47 Comments

We know a true ascetic because he, or she, is not on the Internet.

Expand full comment
Aug 3, 2022Liked by FFatalism

Bradford Industrial Museum

A favourite day out when we lived in Gods own county. Four of our kids are Tykes and I still mourn the departure of Marco B. (Used to teach five minutes walk from Leeds Markets)

Yes to the faux asceticism

It is an expression of the deep deceit within the machine

I’ll never see chocolate brownie the same again, although my sons baking skills mean I really know how good it is :)

Expand full comment

It is a source of great comfort that the most terrifying visions of those who would build THE LINE and its ilk are doomed to failure precisely because they are so ridiculous.

I sometimes feel in the past few years that there is no vision that cannot be realized with enough brute force.

Expand full comment
Aug 3, 2022Liked by FFatalism

The Line, a Tower of Babel supine

Expand full comment

“If a mind takes no joy in a ’59 Chevy Apache sitting low on chromes…”

I find this to be one of the paradoxes we face. I sympathize with Jack’s Aresenios Option, and yet I know many who take joy in small-m machines like that Chevy and who love the hum of engines, and who will grow up to design new engines…and who will invariably build the companies that fuel our big-M Machine civilization. If there was some way to shape the love of those engines and of mechanical things so that the machines would remain mostly small-m, we might be able to create a different world.

Expand full comment
Aug 3, 2022·edited Aug 3, 2022Liked by FFatalism

I have been grappling with a response to this post even before I had read it. Thank you for this conversation.

And yes, for what it's worth I do agree with what you say here. -Jack

Expand full comment
Aug 3, 2022Liked by FFatalism

Just awhile ago I passed the BT exchange box at the bottom of our road. It was blowing hot again and they will be back tomorrow to cure the hot spot. It's a regular sight to see the van parked up. And so after reading your piece a thought crossed my mind. How much energy will be required, (renewable or not) just to keep the NEOM Line servers cool in such a hostile environment? The joke is 'entropy' and it's a goodun.

Expand full comment