Author: Crowhill Report

I had a lot of fun with this one: What would atheism look like in a simulated universe?

A true Russian victory in Ukraine is now nearly impossible. I hope he’s right. But I really hope Russia decides to move past Putin.

Biden did better than I expected him to, mostly because I expected him to make a lot more verbal mistakes.

It was, as all state of the union speeches seem to be, a bunch of lies and posturing, but there was a hint of “getting the message” and turning away from the more radical things some Democrats have been pushing, like “defund the police.”

He tried to show compassion, strength and confidence re: Ukraine, which is the right thing to do, but his policies need to catch up.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

I recently listened to an interesting podcast with Curt Jaimungal and Jordan Peterson on “God, Consciousness, and the Theories of Everything.” Peterson displays his annoying habit of interrupting people right as they’re about to say something I want to hear, but it was still worthwhile.

Peterson is famously reticent about saying whether God exists, or whether he believes in God. I used to be annoyed at that, but the more I understand his position, the more I get why he speaks that way.

Peterson over-thinks things. In a way, he’s like your high school English teacher who saw all kinds of meaning in things that don’t seem to have any meaning. But … maybe they do.

I had a very strange experience along those lines. A friend who read a very early version of The Witch’s Promise (one of my novels), also read a sequel I was working on, and she pointed out all this English-teacher stuff, like how this scene foreshadowed this other scene, this question is answered in this bit of dialog, and how it was obvious such and so would happen.

I laughed out loud when I read her analysis. I didn’t intend any of those things. She was clearly reading some high school English analysis into my writing.

Then I thought about it for a while, and I realized she was absolutely right. She was seeing patterns in the story that I wasn’t. And I wrote the silly thing.

It was quite a shock, and quite a lesson. I wasn’t (consciously) aware of themes and patterns that were playing out in my own head, and coming out of my fingers.

In a somewhat similar fashion, Peterson often seems to go into “what do you mean?” in an annoying Counselor Troi-like manner, but which nevertheless uncovers some important truths.

“When you ask if God is real, what do you mean? Do you mean ‘real like a chair is real?'”

Is the number 1 real?

It’s not an obvious thing either way, and it depends on what you mean by “real.”

At one point in the discussion with Jaimungal, Peterson went through his ordinary spiel about how people who ask if God is real don’t know what they mean by God, and don’t know what they mean by real. Then he said (something like) “Is real God? It’s the same bloody question.”

“Is x y” may be the same thing as “is y x” in some settings, but that doesn’t translate into language. “Is water wet” is not the same thing as “is wet water.” “Is water wet” means does water have the property of being wet, and “is God real” means does God have the property of being real.

Peterson obviously knows that, so what does he mean by saying “Is God real?” and “Is real God?” are the same questions?

It gets you right back into “what do you mean by ‘real’?” and “what do you mean by ‘God’?”

It would take hours and hours of very careful listening and analysis to peel apart exactly what Peterson means by “God,” but it’s something roughly like this: the ultimate standard against which all other standards are measured.

What would it mean to say God (by that definition) is real or not real? And if that’s the definition of God, then “is God real?” and “is real God?” do seem like the same question.

What do you think?

(Finally, while I’m on the topic of Jordan Peterson, this video parody is hilarious. And I say that as someone who likes and respects Dr. Peterson.)

I am not an expert on international affairs or military matters. I would rather consult with Captain Crowhill on this question, but CC understands what can and can’t be said to people like me (with no security clearance).

Anyways, this is just my opinion, based on the little that I know from following this story for the past week. And if Churchill couldn’t predict Russia’s actions, I’m certainly not going to claim that I can. Still … here’s what I’m thinking.

If you had asked me two weeks ago whether Ukraine should join NATO, I would have said no. It’s an unnecessry provocation. We have no clear national interest in Ukraine, and I don’t want my sons or yours dying to protect the place.

However, it’s become clear that Putin doesn’t need much provocation to go on a mad rampage. He invaded Crimea, and now he’s invading Ukraine, probably because in both cases he sensed weakness and a lack of resolve on the part of the west. Not exclusively from the U.S. (Obama and Biden), but they certainly contributed to the problem. Obama was a self-important amateur who thought he could bring about peace by being cool and saying nice things, and Biden is a doddering old fool who’s been wrong on every issue for his entire life, and is only barely functional now.

Trump is a gauche, loud-mouthed troublemaker, and I don’t like him, but at least he projected strength and resolve. Or, more accurately, compared to Obama and Biden he did. Which is a low bar. And for those of you who still don’t understand how anyone could have or can support Trump, look around. Set mean tweets on one side, and war on the other, and maybe you’ll start to get the picture.

Nobody can know what would have happened, but I suspect Trump would have armed Ukraine before the invasion.

The world is a harsh place, and weak men make hard times. People who cry over mean tweets and stupid stories about bleach should get back in their pajamas and stay in bed.

Putin wants to be a tough guy, so the west should get tough. We should ship as many arms into Ukraine as we possibly can.

It’s horrible to do this on the backs of the people of Ukraine, but Putin has to pay a steep price for his actions, and unfortunately it’s falling on them.

Have things changed to the point that we should admit Ukraine into NATO? Probably not, but that idiot in the White House makes concessions preemptively. Putting NATO membership back on the table might be a useful bargaining chip.