Month: March 2019

  • Dead Can Dance – Spirit

    Dead Can Dance – Spirit

    Even before giving the lyrics a thought, this song felt like a statement of some sort. A constant and solemn bass finds an equal partner in the subdued percussion. Then, luminous chords accompany Brendan’s evocative voice while delivering his homage to life.

    This is what I consider a well-written song. It’s a space where both music and lyrics accompany each other in perfect harmony. That is not to say that songs without lyrics have it easier: they must accompany music with… other music.

    ”I thought I’d found a reason to live
    Just like before when I was a child
    Only to find dreams made of sand
    Would just fall apart and slip through my hands

    But the spirit of life keeps us strong
    And the spirit of life is the will to carry on

    […]

    And the spirit of life remains in light
    And the spirit of life remains inside”

    YouTube (decent quality):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h-E91BTtV8

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h-E91BTtV8^

    For Spotify Users (high quality):

    https://open.spotify.com/track/1oBAw25wjTSM6bpNkmIykx^

    For Deezer Users (high quality):

    https://www.deezer.com/track/938007^

    [ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/03601-DeadCanDanceLabirynth-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Dead Can Dance – Spirit’ desc=’A constant and solemn bass finds an equal partner in the subdued percussion.’]

  • Energy in 2019: Fusion, Fission and More

    Energy in 2019: Fusion, Fission and More

    Our species’ insatiable hunger for energy is in a permanent conflict with our quest to keep our planet clean. Some nation-states’ “clean energy” marketing is almost hypocritical given how little they do to address the root cause of rampant energy consumption: hyper-consumerism^.

    Anyway… how can we get cleaner energy?

    Fusion via tokamak

    Fusion^ is the holy grail of energy generation. It’s clean and the necessary fuel, hydrogen, is literally everywhere. Unfortunately, replicating the Sun’s mastery of fusion isn’t exactly a piece of cake.

    Once heralded as the world’s first nuclear fusion experimental reactor, wannabe ITER^ is well on its way to becoming one of our species’ worst scientific investments. Delay after delay^ have plagued the project and good news is scarce:

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nuclearpower-fusion-project/iter-nuclear-fusion-project-faces-delay-over-trump-budget-cuts-idUSKBN1E01RT^

    I’ve been following ITER for a long time now and was for many years rooting for it. But to be honest, it does begin to look like there are too many things wrong^ with the project. And given how well solar power^ has been doing (well, except the fact that it also may harm the environment^), who needs ITER?

    Fusion via stellerators

    Wendelstein 7-X is a smaller but apparently more promising fusion reactor. This type of system bears the catchy name of “stellarator”. Things have been going pretty well in Germany with this project:

    https://phys.org/news/2018-11-peak-stellarator-results.html^

    Stellarators were among the first type of fusion energy generation device to be considered possible. Tokamaks came a bit later and stole the show for a while, at least until ITER proved the world that perhaps we shouldn’t abandon stellarators just yet.

    How about some supercomputing?

    Building Wendelstein 7-X wouldn’t even have been possible without help from our rapidly advancing computing abilities. But wait until we add some machine learning on top of that:

    https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/29/18201220/nuclear-fusion-energy-artificial-intelligence-machine-learning-tae-google^

    Despite my skepticism regarding “AI”^, I do believe that this is one situation where machine learning can do miracles.

    Is there such a thing like clean fission?

    Nuclear fission^, aka splitting the atom, has always been dirty (nuclear waste, nuclear weapon material). The temptation to use such energy, however, is almost irresistible, as radioactive elements are by far the highest density fuel that we can currently exploit. Unfortunately, this stuff is also used to make nukes.

    For a while, people kept thinking that Thorium^ might actually prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, but that might not be true:

    https://thebulletin.org/2018/08/thorium-power-has-a-protactinium-problem/^

    In any case, Thorium-based fission power is still actively researched^.

    Renewable energy trends for 2019

    Last but not least, here are some interesting renewable energy trends to follow this year:

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2018/12/30/6-renewable-energy-trends-to-watch-in-2019/#274618e64a1f^

    [ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/03187-ITER-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Energy in 2019: Fusion, Fission and More’ desc=’Fusion is the holy grail of energy generation. It's clean and the necessary fuel, hydrogen, is literally everywhere. Unfortunately, replicating the Sun's mastery of fusion isn't exactly a piece of cake.’]

  • Hybrid – Dream Stalker

    Hybrid – Dream Stalker

    You close your eyes, you fall asleep. There, where your awareness flicks out, they await… the Dream Stalkers. Inquisitive beings roaming the echoes of our consciousness, prodding, analyzing, recording, riding through the synapses. Oh, how they enjoy the chaotic festival of our dreams; surreal emotions, exotic adventures and delicious madness. They feast off the imagination engine that is our mind.

    This is their song – a ruthless mechanical march punctuated with ghostly interventions. And yet, this is an atmospheric piece, otherwise I couldn’t have summoned the words above.

    YouTube (decent quality):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vei8lUYsJ5U^

    For Spotify Users (high quality):

    http://open.spotify.com/track/3ZxWxdZDFPYElunwEAEFie^

    For Deezer Users (high quality):

    http://www.deezer.com/track/11075272^

    This Weekly Song entry has been brought from the FaceBook archive of Weekly Song^. This exploration was originally started through a FaceBook page, about 13 months prior to launching Mentatul. Slowly but surely, the entire FaceBook archive will be brought here.

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  • Zero Cult – Penetration

    Zero Cult – Penetration

    Flow rather than dance, soar rather than fly, live rather than listen. Follow the mystic chants inviting your imagination for a dance through nourishing beauty. It may be dark and overwhelming at times, but no story is without contrast. And when that gateway opens and shines its vibration through your every fiber, you know you’re on the right frequency.

    This ritualistic, hypnotic dance could impress 37-dimensional alien priests. It powers through the multiverse with bursts of lower vibrations and then begs entrance to the Quantum Cathedral of Everything and Everytime by beaming her voice through every consciousness that ever truly understood its innocence.

    You can listen to the melody for free, in good quality, on BandCamp, which is one of the best websites when it comes to supporting artists. You can also purchase the song (or album) from this same location. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I did purchase Zero Cult’s album :).

    https://cosmicleaf.bandcamp.com/track/penetration^

    YouTube (decent quality):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e9VR-XDBP0^

    For Spotify Users (high quality):

    https://open.spotify.com/track/3CZFsvprctjkGGxgqV8goz^

    For Deezer Users (high quality):

    https://www.deezer.com/track/133549050^

    [ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/03590-ZeroCultCloserEver-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Zero Cult – Penetration’ desc=’Follow the mystic chants inviting your imagination for a dance through nourishing beauty.’]

  • Thank You, Capitalism. It Could Be Worse…

    Thank You, Capitalism. It Could Be Worse…

    My readers know all too well that I’m no fan of capitalism. Throughout the past years I’ve attacked^ several attributes of this economic system (consumerism^, the stock market^, income inequality^). This year, I’m about to step it up a notch, going into how capitalism has facilitated the slow and insidious rotting of most democratic countries. I intend to write about how a broken economic system can drag down education and create immeasurable suffering on a planetary scale, most of which is hidden from sight by the mainstream media so that the machine can keep marching.

    But this doesn’t mean that I lack appreciation towards the enormous benefits that have burst from the minds of countless entrepreneurs who, thanks to a free market, succeeded in advancing our culture and civilization. After all, I write these words using capitalist products!

    Evolution

    Capitalism is just another system that evolved from others before it. Perhaps it’s not the fairest, but it’s definitely more efficient than some that existed before. The gradual development of economic systems that has given birth to capitalism also implies that capitalism will not be the last economic system. And that’s precisely why I’m writing about its flaws. It’s not because I hate it, it’s because there are things that I believe can be improved.

    Capitalism will eventually give way to another, better economic system. It’s inevitable. The question, however, is if that system will be better for humans and our ecosystem. It is entirely possible that capitalism will evolve into a system that is even more efficient at squeezing the life out of this planet and transforming it into objects, technological advances (for its own sake) and gargantuan projects.

    I believe one such gargantuan project is the development of artificial “intelligence”, in quotes because it’s not really intelligent^. It lacks and will continue to lack sentience, which I consider a prime ingredient of intelligence, for at least until such a time when we have achieved major advances in quantum computing. I went through some of the dangers posed by this sort of artificial non-intelligence in the linked article, or here^, on the more concrete topic of stock markets.

    Better life through technology

    One of the main long-term goals of capitalistic entities is to discover tools and technologies that allow them to produce more. These discoveries eventually trickle down through all social layers and can improve quality of life. It doesn’t always happen so, but it’s not usually a problem with capitalism per-se, but with the human element (corruption, greed^).

    Capitalism has brought a number of major advances in all sorts of fields: manufacturing, delivery, recycling, retail & customer experience, product diversity, the list can go on and on. I honestly believe we’d be far less advanced without the explosion of knowledge that resulted from setting human intellectual capital free to associate in whatever form.

    Less is more

    Because our civilization is still at a stage where the survival instinct is dominating^ our choices and policies, we can’t expect any economic system to reach a sort of moral high-ground. Communism used to look good on paper. History tells a different story about its implementation. It’s a case of “change yourself before you change others”.

    In other words: we have to fix our way of thinking and how we go about daily life before we can even expect a highly efficient and in the same time ethical economic system to emerge. Capitalism is, simply put, the best that some societies are capable of. They wouldn’t tolerate it otherwise.

    Capitalism embodies our instinctual thirst^ for more. The problem is that “more”, in this case, is usually not something that contributes to human happiness, but rather provides tangible results (objects, technologies). Even though life in most (truly) capitalistic countries has improved from a material standpoint, psychological health has declined. People feel disconnected and disengaged. A culture of extreme individualism is being promoted, probably because it produces better consumers.

    Would less production and less consumption be anti-capitalistic? Perhaps from a purely financial standpoint. But a situation where capitalism “eases down” might actually be the smartest investment ever made: an investment in nurturing human capital. Healthier, happier humans can not only produce more, but will also invent more.

    Diversity is beautiful

    One of the things I’m most thankful about with capitalism is the fascinating product diversity it led to. But too much of a good thing is not a good thing at all anymore. And while I appreciate the diversity, I also recognize that in the past decades it has started to resemble the behavior of cancer. Too much diversity is a tumor that feeds on our ecosystem, running amok with almost no planetary governmental oversight. Even so, I do believe that with capitalism we’re closer to the ideal product diversity state than with, say, communism.

    Economy influences our society and, not only by extent, our way of government. Politics, economy and culture are all intertwined with other pillars of human development to form what we call civilization. As a prime ingredient of civilization, economy shapes not only how we trade, but our attitudes as well.

    For example, in capitalism, it’s not profitable to reject minorities of any kind (sexual, racial, religious). This, slowly but surely, trickles into society. True capitalistic societies are more tolerant towards minorities, partly as a consequence of this being the most profitable behavior.

    My first 7 years of life happened before the fall of communist Romania, during one of its worst periods (which was still way better than places in less developed parts of the world). I then witnessed the gradual implementation of capitalism, during a slow, painful process during which a number of sly Romanians became rich overnight through various forms of abuse. 20 years later I moved to Sweden, a country renowned for its socialism, but which has become increasingly capitalistic during the turn of the millennium and even more so under my very eyes in the past decade. All these varied economic landscapes have shaped me in all sorts of ways.

    I am thankful to the diversity that capitalism has exposed me to. I’m thankful for its contribution to the civilization that I enjoy being a part of. I couldn’t imagine myself happy in a system that would restrict my freedom of speech (even though censorship is definitely on the rise everywhere in the world, including the proud Western democratic block).

    I’m even thankful for capitalism’s flaws, for without flaws, there is nothing to improve. I’m one of those humans with a pull towards perpetual improvement. My work on this website is not only about improving the society I belong to, but also about improving myself. Throughout this process, it is vital for me to emphasize that despite my criticism, I am not blind to the luxury I am granted simply by having a roof over my head and warm, clean water at the tap. Oh, and fancy gizmos to play with.

    [ax_meta fbimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/03451-ThankYouCapitalismItCouldBeWorse-Share.jpg’ lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/03451-ThankYouCapitalismItCouldBeWorse-Thumb.jpg’ fbimgw=’1170′ fbimgh=’350′ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Thank You, Capitalism. It Could Be Worse…’ desc=’The gradual development of economic systems that has given birth to capitalism also implies that capitalism will not be the last economic system.’]

  • Clawfinger – Two Sides

    Clawfinger – Two Sides

    One day, this song will be reviewed outside the unfortunate social context from which it emerged, a social context where it really had very little chance of earning the accolades it deserved. That’s because this rallying call against organized religion was, is, and will continue to be for some time, a dangerous song.

    And when that day comes, this song will win prizes. A great many of them. A prize (and the most important one), for lyrics that don’t miss a single syllable. It’s just one unrelenting, harmonious but unforgiving stream of rhymes. Another prize for diverse orchestration and the way spoken word, heavy riffing and a redeeming choir are fused together in a celebration for freedom and intellectual evolution. And another bunch of prizes for the band releasing this as early as they did, for touring it and for doing what they could to wake their peers up.

    Until that day comes, all we can do is celebrate it amongst ourselves.

    Disclaimer: I am spiritual, I don’t think all forms of organized religion are bad, I respect all religions and Gods. It’s just the horrible crimes committed by some humans, dirtying Divinity, that make me a sad panda. That being said…

    “There’s nothing a god can give to me that i can’t give to myself
    I put my beliefs in the things I believe and a god can take care of himself
    there’s not enough love in the world for me to think about wasting my time
    It’s not that I don’t believe at all but I don’t need a heavenly sign
    I can achieve the things I need without getting down on my knees
    I can respect your religion but i don’t want to pay your fees
    I don’t want to hear you talk about the things you think that i need
    so don’t help me back on my feet again until you can hear me plead
    Just look in the holy book of crooks and tell me what you can find
    all the rules and the regulations made to manipulate your mind
    don’t pretend that you’re blind just open your mind and study historical times
    the bigger the loss the bigger the cost the bigger the cross and it’s crimes
    I don’t believe in a god that I need to worship
    I don’t believe that I need to get down on my knees
    I don’t believe that a voice from above can help me
    I only believe in what I can see and the things that I can achieve
    Whatever belief you belong to there is always a reason to doubt
    and there’s always another opinion as to what life is all about
    there’s always a bigger dimension and a different point of view
    so I don’t want to try to change you that decision is up to you
    Whatever your final choice is and however you choose to live
    you better be happy for what you can get and happy with what you can give
    there’s only one thing to remember there is only one thing you can do
    and that is to do unto others as you’d have others do unto you”

    YouTube (decent quality):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gv4cPCZXpc^

    For Spotify Users (high quality):

    https://open.spotify.com/track/5LUoi8GzZ86WbJYsg2XDmo^

    For Deezer Users (high quality):

    https://www.deezer.com/track/69934942^

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  • KoRn – Falling Away From Me

    KoRn – Falling Away From Me

    Angst and frustration sometimes need channeling. This is where such a song comes in, opening a gateway to a realm where such energies can not only live, but thrive and flourish into devastating beauty. There are no “wrong” feelings, and beauty can arise from any feeling.

    KoRn have masterfully created a niche for themselves, one they continue to dominate even now, 25 years away after the release of their first album.

    “Hey I’m feeling tired
    My time is gone today
    You flirt with suicide
    Sometimes that’s ok
    Hear what others say
    I’m here standing hollow
    Falling away from me
    Falling away from me
    Day is here fading
    That’s when I would say
    I flirt with suicide
    Sometimes kill the pain
    I can always say
    ‘It’s gonna be better tomorrow’
    Falling away from me
    Falling away from me”

    YouTube (decent quality, with video):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s3iGpDqQpQ^

    YouTube (better quality, just the music):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDsaNnQnd7U^

    For Spotify Users (high quality):

    https://open.spotify.com/track/2F6FfZ4w8z3eJpSxPotVO5^

    For Deezer Users (high quality):

    https://www.deezer.com/track/15175502^

    [ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/03575-KoRnIssues-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’KoRn – Falling Away From Me’ desc=’A song for channeling angst and frustration, opening a gateway to a realm where such energies can not only live, but thrive and flourish into devastating beauty.’]