Now that another objectively fake 'new year' pseudo-celebration has passed*, what next? Well, nothing special, because it is an unnatural and bogus 'beginning' - we may choose to force our personal lives into a January-First-shaped cycle - and the mass media and calendar makers will support us in this; but it is unsupported by anything profound in The Real World, including in Religion.
As long-time readers may know - I used to be an active scientist and theorist in the field of intelligence, personality and creativity; and therefore I noticed that the (vastly-over-rated) media pundit Nassim Nicholas Taleb has been doubling-down on some objectively false and demonstrably ignorant remarks he made about intelligence testing (IQ tests).
No surprises there; but a useful reminder of the way that someone's personality flaws are amplified by cultic admiration until these flaws become... well, I was going to say 'undeniable', but that is wrong: let's just say 'very dominant'. The same can be seen with Jordan Peterson. The thing is, in this world here-and-now nobody gets rich/ influential/ famous and stays that way, unless they really want to be rich/ influential/ famous as (pretty much) their primary priority in life.
And that's the top and bottom of it. The influential maverick is an oxymoron. Anyone who is looking for spiritual and Christian leadership among those who have significant impact in the mass media, those who are high in the establishment, those at or near the head of major institutions - is making an error. Such seekers will not find even 'neutrality' among such eminent individuals (not least because there is no neutrality in the spiritual war) - they will find only those who are more, or less, completely aligned to purposive evil.
That isn't to deny that there is some good in such persons, something valid to be learned-from them; of course there is. There is always some good to be learned from even some of the most evil people in history (or in personal life). But it is a matter of choosing your mentors with discernment. To learn good from someone acknowledged to be net-evil is a very different matter from being guided by someone whom you regard as a worthy mentor. In neither case should discernment be set-aside; but the basic mind set is extremely different according to the nature of the person.
What of this matter of being 'influential'? It is interesting that the whole thing is impossible except for that handful of truly 'Great Men' as they used to be called. 99.9% of influential people in The West are obedient servants or slaves to The System, The Establishment - and ultimately the demonic powers behind it all. The individual servants/slaves may perhaps suppose they personally have harnessed great powers to their own ends; but the reverse is the case.
To be corrupted by evil entails convincing oneself that one's harness is a self-controlled tool; that obedience to evil is a roundabout strategy for good. Ultimately, that whatever The System dictates and imposes is what you yourself actually always wanted, all along. That what is, is best.
The more influence such persons crave, the more compromises they make; the more compromises they make, the more fully they are enslaved - because compromise is just as euphemism for submission.
Corruption at the higher levels is universal. The promise is that by moving to a higher level in the hierarchy, one will be able to 'make a difference', 'work from inside' and shape matters for good... This promise is made to a thousand, ten thousand, people a day - usually in the context of taking-on managerial roles.
https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-fathers-engage-in-time-honored-ritual-of-telling-their-kids-they-havent-seen-them-since-last-year
Some, may, initially believe it, and genuinely intend to do it. But it never happens. And once a person has been through cycle of this corruption a couple of times, they know in their hearts that it never happens... but they choose promotion anyway.
Indeed, the better you do the job, the stronger The System becomes; whatever contrary fantasies you may indulge.
And The System is evil in its intent - that is, its strategic intent is the destruction of Good.
*From The Babylon Bee yesterday: U.S.—In a beloved custom, every single father in the nation told their kids this morning that they haven't seen them since last year, according to sources across the country.
"Hey look at you, sleepyhead," said one man in Nebraska as his son came downstairs. "Say, I haven't seen you since last year!"
"It's an important tradition," he told reporters as his son groaned and shook his head. "Everyone loves it, especially our kids. They enjoy seeing their father employ a little cleverness and wit." He added that when your kids act like the joke is tired, unfunny, and embarrassing, that's when you know it's actually really funny.
"It's all part of the dance," he said.
Millions of other fathers all over America partook in the tradition as well, dutifully reciting the joke, which relies on the conflation of the colloquial and literal understandings of the term "next year." "Frankly, if you're a father and you haven't made a joke like this in the past 24 hours, you should probably get right with God," said Paul David Tripp. "It's an essential part of gospel-based, grace-centered parenting."
3 comments:
I actually joined Twitter because I liked Taleb and wanted to see what he was working on. Unfortunately he blocked me, probably along with a whole bunch of other people. The main thing I was pointing out is that academia discriminates against high IQ people. He seems to think otherwise.
Very disappointing.
@August - On paper and in summary, Taleb looks like just the kind of person I would like. He is even an Orthodox Christian. But when I got up closer, I realised he was not.
You've probably seen what I've written about intelligence and academia - your point can be proved with multipe sources of information, However, to do that it is necessary to acknowledge that IQ is a valid measure at the group level.
When people refuse to do that (for whatever reason, e.g. Taleb clearly doesn't know or understand the subject - presumably because his prejudices are blocking his comprehension) it allows them to deny what is (anyway) obvious from common sense, personal experience and multiple reliable anecdotes.
Most people don't possess CCL.
CCL = Couldn't Care Less.
This means even if they are principled in theory, they still care about reputation, money, or just being liked. We all have this to some degree, which makes it very hard to stand outside the system. You have to have some F-U money, and a strong outer skin!
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