䷩ Magic Circles

Spotlight. The circle of drama, comedy. Thaleia holds up a suit of frog armor. Spotlight. The circle of philosophy. Aletheia holds up the deathly guitar of unconcealment. Step into these circles’ intersection. In these dire days, we need a double dose of magic protection. Don the armor. Take up the guitar.

I solemnly swear to never say anything that’s obviously false.

Bring in the challenges.

Wave 1: p-zombies, the consciousness concern. A p-zombie looks and acts exactly like a regular person but has no subjective experience. Suppose things exist objectively or subjectively. Objectively, p-zombies are indiscernible and therefore unidentifiable. Subjectively, there simply is no subject. So unless there’s an intersubjective mind meld the aliens have been keeping from us, I rebuke you p-zombies. Disintegrate in a puff of logic.

Wave 2: b-zombies, the conscientiousness concern. A b-zombie looks and acts superficially like a regular person but has no intentional stance. I fear them. They believe nothing, unpredictably alternately acting credulous and skeptical. Their desires distorted incohere spewing BS day and night. They are everywhere. A health hazard. I’m allergic. What’s more, like a mirror of Ana de Armas’s character in Knives Out, I’m constitutionally constrained practically incapable of vomitting BS. Works well with my wife who can’t abide BS. Instead I spit up nonsense and whimsey. Burps turn to butterflies.

She can’t abide this b-zombie metaphor either, insists on something concrete. I’ll give you concrete. After one example through these sunglasses, our boys see b-zombies everywhere. They now play b-zombies as a game like Minecraft.

The four of us went to an amazing park. Here’s a photo from the top of a concrete basin.

It’s a microhydro power plant and a series of water purifying pools: pretty and unassumingly solarpunk. There’s a sign that says “Caution! Slippery Floor”. The stone bridge next to it is really slippery.

There’s another sign, “Danger! Deep Water”.

That’s bullshit. Obviously false. The water is 10cm deep. Telltale sign of b-zombies at work. If you see the second sign first, you’ll ignore the first sign, slip, and be hurt. This is bad. This is a mistake. The second sign could have said, “Stay out! Water Plants.” I don’t understand why the world is broken in this way, but it’s causing problems everywhere, now more than ever.

Behind every b-zombie, potentially derived in a long line, lies a human holding its leash. Most b-zombies were human once, but that’s changing. New artificial broods burst forth so monsterous as to garner no sympathy.

Frieren was right.