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I love the tone of this, it’s like the musings of an explorer who discovered a jungle city abandoned by a mysterious civilization. “there were old wall slogans
by jameshart 5y ago
I love the tone of this, it’s like the musings of an explorer who discovered a jungle city abandoned by a mysterious civilization.
“there were old wall slogans inside that must have been added to motivate and inspire the employees” … “ the tall building had several brick structures on the lower main level. He suspected that those structures probably had plants and ferns in them so that important business clients and employees would be met with a pleasing sight upon entering.” … “Martin Gonzalez also noticed pictures of people using Motorola products that had been left on the walls of the building.”
Indeed, the ways of the people of the Motorola civilization of around 2011CE are mysterious and strange to us. Perhaps the central atrium served some kind of ritual purpose? Were prisoners perhaps thrown off the upper balconies as a sacrifice to their gods? We will never really know.
- pfdietz 5y agoArchaeologists have found inscriptions referring to the cult of "Six Sigma", which is hypothesized to be a primitive form of ritual statistical magic.
- gumby 5y agoA wonderful example of the cargo cult phenomenon!
- PostThisTooFast 5y agoWhatever that is...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- olivermarks 5y ago@pfdietz the battered remnants of the cult of "Six Sigma" looks strangely like post Soviet abandoned building triumphalist wall writings, albeit with western typography
- zeckalpha 5y agoBack in the U6σR
- tomcam 5y agoOr perhaps stochastical magic
- eecc 5y agoSkimming your comment I read “ritual sadistic magic”. Funny how the mind wanders
- laurent92 5y ago“Ritual statistical magic” is even more genius: Future civilizations will look down on us for believing that statistics were part of science, not not seeing the hand of the cleric in making them up, just like we look down on middle ages for believing anything monks pretended to translate from the Bible, which in fact they made up.
- treeman79 5y agoMany years ago I picked up a book on six sigma. First page was all about how you attack anyone that disagrees with six sigma. Okay so this is a cult. Put the book down and spent remaining career avoiding anyplace that mentioned it.
- geodel 5y agoWell there were lots of whips involved: White Belt, Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt and Master Black Belt.
- madengr 5y agoSeveral black and green "belt" like accessories were found, which we hypothesize were used for sacrificial strangulation to the statistical deity.
- mirkules 5y agoI used to work for a Motorola-owned company. Digital Six Sigma brings back a lot of “belt training” memories
- ta988 5y agoAt first I did read satanical magic and I chuckled.
- ipv6ipv4 5y agoHR wall slogans are cringey when still drying on the wall. They are even cringier in a ruin.
- jameshart 5y agoGives you another perspective on the hieroglyphs on walls in ancient Egypt though if you imagine them being put there by enthusiastic religious branding consultants, and inducing just as much eye rolling from the citizens of the day…
- ijidak 5y agoLololol. I've never thought about it that way. But it's true. Citizens of those ancient Egyptian cities probably did roll their eyes at some of the wall hieroglyphs. Especially because the pharaohs exaggerated their victories. And the priests probably made up ridiculous stories of what their gods "did" and "accomplished" Some citizens were probably just as incredulous as we are today.
- robinsoh 5y ago> Especially because the pharaohs exaggerated their victories. Ramses II exaggerated even his defeats, that is, he claimed that as his victories. For example the famous wall relief of Ramses II slaying the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh. https://www.memphis.edu/hypostyle/tour_hall/ramesses_ii_scenes.php https://www.memphis.edu/hypostyle/tour_hall/ramesses_ii_scen... In reality it was a terrible defeat and it allowed the Hittites to limit Egypt sphere of influence to no further West than Canaan.
- dylan604 5y agoOf course they were. They state the human leaders were gods and immortals, yet why are they writing these things on their burial chambers?
- Gravityloss 5y ago"The manager of a fruit-and-vegetable shop places in his window, among the onions and carrots, the slogan: "Workers of the world, unite!" Why does he do it? What is he trying to communicate to the world?" Vaclav Havel, The Power of the Powerless, 1978 https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/wp-content/uploads/1979/01/the-power-of-the-powerless.pdf https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/wp-content/uploads/1979/...
- blacksmith_tb 5y agoDavid Macauley's _Motel of the Mysteries_ is the model for all funny/profound archaeology of the present, I'd say. https://wearethemutants.com/2017/12/06/david-macauleys-motel-of-the-mysteries-1979/ https://wearethemutants.com/2017/12/06/david-macauleys-motel...
- KyleBerezin 5y agoThis book looks great. I just ordered it, thank you for mentioning it.
- meoshstabwot 5y agoHotel of Mysteries is totally worth it whether you are 35 or 8.
- hindsightbias 5y ago> structures Multiple sacrificial altars surrounded by balconies from which the faithful could watch.
- ChrisMarshallNY 5y agoI'm pretty sure that Motorola had a very high Dilbert Index.
- pfdietz 5y agoThis strip was a direct reference to some things in Motorola: https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-03-02 https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-03-02
- q_andrew 5y agoI love this sort of blend of urban exploration and archeology. I actually made a video game about it, inspired by the "sublime" of uninhabitable (yet comfortable) exurbs of midwestern USA: https://q-andrew.itch.io/anemoiapolis https://q-andrew.itch.io/anemoiapolis
- ornornor 5y agoIf you haven’t read it already, you might enjoy Motel of the Mysteries[0] where an archeologist from the future stumbles upon the ruins of a present days motel and speculates over its use and the artifacts found within. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108831 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108831
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]