Epilogue

Chapter from “Culture Is Not Your Friend: Sex, Death, Drugs & Madness”.

(Highlights from the alien visitor’s report)

Before I get on with the main portion of the report, I must inform you that the countermeasures we installed upon our last visit, those to ward of future culture virus infections, have failed.

The use of psychedelics are largely forbidden, and most humans do not know how to use them, or what they are for. This has led to an all-pervasive culture infection in the OS of the human species, with the expected confusing and self defeating results.

I would recommend that we send a rescue delegation immediately to help them fight the infection.

Humans are very concerned about what they put into their bodies, and they keep referring to our antivirals as drugs, which they believe will harm them. Clearly this is the culture virus attempting to protect itself, but the humans are unaware of this and have decided to wage a war against the cure, and other drugs they dislike.

One perplexing result of this war on drugs is that those who use them are frequently removed from society and placed in guarded homes called prisons, along with thieves, robbers, murderers and rapists. This is apparently for their own good, and for the good of society.

The most noticeable effect of the culture virus infection can be seen in how humans approach morality. Morality can be a useful tool to distinguish between helpful and hurtful behaviours, but they are unable to build a complete set of moral codes that do not hold contradictory messages. This makes the tool practically useless.

Also, their moral codes are extraordinarily concerned with the correct use of certain body parts, and not the ones that you would expect, such as the hands.

Humans are obsessed with their genitals. Their genitals dictate how they behave, how they dress, who they have sex with and what is expected of them. Share on X They attribute this to something they call ‘gender’, some mystical quality that the bearer of a certain set of genitals is supposed to have, and that divides the species into male and female.

Those who do not believe in gender, believe that there are more than two genders or who claim their genitals do not match their gender, are thought of as odd or disturbed.

When it comes to one of life’s most valuable treasures, that of intimate relationships, humans have too many expectations and fantasies surrounding these to be able to maintain them.

The most esteemed type of relationship is where the male and female enter into what they call marriage, a supposedly life long partnership, and use this as a vehicle for raising their children. Humans also believe that the perfect time to decide who they should marry is during a short lived hormonally induced state of psychosis called 'falling in love'. Share on X

With regards to sex, humans have so many contradictory beliefs about this subject that it would take light years to list them all. Some of these incompatible ideas are:

“Have sex with as many as you like, however you like, but stay a virgin until marriage and faithful after marriage. Sex is fun, but only for procreation. Sex toys are safe sex, but they are obscene and may be illegal. It is perfectly fine to have non-heterosexual sex, but you are a pervert if you do.”

The most important aspect of sex – consent, is something that the humans only have a vague understanding of, and they do not apply it to everyone equally.

If you are classed as a woman, you are both allowed and encouraged to say no to sex, but this does not mean it will be respected. If you are classed as male, consent is by default as you are expected to always be ready for sex, with women at least.

This confusion around consent is in danger of turning the playground of sex into a house of horrors.

Also, most humans are unwilling to accept sex as an occupation, at least when it involves payment. (Yes, the culture virus has installed the ‘work to live’ protocol again. I will get back to that at a later date.) However, there is an exception: you are allowed to engage in paid sex work, as long as the work is recorded and made public.

The simple act of procreation is just as bewildering as sex. Humans disagree about who should be allowed to procreate, or allowed to not procreate and how to take care of these matters on a practical level.

Some of this confusion can be traced back to their belief in the sanctity of life, which they are unable to define. Animal life is not protected by this belief, as many will gladly kill animals for food. Humans will also kill each other for a number of reasons, or for no reason at all.

Even the most basic concept, such as which is more important: an unconscious cluster of cells, or a living, conscious human being, seems difficult for them to determine.

Although humans instinctively know that life has value, they seem to have forgotten why. Death, life's expiration date means that we only have a small window of time to love, learn and create. This makes it precious. Share on X

As for death itself, humans are afraid of it and have created elaborate rituals to both mourn the dead, and ward off the very same. The culture protocol of religion seems to be the main culprit here, installing strange customs and superstitions.

The humans also have what they call freedom of religion, which states that you can freely choose a potentially delusional belief based upon old religious texts, but not one of your own making. Share on X If you create your own, they will call you mad, attempt to medicate you and talk to you in an effort to retrain your mind.

Some of these people may be genuinely lost, but it is also possible that these mad people have been cured of culture, and that the attacks upon them are just an attempt by the virus to reinstall itself.

In my next report I will outline how the culture virus attempts to divide and conquer its human hosts.

                                                            ***End of report***

© Merlyn Gabriel Miller