Terry A. Davis: It's Okay We're From The Internet Ep.2 (Scrumpmonkey)
In the 1990s I chatted with Davis on Usenet. He was obviously very intelligent, but beyond that he was very honest and friendly. That is when he was in a state of mind to be so. On some odd occasions he'd collapse to incoherence between sentences. I mean in the sense that he'd connect his thoughts and ideas to things which seemed completely unrelated. I'm actually deeply saddened about the way he left us, because I believe we lost an extremely powerful soldier or general for God.
I don't have to repeat here some of the things Davis used to say in posts and videos. Most of it has been memed to such a degree it will outlive us all. What I'm thinking of now is my impression of Uncle Ted and others who have almost certainly been messed with in various ways by powerful and corrupt agencies.
- We know they have plotted to drive specific individuals insane by harassment and defamation.
- We know they focus tremendous attention on the most intelligent (high IQ, academic performance) people.
- We know that they've deployed chemicals, radiation, sex, and deep psychological attacks against unsuspecting (and frequently innocent) people.
What if Terry was right about everything? I used to trust our authorities, at least to a certain extent, but after all we've seen why would I? I know Terry was a good man in an unfortunate state, and he tried to tell us things we didn't understand. And Terry was much more intelligent and accomplished than 99% of us.
Anyway, that's what's on my mind today. RIP King Terry. I really do miss you.
I cared. He had lots of neat and weird ideas, and all the skill required to implement them, which made him fun to chat with. Hell, I'm probably responsible for some of the sillier limitations in his OS. The graphical limitations seem like the kind of thing I'd suggest, or at least support, depending on how much beer I'd consumed. The lack of networking isn't me though. I like networking. (There are reasons for these ideas, but maybe beyond the remit of this discussion.)
This. They don't want strong, independent people. They want weak, dependent cattle who won't kick when milked. Most of the bosses and teachers I can remember said things like:
You don't even have to be trying to accidentally fall outside the boundaries they want you confined in, mentally or physically. Think about the sad excuses they contrived for the raids on Ruby Ridge and the Davidian compound.
Thank you so much for being there for him.
My last boss made it abundantly clear I was to sit at my desk, do not walk around unless to use the bathroom and definitely do not talk to others. On a review online some guy said the boss was worse than a CIA interrogator, not sure how he would know, but I would believe it, thankfully without having actual exposure to one. A fed, maybe, but only an older great-uncle that was retired. Never fucked with me like my last boss. I think he was trying to induce some form of mental illness to be perfectly frank. Picked on me as if I had drowned his firstborn in some other life.
I don't actually think I'm very smart, but man do they seem to favor 'social correctness' over competence nowadays. Especially since their unspoken rules apparently forbid telling the 'social convict' what they're even doing wrong in the first place. I can see why people breakdown, become homeless and despondent. Ted was 100% right about over-socialization; it invariably leads to anti-social behavior in a certain, probably unacceptable, level of the population. Universe 25-style social decoherence.
Also, again, so awesome you got to chat with him. A bit jealous, but glad.
I don't mean to pretend I was a close friend. I just appreciated what he was trying to do with his OS, and eventually did. There were a lot of ideas and projects at the time, most of which I can't remember and nothing came of them as far as I know. Temple OS is one of the few which ever reached an appreciable state of completion.
As I said, he was a good man and certainly was a brilliant computer scientist. His collection of skills was undeniably unique. Very few people had his dedication.