Topic Tuesday #145 2015/04/28 "Pressure Cooker Satire"

Topic Tuesday #145 2015/04/28 "Pressure Cooker Satire"

I was going to talk about the SCOTUS and the opening arguments in what may end up as the key to full marriage equality for those that are not hetrosexual, but I was so enraged but the dialog and the logical fallacies in use, the worst of which was the slippery slope argument to incest posed by one of the conservative justices... No, I can't address that right now, no matter how much booze is sat in front of me, so rather I have another concept that I want to address before it flees my brainpan. 

Satire.

Satire is a valuable element of free cultures around the world. It has been employed for all of recorded history, and therefore into prehistory. Satire, allows up to poke the bear without the bear tearing us to shreds; to provide commentary without the authority to do so. I value all free speech and satire closely. However, there is an affect that was only brought to my attention today that is disturbing.

Anyone that had cooked or been a student and heard the phrase, will know what letting off some steam means. A pressure cooker is the best example. If the regulator doesn't let off some steam, the cooking vessel will explode like a bomb, releasing all of it at once. If you let that steam off, and keep the heat on, the contents cook quite quickly. 

Satire is that pressure release valve to society. Take what has been happening in the United States around racial violence with the police force. Ferguson and the very recent Baltimore riots come to mind as pressure cookers. 
These "pots" have been on a low flame for a very long time. The populace has been brought to a boil time and again, but could it be that occasional humorous outcries of satire, the pressure was released and they didn't explode earlier?
Could we be so manipulated; sated by the heartfelt and frustrated humor that a comedian can deliver? Could the Daily Show not only deliver news, but as it is delivering it, defuse the bomb of the message?

It is a philosophical question, that may have some scientific merit to it, though I have not found a study on it. If you find one, please bring it to my attention.

Until then, stay reasonable.

Topic Tuesday #119 2014/10/28 "Perception As Reality"

Topic Tuesday #119 2014/10/28 "Perception As Reality"

We are amazing. Seriously. Think about your reality. What are you? No matter what your ultimate belief your reality is a marvel. Check this out, and bear with me. 

In the macroscopic view our solar system is orbiting the center of a galaxy that is also spinning around a galactic center. Inside our own star system, our relatively small planet has a thin atmosphere of various gasses and trace minerals. The biosphere that supports the only known life in the universe at this time, is equivalent to the skin of an apple. That peel is just as thick. Below that, it's too hot, perhaps for all but the most extreme forms of life. Above that, there are no nutrients to support life, as we know it. As we continue to draw closer to our own existence in between the "Macro" and the "Micro",  as we exist on what amounts to be a biological spaceship, we are little more than biological robots. I know that sounds odd, but it is a mater of perception. We only experience life through an interpretation of our senses. Sight is processed by our brains, and then interpreted and given meaning by our collected experiences. The same as our other sensations. If we stub our toe on a coffee table in the dark, though it may seem instantaneous, our nervous system still has a speed limit. The strike takes time to make its merry way along our cells to our brains to then be interpreted as "Pain" and then our brains react and send the response back to our motor neurons to yank your foot away from the offending furniture, and begin our slapstick dance around the room while stifling an expletive.

Everything you always wanted to know about sex by Woody Allen

Our consciousness is the captain of a biological spaceship navigating middle earth and middle management. Neuroscience and biology have settled on (for the moment) that consciousness is an emerging property of our brain's architecture. If we alter our neuro-chemistry, our reality changes. LSD, PCP, Marijuana, Peyote, Caffeine, Oxygen Deprivation, Sedatives, Uppers, Opiates, Love, Genetics, Brain Damage... All these things and more change our perception of reality.  In the end, we are only as effective as our information, and all we are is the information we obtain from our senses. Our interpretation of the data is our reactions and feelings and thoughts, and everything that we represent, all that we are.

I like to make an attempt to believe as many true things and as few wrong things as possible. To do that, I have to question reality, and in turn, my perceptions. In this respect, I am ever changeable and changing. I will change my mind based on new input, both good and bad. I hope that everyone does. Keep learning. Keep questioning. Never give up. Keep your hailing frequencies open.

Helm, all ahead full, and watch out for that coffee table.