Pokemon Go.

[goyacobol]

I am not too excited to go buy a dash cam any time soon even though some of the reasons are interesting. It's like, join the Big Brother movement see how much fun it is, you can have your very own surveillance camera. We kind of have that already with the cell phones and it has helped as far as exposing crimes but we also now have Pokemon Go and fried DNA.

I think having a dash cam is a little different. Whereas big brother is using cameras for the explicit purpose of surveilling people, dash cams are recording what's ahead of you while driving. In Russia they're quite popular since courts will only accept video evidence in collision claims. Also, with the current police state (especially in the US where a routine traffic stop can get you shot) having a camera in your car recording the event could be used in court should you be a victim of an angry cop. I would even say the reasons for having a cam are more compelling than 'interesting', particularly if one lives in a large city.

fabric,

Yes, I see your use of the dash cam is for a good reason. I started to use "valid" instead of "interesting" but some of the uses were not as practical I thought. I just don't have faith in the uses of technology that are mostly for manipulation.

I might have been thinking of this video where a group home therapist was trying to catch/calm him and return him to the home. The police show up and end up shooting the therapist lying on the ground as he was told.

https://youtu.be/XEJpRGIDbhY

The officer was suspended but they are still only "investigating" the incident. Without honest courts it doesn't always work to even have video proof.

 

[fabric]

[...] Without honest courts it doesn't always work to even have video proof.

Absolutely. Although the other side to the equation is not in the courts, but through social media and sometimes even the news. For example, the courts could give a verdict that completely contradicts the video evidence, which in turns leads to further distrust of the 'system' by the public (or possibly riots like what happened with Rodney King).... but most likely nothing will come of it since everyone's too busy playing Pokemon Go to give a damn anyway.

 

[Palinurus]

Now I've stumbled upon this: Pokemon main theme (animal cover) (69 seconds):

https://youtu.be/zDXgyraNoYI

Other animal covers available here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbJnwLm_HX3FPlLWctTm1SA/videos

 

[Hesper]

This whole 'Pokemon phenomenon' exemplifies what Gurdjieff once said:

“People are machines. Machines have to be blind and unconscious, they cannot be otherwise, and all their actions have to correspond to their nature. Everything happens. No one does anything. ‘Progress’ and ‘civilization,’ in the real meaning of these words, can appear only as the result of conscious efforts. They cannot appear as the result of unconscious mechanical actions. And what conscious effort can there be in machines? And if one machine is unconscious, then a hundred machines are unconscious, and so are a thousand machines, or a hundred thousand, or a million. And the unconscious activity of a million machines must necessarily result in destruction and extermination. It is precisely in unconscious involuntary manifestations that all evil lies. You do not yet understand and cannot imagine all the results of this evil. But the time will come when you will understand.

These are definitely bizarre, dark times.

 

[Turgon]

This whole 'Pokemon phenomenon' exemplifies what Gurdjieff once said:

“People are machines. Machines have to be blind and unconscious, they cannot be otherwise, and all their actions have to correspond to their nature. Everything happens. No one does anything. ‘Progress’ and ‘civilization,’ in the real meaning of these words, can appear only as the result of conscious efforts. They cannot appear as the result of unconscious mechanical actions. And what conscious effort can there be in machines? And if one machine is unconscious, then a hundred machines are unconscious, and so are a thousand machines, or a hundred thousand, or a million. And the unconscious activity of a million machines must necessarily result in destruction and extermination. It is precisely in unconscious involuntary manifestations that all evil lies. You do not yet understand and cannot imagine all the results of this evil. But the time will come when you will understand.

These are definitely bizarre, dark times.

You know, I never really pictured how a society could go from the way it was just a few years ago to willingly choosing a virtual reality system where people would lose all touch with their environment and reality while living through some sort of plug-in device that creates an augmented reality - until they came out with Pokemon Go.

 

[Laura]

You know, I never really pictured how a society could go from the way it was just a few years ago to willingly choosing a virtual reality system where people would lose all touch with their environment and reality while living through some sort of plug-in device that creates an augmented reality - until they came out with Pokemon Go.

It was impossible for me to conceive of how any of the things the Cs predicted 15-20 years ago could develop and replace the world I knew then. We really are in the middle of it.

 

[Mal7]

Virtual Reality societies have been a theme some science fiction writers have written about. I remember in the 1980s reading a story in an anthology about a future society where people lived alone in small cell-like rooms, never leaving their rooms, and eating bland but nutritionally sufficient food dispensed out of a tube in the wall. The actual physical conditions of the environment were highly degraded - pollution, destruction. But people were all tuning into a virtual reality world through some technological or chemical device, and in their own minds were gamboling around like spring lambs. I forget the name of the story and author, it may have been Arthur C. Clarke.

 

[lilies]

You just have to follow the news about virtual reality helms / glasses / googles / headgear. Goggles sales picked up lately with advancement in glasses display tech so it makes users less nauseous than before, still some get sick after wearing these about 10~30 min.

Virtual reality headgear began around 1960:

History Of Virtual Reality
http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html

Pokemon Go is same going into trance while immersed in computer games: big difference is Nintendo glues these unfortunates' eyes onto a handheld device _while walking around_. The rest is the same: people never paid attention to anything while playing computer games. The house could burn down. Big difference is now they are walking outside and in traffic.

 

[Christine]

You know, I never really pictured how a society could go from the way it was just a few years ago to willingly choosing a virtual reality system where people would lose all touch with their environment and reality while living through some sort of plug-in device that creates an augmented reality - until they came out with Pokemon Go.

It was impossible for me to conceive of how any of the things the Cs predicted 15-20 years ago could develop and replace the world I knew then. We really are in the middle of it.

Laura,
So if I understand what you say, if we are only halfway there another 15-20 years to be in this kind of world to see in the chaos, and see cruautées souffances, hear the lies see wither? It will be hard to hold, 15-20 years is a long time in this kind of world!

 

[zak]

To hell with Nintendo for being so obedient. They are supposed to make friendly children games, yet they work willingly with the Gestapo.

It feels like being backstapped by Micky Mouse. It kind of reminds me of Bill gates who has this friendly Nerdy persona. Yet he will put most mass murderers to shame with his vaccine (depopulation) agenda. Psychopaths everywhere.

I agree. Nintendo made some pretty heart warming games that in some ways helped me to better comprehend and handle the world, namely the Legend of Zelda series and the robust mythology that spanned eons and multiple incarnations of the boy garbed in green and his seemingly permanent conflict as an avatar of courage against abject power.

Part of me wants to blame this turn to the darkside on the passing of president Satoru Iwata.

As you say:

The maker of the app? Niantic Labs. Never heard of them? That's because until last year they were an internal start-up of none other than Google, the NSA-linked Big Brother company. Even now Google remains one of Niantic's major backers. Niantic was founded by John Hanke, who also founded Keyhole, Inc., the mapping company which was created with seed money from In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital arm, and which was eventually rolled into Google Maps.

https://www.sott.net/article/322074-The-Pokemon-Go-app-is-doing-the-CIAs-dirty-work

In reading this thread and seeing the next "gadget":

... Pokémon Go Plus. It's basically a Nintendo-built Bluetooth smartwatch-a-like that gives you a presence in the Pokémon Go world without having to actively use your phone. So, if a virtual Pikachu is hanging out in your local train station, your watch will buzz and flash to notify you that there's a Pokémon ready to be captured on your commute. Pokémon Go Plus isn't essential to playing Pokémon Go; it's just meant to make the experience smoother.

And watching the video "How Pokémon took over the world in 20 years" http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/10/9300099/pokemon-go-plus-hands-on-photos, all this makes me think about an article of Laura "Transmarginal Inhibition" https://www.sott.net/article/136090-Transmarginal-Inhibition and the "Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" of Naomi Klein.

 

[A Jay]

You know, I never really pictured how a society could go from the way it was just a few years ago to willingly choosing a virtual reality system where people would lose all touch with their environment and reality while living through some sort of plug-in device that creates an augmented reality - until they came out with Pokemon Go.

It was impossible for me to conceive of how any of the things the Cs predicted 15-20 years ago could develop and replace the world I knew then. We really are in the middle of it.

Laura,
So if I understand what you say, if we are only halfway there another 15-20 years to be in this kind of world to see in the chaos, and see cruautées souffances, hear the lies see wither? It will be hard to hold, 15-20 years is a long time in this kind of world!

I don't think Laura meant that we're in the middle of a 30-40 year stretch of chaos. I think she meant more that we're in the eye of the storm of changes the C's predicted years ago. Similar to the idiom 'being in the thick of it'.

 

[Ca.]

How Far Have You Gone To Catch Pokémon?
Jul 25, 2016

https://youtu.be/lMIhePeuq-Q

There's no shortage of odd, funny and even risky tales of the lengths people will go to find Pokémon. At San Diego Comic-Con, we asked people the oddest things they’ve done to catch ‘em all.

 

[Laura]

You know, I never really pictured how a society could go from the way it was just a few years ago to willingly choosing a virtual reality system where people would lose all touch with their environment and reality while living through some sort of plug-in device that creates an augmented reality - until they came out with Pokemon Go.

It was impossible for me to conceive of how any of the things the Cs predicted 15-20 years ago could develop and replace the world I knew then. We really are in the middle of it.

Laura,
So if I understand what you say, if we are only halfway there another 15-20 years to be in this kind of world to see in the chaos, and see cruautées souffances, hear the lies see wither? It will be hard to hold, 15-20 years is a long time in this kind of world!

No, you inferred things from my remarks that I never implied. The Cs made the predictions 20 years ago but said not to worry because it was not imminent THEN. As time passed, they gave more clues, including some time indicators.

IF the real "beginning of things" was 2014 and we are in the middle, sort of - I'm assuming - then we don't have another 15-20 years of this mess to go. Heck, I doubt that the planet could stand that much less the people.

I don't think Laura meant that we're in the middle of a 30-40 year stretch of chaos. I think she meant more that we're in the eye of the storm of changes the C's predicted years ago. Similar to the idiom 'being in the thick of it'.

Exactly.

 

[Corvus]

This whole 'Pokemon phenomenon' exemplifies what Gurdjieff once said:

Quote

“People are machines. Machines have to be blind and unconscious, they cannot be otherwise, and all their actions have to correspond to their nature. Everything happens. No one does anything. ‘Progress’ and ‘civilization,’ in the real meaning of these words, can appear only as the result of conscious efforts. They cannot appear as the result of unconscious mechanical actions. And what conscious effort can there be in machines? And if one machine is unconscious, then a hundred machines are unconscious, and so are a thousand machines, or a hundred thousand, or a million. And the unconscious activity of a million machines must necessarily result in destruction and extermination. It is precisely in unconscious involuntary manifestations that all evil lies. You do not yet understand and cannot imagine all the results of this evil. But the time will come when you will understand.


These are definitely bizarre, dark times.

To add:

"The fact is that the enormous majority of people do not want any knowledge whatever; they refuse their share of it and do not even take the ration allotted to them, in the general distribution, for the purposes of life. This is particularly evident in times of mass madness such as wars, revolutions, and so on, when men suddenly seem to lose even the small amount of common sense they had and turn into complete automatons, giving themselves over to wholesale destruction in vast numbers, in other words, even losing the instinct of self-preservation.

And I ve got a feeling we have not even seen the bottom of it, I feel more and more like endangered species.

 

[bjorb]

I think that innovations such as augmented fantasy clearly shows that humanity can't cope with it in a healthy way. Apparently High-Tech societies can fall apart if it gives in to fantasies (electronic entertainment) instead of reality.

I think it's even dangerous for 3STS beings. Our environment has limits, which offers choose and lessons. You don't have limits while playing out some augmented fantasy that suits all your desires. Which makes it highly addictive. The whole purpose of our 3D STS school is to move beyond our self serving desires and get a higher aim. But that's no easy tasks with that many electronic entertainment at your fingertips.

Maybe people who are raised in a community based society can resists the temptations of augmented fantasy. Such societies are uphold by true values. Maybe the majority of people wouldn't even feel tempted by it to begin with. Since everything that causes disconnect isn't fun. Self serving fantasies cause disconnect.


It makes me wonder how other High-Tech 3D STS societies across the universe deal with this tech. I mean what if you could place some kind of a neuron headset on your head which mentally launches you in a digital custom made dream world. Society would stop functioning if to many people get addicted to it. And I can imagine many would !! I suppose they have to regulate or even ban it all together.

Ofcourse for psychopaths, it would be the perfect tool to distract people.