religions
TRX
January 15, 2012
48:
> "The past is a foreign country...",
> shurely?
TRX: "I want to go home."
Bob: "Eh? Where's that?"
TRX: "About 1965, I think."
As I'm forced to interact with a society that is increasingly more alien and irrelevant to the one I was imprinted with, I believe I can sympathize with the "Displaced Persons" left without a country after WWII.
Stranger: "Zup homie! Wuffo gatcha habbab bloogey!"
TRX: "DO... YOU... SPEAK... ENGLISH?"
The Alien Encounter moments have moved from occasional to commonplace...
TRX
January 15, 2012
49:
> although in the longer term it would
> work to reduce demand and give
> manufacturers an incentive to improve
> durability and build quality.
The standard procedure then is to shave costs and reliability down to the absolute minimum, then sell through sock-puppet front companies with diffuse ownership and no real assets. When warranty claims start becoming a hassle, just pull the plug and move to another sock puppet. Computer and electronic parts merchandising has worked that way for decades.
TRX
January 16, 2012
91:
> are intuitively obvious to operate.
"Intuitively obvious" is quite often a yawning void of blind spots on the designer side and WTF on the user side.
Add iconography that's little better than random squiggles and the bizarre insistence on coding things in "red" and "green", and I'm left trying to figure out why a picture of a menorah is flashing on the dashboard of a company van when I'm in heavy traffic at 70mph. I eventually found out that the picture of a gravy bowl was "low oil pressure," which is so intuitively obvious that I've not been able to find anyone who can explain why this should be so...
TRX
January 16, 2012
121:
> a new religion or ideological complex
> with the growth dynamic of 6th/7th
> century Islam or 20th century Leninism
It's long past the time I expected something like this to happen. The followers are out there, ready and waiting for something better to come along. Better, as in something that will give them what they want - direction, purpose, a meaning for their life, not necessarily Buddhism or a new type of Christian or Islamic fundamentalism.
The similarities between the Catholic Church, Leninism (as applied, not necessarily Ulyanov's version), and Scientology are hard to miss. Throw in some 1950s-1970s cultism, self-help, and popular psychology for seasoning.
[much text deleted after the Voices pointed out the obvious]
...uh, like the "service organization" idea I mentioned earlier. Imagine a group like, oh, the Church of the Latter-Day Saints and their interlocking support structure, except organized more like a self-help / self-confidence group, like the entry-level Scientologists. And whenever life hands you a lemon, or even a vague question, you just punch your phone and talk to the Help Desk, right now, for instant reinforcement of the group's social, moral, and ethical standards.
(yes, Charlie, the Voices did point out the Toymaker's organization, as well as Stephenson's Cosa Nostra Pizza Company)
Add a retirement plan, healthcare benefits, legal aid, and some political lobbyists, and you'd get a hell of a lot of bang for your tithe bucks. Heck, throw in cheap movie rentals and a roadside assistance plan while you're at it, or buy your services alacarte.
---
"Charlie's Lads here! How may I help you, my brother?"
"I'm tired of it all. I just want to die."
"Certainly, brother. We have a contract to assassinate a drug lord in Managua. Our experts estimate less than one percent chance of survival. Would you like to try that?"
"What? That sounds awfully dangerous."
"Very good, sir. Would you like to be murdered, or will it be suicide?"
"Murder? No, I wasn't considering that. I just want, you know..."
"Of course, my brother. Pills, strangulation, something electrical? Will you be doing this yourself or will you need assistance?"
"I thought you were supposed to try to talk me out of this."
"Your tithe only covers basic Suicide Assistance, my brother. If you want Suicide Prevention, we'll need to charge it to your PayPal account."
"It doesn't matter anyway."
"May we debit your account, brother?"
"Hell, why not. I'm not going to need it any more."
"Thank you, my brother. May I send a suicide counselor to see you?
"I don't want to talk to any suicide counselor. I just want to die."
"Our records show you have a preference for leggy blondes. She's also highly proficient at oral sex."
"What? Really? Well, no. That's kind of..."
"Our records show you've made frequent purchases at Mr. Koo's Korean deli near you. She can pick up a super-size order of dim sum and some Guinness on the way."
"Uh..."
"She'll also bring the new 'World of Warcraft: Revenge of the Thrint' access codes."
"What? That's not due out for another three months!"
"Our hackers work for you, my brother! Shall I send the counselor?"
"Uh, yeah. Revenge of the Thrint? For real? Why not?"
"Excellent, my brother! Remember, Charlie's Lads are here for you at any time!"
TRX
January 20, 2012
319:
> 1.) In a future gerontocracy, the
> young will have one (big? or small?)
> advantage over the old -- the
> willingness to take risks. Courage.
Perhaps. But you'll also have a bunch of people willing to trade a few more months of not-so-great existence for the opportunity to do something useful.
You're going to have millions of people with nothing left to lose, and not all of them will be senile, poor, or complacent. The pool of individuals is more than large enough to throw out multiple individuals ready, willing, and able to do... anything at all, basically.