something new to worry about

I would have never occurred to me, but professional worriers have come up with the idea that our whole collective existence is a simulation going on in some imaginable computer which may, at any moment, be shut off by bored experimenters. The solution to this danger? Be as interesting as possible.

how I'm surviving the recession

We have to get credit moving so more people can borrow money? I don't buy this. Debt is slavery. I ruined my credit years ago and I realized that for seven years I could no longer put myself in chains. What's the downside?

Our economy is geared to necessitating 40 hour work weeks throughout the prime of their lives. Upon taking several bags of barely worn clothes to the GoodWill, I had an epiphany: Why not fight for a 30 hour work week? We work less, there will be more employment, and we will have less.

Let the banks fail. Let the economy go to hell, forgive all debt and start over with simpler lives. I have lived in a tent before and I swear, I was just as happy as I am now. You will be too.

Rather than having one employer I have ten. I invest in the future of human knowledge and I am a slave only insofar as my future taxes will pay off the nation's debt.

space travel and the future

In the opening paragraph of a high school science textbook, the author tried to inspire youth toward the future. He stated how humankind going into the future was like a baby coming forth from the womb. I agree with this and it was inspiring.

He then went on to describe his view of the future: humans leave their womb, Earth, and head out among the stars as miners or colonists of some kind. I find this to be unimaginitive and close to wrong.

It's close to wrong because we will have significantly less freedom in space and survival there will be much more claustrophobic. It is unimaginitive because life in space is not in itself any different than life on earth. After the novelty fades our colonists will rarely think "this is another day on Mars" but just "this is another day".

Space exploration will be best handled by robots and this will be true for a long time. But don't think of this as an unambitious outlook. We have barely begun to understand our potentials, not just for being better humans, but also for transcending humanity itself. Such transcencion might be heaven or it might be hell and my bet is that it will be a little of both. My point is that the walls of our womb are not physical boundaries in space and that our liberation will come from within.

rabbit's razor

I will not believe something because I hope it to be true;
I will not refuse to believe something because I fear it to be true.

That's it.

The Paradise We Build

In Dante's "Divine Comedy" there are descriptions of hell, purgatory, and heaven. I was struck by how interesting was the inferno and how boring was the paradise. In the inner rings of heaven you find God in the center surrounded by cocentric circles of saints, all facing God and basking in his glory forever. I see this as "the eternal orgasm" model of heaven, but we should note that such an experience is more than sexual. It is the climax of all "chakras" or modes of feeling. It is the sublime thought, the quenched thirst, the perfect meal, et cetera.

But is such a heaven viable? Can we have perpetual climax? I don't think it's possible because we sense things in relation to the past and the future. I.e. "I felt normal before, but compared to that I feel great right now, and compared to that I have this to worry about tomorrow".

With our limited resources throughout history, we might've said that the idea is to maximize pleasure and minimize suffering and frustration. Now that we are approaching great power and malleability, I think we should examine hard what heaven is like. Please, atheists, examine this question as well, for even if heaven does not yet exist, can you argue that it will never be?

I see heaven as the optimization of pleasure and frustration. There is truth in the cliched idea that our suffering makes our happiness possible.

Attrition and Entropy (running on fumes)

I got everything on my motorcycle working just in time for them to cancel my insurance. For months now employment has trickled in and money has trickled out. I lost my wallet on Friday, which was for a moment devastating. For a moment 'cause I remembered my serenity prayer:

accept the things I cannot change
change the things I can
etc.

I made a list of everything that was in my wallet and it turns out that the only thing I can't replace was an old phone number of an ex-girlfriend. The biggest loss was a Chevron gas card with $30 dollars on it. Here's an idea: instead of putting money on a gas card, can I just buy it in gallons?

So here I am, taking a break from applying for jobs. Would someone please hire me? In my last post I asked for your spare change and none was sent :-(

Here's the deal: all you out there in blogland are too far away for me to tutor or teach or engineer and you don't seem to want to take me up as a charity. So all I have left is my art. I will take commissions for $15 USD per hour plus materials plus postage.

My media are oils acrylics, wire, and words. I work fast. I am posting a sample of one of my abstracts which took me 3 seconds. Place your orders in a reply to this post.

P.S. the picture came out sideways. The black belongs on the bottom.

Job? uh...no.

So to keep this blog accurate I must retract my former excitement about getting a job. Apparently the Engineer wanted an assembler rather than an Engineer. I was overqualified, so now my prospects are pulling weeds, or tutoring a troubled 11 year old girl for two hours per week. I refuse to pull weeds; I'd rather starve. No, not really, but the rest of my life has been in an upward trajectory such that I hate to see such a setback. I have such knowledge that I feel omniscient yet they want 'just enough'.

So I'm going to see if I can get the Chinese to sell me a pirated copy of ProE so I can educate myself and get a job. With what shall I purchase it? Hmmm. I have 35c in my bank account and an eBay giftcard with 9c on it. Can you spare any change? please send it to:

Rabbit Killer
109 Madrona Rd.
Felton, CA 95019

p.s. write checks payable to 'Leif Husman' ; that's my slave name. All proceeds will go to making the world a better place. Promise.