The Underground — Issue #136
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: How climate scientists can predict the future of our planet with climate models, a book that teaches you how not to suck, a lesson on how you can control your dreams, and a new video game movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. How climate scientists predict the future with climate model. What a lot of people can’t really grasp is the difference between meteorology and climate science. If it’s snowing a lot in NYC, some pundits will dismiss climate change because it’s snowing. Earth has seasons, and snow was bound to happen at that time of year. What climate models show are thousands of years of changes. These changes, when added up, can forecast future occurrences.
These models will show that there will be more droughts, huge hurricanes, changes in ocean currents, strong storms on land, bigger wildfires, and more. When they say “climate change”, it means exactly that. Things are changing all over the world. The oceans are getting warmer. This leads to hurricanes getting stronger and hitting areas they normally don’t hit.
The climate models can look at changes from the past few thousand years, and even recent changes due to human activity pumping pollution into the air, land and sea, and predict rising sea levels, temperatures around the planet, and the impact of such changes. When they explain that the water will rise, and people don’t believe it will happen, they aren’t looking at the fact that they’re already happening on sunny days in Miami.
I will stop there and let you watch this video below to have a better grasp from the experts.
2. On Being Awesome: A Unified Theory Of How Not To Suck. As douchey as it may sound, some people need a lesson or two on how not to suck. You can sit around with a group of people, overhear them bragging or talking stupid, and then think, “Man, I wish there was a class for this guy to take to not suck so much.”
Well, there may not be a class, but there is a book by Nick Riggle that may help that guy out.
We all know people who are awesome and people who suck, but what do we really mean by these terms? Have you ever been chill or game? Do you rock or rule? If so, then you’re tapped into the ethics of awesomeness. Awesome people excel at creating social openings that encourage expressions of individuality and create community. And if you’re a cheapskate, self-promoter, killjoy, or douchebag, you’re the type of person who shuts social openings down. Put more simply: You suck.
From street art to folk singers, Proust to the great etiquette writer Emily Post, President Obama to former Los Angeles Dodger Glenn Burke, Riggle draws on pop culture, politics, history, and sports to explore the origins of awesome, and delves into the nuances of what it means to suck and why it’s so important to strive for awesomeness. An accessible and entertaining lens for navigating the ethics of our time, On Being Awesome provides a new and inspiring framework for understanding ourselves and creating meaningful connections in our everyday lives.
The man knows his stuff. You can go buy this book for relatively cheap at Amazon. May be a good stocking stuffer for that relative you think needs a few tips.
3, A lesson on how you can control your dreams through lucid dreaming techniques. I spent a bit learning how to lucid dream when I was in college. A lot of it had to do with setting my alarm to interrupt my sleep and then write in a dream journal. The idea was to wake up immediately, write in the journal of what you remember, then attempt to dive back in the dream when you go back to sleep. It worked after a while, but I also had to find clues within the dream to realize I’m dreaming.
That part in Inception where a “kick” wakes you up? It’s totally true. That kick can sometimes be getting too excited because you realize you’re dreaming and wake up. It can also be dreaming up falling down, and the experience being so real that you jolt awake.
The video below explains how you can control your dreams. It’s really quite fun when you can take full control like a God in your own created reality.
4, Dwayne Johnson Stars in the film adaptation of the old video arcade game Rampage. Remember going to the arcade and pumping quarters into a game where the sole purpose was to destroy buildings and eat humans out of windows? Well, Hollywood decided that video game needed a big screen adaptation starring The Rock. The odd thing is that it doesn’t look too bad, and they even tried to make it serious.
Premise: Primatologist Davis Okoye, a man who keeps people at a distance, shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, albino silverback gorilla who has been in his care since birth. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals. As these newly created alpha predators tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer to secure an antidote, fighting his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend.
I’m sure it will have emotional elements because animals are treated like garbage by human beings, but it will be followed by huge mutant gorillas and lizards destroying buildings. This movie will probably bank at the box office, then become a permanent staple on Sunday afternoon television. I have no problem with that at all. Plus, The Rock blowing stuff up? Yes, please.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com