You misunderstand, I was merely predicting Jamal's sanction.

According to the records, as of three years ago, Jamal has read Mr Vertigo, Leviathan, Moon Palace, and a couple of others. If he's read that many it should be clear that he thinks Auster is good, and Oracle Night is good by Austerian standards, so I can say with a high degree of confidence that you're allowed to think Oracle Night is good.

Incidentally, something I wrote on the forum after reading the book...

I think you're allowed to think for yourself that it's good.

Being held responsible/reprimanded for an outcome that isn't my fault. — Nils Loc

Yeah, that really gets under my skin, and worse, if the matter is more of a subjective sort of thing trying to defend yourself can just make you look guilty.

Folks in stores who are looking at their phone while blocking isles with their cart/bodies. — Nils Loc

Very annoying at the gym if someone does this while “resting” between sets for an inordinate amount of time and hogging the equipment.

Related to this:

• People who place a water bottle or towel on gym equipment to reserve it and then wander off.

Doesn’t happen that often but when it does I will sometimes move the item and use the equipment and that usually results in an annoying confrontation.

• People who ride a bike on the sidewalk and expect you to move out of their way.

That’s all that readily came to mind for intense annoyances. I’ll have to put more thought into it.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.

Think I’ve found a new favorite author to binge on.

I sadly neighter can't deny or confirm that I agree with your statement or not, as I feel it would ruin the whole magic of it a bit, and that would be pretty sad if you ask me. — Italy

O ye have little faith. :monkey:

why art can't just be more simpler — Italy

Nothing could be simpler. It boils down to a mere invention to perceive something aesthetically. You can either naturally accept or deny this invention, or deliberately choose to perceive it this way if it doesn’t come naturally. What is too complex can be seen simpler. What is too simple can be enriched by our own imagination. Meaning is everywhere.

Oh so a cult cool cool — Italy

Cults tend to be underrated these days. Ever since Jonestown everyone’s like “ew, a cult!” Cults aren’t so bad once you get the swing of things. The Kool-Aid is sweet here, trust me.

In what I wrote, I tried to talk more about the anxiety to "start liking the art" — Italy

I'm still having trouble interpreting your meaning or point, but I'm intrigued. I appreciate beauty in art though I'm generally more interested in aesthetic experience, which doesn't necessarily require beauty, or rather what we typically regard as beautiful.

Hope atleast you now enjoy art a little bit nicer! — Italy

It was a good lesson I think. Have been decidedly more selective since and avoid that kind of overload.

The thing I want to ask though, and sorry if my question is too outrageous, but why ya'll are birds/demi birds in here? — Italy

Jamal, the owner of this website, is a famous birder. Rumor has it that he's rediscovered several species that were thought to be extinct and some of us have adopted bird avatars to honor that achievement, and perhaps garner his favor in a subtle unobtrusive way. I suggest you do the same.

Semi-arid between 72 ~ 75F

When I visited the Louvre I tried to see everything in a day, talk about dopamine depletion.

Will be funny if no one shows like last time. Although it is Florida rather than NY.

I certainly would question the veracity of sourcing a bot for information about how to tell if an interlocutor is a bot! — creativesoul

I just added a telltale sign to the end.

What evidence would convince you that an avatar is not a person, but rather a very sophisticated form of plagiarism? — creativesoul

ChatGPT say:

• Inconsistencies and contradictions: If the avatar's responses or information provided show inconsistencies, contradictions, or illogical statements, it could indicate that the content is generated by a machine rather than a human. Plagiarism often involves piecing together information from different sources, leading to inconsistencies.
• Lack of personal context: If the avatar avoids sharing personal experiences, emotions, or context-specific information, it may be an indication that it lacks genuine human experiences. Plagiarism tends to rely on information available in public sources rather than personal knowledge or experiences.
• Repetition of generic content: If the avatar repeatedly provides generic, widely available information without offering any original insights, it could suggest that it is copying from existing sources. Plagiarism often involves reproducing content without adding value or unique perspectives.
• Lack of engagement or understanding: If the avatar fails to engage in meaningful conversations or lacks a deep understanding of the subject matter it claims to be knowledgeable about, it may indicate that it is plagiarizing content. Genuine human interaction typically involves active engagement, critical thinking, and the ability to grasp complex concepts.
• Rapid response times and consistency: If the avatar consistently responds immediately without any delays or variations in response time, it might indicate that it is an automated program rather than a human. Human response times tend to vary, and delays can occur due to the need for reflection or research.
• Zero sense of humor.

You're right, NOS is a bot.

One cannot sensibly be charged with deliberately ridiculing a person if one does not believe that the target is a person, but rather that it is a bot. — creativesoul

NOS is not a bot and I doubt you actually believe that he is. I imagine that a Trump supporter would not believe NOS is a bot and would take your efforts to dehumanize personally.

Doesn’t fly because no Trump supporter would agree that NOS is a bot. To them you appear to be dehumanizing an ‘other’, and they are the others.

There’s a striking similarity between you and Trump supporters.

Not really. I’ve read the comment sections on sites like Brietbart and Fox and have watched many interviews with Trump supporters, and there’s the template of Trump himself. All mind-numbingly stupid, too stupid to be funny.

You devalue others in much the same way he does for much the same underlying reasons(being different). — creativesoul

Trump strategically devalues others for personal gain.

Sorry, which part wasn’t true? — NOS4A2

I didn’t claim that any part wasn’t true. Though I do recall you claiming that some part is true.

true information was suppressed in the lead up to the election. — NOS4A2

I would ask what part but you’ve proven to be someone who willingly spreads disinformation and are therefore unreliable.

I don’t know if it’s true. — NOS4A2

Then you could be willfully spreading disinformation, but are nevertheless somehow able to shamelessly criticize others for doing the same.

an informant brings evidence of bribery against dad — NOS4A2

That doesn’t seem to have been proven true from what I can find. If it is true he shouldn’t be held accountable.

What do you know that few others seem to know?

It’s weird that I didn’t mention accusations? For one thing, there are so many I wouldn’t know where to start. :lol:

It is a pity they were duped by misinfo, all of which was coordinated by the Biden campaign.

https://judiciary.house.gov/media/in-the-news/biden-campaign-blinken-orchestrated-intel-letter-discredit-hunter-biden-laptop
1h — NOS4A2

Actually, you seem to be one of the people duped by disinformation about disinformation.

Despite persistent allegations that the laptop contents indicated corruption by Joe Biden, a joint investigation by two Republican Senate committees released in September 2020 did not find wrongdoing by him, nor did a Republican House Oversight committee investigation by May 2023.

What??? — creativesoul

I think that I just read the word “Hunter” and assumed it was from NOS. Didn’t have any caffeine yet. :yikes:

Toldja so... — creativesoul

Had American voters only known about Hunters laptop it would have been a fair election. Such a pity that no one knew about it.

:lol: Disinformation about disinformation, you seriously think that cost Trump the election?

Recall that true information was suppressed in the lead up to the election. — NOS4A2

What info and how was it suppressed?

They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trump’s conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction.

I was thinking it would sound more nefarious.

Right, that must be the “behind the scene” activists work you mentioned.

One thing Trump did manage to do while in office was big tax cuts and deregulations for corporate America, but for some reason they still wanted him out of office?

He says that he got more votes than any other president in history but actually even Hillary Clinton received almost three million more votes than he did. Biden had seven million more votes than Trump.

This new inditement couldn't be a hoax when it's clear that he had the documents and knew they were classified.

Just reasserting the obvious because there seems to be a few people cheering this kind of tyranny. — NOS4A2

Cheering for stupidity and corruption in government? Does your undying cheerleading for Trump count?

The US government is both crooked and stupid from top to bottom. — NOS4A2

You just figured that out today?

The point being, if I can act according to a social contract through self-control with the intent of having interactions that create a beneficial atmosphere in a group, then I should be able to step up the game and act on more self-control in thinking about complex concepts through bypassing my biological shortcomings in cognition. The key is high-level introspection. — Christoffer

I'm curious about what the ultimate goal is. Is it being as clear-headed and rational as possible or is it about well-being?

That's just the narrative of the elites. — Christoffer

Elites don't want it known how people are manipulated.

Do you see many killings on your street? — Christoffer

No, but it's estimated that there are over a thousand homicides daily across the globe.

Fights for money?

About two months ago someone stole my wallet from the car parked outside. Not sure if I would have bothered to fight them for it.

People act today in accordance with societal norms and those norms are partly formed by us taming the basic instincts and drives we have deep down. — Christoffer

For just one example, industrial food producers exploit our 'basic instincts and drives' for profit, dishing out unhealthy foods that lead to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc. People eat it up anyway. This has been going on since the beginning of civilization and is only getting worse as time goes on. This is completely normal. It is also completely irrational.

Society forms out of a group's need to function as a collective and such collaboration requires a suppression of the individual's desires and subjective will, not by force but by their own will to be part of the group. — Christoffer

Actually, there's evidence that states were only initially successful in forming where people could not easily escape, because of geography or other local conditions. A lifestyle of agricultural work, disease, and war wasn't so attractive, as one might imagine.

In my opinion, being able to act against my own instincts and desires, my pure animal self is part of me reaching a little higher as a human. — Christoffer

I just don't get the dichotomy. It's also odd because animals aren't capable of heinous acts that humans knowingly perform every day.

Is not all of our society based on us taming the animal nature of our basic psychology? Haven't we all introduced cultural restrictions so as to function past our instincts and desires in order to overcome the horrors of nature? — Christoffer

No, not at all, broadly speaking we've organized and cooperated essentially in order to gain power (by conquest and eliminating competitors). Of course, that power is not distributed evenly so it's hard to claim that everyone has always been onboard with the basic plan. Religion has proven handy for the endeavor by having the power to bind tightly-knit groups of people through shared narratives, values, and purpose across wide regions.

We, of course, do this better or worse depending on the individual, but ascribing to a higher level of self-control does not equal me trying to be something that I'm not, I'm trying to achieve more control than just natural apathy since it is something I can actually achieve through self-control.

You wrote "everything in modern life is a forced behavior to act against basic instincts of our animal self". Not sure how you distinguish what is animal and what is... human? but in any case, the animal is there and will always be there.

I would like to have that concentration more as an automatic thing in my unconscious approach to everything in life, something that I do more regularly, and I'm constantly training myself to be better at it in any situation, even in everyday life, but it has a sense of life long dedication that takes a lifetime to master because it is an act against the very nature of our basic psychology. Just like we do not eat off the ground, everything in modern life is a forced behavior to act against basic instincts of our animal self. — Christoffer

I think you should embrace the animal nature of our basic psychology and stop pretending to be something we’re not.

We could use jumping beans if it makes you feel better. — NOS4A2

Right, WE have to agree on the “superstition”. Why is it okay to agree on a medium of exchange but not on a political representative or institutions of a state?

The superstition is obvious. — NOS4A2

Yup. Money is just as much a superstition. Is money a superstition that you want to give up?

They are going to hang them on gallows too small and weak to be used. Fact is, people often erect mock gallows at protests. — NOS4A2

It’s a threatening sign, yes. I think it was a good idea to protect the jurors from similar signs directed at them.