What Moneyball-for-Everything Has Done to American Culture

[Sal1950]

Probably the reason you don't understand any of the concepts is that you aren't have any fun with technological advances. The human experience has, for as many millennia, records display, has an unending tale of toil, starvation, depravation, disease, and miniscule life span. In 2022, I have a likely chance of living until I'm 90, listening and viewing art, in it's many recorded forms, traveling the world in comfort, dining on cuisine from around the world. All of these things, and many more, were completely unimaginable, for 99.999999 percent of recorded history. If you don't recognize the gifts that abound around you, life can descend into depression, bitterness and colorless march to the grave. Just imagine what your life would be like if you were born in 18th century or even earlier,.Human history, for most of its, participants was a fucking horrible nightmare.

OTOH you might have a massive heart attack tomorrow and drop dead. You never know.
All is not sunshine and lollipops. LOL

 

[dartinbout]

In the event of my sudden passing, an outcome that would seem likely given my 50 years of symphonic substance abuse, I would at least die knowing that I pursued pleasure with a white hot passion while alive. Sunshine and lollipops indeed, that was a given before I was 5. I accepted at age 10, that the world was a complete universe of pain, torture and disappointment. It is almost exclusively populated with those whose personalities span the spectrum from absolute idiocy to abject evil. I realized ,very early, there is not a calorie of effort, on my part, that can change that. This hellscape extends behind me and before my, unendingly for all time.

With that set of expectations for my 4 score and ten, I have rejoiced in the pleasures of the flesh, the mind, intoxicants, the occasional love affair. I've been caught dancing on the Winterland stage, in the throng of at the foot of Bowie's "Last Dance", unwrapped an uncut kilo of Columbian's finest, at the very 1st Thai restaurant to open in SF. The list of achievement of joy would take days to chronicle. Stevie Wonder's "Up-Tight" is ending and I need to figure what is next.

Lao Tse Tuang taught me, very early in my psychedelic life, that perception creates your experienced reality. Depression can force that experienced perception into making the world the hellscape of your everyday reality.

 

[Sal1950]

In the event of my sudden passing, an outcome that would seem likely given my 50 years of symphonic substance abuse, I would at least die knowing that I pursued pleasure with a white hot passion while alive.

It sounds like your life followed a path parallel to mine. At 72 I'm paying the costs but have little regrets.
My only comment is that your writing talent is evident, I hope you use it for more lucrative pursuits than hanging out at ASR.
cent' anni
Sal

 

[dartinbout]

I stopped all the booze 10 years ago and almost all of my major organs have repaired themselves. No more diabetes, high blood pressure, liver disease or cholesterol issues. The only thing that didn't recover from decades of hedonism is my teeth. I'm getting full dentures next week and next year I'll go live in Thailand and get full implants.

 

[EJ3]

Too much money, too near perfection and you can ruin it. Everything can be better and the sum is less than the parts. Some things are better imperfect.

I don't know who originally said it BUT it was said that "Perfection is the enemy of good enough" When you have the perfection in a sports system or a political system and their is no debate (because the elite have gotten control and they won't allow you to try something different because it might hurt their predictable Moneyball then the various cultures and games get so homogenized that everything has no meaning).

 

[Sal1950]

I don't know who originally said it BUT it was said that "Perfection is the enemy of good enough" When you have the perfection in a sports system or a political system and their is no debate (because the elite have gotten control and they won't allow you to try something different because it might hurt their predictable Moneyball then the various cultures and games get so homogenized that everything has no meaning.

That sounds more like a flim flam double talk to cover the fact that I'm being hustled by the creator of the hustle. LOL

 

[Head_Unit]

Life, for the increasingly aged, is a dogged pursuit of things to complain about.

That's a really good point! As an engineer I can see a lot of imperfections in things, but henceforth resolve to take those with more humor, and try to focus on positive things.

Well, except the annoying lack of highpass functionality in most two channel equipment. That I will still rant about!