Northwest Line

@BMcGrewvy I'm sorry, but in my world, no criticism is allowed of Cormac McCarthy under any circumstances. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

I disagree with Rufo on The Road and would encourage him to give it another try because I don't believe it's purely nihilistic. However, it's not unreasonable/unlettered to be fatigued by pure nihilism, whether in lit, TV, etc.

Question: Why are kids allowed to bring cell phones into the classroom to being with? I mean, no cell phone ("The Singularity" -- thank you Mary Harrington), no access to A.I. Am I missing something here??? Is the problem THAT difficult to solve??? I mean, go look up the cell phone policy at Wyoming Catholic College...(than you Luke!) FYI: @moveincircles @ThePersonPod

Can I say something?

@NMSteveCos @kalezelden

@kalezelden Just a new thought master. “Tech bros are convincing students and millions of other people that by using AI, not only are they thinking critically but they’re doing it better than anyone else.” Substitute “elites” for “tech bros” and “NPR/NYT” for “AI” and it works looking back.

@annielcrawford No wonder I don't ever trust myself.

I do not trust a man who cannot speak plainly.

X post of the day:

@kalezelden @dr_mcgilchrist The truest statement you will ever utter with your lips: "I don't know..."

Regarding the Big Questions, @dr_mcgilchrist notes: “Having ready answers means you don’t understand; understanding here means never letting go of the questions. Unknowing will turn out to be a sign, not a weakness, but of wisdom.”

@PageauJonathan Excellent video! Just watched it a few hours ago. I've got some ideas for Mary, I'll just go to YouTube and leave them there. Thank you so much for doing this! If this is what the Symbolic World Summit is going to be like, I'm glad I'm going!

The singularity already happened. Check out my new discussion with Mary Harrington about technology, AI, cancel culture, and cultural memory. Watch on YouTube or the Symbolic World podcast. Please remember to rate and review the podcast if you enjoy it. Links below.

THIS IS A MUST WATCH VIDEO!

I hate to tell you this, but as someone who loves history, I see no evidence of any 'univocal conception of reality' at any time, any where in history, with the possible exception of very small homogenous groups of people living in tight community. It's not an AI problem but a people problem, and it's been around since the beginning of recorded history. The only thing it takes to fall off the 'univocal conception of reality' bandwagon is an imagination used poorly. Good luck trying to fix that. Always remember and never forget: we all live in two worlds: the real world of objectivity and shared experiences, and the imaginary world that only exists inside our heads. Since the imaginary world is an anthropological attribute that cannot be denied, we all get to live in whatever little world our happy little imaginations wish to provide us. A.I. itself is a product of the imaginary world becoming "embodied" in the real world. And of course, as all our latest technology toys do, it will just help to poison the imaginary minds of many more folks. No big surprise there, the pattern has long been established, as writers like Paul Kingsnorth and Mary Harrington have repeatedly pointed out. The prophet who first started to warn us of this is Marshall "the medium is the message" McLuhan, way back in 1964. As I've often stated--and I will die on this hill--the human imagination is a very, very dangerous thing. And since it's literally impossible to control it, a 'univocal conception of reality' has never been a real possibility. But that doesn't mean your point is wrong, it's just that part of "The Project" of modernity is the ongoing effort to scramble our brains to the point of torture. A.I. is just the latest weapon deployed in that project. [ Was just hanging out with a group of Christian men the other day. The biggest issues everyone were having: 1)panic attacks, 2)anger and rage, 3)depression...yep, the modern world is working hard to kill us all...] For sure the already horrible record we humans have had with a 'univocal conception of reality' has only been made much worse through increases in technology, especially that of the electronic kind. The only defense against the dark arts: a serious, well grounded Christian faith that fully understands the poison of modernism, progressivism and liberalism. And never, ever watch broadcast TV or listen to anything but music on the radio. Kingsnorth has diagnosed the problem better than anyone I've come across, as has Mary Harrington. It's seems Martin Shaw's project is to proscribe for us a real cure. We'll see how this plays out. But long before Martin Shaw, there was the Bible and the Church Fathers. They all seem to be on the right track. Sad but true: the closest we've ever come to a 'univocal conception of reality' here in the USA is when we all watched the same three to five national TV channels, and before that, listened to the networks on our radios.

AI will destroy univocal conceptions of reality. If you can’t think hierarchically and analogically, you will be utterly lost.

The most protected class in all of Illinois politics: the criminal.

“White guilt morally and culturally disarms the West. It makes the First World apologetic.” — Shelby Steele New trailer for the documentary, White Guilt: #WhiteGuiltFilm

Oh my goodness! A Big Boy running EAST of Chicago!!! Finally! I guess they finally got around to boring out all those tunnels and strengthening all those bridges so that it can fit... [ If I remember correctly, all the Big Boys were actually made in Schenectady, New York in the 40's...]

"Most myths were made in prehistoric times, and, I suppose, not consciously made by individuals at all. But every now and then there occurs in the modern world a genius—a Kafka or a Novalis—who can make such a story. Macdonald is the greatest genius of this kind whom I know." - C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald

Couldn't have said it better myself:

@kalezelden A machete??? That's cute...

Bought a machete today. Before the spring quickening, the briar shoots make their move. They didn’t see me coming. Satisfying

This is REALLY good news... Strange but true: our "pandemic" rebel alliance has inadvertently helped to truly cure cancer.

It's amazing how fast we pivoted from "Bibi is dead" to "Can you believe what this Jew said about Christ?!" Here's the full context. I added captions so you can read along. Like him or hate him, he's not saying something outrageous or offensive here. Within the civil sphere -- governments that have to protect their people -- moral righteousness serves as no defense against ruthless enemies. That doesn't mean you don't need to be moral in your conduct of war. It means that you have to be willing to fight hard against an enemy who doesn't care what you believe. They just want you dead or subjugated. Christians knew this when Pope Urban II called the First Crusade. They knew it when they fought the battles of Manzikert, Lepanto, Vienna, and so on. They knew it in the 800 years of Spanish Reconquista. Don't try to twist this into something it's not.

I absolutely voted for this:

@PaulVanderKlay I guess it's true: 'There Is No Antimemetics Division'...

It says less about the value of the act and way more about crowd or even mob psychology. Evil can run through the same canal.