Rottcodd

Sort of. The broad dynamic is essentially the same, though evolution is a comparatively tiny idea compared to anything that might come out of cosmology.

That’s a good illustration of my point though. Think about the complexities and the table-flipping along the way to our current understanding of evolution, then expand that out - we’re not just addressing the mechanisms by which specific forms of life come to be on this specific planet, but the fundamental nature and history of an incomprehensibly vast universe.

When we know - we’ve demonstrated to ourselves repeatedly - that we still don’t even fully grasp the facts regarding something as relatively mundane and constrained as the origin and differentiation of species of life, it should drive home how ludicrous it is to believe that we’ve managed to grasp the facts regarding the origin and history of the universe as a whole.

The problem isn't communism per se, but communism forcibly imposed.

More precisely, the problem is that communism is the superior system to the degree that it's egalitarian - that it eliminates the ruling class and instead treats all citizens equally - and the forcible imposition of communism immediately destroys that, since it presumes that those carrying out the forcible imposition rightfully possess the authority to do so, and thereby simply establishes them as a new ruling class.

Communism should be the goal, but in order to actually fulfill its potential, it MUST be voluntarily adopted by the people rather than forcibly imposed.

Of course the story we've come up with has started to unravel. It was essentially destined to, just as all the past stories we've come up with have. We're just the tiniest little splash in the tiniest little pan way off in some obscure corner of a reality that is vast and complex beyond comprehension.

To think that we can understand the nature of the universe, much less that we already do, is and always has been startlingly obviously ludicrous.

Seriously - how can anybody fail to recognize that Trump is profoundly mentally ill?

Back Porch is my favorite.

Boll Weevil is great too.

And so on...

On a nearly daily basis now, I'm reminded that a significant number of the people who make up the power structure in the US are in fact profoundly mentally ill.

One can only hope that we serve as an object lesson for future civilizations - whatever you do, don't let psychopaths run free.

Jet Set Radio Future, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Need for Speed ProStreet, Torchlight II, Paper Mario, Freelancer, Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, GTA San Andreas & Vice City, Front Mission 1 & 3, Metal Max Returns...

I'm pretty much always aware that we're governed by what really amounts to a self-reinforcing network of amoral psychopaths, but there are still times when that fact is driven home especially forcefully.

She looks like she just stopped growing up at about 14, and all she's done since then is age. Poorly.

I hadn't thought about it before, but on reflection, I do too. And I wouldn't be surprised if most people do.

Exaggerated a bit for effect, it would me more or less:

There = thehr

Their = thayr

They're = thay-r

"There" is just simple and straightforward with a pure short 'e' sound and no particular stresses.

"Their" has more of a long 'a' than a short 'e' sound, and a bit of stress on the vowel sound.

"They're" also has more of a long 'a' sound and it's pronounced just a fraction longer than in "their", and there's a very slight pause between the vowel sound and the 'r'.

Huh... learn something new every day.

Decentralization isn't an ideal - it's a fact. It's the reality of the fediverse.