Nobody said anything about only observing. And understanding does not require that we manufacture hypothesis or model. You are thinking science, which is another thing. I am thinking mere empiricism. After that there are multiple options. But yes, empirical basis is key.

Telling me what you think about what somebody else thinks is basically the opposite of direct observation.

Doing it makes for a better observation than watching it, surely.

Or even EMPIRICISM, BITCHES.

Because you don’t even need to craft a model at this point. And you can employ all kinds of fuzzy judgements that don’t encode into language, like vibe and aesthetic.

Language really is a crude, shallow and convention-bound thing.

Yes it is

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There’s the quiet sneaky puppet and the loud aggressive puppet. They switch them appropriately. They’re basically there to give us something to yell at.

Neither?

You really think things would be different if the other sock puppet got elected?

I don’t mean that it influences your thinking (but it does, of course), I mean that it alters the shape of your consciousness (or “awareness” if you like). Like a drug.

It gently compresses your consciousness into your head (your intellect, or the part of your intellect that turns text into thoughts) and gently prys you away from everything else.

Maybe you notice the first couple times but eventually, if you read a lot, you forget that there was ever a difference and the changes become somewhat permanent. You enter the apartment inside your head to stay and thereafter peer out at the world through its little windows.

Everybody who gets control without accountability goes fascist. We’ve all seen it. It’s an internet cliche. It’s gotta be built into our biology.

Weird in a bad way or weird in a good way?

If you start with the assumption that the riddle can be solved, the rest is just concentration and time. I feel pretty confident about that.

Why isn’t it a shower thought?

I’ll keep that one in mind. Thanks

Temptation. That’s the word I’d use. I am tempted, seduced, into a dream. A luscious invitation that I fall for.

I did that elsewhere in this thread. Look around. To copy-paste would be gauche.

You stand proudly as an example for us all.

well if it was obvious then nobody would fall for it. thus the need for reflection and conversation

The red scare. The persecution of jews in nazi germany. The persecution of the first dude who suggested that if doctors washed their hands then less people would die of infection. Just say no to drugs. Cigarettes are good for you. And yes, our latest adventures with vaccines.

A good propaganda campaign and our natural urge to conform substitutes for torture in this case.