Septblog 2022

Cosmology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJwEYJb7eks

Even NASA acknowledges that the JWST data may have holed the LCDM Big Bang theory below the waterline.

That would seem to leave only Eric Lerner's Plasma Cosmology or Hypersphere Cosmology in the running.

The now probably correct answer lies fully explicated here: -

https://www.specularium.org/peter-j-carroll/interview-with-a-wizard

If we get to the correct secret of the universe before civilisation collapses, it will all have been worth it!

The decline and fall of civilisation.

Oops! It all seems to start going downhill from about now on, exactly as predicted by the 1972 Club of Rome Report ‘The Limits to Growth’. The Chinese economy has gone into a tailspin, globally we have started to run out of cheap energy and climate disruption becomes increasingly catastrophic, world agriculture has taken a massive hit this summer, the great recession begins. The four horsemen of the apocalypse have saddled up and begin at a gentle canter………

Interpretations of Quantum Physics.

This highly amusing diagram appeared on Reddit: -

Whilst the Law-Chaos and Good-Evil axes seem to correspond to very little beyond the designer’s feelings about philosophy and causality or their absence, it does neatly summarise a number of the more well-known interpretations of quantum theory and the lack of scientific consensus on the issue. It did however remind me of the old D&D game system for character generation and classification which perhaps has some explanatory and predictive power in the ongoing war in Ukraine: -

In terms of the Law/Chaos - Good/Evil model, the recent assassination of Alexandr Dugin’s daughter in Moscow suggests that elements of the Praetorian Guard have fired a warning shot against The Emperor.

Putin has created a Neutral Evil state contended by both Lawful Evil and Chaotic Evil ideologies. Alexandr Dugin’s Eurasian party represents the Chaotic Evil tendency that underlies the current Russian military adventurism, belligerence, and barbarism.

Esoteric thinking always seems to underlie Russian thought, not only has the Putin regime cynically entered into a mutual support deal with the Russian Orthodox church, but it has also done so with the huge Slavic neo-pagan Rodnovery movement. Rodnovery remains largely unknown outside of the Slavic world – it consists of a sort of ‘Druidry with Jackboots’ mixture of reinvented neo-new-age Slavic pagan mysticism, ritual, and magic. Whilst various currents exist within Rodnovery, it seems overwhelmingly nationalistic, patriarchal, racial, and authoritarian. Real Slavic ‘peasants’ don’t fill its ranks - young professionals make up most of its estimated one million membership. A quick googling of Rodnovery symbols shows that most of them consist of variations on the swastika.

Dugin quite openly advertises himself as a Eurasian Esoteric Fascist Chaoist and has long called for the conquest of Ukraine. Note the chaostar that represents Dugin’s Eurasia Party, it shows a golden yellow solar-ego star expanding into the supposed surrounding darkness.

Dugin’s daughter aped and amplified his bloodthirsty views in every way and frequently appeared in the media to try and persuade younger Russians. The assassin had almost certainly intended to get both of them at once.

That assassin seems very unlikely to have come from Ukraine which has consistently stuck to the playbook of Lawful Good in this conflict.

It seems far more likely that the forces of Lawful Evil in Russia have become fearful for their own future if Putin’s regime collapses completely as the war grinds towards disastrous defeat, and thus that some element within the ‘Praetorian guard’, maybe oligarchs, maybe security services; has organised this attack on Putin’s favourite geopolitical adviser.

In terms of political regimes, Evil corresponds to despotisms and dictatorships maintained by a great deal of force, repression, and propaganda. The Lawful ones at least have a set of rules and laws, the Chaotic ones operate by edict and whim and massive corruption. Evil regimes  rarely succeed in cooperating with each other for long. Good regimes operate with the informed consent of the governed and not much repression, and they easily cooperate with each other. The Lawful ones tend to become culturally quiet and boring; the Chaotic ones exhibit more social conflict and creativity.

What about Chaotic Neutral in all this? It works largely behind the scenes on this one, with projects like this: -

https://www.specularium.org/blog/item/349-putin-s-war

After all, we have the reputation of Chaos to protect!  

FSW4-AD 2222. Humans have spread to surrounding star systems. Following squabbles insurrections and skirmishes, humanity has split into 5 ideological factions. The treaty of 2220 established the militarisation of occupied systems only and the de-militarisation of unoccupied systems and space areas. Peace ensued for two years until factions started building transportable fortresses and a technologically advanced alien race began moving into unoccupied systems and space areas and sought to forge alliances with various of the human factions. Conflicts over systems and control space areas then ensued.

SHIP                      DICE                                    COST               

Fortress                  20                                          6                      

Hive                        20                                         4

Battleship                12                                         6

Serpent                  12                                         4

Battlecruiser           10                                         5                                          

Cruiser/Carriers       8                                         4                             

Destroyer                 6                                         3                                                                

Frigate                     4                                          2

Fighter                     4                                         1(Imperials only)

SURFACE UNITS            

Garganaught           8                                        3

Scorpion                8                                        2               

Devastator               6                                       2

Reaper                    4                                       1

1) Turn sequence. Income, Production, Movements & Combats.

2) Income of (5), 4, 3, 2, depending on system size. Income from any home system not occupied by enemy units, income from any other system occupied by own surface units.

3) Production only on systems where a fortress has been planted. Income units can only move across uncontested (connected) pathways of any length. Ships appear in neighbouring uncontested space. Surface unit appear on systems.

4) Movements & Combats.

A) Ships may move from one area of space to an adjacent one. (Imperial Fighters can only move from one area of space to another in Carriers.) If it contains enemy ships, Combat will occur. The attacking side can elect to retreat to the space it came from, and the defending side can elect to retreat to any friendly occupied or unoccupied space at the beginning of any combat round after the first.

B) Ships may fire on surface units in systems adjacent to the space they occupy. Combat occurs at the discretion of the attacking ships.

C)  Ships may convey surface units between any two systems that border the space they occupy. Surface units may only be moved across one space area to another system in a turn. If surface units land on a system occupied by enemy surface units or fortresses Combat occurs.

D) A fortress may land on a system not occupied by enemy forces, and assimilate its carrier.

5) Combat. Risk Protocols. Up to 3Attack dice against 2Defence dice. by combat rounds, highest dice against highest dice, defenders win draws. Casualties at the discretion of each combatant.

6) The number of pieces of each type supplied reflects the limits of units of that type that a civilisation can support.

7) Initial Production Levels. Imperials 24, Aquarians 22, Chaoists 21, Darwinians 22, Soviets 22. No production on first move.

8) Fortresses. All civilisations start with one immobile Fortress on their largest world, and one fortress in a carrier in a space adjacent to the homeworld. Civilisations may purchase additional Fortresses and Carriers to transport them to other systems. A Fortress only becomes operational when landed on a system empty of opposing assets and its Carrier has become assimilated and removed from the display. Fortresses can only defend and only when not in a Carrier. If attacked in a carrier only the carrier defends.

9) Starting Conditions - Humans. 1 Fortress on homeworld, one next to it in space, all Cruisers, Destroyers, and Frigates deployed at will on any space territories adjacent to at least two home systems.

Reapers equal in number to the production values of all home systems on those systems.   

10) Victory Objectives, conquest of as many systems as possible.

ALIENS. Special rules.

2) Income. From any system occupied by a Hive or Scorpion.

3) Production. At any system occupied by a Hive. (If connected)

Mutations: (performed during production phase) Scorpion to Hive cost 2. Scorpion to Serpent cost 1. Serpent to Hive not possible. Free mutations, Hive to Scorpion, Serpent to Scorpion, Hive to Serpent.

9) Starting Conditions. 1 Hive, 8 Serpents, 8 Scorpions, placed on any un-militarised treaty spaces or systems.

ALLIANCES. 2 Player. Aliens pick any two allies but not Imperials, by picking an ideology to back. The Imperials then ally with the other two factions. Aliens then set up and move first. Play order then established by lot and proceeds clockwise or anticlockwise by lot. Allied ships but not surface forces may occupy the same areas.

The following chart shows the ideological relationships of the five factions. The Aliens can pretend to any ideology to select a pair of allies. The Imperials will adjust their ideology to suit the allies they become left with.

                       (Individualist)

                                  l

         Goths               l              Capitalists

                                  l

(Mystical) ---------Imperials ------------(Rationalist)

                                  l                     

         Aquarians       l                 Soviets

                                  l

                         (Collectivist)

Additional optional tournament rules.

Tactical Attack dice bonus. D4+1, D6+2, D8+3, D10+3, D12+4.

Tactical Defence dice bonus. D4+1, D6+2, D8+3, D10+3, D12+4, D20+5.

Psychic Attack Bonus. Throw all attack dice twice, use highest score.

Psychic Defence Bonus. Throw all attack dice twice, use highest score.

Production bonuses. Add 1 or 2 to the income value of any system.

Leader and Character pieces can be added to the game to add these powers to any forces on a system or space area.