[ExI] CRACKPOTS (was electoral college)

Mon Aug 20 17:58:54 UTC 2018

From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace
Subject: Re: [ExI] CRACKPOTS (was electoral college)

>…Hope you don't mind my starting at the top…

Nah, we were strict on the protocol of not doing that in the long agos, but I never saw the harm in it, so I never enforced it.  Rules need justification and periodic rejustification.  Laws should come with expiration/renewal dates.

>…Just a few thousand years ago, if Frazer is correct, we had no religions - just magic (totally different as he defined them).

Nah, I disagree.  Some form of religion, magic, superstition goes back to way before a few kyrs I would suppose.  Even dogs have a kind of religion sorta.  They worship us, they try to do magic incantations by going thru some kinds of motions we like, and thus influence us to help them.  We might see that as an incantation or prayer.  Hey, it works.  We feed them, we house them, we…take them to the vet (see there, dog hell exists too.)

>…What an incredible mess we have made of the world. 

>… So we used to be very homogeneous and now we are about as diverse as we could get.

These two comments are contradictory.  If diversity is good, then we have fixed an incredible mess the world used to be in.

I tend to see it that way, for if everyone has a different religion, then any particular religion is less dangerous than it would otherwise be.  Morality would be loose but within reasonable legal guidelines (no letting your goat go out and steal cars, etc.)

>…Now we have thousands of religions (see Oh Gods, from Atlantic Monthly a while back) and two new ones every day…

There ya go, solving problems, two at a time.

>…"Those folks over there, with their different religion, food, dance, etc.  They are the causes of our problems and we need to wipe them out, get their stuff and their women."

See how far we have come?  Now we make our own stuff, and their women come over to us willingly and eagerly if our stuff is sufficiently cool and advanced.  Such a deal!

>…FYI, goats and other animals have been brought to courts of law - been found not guilty, been found guilty.  In France!!  I wonder if all of this is just excuses to kill something and eat it…

Ja perhaps.  I would still love to catch either of the Nigerian bastards who really did steal the car, put him in the tank, take the goat back to whoever they stole her from (who you know wouldn’t say anything for fear he would be accused of stealing the car) then when he finds her back, he still wouldn’t say anything because good chance the Nigerian goat farmer is also superstitious and isn’t entirely sure she didn’t do it.  He has seen her eyeballing his car and vaguely suspects she is going to sneak out and go for a joy ride.

>…Is this the modern world?  Yeah, in some places.  Many have gone to the Moon and many wear bones in their noses.  LOL

It surprises me how many American young people are trending back toward wearing a modern metal equivalent of a nose-bone.

 >…  You gotta admit it's entertaining.  bill w

Oh how I do.  I really do: I laugh so hard at us.  We humans are so crazy, dogs must be puzzled as all get out.  Maybe that’s why they do that sideways head thing.  They are thinking: whaaaat in the human-damn hellllllll????

In our modern world we have all this leisure time, and all this access to hilarious news about goats stealing cars and the inherent goofiness of a world in which modern science and tech exists alongside ancient witchcraft, sheesh is it any wonder I sit around plotting how to play gags on the superstitious goofballs?  Ethics schmethics, the laughs we could get out of it would more than compensate for a guilty conscience, I would laugh my way thru my penance.

spike

On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 11:56 AM, <spike at rainier66.com <mailto:spike at rainier66.com> > wrote:

From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org <mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> > On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace
Subject: Re: [ExI] CRACKPOTS (was electoral college)

>…John, if you want spiritualism and witchcraft explained… The only evidence here was of the beliefs themselves.  

>…Evidence has been sought …  

HAH!  Unbeliever!  Here’s yer evidence:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/4325377/Nigerian-police-hold-magic-goat-over-attempted-car-theft.html

>…Hasn't been found and won't be, I say…  bill w

Oh ye of little faith.

You just wait pal, that goat might confess before it’s over.

{8^D

Oh man, wouldn’t it be cool, we could play some terrific gags.  We get the cell keys, somehow distract the constables, sneak in there with an actual (human) car thief who is under heavy sedation, doesn’t know what’s going on, switch them, get on out of the police station undetected with the goat, watch what happens next morning at breakfast after the thief sobers up.  They would be talking about a car theft, which he knows he really did, but would be unable to explain how he turned himself into a goat and how the spell wore off.  Any skeptical locals would have their faith reinforced.  Oh that would be a total hoot.

spike

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