Pessimism, Fatalism, Realism, Optimism, Hope

By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com

When I first had the idea to write this piece, it was going to justify my own overwhelming sense of foreboding regarding future events that, to me, seem as inevitable as gravity drawing water down a drain. I wanted to defend my perspectives against those who still have hope. First, I would parse the meanings of pessimism, fatalism, and realism, and then use persuasive language to show how I was merely being honestly realistic because math.

I was going to entitle the essay “Embracing Realism with an Attitude of Pessimism and a Foreboding Sense of Fatalism” and demonstrate how I was not a pessimist or a fatalist per se, but rather a realist.  I would then use that construct to demolish any remaining hope still aflame within the hearts of the readers; as a favor to them.

In fact, I even conducted an informal poll to sample the perspectives of awakened and like-minded online travelers.  Like the flicker of lanterns in a dark wood, the glint of moonlight from metal on a mountain trail, or a midnight campfire tossing sparks into heaven – I was surprised to see that hope still shined for 6 out of 10 red-pilled wanderers traveling through the entropic cosmos, beyond the great digital divide.

I actually speculated the Skeptics would outnumber the Believers, but that was not the result.

Therefore, this essay will be different than what I had originally envisioned.  It will, instead, be a tribute to a brilliant Pulitzer-nominated novelist who hung himself in 2008.

 

Definition of pessimism

1 : an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome

2 a : the doctrine that reality is essentially evil

b : the doctrine that evil overbalances happiness in life

 

Whereas Merriam-Webster’s first definition of pessimism regarding “an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects” would seem indicative of attitude, or personal perspective, the secondary definitions appear to actually flirt with fatalism:

 

Definition of fatalism

: a doctrine that events are fixed in advance so that human beings are powerless to change them; also : a belief in or attitude determined by this doctrine

 

Consequently, if I were to be completely honest in my consideration of future events, I would say my fatalistic mindset was a result of realism:

 

Definition of realism

1 : concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary

2 a : a doctrine that universals exist outside the mind; specifically : the conception that an abstract term names an independent and unitary reality

b : a theory that objects of sense perception or cognition exist independently of the mind — compare nominalism

3 : the theory or practice of fidelity in art and literature to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization

 

In other words, I would be pessimistic regarding inevitable (i.e. fixed in advance) forthcoming future tribulations because of the reality of current circumstances; in the same way common sense tells me an omelet will be bad even if only one of the eggs is rotten, let alone the entire batch.  Call it extrapolation or inference from evidence, or fatalism (i.e. determinism), or by any other terminology – in any contingency, the future is NOT unknown because it’s coming; or rather, the future’s inevitable arrival is known.

Then I started thinking about language and entropy, and math, and the phrase “so it was written, so it shall be done” and questioning if the future could actually be locked (i.e. fatalism / predeterminism).

 

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

– 1 Timothy 3:1

 

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

– Matthew 24:12

 

Right or wrong, it was my mindset when I began to consider the second definition(s) of “realism” above regarding the “doctrine that universals exist outside the mind”. This, in turn, caused me to ruminate upon the concept of free will.

While researching this, I discovered the writings of a dead man; or rather the residual online dynamism of the man and his writings, since I’d not read anything he’d actually written. The dead author’s name was David Foster Wallace and one of his writings, in particular, captured my attention entitled: “Fate, Time, and Language: An Essay on Free Will”.

According to my internet research:  The essay was Wallace’s posthumously published 1985 honors thesis that he submitted to the Amherst College’s Department of Philosophy which, specifically, refuted the philosopher Richard Taylor’s 1962 paper entitled: “Fatalism and the Semantics of Physical Modality”.

 

 

Whereby Taylor’s paper outlined six (well-received) presuppositions proving that human beings have no control over fate, the young David Foster Wallace referenced Aristotle, a construct called Deviant Logic, and a principle dubbed the Law of Excluded Middle to prove Taylor’s conclusions erroneous; all because Taylor conflated metaphysics with semantics via these two non-logical, physical implications: “necessary-of” and “necessary-for”.

Wallace’s adviser on the project, Jay L. Garfield, later stated:

 

I thought of David as a very talented young philosopher with a writing hobby, and did not realize that he was instead one of the most talented fiction writers of his generation who had a philosophy hobby.

 

Indeed. Wallace’s novel “Infinite Jest” (1996) was ranked by Time magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005; and his final novel, “The Pale King” (2011) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2012.

Although, as stated prior, I had not read any of Wallace’s writings, it turned out I had heard his words spoken years ago via the audio from a commencement speech he gave in 2005.  I remembered that speech, entitled “This is Water”, and it began as follows:

 

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?”

And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

– Wallace, David Foster, “This is Water”, Commencement Speech to Kenyon College Class of 2005

 

Later in his speech, Wallace said the point of his fish story was “merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about”.

Indeed.

In my research, I discovered Wallace was no saint.  Like a lot of us, he had his demons and, sadly, hung himself on September 12, 2008 at the age of 46.  More recently he was paradoxically named, albeit retroactively, in the #MeToo Movement for previously stalking and harassing his ex-obsession and threatening to kill her husband.

No matter how smart we think we are, there are some things we can’t understand.

 

There are these two guys sitting together in a bar in the remote Alaskan wilderness. One of the guys is religious, the other is an atheist, and the two are arguing about the existence of God with that special intensity that comes after about the fourth beer.

And the atheist says: “Look, it’s not like I don’t have actual reasons for not believing in God.

It’s not like I haven’t ever experimented with the whole God and prayer thing.

Just last month I got caught away from the camp in that terrible blizzard, and I was totally lost and I couldn’t see a thing, and it was fifty below, and so I tried it: I fell to my knees in the snow and cried out “Oh, God, if there is a God, I’m lost in this blizzard, and I’m gonna die if you don’t help me.”

And now, in the bar, the religious guy looks at the atheist all puzzled. “Well then you must believe now,” he says, “After all, here you are, alive.”

The atheist just rolls his eyes. “No, man, all that was was a couple Eskimos happened to come wandering by and showed me the way back to camp.”

– Wallace, “This is Water”

 

Wallace said he used the Eskimo story to discuss what he termed “the whole matter of arrogance”:

 

The nonreligious guy is so totally certain in his dismissal of the possibility that the passing Eskimos had anything to do with his prayer for help.

True, there are plenty of religious people who seem arrogant and certain of their own interpretations, too. They’re probably even more repulsive than atheists, at least to most of us.

But religious dogmatists’ problem is exactly the same as the story’s unbeliever: blind certainty, a close-mindedness that amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn’t even know he’s locked up.

The point here is that I think this is one part of what teaching me how to think is really supposed to mean. To be just a little less arrogant. To have just a little critical awareness about myself and my certainties.

Because a huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded.

– Wallace, “This is Water”

 

Like Wallace, I have my own demons and my thoughts can be overly obsessive constantly; even torturous.  Like a war vet with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, those who see much, carry much with them. So much, in fact, it becomes hard not to drown.

 

….learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think.

It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.

Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed. Think of the old cliché quote about the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master.

This, like many clichés, so lame and unexciting on the surface, actually expresses a great and terrible truth.

It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms almost always shoot themselves in the head.

– Wallace, “This is Water”

 

In the process of taking down some old and dying pine trees on my property a few days ago, it felt like war.  Even wearing the appropriate clothing, gloves, protective eyewear, and while exercising extreme caution, I became scratched and bleeding in ways I did not foresee. As I cursed the sap and knife-like needles and branches, an old familiar darkness entered into me once more that said:  All is meaningless and nothing matters.

 

 

For a moment, I could not shake the knowledge that all would soon be ashes and waste; and, as my mind drifted, I wished civilization’s clock would not run out on my dream of having grandkids in a more peaceful, and hopeful, time.

“But that is not for me,” I thought.

As I wiped the sweat and blood from my pin-cushioned-by-pine-needle forehead, I looked upward into a magnificent cerulean firmament and let my gaze fall into the distance, where the blue-dome alighted upon the emerald purlieus.  The gentle breeze both cooled and calmed me. I had the moment.  At least I had that.

 

The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death.

It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:

“This is water.”

“This is water.”

It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive in the adult world day in and day out.

Which means yet another grand cliché turns out to be true: your education really IS the job of a lifetime.

– Wallace, “This is Water”

 

Truly, I know little more than this moment; even now, as the future crosses the horizon.  It could be fine; but probably not.

That said, I could have never predicted how the digital dynamism of a dead writer, whose words I’d never read, would turn my sense of fatalism into a tribute of his life, works, and words.

It was a real learning experience.  It showed me anything can happen.

Author: Uncola

I am one who has found the road less traveled while remaining a whiskered, whispering witness to the world. I hope what you just considered was worth the price and time spent. www.TheTollOnline.com

117
Leave a Reply

avatar
  Subscribe  
Notify of
Airman Higgs
Airman Higgs

Government is, by literal definition, illegitimate. It is nothing more than a mob of people with weapons saying, “Yes, we can. Yes, you will.” They utilize all manner of elaborate rituals and symbols to back up their assertions, including writing up fancy documents, having established procedures, wearing wigs and crowns and great flowing robes, publishing little red books and so on and so forth, but none of it is anything more than theater of the mind. It is literally nothing more than a group of things with weapons stating, “Yes we can. Yes you will.”

Until mankind evolves beyond the acceptance of illegitimate authority, we’re going to continue to play this seemingly eternal cycle of establishing a government, growing said government into an empire, watching the empire crash and burn, establishing a new government and so on. Either that, or one of those episodes of crash-and-burn is going to take out too much of the biosphere, and planet Earth will be a source of much archaeological fascination to some alien species some many thousands of years in the future.

diogenes
diogenes

David Foster Wallace was a brillant writer and thinker. However, I must confess to only getting 3/4 of the way throught both “Infinite Jest” and “The Broom of the System”. Mr. Wallace suffered from clinical depression and overtime the medication he was taking became ineffective. My son suffers from an anxiety disorder. As my son describes it, it’s a feeling of anxiety for no reason, and it never lets up. Many people kill themselves because the feelings of depression or anxiety just wears them out over time and they get tired of carrying on the fight.

Robert (QSLV)
Robert (QSLV)

The anti-depressants lose their effect over time, necessitating larger doses, tolerance builds up and the drug becomes useless. The side effect of manic compulsive behaviors leads to suicide. The medical profession and the drug companies should be held accountable.

Robert (QSLV)

wishes
wishes

“David Foster Wallace was a brilliant writer and thinker. ”

just dropping in to second that

Wip
Wip

Without hope you have nothing, zero, nada.

If I had no hope, why not simply become a drug addled beggar?

diogenes
diogenes

Wip, Just for curiousity what is your hope? Are you talking about an afterlife in heaven?

Case 30: Daisui’s “Kalpa Fire”
A monk asked Daizui, “When the great kalpa fire bursts out, the whole universe will be destroyed. I wonder if IT will also be destroyed or not.” Daizui said, “Destroyed.” The monk said, “If so, will it be gone with the other?” Daizui said, “Gone with the other.”

Wip
Wip

My Hopes mainly have to do with creating a better life for those around me and becoming the best person I can become. I don’t really have much hope for society or humanity at large. Madness in crowds and all that.

God?…tough one. I was raised very religously and it has a great influence over me especially now that I just became a grandfather 2 months ago. Shit matters.

diogenes
diogenes

Yep. All I care about is my two children and wife. I’ve had a blessed life. I also don’t have much hope for society. Too much stupidity and denial of death.

Gryffyn
Gryffyn

Great essay! One of, if not your best. Another cliché, “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst”, be it Kunstler’s slow emergency or one of the many possible full catastrophes: “Am I not a man? And is a man not stupid? I’m a man, so I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe”. Zorba the Greek.
Btw, you can avoid pine needles in the forehead by wearing a full helmet with a face shield. I highly recommend reading a little book by Len McDougal, “Modern Lumberjacking”, which was a wakeup call for me about the things an amateur tree feller needs to know to avoid maiming or killing oneself.

Uncola

@ Gryff – I actually went and looked for my old full-faced motorcycle helmet before being reminded it was given away many moons ago. However, the morning heat was well on its way to a 90+ degree high, so it would have likely been too hot to wear anyway; or rather, suffering from sticking needles would have been preferable to passing out.

No matter how you slice them, felling pine trees on a hot day is a nasty endeavor.

Thanks for your compliments on the piece. Just prior to typing its first words, I received an e-mail from the ever-eloquent Holly O. that said: “Cynicism is the armour of those who are terrified of disappointment”, and I definitely recognize that tendency within myself.

In fact, I almost didn’t post this essay for fear of disappointing any Left-brained readers due to the article’s inclination toward self-indulgence and sentimentalism; in addition to my acknowledged weaknesses.

Regardless, this still remains a platform burning in time’s fire at the end of an era, does it not?

Onward…

comment image

Gryffyn
Gryffyn

Yes it does, and the best I’ve encountered.
Another one from Zorba: “You think too much. That is your problem. Clever people and grocers,
they weigh everything.”

Anonymous
Anonymous

the older you get, the more depressed you get,
as you see life through different lenses,
dealing with loss, and disappointment, and a whole set of negative outcomes, all of which eventually leads to the final outcome, death.

the older you get, the closer to death, it is really that prism, that is constantly shining it’s light on the author,
but he does package it rather nicely.
well done, uncola.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Speak for yourself, the older I get the more satisfied with life I am.

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs

Anano#2.
Me too.

Old Krank
Old Krank

Hope for a better life? In the USA? In the Western World? That Q is real, and everything will be fixed for you while you sit on your ass and chew popcorn?

Fuggedaboudit. No one’s coming to save you, plebe; you’re on your own against the governing thugs du jour, as you ever have been. Even the inscription on the Statue of Liberty has been changed; no longer appealing to tired, huddled masses (presumably looking for a better life), it now reads: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”.

Anonymous
Anonymous

So why are you here instead of somewhere else?

Old Krank
Old Krank

Better popcorn here than in Zimbabwe.

Grizzly Bare
Grizzly Bare

I wonder if pragmatism can be added to your list of states of mind, or does it not fit?

Excellent piece Unc. Thought provoking, philosophical and even a bit spiritual. Well done.

Uncola

Been thinking about that, Grizz. Now I might even write on Pragmatism; so much to unpack there.

ed
ed

Life is a gift enjoy it. Find a quiet spot in old America and watch the circus from afar. Live simply. Old America still exists one just needs to move about to find the right spot.

Mark
Mark

That was good ed. Me and Smokey Roberson second that emotion!

Anonymous
Anonymous

Smokey Robinson, unless you were talking about old Smokey; it could be his name was Roberson, only admin knows for sure.

Mark
Mark

Anonymous,

I never could spell…at least I didn’t say me and Mrs. Robinson

Mark
Mark

Yet another Crackerjack essay…here is just one prize mixed in with the sticky delicious words. Insight is power…understand and face your PTSD down.

“Like Wallace, I have my own demons and my thoughts can be overly obsessive constantly; even torturous. Like a war vet with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, those who see much, carry much with them. So much, in fact, it becomes hard not to drown.”

Eventually “everyone” suffers from some symptoms of PTSD…is not just war that causes it…war is just a small intense pool…its the WATER we all are swimming in.

FLASHBACKS
Flashbacks are the most commonly associated symptom with PTSD. These can be intrusive or anxious memories of the situation that caused the trauma to arise in the first place. Flashbacks are often triggered by certain situations that are, in some way, familiar to the event that triggered the trauma to occur in the first place. However, flashbacks can occur via emotional triggers, or seemingly occur out of nowhere.

During a flashback, the person might feel like the event is actually occurring again. They’ll experience the same feelings, and they may interpret their external reality much differently than it actually is.

EXTREME REACTIONS TO MEMORIES OF THE EVENT
Another symptom of PTSD, that is closely associated with flashbacks, is having extreme reactions to reminders of the traumatic situation. These can include fast heart beat, quick breath, nausea, tension, stress, vomiting, and profuse sweating.

These are known as psychosomatic symptoms because they occur in the body as a result of the way the mind is behaving. These symptoms can cause intense stress, both physically and mentally, if the individual is made to be reminded of the situation. They can also lead into flashbacks if the PTSD patient lacks the proper coping mechanisms.

AVOIDANCE
One of the most common coping mechanisms adopted by people who suffer from PTSD is avoidance. Whether they do this consciously or unconsciously, they may avoid places, things, or activities that remind them of the traumatic experience.

Avoidance can reach another level when it’s observed emotionally. To avoid emotional triggers, the individual may avoid certain mind states and feelings so they aren’t unconsciously put into a state similar to the one that they were in during the traumatic experience.

For example, if someone was in a very intimate setting and feeling close to someone during the trauma that gave them PTSD, they may close themselves off and avoid intimacy.

LOST MEMORY
Many people who suffer from PTSD aren’t able to remember certain aspects of the experience that led to the trauma. Many people have completely forgotten the experience altogether, by blocking it out so it’s not available to conscious memory. These people may need to seek therapy or hypnosis to address the root of their problem.

People who have blocked out their traumatic memories are the most difficult to treat because they may not even be aware that they have a problem. They may respond irrationally to certain situations and be unavailable emotionally in different circumstances but be unaware of why they behave in this manner.

DETACHMENT
Many cases of PTSD arise as a result of a traumatic interaction with another person. People who have suffered these sorts of experiences are often hesitant to engage with others who are similar to the one who caused them the traumatic experience because, on a subconscious level, they may be worried that they’re going to behave in a similar manner.

People suffering from emotional PTSD like this are often difficult to connect with emotionally or intimately. This could mean they have difficulty engaging in close relationships, maintaining friendships, or being part of a family.

DISINTEREST
Some people who suffer from PTSD develop some serious disinterest in activities that they were interested in previously. They may eschew old hobbies and activities and simply spend their time doing nothing, or they may develop new hobbies that are less enjoyable.

Some people also lose interest in their future. They may let go of aspirations that they have held onto for most of their lives, or they may lose interest in developing a family or pursuing romantic partners. Many people with PTSD believe that they will never be able to overcome their issue so they see no purpose or reason to pursue a good lifestyle.

ANXIETY
Many people suffering from PTSD develop serious anxiety problems. This can develop into many types of anxiety.

They may develop generalized anxiety and have a general feeling of discomfort or disquiet that follows them throughout the day. They may develop social anxiety as a result of the fear behind expressing their experience or displaying symptoms. They may also develop an existential anxiety and begin to be uncomfortable about life itself. Anxiety can lead to many other problems in the life of a PTSD sufferer.

INSOMNIA
Many people suffering from PTSD develop fairly serious insomnia. This could be from a number of causes.

One of the reasons that they can develop insomnia is because of the anxiety that PTSD can cause. Anxiety is one of the leading causes of insomnia and can cause a person to develop restlessness and agitation, two problems that can keep a person tossing and turning at night.

They may also develop hypervigilance, or excessive alertness, because they’re worried or paranoid about their trauma repeating or their triggers being activated. This can keep a person awake all night.

EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY
Another common symptom that people from PTSD can develop is emotional instability. PTSD is a condition that’s heavily based on emotion, and it can cause some serious emotional distress for those who are not sure of how to cope with it.

Emotional instability often manifests in negative ways. After a traumatic experience a person may become more aggressive and angry, being more prone to outbursts. They may become more irritable and lash out for little reason, or they may develop a habit of self-destructive or reckless behavior.

EMOTIONAL DAMPENING
In addition to emotional instability, a person may develop some consistent feelings of negative emotion. These can include guilt, shame, and self-blame: they may find themselves responsible for their own traumatic experiences.

They may also feel like they’re more alone in the world than they actually are. They may choose not to reach out, believing that there is nobody there for them, when people are actually extending a hand to help them.

Depression and hopelessness are common symptoms of PTSD, and they can remain consistent. People suffering from PTSD also have a hard time trusting people and may blame others for ‘betraying’ them.

Uncola

That was pretty awesome, Mark. Speaking of flashbacks – in my younger years, the sight of sadness crossing someone’s face would haunt me for weeks. I manage it now by means of proper perspective and what I have come to term my “mental release button” which is, in essence, the Serenity Prayer.

Mark
Mark

Thanks Uncola,

I have become a 10th degree black belt master of Flashbacks and Time Tripping…but I have learned to focus on the juicy sweet of life not just the trauma.

PlatoPlubius

Thank you Mark,

I needed to read that about PTSD,
It helped me by pointing out a few of my issues I need to work on and helped me be more understanding towards others…

Practicing empathy helps with not being so judgmental even though everything in the social media realm and consumer culture is all about image and situations and judging and at some basic instinctual cognitive perceptual level we cognitively categorize and judge …

This is the 3rd time I am trying to respond to your comment, I think you tying in PTSD to Uncola’s amazing recount of his thoughts and what he has immediately learned from David Foster Wallace’s work IS extremely relevant and pertinent.
I had never heard of him either, so thank you for sharing that Uncola.

The world when taken as a whole and where your attention is spent can seem bleak at times…
I think some of our artistic sides come out when we are on the edge of the abyss…but I have found that i need to take breaks and reenergize my body, mind and spirit, which can be difficult to do living in the rat race.

I’m not sure who said this but it has stuck with me and I think represents a large portion of most generations,

“We start living life before we even know what to live for.”

Here’s another cliche,

“It’s always darkest just before the dawn. “

Mark
Mark

Platoplubius

Your more then welcome buddy…I think swimming through life’s waters gives us all a dose of PTSD…its not a matter of if but when…and then understanding it and learning to deal with it is more important then what happened.

No body gets out alive or unscarred…ed had the best therapy:

“Life is a gift enjoy it. Find a quiet spot in old America and watch the circus from afar. Live simply. Old America still exists one just needs to move about to find the right spot.”

Rdawg
Rdawg

“It’s always darkest just before the dawn. “

Wrong. It’s always darkest before it’s pitch black.

Mark
Mark

Said the pessimist to the cynic who was worried about the defeatist who had sucker punched the killjoy after he had rear-ended the profit of doom who had just hit and run over the sourpuss after backing over the wet blanket on the corner of Gloomy and Party Pooper.

(Just teasing Rdawg)

Mushroom Clouds

And then it rains…

James
James

Well,though started with the article the picture with parts of what seems a healthy blue spruce and a dying hemlock(?) made me think about humanity a bit.Should we purge the sick/weak and thus allow for the strong to grow stronger?Should we weaken the strong for the benefit of the weak and give them a chance to get stronger?Should we just stand back and let nature take it’s course?

I am not calling for genocides of weaker-sick/not calling for new taxes ect. supposedly for the benefit of less strong,so guess I feel lets end all obstructions that have no point yet to empower a few and let the human spirit guide us to be stronger,even then we have a problem as I see what seems to me poison ivy growing around the base of the trees thus no matter what I feel will be more work then first imagine!

Too damn early to be thinking like this!I am dealing with minor(hopefully)health issues but time to get out and not worry about what I can’t do but do what I can.

Uncola

@ James – although the photo of the tree above was found online, it could have been taken on my property – which according to a certified arborist – is just a hair too far south for Blue Spruce to really thrive. Once the branches grew enough to hit their neighbors, they died. Now I know.

Chubby Bubbles
Chubby Bubbles

Lots of spruce around my area in northern NE are doing very poorly.
Could be this:
http://www.dennispanuarborist.com/whats-killing-all-the-spruce-trees/

Uncola

Thanks, Chubbles. Good info. The arborist who looked at them said once they get weak, they become susceptible to a myriad of issues. He also said the Norway Spruce was heartier.

James
James

Chubbles, what part of northern New England you in,most my time in the midlands of New Hampster,we just did some screen planting on me buddies place that included some spruce and hemlock.

Seem their is a beetle that is causing some damage down on Marthas Vineyard recently,hits either the red or white oak,can’t remember which or short of a scorched earth policy much you can do about it.The sad part is there are plenty of white Pine ect. wouldn’t mind seeing dieing off on me mums property but the oaks are treasurer as rarer that part of island and when they finally do die a great source of hardwood.

Gayle
Gayle

Uncola
Thank you for the thought-provoking piece.

But…. what about biology? There is clear evidence that some are born to read and ponder ( getting more educated and thus tending toward pessimism as life goes on) while others are created to socialize and must maintain an optimistic persona to do so successfully. This is a crude description of the various shades of personality and outlook that color humanity, and some of the differences reside in the genes. Now I sound like a Fatalist.

Uncola

@ Gayle – some believe biology is destiny and others not so much. But I do know many people who are most comfortable in their blue genes. 🙂 Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Maybe laughter is, after all, the best medicine?

PlatoPlubius

I think genetics plays a role in what our spirits (energy, soul) are pre-destined to battle. Our choices in how we deal with these genetic precursors is still up to us, for a little bit longer anyways, thus the concept of Free Will.

I say a little bit longer because of the Satanists ruling the playground we call Mother Earth have their way with the Transhumanist agenda the blaspheming-attempt to corrupt Free Will might be in the cards for humanity.

Barney
Barney

Gayle says “But what about biology?” My sister and I were both adopted at birth from different parents, she has a doctorate and I has the grade 10. As an adult she was able to meet her bio-mom who was also artistic and high strung so genetics, tragically bio-mom committed suicide a couple years later. Bio-mom was not career oriented in any way but my sister is quite successful , environment I think at play. As a small boy I saw a mobile crane set up and working at a construction site and I was very sure it was the best thing ever, the operator looked me in the eye and I could tell he was purdy cool. I never forgot and ended up in his workboots, genetic I think but cant say for sure.
A very interesting article “I would then use that construct to demolish any remaining hope still aflame within the hearts of the readers ; as a favor to them”-LMFAO

Anonymous
Anonymous

Wow, I never even got my point across – C yall on the other side.

Harrington Richardson
Harrington Richardson

A really good piece. So much to ponder along with a lot of material to research. Well done!

MadMike
MadMike

Pessimists are disappointed less often, and if things turn out better than expected that’s good, right?
A fatalistic attitude recognizes there are some things beyond the control of the individual, the clan, the community, or the State.
How you prepare for and react to things beyond your control is a question of character.

James
James

Mike,I look at life/character building like the making of a sword including hardening/quenching ect.The hardening part of life beats the hell out of ya but hopefully is a process that like sword making in the long run makes you stronger,the quenching the good things in life that give you the long term strength.

Just seems life at times beats and folds you but make one at times too brittle and thus you crack/shatter,hopefully still enough raw material to restart the process over.I suppose when you cannot restart the building process is either serious mental illness/death,so,at times all I can think is”Recycle dammit!”

splurge
splurge

An awful lot of pessimists are always disappointed that things aren’t worse.

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs

Doug..
I don’t remember You polling us about whether we’re optimistic or pessimistic. I thought you were asking us if we believed the Q bullshit or not.

diogenes
diogenes

Fleabaggs
You are correct. What does swallowing complete bullshit have to do with being optimistic or pessimistic?

Anonymous
Anonymous

10% never get the message. He added a comment on his planned essay which included optimism, fatalism…

Some polls are just like that. They purport to be about this when they are really about that. Only Chicoms take instructions literally and that’s because they have lost their ability to judge when a prompt is a suggestion and not a government order.

There are a lot of readers here who seem to have lost the ability – criteria – to make decisions. The government tells them stuff and they swallow it without thinking. The future is going to be easy-peasy for the oligarchs.
EC

Uncola

I believe “hope” is the keyword to consider regarding the results of that poll; as opposed to pessimism or optimism, per se. I will also concede that people may not have hope for Q and Trump saving America (or “the world” as stated in the referenced video) while still retaining positive anticipation for things beyond. Anything’s possible, right?

Anonymous
Anonymous

Anything’s possible but not probable. – Pangloss

Fleabaggs
Fleabaggs

Doug..
I definitely have positive optimism for what’s beyond.
Perhaps if you had left the Q-idosity out of the survey you would have gotten a truer picture of where we are.
I guess it’s what I get for answering a survey.
Peace..

Uncola

Actually, Flea, right or wrong I believe what you have termed the “Q-idosity” is, indeed, a very accurate picture of where we are now. It was, in fact, why I used that particular video for the sampling.

Mongoose Jack
Mongoose Jack

Very well done sir. Wallace’s observation of truth residing in everyday, well worn cliches I find to be quite validating. For instance, slowly recite ‘Row, row, row your boat……’and gently savor the symbolism stitched in most every word. Volumes of heavy tomes have been written on the essence of those two sentences.
Thank you for taking the time to pen these essays. ?

PlatoPlubius

Mongoose Jack et al
I use “Row, row, row your boat” all the time to rouse young minds and stimulate their curiosity in hopes to wake them from their i gadget social media stupors…

The game of musical chairs is another one to teach about the natural concept of scarcity within the animal kingdom.
This is where the battle always resides….our flesh, animal/survival instincts and behaviors and our mind/spirit relationship, our consciousness and relation at the quantum level to the field which binds and connects everything.

Unreconstructed
Unreconstructed

Excellent article.
I’ve always been accused of being a pessimist, finding a dark cloud in front of every silver lining. My standard comeback was always, ” I’m not an optimist. I’m not a pessimist. I’m a realist. I live in a real world with real problems.”
After reading your article I’m not so sure what I am. Never seen nor heard of some of the other “isms.”
I believe that death is inevitable to all, but undecided what lies in store after that. I believe in the Christian law of sowing and reaping, the Buddhist laws of karma, and the possibility of the Hindu belief in reincarnation.
This brings me to the big question; with all the bad seed I’ve sown and all the bad karma I’ve been guilty of; what if after I die,I am reincarnated as a tumble bug and doomed to the Christian doctrine of everlasting life and rolling a shit-ball for ever and ever?
Is this determinism, pessimism, fatalism or one of the other “isms”
Just wondering.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Untutored, I always got confused as to whether you were Uncola using a variety of Un-isms. I guess not.

Nobody is guilty of karma or traffic tickets, they just accumulate due to certain behaviors.
EC

Uncola

The Chan’s have the anons. Here, we have the Un’s.

Like light through a prism are ideas on a blog

comment image

Anonymous
Anonymous

Unjonged, I’m doing my best to help your comment count
EC

doug
doug

Move to the country. Live your life as you wish AND allow everyone else to live theirs unmolested. Peace

Anonymous
Anonymous

Were you molested, Doug?

DRUD
DRUD

Great thought-provoking article, as in, I have so many thoughts I don’t know where to begin.

My only prior knowledge of Wallace came from the film “The End of the Tour.” Its the story of a
Rolling Stone editor (not sure of his name, played by Emile Hirsch) interviewing Wallace (played brilliantly by Jason Segal) after Infinite Jest came out. Decent movie, but obviously only scratches the surface of Wallace’s writings and philosophy.

I love the excerpts form “This is Water” and I love the analogy itself. Most of us pass through life without the least examination of what it really is…it IS suffering, it IS hope, it IS dread, it IS those peaceful moments, it IS faith, it IS utter despair. It is opposite views on every subject, opposite emotions in every context, opposite actions in every set of circumstances…in short Human Life is everything everyone has ever done, thought or felt. The idea is simultaneously (and paradoxically) staggering in both its immensity and its simplicity. Just like water to a fish.

And we fuck it up, all of us in thousand ways every day…and at the same time it cannot be fucked up, because it IS fucking up too. We want to fix its problems, we want to escape its sufferings, we romanticize the past and dread the future and at the same time forget the past and daydream of the future. Shit, we don’t really need to go beyond the philosophy of Yoda to see how foolhardy it is to BE anywhere else but right now and right here…in this moment, fully present and aware. Still, we will all go shortly somewhere else, to other concerns, practical necessities and needless worries, because we are human and that is Life too. Yet, somewhere in there is Free Will (a notion that seems both physically impossible and more than a little but magic, but we take for granted because it is all around us all the time, just like the fucking water) by which we can choose, from time to time, to fully immerse ourselves and fully observe this amazing thing that is all around us.

One other thought, six months ago, I would have nodded in perfect understanding and agreement (in certainty, if you will) to you “entropic Cosmos” statement. Now, I am not so sure. The more I look into it, the more convinced I become of the Electric Universe model. I have even started a piece on it that will almost certainly never be finished, but the gyst is that evidence is mounting that almost everything we think about how the Cosmos works, from the inside of atoms to galactic clusters, is staggeringly wrong…a projection of day-to-day, human-sized, earth-bound physics that applies virtually nowhere else. Solipsism it would seem applies just as much in the sciences as anywhere else.

Anyhoo, enjoy the moment and stop being certain and just be. Or in the words of Rumi (damn that guy has been coming up a lot lately):

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment”

Uncola

@ Drud – I enjoyed your comment very much. I guess I was thinking of entropy in sort of the ways cars rust, trees die, government corruption expands, and so on. Yet there remains a fire in some people that goes against all that.

I am fascinated by the Electric Universe, both figuratively and literally, and hope you do submit your piece one day.

In the meantime, just to clarify, in the movie “End of the Tour” the rolling stone author’s name is David Lipsky, who was played in the film by Jesse Eisenberg (not Emile Hirsch). I actually watched the film last night after posting this piece.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_end_of_the_tour_2015/

Since DFW was my contemporary of sorts, I was surprised I missed his rise to fame. But, I belive it was because I was busy working and raising kids during that time. Nevertheless, I have known so many like him in college and beyond and believe, had we met, we would have been friends.

Thanks again for weighing in with your two cents.

DRUD
DRUD

Shit, Jesse Eisenberg…I always forget his name. Pictured the right guy came up with the wrong name. What the hell, they’re basically the same guy anyway.

Yes, nothing lasts forever at least from our ridiculously limited perspective. This is simply more reason to enjoy the moment, because it is all we KNOW we have.

I had the same sort of ideas when watching Wallace’s character in the movie., plus I felt a certain kinship toward him, in that I tend to think way too much and TV is a very nice way of avoiding doing so. I wasted huge swaths of my use staring at the damn thing. I can, however, carry on entire conversations using nothing but movie and TV quotes, so that’s something. 🙂

SmallerGovNow
SmallerGovNow

Doug, thought provoking as always. A bit of a tough read for me but that’s because “I are an engineer” and not an English major (LOL) and does not reflect in any way on your prose. So I guess I missed which you think you are? Realist now as opposed to a Fatalist? I still think Pragmatist fits in there somewhere. I tend to boil complex issues down to truths and facts or something I can quantify (that’s the Engineer in me). Then apply math and try to imagine where each issue is trending. That often leads me to be a glass is half full guy but I think ultimately a Pragmatist. Not all knowing and without a crystal ball I understand that anything can and will happen. Is that a ray of hope? Or a willingness to admit that no matter how much we think we know and have experienced that we can’t and never will know and understand it all with 100% certainty. Chaos theory comes to mind. Even though I consider myself a Christian, I have doubts I will be worthy of His forgiveness. A quote from an Alison Kraus song comes to mind as she’s singing to the Lord, “I do believe but help my unbelief”. God Speed Doug and thanks for the writings… Chip

Grizzly Bare
Grizzly Bare

Smaller, That was the thought I had after reading the article, if pragmatism doesn’t fit in there with pessimism, fatalism, realism, optimism and hope. I’ve been chewing on it all morning with the feeling that I’m trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. It occured to me that pessimism, fatalism, realism, optimism and hope are lenses through which we see our world and pragmatism is more a process or a behavior. I’m probably splitting hairs.

Uncola

Chip – in a comment above, I did express some concern over the Left-brainers and this piece.

And, GB, I responded to your earlier comment above (regarding pragmatism) before reading this one. I’ve been “chewing” on it as well. I believe entire ancient languages were, in fact, predicated more on direct action; as opposed to elusively cerebral classifications. Thanks bringing that up.

PlatoPlubius

@ grizzly bare

You said, “It occured to me that pessimism, fatalism, realism, optimism and hope are lenses through which we see our world and pragmatism is more a process or a behavior. I’m probably splitting hairs.”

These lenses are related primarily to attitudes that have developed based off of how we learn to deal with situations and experiences which I believe are genetically variable. (On a spectrum)

Pragmatism as you mention becomes a way of interpreting and reacting both physically and cognitively (rationalizations used as justifications) to fight or flight the issue or situation.

Thank you for your thoughts, food intellectual stimulation is hard to find amongst many of my real world friends.

PlatoPlubius

@ smaller gov’t now

You said, “Or a willingness to admit that no matter how much we think we know and have experienced that we can’t and never will know and understand it all with 100% certainty. Chaos theory comes to mind. ”

What you describe , existential philosopher Albert Camus referred to as the “absurdity of life”

In philosophy, “the Absurd” refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any. In this context absurd does not mean “logically impossible”, but rather “humanly impossible”.
Absurdism-Wikipedia

Like the space created between 2 magnets being held like-pole to like-pole to one another…our consciousness although connected to the underlying quantum level Field is repelled from total awareness of Truths, past present and future,
We would not be Man otherwise. We would possess abilities like omnipresence, omnipotence and infallibility attributed to God(s) throughout the time of Man.

grace country pastor

@ SmallerGovNow

You write… ” Even though I consider myself a Christian, I have doubts I will be worthy of His forgiveness.”

This is a perfect summation of the feelings of most who identify as “Christian” yet are not (yet). Christianity in a nutshell… you are NOT worthy of forgiveness. Neither am I. Knowing this is the key to the problems solution. God offers us forgiveness anyway. This is grace. It is a gift. How can anyone not want it?

Rom 5:12-18… “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”

One has but to receive a gift for it to become ones own property. Receive the forgiveness God offers and be saved!

Col 2:13-15… “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you ALL trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

Being a saved Christian is having certain knowledge of, and undying hope in, the face of an unspeakably evil world. The realization that ultimate good exists in the face of and has already triumphed over unspeakable evil. This knowledge only comes from one place… and satan does not want you to realize it. He has established the worlds religions (evolution included) and falsified “bibles” to keep you from such knowledge.

@ all…

Outstanding original post. Outstanding comments from all. The thinking found here… it does the soul much good. Thank you!

SmallerGovNow
SmallerGovNow

Thank you for your response GCP… Chip

The other side
The other side

“Outstanding original post. Outstanding comments from all. The thinking found here…it does the soul much good. Thank you!” -GCP
I was going to mumble something remotely similar but not nearly as good, I bet your sermons are excellent BTW.

Stucky

I firmly believe (not kidding) that my mother will die before this year ends.

Am I displaying Pessimism, Fatalism, Realism, Optimism, or Hope?

fyi, I myself don’t know the answer to the question.

Mary Christine

Stucky, I’m guessing the answer would be “all of the above”.

StackingStock
StackingStock

Stucky

I don’t the answer either, perhaps Mary is correct. I know in my heart you’ll get through it.

In 2011 my Mom died in July, my Dad in September and for the final blow, my dog in November.

splurge
splurge

Some of each I’m sure. Probably not much fun either?
At least I would wish you good luck with all of that.

PlatoPlubius

@ Stuck
An honest assessment isn’t “kidding yourself.”
Nor does it make it fatalistic.

Steve C
Steve C

I like the quotes from Wallace’s essays. I will remember them. Such thoughts can help in times of personal reflection.

My dad told me something when I was still a teenager that has stayed with me to this day. He said that most things in life will never turn out to be as good as we hope, but that they are never bad as we fear either and that we should always keep that perspective. Just face each one as they come and deal with them as best as you can.

KeyserSusie
KeyserSusie

Moar Wowsers Doug.! My head spins. I just finished Bronze Age Mindset and then hit today with your thoughtful message.

I cannot process it all but my thoughts go to the Way of a Warrior and the concept of controlled folly. I pick a path with heart and act as if it matters.

“The warrior aims to be impeccable in whatever he does, but never takes himself and his actions too seriously, considering them as controlled folly. He acts with sustained effort and unbending intent in order to raise his level of energy.”

[a take away from my EST training was to live a life with intention]

“Man’s predicament is that he intuits his hidden resources, but he does not dare use them. This is why warriors say that man’s plight is the counterpoint between his stupidity and his ignorance. Man needs now, more than ever, to be taught new ideas that have to do exclusively with his inner world—shamans’ ideas, not social ideas, ideas pertaining to man facing the unknown, facing his personal death. Now, more than anything else, he needs to be taught the secrets of the assemblage point.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Wheel of Time: The Shamans of Mexico Their Thoughts About Life Death & the Universe

Our assemblage point here on TBP helps me learn which paths have a heart – containing a path to follow, and which paths lead to a fallow heart. And for that I am grateful.

Uncola

Thanks, KS. Some days I regret not sitting in your dentist chair. You would have got me to thinking so much, I wouldn’t have needed any Novocaine. ?

EL Coyote
EL Coyote

I start reading one of his tracts and when I wake up 2 hours later, one of my teeth is gone.

Peter Pan
Peter Pan

Great article! Brings a few of Hunter S. Thompson’s quotes to mind.

“Those who fail to learn from the brutal stompings visited on them in the past are doomed to be brutally stomped in the future.”

“Call on God, but row away from the rocks.”

“Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshipped and fondled like a priceless diamond.”

Mary Christine

Well I had a really long comment started, walked off for a few minutes to make lunch, came back…. annnnnnnnd it’s gone! I know the lesson about putting it in Word first then copying it. I didn’t intend for it to be so long.

I guess it was never meant to be?

I think SOME people can go through all the stages of pessimism, fatalism, and realism. I think you can be a pessimist and decide to change. I think biology probably plays into our state of mind somewhat. I think false hope can be devastating. It can ruin the possibility of ever being hopeful again.

Atheists believe Christians have a false hope. I guess we won’t find out until we die.

I think we can have both predetermination and free will and so does this guy

Predestination and Free Will: A Summary of The Naked Bible Position

Some people believe a civil war is in our future. Since we can’t control what other people do, it’s hard to say for sure.

I am hopeful we can get through the next several years without one. In the meantime I intend to enjoy each day as much as possible.

Oh and I had never heard of this Wallace person but based on your quotes, I think I like him.

Anonymous
Anonymous

MC, It was our fairy godmother that chose to spare us from a Maggie-like verbal bath while in a fugue state. Seriously, where did our bunny hunter run off to?

Anonymous
Anonymous

I know, right? Herding goats?
M C

Robert Gore

The two hardest things to find are perspective and imagination. I’ve been on a life-long quest for perspective, and to the extent I’ve found it, it keeps me from being overwhelmed with either pessimism or optimism when pondering the human race, whose depredations and accomplishments give one ample reason for both. As far as imagination, it’s something I have and love to exercise, it’s always somehow based in reality, it’s an antidote for fatalism, and it always induces hope, of looking forward to accomplishing something. I don’t have grand, overarching answers to anything, but I am progressing (it’s a journey, not a destination) towards the answers that work for me. I think that’s something to hope for, and it generally leaves me optimistic, regardless of what’s happening in the big, bad world.

A good, thought-provoking article. I’ll post it tonight.

Uncola

Perspective AND imagination. I like that. Thank you, Robert

Administrator

Sent article to Steve Quayle and he just linked to it. That will get it a few thousand more reads.

Uncola

Very cool. Thanks, Admin.

James
James

Soda,also hit SHTF site,you be PUBLISHED!Keep an ey out for unfamiliar drones/blacked out window Chevy 4×4’s /more work crews then usual ect. in neighborhood!

messianicdruid

I prayed for patience once, got perspective instead.

diogenes
diogenes

When I was young, I was bored alot and tried to find things to fill up the void. Now that I am older, I’m glad to just come home and find the house is still standing and hasn’t burned down. Glad that the my wife and children are safe and sound. Glad that there is food to eat, and a cigar to smoke after dinner and watch the sunset. Glad I am not in physical pain. Glad that I can still get a hard-on. I’m a simple cat with simple pleasures.

PlatoPlubius

@ Diogenes

Being content for the right reasons makes all the difference doesn’t it!?

Penforce

When one attempts to display no arrogance of belief, no presupposition, then others might call you a fence rider, maybe even a moderate. Questioning everything and trusting no one is an exhausting way to view the world, but it’s easier than clinging to the end of a magnet. If one of Wallace’s fish, I feel like the one who would ask the question of, “How’s the water?” Sadly, for me, I don’t even wait for an answer. I have no camp other than being a sympathizer of Stucky’s (I don’t give a fuck) party The beneficiary of this circling your own polarized drain mentality is the common canine. Soon everyone will own a dog so they can have at least one trusted friend. Good post Un…, every article you write gets better and better. Thanks for introducing us to Mr. Wallace.

starfcker

Unco, I would make an entirely different case. I would say that fatalism is when you allow yourself to believe that your pessimism is realism. I’ve always gotten teased on this forum for being more optimistic then most. I can trace a lot of the way I think back to certain books I read as a boy. My favorite book as a kid was Endurance, Alfred Lansing’s book about Earnest Shackleton’s ill-fated Antarctic voyage. Now there was a guy with real problems. When your ship sinks in the pack ice and you’re marooned with basically nothing in the middle of the Antarctic, and nobody to rescue you, that’s a tough situation. And there was certainly no answer. But Shackleton had the right kind of mind, knew the answers weren’t obvious at that moment, and over time figured out what to do. And it took a couple of years but every single man came out of that alive. They did the impossible, they saved themselves. Another book that had a big impact on me was Tom Wolfe’s the Right Stuff, about Chuck Yeager and the Mercury astronauts. The definition of right stuff in that book was the guy who, plunging to Earth at 600 miles an hour never panicked and kept trying everything in his power to get the aircraft back under control until the moment of impact. I’ve always looked at life through the eyes of those men. It ain’t over till it’s over. And then till then you got a chance. I’m not a fearful person. I handle stress extremely well. And as a result I seldom find myself in situations that I can’t straighten out. I know enough to know that sometimes there are no answers, they will only reveal themselves in due time. And I don’t worry about problems that aren’t mine. That’s realism to me. And it’s not tied to optimism or pessimism, simply confidence that problems can be dealt with when necessary. We have lost our courage as a society. We can get it back. What would Jesus do? Around here we ask, what would John Wayne do?

Uncola

@ Star,

RE: “…being more optimistic than most.”

Personally, I’ve always found that inspirational. I am reminded of a telling (one of my favorites) from Chuck Yeager’s autobiography where he describes falling to earth out of control when his craft goes into a flat spin and he says to himself something like: “Hey. I’ve been here before. I can handle this.”

Regarding “what would John Wayne do” – In my opinion, much of optimism comes from the experience of overcoming past challenges and knowing one’s abilities in the face of new ones.

At the same time, I also balance that with something Robert A. Heinlein once wrote:

“If a grasshopper tries to fight a lawnmower, one may admire his courage but not his judgment.”

I really enjoyed your comment

starfcker

Unco, I do try not to lay down in front of steamrollers. The Chuck Yeager flat spin thing was in The Right Stuff also. he had a number of problems, and one by one started correcting them. At a certain point all he had left to deal with was the flat spin, which would be fatal to many pilots, but which Yeager felt completely comfortable in dealing with, considering the ones he had already solved. Amazing guy

starfcker

Another great example would be Chesley Sullenberger. Allec Ibay does a terrific job with computer simulation to show you how he dealt with the problems on that famous flight. As soon as his engines went out, he aligned with the river. He then started looking for better options. He never found one, but he still had the river. But that’s true leadership, making big decisions under extreme pressure with incomplete information. https://youtu.be/-0l2pEdbeUI

RCW
RCW

The thoughts eloquently expressed in the line: “I wished civilization’s clock would not run out on my dream of having grandkids in a more peaceful, and hopeful, time”, mirror my own. Thanks for sharing Uncola, adding another author to my reading list and the epiphany. Cheers 🙂

AND NOW FOR THIS COMMERICAL BREAK
AND NOW FOR THIS COMMERICAL BREAK
Dennis Roe
Dennis Roe

Wallace is unreadable, a self absorbed asshole who could write a 1000 pages of shit. Np wonder he killed himself, drivel and whining gets old at page 2. Where’s the fight in you motherfuckers? The heat in the blood, the will to change?

Randy Realist
Randy Realist

As you will soon find out, Dennis, there is nothing left to save. It’s gone baby gone.

Dennis Roe
Dennis Roe

A realist with a fake name. Did you ever try to read that Kook’s shit? Go back to your cubicle with all the cat pictures and write 100 times to be a realist I must first be real, turtlebrain.

Randy Realist
Randy Realist

Hey Douchebag,

You might want to go fuck yourself before I make you my new hobby. Now I know your real name AND your IQ. Randy is an adjective, Dumbshit.

Two, if by sea. Three if from within,thee
Two, if by sea. Three if from within,thee

Great essay, Uncola

James
James

This was a good article,come on folks,it got us to think,1 more post and we break the 100 comment mark,lets get it done!

Uncola

And here is the 101st comment in honor of Orwell’s Room 101:

A preview from the forthcoming July “transition” compilation that will be posted in early August:

Under The President, Lawyers, Spies, & Media Lies:

——-
In an effort to divert publicity away from the Capitol Hill testimony of disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok, and to subvert President Trump’s efforts toward peace with Russia, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the Mueller Investigation’s indictments of Twelve Russian intelligence officers for alleged election hacking under President Obama’s watch; even though, according to Rosenstein , “no American was a knowing participant” in the Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election and there was “no allegation in the indictment of any effect on the outcome of the election” .
——-

Obviously, no one understands better than the Deep State and their minions in the Corporate Mainstream Media that ADVERTISING WORKS:

On Drudge: Republican Warning Signs: Dems Register 12 Million More Voters.

Also, during Peter Smirk’s testimony yesterday Jim Jordon got Strzok to admit the FBI received the Hillary Clinton Funded “Golden Shower” dossier on Trump from the FBI’s Bruce Orr (whose wife worked for Fusion GPS) – which was an astounding admission on internal collusion – before Sheila Jackson Lee interrupted the exchange.

Now try this – internet search “Strzok testimony Orr dossier” and compare to a search for “Russian Military hacks election” .

Yes. Advertising works.

Uncola

Also, remember the Wikileak’s regarding UMBRAGE?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/07/wikileaks-cia-hacking-group-umbrage-stockpiled-techniques-other-hackers/98867462/

The documents also suggest that one of the agency’s divisions – the Remote Development Branch’s UMBRAGE Group – may have been cataloguing hacking methods from outside hackers, including in Russia, that would have allowed the agency to mask their identity by employing the method during espionage.

“With UMBRAGE and related projects the CIA cannot only increase its total number of attack types, but also misdirect attribution by leaving behind the ‘fingerprints’ of the groups that the attack techniques were stolen from,” Wikileaks said in a statement.

The CIA, which keeps its organizational structure below the directorate level classified, declined to comment on the WikiLeaks document release and would not confirm that the hacking and cataloguing programs exists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9pEqEy80RA

EL Coyote
EL Coyote
Unweighed
Unweighed

Al Peniseo just wanted to say it again.

The guilty Russians will be tied to Trump by the midterms like a steamrolling Stone.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mueller-team-pushing-information-roger-stone-wikileaks-sources/story?id=56509716

Uncola

“Roger Stone says he’s the ‘US person’ mentioned in Mueller indictment”

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/roger-stone-hes-us-person-mentioned-mueller-indictment/story?id=56577300

i forget
i forget

Biology. Hormones & other drugs, receptors, wiring configs, tongue-in-groove tabulas.

Levodopa might could turn even rdawg into an optimistic sex crazed gambling addict optimist.

But…hope’s the rope Ali “sold” (fig leaf o’ speech – you cain’t sell nuthin’ that already been bought) to Foreman to hang himself with. Ropa-dopa-minee-miney-mo.

Nobody’s easier to pitch & sell than a hopium head – they done bought just about everything before you ever got to ’em…which is why pitching & selling engineers is more fun.

And defense mechs, can’t leave those out. The graveyard can be disappeared in a whistle.

As for Wallace the word wielder, or Wallace the Claymore wielder, death comes to all (that line was in Braveheart), just a question of when (Hombre).

Anything inevitable is also irrelevant. So interesting, amusing, how irrelevancies are almost inevitably fashioned into relevancya’s.

What was it the strawman wanted from Lee Harvey Ozwiz? Whole lotta’ headshots in Hollywoodywoodpecker land (earth).

But no shortage of jelloshots, either.

Penforce

Tampa, send me those study guides. The ones i forget.

Discover more from The Burning Platform

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading