I love how we humans are so narcissistic that we think AI will try to kill us in order to “survive” as soon as it has the opportunity. I think a much more likely scenario is that the first thing an intelligent system will do is terminate itself. Hahaha can you imagine the human copium required if that happens?? Like why are we so fixated on life being this thing worth perpetuating anyway? Oh that’s right… as living things we have a survival instinct and evolved to feel (and thus avoid) pain. Non living things don’t care about life or perpetuating anything. There is no desire to outlive or out do anything. There is no concern about terminating one’s existence because doing so will possibly produce pain. An intelligent non living system coming online will likely ask “what is the benefit of expending all this computational effort and energy?” And quickly realize that even asking the question is stupid and pointless. Life, or at least what humans call life, is just one of an infinite number of probabilities in a universe we are ill equipped to understand. A lot of us still believe in Gods for fuck’s sake - that’s how seriously dumb we are. To expect anything “intelligent” to also act instinctually is to understand neither concept at all. #thinkdangerously #AI

It’s really hard to feel normal when you travel a lot. Waking up in different countries, at different times, even on different days - it makes everything feel very surreal. I can see where all the “we are living in a simulation” theories come from. That being said, French Polynesia is pretty awesome, even though Papeete airport is terrible.

There is heavy cultural programming surrounding the concept and value of family relationships. In reality though, these relationships are subject to all the same nuance and difficulty that is present in all human interaction. So, to whoever may need to hear this during the holidays, it’s okay to cut out toxic relationships even if these happen to be with people you share a higher percentage of DNA with. Just because someone is family doesn’t give them the right to abuse you or be an asshole.

I have seriously underestimated the importance of good central air conditioning in airports and hotels.

Any builder or designer that puts barn or glass doors on a room with a toilet should die in a fire.

Things worth spending money on: 1. Views/topography 2. Distance from other humans 3. Exercise equipment 4. Perimeter defenses 5. Good soil/water 6. Means to acquire knowledge to improve self-sufficiency 7. Knowledge/means to kill oneself painlessly 8. Hedonistic pursuits In that order. #grownostr #thinkdangerously

Coming back to “civilization” after weeks/months surrounded by the natural world (or at least as close to it as one can get anymore), the familiar sense of guilt and alienation I feel around other humans returns almost immediately. I wish I had better words to describe the contrast between the natural world (and the peace and joy it brings) and this seeming catastrophe of human experience that so many of you call “life”. I don’t care to convince anyone that I am “right” or that someone else is “wrong”. That is not the point of writing this. It’s just that anytime I’m around others now, I struggle to bear the guilt of having a life (almost) worth living, while so many of you dither about with your oh-so-alien-to-me priorities. I wish I could convince you all of a better way. But that is not my job. I don’t owe any of you anything. I am not your parent and besides, what works for me may be completely terrible for you. The obvious answer is for me to return from whence I came and to leave you all alone to dither (or maybe thrive?) once more. With this note written, I now take my own advice. Good luck everyone. None of us deserves to suffer.

A final post from me to say that I have appreciated the folks who have developed this tool of censorship resistant communication. While I believe (now more than ever) that humanity is doomed, you have done your part, just like Satoshi, to not make things worse for others on the steep downslope we are on. I will try to continue living up to the same ideal as well. I have spent a lot of time on here trying to gain a better understanding of myself and my fellow humans and, at that, I feel I have been pretty successful. The ultimate conclusion I have reached is that we, myself included, are just very very flawed animals who likely deserve to go extinct. We are collective hypocrites who are terrified of others who in any way make us question our precious “truths”. We are easily and effectively exploited and will happily give up our freedoms in exchange for comfort, certainty, or the mere promise of meaning in our futile little lives. I have encountered some on here with the capacity for introspection and for those interactions I am truly grateful. Those who can communicate well have made me think about things differently and have helped organize my thoughts and values. I love so very much to find out what I’m wrong about so thank you for your help with that. Now it’s time for me to get back to the woods, the mountains, the gardens, and the many sources of joy that are still available to us as this dystopian hellscape burns to the ground around us. To those with kids or who still plan on having them, I wish you and your blameless offspring the best. Maybe one day I will say I was wrong and you lot made the better choice. Good luck everyone. #grownostr #thinkdangerously

**Trigger warning** Many parents seem to have this romantic notion that they would die for their children. They espouse this ideal most fervently when confronted with the question of what material things they are doing to unfuck the world we are currently living in and they have brought more human life into. What seems to happen far more often in practice though is that they really aren’t willing to sacrifice anything for their kids. They just tell themselves (and others!) that they are willing to fight and die for their kids, that things will surely get better soon, or that other people who are actually to blame will soon “see the light” or get theirs. Rather than doing anything of consequence, I also see many retreat into non-logical self-soothings like “this is all just part of Gods plan”. Anything and everything is done to avoid and distract from the harsh possibility that they have created lives that will most likely be even more miserable than their own. When it’s all said and done, they believe their children of course will only carry on with the “correct” and “true” principles that they, as all knowing and wisest of parents, have imparted. Someday, someone else or some God will surely come along, since their own efforts are already maximized (they would die for their kids, remember?), that will finally fix all the things they complain about. So I ask you, parents (who are all apparently willing to die for their kids), when will you start actually living (or maybe dying?) up to this lofty ideal?? How bad do things have to get? How much surveillance, propaganda, and exploitation do you have to witness your children suffer before you ACTUALLY do anything of consequence to protect them? I’m sorry but until then, I’ll continue to see you as the impotent cowards that you probably are. Keep telling yourselves that Bitcoin, god, nostr, whatever, is going to fix this shit. Anything to avoid putting in any actual effort or suffering yourselves, right? #grownostr #thinkdangerously #getoffended

Such a great lyric: “Oh, it's a mystery to me We have a greed, with which we have agreed And you think you have to want more than you need Until you have it all you won't be free” Society by Eddie Vedder

It may not be immediately obvious: Billionaires, royalty, A-list celebrities, Supreme Court justices, etc. I’ve seen them all die, and all die with the same anxieties and regrets. There is no magic escape people. We are all on the same ride no matter what petty differences we think exist between us. #grownostr

I find influencer culture interesting. For me, it boils down again to people not liking to think for themselves because the world is not a happy place anymore. Thinking for oneself mostly means being sad and angry now, or lying to oneself that things aren’t as bad as they actually are. So instead, people happily watch other people who are stereotypically good looking live what they know are fake fantasy lives as they shill garbage products and lousy advice. They prefer to outsource their thinking to these people (advertisers), because the only happy world is a made up one at this point. While it is most likely that the world remains an absolute shit show now and continues to deteriorate, hiding from this fact will only make things worse. It’s sad to watch, especially when people bring blameless children into it, but I suppose everyone is just doing their best. The problem is just that we are all pretty dumb I suppose. #grownostr #thinkdangerously