When I come home from work, I strip off the extra pointless skin and go through the usual rounds of spider inspection. They don't like me anymore (because I kill them) and remain behind the walls. Lately, there has been some amusement in my mind concerning the notion of cohabiting with a foul female (I have no evidence to the contrary). I almost went out with that playful woman last summer. If I had been more aggressive, then she'd be living with me. But then, I'd be in the horror world. It's strange how I avoid her completely, despite her invitations. (Desire mutated into abhorrence.)

Most men I know are married. And they do not understand their wives. Men typically cope with this problem by drinking alcohol, or sleeping with other women. I cope with the problem by not forming a relationship in the first place. My behavior is not understood by others, nor do I understand the behavior of others. I do not know where this puts me in the scheme of things, but in reality there is no scheme. So there is no need for me to be anywhere, just as others are not actually anywhere.

There are just bumpings and crashings and strange stickings. When people stick together, there must be a mutual weirdness. All humans, having their own thoughts (nothing else is possible - you can't have mine), are very weird. But there aren't even any real stickings. What we might perceive as a sticking is simply a vast collection of micro-bumpings and micro-crashings. You only stick with yourself (because you don't have a choice).

At a higher level of perception or observation, human activity might resemble that of subatomic particles. The emotions could be akin to forces, which mysteriously drive behavior. Just like invisible forces drive the activity of particles, invisible emotions drive the activity of humans. Are there corresponding anger fields, pleasure fields, etc.? And thus particles of emotion? What is the anger particle? The jealousy particle?

I'm married and I understand my wife just fine (to the extent that any individual can really understand another in the first place). I certainly do not require alcohol or other women to deal with anything (although a small amount of alcohol before bedtime does help one to fall asleep a bit faster).

On the other hand, I perfectly understand why people would not want to get involved in a relationship because of all the restrictions it may bring, and I find it perfectly acceptable behavior for a man to NOT want to procreate.

Sometimes when I read these rants of yours, Jodo, I have the feeling you're just some kind of artificial intelligence programmed to leave random posts on forums. You possess lots of studybook-wisdoms, but it seems you're totally bereft of any kind of emotional understanding.

wow, man. deep.

*toke*

i think he was a preying mantis in a past life... still worried about a female cutting his head off, but still damn good at killing spiders..

I don't fully "get" my girl, but I always remind myself that it's because she's a product of an entirely different culture.

wait, is this all some really obtuse Evangelion joke?

That's why it deeply bothers me when I try to understand emotions or make emotional connections with others. I have theories of my past depression, but the only one that makes true sense is when I attempt to act like other humans. It is deadly dangerous for me to try to get a girlfriend, for example. Women primarily make decisions based on 'how they feel'. I am completely unapproachable because I value information. It 'hurts' to try to talk about 'how I feel' because I can't successfully process that information. I can't explain it. Since I have to state things as accurately as possible, any attempt to explain 'how I feel' will bring my mind to a grinding halt, because there is too much to consider. The question is far too complicated. I am the complete opposite of a self-centered person, although I appear very self-centered. My own somatic existence is something I would rather do without, since it's too much of a hassle. I'd prefer to get rid of my body and all the maintenance required.

I once thought: "Elementary abilities of social interaction are mathematical in nature. You must measure others peoples' height, threat, kindness, ordinality, cardinality, etc. One would think that the greatest mathematician of them all would be most able to capture women and succeed in his social life, but he wasn't. At least Newton wasn't. All in all, I don't believe the crap, just in a certain sense. I believe that I have controll, I decide what I do. But I cannot decide to a bad man. Because I'm afraid. I would hate to do something wrong. Better to lock myself up. And do what I do best. And praise God for Newton! What would've happened if Newton wasn't anxious enough never to persue anything else than his science-religous stuff?"

And my dad once tought: "I would rather not be a priest". Lucky me!

Something is wrong with the regulatory mechanisms in my brain as well. But I've decided that I want kids. And grand-kids. And that I should work hard now for their future benefit. Study hard, gain a reputation, do whatever I can to stop the fasci-wave in Europe, fight climate change, fight for democracy, have a  girlfriend which I want to stay true to for the rest of my life, prioritate my time consciously, and so on. But that's me. And I'm 20. And those ideas are bound to change.

Robo Jodo!

Or Equilibrium?

Ehh, you're overthinking things, man. When people ask you how you "Feel," the correct answer is "I'm fine." Unless you really expect that the person actually wants to hear about whatever problems you have that you want to talk about...

Sometimes, getting along with people doesn't have anything to do with being able to bear your heart, or being completely honest...at least, with your feelings, anyway.

Tactile sensation communicated to the brain via nerve impulse. Complex question, simple answer ala Alexander.

no, see, I think that it's pretty obvious that this is complete bullshit, some thinly-veiled intellectual cowardice to avoid the risk of ever moving outside your comfort zone.

"Women primarily make decisions based on"....Jesus Christ.

Give us a break. You aren't some baffling alien machine man or self-aware sociopath forever separated from concepts like empathy and compassion. You're a neurotic jerk who has given up on investing the time and effort needed to relate to other people, and I can see this plain as day because I'm largely the same. The difference is that I create no illusions or delusions about my antisocial preferences and I do not attempt to sell them to others in order to excuse my own bad behavior and gain sympathy and pity.

This disaffected tone you put on, like you're this tragic figure who can never experience the true feelings that others enjoy....what a load of crap. You might as well be masturbating in front of us of in terms of how much respect you're showing us.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh. Maybe it's not even conscious any more on your part. Maybe you've begun to believe in your own mythology. Or maybe you're just screwing with us. I kind of hope you actually are creating this problem for yourself, because pretending to be emotionally disabled is honestly one of the vilest forms of trolling/attention whoring.

People are not hard to understand. The gap between what we know about other people and the exact reality of what other people are is extremely easy to fill with what we think about other people, and if you say that the impossibility of accuracy in that gap is paralyzing, you're just avoiding actual effort and being intellectually dishonest.

The nature of existence itself is unknown. There is no definable boundary on reality. No one knows why the you that is "you" is you. Quantum. Chaos. With the sheer amount of things out there that you do not understand - quite possibly infinite in quantity and quality, which is in itself beyond comprehension - how the hell did you live long enough to post this topic?

If you can deal with the sheer unpredictable insanity of simply waking, sleeping, eating, breathing, the very basic acts of urinating and defecting which possess problems and probabilities you will never fully appreciate.....how can you say people are impossible?

once you learn to turn everything into a joke, nothing will bother you... early summer enrollment for longhairmike101 begins next week.
dont bother wasting time trying to understand or be accepted by everyone,, just ignore the vast majority

I'm a guy and primarily make decisions on "how I feel." I don't think I have a vagina, let me check here....... nope. Hell, the woman I work for has a bigger &^%$ than me. There are so many factors other than what sex you are that influence this, which I think you'd "understand" if you "value information." Instead you choose to believe in ancient stereotypes. Unbelievable. Then again, as a male, maybe I'm "defective" because I consider other people's feelings and treat people how I want to be treated although I can't always live up to that. Such an act may make a person vulnerable and yes, I don't like being hurt but at least I know I'm freakin' alive and it's better than the alternative. If you feel like twisting that last part, do yourself a favor and get lost instead - preferably in the woods away from any books. Knowledge now "appears" to be a dangerous thing.

You're both; god, and I thought I was bad putting myself down all the time. I'd rather be over-emotional, self-doubting moron than as cold as a tombstone.

No, you're not. This kind of crap is why I hardly ever read Jodo's posts. Still, I believe congratulations are in order, for someone so interested in "the human condition" you've pretty much shredded your last remnants of humanity. It's pretty ironic that someone so interested in why people do what the do is incapable of experiencing it himself.

The main problem I have with not reproducing is that I would relegate the success of my ancestors to one of complete failure. Not just my human ancestors, but all of those life forms that led to my existence. I, along with everything that is 'alive', is the product of success.

Quote from 'Diaspora', by Greg Egan (p. 139):

"Every creature born in the flesh carried the genes of an ancestor who had lived through the most savage punishment this world could inflict."

The ultimate crime of any life-form should, realistically, be the failure to reproduce. I am a criminal of the highest order.

you're quoting a science fiction author?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_%28novel%29

what is this

what is this dumb self-important sci-fi gobbledygook

do you read anything that is written by people who don't fantasize about having sex with computers

I have lived long enough by not being lucky enough to die. I can't win, no matter how hard I try. I wake up every morning. It's the strangest thing.

  I don't recall ever stating that people are impossible. Rather, I would prefer to not be a person. To not have to live - what enjoyment!

It's a great book. Even though I've been reading about particle physics for 15 years, I had a rough time with this one. I also have very poor knowledge of topology, so that's a future research topic. Greg Egan does not write dumb books. His knowledge of science is humbling (far superior to my own). I quoted him because it seemed relevant, plus, I saved that quote because he hardly ever writes anything worth quoting. So that was quite rare for Egan. Most of his stuff is not-easy science extrapolation.

As for sex with computers, tell me of a life-form that has not copulated with a computational organism. (I'm not sure where your last question came from, because I have never once read of anyone having sex with a traditional computer. Heinlein came pretty close, in "Time Enough for Love", where a computer personality was transferred into a biological body.)

so why exactly haven't you committed suicide yet? I'm genuinely curious.

There we go. I've been waiting years to see you blow up over something small like that again. Why is it every time I think I'm wrong about you, you do some damn fool thing and prove me right all over again?

"You might as well be masturbating in front of us of in terms of how much respect you're showing us" is the line that really got me. You've been nothing but a harsh c--t since I started coming to this site. Jodo means no harm, but you seem to have no trouble attacking people over shit like this? And you wanna talk about people showing you respect?

what

Sorry, Idolores, but Dais is completely 100% right on this one.
I think Jodo needs to be spoken to like this.
He may never post harsh words, but his insane ramblings are more disturbing than someone who likes to say "f---" a lot, and it's about time someone told him off.

He needs help. Period.

I disagree completely and found Dais' response to be in exceptionally poor taste. I find Kast's posts to be entertaining and more than a little thought provoking. Dais' post came off as more "I'm better than you, f--- your shit" more than it did telling him off in any way, which is the general perception I have of him based on his posts over the years.

Bottom line, Kast isn't hurting anyone with his posts and it seems the only people who disagree are taking them way too seriously anyway. Besides, if you have such an aversion to reading this shit, why even bother going out of your way to attack him? Because you disagree with it? Please.

What I'm trying to say is it's fine if you disagree with it, but don't go out of your way to be a tool about that. That's the only thing uncalled for here.

yeah, I realize I'm not a pleasant person. and I get that I don't post on a frequent enough basis for anyone to feel comfortable with directly addressing what a prick I often act like.

But the way I see it, there's two possibilities here:

1. This is all some kind of put on (which would suck but wouldn't be the end of the world or anything)

2. Jodo believes, at least on some level of his conscious behavior, that he is representing himself accurately in his posts (which would also suck and not be the end of the world, but would mean that we could perhaps persuade him to alter his line of thinking re: waiting until the singularity to go out and socialize)

okay, let me ask you a simple question: do you think he seriously believes the things he writes?

I'm going to disagree with the notion that if one doesn't like what one read, one shouldn't express as much in response. Jodo--like all of us here--posts what he does for people to read and consider. It's not right to say that only certain considerations are worthy of sharing.

I agree that Dais is exceptionally harsh in expressing his opinion--but that's Dais for you, just as being abstract is Jodo's thing or where'd-that-guy-come-from-all-of-a-sudden is my thing. And while I can't say I'm a fan of the tone either, to be honest, I think Dais is expressing what some of us think but wouldn't say in so many words.

For my part, I'm not really interested in reading the 'profound' ruminations of someone who gives off the impression that he thinks he's above or beyond the primitive trappings of the social human being--and that's why I choose not to visit Jodo's blog or website. But whether he's making posts of his own or chiming in on rather large tangents in other threads, it feels like STC is practically Jodo's second blog--and since it's everyone's STC, I think it's fair for people to let speak their mind on it.

Who cares if he does or not? It's inconsequential. We're talking about you abusing the ability to be a prick online. There are a million better ways for you to make your point without attacking him the way you did, and using your own self-realization of not being "pleasant" as some deranged ticket to justified narcissism is far more repugnant than anything Jodo has ever done or said on these boards.

Especially when you're saying shit like

"do you read anything that is written by people who don't fantasize about having sex with computers".

Even if Jodo comes off as narcissistic, at least he's civil.

last time i checked this was the 'other' topic...

it's inconsequential to your sudden pounce upon my posting, which is starting to read like some kind of weird mirror-seen-in-a-mirror effect - the infinitely reflected ad hominem.

what it's not inconsequential to is Jodo himself. If he is serious, then something is genuinely wrong with how he views the world, and it doesn't have to be that way. I didn't post in this topic because I wanted to point out that he acts like a dysfunctional jackass. I posted because I wanted to point out that it's ridiculous for him to do so.

it's a valid question. People who are concerned with transhumanism are people who aren't concerned with reality.

As I said, there are better ways to make this known to him, if you're legitimately concerned about him that much. A more civil post, or even a personal message through email (which I've resorted to several times) can go a long way. You don't risk sounding like a condescending jackass that way, nor do you start what eventually turns into a 4chan-esque mess like we just saw. I say this because I've never known a single person who responds well to the kind of therapy you just attempted to provide.

It's no exaggeration to say that you could benefit from a bit more tact is all.

You've made an error in interpretation. I have not posted a 'rant'. I do not understand what makes you think I am 'ranting'.

I am regarded as an extremely stable person by people that actually meet me in person. This may shock you, but I was rejected by that girl last summer because, as she stated, "You don't have any problems. You're too stable." I am the type of person that 'has his shit together' - words of my boss.

I am also regarded as very strange, because I talk about spiders and physics, watch Asian movies, and listen to video game music. Most people do not like Asian culture and do not regard music from video games as music. Most people do not like spiders and do not understand physics. Now, when you interpret 'most people', you will think of those that you interact with. Bear in mind that my definition of 'most people' are those that I interact with. Therefore, the way I speak of most people may not coincide with how you would speak of most people. Also, you don't know the women I've interacted with. Maybe some men are lucky and don't constantly run into idiots. You have to understand I am around women and men that think astrology is an acceptable topic of conversation. They ask me questions like "Will the world end in 2012?" How would you feel if a woman told you she believed in astrology or really believed the world is coming to an end? Would you even attempt to form a relationship with her, knowing that her mind is extremely primitive?

  Why should I care about being a part of humanity or try to 'fit in'? Do you want to know what I would have to do to 'fit in'? First of all, I would need to start attending church on a regular basis and become a Christian. This would be met with great approval by others. I would need to STOP talking about science or anything that is unrelated to extremely popular conversational topics, such as the activities of baseball teams or inane TV shows. I could just do these two things - attend church and talk about sports. Then I would 'fit in'. If I took up astrology and believed the world was coming to an end, then I could start dating women in such numbers that I'd appear to be a rock star.

My desire to succeed is just as strong as my desire to fail. I am balanced by the explosion of suicidal thoughts and the implosion of questions. I can't kill myself because I have to know why I want to.

Edit: Philip Jose Farmer, a favorite writer of mine, stated the same of himself in his autobiography. Although not worded the way I did. The idea of 'balance' by explosion and implosion is based on the thermonuclear explosions and gravitational implosions that make stars stable.

Idolores, I'm not worried about Dais. Some people purposely antagonize others; I deal with people like Dais at my workplace (some of them are my coworkers). I am always nice to them, because they are primitive to me; not fully human. If I were mean to an antagonistic person, then that would be equivalent to mistreating a wild animal. They just don't know any better.

  As an example, there's a girl I work with that tried very hard to get me fired. She would make up information about me. Her behavior was eventually ignored because she started targeting others. I wrote a report about her to my boss, in which I analyzed her personality, pointing out her strengths and weaknesses. It was completely objective and easily verified. I noticed my boss asking her very probing questions from then on.

I suppose so. I just got huge issues with unnecessary rudeness and wild accusations that one might "need help" when all there is to base it on are posts on an internet site.

Nice. Really nice. I thought there was a certain amount of "personal opinion" within an "interpretation." I guess my "interpretation" of what an "interpretation" has been is "wrong" all this time. Thanks for telling us what our opinion should be.

Edit:

This may be a stupid question, and I'm not defending Dias (don't think he needs it), but why does his post create such a fervor and mine - which isn't really nice in tone either - doesn't? Is it because I started out responding to his narrow, sexist remark? I'm kind of confused.

Anyway, I should actually be thanking Jodo. What I wrote actually helped me with some of my own issues and, in hindsight, shows me the kind of person I don't want to be.

I think the reason for that is that Idolores jumped at the opportunity of attacking Dais, while with you he has no quarrels. Idolores sentence "There we go. I've been waiting years to see you blow up over something small like that again." seems to suggest that he was just waiting for an excuse to fly off the handle and settle old scores with Dais (not surprising, as Dias has probably annoyed a gazillion people online by this time). You see this thing often on forums: someone suddenly jumping into a thread with a disproportionally acidic post that has less to do with the actual current discussion and more with an eruption of pent-up animosity. Drop it, Idolores.

I think this tangent between Idolores and Dias is unfortunate, as it obscured the more important point in the thread. I agree with Amazingu and Dias that Jodo probably has a lot of problems to take care of, and he never really answered their questions, instead avoiding them with more techno-babble. Jodo: just because one is "stable" doesn't mean that one is without problems. From your posts over the years, its easy to gather that you're not having an easy time relating to other human beings, and that you feel alone. Functioning perfectly at your workplace and in other such shallow, mostly anonymous social settings is possible for even the most detached, asocial individual, because in most such situations, you don't really need many human qualities to fulfill your task, you only need to be a cog in the system and perform your function while not making a fuss about it. What has bothered me most about your non-VGM-posts in the past is that you're trying to objectify everything. Like Dais pointed out, you're just putting on a cowardly front to avoid dealing with and cover up your deficiency in the emotional apartment. I'm not necessarily saying that you're not a logical person, people can be more or less logical, but if you're a human being, the logic, rational side is only one facet of the whole. The emotional, irrational-animal aspect is just as important to being a full human being, if you try to suppress that side because you have a hard time handling it and it disturbs you, you're just committing self-mutilation, lessening yourself. Personally, I used to have a similar idealistic view of becoming a "logical" creature. This was back in my foolish teenage years, when I hadn't really entered the irrational madhouse we know as "the adult world". We objectify things when we cannot deal with them, to have them under control, keep them at a "safe" and assuring distance. Religion came about as an objectification of myths concerning our origins, to keep primitive people in line and keep them working and obedient. When this crumbled in the Western world during the 19th century, what came about? Science, another (this time more accurate and less superstitious) way to objectify our surroundings, to explain the chaotic nature of existence to us in a believable manner and make it easier for us to deal with all the shit and sleep at night. And to relieve us from the bothersome hassle of actually having to look at the world and dealing with it.

Why do you listen to VGM, Jodo? Why do you watch movies? There is no purely logical reason for anyone to either do or not do these and all other things that we do to fill our time, because logic and rational reasoning can only show you the relation between different factors and premises, they can never in themselves tell you why you should do or not do something. The imperative drive in all living creatures is the irrational, unique emotion that wells up from within: logical calculations only follow afterward, as ad-hoc constructions. Logic is the means and the tool we use to attain our goals and satisfy our irrational longings, but logic can never give us the reason why we do this, can never give us our goals. After all, is there any logical reason for us to even be alive? Is there any logical reason for anything to exist rather than nothing at all?

I'm not trying to beat you up or make fun of you or anything like that. I think you're basically a good person, but you need to stop with all this childish posturing: its getting tiresome, dude. We see through it. Loosen up a bit, go out and get laid, and stop wasting your time on "gathering enough information" to understand a world that is ultimately more complex than any objectification can ever encompass. Chill.

or,, perhaps the entire purpose of this thread is to serve as a Colosseum to help Jodo to choose a worthy intellectual sidekick, someone who can engage him in mind stimulating conversation without a thesaurus, dictionary, or wikipedia at hand. i'll sit back and watch too cause i'm already predisqualified for fart jokes...