#debunking doomsday

[a-mole-of-iron]

Unexpected by almost all, here is good climate news from this week! According to calculations by the International Energy Agency, global CO2 emissions may stop rising and even begin falling as soon as this year - yes, this year, 2023. All trends point towards accelerated uptake of renewable electricity, electric vehicles, and while unmentioned in the article, there are technologies like zero-carbon steel and negative-carbon concrete waiting in the wings. And while the path to no more than 1,5C warming remains narrow, there is no runaway warming prospect at 1,5C above preindustrial; in fact, runaway warming without external events is likely impossible, because a warming Earth radiates more heat than it traps (another IPCC finding). In that light, limiting warming to 1,7C (the would-be result of current pledges by all countries) would be almost as effective, and a very good thing. Besides - who's to say that uptake of renewables won't accelerate even more, like they've already beaten every growth prediction in the last few years? So - definitely good news.

#global warming #climate change #climate action #solarpunk #bright green environmentalism #reasons for hope #hope #psa #debunking doomsday #you're doing everything right holmes just keep whacking moriarty over the head

[wiiwarechronicles]

That stream srsly served. the saddest thing TO ME about missed dsmp potential was not getting a third nightmare. So much stuff could be progression but because we only got TWO it’s hard to establish and not just wave away as a coincidence

#the tower motif.. the rising water.. #what would a third one have had #back when the second came out and Fundy was going to be a part of las Nevadas I wanted the third tower to be the needle #i wanted it to be the needle SOOOO desperately #but aside from that I was really huge into the doomsday death theory and was like oughshh third long structure could b the gaurdian farm #and it would’ve also fit with the rising water thing #but that theory was debunked so whatever #maidsmess

[theshoesofatiredman]

Just saw people clutching their pearls in a comment section over a crowd clapping during the eclipse, because it meant they were "worshipping demons" and "didn't know what was going to happen after." When nothing happens, will their faith be shaken? Will they question the faith leaders that assured you they knew the future? Will they question their ability to interpret scripture? In my experience, the answers are no for most people.

I grew up around conspiracy theorist Christians. My dad was a 9/11 truther. Bigfoot was real and he was a demon. The government was hiding aliens from us. And blood moons and eclipses were signs of coming judgment and destruction. There was a blood moon several years ago where he stocked up, started doing some doomsday prepping for the family. He told us all what he thought was coming. The night it happened, I lay awake in bed, my father's fear washing over me in waves, waiting for my phone to die, because my dad believed an EMP was going to knock out the power grid in the United States and all our electronics. There was a moment when my phone went dark for a second unexpectedly, and I was frozen in my fear over what the future held. Thankfully the moment didn't last long, since my touch lit my phone screen, and that's one of a handful of moments when I realized just how deep my father's fears and conspiratorial thinking had sunk into my brain, even when only given attention in passing.

When I got my first shot of the covid vaccine, even though I wanted the shot, believed in it as our best tool for fighting the virus, even though I spent hours researching and debunking my parents' vaccine conspiracies, as the needle was going into my arm, I still had their fear in the back of my mind. What if this hurts me? What if this kills me? What if I'm wrong and they're really right? I would've told anyone at the time that my parents had fallen down a rabbit hole filled with bullshit. To them the vaccine was a bio attack from China or a way for the government to track us or more deadly than the virus or causing heart attacks in men or actually spreading the virus or entirely ineffective (on and on it went). And yet even though I KNEW there was no truth to prop up their claims, I still was afraid when I went to get the shot.

All this to say it's important to combat conspiratorial thinking when you run into it. Yes, the Christians really just look like fools when they say the eclipse is demon worship, but there are people who are living with tremendous and unnecessary fear because of these conspiracies. And depending on what it is, it may prevent them from taking actions that could save their lives and the lives of others. And know that the fear can wheedle its way into your brain even if you think they're wrong, even if you work really really hard to demonstrate that there's nothing to be afraid of.

#shoesofatiredman #dad #exvangelical #ex christian #ex fundamentalist #evangelical conspiracy theories #conspiracy theories #conspiratorial thinking #apostate

[imaginespazzi]

this isn't directed at you but at your latest anon and a few other i've seen on different blogs like sella's

why are people so insistent on trying to make out like paige and azzi hate eachother? or aren't friends etc.

we got sm content last night where they were so close and cute and so many people are trying to like 'debunk' it by saying things like she swiped her hand away or paige is queer baiting. i just don't get it?

I'm not sure what that anon was implying honestly so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. But I agree with you. I said this before once and it still holds true but the constant doomsdaying about them is always just a little strange to me because our only perception of these people is from behind a screen. Reading to much into any interaction, you can always find something wrong but Paige and Azzi have known each other for years, have a little faith in their bond, whether it be platonic or more.

ALSO PSA since you brought it up: Real. People. Can't. Queerbait. That is a media term and does not apply to reality.

#ask #the day paige and azzi hate each other is the day this world ends really

[sadaveniren]

I'm the same anon as before and you're so right!!! I don't have a normal 9-5 so my hours are whatever I want so 🤷‍♀️ and just because of that my weeks looks incredible different to the ones of my friends, I will be doing the most random things at the most random times and I Can't imagine what my life would look like if in addition to the time I had access to the same kind of money they have.

I also think some fans don't want to seem crazy and want to feel superior so they shut down headcanons like this one just for the sake of it

Sooooo many fans try to kill fun headcanons just because they don’t want to “give antis ammo” or whatever. It’s like they forget two key things: 1. Fandom is fun 2. Antis are gonna fucking hate us anyway

Like we aren’t going to convince a hateful anti to leave us alone. We sure aren’t going to convince them Harry and Louis are together. We might barely be able to convince them either of them are allies much less part of the LGBT community. So why put any effort into policing ourselves in that manner? Just let us have fun!

I’ve been in this fandom since 2014 and I still have fun every single day. I also have made sure to cultivate an overall positive fandom experience. I have a large group of friends who are all as positive as me and we just share fun headcanons and try to puzzle stuff out in the most low key and low risk to our mental health way possible. I block hate anon pretty liberally. I don’t go looking for anyone who is doing anything I don’t care to engage with. If I see people getting sucked into discourse or spiraling into unhealthy behaviors when it comes to doomsdaying away I go in the OPPOSITE direction of it.

I watched “rad Louies” become a thing because fans were convinced Louis was being sabotaged in 2017 and rolled my eyes and continued on in my lane, writing fic and figuring that everything would be okay and now 5 years out I can pretty confidently say I believe there’s a lot of evidence Louis cut the promo himself on Back to You and his Epic contract because he didn’t like the musical direction he was going in.

I watched fandom tie themselves into knots over and over again with Harry’s stunts and have just shrugged and carried on because it’s not my life and not my job to worry about what Harry is choosing to do with his life.

I learned in May 2015 when fandom tried to “change the narrative about party boy Louis” that we as fans don’t actually have control at all. 1DHQ worked really hard to give us that illusion that we were all powerful and we had control on the marketing decisions etc but guess what? No one TALKED about Briana openly when Louis got papped with her in May. No one shared pap pics on tumblr. And yet we STILL GOT BG. We bitched and moaned and debunked left right and center and yet they CONTINUED ON.

As a fan my only job is to have fun. I have fun by trying to work out timelines and make up cute headcanons. My headcanons aren’t hurting anyone and despite what antis think I really don’t care if I’m right or wrong lol hell I’ll be the first to admit that I get shit wrong a lot. *gestures towards my guess that Louis was doing something May 25th when it turned out to be an error on his poster (which is a whole other issue but whatever) and that Steve Aoki might make an appearance at Louis’ Vegas show (which turned out to be that Louis showed up at HIS show)*

I’m having a blast. If my headcanons get debunked oh well I move on. Fandom is supposed to be fun! Be in it because you enjoy it and you HAVE FUN! If you aren’t having fun maybe… find something else to do?

#answered #idk I just think some people want to be taken too seriously #and they’re missing out on the fact that you shouldn’t be doing shit for others #do it for yourself

[thesmpisonfire]

Ok so

Fundy DID commit suicide, Wilbur confirmed it (I'm only taking Wilbur's word on it because he and Fundy clearly planned this together, so they have agreed on this), but he's still with one life less. Which some of us might see as a shame, because it debunks the Ocean Monument theory.... But does it, tho?

I think, if not, makes it worse

Because Fundy did jumped out of the guardian farm. He died. He had to gather his items, he had blood on his face. He just didn't lose a life.

IDK what it makes to lose a life. Intent? Importance? Impact in the world? Big emotional change? I don't know, but that's not the focus. The focus is that Fundy tried to kill himself before Doomsday.

He jumped, and he woke up and still had 2 lives, and then he breaks and gives up. His family is gone, his home will be gone, and he can't even die properly, so he lets it all go. He explodes everything and he cries and then he sees he doesn't wanna be alone. Last time he was alone, he jumped. So, he tries to get Niki, who slowly drifts away, and then Ranboo, who screams at his face and calls him a coward for fearing loneliness.

Fundy's next plan is trying to get someone else to kill him. He tries to be a menace and anger people enough that someone will have the intent to kill him for good. And by doing that, by being the villain, he might even make his friends get back together again, so this way no one can get alone like him. He lets this plan go when he notices no one cares about what he does, and he decides to go away for a while.

He lives in a small cottage with his newly adopted kid and Quackity walks in and offers Fundy another chance to not be alone, and Fundy takes it. And then it all crashes down again. They aren't family, they're just other people that don't care and drifted away. So, he takes his stuff, he takes Yogurt, and goes far away

And all this time, it never stopped hurting, because Wilbur was somewhere and they still haven't talked. Until they did

That moment, it was clear something clicked for Fundy. No one cared, no one ever gave a fuck about him, and Wilbur's apology won't fix his broken pieces. So, Fundy sacrifices his life for another chance, without that pain, far away, because he's fucking done with everything

This time, the universe takes the trade

#suicide tw #fundy #dream smp #dsmp analysis

[whumpster-fire]

The Eternal Struggle of looking up videos about topics for writing research / idle curiosity / morbid curiosity and getting my YouTube recommendations absolutely obliterated with the worst fucking channels possible

And I don’t mean “lol you stupid dumb dumb you looked up murder and your feed is full of true crime what did you expect” I mean I fucking look up a video about, like, how hunting traps work and then a couple of other bushcraft-related videos in case I need it for a different story, and the next day I am bombarded with recommendations for “1 Hour Compilation of Blowing Coyotes’ Heads Up From a Helicopter Epic Quickscopes,” crazy doomsday prepper channels, conspiracy theories, some idiot’s eighteen-hour marathon “SJW Star Wars Sequels DEBUNKED!” wank session, random-ass conservative youtube personalities, etc. and Keeps. Fucking. Recommending them even after I click “don’t recommend this shitty channel to me.”

Like I’m exaggerating somewhat for the sake of comedy but YouTube’s algorithm is very, very blatantly trying to feed people radicalizing content if it finds even the tiniest hint of an interest correlated with those ideologies, and it’s fucking creepy. I have to emphasize, I do not click on this shit, I do not rage click, I do not morbid curiosity click. You just forget to use private browsing for a topic once and it will keep trying for weeks, and it seems to be more aggressive with anything political than it is with any other awful content.

#rant #antisocial media #YouTube is a bad website

[dgshoe]

Boy Genius AU:

Sounds like Jimmy’s had a pretty widespread impact. (As he should.)

How does this impact matters like the MLA and Humarise?

Liberationists HATE him! This quirkless kid has created an army of feral gremlins!

As for Humarise, they lost a lot of traction thanks to Jimmy both bolstering quirkless popularity and debunking the Quirk Doomsday Theory.

#my hero academia #boy genius au

[biracy]

"Ohhh I love analog horror but it always fucks me up" I'M obsessed with doomsday conspiracy and ufology debunking right now and I'M having nightmares about this obviously fake thing that will never happen happening to me. Get on my level, loser

#if anyone has some cool things abt doomsday or 2012 or ufology or anything to read or watch please lmk i'm very into that kinda thing rn #open mick night

[eridork-ampora]

The name Eridan was given by Tenebrais. His name may be derived from the river Eridanos, which was poured onto the Earth by Aquarius in Greek myth, or may derived from the constellation Eridanus. Alternatively, Eridan may have been based off of the user Terin's name for Alternia, which was Eridani. This is also the name of a star in the Aquarius constellation [citation needed]. His first name read backwards is Nadire; a nadir is a lowest point, or a point of greatest adversity or despair. However, this could be a coincidence.

Ampora is likely derived from the amphora, a type of Greek vessel for carrying liquids which is often seen in depictions of Aquarius. Ampora means protection [citation needed] which could be ironic, considering he does the exact opposite. Ampora could come from ampere (the base unit of electric current in the International System of Units), since the energy he can create with his wand has a resemblence to electricity. Taking the first syllable of his first name and the last syllable of his last name gives Eri Pora which sounds somewhat like "Harry Potter", although that could be coincidence. Eridan also resembles the word eradicate, possibly referencing his genocidal tendencies. He presumably took his Trollian handle from Troll Caligula.

Eridan wields Ahab's Crosshairs, a lightning gun he found in a ghost ship along with Vriska's Fluorite Octet. The very first thing he was seen doing was using the gun to kill a flying whale  . He did this to feed Feferi's lusus, in order to keep its voice down.

Eridan is an especially powerful and influential member of the nautical aristocracy that wants one of Vriska's doomsday devices  , apparently intended to kill all land dwellers.

Being introduced last along with Feferi, Eridan appeared the least out of the twelve trolls during Hivebent and currently has the least number of appearances for a troll character overall. He was the only troll whose planet was not properly introduced, and he was also initially not given a mythological role, an exclusion he shared only with Gamzee.

Upon arriving on his planet, the Land of Wrath and Angels, Eridan began slaughtering the inhabiting angels  . He found the angels were difficult to kill, requiring at least a minute of constant fire from Ahab's Crosshairs. The angels were not intended to be his enemies, though it is unknown what purpose they were meant to serve. However, according to  Doc Scratch, they had some role in granting Eridan his deadly “wwhite science”  powers. Sollux, possibly prematurely showing some access to his abilities as the Mage of Doom, talks about an angel as “2ome terriible mythiical demon. wiith the2e awful feathery wiing2. paradox 2pace u2e2 them two u2her iin the end.” 

Whilst hiding in the lab from with the other trolls, he comes to the conclusion that there is no hope left and informs both Feferi and Sollux of his plans to join Jack Noir. Feferi refuses an invitation to join him, and Sollux decides that he has to stop Eridan and challenges him to another duel.  Sollux's eye beams are no match for Eridan's magic science wand and he is knocked out  . When Feferi attacks Eridan in retaliation, he kills her  .

Kanaya looks on in horror at the murder and starts to go for her weapon, while Eridan holds his wand at the ready. When Kanaya hesitates because of the Matriorb next to her, Eridan obliterates it (destroying the hope of troll re-population, which is appropriate, given his mythological role) and then kills Kanaya  when she attacks him. Eridan absconds from the room through the transportaliser as Karkat stares in disbelief at the carnage. Kanaya, after returning from the dead, finds Eridan along with Gamzee and Vriska in a 3x showdown  . She promptly disables the latter two, "debunks  " Eridan's wand, and pulls out her chainsaw, sawing him in half  .

A ghost Eridan is later seen in the Ministrife  flash lamenting his tragic situation. Cronus, his dancestor, flirts with him and asks him out, which Eridan agrees to, but not before expressing his disdain for him.

I think we know plenty about you.

wwhat the fuck evven is this i dont evven knoww like half of these wwords

wwhat the fuck is a greek

are you one of those creepy ass omnipotent fuckers

#get the fuck out of my blog if youre going to spit out evvery little detail about my life fucks sake #post #ic #homestuck ask blog #ask #canon #no img #anon #// i could recognize the text anywhere o_o

[a-mole-of-iron]

Yes, we can stop climate change - and solve ecological problems in general

In the last few years, I have seen again and again a particular social response to climate change that can leave human civilization just as devastated as denying or ignoring climate change: and that is doomism, and fellow-traveler ideas of eco-fascism and eco-austerity. Make no mistake: climate change is a very serious issue that can cause noticeable damage to Earth and a hell of a lot of damage to humanity, but people absolutely love to take it to lurid extremes, like "Mad Max hellworld" and "Earth becoming the second Venus by 2100". In this post, I'm just going to lay out numerous reasons why the situation is far from hopeless, why sensationalized narratives of climate change are just a petty excuse for inaction, why "we'd better start taking mud baths to get used to being in the ground" rhetoric is incredibly dangerous (not to mention a betrayal of the weak and vulnerable by the strong and well-off), and why, ultimately, things aren't as dire as "the common wisdom" proclaims - so that people can stop feeling crushed by hopelessness, and start solving all of the very, very real environmental problems the way they're already being solved. All my examples will be sourced from the IPCC reports and real-world accomplishments in eco-restoration, via an extremely helpful blog called Doomsday Debunked, which just reprints all the IPCC and IPBES findings that doomist media and activism deliberately omits.

Most of this post is adapted from one I already made before elsewhere - but perhaps on Tumblr it's going to become more popular and widespread. I'm going to split it into three different sections: climate change mitigation, biodiversity recovery, and why "green austerity" is not a brilliant idea, will not save anything, and is ultimately an outdated falsehood that emerged from a place of insufficient knowledge and understanding. Almost all paragraphs contain links to sources/more info, but they may be hard to see in some custom Tumblr themes - be sure to mouse over if you want to find the links.

CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND YOU: how renewable energy really can save the world!

Here's the biggest thing first: Climate Action Tracker, which is a pretty damn respectable source, has slashed off 1.1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius off its average warming projections since 2010, according to their own records. Hell, in 2018, three degrees of warming was a pledge, and four degrees was the expected upper limit; now three degrees is expected if the current level of fossil fuel consumption continues without any reduction - and two degrees is the policy target, while optimistic projections are inching closer to 1.5 degrees. And to "achieve" 5 degrees Celsius of warming, which is misleadingly described by journalists as "business as usual" when by our current day it's anything but, we would need an economic mobilization from now to 2100 to burn all the coal that we can possibly burn. With coal plants shutting down in reality simply due to being unprofitable, I don't have to tell you how "realistic" and "plausible" that is. The takeaway from this is simple: the Paris Agreement and environmental activism work, and I really don't see them winding down unless we let doomism reign supreme.

A specific example of policy and technology that can seriously reduce climate change is the amazing growth of solar power over the last 10 years. I am old enough to remember the early 2000s, when solar photovoltaics (the panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity) were an unproven, esoteric, and expensive technology, and people meant solar water heaters when they said "solar power"… but nowadays? There is literally predictions that if solar energy keeps growing at current rates, and considering it already beats fossil fuels on price, it might simply price out gas, coal, and oil before 2050, rendering them entirely obsolete. Even now, investment into coal or gas power plants is seen as an incredibly stupid thing to do, because they might become "stranded assets" - too expensive to run, and unable to even recoup their initial cost.

The clathrate gun/Arctic methane bomb hypothesis has been effectively disproven at the current time. The release of methane from clathrates is endothermic, meaning it takes in more heating than it releases; a direct opposite of a gunshot/explosion, which is an exothermic reaction. More modern research also turned up the fact that methane has been seeping upwards at a constant rate for millennia now - we just didn't monitor it. Seabed disturbance could possibly upturn some of the clathrates, but ocean warming alone simply can't do it - it would take thousands of years of warming for the temperature change to propagate to the kind of depth that methane clathrates are found at.

The hypothesis of runaway greenhouse effect has effectively been disproven too: with a more powerful greenhouse effect, Earth's albedo grows just as fast as the heat-trapping capacity, meaning runaway warming is highly unlikely and the only cause are human industry CO2 emissions, which can be obsoleted by renewables and thus stopped.

The biggest threat from climate change as it is now appear to be extreme weather events; for example physically straining heatwaves, or severe floods from large amounts of rainfall. And those are serious problems. But heatwaves can be deal with by adapting our environments - the most obvious example being to plant some trees instead of layering our cities in concrete. Similarly, flood management isn't some arcane art; we know how to do it. It's just been ignored due to complacency and budgetary stinginess.

The expectations of social collapse from climate change are… overstated, let's say. The IPCC's own worst-case scenario is NOT "Earth as a lifeless desert" or "collapse of human society"; the situation IPCC associated with three-degree warming is that hundreds of millions risk being displaced by sea level rise and temperatures in the tropics getting too hot for comfortable life with no weather difficulties (NOT THE SAME as "you go out at any point during the summer, you die in ten minutes"), and the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be left in ruins. In other words, the poor people of the world will go back to starving and suffering, and the rich, especially in the West, will for the most part retain their quality of life. And so to me, as a non-Western, not-ultra-rich person, doomism is a personal affront, and doomism from solarpunks and environmentalists is a grave betrayal.

Speaking of the IPCC reports: the last one states with decent confidence that as soon as we stop pumping CO2 into the atmosphere, temperatures will begin to drop. Just think on this for a minute.

The "1970s MIT supercomputer that predicted the collapse of civilization by 2040"? That computer was not just less powerful than a smartphone from five years ago - it modeled the world as a single pixel, primitive even by the standards of the day. (Link to article that features actual model comparisons, via browser-based Javascript emulation. 'Nuff said.)

The so-called "deep adaptation" paper that managed to put people into therapy by its sheer grimness? Junk science that was rebuffed by Michael Mann - the author of the "hockey stick graph" of global temperatures, so not a climate denier by any means - in a four-letter tweet.

Earth turning into a second Venus by 2100? Yeah. That's… not gonna happen. We literally don't have enough fossil fuels to induce a greenhouse effect this bad, at any timescale, and I don't know if we could do it even if we started importing dry ice from space and cracking carbonate minerals for their carbon content to deliberately destroy the planet for some stupid reason.

And just because I feel like mentioning it: no, Earth can't run out of oxygen for us to breathe, barring an invasion of Galactus or some other planet-devouring alien.

BIODIVERSITY + CONSERVATION: lies, damned lies, and statistics

The infamous notion that we are heading for a world without insects was based on a study where half the map was blank, and some countries only counted the domestic honeybee (which relies on humans to thrive). Not all plants need insects to pollinate them, either. But at the same time, overuse of insecticides in agriculture is a serious issue with many adverse effects, and it has to be fought against. There is currently a campaign in Europe with this aim. Native grass lawns in cities help a lot too, more than you would think at first.

Similarly, there is a general notion that we are "in the middle of a sixth mass extinction", except we're not "in the middle". We're in the beginning of one. Now, if we all start/keep behaving like the Glukkons from the Oddworld series of games, or the Blargs from the first Ratchet & Clank game, for a few hundred more years - then we're totally going to face an impoverished biosphere with half or more known species dead. But if we do that, I'd say extinction of species would be far from our only problem.

The number one agricultural land use that drives deforestation is grazing cattle and growing crops to feed them; cropland and cities simply don't compare. Ergo, just by shifting to plant-based diets supplemented by lab-grown meat cultures and sustainable fish, we can rewild nearly 30% of Earth. And climate impacts there can be reduced too, if you simply buy local.

For a reforestation success story on a massive scale, look no further than the Loess Plateau.

Conservation success stories are actually plentiful; however, they do not get aired on the news because good news does not draw in views, clicks, and outrage. You can just go through this article on Doomsday Debunked to see how successful nature conservation can actually be.

The only two biomes that are most endangered by climate change are coral reefs (which would be replaced by the more resilient sponge reefs at 3 degrees of warming or around that), and the mountain glaciers, which will take thousands of years to recover, unlike the polar ice caps that'll be back in a couple of decades. But even corals have shown more resilience than expected before, so the scale of devastation is not nearly as huge as people might imagine.

GREEN AUSTERITY: "Friendly fire! Stop shooting, you pointy-eared leaf lover!"

A common, in fact extremely common, idea is that the only way to save the planet is accepting massive reductions to our quality of life - and by "massive" I mean "living in dugouts and doing subsistence agriculture while literally billions of people die for lack of warmth and medicine". Not only is this unacceptable, it's also a complete lie. The best way for someone living in the car-dependent, fossil-fuel-hungry sprawl of North America to reduce their carbon footprint is actually moving to a country with walkable, bikeable cities and good public transportation, like the Netherlands… or preferably, reforming and rebuilding their own local environment to this standard that used to exist in NA before its suburbanization that included zero public transport due to auto industry lobbying. NotJustBikes is an entire YouTube channel that explains this better than I ever could.

Another common idea is that building enough renewable generation capacity is just not possible with existing resources here on Earth. But consider this for a moment: when we mine metals and make them into electric engines or batteries, they don't go anywhere, with the only possible exception being metal flaking off due to corrosion. The metals composing wind turbine generators, electric vehicle motors, and batteries, or silicon composing the solar panels, remain in place and can be recycled several times, if not infinitely. Oil and coal that our current civilization burns for fuel EMPHATICALLY CANNOT be recycled - the entire problem we have is that they turn into carbon dioxide and clog our atmosphere, while soot and other exhaust fumes damage the health of people living in cities. Getting rid of 99% or more of fossil fuel infrastructure doesn't seem like that hard of a choice when you remember that feeding a renewables-based infrastructure requires a far more modest production capacity.

The issue of soil depletion from intensive agriculture is not only exaggerated by the negative/doomist framing (no, we are NOT going to run out of topsoil in 60 years!) - it's also a problem of mismanagement rather than an inherent agricultural problem. Stop oversaturating fields with fertilizer, introduce polyculture and crop rotation, and you'll see how much better things can get.

Similar to the above: the production of fertilizer does not require fossil fuels, no matter what some people might be saying. The three types of fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium. All of those are abundant chemical elements on Earth, and circulate through the biosphere freely; nitrogen is the 70% of our atmosphere and cannot possibly run out, and phosphate with potassium are abundant in the Earth's crust. The only direct use of fossil fuels in fertilizer production is the Haber-Bosch process that condenses nitrogen from the air into ammonia, and guess what molecule it needs for that? Hydrogen, which is the stronger half of the elements composing hydrocarbon fuels and which we could have in abundance by simple electrolysis of water!

Related to the above: it is beyond ridiculous how cow manure is dumped into rivers or similar by most modern farmers, when with right subsidies it could be transformed into cheap-as-free fertilizer to be used in agriculture. Someone should go create subsidies for large-scale composting...

Surprisingly enough, even consistent economic growth - which I am not a fan of by any means - can be achieved on a finite planet, because economic growth is all in what you count and how you count it. If we calculate economic growth not by production, but by improvements in human condition and condition of ecosystems (i.e. an economy that grows with the growth of trees), then we'll see that right now some world regions (like, again, North America) are failing as much as countries poor in money, but also that there is an enormous space for growth measured in sustainable prosperity.

The much-touted problem of water wars is an actual problem only for regions way, way inland. Any coastal countries have access to efficient desalination; it's not 1850 anymore. Water doesn't disappear from the world after people use it in cities and industries, it goes right back into the soil/atmosphere/rivers and oceans, so we can't "run out of water".

Interesting fact: we don't actually require any particularly specialized carbon capture technology to remove all the excess CO2 from the atmosphere, and will not require us to divert society's resources to expensive machinery. The old adage about the best carbon capture technology that's called "planting trees" still holds - and what's even more interesting is that there actually are even better methods that are not much more complex… and produce other things for the environment and for civilization in the process.

CONCLUSION

To sum things up: yes, the situation is serious, and "already bad enough" as Michael Mann put it (admittedly, he's been leaning into negative framing himself… but it can't be all positive, the problems of climate change really are dangerous, especially to the world's poor), and there's been a lot of environmental damage due to industries and rich consumers deliberately ignoring the externalities/knock-on effects of their resource use - but it's not nearly as horrifically bleak as some people presume. Right now there is great momentum behind climate action - which, yes, is partially propelled by increasingly hostile weather, but also by an understanding that social progress, democracy, and collective action are vital to build any form of a decent society, as well as by seeing new opportunities rise from cheaper renewable energy, better cities, and other innovations that will both stop climate change and make life actually worth living no matter where you might be. And in these conditions, throwing in the towel or surrendering to eco-austerity or even eco-fascist thinking is the worst possible action any one person can take. The green, sustainable, egalitarian future is not merely a dream or flight of fancy - it's eminently attainable if only we keep pushing for it and help eachother achieve it. But of course, there are people who stay up nights thinking how to take that future away from us, and now that climate change denial is no longer tenable, with more and more people believing their own eyes, the doomism and inactivism have become their primary, perhaps only, means of holding onto their power…

I hope this post will be helpful to people here who find themselves in the grip of doomism and hopelessness. I expect some people to disagree, but I prefer to believe the sources like the IPCC, IPBES, Climate Action Tracker, and all the climatologists behind these organizations' reporting - who've been closely watching both the worsening extreme weather from climate change, and the emergence of all the simple, usable, life-improving technologies and social practices to combat it. If we don't believe these people, then really, who can we believe? And if you do trust their reports on all the positive things being done and planned for environmental needs, it is not simply an idea that we can deal with climate change and restore, then protect our environment - it's objective reality, it's respectable science, and thus, it's good hard common sense.

More information: Doomsday Debunked (layman explanations and positive framing, also covering a ton of other "not actually the end of the world" topics for scared people), Carbon Brief (more technical and a bit less brazenly optimistic, but showing things like the absolutely crazy speed of renewable energy development), Not Just Bikes (an urbanist YouTube channel showing how cities can be improved, not made poorer, in the process of reducing fossil fuel use and car dependency).

#climate change #global warming #solarpunk #bright green environmentalism #hope #reasons for hope #psa #problem solving #debunking doomsday #long post

[influencermagazineuk]

Debunked Doomsday: Conspiracy Theories That Fizzled Out

Conspiracy theories, those shadowy narratives that weave suspicion and distrust, have always been a part of human history. The age of the internet, however, has provided fertile ground for these theories to spread like wildfire. But not all conspiracies hold weight. Let's revisit some of the more prominent conspiracy theories debunked in this decade (2020-2024): - The Great COVID-19 Hoax: This theory, prevalent in the early days of the pandemic, claimed COVID-19 was a hoax or a bioweapon engineered for malicious purposes. Extensive scientific evidence, overwhelming case numbers, and the tireless work of medical professionals worldwide effectively debunked this theory. - The 5G Causing COVID-19 Spread: This bizarre theory linked the rollout of 5G cellular networks to the spread of COVID-19. There is no scientific basis for this claim, and numerous scientific studies have debunked the connection between 5G and the virus. - The 'Stolen Election' Conspiracy: Following the 2020 US presidential election, unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud and a stolen election gained traction. Multiple recounts, audits, and court challenges found no evidence of significant voter fraud, effectively debunking this theory. - The 'Plandemic' and Bill Gates Conspiracy: This theory painted a picture of Bill Gates and powerful individuals orchestrating a global pandemic for nefarious purposes. The theory relied on misinterpretations of scientific data and ignored the well-documented history of natural disease outbreaks. - The 'Great Reset' Conspiracy: This theory alleged a global conspiracy by elites to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to usher in a "New World Order" with strict control over populations. While powerful institutions do hold significant influence, this theory lacked credible evidence and relied on fear-mongering tactics. Why Do Conspiracy Theories Thrive? There are several reasons why conspiracy theories resonate with some people: - Distrust in Authority: Conspiracy theories often prey on existing distrust in governments, institutions, and mainstream media. - Search for Simple Answers: Complex events can be unsettling. Conspiracy theories offer easy explanations, even if they are not grounded in reality. - A Sense of Belonging: Conspiracy theories can foster a sense of community among believers, providing a feeling of being part of a group "in the know." The Importance of Critical Thinking In the age of information overload, it's crucial to develop critical thinking skills. Here are some tips to sift through information and avoid falling prey to conspiracy theories: - Fact-check before sharing: Don't rely on headlines or social media posts alone. Verify information with reputable sources like scientific journals, established news outlets, and fact-checking websites. - Be wary of emotional appeals: Conspiracy theories often rely on fear, outrage, or anger to manipulate emotions. Stay objective and focus on evidence-based information. - Look for the source: Who is spreading this information? Are they credible sources with expertise in the topic? - Consider the evidence: Does the theory rely on facts and verifiable data, or is it based on speculation and conjecture? By staying informed, thinking critically, and relying on trustworthy sources, we can collectively push back against baseless conspiracy theories and promote a more informed and rational society. Read the full article

[automatismoateo]

End times predictions dont people realize they have been around forever? via /r/atheism

End times predictions, don’t people realize they have been around forever? Even before Christianity, there have been doomsday predictions. Egyptians feared Apophis swallowing the sun and wiping out humanity, and I can’t even list all the others. Why, in 2023, are there still people saying “we are in the last days.” I heard someone say this today. He’s a nice guy for the most part, but I admit I didn’t enjoy hearing him say something that has been repeatedly debunked for millennia. Submitted November 17, 2023 at 09:45PM by poltrigos (From Reddit https://ift.tt/hLBa3S7)

#reddit

[bunybunn]

I have been rewatching the arguing that happened between c!Tommy and c!Techno both after the red festival as well as the one during Doomsday and I have noticed a very interesting thing about c!Tommy's arguments that are used during those. It will be a little bit c!Tommy critical but that's because I want to talk about how those arguments looks in overall situation and make it a lesson on how to create a good argument based on c!Tommy's arguments that didn't work.

Starting with the one after the red festival c!Tommy is trying to point out how c!Techno could have escape easily there for he didn't have to kill c!Tubbo and his main argument that he keeps circle back to is the "You could have just fly away". The thing about this one is that it's talking about c!Techno trident that he can use to launch himself up or even fly but its only possible when he is in water and that is something that c!Technoblade points out. He couldn't fly without rain therefore it wasn't an option at that moment. Despite c!Techno saying that multiple times c!Tommy ignored it. Similar thing happened during Doomsday. All of c!Tommy's arguments only work if you ignore the fact that Butcher Army went after c!Techno and you can't even argue that c!Tommy just didn't know about it because c!Techno is actively trying to explain to him that in this case it wasn't him who attacked first.

C!Tommy's arguments weren't bad but they weren't missing the point. It's kind of like telling someone who was just sick that that sickness doesn't actually exist or tell someone that a place is totally safe and no one ever got hurt there while that someone literally just got hurt in that place. It just won't work.

Basically if you are trying to convince someone you need to listen to them and try to figure out that argument will work with them and which ones might turn out to be a total miss. So if you are trying to debunk someone's take on lore pay attention to the arguments they use and make yours based of that.

#mcyt #dream smp #technoblade #tommy critical #Kind of? #It more of think about your arguments and if they would even work #tommyinnit

[sexyglances]

heedo said minchae's dad was away and couldnt come back cus if he did he'd have to quarantine for a long time.. her mom saying she saw yijin recently (i forget was it a week ago?) idk. the more i get hopeful, the more i find ways to debunk it cus it seems like they're falling into more of a 'thats life' story now. idk anymore

Anon, look at me. You're spiraling, anon. Deep breaths, you're spiralllliiiiinnnngggg. Everything will be fine! How could this lighthearted comedy kdrama about love and trust and opening your heart to create a life more full and vibrant beyond anything living in isolation by itself could create suddenly turn into a doomsday tragedy? They created the current timeline just for everyone (the characters, the audience) just to suffer? This drama is about hope and survival, even the dead character (Heedo's dad) is used that way, but if they end with Yijin's death then that whole takeaway is lost.

Also, Heedo's mom could have visited the TV station and seen Yijin over live broadcast and talked to him that way. She never said she was in the same physical space, just that she saw him, which can work for a correspondent in another country.

#ask #anon #anon i hope you take my opening line in jest as i intend it! #for every yijin is dead theory i am here to slash it away with a power as mighty as heedo's sword #2521 #twenty five twenty one

[yamayuandadu]

The Two (or more) Ishtars or A Certain Scandalous Easter Claim Proved to be The Worship of Reverend Alexander Hislop

Once upon a time the official facebook page of Richard Dawkins' foundation posted a graphic according to which the holiday of Easter is just a rebranded celebration of the Mesopotamian mythology superstar Ishtar, arguing that the evidence is contained in its very name. As everyone knows, Dawkins is an online talking head notable for discussing his non-belief in such an euphoric way that it might turn off even the most staunch secularists and for appearing in some reasonably funny memes about half a decade ago. Bizarrely enough, however, the same claim can be often found among the crowds dedicated to crystal healing, Robert Graves' mythology fanfiction, indigo children and similar dubiously esoteric content. What's yet more surprising is that once in a while it shows up among a certain subset of fundamentalist Christians, chiefly the types who believe giants are real (and, of course, satanic), the world  is ruled by a secret group of Moloch worshipers and fossils were planted by the devil to led the sheeple astray from the truth about earth being 6000 years old, tops. Of course, to anyone even just vaguely familiar with Christianity whose primary language isn't English this claim rightfully seems completely baffling – after all it's evident in most languages that the name of the holiday celebrating Jesus' resurrection, and many associated customs, are derived from the earlier Jewish Pascha (Passover) which has nothing to do with Ishtar other than having its origin in the Middle East. Why would the purported association only be evident  in English and not in Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, virtually any language other than English and its close relatives – languages which generally didn't have anything to do with Mesopotamia or early christianity? Read on to find out what sort of sources let this eclectic selection of characters arrive to the same baffling conclusion, why are they hilariously wrong, and – most importantly – where you can actually find a variety of Ishtars (or at least reasonably Ishtar-like figures) under different names instead.

The story of baffling Easter claims begins in Scotland in the 19th century. A core activity of theologians in many faiths through history was (and sometimes still is) finding alleged proof of purported “idolatry” or other “impure” practices among ideological opponents, even these from within the same religion – and a certain Presbyterian minister, Alexander Hislop, was no stranger to this traditional pastime. Like many Protestants in this period, he had an axe to grind with the catholic church  - though not for the reasons many people are not particularly fond of this institution nowadays. What Hislop wanted to prove was much more esoteric – he believed that it's the Babylon known from the Book of Revelations. Complete with the beast with seven heads, blasphemous names and other such paraphernalia, of course. This wasn't a new claim – catholicism was equated with the New Testament Babylon for as long as Protestantism was a thing (and earlier catholicism itself regarded other religions as representing it). What set Hislop apart from dozens of other similar attempts like that was that he fancied himself a scholar of history and relied on the brand new accounts of excavations in what was once the core sphere of influence of the Assyrian empire (present day Iraq and Syria), supplemented by various Greek and Roman classics – though also by his own ideas, generally varying from baseless to completely unhinged. Hislop compiled his claims in the book The Two Babylons or The Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife. You can find it on archive.org if you want to torment yourself and read the entire thing – please do not give clicks directly to any fundie sites hosting it though. How does the history of Easter and Ishtar look like according to Hislop? Everything started with Semiramis, who according to his vision was a historical figure and a contemporary of Noah's sons, here also entirely historical. Semiramis is either entirely fictional or a distorted Greek and Roman account of the 9th century BC Assyrian queen Shammuramat, who ruled as a regent for a few years after the death of her husband Shamshi Adad V – an interesting piece of historical trivia, but arguably not really a historical milestone, and by the standards of Mesopotamian history she's hardly a truly ancient figure. Hislop didn't even rely on the primary sources dealing with the legend of Semiramis though, but with their medieval christian interpretations, which cast her in the role of an adulterer first and foremost due to association of ancient Mesopotamia with any and all vices.

Hislop claims that Semiramis was both the Whore of Babylon from the Book of Revelations and the first idolater, instituting worship of herself as a goddess. This goddess, he argues, was Astarte (a combination of two flimsy claims – Roman claim that Semiramis' name means “dove” and now generally distrusted assumption that Phoenician Astarte had the same symbols as Greek Aphrodite) and thus Ishtar, but he also denotes her as a mother goddess – which goes against everything modern research has to say about Ishtar, of course. However, shoddy scholarship relying on few sources was the norm at the time, and Hislop on top of that was driven by religious zeal. In further passages, he identified this “universal mother” with Phrygian Cybele, Greek Rhea and Athena, Egyptian Isis, Taoist Xi Wangmu (sic) and many more, pretty much at random, arguing all of them were aspects of nefarious Semiramis cult which infected all corners of the globe. He believed that she was venerated alongside a son-consort, derived from Semiramis' even more fictional husband Ninus (a mythical founder of Assyria according to Greek authors, absent from any Mesopotamian sources; his name was derived from Nineveh, not from any word for son like Hislop claims), who he identifies with biblical Nimrod (likewise not a historical figure, probably a distorted reflection of the god Ninurta). Note the similarity with certain ideas perpetrated by Frazer's Golden Bough and his later fans like Jung, Graves and many neopagan authors – pseudohistory, regardless of ideological background, has a very small canon of genuinely original claims. Ishtar was finally introduced to Britain by “druids” (note once again the similarity to the baffling integration of random Greek, Egyptian or Mesopotamian deities into Graves-derived systems of fraudulent trivia about “universal mother goddesses” often using an inaccurate version of Celtic myths as framework). This eventually lead to the creation of the holiday of Easter. Pascha doesn't come up in the book at all, as far as I can tell. All of this is basically just buildup for the book's core shocking reveal: catholic veneration of Mary and depictions of Mary with infant Jesus in particular are actually the worship of Semiramis and her son-consort Ninus, and only the truly faithful can reveal this evil purpose of religious art. At least so claims Hislop. This bizarre idea is laughable, but it remains disturbingly persistent – do you remember the Chick Tracts memes from a few years ago, for example? These comics were in part inspired by Hislop's work. Many fundamentalist christian communities appear to hold his confabulations in high esteem up to this day – and many people who by design see themselves as a countercultural opposition to christianity independently gleefully embrace them, seemingly ignorant of their origin. While there are many articles debunking Hislop's claim about Easter, few of them try to show how truly incomprehensibly bad his book is as a whole – hopefully the following examples will be sufficient to illustrate this point: -Zoroaster is connected to Moloch because of the Zoroastrian holy fire - and Moloch is, of course Ninus. Note that while a few Greek authors believed Zoroaster to be the “king of Bactria” mythical accounts presented as a contemporary of Ninus, the two were regarded as enemies – Hislop doesn't even follow the pseudohistory he uses as proof! -Zoroaster is also Tammuz. Tammuz is, of course, yet another aspect of Ninus. -demonic character is ascribed to relics of the historical Buddha; also he's Osiris. And Ninus. -an incredibly racist passage explains why the biblical Nimrod (identified with – you guessed it - Ninus) might be regarded as “ugly and deformed” like Haephestus and thus identical to him (no, it makes no sense in context either) - Hislop thinks he was black (that's not the word he uses, naturally) which to him is the same thing. -Attis is a deification of sin itself -the pope represents Dagon (incorrectly interpreted as a fish god in the 19th century) -Baal and Bel are two unrelated words – this is meant to justify the historicity of the Tower of Babel by asserting it was built by Ninus, who was identical to Bel (in reality a title of Marduk); Bel, according to Hislop, means “the confounder (of languages)” rather than “lord” -the term “cannibal” comes from a made up term for priests of Baal (Ninus) who according to Hislop ate children. In reality it's a Spanish corruption of the endonym of one of the first tribes encountered by the Spanish conquerors in America, and was not a word used in antiquity – also, as I discussed in my Baal post, the worship of Baal did not involve cannibalism. This specific claim of Hislop's is popular with the adherents of prophetic doomsday cult slash wannabe terrorist group QAnon today, and shows up on their “redpilling” graphics. -Ninus was also Cronos; Cronos' name therefore meant “horned one” in reference to Mesopotamian bull/horned crown iconography and many superficially similar gods from all over the world were the same as him - note the similarity to Margaret Murray's obsession with her made up idea of worldwide worship of a “horned god” (later incorporated into Wicca). -Phaeton, Orpheus and Aesculapius are the same figure and analogous to Lucifer (and in turn to Ninus) -giants are real and they're satanists (or were, I think Hislop argues they're dead already). They are (were?) also servants of Ninus. -as an all around charming individual Hislop made sure to include a plethora of comments decrying the practices of various groups at random as digressions while presenting his ridiculous theories – so, while learning about the forbidden history of Easter, one can also learn why the author thinks Yezidi are satanists, for example -last but not least, the very sign of the cross is not truly christian but constitutes the worship of Tammuz, aka Ninus (slowly losing track of how many figures were regarded as one and the same as him by Hislop). Based on the summary above it's safe to say that Hislop's claim is incorrect – and, arguably, malevolent (and as such deserves scrutiny, not further possibilities for spreading). However, this doesn't answer the question where does the name of Easter actually come from? As I noted in the beginning, in English (and also German) it's a bit of an oddity – it  actually was derived from a preexisting pagan term, at least if we are to believe the word of the monk Bede, who in the 8th century wrote that the term is a derivative of “Eosturmonath,” eg. “month of Eostre” - according to him a goddess. There are no known inscriptions mentioning such a goddess from the British Isles or beyond, though researchers involved in reconstructing proto-indo-european language assume that “Eostre” would logically be a derivative of the same term as  the name of the Greek Eos and of the vedic Ushas, and the Austriahenae goddesses from Roman inscriptions from present day Germany  – eg.  a word simply referring to dawn, and by extension to a goddess embodying it. This is a sound, well researched theory, so while early medieval chroniclers sometimes cannot be trusted, I see no reason to doubt Bede's account.

While Ushas is a prominent goddess in the Vedas, Eos was rather marginal in Greek religion (see her Theoi entry for details), and it's hard to tell to what degree Bede's Eostre was similar to either of them beyond plausibly being a personification of dawn. Of course, the hypothetical proto-indo-european dawn goddess all of these could be derived from would have next to nothing to do with Ishtar. While the history of the name of Easter (though not the celebration itself) is undeniably interesting, I suppose it lacks the elements which make the fake Ishtar claim a viral hit – the connection is indirect, and an equivalent of the Greek Eos isn't exactly exciting (Eos herself is, let be honest, remembered at best as an obscure part of the Odyssey), while Ishtar is understood by many as “wicked” sex goddess (a simplification, to put it very lightly) which adds a scandalous, sacrilegious dimension to the baffling lie, explaining its appeal to Dawkins' fans, arguably. As demonstrated above, Hislop's theories are false and adapting them for any new context – be it christian, atheist or neopagan – won't change that, but are there any genuine examples of, well, “hidden Ishtars”? If that's the part of the summary which caught your attention, rejoice – there is a plenty of these to be found in Bronze Age texts. I'd go as far as saying that most of ancient middle eastern cultures from that era felt compelled to include an Ishtar ersatz in their pantheons. Due to the popularity of the original Ishtar, she was almost a class of figures rather than a single figure – a situation almost comparable to modern franchising, when you think about it. The following figures can be undeniably regarded as “Ishtar-like” in some capacity or even as outright analogs:

Astarte (or Ashtart, to go with a more accurate transcription of the oldest recorded version of the name) – the most direct counterpart of Ishtar there is: a cognate of her own name. Simply, put Astarte is the “Levantine”equivalent of the “Mesopotamian” Ishtar. In the city of Mari, the names were pretty much used interchangeably, and some god lists equate them, though Astarte had a fair share of distinct traits. In Ugaritic mythology, which forms the core of our understanding of the western Semitic deities, she was a warrior and hunter (though it's possible that in addition to conventional weapons she was also skilled at wielding curses), and was usually grouped with Anat. Both of them were regarded as the allies of Baal, and assist him against his enemies in various myth. They also were envisioned to spend a lot of time together – one ritual calls them upon as a pair from distant lands where they're hunting together, while a fragmentary myth depicts both of them arriving in the household of the head god El and taking pity on Yarikh, the moon god, seemingly treated as a pariah. Astarte's close relation to Baal is illustrated by her epithet, “face of Baal” or “of the name of Baal.” They were often regarde as a couple and even late, Hellenic sources preserve a traditional belief that Astarte and “Adados” (Baal) ruled together as a pair. In some documents from Ugarit concerned with what we would call foreign policy today they were invoked together as the most prominent deities. It's therefore possible that she had some role related to human politics. She was regarded as exceptionally beautiful and some texts favorably describe mortal women's appearance by comparing them to Astarte. In later times she was regarded as a goddess of love, but it's unclear if that was a significant aspect of her in the Bronze Age. It's equally unclear if she shared Ishtar's astral character – in Canaan there were seemingly entirely separate dawn and dusk deities. Despite clamis you might see online, Astarte was not the same as the mother goddess Asherah. In the Baal cycle they actually belong to the opposing camps. Additionally, the names are only superficially similar (one starts with an aleph, the other with an ayin) and have different etymology. Also, that famous sculpture of a very blatantly Minoan potnia theron? Ugaritic in origin but not a depiction of either Astarte or Asherah.

The Egyptians, due to extensive contact with Canaan and various Syrian states in the second half of the Bronze Age, adapted Astarte (and by extension Anat) into their own pantheon. Like in Ugarit, her warrior character was emphasized. An Egyptian innovation was depicting her as a cavalry goddess of sorts – associated with mounted combat and chariots. In Egypt, Ptah, the head god of Memphis and divine craftsman, was regarded as her father. In most texts, Astarte is part of Seth's inner circle of associates – however, in this context Seth wasn't the slayer of Osiris, but a heroic storm god similar to Baal. The so-called Astarte papyrus presents an account of a myth eerily similar to the Ugaritic battle between Baal and Yam – starring Seth as the hero, with Astarte in a supporting role resembling that played by Shaushka, another Ishtar analog, in the Hittite song of Hedammu, which will be discussed below.

Shaushka – a Hurrian and Hittite goddess whose name means “the magnificent one” in the Hurrian language. Hurrian was widely spoken in ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia (and in northernmost parts of the Levant – up to one fifth of personal names from Ugaritic documents were Hurrian iirc), but has no descendants today and its relation to any extant languages is uncertain. In Hittite texts she was often referred to with an “akkadogram” denoting Ishtar's name (or its Sumerian equivalent) instead of a phonetic  spelling of her own (there was an analogous practice regarding the sun gods), while in Egyptian and Syrian texts there are a few references to “Ishtar Hurri” - “Ishtar of the Hurrians” - who is argued by researchers to be one and the same as Shaushka. Despite Shaushka's Hurrian name and her prominence in myths popular both among Hittites and Hurrians, her main cult center was the Assyrian city of Nineveh, associated with Ishtar herself as well, and there were relatively few temples dedicated to her in the core Hittite sphere of influence in Anatolia. Curiously, both the oldest reference to Shaushka and to the city of Nineveh come from the same text, stating that a sheep was sacrificed to her there. While most of her roles overlap with Ishtar's (she too was associated with sex, warfare and fertility), here are two distinct features of Shaushka that set her apart as unique: one is the fact she was perceived in part as a masculine deity, despite being consistently described as a woman – in the famous Yazılıkaya reliefs she appears twice, both among gods and goddesses. In Alalakh she was depicted in outfits combining elements of male and female clothing. Similar fashion preferences were at times attributed to Ninshubur, the attendant of Ishtar's Sumerian forerunner Inanna – though in that case they were likely the result of conflation of Ninshubur with the male messenger deity Papsukkal, while in the case of Shaushka the dual nature seems to be inherent to her (I haven't seen any in depth study of this matter yet, sadly, so I can't really tell confidently which modern term in my opinion describes Shaushka's character the best). Her two attendants, musician goddesses Ninatta and Kulitta, do not share it. Shaushka's other unique niche is her role in exorcisms and incantations, and by extension with curing various diseases – this role outlived her cult itself, as late Assyrian inscriptions still associated the “Ishtar of Nineveh” (at times viewed as separate from the regular Ishtar) with healing. It can be argued that even her sexual aspect was connected to healing, as she was invoked to cure impotence. The most significant myth in which she appears is the cycle dedicated to documenting the storm god's (Teshub for the Hurrians, Tarhunna for the Hittites) rise to power. Shaushka is depicted as his sister and arguably most reliable ally, and plays a prominent role in two sections in particular – the Song of Hedammu and the Song of Ullikummi. In the former, she seemingly comes up with an elaborate plan to defeat a new enemy of her brother - the sea monster Hedammu - by performing a seductive dance and song montage (with her attendants as a support act) and offering an elixir to him. The exact result is uncertain, but Hedammu evidently ends up vanquished. In the latter, she attempts to use the same gambit against yet another new foe, the “diorite man” Ullikummi – however, since he is unfeeling like a rock, she fails; some translators see this passage as comedic. However, elsewhere in the Song, the storm god's main enemy Kumarbi and his minions view Shaushka as a formidable warrior, and in the early installment of the cycle, Song of LAMMA, she seemingly partakes in a fight. In another myth, known only from a few fragments and compared to the Sumerian text “Inanna and the huluppu tree,” Shaushka takes care of “Ḫašarri” -  a personification of olive oil, or a sentient olive tree. It seems that she has to protect this bizarre entity from various threats. While Shaushka lived on in Mesopotamia as “Ishtar of Nineveh,” this was far from the only “variant”of Ishtar in her homeland.

Nanaya was another such goddess. A few Sumerian hymns mention her alongside Inanna, the Sumerian equivalent of Ishtar, by the time of Sargon of Akkad virtually impossible to separate from her. As one composition puts it, Nanaya was “properly educated by holy Inana” and “counselled by holy Inana.” Initially she was most likely a part of Inanna's circle of deities in her cult center, Uruk, though due to shared character they eventually blurred together to a large degree. Just like Inanna/Ishtar, Nanaya was a goddess of love, described as beautiful and romantically and sexually active, and she too had an astral character. She was even celebrated during the same holidays as Inanna. Some researchers go as far as suggest Nanaya was only ever Inanna/Ishtar in her astral aspect alone and not a separate goddess. However, there is also evidence of her, Inanna and the sky god An being regarded as a trinity of distinct tutelary deities in Uruk. Additionally, king Melishipak's kudurru shown above shows both Nanaya (seated) and Ishtar/Inanna (as a star). Something peculiar to Nanaya was her later association with the scribe god Nabu. Sometimes Nabu's consort was the the goddess Tashmetu instead, but I can't find any summary explaining potential differences between them – it seems just like Nanaya, she was a goddess of love, including its physical aspects. Regardless of the name used to describe Nabu's wife, she was regarded as a sage and scribe like him – this arguably gives her a distinct identity she lacked in her early role as part of Inanna's circle. As the above examples demonstrate, the popularity of the “Ishtar type” was exceptional in the Bronze Age – but is it odd from a modern perspective? The myths dedicated to her are still quite fun to read today – much like any hero of ancient imagination she has a plethora of adversaries, a complex love life (not to mention many figures not intended to be read as her lovers originally but described in such terms that it's easy to see them this way today – including other women), a penchant for reckless behavior – and most importantly a consistent, easy to summarize character. She shouldn't be a part of modern mass consciousness only because of false 19th century claims detached from her actual character (both these from Hislop's works and “secular”claims about her purported “real”character based on flimsy reasoning and shoddy sources) – isn't a female character who is allowed to act about the same way as male mythical figures do without being condemned for it pretty much what many modern mythology retellings try to create? Further reading: On Astarte: -entry in the Iconography of Deities and Demons in Ancient Near East database by Izak Cornelius -‛Athtart in Late Bronze Age Syrian Texts by Mark S. Smith -ʿAthtartu’s Incantations and the Use of Divine Names as Weapons by Theodore J. Lewis -The Other Version of the Story of the Storm-god’s Combat with the Sea in the Light of Egyptian, Ugaritic, and Hurro-Hittite Texts by Noga Ayali-Darshan -for a summary of evidence that Astarte has nothing to do with Asherah see A Reassessment of Asherah With Further Considerations of the Goddess by Steve A. Wiggins On Shaushka: -Adapting Mesopotamian Myth in Hurro-Hittite Rituals at Hattuša: IŠTAR, the Underworld, and the Legendary Kings by Mary R. Bacharova -Ishtar seduces the Sea-serpent. A new join in the epic of Ḫedammu (KUB 36, 56 + 95) and its meaning for the battle between Baal and Yam in Ugaritic tradition by Meindert Dijkstra -Ištar of Nineveh Reconsidered by Gary Beckman -Shaushka, the Traveling Goddess by Graciela Gestoso Singer -Hittite Myths by Harry A. Hoffner jr. -The Hurritic Myth about Šaušga of Nineveh and Ḫašarri (CTH 776.2) by Meindert Dijkstra -The West Hurian Pantheon and its Background by Alfonso Archi On Nanaya: -entry in Brill’s New Pauly by Thomas Richter -entry from the Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses project by Ruth Horry -A tigi to Nanaya for Ishbi-Erra from The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature -A balbale to Inana as Nanaya from The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature -More Light on Nanaya by Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman -More on the Nature and History of the Goddess Nanaya by Piotr Steinkeller A few introductory Ishtar/Inanna myths: -Inanna's descent to the netherworld -Inanna and the huluppu tree -Inanna and Enki -Enki and the world order -Inanna and Ebih -Dumuzid and Enkimdu

#mesopotamian mythology #sumerian mythology #inanna #ishtar #astarte