mindsets

At times I wonder if I upbraid my readers too much. Even if usually not overtly.

But then I check out what the great WEATHER IS HAPPENING Weather Man is (always) telling his readers. Overtly. Reminding me how maybe we all should be upbraided more, not less...

Yeah, it's a fine mess we've made! And no, I don't think Weather Man is only joking around. Not truly.

#repentance
#WeatherIsHappening

@WEATHERISHAPPENING@weatherishappening.network

Around here, I'm often afraid someone will find out I've never sat through an entire DOCTOR WHO television episode. Regardless of its timing or era.

Nor any contemporary "Star Trek" television episode since STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, over thirty years ago.

😬

In general, the reason potential reformers do not sufficiently organize is that they don't fundamentally dislike bad stuff. Not purely on the basis of it being bad. Not on that principle, really. Instead, they just dislike how the bad stuff makes them (or others) feel; the hurt or harm which they (or others) feel as a result of bad stuff. So this undercuts their prep time. Which, in turn, makes the timely growth of their movement unlikely.

#organizing

Part 25 of a series—things I've said here that seem worth repeating on their anniversaries, such as the following words from exactly one year ago.

"The human body requires chloride, chromium, fluoride, iodine, and molybdenum. Why, then, do virtually no food #NutritionLabels include chloride, chromium, fluoride, iodine, or molybdenum data? Breakdowns of soluble and insoluble fiber would seem very helpful too.

"I can find no credible source providing an answer. Why did those omissions apparently become standard policy in the United States and elsewhere? Perhaps I'm overlooking some rudimentary fact(s) about such things—? I wonder if any expert on the subject might notice this post.

"And I'll ask about particular essential fats and proteins another day, maybe."

@setsly@mindly.social

RE: @setsly@mindly.social

Happy #PiDay.

My prediction: curiously, today pi will be exceeded by the ratio of people celebrating with pie to people celebrating with pi.

I seldom agree with critics' remarks such as:

• "This show was way better than it needed to be."

• "We're don't deserve such beautiful music."

• "This book had no business being this good."

If taken literally, I mean.

My usual opinion is that art which is less-than-good shouldn't be offered to the public in the first place. Because I want high artistic quality to be the norm. To be the normal public expectation.

Making art is nearly always worthwhile for its creator, even if not good. And it typically deserves charity, too. Yet I think its audience ought to remain small unless the creator has achieved #mastery, or come close.

How much a work of art is able to benefit its creator is rarely matched by how much it is able to benefit society in general. If it benefits society in general at all...that takes lots of practice, wisdom, and sacrifice.

Remember Sturgeon's law.

Of course I'm not saying PEOPLE should stay hidden unless they meet a high standard. I'm only saying that their CREATIONS should. It's all right for people to have highs and lows, middles, and whatever else.

Um, my viewing of the movie KPOP DEMON HUNTERS prompted me to write that last paragraph for clarification. Figuring that Generation Alpha needs it. As well as some dear older folks, maybe.

I've noticed that whenever I post anything over 100 words, up to half a dozen followers go away (though if boosts occur, then departures and arrivals mostly cancel out). My choice of topic doesn't even make a difference.

Still, I try to write at least 100 words per post semi-regularly, to help me avoid becoming a lazy or superficial communicator. Accordingly, I now declare that I'm developing a new post that'll greatly exceed 100 words.

If that distresses—up to half a dozen of—you, then feel free to leave at this time.

Just want to warn you.

#AttentionSpan

"Multinational mishmash in motion"

...that's my nomination for the best catch-phrase in the whole Mastodon realm (found on the profile linked below).

Is it for the user called klu9?

Is it for #fediverse activity in general?

Is it for humankind itself?

You decide. 🫵

@klu9@ohai.social

I had difficulty, over the decades, trying to fully watch or rewatch PICKET FENCES (1992-1996; about the last time I opted to possess a TV set). Perhaps my favorite fictional #television show ever. But I succeeded eventually, as indicated by a prior post of mine.

Hallmark Channel showed reruns of PICKET FENCES long ago. But accessing Hallmark Channel, and homing in on specific episodes, wasn't straightforward. Therefore I never attained a complete viewing experience, back then, from that source.

As of this writing, according to JustWatch, getting any season of PICKET FENCES beyond the first is still a big challenge in my country. Unsurprisingly. That amounts to sixty-six "lost" episodes...of the best 20th century TV show that I happen to be aware of.

@setsly@mindly.social

https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/picket-fences

From a few hours ago—the author of the following Reddit comment is the most self-aware neurotypical person "(probably)" that I happened to come across this month.

"People don't think much. I don't say that as an insult, but many just operate on autopilot. No reflection, no questioning, neither their own actions nor those of systems.

"[Neurodivergent folks] question the hierarchy because it doesn't run automatically for [them]. Neurotypicals are shaped automatically, by childhood and their social environment. Hierarchies are modeled, noticed through cause and effect, and since everything happens subconsciously without conscious thought, it's adopted as one's own code. A neurotypical person adopts this and doesn't question whether it comes from them or from outside because it runs smoothly. Once the code is installed, it runs and is recognized as its own code and is no longer questioned.

"I am a NT person (probably) who developed ND traits because I found the world meaningless and without any logic. But I had to actively work on it.

"I had to ... examine myself. Why do I do what I do? It doesn't actually make sense. Ok where does this behaviour come from. Do I really want to be that way etc.?

"But the realization that I do things that are meaningless simply because they became part of my behavioral repertoire through conditioning was a real cognitive challenge."

Bravo. Dazzling. The human condition, in 200 words.

#neurodiversity

https://old.reddit.com/r/SeriousConversation/comments/1rgzazq/why_are_people_surprised_that_the_elites_are/o7uz5y4/

This year represents the 40th anniversary of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. And the 25th anniversary of its (THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN) lesson about how commercially successful stories typically morph into lame cash grabs. I mean, if they weren't lame cash grabs from the start. #comicbooks #media https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xnNkx3Ag8qc https://www.dc.com/blog/2026-02-17/dc-celebrates-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-dark-knight-returns

RE: @dgar@aus.social

It's dawning on me that to have owned only four mobile devices—such that only two are "smart"—in one's life is uncommon for an adult in a developed nation. In my case, in reverse chronological order:

• Two smartphones: one for several years and counting, the other for nine (!) years.

• One flip phone for several years.

• One candy bar phone for several years.

Anyway...welcome to my first quote post, everyone. And special thanks to Dgar.

Part 24 of a series—things I've said here that seem worth repeating on their anniversaries, such as the following words from exactly one year ago.

"I don't know. I guess folks simply don't locate and read enough top-quality analyses in disparate areas of knowledge. Not even 'smart' folks—?

"I mean: I recall reading law review articles, a generation ago, that fully explained how US Presidents have enjoyed too much power-creep over time, relative to judicial and legislative institutions. Thereby upending the nation's checks and balances, making it vulnerable to bad actors in the Oval Office. By the late 20th century it was already fairly clear that this problem, in US federal law, is the analogue to the greenhouse gas problem in ecology.

"Locating and reading...locating and reading...locating and reading. Collectively, it is step number 0."

@setsly@mindly.social

Part 23 of a series—things I've said here that seem worth repeating on their anniversaries, such as the following words from exactly two years ago.

"I find no cause to ask myself what a proper life journey is, in a general sense. I don't see how there could be a general answer.

"That being said, I still think it's good to pursue challenging goals in life. But probably not by copying other people's goals. Almost no others are suitable because all personalities are so deeply, wondrously different."

@setsly@mindly.social

@Sunny@universeodon.com

There are probably some settings you could adjust, to reduce or even totally eliminate the gremlin(s). I have disabled most such "features" on my devices. I know they hurt more than they help, if left on their own.

Okay. I have observed enough. I'm calling it now. As of this date, I've seen "it's" and "its" used incorrectly more times, in my life, than I've seen them used correctly.

I think their incorrect usage has been ramping up especially since the early 2010s. With no sign of slowing. Even in professional writing for large audiences, lately.

One of the strongest forces that pull people so deeply into fiction is its sensational delivery of the illusion of surplus discovery; of amped-up surprise.

On an intellectual level, we know fictional stories aren't occurring in our own world. But when we're immersed in fiction, it does tend to feel like we are there, wherever it is taking place.

Thus, fiction often feels substantial enough to excite us though the joy of apparently easy discovery...easy surprise...easy learning. The key word is "easy." No real risk and no real stress, but very heightened schema-forming.

It comes from the comparatively unusual, new-seeming things we typically observe happening in fiction. With regard to characters, plot, setting, conflict, and so forth. Such arresting #novelty is naturally attractive, however illusory much of it is.

That is: as long as the fiction doesn't cross a line toward being too challenging or revelatory to deal with. In which case the "easy" factor would be undermined. Probably turning away a lot of the audience.

🦸 💏 🕵️ 🧚 🥷

#escapism

I was employed in the #construction business for about five years. And I was amazed to see how relatively little the art and science of that field is, or has been, put into writing.

More than any other type of place I worked at (in alphabetical order: chemicals, consulting, education, government, law, pharmaceuticals, real estate, recreation, resource conservation, retail, and theatre), I would say construction is the hardest to learn if one isn't already doing it, in some way.

Whether it's books, articles, Wikipedia, or whatever—I rarely got useful info for that line of work by #reading. Which I thought was an interesting and slightly annoying handicap, since I'm a well-practiced reader.

At least I found the related fields of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and architecture to be replete with written knowledge.

Meanwhile, another related field, facilities management, seemed as relatively far as construction from library resources.

📚 🖥️

Part 22 of a series—things I've said here that seem worth repeating on their anniversaries, such as the following words from exactly one year ago.

"I would be lying if I didn't admit that, even [more than a year] later, I'm still upset that my fall 2024 warning posts about swing state voter attitudes were largely ignored.

"After all, virtually no one else in the Mastodon system was talking about the issue. Practical, timely, and of relevance to the whole world.

"To help me process this, I ... read '5 Reasons Why Trump Will Win' by Michael Moore—Rust Belt icon—which he wrote in 2016.

"And I think I understand how Moore felt. More or less."

@setsly@mindly.social

Part 21 of a series—things I've said here that seem worth repeating on their anniversaries, such as the following words from exactly two years ago.

"Our current political strife is essentially a #CultureWar. Not a policy war; its worst fights aren't really about policy preferences. So, comprehension of issues (or lack thereof) isn't necessarily what fuels the conflict.

"Rather, it is motivated by scorn for separate groups of people, where their separateness is mostly recognized by their unfamiliar values. Cultural values, mainly.

"And from the alt-right's viewpoint, curiosity is among the most unfamiliar of cultural values; thus curiosity is a marker of Them, not Us.

"Therefore, while leftists and centrists have much hope of overcoming ... biases ... by embracing curiosity, folks on the Right often don't have nearly as much.

"Cultures of progressivism and centrism normally celebrate curiosity, science, the life of the mind, etc. Hence, their culture warriors need not switch sides to begin questioning stuff better. They have it relatively easy.

"Whereas alt-right culture warriors lack such an advantage. Their incentive to embrace curiosity is negative, typically. They face constant pressure to dismiss its benefits since valuing them would be a cultural betrayal.

"In the middle of a war."

@setsly@mindly.social

@setsly@mindly.social

@setsly@mindly.social

My very rough theory of #business is that everybody in a company, in effect, works for its sales/marketing divisions; by giving those divisions stuff to market or sell. Per the intelligence and strategies that the sales/marketing divisions furnish to everybody. Then the sales/marketing divisions push the company's stuff to the outside world.

By "stuff" I mean services, goods, experiences, and so on.

In other words, sales/marketing is usually located right at, or extremely near, the top of each company's organizational chart. Effectively. Regardless of what the organizational chart may look like on paper.

It's not wrong to point out that far too many Americans vote against their own interests; yet it's more revealing to point out that the way they choose what's interesting is against their own interests. 🫤 #psychology #USA https://mindly.social/@setsly/115177968433673762

@photomatt@mastodon.social @danyork@mastodon.social @neil_h@ohai.social @Cotopaxi@mstdn.social Part 19 of a series—irreproachable, near-perfect profile or intro quotes that I wish I had thought of first! To have used myself, or aspired to use myself: "I can think. I can wait. I can fast. [I can appreciate SIDDHARTHA, too.]" 〰️ "I look for patterns. I connect dots. I share what I see." 〰️ "Occasionally providing commentary on current events from a shamanic, cosmic, spiritual point of view." 〰️ "Reaching for courage during an anxious age." @photomatt@mastodon.social @danyork@mastodon.social @neil_h@ohai.social @Cotopaxi@mstdn.social

Part 20 of a series—things I've said here that seem worth repeating on their anniversaries, such as the following words from exactly one year ago. "Why do well-known leaders of deceptive, unsustainable, or exploitative ventures seldom care how history will judge them? Like the majority of America's plutocrats, for instance—? "I mean, isn't it inevitable that ethicists, historians, environmental scientists, and other scholars will have the last word on whether those plutocrats are doing admirable work? "On one hand, those business elites seem to enjoy looking good by striving to create value; but on the other hand, they blithely ignore the long game. They disregard their future reputations and legacies. It's a blind spot for them. "Yet I don't think any truly important goals still remain for such immensely wealthy people, in their civic or corporate affairs, except the goal of forging noble legacies if possible." https://mindly.social/@setsly/113922832677200273

I expect this post to have no value for anybody who sees it when it first appears, yet it may have unique value for somebody who finds it in the future...

For reasons I pieced together here before, I had barely played any video game since 1993's Doom, except for casual games (though I maintain basic awareness by viewing clips of many later games).

However, while still not surpassing the release year of 1993, I recently decided to change this situation by fully playing my first non-casual game in over thirty years: #Zyll, a text adventure from 1984.

I eventually beat Zyll—it was superb—and then searched online for any other folks who have their own perspectives or tips on it. But there aren't a lot out there. Just half a dozen identifiable, committed players in the world, over the decades, I think.

Furthermore, the Zyll game maps, which several players created and have shared online, are pretty bad. Vague. Incomplete. Ugly; built up from ASCII characters and crude line segments. Outright wrong in some ways, too.

So I took it upon myself to draw maybe the first-ever reliable and appealing map for Zyll. See the included image. But I'll spare you a detailed explanation or legend since you're likely unfamiliar with the game anyway. Besides, almost all of my map would be self-explanatory during play.

#PCGaming
#retrogaming

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zyll

@setsly@mindly.social

I'm saddened by the intellectual constraint outlined below by BL Whorf, quoted in "Geometry, pregeometry and beyond" (pp. 435-464 of STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE PART B, volume 36, issue 3, September 2005) by Meschini et al.

"'It was found that the background linguistic system ... of each language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is itself the shaper of ideas ... . We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds—and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds.

"'This fact is very significant for modern science, for it means that no individual is free to describe nature with absolute impartiality but is constrained to certain modes of interpretation ... . We are thus introduced to a new principle of relativity, which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be calibrated.'"

To find out why this saddens me, see my previous journal quote (anniversary) today.

#learning
#linguistics

Part 19 of a series—things I've said here that seem worth repeating on their anniversaries, such as the following words from exactly one year ago.

"A fantastic short definition of 'God' is stated on page 245 of Thomas Whittaker's 'Giordano Bruno' (MIND, volume 9, number 34, April 1884):

"'In Bruno's system God,—the absolute intellect,—is at once the beginning of things and the end to which they aspire according to the degree of their perfection. The divine intellect manifested in nature is "the soul of the world"; in the human mind it expresses itself as the desire to comprehend all things in relation to the unity from which they proceed.'

"And on the next page:

"'The two sides of Bruno's doctrine are brought into relation by means of the idea of perpetual transformation, of a descent of beings from unity on the one hand and an ascent towards it on the other. This idea is already present in the first of his philosophical works, De Umbris Idearum (1582).'"

@setsly@mindly.social

My most attentive readers will rightly find a hint of ambiguity, about whether I endorse the house cat's attitude toward life.

...and I'm not referring only to my January 13, 2026 post.

#cats

This looks like a good day for some heavy thoughts

Let's put this whole thing in perspective

Eating is important

And sleeping is important

But nothing is more important than holding someone you love

Check that

Reciprocation is nice, too

✔️

Scrivener's note: to me, cats are like strangers, all right?

#StrangersDeepThoughts