#Knowledge organization

[recsspecs]

Good students, on the other hand, constantly raise the bar for themselves

as they focus on what they haven’t learned and mastered yet. This is why high achievers who have had a taste of the vast amount of knowledge out there are likely to suffer from what psychologists call imposter syndrome, the feeling that you are not really up to the job, even though, of all people, they are (Clance and Imes 1978; Brems et al. 1994).

- How to Take Smart Notes (Sönke Ahrens)

[reality-detective]

Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to finally withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization...

Official Testimony Bill Gates was behind the World Health Organization global power grab

The WHO also involved in “WHO sex crime scandal, where 83 WHO staff has sexually exploited girls and women — including rape — victims as young as 13”

“Gates bought the WHO, and they now recommend his products. It is that simple. WHO's current sugar daddy is Bill Gates, who has made billions out of his investment in the same vaccines that WHO promotes.”

This official testimony is absolutely INSANE🤔

[greenwichtraders]

How fucked up is this?

[thatonebirdwrites]

(I wrote this article to help remind myself that even small actions like maintaining my microlibrary matters. I've included my methodology below and why I do it. I also includes some resources that go into further depth).

Archiving Our Works Offline

Since we are entering a fascist era where I live, archiving literature of all types becomes more pertinent. Especially with the current rise in book-banning and censorship (much of that focusing on marginalized groups like LGBTQIA people and Black and Indigenous people).

So how do we archive literature and keep knowledge safe from censorship or destruction by authoritarian regimes? There’s various methods, but I’ll speak of a way one can do this without a degree or beforehand knowledge of archival practices.

I’ve been archiving my eBooks and the studies I’ve read for a long time now, but it’s only recently I’ve been working on transferring them to a safer, offline drive. I also have a large physical library of books from various genres and covering many different topics. I collect books and can often find them cheap at book sale fundraisers, estate sales, sales in book stories, discounts in online stores, etc. 

Due to how extensive my library is, it’s inspired my friends to read new authors or genres or to tackle new topics; the archive gave us room for discussion. It also helped friends or community members who don’t have access to a library still access a digital copy by checking-out a copy from me. Now, one doesn’t have to share their archive with anyone, but I find it helpful to do so.

The goal however should not be to archive the most famous books — as if everyone did that we wouldn’t preserve much knowledge, so focus on unique and lesser known literature and media to preserve those too. This is why I focus so much on marginalized authors, who are not well known.

Archiving knowledge is why physical libraries in a town is so crucial. They are bastions of knowledge and archived books, media, and documents. Supporting your local library and fighting with your library to keep them open is crucial. This also requires fighting against book bans that would censor/restrict what a library is allowed to put on their shelves and archives.

What I’m suggesting here isn’t to replace libraries. It’s to augment the community’s archives of knowledge, media, documents, and books. Since Public Libraries are the forefront of the fight against banned books, it can be crucial to make sure the banned or censored books are preserved somehow.

While the authoritarian state may easily target Public Libraries, they can’t so easily target civilians, especially if the archival project is done quietly among small groups of people. These smaller projects are how some of the lost knowledge from before the 1930s Nazi book-burnings were salvaged; everyday people like you and me archived books and documents and kept them safe.

Experts often discuss four stages to censorship:

Stage one: Not allowing certain topics to be discussed. This is similar to laws in Florida, where speaking of LGBTQIA folks (trans in particular) can be penalized. This primarily impacts schools, but not necessarily the publishing industry as a whole.

Stage two: Bills that censor the Internet. The terrible KOSA bill (Kids Online Safety Act) is an example, where it sought to censor the existence of LGBTQIA and/or Black and Indigenous literature, media, and documents on the Internet. This is where sites that carry these media may start to go dark digitally.

Stage three: Penalizing anyone who sells, disseminates, or produces censored materials. This is when authors, publishers, bookstore owners, libraries, and others are attacked directly and penalized for having any literature or media the state deems ‘bad.’ The penalty can range from fines to jail time to death.

Stage four: book burnings. This is full-on blatant Nazi-esque book burnings and trashing of any institution or public archive of knowledge and media that holds the censored materials. For example, the Sex and Gender Institute in Germany in 1930s was the first targeted institution for book burnings by Nazis. A century worth of data on LGBTQIA (and specifically trans and intersex individuals) were lost. The only remnants that survived was documents smuggled out before the book burnings.

For the country in which I reside, we are hovering between stage one and two. I suspect by the end of these four years, we’ll be closer to stage three. This is why it’s crucial to keep an archive of knowledge, and if many people are doing this, the higher likelihood that more data can be preserved. It may seem daunting, but that’s why it’s helpful to work with other people and focus on a specific genre or topic for the archival project you start.

I personally started with Leftist books focused on anti-capitalism, anti-racism, building communes, and science fiction and fantasy by marginalized authors. I was a little broad in my choice of topics, but there’s no need to be this broad.

For example, one could pick to archive only trans literature or only literature by Indigenous authors. Also remember, you cannot archive every book in your chosen topic. You will be curating these archives to some degree because that’s inescapable. Do not fret over this or agonize over being unable to archive all the books.

Preserving some knowledge is better than losing it all. That’s the goal. Take it a step at a time. For me, I’ve been adding to my archive for over four years. It’s sitting at around 25 gigabytes, and it’s something I added to slowly over that time. I took breaks. I set aside time each month to update the archive, and I asked others for help during high pain times. (This was helpful during the start of Covid, where I started up a digital archive of studies. Friends helped catalog them.)

Preserving knowledge and literature is crucial in times where censorship and book bans are on the rise. There’s a lot of great knowledge, literature, and media out there that should be preserved for future people to read or watch.

When an authoritarian regime starts to censor the sharing of knowledge, data, and stories, this is when archival practices become crucial for the survival of people’s history, culture, and stories. Anyone can work on an archival project, though I recommend building up a group to help make it easier in the long run.

1. Hardware. 

Obtain a large storage drive, as in a 1 or more terabyte SSD drive. This will serve as the data repository for the digital portion of the archive. This drive must not be used regularly. It’s meant to store the data, then be placed in a safe storage area (at just the right temperature to avoid degradation of the drive).

Since books can range in size, multiple storage drives may be needed. If one is seeking to also rescue/archive media such as photographs, videos, music, podcasts, etc — then you’ll need larger storage drives. This storage drive should not be connected to the Internet in any way. It’s meant as an offline archival device.

Servers can also be used as archives, where the data is stored on the server, but a server is connected to the Internet. Depending on the circumstances, it may not be wise to have the back-up archive in the cloud. A back-up should be stored offline for any archive security.

Try to avoid cloud storage, especially if based in the USA. Do not use googledrive or dropbox or any similar cloud storage. If you must use cloud storage, always have an offline backup on your own SSD drives, and seek out a storage service that is based in a country with good privacy laws that has encryption embedded in it such as cryptpad.org.

Next make sure the computer hardware needed to open those drives are kept in top-notch shape. The digital archive will end up useless if there isn’t a device capable of connecting with the storage drive. Most devices with USB ports have the capability to connect to a storage drive.

2. File types.

You need to make sure the file types used in digital storage can be easily accessed by the majority of devices currently in existence. At this time of writing in January 2025, PDFs, ePub, .Doc, .mp3, .mp4, .wave, and .zip  are the most common file types and the most accessible. Could this change in the next decade? Maybe, but for now, focus on the most common file types that are accessible by the majority of systems.

3. Avenues of procuring the literature for archiving.

There’s two forms of archival data: Physical form and Digital form. 

For the physical form, that consists of print books, magazines, newspapers, photos, etc. These can be purchased online or in physical stores. They also can be traded for using a grey market system. (Grey market is where the item is obtained legally but then sold by someone who may not have a license to sell. Black market is when item is obtained illegally.) Physical forms of literature are the superior archival forms. Books can easily outlast our lifetimes if stored in a dry, lukewarm temperature storage space.

Digital forms do not have a physical version of the data. The storage device or server is the only sign it exists in the physical realm. Digital forms can be compressed into smaller file sizes for long-term storage. Buying eBooks is also cheaper than a print physical copy. There is also online PDF/eBook libraries where one can download the book for free (for legal reasons, I cannot recommend. For ethical reasons, I maintain archiving literature to make sure it doesn’t disappear or is destroyed by censorship is important in the long-term).

Once the item is procuring (in hopefully legal way as I in no way suggest breaking the law), then it becomes important to store it appropriately.

4. Storage of archival data and literature.

The storage drives in point 1 become crucial for the digital forms of literature and other data. Storage drives need to be kept in a relatively dry, cool space and kept offline. When I saw cool, I’m speaking of between 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Best to keep it at a steady temperature. I prefer 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. This prolongs the shelf-life of your drive. To avoid stressing the drive by using it often, try to time the storage so that you store as many files as you can in one boot-up.

Another important component to using storage drives is the power of encryption. A drive can be encrypted, and the key needed to use it safely guarded. I’d recommend this only if there are concerns of increased scrutiny to penalize the possession of certain types of literature and archival documents and media.

For example, if a law is passed to ban trans or queer literature, there’s a few ways the law could be written: it can focus on who sells or prints this literature, which means possession of it is not part of the law. A second way is to penalize both selling, printing, and possession. It’s this latter form of law that needs to be watched out for, and if it comes to be, that’s when encrypting the drives and keeping that key safe is crucial.

I am not an encryption expert, however. So be sure to research encryption to determine the best way to build up this security.

For physical storage, the area needs to also be dry and in that same temperature range. Storage in bins such as metal or plastic bins can also help preserve the books and magazines. Finding a space big enough can be difficult. Sure, a storage center could be used, but if you lose access to it or one is raided, you’d have no control over rescuing your archive. Better to work with your community (and friends) to store it yourself, so you have control over who has access to it.

5. Building up these archival Libraries in your communities.

If this feels daunting, then take a step back and think about who you know that may be interested in assisting. You can then talk with those people and work out a system to spread the tasks and make the project less intense. By working together in community, you will lessen the risk of burnout, which is crucial since it can take anywhere from weeks to years to recover from burnout.

What is burnout? It’s when stress on the body and mind pushes one past their limits and causes illness — physical or mental illness. The body and mind are exhausted, and so activities becomes increasingly hard to do. The best way to avoid this is to share the burden in projects like these. Take breaks often to give your body and mind rest. Spend time with family and/or friends and/or pets to help recharge. Take some solitary time too.

Working with other people in community is crucial for surviving fascist regimes. We are not islands, as that saying goes, and even islands are not isolated and independent. For the island relies on the larger, interconnected ecosystems of earth to exist. 

Mariame Kaba, who wrote ‘We Do This Till We Free Us,’ wrote about her father and something her father shared with her: “You have a responsibility to live in this world. Your responsibility is not just to yourself. You are connected to everyone…. because the world doesn’t work without everyone.” 

We are interconnected with other people and the environment as a whole. No one is “self-made” as that is individualistic capitalist propaganda; all of us had people throughout our lives that taught us what we know, socialized us into society’s norms (or out of those norms), assisted us in hard times, and so forth. Humanity are inherently social creatures, so do not discount the power of community.

Resources

For ways to build up your own groups and communities, I recommend starting with Surviving the Future edited by Branson, Hudsen, and Reed and How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong. Group-building can be as simple as a book club, who meets monthly, deciding to take on archiving the books they read.

For further reading, the following article discusses archiving and rescuing trans literature, but it’s tips apply to everything I’ve discussed above and to many other types of literature: A Practical Guide To Resisting Censorship. It includes tips for ways people can work together to safeguard knowledge and literature, which is nicely organized based on your role in the literature ecosystem. 

Feel free to share thoughts and tips below. :)

[notbecauseofvictories]

there are many indignities about being alive, but one of the very worst is when you're forced to treat your own brain like a small child screaming its lungs out in a public place for some undisclosed and indiscernible reason---but critically, your brain and the child both won't stop until you fix whatever it is, and your first 20 guesses will be wrong.

[aromanticduck]

For 'working it out', you're allowed a calculator, but you're not allowed to search up how many minutes in an hour, hours in a day, etc.

Also, you don't have to actually be a theatre kid to vote option 1. If you know this because of the song from Rent, that's the button for you.

[canisalbus]

My auntie keeps Golden Guernsey goats on our island, like many of our local unique breeds of livestock they nearly went extinct in the starving during ww2 occupation surviving by only one smuggled flock. They're super friendly and energetic and their colouration might be of interest :eyes:

Oh OH these are very pretty

[dykedvonte]

Daisuke to me represents the type of person who you have to bottle up your pain around because they are ill equipped to handle it. He would realistically not know what to do realizing that among the people he idolizes one is this horrendous monster, especially since he is so optimistic to a hazardous level to himself.

This makes his relationship with Anya so upsetting because as much as he could confide in her she could never confide in him. That very conscious fact/choice on her part is a constant reminder of her suffering along with the hopeless inability to do anything herself about it that ruins her mental state more.

[tohruies]

“coco, do you mind if i hold your hand for a while?”

“h-huh?! um, yes!”

“oh… alright then, forgive me for being so forward.”

“wait, sorry, i mean— no, of course, i don’t!! um! sorry, i don’t mind! i don’t mind if we held hands at all…”

“… you’re, um, endearingly reactive.”

— THANK YOU SO MUCH NICK FREN!!! 🥺💖 for bringing yaoco ‘first date’ to life :’3 in your most beautiful cutieful art style :’’3 @scarameownya nick is so awesome to work with; he is exceptionally talented and communicative!! his eye for details is impeccable and he always strives to tell a story through his art which is so very lovely 🥺 you should absolutely consider commissioning him whenever he has open slots hehe YAY!!!!

[affairsmastery]

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is gearing up to formally withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 20, 2025, the day of his inauguration. This move revives Trump’s 2020 decision, citing WHO's alleged influence by China and failure to adopt critical reforms.

As the WHO’s largest donor, the US contributes 16% of its funding, making this withdrawal a seismic shift in global health efforts and crisis management. The decision would overturn President Joe Biden’s 2021 move to rejoin the organization, a key policy reversal set to reshape international health leadership.

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Wabi-Sabi

Wabi-sabi is a traditional Japanese aesthetic and worldview centered on the acceptance and appreciation of imperfection, impermanence, and the incomplete. It is deeply rooted in Buddhist teachings, particularly those relating to the transience of life. The philosophy of wabi-sabi celebrates the beauty found in simplicity, humility, and natural processes. Here’s an exploration of its core principles and concepts:

1. Impermanence (Mujō)

Transience of Life: Central to wabi-sabi is the Buddhist concept of impermanence (mujō), which acknowledges that all things are in a constant state of flux and decay. This perspective encourages an appreciation for the present moment and the beauty of fleeting experiences.

Natural Aging: Wabi-sabi finds beauty in the natural aging process. The patina of wear and the signs of use on objects are celebrated as they reveal the passage of time and the story of their existence.

2. Imperfection (Wabi)

Beauty in Flaws: Wabi-sabi embraces the idea that nothing is perfect, and it is in the imperfections that true beauty resides. This could be seen in asymmetry, roughness, and the uniqueness of handmade objects.

Simplicity and Humility: The wabi aspect emphasizes simplicity and humility. It values modest, rustic beauty over ostentatious or overly elaborate designs. This often translates to an aesthetic of minimalism and restraint.

3. Incompleteness (Sabi)

Unfinished and Evolving: The sabi aspect of wabi-sabi appreciates the incomplete and the evolving nature of things. It suggests that beauty is a process, not a fixed state, and that objects and experiences are always in a state of becoming.

Quietness and Serenity: Sabi also conveys a sense of quietness and serenity. It reflects a meditative quality, an appreciation for solitude and the tranquility found in understated beauty.

4. Connection to Nature

Natural Materials: Wabi-sabi often involves the use of natural materials that age gracefully over time, such as wood, stone, and clay. These materials reflect the organic processes of growth and decay inherent in nature.

Organic Forms: The aesthetic favors organic, irregular forms that mimic the irregularities found in nature, as opposed to geometric perfection.

5. Mindfulness and Presence

Living Mindfully: Embracing wabi-sabi encourages living mindfully and being present in the moment. It’s about appreciating the here and now, and finding contentment in the current state of things, despite (or because of) their imperfections.

Acceptance: Wabi-sabi involves accepting the natural cycle of growth and decay, and finding peace and contentment in this acceptance. It’s about letting go of the pursuit of perfection and embracing the reality of impermanence.

Examples in Practice

Tea Ceremony: The Japanese tea ceremony is a quintessential example of wabi-sabi in practice. The ceremony emphasizes simplicity, natural materials, and the appreciation of imperfections in the tea utensils, such as a crack in a teacup that adds character and history.

Kintsugi: The art of kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold or silver lacquer, highlights the philosophy of wabi-sabi. It transforms damage into beauty, celebrating the history and imperfection of the object.

Gardens: Traditional Japanese gardens often embody wabi-sabi principles with their asymmetrical layouts, natural elements, and deliberate incorporation of aged or weathered features.

The philosophy of wabi-sabi offers a profound shift in how we perceive beauty and value in the world. By embracing imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness, wabi-sabi encourages us to find beauty in the everyday, to appreciate the simple and humble aspects of life, and to cultivate a deep connection with the natural world. It is a reminder to live mindfully, to cherish the present moment, and to find peace in the ebb and flow of life’s inevitable changes.

[dreamersdwell]

Dark enchantress cookie redesign

[reality-detective]

The truth about organ donation 🤔

[peachfruitcake]

well gosh

[the-physicality]

thinking this labor day about all the athletes in women's sports who didn't have a stable league, who were only making decent money from a spot on their national team, who had to fight to get even a fraction of what they deserve. who spent their prime without a club league or the infrastructure to propel the sport. who came of age after title 9 in the usa [forcing schools to fund women/girls’ sports], the ones who fought for cbas and are only seeing big change at the end of their careers or after their careers concluded. who didn't have the media attention before, but are now showing just how much they can sell out stadiums and arenas. the players who played year round because overseas teams paid athletes what they were worth. athletes who endured and reported harassment but the league never took appropriate action. athletes who never had the media attention or ability to monetize their talent but who had careers that were just as impressive as the stars of today. who did it without the help of the science, technology, and medicine we have today. who set records with less support and fewer games in a season, which will be broken by kids who have had personal trainers since high school. athletes who played great games that are no long available to view, their talent no longer archived and accessible for young or new fans. athletes who still don't have a league or are just getting one in 2024. athletes who took it upon themselves to create change for which they will never reap the full rewards.

[canisalbus]

hello! i've been thinking about asking about this detail of machete for a while now and figured i'd just go for it, it sounds quite dark but it isn't my intention for it to i'm just really intrigued by his character and want to learn more about it yknow? essentially, with all the hardship machete faces, long before he meets vasco i mean, why does he continue to have such a drive to keep going? (when it'd be so easy to give up long before he meets vasco) what drives him to strive to do so well (in terms of succeeding not, well-being wise) essentially, in the path he is handed? it isn't that i do not find this believable and that there aren't many possible motivators bc i do see that wholeheartedly which is specifically why i am just very curious as to what specifically motivates him in his youngest years you know? does that make sense? i know you've mentioned guilt and perfectionism, are those already his driving forces? does it go deeper than that? is it simply not that deep, etc? (ps. much love for the creation of your storyline and your characters, it's immaculate, and your art illustrates all of it so well, it gets across exactly the things you intend to me)

I think guilt and perfectionism definitely play a big part in his drive to be successful, but the main motivator is probably his low self-esteem. He's overcompensating to a pathological degree, he needs to convince everyone, including God and himself, that he's not weak, stupid and useless. He was somewhat neglected and eventually abandoned by his birth family and since then he's been seeking approval and validation from outside sources, the more esteemed person the better. He's not highborn, particularly talented or good looking, but I like to think he's naturally inquisitive and academically oriented so being the smartest, most educated person in the room just gradually became his objective in life. He was also extremely hardworking right from the start. Many of his teachers regarded him as an exemplary student with great potential, but behind the scenes he was sacrificing much of his health and wellbeing to keep up that "gifted kid" image, constantly fearing of not living up to their expectations and failing everyone who had ever believed in him. As a grown man he continues to measure his worth by his achievements which leads to stress and overworking, but also rapid and impressive career progression. I believe he goes through multiple burnouts before he snaps for good.