decaffeinatedanchorpirate

[decaffeinatedanchorpirate]

Superheroes as Folklore and some quantum stuff

I don't read or watch much superhero stuff these days, but I still love the idea of it. It's modern folklore. Superheroes are our Olympic gods. The Marvel cinematic universe is our Mahabharata. You say we don't worship them like gods, but have you been to the conventions? People turn their own rooms into shrines to superman, and if they're popular enough, others visit those shrines to pay tribute, if not in person then on social media. The difference is that we know they're not real. But I ask you, in 1000 years from now, if an archaeologist stumbled upon one of these collector shrines, would they not think we worshipped superheroes as literal deities? There's a common bias against ancient peoples, that they were stupid and easily fooled, but biologically there's no difference between your brain and that of an ancient Mesopotamian. Surely a great number of them recognized that the gods weren't literally real, but still told their stories, wore their totems, and paid them tribute, just as we do today. I would posit that the majority of ancient worshippers understood the blurry reality of well-written characters who take on a life of their own. Batman has no one writer, but he has a singular identity and voice, and any work that strays from that voice is discarded from the cannon, because we intuitively sense what Batman would and would not do even if we can't think of it ourselves. He is alive in his own ambiguous way. And we look to that life for inspiration, guidance, or as a cautionary tale; the same way our ancestors did Loki and Wisakedjak.

I feel like this ambiguous semi-reality of pantheistic religions was gradually replaced by monotheistic Abrahamic ones. Monotheism isn't just about one god, it's about one right and wrong, it's a philosophy of absolutes and definitive answers, even if God is their sole keeper. The scientific revolution of the enlightenment was borne out of that philosophy, and scientists took on this bias towards reality as a definable set of true/false variables. The cat is alive or dead, it cannot be both. It's only thanks to Einstein and those that followed that we've started to wrestle with a more 'ambiguous' universe, or universes. Even Einstein had to admit his absolutist view of reality did not work with what his theory and observations were proving to him, which made him very uncomfortable.

So I think it's awesome that the superhero zeitgeist has gone all-in on the concept of a multiverse. It fits thematically with the existential ambiguity of their inherited idolatry. And maybe by embracing that ambiguity at least in science-fiction, society will have an easier time digesting the wild discoveries to come out of CERN in the next 100 years.

[decaffeinatedanchorpirate]

Dating Profile

This was going to be my bio until I realized no app would let me type this much. They know no one wants to date a philosopher.

I don't want to just talk about philosophy, I want to live it. How many scientific journals and legendary writers have to extol the virtues of living in the moment before I listen to them? If investing in google was interesting to me, I'd do it. If owning real estate in Toronto was interesting to me, I'd do it. If it's the right thing for me to do, why doesn't it interest me? Sacrificing your own comfort for practicality; isn't that how people wind up in loveless or abusive relationships? Pursuing financial security over our deepest desires has ruined the planet, has it not? Poets didn't invent single-use plastics. Dancers didn't inflate the housing market. We're so obsessed with productivity we're producing ourselves to death. Doing nothing is a revolutionary act. Perhaps that's why so many people don't want to work anymore; that is to say, do what a handful of people have decided is work. When something really feels right, it takes little convincing. Trying hard for any reason other than feeling good about it; there's a good chance it's motivated by scarcity. Scarcity is a self-fulfilling prophecy, or so the economists tell us. It changes the way we approach relationships, opportunities, and how much energy we have. Most artists are lucky if they produce 1 masterpiece in their lifetime. Should we really ask more of them than that? We don't need 8 billion masterpieces. I estimate a few thousand will suffice. Nor do we need 8 billion new technologies, or recipes, or revolutions, or missions to Europa. So what are artists, inventors, discoverers, and cooks supposed to do with the rest of their lives? Do they need to finish 99 bad projects to get 1 good one? Can our world survive 99 bad projects? 99 bad billion dollar movies. 99 disposable fashion fads. 99 remedies for side effects of the other 99 drugs we've invented. We're killing ourselves and making a fortune doing it. Can't we just enjoy the learning process until that sublime state of effortless inspiration impels us to act? Even if it means dawdling for a few decades, spending time with our loved ones, not really producing much? Anyway, that's what I'm doing. If you want to come hang out and not do anything productive, hit me up!