Madhouse

[VoidSquid]

Just saying: checking the news day after day after day, the "real" world became a madhouse, an asylum. I'm very happy to have KSP, math and physics, classical music, keeping me sane. Thanks to Squad and all the countless modders.

[StrandedonEarth]

16 minutes ago, VoidSquid said:

Just saying: checking the news day after day after day, the "real" world became a madhouse, an asylum. I'm very happy to have KSP, math and physics, classical music, keeping me sane. Thanks to Squad and all the countless modders.

I hear you. "I'm sane. Everyone else is crazy!"

[VoidSquid]

Not everyone else, not by far. And don't you dare to get funny ideas about my wife, hehe  (just kidding)

But seriously: follow the news, check for background information (we can do that, it's 2020, not 1980), and tell me the world has NOT gone crazy.

KSP, for me, did become kind of an anchor in this crazy world. No morals or political opinion, either my silly, ugly rocket works or it does not. Math and physics (and bugs, hehe). No good/bad morals/ideas. Just plain ol' math and physics. A defined framework based on facts. It's very, very calming for me.

Did you ever listen to "The art of Fugue" (BWV 1080, look for Helmut Walcha)? Or Mozart's Requiem (KV 626)? If not, give it a try (if you like classical music).

Think about it, that was written in the 1740s -1750s, 1791 respectivly. A masterpiece (unfinished, unfortunately) never been done (tried) again since then.

I could mention several other masterpieces here, from Beethoven, to Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and others.

My point here: these artists, back in the days, were able to create true masterpieces.,

Anybody tell me, what's the progress did we as mankind made since then (I'm not taking about science/math here, sure, big progress here)?

Peace? Happiness? At least food and shelter for our fellow next human?

Long story short, KSP, together with those classic masterpieces, is what is keeping me sane in these crazy days.

And for that, I'm very grateful to Squad and ofc, all of our modders.

Edited February 16, 2020 by VoidSquid

[Guest]

Keep up the good work! Staying sane hard sometimes! 

[VoidSquid]

Thanks, Dale, appreciated  

[kerbiloid]

Thanks to the internet, the real world just reveals that what it always was.

[VoidSquid]

3 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Thanks to the internet, the real world just reveals that what it always was.

You have a very good point here, @kerbiloid, yes, just two days ago I did read a very good article saying just this. Also, thanks to the internet, nowadays everyone can make his voice at least public, and often heard, connect with others who share the same sentiments. I like that a lot.

The conclusion of that article was that the fractionation in politics as we see it today - no more just two or three big parties "representing" the people, but several small ones (at least here in Europe) - is the result of the technical advances which allow us to see the world in more depth and from different perspectives, plus being able to connect with other similar minded persons.

Edited February 16, 2020 by VoidSquid

[DDE]

@VoidSquid, that is a boon as well as a curse. While the media has always thrived on inciting partisanship and outrage, the new hyper-connected world amplifies it to a degree hitherto unseen.

[cubinator]

I think what we see on the front pages are the most extremes, which filter to the top of the internet. The most extreme disease, the most extreme attack, the most extreme cute dog. Most of the stuff that goes on in the world is pretty normal, but that stuff just doesn't get much attention in the news,where people try to tell what's 'new'.

[tater]

Meh, when I was a kid (playing hex map board games, and RPGs like Traveller, we had nothing as cool as KSP, didn't even imagine it as science fiction) I fully expected that the world could effectively end 30 minutes from any particular moment. Not only that, I expected that to happen, I was genuinely surprised WW3 never happened.

That said, some of the idiocy now (ie: the people catastrophizing things that are not even slightly concerning) makes me long for the Cold War.

Edited February 16, 2020 by tater

[DDE]

59 minutes ago, cubinator said:

I think what we see on the front pages are the most extremes, which filter to the top of the internet

...and not without outside help. Facebook experimented with rigging their users' feeds with uplifting or depressive content years ago 'for science', and other platforms are equally prone to manipulation.

[cubinator]

3 minutes ago, DDE said:

...and not without outside help. Facebook experimented with rigging their users' feeds with uplifting or depressive content years ago 'for science', and other platforms are equally prone to manipulation.

Yup. I try to keep that in mind, and when I get too stressed from it I know it's time to take a break, look outside, and make some tea or something.

[TheSaint]

54 minutes ago, tater said:

Meh, when I was a kid (playing hex map board games, and RPGs like Traveller, we had nothing as cool as KSP, didn't even imagine it as science fiction) I fully expected that the world could effectively end 30 minutes from any particular moment. Not only that, I expected that to happen, I was genuinely surprised WW3 never happened.

That said, some of the idiocy now (ie: the people catastrophizing things that are not even slightly concerning) makes me long for the Cold War.

Seriously. We have the longest lifespans in history, we haven't had a major war in 75 years, our standards of living would make the kings and queens of Europe from a hundred years ago weep, violent crime (at least in the United States) is at its lowest levels since the 1960s. People today have no idea how good they have it. 

[tater]

24 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

Seriously. We have the longest lifespans in history, we haven't had a major war in 75 years, our standards of living would make the kings and queens of Europe from a hundred years ago weep, violent crime (at least in the United States) is at its lowest levels since the 1960s. People today have no idea how good they have it. 

Yep.

This has been true for a while, people now live in the best time in human history up to this point, full stop. 10 years ago? Same. 20? Ditto.

People now are looking for nonsense to be upset about because there is not much to actually be upset about (not for rational people, anyway).

[Nuke]

8 hours ago, tater said:

Yep.

This has been true for a while, people now live in the best time in human history up to this point, full stop. 10 years ago? Same. 20? Ditto.

People now are looking for nonsense to be upset about because there is not much to actually be upset about (not for rational people, anyway).

that could be a sign that its only downhill from here.

[VoidSquid]

11 hours ago, tater said:

This has been true for a while, people now live in the best time in human history up to this point, full stop. 10 years ago? Same. 20? Ditto.

People now are looking for nonsense to be upset about because there is not much to actually be upset about (not for rational people, anyway).

True, yes. Never before there was, on a global scale, less poverty, less hunger, less death due to natural disasters, despite having so many people living. But tensions are growing, any discourse becomes more and more aggressive, people with different opinions don't try to find a compromise but are just shouting at each others. The fabric keeping a society together seems to have become very brittle. And then I see an alarming rise in martial rhetorics, the expenses for military are rising, regional wars, and the risk of a big, global war.

We're definitely living in an age of big changes.

Edited February 17, 2020 by VoidSquid

[tater]

36 minutes ago, VoidSquid said:

True, yes. Never before there was, on a global scale, less poverty, less hunger, less death due to natural disasters, despite having so many people living. But tensions are growing, any discourse becomes more and more aggressive, people with different opinions don't try to find a compromise but are just shouting at each others. The fabric keeping a society together seems to have become very brittle. And then I see an alarming rise in martial rhetorics, the expenses for military are rising, regional wars, and the risk of a big, global war.

We're definitely living in an age of big changes.

Meh.

Military expenditure in the US is not at anything like highs. As a function of GDP it's fairly low.

There's certainly some polarization, but in the 1980s, the typical campus opinion of the Executive branch was pretty much identical to what it is now.

Most of the political derangement is people wishing they had something worth fighting about. Step one for those folks is to stop catastrophizing everything.

[VoidSquid]

We've some many good, mindful people around here, It's incredible. Thanks guys, that's a big boost for me in these times of madness!

Edited February 20, 2020 by VoidSquid