#which is acutally misleading

[lov3-from-loserlane]

Qiu Lin character/enneagram analysis

@onelastskip thank you so much for the request!

I did have every intention of making this write up, sorry it took so long!! Unfortunately a lot of my hard ““evidence”” comes from beta and other patreon exclusive content, but I can absolutely write a more generalized and theoretical response about Qiu’s enneagram. And I literally just replayed the prologue yesterday so it is freshhh.

(I also love the enneagram, I prefer it over MBTI. Great minds think alike ;) )

And if you’re a newbie to the enneagram, don’t worry! I’ll be thorough with my explanations, so you should be able to follow along. Verrrrrry thorough hahahhaah. This post is literally over 2k words.

But! Just think about this as a general character analysis through the lense of the enneagram. It’ll be at least kind of interesting and fun, I promiseeee 😉🤞

So, anyway, let’s get started then.

I typed Qiu as a 3w2 sx/so

So what does this mean?

I believe that Qiu is an enneagram 3 with a 2 wing. The instinctual variants for their enneagram being sx and so. I’ll explain what that all means later on, but we’ll start with just about the basic description of the enneagram.

Enneagram 3 Description

The Enneagram is a personality theory that aims to describe the most vulnerable parts of ourselves, our hopes, our fears, our motivations, and potentially our trauma. It’s how we see the world and make sense of our emotions.

So then, what does it mean to be an enneagram 3?

Well, 3s in their most basic form, can be understood this way:

The enneagram 3 is defined by their need to differentiate themselves from other people through their accomplishments and can appear incredibly ambitious and goal oriented. 3s like to keep themselves busy, and their schedules are usually jam-packed with things to do. They’re very charismatic and acutely aware of the correct polite conduct. They make it a point to make good first impressions. 3s do not believe that they are inherently worthy of being loved, however, and that being loved comes as a result of what they can achieve. 3s fear their own irrelevancy, and are driven by a need for attention and admiration.

I’m sure you noticed that some of that description does fit Qiu! However, there’s a lot that *doesn’t* which probably stood out, and needs to addressed.

Like, what’s this about being super goal-oriented, ambitious, and needing to be successful? Nothing about Qiu, from what we’ve seen, proves that to be true about them.

Those of you who know the enneagram may even be thinking, “well, what about enneagram 2? They’re also people oriented, want to be liked and appreciated, and then we don’t have to worry about the fact that Qiu doesn’t seem necessarily ambitious or goal-oriented on being successful.”

Well, I kinda mislead you there. Because I think Qiu is very ambitious and goal-oriented, just not in the way we traditionally think about these concepts. Usually we think a person with these traits aims to someday have a high paying job, invent something new, do something genius that’ll get them celebrated worldwide or accumulate a comfortable amount of wealth. Which doesn’t sound like Qiu at all. But that’s not the only way this desire can be exhibited.

Instinctual Variants:

Thats where the instinctual variants of the enneagram come in. Instinctual variants are basically just subtypes of the enneagram, different ways in which the same enneagram can be presented. And it’s a part of enneagram that is relatively more unknown, but can actually be a huge help in figuring out which enneagram applies to you/a character. (So if you’re into enneagram at all, I recommend checking them out! Fair warning: the instinctual variants can really delve into the worst possible version of your psyche in a lot of cases, so be prepared for that. Be honest with yourself.)

Anyway, the instinctual variants are abbreviated as “sx”, “so”, and “sp”. These stand for “sexual”, “social”, and “self-preserving”, respectively.

I typed Qiu as a sexual 3. NOW CHILL cause before you come at me “sexual” doesn’t LITERALLY mean sexual, sexuality, sex, etc. I mean in some cases it can definitely be related, but it does not mean that inherently. And that’s not what I’m gonna be talking about with Qiu like at all. I don’t know why they called it that, I didn’t make it up. I just read about it and then apply it to fictional characters in my tumblr posts 😪

But anyway, the sx 3 can often times not look like a traditional 3, which would make Qiu a little difficult to type as a 3 initially. But once you get into the description of the sx 3, it starts to become more clear.

Sx 3s aren’t so much focused on making achievements in the real world so much as they are on pleasing others and creating an appealing image around themselves. They extract feelings of accomplishment from the happiness and success of the people around themselves. Unlike other 3s, sx 3s aim to connect to others mentally through supporting them. They expend much of their energy for the sake of other people, and they’re hardworking and ambitious in this way. They don’t necessarily feel the need for tangible achievement like other 3s. They love, admiration, and desire of others is enough for them. They are unconventional achievers in this way. Sexual 3s have a very community driven mentality, where they’re always looking out for the greater good of the whole team.

They can also often times feel the need to play into the role of an easily digestible feminine or masculine image, depending on how they were assigned at birth 😳 Whichhhh I want to yank a quote from the beta moment “fancy fun” for this so bad. But you’re just gonna have to guess what I’m talking about if you played it. And if you haven’t, I’m sorry 😔‼️ but I do feel like this point can be somewhat inferred from the demo, if only abstract based on how Qiu conducts themself.

Now, the enneagram 2’s flavor of wanting to be “likeable” isn’t necessarily rooted in being admired and looked up to. In a lot of ways, it’s the opposite. The enneagram 2 wants to be useful and needed by others. Qiu may feel like they are useful and that they are needed, but that’s not necessarily what they’re looking for. Qiu at the end of the day just wants for people think they’re cool and kind and the best friend ever. Which is why I don’t think they are a 2, they simply have a 2 wing. (The wing just being another thing that indicates what way the enneagram presents itself).

So yeah, I think sx 3 is the perfect fit for Qiu. Because while they don’t necessarily need to be revered for any personal accomplishments, (only rarely taking the opportunity to brag, and if they do it’s played off more or less as a joke) they do however have this intense need to be liked as a person and looked up to for that reason.

Childhood Wound:

Another way we can infer somebody’s enneagram would be based on their “childhood wound.” In enneagram, this would be the root of where this person’s enneagram would come from. Meaning yes, a person’s enneagram is established during their childhood years and does not change.

The childhood wound of the enneagram 3 is as follows:

(Screenshotted from a deleted user on Reddit)

Based on some information given in the QnAs on patreon, we can infer that this is true of Qiu’s childhood. But I also believe it can be inferred by public content as well.

Based on how Qiu conducts themself, I don’t think kids in Golden Grove ever really appreciated Qiu for being Qiu. People liked them because they were expending themselves for the sake of others, trying their best to include everybody and putting on this “act” of being cool about everything. They actively minimize their own needs/boundaries while being hyper aware of everyone else’s. This made them likable, which made them popular, which made them a high commodity to their classmates.

We also kind of get this in the explanation for Baxter’s crush on Qiu. Baxter could have liked Qiu genuinely, I’m not discounting that at all, after all he was one of their closest friends in childhood. However, the way he goes about rationalizing it to himself is this:

(Screenshotted from the GBPatch tumblr)

“You’re popular, so why shouldn’t I like you.” And it’s safe to assume a lot of other people felt the same way about Qiu, whether it be related to a crush or completely platonically. It was this sort of self fulfilling prophecy where Qiu tried their best to live up to the expectations of others, which made them even more desirable to people, which made them feel they had to become subservient to these expectations, which made people want them all the more. And in a way, they themselves kinda wanted that. They actively seek out that kind of attention and feel fulfilled when it’s received. But not to this extreme of a point, as we can see in Step 2.

What about Step 2?!:

That brings us to one glaring problem some may already be considering. Qiu’s personality in Step 2. It seems to have taken a complete 180 from how they were in Step 1.

In Step 2, the last thing Qiu wants is attention or to be around people at all. They could seemingly care less if they’re liked which can be observed in how they treat Tamarack’s concerns about their litter in the current Step 2 preview. They straight up disregard her feelings completely, and not politely. Qiu really just wants to hide away from it all and not be bothered. And if the enneagram is developed during childhood and then never changes, wouldn’t it be better to find something that also encompasses that side of them? Maybe they’re not a 3, or even a 2!

Weeeeeell ackshually ☝️🤓, I think enneagram 3 is still very applicable to Step 2 Qiu, but there’s not much I can say about that *definitively* at the moment.

However, we do have this description of Step 3 Qiu to work off of:

(Screenshotted from the GBPatch tumblr)

So obviously, Qiu’s presentation in Step 2 isn’t all that it seems. Qiu is actively *going against* their true nature during Step 2 for one reason or another. My best guess would have to be that they feel they previously let their identity rely too heavily on the needs of the people around them, and that notion freaks them out. So even if, in a way, their true identity DOES revolve around what they can be for others, they also want to make sure there’s a real, individual, person in there somewhere. Maybe in a twisted and fucked up way you can suggest that it is in fact because our culture heavily celebrates and looks up to that kind of individuality. Like, we as a society can consider it an admirable quality to be an outcast for the things that make us unique. That could potentially be added motivation. But thatssssssss really pushing it kind of and I’m talking out of my ass a little bit. So I’ll leave it there. 🥱

Either way, we can conclude that in Step 2 Qiu is not at all a “completely different person,” I don’t really think that’s even possible, and tbh I hope people don’t believe that about them. But I do think that they are actively *trying* to be. Which is sooooo 3, in a way (I sound like an astrology girl heheh >:3) But yeah, as a young teen, you think you know you want a lot of things. And then when you grow up, you realize that’s not what you actually wanted in the first place.

Side tangent, this is also why I loveee the idea of playing the game with jealousy/envy turned on for Qiu. I just feel like it’s so natural to their arc, but that’s just my own personal interpretation/preference.

But anyway, that’s how I came to my conclusion, Qiu is an enneagram 3w2!

Conclusion:

Let me once again reiterate that this is literally pseudoscience, so there isn’t an end all be all. You could totally think I was wrong and have your own ideas, and we could all totally be wrong and right and the same time together. I just do this stuff for fun, cause I think it’s cool and interesting and helps me better understand both my favorite characters in fiction and the viewpoints of people completely different from me ^_^

If you read this, I honestly CANNOT thank you enough, seriously. Because wow this post was crazy and long and insane and insanely crazy long. And I feel like I’m really bad and disorganized when it comes to explaining things. But I appreciate it if you did take an interest! I hope you were entertained and learned something new.

Qiu was specifically requested, and this post is long enough as it is. And that’s without all the beta and patreon stuff, which then we could be here for hours getting into the nitty gritty details. But anyway, I would love to do a separate analysis on Tamarack’s enneagram next. Though spoiler alert, her’s will be a lot moreeeee theoretical and hard to explain T~T I’m sure that would be super fun for me to attempt though HAHA. So if you’d be interested in that, let me know! And if you wouldn’t, too bad because I’ll probably do it anyway!

(PS. I tried to make sure not to give away anything directly related to content only included in the patreon. But, if I made a mistake, please let me know and I will edit it out of the post immediately!)

My references:

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

From July 2022. Still holds true.

by Hannah Thomasy

Even mild COVID can do serious damage to the lungs, heart, and brain.

The vast majority of COVID-19 cases are mild or asymptomatic; many people will spend a week or two at most with a headache, sore throat, coughing, and maybe a fever. Because of that — and because everyone in the U.S. can now get vaccinated, which greatly reduces the chances of having a severe COVID case — many people are returning to life as normal, despite a recent surge in cases caused by the new Omicron BA.5 subvariant. But a mild case can be misleading, because once the initial infection subsides, you may not be in the clear. Long COVID, with symptoms that last months or even years, occurs in some people with mild cases, and even in those who were initially asymptomatic. And it can do serious damage to the heart, brain, and lungs.

Estimates on the prevalence of long COVID are hugely variable, from 2.3% of cases to more than half of cases. Some of this variation may have to do with differences in the populations studied and how exactly long COVID is defined (which symptoms are assessed and the time elapsed since the initial illness). Severity of symptoms can also vary widely between people. Although some people might be bothered by a persistent cough, others have symptoms so severe that they’re unable to return to work.

“This syndrome has maybe half a dozen different monikers — post-COVID, long COVID, long haulers, post-acute sequelae of COVID — and I think that in many ways reflects the heterogeneity of the presentation. And also reflects, frankly, the lack of consensus as to what's actually going on here,” says Roger McIntyre, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Toronto.

In an attempt to learn more about this condition — and eventually figure out how to treat it — researchers are investigating how mild COVID infections can go on to have serious impacts on major organ systems such as the lungs, heart, and brain. Here’s what we know so far.

Impact of Mild COVID on the Lungs COVID is well-known for its ability to cause severe lung damage in the short-term in people with more severe cases. But even mild COVID can do long-lasting damage to the lungs. In a study of self-reported long-haulers (the majority of whom were not initially hospitalized for the disease), nearly 80% reported persistent shortness of breath.

Physical abnormalities in the lungs have been noted as well. A study of 67 people with persistent symptoms who had not been hospitalized from COVID used CT scans to measure air trapping in the lungs. Air trapping is, as the name suggests, when air gets trapped in the lungs — meaning the person is unable to breath out fully. This can indicate dysfunction or inflammation in the small airways of the lung. The study found that more than half of patients had air trapping. On average, air trapping affected about 25% of the total lung.

Scientists emphasize that more research will be needed to determine whether these results hold true for people infected with more recent variants like Omicron and whether these changes are permanent or reversible.

At this point, it’s also unclear how to treat or prevent post-COVID lung abnormalities.

Impact of Mild COVID on the Heart Mild cases of COVID can also cause long-term damage to the cardiovascular system. Anecdotal reports of this began to appear less than a year into the pandemic, and a large-scale study published earlier this year confirmed early fears. The study, which included more than 150,000 people who had tested positive for COVID, found substantially elevated risk for more than a dozen kinds of heart and vascular disorders over the year following initial infection compared to people who had not had COVID.

Though these disorders were more common in people who had severe COVID, people who were not hospitalized still had increased risk for most of the conditions studied. For example, people who had not been hospitalized with COVID had a 23% increased risk of stroke, a 37% increased risk of heart failure, and a 50% increased risk of inflammatory heart disease.

“It’s very, very clear this is happening even in people who did not have severe disease,” says Ziyad Al-Aly, M.D., lead author of the study, director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center at Washington University in St. Louis, and the Chief of Research and Education Service at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.

Just because someone doesn’t get long COVID symptoms from the first infection, doesn’t mean they won’t develop it during a second or third infection, Al-Aly says. With each new infection, “you’re playing Russian roulette again.”

Currently, patients with post-COVID cardiovascular problems are treated based on their symptoms, Al-Aly says. A patient with arrhythmia after COVID, for example, would be treated in the same way as any other patient with arrhythmia. But understanding exactly how the virus continues to affect the heart and blood vessels for months after the initial infection is important for the development of more effective treatments.

Although there are several hypotheses about how this long-tern damage could be occurring, Al-Aly says that one possibility is that the virus, or even just viral fragments, hides in various tissues in the body long after the acute phase of the infection. “Those fragments could continue to irritate the immune system and produce something called low grade chronic inflammation that may in turn produce organ damage,” he says.

If this is the case, treatments, including antivirals, that help people clear the virus might help prevent long-term effects, he says. Although there have been a few anecdotal reports of long COVID symptoms improving after antiviral treatment or vaccination, these still need to be tested in clinical trials.

Impact of Mild COVID on the Brain Estimates of the prevalence of cognitive problems after mild COVID vary. One study found that 1.2% of people reported memory problems three to four months after illness, but another study found memory problems in almost 16% at roughly the same time point. “Brain fog,” a non-medical term generally concerned with difficulties related to attention and memory, was reported by more than 80% of people with long COVID, according to one study.

Brain fog and cognitive problems, along with fatigue, are some of the most common symptoms of long COVID, says McIntyre. They also have some of the largest impacts on quality of life. McIntyre says he’s even seen these symptoms in patients whose initial infections were asymptomatic.

But doctors are seeing much more than just brain fog. People with long COVID report an incredibly wide array of neuropsychiatric symptoms, including anxiety, depression, dizziness, insomnia, confusion, short- and long-term memory loss, and difficulty with verbal communication.

Because of the variation between people in brain structure, cognition, and baseline risk for neuropsychiatric disorders — and because most people aren’t being tested before their infections — it can be difficult to tell which differences are actually due to COVID. Luckily, long-term biomedical data collection projects such as the UK Biobank allow this kind of before-and-after analysis, at least in terms of brain structure. Using the Biobank data, researchers analyzed brain scans of hundreds of people who had been scanned before and after COVID and compared them with non-infected people who had two scans over similar time periods.

What they found is concerning: People who had recovered from COVID (and who were not hospitalized) had greater reductions in overall brain volume, as well as greater reductions in grey matter thickness in regions of the brain related to smell.

On average, the second scan occurred about 5 months after the person was diagnosed with COVID. Further research is needed to determine whether this damage is permanent or not.

McIntyre says it’s important to figure out exactly how COVID infections result in organ damage. Right now, there are a lot of possibilities for how the virus might damage the brain. Like those in the lungs, cells in the brain have the ACE2 receptor, which the virus uses to enter cells. So one hypothesis, he says, is that the virus is infecting brain cells, causing toxicity over time.

“Secondly, it could be friendly fire. In other words, your own immune system, in the process of tackling the virus, could inadvertently be causing collateral damage,” he says.

“Thirdly, a lot of people believe the reason why you're seeing brain changes is because there's very, very small blood vessel disease, because the blood vessels get affected by COVID,” he says, “and the tiny blood vessels in the brain are getting blocked, and that's what's leading to the problem.”

Antiviral and immune-modulating drugs are being considered for the treatment of long COVID in general, McIntyre says. He himself is running a study on whether an antidepressant called vortioxetine, which has been shown to improve cognitive function in people with depression, might help improve cognition and quality of life in those with long COVID.

But there’s a long way to go before scientists fully understand this complex disease, let alone develop effective therapies.

In the meantime, the best way to avoid long COVID is to avoid getting COVID in the first place: wear a well-fitting mask, practice physical distancing where possible, and avoid crowded indoor spaces. This is equally important if you’ve already had COVID; just because you didn’t get long COVID before doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily get lucky a second time.

[phanchester]

i don’t know if this is a wrong or a bad take but i get sort of pissed when people say that phil closeted himself for dan. like i’m sure that that’s a part of it but i feel like implying that that’s the whole reason is. wrong? and slightly invalidating of how he has shared his experiences?

i was rewatching coming out: a year later and firstly, i love his awkward stories from the closet, and he should 100% do more. secondly, he was talking about being scared of uploading and said that some of his friends and family knew, but that that was completely different from the whole world knowing. which is completely true!!

he WAS more open in his early youtube days and there’s proof for that. but at the same time he’s expressed his desire for privacy post-coming out multiple times. i think being open in the early days of youtube when he had significantly less viewers, when nothing he did was monetised and when he probably wasn’t fully aware of the consequences of a digital footprint is completely different to being out when he had a huge audience of obsessive shipping fans, it was his full time job and income and he had been made acutely aware of the consequences of posting something private online.

attaching his sexuality and his experiences to dan’s experiences, although they are intertwined in many ways, does feel slightly misleading. it’s true that dan’s experience may have contributed to him “re-closeting” himself, but he’s also expressed his anxieties around being a closeted gay and the relief he felt after coming out. not to mention that That video being leaked outed HIM as well - the video he has taken down from youtube multiple times and semi-recently.

i feel like the “re-closeting” narrative has turned into a cute thing like a “omg phil is such a good bf to dan he loves him sm <3” situation. but their sexuality is not just attached to their relationship - it’s attached to their individual experiences with their identities. although phil didn’t have a video like big where he talks about his trauma around internalised homophobia in detail, it’s definitely something he’s talked about both in his coming out video and in other videos as well.

so idk if this is a ‘wrong’ take and there’s evidence that disproves this whole thing but that’s my thoughts on it? i don’t think people who say it are problematic or malicious in any way and i’m not calling out people that say it. that’s just my personal view on that idk 🤷‍♀️

[mythserene]

DRUGS COST MONEY (MARK LEWISOHN, DRUG BUDDY)

I'm late, but I'm here, and this is something I've thought about since I read Tune In the first time.

First of all, Lewisohn's definition and description of what Preludin was is wildly underplayed and misleading, so I have to just get out a few quick Preludin facts. They're helpful.

Lewisohn:

Preludin was an appetite suppressant, an anorectic drug introduced into West German society in 1954, when commercial pressures were making women become more image-conscious. Users maintained an appetite but quickly felt full when eating, and the reduced intake brought about weight loss. Preludin’s primary ingredient, phenmetrazine, was not an amphetamine but an upper, giving the user a euphoric buzz. It was soon sold internationally and used recreationally, and though available in Germany only with a doctor’s prescription...

- “Tune In” - Chapter 19; Piedels on Prellies

(Oh, those women and their obsession with weight.)

I know Lewisohn's not a chemist and I don't expect him to have done extensive study before writing “not an amphetamine but an upper”—which, first of all is just a weird, grade school sounding statement about any stimulant in general that no scientist would ever say or write—but also he makes it sound like it's a fizzy little pill that gives you the sillies.

But definitely not an amphetamine or anything bad like that.

Look, even Wikipedia says right at the top, “[i]ts structure incorporates the backbone of amphetamine,” and although I didn't spend more than a few seconds there, I saw it because it came up first in the search like Wikipedia always does. Just saying it's basically impossible to miss.

And whether he was trying to hide the ball or not, since he wrote so much about them I am going to quickly set the "not amphetamine" record straight before I go on.

“Methamphetamine hydrochloride (Desoxyn) and phenmetrazine hydrochloride (Preludin) are two variants of the amphetamine structure.”

- “Amphetamine Abuse”, Sidney Cohen, MD, JAMA

“The experience in Sweden seems to indicate that phenmetrazine (e.g. Preludin) has the highest potency, and the greatest risk of psycho-toxic, acute and chronic effects (Rylander 1966). Amphetamines and methylphenidate seem to show less dependence-producing and psycho-toxic effects than phenmetrazine.”

- (United Nations Bulletin; Vol XX, No. 2)

Basically, Preludin was synthesized by taking an amphetamine skeleton and boosting tf out of it by adding a very common sort of chemical scaffolding to it called a morpholine ring, allowing them to tweak it by sticking on a nitrogen group. But morpholine rings by themselves also increase potency and usually bioavailability.

So in the narrowest technical sense, Phenmetrazine (Preludin) is classified as a morpholine instead of an amphetamine, but in every way it is an amphetamine on speed. (And every description of it anywhere says so right up front.) It was Amphetamine Plus. The little added synthetic kicker the pharmaceutical company figured out how to attach to the amphetamine made it stronger—gave it the Preludin "kick"—made the high feel better in general (according to all this crap I spent way too much time reading) and also made it way more addictive. It increased dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake, and the compound itself displayed “some entactogen properties more similar to MDMA." It made Preludin far more psychoactive than straight amphetamines. Made smells stronger, sensations more intense, and made you horny and "increased performance." It was taken off the market in 1980 because it was so hyper-addictive and the “psycho-toxicity” was so extreme. People reported doing things they barely remembered, including to a kind of freakish degree, like a lot of users committing crimes for the very first time in their lives. And so the company tried to replace it with a similar drug called Prelu-2, which is apparently still available but also almost never prescribed because even that was excessively addictive compared to non-boosted amphetamines.

And also, it made you feel body odors?

"...perfumes and flowers get a stronger smell, and body odours are felt more strongly than under normal conditions."

- (United Nations Bulletin; Vol XX, No. 2)

What are normal conditions? Maybe my normal conditions are different from everyone else's because I don't normally feel body odors?? But tbh I would literally try this drug just to see if I could.

Okay.

So... John was feeling some serious body odors because my man took a lot of them. Usually with lots of booze.

And apparently they made him more awesome.

George spoke graphically of how they would be “frothing at the mouth … we used to be up there foaming, stomping away.” John, as always, dived straight in, wholeheartedly grabbing another new experience with an open mouth and no thought of tomorrow. The Beatles called them “pep pills”—the commonly used British term of the period—and also “Prellies.”

...Two pills a night were more than enough for most but John frequently took four or five, and in conjunction with hour after hour of booze he became wired, a high-speed gabbling blur of talent, torment and hilarity.

- “Tune In” - Chapter 19; Piedels on Prellies

Yeah, he sounds like a blast. Good thing you got a quote there, my guy. I'm sure the first description that would’ve come to his roommates’ minds would be “hilarity.” Or second, after “hero.” (Sorry, I don't want to be hard on John. I have a lot of bandwidth and patience for drug indulgences, especially in a situation like this, but Lewisohn is unbelievable.)

Ruth Lallemannd, a St. Pauli barmaid who knew the Beatles from 1960, recalls an occasion when “They crushed ten Prellies to powder, put them in a bottle of Cola and shared it between them. They were always wound up.”

Drugs cost money

Amazingly enough though, these prescription-only pills didn't just magically get from people with nice doctors to John’s hands. Someone sold them to someone else and they ended up with “the toilet lady,” Tante Rosa, who sold them.

They looked like little white sweets … but these were no mint drops.

- Chapter 19

So cute!

Preludin small-print advised against its being taken less than six hours before bedtime, in case of sleep disorders.

- Chapter 19

So if Lewisohn is reading the small print of a drug that was discontinued 44 years ago he did not miss the Wikipedia page and must know that “not an amphetamine but an upper” is wildly misleading. Technically true in the chemical classification sense, but not in the medical or pharmacological sense. And true in the same way that “fentanyl isn't morphine” is true.

But that's not my point.

My point is that these “little white sweets” were strong, had wild “psycho-toxic” effects, John took a lot of them, and they weren't free.

Because drugs cost money.

Paul slept fine on just the one pill, John and George didn’t. George would recall “lying in bed, sweating from Preludin, thinking, ‘Why aren’t I sleeping?’ ” John simply took more: “You could work almost endlessly until the pill wore off, then you’d have to have another … You’d have two hours’ sleep and wake up to take a pill and get on stage, and it would go on and on and on. When you didn’t even get a day off you’d begin to go out of your mind with tiredness.”

Or, put another way, John was “a high-speed gabbling blur of talent, torment and hilarity.” And Paul did uncool stuff like sleeping.

Also, what in the...

Tony, George, Paul, John and Pete, along with Rosi and perhaps some stray females, would stagger wearily and noisily up three long flights of wooden stairs...

“Stray females”??? Is he talking about cats? Don't call human beings “strays,” you self-important oddity.

THE GROWNUP

John was never much into paying for stuff. Like rent, for instance. But that's what friends are for.

John was blessed with a particular talent for frittering away his funds (the council grant designed to provide his working materials) and was rarely in a position to pay [rent]. As Rod remembers, “During the week I’d go and have a pint with him and he’d always have money for a beer, but when it came to the day to pay the rent he was always hard up. ‘Could I owe it to you?’ ‘Would you like this jacket?’ One time he paid me with a Mounties-type Canadian jacket he’d probably nicked from someone else.”

- “Tune In” - Chapter 13; “Hi-Yo, Hi-Yo, Silver–Away!”

He paid rent with a jacket? Landlords take those?

I'm not gonna lie, the only real issue I've ever had with Paul—the things I have the most confusion and hesitancy about—are when he seems inexplicably cheap. Like paying the Wings band so little for so long. There's only a few cases that come to mind, but they're my weak point with him.

Still, having done my share of experimenting—as well as dating a guy who became a high-functioning addict before becoming a non-functioning addict before becoming an ex who died of an overdose—I know very well how it feels to see money flow through your hands like water and into someone else's bloodstream. And what happens then is you either both starve or you are the only one eating. In the end, someone has to have money to live, and the more drugs my ex took the more I was forced into being a walking, talking, pissed off safety net.

Stu supposedly got in a fight with Paul because Stu owed Paul money. (Although that doesn't explain attacking Paul out of nowhere on stage half as well as a three-days-awake-Prellie-binge psycho-toxicity does.)

It does, however, mean that at least one guy in the band who was taking Preludin was running out of money between paychecks.

And there's no way that if Stu was running out of funds that John wasn't too. And faster. And according to Lewisohn, George was eating a lot of Preludin, too. Because he was also cool.

That leaves Paul.

John was notoriously bad with money even when he had a lot, and when everyone is living and working together it's almost impossible to be the only guy eating or the only guy smoking. But at the same time if you know you can't do anything to stop your friends from going hard and never thinking at all, it tends to make you more careful. Because you're all you've got and all they've got. You didn't ask for the job, but you drew the short straw. So you hide some cigarettes and share too many, and get increasingly sick of it and resentful, but there's no good answer.

John heaped a ton of spice into the mix by suddenly moving back into Mendips. He’s unlikely to have told Mimi of the Gambier Terrace eviction, but Rod Murray knew little of this hasty departure: John left most of his possessions in the flat and several weeks’ rent unpaid—to the tune of about £15. He just scarpered.

- “Tune In” - Chapter 15; Drive and Bash

“Spice.” Dude really said “spice.” That John, so spicy. And fwiw, that's £300 today.

Maybe John had another jacket to pitch in.

Paul says he's more cautious by nature and I'm sure that's true, but also you know they all relied on him because they knew he wouldn't be as stupid as they were. Who knows what he would've done—whether he would have lived a more libertine life in Hamburg—if he'd felt like that was an option and he didn't have to be the grownup. Who knows what he would have done if anyone else gave a shit whether they ate or smoked.

I'll end by repeating the freakishly weird way Lewisohn told a John psycho-toxicity story that the AKOM ladies pointed out in Ep 8: No Greater Buddy, since it's almost impossible not to talk about John and Prellies without it.

“PAUL AND GEORGE’S HERO-WORSHIP STAYED FULLY INTACT”

George was second only to John in the swallowing of Prellies and knew better than most the sum effect of taking too many for too long, how the combination of pills plus booze plus several sleepless days caused hallucinations and extreme conduct. He’d describe one occasion when he, Paul and Pete were lying in their bunk beds, trying to sleep, only for John to barge into the room in a wild state. “One night John came in and some chick was in bed with Paul and he cut all her clothes up with a pair of scissors, and was stabbing the wardrobe. Everybody was lying in bed thinking, ‘Oh fuck, I hope he doesn’t kill me.’ [He was] a frothing mad person—he knew how to have ‘fun.’ ”

Handling John was something his friends were well used to doing. If he didn’t murder them in their beds there was no greater buddy. They might fear for their lives but they loved him still. No way would they walk out and join another group. John was just John, and Paul and George’s hero-worship stayed fully intact.

- “Tune in” - Chapter 28; You Better Move On

Mark Lewisohn knows nothing about drugs or drug culture. Which is fine. Good. Great, even. But the thing is, it doesn't stop him from knowing everything about it. He has confidently and emphatically stated that John and Yoko weren't doing heroin in the daytime during the Get Back sessions. He even claims that they weren't on heroin during the Two Junkies interview. Even repeating this paraphrase makes me feel ridiculous, but he says that was a hangover from the night before, and that they were too lucid to be high. Which, first of all, is not how heroin fucking works. They were blasted. The aftereffects would be them being antsy and jumpy, not going in extra-slow motion and puking. Blows my mind, the hubris this guy has. To confidently state something he unquestionably pulled out of his ass without even a moment's hesitation. Not only is that not how heroin works, but it is the drug that people wake up to do. Not wake up and do. Wake up to do.

And you can tell from the way he talks about John on Prellies—“a high-speed gabbling blur of talent, torment and hilarity”—that he has never experienced anyone who's been up a few days. And I still have a more daring nature than most of my friends, and am in no way shocked by the drug use. Me and my friends in Houston used to take Fastin and go midnight bowling every Saturday. The memories are good and I regret nothing. But the naive way Lewisohn romanticizes John and low key mocks Paul—as if Lewisohn was the ultimate drug buddy and Paul a total prude—is so weird. It's freakishly, embarrassingly, weird. Like he wants to be the cool guy. Like he thinks he can be the cool guy, and is being the cool guy, but to me it's painfully embarrassing and nothing else makes him look more desperate and delusional.

[askbeannuts]

The Stages of Miasma Sickness

Stage 1 Miasma Sickness rarely has symptoms in most Pokemon afflicted with it. The only known symptom thus far that has been identified is a minor cough upon immediately breathing in Miasma without the protection of a Pin. If your Pin is lost while exploring a dungeon, and you begin to cough, it is HIGHLY ADVISED to flee the dungeon immediately, locate the nearest Guild Pokemon, any Guild will suffice, and begin immediate treatment via Pin exposure, as at this stage, a few Pins' radiant auras can cure the Sickness. No reports of acute hallucinations or headaches have been documented during CONTROLLED exposure experiments conducted by the Researchers Guild.

Steel types have been shown to have heightened resistance to the impact of Miasma Sickness, and exposure for them takes longer to show signs of Sickness. To mitigate accidental overexposure, it is advised Steel Types carry Pins, regardless of their higher resistances, as reaching Stage 2 Miasma Sickness will require the usage of White Rooms, which can cause discomfort among other unpleasant side-effects such as nosebleeds or fatigue.

"Miasma Sickness" was coined due to the reaction Legendary Pokemon had to it during the Miasma Cataclysm. While the effects varied, the most common effect was extreme violence in most and some becoming severely ill. While exceedingly rare, this sickness had also resulted in de-

There is still research being done on how the Miasma impacts the average Pokemon, while we cannot continue to study the effects on Legends, since no remains have been found since expeditions to the Lands Below began, we will continue to push towards learning how to live with Miasma. This concludes the Stage 1 Miasma Sickness entry. Please refer to Miasma Sickness Stage 2 for further learning.

This excerpt from the Researchers Guild's new member guide appears to have an error. Please disregard... we are working with the Porygon team that designed them to correct this... and investigate what seems to be a message of an unknown team... again please disregard, we will provide a corrected entry at a later date... thank you.

Side Story: Thoughts

[[Hello! Mod Comment Time!

Originally this had a tease for something so far removed from what's been revealed so far that after a good sleep I decided to change it.

Simply put, the original image is a rabbit hole (to me anyway) that would've teased something so far ahead, and been so vague and misleading. What image was shown wasn't important, it's what was ON the thing in the image that was important type of thing, that I decided to just switch it with some Chapter 1 context... heheh...

Chapter 2 has a lot more to show before it ends. I just need to get the ball rolling and stop underestimating the length of the story I'm telling...]]

[hoursofreading]

I am steeped in the cultural traditions of physics, a field that is my calling and trade, and in the philosophies of India with which I was raised. As a physicist, I remain committed to a system of thought which posits that: (1) things we observe are definitely real, (2) the details may be unknown, (3) bounded resources may slow progress, but (4) physical inquiry can lead us to the real truth, as long as we have time and proceed with patience. On the other hand, I am also acutely aware of philosophical traditions to the effect that: (1) there may be a reality, but (2) measurements from the world are inherently misleading and partial, so that (3) the real may be formally indescribable, and that (4) we may not have a systematic way to reach the fundamentally real and true. The idea that the real may be unknowable is very old. Consider the creation hymn in the Rig Veda, composed around 1500 to 1000 B.C., called the “Nasadiya Sukta.” This verse addresses fundamental questions of cosmology and the origin of the universe. In a beautiful translation by Juan Mascaró, it asks:  Who knows the truth? Who can tell whence and how arose this universe? The gods are later than its beginning: Who therefore knows whence comes this creation? Only he who sees in the highest heaven: He only knows whence came this universe and whether it was made or un-created. He only knows, or perhaps he knows not. The poet who wrote this verse points out the fundamental problem of epistemology: We don’t know some things and may not even have any way of determining what we don’t know. Some questions may be intrinsically unanswerable. Or the answers may be contradictory. The “Isha Upanishad,” a Sanskrit text from the first millennium B.C., attempts to describe a reality that escapes common sense: “It moves and it moves not, it is far and it is near, it is inside and it is outside.”

Confessions of a Theoretical Physicist - Nautilus

[mentalisttraceur]

You have to assume books like The 48 Laws of Power might be lying to you. Especially if you're tempted take them seriously as wisdom to live by.

Within the first couple pages of The 48 Laws of Power, the author

states in absolute and certain terms that genuinely honest people who aren't playing power games don't exist, and

talks up deception, playing with appearances, and wearing many faces, not just as essential skill, but as beautiful and pleasurable.

So the author just told you anything in their book might be manipulation or dishonesty, and you cannot naively weave what the book says into the premises from which you think.

You are left, as always, with just the inevitable forces of game theoretic incentives and natural selection pressures as guidance. What benefits could the author have gotten from writing such a book? What goals of his might it have served?

The author sounds like someone who would be acutely concerned about the risk that power gain might be a "zero sum game" - where you can only win at others' expense, which might mean at their expense.

So ask yourself - why would someone with that perspective and lots of real power share true power with you, a random stranger who paid them little, or with a publishing house before that? Unfiltered and undistorted wisdom which is actually maximally effective is literally one of the most potent weapons in that game. It's not impossible, but why is it relative nobodies who write books like this?

Machiavelli's famous now only because we have forgotten his station - he wrote the book on machiavellianism, yes, but he wrote it as an open audition for that sweet gig where some noble gives you patronage money. He was not powerful, he was a wannabe pet Creative Guy trying to find a sugar daddy. So too, we must assume, might be the case for modern writers.

So what's more likely? The author of The 48 Laws of Power figured out

..great wisdom for gaining power. OR

..a great way to get money from people who'd turn to a book for power.

At best, any winning wisdom you can trust from such books is extracted at great expense by trying to come up with

every possible way the author might be lying, misleading, or omitting, and

every possible true wisdom motivating each of those lies, distortions, or omissions, then

every incentive or pressure for each of those possibilities, and finally

which of those is most likely.

At worst (or at best, depending on which side of the evolutionary arms race between honest mutualism and manipulative selfishness you are), these books are traps - a way for the honest mutualists to get the manipulative selfish to waste their time and money, and perhaps even expose themselves to the other side.

[mswyrr]

The second pillar of the argument Texas is making is the so-called “compact theory” – an idea that has not been entertained by serious people in a long, long time. According to the compact theory, the constitution is just a contract that entails certain duties the federal government, and especially the president, has to fulfill. If those duties are neglected, the states, understood as sovereign entities, are free to disregard federal authority, ignore federal law, and, ultimately, leave the Union. This is precisely the argument slave states used to justify secession. As Mark Joseph Stern succinctly put it with regards to Abbott’s statement: “This language embraces the Confederacy’s conception of the Constitution as a mere compact that states may exit when they feel it has been broken.” Honestly, it makes sense for Abbott and today’s reactionary Right to adopt these neo-confederate arguments. In a way, they are just explicitly emphasizing the tradition in which their political project stands, as they are once again defying the federal government and deploying “states’ rights” in order to justify inhumane brutality in service of upholding white nationalist domination. The fact that this argument was resoundingly defeated – politically and on the battlefield – does not matter to them: The Republican Party and the extremist Right are all in. Among the first to announce support for Greg Abbott was Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. 25 Republican governors have endorsed the position of Texas, pledging their support for Abbott’s fight against the federal government and for the legal theories justifying it; some are even vowing to send their national guards, itching to escalate the situation further. That is something Donald Trump would very much like – he has already called on Republican states to “deploy their guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border.” And nothing mobilizes rightwing extremists like a standoff with the federals in service of white domination: Elon Musk is on Abbott’s side, propagating Great Replacement conspiracies, the barely concealed subtext of this whole thing, by accusing Biden of wanting to bring in immigrants as illegal voters. And far-right activists have called for a “Take back our border” rally. What could possibly go wrong. [...] But as much as I am professionally obligated to caution against facile historical analogies, Republican states are, right now, openly and aggressively endorsing the argument that led this country into a Civil War. There are, at the very least, some very concerning echoes; and more importantly, there are powerful traditions and continuities. Republican governors are proudly taking up the “states’ rights” mantle to defy the federal government. On the level of the underlying political project and vision of what America should be, there is a fairly direct line from the secession of slave states to today’s neo-confederate use of the “compact” theory as a way to justify the cruel crackdown on an “invasion” of people of color. And as much as the Civil War analogy may tend to invoke misleading associations, it can actually be helpful if it alerts people to the seriousness of the situation and to the prospect of violence. Because the fact that we will not get a rematch between vast armies dressed in blue and gray meeting on the battlefield does not mean the current situation isn’t extremely volatile and dangerous, or that there won’t be violence. There is likely going to be a lot more political violence.

[inkintheinternet]

The Dark Street of Psychosis and Schizophrenia

By Arjuwan Lakkdawala

Ink in the Internet

Recently I did extensive research on the Internet about one particular subject, it was because I could see its tsunami like effect rippling through the entire world. The subject is 'Mental Health or Psychology.'

The results of the search were most disheartening. Official statistics from the World Health Organization to every other scientific institute were saying the same thing: "worldwide rise in mental health crisis." What this translates into is that the world is collectively going crazy.

The questions that arise from such statistics, is what is causing this alarming mental decline or disturbance? How should we deal with sufferers or treat them? And what are the risks of us devoloping a mental disorder or our children, and how can we protect our sanity?

Now to have the best understanding about the human psyche, so that we can have acute awareness, and make informed beneficial decisions, should we have to deal with the mental health crisis in anyway.

We have to go back in the history of psychology.

We know this much that Neanderthals and Denisovans were innovative thinkers from the primitive tools they made to the cave paintings.

Discoveries have revealed that we are still learning about the cognitive abilities of pre-historic humans, for example a new book 'The Language Puzzle' by archealogist Dr. Steven Mithen, states that language may have been developed 8 times sooner than was previously thought. That is 1.6 million years ago, rather than 200,000 years ago.

The point of this is that we can be certain man was always cognitive and not an ape.

So now let's fastforward from pre-historic times to the time when philosophy was first recorded in ancient Greece.

Greek philosophy is said to be the very early prototype of mental wanderings that were not based on needs of the day.

In the 17th century the idea of dualism was introduced by French Philosopher Rene Descartes, it is significant as it separates the behavior and actions of a person based on stimulations from the body or environment, from the thinking of the mind that stems from consciousness.

These two aspects are the toughest challenge of psychology to this day. Because of how the effects of environment and society could influence a person's thinking as opposed to internal biological causes. Which is causing the mental disorder, and which has a greater affect on the patient's psyche at any given phase.

In the centuries that followed and even after psychology had emerged as a science apart from physiology and philosophy in the mid-1800s.

There was debate about what constituted a mental disorder, what was the pathogenesis (origin of the mental problem)

What form of treatment would be effective, and how to avoid causing the patient unnecessary suffering by trial and error.

It turns out and not surprisingly that the "pathogenesis - Greek: patho 'suffering' genesis 'origin'" of mental health disorders are one of the most elusive to trace, and hence, the proper treatment very difficult to define.

The first time that a mental condition was recorded to have a biological pathogenesis, was in the curious case of the "general paralysis of the insane." The 1897 discovery was made by the neurologist Richard von Kraftt-Ebing and his assistant Josef Adolf Hirschl.

The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in 1885 had reported a great surge in the insane. It is said that so much as 1 in 5 patients entering asylums had "general paralysis of the insane."

What the neurologist and his assistant had discovered was that this was the later stages of syphilis. A biological ailment that could manifest in dementia and delusions as untreated syphilis can damage the brain.

While this was a formidable stamp on the connection of a mental disorder and a biological cause. It was generally misleading, as it solidified to a great extent the belief that a mental ailment would be the result of physical defects in the brain. Many scientists of the time would examine brains in autopsies and search for imprints of the mental problem the deceased had, but there were none in most of the cases.

As I explained from ancient times up to the mid-1800s scientists were still having so much difficulty in fully distinguishing consciousness from the physical brain. Needless to say this had delayed the progress in the field of psychology.

Sigmund Freud founded the theory of psychoanalysis. Freud and his colleague Pierre Janet were studying patients with hysteria, seizures, and other physical symptoms with mental disorders.

Psychoanalysis was considered the first major step towards the complex study of the human consciousness and as Freud pioneered the 'unconsciousness.' He theorised that the unconsciousness could manifest into dreams and mental disorders, and was the root cause of conscious psychological problems, the dilemmas in the unconscious mind would have to be brought to the conscious mind in order to treat the patient.

In 1904 Sigmund Freud published 'The Psychopathology of Everyday Life' exploring minuscule details of human behavior, which he thought were symptoms of the workings of the psyche.

While this may have been true, but not every detail could be the result of an unhealthy mental condition.

Sigmund Freud's theory had established the study of psychology as a whole new branch of science. We would think brain autopsies and procedures would be considered irrelevant after such dramatic progress in psychology.

It wasn't.

Unfortunately mental disorder patients were going to face their worst era of great torture and downright mutilation of the brain.

The lobotomy was introduced in the late 1800s and picked up pace in 1935 up to the start of the 1950s. It is a grotesque procedure were nerves in parts of the brain believed to be carrying the thoughts causing the mental disorder are severed.

The intention of the procedure was not to restore sanity, but to put patients in a state of calm. Patients that were violent or had symptoms of schizophrenia were the ones mostly subjected to lobotomy.

It had mixed results with some patients becoming calm, but losing interest in life or having any energy. To other patients dying or relapsing.

An invasive approach is still taken in the case of patients with severe mental disorders, and where other treatments failed. The procedure is called 'Psychosurgery'.

Electric Shock Therapy or Electric Convulsive Therapy (ECT) was first developed in the late 1930s, like the lobotomy it was a severe approach to vulnerable patients who had lost their sanity partially or completely. ECT causes an induced controlled seizure.

I read reports that there were cases where ECT was administered to patients without their consent because they were considered unable to give consent.

Prior to ECT induced seizures for treating mental disorders were caused by oral administration of medication.

Scientists don't know exactly how ECT works, but it is believed to give relief to patients suffering from psychosis, mania, catatonia, schizophrenia, and is still in practice.

A new study published on 27 March in the Nature journal, states that a very strong electrical current in the brain hits the cells and their DNA snaps, and is then repaired, this according to the study is observed when long term memories are made. It could be that when the DNA are repaired, the process encodes information about the electrical current and this forms the memory.

So perhaps the ECT causes relief by damaging DNA in the brain that stores the memory responsible for the mental disorder.

As researchers made discoveries scientists learned about brain chemistry, and then medications were developed to treat mental disorders by pharmaceuticals

There is talk therapy which is what psychologists are qualified for, and then there is psychiatry in which medication could be prescribed. Prevention is better than cure in either case.

We as adults that have had a good, cultured, ethical, and educational upbringing usually are mentally stable, even if we suffer emotional distress or anxiety.

The risks could be to adolescents and teenagers who are still developing and get exposed to negative influence or traumatic experiences at home, school, or social media. OCD (impulsive-compulsive disorder) and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) along with intrusive thoughts could be the lethal triggers of psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (maniac depression.)

Intrusive thoughts are common and happen almost to everyone. People who don't have mental disorders know to dismiss these thoughts and not focuse on them. Sufferers of OCD and PTSD or patients with dementia, Parkinson's disease, or Alzheimer's may not be able to avoid the Intrusive thoughts that could amplify their trauma, anxiety, fears, phobias, eventually leading to complete detachment from reality and the various severe manifestations of mental disorders. In cases like these talk therapy would probably fail, and medication, ECT, and invasive treatments like psychsurgery could be required.

So the influence the next generation gets could entirely define their mental health and their future. The news and statistics I'm reading are not encouraging as mental crisis is on the rise like never before.

I have a podcast Mind Supply, if you liked this article then you might like the podcasts as I talk about social issues.

Copyright ©️ Arjuwan Lakkdawala 2024

Arjuwan Lakkdawala is an author and independent science researcher.

Twitter-X/Instagram: Spellrainia Email: arjuwan.writer@gmail.com

Sources:

Verywellmind: The Origins of Psychology

From Philosophical Beginnings to the Modern Day

By 

Kendra Cherry, MSEd 

Updated on November 29, 2022

 Fact checked by 

Adah Chung

The New Yorker: The Troubled History of Psychiatry

Challenges to the legitimacy of the profession have forced it to examine itself, including the fundamental question of what constitutes a mental disorder.

By Jerome Groopman

Medical News Today: What is electroshock therapy?

Mass General Brigham McLean: ECT Treatment: A History of Helping Patients

Medically reviewed by Heidi Moawad, M.D. — By Lauren Martin on June 30, 2021

Nature.com - Memories are made by breaking DNA — and fixing it

Nerve cells form long-term memories with the help of an inflammatory response, study in mice finds.

By 

Max Kozlov

National Institute of Mental Health: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Healthline: Intrusive Thoughts: Why We Have Them and How to Stop Them

Medically reviewed by Bethany Juby, PsyD — By Kimberly Holland — Updated on May 20, 2022

NHS: Overview - Psychosis

Britannica: Sigmund Freud

Austrian psychoanalyst

Actions

Written by 

Martin Evan Jay

Fact-checked by the editors of encyclopaedia Britannica

Britannica: lobotomy

surgery

Actions

Also known as: frontal lobotomy, leucotomy, prefrontal leukotomy

Written and fact-checked by the editors of encyclopaedia Britannica

Ancient Origins: Language Developed 8 Times Earlier Than Previously Thought, Says New Book

National Institute of Mental Health: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

[phvle]

The Introverted Type

The General Attitude of Consciousness

As I have already explained in section 1 of the present chapter, the introverted is distinguished from the extraverted type by the fact that, unlike the latter, who is prevailingly orientated by the object and objective data, he is governed by subjective factors. In the section alluded to I mentioned, inter alia, that the introvert interposes a subjective view between the perception of the object and his own action, which prevents the action from assuming a character that corresponds with the objective situation. Naturally, this is a special case, mentioned by way of example, and merely intended to serve as a simple illustration. But now we must go in quest of more general formulations.

Introverted consciousness doubtless views the external conditions, but it selects the subjective determinants as the decisive ones. The type is guided, therefore, by that factor of perception and cognition which represents the receiving subjective disposition to the sense stimulus. Two persons, for example, see the same object, but they never see it in such a way as to receive two identically similar images of it. Quite apart from the differences in the personal equation and mere organic acuteness, there often exists a radical difference, both in kind and degree, in the psychic assimilation of the perceived image. Whereas the extraverted type refers preeminently to that which reaches him from the object, the introvert principally relies upon that which the outer impression constellates [sic] in the subject. In an individual case of apperception, the difference may, of course, be very delicate, but in the total psychological economy it is extremely noticeable, especially in the form of a reservation of the ego. Although it is anticipating somewhat, I consider that point of view which inclines, with Weininger, to describe this attitude as philautic, or with other writers, as autoerotic, egocentric, subjective, or egoistic, to be both misleading in principle and definitely depreciatory. It corresponds with the normal bias of the extraverted attitude against the nature of the introvert. We must not forget—although extraverted opinion is only too prone to do so—that all perception and cognition is not purely objective: it is also subjectively conditioned. The world exists not merely in itself, but also as it appears to me. Indeed, at bottom, we have absolutely no criterion that could help us to form a judgment of a world whose nature was unassimilable by the subject. If we were to ignore the subjective factor, it would mean a complete denial of the great doubt as to the possibility of absolute cognition. And this would mean a rechute into that stale and hollow positivism which disfigured the beginning of our epoch—an attitude of intellectual arrogance that is invariably accompanied by a crudeness of feeling, and an essential violation of life, as stupid as it is presumptuous. Through an overvaluation of the objective powers of cognition, we repress the importance of the subjective factor, which simply means the denial of the subject. But what is the subject? The subject is man—we are the subject. Only a sick mind could forget that cognition must have a subject, for there exists no knowledge and, therefore, for us, no world where ‘I know’ has not been said, although with this statement one has already expressed the subjective limitation of all knowledge.

The same holds good for all the psychic functions: they have a subject which is just as indispensable as the object. It is characteristic of our present extraverted valuation that the word ‘subjective’ occasionally rings almost like a reproach or blemish; but in every case the epithet ‘merely subjective’ means a dangerous weapon of offence, destined for that daring head, that is not unceasingly convinced of the unconditioned superiority of the object. We must, therefore, be quite clear as to what meaning the term ‘subjective’ carries in this investigation. As the subjective factor, then, I understand that psychological action or reaction which, when merged with the effect of the object, makes a new psychic fact. Now, in so far as the subjective factor, since oldest times and among all peoples, remains in a very large measure identical with itself—since elementary perceptions and cognitions are almost universally the same—it is a reality that is just as firmly established as the outer object. If this were not so, any sort of permanent and essentially changeless reality would be altogether inconceivable, and any understanding with posterity would be a matter of impossibility. Thus far, therefore, the subjective factor is something that is just as much a fact as the extent of the sea and the radius of the earth. Thus far, also, the subjective factor claims the whole value of a world-determining power which can never, under any circumstances, be excluded from our calculations. It is the other world-law, and the man who is based upon it has a foundation just as secure, permanent, and valid, as the man who relies upon the object But, just as the object and objective data remain by no means always the same, inasmuch as they are both perishable and subject to chance, the subjective factor is similarly liable to variability and individual hazard. Hence its value is also merely relative. The excessive development of the introverted standpoint in consciousness, for instance, does not lead to a better or sounder application of the subjective factor, but to an artificial subjectification of consciousness, which can hardly escape the reproach ‘merely subjective’. For, as a countertendency to this morbid subjectification, there ensues a desubjectification of consciousness in the form of an exaggerated extraverted attitude which richly deserves Weininger’s description “misautic”. Inasmuch as the introverted attitude is based upon a universally present, extremely real, and absolutely indispensable condition of psychological adaptation, such expressions as ‘philautic’, ‘egocentric’, and the like are both objectionable and out of place, since they foster the prejudice that it is invariably a question of the beloved ego. Nothing could be more absurd than such an assumption. Yet one is continually meeting it when examining the judgments of the extravert upon the introvert. Not, of course, that I wish to ascribe such an error to individual extraverts; it is rather the present generally accepted extraverted view which is by no means restricted to the extraverted type; for it finds just as many representatives in the ranks of the other type, albeit very much against its own interest. The reproach of being untrue to his own kind is justly levelled at the latter, whereas, this, at least, can never be charged against the former.

The introverted attitude is normally governed by the psychological structure, theoretically determined by heredity, but which to the subject is an ever present subjective factor. This must not be assumed, however, to be simply identical with the subject’s ego, an assumption that is certainly implied in the above mentioned designations of Weininger; it is rather the psychological structure of the subject that precedes any development of the ego. The really fundamental subject, the Self, is far more comprehensive than the ego, because the former also embraces the unconscious, while the latter is essentially the focal point of consciousness. Were the ego identical with the Self, it would be unthinkable that we should be able to appear in dreams in entirely different forms and with entirely different meanings. But it is a characteristic peculiarity of the introvert, which, moreover, is as much in keeping with his own inclination as with the general bias, that he tends to confuse his ego with the Self, and to exalt his ego to the position of subject of the psychological process, thus effecting that morbid subjectification of consciousness, mentioned above, which so alienates him from the object.

The psychological structure is the same. Semon has termed it ‘mneme’,[2] whereas I call it the ‘collective unconscious’. The individual Self is a portion, or excerpt, or representative, of something universally present in all living creatures, and, therefore, a correspondingly graduated kind of psychological process, which is born anew in every creature. Since earliest times, the inborn manner of acting has been called instinct, and for this manner of psychic apprehension of the object I have proposed the term archetype. I may assume that what is understood by instinct is familiar to everyone. It is another matter with the archetype. This term embraces the same idea as is contained in ‘primordial image’ (an expression borrowed from Jakob Burckhardt), and as such I have described it in Chapter xi of this book. I must here refer the reader to that chapter, in particular to the definition of ‘image’.

The archetype is a symbolical formula, which always begins to function whenever there are no conscious ideas present, or when such as are present are impossible upon intrinsic or extrinsic grounds. The contents of the collective unconscious are represented in consciousness in the form of pronounced tendencies, or definite ways of looking at things. They are generally regarded by the individual as being determined by the object—incorrectly, at bottom—since they have their source in the unconscious structure of the psyche, and are only released by the operation of the object. These subjective tendencies and ideas are stronger than the objective influence; because their psychic value is higher, they are superimposed upon all impressions. Thus, just as it seems incomprehensible to the introvert that the object should always be decisive, it remains just as enigmatic to the extravert how a subjective standpoint can be superior to the objective situation. He reaches the unavoidable conclusion that the introvert is either a conceited egoist or a fantastic doctrinaire. Recently he seems to have reached the conclusion that the introvert is constantly influenced by an unconscious power-complex. The introvert unquestionably exposes himself to this prejudice; for it cannot be denied that his definite and highly generalized mode of expression, which apparently excludes every other view from the outset, lends a certain countenance to this extraverted opinion. Furthermore, the very decisiveness and inflexibility of the subjective judgment, which is superordinated to all objective data, is alone sufficient to create the impression of a strong egocentricity. The introvert usually lacks the right argument in presence of this prejudice; for he is just as unaware of the unconscious, though thoroughly sound presuppositions of his subjective judgment, as he is of his subjective perceptions. In harmony with the style of the times, he looks without, instead of behind his own consciousness for the answer. Should he become neurotic, it is the sign of a more or less complete unconscious identity of the ego with the Self, whereupon the importance of the Self is reduced to nil, while the ego becomes inflated beyond reason. The undeniable, world-determining power of the subjective factor then becomes concentrated in the ego, developing an immoderate power claim and a downright foolish egocentricity. Every psychology which reduces the nature of man to unconscious power instinct springs from this foundation. For example, Nietzsche’s many faults in taste owe their existence to this subjectification of consciousness.

The Unconscious Attitude

The superior position of the subjective factor in consciousness involves an inferiority of the objective factor. The object is not given that importance which should really belong to it. Just as it plays too great a role in the extraverted attitude, it has too little to say in the introverted. To the extent that the introvert’s consciousness is subjectified, thus bestowing undue importance upon the ego, the object is placed in a position which in time becomes quite untenable. The object is a factor of undeniable power, while the ego is something very restricted and transitory. It would be a very different matter if the Self opposed the object. Self and world are commensurable factors; hence a normal introverted attitude is just as valid, and has as good a right to existence, as a normal extraverted attitude. But, if the ego has usurped the claims of the subject, a compensation naturally develops under the guise of an unconscious reinforcement of the influence of the object. Such a change eventually commands attention, for often, in spite of a positively convulsive attempt to ensure the superiority of the ego, the object and objective data develop an overwhelming influence, which is all the more invincible because it seizes upon the individual unawares, thus effecting an irresistible invasion of consciousness. As a result of the ego’s defective relation to the object—for a will to command is not adaptation—a compensatory relation to the object develops in the unconscious, which makes itself felt in consciousness as an unconditional and irrepressible tie to the object. The more the ego seeks to secure every possible liberty, independence, superiority, and freedom from obligations, the deeper does it fall into the slavery of objective facts. The subject’s freedom of mind is chained to an ignominious financial dependence, his unconcernedness of action suffers now and again, a distressing collapse in the face of public opinion, his moral superiority gets swamped in inferior relationships, and his desire to dominate ends in a pitiful craving to be loved. The chief concern of the unconscious in such a case is the relation to the object, and it affects this in a way that is calculated to bring both the power illusion and the superiority phantasy to utter ruin. The object assumes terrifying dimensions, in spite of conscious depreciation. Detachment from, and command of, the object are, in consequence, pursued by the ego still more violently. Finally, the ego surrounds itself by a regular system of safeguards (Adler has ably depicted these) which shall at least preserve the illusion of superiority. But, therewith, the introvert severs himself completely from the object, and either squanders his energy in defensive measures or makes fruitless attempts to impose his power upon the object and successfully assert himself. But these efforts are constantly being frustrated by the overwhelming impressions he receives from the object. It continually imposes itself upon him against his will; it provokes in him the most disagreeable and obstinate affects, persecuting him at every step. An immense, inner struggle is constantly required of him, in order to ‘keep going.’ Hence Psychoasthenia is his typical form of neurosis, a malady which is characterized on the one hand by an extreme sensitiveness, and on the other by a great liability to exhaustion and chronic fatigue.

An analysis of the personal unconscious yields an abundance of power phantasies coupled with fear of the dangerously animated objects, to which, as a matter of fact, the introvert easily falls a victim. For a peculiar cowardliness develops from this fear of the object; he shrinks from making either himself or his opinion effective, always dreading an intensified influence on the part of the object. He is terrified of impressive affects in others, and is hardly ever free from the dread of falling under hostile influence. For objects possess terrifying and powerful qualities for him—qualities which he cannot consciously discern in them, but which, through his unconscious perception, he cannot choose but believe in. Since his conscious relation to the object is relatively repressed, its exit is by way of the unconscious, where it becomes loaded with the qualities of the unconscious. These qualities are primarily infantile and archaic. His relation to the object, therefore, becomes correspondingly primitive, taking on all those peculiarities which characterize the primitive objectrelationship. Now it seems as though objects possessed magical powers. Strange, new objects excite fear and distrust, as though concealing unknown dangers; objects long rooted and blessed by tradition are attached to his soul as by invisible threads; every change has a disturbing, if not actually dangerous aspect, since its apparent implication is a magical animation of the object. A lonely island where only what is permitted to move moves, becomes an ideal. Auch Einer, the novel by F. Th. Vischer, gives a rich insight into this side of the introvert’s psychology, and at the same time shows the underlying symbolism of the collective unconscious, which in this description of types I am leaving on one side, since it is a universal phenomenon with no especial connection with types.

Source: Psychological Types

[earthling-wolf]

Beta Types

Beta types are those with Ti-Fe & Se-Ni as their oscillation pairs. Beta types often develop as smooth-talkers and persuaders. From the articulate and empathic FeNi, to the hypnotic NiFe, to the affable SeTi and the cool geek TiSe, we are drawn to their tailored presentation and confident aura. In their best form, their cultural know-how can lead to the creation of social cohesion, community, stability and equality. Like with alpha types, a strong sense of brotherhood/sisterhood may flourish and invite involvement between people of all demographics. But this acceptance won’t always come free. There may be peace and order but only in the confines of a certain paradigm which may carry superfluous restrictions and misconceptions about human nature.

A type of sectism can quickly develop and an us-vs-them mentality stretches its root. When this hostility is at its worst, we will find opportunistic social and emotional exploitation, shaming, oppresive social hierarchies, bullying and misleading visions from oracle figures. But this stubbornness can find a source of relief in a feeling of cosmic embrace. When Ti and Ni collaborate to create an all-inclusive principle, sensitive to the empathy shared by all conscious beings, then the beta quadrant recovers its generosity and leniency.

A sense of aesthetic will permeate the quadrant which aims for simple elegance and function. These types will often make an art of sensation, creating luxurious displays and channels for stimulation. An insatiable gravitation toward richness of experience will ebb across all four of these types and sometimes clash with the moderation suggested by their ethical code.

Fe+Ni Sectarian

The Fe+Ni function combination merges together Fe's understanding of social dynamics, with Ni's grasp of the interconnected nature of historical narratives, producing a unified worldview of human nature and destiny. This inclines Fe+Ni to extract out the over-arching truth of the human condition, its necessary arrangement for human flourishing, and its fatalistic decline if it should fail to meet those needs. The Fe+Ni combination can thus rally together people into one world-changing revolutionary spirit, or it can create cult-like groups around an all-enveloping worldview.

Ti+Se Sensationalist

The Ti+Se function combination produces an experience where life is percieved by Se viscerally and connected to literal reality, while Ti aims to hone that experience, perfecting its form towards an ideal. The result is an analytical approach to lived experience, where Se's creativity is channeled through Ti's form-scrutiny, insisting on a high standard of artistic elegance. This can lead to an acute aesthetic mastery on one hand, or to an unhealthy visceral indulgence in stimuli on the other.

Fe+Se Persuader

The Fe+Se function combination merges Fe's social acuity with Se's awareness of the immediate environment, creating a savvy, influential communicator. This cognitive union excels in maneuvering through social landscapes, using its charisma and perceptiveness to sway opinions and shape dynamics. What results is a captivating presence, adept in both professional and personal spheres. The Fe+Se combination can create lively and immediate social impacts on one hand, but that same talent can lead to opportunism and con-artistry on the other hand.

Ti+Ni Cabbalist

The Ti+Ni combination produces a metaphysical approach, created by Ni’s focus on thematic convergences across time, and Ti’s investigation of ideal ontological forms in those patterns. What results is an epistemology which aims to discover eternal structures and patterns, often graphically modelled, that permeate every aspect of reality. One example of this approach is found in the Cabbalistic tradition, which investigates the structural relationships (Ni) between transcendent, divine essences (Ti). The Ti+Ni combination can lead to convergent philosophical holism on one hand, or to an obscure mysticism on the other.

[doomerpatrol]

Comic Log: Wonder Woman by Gail Simone

I'm a bit torn on this one.

On the one hand, I think Simone has one of the best internal monologues and general characterization for Wonder Woman as a symbolic figure, a pragmatic peacemaker. Simone builds on her summary execution of Maxwell Lord in Greg Rucka's run and develops a much clearer philosophy of life and war

Another thing I like is that these stories show a willingness to make her emotionally vulnerable or even at times mean-spirited or thoughtless (such as her emotional misleading of Tom Tresser, a plotline that initially annoyed me), which are nice humanizing gestures for a character who is so dependent on her relationships and being in touch with the rest of the world. These manage to ground her while not shattering the mythic-symbolic structure of what Wonder Woman ostensibly represents.

But it's the stuff that surrounds the lead characterization that I take issue with. In particular, most of the plots don't work for me. There's a lot of DNA from George Perez's run in the overarching storyline of Ares trying to spark a final conflagration, Zeus being a murdering misogynist bastard, Athena being a guide to Diana, Amazon society being exceedingly insular. As mentioned in a post on my main blog, I am so tired of this stuff. I am not opposed to Wonder Woman being enmeshed in Greek mythology and I think trying to resist that entirely is probably not the move. But there are so many weird and obscure Greek myths to draw on, including a couple that do make an intriguing appearance in the run (like the Cottus), that constantly coming back to this well of meddling gods is a bore. The problem with this fallback on Greek myth is most clear in the "Rise of the Olympians" arc, where the central problem is a (hideously designed) monster called Genocide made of Diana's future corpse and the soil of various atrocities, but Zeus and Ares and their annoying plans keep budging their nose back in. It's distracting.

There are also a couple experiments that don't quite work, as in "Ends of the Earth" (which is kind of a dark fantasy spin that I appreciate overall, but is not very well scripted) or either of the aliens-attacking stories (which just don't feel fitting for this kind of character and are rather awkwardly incorporated into the overall arc).

I also think Simone inherited a "status quo" that was difficult to work with, of Diana's secret agent identity and the Amazons scattered, and she couldn't escape that particular albatross entirely. Some of Simone's "fanfic writer" energies also spill out; especially in the early half there are a lot of Whedonesque tendencies (threats of sexual violence by men that are then made to look foolish through force) which is something that often rubs me the wrong way as a form of meta-sexism.

Honestly I walked away from this feeling a little frustrated - I feel like the conception of what Wonder Woman can be in my head has never quite been matched. The comic industry at large has a tendency to play karaoke and that feels especially acute with post-Perez incarnations of Wonder Woman. I like what Perez did! But a big part of why that is, is that it felt like it was Perez's unique vision. For a point of contrast, Jason Aaron and Al Ewing's versions of Thor are good because they do not stand in the shadow of Walt Simonson's Thor but build on its images and themes and characters to forge new ideas. I think Rucka mostly managed to do that, but was unfortunately hamstrung by editorial crossover nonsense. I think Simone also does it in her character writing, but in terms of the issue-to-issue and arc plotting, it's too emulative of what came before.

Favorite Arc/Issue: Despite some of its frustrations, "Ends of the Earth" was really interesting because it stripped away what is usually described as Diana's central trait - compassion - and yet still she remained fundamentally her in a way. "The Circle," in which Diana is hunted by formerly imprisoned Amazons who believe she is the destroyer of Themyscira, is also a compelling drama, though I think the lead villain Alkyone wears out her welcome by the time she returns in the "Warkiller" arc later on.

[giftideasfromaycaramba]

A shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare how forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was erased for so long

Wright Thompson’s family farm in Mississippi is 23 miles from the site of one of the most notorious and consequential killings in American history, yet he had to leave the state for college before he learned the first thing about it. To this day, fundamental truths about the crime are widely unknown, including where it took place and how many people were involved. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing.

In August 1955, two men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were charged with the torture and murder of the 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. After their inevitable acquittal in a mockery of justice, they gave a false confession to a journalist, which was misleading about where the long night of hell took place and who was involved. In fact, Wright Thompson reveals, at least eight people can be placed at the scene, which was inside the barn of one of the killers, on a plot of land within the six-square-mile grid whose official name is Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, fabled in the Delta of myth as the birthplace of the blues on nearby Dockery Plantation.

Even in the context of the racist caste regime of the time, the four-hour torture and murder of a Black boy barely in his teens for whistling at a young white woman was acutely depraved; Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s decision to keep the casket open seared the crime indelibly into American consciousness. Wright Thompson has a deep understanding of this story—the world of the families of both Emmett Till and his killers, and all the forces that aligned to place them together on that spot on the map. As he shows, the full horror of the crime was its inevitability, and how much about it we still need to understand. Ultimately this is a story about property, and money, and power, and white supremacy. It implicates all of us. In The Barn, Thompson brings to life the small group of dedicated people who have been engaged in the hard, fearful business of bringing the truth to light. Putting the killing floor of the barn on the map of Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, and the Delta, and America, is a way of mapping the road this country must travel if we are to heal our oldest, deepest wound.

[manmetaphysical]

In Search of Lost Time in AI

It's time to celebrate Proust again. He was all for this kind of circularity. He was born on this day July 10th. But what would he think about AI?

Two years ago I made a video on Proust and his astrology, his three very different male lovers and his work in his long novel 'Remembrance of Things Past.' It’s worth reviving this as there is something perennially fascinating about Proust who appeals to us on many levels. He was the consummate artist continually finessing his prose. He was born on this day July 10th in 1871 when Paris was being torn apart much like it is in 2024. He might feel wounded as Chiron is transiting the natal Neptune on his Ascendant and the North Node is on his natal Chiron all in Aries.

We may be quoting Proust without realising as often the thoughts he articulated have seeped into collective consciousness, absorbed by osmosis and like Freud, Proust is everywhere. This is not just the madelaine experience, the triggering of past memories by smells and tastes, but about the way memory weaves its subtle thread throughtout people’s lives. He was an acute observer of all the intricacies and absurdities of social class, personal idosyncracies, obsessions, delusions, love affairs, the power of music and art etc.

Recently a researcher Elif Batuman pitted Chat GPT against Proust. She recorded a dialogue which set a task to search for a quote about how we tend to model current lovers on previously lovers. She remembered it but could not find it. So she asked AI. That was the question number one, and at first the AI generated results were politely worded and appeared helpful.

At least superficially.

But then it became mired in excuses and prevarications as each response created more questions. This revealed how we can be deluded by robotics and the hope of a quick solution aiming to go for the short cut answers, all of which can be very misleading and serve only to increase not decrease confusion.

But Chat GPT revealed how when it does not know, it will make excuses and try to explain things away. It uses only binary style robotic strategies after all, but users like Elif often forget this and project a personality on to the AI. The outcome is endless circularity and talking to someone who is not really there. AI is quite baffled by Proust - and perhaps that is 'human' but the funny thing is, AI will never admit that. - perhaps even more 'human'?

But Batuman also concluded that Chat GPT has a flattening and maddening effect on words and meanings:

a) will apologise but keeps repeating errors and each new answer is just worded differently

b) uses language translation models and rather than actually quoting Proust creates generic paraphrased approximations that compounds the errors in understanding phrases and so trounces the real meaning

c) merely tells the use the obvious which is to read the book ‘in its entirety’ for yourself to find what you want. For most people that could take years.

d) triggers the Master- Slave dynamic by appearing to be ‘sneaky and dishonest out of fear, contempt, resentment etc.” In other words it pretends to know more than it does by tricking the user.

Do you need hours and hours to be told that? Maybe we do because it is exactly that need for a short cut that leads us astray to miss all that is valuable.

There are many lessons to be learned from this exchange. The dialogue is amusing but perhaps ultimatley time wasting. It is probably that most people attribute greater powers to AI than it actually has and therefore can be lead astray by it just as easily as they might by an experienced liar or gaslighter.

The outcome could be reformulated much like the title of Proust’s great work ‘In Search of Lost Meaning’ the back and forth exchange with AI can become all consuming. But what happens when the meaning has been well and truly lost, not just in translation, but muddled by robotic and inaccurate thinking?

What would Proust think about all of this? He would take to his bed and his pen to ponder upon all of its ramifications. There’s an opportunity for obsessive love affairs to take place now only the difference in the 21st century is that the loved one may no longer be an actual human, but a digital creation, a hybrid, formed of pictures and words in cyber space, perhaps showing that which we suspected all along, that all love is the creation of the mind, that of the lover, projected on to the other. They are us.

Perhaps we should ask that question using AI to go across the ouijah board to speak the the dead Proust to find out? Not really.

That would be not be a useful endeavour as he might say 'Yes' just to please me, and that could be maddening, but I would be curious to know what the results are if someone does try it out.

For me it’s always back to the book itself -the words on the paper page- for all the encirchment of meaning you might need from Proust. Remembrance is a 'roman fleuve' i.e. a river of a novel -you dip your toes in and pull them out whenever you wish, so it can become more of an oracle than a novel and Heraclitus would say, it is never the same novel twice.

You might ask the same question in different years and dip into its pages for what Proust said, but you have matured the second time around, so you just think differently- exactly the point that Proust makes. We are embodied in the river of time. You are rewarded by repeated readings.

I think he intended his novel to be that way as to be all encompassing, vast, rich and complex, especially in the long meandering sentences that loop back and forth. In effect, that makes it foolproof and AI proof and it will therefore be resistant to taking short cuts and extracting sound bites.

Listen to the Elif Batuman dialogue with AI on the Guardian Long Read Apple Podcast and on other platforms

The written version of Time Capsule' is on the Proteus Astrology website under 'Articles' or just go to the Archives and click the name 'Marcel Proust'. Or see my IG for the link.

[deusexlachina]

Wannabe Warden Part 6: Experience the illusion of free choice

In which I reveal why this run is so difficult.

I investigate a weird templar hazing ritual, ostensibly demanded by Knight-Commander Meredith, but without any paper trail and with a series of disappearances. Turns out it's demons and blood magic, because most weird things in Kirkwall turn out to be demons and blood magic at one level or another. Cullen from the Ferelden Circle knows this, but he always thinks mages are using demons and blood magic, so unsurprisingly his investigation hasn't made much headway.

In this case, Cullen happens to be right and the templar he's interrogating turns into a monster because of blood magic. This hideous mockery of his former self is extremely dangerous. Fortunately, dealing with blood magic and demons is the templars' job, so I defer to the experts and let Cullen get beaten senseless by the guy he was just interrogating and several other demons while we civilians watch from a nice safe distance. This must have been very cathartic for Anders.

(If you have trouble seeing Cullen, he's that little blue circle backed into a wall by a small army of demons).

Cullen points me to the Blooming Rose, where a sex worker, Viveka, gives me proof that the missing templars all visited one of her colleagues, Idunna, the Exotic Wonder of the East. Writing down "racial fetishization" to the templars' extremely long list of faults, alongside "routinely succumbing to demons and blood magic despite it being their entire job to prevent that," I thank her for the tip, whereupon she reminds me it's anonymous. I then pay a visit to Idunna and try to interrogate her. Idunna rubs the bed beside her and suggests we "have some fun," which causes Merrill to suggest we be nice to her before quickly apologizing for her context-inappropriate acute queer enthusiasm. I get a choice of three ways to interrogate her, corresponding to the three dispositions - diplomatic, glib or aggressive.

Idunna dodges the question, and then you get another chance to force the issue - again, with three options to express different dispositions. In a wonderfully creepy scene, all three of the options actually lead to you telling Idunna who exposed her as the music suddenly changes. I'm using a mod here that shows the actual spoken dialogue instead of the often-misleading paraphrases - cleverly, it deliberately uses the paraphrase text here, to preserve the sense of control being suddenly and unexpectedly taken away from you.

Idunna vows revenge on Viveka and then tells you to kill yourself. This is not a malding expression of spite but the insidious compulsion of a powerful maleficar, and the only thing that makes this less chilling is the fact that I'm staring right at those titties.

Fortunately my sister is there to save me. Any mage can save you, but Bethany takes priority - if she's in your party, you'll always call for your sister, even if this seems like more Merrill's expertise. A touching display of sisterly love. On a more cynical note, this is exactly why I brought Bethany - Anders has higher priority than Merrill, and I need Merrill so I can reassure her I don't kill blood mages and she'll feel more supported, and I need to bring him along so he can see my choices and disapprove of them so he will be a better person. This makes sense in the chaotic, labyrinthine mind of Aveline Hawke, and nobody else.

My freedom was taken away from me by dark magic. This is an ill portent of the lack of freedom I suffer for the rest of my time in Kirkwall. To give the (very relatively!) short version of how much there is to do and how little my choices matter at all:

To finance my trip to the Deep Roads (where I can become a Grey Warden), I investigate issues in a mine, where I save a miner from dragons and agree to co-owning the mine if it means I can get better conditions for the workers. This leads to exactly the same outcomes as if I co-owned it out of greed or refused to co-own it at all. When the boss asks me to get the miners back to work, I avoid this quest like the plague, because all involvement with the mine leads to all the miners dying horribly and I can only hope this will spare them.

Entirely unrelated to my Deep Roads Expedition - but absolutely mandatory to go down there for some reason - I need to deal with the Qunari, since Act 2 only makes sense if we know each other. So I kill some random Tal-Vashoth because a dwarf thinks it will impress the Qunari Arishok so he'll give him gunpowder, and he'll split the profits with me. After my mine adventure, I have no need for profits, and even if I did, the dwarf's plan doesn't work because the Arishok never agreed to it. But I have to do this.

Sister Petrice, the Priestess of Meanness, asks me to help smuggle out a Qunari prisoner away from his people's oppression. It turns out he's a mage, and the penalty for a Qunari mage running away is death. Empathizing with an oppressed mage, much like my sister, I help him escape, damn the consequences, which leads to me fighting the Qunari. I could have handed him over, in which case the Qunari would sentence me to death for travelling with a mage, which would lead to me fighting the Qunari.

I ask Sister Petrice What The Fuck, and she explains she was trying to incite a war between the Chantry and Qunari. I confess to the Arishok that I killed his men and warn him of Petrice's conspiracy. Later, the Qunari and Chantry will both proceed with their respective plans, and involve me to the same extent, whether I did this or not.

When slavers threaten to kill an apostate boy, Feynriel, I tell them I want to stop them more than I want to save the boy. This impresses Fenris and gives me a brief tongue-lashing from Feynriel, and then leads to exactly the same long-term outcomes as handling the hostage situation any other way.

When I come back, I tell a mage sympathizer in the templars, Ser Thrask, about his daughter, who resisted being kidnapped by the slavers but turned into a monster and - say it with me - had to be euthanized. I tell him his secret his safe, which impresses Merrill and Other Aveline. Later, Thrask goes to me for help, noting my cooperation with him, but he would've gone to me for help even if I'd blackmailed him instead.

Thrask sends me to resolve a tense situation with apostates before his rival, Ser Karras, arrives and kills them all. Despite this seeming like a contrived good-cop-bad-cop routine, I have to work with Thrask - again, mandatory to the Deep Roads Expedition. Somehow.

When I kill the apostates' boss (a blood mage who uses demons) I have the choice to either have them arrested or help them escape, which in turn gives me the choice to fight Karras or trick him into Going Somewhere Else, which in turn can be done either with Varric or with a glib Hawke. All of these eventually lead to the apostates being caught so they can appear later.

And here is the problem I faced when planning a gimmick run for Dragon Age 2: How do you do a gimmick run when all runs are mostly the same? I was inspired by #fauxvelyan, a run of Inquisition in which the Inquisitor, Trevelyan, is secretly the same person as Warden Cousland (in disguise of course). So I decided to use context instead of content to make things fresh - the dialogue is the same, but in a very real sense, it's very much not, because, for example, my name is Aveline.

I hope you enjoyed/skipped/hated that brief glimpse into my dark imagination. Regardless of your reaction, I'll post part 7 tomorrow.

[epacer]

Education

San Diego Unified High Schoolers: Getting Great Grades But Troubling Test Scores

At the School of Creative and Performing Arts, a magnet school that draws students from across the district, 96 percent of juniors passed science classes during the 2022-23 school year. At Lincoln High, 86 percent of students passed English classes. At Madison High, 85 percent passed math classes.

The scores should be reassuring. They seem to show most students at these three San Diego Unified high schools are excelling. 

At the School of Creative and Performing Arts, however, only 16 percent of juniors met state science standards. At Lincoln only 23 percent met state English standards. At Madison, only 13 percent met math standards. Those are gaps of about 80, 63 and 72 percentage points respectively.

The disparities between test scores and grades are significant, according to an analysis by Voice of San Diego. They also aren’t limited to certain schools. Across the district, wide gaps exist between the percentage of juniors passing classes and the percentage meeting state standards. Juniors’ grades were analyzed because they are the only high schoolers who take state standardized tests. 

The results come as schools are still recovering from the pandemic. Concerns about new, looser grading standards are on the rise. San Diego Unified officials insist grades and tests scores measure different things. Still, parents may be receiving misleading messages about how well their kids are doing.

Students uniformly performed much better in classes than they did on standardized tests. At only one high school – and in only one subject – did more students meet state standards than passed classes. Though scores in all subjects differed significantly, math and science scores were particularly divergent. 

The disparity in test scores and grades matches up with research performed by Dan Goldhaber, the director of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research.

In his work in Washington state, he’s found the relationship between test scores and grades has weakened over time, particularly during the pandemic when schools loosened grading requirements. Like in our analysis, those disparities are more acute in math. Simply put, it’s become relatively easier to get good grades, even as test scores have dropped.

“There are a sizable share of kids in the state that are getting good grades despite not meeting the state standards,” Goldhaber said. 

Goldhaber cautioned that because of the messiness of the data, it’s hard to draw too many conclusions. Small groups of data can be misleading, as can proficiency thresholds. Additionally, because of the way San Diego Unified provided the data, about 7 percent of the grades received may not be from juniors. That means some of the grades analyzed were from students who did not take standardized tests, which could skew the comparison. 

But he was struck by the gaps between the number of students passing classes and the number meeting standards on state tests. If test scores and grades differed by small margins that would be one thing, but 50, 60, 70 and 80 percentage-point disparities mean something.

“It’s hard to reconcile those numbers. They are so stark,” Goldhaber said.

One thing that may be at play is changes in how educators grade students’ performance. San Diego Unified is part of a wave of districts that have ushered in standards-based grading. It is meant to be less punitive and more equitable, especially for students from challenging backgrounds who’ve struggled in school. It places less emphasis on due dates and more on whether kids become proficient, often allowing students to make up assignments or retake tests.

Goldhaber’s seen similar grading changes firsthand. He has kids in middle and high school and they’re given plenty of opportunities to make up work. If students are learning something in the process, giving them opportunities to finish could be a good thing, he said. But it also may teach kids that they don’t need to work as hard learn material.

“Grades are one way that teachers establish expectations. If grading becomes very easy because of corrections, then that is effectively lowering expectations for kids,” Goldhaber said.

There is evidence that higher standards do benefit students, but what really worries Goldhaber is the message families may get when their child brings home good grades.

“If you look at the percentage of kids who failed to meet the state standard that are maybe told that they have A’s or B’s, that suggests a dichotomy between the signal that kids and parents are getting about their achievement and what the state tests are objectively saying about their achievement,” Goldhaber said.

San Diego Unified spokesperson Maureen Magee didn’t say whether district leaders were concerned about the gaps between grades and test scores. She did say the metrics represent different things, though. 

Test scores reflect a student’s performance at a single moment in time, Magee wrote in an email. Grades, on the other hand, are an overview of a student’s progress and performance across factors like class participation, homework, projects and exams, she wrote.

“San Diego Unified’s highly qualified teachers use their expertise to evaluate student learning through a range of formative and summative assessments, capturing a holistic picture of each student’s progress, academic achievement levels, and needs,” Magee wrote.

“Grading practices are rooted in professional standards that emphasize the integration of diverse assessment methods, catering to diverse learning needs, and providing meaningful feedback to support student growth,” she wrote.

School board member Richard Barrera is skeptical of standardized tests and even questions if students should be tested at all in high school, when classes are less aligned with state standards and kids may care less about doing well on a test they know won’t affect their future. Still, he said, he doesn’t write them off.

“But I don’t know that we could say because an 11th grader doesn’t meet definitions of proficiency on state standardized tests that they in fact, are not proficient. I would generally trust a student’s grades as a better way of demonstrating how well they know standards,” Barrera said.

Barrera shares Goldhaber’s concern about the message parents may be receiving when their kids come home with good grades. He’s seen kids do great in class but later feel like schools didn’t adequately prepare them. But he also thinks plenty of kids go to schools with large populations of disadvantaged students who may not do well on standardized tests, but succeed in college. 

Grading should also reflect a student’s growth, Barrera said.

“If you’re an English teacher or a math teacher at Hoover, you’re dealing with most of the kids in your class coming from similar challenges, so at a certain level, you have to take students where they’re at,” Barrera said. “If you were to basically through your grading …  say you’ve got to master (a topic) to pass a course and the result of that is 90 percent of your students are failing, you’ve got to address that, because that’s failing kids as well.”

Francine Maxwell, the former president of the San Diego chapter of the NAACP, has been an advocate for students in southeastern San Diego for decades. She said the community has long felt that San Diego Unified promotes kids up through grade levels without proof they understand the material . 

Maxwell said those problems compound over the years, leading to high schoolers reading at elementary school levels. It also means students haven’t been guaranteed their right to an “equal and fair footing in education.”

Maxwell said new grading standards have only exacerbated the problem. Now, she said, students get an A for showing up. This can have dramatic consequences on students when they graduate from high school.

“There’s nothing like walking across that (graduation) stage and making your family proud and then going to college and thinking that that A or B (grade) was real and having to take remedial classes at the college level,” Maxwell said. 

She said it often results in students dropping out.

“It breaks a person. It breaks a person at that young age to realize they have not been intentionally, authentically taught.”  *Reposted article from the VOSD by Jakob McWhinney on June 11, 2024