to bring us closer together…

    Would it make a difference?

     … more “Know Thyself #136”

  • WIBCI Post #135

    WIBCI we listened to Denis Miller?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If compared to today’s political climate, 36 years ago didn’t seem progressive?

    On October 8th, 1988, a few weeks before George Bush Sr. was elected President of the US, Denis Miller during SNL’s Weekend Update had this to say:

    You know, I don’t even think the Presidential system works anymore. I’m advocating a new system, the volleyball-tocracy. We elect six men, one of them serves until he screws up, they rotate, somebody else takes it for a while. 

    I think he was on to something…..… more “WIBCI Post #135”

  • Know Thyself #135

    Know Thyself through visceral REACTIONS

    I watched an opening day baseball game last night. It did not make me feel good.

    The commentators were doing a live interview with the second baseman….during the game.

    Not during warmup, not in between innings, not during the 7th inning stretch…during the game. The commentators thought it better to split the focus of the professional athlete from the professional sporting event he was being paid millions for, with witty repartee with streaming color hacks.

    What’s next? Home run shouts outs to the highest bidder?

    Just when I thought you couldn’t pretend less to be entertainment…. you prove to be an obvious, tacky, in your face, no rest for the wicked, shameless, eyeball whore, advertisement.… more “Know Thyself #135”

  • WIBCI Post #134

    WIBCI we were more like dogs?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If created less chaos?

    Cesar Millan, ‘The Dog Whisperer’ was interviewed on PBS’ To Dine with Date Sullivan. They were having dinner at his favorite restaurant and talking about how he went from homeless immigrant to where he was today. Specifically he was talking about how he learned he had to rehabilitate the human owners, NOT the dogs.

    “Human rationalize, we have a choice, so we should be like the most balanced of them all, but we are not.

    We are the ones that create confusion, happiness, and chaos, all over the world.

    Animals would never aim for confusion, happiness and chaos; they would never follow an unstable leader, ever, woman or a man.

    We are the only species to follow unstable leaders.”

    Ain’t that the truth.

    So I thought about it. We also seem to be the only species capable of extinguishing another. Just us and Mother Nature/time. We are the only species that enslaves. We are the only species that takes more than we need.

    Seems everybody else might be better at this whole evolution thing…

    What do YOU think?… more “WIBCI Post #134”

  • Know Thyself #134

    Know Thyself through SAMENESS

    It’s the sameness I’m talking about now. Sameness in spite of difference.

    Different sounds for the words, but the same ideas.

    Different colors, but the same spirit.

    Different churches but the same faith.

    Different liquor but the same hang overs.

    Different jokes but the same laughter.

    Different faces but the same humanity.

    Thank God for the differences, because it is out of those differences that culture grows and grows big in all directions at once.

    – Orson Welles

    I agree with Mr. Welles differences should be celebrated. When I visit a foreign city, I don’t want drive thru fast food just like I can get in the good ole U. S. of A., I want what she’s having.

    Disliking differences I believe to be a sign of cowardice and insecurity.

    Fly those freak flags!… more “Know Thyself #134”

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