Meritocracy and Societal Systems Schema

A perception of relationships between society and individual personal struggle, a heat-of-the-moment-at-2am pet theory

While pondering in a usual whining tone the worth of smart people trying to make something for themselves, and of stupid spoiled ones not breaking a sweat to have more than a decent living, my mind decided to stop being a perpetuation machine of "boo-fucking-hoo" and distanced itself. And then, this pretty(ish) form popped into my mind. Needs work, definitely, but I thought I'd plant it here and come back later to see whether it'll grow into something useful.

Observations/ Armchair hypotheses

1. The less perplexed and/or corrupt the "system", the lower the return gains from Cunning become

2. The more meritocratic the system, the higher the return gains from Talent become

3. Effort acts in a multiplicative manner to both Talent and Cunning

4. In a complex enough system, there may be a dual meritocratic channel through which both Talent and Cunning can have return gains with equal Reward and/or Satisfaction

5a. The higher the Legacy return gains, the lower the meritocracy of the "System", and the higher the nepotism.

5b. Across generations, the sum of Talent and/or Cunning * Effort becomes Legacy

5c. Initially meritocratic "Systems" tend to become nepotistic, unless Legacy is render to act multiplicative to Talent and/or Cunning, as Effort is.




Feel free to contribute, jest, flame, comment.

I will have to operationally define return gains, meritocracy, corruption etc in time, but right now I don't think I have it.



Jeers

The Fickle Goddess

You know you have allowed someone to be your goddess lover when all your fables change and twist to better suit the existence of her in your mind.

C.S.R.

The ink of your existence bears a semblance of the astral bodies that swim in the stoic ether. Only in what I could regard as the playful humming of electrons can I pull the curtain from the eyes that lust for a greater view, the view that shrinks my troubles into a ridicule. 

Rise.

SPOILER-FREE.



"The Legends Ends" was one of the mottos promoting the Dark Knight Rises.

It struck me as way too finite for a comic legend that dates back to 1939. Endurance in time is a definite characteristic of (super) heroes, and this very trait creates the illusion of timelessness for imagined characters such as Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Clark Kent, and Richard Dawkins (as some have very well claimed).

But on a serious note, this is why those characters can be compared to Hercules, Odysseus (I refuse to use "Ulysses"- darn it, I just did), Spartacus and King Arthur. Although the legend of the latter may be traced back to real people, their infamy lost in the eons, the modern and ancient heroes have come to share the trait of timelessness, and this is because they represent a response to the issues faced in their corresponding time.

The Legend Ends, they claimed, and so it did in the third Dark Knight movie. Heroes are timeless because they represent a solution to a problem, regardless if they "stay" with us for their timeless qualities - strength, resilience, courage, hope, altruism, brilliance. Especially for the concept of the vigilante, we have to remember, they are like humanized projects: a response to corruption, violence (okay, with even more violence), prejudice, crime in general, and many more tainting issues in society. A project begins, unravels, and ends.

The vigilante should grow wiser, but at a cost. Maybe he gets away, lucky enough to witness the solution he brought into the system blossom into a new era. But most probably (s)he has rattled the nest too much, upset the waters extensively, and has to suffer the consequences. Death is a highly probable outcome.

And this is where the long-forgotten characteristic of heroes comes right in: the die at the end. The western society made superheroes timeless, ageless, immortal in a way (regardless of how many stories "kill" them, they keep coming back in reboots both in comic or movie form). We have forgotten than heroes are basically mortals, and even if they bear a divine legacy, they will have to die to matter. Or, if their work can have any impact, they have to sacrifice themselves to ensure effectiveness, as literature wants it.

Heroes have to end, a solution has to be given, and the rest of humanity has to go on inspired, and wiser.

In conclusion, the figures sculpted into timeless heroes, their stories meant to be told and retold and rebooted, are there to inspire us - but if we wish to take a closer look to the work actually done, it can (almost) never be a self-perpetuating project: it has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Or the actual hero may live long enough to see himself become the villain.

Dream with the feathers of angels stuck beneath your head

The human mind is an excellent tool, considering.

Considering what exactly? The "natural" state of affairs for the human organism, termed Homo Sapiens, is "stuck" way back in natural history. Predating on and gathering other manifestations of life, our species ended up realizing that Mother Nature's Tits are exhausted and the Keep Walking motto would be used again with lightness many millennia later.

So, what then? We had to share, organize, lead, advance, you know the story, more or less. Societies begun to form and with them, rules. Did we need them? Nah, not really, every social species sooner or later learns how to behave within and between other species (see LIONS TIGERS CHIMPANZEES BEES OH AND DON'T FORGET THE DOLPHINS).

Our rules had to balance out the fact that each member of our kind had not necessarily the access to the satisfactions members of earlier mutations had.

So, how the human mind did cope with the rules? It's one thing to obey, and another to concur. Agreeing with the moral and legal framework of society saves you a lot of energy and happiness, contrasted to sticking it up to the man where the man consists of you being buttfucking outnumbered.

And most of us decided to agree with the status quo, the New Big Tit, Civilization. And all of us want to play one. More. Turn.

This magnificent tool, the human brain, managed to trick itself into agreeing easily with most, or at least with the least agreeable, Terms and Conditions for Civilization (I am so enjoying the images I am conjuring up for all the geeks out there). The mind slapped itself into thinking that most "stuff" today is okay, that most emotions it feels are to be ignored, discarded, "controlled" and managed.

An adolescence and an adulthood later, the mind may give up. It shouts FUCK THIS SHIT and the true self starts showing through the cracks. While you were dreaming with the feathers of angels stuffed beneath your head, put there by the united social script - the cultural coding, your true self was spitting said feathers until it could utter WTF IS THIS SHIT.

We are amazing at tricking ourselves since the dawn of time. You may covet the neighbour's ox, but you enter a religious mindframe, suddenly, the ox is no longer in your mind. Magic, really!

What is the price we pay for being false, fake, faking it, putting a mask so close to our face it bleeds? Not much. We still survive, we can still enjoy our lives more or less, we can still make great things.

But there are nights like this I can barely take it - the realization of how much conditioned to The New Tit sinks in hard, and there I go again, still trying to transymbolize, fly from one reality to another, searching like an old but clueless sage, doubting I know anything and at the same time seeing it all, in a way.

The Journey so Far

Carry on my wayward son.

...the voice seems to say, IN MY HEAD. Day 281 in the gloomy but inspiring London.
And I am inspired to do what?

To contain, to analyze, to empathize. These are the goals of the aforementioned aspiration. They are an ambition professionale wrapped in one-stone-two-birds viewpoint regarding "normal" life as well.

But normal life seems to shrink and dilute every other week, with the occasional exceptions of going back home, losing a part of myself (quite literally sometimes) and then back to adulthood, as it were.

The only thing I can hope for is the personal acknowledgment of all these 281 days as a trial-by-fire for financial independence, for building up and internalizing evaluative processes that allow for confidence building (yet so far from the self-made-man, so fucking far....): for meticulous searching and obsessive finding of evidence for a stable and persistent self that evaded me for years. An acid test for aspirations, dreams and symbolizations that traveled freely between Athens and Sanctuary, London and Middle-Earth, Larissa and the World of Darkness, Clapham and the Normandy.

Self-reflection has become an everyday irritation, like an itch that does not even bleed: if it did, it would be easier to stop.

And then, the idea pops back in my head: this is psionic training, this is wizardry manifested. The transymbolization between reality and myth kicks in, spills a prep talk lasting several milliseconds, and vanishes again in the first sight of real trouble. Bang! Your esteem is dead, go back and repair.

But alas! One cannot simply indulge in self-pitty, quit for a while and then push the bed sheets away, and this is probably one of the good aspects of proper adulthood: there is no time to whine!

Apart from tonight, I guess.

Why the Mass Effect 3 endings are not SPOILER ALERT: indoctrinations

SPOILERS AHEAD. Okay? Let's get on with it, then.

Reason 1: The fact that the "god-child" is in fact similar to Shepard's dreamchild could be an all time-classic "adopted-a-form-you-can-feel-at-ease-around-it" move from a "superior" species, such as the unnamed creators of the Reapers.

Reason 2: The fact that, in the "Shepard lives" ending, the protagonist is found beneath concrete ruins rather than metal (which might indicate that Shepard was in London all this time he was fighting off indoctrination) might very well be a design oversight, a non-sequitur by Bioware. It would not be the first: the sight of Earth from the Citadel is different from what is expected due to its facing position.

Reason 3: If the choices of indoctrination are essentially a "funneling down" to a pre-arranged path of events by the Reapers, why show us the Normandy crush and what happens to the others? Shepard cannot see them and, since we, the players, are not indoctrinated, why see the consequences of choices that are not real? What would be the use of an Indoctrination plot twist if we, the players, were not able to see our fault afterwards while in-game (and not via youtube videos...)?

Reason 4: If indoctrination is supposed to make sense for the affected and lead to full submission to the Reaper's plans, why hand Shepard a choice that kills all Reapers? One could argue that choosing to destroy the Reapers (or "hearing" the godchild presenting him with such a choice) was Shepard's unconscious way to fight off indoctrination. Which brings me to my next point.....

Reason 5: Do you really think that Bioware thought that far ahead, bringing "the best plot twist of all time"? They could have hinted to an indoctrination plot in a much more direct way, without "cheesing it" for us, and effectively having almost all of us fall for it (I know I would, to my shame), rather than "considering feedback". If Bioware had made an excellent ending and a mind-blowing mind-twist, they would have stood their ground. If someone is a genius and they have taken their genius to actually fill their plates (or pools), this someone should have enough confidence to say "I have done a splendid work, try to figure it out". It would not be so hard, given that with nearly null evidence people are spreading the Indoctrination conspiracy....

But the Indoctrination Plot would have been indeed brilliant... how could have been done, then?

If I was Bioware, I'd rather have the same choices presented to the players, only to show them a minute later the real consequences: a Shepard fully under control, the rest of the war being wan over the Reapers (remember, 2/3 choices are FOR the Reapers).

What about the third choice, fighting the indoctrination off with sheer will? I'd rather have the odd paragon/renegade actions flashing at odd points in the narrative or include dialog with the godchild via the Paragon/ Renegade paths that would EVENTUALY lead to a third choice that would seem COMPLETELY ridiculous for a player to choose.... unless he could recall the basic theme of the game: NEVER. GIVE. UP. Shepard denying a choice with the threat of death (a godchild might have a few quantum biology tricks up his sleeve... literally) could lead to his death but it would let the war play out. Provided that sufficient forces have gathered, 2-3 different endings could have been produced (and our score meaning much more than what it means right now), with the ultimate victory being Shepard actually rescued by the extra crew he managed to gather in his journeys.

This last idea of refusing and letting the war play out is not mine, I saw a guy's video on youtube saying it, but I lost track of it. I just expanded it.

SO now what? People say it would be an outrage for Bioware to charge for a new ending, and I agree. Some say it would be awful to have it for free as well. I disagree. Bioware made a mistake, let 'em fix it. People make mistakes, they might have been under commercial pressure.

I should have taken up script writing... I would have done a better job than Bioware. You think I'm exaggerating? The blog is called naive audacity, people, deal with it :)


PS.: I liked the Synthesis concept for an ending, though. But as per other endings, it could have been more elaborate.

PS2.: Okay, upon further inspection... I found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck&feature=player_embedded#! with quite powerful arguments for the hypothesis...but still, my points stand. If Bioware *did* play the indoctrination card, why present it so poorly? The plot twist seems so powerful and it would indeed be one of the greatest endings for one of the greatest games of the decade but I believe Bioware delivered it quite poorly... any experienced gamer could have come up with a better way to deliver it.

Xel Naga Psychodynamics

Κουφάλες.

Ώρες-ώρες θέλω να γράψω πολλά πράματα αλλά βαριέμαι να το κάνω. Το βρίσκω περιττό. Αλλά μια μέρα, πατώντας το πόδι μου από το λεωφορείο στο πεζοδρόμιο, εδώ, στο ειδυλλιακό Κλάπαμ Κόμμον, μου ήρθε αυτό:

To έχω ανεβάσει και το θρυλικό 9gag. Enjoy and ponder. Or wonder.

EDIT: I seem to have written quite the same stuff as found in this page: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/StarCraft?from=Main.Starcraft


Freudian Trio: Zerg are the Id, Terran are the Ego and Protoss are the Superego.

Although the page was written probably before this post, I can assure you that I did not know of the content of said page, and that I feel glad someone else had the same idea, even probably before me :D