Path to Entropy - An Apocalyptic Climax [FREE eBook: #Dystopian, #PostApocalyptic, #GeneticEngineering], Book 5 of 7 in the Predictable Paths series A narcissistic, psychotic oligarch rules over a second-rate, post-apocalyptic domain in the western part of what was once America. Sara, his communications minister, loves her job and proudly supports him despite his insanity. She tells her team: "Work is work, and you should take pride in it, even when your job is to deny, divert, distract, detract, and deceive." Yet this day is not going so well. Ron, her maniacal and probably AI-controlled boss, is screaming at his ministers, raging about a highly visible and clearly embarrassing incident that just occurred in his domain. He orders Sara to immediately develop and lead the response - to gloss over it, blame the locals, or accuse their many regional enemies of stirring up hatreds. But such accusations could lead to frightful backlashes from their belligerent, tech-rich neighbors. Could her response set the world afire? https://bladecort.com PREDICTABLE PATHS episodes, in sequential order: 1. AGENESS - A Longevity / Age Engineering Science Fiction Play on Our Imminent Ageless Dystopia ; Six Acts, Episodes -22 to -17 2. AMYGDALA HIJACK - A Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi Novel of Impending Dystopia (a Trilogy) 2.1 - Amygdala Hijack - The Waening, Part 1 of 3; Episodes 1 - 9 2.2 - Amygdala Hijack - The Warning, Part 2 of 3; Episodes 10 - 18 2.3 - Amygdala Hijack - The Wasting, Part 3 of 3, Episodes 19 - 28 3. THREE GUYS IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC BAR - A Longevity / Age Engineering and Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi Novella ; Episodes 47 - 54 4. INFINITY CURVE - Lamentations to Unseen Friends Across the Vastness of Space ; Episodes 56 - 78 5. PATH TO ENTROPY - An Apocalyptic Climax ; Episodes 79 - 93 6. SORD IN PROSPERITY - Hope Beyond the Apocalypse ; Episodes 118 - 159 7. DAISY THE DUMPSTER DOG - A Sordid Tale of Dystopian Hubris and Convenient Canine Rationalizations (But Not a Supreme Court Satire or Parody) ; Episodes 311 - 337

A narcissistic, psychotic oligarch rules over a second-rate, post-apocalyptic domain in the western part of what was once America. Sara, his communications minister, proudly supports him despite his insanity. She tells her team: "Work is work, and you should take pride in it, even when your job is to deny, divert, distract, detract, and deceive." SAMPLES FROM A FEW DYSTOPIAN EPISODES: 79 - TRANSGRESSIONS: No one at the table dared move. They knew what was coming next, and they had enough experience with Ron's histrionics to know not to dive into the middle of his torrential whirlpool of vitriol. Sara's heart was beating furiously, and Imp knew it all. Imp sensed her physical reactions. Her pulse. Sweat. Pupil dilation. Chemicals emitted from her breath and skin. Imp analyzed her eye movements. Facial tics. The number of times she licked her lips and blinked. And she knew Imp constantly monitored her thoughts, to the degree that such tech had been perfected. Ron turned to sneer at Sara. "Not picking on you, sweet child, though it's partially your fault. Maybe much your fault. You understand, little one? I can't have events like this happen. If mine was the strongest or the richest of the domains, then I'd have the power. But people are jealous of me, so they come after me. They salivate for openings like this." 81 - PROPOSAL: "Of course!" she responded. "We know from our prior comms to this cohort that they can be volatile, easily aroused to anger and fear, and highly vindictive and judgmental. We love them for all these traits. But we know we can only go so far." 83 - FOSSILS: To Edgar, Sara was an anachronism in the current context of AI. Who needed a human to create narratives when his AI was more effective? More prolific? His AI could churn-out a thousand narratives to her one. His AI could confuse the world on a whim, creating mindless, meaningless sludge to be farted across the toilet bowl of human networks. Misinformation was kid stuff, but mass misinformation - now that was AI magic. 85 - ARRANGEMENTS: Rasha smacked her lips. "You just identified the problems we are having in gathering data about them. We hoped they'd congregate like other cohorts, create consistent narratives, and develop deep complexity and fervor in their belief systems. If they did this, we could infiltrate them, manipulate the narratives, and put into effect our subtle coercion that all good things in the world always begin and end with Ron, just like what we do with the other cohorts. But we see none of this." 86 - LEVERAGE: "It sounds like something different, though. It sounds like you and your team and other ministers spend most of their time serving Ron's needs. His distorted and disgusting whimsies. His rages and torments. His threats and narcissistic demands. Look, the people I communicate with believe the Earth is in its last days of rotation, at least for humanity. There's far too much tech, too much risk in tech, and too many people or AIs who have too much capability to annihilate us. All this annihilation tech in so many incapable hands like Ron's, without any ethical construct for the race? Imagine that."

"[This] magnificent critical survey, with its inherent respect for both the 'Westt's mainstream high culture' and the 'radically changing world' of the 1990s, offers a new breakthrough for lay and scholarly readers alike....Allows readers to grasp the big picture of Western culture for the first time." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, THE PASSION OF THE WESERN MIND is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

A staggering portrait of a crumbling utopia, this "timeless and vast" novel filled with the "raw beauty" beautifully depicts an idyllic commune in New York State -- and charts its eventual yet inevitable downfall (Janet Maslin, The New York Times). NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Timeless and vast... The raw beauty of Ms. Groff's prose is one of the best things about Arcadia. But it is by no means this book's only kind of splendor."---Janet Maslin, The New York Times "Even the most incidental details vibrate with life Arcadia wends a harrowing path back to a fragile, lovely place you can believe in."---Ron Charles, The Washington Post In the fields of western New York State in the 1970s, a few dozen idealists set out to live off the land, founding a commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia House. Arcadia follows this romantic utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday. Arcadia's inhabitants include Handy, the charismatic leader; his wife, Astrid, a midwife; Abe, a master carpenter; Hannah, a baker and historian; and Abe and Hannah's only child, Bit. While Arcadia rises and falls, Bit, too, ages and changes. He falls in love with Helle, Handy's lovely, troubled daughter. And eventually he must face the world beyond Arcadia. In Arcadia, Groff displays her literary gifts to stunning effect. "Fascinating."---People (****) "It's not possible to write any better without showing off."---Richard Russo, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Empire Falls "Dazzling."---Vogue

Ageness [eBook: #dystopian #apocalyptic #sciencefictionaudiobooks] - A Longevity / Age Engineering Science Fiction Play on our Imminent Ageless Dystopia by Blade Cort; Book 1 of 7 in the Predictable Paths series (complete, auto-narrated) Four billionaires conspire to control the distribution of new longevity tech, intending to expand their wealth throughout eternity and give access only to those who are most deserving. Mia Seis, a scientist responsible for the breakthrough aging-reversal discovery, stumbles unwittingly across their devious scheme. Her secretive, abusive billionaire boss presses her to find an injectable solution, yet he just placed a death mark on a co-worker who innocently suggested that this stunning, new capability should benefit all of humanity, not just the few. New friends suddenly appear and offer to protect her from a similar fate, but she's torn between hating her boss and loving her work. Will they convince Mia to leave in time? https://bladecort.com PREDICTABLE PATHS episodes, in sequential order: 1. AGENESS - A Longevity / Age Engineering Science Fiction Play on Our Imminent Ageless Dystopia ; Six Acts, Episodes -22 to -17 2. AMYGDALA HIJACK - A Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi Novel of Impending Dystopia (a Trilogy) 2.1 - Amygdala Hijack - The Waening, Part 1 of 3; Episodes 1 - 9 2.2 - Amygdala Hijack - The Warning, Part 2 of 3; Episodes 10 - 18 2.3 - Amygdala Hijack - The Wasting, Part 3 of 3; Episodes 19 - 28 3. THREE GUYS IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC BAR - A Longevity / Age Engineering and Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi Novella ; Episodes 47 - 54 4. INFINITY CURVE - Lamentations to Unseen Friends Across the Vastness of Space ; Episodes 56 - 78 5. PATH TO ENTROPY - An Apocalyptic Climax ; Episodes 79 - 93 6. SORD IN PROSPERITY - Hope Beyond the Apocalypse ; Episodes 118 - 159 7. DAISY THE DUMPSTER DOG - A Sordid Tale of Dystopian Hubris and Convenient Canine Rationalizations (But Not a Supreme Court Satire or Parody) ; Episodes 311 - 337

An unknown planet emerges from inside a wormhole, and its discoverer, Dr. Oguro, christens the body “Remina” after his own daughter. His finding is met with great fanfare, and Remina herself rises to fame. However, the object picks up speed as it moves along in its curious course, eliminating planets and stars one after another, until finally Earth itself faces extinction... Is the girl Remina the true cause of the catastrophe? A masterwork of horror from Junji Ito, unfolding on a universal scale. -- VIZ Media

Presenting an original global theory of culture, Girard explores the social function of violence and the mechanism of the social scapegoat. His vision is a challenge to conventional views of literature, anthropology, religion and psychoanalysis. Rene Gerard is the Andrew B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of French Language, Literature and Civilization at Stanford University, USA.