improving communcations mediums using brains hardware

a quick rant i wrote earlier, enjoy.

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(12:57:42 AM) *******: so your neuron path to phrenology is mighty fine
(12:57:54 AM) *******: while your nueron path to sponge is a little crappy
(12:58:11 AM) *******: at least on the path that it takes from whatever you were using as initial input
(12:58:32 AM) *******: if it were a visual path for example you wouldn't have had a problem
(1:01:55 AM) *******: visual stuff is amazing
(1:02:02 AM) *******: if i could i'd scrap writing all together
(1:02:11 AM) *******: and move to a totally visual system
(1:02:18 AM) *******: or at least a much more visual system
(1:02:33 AM) *******: writing is pretty much a totally learned skill
(1:02:43 AM) *******: when we start, we have ZERO writing skills in us
(1:02:52 AM) *******: other than basic visual pattern recognition stuff
(1:03:12 AM) *******: while we do have a lot of basic speech recognition stuff
(1:03:26 AM) *******: intonation, gestures, etc that stuff is built in
(1:03:34 AM) *******: i think, because it's the same everywhere
(1:03:43 AM) *******: doesn't vary cross culture or cross time
(1:04:00 AM) *******: if you want back 10,000 years you could pick out an angry person and tell how they were feeling when they were saying something
(1:04:12 AM) *******: so that stuff is built in
(1:04:20 AM) *******: but writing is brand spanking new
(1:04:31 AM) *******: a completely learned skill, with no genetic basis
(1:04:43 AM) *******: which means we're SLOOOOOW at it
(1:05:03 AM) *******: i like to think of it as software vs hardware based
(1:05:14 AM) *******: or emulated vs nonemulated based
(1:05:28 AM) *******: when you run software developed for a mac on a mac, it runs fast
(1:05:39 AM) *******: when you emulate running pc software on a mac, it goes way slower
(1:05:48 AM) *******: same thing
(1:06:10 AM) *******: now, we have some visual helper stuff in our writing
(1:06:27 AM) *******: like how we canr ead mispelllled w00rds
(1:06:39 AM) *******: it's a visual pattern thing, you've probably read that
(1:06:47 AM) *******: imagine if we created a more visual language
(1:07:39 AM) *******: or more visual computer interfaces
(1:07:51 AM) *******: circles and squares and colors and other easy patterns
(1:08:06 AM) *******: instead of reading in context, and trying to assume it
(1:08:09 AM) *******: red is angry
(1:08:11 AM) *******: blue is sad
(1:08:19 AM) *******: green is happy
(1:08:21 AM) *******: that kind of stuff
(1:08:41 AM) *******: pictures, circles, squares, sounds
(1:09:01 AM) *******: all those other communication mediums, are almost totally untapped
(1:09:19 AM) .......: I went to the restroom and missed a bunch
(1:09:22 AM) *******: when it comes to information in books
(1:09:30 AM) *******: hehe
(1:09:35 AM) *******: probably good, i went uninterrupted
(1:11:41 AM) .......: Haha
(1:11:44 AM) .......: INteresting stuff
(1:11:54 AM) .......: Hadn't considered the visual recognition of unspelled words before
(1:11:55 AM) .......: Interesting
(1:15:46 AM) *******: yeah, all visual patterns
(1:15:52 AM) *******: first and last letters they say
(1:16:44 AM) .......: Pretty cool
(1:17:54 AM) *******: yeah, brains studying brains
(1:18:01 AM) *******: looking in the mirror so to speak
(1:18:17 AM) .......: Makes you wonder how possible it is
(1:18:18 AM) *******: deducing that that object in the mirror isn't something else, but us
(1:18:32 AM) .......: It just seems impossible that a thing could ever truly understand itself
(1:19:03 AM) *******: i think we're getting closer and closer
(1:19:07 AM) *******: the trick is finding inputs
(1:19:13 AM) *******: we're a pattern recognition thing
(1:19:22 AM) *******: but to find patterns you need inputs
(1:19:32 AM) *******: we don't have enough input yet
(1:19:45 AM) *******: but it's the same thing as a computer
(1:20:06 AM) *******: cumputers take 1's and 0's and based on rules create logical structures
(1:20:41 AM) *******: you can feed it anything, if the software is done right, and it'll start doing patterns
(1:20:50 AM) *******: same with us
(1:21:00 AM) *******: we're just a hell of a lot cooler and more advanced
(1:21:52 AM) *******: it's AMAZING to think of us
(1:21:55 AM) *******: like a baby
(1:22:06 AM) *******: a baby starts out with nothing but the preprogrammed genetic stuff
(1:22:22 AM) *******: and that stuff is so general, that it can take visual stuff
(1:22:24 AM) *******: junk at first
(1:22:32 AM) *******: babies have no idea what all that input must mean
(1:22:41 AM) *******: and then the patterns emerge

-----------------------------

in sum, books were once constrained by the limitations of printing presses. now they aren't. same with our other learning methods, textbooks for example. constrained by non moving images, and used to be constrained by non colored text.

those limitations have been removed, but we haven't caught up. a business idea i have been toying with, is a new media based learning system. i.e. interactive. since i have not done this yet, i thought i'd throw it out there. if anyone would like to collobarate, let me know. you could make a metric fuckton of money doing it.

1:14 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

black racism in the democratic primaries

percentages of black voters voting obama:

NC: 92%
IN: 90%
AL: 83%
PA: 85%
TX: 85%
OH: 88%

this goes on and on and on..

this morning i heard on NPR that obama lost indiana because race is a big issue for white people there (i.e. white people are racists, as usual) white voters were ~%60 hillary, ~%40 obama.

all data (for tram tram) here: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/ under exit polls after you click on a state

america is very racist still, but it ain't white people who are the primary culrpits anymore, we've all been scolded until we feel so guilty that we ignore it when it happens to us. now we've got hate mongers like wright (AIDS was a virus invented by the government to kill black people), sharpton, and all the rest. not to mention every black comedian out there who wont stop talking about cops and white people. there will always be some racism, on every side, but this is ridiculous.

please don't justify it because this may be the first black president, racism is racism, are you for race based voting? or against it?

11:23 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

hack away at the inessentials

i can't help but think i have entered the next phase of my life. it's great. it's goofy, and audacious, and funny. it is extremely realistic, but it is cocky and funny. snide. it is more solitary, but that is okay. i am a new self. becoming my own place to stand, place to feel secure, my own rock. coming to rely on myself, and to be original, and to push limits that aren't readily thought of or understood.

limitless, but skilled, dreamy, but effective. yes. is good.

anyways. business foray, the third. or fourth? i don't know anymore. but it's awesome. we'll see how it goes, i've learned a lot, i actually have experience in this shit, i know what makes sense, what doesn't. it's to die for. it's shocking me that i know what to do, how to do it, plans of actions, structures.

structure structure structure. it is the difference between flailing your arms and swimming. structure, pattern, makes you effective. can be applied to everything. effective is all that matters.

and always, ALWAYS, hack away at the inessential. make what is essential, the rest is a distraction, a path to get lost in that doesn't provide a suitable return. only things that are needed, should be done. get it?

anyways. lots of adventures too. and a new car soon, soon as i get back from europe, leather seats, convertible, fast, efficient :). lots of things like that. ridiculous things. FUN things. is all that is worth doing anyways. get it?

well. cheers.

7:51 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

venezuelan analysis

i spend probably at minimum an hour a day watching events unfold around the world. venezuela recently hit the news in it's tiff with colombia, and here's the information i've gathered on it.

what's gone down so far:
venezuela and ecuador have some kind of deal going on and have advanced to colombia borders. venezuela has officially closed it's border to colombia.

VENEZUELA:
chavez is a militant communist douche bag who has been ramping up his military and been an irritant to the peace in south america for a while now. he openly back FARC, the drug lord rebel group that is trying to overthrow the popularly elected government of colombia. the venezuelan military is pretty tiny compared to colombia, but they have some decent tech, which i will review below:

air: 7,000 strong. venezuela could get air superiority, they have new fighter jets (14 active Sukhoi-30's w/ 10 more scheduled for delivery this year) from china. they say they have f16's but they've been trying to ditch them for a while and trade them to another country because we aren't supplying them parts, my guess is they're useless and not able to fly. the sukhoi's are pretty intense, considering colombia supposedly only has some 70's jets from israel, supposedly, more on that soon. air superiority is a really big danger though.

land: 34,000 strong. tanks (which are mostly pointless because tank fighting doesn't work in jungles, they'll only be useful on the few highways and if they ever got to a city). the tanks are AMX 30's, which are kind of the laughing stock of tanks, but considering colombia has no tanks, it could be a big problem. modern anti tank weopons, which colombia should have plenty of from us either infantry based or launched from helicopters would be the defense from that. danger there too. if venezuela can take the air, and the helicopters are fucked, then colombia is at real risk from those tanks.

naval: 18,000 strong. i don't know that much about it, but i don't think it matters, this looks to be mostly a land war. panama is an ally, and we control the seas if we chose to get involved, we currently have a nimitz class battle group en route to brazil for exercises.

COLOMBIA:
colombia is pretty legit, it's been dealing with the FARC rebels for a long time. the leader is popularly elected, he's a stand up guy as far as i'm concerned, very admirable. whereas chavez reminds me of hitler.

air: publicly they have 11 kfir's, which are isreali fighters from the 70's with lots of electronics and missile upgrades from us. privately, if you do some digging, they've been training with f16 block 50's and 52's which are the latest and greatest since at least 2006. here's one: http://unffmm.com/Galerias/Fac/fair%20general/fair13.jpg i have no idea how an air battle would go, what kind of fighters they have now, or if we'd help with our aircraft carrier. air superiority is going to be very important though, no matter what happens, it's their best bet to stop the tanks.

land: huge forces, above 89,000. infantry, no tanks. geared towards guerilla war and jungle fighting to deal with the rebels. don't know how they'd fare against those tanks, but they'll have to stick to anti tank weapons and infantry with air support, which is why air superiority is crucial.

naval: again, doesn't really matter.

ECUADOR:
they work with and harbor FARC, the colombian rebels. they've moved troops to the border as well. don't know much about them, looking in to it. this means colombia has 2 fronts.

FARC:
drug lords basically, they kidnap kill and extort for money. currently have around 760 civilians hostage including the opposition presidential candidate for colombia.

10:58 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

childhood’s end

by Christopher Nyerges

I hadn't been able to sleep much the night before, so I arose very early. It was Saturday, and the sun had not begun to rise over the hills to the east. It was very quiet, and I could actually feel the collective heave and sigh of relief as the city took a break from the madness of racing around day after day so you can afford to do whatever it is that you believe you'd rather be doing than racing around every day making money.

The streets were still dark, and cool, and devoid of people. I began to bicycle through the streets of Pasadena, working my way first through the downtown apartment areas, and then gradually north where there were more trees and bigger yards. The mountains were glowing with the rising sun, and by now the sky was light and birds were chirping everywhere. A few cars were now on the road, and an occasional jogger whished by on the sidewalk.

The city was magical when everyone slept. Oh, I knew that there was some chance of encountering no-good criminals who would try to accost or rob me -- that's part of the tightness of the city. But everyone seemed to be asleep, even the muggers. I didn't even see homeless, for they too were tucked away in whatever spots they'd found for staying warm.

The sun took its time in rising and the sky was overcast and cloudy on this early Saturday morning. A cool breeze blew down the city streets as a mountain breeze might blow down a canyon. Where you'd expect to see hawks perched high in the tallest mountain trees, I saw pigeons perched on the edges of the tall buildings. No matter what man does, nature usually adapts, and ultimately overcomes.

I began to bicycle to the north, towards the mountains and Altadena, to nowhere in particular except north. What had been a truly casual and leisurely ride was now becoming a bit of work as I went uphill closer to the mountains. I slowly and eventually rode to the very base of the mountains and watched a group of Boy Scouts unloading from the family vans and station wagons and loading on their backpacks for a day or weekend of adventure. I could see the excitement in their faces and hear it in their voices. For most of them, this would be a first adventure in campcraft.

I turned my bicycle around and began to coast back down the hill, and after a few miles, I turned down a street where a family I knew lived. I slowly bicycled by and saw that only Jim, the young six-year-old, was out in the yard playing. I said hello, and he recognized me and said hello. He asked me if I wanted to see the dirt people. I got off my bike, and got down on my hands and knees, and he showed me the little tunnels and trails of the dirt people, and he showed me where they lived, and how they drove around on little pebbles. He pushed a pebble with a long stick, and made a sound like an automobile engine.

"See how they go?" he said, excited. "Make yours go," he commanded, and so I began to push a little pebble around with a stick. I had to make sounds like a car when the dirt people wanted to turn quick or stop suddenly, and I had to keep the pebble on the roads that Jim had built. Jim told me about the monsters that come out sometimes and the dirt people have to run and hide, because the monsters are so powerful.

He pointed to a little ant that had come out of a hole, and Jim gave voice to the monster-ant, a slow, deep growl as it walked along the dirt people's road. I was informed that the monster always takes the easy path along the dirt people's road, because the monster was lazy. That was its weakness, and the dirt people could use that fact to their advantage when they wage a war against the monsters.

Each pebble, each leaf, each stick, each undulation of the ground had a name and a meaning in Jim's world into which I had entered. I was lying there in the dirt with him, pushing a pebble, making sounds, and truly enjoying myself when his mother came out.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked.

"The dirt people are all getting together because the monsters are getting ready to invade. We watched the monsters begin the war, and the dirt people are now all trying to defend themself, right?" he looks at me.

His mother looks at me sideways, noting that I am covered in dirt as is Jim. She smiles, and says only "Oh." She just stands there and looks, and I know that it means nothing to Jim, but I feel the censure of an adult in the adult world, and I realize that I should feel embarrassment. When I think about it, I realize that I did feel a little embarrassed, but mainly because somehow I've been taught that some things are for children and some things are for adults. Adults are not allowed entry into the make-believe world of children, at least not by other adults.

So after a while, I got up, and shook off the dust. I told Jim's mother that I was just passing by, and I said goodbye to Jim. I rode on, and eventually headed back home.

I had truly enjoyed myself lying there in the dirt, without video games or electronic entertainers. We were enjoying a simple pleasure of life that required nothing but an active imagination and the ability to believe. And that's what's wrong with adults. Our bodies got older and we allowed our minds to ossify. We put aside imagination for pragmatism, and we gave up the ability to believe for hard-earned cynicism.

That morning, I realized that childhood ends when you can no longer lie in the dirt and imagine.

1:32 PM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

on the nature of things

No single thing abides; but all things flow.
Fragment to fragment clings-the things thus grow
Until we know and name them. By degrees
They melt, and are no more the things we know.

Globed from the atoms falling slow or swift
I see the suns, I see the systems lift
Their forms; and even the systems and the suns
Shall go back slowly to the eternal drift.

You too, oh earth-your empires, lands, and seas-
Least with your stars, of all the galaxies,
Globed from the drift like these, like these you too
Shalt go. You are going, hour by hour, like these.

Nothing abides. The seas in delicate haze
Go off; those mooned sands forsake their place;
And where they are, shall other seas in turn
Mow with their scythes of whiteness other bays.

The seeds that once were we take flight and fly,
Winnowed to earth, or whirled along the sky,
Not lost but disunited. Life lives on.
It is the lives, the lives, the lives, that die.

They go beyond recapture and recall,
Lost in the all-indissoluble All:-
Gone like the rainbow from the fountain's foam,
Gone like the spindrift shuddering down the squall.

Flakes of the water, on the waters cease!
Soul of the body, melt and sleep like these.
Atoms to atoms-weariness to rest -
Ashes to ashes-hopes and fears to peace!

O Science, lift aloud your voice that stills
The pulse of fear, and through the conscience thrills-
Thrills through the conscience with the news of peace-
How beautiful your feet are on the hills!

Titus Lucretius Carus (c.99-55 BCE)

9:29 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

it’s happening

"When I was last here in '05 and '06, it was unheard of to get out of your vehicles for this long. And if you were on foot for very long, security was tight. Gunners at every corner; armed Humvees bounding from street to street to provide cover; a screening force patrolling adjacent alleys; a QRF ready to jump at a moment's notice.

Not now.

Instead it's traffic cops with blue-peaked hats and little white paddles directing cars, cabs and trucks around the main traffic circle of Karmah. Shops were open, kids were swarming, and we couldn't walk 10 feet without having to shake someone's hand. It's not so much a difference of security than it is of attitude. I don't know how it is all over Iraq, but at least in Karmah -- where insurgents and AQ terrorists found a bastion after Fallujah and Ramadi flipped -- the atmosphere has changed. People smile at the Marines rather than glower at them with cold, contemptuous stares."

------------------------------------------------------

god i hope it lasts. i was very much opposed to the war at it's beginning, the reasons were BS. a year or two ago, i changed my mind. not that going was right, but that leaving was wrong. the real reason i think we went, was to create something new in the middle east. and we have. now if only it can grow. the revolutions of the 1700's changed the entire world, every western nation turned, one by one, following in the foot steps of the others.

it makes me all teary eyed to think about it, to see these people not having to worry about being killed walking down the street, voting privileges, equality under law, justice, courts, smiling at marines, shaking our hands, because we've brought real, tangible good in to their lives. IF it works, if it lasts, then it doesn't matter why the war was started, doesn't matter what it cost. if it works the entire world would be changed for the better. i think that that's worth the price. the end result is valuable beyond comparison. if we can buck the patriarchy, the terrorism (and slowly but surely we have, it is condemned by more and more people every day, old terrorist groups are forming voting blocs and working through the system for change now, are fighting against al qaeda and working with our troops), the religious rule, and if it can be a shining beacon that gets the rest of the region to demand change, because they can see it and touch it, they will want it.

tienanmen square was the result of the fax machine. information, example, is supreme.

1:10 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

nihilism sans emo kids

here are some helpful tidbits that i found recently:

--------------------------------------------

Samsaran: The biggest problem with atheism is its emptiness.

Nonsense. Allow me to quote xkcd:
"There is no god. Our existence is without purpose."
"Oh, definitely. We are adrift in an uncaring void indifferent to all our mortal toil."
"Exactly! In the end, nothing we do matters."
"Totally."
"In the end, we just... why are you climbing that tree?"
"Because the future is an adventure! Come on!"
"But-"
"Hey! I found squirrels!"

The lack of a set, defined meaning to existence is only pessimistic if you want it to be. Otherwise it is a liberation to find personal meaning where you want meaning to exist, seek goals you value, and create or explore things bigger than yourself simply because you think it's worth doing. It is living for the sake of life, which isn't at all that bad - and if it IS that bad, it's an imperative to go make it better; because you don't get but this one chance, so you'd better make it a good run.

Yeah, people will use Atheism to justify selfishness or misdeeds - but you see the same in Christianity, or indeed in any faith. I've met some perfect asshole Wiccans, to be perfectly honest, who use their faith as a shield for their indiscretions. Humanity is still humanity, regardless. But it isn't some terribly soul-crushing experience, living for the sake of life itself. Regardless of how it came to be, existence is pretty freakin' sweet.

If you accept that the universe itself has no deeper meaning, that it has no reason to be in the understood mind of man, then this frees you from the chains of meaning yourself. You are a part of the universe, and while it follows its own laws it does not require an understood motivation or drive to exist; thus, you yourself need no deeper reason to be things or feel things or do things. Most people assume that nihilism leads directly to depression and suicide, because you have no reason to try anything or pursue any positive ends. I say that a lack of overarching meaning means there's also no meaning behind misery or death and thus there is no point to allowing oneself to be mired in them. In the lack of greater invisible reasons for life, the lesser obvious ones become the most important ones. You can be happy because being happy feels good. You can do good deeds because you want to help others simply for the sake of helping others, not because you feel compelled by the will of greater forces. You can greet oncoming days with a smile because you love the heat of the sun on your skin, or the grandiose beauty of a sunrise, or the smile of another of your species. More importantly, you can simply live to live. The grand gift of knowing that the grand workings of the universe don't care what you do is that you don't have to justify yourself or anything else to them; you can do something simply because you haven't done so before, and it is as good a reason as any because no reason is necessary. If you've wasted your time on frivolities, you've done no more nor less than the person who has wasted all their hours on the grave and somber matters of life - two hundred years will see you both dirt and dust, everyone who knew you dead, and your name forgotten. So why waste your time doing something that makes you sad, annoyed, or anything else you don't want to bother with?

Nihilism is the given freedom to have fun with your life, because you want to have fun with your life.

--------------------------------------------

that sums up most of how i feel lately. i've been approaching this incredible freedom, really amazing, the most liberating, relaxing, strong, lively, open, loving, caring, beautiful feeling and mind state i have ever held in my life.

there is just so much that i have found, so much that i wish i could impart to you. there are no judgements. you are free. and you have your entire life ahead of you.

be mindful. your mind will always focus on something, always, every waking moment, that focus will define who you are in that moment, and the moments being all you have, will define you. be selective of that focus. should you really be dwelling on the negatives? it's human, very natural, but should you really? it's just as easy to change that focus, to shift your mind to something creative, something fun, and even just the world around you, to really pay attention to the things around you that you probably haven't really seen in years, and all those worries will cease to exist, your focus is the fuel of all your feelings, with out which they simply disappear.

2:49 PM - 1 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

realpolitik

in the end all things can be judged on just one thing, whether or not they worked. it is the result, not the intent nor the meaning that exists in the world. when a thing passes from being a thing of the mind, where meaning resides, to a thing of physical existence, it sheds all human fancies and becomes like all other things in the world: impassive. it would be pointless to be angry at a rock slide for falling on you, and it is equally pointless to be angry at someone for beating you, for doing something you don't like, whatever it is. what happens, happens.

how it happens does not matter, what matters is that it happened. and i'm sure you're going to resist this idea, bear with me. what i am saying is this:

all that is ultimately relevant about anything is whether or not it physically works. beliefs and reasons for doing things are in the realm of the individual.

i say this because i see so many people believing that the rightness of their motivation is all that matters, whether or not they deserve this or that, whether someone else is wrong or not. it's fine and dandy to have lofty ideals, but whether those ideals are good or not can be based on whether or not they work in the world. if they do not translate to reality, they are flawed. obviously.

you can believe in non violence, and peace with out arms, but how do they translate to the world? a group dedicated to peace defined as the absence of conflict is at the mercy of it's most ruthless member. gandhi is the respectable exception to all the peaceniks i have met in my life. not only did he believe in non violence, but he made it WORK. but his situation was unique, the brits were/are a civil society, meaning that they hold certain values that allowed gandhi to operate the way he did and be functional. do you think gandhi's non violent movement would have worked in a country where respect for individual life is not regarded so highly? with the despots and warlords in the world? no. obviously not. and if you believe that they would, that they are the end all answer, and the only right way to go about things, you are deluding yourself. the are prerequisites for non violent action, and if they are not in place it fails the all important test of whether or not it will work.

apply this test to everything, it is all that matters. in every action you do, every ideal you embrace. is it working, will it work, what are the results.  not only to things, but to people especially. it is so easy to get wrapped up in what you think peoples intents are, but what are the results? is your friend a friend? do they give to you as you give to them? are the results, not the intents and promises, what you desire? your job, your family, your beliefs, everything. everything can be measured by this, and should be.

do not give up on dreams, but make them reality. if they are not working, modify them, _make them real_. it is an engineering process, when you draw up plans for something, they probably will not work on the first try, you must change the plans slightly, to get the result you desire.

11:20 AM - 1 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

peace in the congo

the democratic republic of the congo is not a country, it's a territory. a country is created when you have a government that can actually back up it's claims to territory by force. the situation in the congo is a sad one, and i feel bad for africa. the congo is basically a large piece of land with probably hundreds of small groups struggling for supremacy. the territory is surrounded by other countries, who i'm not really sure are countries either who add to this conflict by giving their chosen factions weapons and support while trying to grab as many natural resources from the disputed territory as they can.

the territory is controlled by no one, with UN peacekeepers acting like retards and going at this in a totally unrealistic way. a bunch of referees trying to tell these people that they can't hurt each other while _leaving a vacuum of power_. someone _must_ have the power, until then there can be no cessation of the struggle, and hence no cessation of the violence until it is established. if the UN really wants to end this, or another foreign power, they'll go in and take the place over. they will become the law, crush everyone who disputes them, and establish a government that can become self sufficient. this will eventually happen one way or another, but the UNs current peace keeping methods are doomed from the start. either do it the way that will work, or leave them to sort it out on their own. someone must lose, someone must win, or else all are doomed to be in this cycle forever.

all human relations ultimately come down to force,  it may appear that in todays civilized societies it doesn't, but it does. all human interaction will eventually lead to conflict, when you have two entities that desire the same thing, that is a conflict, both entities will try to get said thing, and then they'll have to work that out, one way or another. what we see in todays civilized countries is that someone else has the monopoly on violence, someone else (the police, the government, what have you) says that no, you cannot use violence, only i can, and if you disagree i'll hurt or kill you. this is what has stopped violence in our countries and this is the _only thing_ that keeps it at bay. as soon as it leaves, as soon as it as powerless, or as soon as it can't see the violence comes back. violence is the end all solution to conflict, sometimes other things work but violence is the only thing what will _always_ work. it's as simple as that, we are problem solvers, and this is a solution to a very common problem.

what does this have to do with the congo? the congo will be engaged in tribal violence until there is a power that can crush all the others. until then you have a stale mate, never ending, where no one group has the ability to crush all others, to end the violence. just a large number of small factions that can't rise above the rest, and cannot be crushed by the rest, who will continually fight each other to get the things they want.

the united nations, several foreign countries and lots of humanitarian groups are foolishly trying to stem this violence by trying to stop it where it starts, like putting out fires that continually are set ablaze. it's pointless. africa knew peace for a time when the brits went in and established their monopoly on violence, they were the undisputed law, and everyone else got crushed. that is practical working peace. peace is having someone strong enough to crush all the other groups, to bend them to their will, and to have enough force to kill anyone who tries to do differently. when this is achieved the violence will stop.

i know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but all i can point to are the places where the monopoly on violence fails. the riots, the natural disasters and looters, criminals, etc. all these things happen when the monopoly is lost, when there is no one with undisputed strength to stop the others. when we become equals, when there is no one on top, the conflict comes back the same as always. you can try to sell yourself on these grand dreams of everyone working together, but at the end of the day when someone else wants your stuff, the only thing stopping them from taking it is someone who has the ability to back up the law. it's against self interest to be selfless, and self interest is essential to any animal that wishes to survive, thrive and prosper.

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