Shape of Stories

"Kurt Vonnegut, Shape of Stories (subtitulos castellano)" (Watch on YouTube)

(no subject)

Deleuze distinguishes between propositions of science, logic and opinion (modalities of judgement). Last night I read these paragraphs and couldn't make head or tail out of them:

... what opinion proposes is a particular relationship between and external perception as state of a subject and an internal affection as passage from one state to another (exo- and endoreference). We pick out a quality supposedly common to several objects that we perceive and an affection supposedly common to several subjects who experience it and who, along with us, grasp this quality.
...it is a function or a proposition whose arguments are perceptions and affections.

He gives an examples of cat or dog lovers that form a group ( or a tribe, as we'd say today):

...we grasp a perceptual quality common to cats or dogs and a certain feeling that makes us like or hate one or the other: for a group of objects we can extract many diverse qualities and and form many groups of quite different, attractive or repulsive, subjects (the "society" of those who like cats or detest them), so that opinions are essentially the object of a struggle or an exchange.

The last phrase stuck me as particularly important, but I still couldn't understand his reasoning. So I watched some Vonnegut videos and went to bed slightly frustrated with my own thickness. Then in the middle of the night I woke up with an idea of how to think about it.

Let's say, there's an external object - a kitten. I have positive feelings about the kitten because it is extraordinary fluffy and I extend this feeling to all other cats and kittens. Now, I use the feeling to divide everybody into those who share my feelings and those who do not. I accomplish that, by sharing my feelings with people ("the society") and observing their reactions. We form a sharing community and fight or ignore those who don't share our feelings.

Needless to say that the web was originally created for sharing propositions of science and logic, but it became a medium for sharing opinions (e.g. stars on amazon and likes on facebook) and forming loving/fighting tribes.

Here it goes again.

TOKYO — President Trump has scaled back U.S. military exercises with South Korea, but that apparently was not enough to satisfy North Korea.
...

Trump canceled Foal Eagle [joint US-South Korea military exercises] last year at the time of his first summit with Kim in Singapore.
...

“It is a violent violation of the joint declarations and statements that North Korea reached with the U.S. and South Korea,” KCNA wrote." This also represents a frontal challenge to the aim and desires of all [Korean] people and the international community for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”

It looks like the Dual Suspension agreement reached in Singapore might come to an end. After the resumption of US military exercises, North Korea started rebuilding its missile launch pads.

How would we calculate the probability that NK conducts a ballistic missile or a nuclear test before the next elections?

"OK Go - Here It Goes Again" (Watch on YouTube)

Fucking Moron (tm)

This is a perfect illustration for the Deleuze's concept of opinion as a proposition designed to divide/ people based on an affection. The tweet contains no scientific, logical (legal) or any other form of provable content. Instead, it expresses how the subject feels about the situation, which makes it impossible to have a meaningful argument about the proposition. As the result, the tweet succeeds in splitting the society into sharing and fighting tribes.

(no subject)

Funny how the government is aligned with tax evaders and money launderers on cash-based transactions.

Starting in July, Philadelphia’s new law will require most retail stores to accept cash. A New York City councilman is pushing similar legislation there, and New Jersey’s legislature recently passed a bill banning cashless stores statewide.

The Philadelphia law has several carve-outs. The cash requirement won’t apply to parking garages or lots; wholesale clubs like Costco that sell to consumers through a membership model; or rental-car companies or hotels where a credit-card deposit is often required for incidentals.

The law also has a provision meant to accommodate the Amazon Go model, an aide to Mr. Greenlee said. It exempts “transactions at retail stores selling consumer goods exclusively through a membership model that requires payment by means of an affiliated mobile device application.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/philadelphia-is-first-u-s-city-to-ban-cashless-stores-11551967201

(no subject)

Досужий читатель, догадываешься ли ты, что есть надо учиться? Хотя бы потому, что современные продукты принципиально отличаются от кореньев и оленьего мяса, которые наши пещерные предки жрали не мывши рук. Кстати о руках, вилки изобрели сравнительно недавно. Тем не менее, есть с ножом и вилкой детей уже учат, а есть с умом, еще нет. Но будут!

(no subject)

По классификации Воннегута, Трамп продал своей трамповате самый простой сюжет "Man in a hole":

Раньше Америка была ого-го какой. Потом пришли иммигранты с политкорректами и Америка провалилась в дыру. Я - гений. За пару лет сделаю Америку еще лучше, чем она была в самые лучшие годы. Это же проще простого. Уже почти сделал, только вот Конгресс не дает деньги на стену.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

И трамповата верит, как будто смотрит кино про Робин Гуда.