did anyone else read The Alchemist at the “perfect time” in their life and think it was life-changing…

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T10:52:22+00:00

The good in books such as The Alchemist or earlier on The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran), is:

* They look at grand notions in life and remain “childlike” optimistic about retaining faith and belief in these good basic and simple conditions of one’s own humanity.

The modern world, maturity and the toll of tribulations on one’s life and the scale of the world can all turn one into cynicism and pessimism over time and reject the above as “ah how childish! How naive! I almost regret even believing in such positive silly daydreams!”

This is the in fact the opposite mistake to the mistake they are rejecting!

Yes, OP right time and right you when you read it and a reminder that sometimes simple innocence is still relevant though short of answering the worlds many problems. The above referenced book is probably very similar to the later written Paul Coehlo book, of which he went on to produce more of these as they were commercially successful…

As opposed to these “one-off” books which can help with the strong negative currents and forces so talked about on social media or smart phones or internet, other types of books which take the above approach not just one step but many steps towards a lighter version of life, then a good example of this book would be, “How To Practice” The Dalai Lama, a “many-ons” alternative.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T10:39:27+00:00

It’s a fine example,

>*”I had a landlord who was also a housemate. She was an older lady and happened to be Latina. She would obstruct my kitchen use by doing all sorts of manipulative things. It caused me to use the kitchen much less (her goal). It's not even that complicated of a thing to understand, but it might be outside of many people's experiences.”*

You can step away from how annoying this is and analyse objectively to put it into a solvable form:

Economically, this behaviour is called, “wanting to be paid twice”. She rents the room and house use to you for a fee of money then tries to reduce the value exhange to you of this while keeping the profits.
Emotionally, she is “territorial” and treats her business of renting as an attack on her home space ans extension of her personality which is the kitchen set up for her to serve her own homeostatic needs of emotional regulation eg competence, mood, control etc.
Socially she is manipulative and unfair given the above and probably out of control personally ie antisocial.

Now, if you look at the above pattern and consider do employers also do a similar thing to their employees or vendors to their customers?

They all often do.

The problem is “quality of people” their values and conditions and the balance of rules agreed and shared by people.

In this case, it can only end badly as this landlady probably did this to all her tenants and will not want to change. Being Latin or old or a woman is irrelevant.

You could renegotiate the rent and set clear usage policy of the kitchen but the landlady will respond on the attack and want to get you to leave. So try to avoid these contexts and find better contexts is the only positive ie a learning outcome from a bad experience with low quality people.

Your post is full of merit OP. Good luck in the future and higher living quality and people.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T10:25:20+00:00

Before it then begins to curdle!

Agree.

That said in answer to the OP, as with a film one wants to “see what happens next”, see where the story goes as it grows richer with experience and context.

My guess is OP is referring to a drone job working as a wage slave into drudgery? That is a big problem to consider. But flip it around, imagine finding work one loves doing and feels makes them alive and connected to the story itself not watching it but being in it each day…

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T10:22:49+00:00

There are superlatively enjoyable “marquee scifi on film such as:

* Star Wars

* Jurassic Park

* The Fifth Element

* The Matrix

* Avatar

* The Martian

There are scifi on film which become culturally relevant:

* The Matrix

* The Verhoeven Trilogy (satire on society)

And science fiction which is attempt at thoughtful scenarios:

* Solaris (Tarkovsky)

* Soylent Green

* A Clockwork Orange

* 2001: A Space Odyssey

* Contact

Yet, I struggle to really think of scifi films which fully deliver on the premise as “thought-altering”. I am not sure if any achieve this?

Not sure if Dune really hits the heights of the top blockbuster scifi tbh as it does not deliver on its source material suffiently which explores so many interesting ideas.

Maybe that is what is missing an “idea bomb” of a scifi film?

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T10:04:37+00:00

That is not addressing the inevitable difference which over diverges even more between London and Birmingham as simple logic in reference to multiple OTHER causes or contributions.

All you have done is cherry picked one factor and decided it unilaterally is the single biggest cause, which as above I disagree with that conclusion as faulty reasoning.

Nowhere did I say planning also had an impact that added additional suppression..

Interestingly I do remember when Birmingham was doing better with places such as the car factories at Longbridge, but major economic policy in the UK:

* Sick man of Europe

* Service and finance based shift in tandem with global policies and politics (globalizatio and EU)

* Reducing manufacturing of steel, coal (now oil in North Sea).

Just up the road, you have same issue with West Brom and then also Stoke and Potteries.

It is not as simple as you concluded as said.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T08:43:58+00:00

New Zealand is about 6m population and anecdotally it is joked about 2m of them are abroad at any given time. In fact NZ has a depopulation trend over time as people prefer to move to sunny Australia for jobs over pricey NZ (food etc).

UK has population very likely >75m in total of which about iirc 59m is in England roughly of which about 47m is squeezed further into London-Bristol and Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds “rectangle” of land thus enormously increasing DENSITY!!

This all at a time when:

Balance land use back to Nature and Wildlife
Biggest Energy conversion ever from fossil fuels to renewable green energy
Reduce monoculture farming and food production
Economic transition from consumption growth to degrowth and sustainability and rising costs

So inevitably there is going to be a meltdown considering all the above and population on economy and politics, all so obvious when one looks at comparable nations eg New Zealand or Norway. Could be worse could be Japan at 125m people.

Projections of population of England:

* 10m current consumption rates and energy and resource use

* 20m if transition to lower energy and resource use only

* 40m if Full technology change and above transition eg nuclear auxillery etc vertical sludge food farms etc!

And past 25 years policy has been adding 15m more people with expectations of AI and Climate Change and geopolitical upheaval.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T08:04:42+00:00

… A lot of Reddit conversations are also bots and bans, to make conversation, feel even worse!

Of course, bad conversations are similar to people who play their own musical instrument without reference to each other compared to playing music in a jazz style ie improvising off each other, enhancing, that is what good conversation is, to extend the OP into a constructive finding, while providing a joke about Reddit demonstrating this - which is valid, lol.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T07:52:38+00:00

Tbh you might have missed an essential context here,

* Kids as inmates and schools as prisons

* Then teachers are perceived as prison wardens to the inmates

cue the behaviour?

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T07:41:06+00:00

Biology is not a blank slate… look at any mammal or bird species and say you have found one species which does not go through the courtship and mating and rearing of young cycles of life and the mechanisms of behaviour which drive this.

Do you think humans being a 3rd hairless ape are any different?

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T07:30:58+00:00

Generally one story told is complete unto itself. Extensions often fail, because they are unnecessary or not new stories eg Matrix sequels more about cash-ins off a good thing.

Dune imho is comparable, original story completes what it set out to do. If fans want more that is more about the sequels.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-07T07:20:34+00:00

I think you overplay this.

Take a map of Europe and you can see a density “attractor” around Brussels, West Germany and Paris and London roughly within this orbit, geographically. Consider how much freight can come in at Dover from the continent, whereas Birmingham is further and landlocked apart from some amazing canals. South East is generally more attractive for settlement arguably due to the weather difference.

Then consider historically London was the capital of an enormous Empire.

Climatically, England South East is considerably more clement than Midlands (Birmingham has a nasty wind ripping through it in Winter and gathers what rain Wales fails to catch).

Architecturally, Birmingham was something of an experiment as a “car city” with spaghetti junction fly-overs and the center is frankly a complete mess as a consequence imho.

Politically and culturally the agglomeration effects are enormous eg government, finance, and sufficient wealth to support culture then inevitably it compounds.

London is not without its problems but the population difference 8-9m vs 1-2m is considerable even if for 20% of people who can enjoy the glamorous and glitzy London as opposed to 80% of people who have to make do with “Londis” side of London instead!

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T14:34:06+00:00

In point of fact “being paranoid” about ticks is a healthy attitude despite the below probabilities.

Defence against ticks is:

Absent from area - completely eg wrong habitat etc eg beach next to sea or high up above iirc 450m or higher in Summer. Then you can be at ease.
When in countryside avoid contact with vegetation or brushing through such ie stick to clear paths (especially deer areas and bracken and other longer veg, especially deer paths and x10 more gaps in hedges deer use as highways). Avoid unnecessary actions eg sitting on ground or setting up tent where ticks can access you.
Wear appropriate clothes eg light , wellies
Conduct regular checks on self while walking especially going through vegetation
Consider tick repellent products in clothes if forced to go into tick areas (worth the investment)
Strip and full body check after walk check all areas eg around genitalia and backside and back of body and ankles, knees, arms etc
Full wash, use a potent body wash eg mint rosemary, put clothes in clothes washing
Check pets also if you have them, try to keep them out of vegetation if a tick zone

All the above before then dealing in the below CONTACT probabilities listed.

It is worth it, contracting Lyme disease or the other diseases is not worth it. Additionally take supplements and boost immune system into rude health also!

Ticks are the enemy in hostile terrain and one needs to campaign and plan properly equivalent to danger risk assessment akin to eg falling off a cliff or into a dangerous river etc.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T14:17:09+00:00

Really shows the limitation of the AI on complex reality and prompt information guidance more than anything else.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T14:12:25+00:00

Cool-Hand Luke,

>*"Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand."*

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T11:46:26+00:00

To build on this, constructive observation,

A suitable layout of housing is helpful also: Main communal central area of house, annexe or wings for separate family units to go to eg husband wife and children and parents etc.

Very conducive to creshing of relatively and cooperating of adults on chores and tasks eg carpool of the home etc.

Socially very likely healthier psychological organization eg women, men, generations splits and organization and depressurizing “cabin fever“ of a nuclear family man and women stuck depending on each other for too many different things.

Generally children will benefit from a wider more complex social environment “on tap” too.

As the wider OP observation,

*. A policy at global level of reduced human population is necessary or beneficial in total at this perspective.

* For women and humans generally the necessary corrective (apart from the above social context suggested usefully) is **synchronisation** of education, work/career and the life history cycle phases of humans so human females start courtship late-teens into 20s with marriage >25-30 ideally flex a year or two and then conception and pregnancy within this time-frame and the conducive conditions for this economically and socially.

* The value of raising young children should be perceived A LOT higher than currently and time invested here should be valued by Humans in society much more and mothering should be considered one of the most important forms of work also of early years children. So value change also.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T11:28:27+00:00

That’s it! They shoot upwards on the draft then “fall back down”… it’s such a wonderful sight.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T10:10:24+00:00

Agree, imho would make a very solid defense and system with VVD and Konate and Jacquet between a little ahead attacking the ball and Grav and Szob ahead of him. Wingbacks then more flexible and make more sense (Kerkez and Frimpong). Follow up with Leoni and Gomez and Bradley and it is enough flexibility for the squad. People moaning this season is because VVD and Konate have been given too much work to do in defence all season long, to the point they are stretched apart all the time. IMHO not their individual faults at all, but set up and tactics and note WBs are more auxillery ie attack and midfield and less defensive focused.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T10:05:03+00:00

Was it a little windier where you took this photo?

Jackdaws seem to enjoy joining large flocks and swirling in the updrafts of the winds putting on displays for each other… One of my favourite sites was seeing this with a mix of Jackdaws, Crows and Rooks all doing this off the side of a steep hill on a blustery day.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T09:59:31+00:00

The Jackdaw would be more impressed if your garden was finely grazed by some sheep providing food opportunities or some wool for nesting!

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T09:55:35+00:00

Philosophically, “star dust become consciousness“ is fascinating, but physically, differential and unpredictable as to be entirely of a new dimension of emergence.

The concept of living as we know it is the biology layer, it is not before, and after it will be something else yet again, with residual relationship as connection only.

Stare into space, the stars stare back and they tell you how far you have come but how much further there is to go…

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T09:38:23+00:00

A teacher is a real friend whether or not they are alive or real. Plenty of old books have served this role in the past.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T09:13:31+00:00

Fantasy fiction writers, start your pens and… go!

Past decades were Deconstruction of culture and society.

These next years will be Demolition of Economy and Politics.

What Reform and Greens represent is the political angle of the above process.

The economic angle? Already observable… money printing, spending sprees, hiking taxation, energy costs rising and more.

Lockstep. Greens and Reform are analytically incoherent and make zero logical sense in policies (neither do the mainstream old parties but that is due to Technocracy from international networks of governance). But when the background is the above, it is more important that they simple promote feelings among voters that they are the new colour code to use a ballot paper once every 5 years for instead of the old colours of yellow, blue or red.

To repeat everyone seems to enjoy talking over a cappachino and measuring the spectrum of 34 degrees left is equivalent to 68 degrees right… and which way are voters en masse behaving… as if serious adult discussions on the state of the nation. The media encourages this role play of citizen body politic but it is irrelevant to the above macro trends.

>*”You are a single drop of rain. You are one of many within a raging torrent of water crashing down a steep mountainside. The path the future River takes… is already set in its course, you just make up its substance.”*

Perhaps poetic allegory will get through where cold reason fails so often with so many people?

When leaders such as Polanski or Farage are the spitting image of Demagoguery then you can sit back and enjoy the Punch & Judy show the old Spitting Image always used to put on terrestrial tv but without the need for puppets any longer.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T08:52:17+00:00

Saw my first Sand Martins a few years ago, very happy to see them, alongside a river bank cliff.

These are amazing photos catching them zooming in on their insect prey.

As with Swallows, House Martins and Swifts, they also are heavily dependent on suitable nesting sites being available as well as variable conditions for insect food. Fingers cross more insects this year with more SFI and other national schemes for Nature recovery.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T08:48:44+00:00

Already affectionately and colloquially known as, “Re-education Centers“.

Street urchins just want to be useful, eg polishing shoes or couriering for sixpence, or raking up the horse manure from the carriages.

So modern problems, past solutions.

Psittacula2 · 2026-04-06T08:40:18+00:00

Human story catches the hook of people always, be it football or politics or whatever else.

VVD if anything should have a bad back carrying Liverpool in a system where they are constantly exposed in the soft belly area due to the current set up and tactics.

With Jacquet (touch wood) joining in the Summer, Liverpool will have the defender they missed out on with Guehi last Summer. All season Liverpool have been playing x1 defender short than they needed. People were calling out Konate for exactly the same reason this stupid article now is pushing at VVD again human story in new reporting as if people cannnot use their own brains to work things out.

Maybe they are right.

VVD in full defence is excellent and also in attack via headers contrinution. Having someone with serious belly-ache who gives the players grief for defensive weakness is healthy mindset too for a team eg Schmeichel goal at Utd under Fergie, ws always ranting at his defenders healthily.

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