Hmmm....
This guy was wrong about Göbekli Tepe and the Eye of Sahara, so is he wrong here, too? Awaiting the next debunk. Maybe.
Sunday, May 17, 2026
Storfavoriter
Japp, jag tänker älta ESC ett tag till. Att Finland skulle ha varit storfavoriten tyckte jag alltid lät ytterst märkligt. *Så* jävla bra var inte den där låten. Sorry. Och det verkar som om jag hade rätt...
Innehåller även information om Sveriges röstresultat.
This is the Way
An analysis of the Star Wars-related TV series "The Mandalorian" from the viewpoint of anthropology and religious studies.
OK, so I have a few objections...
I never watched "The Mandalorian", so I have zero opinions on that one, but what about the anthropology? It simply can´t be true that the strictest religions are the most succesful ones. The most extreme cults (say the Exclusive Brethren or Heaven´s Gate) are always much smaller than the less strict ones (say the Presbyterian Church USA or some New Age network). Or take the Catholic Church. Most Catholics aren´t monks or nuns, obviously. The strictest monastic orders are the smallest ones (the Carthusians). Maybe the *illusion* of strictness is more succesful than outright "liberalism", but that´s a different proposition entirely. The illusion of strictness is good for identity politics, just blending in with broader society isn´t. To maintain the illusion, some "creds" have to be thrown in, but not nearly as many as in a *really* and grimly strict group. "Fish on Friday" isn´t the same thing as veganism or fruitarianism.
Or what about "the routinization of charisma"? The first generation of a religious group might be super-committed, but in order to survive beyond that initial charismatic push, it needs to create institutions which overtime will become bureaucratic, et cetera. It struck me when watching the video that some of the strict religious groups mentioned probably solve the problem by becoming free riders on the rest of society. How hard is it *really* to be an Orthodox Jew if you don´t have to do military service, get welfare money for your large family, and so on? I´m sure the Amish are free riding in some way, too. It´s just that US media are too uncritical and romantic in their attitudes towards them, so we haven´t heard anything about it.
Finally, a complaint about "fictive kinship". Sociologists and anthropologists usually assume that this somehow overrides biology. But does it? First, most fictive kinship systems seem to be practiced within the same population, which means that there *is* a level of genetic kinship between the participants. Group selection could explain this. Second, even when "fictive kinship" is practiced more broadly (say in a missionary religion), the converts will tend to marry other people of the same faith, which means that the kinship ties will become genetical in the normal sense over time. Again, no mystery for evolutionary theory.
In the science fiction TV series "The Mandalorian", one of the characters apparently adopts a baby of an *entirely different species*, treating him as his own son. Which is *highly* unlikely from an evolutionary viewpoint. Showing us that it´s indeed science *fiction*...
So nah, not convincing.
Xi you later
Jag visste att TH skulle ta upp detta, tänkte faktiskt på honom när jag såg rubriken för några dagar sedan...
Welcome to the riot
This is the winner in this year´s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC): "Bangaranga" featuring Dara. It´s a crazy pop song and dance act, perhaps inspired by Ukrainian singer Ruslana´s old classic "Wild Dances".
It´s also surprisingly pretentious for a pop song. The nonsense title is supposedly a Jamaican slang word for rebellion or disturbance. The live performance begins as a weird group therapy session (!) and ends in a riot (?) as the singer affirms her inner strength.
"Bangaranga" is also inspired by the kukeri, groups of Bulgarian men in strange costumes who scare away evil spirits by dancing and making noises. Presumably, Dara and her dance troupe are trying to exorcize their own inner demons. OK, I admit that it may work better than traditional psychoanalysis, LOL.
Welcome to the world´s strangest riot. Twelve points!
Saturday, May 16, 2026
End it already
Donald Trump is "seriously considering making Venezuela the 51st state". Yeah, whatever. Trump used to be good at trolling the media, but these days, it´s difficult to know what´s ironic trolling and what´s un-ironic clinical insanity. On the web, nobody needs to care, but in a POTUS...well.
But sure, if Venezuela would become a literal US state, every Venezuelan would have the right to enter the *other* 50 states without permission. They would have a lot of Congressmen, too. Including federal senators. And a higher status than, ahem, Puerto Rico...
So maybe Trump´s proposal isn´t that bad, after all? Muh-hah-hah!
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