{"id":5117,"date":"2016-12-31T15:06:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T20:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5117"},"modified":"2025-04-14T00:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T04:34:11","slug":"the-shadow-boys-are-breaking-all-the-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5117","title":{"rendered":"“The Shadow Boys are Breaking All the Laws”"},"content":{"rendered":"

2016 is ending.<\/p>\n

Celebrate the fact that you lived to see it.<\/p>\n

2016 is ending.<\/p>\n

Mourn the ones we lost along the way.<\/p>\n

2016 is ending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0We’ve talked before about how the passage of time and the transition \u00a0from one year to another are, in a very real sense, things that humans \u00a0made up, but there’s always more to be said around here about narrative \u00a0and myth and how the stories we tell ourselves make and shape us. We \u00a0build and spell out what we desire to be in ideals and words and deeds \u00a0and we carry our shifting constructions and foundational fictions in us, \u00a0always, so that they may impact how we feel and how we think and what \u00a0we do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This 366 days as we humans in the west mark them mean \u00a0nothing to the lifespan of the universe, to the turning of suns and \u00a0black holes, to the diamond hearts of gas giants orbiting distant stars, \u00a0to the weft and weave of geological and cosmological forces around us \u00a0and in us. These days are how a portion of one species tries to grapple \u00a0with the seeming inevitability of change and death. But so is literally \u00a0everything we do.<\/p>\n

2016 is not a real year, \u00a0in any meaningful sense. It’s where we are from where we started \u00a0counting from a few decent guesses, and if we wanted to take seriously \u00a0the “reality” of that, then we’d have to be okay with the notions that \u00a0Popes\u00a0 have the power to literally erase days from the record of time<\/a>. \u00a0We struggle with perceiving rates of change, and so we make up and \u00a0define and refine time. And when it suits you\u2014when you want to seem \u00a0aloof, or above it, or disaffected, or too cool for the room\u2014you \u00a0remember that. You say things like “don’t blame a year for people \u00a0dying,” or “why do you think the New Year is gonna suddenly make your \u00a0problems disappear?”<\/p>\n

But you know why. It’s \u00a0a concentration of will, a focal point of belief and intention. It’s a \u00a0cultural crux. It is a moment for all of us to stand together and \u00a0reflect on what we want and what we need and what we will build and do, \u00a0in the New Year. And more often than not, it works. At least for a \u00a0little while. And that is very good, because yes, Time and Separation \u00a0are illusions, but so is a desert mirage, and that can sure as hell kill \u00a0you if you misunderstand what you’re perceiving.<\/p>\n

So today \u00a0let’s each of us use Time. Use distance. Use loss and pain. Use the \u00a0memory and the impact of them to do what we can to make this communal \u00a0hallucination of temporal transition resonate with a little more light \u00a0and joy.<\/p>\n

Give a stranger a kind word. Tell someone you love \u00a0that you love them, even if you think it might be weird. If you go out \u00a0tonight, resolve to be the easiest, kindest person your server has to \u00a0deal with, all night, because they will have many<\/strong><\/em> more of the opposite. Do not drive while intoxicated.<\/p>\n

2016 is ending. For many of us, it has already ended.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2016 \u00a0is ending. This bounded moment, this name around a series of events, \u00a0this collective noun for all the things that have harmed us.<\/p>\n

2016 \u00a0is ending. So remember that we don’t want to feel anymore as we so \u00a0often felt this year. Death is still inevitable and change is our only \u00a0constant, but we do not have to lose so much, all at once, nor allow our \u00a0fear of difference to make us cold and hard and small.<\/p>\n

On \u00a0this final day of 2016, as the arc of our home star around the curve of \u00a0our planet heralds the first moments of our next made up year, be kind. \u00a0Be good. Help each other. Look out for each other. Strive to be a \u00a0better person than you ever thought you could be.<\/p>\n

It’s gonna be difficult and frustrating and maddening, but\u2014if we stick together\u2014joyous. Enthralling. Beautiful.<\/p>\n

2016 is ending. But 2017 won’t be any better unless we do what we can to make it be.<\/p>\n

And we can<\/strong><\/em> make it be.<\/p>\n

Happy New Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2016 is ending. Celebrate the fact that you lived to see it. 2016 is ending. Mourn the ones we lost along the way. 2016 is ending.\u00a0 \u00a0We’ve talked before about how the passage of time and the transition \u00a0from one year to another are, in a very real sense, things that humans \u00a0made up, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1141,1142,8,1016,228,1014,565,566,567,568,1139,1140,1143,1144,793,1145,1013],"class_list":["post-5117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1141","tag-1142","tag-a-future-worth-thinking-about","tag-change","tag-death","tag-impermanence","tag-myth","tag-mythmaking","tag-narrative","tag-narratives","tag-new-years-eve","tag-new-years","tag-ontology","tag-reality","tag-stories","tag-story","tag-time"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WByP-1kx","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4833,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=4833","url_meta":{"origin":5117,"position":0},"title":"“We Have Always Been In The Monolith” by Damien Williams","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"April 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"(Originally posted on Patreon, on November 2, 2014) When you take a long look at the structure of 2001: A Space Odyssey, it becomes somewhat apparent that Arthur C. Clarke understood (though possibly without knowing that he did) that 1: humans have been cyborgs since fire, pointy sticks, & sharp\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Future Worth Thinking About\"","block_context":{"text":"A Future Worth Thinking About","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=a-future-worth-thinking-about"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5239,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5239","url_meta":{"origin":5117,"position":1},"title":"The Frankenbook Project","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"January 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"So, many of you may remember that back in June of 2016, I was invited to the Brocher Institute in Hermance, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva, to take part in the Frankenstein's Shadow Symposium sponsored by Arizona State University\u2019s Center for Science and the Imagination as part of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona state university\"","block_context":{"text":"arizona state university","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=arizona-state-university"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230911045322im_\/https%3A\/\/gallery.tinyletterapp.com\/15ed533d99d868864bc68d95ddd746a57dfc048f\/images\/e5850a88-f00d-44c7-a809-c868019ea28f.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230911045322im_\/https%3A\/\/gallery.tinyletterapp.com\/15ed533d99d868864bc68d95ddd746a57dfc048f\/images\/e5850a88-f00d-44c7-a809-c868019ea28f.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230911045322im_\/https%3A\/\/gallery.tinyletterapp.com\/15ed533d99d868864bc68d95ddd746a57dfc048f\/images\/e5850a88-f00d-44c7-a809-c868019ea28f.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5182,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5182","url_meta":{"origin":5117,"position":2},"title":"Outline: “The Minds of Others: What Will Be Known by and Owed To Nonhuman Persons?”","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"September 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This summer I participated in SRI International's Technology and Consciousness Workshop Series. The meetings were held under the auspices of the Chatham House Rule, which means that there are many things I can't tell you about them, such as who else was there, or what they said in the context\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Future Worth Thinking About\"","block_context":{"text":"A Future Worth Thinking About","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=a-future-worth-thinking-about"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/OctMantPep.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/OctMantPep.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/OctMantPep.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/OctMantPep.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5493,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5493","url_meta":{"origin":5117,"position":3},"title":"‘Star Trek: Picard’ and The Admonition: Misapprehensions Through Time","author":"Damien P. 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And so, as with much of the pop culture I love, I want to spend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"alterity\"","block_context":{"text":"alterity","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=alterity"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/vignette.wikia.nocookie.net\/memoryalpha\/images\/a\/ae\/Star_Trek_Picard_cast.jpg\/revision\/latest?cb=20200130124918&path-prefix=en","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/vignette.wikia.nocookie.net\/memoryalpha\/images\/a\/ae\/Star_Trek_Picard_cast.jpg\/revision\/latest?cb=20200130124918&path-prefix=en 1x, https:\/\/vignette.wikia.nocookie.net\/memoryalpha\/images\/a\/ae\/Star_Trek_Picard_cast.jpg\/revision\/latest?cb=20200130124918&path-prefix=en 1.5x, https:\/\/vignette.wikia.nocookie.net\/memoryalpha\/images\/a\/ae\/Star_Trek_Picard_cast.jpg\/revision\/latest?cb=20200130124918&path-prefix=en 2x, https:\/\/vignette.wikia.nocookie.net\/memoryalpha\/images\/a\/ae\/Star_Trek_Picard_cast.jpg\/revision\/latest?cb=20200130124918&path-prefix=en 3x, https:\/\/vignette.wikia.nocookie.net\/memoryalpha\/images\/a\/ae\/Star_Trek_Picard_cast.jpg\/revision\/latest?cb=20200130124918&path-prefix=en 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5299,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5299","url_meta":{"origin":5117,"position":4},"title":"Recollections of Decolonizing Mars","author":"Damien P. 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Williams","date":"April 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"[Cite as Williams, Damien P., Heavenly Bodies: Why It Matters That Cyborgs Have Always Been About Disability, Mental Health, and Marginalization (June 8, 2019). Available at SSRN: https:\/\/ssrn.com\/abstract=3401342 or http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.2139\/ssrn.3401342] \u00a0 INTRODUCTION The history of biotechnological intervention on the human body has always been tied to conceptual frameworks of disability\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Future Worth Thinking About\"","block_context":{"text":"A Future Worth Thinking About","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=a-future-worth-thinking-about"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/PortACath.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/PortACath.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/PortACath.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/PortACath.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5117"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6143,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5117\/revisions\/6143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}