Social The Delphic Oracle - Know Thyself: P&S Social Ampitheatre of Doom

[sigmond]

its been a while since i watched lectures or read serious material. a few years ago (far later in life than i should have) i watched that series and a bunch of the yale lectures. the Rawls > Nozick debates combined with statistics regarding wealth and higher education should be mandatory imo

 

[Yourbaker]

Yes. I far prefer cats, although you do get a stronger relationship with a dog.

Dogs are more innocent, though. They're more hesitant to attack, while cats have no such scruples. But a cat's reaction time is insanily quick, both mentally and motorically.

I love how clean and sweet-smelling cats are, too.

You may not have had a litter BOX? Just memories of my cat (he died at 25~ in my arms) he was clean... his litter box a bit less so.

 

[Ninae]

I have a garden door I never close.

May I ask what you feed your cat since it lived that long?

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah I can only hope my cats live to 25. They're both 12, a mother and son (but she had her kittens when she was about 6 months old, or got pregnant then anyway, hard to say for sure since she was a stray but the vet estimated she was 6-9 months old). My boy kitty still seems like a baby, and they both are still really young-seeming even though they've technically been seniors for years.

My cats smell great (minus the litter box), except their breath. They both have urinary issues so they're permanently on all prescription wet food (over $4 a day to feed them, they're lucky I love them so much), and their breath smells terrible. My boy cat is incredibly vocal (he makes about a hundred different meows and does it all the time), and all he wants at all times is to be touching me, so he's always blasting me with his stank breath.

 

[Yourbaker]

For the first few years of his life he was on random dry cat food and as much human food as he wanted. At about 4 he was on mice, birds etc and wouldnt eat anything but tuna or human food. His last 5 years he was pretty much in dry random cat food again but a seniors hairball variety. He was deaf his last 7 or so years but he still caught mice. The week he passed away I caught him on the kitchen counter eating the drippings out of a roasting pan. He could still jump up from the floor. I'm fairly sure his diet was the cat version of beer, pizza and doritos.

My cat was a stray, he had luck beyond words. I watched him lie down in traffic to let cars go over him, he would spread flat and dig his claws into the asphalt so he didn't get rolled over by the turbulence. He had some characteristics that were unique and difficult to understand. He was always at the door when I came home, for 25 years except for 2 months when he first went deaf. It never mattered where we lived or when I came home he was waiting. After my partner moved in he knew when I would arrive by watching the cat go sit at the door, 2-3 minutes before me.

 

[Ninae]

Yes, I believe cats are highly psychic. My cat is always looking entranced above my shoulder, like he's really seeing things there.

 

[Yourbaker]

Today is -25 C, I didn't expect how cold it is. Thankfully tonight is my final shift for the year. It was 14C in my work area with 3 industrial heaters running. I wish I felt motivated to upload a picture of the mountains it just looks so amazing with the wicked blue sky and all the trees are frosted and white, there is a twinkle in the air from ice particles. It's about the most beautiful I've seen it here.

 

[Xorkoth]

Damn, that's cold! I'm from Illinois/Chicago in the USA, but I've lived in North Carolina for 11 years now so I'm used to warmer, and a few winters ago when that polar vortex happened, I visited home and the first full day I was there it was -40F (which is, incidentally, also -40C I just discovered), it was insane.

 

[Yourbaker]

Yeah, tonight is expected the same. I have 5 weeks off for Christmas but I'm bringing better winter gear if I get called back in January. I've lived much further north and in colder areas this is only about 500 meter elevation and near the coast I didn't expect a deep cold like this so early. It is shockingly beautiful in a frozen kinda way. The area was burnt off in a forest fire a year ago so the black trees covered in thick white Hoar frost look a bit sureal. The perfect view is just up the now frozen waterfall toward the glacier that spills out between the two peaks of the old what was an old volcano rim. Plinth peak is here and it is just one of those stunning mountains you can stare at for hours. It has gone from a rocky crag to a stark white spire practically overnight. If this is my last trip out im going to miss this place.

 

[Xorkoth]

What work do you do, if you don't mind me asking? Sounds really pretty. It's not as far north, but I used to spend 2 weeks every winter in northern Wisconsin, right under lake Superior, on a chain of 7 small lakes. I remember so many beautiful days and nights, everything crystallized in dry snow, the lake frozen over, making huge cracking sounds that sounded so alien and intense as the ice shifted.

 

[Yourbaker]

I am actually a baker. I have worked for everyone, everywhere professionally and now im doing a work camp job. Im a camp baker, i do this job with the agreement that i make whatever i want. I’ve spent 3 years experimenting on the crew of about 250-350. Not a big camp just the right size to have a baker added to the kitchen staff. Usually they have a chef that excells at baking but on a 3 years project a chefs baking repitiore would get used up quickly. I just keep changing the product line and every night desert can be whatever I want. We have a slightly above average food budget so I have had fun.

We are building a hydro electric plant, or they are, I just feed them cookies and pie and make them fat. This job has been a major help in changing my life. I have worked alone on a mountain being as creative as I wanted for 3 years. I will miss the daily meditation here. I was a bitchy old man until I spent years looking up at the sky every night and watching the red glow of the sun rise, slowly making its way down the mountains. A million stories and today is possibly my final day here.

 

[tantric]

Yeah I can only hope my cats live to 25. They're both 12, a mother and son (but she had her kittens when she was about 6 months old, or got pregnant then anyway, hard to say for sure since she was a stray but the vet estimated she was 6-9 months old). My boy kitty still seems like a baby, and they both are still really young-seeming even though they've technically been seniors for years.

My cats smell great (minus the litter box), except their breath. They both have urinary issues so they're permanently on all prescription wet food (over $4 a day to feed them, they're lucky I love them so much), and their breath smells terrible. My boy cat is incredibly vocal (he makes about a hundred different meows and does it all the time), and all he wants at all times is to be touching me, so he's always blasting me with his stank breath.

there are dog people, cat people and the few and lonely ferret people. i just don't like needy animals (or people) and really have no use for unconditional love. my ferrets love me because i'm the best playmate ever - i earn that love. a ferret's life is about FUN! and i like the way ferrets smell, and ferret poo is far less offensive than cat or dog. but now i'm ready for the next step - a pet mink.

 

[Xorkoth]

Well if I could choose, I'd choose a less needy cat, but he's my kitty and I love him, raised him from newborn (his mom is my other cat). IMO you really have to earn a cat's love too, or many of them at least. Dogs are the ones where they're just wired to love you, hell, you can treat a dog like shit and show no respect and as long as you're alpha they'll lick your boots. If a cat doesn't like you, they'll be like, fuck you asshole, I'm out.

We are building a hydro electric plant, or they are, I just feed them cookies and pie and make them fat. This job has been a major help in changing my life. I have worked alone on a mountain being as creative as I wanted for 3 years. I will miss the daily meditation here. I was a bitchy old man until I spent years looking up at the sky every night and watching the red glow of the sun rise, slowly making its way down the mountains. A million stories and today is possibly my final day here.

That's beautiful.

 

[Yourbaker]

I once worked with a single mom who had just gotten a kitten for her daughter. After 3 months they had to move and the new place didn't accept pets so mom took kitten and quietly dropped it off on the opposite side of the city. After telling the big lie everything appeared to be ok until the cat crossed 20 miles of city to find her parents house and stayed there til mom came and took her home again.

Some pets are just amazing and if we don't pay attention we miss these priceless moments.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah my cat and I have an intense connection, the first time I saw him he was really young, had barely started walking. I was sitting across the living room at my friend's house the kittens and mom were in at the time, and he emerged from the door, and locked eyes with me, there was this really intense moment where I just fell in love with him (and vice versa). Never breaking eye contact, he walked across the room, climbed up my body, right in front of my face, and nuzzled my cheek and just rested his face on my face. I wasn't sure if I wanted a cat, my girlfriend was trying to convince me and I was like, dude, we're about to move across the country, graduate college, etc, this is stupid. But in that moment I realized this was my cat. To this day he does the same thing, loves to touch faces and just stay there.

 

[Yourbaker]

Great luck, I got home as the first snow flakes started falling, they still haven't stopped so it's well past 50cm on the ground. Now I'm home til it melts I guess. The neighbour kids built a snowman and it kept snowing, now it is pyramid shaped bump in a field of snow

 

[Xorkoth]

Just had an amazing, very impactful LSD trip at a show (Christmas jam, put on by Warren Haynes, Bob Weir played and oh my god, but that's another story) last night. The most significant thing is that my dear friend and ex-neighbor who I lost touch with and truly believed was dead was there, and I ran into him, which I have been hoping would happen for years but never has. I fully grieved this person and there was unresolved and permanent pain in my psyche as a result of watching his descent into darkness and suicide attempts, and my earnest attempts to be there for him but ultimately feeling like I failed, last I saw him he was about to be homeless, had just hung himself and gotten cut down by a friend who happened to stop by after he lost consciousness, his friend revived him, and expressed to me he didn't feel at home in the modern world after his 10 years in prison and just wanted it to end and that his life was over. Then, nothing, phone disconnected, dropped off the earth, never saw him again. But I ran into him, in this incredible synchronistic moment that played out exactly how the vision that I have carried in my head for if I ran into him has been. He is alive, and well, and happy, and that makes me so glad and heals a little hole in my heart.

 

[swilow]

Sounds lovely Xorkoth I feel like you mentioned this gut recently. Life obviously heard you.

Nice and warm here. I had evaporative cooling installed recently which was hugely expensive but its economical to run and environmentally sound. My bro set up solar panels so we actually sell electricity back to the providers. Carbon footprint is low and decreasing. Its something.

Today we imbibed a bit of GHB and ive had some bumps of 3-meo-pcp. Just mellow, relaxing with some trees and spiders. Interesting sex too though I am not functioning all that well. Still, she got off and I loved it. Its such a powerful feeling bringing a woman to orgasm. My missus is highly sexed so I dont need to do much but it feels great. Sex is like one of the very few gentle things we have evolved. It just feels so right

 

[Xorkoth]

Its such a powerful feeling bringing a woman to orgasm.

Indeed, best feeling I can think of. Mine sometimes takes a little while, I consider it a good challenge. I've gotten good at it but I had to practice. Fortunately there have been many opportunities to practice.

 

[sigmond]

I thought about starting a random Q&A thread where people can just post or answer various questions.

I'm curious how there can be free will if neuronal activity is decided by physical laws?

arguments against solipsism?

what is righteousness?

Origin of humiliation, pride, and awkwardness?