Unknown unknowns…

No, not the Donald Rumsfeld ones.  😁  I’m talking about what goes on around us that we are cognitively unaware of.  I’m talking the real reality out there, very different than our little slice of it.  Let me take you on the journey… 

Look around you.  What do you see?  It’s called your reality (chairs, tables, windows, computer, etc.), i.e., what we think of as “real stuff.”  To you, all that exists and is real.  It’s what you “know” to exist.  It’s your (I’ll call it) “known knowns” reality.

But if you had the ability to see what goes on outside your visible light spectrum, your so-called reality, your mind would be totally blown.  It would be exactly like entering another realm of existence.

Humans are able to see only a small portion (<1%) of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, the section we call “visible light” (see image above).  Though we can’t directly see outside our little slice, we do, however, know much about it.  We know its effect on our reality. We also know its accessibility can be different for different species other than humans.  For example, “animals such as bees and snakes are able to see into the ultraviolet spectrum.  The light-sensing cells of butterflies allow them to see all kinds of light, and are considered to have the broadest visual range compared to any form of wildlife.”

Then there are all those other kinds of electromagnetic light waves, outside our visual ones, that are floating around out there in what we call “reality”.  These phenomena are also a real part of our existence too.  You got your infrared, ultraviolet, microwaves, radio waves, gamma rays, x-rays (again, see above image).

So, when it comes to the EM spectrum, in summary, we could call all these phenomena “known unknowns”; i.e., “known about” but can’t be “directly known” (experience) without instrumentation.  Known (about) unknowns.

Okay, now let’s go even “deeper” into “reality.”  Did you know that, fundamentally, everything around you is just a myriad of particles and forces, dancing around, and making up your reality?  It’s true.  Artistically speaking, you could think of reality as a massive “fishbowl of chaos” that, for some reason, remarkably comes together to form the visual spectrum of your reality.  (I still don’t understand how these particles and forces are able to come together, stay intact, and create stable images of external individual entities.  (I think it has something to do with amenable chemical bonding, but I don’t know.  That’s for another day.)  Continuing on with my train of thought…

Going even deeper into reality, how about those sub-atomic particles, such as neutrinos, “one of the most abundant particles in the universe.”  Did you know that “about 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body every second.”  Whoa.  That’s mind blowing.  Or, we could go bigger; the other end of the spectrum.  How about that “dark matter” and “dark energy” floating around out there in the cosmos, baffling even the greatest minds humankind has ever known?

Okay, okay, you get the picture by now.  I have been talking about these accepted (so-called) “known unknowns.”

Now, what I’m trying to get to is the “unknown unknowns.”  What we don’t have any direct or indirect access to, or knowledge of.

We know about these “known knowns” and “known unknowns.”  But what about the “unknown unknowns?”  (Stay with me here.)  The as-of-yet undiscovered phenomena that exists and that may affect our reality, but that we do not have access to, or even awareness of?  There have to be some, no?  What could they possibly be?

Questions:

1. Since our visual reality represents what I call the a.) “known knowns” (things we can directly experience), and b.) the “known unknowns” (things we are aware of but cannot directly experience), do you c.) accept/believe that there are unknown unknowns?  If not, why not?

2. What percent of our reality do you think makes up the known knowns, the known unknowns, and the unknown unknowns?  (three categories)

3. Has this OP given you any pause about your reality?  Does it cause you to “rethink” it?  For example, how about an afterlife?  How about the Many Worlds Theory?  How about other currently inaccessible dimensions?  Branes (slices of realms)?  If you are fair, considering all that I have pointed out about what is really out there, how can you possibly dismiss these "unknown unknowns" possibilities?  Can you?

Impress me with your thoughts.

News bits: Leniency for traitors; Some Christofascist ideology; Etc.

The Intercept reports:

FEDERAL JUDGES HANDLING the criminal cases of hundreds of people charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol have overwhelmingly issued sentences far more lenient than Justice Department prosecutors sought, an analysis by The Intercept reveals.

In 82 percent of the 719 January 6-related cases that have been resolved, and in which the defendants have either pleaded guilty or been convicted, judges have issued lighter sentences than federal prosecutors requested, the analysis of Justice Department data through December 4, 2023, shows. They imposed the same sentences sought by prosecutors in just 95 cases and harsher sentences in only 37.

Nearly every one of the 24 federal judges handling the massive docket of January 6 cases has shown leniency toward the defendants, regardless of whether the judges were appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents, the data shows. 

Trump and his allies have repeatedly claimed that the federal judicial system has been unnecessarily punitive in its treatment of January 6 defendants, complaining that they are “political prisoners” who have been unfairly persecuted for trying to prevent the congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election. One leading January 6 defendant compared himself to a Jew living in Nazi GermanyOpens in a new tab and saidOpens in a new tab that his “only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country.”

Why leniency for traitors? Because our legal and court system are political and corrupt. The rule of law is an ill-defined thing. Some observers call it an essentially contested concept because it is mostly subjective at least for white collar crimes, especially by rich or powerful elites. 

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Right Wing Watch reports:

Christian Nationalist Bill Cook Says God Will Start 

Killing FBI Agents for Arresting Jan. 6 Insurrectionists

Rev. Bill Cook is the founder of America’s Black Robe Regiment and an ardent Christian nationalist who wants to see “the government of God [established] throughout every square inch of the Earth.”

In November, Cook preached at On Fire Ministries in Spokane, Washington, which is run by far-right pastor Matt Shea, a former Washington state legislator who was stripped of his committee assignments and booted out of the Republican Party in 2019 in the wake of a report detailing how he had “participated in an act of domestic terrorism” and “planned, engaged in and promoted a total of three armed conflicts of political violence against the United States Government in three states outside the state of Washington over a three-year period.”

The remarks Cook delivered were a perfect match for the venue in which they were presented, as he used his time on stage to declare that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a “psy op” carried out by the government and also to warn FBI agents who have been arresting insurrectionists that God will soon start killing them and sending them to Hell.

It’s good to know that God will be tidying up by murdering those evil 1/6 psy op FBI agents and sending them to Hell. 

This is just a reminder of the ongoing radicalization of at least some of American Christianity into some form of enraged, mentally deranged Christofascism.

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From the Salwart Patriot Entrepreneur Files: Axios reports:

There’s growing concern among some executives and board members at Tesla and SpaceX that Musk's drug use could be influencing his antics, The Wall Street Journal’s Emily Glazer and Kirsten Grind report. .... They fear Musk could hurt himself as well as the future of six companies he oversees. 

Musk has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, “often at private parties around the world, where attendees sign nondisclosure agreements or give up their phones to enter,” The Journal reports.

“People close to Musk, who is now 52, said his drug use is ongoing ... Illegal drug use would likely be a violation of federal policies that could jeopardize SpaceX’s billions of dollars in government contracts.”

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Meanwhile, there’s an 

insurrectionist at the bird feeder

News bits: Another reason to fear Trump; And another; And another; Whale research

The HuffPo reports:

Trump Calls On Supporters To Put A Stop To 

‘Bags Of Crap’ Arriving At Polling Places

Critics on social media alleged that the former president was engaging in "voter intimidation" by asking followers to monitor voting locations

Former President Donald Trump on Friday urged his supporters to put a stop to “bags of crap” arriving at polling places during this year’s election, warning of potential fraud. At a rally in Mason City, Iowa, Trump echoed his false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him through tactics like ballot stuffing, and said that “we’re not going to let it happen again.” .... “You should all stay in those voting booths. You should stay there and watch it. If you see bags of crap coming into the voting areas, you’ve got to stop it. You can’t let it happen, because these guys are crooked as hell. They know how to cheat.”

Hm. That looks like treason and an invitation to a second insurrection to me. But heck, what do I know. I’m just a simple farm boy from the Midwest. Gosh, I hope this doesn’t amount to irrational DJT hysteria! ☹️

Q: What does a bag of crap in a voting booth or polling place look like? 

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The NYT Editorial Board opines:

By now, most American voters should have no illusions about who Mr. Trump is. During his many years as a real estate developer and a television personality, then as president and as a dominant figure in the Republican Party, Mr. Trump demonstrated a character and temperament that render him utterly unfit for high office.

As president, he wielded power carelessly and often cruelly and put his ego and his personal needs above the interests of his country.

Yeah, well sure, most American voters should have no illusions. But tens of millions of ’em do.

Another commentator commentated: With the disreputable Donald Trump challenging the disfavored President Biden, the 2024 race has become the embodiment of Oscar Wilde’s witticism about fox hunting: “the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible.” .... “These are the times that try men’s souls,” Paine wrote, adding, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.” .... If people don’t know by now that Trump tried to overthrow the government he was running on Jan. 6; if they don’t know that the MAGA fanatics breaking into the Capitol, beating up cops and threatening to harm Pelosi and hang Mike Pence were criminals, not “patriots” and “hostages,” as Trump risibly calls them; if they don’t know that Trump created the radical Supreme Court that is stripping women of their rights, then they don’t want to know, or they just don’t care.

The unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible? Good grief, what a stinking mess.

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The Hill reports: Former federal judge: Trump’s violation of 14th amendment ‘couldn’t be any clearer’ -- Former federal judge Michael Luttig, who said he has spent the last three years studying the amendment, believes the high court — which currently leans Republican — will “likely look for every legitimate way possible” to avoid an opinion on whether Trump can be disqualified from running for office again.

The USSC merely “leans Republican”?? . . . . Bwahahahahaha!

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Beluga whale melons are used as sonar sound wave receivers to help the whales communicate, hunt for food and locate large nearby objects.

A different perspective: Why all this Trump hysteria?

 Interesting article, whether you think it is bunk or savvy:

America won't descend into an authoritarian state

A giant landfill of words has been dumped out on the subject of Donald Trump. I hate to add to the pile, but I feel I must. Unlike most participants in this industrial disaster, though, I have no wish either to praise Trump or to bury him. What I want is clarity.

The word most often associated with Trump is “authoritarian”. From the New York Times, Atlantic and Economist to the Guardian, Vanity Fair and Politico, we are told, with ritual repetition, that Trump is the second coming of Hitler or Mussolini, an aspiring dictator eager to herd his opponents into the great American gulag. Naturally, people panic. I want to calm them down. Using as few words as possible, I’m going to show that the combination of Trump and authoritarianism is an impossibility.

If you expect to become an authoritarian, you have to wield absolute control over a key institution of government such as the military (Franco, Peron, Pinochet) or a mass movement with a paramilitary wing (Lenin, Mussolini, Mao). Neither condition applies to Trump. Every federal institution is set ferociously against him. What would happen if Trump ordered the FBI or the 101st Airborne Division to start shooting Democrats? Homeric laughter would happen.

What kind of a person becomes an authoritarian? Well, it may look like fun, but authoritarianism is really hard work. You need to be in the prime of life, in your 30s or 40s (Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Mao, Castro). Very rarely, an exceptional person such Caesar is granted literal dictatorship (the Romans invented the whole idea) in his early 50s. In a clear case of ageism, however, no septuagenarian has ever been offered the job.

The authoritarian personality favours clever manipulations and conspiracies. Best in class was Stalin, who held the purely administrative job of First Party Secretary but seized total power by seeding loyalists everywhere. Trump, who was a builder of buildings, a task with a beginning and an end, can scarcely think ahead from breakfast to lunch. This is a life playing out at the Short Attention Span Theatre.

So relax. Trump is too old, too isolated, and too ADD to have a shot at dictatorship — and if he tried, the result would be comedy rather than tyranny. You still want to join the ranks of the anti-Trump resistance? Hey, that’s wonderful. You want to do battle against authoritarianism? I’m there with you. Just don’t mix up the two. I promise it will make you clearer of mind and healthier of body, and it will free us to begin to call our politicians by those vile names that actually fit.

Martin Gurri is a former CIA analyst and the author of 'The Revolt of the Public'.

https://unherd.com/2023/12/why-all-this-trump-hysteria/

As stated in the title - a different perspective.