Hey! Look!
An actual post!
A blog is
a living document.
That’s
both good and bad.
Go back to
2010 when Esoteric Synaptic Events had its genesis (although it misguidedly
started as Strange Horizons, but I don’t want to get into that) and root
through every post across the 12 years…though why anyone would have the
patience or desire to do so is beyond me…and I’m certain you will find
something I wrote that would embarrass me. My reaction to such a post (or more
likely “posts”) will no doubt be “I thought that??” Fortunately, as I mentioned
at the outset, a blog is a living document. It should show an evolution of
thought. There should be changes in opinions.
I’ve been
inspired to post for the first time in a long time because I’d like to make my
current self clear. I’d like to provide a 2022 snapshot of “where I’m calling
from” (with apologies to Raymond Carver), and offer my current thinking on
topics I typically covered on ESE.
-Transhumanism.
I’m well
aware that I’ve proclaimed myself as “an unabashed transhumanist.”
I’m a fair
bit more “abashed” these days. Why?
Covid
changed my mind. At the onset of the pandemic of 2020, a few of the more vocal
proponents of transhumanism opposed lockdowns. Their argument ran something
like this paraphrase: scientific research labs should remain open. Sure, we
will lose a few people now, but that number is small compared to the number we
will save in the years to come if we keep at our work.
I’ve never
been a fan of cold equations, so this line of thinking didn’t sit well with me.
I’m not willing to toss human lives on the bonfire of transhumanism for the
dream of something that might materialize tomorrow, with the feasibility of
said somethings…such as total body prosthesis…being questionable.
These
claims really drew my attention to the strong strand of libertarianism inherent
in the transhumanist movement. My attitude towards that particularly political
ideology is not exactly xenial. As my friend Armando says, “The only place
either libertarianism or communism work is in a sophomore’s dorm room at
midnight after a few joints.” One of the criticisms of transhumanism is related
to the widening gap between rich and poor. Would only those with means reap the
benefits of transhumanism? If the attitudes expressed during Covid are to be
taken as any indication, then it seems signs say “yes.”
This is
not to say I oppose continued efforts in cybernetics, body modifications, and potentially
life-saving developments. I still wish I could transcend my human frailties and
take control of my biology. Rather it’s the “crypto bro” style of thinking
involved that has allowed this new daylight to emerge between the transhumanist
movement and me.
There is,
admittedly, one other more personal…”objection” is almost too strong a word,
but I don’t know what else to call it. While I don’t want anything to happen to
me too soon, I don’t want to live forever. Both of my beloved dogs died in 2020
(I wrote about them here). If there is any chance of existence hereafter, then
I want to see them again.
A
book-length exploration of that subject is in the pike.
-UFOs
It may seem
counterintuitive in what might appear to be a halcyon era of UFO research and
political attention for the subject, but I’m actually more skeptical now than
I’ve ever been.
Sure, Navy
videos, tac-tacs, “go fast” and so on and so forth all the livelong day. What’s
getting lost in the circus of opinions is that many prosaic and reasonable
explanations have been offered for these videos (check out Mick West). Of
course, many “ufologists” have summarily rejected them. Additionally, just
because the government and the military deny they possess any flying objects
with the flight characteristics in the videos doesn’t make it true. Previous
assets such as stealth aircraft were openly denied until declassification.
My other
sticking point is that I’ve seen too many cracks develop in what I once thought
were strong cases. Rendlesham, Malmstrom AFB, and Barney and Betty Hill are but
a few examples. When these corrosions are combined with how, as I see it
anyway, the concept of “aliens are here” falls apart under close and logical
scrutiny, I can’t help but be disabused of any likelihood of the pop culture,
ufology equation of “UFOs=ETs.”
Another factor
that has rather soured me on UFOs is how members of the alt-right have grown increasingly
involved in the subject. After all, if you operate from a conspiracy theorist
mentality and believe the government is “out to get the people,” then the UFO
mythos is an automatic fit. As one researcher of conspiracy rhetoric described
it, QAnon, white supremacy, and UFO conspiracies are all different conspiracy
trees, but their branches have started to intertwine. These conspiracy theorists
are dangerous and must watched.
I remain fascinated
by the topic, though. It’s a genuine mythos, a complex narrative more human in creation
than anything else. I’m intrigued by how it has affected culture, politics,
and history really. Many turn their noses up at hoaxes, and that’s
understandable if one’s mission is to conclusively prove that UFOs are signs of
alien visitation. Me? I’m so intrigued by the motives and the lengths to
which someone will go to in order to pull off a fake. Like everything else in
human existence, there is a rhetoric to UFOs, and that means there are
conflicting interpretations of what constitutes “reality.”
By the same token, I must also leave the door open for spectacular possibilities. Falcon Lake, Belgium 1990, Tehran 1976, and RB-47 1957 are examples of the small percentage of cases that have solid evidence and remain unexplained. Does that mean aliens? Well, maybe not in the popular sense. It might be even weirder. Want to know more? Read Jacques Vallee.
-Cyberpunk
We’re
living in it. One of the many many definitions of the subgenre is “High tech.
Low life.” Many characters in cyberpunk narratives are just trying to carve out
an existence, but are unable to get past certain social barriers. There are the
ultrarich, and there is everyone else. There is no real “government” to speak
of in texts like Neuromancer or Blade Runner. There are, however,
mega-corporations that seem to be happily running the show and making a hefty
profit. Think back to the early days of the Covid pandemic and recall a) the
sense that no help was coming, and b) Amazon’s treatment of its “essential workers.”
All we’re missing are the cybernetic implants. Give Elon Musk’s Neuralink a
little time, and maybe we’ll even have those.
That is if
they can get their test subjects to stop dying.
-Climate
change.
We’re
fucked.
I wish I
could be more optimistic, but every day there’s new evidence that the “chickens
are coming home to roost,” in the words of Malcom X. It was recently over 100
degrees in London. A report on NPR this morning talked about the water levels receding
at Lake Tahoe and Lake Mead. Will there be a population spike here in the Great
Lakes region of the Midwest? We’ll have access to fresh water at least. Superstorms
and rainfall might be a problem, though. You might be ok.
Then
again, when the consequences of climate refugees and economic fallout hit, we’ll
all be feeling it.
Want to
boost your spirits? Check out these images from the James Webb Telescope.
