Tag: philosophy

Vocation and Articulation

Sarah Hoyt describes the challenges of attempting to make a living doing what you love when the entire system is more or less stacked against you:

I want to talk about the human with a vocation/with a need to do something. The something exists in the world. They can theoretically do it.

Then human meets the broken systems. Which I don’t think are YET at peak broken, but are heading there.

As I said, I’ve seen it happen in writing, in art, in teaching, but I’m seeing it a bit everywhere.

You try, but no matter how much you try, how hard you work, or what you do, it seems like everything is against you. And because no one — no one — talks about it it openly, most people who are failing badly think they’re alone in this, and that everyone else is WILDLY successful: writers, artists, mothers (particularly of boys), teachers, etc. etc. etc.

You think “the system is broken? Or is it? Am I just making excuses for myself?” And you try harder. But since the system is actually designed NOT to work, (and you’re mostly seeing the successful people who are either flukes, a well polished facade, or people who are having transitory success and will be shredded later) you keep getting beat. Sometimes you have a little success first, but it all breaks apart later.

Another way to “fail” is to have a very strong brand, do very well with it, and then…. well, it falls apart. Either because you changed, and don’t do the thing the way you did it initially, or because — for artists, though I’m sure there’s parallels in other professions — your public changed. Or changed the way they see you.

Let’s say you’re to the right of Lenin (or these days, Stalin) and you’re a writer of science fiction and fantasy (or certain types of romance; or–), working in the indie side, you might very well build a huge audience, who run screaming when they find you’re one of those “evil right wingers” or who at least can’t withstand a loud and sustained cancel campaign. It’s happened to several of us. And then, of course, you start wondering why you feel called to do this, when you have political opinions so at variance with the “community who reads this” (Or at least the loud parts of the community. And this one is complex, because it’s hard to find readers, anyway, and if all readers think sf/f is left, a lot of people who would otherwise enjoy it don’t even try it out. Kind of like I keep running into “Science fiction is porn” which apparently is from…. guess? Oh, you’ll never guess. Clan of the Cavebear, which is neither science fiction nor porn, but some readers of a certain age associate that with both. That will change, as indie makes a dent. Takes time, though. I mean the association of SF/F and “left”.)

Okay, so…. Never mind why your heart broke. One day you wake up and you think “I just can’t do this anymore. It’s been my driving force since…. ever. But I can’t. I can’t anymore.”

What you’re experiencing, unless it’s your very first failure — and it usually isn’t — is … well, I call it a broken heart, but it’s actually ptsd and burnout.

My solution – and I am not recommending it, merely sharing my perspective – is to simply refuse to regard my activity as economic in nature. I’m not bearing down this week in order to finish the 297,500-word final edition of A SEA OF SKULLS this month because some people might buy it or because it might generate some revenue or because it will make a pretty pair of leather books or because some people might be impressed with me as a writer. I literally don’t think about those things at all, and I think that if I did, it would hinder my ability to write.

I’m doing it because I want to do it. I’m continuing the story because the story continues in my head and it isn’t finished yet.

Sarah touches on this tangentially in her piece: This is the secret no one else will tell you: There is no career. The career is a lie.

I don’t consider myself to have “a career as a writer”. I just write books. Then Castalia publishes them. Repeat as desired. As long as the ideas continue to percolate and flow, I will write them down, in part because the smartest girl I ever knew once told her friend that an idea is only a feeling until it is articulated. And I like to articulate my ideas, which necessitates writing them down because talking to other people too often leads to distraction.

Also, in case anyone is interested, I’ve recently written an introduction for an unannounced Castalia History book that I believe will prove enlightening….

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How to Fail

Johnny Manziel was given a team iPad where coaches could secretly track the amount of time he spent watching film. But the problem was that Manziel didn’t watch any film. Literally not a minute.

It would probably surprise most of you how few people are capable of performing even the most basic and rudimentary aspects of their jobs. And it’s not as if the solution is necessarily more pay.

Johnny Manziel signed a 4 year, $8,248,596 contract with the Cleveland Browns, including a $4,318,980 signing bonus, $7,998,596 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $2,062,149.

Note that not even two million dollars per year was enough to get the guy to watch five minutes of game film.

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He Even Lost His Name

Jack Nicklaus’s bid to reclaim his own name from (((a former business partner))) was rejected by (((a Florida judge))).

In a recent federal court decision, Jack Nicklaus suffered a setback in his attempt to regain control of his name and likeness owned by former partner Howard Milstein. On Aug. 1, Judge Robin Rosenberg of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida ruled that due to a prior decision against Nicklaus by the New York County Supreme Court on the exact same property in question in Nicklaus Companies, LLC v. GBI Investors Inc., he lacked the ability to grant Nicklaus any control of the property in question.

I neither know nor care much about the travails of a rich golfer who lost control of his own name in pursuit of even more riches. But it’s a reminder that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is, and that if there is wording in the contract permitting the other party to a) take full control or b) not pay, the other party will usually find a way to make that happen.

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On Advice from Failure

I posted the following on Gab yesterday.

  • Don’t take marital advice from a divorced man.
  • Don’t take financial advice from a bankrupt man.
  • Don’t take moral advice from a godless man.
  • And don’t take any advice at all from a vaccinated man.

The response was highly positive, for the most part, but there was a persistent theme of yeahbuttery that merits an additional round. Some examples:

  • This is true, unless they (the ones giving advice) acknowledge the fact that they are a negative example, and are urging others not to make the same mistakes they did.
  • I disagree with this nonsense 100% and here is why: I want to win. I want us to win. We aren’t going to if we’re so narrow-minded to shun anyone we view as less than perfect. People male mistakes. Divorces happen. People fall on hard financial times. Not being on the same team (religion) does not make someone “less” or evil. Has it occurred to any one of you that this is why we’re getting our shit pushed in by these scumbags? We’re being dismantled brick by brick completely unimpeded. Dissention is being silenced. Political opponents are being destroyed. Why do you think that is? Because we’re divided and they’re not. They’re all in lockstep with one another for a common goal: our complete replacement. We’re being removed from every meaningful aspect of society while we are still expected to pay for everything. They are ignoring their differences while we are continuing to be bullheaded and stubborn and settling into different factions. Maybe…just maybe listening to someone who walked a different path and had experiences different from yours who share the same goals as you may not be the worst idea. You might learn something
  • That’s only good advice on the surface. You can learn what not to do from a divorced man. You can better understand business and economics by learning why he went bankrupt. There’s no such thing as a godless man*, so I’ll skip this one. I learned that I was right about the “vaccine” from watching the vaccinated suffer and die. *Godless men, and women, just pretend that Big Brother government can do whatever God can do. They believe in the wrong god.
  • I would think marital advice from a divorced man would be the best, honest advice anyone could get.
  • However, you can learn from them not to do what they did.
  • Most of the advice any of them would give will primarily tell you what NOT to do. Could be valuable.

In light of these retarderies, I repeat, clarify, and expand upon my previous statement.

NEVER TAKE ADVICE FROM FAILURES.

This does not mean you cannot learn from the negative examples they have set. By all means, learn through observation and intelligent analyses. The problem with the advice from failures is that it will reliably be bad and self-serving even if they claim to have “learned from their mistakes”. Especially if they claim to have “learned from their mistakes”!

People always seek to justify their past actions and decisions. ALWAYS. So even when a failure admits to you that he made a mistake, he will usually attempt to convince you that the mistake was justified by his situation at the time, or that it was really a good thing, or that it really wasn’t a mistake in the end. His primary interest is convincing you that his failure was justified, not in helping you avoid making the same mistake in the future.

In fact, “you would have done the same if you were in my shoes” is the most oft-heard “advice” from those who have supposedly “learned from their mistakes”. Failures absolutely love to set themselves up as experts in the very fields in which they have failed, because it gives them the opportunity to talk about themselves in addition to justifying their past actions. There is a reason for the aphorism: “those who can’t do, teach”.

The most important thing is to recognize that you don’t need their advice in order to profit from their negative example. Observe them, yes. But don’t listen to them. Instead, listen to successful individuals about their past failures, because every successful individual has failed many times in the past. And unlike the failures, successful people usually know the difference between what works and what doesn’t work.

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Comms by Meme

This will suffice to cover approximately 83.4 percent of all of my interactions on Gab. And an alarmingly high percentage of my real life interactions.

If anyone ever asks what the tears of blood are for, you can tell them, “it’s probably something you said.” This was the interaction that inspired the meme.

VD: You’re incorrect about the history of the word “racist”. The word and the concept were both invented by a US Civil War general, who coined the term “racism” in 1902 to justify the destruction of the American Indian race, language, faith, and culture. It was subsequently adopted by Trotsky, not Lenin, for the purpose of attacking European Christians.

GAB: Any historical records to back that up? Especially the strangely “anonymous” Civil War general?
I do agree that European Christians believed in segregation and that Trotsky also used the term racist.
Never heard of this “anonymous” Civil War general? If there was such a person, he would have certainly been in the minority. While many people in the US were against slavery… very, very few believed in racial intermarrying.

Notice the quotes around the word “anonymous”, which were inserted twice without actually quoting anything or anyone. No wonder the rest of the world is so unimpressed by Clown World’s toothless democracy rhetoric; five minutes exposure to any social media platform is enough to convince every rational being of the comparative merits of literally any other political system.

Let reason be silent when historical documentation gainsays its tortured syllogisms.

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Success is not Real

At least, not in the entertainment industry. The main reason to follow CDAN is not to keep up on celebrities, but rather, to see through the illusion that is presented to the world by their makers.

February 24, 2023

This one named flash in the pan A/A- list singer is not playing ball like the label and her people are wanting. I think she thinks that she is big enough now to not need them. That is not the way the industry plant thing works. You do as you are told, or your career goes away very very quickly. She was thrust upon the world right before COVID for one reason and she served her purpose.

Lizzo

And now, five months later, the woman’s career is being methodically demolished, precisely as predicted.

The rise and fall of Lizzo: How HAS the pop icon gone from being a champion of body positivity and feminism to the verge of cancellation for sexual harassment and body shaming?

THE DAILY MAIL, 2 August 2023

Anyone who is tempted to take the ticket would do well to reflect upon the observable fact that the success it provides is manufactured, the fame it provides is ephemeral, the money it provides is on loan, and the control that comes with it is absolute.

And in the end, the taker of the ticket is always cast from the high horse, dismissed and disrespected. Look at the likes of Robert de Niro or Jack Nicholsen now, and envy them, if you can.

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Ticket-Taker Taken to Task

It’s educational to note that Steven Crowder’s marriage abruptly disintegrated and his past misbehavior was exposed after he refused to submit and kiss the ring at the Daily Wire:

One former Louder with Crowder employee told Mediaite that during his time on the show, he received unsolicited, sexually graphic texts that included photos of Crowder’s genitalia. Those texts and images were reviewed by Mediaite.

“In the moment we dismissed it as sort of frat boy humor. In hindsight, it’s super creepy and felt groomer-ish,” the ex-employee said.

“It always felt like childish behavior in the moment that then felt predatory in hindsight,” he explained. “Like he was always testing people’s comfort levels with that kind of behavior. Because he was the boss though and he had no accountability, it just continued to happen. There was no one trusted to complain to.”

In addition to receiving unwanted sexual text messages, the former employee alleged that Crowder habitually exposed himself to other male staffers, a claim backed up by two other sources.

“In regards to exposing himself in general, to my knowledge, he only exposed himself to male staffers. It happened all the time. It was a regular occurrence. It usually happened when he was in a really good, sort of manic mood. So while we all were disgusted by it and it was never welcomed, it was preferable to him being in a bad mood and how he treated people in that state,” the former staffer said.

“Steven never explained it. We never talked about it. It would just happen, and everyone would either throw out a fake uncomfortable laugh or show clear disgust which Steven interpreted as his reward for what he did,” he continued. “The more disgusted everyone seemed, the more pleasure he seemed to get from it. It’s like he couldn’t understand that we weren’t in on his ‘joke.’”

Remember that binary thinking is reliably false. There are no good guys here. Crowder, like Shapiro, is a manufactured creature, the main difference is that Crowder, for whatever reason, began finding the yoke imposed upon him to be unbearable and sought to shake it off. But once you take the ticket, you cannot simply decide to untake it and free yourself from the various obligations and obediences you have agreed to assume.

This is why those whom the media proclaims to be “successes” can be reliably assumed to be fake, gay, and in most cases, criminal, because their hidden pasts are their literal hostages to their future fortunes. I was told this in oblique fashion when I was 21 by someone who absolutely grokked the system, only I didn’t understand what I was being told at the time.

Only those whose talent is absolutely undeniable, and whose achievements do not require being granted to them by some third party, can be assumed to be organic and legitimate these days. There is a reason so many “stars” admit to having imposter syndrome, and it is because they are, in fact, imposters.

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Success in Clown World

Never forget that this is what passes for success in Clown World.

Funding History: The Athletic raised $139.5 million via five funding rounds beginning in 2017.

  • Seed Funding: $2.3 million led by Courtside Ventures
  • Series A: $5.4 million led by Courtside Ventures
  • Series B: $20 million led by Evolution Media
  • Series C: $40 million co-led by Founders Fund & Bedrock Capital
  • C1 round investment: $22 million led by Founders Fund
  • Series D: $50 million led by Bedrock Capital

Operating Losses: The Athletic lost $121 million in just four years.

  • 2019: $54 million
  • 2020: $41 million
  • 2021: $55 million
  • 2022: $36 million

In January 2022, The New York Times paid $550 million for The Athletic.

All “success” in Clown World is manufactured, fake, and usually gay. Don’t chase it. You’d have to be retarded to chase it. Chase the Good, the Beautiful, and the True instead.

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Science is Observably Unreliable

Despite the best efforts of midwits like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris to square the circle by declaring science a method of determining truth, science is not only philosophically incapable of being a truth-metric, science is practically and observably unreliable, as evidenced by the untrustworthiness of even its highest practitioners in academia:

Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne will resign effective Aug. 31, according to communications released by the University Wednesday morning. He will also retract or issue lengthy corrections to five widely cited papers for which he was principal author after a Stanford-sponsored investigation found “manipulation of research data.”

According to Jerry Yang, chair of the Stanford Board of Trustees, Tessier-Lavigne will step down “in light of the report and its impact on his ability to lead Stanford.” Former Dean of Humanities Richard Saller will serve as interim president. In a separate statement, Tessier-Lavigne defended his reputation but acknowledged that issues with his research, first raised in a Daily investigation last autumn, meant that Stanford requires a president “whose leadership is not hampered by such discussions.”

“At various times when concerns with Dr. Tessier-Lavigne’s papers emerged—in 2001, the early 2010s, 2015-2016, and March 2021—Dr. Tessier-Lavigne failed to decisively and forthrightly correct mistakes in the scientific record,” Stanford’s report said, identifying a number of apparent manipulations in Tessier-Lavigne’s neuroscientific research.

The report concluded that the fudging of results under Tessier-Lavigne’s purview “spanned labs at three separate institutions.”

We’re not talking about a minor scientist here. We’re talking about the corruption of the top scientist at the third-best university in the world. This is absolute and conclusive proof of the intrinsic unreliability of science and shows that the reproducibility crisis affects science at every level.

UPDATE: Those who still subscribe to the myth of scientific self-correction should note that even the investigations of scientific corruption are themselves liable to corruption.

The investigation took eight months, with one member stepping off after The Daily revealed that he maintained an $18 million investment in a biotech company Tessier-Lavigne cofounded.

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Tell Me You’re a Ticket-Taker

Without coming right out and telling me you’re a ticket-taker.

The sign of a ticket-taker: a colleague describes Huw Edwards, the BBC presenter who has been accused of paying young men to expose themselves.

“I admire the professionalism of both of them and remain impressed by Huw’s sensational rise through the BBC from humble beginnings in Bridgend.”

Key words: “sensational rise”. But wait, there’s an additional clue right there in the same article.

“We agreed that delving into the backgrounds of news journalists such as ourselves wasn’t appropriate.”

Indeed. One wouldn’t want the public looking too closely into the real reasons for those sensational rises and amazing careers, would one?

Not all material success is fake, but most success in Clown World is, at a minimum, manufactured. It’s manufactured and then distributed to those who are willing to render the required services and provide the necessary hostages. And the sooner you accept this reality, the more effective your independent efforts will be, as you will stop chasing illusions and wasting your best efforts playing a game that is rigged against you and everyone else unwilling to take their tickets.

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