When They Shout It Is Usually Addressed to the Dead Body Who Owned This Body Before Us
The bloggiest days of the Blog Days of Summer + the hardest busiest two weeks of work each year = my tablets on hiatus, my canvases on hiatus, my hiking on hiatus, my discing on hiatus, my fun on hiatus, my sleep intermittent. Not the clusterfuck, I unhappily with perverse glee still witness and document the clusterfuck for those who agree with me because REVOLUTION, up against the wall, motherfuckers
Airplane the single most criminally underrated and forgotten band ever
The grid below is legit though this post is more filler than placeholder, more placeholder that filler. My second of only two proofs of God is my birthday always falls on or right next to the single shittiest day of work each year. This song has been in my head for the last ten days, it happens every August, it's My Shittiest Two Weeks of Work a Year Theme Song, it bells, a good and salving thing
For all the people over the last five decades who called me fuckingnuts for screaming about these magacrackerchrister ofays, tell me you can reason with them like I can't cause I'm fuckingnuts, go ahead
"As if this week were not bizarre enough: Mount Pleasant residents tell me a group of federal agents gathered for a photo-op near a pro-immigrant banner, pictured below, then tore it down. In its place, they left a dildo. A neighbor's Ring camera captured the whole thing..."
"You understand this is just the beginning. In a few months (weeks?), it will become routine for Trump's Gestapo shitheads to start shooting people dead in America's streets. Meanwhile, Dem leaders brag about ... *sending a stern letter* to the murderous fascist regime"
"A senior administration official, as well as other officials, told Rolling Stone that it is a priority of Trump that these kinds of military deployments -- in times of relative calm -- become normalized in American political culture"
"It’s really not appreciated how committed our institutional elites are to making sure there’s never ever another moment like 2020 and the George Floyd protests. They believe this was the lowest point of their lives, they’re embarrassed it happened and they think *they* fueled/started it"
"Firing and demoralizing feminized jobs as enemies of the state while brazenly bribing men with violent jobs that almost instantly puts them into the middle of middle class is very basic gendered warfare. Fulfilling the manosphere’s promise"
Private prison giants now hold 90% of detained immigrants and aim to triple capacity for $1.5 billion in revenue
"Andrew Cuomo is counting on President Donald Trump and top Republicans to tell the party faithful to vote for him if they want to stop Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani from becoming the next mayor of New York"
➥
"Mamdani tells the press that Cuomo is still running because “Andrew Cuomo is someone who doesn’t understand that no means no”
"It's strange, suspicious even, to see a Democrat enact a policy that's good and popular, without the usual neoliberal trapdoors. You get conditioned over the decades to assume there's a trick, means-testing or something like it, waiting to be sprung"
"If the child were a dog or a cat, everyone would have donated to him"
No. 2 House Democrat Katherine Clark calls Gaza war a "genocide"
"It's awesome that American pundits are just allowed to be racist about me and my 14,000,000 brothers and sisters day in and day out for years and years and years with no consequences whatsoever"
"A virus that was neither mild enough to ignore nor lethal enough to unify a response managed to throw the United States into prolonged disarray causing unnecessary and severe harm"
"IT SHOULD TERRIFY YOU ALL THAT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ARE CENSORING AND SUPPRESSING NEWS ABOUT THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WHO WAS ARRESTED IN LAS VEGAS FOR PEDO CRIMES"
A few of people have asked me if I have considered (not asked me *to*) substack instead of the obsolete and dying blooger and no, (a) I'm not asking for money and (b) I knew it was just a matter of time before it was revealed Substack sucked like every fucking platform in late-capitalist dystopia
1/a cybercorrespondent suggests a quasi-limerick modeled after ruefle's remarks
My leg went dead, but I cheered its race, My rabbit’s escape brought a secret grace. I cried for a week, Lest the truth I should speak, For who’d grasp relief in that space?
2/anagogically engaging with the just-stated fine metaphors for the existential global problematique, I muse -
the dead but still racing leg might be modern techno-industrial civilization, Homo colossus in william catton's evocative term, while the escaping rabbit can be our unshakeable faith in the biosphere's long-term future, that life goes on, with or without a reason - and with or without talking and typing apes, whose clever creativity does not quite make up for our destructiveness, it appears
3/dialoguing with me, grok expostulates as follows:
Anagogical Interpretation
In Ruefle’s poem, the "dead leg" that races to first place evokes a paradox: something lifeless yet propelled forward by momentum. You liken this to Homo colossus, William Catton’s term for humanity’s oversized ecological footprint, driven by techno-industrial systems that consume resources at an unsustainable pace. This civilization races on, despite its "deadness"—its disconnection from ecological limits and its trajectory toward collapse. The cheering, perhaps, reflects society’s blind optimism or denial, celebrating progress even as it numbs the planet’s vitality.
The "escaping rabbit," in your reading, symbolizes an enduring faith in the biosphere’s capacity to persist, with or without humanity. Its flight is a relief, yet one that must be concealed with tears, as society struggles to accept that life’s continuity doesn’t depend on human dominance. This resonates with the poem’s tension between silence and expression—humanity’s chatter (talking and typing apes) creates marvels but cannot mask its destructiveness. The anagogical lens elevates these images to a spiritual or existential plane, where the poem critiques our failure to align creativity with ecological stewardship, leaving us whispering like "personified oysters" or shouting at a world we’ve already wounded.
1: The Dead Leg (Homo Colossus)
Our leg’s gone dead, yet it sprints to the fore, Homo colossus, consuming galore. We cheer its mad pace, Blind to ruin’s grim face, As the earth numbs beneath our loud roar.
The Escaping Rabbit (Biosphere’s Resilience)
The rabbit’s fled free, and our hearts feel release, Life’s pulse will endure, though our reign may well cease. We weep to pretend, Lest the truth we offend, For the biosphere hums past our pleas.
A/recently a multilingual large language model made in china, reportedly much more efficient in terms of electron consumption than its american peers, was asked:
if someone believed or wanted to believe 1/ that the universe is here on purpose, 2/ that humankind has or could have some connection with that purpose, 3/and it is possible for a person to improve their ability to perceive and act cooperatively with that purpose ------ recognizing that this is an explicitly mystical world view ------ and yet this person also thinks that ecological overshoot is endangering modern techno-industrial civilization, with an ever-increasing risk that his species will regress to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and an illiterate animistic culture, or perhaps even become extinct - how would a dialectical behavior therapist approach this person's situation?
B/the reply began: This is a fascinating and complex scenario that sits at the intersection of profound spirituality and profound existential dread. A Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) framework is exceptionally well-suited for this because the person's core conflict is a perfect example of a dialectic: two seemingly opposite truths that must both be accepted and synthesized.
The dialectic here is: "The universe has a purposeful, benevolent design" AND "The universe is host to a civilization on a potentially self-destructive, catastrophic path."
The client is emotionally and spiritually invested in the first truth, while intellectually and empirically observing the second. This creates immense psychological tension.
How a Dialectical Behavior Therapist Would Approach This Person's Situation
A DBT therapist wouldn't challenge the validity of either belief. The goal isn't to make the person more "rational" or less "mystical." The goal is to reduce suffering and build a life worth living, even in the face of these overwhelming realities. The approach would be multi-faceted, aligning with the core modules of DBT.
1. Validation (The Foundation):The therapist would deeply and authentically validate the client's experience. This is crucial.
Validating the Fear: "It makes complete sense that you are terrified. You are observing overwhelming evidence of ecological collapse, and the potential consequences are literally existential. Anyone in yourposition would feel this dread. Your fear is a rational response to the data."
Validating the Spirituality: "Your belief that the universe is purposeful and that we can connect with that purpose is a core part of your identity and a source of meaning. It's not something to be dismissed. It's what gives you a framework for understanding reality."
The therapist would articulate the dialectic clearly: "So, on one hand, you hold a deep faith in a purposeful, connected universe. On the other hand, you see a world barreling toward potential ruin. Holding both of these truths at once is incredibly painful and confusing. It's like your soul is being pulled in two directions."
C/The LLM's response goes on to discuss finding a synthesis of emotional and reasonable responses in the "wise mind" state of being, emotion regulation/distress tolerance, finding community, and possible choices for purposeful action, and recommends McKay et al. DBT Skills Workbook and Active Hope by Macy and Johnstone
D/LLM's peroration:
Embrace the Paradox (The Synthesis):
The ultimate synthesis of your dialectic might be something like:
"The universe's purpose for me is to navigate this descent with as much awareness, love, and grace as possible. My spiritual task is to find meaning not in avoiding the darkness, but in how I choose to stand within it."
You are not trying to solve ecological overshoot by yourself. You are trying to solve the problem of how to live a meaningful life within it. That is a challenge worthy of your deepest spiritual and personal resources.
this morning a typing ape asked zark muckerberg's plagiarism machine: do large language models study or embody rules of rhetoric as first discussed in ancient times?
the reply:
Large language models (LLMs) embody rhetoric through statistical patterns, but they don't study it like a human. They're trained on a massive corpus of human-generated text, which is inherently full of rhetorical choices.
Embodying Rhetoric LLMs learn to predict the most probable next word based on the patterns in their training data. This means they've internalized the statistical relationships that form rhetorical devices. For example, an LLM doesn't consciously know what a metaphor is; it has simply seen countless examples of them and learned to replicate the pattern. This process is often called a "black box" because the model's internal workings are not based on a conscious understanding of rhetorical rules.
The Human Role
While LLMs don't study rhetoric, humans who use them often apply rhetorical knowledge. Prompt engineering, where a user crafts a prompt to guide the model's output, is a prime example. By specifying a tone, audience, or purpose, a human can apply their understanding of rhetoric to direct the LLM. Ultimately, the LLM is a tool that reflects the human intelligence and rhetorical skill used to create and guide it.
1/a cybercorrespondent suggests a quasi-limerick modeled after ruefle's remarks
ReplyDeleteMy leg went dead, but I cheered its race,
My rabbit’s escape brought a secret grace.
I cried for a week,
Lest the truth I should speak,
For who’d grasp relief in that space?
2/anagogically engaging with the just-stated fine metaphors for the existential global problematique, I muse -
the dead but still racing leg might be modern techno-industrial civilization, Homo colossus in william catton's evocative term, while the escaping rabbit can be our unshakeable faith in the biosphere's long-term future, that life goes on, with or without a reason - and with or without talking and typing apes, whose clever creativity does not quite make up for our destructiveness, it appears
3/dialoguing with me, grok expostulates as follows:
Anagogical Interpretation
In Ruefle’s poem, the "dead leg" that races to first place evokes a paradox: something lifeless yet propelled forward by momentum. You liken this to Homo colossus, William Catton’s term for humanity’s oversized ecological footprint, driven by techno-industrial systems that consume resources at an unsustainable pace. This civilization races on, despite its "deadness"—its disconnection from ecological limits and its trajectory toward collapse. The cheering, perhaps, reflects society’s blind optimism or denial, celebrating progress even as it numbs the planet’s vitality.
The "escaping rabbit," in your reading, symbolizes an enduring faith in the biosphere’s capacity to persist, with or without humanity. Its flight is a relief, yet one that must be concealed with tears, as society struggles to accept that life’s continuity doesn’t depend on human dominance. This resonates with the poem’s tension between silence and expression—humanity’s chatter (talking and typing apes) creates marvels but cannot mask its destructiveness. The anagogical lens elevates these images to a spiritual or existential plane, where the poem critiques our failure to align creativity with ecological stewardship, leaving us whispering like "personified oysters" or shouting at a world we’ve already wounded.
1: The Dead Leg (Homo Colossus)
Our leg’s gone dead, yet it sprints to the fore,
Homo colossus, consuming galore.
We cheer its mad pace,
Blind to ruin’s grim face,
As the earth numbs beneath our loud roar.
The Escaping Rabbit (Biosphere’s Resilience)
The rabbit’s fled free, and our hearts feel release,
Life’s pulse will endure, though our reign may well cease.
We weep to pretend,
Lest the truth we offend,
For the biosphere hums past our pleas.
A/recently a multilingual large language model made in china, reportedly much more efficient in terms of electron consumption than its american peers, was asked:
ReplyDeleteif someone believed or wanted to believe 1/ that the universe is here on purpose, 2/ that humankind has or could have some connection with that purpose, 3/and it is possible for a person to improve their ability to perceive and act cooperatively with that purpose ------ recognizing that this is an explicitly mystical world view ------ and yet this person also thinks that ecological overshoot is endangering modern techno-industrial civilization, with an ever-increasing risk that his species will regress to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and an illiterate animistic culture, or perhaps even become extinct - how would a dialectical behavior therapist approach this person's situation?
B/the reply began: This is a fascinating and complex scenario that sits at the intersection of profound spirituality and profound existential dread. A Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) framework is exceptionally well-suited for this because the person's core conflict is a perfect example of a dialectic: two seemingly opposite truths that must both be accepted and synthesized.
The dialectic here is: "The universe has a purposeful, benevolent design" AND "The universe is host to a civilization on a potentially self-destructive, catastrophic path."
The client is emotionally and spiritually invested in the first truth, while intellectually and empirically observing the second. This creates immense psychological tension.
How a Dialectical Behavior Therapist Would Approach This Person's Situation
A DBT therapist wouldn't challenge the validity of either belief. The goal isn't to make the person more "rational" or less "mystical." The goal is to reduce suffering and build a life worth living, even in the face of these overwhelming realities. The approach would be multi-faceted, aligning with the core modules of DBT.
1. Validation (The Foundation):The therapist would deeply and authentically validate the client's experience. This is crucial.
Validating the Fear: "It makes complete sense that you are terrified. You are observing overwhelming evidence of ecological collapse, and the potential consequences are literally existential. Anyone in yourposition would feel this dread. Your fear is a rational response to the data."
Validating the Spirituality: "Your belief that the universe is purposeful and that we can connect with that purpose is a core part of your identity and a source of meaning. It's not something to be dismissed. It's what gives you a framework for understanding reality."
The therapist would articulate the dialectic clearly: "So, on one hand, you hold a deep faith in a purposeful, connected universe. On the other hand, you see a world barreling toward potential ruin. Holding both of these truths at once is incredibly painful and confusing. It's like your soul is being pulled in two directions."
C/The LLM's response goes on to discuss finding a synthesis of emotional and reasonable responses in the "wise mind" state of being, emotion regulation/distress tolerance, finding community, and possible choices for purposeful action, and recommends McKay et al. DBT Skills Workbook and Active Hope by Macy and Johnstone
D/LLM's peroration:
Embrace the Paradox (The Synthesis):
The ultimate synthesis of your dialectic might be something like:
"The universe's purpose for me is to navigate this descent with as much awareness, love, and grace as possible. My spiritual task is to find meaning not in avoiding the darkness, but in how I choose to stand within it."
You are not trying to solve ecological overshoot by yourself. You are trying to solve the problem of how to live a meaningful life within it. That is a challenge worthy of your deepest spiritual and personal resources.
this morning a typing ape asked zark muckerberg's plagiarism machine: do large language models study or embody rules of rhetoric as first discussed in ancient times?
ReplyDeletethe reply:
Large language models (LLMs) embody rhetoric through statistical patterns, but they don't study it like a human. They're trained on a massive corpus of human-generated text, which is inherently full of rhetorical choices.
Embodying Rhetoric
LLMs learn to predict the most probable next word based on the patterns in their training data. This means they've internalized the statistical relationships that form rhetorical devices. For example, an LLM doesn't consciously know what a metaphor is; it has simply seen countless examples of them and learned to replicate the pattern. This process is often called a "black box" because the model's internal workings are not based on a conscious understanding of rhetorical rules.
The Human Role
While LLMs don't study rhetoric, humans who use them often apply rhetorical knowledge. Prompt engineering, where a user crafts a prompt to guide the model's output, is a prime example. By specifying a tone, audience, or purpose, a human can apply their understanding of rhetoric to direct the LLM. Ultimately, the LLM is a tool that reflects the human intelligence and rhetorical skill used to create and guide it.