On the Taiwanese " Robots"

[ladislav]

This is my response to Winston's complaints about the soulless Taiwanese.

Taiwan has its purpose, and it's not to develop soul - it's to develop industries. For that, you need people who function like reliable machines.
Because of Taiwan's efficiency, you have the computer you're using and the money in your bank account. Those "soulful" countries you romanticize? They'll give you beautiful experiences but no reliable infrastructure. Constant power cuts, broken ATMs, banks you can't trust, people who promise everything and deliver nothing.

Taiwan's "robotic" population keeps your world functioning. They perform the essential practical role that lets you pursue romance and meaning elsewhere.

The answer isn't to make Taiwan more emotional. It's to get your practical needs met by Taiwan and your romantic experiences from other countries. Use Taiwan for reliable banking, quality electronics, and efficient services. Then go to the Philippines for romance, India for spirituality, Brazil for passion.

Different societies serve different functions. Taiwan handles the machinery of modern life so you can seek soul elsewhere. That's not soullessness - that's specialization.

You can't get blood out of a turnip and complaining that turnip has no blood is pointless. It is not its function.

[publicduende]

This is my response to Winston's complaints about the soulless Taiwanese.

Taiwan has its purpose, and it's not to develop soul - it's to develop industries. For that, you need people who function like reliable machines.
Because of Taiwan's efficiency, you have the computer you're using and the money in your bank account. Those "soulful" countries you romanticize? They'll give you beautiful experiences but no reliable infrastructure. Constant power cuts, broken ATMs, banks you can't trust, people who promise everything and deliver nothing.

Taiwan's "robotic" population keeps your world functioning. They perform the essential practical role that lets you pursue romance and meaning elsewhere.

The answer isn't to make Taiwan more emotional. It's to get your practical needs met by Taiwan and your romantic experiences from other countries. Use Taiwan for reliable banking, quality electronics, and efficient services. Then go to the Philippines for romance, India for spirituality, Brazil for passion.

Different societies serve different functions. Taiwan handles the machinery of modern life so you can seek soul elsewhere. That's not soullessness - that's specialization.

You can't get blood out of a turnip and complaining that turnip has no blood is pointless. It is not its function.

@ladislav I think your argument is correct, to an extent, yet brutal. The working ethos that allowed most of the civilised world to thrive on hi-tech digital electronics may well extend to Japan, South Korea, and mainland China. As you may remember, even the Philippines were, back in the 80s, a major hub for electronics manufacturing.

The problem I see is that, even behind that "robotic" approach to work and life, Taiwanese are still human beings. There is only so much a populace can bear, before the social contract breaks down and changes to the worse happen. From the few vlogs I watched about the Taiwan situation, I understand the country is relying on a relatively young population who is almost at breaking point, considering all the uncertainty they are forced to coexist with. High inflation, increasing living costs (especially housing), high-pressure education and elusive high-paying jobs, few or no paid holidays to see the world and enjoy life.

Finally, there's the Sword of Damocles of China attacking Taiwan. It can happen any time, and probably will, by 2030 some say.

It's a hard life for Taiwan. I have always loved Taiwanese as a bridge culture between the China and Japan, taking some of the best of both worlds. At it seems, they are also taking problems from both worlds.

[Winston]

@publicduende
I'm not sure that TW are still human beings. Nearly all people in TW seem empty and hollow and have blank eyes. I think you know what I mean. I took some photos of TW models on posters that I was gonna send you on Whatsapp that have fake empty faces and eyes that look total NPC, to show you what I mean. Check your Whatsapp.

If we are in a simulation or virtual reality we cannot rule out that some or most people are NPCs with no sentience and are pure AI or Sims characters in a Sims game and have no sentience or inner awareness. Some think NPCs are merely young souls while others think they are pure AI with no sentience. It's an open question and there are good arguments on both sides.

However, a normal human could be an NPC and only divine souls are game players in the matrix. So in that sense TWese could be human, if normal humans are just NPCs. Watch the movie Tron and the sequel. The person entering the grid was the player or user, whereas the people inside the grid were all NPCs created by the grid. Taiwanese for sure are very soulless and have empty blank eyes. I will send you some pics to show you what I mean. Check your Whatsapp.

[Winston]

@ladislav and @publicduende

Keep in mind that in Hong Kong the Cantonese there are robots too and live to make money and are very materialistic and conformist and competitive. So yeah they are robots too. However HK is dynamic and has character and culture. It's not as boring and lifeless and bland as Taiwan is. Taiwan is definitely the most boring country in Asia. No doubt about it. The people in TW never have any fun. None of my relatives invite me anywhere except to a one hour dinner at their house where everyone just acts square and superficial. Most Taiwanese don't even go to the night market. They sleep early and watch TV and go shopping and buy food but never have fun or party or go out at night or do anything interesting. They just live like monks and nuns and have a very boring sterile life.

For some reason, you aren't allowed to tell the truth about this or call a spade a spade. Even expats in the PH are withdrawn and reclusive and want to be left alone. The vibe in TW makes you feel asocial and withdrawn. I saw someone on Reddit say that too, that the more he stays in TW the more he feels withdrawn and asocial. Some places have a weird vibe that does that to you. Washington state is like that too.

Even my parents are boring. When they are out they are in a rush to get home. Very party pooper and debbie downer and very boring.

TW definitely takes the cake for being the most boring country in Asia. That's for sure. At least HK is a dynamic city that has some energy and growth, even if it's soulless and expensive and rude. I'm not saying that I like HK, just that it isn't as boring as Taiwan. When I'm in Chungking Mansion in HK at least the Arabs there selling Middle Eastern food will talk to me. In TW people are afraid to talk to strangers, even foreigners in TW are. It's very weird and negative and antisocial, like the US, but you aren't allowed to talk about it, because TW is politically correct and honesty is a taboo here. It is a different dimension than SE Asia.

PD why don't you come here to Taiwan and I will show you how cold and antisocial people are, and you will admit that I am right.

[publicduende]

@publicduende
I'm not sure that TW are still human beings. Nearly all people in TW seem empty and hollow and have blank eyes. I think you know what I mean. I took some photos of TW models on posters that I was gonna send you on Whatsapp that have fake empty faces and eyes that look total NPC, to show you what I mean. Check your Whatsapp.

If we are in a simulation or virtual reality we cannot rule out that some or most people are NPCs with no sentience and are pure AI or Sims characters in a Sims game and have no sentience or inner awareness. Some think NPCs are merely young souls while others think they are pure AI with no sentience. It's an open question and there are good arguments on both sides.

However, a normal human could be an NPC and only divine souls are game players in the matrix. So in that sense TWese could be human, if normal humans are just NPCs. Watch the movie Tron and the sequel. The person entering the grid was the player or user, whereas the people inside the grid were all NPCs created by the grid. Taiwanese for sure are very soulless and have empty blank eyes. I will send you some pics to show you what I mean. Check your Whatsapp.

@Winston

I have been talking about this NPC theory with Alex as well. In short, this theory is incompatible with the little gnostic knowledge I accumulated over time, as well as what I feel. Every human being on this planet is born with a soul. If this plane of existence really is a simulation, or a game played by our souls while a superior "Council" observes us, it may well be. Yet, it's a game where every player is equipped with the same kind of "core".

You like to denigrate Taiwanese people because, being Taiwanese yourself, it makes you feel special. Those are soulless, robotic beings programmed to work, sleep and maybe procreate once or twice, while you are the ultimate Asian Freethinker.

Well, reality is more complicated than that. Entire societies in Asia have been educated (indoctrinated?) to repress their inner selves to serve a greater Purpose. Japan first, then South Korea and Taiwan, lastly China. This specific social contract is precisely why we have been calling them economic miracles and why, despite all the issues, they still appear as efficient, orderly, and productive societies.

If Taiwanese have "blank eyes", why not Japanese, South Korean and mainland Chinese? They abide to the same principles, after all. As far as your argument is concerned, I see no reason to single out the Taiwanese.

[publicduende]

Keep in mind that in Hong Kong the Cantonese there are robots too and live to make money and are very materialistic and conformist and competitive. So yeah they are robots too. However HK is dynamic and has character and culture. It's not as boring and lifeless and bland as Taiwan is. Taiwan is definitely the most boring country in Asia. No doubt about it. The people in TW never have any fun. None of my relatives invite me anywhere except to a one hour dinner at their house where everyone just acts square and superficial. Most Taiwanese don't even go to the night market. They sleep early and watch TV and go shopping and buy food but never have fun or party or go out at night or do anything interesting. They just live like monks and nuns and have a very boring sterile life.

OK, I see you're calling out on the Hongkonese, as well as the Taiwanese

For some reason, you aren't allowed to tell the truth about this or call a spade a spade. Even expats in the PH are withdrawn and reclusive and want to be left alone. The vibe in TW makes you feel asocial and withdrawn. I saw someone on Reddit say that too, that the more he stays in TW the more he feels withdrawn and asocial. Some places have a weird vibe that does that to you. Washington state is like that too.

People are turning into asocial automata all over the world, @Winston. It's not just Taiwanese or people from the Washington state. Social media are giving us the illusion of "communicating" with the world when we are, in fact, manifesting our narcissism to what we think, we hope, is a large, worldwide audience.

We are alone, and I don't think it's a trend you can only find in Taipei. Filipinos seem to have more soul because they are, indeed, far more impulsive people. They lack discipline, social boundaries, the sense of the Greater Good, and (most of them) don't even know where Work Ethics lives. They are a mess and they're proud of it. This might make the more colourful, but not necessarily better citizens or human beings than the Taiwanese or Cantonese.

Even my parents are boring. When they are out they are in a rush to get home. Very party pooper and debbie downer and very boring.

Maybe so, but their "boring" hard work is what allows you to live comfortably wherever you want, without having to pull a day of work. If I was you, I wouldn't be so critical towards them. They lived in an age where building something for themselves and their families (you included) was imperative. In a way, they have been boring so you could be the freethinking Asian you are.

TW definitely takes the cake for being the most boring country in Asia. That's for sure. At least HK is a dynamic city that has some energy and growth, even if it's soulless and expensive and rude. I'm not saying that I like HK, just that it isn't as boring as Taiwan. When I'm in Chungking Mansion in HK at least the Arabs there selling Middle Eastern food will talk to me. In TW people are afraid to talk to strangers, even foreigners in TW are. It's very weird and negative and antisocial, like the US, but you aren't allowed to talk about it, because TW is politically correct and honesty is a taboo here. It is a different dimension than SE Asia.

PD why don't you come here to Taiwan and I will show you how cold and antisocial people are, and you will admit that I am right.

I have been both to HK and Taipei several times. Yes, you can tell HK is socio-culturally more layered and more complex a society. For the little I know it, I think Taipei is more aseptic, closer to Japan than it is to China. I had a chance to speak to a few people living in Taipei, including an Italian. People carry on with their life duties, robotically if you like, but they do harbour feelings, and those feelings are anxiety about the future. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They know they need to comply to have a decent life. At the same time, they feel someone is pulling their dream of a decent life from behind their feet, no matter how hard they work.

As I said, I have been to Taipei 4 times in total. Never for more than a few days, true, yet enough to feel the vibe. As I said, it felt a lot like being in Japan, with a more Chinese take on things like innovation and cuisine. I don't seen Taiwanese people as soulless, just as a society of collectivist ants that work for the Greater Good, while bottling up their real selves.

This is the norm, @Winston. Having time (and funds) to travel, explore the world, talk to different people instead of spending 80% of your existence working or sleeping, is a luxury. Not everybody is as lucky as you are.

[Winston]

@ladislav

Check out what Lucas88 said about why Taiwanese and Japanese are soulless robots and have a hive mind and why it's not just due to culture but genes as well. It's very true but taboo.

Lucas88:

"The topic isn't difficult to understand once you accept the reality of race realism.

Japanese and Taiwanese aren't conformist and borg-like simply due to strict social norms — they're like that because the species followed a specific evolutionary strategy that selected for collectivism.

Because of this evolutionary strategy, East Asians are industrious and well-coordinated among themselves — very much like an ant colony — but they lack free thought and creativity.

Europeans, on the other hand, have in our blood the bold and defying Promethean spirit since the time of the Greeks. We are naturally inclined towards free thought, creativity and innovation. This is the reason why Europeans were able to singlehandedly engender the modern world. Furthermore, we cannot stand being bound by strict rules and tradition. We're the polar opposite of the East Asian neo-Confucian mentality.

These differences are primarily racial and genetic. Don't be deceived by the liberal view that they're merely due to divergent cultural values.

In fact, I would say that this Promethean spirit of Europe even goes as far back as the Yamnaya — our ancestors of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe.

As for East Asian societies, I from my own experience think that they're massively overrated. We ourselves had very clean and well-organized societies — arguably the best in the world — here in Europe just a few decades ago before our continent was flooded with uncivilized third-world trash courtesy of our sellout crypto-Marxist politicians."

[Winston]

@publicduende

I talked to Alex about NPCs too. He said it's a possibility if we are in a matrix and he puts it on the table. He doesn't say it must be false just because it's not politically correct like you seem to imply.

Yes Gnosticism says that NPCs are young souls addicted to the material world and survival only. But Alex knows nothing about Gnosticism and has no interest in it. So he wouldn't have told you that.

There are several variations of NPC theory. One is that they are soulless and AI and have no sentience. Like the Sims characters in video games. Another is that they have basic souls like animals and insects that keep them alive. But no divine soul. No freethinking agency that can reflect and ponder and introspect. No ability to think freely. They only react by instinct and act before thinking. They are always on auto pilot. They have no true individual soul and only a hive mind, like bees and ants.

It's an open question which theory is right. You should keep it that way and not act like the issue has already been decided. There are good arguments on both sides. I've posted a lot of them in the NPC thread.

I am not trying to denigrate Taiwanese people by saying they are NPCs. It's simply my honest opinion and what I see. I don't see any real souls that I can connect with in Taiwan. People aren't even open or sociable. They are closed off and have a weird awkward vibe. Cold and distant. So why do they lie and claim to be warm and friendly? Only an NPC would lie like that right? Why are the girls and women so negative and unfriendly and look for excuses to dislike me? They look super shallow and judgmental and give off a hateful antisocial vibe. I will swear to this. I am being 100 percent honest. So why lie? Why is the vibe so antisocial and withdrawn? And why is it taboo to point this out? It violates political correctness so it's taboo to point out.

I simply don't see a real soul in them that I can connect with. So why would I believe they have a soul just because it's politically correct? On what basis? How do you know anyone has a soul or is sentient? You can't know that. The videos on solipsism on YouTube admit that solipsism cannot be falsified. You can never disprove that we are in a dream right now. Can you? Philosophy videos admit this. You should consider that. You jump to conclusions too fast and should consider multiple possibilities and not see only one as correct. You see what I mean? You seem to make up your mind fast and are very decisive. Maybe that's good in business but it's not in philosophy or truth seeking. Lol