Philosophy

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Philosophy (from Greek: φιλοσοφία, philosophia, 'love of wisdom') is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language.

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The cypherpunks were 1990s digital activists who challenged White House policies aiming to prevent the emergence of unregulated digital cryptography, an online privacy technology capable of frustrating government surveillance. Whilst the cypherpunk’s ideology, which is predominantly the output of Timothy C. May, is well understood, less is known about the composition of the cypherpunk’s community. This article builds on past studies by Rid and Beltramini by using the cypherpunk’s mail list archive to profile the most active and influential cypherpunks. This study confirms the May-derived ideology is broadly, though not entirely, representative of the cypherpunk community. This article assesses the cypherpunks were a highly educated, mostly libertarian community permeated by aspects of anarchism which arose from a societal disaffiliation inherited from the counterculture. This article further argues that the cypherpunks were also influenced by the hacker ethic and dystopian science fiction.

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Quotes to Free Your Mind (forum.hackliberty.org)
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Our truth book recommendations will aid in bringing truth forward for the next generations.

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Welcome to The Library of Alexandria, a vibrant hub dedicated to the exploration and open sharing of esoteric wisdom and forbidden knowledge. Within these digital walls, we aim to recreate the spirit of the ancient Library of Alexandria—a renowned center of knowledge and scholarship in the ancient world. Our modern version of this legendary library serves as a virtual sanctuary for truth seekers from all walks of life, fostering an environment that encourages the free exchange of information.

Join us in building this extraordinary collection by adding books that have profoundly influenced your understanding of the world!

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The End of All Evil (forum.hackliberty.org)
submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

The End of All Evil (2006)

Written by Jeremy Locke

"Never in all of history have the elements been arrayed against the evil manifest in tyranny and slavery as they are today. The dreams that burn in the hearts of billions have been growing stronger through the millennia. The children of this world are owed a liberty from slavery that few are able to comprehend. This is the most exciting era in all of human history; it is the dawn of the freedom of mankind."

This book teaches just one lesson: You have infinite worth.


Metadata

ISBN OCLC/WorldCat
13978-0-9777451-0-4 1010984915
100-9777451-0-4 83600684
- 731309302
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"The welfare state did not come about as the result of any idealistic “notion” on the part of do-gooders and bleeding-hearts. Such people may have helped sell it politically, but the architects of the welfare state were hard-headed capitalists who rightly understood its necessity for keeping capitalism to sustainable levels of extraction"

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Scalar physics is the science of reality's hidden understructure. The electric, magnetic, and gravitational force fields are only the surface layer. Like waves upon the ocean, these forces arise from deeper fields known as potentials, which themselves arise from the primordial superpotential.

superpotential → potentials → force fields

Force fields derive from specific distortions or undulations in potentials:

  • Vorticity in the magnetic vector potential [A] → magnetic field [B]
  • Gradient in the scalar electric potential [V] → electric field [E]
  • Gradient in the gravitational potential [P] → gravity field [G]

Similarly, potentials derive from specific distortions or undulations in the superpotential:

  • Gradient in the superpotential [X] → magnetic vector potential [A]
  • Change over time in the superpotential [X] → electric scalar potential [V]

But there also exist potential and superpotential fields that do not give rise to [E], [B], or [G] fields yet still provide certain exotic effects. Examples:

  • gradient-free electric scalar potential [V]
  • curl-free magnetic vector potential [A]
  • gradient-free gravitational potential [P]
  • gradient-free superpotential [X]
  • unchanging superpotential [X]

Scalar physics concerns itself with potential and superpotential fields that do not necessarily give rise to magnetic or electric force fields, yet still have meaningful effects. It also points the way to a unified field theory between electricity, magnetism, and gravity. For instance, it may be possible to define the gravitational potential [P] in terms of [A] and thereby unify gravity with electromagnetism.

For more information, please read: A Brief Introduction to Scalar Physics (PDF)

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There is a beautiful unity underlying gravity, electricity, and magnetism. This unity may be expressed mathematically, but here it will be shown visually because doing so allows a quicker and more direct understanding of the geometric reality often obscured by mathematical abstraction.

These diagrams show how electric, magnetic, gravitational, and potential fields all arise from various kinds of distortions in a single field called the scalar superpotential. This field is also known as the ether, or the medium in which everything physical exists.

The term “scalar” just means that each coordinate in the field is associated with a single measurement value. The way this value varies over space and time determines what kind of secondary field arises from the superpotential. The unit of measurement is the Weber, which is a unit of pure magnetic flux.

In these diagrams, each circle represents a particular value of superpotential. Circles of different sizes indicate different superpotential values. Circles made of dashed lines signify superpotential values that vary over time.

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Our universe is permeated by an ether substrate from which electric, magnetic, and gravitational fields arise. Ether is the medium in which space itself exists and through which electromagnetic and gravitational waves travel.

Circulation in the ether generates magnetic field lines along the axis of circulation. Accelerative flows in the ether create electric field lines in the direction of flow. Compressions or expansions in the ether give rise to gravity and antigravity fields. Certain distortions create neither magnetic nor electric effects and these cannot be detected by conventional instruments.

Ether flows outward from every point in space into the center of every mass. The total mass of the universe therefore determines the total outflow of ether. This outflow establishes in this universe a default ambient ether pressure. The pressure has a certain value in space, drops near masses, and reduces to zero at the event horizon of black holes. It also sets the speed of light.

Changes in ether pressure over some distance creates gravitational forces just as gradients in air pressure create wind, and so masses attract each other. Ether pressure also determines the local rate of time and scale of space. Gravitational force fields are equivalently time rate gradients. The lower the pressure, the slower the rate of time and more reduced the scale of space. Therefore time and space as we know them are ultimately generated by the very masses occupying this universe.

Moving at constant velocity through the ambient ether reduces the locally experienced pressure, slowing time and shrinking space in accordance with Relativity. Accelerating through the ether creates a locally experienced gradient in this pressure, creating a gravitational force field opposite the direction of acceleration and inducing the phenomenon of inertia. This means inertia, like space and time, is established by the total mass of the universe, which explains the physical basis of Mach’s Principle.

The ether is dragged along by electric currents, in the direction of current flow. Compressions or expansions in the ether can be induced by compressions or expansions in the flow of current. Current flowing toward or away from a common center does the same to ether. Also, sudden intense current pulses create compressions in electron flow, and thus linear compressions in the ether to produce longitudinal forces in wires.

Anytime electric or magnetic fields change without inducing the other, the energy in the created wave becomes partly longitudinal, meaning partly gravitational. Because of its geometry, a metal sphere given an alternating electrical charge suppresses the magnetic component of the electric field, and so it functions as a longitudinal antenna. Similar for flat electrodes with large surface areas, which send concussive waves into the ether. Or if electromagnetic standing waves have either the electric or magnetic component cancelled, then longitudinal standing waves would result.

When magnetic fields are rapidly rotated their intrinsic etheric circulation loosens up and partially converts to compression or expansion. Rotating magnetic fields have a gravitational component.

Since electric fields are accelerative flows in the ether, a diverging or converging electric field has within it a compressive or expansive ether component. Negative charges like electrons exhibit a slight antigravitational effect, and positive charges like protons a gravitational effect. When positive and negative charges are kept close but apart, there exists a gravitational imbalance between them and the entire thing will experience a net force towards the positive pole, as demonstrated in the Biefeld-Brown effect. Maximizing intensity and nonlinearity in the electric field increases the effect. Ether pressure also influences the natural spacing between electric charges and can thus be measured indirectly by measuring charge density.

Anything that induces current can manipulate the ether if properly directed. The greater the intensity and divergence or convergence of the current, the better. Ion-acoustic, piezoelectric, or thermoelectric processes could allow even sound or heat to indirectly interact with the ether.

Through manipulation of ether, its pressure can be artificially reduced in order to warp time and space. If brought to zero, time stops and space disappears. Beyond that, both become imaginary. It is possible to artificially reproduce the event horizon of a black hole. If the pressure is brought down but kept uniform throughout the local space, then there exist no gravitational forces within, yet time and space would still be altered. In this way a portal into imaginary spacetime could be created without the destructive gravitational forces associated with physical black holes.

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"The welfare state did not come about as the result of any idealistic “notion” on the part of do-gooders and bleeding-hearts. Such people may have helped sell it politically, but the architects of the welfare state were hard-headed capitalists who rightly understood its necessity for keeping capitalism to sustainable levels of extraction."

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Well that's a load of shit.

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Investigation Manual at https://web.archive.org/web/20231108151724/https://media.dxe.io/wl/?id=t7oJdPSHAWYZXRRLHYEXerBVZHHPCtBT

In recent years, the animal liberation group Direct Action Everywhere has carried out some of the most brazen and tech-savvy operations and investigations to ever target the animal agriculture industry. It has rescued pigs, goats, ducks, and chickens from factory farms and slaughterhouses in midnight intrusions; captured virtual reality footage with custom-built 360-degree video rigs inside massive pig barns; and used hidden cameras to record some of the meat industry's most disturbing practices, from the carbon dioxide gas chambers that are increasingly used in pig slaughterhouses to the “ventilation shutdowns” designed to cull thousands of farm animals through overheating and suffocation.

To pull off all those revelatory and often highly controversial actions, Direct Action Everywhere (which uses the abbreviation DxE) has also spent years evolving its toolkit and operational rigor—from communications security and physical stealth, to penetration tactics for getting inside factory farms and slaughterhouses. It has also long maintained a manual of its own methods for those operations. Now, for the first time, it's publicly releasing that guide.

The document is a rare glimpse into the detailed tech and tactics of a group that carries out sophisticated and often illegal acts of intrusion and espionage, turning a playbook that might otherwise be used by spies or thieves into one for grassroots activism. “To spend so much time thinking about the vulnerabilities in these facilities, how to get in, avenues of approach,” says Lewis Bernier, a longtime investigator at DxE who has led or participated in hundreds of operations inside farms and slaughterhouses around the country, “I think it's really changed the way I see security as a whole.”

A note of warning: Despite the “how-to” tone of the guide itself, do not try this at home. DxE investigators frequently face criminal charges, and DxE's critics in the agriculture industry and in law enforcement describe the group as radicals with extreme tactics. Despite the group’s nonviolent approach, the agribusiness trade group WATT Global Media wrote in 2018 that DxE “could very well be the most dangerous animal rights organization out there.” Even some other animal rights organizations have balked at their risky methods, especially given the potential for prison sentences under some US states’ severe laws protecting animal agriculture businesses.

DxE goes as far as to welcome those criminal charges, often willingly identifying themselves after an investigation's findings are released in an effort to draw more attention to their revelations and argue the justice of their cause. In fact, the group's cofounder, Wayne Hsiung, was convicted just last week on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit trespassing related to the removal of ducks and chickens from a California poultry farm. He now potentially faces years in prison.

Bernier says that DxE decided to publicly release its guide, even in the wake of Hsiung’s conviction, to help activists who are already committed to carrying out covert investigations do their work more safely and effectively. “More and more people around the world want to do this stuff, or at least are just interested in how it works,” he says. “I think this guide will offer an opportunity for people to understand what's really involved.”

Much of the guide is focused less on spy tricks and espionage gear than on effective activism: team building, creating a chain of command, understanding the media, logistics, planning, biosecurity to avoid contaminating farms with disease, and creating a “security culture” that avoids the gossip, bragging, prying, and infighting that can lead to operations being blown or infiltrated by law enforcement.

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This presentation is called: "How the Religion called Atheism is destroying human freedom". It is presented by Mark Passio. The presentation is derived from the What On Earth Is Happening Podcast Episode 203.

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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

Considering Sam Bankman-Fried claimed to practice #effectiveAltruism, and the fact that he makes substantial political donations, I thought we can validate to some extent whether his effective altruism is bogus or genuine. I thought this would be easily settled. If he favors democrats, he’s putting humanity above wealth & tyranny. If republicans, the altruistic claim can be easily dismissed.

It turns out #SamBankmanFried donated to democrats and republicans both. It’s unclear if the donations were equally effective for both parties, but interesting that he donated to dems in-the-clear while hiding donations to republicans. One of the notable donations went to a congressman who was most critical of cryptocurrency. So naturally he had to bribe that politician.

Dems were surprised to find that he also donated to republicans (and by his own admission!). Had he donated to both parties in transparency, recipients could see their opponent is also being fed and disregard the donation (i.e. give no preferential treatment). Seeing all the recipients would reveal if there were at least a consistent ideology or philosophy in play.

I have to conclude the political donations were likely all just to promote his own success. It does not completely nix the claim of effective altruism because he would argue it was purely a wealth accumulation endeavor as a precursor to effective altruism. But I have to say someone who is fully engaged in the idea of effective altruism would be irresistibly selective in who receives political contributions even at the cost of reduced wealth. A humanitarian would not be able to stomach the idea of financing a republican war chest.

You also have to figure that since he chose to make dem financing transparent and repub financing in the dark, he inherently gave republican recipients full view of it. That’s only viable if he donates much more to republicans who would see that he donates mere peanuts to the opponent for optics.

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After living in regions that were (foolishly¹) designed exclusively for cars, I moved to a proper city: a city with public transport and a cycling infrastructure. Started using public transport and felt liberated. No more insurance burden, no maintenance burden, no vehicle registration, no traffic fines, parking fees & fines, no more financing unethical right-wing oil companies that are burning up the planet, etc. It was a weight off my shoulders to live cheaper and more ethical.

public transport also unethical

Then a colleague convinced me that using public transport needlessly is also unethical.. that the huge amount of energy required to power that infrastructure is still harmful & wasteful. Public transport needs to exist for various reasons like serving disabled people, but when able-bodied people flood onto it more vehicles must be dispatched more frequently. I was adding to that burden.

the answer: cycling

So after years on public transport I switched to a bicycle. It’s even cheaper than public transport. And it came with another upgrade to liberties:

  • privacy— my realtime whereabouts is no longer surveilled & tracked (no license plate readers, no public transport card readers w/DBs, no insurance records which can then intermingle with other insurance & credit records & cause harm in other ways).

  • independence— it’s easy to maintain one’s own bicycle. So I’m free of dependency on mechanics & free of dependency on public transport schedules (which can be unreliable). Dirt cheap and you only need to depend on yourself.

After evolving into a cyclist, I cannot stomach the thought of living again in a non-cyclable region. Those regions are encumbered by stupidity and addicts: people addicted to their perception of convenience (despite sitting in traffic that bicycles are immune to and despite looking for parking)… and people addicted to energy (from oil or power plants) because they think peddling their bike will be a notable effort.

Intelligence of car drivers

It’s been said jokingly (by Douglas Adams IIRC) that dolphins are smarter than humans because they’ve figured out how to get their needs met without investing crazy amounts of cost and labor to create things that work against them to some extent. Cyclists are like dolphins in this regard, as they see people work their asses off to be able to afford the car that takes them to work, where they earn the money to finance their car ownership so they can work more. At the same time they work to finance the oil politicians who work against them.

2023 research suggests cycling makes you smarter and apparently 2014 research suggests cyclists are more intelligent² (I suspect there’s the factor that people with naturally higher IQs favor cycling anecdotally. E.g. many profs cycle to universities).

self imprisonment

We all live in a prison of some kind. My new prison is being self-excluded from a big chunk of the car-dependent world and living in all those regions. But I prefer my new prison better than that of car dependency and being forced to finance companies that finance politicians who work against humanity.

footnotes

¹: it would be unfair to fault pre-climate aware municipal designs as foolish, but foolish that decades thereafter these shitty designs are still being maintained (unlike Utrecht who were wise enough to realize their mistake & fix it) while people continue rewarding the shit designs with their residency and tax.

²: I’ve not read the 2014 study myself. Some articles claim the research shows cyclists are perceived as more intelligent while other reports claim cyclists are more intelligent.

update: bonus paragraph. Due to popular demand, I’m giving you folks a bonus paragraph:

car → bicycle upgrade If we go back to the last year I drove a car, and someone were to say: ditch your car and get a bicycle, my answer would probably be hell no, I'm not going to peddle my ass around. I might rather drive over animals like in this pic (j/k). Having the public transport middle-step seems important. It’s easy to go from car to effectively being chauffered around. Then to transition to cycling has the upgrade of not waiting, no tracking, etc.. door-to-door about the same as public transport.

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I’m increasingly encountering situations where people are forced to go through various kinds of technical hoops in order to exercise their legal rights.

Five examples:

① You have a right to reserve streetside public parking in front of your house (e.g. for a week-long construction project). Historically you can go to city hall or the like, give your schedule, and pay a fee. But then they decided to put the reservation system exclusively online. Cash payers are excluded. Offline people are excluded. People who are online but do not want to share their email address with an office that uses Microsoft for their email are also excluded.

② You have a right to unemployment benefits. But the unemployment office goes online and forces you to solve a Google reCAPTCHA. Google’s reCAPTCHA often refuses to serve the puzzles to Tor users. People who are on clearnet may be unable to solve the CAPTCHA. Some people /can/ solve it but object to feeding a system that helps Google profit because they boycott Google.

③ You have a right to vote. But the voter registration process exposes your sensitive information to the tech giant Cloudflare and Amazon. Even if you register on paper, the data entry workers will expose your data to Cloudflare and Amazon anyway.

④ You have a right to energy access. But the energy company refuses cash payments so you are forced to open a bank account. All banks force you into a situation that goes against your beliefs. E.g. forcing you to obtain from Google a closed-source app to run on a smartphone (which you may not even have), or the bank’s website is Cloudflared and you will not share your sensitive financial info with CF. And the banks either have no analog/offline means of service, or the offline services are costly.

⑤ A public school excludes students who are unwilling to use Facebook, Google, Cloudflare, and Microsoft products & services. Anyone can attend but those who refuse to feed the corporate surveillance capitalists are put at a great disadvantage perhaps to the extent that they cannot pass their classes.

Not all those examples are real. E.g. in the real life scenario of case ② I think there is an offline option (but not sure during a pandemic). So my question is hypothetical— assume there is no pathway to service except for satisfying the barriers to entry.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 21:

“2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.”

Some nuances can be extracted from the examples:

A) You are incapable of exercising your right yourself. E.g. blind and the CAPTCHA requires vision, or you are not tech literate enough to follow the tech process. But you can hire someone to do the work for you.

B) You are capable of exercising your rights but unwilling to accept the conditions. Hiring someone may or may not be possible depending on whether your personal conditions can be accommodated.

So the big question is, for groups A and B: are rights being violated?

Group B is the more interesting one. A common attitude is: those people have “preferences” and their rights are not violated when their preference is not respected. I find that quite harsh. When a right becomes conditional by the institutions who are supposed to support the right, IMO the conditions (which are not written in law) are inherently excluding people. If a right is going to be made conditional, isn’t there some kind of legal principle that the conditions be codified into law and not some arbitrary condition that a systems administrator decided was a good idea?

#rightToBeOffline #rightToBeAnalog

UPDATE

This question was answered in [email protected].

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A common objection to boycotts is based on sympathy for the workers. If you call for a boycott on Amazon, for example, a substantial portion of the population will argue “good people work for bad companies”.

This rationale essentially attempts to take the boycott option off the table entirely for all mid-size companies and larger. So I wonder to what extent this widespread way of thinking damages activist movements to correct harmful companies.

Recently in Belgium there was a boycott on the grocery chain Delhaize for their employment practices. So I can’t help but notice this boycott is purely out of sympathy for the employees, effectively a 180° contradiction to the mentality that boycotts harm employees.

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Larken Rose is an anarchist author who is perhaps best known for challenging the IRS to answer questions about the federal tax liability of citizens. He was put in prison, and none of his questions were answered.

Here’s a compilation of audio clips taken from various radio interviews with Larken Rose about statism.

Larken’s book, ‘The Most Dangerous Superstition’, can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Most-Dangerous-Superstition-Larken-Rose/dp/145075063X Larken’s YouTube channel: https://yewtu.be/channel/UCFeK8ZdHbCqAq3gekWs8aEQ

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Question about #humanRights— Article 20 of the #UDHR¹ states:

“① Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

② No one may be compelled to belong to an association.”

How does that apply in the context of forced banking? If a government forces you to enter the marketplace and register for a bank account, does that qualify as being compelled to belong to an association?

¹UDHR: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

#askFedi

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cross-posted from: https://community.hackliberty.org/post/21902

Cultures are created to protect power structures. Culture is the enforcer of authority.

Culture distorts principles in order to defend the authority of evil. Culture must convince you that it is not wrong when law subjugates your worth and destroys your freedom. Culture convinces people of this by perverting the concept of morality.

Prudence is the proper application of principle. Imprudence is foolishness. Prudence is not morality. It is not immoral to kick a heavy stone with your bare foot, but it would probably be foolish. Prudence is a question of applying the principles and wisdom you have gathered in your life to achieve the goals you have for yourself. This is made possible by liberty. Without Liberty, prudence is meaningless. Morality must come before prudence.

Morality is liberty. Immorality is evil. The exercise and defense of freedom are moral. The destruction of freedom is immoral. This is the pure truth of morality.

The great lie of culture is that authority is not bound by morality, and that authority can enforce its own prudence upon you. The great lie of culture is that you are worth less than law.

Cultures teach that intentions of prudence can be enforced by law. In this fashion they gain excuse to control the lives of people.

In order for people to learn, grow, and find happiness, people must be free to test their understanding of principles. With freedom, they can do this by a process of faith, trial and error. In this fashion children grow from immaturity to maturity. In this fashion human beings gain wisdom.

Cultures are agents of evil. The objective of evil is the damnation of your ability to grow strong in wisdom. The objective of evil is the destruction of your worth. In order to gain control over you, culture spreads the lie that authority is not bound by morality. It teaches that authority can destroy freedom at will, and claims prudence as the reason you should willingly submit. In the name of defending you, culture claims that the destruction of freedom is morality. Cultures pretend that evil is good and that good is evil.

Prudence can be found all around you. It is found in the choices you make every day. Even when a mistake is made, you learn prudence. Prudence cannot be enforced. To enforce prudence is law. Law is lie. Without the freedom to choose, you cannot learn prudence. You cannot be happy.

Morality can be found all around you. Wherever you find it, you will find joy. Wherever you find immorality, you will find misery. Culture enforces authority by destroying freedom with law. This is immorality.

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