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Happy to read a nice chunk here about the neurochemical side effects of getting 24/7, life or death, “Ultimate Truth™️” info tidbits served up on gamified devices and apps. Kinda crazy that we don’t ask more about any problems that might arise from constant insanity fed to us on a portable slot machine.

I just completed an herbal pharmacology course that went in depth into the ways in which our neurotransmitters and endocrine system have been totally fried in such a short time, and plants that can help someone come back to earth. One thing that stood out to me is how *hard* it is, to find a way back to sane, after going down too many bunny holes and getting stuck in the mazes down there. Funny too- rabbit is considered a trickster in some cultures, and there are “rabbit medicines” to help someone detox from conspiracy/trickster binges.

If Morpheus offered a red and blue pill, I’d snatch em and pop the gel cap, mix the red and blue together (purple) and then maybe drop dose, see how I respond, and go from there with dosing.

Despite the headache that feels like junk food/sugar/Red Bull overdose from the last couple weeks/ten years, I loved reading this.

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As usual Jamie you have written yet another brilliant article where once again you have nailed what is going on in current culture.

I come to your substack for your deep thinking and then I end up laughing because of how you incorporate humor into your writing. I cannot stop laughing about this line...... "that we might be getting visited by all manner of whack-ass UFOs "

Somehow the whack-ass UFO's :) ( That should be a brand of something!) seem like no big deal compared to current reality.

I cannot thank you enough because I have been in desperate need of a genuine laugh and you always deliver them! Being able to laugh at the absurdity of everything is a survival strategy. Thanks for helping us all navigate the Inter-Twingularity. Cheers !

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Welcome to the evolution. We are all alone in this together.

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Holy shit balls Batman. I really didn't now about apophenia until this article but it explains so much! I am sure there are many other factors also at work but wow. Had to look it up to be sure:

Research Evidence: Studies have explored the relationship between dopamine dysregulation and increased apophenic tendencies. Elevated dopamine levels may enhance the brain's pattern-seeking behavior, making individuals more susceptible to forming false associations and beliefs.

Key References:

Dopamine and Psychosis:

Abi-Dargham, A., Moore, H., Chang, K. M., Samaha, F., Gillette, T., Harrington, M., ... & Laruelle, M. (2000). Increased baseline occupancy of D2 receptors by dopamine in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57(8), 829-838.

Apophenia and Schizophrenia:

Andreasen, N. C. (1995). Cognitive and neuropsychological aspects of schizophrenia. Annual Review of Psychology, 46(1), 321-348.

Friston, K., & Frith, C. (2015). Schizophrenia: a tale of two disturbances. Psychological Medicine, 45(7), 1351-1365.

Apophenia and Conspiracy Theories:

van Prooijen, J.-W., & Douglas, K. M. (2018). Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations. Memory Studies, 11(3), 323-333.

Dopamine and Pattern Recognition:

Kapur, S. (2003). Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(1), 13-23.

Alamia, A. S., Yang, J. J., Anderson, J. L., Mizrahi, R., Cummings, J., & Koob, G. F. (2018). Psychosis: a hyperdopaminergic state with impaired dopamine release. Nature Neuroscience, 21(7), 932-941.

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Good stuff!

I get not wanting to support Leon and MAGA Motors.

I think that is more than "virtue signalling"

I have a Tesla PowerWall on order and I am asking my solar installer for another option.

I don't want to support the illegal alien billionaire shadow president that help fascism into the White House again

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I'm wondering whether there is some truth to the Male perspective Red Pill. Not that there is some grand conspiracy, but that things have changed on many levels for men since second wave feminism. For centuries if not forever, women's lives revolved around men (and children), and now women are living their own lives. That is a real shift that many men (and women.?) are struggling with.

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Community is discovered by losing a wallet or a favourite pet in the matrix, the one where world meters is on one monitor and world debt is on the other.

When looking at these gas pump numbers, it becomes obvious what is going on, no broadcast required, just observation while burning the toast.

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been around for about half a century and never "identified" as a republican. Naive and ultra liberal/progressive until about 30, trended more conservative in the second half, and in the last 15 years have come to have considerable disdain for neo-cons. From my perspective, outside of the legacy media's astroturfing of the Kamala switcheroo, and the memory holing of the Trump assassination attempt(s) (where would be in the legacy media cycle/ investigation if it had been Obama?) one of the most bananas move by the left/ ruling class was: Yay! Dick Cheney is one of the White Dudes for Harris!

You are perhaps overstating the: "Today, MAGA Republicanism has flipped every single one of those positions on its head." in your bulleted list.

It almost sounds like you too believe that "trump is literally Hitler".... when later you note:

"How can one make a cathartic action romp about space Nazis in a time when actual Nazis are reasserting themselves in the national political conversation?"

For a counterpoint on where and how the left has flipped moderate liberal positions on their head:

https://www.public.news/p/why-trumps-victory-is-for-millions

TTFN

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Data reveals that this aspirational message resonates across demographic lines. Pew polls from this year show that most Americans, including 80 percent of Asians, 68 percent of whites, 66 percent of Hispanics, and 63 percent of Blacks, believe they have achieved or are on their way to achieving the American Dream. The idea that the United States is a land of opportunity is a bedrock belief for many Americans.

This view is at odds with what many in the affluent, college-educated base of the Democratic Party believe. Musa al-Gharbi, a sociologist and author of “We Have Never Been Woke,” has pointed out that white college graduates are significantly more likely than Black or Hispanic respondents to a Cato Institute poll to brand statements such as “America is the land of opportunity” as offensive.

https://open.substack.com/pub/robkhenderson/p/what-working-class-voters-wanted?r=3t6b5&utm_medium=ios

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Perhaps the narcissistic and entitled (of fly over country) have gotten what they deserve… ? We were certainly given ample warning that Orange Man Bad might come back.

Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?"

Once again this argument was unanswerable. Certainly the animals did not want Jones back; if the holding of debates on Sunday mornings was liable to bring him back, then the debates must stop. Boxer, who had now had time to think things over, voiced the general feeling by saying: "If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right." And from then on he adopted the maxim, "Napoleon is always right," in addition to his private motto of "I will work harder

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Sounds like a lot of people thought the 'woke agenda' was coming for them. Perhaps there is a chance that they weren't...? Perhaps making it about you was the real narcissism and entitlement..?

But I agree that politicians have largely lost touch with 'regular people'. They're busy running the country I guess. So they've elected a failed businessman, a multiple felon, a misogynist - oh and someone who tried to overthrow US democracy, and said he would again if he lost. Well done America

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