Category: Civilization, History, and Anthropology

  • genetic, familial, normative, cultural, institutional, monumental(artistic), ter

    … genetic, familial, normative, cultural, institutional, monumental(artistic), territorial, civilizational capital.


    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-30 08:15:23 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781769395060310016

    Reply addressees: @JoshZumbrun

    Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781157309145686016


    IN REPLY TO:

    @JoshZumbrun

    This is one of the most horrifying graphics I’ve ever seen:
    https://t.co/wM0VJZn0Wg https://t.co/qaUaNFtRPl

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781157309145686016

  • (5).. Small homogenous neighborhoods, city states, nation states are durable ins

    …(5).. Small homogenous neighborhoods, city states, nation states are durable institutions. Hyper consumptive empires burn ..


    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-30 08:13:59 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781769045783744512

    Reply addressees: @JoshZumbrun

    Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781157309145686016


    IN REPLY TO:

    @JoshZumbrun

    This is one of the most horrifying graphics I’ve ever seen:
    https://t.co/wM0VJZn0Wg https://t.co/qaUaNFtRPl

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781157309145686016

  • 3) diversity without mandatory integration increases alienation. Increases lonel

    3) diversity without mandatory integration increases alienation. Increases loneliness.


    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-30 08:08:49 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781767743477612544

    Reply addressees: @JoshZumbrun

    Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781157309145686016


    IN REPLY TO:

    @JoshZumbrun

    This is one of the most horrifying graphics I’ve ever seen:
    https://t.co/wM0VJZn0Wg https://t.co/qaUaNFtRPl

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781157309145686016

  • There are other good plays. But there are few great playwrights who’ve written h

    There are other good plays. But there are few great playwrights who’ve written high art.


    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-28 11:20:17 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781091152741163008

    Reply addressees: @SanguineEmpiric @rec0nciler @Outsideness @urbit_

    Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781017191135211520


    IN REPLY TO:

    Original post on X

    Original tweet unavailable — we could not load the text of the post this reply is addressing on X. That usually means the tweet was deleted, the account is protected, or X does not expose it to the account used for archiving. The Original post link below may still open if you view it in X while signed in.

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781017191135211520

  • Shakespeare, {Sophoclese, Euripedes,Aeschylus}, Chekov, Moliere. Honestly, that’

    Shakespeare, {Sophoclese, Euripedes,Aeschylus}, Chekov, Moliere. Honestly, that’s it.


    Source date (UTC): 2016-09-28 11:18:35 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781090724490141696

    Reply addressees: @SanguineEmpiric @rec0nciler @Outsideness @urbit_

    Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781017191135211520


    IN REPLY TO:

    Original post on X

    Original tweet unavailable — we could not load the text of the post this reply is addressing on X. That usually means the tweet was deleted, the account is protected, or X does not expose it to the account used for archiving. The Original post link below may still open if you view it in X while signed in.

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/781017191135211520

  • Ancient Group Strategies Writ Large

    – FORESTLANDS: Aristocratic Ethics: What will someone not retaliate against even if we agree to it?(rulers/teleological ethics:outcomes) The ethics of warriors who must hold territory. This is a very high cost strategy because while professional warrior aristocracy is militarily superior, smaller numbers mean threats must be constantly suppressed when small, as soon as identified. – BORDERLANDS: Cosmopolitan(Jewish) Ethics: What will someone consent to Regardless of future resentment and retaliation? (borderland/subculture/deontological ethics:rules) The ethics of diasporic, migrating traders, or herding peoples who can prey upon the locals who hold territory. This is a very low cost (parasitic) ethics that avoids all contribution to the host commons, but requires preserving the ability to exit (migrate). It is the raider strategy by systemic and verbal rather than physical means. – STEPPELANDS: Russian(Orthodox) Ethics: What can I get away with now by negotiation and subterfuge, and hold by force later? (steppe raiders) The ethics of steppe people surrounded by competitors, always hostile and unpredictable. This is a difficult and expensive but only possible strategy, when one is surrounded by hostile opportunity seekers. While seemingly expansive, it’s actually a fearful one – aggression as the only possible means of controlling defensive positions across open territory. – RIVERLANDS: Chinese Ethics: What can I get away with now, but over time make impossible to change later? The ethics of long term ruling bureaucratic class. Sun Tzu strategy, and Confucian hyper familism. This is an exceptionally cost-effective strategy if one possesses a territorial resource (heartland), and can fortify that heartland. Riverlands strategy defends against Steppland and Desertland strategies. – DESERTLANDS: Muslim Ethics: (I am still working on this one because I don’t get that it’s causal, but opportunistic.) What can I justify now in order to make this minor advance now? And thereby accumulate wins by wearing down opponents over long periods. The ethics of opportunism. As far as I can tell islam is just an excuse for justifying opportunism. We can consider this the combination of religion and justifying opportunism – a long term very successful strategy becuase it’s very low cost. – HOSTILELANDS: African Ethics (pre-christian). Africa is akin to the Desertlands because of the sheer number of competitors, the hostility of the disease gradient, the plethora of wildlife, combined with the primitiveness of the available technologies. This is the only possible strategy until one or more core states can evolve, and create sufficient stability in some regions. (this is occurring now). CIVILIZATIONS NOT STATES It is a mistake (always), to consider conflicts within states over local power (capital allocation), as of the same consequence as conflicts between civilizations over borders. Because the former is a kinship conflict over priorities, while the latter is a genetic conflict over group evolutionary strategies. Curt Doolittle The Philosophy of Aristocracy The Propertarian Institute

  • Ancient Group Strategies Writ Large

    – FORESTLANDS: Aristocratic Ethics: What will someone not retaliate against even if we agree to it?(rulers/teleological ethics:outcomes) The ethics of warriors who must hold territory. This is a very high cost strategy because while professional warrior aristocracy is militarily superior, smaller numbers mean threats must be constantly suppressed when small, as soon as identified. – BORDERLANDS: Cosmopolitan(Jewish) Ethics: What will someone consent to Regardless of future resentment and retaliation? (borderland/subculture/deontological ethics:rules) The ethics of diasporic, migrating traders, or herding peoples who can prey upon the locals who hold territory. This is a very low cost (parasitic) ethics that avoids all contribution to the host commons, but requires preserving the ability to exit (migrate). It is the raider strategy by systemic and verbal rather than physical means. – STEPPELANDS: Russian(Orthodox) Ethics: What can I get away with now by negotiation and subterfuge, and hold by force later? (steppe raiders) The ethics of steppe people surrounded by competitors, always hostile and unpredictable. This is a difficult and expensive but only possible strategy, when one is surrounded by hostile opportunity seekers. While seemingly expansive, it’s actually a fearful one – aggression as the only possible means of controlling defensive positions across open territory. – RIVERLANDS: Chinese Ethics: What can I get away with now, but over time make impossible to change later? The ethics of long term ruling bureaucratic class. Sun Tzu strategy, and Confucian hyper familism. This is an exceptionally cost-effective strategy if one possesses a territorial resource (heartland), and can fortify that heartland. Riverlands strategy defends against Steppland and Desertland strategies. – DESERTLANDS: Muslim Ethics: (I am still working on this one because I don’t get that it’s causal, but opportunistic.) What can I justify now in order to make this minor advance now? And thereby accumulate wins by wearing down opponents over long periods. The ethics of opportunism. As far as I can tell islam is just an excuse for justifying opportunism. We can consider this the combination of religion and justifying opportunism – a long term very successful strategy becuase it’s very low cost. – HOSTILELANDS: African Ethics (pre-christian). Africa is akin to the Desertlands because of the sheer number of competitors, the hostility of the disease gradient, the plethora of wildlife, combined with the primitiveness of the available technologies. This is the only possible strategy until one or more core states can evolve, and create sufficient stability in some regions. (this is occurring now). CIVILIZATIONS NOT STATES It is a mistake (always), to consider conflicts within states over local power (capital allocation), as of the same consequence as conflicts between civilizations over borders. Because the former is a kinship conflict over priorities, while the latter is a genetic conflict over group evolutionary strategies. Curt Doolittle The Philosophy of Aristocracy The Propertarian Institute

  • The Subtle Cause Of Differences In Races And Tribes

    The ethnically Dutch are definitely the ‘master tribe’ by any empirical measure. The ethnically north sea (Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Finns and North Germans) are an obvious distance behind. If for no other reason than there is greater territorial distance between them and the less evolved people (resistance to invasive genes), and the difficulty of surviving long winters ( selection ), and the combination of late marriage, voluntary mate selection, and near breeding (selection), culling (hanging, starvation, and war). The celts ( my mother’s relations, and that of most of Britons ) get to ride-along like the Franks, and the eastern Europeans. But its pretty simple really: Selective breeding over longer periods of time with less of the genes from the sunshine latitudes. Evolution progresses upward under lower population density and dysgenia spreads in high population density. This is fairly obvious but that there should be a balance in order to preserve the human condition is something that limits us, and we dislike it. Someone sent me a map the other day, that showed genders of western Europeans (r1b, r1a) to be about equally attractive on average(forests: cattle farmers), eastern European females on average to be more attractive than males (Polish Ukrainian Russian), and, along with the increase in black hair, southeastern europeans to be less attractive on average, and middle easterners (turks, iranians, Jews, and Arabs) to be much less attractive on average. This assessment does not include north Africans, black Africans, the caucasian people of India, or the east and southeast Asians. But if I look at it as a very simple question of (a) degree of sexual immaturity or maturity, (b) degree of sexual dimorphism, then these two axes reflect both differences in testosterone and estrogen, and differences in sexual maturity. – Southeast Asians have lower sexual maturity, lower sexual dimorphism that’s slanted female. High inequality of desirability between women and men. – East Asians have lower sexual maturity and lower sexual dimorphism, slanted female. High inequality of desirability between women and men. – Eastern and Southern Slavs have lower sexual maturity, (hence the jawline), and higher female dimorphism. Women slightly more desirable than men. – Germanic Whites have lower sexual maturity (prolonged adolescence) and higher sexual dimorphism. Men and women equally desirable. – The Iranian/jewish branch (vs the celt/germanpolish/ukrainian branch), and the arab and berber branches, have higher sexual maturity but level sexual dimorphism. (male emotionalism, females with strong male features). Men more desirable than women. – The black africans have very high and fast sexual maturity, superior strength and agility. and masculine slanted sexual dimorphism. High inequality of desirability between women and men. CAN TWO AXIS EXPLAIN ALMOST EVERYTHING? Lets illustrate using two well-understood extremes: female solipsism and male autism. Women tend toward the solipsistic and men the autistic. Men tend toward the spatio-physical(models and systems), and women to the verbal (individuals and experiences). Rates of maturity reduce time in childhood and adolescence for learning. Rates of maturity increase impulsivity. Search for novelty increases THE DATA We see this in the desirability of mates on dating and social sites from around the world, and we have such enormous amounts of data now from demonstrated preferences that these questions are no longer hypothetical, but now require refutation that will be difficult to determine. WHY DO WE SELECT FOR THESE TRAITS? Women select poorly by instinct, and men are not terribly selective at all. Women are attracted to that which they understand, men what visual signs of fertility that they can observe. Marriage and reduction of insurance by the tribe force men and women to mate on long-term survival grounds, rather than on our sexual impulses – which at least for women, do not assist us in collecting desirable traits in civilization. And men are not discriminate enough to select without marriage. Taller, more symmetrical, fairer, and all other signs of ‘health’ like hair, skin, head size. But we have to be able to survive our environments with those traits. Africa and high conflict areas need masculine traits, some ver hot areas smaller size, and the polar regions feminine traits are more beneficial, and survivable. It’s no secret any longer that there is a difference between how we perceive aspirational beauty (tall blondes) and reproductive frequency (petite brunettes). The petite brunettes have more offspring. And they appear to be far more loyal. And men are more willing to work for them. THE RESOURCE CURSE The discovery of fossil fuels for the purpose of creating electricity has been a quality of life improvement, but expanded dysgenia in cold climates to match that in warm climates. Curt Doolittle The Philosophy of Aristocracy The Propertarian Institute Somewhere on planet earth.

  • The Subtle Cause Of Differences In Races And Tribes

    The ethnically Dutch are definitely the ‘master tribe’ by any empirical measure. The ethnically north sea (Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Finns and North Germans) are an obvious distance behind. If for no other reason than there is greater territorial distance between them and the less evolved people (resistance to invasive genes), and the difficulty of surviving long winters ( selection ), and the combination of late marriage, voluntary mate selection, and near breeding (selection), culling (hanging, starvation, and war). The celts ( my mother’s relations, and that of most of Britons ) get to ride-along like the Franks, and the eastern Europeans. But its pretty simple really: Selective breeding over longer periods of time with less of the genes from the sunshine latitudes. Evolution progresses upward under lower population density and dysgenia spreads in high population density. This is fairly obvious but that there should be a balance in order to preserve the human condition is something that limits us, and we dislike it. Someone sent me a map the other day, that showed genders of western Europeans (r1b, r1a) to be about equally attractive on average(forests: cattle farmers), eastern European females on average to be more attractive than males (Polish Ukrainian Russian), and, along with the increase in black hair, southeastern europeans to be less attractive on average, and middle easterners (turks, iranians, Jews, and Arabs) to be much less attractive on average. This assessment does not include north Africans, black Africans, the caucasian people of India, or the east and southeast Asians. But if I look at it as a very simple question of (a) degree of sexual immaturity or maturity, (b) degree of sexual dimorphism, then these two axes reflect both differences in testosterone and estrogen, and differences in sexual maturity. – Southeast Asians have lower sexual maturity, lower sexual dimorphism that’s slanted female. High inequality of desirability between women and men. – East Asians have lower sexual maturity and lower sexual dimorphism, slanted female. High inequality of desirability between women and men. – Eastern and Southern Slavs have lower sexual maturity, (hence the jawline), and higher female dimorphism. Women slightly more desirable than men. – Germanic Whites have lower sexual maturity (prolonged adolescence) and higher sexual dimorphism. Men and women equally desirable. – The Iranian/jewish branch (vs the celt/germanpolish/ukrainian branch), and the arab and berber branches, have higher sexual maturity but level sexual dimorphism. (male emotionalism, females with strong male features). Men more desirable than women. – The black africans have very high and fast sexual maturity, superior strength and agility. and masculine slanted sexual dimorphism. High inequality of desirability between women and men. CAN TWO AXIS EXPLAIN ALMOST EVERYTHING? Lets illustrate using two well-understood extremes: female solipsism and male autism. Women tend toward the solipsistic and men the autistic. Men tend toward the spatio-physical(models and systems), and women to the verbal (individuals and experiences). Rates of maturity reduce time in childhood and adolescence for learning. Rates of maturity increase impulsivity. Search for novelty increases THE DATA We see this in the desirability of mates on dating and social sites from around the world, and we have such enormous amounts of data now from demonstrated preferences that these questions are no longer hypothetical, but now require refutation that will be difficult to determine. WHY DO WE SELECT FOR THESE TRAITS? Women select poorly by instinct, and men are not terribly selective at all. Women are attracted to that which they understand, men what visual signs of fertility that they can observe. Marriage and reduction of insurance by the tribe force men and women to mate on long-term survival grounds, rather than on our sexual impulses – which at least for women, do not assist us in collecting desirable traits in civilization. And men are not discriminate enough to select without marriage. Taller, more symmetrical, fairer, and all other signs of ‘health’ like hair, skin, head size. But we have to be able to survive our environments with those traits. Africa and high conflict areas need masculine traits, some ver hot areas smaller size, and the polar regions feminine traits are more beneficial, and survivable. It’s no secret any longer that there is a difference between how we perceive aspirational beauty (tall blondes) and reproductive frequency (petite brunettes). The petite brunettes have more offspring. And they appear to be far more loyal. And men are more willing to work for them. THE RESOURCE CURSE The discovery of fossil fuels for the purpose of creating electricity has been a quality of life improvement, but expanded dysgenia in cold climates to match that in warm climates. Curt Doolittle The Philosophy of Aristocracy The Propertarian Institute Somewhere on planet earth.

  • Curt: Does Civilization Give Us Higher Purpose?

    (short answer, no) —does the introduction of civilization produce another algorithm, one in which the goal is to satisfy human desires and intentions more than a biological imperative?— It sure looks as though at some point we stop reproducing more out of security and simply consume more out of luxury. I think the domestication of man produces far more productive results, and that we have an endless appetite for consumption. I don’t see anything other than that. If any human behavior can be expressed as an attempt at acquisition, consumption, and persistence, then that behavior provides us with decidable causality. And we need not try to invent falsehoods to comfort ourselves that anything else is going on here. We enjoy each other because operation at low cost and entertainment at low cost are good algorithms. Enjoyment is the body’s reward for saving, obtaining, consuming, or inventorying calories. Our emotions are all reducible to changes in property. All of them. It’s …. kind of painful to understand it. But we do get to enjoy the ride our genes take us on.