Cognitive dissonance is a mental filter that prevents us from being overwhelmed by conflicting data.
Some people are completely debilitated by any data that disrupts their "narrative". Other people seem to be supremely robust with regard to the fact that shit happens.
The way to drill through the filtering effect of cognitive dissonance is to overwhelm it. A filter that becomes completely clogged blows-out. Think about a the oil-filter on your vehicle. What happens if it, and the pressure blow-off valve become clogged? The paper element ruptures and much of the clog enters the lubricating system.
There are some clouds looming on the horizon that might overload the snowflakes.
Dudes competing in women's sports
A mediocre dude crushes the competition in the NCAA Women's swim events.
Popular media promotes the idea that T-O-A-S actresses can brawl with five violent men at once and prevail. This is a fantasy that can only survive in sterile environments like "Hollywood" and social media.
Resource scarcity
This relationship is likely to totally blindside most young-wyms*.
The value of women's labor is equal to the amount of work she can accomplish in a day. The effect of inexpensive power, electrical motors and automation is to equalize the amount of labor John Henry (The Steel-driving Man) and Rosita (the 105 pound, 40 year-old woman) can do in a day.
Rosita can also drive a semi thanks to power steering.
The exponential growth of knowledge-work has been a boon to women in the work place. Unfortunately for them, knowledge-work is pretty easy to automate. The first occupation to be mowed down were the secretaries. In the 1980s, everybody got word-processors and email and BAM! They was gone!
"Ah" you respond "But wyms are much better with emotions."
Prove it. Seriously, they TELL us they are better at emotions but can it be proven? I thought gender was a social construct and there was no difference between us.
Viewed from a different perspective, many behaviors that are labeled "emotional dysfunctions" are currently addressed in kinder, gentler, sometimes less-effective but almost always more resource intensive ways then were used 70 years ago.
If we are in an environment that has scarce resources then the knuckle-heads will get Louisville-slugger therapy or denied food, fired or voted off the island. If that doesn't work then consequences will escalate quickly.
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| Pschology Today lists 220 providers of Mental Health services in Okemos, Michigan (population 21,000). It lists 15 in Charlotte, Michigan which provides service to the 31,000 people in Charlotte and the surrounding townships. |
Energy and automation create free-time and opportunities for recreation. If it suddenly takes two adults 16 hours a day, each, to put food on the table and a fire in the furnace...who has time to go to therapy (or cart the problem child there)? Where does the transportation come from? Will it be safe to go across town to the upscale suburb where the head-shrinkers all have their offices?
Not that emotional problems will diminish. But they will be dealt with in traditional ways. A three day, drunken wake after a loved-one dies. Then we all put it behind us and march forward. We might feel hollow inside but the younguns are hungry and they are crying.
The crazy thing is the ones who are most strident about shutting down energy and going "Green" are the wyms. How do you run your laundry after dark? That becomes a non-starter in an energy system with solar as the heavy-lifter. That means you will not be able to run 4 different loads based on colors, fabric and delicateness.
And while we are at it, you might want to get used to the idea of terrazzo** floors instead of carpets. A pair of slippers might weigh 10 ounces while 1000 square-feet of low-end "utility" carpet and pad weighs 1500 pounds. You will go through five pairs of slippers in a year (3.2 pounds) in the five years (according to HUD) that carpets last in rental apartments. That is 500 times more resources sunk into carpet. 500 times more pollution...as if the snowflakes really cared about that.
Environment
Pet peeve here. We have appliances we paid extra for (not that we have a choice) that use almost no water. Sounds great until you use one. They also don't clean clothes. Our washing machine without the agitator will not take simple, not-greasy dirt out of the hem or knees of a pair of jeans.
Dishwashers are similar. They brag about how little water they use. What is next? Dishwashers that sand-blast dishes and silverware with compostable media?
Resource scarcity
It is about far more than energy.
It is also about the headlong rush to embrace Communism, the economic system that catapulted North Korea's standard-of-living past that of Japan and South Korea, that caused the USSR/Russian economy to eclipse Western Europe's and to improve the per-capita wealth of Cuba to dwarf that of the United States. (Note: I could not find my sarcasm font)
*The most militant feminists enraged when they must identify themselves with a noun that has the word "..men" in it.
**Terrazzo: Ornamental concrete that has been ground smooth and sealed. The base concrete is often died dyed and sometimes glass or glitter is added to the surface layer before the concrete sets and is ground for visual interest.
*last paragraph should be dyed, not died.
ReplyDeleteAgain, good points. People don't realize how unusual modern prosperity is. The widespread ease and high incomes of the post war West are an historical aberration. If we aren't careful, society will revert to the mean and life will get MUCH more difficult.
Communism and Socialism are both returns to feudal society cloaked fancy but ultimately useless trappings.
Thanks for the heads-up regarding dyed vs. died.
DeleteMr ERJ, When we arrived in Florida (1963) I watched a local company pour and grind the floors in our new subdivision. They were attractive,durable and cool to walk on. Stayed cool through out the day. Probably an expensive process now. As a side note thanks for all you do,I try to stop by every day. Allan
ReplyDeleteHello Allan:
DeleteThanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment.
-Joe
I am with you on the washing machine issue. We bought one of the high end HE washers a year ago and have hated it ever since. No way to adjust the water level to the load, it "senses" how much it "should" take to wash the clothes and from the reviews I finally read the sensors go wonky and it is downhill from there. It wound up some of my shirts so tightly I thought I was going to have to cut them out of the machine. The old washer is sitting in the garage waiting on me to get it to a shop for a refurb and then it is going back in. Until then it is coin-o-matic for us.
ReplyDeleteHTR
I have a Kenmore Series 90 Super Capacity Plus top loader. It also never auto sensor fills to where I want the water level for Large loads.
DeleteThe water level selector switch is a 180° sweep potentiometer for S/M/L load choices. Past the Large load (soft stop) position is a labeled RESET function that is momentary actuated and spring returned when you release your hold of the dial.
When the machine is operating (just starts agitation) I can TURN & HOLD the water level dial at the RESET position and it will now add water until at the desired level.
When I discovered this I yelped "We don't need no stinking sensors"!
There is no description of this feature in the Manual.
I hope you find a similar type switch and feature on your HE machines.
U2B has many videos about How to Adjust Washing Machine Water Level Pressure Switch for HE machines.
DeleteIn Florida one can easily tell "upscale" from "average" - one has tile, the other carpet. "Real" upscale has very good tile.
ReplyDeleteA friend and his wife (in FL) built a custom home and it was terrazzo throughout, with common areas one color/design, bedrooms another, bathrooms still another. The reported cost was comparable to very good tile, the advantage was "cool and attractive floors with as close to zero maintenance as possible" and should tastes change, it's the near-perfect base for either tile or (ugh) carpet. Noisy, though, until area rugs and soft wall hangings go in. With area rugs size is flexible and decor is very easily changeable. And, terrazzo, like tile, is slippery when wet and absolute hell on fumbled crockery. I was told to do terrazzo right the concrete needs to be a bit thicker than the builders' default "what can we get away with" and contain reinforcement because cracks in the concrete will frequently propagate through the terrazzo (unless it's "sand bed" terrazzo) and since concrete slabs are rarely perfectly flat, terrazzo provides some means of correction.
Way Back When, we - like everyone else - had hardwood floors. Come spring, the rugs (not carpet, but all wool rugs, with wool pads and very much NOT wall-to-wall, ) were rolled up and sent out for cleaning and storage.The chilluns were issued gloves, steel wool, paste wax and rags and instructed to "make the floors shine" (when we became big enough (and mature enough) to use one, The Management's agreement to rental of a power buffer was very, very welcome, although the first day or so with it were somewhat "adventurous"). Come the week before Thanksgiving the rugs were returned and re-installed. Bare floors during summer seems a standard way of life, year-round carpet, not so much but it is widely popular.
Multi-story apartment buildings often use pre-stressed concrete beams between floors. The mass and the stiffness of the concrete reduce the noise transmitted by the families on the floor above. Carpet softens the sound from dropped items big-time.
DeleteNo terrazzo around here except in some older public buildings. Houses are rarely built on a slab, and heavy enough structure for sand-bed terrazzo is something most wouldn't consider springing for.
ReplyDeleteOur home is totally hardwood with vinyl tiles in the kitchen and baths. Almost 13 years old now and still doing fine, although the hardwood is somewhat worse for wear. We may have to have it sanded and refinished at some point, but the floor isn't bad enough I'm willing to go to the expense and bother.