6000 years of apocalypse

What is it about apocalyptic and revolutionary fantasies? The ideal to tear it all down because you think that you can do it better. The ideal that everyone will die and you will succeed. Ideals that are demonstrably false and yet they continue to live on. Shown by cognitive studies that humans are both overconfident in their skills as well as being unable to see the full story beyond what is in front of their eyes. This is what holds us back as a people. Instead of working to create the world peacefully, we only see that total destruction is the path to redemption. We know that the powerful are unwilling to give in easily, so the path to violence appears the fastest.  We accept the world and say that it is how it has always been, unwilling to pierce the veil of the lie that our lives are based upon. For change is painful. It is slow and it is scary.  To stay with the devil we know is yet another learned heuristic. A mere subtly of the way the mind acts and reacts to stimuli. An evolutionary quirk. 

Glory is found in the simplistic view. An action that allows our minds to not challenge the beliefs that we hold dear. To reevaluate and change is to show weakness to those who accept no change. 

The human mind is so weak and yet so intractable. To find a way to prime. To create mnemonic devices. In the field of view and yet not seen. Direct confrontation creates resistance. Slapping the water creates a solid. Move slow enough and the water is but a pressure to be maneuvered through. So what are the views that must be changed?

The world has always been this way.

We deserve nothing.

Others have worked and deserve what they have.

The money has always flowed from top to bottom.

The bottom does not create. 

Money is the best motivator.

People feel a sense of entitlement.

And changed to what?

Things to be done on the boat

4/9
backing plates or larger washers throughout
reinforce wood railing
ball cap nuts
rubber caps for big holes on keel case
port window seal
wooden swinging companionway doors
dorade on forward cabin vertical wall
compass mount
1/4" pvc conduit
paint winch handle orange
gasket or foam for top of bulkhead
led nav light replacements: 1156LL anchorlight
cup holders
window frames  ID 2 3/4" (7cm)x 8 1/4"(21cm)
pendulum for balance

6/13
mount strip of red leds near companionway
sand/prime/paint deck
sand/varnish wood rails and bowsprit
rig downhaul for jib and staysail (GEER system)
wax hull
**fix keel winch mount
replace cockpit drain- dimensions?
buy saltwater fishing license
buy bbq
remove lazarette shelf and install hooks and netting
wall mount for ipad/tablet or ceiling
mount handle on both sides of companionway hatch

**need teak or hardwood block no more than 5 1/2"wide and 12" long and no less than 4" bolt center +2" on either side for 6" length
best size will be 10" long ans 3 1/2" x >1/2"thick
FG= 3/16" thick 3/16" metal on winch + bold and add large washer on both top and bottom
1/4" bolts width
clearance between bottom of interior metal to cables is 1 1/2"

battery box 10 1/4"L x 5 1/2"W x 6"H

Human behavior stuff

A few notes of things that I've come across and need to reference.

Taylorism: Scientific Management, also called Taylorism,^[1] is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows. Its main objective is improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management.

Its development began with Frederick Winslow Taylor in the 1880s and 1890s within the manufacturing industries. Its peak of influence came in the 1910s;^[2] by the 1920s, it was still influential but had entered intocompetition and syncretism with opposing or complementary ideas.

Although scientific management as a distinct theory or school of thought was obsolete by the 1930s, most of its themes are still important parts of industrial engineering and management today. These include analysis; synthesis; logic; rationality; empiricism; work ethic; efficiency and elimination of waste; standardization of best practices; disdain for tradition preserved merely for its own sake or to protect the social statusof particular workers with particular skill sets; the transformation of craft production into mass production; and knowledge transfer between workers and from workers into tools, processes, and documentation. wikipedia

Hawthorne Experiments: The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.^[1][2] The original "Hawthorne effect" study at the Hawthorne Works suggested that the novelty of being research subjects and the increased attention from such could lead to temporary increases in workers' productivity.

Participatory economics, often abbreviated parecon, is an economic system based on participatory decision making as the primary economic mechanism for the allocation of the factors of production and guidance of production in a given society. Participatory decision-making involves the participation of all persons in decision-making on issues in proportion to the impact such decisions have on their lives. Participatory economics is a form of decentralized economic planning and socialism involving the common ownership of the means of production. The participatory economic system is proposed as an alternative to contemporary capitalism, as well as an alternative to central planning. This economic model is primarily associated with the proposals put forth by the political theorist Michael Albert and economist Robin Hahnel, who describe participatory economics as an anarchistic economic vision.^[1]

The underlying values that parecon seeks to implement are equity, solidarity, diversity, workers' self-management and efficiency (defined as accomplishing goals without wasting valued assets). The institutions of parecon include workers' and consumers' councils utilizing self-managerial methods for making decisions, balanced job complexes, remuneration based on individual effort, and participatory planning.

Albert and Hahnel stress that parecon is only meant to address an alternative economic theory and must be accompanied by equally important alternative visions in the fields of politics, culture and kinship. The authors have also discussed elements of anarchism in the field of politics, polyculturalism in the field of culture, and feminism in the field of family and gender relations as being possible foundations for future alternative visions in these other spheres of society. Stephen R. Shalom has begun work on a participatory political vision he calls "par polity". Both systems together make up the political philosophy ofParticipism. Participatory Economics has also significantly shaped the interim International Organization for a Participatory Society.

Behaviorism (or behaviourism) is a behavioral approach to psychology that combines elements of philosophy, methodology, and theory. It emerged methodologically in the early twentieth century as a reaction to "mentalistic" psychology, which often had difficulty making predictions that could be tested using rigorous experimental methods. The primary tenet of methodological behaviorism, as expressed in the writings of John B. Watson and others, is that psychology should have only concerned itself with observable events. There has been a drastic shift in behaviorist philosophies throughout the 1940s and 1950s and again since the 1980s. Radical behaviorism is the conceptual piece purposed by B. F. Skinner that acknowledges the presence of private events—including cognition and emotions—but does not actually prompt that behavior to take place.^[1]

The Signal and Thinking

So I finished a couple of books that ended up being about similar aspects of thought, Nate Silver's "The Signal and the Noise" and Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow". Although I started K's book first and then started Nate's book later, I ended up finishing The Signal first. Silver is just a better writer with a much more concise interaction with statistics and heuristics while "Thinking" is very in depth with lots of lab work and real test outputs. Definitely recommend reading Silver's book first as it gives a much better explanation of Bayes's theory as well as how the math works in the examples. Then jump to K's book because he really invests the time to show all of the different interactions of the math with the irrationality of the human reaction to situations.

I really wish I had taken notes of the highlights, but I didn't. Granted the notes would make as much sense for people who are not me as the last post, but this blog is for me.

Some of the key points in Thinking, Fast and Slow is about System 1 and System 2.

1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control.

2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration.

The are not objectively different systems of the brain, but are mnemomics to how the brain operates.

Both books then take this process and demonstrate how you can't fully trust the output of your mind. It needs to be run through a decision filter, especially in regards to overconfidence, before taking an action. Which is where Bayes and the idea of probability and confidence percentages come into use. Start with prior belief of expected percentage of something to occur, then develop the percentage after examining the evidence, then finish with the necessary percentage to create a change in the output.

Sortof. I should probably read them again to get a better picture or maybe go back to school.

The Road Less Traveled

Ok so this is my first set of notes, perspectives, and points of interest/quotes from the book, The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck. Overall a solid read for psych therapy and really helpful if you are wondering if you could use a bit of work. The last third of the book kinda went off a dock with a bit of floating around in the world of religiosity and god of the gaps, but even then it does have it's points. My thoughts are delineated by **.


-Discipline comes from training and the comfortable place to train.

Delayed gratification requires knowledge that the future is secure.

take the time to solve problems, but first you have to confront the problem

Neurotic- you think you are at fault
Character disorder- you think that others are at fault
character neurotics- combo of finding what you are responsible for

pg 23- No problem can be solved until the individual assumes the responsibility for solving it

26- whenever we seek to avoid the responsibility for our own behavior, we do so by attempting to give that responsibility to some other individual or organization or entity

felt impotent because we have given our power away

Tools for change
1st tool- Recognize
2nd- responsibility
3rd- Dedication to the Truth

Weltanschauung- world view- a comprehensive conception of the world

Continuously update and revise your worldview even if painful

Transference- set of way of perceiving and responding to the world which is developed in childhood and which is usually entirely appropriate to the childhood* environment but which is inappropriately transferred into the adult world.

* or any much earlier time

**Goddamn it, Am I the computer tech? No, because I am willing to change.

A life of total dedication to the truth is a life of willingness to be personally challenged.

2 biggest lies we tell-
we really love our children
Our parents really loved us

white, gray, and black lies

Pg 41 Rules to stay dedicated to the truth

Balancing - disciplining discipline

Erik Erikson- 8 Stages of Development

Bracketing- putting aside present needs, past experience, and future expectations to experience current data/situation. i.e. not doing what I did when visiting New Zealand.

You must have something before you can give it up- develop who you are.

Discipline is a system of techniques.

Love- The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.

Ego boundaries

Falling in love is not real love

Lie of True Love

Misconception of dependency as love

passive dependent personality disorder

loving "pets"- only having affection for those totally dependent and stopping when they assert their own will, i.e. infants

social masochism- to feel love they allow pain and the self-righteousness of moral superiority: **Hi, mom!

Love is not a feeling it is an action

cathexis- relationship between us and object
decathecting- losing that emotional bond

love is one of work or courage, an extension of ourselves to strive for spiritual growth

work of attention

Listening to great lecturer vs 6 year old

true listening (love in action) vs less than total

game playing

Loss: cathexis requires pain

Carlos Casteneda "The Teachings of Don Juan"

risk=reward

commitment constancy necessary to battle fear of abandonment

confrontation
-great potential for arrogance (a risk)
- self scrutiny is needed to correcting others
2 types -instinctive ->arrogant
            -self doubting ->humility

discipline how much love is limited, don't waste nor overextend

separateness - emotionally understanding the idea of me and you
Kahlil Gibran "the prophet"

pg 127- Strive to be God?

The delineation of knowable and unknowable
is a poor bet for the future

**he has an interesting definition of religion- anything you do or believe on a regular basis

Section 4 Grace

**I think one of his problems is that he loses the sense of wonder and enchantment when things are explained scientifically. He enjoys the "God of the Gaps" to account for what doesn't fit, even though he supports the scientific study of miracles.

Dreams and idle thoughts

**collective unconscious? Give me a break. People don't "possess" the knowledge before being taught.

Look up this study on Psychic Phenomenon: Montague Ullman, MD and Stanley Krippner, PhD
"An experimental approach to dreams and telepathy" 1970

**ESP?! seriously? What a 70's book

Grace as an outside force connecting and encouraging human spiritual growth.  (**outside force?)

entropy and evolution- **easily shows that he doesn't understand the science behind evolution

pg 192- "God is the goal of evolution" OMG

failure to debate is the Original Sin

Fear can create laziness and vice versa

Problem of Evil:
evil is real
is laziness carried to extreme
inevitable
ineffective as social force

evil is exercise of political power to avoid extending oneself for the purpose of spiritual growth

laziness is nonlove, evil is antilove

spiritual growth is the growth or evolution of consciousness.

nature of power- political or spiritual

Spiritual Power is the capacity to maintain awareness and one's ability to make decisions with greater awareness

assuming total responsibility

**grasping at meaning is evident in this author**
"The reality of grace indicates humanity to be at the center of the universe"
**merely medieval thoughts rewritten for the modern age

**He makes lots of good points with solid directions for practical change, but then he gets carried away with the metaphysical that is mostly unproven.

History of things I wasn't taught

http://12byzantinerulers.com/

Because I'm old enough to have been taught nothing about the Eastern Roman Empire. An amazing podcast that really puts quite a few things into perspective, most especially the method of solving religious questions about christian theology- mob violence.

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/theory-of-evolution-a-history-of-controversy.html

Because I went to a christian school that taught that evolution is false. I still get pissed with how many years I was deprived of learning about the beauty of the scientific explanation for our existence.

more to come...