What are you reading

[AnonMessAgeSage]

Humans are impossibly stupid and self-centered, they are merely just one speck in evolution and cosmology.
There is nothing unique to humans, that isn't also seen in other animals.

Hmmmm.. evolution... well i guess animals use tools and language...and you could argue Mars landers and the LHC are 'merely' tools but its been said that evolution by natural selection is no longer appropriate to humans... your own criticism in part shows the survival of no longer the fittest in your opinion.  I guess war is also a fairly human trait. I'm also not sure if other animals genetically modify plants and animals for their use? I'm think of wheat... et al.

As for wikipedia, its not always a reliable source, but what i've found a benefit of recent technology is print on demand such that you can get texts which are out of print or of a niche nature by the likes of Amazon.

And to be picky, there is a line of thought that goes without humans there wouldn't be (a theory) of evolution or cosmology.

Don't be picky, because you are an inquisitive person, and you actively take an interest in 'far-out' things, which makes me respect you.

And Nature itself, when She gets pissed by the lack of proper breeding habits among humans, may take it upon herself to release hurricanes, volcanoes, tsunamis, pathogens, and whatever else to rectify the situation.

It would be arrogant to presume human knowledge as the pinnacle of knowledge.

[Atrophist]

Humans are impossibly stupid and self-centered, they are merely just one speck in evolution and cosmology.
There is nothing unique to humans, that isn't also seen in other animals.

Hmmmm.. evolution... well i guess animals use tools and language...and you could argue Mars landers and the LHC are 'merely' tools but its been said that evolution by natural selection is no longer appropriate to humans... your own criticism in part shows the survival of no longer the fittest in your opinion.  I guess war is also a fairly human trait. I'm also not sure if other animals genetically modify plants and animals for their use? I'm think of wheat... et al.

I always find it a bit goofy when "social darwinists" and others try to justify things like greed, brutality, exploitation etc. by saying, "it's just evolution" or human nature or whtever. They will often describe evocative narratives of apex predators such as tigers or sharks or whatever, and contrast them favourably with herd animals.

This is utterly comical because the history of the human race is basically nothing but a success story of cooperation over competition. In family units, extended families, tribes, nations etc. And even of inter-apecies cooperation. Domestication may be a bum deal for some individual livestock animals, but from the pov of the entire species, it's a jackpot.     

And to be picky, there is a line of thought that goes without humans there wouldn't be (a theory) of evolution or cosmology.

But surely the reality these theories attempt to describe would be the same, whether there were people to attempt to understand it or not? Or do you disagree?

[AnonMessAgeSage]

Humans are impossibly stupid and self-centered, they are merely just one speck in evolution and cosmology.
There is nothing unique to humans, that isn't also seen in other animals.

Hmmmm.. evolution... well i guess animals use tools and language...and you could argue Mars landers and the LHC are 'merely' tools but its been said that evolution by natural selection is no longer appropriate to humans... your own criticism in part shows the survival of no longer the fittest in your opinion.  I guess war is also a fairly human trait. I'm also not sure if other animals genetically modify plants and animals for their use? I'm think of wheat... et al.

I always find it a bit goofy when "social darwinists" and others try to justify things like greed, brutality, exploitation etc. by saying, "it's just evolution" or human nature or whtever. They will often describe evocative narratives of apex predators such as tigers or sharks or whatever, and contrast them favourably with herd animals.

This is utterly comical because the history of the human race is basically nothing but a success story of cooperation over competition. In family units, extended families, tribes, nations etc. And even of inter-apecies cooperation. Domestication may be a bum deal for some individual livestock animals, but from the pov of the entire species, it's a jackpot.    

And to be picky, there is a line of thought that goes without humans there wouldn't be (a theory) of evolution or cosmology.

But surely the reality these theories attempt to describe would be the same, whether there were people to attempt to understand it or not? Or do you disagree?

If you even cared about your species, why in the literal hell would you breed weak, defective, and diseased stock?

You don't understand genetics.
The reason "survival of the fittest" faded-out is because most diseases of the 21-century are a direct CAUSE of domestication.
To spell it out for you, most people are killing themselves, and at the very least, they are being born with congenital infertility diseases.

That's why.

[Atrophist]

If you even cared about your species, why in the literal hell would you breed weak, defective, and diseased stock?

I didn't say anything about breeding though. If you mean livestock, people actually don't do that.

If you mean humans, we have no central authority controlling their reproduction. This may horrify some folks here, but I don't think it would be a bad thing, necessarily, if we did. But we don't.

And no, I'm not an expert on genetics. I do know something about the subject however.

[holy ghost]

Can there just be one dedicated thread for this stupid bullshit and kept out of the regular ADULT threads?

Most of us are not interested if reading this....

[cr]

Can there just be one dedicated thread for this stupid bullshit and kept out of the regular ADULT threads?

Most of us are not interested if reading this....

Yes, please!

As I really liked the 3 previous books from Matias Faldbakken - has anyone read The Hills already and can give a short review? Would be great, but I think I will buy it anyway.

[Atrophist]

Started Peter Pomerantsev's This Is Not Propaganda. Fake news, hate speech, populism, social media, you know the drill. Putin bad and so on.

His previous previous Nothing Is True And Everything Is Possible is anong the non-fiction books that have impressed me the most (and I think some crappy nu-metal band named an album after it, which is hilarious because I simply cannot picture the members of Enter Shikari actually reading it). I have less high hopes about this one, but we'll see.

[Atrophist]

Can there just be one dedicated thread for this stupid bullshit and kept out of the regular ADULT threads?

Most of us are not interested if reading this....

You cannot possibly mean that you think it is okay to simply list the books we read here, but any discussion of the books or the topics they deal with should be verboten?

[Balor/SS1535]

I just finished Stephen King's Roadwork.  I said I would post a brief review: A blue-collar man's rather mundane life is upended when he learns that the construction of a new highway will require the demolition of both his home and place of work.  While he initially drags his feet in moving, his mental health begins to deteriorate.  He buys guns, and explosives.  As the timeline for moving gets closer, his life collapses around him, and he slowly but surely moves closer to an inescapable end.  Overall, the story was enjoyable, though far from the best of King's realistic fiction.

Now reading: The Hellbound Heard by Clive Barker.

[holy ghost]

Can there just be one dedicated thread for this stupid bullshit and kept out of the regular ADULT threads?

Most of us are not interested if reading this....

You cannot possibly mean that you think it is okay to simply list the books we read here, but any discussion of the books or the topics they deal with should be verboten?

Well, that's a pretty huge leap from my post asking certain posters who just blather on endlessly from derailing yet another nice thread, but sure, go off....

[Atrophist]

It was a question. If I misinterpreted something, I would like it very much if you could take the time to explain what you meant.

[host body]

Prophet by Image Comics, very good comic book in the vein of Incal. Both funny, gory and surprisingly evocative for an american comic book. The scale huge, both in time and in distance and the world has a nice decayed feel to it. Highly recommended for fans of weirder scifi comics like Incal and Metabarons.

[Nolan]

Currently: Frank Sinatra in a Blender by Matthew McBride, standard modern noir, an easy read and something i think i needed after a run of not great books.

Also masochistically flipping through a huge stack of academic books i am in process of selling. Michel de Certau's The Practice of Daily Life, and most of the Bourdieu books i have are giving me that siren call again, so i need to just remove all this shit immediately before i keep it all for another ten years.

[Balor/SS1535]

Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima

[holy ghost]

Burned through "Invisibility: A Manifesto by Audrey Szasz in a day or so, was an interesting fun little read.

On to The Magician from the same Amphetamine Sulphate order, I read about 80 pages yesterday and was pretty into it from the get go.

Also just read Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick, interesting backstory of how ISIS evolved almost in tandem with Al-Quada and evolved into what they are now. Probably a little too "American heavy" in terms of sources but I think that's the sort of thing to be expected.

About to order Kent State by Derf Backderf, I really loved Trashed and My Friend Dahmer and I'm really interested in this one.