Well after several weeks of dilligent effort, it’s finally done.
Lesser Poop is a DIY Discordian Magazine of “Bathroom Reader” style content. Lesser Poop contains low brow humor, awful jokes, really short stories, exercises to mindfuck yourself, and much more. Most of the art is by Cramulus. Most of the text is from the principiadiscordia.com/forum community.
http://radiofreediscordia.org/
RADIO FREE DISCORDIA is finally launching! You can hear its birth pangs tonight at about 7 PM EST. If you’re interested in doing a show, whether it’s a one-shot or a weekly gig, contact Mourning Star, who can (often) be found in the #RFD chat room.
Refresh the above image to get a new one.
Over at Chaos Marxism, a cunning plan has been hatched.
I’m down with this. God knows, all I do every day is read political theory texts and blogs anyway, it would be nice to engage myself somewhat more critically with the whole process. I have also been taking notes from TV Tropes, for my own attempts of fiction, once I start writing fiction again (in between searching for jobs, reading, blogging and contributing to several internet fora – sooner or later, something will give, most probably me). Should those come to fruition, I’ll probably spend days getting people to read them, so no doubt you will all know when it happens.
Anyway, I know a couple of peeps from PD, such as Cramulus, have also expressed potential interest in this project, and board members always have tons of hosting space lying around, doing nothing (for some bizarre reason). Hopefully, enough people will register interest to get a viable site going once I get to pitch the idea to the members. Worst comes to worst, I’ll dump the ideas on a free blog until someone less in debt and more technically competent than me gets a Wiki on the project started.
Edit: NlhasdAJHLgkgli. Seriously, that’s what the inside of my head feel’s like. I tried, but my mind is so fried right now I can’t express myself the way I want. I need a proper night’s sleep.
For some unthinkable reason, I was not invited to Technoccult’s roundtable on the future of the nation-state. Probably because they’ve never heard of me, Wes and Edward aside, but I won’t let that get in the way of some good snark. Besides, I can now claim to be a renegade renegade futurist, which justs adds to my edgy appeal. Or something.
Anyway, good question. The whole viability/decline of the state has become a very interesting question in light of the credit crunch. And I have more than a passing interest in social organization in the past and present, in no small way due to reading John Robb for the past three years or so.
And I guess I’m bringing up the rear. My section here is called ChaoSkeptic which is also the name of my personal blarg (ZOMG, GO THERE NOW, I AM A SHAMELESS WHORE!!). I’ll be doing the religious beat here. I like hanging out in the tiny sliver of the Venn diagram where religion and skepticism meet. Where belief meets disbelief. Where faith runs face first into reality. I love the trenches of the Culture War and will do my best to send back dispatches for all of you. Hopefully hilarity will ensue.
I guess I should take this time to introduce myself and why I am using the name ChaoSkeptic. I’m going to assume all of you know what Discordianism since you are already here. Eris. Discord. Strife. fnord. Yada yada yada. But I also see Discordianism as an irreligious stance that focuses on the illusion of order and chaos in the universe. It is an attempt to escape dogma of all types. Or as I have called it elsewhere, “militant subjectivism”.
Skepticism, on the other hand, is “a scientific or practical, epistemological position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence”. It is the rejection of all supernatural explanations in favor of critical thinking and inductive reasoning.
Now you may ask, how do this two things ever intersect and how can someone be a disciple of both? One is about being completely subjective while the other relies whole-heartedly on being objective. As I see it, the main similarity between them is the outright rejection of beliefs. As the late Robert Anton Wilson said, “belief is the death of intelligence.” Or as another wise man said, “A belief is just a thought you keep having.” Holding on too tightly to one ideology or another stops all thought. We should strive to question things as often as possible. And don’t stop questioning until you stop moving.
I hope to point out as many different strange beliefs that are out there in the universe and give a long and hearty laugh at all of them. With any luck you’ll be laughing along with me.
So, my little section o’ blag will be called SEEING IS BELIEVING. It basically revolves around how we perceive things, and how we don’t; cognitive biases, altered perceptions, theories on how the mind and thought works, and more mental models and maps than I know what to do with.
As an introduction, I offer a piece I wrote for “The Black Iron Prison” project over at http://www.blackironprison.com. It might give some impression of where I’m coming from, and the kind of stuff you’ll find, when I’m not just posting interesting links and commentary on other things I’ve found around the Webosphere.
We’re mostly blind. But this isn’t really your fault; it’s because of the shell of meat we happening to live in right now. Think, for just a moment, at the nearly infinite amount of things happening right now all around us. I’m sure you can think of quite a few things. Now, let’s talk about them. You can’t see any of the infrared or ultraviolet light spectrum. Unfortunately, this cuts out quite a lot of things your eyes were built to see. Sorry about that.
You can’t hear anything below 20 Hz, or above 20 KHz . You can definitely feel about 12 Hz, if you play it really loudly. Go on, give it a try. With just those two examples, if you hadn’t before, now you can really start to understand all the stuff you simply can’t perceive. I’m sure you can think of five more examples of an immense class of Things that you can’t notice are right in front of you. But it gets worse. Stop for a moment, and try to notice as many possible things in your environment that you can, simultaneously. Notice that, as you start to identify more and more objects, sounds, smells, and tactile sensations, you can’t keep them in your head all at once. When you notice, for example, the pressure of your shoe against the ball of your foot, that distant bird chirping seems to fade from your attention.
And let’s not forget about how much stuff you weren’t paying attention to when you started reading this. Let’s face it: We all live our lives with blinders on. We only allow ourselves to pay attention to 1% of what we physically can perceive, which is an infinitesimally small percentage of all the stuff in the Universe.
And that fraction of a fraction of a percent is what we usually call “Realityâ€. We call it “Realâ€, as if it’s an unshaking firmament of solid Truth, that what we see is all that’s really “out thereâ€. But you’re not even paying attention to the 99% of stuff that you can even sense.
And this “Reality†is what we base our judgments on how the Universe “works†and what “should†be Out There. We construct our actions and reaction to this 1% of available information, and reject everything else in the Universe. And then some Authority comes along, and tells you that they know what’s really real, and that you should do as they do. Talk about the blind being led by the blind… or in this case, the blind being led by the incredibly stupid.
So, what’s the answer? Would it be best to try our best to see everything, all at once? Is the solution to try and tear down all the filters, to let your brain accept, acknowledge, and perceive every bit of information that comes your way? Would that help?
Are you kidding? It would completely shut down your brain. Trying to identify, recognize, and notice every single thing happening, all at once, all the time, would completely incapacitate you. And let’s not forget that, due to physiology, it’s still impossible to perceive a great deal of the Universe, anyway. And because it’s totally impractical to try and simultaneously perceive what little bits of the Universe our senses can pick up, in order for us to function in our lives, we are forced to shut out certain things. But who, or what, is choosing the things we do perceive at any given moment? That, my friends, is the question.
Was it your parents? Was it the years you spent in school? Was it the TV? Was it a band? Was it a book you read? Was it a preacher you heard? Was it the kid who pushed you down when you were five? All of the above. The way you see the world, my friend, is a patchwork quilt of individual experiences, shaping the way your mind works. ‘Round these parts, we call these things the “bars and walls of your Black Iron Prisonâ€.
Now, before you go on with the idea that all this is somehow Negative and Depressing, let’s break down the phrase. We’re not saying it’s an Iron Prison that is Black (Bleak) that you’re in because you’re being punished for some sort of Karmic wrongdoing.
Rather, what’s being said is that in order to function in your day-to-day life, there are necessary limitations your body and mind impose on your perceptions. That’s the Prison. The phrase “Black Iron†refers to cold wrought iron, which is strong, usually shaped by hand, and often beautiful.*
But back to the main question, then, and the issue of who chooses your perceptions. Of course, the Large Answer is, “your entire life up to this point,â€the patchwork quilt referred to above, stitched panels of the things you have learned, whether they were imprinted, conditioned, or learned, either consciously or subconsciously. But that’s a bit too large. What it comes down to, is that you are the one in charge of your Prison. It’s you that has shaped the Black Iron bars that let you see the small parts of the Universe that you base your decisions upon. Sure, you can say that it’s not your fault that your parents raised you as a racist redneck (for example). But it is your fault if you take that as a given, as if that bar in your cell is a permanent thing, something that’s been there since before you were born.
But wait. There’s more. The guy sitting next to you, they’re focusing on completely different things than you are. Their entire upbringing has pretty much determined what they’re going to pay attention to, just as your entire life up to this point has shaped what you’re looking at right now. You know what this means, right? This means that everyone is living in a different Idea of the Universe than everyone else. It’s a miracle that we can agree on anything. Just imagine, billions of people, all looking out at a different Universe from between the bars of their own personal Prison. “Okay, big guy,†you say, “So what’s really out there, if you’re so smart?†I have to tell you…
I don’t know. I have the same blinders that you do. I live in the same kind of box. But I will say one thing. My saying “I don’t know†doesn’t mean, “I don’t know, and I don’t care, because there’s no way to escape the biology of my sense.†I say, “I don’t know, but I want to find out. I want to try and see and feel as much as I can, I don’t want to take somebody’s word for it, I want to keep exploring, and figuring shit out. I want to walk out of my Prison Cell, even if I just end up in another one. I’m not content only seeing a fraction of what’s out there.
Because hey, who knows what kind of fun I’m missing?
Howdy, I am Richter. Warrior poet, slacker, pervert, and craftsman. I’m a currently an employed college refugee with a psychology degree, and I’ve spent most of my time alive doing an odd assortment of things. Having worked as a sailor, trucker, roofer, building manager, camp counselor, residential counselor, phone monkey, corporate lye smith, and teacher, one does get some sense of how a lot of things work (and don’t work, and get fixed.) The experience has led me to become something of a habitual problems solver, and I have been accused of thinking like MacGyver, and engineer, or a survivalist with a sense of PR. Although I haven’t seen it all by a stretch, I’m always happy to discuss it, educate, and learn.Â
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While I have my interest in literature and philosophy, I’d characterize myself as more focused on the actual.  This, I try to bring out in my entries titled “CRAZY PREPAREDâ€, which address the navigating life’s odd situations. They will encompass ideas, commentary on useful equipment, and discourse on developing the will to deal with as much of anything as we can. The title, Cain’s suggestion, references the character trope, (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrazyPrepared). In that spirit, these articles aim to combine the fun of oddball knowledge and inventive improvisation with pragmatism about what it is realistic to actually do. Read, enjoy and comment! Â
Most of you know me, so this is probably unnecessary. But for those of you who do not, or for those who chance upon this place, this will be a little introduction.
Obviously, my internet pseudonym is Cain. I’m one of the administrators of the PD forums, purely due to cronyism and the general admin of this blog. At least, the actual blogging part, since I have no experience with things like servers and domains and all that business.
I’m 23 (don’t start now) and a postgrad in the UK. Currently unemployed, but I’ll take whatever is going, especially if its a writing gig. Anyway, my little personal area on this blog will be dealing with politics, warfare and economics. Unsurprising, for those who know me. I’ve got some experience in the political sciences, but on top of that, I take a genuine interest in what is going on around me, and I think that is what really counts. I am a politics junkie. I usually only pay minimal attention to the headlines however. Much of what is really happening is implied, or obscured by personality-based reporting. As such, I prefer to delve behind the headlines and pay attention to what power-brokers are actually doing, who benefits from their actions and the web of relationships and enemies that comprise the political world. I also take a personal interest in military theory and the changing nature of warfare. And of course, with the current situation, at least some grip on economics is desirable.
My section will be called “Tactical Polyvalence” (see the categories at the top of the entry), mainly as a homage to Foucault’s ideas on power. In that, I hope to draw attention to less reported on stories, detail corruption and influence peddling in high places and document methods of conflict and violence being considered by the powers that be. I’ll also probably take the occasional snide swipe at some political bloggers or “journalists”, but I promise to try and keep that to a minimum.
For those of you who read Warren Ellis’ excellent blog, you may be aware that today is meant to be the fifth Annual Rabbit Hole Day, in celebration of the birthday of Lewis Carroll.
However, we are not doing that. Not as such. Instead, we have decided to launch our revamped blog. Myself and Cramulus threw some ideas around while drunk a few weeks back, and this was essentially the result. We want Verwirrung to be more than just a blog for the Principia Discordia community. We want the blog to be a place where we can network, link, confer and argue with people, as part of our drive to improve and understand the crazy world around us.
So, first off, our blogging is going to increase. By a lot. Secondly, our writers are each going to concentrate on a particular sphere of interest, in addition to using the blog to write about whatever they feel. So, for example, we will have writers here concentrating on the Law of Fives and how the brain works, on the art of pranking and operation mindfuck, some idiot dealing with politics and warfare, a guy investigating online subcultures, someone keeping a close eye on the world of religion, someone who can help you prepare for any situation, a guy interested in how maps do not correspond to reality, a biology expert and much, much more.
Secondly, we want our blog to be more of a community. We want to break into the blogosphere, have people reading us and agreeing or disagreeing, but in short to have a lot more in the way of connectivity with the rest of the world.
Our focus is going to be on the near future, in all our fields. What will happen 20 minutes in the future. We want to equip you with knowledge you will find useful, and hopefully you can equip us in return. I don’t need to tell anyone here that rough times have started, and this is probably the first recession of the internet age. Lets see what we can do with this incredible tool, while the power is still on.
And most of all, we want to have a good time. I’ll let each of the writers introduce themselves individually. Bye for now.
