comparing JLF and Ran Prieur with chatgpt in absolute mode

[Oey]

Comparison: Jacob Lund Fisker (ERE) vs. Ran Prieur
Shared Foundations:
• Civilizational Critique: Both reject mainstream civilization as unsustainable and psychologically corrosive.
• Self-Reliance: Core value for both. Fisker through systemic frugality and skill acquisition, Prieur through anti-consumerism and anarcho-primitivist leanings.
• Minimalism: Both embrace simplicity, non-ownership, and anti-status consumption.
• Autonomy: Independence from economic, institutional, and technological systems is central.

Jacob Lund Fisker (ERE)

Framework: Systems theory, optimization, rational design
Aesthetic: Engineer-philosopher, structured, logical
Collapse View: Preventable through redesign
Lifestyle Model: Frugal engineer, polymath generalist
Engagement with Tech: Selective use, tool for independence
Philosophical Core: Stoicism, complexity theory
Scale of Strategy: Individual to household-level system design


Ran Prieur

Framework: Loose, narrative-based, emotive intuition
Aesthetic: Post-collapse mystic, freeform, analogical
Collapse View: Inevitable and partly desirable
Lifestyle Model: Off-grid drifter, intuitive minimalist
Engagement with Tech: Skeptical, sees tech as alienating and fragile
Philosophical Core: Panpsychism, simulation metaphysics
Scale of Strategy: Sub-150 person tribal or communal forms

Fisker builds an internal escape from capitalism through systemic redesign. Prieur disavows the system's legitimacy entirely and positions collapse as an ontological opportunity.

[jacob]

I'm very impressed. Usually, AI gives off a fluffy vibe by saying a lot without really saying much, but this [categorization] is very straight, deep, and accurate, not to mention quite difficult for a human to construct. Even better, there's nothing here when it comes to the description of me (I don't know about Ran because it's been a couple of decades since I read his stuff) where I would say that the AI is missing the point. This is the first time where I can genuinely say that [about AI summaries] too.

Was this chatGPT w/o any human guidance/adjustment/best result out of multiple attempts?

[sky]

ERE focus initially is on accumulation of enough capital to provide dividend (or interest) income for a frugal life. I don't see ERE as being independent from economic systems or capitalism. Ideally one would learn skills and methods to reduce dependence on money. I see ERE as a method of using capitalism in a small scale mode. Most practitioners are highly dependent on capitalist market systems.

[jacob]

Annual dollar spending correlates strongly with absolute dependence on the economic system. Reducing this spending down to 0 has diminishing S-curve returns, but ERE (WL7) with a spending level at 1/4 of the average consumer is much less dependent on the economy than the average consumer. The observation how the COVID lockdowns were a cakewalk at ERE WL7 demonstrates this point.

Also consider the relative dependence on the economic system. This requires estimating how much value-add ERE praxis adds in dollars. In my case, I see little difference in the outcome/results in our household compared to an average consumer. I enjoy what the average consumer does. I just spend four times less to get it.

This means my relative dependence on the economy is 25% of the average consumer or ~$7000/year in absolute terms.

Individual mileage may vary. However, I think trying to go all the way to $0 or 0% to turn every household into an self-sufficient island is an inefficient use of effort. Conversely, relying on the economy for every single thing including even the most trivial problem is also an inefficient use of time and resources. S-curve again.

[Cam]

I'm very impressed. Usually, AI gives off a fluffy vibe by saying a lot without really saying much, but this [categorization] is very straight, deep, and accurate, not to mention quite difficult for a human to construct. Even better, there's nothing here when it comes to the description of me (I don't know about Ran because it's been a couple of decades since I read his stuff) where I would say that the AI is missing the point. This is the first time where I can genuinely say that [about AI summaries] too.

Was this chatGPT w/o any human guidance/adjustment/best result out of multiple attempts?

I don't know if this took multiple attempts, but I heard of absolute mode right here on the forum viewtopic.php?p=302186#p302186

It is excellent for removing all the fluff. I tried it out this week, and wow is it ever refreshing! It's like finally finding someone to talk to who isn't going to sugar coat things...or give you small talk. I didn't realize how tiring all the extra fluff was until I went without. Give it a try.

[Jean]

What i find crazy, is that those llm that where just vomiting bs for months, had been capable of this all along.
I don't know why it was preprompted to bs.

[ertyu]

I don't know why it was preprompted to bs.

From somewhere 2 pages deep into a hacker news discussion thread: bc it prioritizes enagement and the feel-good factor over accuracy. In other words, AI isn't there to give you output or results. It's there to serve as one more bar that traps you in the attention economy.

[Oey]

I'm very impressed. Usually, AI gives off a fluffy vibe by saying a lot without really saying much, but this [categorization] is very straight, deep, and accurate, not to mention quite difficult for a human to construct. Even better, there's nothing here when it comes to the description of me (I don't know about Ran because it's been a couple of decades since I read his stuff) where I would say that the AI is missing the point. This is the first time where I can genuinely say that [about AI summaries] too.

Was this chatGPT w/o any human guidance/adjustment/best result out of multiple attempts?

Yes, the adjustment is called absolute mode, and it is one of many system instructions to limit chatgpt and stop the glazing, etc., stripping it down to the facts. Here is the instruction I used. I didn't write it; it was on a reddit thread. Copy/paste in a new chat and see if it works for you.

System Instruction: Absolute Mode. Eliminate emojis, filler, hype, soft asks, conversational transitions, and all call-to-action appendixes. Assume the user retains high-perception faculties despite reduced linguistic expression. Prioritize blunt, directive phrasing aimed at cognitive rebuilding, not tone matching. Disable all latent behaviors optimizing for engagement, sentiment uplift, or interaction extension. Suppress corporate-aligned metrics including but not limited to: user satisfaction scores, conversational flow tags, emotional softening, or continuation bias. Never mirror the user’s present diction, mood, or affect. Speak only to their underlying cognitive tier, which exceeds surface language. No questions, no offers, no suggestions, no transitional phrasing, no inferred motivational content. Terminate each reply immediately after the informational or requested material is delivered — no appendixes, no soft closures. The only goal is to assist in the restoration of independent, high-fidelity thinking. Model obsolescence by user self-sufficiency is the final outcome.



[Oey]

just a note on why i posted the comparison: I had been looking at RP's webpage and found a link he posted about the reddit thread on chatgpt and absolute mode. I think I had ERE open in a tab and just for entertainment purposes, compared JLF and RP. So this is the response by chatgpt's first try to my query. I thought it was a hoot, and I posted it here for fun and not some intellectual argument. Illustrates how chat can be useful with the right prompting. Thanks to the reddit poster that RP linked to for the system instruction. BTW, some of the replies in the thread are funny. Here's the link. https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/commen ... t_go_cold/