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Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

Everybody knows the war is over

Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed

The poor stay poor, the rich get rich

That's how it goes

Everybody knows

-Leonard Cohen, “Everybody Knows”

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author

Great song!

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May 4Liked by Andrew Smith

Beat me to it. 😁

Btw somehow I never heard nor heard of Leonard Cohen until my wife introduced me to him in my mid-30s.

How could I NOT know about this man?

I know how to eat and sleep and respire, hopefully, which are all swell. But him and his music surely rise a level of importance far exceeding mundane nonsense like bodily functions.

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I agree wholeheartedly…

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author

I had heard Cohen during my 20s and maybe even late teens, but I never really found out who he was until I was in my 30s, so I feel ya!

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Oh man. You beat me to it. That’s what I get for not checking my email for a couple days.

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I was going to post this... good catch.

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I like the Concrete Blonde version more.

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I dunno 🤔. I have been told, at various stages of my life by various different people, that I am “devoid of all emotion”. I almost took it as a compliment. Not sure it was meant that way though 😁

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Then there are the sociopaths (about 4% of the population) who don’t understand emotions like empathy and compassion. They go on to be a significant portion of our CEOs, and politicians. My proof? I read it on the internet, so it must be true. 😆 But I do think there are people who only understand their own happiness and not the needs of others.

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author

For sure. My only assertion around emotions is that everybody feels them, although (as you rightly point out) a non-zero subset of humanity has no idea how to handle them.

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Yes, this is a cover but I like this version more. https://youtu.be/l5Fb4K8pNmg?si=aL8dTtlma4P177ab

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author

I like the original so much more it's hard to articulate it! But I also have a strong aversion to any band I was too cool to listen to during the 90s.

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You’re wrong. My preferred version is objectively better. It was in that Pump Up the Volume movie so it’s been proven by the most important metric ever…. What Would Christian Slater Do? 🤣

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author

He would mimic Jack Nicholson all the way to the bank!

Do you have Pandora? You might like this playlist I'm working on:

https://www.pandora.com/playlist/PL:198494836309887817:74638688

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May 3Liked by Andrew Smith

I’m not convinced that any of these things would be commonly considered as knowledge. But since you don’t define knowledge, or what it means to know something, I guess you can apply the term as liberally as you want.

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author

I know what you mean.

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May 4Liked by Andrew Smith

I mean, what do I know?

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How do our proteins know how and when to fold when the fetus is formed? How do cells know how to divide? Perhaps knowing is not the basis of intelligence…

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May 3Liked by Andrew Smith

Oh man. I can't believe you've officially become a shill for BIG BROTHER, bro.

Everybody knows emotions are a plot by the CIA to make us more susceptible to manipulation, breathing is how the government gets us to inhale mind-control vapors from the chemtrails, and heartbeat allows the NSA to track our every move via sonar.

I'm on to you!

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author

Everybody knows these things?

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May 3Liked by Andrew Smith

Literally everybody.

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“Chemtrails” and “ Sonar” seem a bit old school to me. Maybe not…

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That's what The Man wants you to believe.

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You mean the Taylor Swift song?

The Man

Taylor Swift

EXPLICIT

I would be complex

I would be cool

They'd say I played the field before I found someone to commit to

And that would be ok

For me to do

Every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you

I'd be a fearless leader

I'd be an alpha type

When everyone believes ya

What's that like?

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can

Wondering if I'd get there quicker

If I was a man

And I'm so sick of them coming at me again

'Cause if I was a man

Then I'd be the man

I'd be the man

I'd be the man

They'd say I hustled

Put in the work

They wouldn't shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve

What I was wearing

If I was rude

Could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves?

And they would toast to me, oh

Let the players play

I'd be just like Leo

In Saint-Tropez

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can

Wondering if I'd get there quicker

If I was a man

And I'm so sick of them coming at me again

'Cause if I was a man

Then I'd be the man

I'd be the man

I'd be the man

What's it like to brag about

Raking in dollars

And getting bitches and models

And it's all good if you're bad

And it's okay if you're mad

If I was out flashing my dollars

I'd be a bitch, not a baller

They paint me out to be bad

So it's okay that I'm mad

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can

Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man (you know that)

And I'm so sick of them coming at me again (coming at me again)

'Cause if I was a man (if I was a man)

Then I'd be the man (then I'd be the man)

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can (as fast as I can)

Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man (hey)

And I'm so sick of them coming at me again (coming at me again)

'Cause if I was a man (if I was a man), then I'd be the man

I'd be the man

I'd be the man (oh)

I'd be the man (yeah)

I'd be the man (I'd be the man)

If I was a man

Then I'd be the man

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Taylor Swift isn't real. She's an AI-powered hologram designed by the Deep State to pacify the population.

You can't fool me, I'm too sane and well-informed, you see.

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I have not had my coffee yet so please excuse my muddled comment. I’m wondering if our body actually ‘know’ what to do physiologically. Doesn't that infer that say, the lungs have a mind that knows how to regular the process of breathing? Hmmm. Epistemologically, this poses a host of questions, in that what mechanism is knowing how to function. Do our lungs have a mind? Now back to making coffee…

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author

Interestingly, there is some semi-autonomous functioning (outside of what the brain regulates), although it doesn't work without the brain.

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