I mentioned in my previous full length log how strange it is to have to watch historical events unfold from a screen while your own life marches on as usual. It’s hard to say anything about Russia’s war on Ukraine that I feel hasn’t been said before, even though it’s only been a few weeks. Don’t the headlines speak for themselves? Each one is another reminder that most humans don’t know how to view others as human. The Russian government pushes absurd propaganda while its people cry for a ceasefire, and the West seems obsessed with intervention that would only make the violence worse. It’s frustrating to see.

But the problem with worrying about things that you aren’t able to directly affect is that it traps you in your head. Allowing the world to whomp you into submission in that way keeps you from doing the things that do matter when they come along. So, in the meantime, I’ve been trying to keep a spring in my step.

Music in particular always helps me keep on my toes. Get the right combination of rocket riffs, vocal squelches, pounding metronome, and low-low-end and you’ve got one happy Sophia. Currently on repeat is a spinoff group of spaced-out surf rockers Man Or Astro-Man?, Servotron. I was blown away to find a CD of theirs in the wild last weekend (thanks, AY&P) and it only reminded me of how much they satisfy my ears. Servotron were four humanoid robots who used hyper-charged twanged-out synth punk to espouse their philosophy that humankind should be exterminated due to its “inefficiency.” It’s hilarious. It’s also dangerously catchy. And all this talk about AI picture generators and “the Metaverse,” the furthered blurring of the lines between man and machine, only validates me listening to them, I guess.

Absurd lyrics about making humans huff carbon dioxide aside, they’ve got a point about the human condition. Humans are extremely fickle and confusing creatures; I know from just being one. That side of mankind has been on full display in the news recently. For example, some people have been “protesting” Russia’s cruelty by emptying out bottles of vodka they don’t realize isn’t actually Russian. I would assume it took a lot of time and effort to make the contents of those bottles, but I guess it doesn’t matter if you associate that product with dirty commies. They were probably munching on some “freedom fries” as they did so. That’s what America called French fries—which are Belgian—after France disapproved of America’s invasion of Iraq back in the 2000s. It’s funny that we were talking about the similar “liberty cabbage” phenomenon of the World War I era in history class just a few weeks ago. We’ve gone back to calling it sauerkraut, but we still haven’t learned from it. What’s next? Another Red Scare?

But neither a robot uprising or nuclear bombs are going to keep humans from human-ing. Mass destruction, discrimination, and loss of life seem like very inefficient things to indulge in. Maybe, with enough work and cooperation from us carbon based lifeforms, we can up our efficiency game by being better to each other. We can only learn from our mistakes if we try. Let’s start by taking away all the arbitrary barriers that separate us—silly things like nationality and ethnicity. Maybe then we won’t invade other countries for personal gain because those barriers will have lost their socially constructed meanings. Remember: we’re all in this together.