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What's the difference between Elon Musk and a lemur? Elon made an electric car. The lemur Madagascar. (sorry) But not sorry enough to stop from trying another one: Why does Musk want to make Europe great again? Because he's a MEGA lomaniac.

Trump's negotiation Team: Hegseth:"So we'll agree to keep Ukraine out of Nato...if Putin agrees to keep all the land he stole..."

dimreepr "Maybe you should read about Maimonides before we explore 'the enlightenment". Maybe you should read Irreducible by Federico Faggin.

The only way the world can become more stupid is by whatever is likely going to happen tomorrow.

The Pope is discussing the Christian belief of God with a non-believer. After several hours of the Pope trying to convince the non-believer of God's existence, the exasperated Pope tells the non-believer "I give up. You are like a blindfolded man, in a dark room, searching for a black cat, that isn't there. How can I make you see ?" The non-believer respectfully replies "We are very much alike, your excellency. You are also like a blindfolded man, in a dark room, searching for a black cat, that isn't there. The only difference is you've found it."

Millions was too large, but that it’s rapidly being adopted in clinical settings with consistently positive effects seemed obvious to me in the same way I don’t need to prove 2+2=4 every time I post it. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-open/article/ketamine-for-the-treatment-of-mental-health-and-substance-use-disorders-comprehensive-systematic-review/36E261BFA62CDA6459B88F7777415FDA https://www.pacificneuroscienceinstitute.org/blog/trip/what-is-ketamine-therapy/

You didn’t supply any scientific, clinical , or other medical evidence to support your own characterisation of ketamine as a “very helpful and viable treatment option for many millions of people”. Absent that, I would refer you to: https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/ips/ketamine-trd/risks-benefits/ Right up front this document says: It concludes: Under the sub-tab ‘Less Common side-effects' it lists: vivid dreams, hallucinations , and also adds this warning: Under 'Long Term Theoretical Risks' this paper lists: dependence, tolerance, bladder damage, cognitive impairment and personality change - all with reference to recreational nasal doses of over 1g daily. Given these caveats I don’t think I’m being remotely flippant or dismissive about the risks of self-medicating with ketamine - especially in the case of an absurdly wealthy and over-powerful oligarch like Elon Musk who has openly admitted that he is microdosing with ketamine to treat a significant personality disorder.

I am somewhat surprised then that you seem to repeat some of the issues that have been outlined in the book. The point is that despite the fact that we do not have communists on the street, we got fascists authoritarians in power. They took the power and folks supported them. No one made them. Heck they had to invent an all-powerful gender identity conspiracy to build a new bogeyman. With bathrooms as the battleground. Again think about Snyder's book and consider what he explicitly points out. As you have the read the book, there are a couple of suggestions there. One is somehow to bring the public to focus on facts (Chapters 10 and 11). Avoid amplifying falsehoods (such as "open borders"). Don't blame the issue on the ominous others (be it the left, antifa, immigrant or whatever). Investigate specifically how the folks who took over power got it. It is never because someone else made them. It is because they dismantled institutions, made people believe lies en masse and avoided any responsibility by blaming others for their actions. So our job is to identify these things, and demand from our leaders to do better and hold them accountable. That being said, once they have successfully dismantled all these institutions who could do that (say, the judiciary), it will be too late.

The biggest problem, as I see it, is that while you guys ( CharonY, TheVat, Exchemist and INow ) are what I consider critical thinkers, a large swath of the American population is not. The majority have become the 'useful idiots' of this group trying to dismantle American democracy. Most Americans don't consider how tariffs will affect their costs or employment. They are told they are the greatest thing, and they believe it. They are told immigrants are their problem, not thinking about how many jobs immigrants ( and not Americans ) are willing to do, and how the economy and their comfort will be affected. They are told other people are taking unfair advantage of them, and the right to do so should be taken from them; they don't think and realize that the group preaching this is actually targeting them. And not just Americans. I have arguments most evenings, and even at work with otherwise intelligent people, Canadians who buy into this crap. I can somewhat understand how this could happen a century ago, where a few influential people could sway people's minds, but I cannot understand how people are so easily swayed today given the wealth of information sources and viewpoints available.

You are missing the broader point, or perhaps approach the issue for a certain fixed position. The broader point is really why are folks so upset about certain things (outside of their tribe) as you mentioned? Are these threats real? For example, do you think that nudity inevitably leads to autocratic leanings? All you are saying about tribalism is that folks do not follow logic and facts. That might be true to various degrees, and yet, we see a rise of right-wing autocracies across Europe and the US, yet very little in the area of left-wing autocracies. Why is that? Just because voters might ignore facts, it doesn't meant that they don't matter.

Definitely is a possibility. But I think I addressed that in "possible futures" with civil war as a "possible future". However, US could go full on fascist as well as a "possible future" since if there is a common process causing this, then no one is immune including EU nations. So if US goes, EU is also at risk. Except if there is a cumulative process behind the rise of authoritarianism, then some EU countries could have lower levels of the process in society just as Germany & Japan are clearly not the same now as they were in 1939. Losing a war is the most common way for society to change ideology. Hopefully, we can find a better way.

Uhhh, it only mentions one aspect that could be a liberal policy and that would be I mean, if trying to get folks equal rights results in autocracies, I would imagine that the democratic principles ain't that strong to begin with. Also I find it very interesting how that is phrased. Right-wing conservatives have worked very had to undermine democratic principles ranging from spreading blatant misinformation to incite culture and race wars, forming think tanks and societies that undermine checks and balances and putting anti-democratic forces into key positions, sowing mistrust into systems and also attempting the odd coups. And yet it is somehow liberal policies that caused all that? I mean come on, at least try to find Ockham's razor here. I will also note again that part of the autocratic playbook is to blame others for their actions. "Look what [they] make me do? Because of them I just had to overthrow democratic principles and build concentration camps. And taking away your rights is the only way to protect you from [them]." This has been best explored in fascism, where fascination with victimhood served as justification for the committed atrocities (and it is a common element in the identification of the rather diffuse characteristics of fascism). Also, how about I cite a few points from the book you mentioned and see if you can spot some overlap (BTW the book was published sometime around the first Trump administration): Why do we have something as stupid as the culture wars? Because some kind of enemy had to be found. And in recent times our lives have to be become so comfortable that folks decided to make up enemies and/or revive old tropes, such as immigrants. Again, there are no new ideas here.

This is a real book incidentally. Each line of the 50 or so poems is carefully cross-referenced to a public utterance by the Poetaster-in-Chief.

Enter the equation in WolframAlpha, and the program will draw a graph and show alternative forms of the equation. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=+a+%3D+(Pi+-+2)%2F4+%2B+sin(a)+ It has one obvious solution (t=0) and two non-obvious solutions. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=+t%3D2sin(t)+

Ant Sinclair; Thank you for showing us this video -- it is absolutely brilliant. Because I am no scientist, I am going to have to study the video three or four more times, so that I can try to understand how he explained his idea with science's terminology. For myself, I came to similar conclusions about consciousness by observing, using logic, and studying nature -- more of a philosopher's study. And yes, we can prove that a tree is conscious as long as one does not expect it to have a brain and thought, as that is not consciousness. The brain is what produces the rational aspect of mind and thought, which is a product of consciousness -- it is not consciousness. I don't understand why people do not see the obvious comparison with Maimonides thoughts, as I saw it immediately. Thanks again, Gee It helps me to think of the brain like I would an antenna. If the antenna is damaged or broken, so is the picture (conscious thought) that it produces. First there is conscious awareness (the unconscious aspect of mind) which feeds into the brain (antenna), then the brain produces digital thought -- the rational aspect of mind. In my understanding. I don't know this, but suspect that F Faggin understands this part. I have more studying to do. Gee

The truth doesn't need to be proven, because it is the truth.

No, there are only agreements or subjective opinions.

There are thousands of actual statements, but the truth is one.