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Let's talk about the impending apocalypse for a bit.
One of my earliest memories is of me standing in the yard in front of the apartment building I grew up in. My neck hurt from looking up at the moon. I couldn't have been older than 8, but I knew that believing in god was a decision you made, and I could make that decision right then and there. For a moment I felt like I had it. You know that feeling you have when you try to think of an actors name, and for a split second you could swear you knew it, but it's already gone. I looked down and went: this is bullshit. I turned around and went inside and that was that.
In 1532 a group of 168 Spanish soldiers managed to capture the Inca emperor Atahuallpa and subsequently defeated his army of 80,000 men. Here's the synopsis:
Spanish conquistador: Hey guys, we'd like to talk to your king because who doesn't enjoy social occasions!
Inca ambassador: Sure thing, we'll carry him right over in his litter accompanied by his entourage of 2000 singers and dancers.
Spanish conquistador: Hey guys, we have captured your king, but we might give him back if you fill this room to the ceiling with the gold stuff we all like so much.
Inca ambassador: Well, dang it... Here ya go.
Spanish conquistador: We are as shocked as you are to inform you that your king has been found guilty of things in our fair trial, but you'll be happy to know that he received a christian burial.
Inca ambassador: Well fiddlesticks!
Spanish conquistador: This is our land now.
When you really boil it down, what made this possible was ink on paper. The Spanish knew a lot of things about conquering because they could read about it. The accumulation of knowledge over centuries made them exponentially more powerful than their opponents. Atahuallpa, when handed a copy of the bible on the first encounter with the Spaniards, having never seen a book did not know what to make of it and angrily threw it to the ground. Irony!
Anyway, so my point is: Knowledge grows exponentially as you pass it down and so does the destructive power that comes with it. This alone wouldn't be a problem if people weren't such idiots and by 2100 there will be 11 billion of us with the majority having their brains tangled up in mystical thinking that makes it impossible for them to face the reality they live in. And finally: Anything that can be done will be done. To accentuate that point, here's a Persian rug with cherub imagery:
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