We Are Not Saved

Transcript: https://wearenotsaved.com/2022/08/31/eschatologist-20-the-antifragility-of-taboos/ We covered the fragility of systems and technology in the last newsletter. In this newsletter I’d like to move from the material to the ephemeral. In other words, let’s talk about culture. This is a huge topic for a short newsletter, so while much of what I say can be applied to traditional culture in general, I want to focus on traditional taboos. The older and stronger and more widespread the taboo, the better...

Transcript: https://wearenotsaved.com/2022/08/26/the-involution-of-everything/  Recently I came across a theory for the progression of subcultures, which seemed to have significant explanatory power for what's happening to Western culture in general. Among the many things this theory speaks to is why cultural fights have become so vicious, why young people are disengaging, and whether wokeism has peaked. 

To Save Everything Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism by: Evgeny Morozov Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative? by: Mark Fisher How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by: Thomas Cahill The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History by: Alexander Mikaberidze Kidnapped by: Robert Louis Stevenson Weird of Hali: Providence by: John Michael Greer Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction by: Blaire Ostler ⌫ The Ethics of Beauty by: Timothy G. Patitsas

Transcript: https://wearenotsaved.com/2022/07/31/eschatologist-19-the-non-linearity-of-baggage-systems/ I use the baggage chaos I encountered on a trip to Ireland as an example of fragility.

Liberalism and Its Discontents by: Francis Fukuyama Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World by: Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross Creative Evolution by: Henri Bergson (didn’t finish) An Introduction to Metaphysics by: Henri Bergson The Great Hunger: Ireland: 1845-1849 by: Cecil Woodham-Smith  (didn’t finish) The Man Who Died Twice: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery by: Richard Osman Rising From The Rubble: Buried for hours, changed for life, saved for something greater. By: Williamson Sintyl The Wind in the Willows by: Kenneth Grahame Breakaway: Expeditionary Force, Book 12 by: Craig Alanson Fallout: Expeditionary Force, Book 13 by: Craig Alanson Match Game: Expeditionary Force, Book 14 by: Craig Alanson Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives by: Steve Wilkens and Mark L. Sanford

Transcript: https://wearenotsaved.com/2022/06/30/eschatologist-18-famines-and-fragility/  I’m leaving for Ireland in just over a week. The trip is about half touristy stuff and half genealogical. I discuss my Irish ancestors, in particular Charles Conner who came to America during the Potato Famine. I then discuss some potential lessons that famine has for our own time.

The future is important, it is where we're going to spend the rest of our lives. But there are lots of different frameworks for how the future is going to go. Has technology saved us? Is it about to save us? Or will technology doom us? Does the arc of the moral universe bend towards justice or are we a few years away from collapse. In this episode I consider a half dozen eschatological frameworks, and what each of them say about the future and how things are going to end. In triumph or disaster.

Interestingly, the tragedy of Uvalde has been overshadowed by the unconscionable delay of the police. This is not the first time law enforcement has failed to operate in the way it should. An action by US Women Gymnasts seeking $1 billion dollars from the FBI for failing to stop Larry Nassar was also in the news recently. And again we have to ask why did law enforcement, in this case the FBI, fail so dramatically? This episode will explore both of these examples and attempt to come up with some sort of answer for that question.

The Exponential Age: How Accelerating Technology Is Transforming Business, Politics, and Society by: Azeem Azhar Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men by: Leonard Sax The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos by: Sohrab Ahmari The China Dream: Great Power Thinking and Strategic Posture in the Post-American Era by: Liu Mingfu  Canceling Comedians While the World Burns: A Critique of the Contemporary Left by: Ben Burgis The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe by: Elizabeth L. Eisenstein  Paper Heroes by: Steven Heumann Critical Mass (Expeditionary Force, #10) by: Craig Alanson Brushfire (Expeditionary Force, #11) by: Craig Alanson

Transcript: https://wearenotsaved.com/2022/05/31/eschatologist-17-weve-solved-all-the-easy-problems-only-hard-problems-remain/ Abortion is back in the news, but rather than arguing for one side or the other I thought I'd take a look at the arena of moral debates in general. Are we getting better at solving these thorny problems or worse? I suspect we're getting worse, both because of internet echo chambers, but also because we've solved all the easy problems and only the really tough ones remain.  As you can imagine, this is bad.