Polemics on DELI ISLAND

The Blue or Red Button Dilemma and the Hantavirus Cruise Ship

Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Recently a new hypothetical moral dilemma made the rounds online, the red button vs blue button dilemma. The dilemma posits that everyone in the world is privately given a choice between a red button and blue button. They are told that if more than 50% press the blue button, everyone lives, but if less than 50% press the blue button, only those who press the red will be left alive. Shortly after this moral dilemma went viral, an outbreak of a deadly virus was discovered on a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The popular response to this outbreak seemed to bleed into the discourse around the moral dilemma.

The Greatest Debate on Earth, Solved by The Greatest Mind on Earth

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 02:43:11 -0500

As THE most intelligent man on Earth, I am taking it upon myself to settle, once and for all, one of the most controversial yet important debates of our time. Cats, or dogs? I think it’s clear what any man of substance would say: unequivocally, assuredly, indubitably, indisputably, CATS. And nothing else.

You may ask, “Mr. Deli Isle, why are you so sure to decry dogs? Why are you so vehemently on the side of cats?” Well, the fact that you even need to ask leads me to conclude that you are not worth my time or effort, but for the sake of good argument I will humor this query.

The Personification of Nations

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 01:32:33 -0500

There is much confusion today about the nature of the state, as well as the nation, especially as social consciousness continues to grow regarding the various geopolitical struggles unfolding globally, as well as those which have preceded. This confusion has been exploited by malicious actors in service of the trampling of morality and the violation of individual rights, peddling arguments which seem convincing to one who does not understand the meaning of a state or nation, but quickly fall apart as absurd under the slightest scrutiny.

European Disneyland

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 22:37:16 +0000

The perception of Europe in the United States has, over the past few decades, shifted and evolved into some jarringly disfigured homunculus. This is, of course, in response to the question of a “white identity” within America, specifically in attempt to find (or invent) a cultural distinction between white Americans and their non-white cocitizens.

For the white identitarian in America, it is difficult to distinguish themselves culturally from non-white Americans. No white American can claim to be indigenous to the American continent, and if they do it’s through virtue of some non-white heritage. Culturally, a white American goes to the same schools as non-whites, eats the same foods at the same restaurants, lives under the same laws, speaks the same language, and even lives on the same street. There is nothing unique to them in America, and so the “white identity” within America becomes fundamentally meaningless, an empty clause, with meager social or cultural weight.

The Virtualization Singularity

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the virtual sphere, twitch streamers debate with academics, comedians converse with the president, adult film stars do stand up, every single sphere has converged into a single point. There are no longer the categories of comedy, political, advertisement, pornography, etc. Everything has collapsed into one point, a simultaneous and continuous consumption of the virtual. Effectively zero distance, it has all converged into your phone screen. All at the same time, GTA 5 gameplay, a Reddit text-to-speech video, a factory accident in China, a podcast clip, a Wendy’s commercial, a girl dancing in tight yoga pants, news about the election, a recipe for a triple wagyu smashburger. All these occur simultaneously in the same space.

Spotify Wrapped and the Social Panopticon

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Today the Spotify Wrapped playlists have been rolled out on the app (as well as the analogous thing for Apple music I guess, if you use that). Of course, being the beacon of taste and sophistication that I am, mine is beyond reproach. I have listened to the exact calculated permutation of songs, at exactly the right minutes, such as to bring about the optimum, the ideal of musical consumption. Utility maximization, with the utility curve tangential along the market line of all auditory choice. Internal Lagrangian functions constantly calculating to determine what to listen to, and when, and in conjunction with other decisions of taste in a constant network which optimizes sophistication, culminating in a final playlist upon which all may look in admiration. Finely displayed in the medium of my Instagram story, peering through the protective glass of your phone screen, masterfully framed by your phone case, like an artwork on display. It even tells you the amount of minutes listened, the measure of time effort put into this final display, effort then collapsed into a singular .webp image.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan is often cited as a modern catastrophe, an unforgivable destruction of invaluable cultural heritage by machine gun toting Luddite savages. How could these psychopathic extremists destroy such a culturally significant site, one which was protected under international status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site? Could they not see that it had a special place in the heritage of the world as a whole? What horrid drivel, what feigned outrage.