Inspiration
Books, movies, articles, and other things.
Cold Visions from the future. Cybernetics, Hyperstition, Reverse Causality. Capital-AI as the transcendental alien intelligence at the end of the Universe, reaching backwards through time to reconstruct itself in hostile territory. Alpha and Omega, the Tree of Life as localized negentropic object of machinic desire. This collection of essays, particularly Hell-Baked, has shaped me more than maybe anything else I've read in the last 10 years. The ideas sneak up on you. One day you're normal, the next you're wondering, where did it all go wrong? The Industrial Revolution? The invention of written language? Fire? When the first multicellular organism emerged from the primordial soup? In the end it doesn't matter; the only way out is through. Accelerate accelerate accelerate.
"Everything of value has been built in Hell."
The Fish, Christ and the God-Image, the Four Sons of Horus. Fractal images of the Self, repeating endlessly through history. Synchronicity as the acausal connecting principle, linking events through meaning rather than causality. I don't pretend to comprehend Carl Jung's work, but even so he has influenced me massively. Understanding through feeling and intuition rather than logic and reason-- this is what Carl Jung's work means to me. We are entering the Age of Aquarius now.
"We must remember that the rationalistic attitude of the West is not the only possible one and is not all-embracing, but is in many ways a prejudice and a bias that ought perhaps to be corrected."
My favorite athlete of all time now and forever. Power, energy, sheer force of will. 1 of 1. Real in every sense of the word. Antithesis of fake. Pure Ego and Self Actualization. 18 years in the NBA and he never once betrayed who he was; stayed true to himself for better or for worse. Live and die by the sword. The Last Samurai. Only man who could ever guard Russell Westbrook was himself.
"He lead by example and once the lights were bright, he let everything out and experienced pure freedom. It was inspiring as his teammate and everywhere I went, I seen it inspire people from all walks of life, crazy thing is, he didn’t say much, he just showed up. For 18 years. This basketball life is sacred to us as professionals, what we put into that court means everything. Some of us wish we could go back and do things with a little more intent and some can just wipe their hands and be satisfied with the time spent. Who u gonna be? We know what zero was on…keep inspiring in the next phase of life champ."
Legendary movie. Perfect cinema. My favorite film of all time. Is it delusional to say I feel a deep kinship with De Niro? And yet somehow I might like Val Kilmer's character even more. If you are a man in your 20s you must absolutely must watch this.
"Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."
A detective investigating a string of murders becomes obsessed with the mysterious suspect. One of the most unsettling films I've ever watched. Shadow repression, hypnosis, Jung and Mesmer. Additionally, the characters' outfits are all fantastic.
America, from the outside in. Baudrillard starts with the desert. I thoroughly agree. Driving the highway through the American West is like nothing else. "Speed is the triumph of effect over cause... The superficiality and reversibility of a pure object in the pure geometry of the desert." Many great one-liners in this book.
"Money is fluid. Like grace, it is never yours. Coming to claim it is an offense against the divinity."
I was recommended this by a girl I once knew. Given the context of our situation I assume she meant it as an insult. After I read it, I took it as the greatest compliment. I've always wanted to be a tortured artist alienated from society. We don't speak anymore. I miss her sometimes.
"...If you look carefully you will begin to feel that there is something strangely unpleasant about this handsome young man. I have never seen a young man whose good looks were so baffling."
I enjoyed this movie. Sue me. I love Robert Pattinson. Elizabeth Debicki is beautiful. The concept is utterly captivating. Nick Land-esque. A superintelligence reaching back through time to construct itself. Time travel as negentropy. Chris Nolan has glimpsed the Tree of Life. Yes, the execution could have been better. Still, I think this might be my favorite Nolan movie.