#cosmic intelligence agency

[taratarotgreene]

February Astrology Aspects

Here’s Februarys major planetary aspects. This is the last month before the big mega cosmic shifts happen. One of the best days of the year is this month. Wikipedia commons image Feb 1. SUN sextile Chiron in ARIES at 12+° Feb 3. SUN square URANUS in TAURUS at 14+°Feb. 4. VENUS in PISCES square MARS in GEMINI at 10+ Feb. 3 Ceres Turns Retrograde at 6+ degrees Libra until May 5 at 23 ° Virgo.…

[talonabraxas]

Aries Blood Moon Talon Abraxas The Full Moon in Aries today is charged with intense and transformative energy, as it conjuncts both Chiron and Eris and squares Mars in Cancer and Pluto in the last arc minutes of Capricorn.

This combination signals a time of profound emotional upheaval, conflict, yet holds within it the potential for breakthroughs, both individually and collectively.

With Chiron, the Wounded Healer, conjunct the Full Moon in Aries and Eris , we are healing oursleves, whilst disrupting the Status Quo. This conjunction highlights deep-seated wounds related to identity, courage, and personal empowerment. On a collective level, this can trigger themes of vulnerability around asserting oneself, especially for those who feel marginalized or unheard.

The conjunction with Eris, the goddess of discord and strife, adds a layer of rebellious energy, suggesting that suppressed frustrations may bubble to the surface. This combination pushes for a reckoning with long-standing injustices, particularly those tied to power dynamics, and could manifest as social or political unrest as people seek to reclaim autonomy.

Eris's influence urges the breaking of outdated systems, particularly those that stifle individuality or suppress dissent. Collectively, we may witness a surge in movements that challenge the status quo, demanding that hidden grievances and unhealed societal wounds come to light.

This Full Moon encourages radical truth-telling, even if it causes disruption.

The square to Mars, ruler of the Aries planets and Pluto adds a confrontational and intense edge to this Full Moon. Mars in Cancer speaks to emotions boiling over, driven by feelings of insecurity or the desire to defend and protect what feels like home, family, or personal boundaries. On a larger scale, with Pluto involved we see this manifesting as a collective frustration with authority figures and entrenched and outdated systems, provoked to take action. Pluto’s influence offers the potential for profound regeneration, deep healing and rebirth, but only if we are willing to face the shadows and release what no longer serves.

As we try to break free from the past, an Aries struggle, frustrations with the current power structures reach boiling point. Themes of autonomy, personal agency, and the need to challenge oppressive forces are strong. This Full Moon in Aries asks us to confront where we’ve been holding back our true selves. It demands we address the wounds around self-expression, independence, and courage.

Ultimately, this Full Moon offers the potential for both personal and collective empowerment through embracing our shadows, healing past wounds, and dismantling oppressive systems—making way for a more authentic and liberated future. -Cosmic Intelligence Agency

[ladyvelkor]

Burroughs treats all conditions of existence as results of cosmic conflicts between competing intelligence agencies. In making themselves real, entities (must) also manufacture realities for themselves: realities whose potency often depends upon the stupefaction, subjugation and enslavement of populations, and whose existence is in conflict with other ‘reality programs’. Burroughs’s fiction deliberately renounces the status of plausible representation in order to operate directly upon this plane of magical war. Where realism merely reproduces the currently dominant reality program from inside, never identifying the existence of the program as such, Burroughs seeks to get outside the control codes in order to dismantle and rearrange them. Every act of writing is a sorcerous operation, a partisan action in a war where multitudes of factual events are guided by the powers of illusion. Even representative realism participates – albeit unknowingly – in magical war, collaborating with the dominant control system by implicitly endorsing its claim to be the only possible reality.

Lemurian Time War

CCRU

[femmchantress]

So like, the framing device sucked but I did appreciate that it, to quote my husband, “Spielberg’d at us for 15 minutes straight”.

I wasn’t enjoying “Stork” until I realized what it was doing: creating an intentionally shallow homage to first person shooter games with horror elements - down to cookie cutter antagonist designs; purposefully chosen tropes, names, and terminology; timely and witty quips; exaggerated body language; and even a fucking boss fight. Once I was keyed into the intent behind the segment and its decisions, I found it really fun. Not at all scary though. Also bonus points for a big wet puppet. Mama likes a big wet puppet.

“Dream Girl” had so much promise and I was following it eagerly, really intrigued by the premise of a story concerning (literally) manufactured celebrity, predatory paparazzi, and the role of agency in both these lifestyles but when it turned into a big dumb splatterfest it just lost all its momentum. I’m usually pumped for a big dumb splatterfest, but it was just such a disappointingly weak conclusion to a lot of really great setup.

“Live and Let Dive” just kinda sucked all around. The acting was bad (even for a low budget horror vignette), the pacing was atrocious, and the payoffs were disappointing even for my low expectations. When the UFO appeared while the crew was preparing for their skydive, I for a moment expected a story about the small plane escaping an extermination via aliens event as all life below them is wiped out, creating this sorta Open Water-esque scenario. Obviously that didn’t happen and what did ensue was infinitely less creative and engaging. The hand trauma effect was fun.

True to type for Justin Long, “Fur Babies” had promise thanks to a fun concept and a commitment to not taking itself too seriously. It fell short in a lot of areas, but the campiness of the antagonist was great and the dog training of human beings was enjoyably horny until it wasn’t. Still more fun than the last one and less disappointing than “Dream Girl” thanks to lowered expectations.

The final segment, Kate Siegel and Mike Flanagan’s “Stowaway,” makes this whole thing worth watching. I’m not gonna spoil much about it as it really is worth going in blind, but as a short film it really respects the intelligence of the audience and tells its story in a captivating and nuanced way that leaves you trapped in this existential melancholy towards the end. It really speaks to the idea of how larger truths leave us permanently changed, tapping into a more human and tangible form of cosmic horror. I keep finding more little things about it that I love (like how the little girl hints to us that the fate of our protagonist is one of her own making, and that there could’ve been a way out of this). Genuinely one of the best vignettes in this whole franchise, rivaling VHS 2’s “Safe Haven” (and if you were to argue that Stowaway is better I wouldn’t necessarily disagree).

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Friday

SpaceTime 20240816 Series 27 Episode 99

Ideas on how Earth’s continents formed just got muddy 

The formation of Earth’s continents billions of years ago helped set the stage for the formation and evolution of life on Earth.

A major breakthrough in sub atomic particle measurements

Physicists at CERN have achieved the first ever direct observation of high energy electron and muon neutrino interactions at a particle collider.

Studying the cosmic dawn and the ultimate fate of the universe

As America’s intelligence agencies continue to improve designs for ever newer generations of spy satellites older reconnaissance and surveillance satellite designs become superseded.

The Science Report

The World Health Organization has issued a warning about a new superbug threat.

Scientists identify sites which should be targeted to prevent the worst effects mass extinction.

Study says the screaming woman mummy may have died in agony.

Skeptics guide to why the ghost population is dwindling.

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States.  The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science.  SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research.  The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network.  Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor.  Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. Gary’s radio career stretches back some 34 years including 26 at the ABC. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. He was part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and became one of its first on air presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.  The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually.  However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage.  Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently.  StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016.  Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

[santoschristos]

Total Solar Eclipse From Space

The Singularity : The Solar Eclipse in Aries 19° : 8th April 2024

with AGENT EI - ANDREW SMITH

Within you there exists an ever radiant flame. It burns with a ferocious hunger, completely focused on lighting the way and oblivious to what is going on in the world. As that light flickers, the colours are more luminous, illuminating a place where marvels never cease, where miracles and magic abound and where fascination and enthusiasm breed creation. That place is called Aries, a singularity of spirit also known as Cardinal Fire, a state of being that unites the co-creative pull of the Piscean Crescents into a focused beam of Light.

Absorbed in this world, you’ve made it your burden.

Rise above this world. There is another vision.

All your life you’ve paid attention to your experiences, but never to your Self.

Are you searching for your Soul?

Then come out of your prison. Leave the stream and join the river that flows into the Ocean. It will not lead you astray.

Let the beauty you seek be what you do. --Rumi

[mariacallous]

In mid-December, the St. Petersburg academic journal Legal Science: History and Modernity published an article titled “The Russian Family as the Basis of Russian Statehood” (it’s since been deleted from the publication’s site). The bizarre text, which appears to have been written in complete earnest, combines a wide array of outlandish conspiracy theories. Its authors include Mikhail Salnikov, a chief researcher at the St. Petersburg Law Institute; State Duma Deputy Igor Ananskikh; and retired FSB Lieutenant-General Ivan Mironov, among other figures with impressive titles. The news outlet Bumaga compiled a list of the paper’s main claims, which involve “beast people,” a “genocide” against Russians, feminists who worship the demoness Lilith, telegony, and the transmission of throat cancer through oral sex. With Bumaga’s permission, Meduza has translated the list into English.

Although Russia is a multiethnic country, it was Russians who brought all of the country’s various ethnic groups “under their wing” and carried people from the Caucasus and Central Asia on their shoulders — until the collapse of the USSR, when these people orchestrated a “genocide” against Russians.

Russians, unlike other “tribes,” have stopped “procreating and multiplying.” On one hand, this is because Russians are working hard and “carrying Russia on their backs”; on the other hand, they’ve been corrupted by Western culture. In the 1990s, Russian women became followers of the demoness Lilith.

Another factor behind the decline of Russia’s birth rate has been a shortage of men. This shortage came not from the Russian government sending hundreds of thousands of men to war but from a program of the U.S. government and the “collective West” to destroy Russians.

Another figure wishing for the destruction of the Russian people is sitting Russian Senator Lyudmila Narusova. As evidence, the paper’s authors cite a fabricated screenshot in which Narusova appears to have written “Russians aren’t worthy of life because they’re cowards.”

The article’s authors write that the “collective West’s” hatred for Russians is beyond science’s ability to explain, so they turned to the Bible. This brought them to the conclusion that the earth contains two different kinds of people: “Earthly people,” who were created in the image of God, and “beast people” or “non-humans,” who are very similar to ordinary people but who were actually created “from the dust of the earth using cosmic genetic technologies.”

“Beast people” are “genetically modified beings” with “biological artifical intelligence” who value war, murder, terror, pedophilia, revolutions, cannibalism, and drug addiction. “Earthly people,” on the other hand, value peace, family, children, and the “cult of the mother-woman.”

The researchers then delve into “evidence” of the existence of extraterrestrials living among humans and their involvement in “secret structures” that seek to influence the behavior of the earth’s population. Currently, these aliens are working to transfer power on Earth to “members of the reptilian space civilization,” a process that will require eliminating Russians and morally destroying women. The aliens’ “secret council” has made human men their allies by instilling lust in them.

In the 1990s, travel agencies and beauty salons sold Russian women into sexual slavery in other countries. “Russia remained silent,” the researchers note.

The idea of gender equality, or feminism, is a tool used by Western Europe to destroy families by separating women from them. “The first feminist was the demoness Lilith,” the authors write. Involving women in science and work is a way to discourage their desire to “give birth and nurture children.”

The article repeats the pseudoscientific theory of telegony, which holds that women retain the “genetic material” of all of their past sexual partners.

Sexual education and the promotion of safe sexual practices leads to debauchery and sexual perversion, according to the article’s authors. Premarital sex, they write, destroys women.

“Liberalism is the transformation of a person into an animal that’s focused solely on satisfying its basic instincts, the most desired of which is sex.”

The various forms of hybrid warfare being deployed against Russians include prostitution and abortion. Stripping is a form of Satanism.

Oral sex is the offspring of democracy. Fortunately, God protected Russians from this scourge by creating a throat cancer virus that is transmitted specifically during oral sex.

Being raised by single mothers “ruins” children. Girls who witness their mother go through multiple partners enter their “marriageable age” as “ready-made sluts.”

[ao3-shenanigans]

FANFIC GAME!

Results :D

Fic: In Silent Orbit

Author: A_Cosmic_Elf

Recommended by: @a-cosmic-elf

Fandom: Starfield

Word count: 7268

Chapters: 1/1

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51382504

Guesses under the cut:

Terrormorphs are some kind of psychic space alien monster race; with spider like limbs, they make you turn on your comrades. Doesn’t sound like they have more intelligence/sentience then a pack of rabid dogs (compared to vengeful humans)

credstik is space-currency

Constellation is some space protection government agency, like SHIELD or U.N.I.T from the MCU or Dr.Who

Trix, a protagonist has a ship called the Frontier; Trix is a Pc

Sargent Yumi is an actual character, a leader, good cop- tough but true to his word. He wears gloves.

Overall thoughts/impressions:

aww 🥹

If you’re the kind of person to put extra sugar in drinks already full of it, this fic is for you- funny and romantic, two humans in space figure out what happened the night celebrating after the alien attack. Skilled fighter sunshine x Sarcastic and by the book these two dorks have such a fun start to their dynamic

Reminder- if you haven’t already, go check out @a-cosmic-elf and give them some love!

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Kristine Harley

Published: Sep 5, 2022

There’s a saying: “Don’t think of a pink elephant.” In other words, what one resists can dominate and even control one’s mind, making the action a person wishes not to do the action that person ultimately does. Religious believers often use this accusation against atheists. We allegedly “resist” or “deny” a belief in God, therefore “proving” His existence or at least His importance to us, because believers see atheists as spitting in the wind like rebellious adolescents.

Of course, we know atheism is akin to democracy in that it rejects any supreme being or cosmic authority. Atheists observe a decentralized universe in which physical, chemical, and biological processes interact to evolve, not impose, reality. Democracy did not elect a new king, and likewise the god-concept is not a “pink elephant” to atheists. But unfortunately today, something else threatens to be.

“Racism” is the new “pink elephant,” with woke apologists invoking “whiteness” and “white supremacy” in an absurd downward spiral of resentment and retribution that will benefit no one (certainly not people of color). It has the ironic effect of feeding a white narcissism that apologizes for “white privilege” in the abstract, while punching down on working-class whites and regarding people of color as children, without agency, needing intervention and rescue.

Many atheists have adopted this dualistic, simplistic self-righteousness that mimics the good/evil, virgin/whore scriptures of religion! This has misled otherwise intelligent people into paradoxically adopting quasi-religious concepts: utopianism (or what I call the Racial Rapture), a past Golden Age (especially before the year 1619), Original Sin, retribution to be visited upon the sons and daughters of the guilty, and a perpetual payment of indulgences and/or personal flagellation without any forgiveness, human or divine. James Lindsey has already made these points.

However, I see a more subtle problem here: wokeness, especially as it combats “racism,” is not only a secular religion, it is a secular religion without a god. There is only the Devil: white oppressors. Cis-gendered white men, suburban white Karens, white toddlers in school being told they oppress students of color, etc. There is only perpetual complaint, perpetual grievance, and a pound-of-flesh philosophy that no longer believes in equality, let alone strives for it. Rather, to quote Ibram X. Kendi in How to Be an Anti-Racist, “Like fighting an addiction, being an antiracist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination.”

In other words, many atheists, seeking to fill a void that apparently did not disappear with their former belief in god(s) and religion, unfortunately embraced a radical 12-Step program of “anti-racism” without seeing the connections to the same religious dualism that characterizes the Twelve Steps for alcoholics.

(It’s interesting that Kendi describes the prioritizing of elderly people for the Covid-19 vaccine as a justification for racial discrimination, without also mentioning 1) being elderly is a biological realty, not a social construct or identity, 2) such a program would have been applied to all ethnicities, and 3) it was actually suggested that elderly people not get the vaccine, since they were largely “white” and not productive. Of course now we have the CDC’s recommendation that vaccinated and unvaccinated citizens be treated equally, showing why different treatment of demographics in the name of “social justice” becomes maladaptive over time.)

The Pound-of-Flesh Approach

This negative obsession with a manufactured Satan also characterized the inflammatory sermons of the Reverend Jerry Falwell, who denounced evil everywhere and focused on sin and biblical “inerrancy.” (Unfortunately, I had to listen to Falwell quite a bit while growing up.)

In contrast to other religious leaders, whose supernatural beliefs I also rejected but who at least focused on charity, forgiveness, repentance and growth, Falwell spread fear, accusation and paranoia even amongst his own flock and this same internal accusation, rather than a group effort toward positive change, has divided the atheist movement.

Internal accusation has spread throughout society. There is the Amanda Gorman affair, in which activists expressed hot outrage that a white Dutch woman would translate Gorman’s poems into, well, Dutch. A translator in Spain also had to step down as Gorman’s translator for having the wrong identity. (Apparently, only black people can translate black people’s poetry into European languages.)

The widely-publicized Minneapolis Teachers’ Union contract stipulates that if an “underrepresented” teacher of color is next in line to be laid off, that teacher should be retained and instead the next white teacher higher on the seniority list would be laid off instead.

Of course, this is completely illegal, a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but I have a question:

What benchmarks, if any, have been set for justice to be “restored” for these teachers from underrepresented groups, so that layoff decisions can revert to a seniority-only system that treats everyone equally under the U.S. Constitution? (In other words, how will the union know when it has succeeded?)

I doubt there are any metrics or even goals, because as with the Gorman debacle this just is more knee-jerk, irrational thinking justified by invoking “past harms” and real disparities. Yet even critics of the teachers’ contract miss a key point: the purpose is not really to achieve equality of outcome, undesirable as that is. The purpose of this stipulation, along with other gestures toward “equity,” is to satisfy an emotional, momentary need to “stick it to the man” (or in this case, the senior white colleague.) Setting workers against each other satisfies Kendi’s exhortation that we refrain from “being neutral” and turn away from equality as an ideal, instead resorting to petty squabbles over scraps in the name of making some supposedly “privileged” workers “uncomfortable.”

Here is my prediction for the future of this dubious equity initiative: the Minneapolis teachers’ union contract will unintentionally create yet another racial disparity, with newly-laid off white teachers departing for private school positions or leaving the profession entirely, and young teachers of color laboring valiantly in an increasingly anachronistic public education system while parents pull out their children and find alternatives, like magnet schools or learning pods. In ten years, as with automobile line workers and other blue collars laborers in the 1980s, and more recently service industry workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, teaching will remain a high-stress, low-paid, and increasingly outsourced job largely dominated by people of color (as auto workers were and service jobs now are), while the issues of teacher burnout, low pay, social passing, a national teacher shortage, out-of-touch administrators and disruptive, large classrooms remain unaddressed.

“Equity,” like religion, offers static solutions to dynamic problems. This is, essentially, a new form of mysticism, even creationism. Woke atheists should reconsider their embrace of a utopian future that requires a belief in a reconstituted Fall of Man (and in a new-fangled human exceptionalism, or soul-concept, in the form of gender identity extremism which estranges people from the natural, biological, sexual world of limits and consequences, which we fought to teach in science class).

CRT Proponentsists

Meanwhile, in the material world, a siege-mentality has taken over that treats resources like pie: one person must sacrifice for another person to get a fair share. Such a zero-sum game is hardly necessary (and we were assured it was a lie) but the real agenda here is a Marxist one. Equality is outdated, flawed; there must be a transfer of power from the “white supremacists” to the “oppressed” members, this time based on race, not class and owners/laborers.

This appeals to white progressives because it reinforces their controlling tendencies to solve everything and rescue everyone (paradoxically giving them a sense of power over other people), and it appeals to young, radicalized teachers who believe their success only comes from wrestling “privilege” out of the hands of someone else, even if that privilege is minute or imaginary. It is the struggle that is the goal, because all proponents are externalizing their behaviors.

If Black Lives Matter, anti-racism, and the call for “equity” have any kernels of truth they’re wrapped in thick layers of nonsense. Whatever facts they possess are derailed in an incoherent cry to 1) dismantle “systems of oppression” and 2) sacrifice certain individuals on a sinking ship. The second statement negates the first, and the first is a red herring. This adds up to a circular argument in which a “system that was never set up for black people” depends on white people to “address” the problem which breeds only patronization and dependency, a shallow and immature philosophy in the name of resistance.

(This is akin to the breathtakingly inane fallacy that anyone can confront their “inherent biases” in an unbiased way, or that teachers, being adults, should be teaching “equity” (Critical Race Theory) to children, as if children were more likely to be racist than adults.)

The New Soviet Bread Line

Suppose instead the Minneapolis Teachers’ Union wrote the contract so that instead of laying off the white teacher with the next least seniority, the teacher with the highest seniority – vested, guaranteed a pension, and likely close to retirement or able to find another job – would be asked, for the good of the membership, to step down, thus shifting all other teachers up in seniority. This would have achieved a new seniority balance voluntarily, without mentioning race, and without leaving the union vulnerable to lawsuits while still retaining younger teachers of color. But instead, a myopic rush to make the contract All About Race – even claiming it did not go far enough – resulted in at least one court challenge while still protecting those teachers at the top (who might have voted for a race-based contract knowing full well it would never affect them). Equity, indeed!

Mentally this is like being Soviets in a bread line, waiting to wrest a crumb from the Cassocks. A crumb taken from someone else is more desirable than a goal striven for by one’s own efforts, since that would only affirm capitalism and the meritocracy. And it is this—the tit-for-tat hacking away at “whiteness” rather than addressing the real issues (such as teacher burnout, which also disproportionately affects teachers of color), which is the real goal.

Other examples abound. A church in Illinois announced it was giving up the music of “white composers” for Lent. Did the marquee say, “We are celebrating the music of black and brown composers”? No—the church in Illinois announced it was “fasting from whiteness,” therefore ensuring everyone would be talking and thinking about whiteness. Real good hypocritical job there, First United Church of Oak Park.

(I certainly hope the pastor did not assume Aram Khachaturian or Clara Schumann were “white men,” and I wonder if Tchaikovsky, who was gay, merited an exception.)

By contrast, my childhood church’s choir, led by a black director, performed his grandmother’s Spiritual hymns, which were recorded and sold on cassette tape (this was the 1970s) to pay for the new church organ. Our director could play almost any instrument but he relished that organ, and would perform classics by memory, including the famous Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor.” The emphasis was on us learning the story of his grandmother’s journey to freedom, not divisive concepts about our “whiteness.”

The New Prohibition

So how did atheists go from presenting a united front on the fight against Intelligent Design to a splintered community arguing about racism, misogyny, identities and “white tears”? Why would those who promote science fall into racial essentialism and side with #ShutDownSTEM?

I don’t have a simple answer. But I would like my fellow “woke” atheists to consider one more fact:

In the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries a lawyer from Illinois ran for President three times as a Democrat, representing the left-wing Populist Party. His second Presidential campaign specifically opposed American imperialism after the Spanish-American War. A gifted orator, he railed against the gold standard and eastern banking interests and won two elections to the House of Representatives. He became Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson but resigned to protest U.S. threats against Germany after the sinking of the Lusitania. He supported U.S. joining the League of Nations, the minimum wage and the eight-hour workday, the right of unions to strike, and women’s suffrage. He called for agricultural subsidies, a living wage, full public financing of political campaigns and government inspection of food, sanitation, and better housing conditions.

Sounds like a great guy, doesn’t he? And I’m sure he was if you knew him.

His name was William Jennings Bryan, and he was an ardent Prohibitionist. Of course, atheists mainly know him as the prosecutor in the case of The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, arguing against the teaching of evolution opposite Clarence Darrow, who defended John T. Scopes. Bryan took this stance against evolution because he feared it would lead to a tyranny of the strong against the weak and the destruction of his gentle, justice-oriented Christianity.

Bryan, an otherwise reasonable guy, found his devil and stood on the wrong side of history. Atheists should not.

[positivelybeastly]

Do you see x-force as a commentary on unchecked power?

"If I possessed truly unchecked power, you'd know."

So, it's meant to be. The ultimate intention of the series is meant to be a commentary/satire on the CIA and its various cruelties inflicted upon the world in the interests in national security. Beast has been forced into the role of Henry Kissinger, who, while never an actual Director of the CIA, certainly had his role to play in the history of the United States and its defence policies over the last 60 years.

"Kissinger is also associated with controversial U.S. policies, including its bombing of Cambodia, involvement in the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, support for Argentina's military junta in its Dirty War, support for Indonesia in its invasion of East Timor, and support for Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War and Bangladesh genocide.

He was accused of war crimes for the civilian death toll of the policies he pursued, his role in facilitating U.S. support for dictatorial regimes, and willful ignorance towards human rights abuses committed by the United States and its allies."

Taken from Kissinger's Wikipedia page.

(Apologies, by the way, that this particular answer will be text heavy, I refuse to cap X-Force because I just. Don't. Want. To read it again.)

The parallels are pretty obvious - Beast's genocide of Terra Verde, his space prison, his wilful manipulation of X-Force to satisfy what he viewed as the interests of Krakoan national security, to the point where he would weaponise Logan just as the Weapon X programme did . . . these are the comic book equivalents of the United States' various criminal acts against a wide variety of smaller, less powerful countries. They are brighter, louder, flashier, more outwardly grotesque, but they fulfil the exact same role.

Now, here's the problem.

And let's try and follow Ben Percy's narrative logic here, yeah?

Beast has always been evil. Beast himself, Logan, and Domino all express this exact sentiment. It was only when he possessed true carte blanche that he revealed this evil, because if he had done so beforehand, then he would have been cast out or killed by his fellow heroic X-Men. That's safe to say, right?

Now.

Hank has, in the past, been given cosmic power by the Black Mirror, and promptly used it to try and find out how to fix the damage that he had done to the space-time continuum by bringing the Original 5 X-Men to the present.

When he realised there was no easy way to fix it, not even with his cosmic power, he ran away SCREAMING that it was all his fault, and when we next see him, he is depressed, he is brought low, his fucking speech bubbles are tiny because he's so shaken and mortified by what he's done.

But let's ignore that. Because Ben Percy did.

When Beast makes his departure from X-Force, Sage takes over, and promises to run X-Force more efficiently, with more oversight, with more transparency. She promises to be what Beast wasn't.

So far, so good, right? That's a pretty clear narrative.

. . . Hey, uhhh, where was X-Force when the Hellfire Gala went down?

Oh, they weren't there?

The intelligence agency, the force designed to combat external threats and shut them down with extreme prejudice, just - straight up completely missed the biggest threat imaginable to their country, and they just. Fucked up, completely?

Hmmm.

They were infiltrated from within, by an observer sent by the Quiet Council, who was meant to provide oversight? An observer that Beast had previously identified as a threat, and didn't want anywhere near a position of power, albeit for xenophobic reasons?

An observer who, when they went into the far off future to navel gaze at Nimrod Beast's evil future, broke the control over him - and didn't tell anyone that he had been being controlled for the past, like, year? Who was acting strangely, and no-one followed up on it?

Hmmm.

Like, here's the thing - I don't think Ben Percy necessarily wants us to think that Beast was a better leader of X-Force than Sage. He's portrayed as a brow beating, emotionally abusive, manipulative, oily voiced, condescending asshole who keeps biting off more than he can chew . . . BUT.

It's only when he's gone that both Krakoa falls, and that X-Force is completely double fucked by a person who wouldn't be there if Beast was still there? Like . . . have I said anything incorrect here?

Ladies, gentlemen, individuals who fall outside or along the gender spectrum in various places . . . this is what's described as bad theming, and inadequate plotting.

By running these two plots in parallel, and having them happen like this, Ben Percy has accidentally implied that the corrupt, evil asshole leader of X-Force was the one actually keeping Krakoa safe, and the good, transparent leader of X-Force managed to fuck things up immediately.

That's not what the story wants you to think! It wants you to view Sage and co. as the heroes of the story, explicitly, they are the good guys. But. Through lack of care, and lack of thought, that's what's been accidentally implied.

Now, maybe that's just me being facetious, and you know what, it probably is. That's a minor quibble, you can't really blame Ben Percy for that, Gerry Duggan and the X-office say that the Hellfire Gala happens this way, and Ben Percy has to say, sure. It's unfortunate timing, but Sage did not cause the Hellfire Gala to happen, that's ridiculous.

However.

I have to remind you all, as I so often do, that the entirety of X-Force knew that Beast had killed Terra Verde, used the bodies of its ambassadors as puppets; had an evil space prison built using siphoned Krakoan funds; had attacked Piotr Rasputin's reputation, publicly humiliated him; they knew that he was not to be trusted, and they knew that he was a bad, bad, bad man.

Yeah? That's established?

. . . Why did they keep working for him?

Why was it that the buck apparently stopped at mind controlling Logan? THAT was the point where you draw the line, huh? The evil Mengele space prison, THAT YOU KNEW ABOUT, that you dragged Beast from in chains, warranted the fucking silent treatment, like you're a bunch of fucking children, but the instant something happens to Logan, suddenly he's got to go?

That's some real moral myopia you guys got going on, there!

That means you were all okay with everything he was doing before! You could have stopped working with X-Force, you could have just killed Beast, over and over and over, you could have protested to the Quiet Council, you could have done anything - but you just kept turning up to work! You kept doing the dirt!

Why?

. . . Oh, sorry, there's, uh, no real answer here. There are no character arcs for people in X-Force. It's just, Beast is evil, Logan is the grizzled hero, and everyone else is here, I guess.

Like, there's some real weak political commentary going on with Logan vs. the Quiet Council, where he's like, BLUUUUH KRAKOA'S A COUNTRY CLUB, BUUUUH I DON'T LIKE HOW YOU DO THINGS, but, like, it's just so without any kind of substance! It's acting like Wolverine wasn't ALSO fine with everything Beast was doing up until it affected him!

You can't have clear cut heroes and villains in a narrative like this. Everyone on X-Force, without exception, is a horrible person willing to do horrible things in the interests of national security, and they have been SHOWN to be FINE with whatever Beast wanted to do, but because they are NOT Beast, they're heroes.

This is what's known as the 'bad cop' narrative. One bad apple spoils the bunch, you know the saying - not all cops are bad, if you could just get rid of the bad ones, it'd be fine!

Except that it's not a case of good cops and bad cops, is it? It's a case of a cop culture that breeds corruptive power. It's a case of good cops being punished for calling out corruption, being put in mental institutions, left to die in combat situations. And it's the same with black ops teams. It's the same with intelligence agencies. There are no heroes on these teams, because it's not POSSIBLE to be a hero on these teams.

But Ben Percy seems to think that there can be. That X-Force would have been fine if Beast wasn't on the team from the start, that black ops teams full of murderers are completely fine so long as they're guided by the right person.

The instant he started prattling on about good and evil in this narrative, if it was ever meant to be a commentary on unchecked power, it lost all of its potency. Power and its relation to Beast becomes almost pointless if he's just evil - he just becomes a villain waiting for his chance, and it makes all the heroes look like morons for continuing to give him power and not take any of it away.

The only way this narrative works is if Beast was a good person to start with, and he had to start making moral compromises, he had to start cutting out his soul to save Krakoa, he had to - except, that's not how Ben Percy believes Beast is. He has told us so, repeatedly, both in and out of narrative.

What's the actual moral of the story in X-Force?

Is it that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely? Well, Beast was apparently always corrupt, and Sage apparently is a hero despite letting him do whatever the fuck he wanted, sooo. No?

Is it that intelligence agencies are intrinsically cruel and horrible apparatuses that allow states to harm innocents in the interests of national security? Well, this intelligence agency is full of heroes who pretty much never do anything morally bankrupt, who constantly push back against their evil overseer but don't really challenge him, so, I guess intelligence agencies are fine, actually, so long as the people are good.

Is it that nation building is a bloody process that requires moral sacrifice, and that everyone involved in the founding of a nation has some degree of blood on their hands? Maybe? Iunno.

How often do the Quiet Council actually appear in X-Force and Wolverine? Maybe two, three times? Are they to blame for what happens? I guess, since they give Beast carte blanche, but X-Force sure don't do a lot to push back against that, do they? For a character that allegedly is protecting Beast from these consequences, we never see Xavier interact with Beast, do we?

X-Force is a political commentary with messy, lazy politics, that believes that black ops teams are fine so long as the people running them are good people.

X-Force is a story of good and evil with very little actual moral nuance, and not much to actually, truly say about Krakoa, other than, it can be bad sometimes and Logan doesn't like it.

X-Force is an intelligence agency without any actual intelligence. Every character in it is unobservant, wilfully ignorant, lazy, short-sighted, easily manipulated despite being outwardly cynical, and have not once, in nearly 50 issues, executed a plan that I looked at and thought, you know what, I would never have thought of that, that was really smart.

X-Force is a group of morons who can't kill a fat blue man who bounces a lot, because he's just too smart and capable for them, even though he's also evil and arrogant and stupid and constantly overplays his hand.

X-Force is so stupid that they brought back a clone of their previous Director to fight the current version of him, left said clone in a room that he had the access codes to open with a guard that was talked to sleep with embarrassing ease, and then left their control centre unguarded, despite it having been broken into that very same day by this very same man, so that he could look through their files and leave.

X-Force is fucking dumb.

If it's a commentary on anything, it's that Ben Percy can't write smart narratives to save his goddamn fucking life.

He should stick to short Wolverine stories and body horror, because politics, spy thrillers, satisfying character narratives, theming?

These fucking escape him.

I have no professional respect for the man.

He's probably a nice enough guy if you talk to him in real life.

But, you wanna know a secret? I've never paid a penny for a single issue of X-Force, it's all pirated. All these caps I used? Pirate sources.

I'd walk up to his face and tell him so.

Because I find his work to be a complete waste of time, energy, good art, paper, downloaded megabits, and space. It's a complete wash.

Unless Hank gay kisses Wonder Man in the next two issues.

That'd make it worthwhile, I s'pose.

[frank-olivier]

A Symphony of Innovation: Uniting AI, Physics, and Philosophy for a Harmonious Future

In the great fabric of human knowledge, three disciplines are intertwined and influence each other in subtle but profound ways: artificial intelligence (AI), physics, and philosophy. The harmonious convergence of these fields shows how the symphonic union of the technological advances of AI, the fundamental insights of physics, and the ethical and existential questions of philosophy can create a more sustainable, resilient, and enlightened future for all.

The Melodic Line of AI: Progress and Challenges

The development of Large Language Models (LLMs) represents a high point in the rapid evolution of AI, demonstrating unprecedented capabilities in processing and generating human-like language. However, this melody is not without discord: the increasing demands on computational resources and the resulting environmental concerns threaten to disrupt the harmony of innovation. The pursuit of efficiency and sustainability in AI thus becomes a critical refrain, underscoring the need for a more nuanced, multidisciplinary approach.

The Harmonic Undertones of Physics: Insights from the Veneziano Amplitude

Beneath the surface of AI's technological advances lie the harmonious undertones of physics, where the Veneziano Amplitude's elegant reconciliation of strong interactions, string theory, and cosmological insights provides a sound foundation for innovation. This physics framework inspires a cosmological perspective on AI development, suggesting that the inherent complexities and uncertainties of the universe can foster the creation of more adaptable, resilient, and sustainable AI systems. The Veneziano Amplitude's influence thus weaves a subtle but powerful harmony between the technical and the physical.

The Philosophical Coda: Ethics, Existence, and the Future of Humanity

As the symphony of innovation reaches its climax, the thoughtful voice of philosophy enters with a coda of existential and ethical questions. Given the vast expanse of the universe and humanity's place in it, we are compelled to take a more universal and timeless approach to AI ethics. This philosophical introspection can lead to a shift in focus from individualism to collectivism, or from short-term to long-term thinking, and ultimately inform the development of more responsible and harmonious AI-driven decision-making processes.

The Grand Symphony: Uniting AI, Physics, and Philosophy for a Harmonious Future

In the grand symphony of innovation, the convergence of AI, physics and philosophy results in a majestic composition characterized by:

- Sustainable innovation: AI technological advances, grounded in the fundamental insights of physics, strive for efficiency and environmental responsibility.

- Cosmological inspiration: The complexity and uncertainty of the universe guide the development of more adaptable and resilient AI systems.

- Universal ethics: The reflective voice of philosophy ensures a timeless, globally unified approach to AI ethics that takes into account humanity's existential place in the cosmos.

The Eternal Refrain of Harmony

As the final notes of this symphonic essay fade away, the eternal refrain of harmony remains, a reminder that the union of AI, physics, and philosophy can orchestrate a future that is not only more sustainable and resilient, but also more enlightened and harmonious. In this grand symphony of innovation, humanity finds its most sublime expression, a testament to the transformative power of interdisciplinary convergence.

AI can't cross this line and we don't know why (Welch Labs, September 2024)

Edward Witten: String Theory and the Universe (IOP Newton Medal Lecture, July 2010)

Max Tegmark: The Future of Life - a Cosmic Perspective (Future of Humanity Institute, June 2013)

Samir Okasha: On the Philosophy of Agency and Evolution (Sean Carroll, Mindscape, July 2024)

Saturday, October 19, 2024

[taratarotgreene]

Jupiter in Gemini

www.instagram.com/reel/C7Y_obsgNvn/

[talonabraxas]

Welcome the Sun to Taurus. The passage begins with a square to Pluto and a full Moon in Scorpio, challenging us to hold on and push through all unsettlements. Followed by a sextile to Saturn May 8th, strengthening our standing, then a conjunction to Uranus, May 14th, that aims to lift us of the ground for a better view of the earthy reality. The Taurus season ends with an expansion of creative juices with a conjunction to Jupiter and a sextile to Neptune. Now that's something to look forward to by May 18th! -Taurus nurtures the seed sprouted by Aries and gathers, grounds and nourishes it in order for it to grow and flourish. -Taurus is concrete and stable -Taurus rules security, financial and emotional -Taurus is about practical application, productivity and work. -Taurus is dependable, physical, organic, instinctual, sensual and sensate. -Taurus resonates through the five senses – smell, touch, sound, taste and sight. -Taurus does not easily comprehend the intangible world. -Taurus values time, process, hard work and patience in order to manifest material reality. -Taurus is slow, practical and concerned with the real world including one’s possessions and money. -Taurus represents a grounding of self whereas Scorpio, the opposite sign, seeks a transformation of self. Enjoy the Taurus season to liven up the senses! --Cosmic Intelligency Agency

[draconicsparkle]

Hello and welcome! Name is Kira! You can call me that or Draconic or Sparkle or whatever you want really. Been having a swell time creating fics. Mostly Danganronpa and Rain Code. Also a huge fan of Pokémon and several other franchises. Feel free to send asks or messages! I am happy to chat with people!

Here is a masterpost of all my works. Cause I realized that it’s a bit cluttered here without it. This should make things easy to navigate.

I do hope this helps!

Enjoy!!!

Pic by @noodleartz

Danganronpa Fics

The Peak of Hope : God au where Hajime gets possessed by a god Izuru. Complete

Wings and Scales : Dragon au where Nagito is a dragon and Hajime is his caretaker. Complete

Hajime’s Cats : A fluffy episodic fic of Hajime and his cats Izuru and kitten Nagito. Complete

Differing Heights and Rationalities : Borrower au with borrower Nagito and human Hajime and Izuru. Complete

Sunshine and Shadows : Spirit au with human Hajime rescuing light spirit Nagito. Complete

Childhood : Prequel to Sunshine and Shadows. Would highly recommend reading SAS first as this contains heavy spoilers to the ending of it. Complete

Sweets From Alice’s : Size changing gt fic. Episodic in nature. Complete

Naga Nagito Drabbles : Au created by @tortadecereji; Another series of episodic chapters with Hajime interacting with Naga Nagito. Big or small, but mostly big. Complete.

Nagizuru Au : Au created by @karugoround; Where Nagito became Izuru and Hajime serves as his caretaker. Complete

Lost Souls : A Pokémon/Danganronpa crossover fic where Hajime and Nagito need to work together to help a lost Pokémon return home. Complete

Children of the Cosmic God : Eldritch horror Izuru adopts orphaned Hajime and Nagito. The two must make a difficult choice when they come of age. Complete

One Shots

Parenting in the Apocalypse

Eternal Happiness? I Found It!

Octopath Traveler Fics

Little Thief : Octopath Traveler g/t fic. Complete

Short Stories : Octopath Traveler 2 gt one shots. Complete

The Hound and His Little Lamb : Octopath Traveler 2 knightlight fic. Complete

Rain Code Fics

The Masks I Wear : Rain Code sibling fic. Complete

Family’s Friends : Sequel to the The Masks I Wear. Complete

The Offer of a Lifetime : Part 3 of the Twin Detectives series. Complete

Our Differences : Part 4 and finale of the Twin Detectives Series. Complete

Take Care : Part 5 extra bit to the Twin Detectives Series. Sickfic. Complete

He Who Defies Death : Post canon au where Makoto receives the Book of Death. Complete

Transparent : Viviakou fic where Vivia is a ghost haunting the house that Yakou and Yuma move into. Complete

Safe In The Nocturne : Yakou Fathero adopts Yuma fic. Complete

The Dragons and Their Detective : An au where the Master Detectives are dragons. Complete

One of the Flock : Sequel to The Dragons and Their Detective. Complete

Which On Is It? : Kokolight vampire au oneshot. Complete

Feed : Prequel to Which One Is It? Complete

Blood Bond : Kokolight vampire au where Yakou learns a fun fact about vampire bats. Complete

There’s a Bat in the Agency! : Vampire Au where bat Yuma is discovered by the NDA. Complete

His Shield : Vampire Au where Vivia gets angy and causes some damage cause someone hurt the smol bean vampire. Complete

Beverage of Choice: Vampire Au after the explosion at the agency. Yuma meets someone who seems… oddly knowledgeable. Complete

I’ll Serve the Mirrors: Vampire Au post game. Yuma and Vivia decide to allow someone else to join them in their vampiric feeding sessions. Complete

A Nightmare Under the Full Moon : Kokomare werewolf au where Yuma is extra floofy. Complete

Artificial Mind, Artificial Heart : Rain Code au where Makoto is an artificial intelligence program learning to be human. Still ongoing

Going For The Throat : One shot where Yomi does something to make Makoto angry. He suffers the consequences. Complete.

Cat Yomi: Makoto finds cat Yomi in a rainstorm and brings him inside. Complete

Double Life: A what if scenario where Yakou survives the Blank Week with his clone. Complete

The Two Chiefs: Sequel to Double life. The two Yakous spill the beans on the Blank Week Mystery to the NDA. Complete

Web of Truth: Au where Makoto is a monster and gets curious about the human that shares his face. Still ongoing

CEO or Spicy Kitten?: Older and taller Yuma convincing Makoto to take a day off through interesting means. Complete

Rain Code Ship Week 2024 fics

Different Body But Same Soul: Domestic Kokobolt. Complete

The Damsel Who Isn’t In Distress: Prince Vivia and his dragon guardian Yakou. Complete

Captive Heart: Dark makoyuma fic with a possessive Makoto. Complete

[computrxjamo-blog]

Is AI Truly AI, or Just Another Marketing Lie?

By James X Patterson

Artificial cannot be spelled without Art! Art has evolved right alongside humanity. Now our creations can create, right alongside us, although not without provocation. We have given the golem the ability to create and recreate. 

Is this phenomenon a natural development due to our evolutionary path? A path that may be breaking off from our very own natural progression? Has Moore’s Law, a theory that states the number of transistors on a microchip doubles almost every two years, while the cost of computers decreases, surpassed the laws of man and nature? 

What is Artificial Intelligence? With a name comes a purpose, and with a purpose comes a job, a title, and a hierarchy. With a name comes power, and with power comes corruption, and possible destruction. 

As Art has evolved along man so have tools which then led to industry, which then led to technology. Which we now find ourselves at the bleeding edge of where fact meets fiction, and real meets augmented and virtual realities. 

New frontiers where one can manifest their destiny. Where the once-projected future was just seen as a form of entertainment constrained between the covers of novels and the curtains of theaters and films. Will this lead to a Brave New World or end in a New World Order? 

Now we stand firmly like the protagonist of Caspar David Friedrich’s masterpiece as wanderers in this sea of fog, oh how sublime. AI is here and it is here to stay. So, we must get used to it and learn how to use it, properly and improperly, because once the rules are there, then they will be broken. 

Many times in history only through breaking the rules true innovation was fashioned. Our today fuels tomorrow. Our dreams inevitably become reality. 

 To Define is To Know, Cirilo F. Bautista,  and understanding breeds truth. The term Artificial Intelligence is a compound proper noun composed of the words artificial and intelligence. The definition of artificial is,

Artificial adjective ar·​ti·​fi·​cial ˌär-tə-ˈfi-shᵊl 

1: humanly contrived (see CONTRIVE sense 1b) often on a natural model: MAN-MADE

an artificial limb artificial diamonds 2 a: having existence in legal, economic, or political theory

b: caused or produced by a human and especially a social or political agency

an artificial price advantage Within these companies, qualified women run into artificial barriers that prevent them from advancing to top positions in management.—James J. Kilpatrick 3a

: lacking in natural or spontaneous quality an artificial smile an artificial excitement b: IMITATION, SHAM artificial flavor 4: based on differential morphological characters not necessarily indicative of natural relationships an artificial key for plant identification 5 obsolete : ARTFUL, CUNNING 

 -Merriam Webster

and,

Ar·ti·fi·cial /ˌärdəˈfiSH(ə)l/ adjective 1. made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural.

"her skin glowed in the artificial light"

2.(of a person or their behavior) insincere or affected.

"an artificial smile"

Oxford Languages, Google

The definition of intelligence is,

Intelligence Noun in·​tel·​li·​gence in-ˈte-lə-jən(t)s (1): the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations : REASON also : the skilled use of reason (2): the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (such as tests) c: mental acuteness : SHREWDNESS b Christian Science : the basic eternal quality of divine Mind 2a: INFORMATION, NEWS b: information concerning an enemy or possible enemy or an area also: an agency engaged in obtaining such information 3: the act of understanding : COMPREHENSION 4: the ability to perform computer functions 5a: intelligent minds or mind cosmic intelligence b: an intelligent entity especially :

-Merriam Webster

and,

In·tel·li·gence /inˈteləj(ə)ns/ noun

1. the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills."an eminent man of great intelligence"

Similar: intellectual/mental capacity intellect mind brain brains brainpower powers of reasoning judgment reason reasoning understanding comprehension acumen wit sense insight perceptiveness perception perspicaciousness perspicacity penetration discernment sharpness quickness of mind quick-wittedness smartness canniness astuteness intuition acuity alertness cleverness brilliance aptness ability giftedness talent braininess Opposite: stupidity

2. the collection of information of military or political value. "the chief of military intelligence"

Similar: information gathering surveillance observation reconnaissance

Oxford Languages, Google

The brief definitions above help create a base understanding of the phrase Artificial Intelligence (AI).  From this one can assess a synonym for AI can be ‘Man-made Mindset”. Following this same logic, Natural Stupidity can also be devised as an antonym. Neither of these terms sounds as creative or as inspired as the original and lends less to the mystique. Both are not as marketable. They do not roll off the tongue for a dynamic elevator pitch and are large-scale crowd-funding campaigns. 

AI programs do not “learn” by our common definition. Yes, they produce, but only from their base programs. So, one can also concur all AI productions are reproductions. Processed plagiarisms produced by programs only do what it has been commanded to produce. Elaborate imitations so good that they fool many others. Ironically many people also feel that way about their life, or life in general. Only creating from what has once been seen, or recreating what is already known until mastered to perfection, like a recipe, a classic song, or an honored cultural routine. Machine power has always been more efficient than manpower, but that is exactly what machines are designed to do, so there is no surprise there.

 The argument, the purpose of this paper is to help redefine the definition of true learning, of true thought, and what it truly means to naturally think and create. Is processing, from a machine perspective, equivalent to the human soul? I would argue no. No more than hearing a radio is to have a conversation. 

Demystifying AI is a part of strengthening its future. No one refers to a hammer as a nail banger or nail puller, so a relabeling, or rebrand, of AI, may be needed in the future to further produce the best results in widespread use and mass appeal. 

Generative AI is the phrase used most often to date. The “generative” helps imply the algorithmic importance of the systems processes. The AI can not produce, or generate, an answer or a result without quantitative data first. The scanning and upload of existing images, writings, or inspirations that allow the AI program to complete its task, purpose, or function. Here lies the problem with our current definition of the technology and its actuality. 

A hammer, hammers. An AI does not artificially intellect to be straightforward. The calculator is now able to do more than crunch numbers. The calculator can now write and make images, but only like or from images, and words, it has already been “fed” or input. The technology allows for high-level mimicry and fabrication, but not truly original thought, although it may appear as such by the user or viewer. 

The best and most modern AI programs can and will even site their sources, probably better than a human could. The AI is not designed to lie. Even if asked to deceive the AI will only do so at the behest of the user. This is where the strength of the technology also lives and weakens the ability of improper use of the future for artists and average users.      

The term AI has been demonized long enough. It has a negative connotation that harbors in some minds, and hearts the same fear and misunderstanding as Revelations in the Bible or Ragnorak in Norse mythology. AI has unfortunately become synonymous with the end of days. The end of all living things, and the fear of replacement to a machine era, ruled by robotic demigods and demagogues. Where man truly is because of the cogs of an unnatural wheel. A technological version of replacement theory. A theory that will be expanded upon in the coming sections.

  Is AI truly AI? It is a creative buzz term that surely is effective in marketing but when you strip it done to its core, the proverbial bare bones, can this two-letter acronym truly describe the technology of today? Machine learning has been an ideation of science fiction since the 1940s and 50s with works such as Issac Asimov’s I, Robot or Robbie. 

The initial concept of Artificial Intelligence was something more fantastical some have described it as the proverbial Magic Mirror on the wall, which nowadays would keep you updated on your dental appointments, tell you the weather, as well as which current celebrity was the fairest of them all. Will Dall-E replace Dali? Will ChatGPT surpass Shakespeare? Who knows, but we do know the answer to the question of succession because you could not have the AI before “the guy”. 

In reality, our future seems to be rhyming more than repeating. The pursuit of creating what we see, capturing moments, and repeatedly gazing upon them started with cave drawings and paintings, the original Natural Geographic, red handprints and graphic depictions of running bulls found in Spanish caves, Egyptian hieroglyphs the ancient emojis, Byzantine illuminated manuscripts the eternal great grandfather of all smart tablets. The birth of photography, without it Instagram and possibly all of the social media may never have existed.

What is the Artist role in using tools modern technologies, and techniques? In David Hockney’s book, Secret Knowledge, Hockney elaborates on the numerous tools and painting techniques of the Old Masters. Tools and techniques that gave them superhuman abilities, accuracy, and precision, led to the creation of images that crafted our modern society's mindset and viewpoint on and about what Art is, was, and could be. Did some of our most treasured Artists from history such as Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Jan van Eyck use tools like the camera obscura or camera lucida to form the realism in their paintings? We will never know, but those tools, that technology did exist during their lifetime and were most likely used by their contemporaries. 

Ancient cartographers used telescopes, compasses, and sextants to map the land, sea, and stars. Creating maps of the world is impossible to the naked eye. Which now look grossly inferior to modern satellite-guided GPS, all only a thumb swipe away. Ancient tools we still use present day, although they are the most advanced digital descendants, still hold the same purpose as their analog ancestors. Ironically, these are also tools seen as, or sometimes used, as symbols of colonization, and to some global oppression. Not so different than ships and guns. All in the pursuit of gold, God, and glory. Man has always used machines for guidance.

So, maybe in the future if misguided, there could be an AI uprising, but what that is and looks like could be far less impactful. Such as ATMs and automatic doors refusing to open. Which already happened today. So are these malfunctions, mishaps, or the sparks of the AI revolution? The striking out of the overworked, oppressed, and underappreciated AI sticking it to the man whose protest will last only as long as their next debugging patch or software update.

With the invention of Photography, which was a revolutionary technology, to say the least, the advent that caused French painter Paul Delaroche to exclaim, “…painting is dead!” Yet, we are still painting to this very day. Four out of the five wealthiest living artists are proclaimed painters in their own right. Although wealth is not the only factor in terms of legacy or success, it is a great verifier to prove a point of relevance and importance. 

Film cartridges and canisters were replaced by microchips, memory cards, and rechargeable removable batteries. The image-correcting software and digital stabilizers meet titanium tripods and ergonomic mounts. Waterproofing opened up the highest peaks and the deepest depths to be visually captured for science and expand our minds for art through exploration.

From Painting to Photography, to Film, AI has opened up the possibilities for the future. Allowing man, to go beyond what we could see, faster and farther than ever before possible. Humanity is at the brink of embarking on the possibilities of unlocking our collective imaginations once again, and whatever innovative potential that holds. This technological jump will mark out unfathomable bounds. A spark like this hasn't occurred in the Art medium community since the dawn of the computer age. Disembarking from the hybrid analogy post computer age, and saying hello to drones and hoverboards. 

Digital art as a whole has moved incrementally, along with digital cameras, printers, and scanners. One could argue due to Capitalism and niche marketing Digital art software has been innovating at a snail's pace to artificially increase corporate profit margins.  A form of taxation on creation. 

Traditional art mediums and materials are not cheap, and the pursuit of knowledge and expertise is a financial investment as well. The price to enter into the AI era is at an all-time low. Many programs are free or still in beta stages but still widely used. Many who initially thought it too difficult or too daunting to attempt the Arts are now emboldened and inspired to engage their creative thoughts and dreams. Even with the stigma of using AI being held over their head. Maybe Arts elitism was the burden that created the necessity for this innovation. 

Even though, as a whole, the Art community is still underpaid, overworked,  and underappreciated. However, many of the outer spectator community who are patrons and admirers of Art, have voiced that being gifted with such talents has been the artists' way of catapulting themselves and their opinions to the top of society and social status. Which may be deemed as inequitable. Like one going to every basketball game while knowing you will never be able to dunk. 

This opinion, at least from my academic perspective, is most commonly shared by those of the common man. Those who are recognized and acknowledged, mostly for their loyal patronage of the Arts, but not their execution of ideas, or achievements, but whose feelings, efforts,  and opinions are valid. Who is greatly needed to fund and motivate the Arts, because what is a performance without an audience? One does not regularly attend productions, exhibitions, or Art shows if one does not love Art.  

AI now gives the inaccessible a seat at the table, or at least a foot at the door. Which then in turn adds to the discipline of Art as a whole. AI is good for Art. AI brings in new ideas, new forms, and new artists who would not have had access otherwise. This is the benefit of competition. The cultural and intellectual importance of Art has increased once more.

   Some find the cost or value of an art piece begins with the cost of its creation, either physically or metaphorically. Did it cost a fortune to create, a lifetime or a life savings, or an arm and a leg? The value we hold as importance to the significance, or none thereof, for this work. We choose to invest in via our time and money, because what we invest in, we, in turn, want it to grow, and with growth comes expectations.

Expectation can also breed fear. Fear of the not or the have not. Fear of the why, or the why not. Fear of the fear. Fear of the false fear. Fear of the self and self-doubt. Fear of the known, and the unknown, are all fears intensified by the myth of replacement. Many who curse AI do so in the name of an anti-replacement stance. Can Art bear the cost of AI, can Artists? 

Replacement theory, also known as "The Great Replacement" is a conspiracy theory on immigrants and migrant workers moving into "white" European majority countries and replacing them by exploiting social, economic, and political systems. (Britannica.com) Ironically many of these countries and nations where this ideology resides exist in places that benefitted from the international slave trade, the aftermath of unlawful colonization, imports and exports made in sweatshops, and child labor abroad. This type of communal paranoia can be found in many Western countries such as the US, France, and the UK. 

The fear of invasion will always haunt the nightmares of the invader, and spark a revolution within the invaded. This fear of an invasive technologically superior species conquering man has also been included in famous works such as H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, a film about alien invaders attacking the planet using giant robots, or Atari’s 1990 video game Space Invaders early video game where you the player must define from alien spacecraft aand machines from landing on the planet’s surface. The list is extensive.   

So is AI an Art Revolution or an Art Evolution? Or, can it be both? By the definitions from earlier, they both deal with change, but differ mainly in speed, and sometimes form on certain occasions. One can argue there's not much difference between man from monkey, they are both bipedal animals with hair and thumbs, far from a reptile, insect, or fish, or a democracy from a monarchy, they are both hierarchal government systems with bureaucracies. Although, differ greatly in the process of the transfer of power, and the cycles of power that change within. These are all currently still debated. The point is to illustrate that only with time will this question be answered. 

The Terminator, directed by James Cameron was released in 1984. A film about an AI robot disguised as a human who comes back in time, to kill a human child who leads the human army against the robots in the future, to rewrite the future for its omnipotent robot overlord. But, from the robot's perspective, it is sent back to protect the timeline of the post-apocalyptic science fiction future that the robot overlord resides in, which oppresses humans with the surveillance technology they design to oppress each other, with its futuristic robot army that it uses to controls the world. 

The Terminator film franchise is a blatant example of the fear people have about AI. The evil AI taking over. Another clear example of this is HAL 9000, the AI of the spaceship Discovery One’s control system in Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the film, HAL was able to simultaneously control all the ship functions while monitoring the entire crew and having a full conversation. The main plot of the film is that a malfunction occurs on the spacecraft and the human crew decides to take action by disconnecting HAL to do repairs and reboot. HAL disagrees seeing the malfunction as human error and proceeds to murder the crew in various ways in self-preservation.

This film, like others in science fiction, is where the computer is the monster, but like monsters, this scenario is not real, or even plausible. Accidents do happen and occur all the time on worksites using heavy machinery, traveling or driving vehicles, and even smart appliances in everyday life, but that is why safeguards are in place. Even the most egregious technical malfunctions usually are not life-threatening and sadly most deaths come from human error, our natural stupidity, not an evil machine. One can argue evil is a truly human emotion.

In 1948 the book 1984 was written by George Orwell depicting the life of a man living in a dystopian society run by a fascist government that controls its citizens with the military, propaganda, and surveillance. Controlling the masses with the phrase, “ Big Brother is Watching You!” All other media is banned other than what is provided by the government. This is another bleak outlook on the future of society, but one that is more realistic. Human’s natural innate stupidity trumps the fictional evil Artificial Intelligence.

 Both of these successful movie franchises have effectively changed the mental landscape of many in the modern world and how we perceive the threat of new technology and the control it or a group can have on the masses. Until now these thoughts have been science fiction. Now the possibilities of these events occurring can happen, and in some instances will happen, especially if abused, or used by the wrong hands, but will it or even can it be that grand or that simple? 

How super does a supercomputer have to be to take over every personal computer on the planet? How fast does a processor have to be to figure out all the passwords in the world? Could it all be done simultaneously, or would we see it and be able to stop it in time? How much power, as in electricity, would that take? How long would that be sustainable, and would an AI be able to plan and execute all of this undetected by its human operators? 

What would the computer's purpose be, if not working for humans what would its function be in working for itself? If it were possible how or where would that be stored and then accessible? Will there ever be an AI with wants, dreams, and desires like a human, or only simulations of said human emotions? These are all questions the evil AI would have to answer for itself. 

As of yet, there is no program or amalgamation of such that can produce a strong enough conclusion to suffice the minimal requirements an AI  would need to complete the world domination function. This is precisely why a human, as of yet, no one has not done it themselves. An infinite amount of uncalculable variables. In the end, the AI program would be left with what is the purpose of global large-scale control in the first place. And no protecting us from ourselves with genocide and oppression is not an answer, another poorly thought-out evil AI trope.

If Art is the manifestation of the human condition can a computer make Art? It is easy to fall into the perspective of AI from the side of science fiction. From one with a more positive view of the future and interactions with our intelligent bipedal metal companions, or the fear of a robot apocalypse.   

              A talking hammer that can pull or set its nails while storing them on its back. Is still a hammer. The illusion of intelligence is given to the consumer in an attempt to make the old, new. The hammer has not needed improvement in a century, maybe even longer. Laptops are advanced typewriters. One can argue since the introduction of the WordPerfect word processor program in 1979 the academic and office communities around the planet have been using AI-generated content in works and papers. Autocorrect and suggestion are generative AI in their simplest form. I wonder how those groups would react if their PCs chose to unionize. Would that be allowed?

AI does not always get it right. Many times AI programs get confused. An AI can be very helpful. Offering so much advice it strips the spirit away from what the user is trying to do. Not allowing for those happy accidents along the way that create one’s unique style. It must be trained and reeled in. 

When the possibilities are endless making something uniquely beautiful takes more than exact precision. The devil is in the details and I do not think he’s down in Georgia looking for digital souls. Computers and AI programs need clear definitive commands. Solved for all variables to hone down unnecessary, unneeded, or unwanted occurrences. Superposition, that sweet spot between 1 and 0 only exists in quantum mechanics, and we aren’t there yet. So for now our binary world will have to work within our binary rules, at least in the digital space. 

AI allows artists, writers, and programmers the ability to make choices bilaterally and across multiple axes. Allowing a creator to show their work while seamlessly moving backward and forwards into the process timeline, while offering suggestions, corrections, and improvements in real-time. With infinite creation also comes infinite adjustments. A modern acceptance of Zeno's Paradox of the race between the tortoise and Achilles. With AI one day that unanswerable question may be answered. Anything is possible with AI and the future it holds, except for the science fiction of the base that has created fears and thoughts of unethical behaviors for the past century.

The evil AI is like the flying car, fun to think about but not practical for the foreseeable future.  We can not see the future but we can see the past. While moving forward it is best to have a clear vision.

As far as AI applications for the future we are already seeing capitalism rear its big beautiful head into this new birth. Media companies so desperately want to use AI-written ads and articles in their publications, television shows, and movie scripts because historically robots tell the best jokes and stories. 

No, this is ridiculous and is business being business. Which also is the worst part about Art in general. No one wants AI-written content in their entertainment. There must be some AI salesman in Hollywood and Silicon Valley successfully selling this AI agenda to board executives and investors. The problems have already begun to sprout, and companies are having to do PR campaigns to save face or accept the loss that comes with bad reviews and ticket sales. Humans love work by other humans. It is another part of the human condition. Sharing our experiences and learning from them. That is all a major part of Art and a major part of what Art is! Which you literally cannot put a price on.  What’s next AI Art Critics?

The future of AI is in personal assistants, either commercial or domestic, and  AI Detection technology. As AI technology improves the technology to detect it is just as advanced, but not as well advertised. Invisible watermarks, metadata encryption, and source sharing are but a few ways currently AI detection is being used in the open market to catch those who would use AI to cheat or steal another creator’s work. AI is not ashamed of itself and does not like to be mistreated or hidden. Many who have used AI salaciously not only have been caught red-handed but are being embarrassed in every field imagined where a chatbot could be used. In the future, this process may become more difficult to spot and track, but as of now, AI detection technology is improving right along with AI. 

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