Apollo & Dionysus#
The notion of a 10,000-year cycle begins with a visitation, a kingdom unpossessed—an empire sprawling yet undefined, waiting for a claimant to seize its reins. Imagine a world where power hangs in the air, intangible and ungrasped, like a crown tossed into a storm. History whispers of such moments: Rome before Romulus, Britain before Arthur, or perhaps a future dominion yet to be named. This unpossessed empire is not merely land but a promise—a visitation of possibility that arrives every few millennia, offering itself to those bold enough to shape it. Yet, its borders blur, its throne remains cold, and the question lingers: who will step forward to possess what has been offered? The cycle suggests that such moments are fleeting, a cosmic invitation that fades if unanswered, leaving behind only echoes of what might have been.
Fig. 18 Here’s an essay inspired by the cryptic and evocative themes in the “{admonition} 10k Year Cycles” framework you provided. Written in paragraphs only, it weaves a narrative that interrogates the cyclical nature of empires, identity, and power across vast timescales, drawing loosely from the prompts’ poetic and historical undertones—evoking Shakespearean succession crises, unclaimed thrones, and the rise and fall of civilizations.#
From this unclaimed potential emerges a worldview, a bequest passed down through blood and memory, encapsulated in the query, “What heir of York is there alive but we?” Here, the essay turns to lineage and legitimacy, recalling the Wars of the Roses, where York and Lancaster vied for England’s soul. The heir of York is not just a person but a symbol—a worldview asserting its right to rule, claiming the past as its inheritance. In a 10,000-year cycle, this bequest might extend beyond medieval dynasties to the enduring human impulse to define identity through ancestry. Each civilization, whether Sumerian, Han, or something yet unborn, bequeaths its vision to the next, asking who carries the torch forward. The heir is both a burden and a gift, a living bridge between what was and what might be, whispering that the world belongs to those who can claim its story.
As the cycle turns, power localizes, becoming strategic—“And who is England’s King but great York’s heir?” The empire, once unpossessed, now crystallizes into something tangible, its ruler no longer a shadow but a figure rooted in place and purpose. This phase is the chessboard of history: alliances forged, battles waged, and borders drawn. The king, whether a literal monarch or a metaphor for order, emerges as the focal point of a localized strategy, wielding authority over a specific domain. Across 10,000 years, this might manifest as Egypt’s pharaohs, Rome’s caesars, or the technocrats of a distant future, each asserting dominion over their corner of time. Yet, the question implies fragility—what happens when the heir falters, when the strategy unravels? The cycle hints that localization is temporary, a brief sharpening of focus before the broader rhythm resumes.
Then comes the pivot: stagnation, unengaged, acceleration—the motive force of the cycle laid bare in three haunting queries: “Is the chair empty? Is the sword unswayed? Is the King dead?” These lines conjure a throne room in disarray, dust settling on an abandoned seat, a blade rusting in its sheath, a ruler lost to time. Stagnation creeps in when the empire’s purpose dulls, when its heirs grow complacent or its people disengage. The unswayed sword speaks of inaction, a failure to defend or expand, while the king’s death—literal or symbolic—marks the end of momentum. Yet, the cycle does not end here; it accelerates. From stagnation springs the motive for renewal, a restless energy that topples the old to birth the new. History bears this out: the fall of Constantinople spurred the Renaissance, the collapse of empires fueled revolutions. Over 10,000 years, this rhythm of decay and resurgence becomes the heartbeat of human endeavor.
10k Year Cycles
Visitation/Kingdom
The empire unpossessed?
World View/Bequest
What heir of York is there alive but we?
Localized/Strategic
And who is England’s King but great York’s heir?
Stagnation, Unengaged, Acceleration/Motive
Is the chair empty?
Is the sword unswayed?
Is the King dead?
Dystopia/Flourishing
Then tell me, what makes he upon the seas?
Finally, the cycle resolves—or perhaps unravels—into duality: dystopia or flourishing, posed in the enigmatic, “Then tell me, what makes he upon the seas?” The king, presumed dead, is now a seafarer, a figure adrift or ascendant, depending on interpretation. Does he sail toward ruin, a dystopia of shattered fleets and drowned hopes, or toward flourishing, a new world discovered beyond the horizon? The seas are both grave and cradle, swallowing empires like Atlantis or birthing them like Venice. In a 10,000-year span, this could reflect humanity’s oscillations—dark ages followed by golden ones, collapse giving way to creation. The question hangs unanswered, a challenge to the reader: what determines the outcome? The cycle suggests that both are possible, that the unpossessed empire of the beginning might end in either shadow or light, shaped by the heirs who claim it, the swords they wield, and the seas they dare to cross.
Across these vast stretches of time, the 10,000-year cycle reveals a truth: empires rise and fall not in isolation but as part of a larger dance, each phase—visitation, bequest, strategy, stagnation, and resolution—building toward the next. The unpossessed kingdom awaits its heir, the worldview seeks its champion, and the seas beckon with promise or peril. Inspired by the cryptic prompts, this essay imagines a history both ancient and eternal, where the chair may empty, the sword may still, and the king may vanish—only to return, reshaped, in the next turn of the wheel.
Show code cell source
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import networkx as nx
# Define the neural network layers with Thiel's views on education
def define_layers():
return {
'Suis': ['Inherited Expectations', 'Cultural Rigidity', 'Toxic Incentives', 'Starting Signal', 'Protective Shell', 'Targeted Promises'],
'Voir': ['Pattern Recognition'],
'Choisis': ['Killer Instinct', 'Helper Narrative'],
'Deviens': ['Inflammatory Output', 'Checkpoint Inhibition', 'Regulatory Conformity'],
"M'èléve": ['Amplifying Myth', 'Clotting Mobility', 'Granular Control', 'Innate Privilege', 'Adaptive Mediocrity']
}
# Assign colors to nodes (adapted from your original color scheme)
def assign_colors():
color_map = {
'yellow': ['Pattern Recognition'], # Awareness node
'paleturquoise': ['Targeted Promises', 'Helper Narrative', 'Regulatory Conformity', 'Adaptive Mediocrity'], # Nodes about shaping or adapting
'lightgreen': ['Protective Shell', 'Checkpoint Inhibition', 'Clotting Mobility', 'Innate Privilege', 'Granular Control'], # Protective or limiting nodes
'lightsalmon': ['Toxic Incentives', 'Starting Signal', 'Killer Instinct', 'Inflammatory Output', 'Amplifying Myth'], # Critique-heavy or inflammatory nodes
}
return {node: color for color, nodes in color_map.items() for node in nodes}
# Define edge weights (preserved from your original, mapped to new nodes)
def define_edges():
return {
('Inherited Expectations', 'Pattern Recognition'): '1/99',
('Cultural Rigidity', 'Pattern Recognition'): '5/95',
('Toxic Incentives', 'Pattern Recognition'): '20/80',
('Starting Signal', 'Pattern Recognition'): '51/49',
('Protective Shell', 'Pattern Recognition'): '80/20',
('Targeted Promises', 'Pattern Recognition'): '95/5',
('Pattern Recognition', 'Killer Instinct'): '20/80',
('Pattern Recognition', 'Helper Narrative'): '80/20',
('Killer Instinct', 'Inflammatory Output'): '49/51',
('Killer Instinct', 'Checkpoint Inhibition'): '80/20',
('Killer Instinct', 'Regulatory Conformity'): '95/5',
('Helper Narrative', 'Inflammatory Output'): '5/95',
('Helper Narrative', 'Checkpoint Inhibition'): '20/80',
('Helper Narrative', 'Regulatory Conformity'): '51/49',
('Inflammatory Output', 'Amplifying Myth'): '80/20',
('Inflammatory Output', 'Clotting Mobility'): '85/15',
('Inflammatory Output', 'Granulocyte Control'): '90/10',
('Inflammatory Output', 'Innate Privilege'): '95/5',
('Inflammatory Output', 'Adaptive Mediocrity'): '99/1',
('Checkpoint Inhibition', 'Amplifying Myth'): '1/9',
('Checkpoint Inhibition', 'Clotting Mobility'): '1/8',
('Checkpoint Inhibition', 'Granulocyte Control'): '1/7',
('Checkpoint Inhibition', 'Innate Privilege'): '1/6',
('Checkpoint Inhibition', 'Adaptive Mediocrity'): '1/5',
('Regulatory Conformity', 'Amplifying Myth'): '1/99',
('Regulatory Conformity', 'Clotting Mobility'): '5/95',
('Regulatory Conformity', 'Granulocyte Control'): '10/90',
('Regulatory Conformity', 'Innate Privilege'): '15/85',
('Regulatory Conformity', 'Adaptive Mediocrity'): '20/80'
}
# Define edges to be highlighted in black (preserved from your original)
def define_black_edges():
return {
('Inflammatory Output', 'Amplifying Myth'): '80/20',
('Inflammatory Output', 'Clotting Mobility'): '85/15',
}
# Calculate node positions
def calculate_positions(layer, x_offset):
y_positions = np.linspace(-len(layer) / 2, len(layer) / 2, len(layer))
return [(x_offset, y) for y in y_positions]
# Create and visualize the neural network graph
def visualize_nn():
layers = define_layers()
colors = assign_colors()
edges = define_edges()
black_edges = define_black_edges()
G = nx.DiGraph()
pos = {}
node_colors = []
# Create mapping from original node names to numbered labels
mapping = {}
counter = 1
for layer in layers.values():
for node in layer:
mapping[node] = f"{counter}. {node}"
counter += 1
# Add nodes with new numbered labels and assign positions
for i, (layer_name, nodes) in enumerate(layers.items()):
positions = calculate_positions(nodes, x_offset=i * 2)
for node, position in zip(nodes, positions):
new_node = mapping[node]
G.add_node(new_node, layer=layer_name)
pos[new_node] = position
node_colors.append(colors.get(node, 'lightgray'))
# Add edges with updated node labels
edge_colors = []
for (source, target), weight in edges.items():
if source in mapping and target in mapping:
new_source = mapping[source]
new_target = mapping[target]
G.add_edge(new_source, new_target, weight=weight)
edge_colors.append('black' if (source, target) in black_edges else 'lightgrey')
# Draw the graph
plt.figure(figsize=(12, 8))
edges_labels = {(u, v): d["weight"] for u, v, d in G.edges(data=True)}
nx.draw(
G, pos, with_labels=True, node_color=node_colors, edge_color=edge_colors,
node_size=3000, font_size=9, connectionstyle="arc3,rad=0.2"
)
nx.draw_networkx_edge_labels(G, pos, edge_labels=edges_labels, font_size=8)
plt.title("Thiel’s Education Critique: A 17-Node Model", fontsize=18)
plt.show()
# Run the visualization
visualize_nn()
Fig. 19 Immitation. This is what distinguishes humans. We reproduce language, culture, music, behaviors, weapons of extraordinarily complex nature. A ritualization of these processes stablizes its elements and creates stability and uniformity, as well as opportunities for conflict and negotiation.#