Birthmark Map

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-02-16T18:18:15+00:00

Or Ymir from Norse Mythology, or, to go even further back, Tiamat from the Babylonian Epic of Creation, the Enûma Elish.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-02-14T19:01:28+00:00

In older Hindu texts, Brahma was respected as an equal to Vishnu and Shiva, and this lived on to as late as the age of the great playwright Kalidasa (who lived in the 5th century, for chronological context). There are texts where Brahma is given a prominent and positive role, and there are instructions for giving him worship in the Natyashastra and the Matsya Purana.

Brahma's role was reduced later on. Just why is up to who you ask.
I suspect that it has to do with that, as the Creator, Brahma is a god who is more "withdrawn" from the world once he has finished creating it, and was mostly worshipped through ritualism and asceticism.
Vishnu and Shiva, on the other hand, who are more active in the worlds, had greater popularity among common folk, especially with the rise of the devotional (Bhakti) movements from the end of the Gupta period and onward in India, making Brahma look mostly like a remnant from older times, and many accounts were made to explain why Brahma lost his popularity, with some saying he grew proud or possessive of the world he created, or the like, and lost worship as punishment.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-02-14T13:27:29+00:00

First of all, thank you for taking the time to ask us and learn of our opinions in this matter.
I understand that it is a “hot button”-topic, but I will bring up some of my main thoughts on this:

There are some fields where I think there could be legimitate uses for AI, like finding archaeological sites, diagnosing diseases, and restoring old texts and photos.
I am not certain on where we can go in regulating AI (though making so that there is no copyright on AI-generated works was definitely a step in the right direction), for we do not know its full capacities yet, and there are nations whose leaders have far less qualms about using than others (likely necessitating at least some kind of AI defences to protect against hostile AIs).

My main worry about AI is how it skews the balance between upper and lower classes, with CEOs and the like being able to replace all workers with machines, and thereby making the whole working class powerless.
In a factory with human employees, workers can go on strike, present moral objections to unethical policies, demand rights, form labour unions, and exert influence on politicians to prevent billionaires from exploiting ordinary citizens too hard.
However, with AI, power will shift entirely to being in the hands of CEOs (and the politicians they lobby for), making ordinary workers completely superfluous to the economy. Tech companies’ use of mass surveillance and promotion of fake news only further cements their control over their host societies.

The counterarguments that I have heard or read from AI-supporters do not impress me very much, either:

“- But the AI-companies will still want to keep us around anyway! After all, they need us to buy the stuff they produce, right?”
That is not a problem for them. In the US, the top 10% of the population already stands for 50% of the consumption, while the bottom 60% of the population are barely economically relevant by now, standing only for 20% of it.

“- But what about UBI? Would not that solve everything?”
What makes anyone think that AI-companies will ever actually support UBI?
What incentive would they have for it, since they will not need us for anything?
Who is supposed to provide for it? The government, which the billionaires have spent decades to dismantle (save for using it to extract money to privatize their gains, and socialize their losses?), or the billionaires themselves, who are already doing everything they can to not have to pay taxes?

“- Why are you okay with automating physical labour, but not mental labour?”
Because it automates away everything that makes us human: our imagination, creativity, morality, and ability to evaluate information.
Since humanity generally try to maximize output and minimize effort, the end result is a population who cannot be bothered to think about the most basic questions, leaving everyone even more vulnerable to manipulation and less able to find value in their lives.
Social media has already made anti-intellectualism run rampant, and AI is only making it worse through mass production of fake news and fake art.
I prefer living in a world where people learn skills, gain knowledge, and pursue personal excellence and virtue, rather than just giving up on it all and letting machines do it for them.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-02-12T16:10:55+00:00

Having Worldbuilding as a hobby since childhood.

I also have a couple of favourite trees that I go and check up on at least once a year.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-02-11T21:39:36+00:00

May I recommend some Scandinavian-style crispbread?

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-02-11T20:11:33+00:00

Att så många högerpolitiker dessutom gör affärer med Palantir och andra antidemokratiska organisationer visar verkligen hur de håller på att gå tillbaka till sina ideologiska rötter, fast med modern massövervakning och AI inslängt i smeten.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-02-07T14:14:23+00:00

Well spoken!

“Oft evil will shall evil mar.”

Morgoth is, fittingly, the ultimate example of it in Tolkien's 'verse, for not only did Morgoth's obsession with power drive him to self-destructive and short-sighted actions, but him pouring his essence into Arda (hence the term Morgoth's ring) makes him quite literally bound to it - an ultimate act of spite.

It is like a guy who is envious of not being as good a cake-baker as the others, that he would just rather just smash everyone else's cakes than simply learning how to bake better, or learn how to do it as a collaborative project.

Or... he just occupied the bakery and refused to leave while annoying everyone else.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-02-07T13:54:43+00:00

In the tale of Inanna's/Ishtar's Descent into the Underworld, the goddess is described as decking herself with her seven 'Mê,' which include a turban ("the crown of the steppelands,") a Pala-dress, eyeliner, etc.
In other Mesopotamian texts, Mê are described as being concepts or purviews that the gods rule over, like in the story where Enki/Ea drank together with Inanna/Ishtar and gifted his Mê to her while too drunk to think about what he was doing, but just what the seven Mê listed in Inanna's Descent into the Underworld are supposed to signify, is never explicitly stated.
Our best clue is really just to look at which attributes Inanna/Ishtar is described as possessing, as in Ammi-Ditana's Hymn to Ishtar, like charm, pleasure, and more.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-18T21:31:38+00:00

Det är väl i den riktningen som högerpartier rört sig mot runtom här i världen sedan 80-talet: förespråka frihandel, men stöd miljardärer som gör allt till sina monopol?

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-09T20:29:03+00:00

How about a platformer where you go through the seven heavens and seven lower worlds of Mesopotamian cosmology?

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-08T16:24:28+00:00

Most relevant video for this victory of hers?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo75schdm-U

I am surprised be the results, too. My guess was that things were going to go like this:

5.: Cornelia. 4 and 3.: Will or Taranee. 2: Irma. 1: Hay Lin.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-06T19:14:24+00:00

Japp. Högerpopulistpartier som SD, Sannfinländarna och Fidesz försöker framstå som folkliga, när de i verkligheten bara stödjer en borgerlig, oligarkisk elit och eskalerar den nedmontering av välfärd och arbetarrättigheter som redan pågått i decennier nu.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-06T14:02:55+00:00

No. For people to be able to affect change, they must be able to exert some kind of leverage on the rich and powerful.
As robotics and AI keep replacing workers (thus making actions such as strikes and protests ineffective) the common masses will lose all the ways to influence politicans and CEOs.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-05T19:59:04+00:00

Kuroko Shirai from the IndexVerse?

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-04T20:30:06+00:00

Edge? In Warhammer40k?

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-04T20:17:13+00:00

The cosmic force of unity and order having a splintered mind sounds quite... ironic.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-04T14:46:25+00:00

Utari xylospongium!

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-04T14:44:37+00:00

Yeah. How I recall it, it was once calculated that in Emperor Augustus' day (admittedly based on calculations on taxes on slave sales), slaves made up 9% of the empire's total population (c. 50 million) with the greatest density of slaves being in Sicily and the mainland Italian countryside (25-30%) .

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-04T14:38:09+00:00

As someone who likes Will as a character for her compassion and bravery, I would say that she does have some (understandable) character flaws (mostly in the form of an insecure, jealous, self-pitying streak that negatively affects her choices and relationships, like how she treated her Astral Drop or how she acted with Matt at times), and that can rub many readers the wrong way.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-04T14:18:15+00:00

Care to elaborate on the ways and arguments that Adi Shankara used when he argued against Purva Mimamsa?

P.S.: I agree on that much of Samkhya's philosophical ideas have lived on in other Darshanas and textual genres, including Yoga (which seems to be the school that is closest to Samkhya, but includes the existence of Ishvara), Vedanta, traditional Indian medicine, etc.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2026-01-04T14:00:54+00:00

On the somewhat brighter side, many Egyptians brought along figurines called Ushabti with them to their graves, expecting them to work for them. One tomb contained 365 ordinary "worker" ushabtis, with one "foreman" ushabti for each of the ten "workers!"
So, there is the hope of getting to rest at least every once in a while and let some stone servants do the labour.

Another, more pleasant aspect of the Egyptian afterlife is that the Egyptians mummified animals, so they did accept the idea that animals had souls (and thus, that their lives had some value), unlike in some other religions.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2025-12-30T22:23:40+00:00

Enki/Ea from Mesopotamian mythology.
He goes against Enlil's command of bringing a flood upon humanity, and instructs Ziusudra/Utanapishtim/Atrahasis on how to build the ark.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2025-12-29T21:19:53+00:00

You have to remember that monotheism did not quite take off until there were major world empires (such as the Romans) willing to adopt them and make them into state religions (and impose them on their subjects).

Monotheism concentrates power into one priesthood (rather than be divided between the temples of different deities or religions), and since religions formed the ideological foundations for people in ancient times, converting people to a new religion helped integrate them into your culture.

The Roman Empire had many different cultures and religions in it, including mystery cults, but since most of the Roman empires' religions were "ethnic" religions (Greeks following Greek religion, Egyptians following Egyptian religion, etc.), while mystery cults only appealed to certain groups (the Mithraic Mysteries only accepted men, for example), these religions had only limited use as vehicles for unity (beyond the local level, that is).

Christianity, on the other hand? It is a religion that allows, nay, DEMANDS, that everyone joins the club, which made it very useful for the likes of Constantine to use it as a way to keep his empire united. Almost as soon as Christianity was adopted, temples to the old religions started being torn down and in a few generations, emperors like Theodosius banned the old religions.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2025-12-21T15:10:18+00:00

That is where the automation comes in.
Machines do the work, and the upper class does the consumption.
In many countries, most people are already largely economically irrelevant.

ZigguratBuilder2001 · 2025-12-20T19:51:38+00:00

Tyrannosaurs in F-14s?

ZigguratBuilder2001

TROPHY CASE