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Higgenbotham wrote: Thu Jul 16, 2026 10:29 am When you worked for a company that was thoroughly immersed in Stacking in the early 1980s my best analogy was to think of myself as being in an all male prison, except the inmates in there were more clever.

One thing that was still fashionable at that time was to take the new "recruits" around to top management and have a brief, friendly conversation of maybe 20 minutes. Most all of the top managements at companies presented themselves a pretty nice people at these meetings. This company was a little different as in the majority of the top management still presented themselves as pretty nice people, but interspersed within top management were a fair number of assholes.

One day I was scheduled to meet with a management person named Dave and another newish young recruit named Walt was going to join me. Walt was from Buffalo, New York, like many of the other young recruits from decaying Great Lakes Rust Belt hellholes that had lost their manufacturing base. Walt was what I called a Glad Hander. A Glad Hander ranks at the top echelons of Ass Kissers, like at the 95th percentile of Ass Kissers and above. You can't really blame a Glad Hander for wanting to permanently escape a Rust Belt hellhole, I guess.

So we're having a conversation with this management guy who in my opinion was showing himself to be a pathetic knob and a complete asshole. He was enumerating all the company priorities that he could list, when I asked him which of those were the most important. Cleverly, as in advanced prison clever, he replied that was like asking which leg of a 3-legged stool was most important, at which time Walt, on the edge of his seat, quickly blurted out, "They're all important!" Perfect!

I just recalled anther great anecdote about Walt. On some regular basis, everyone had to eventually give a presentation to our group of about 30. It was something like 3 per month. Someone gave their presentation and the person did a pretty good job but it was evident this person was slightly nervous. After the presentations were finished, people would offer comments for improvement. As I recall, there were a couple constructive comments. Then Walt offered that some of the person's intonations or pitches rose slightly at the end of some sentences. The person then smiled and asked the group if it was OK to sit down now. A few people smiled and laughed and then someone said OK, yes, you can sit down now.

Higgenbotham wrote: Wed Jul 15, 2026 11:15 pm Unlike Stacking in all its ugly forms that proliferate today like multiple gig jobs, side hustles, growing children compromising their health by getting 5 hours of sleep a night, empty refrigerators in homes that can afford food but don't have time to buy it, etc., Stacking at first seemed to follow a somewhat logical trajectory.

What percent of high school students sleep 5 hours or less per night in 2025?

AI Overview

In the 2023–2025 timeframe, nearly 23% of high school students reported sleeping for five hours or less per night. This pervasive lack of "very short sleep" contributes to a broader crisis where up to 77% of U.S. teens fail to get the recommended 8 to 10 hours of nightly rest.

Growing children compromising their health by getting 5 hours of sleep per night

AI Overview

Children getting only 5 hours of sleep per night face severe and lasting health consequences. Chronic sleep deprivation fundamentally disrupts their brain development, immune function, and physical growth. It drastically increases risks for long-term conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes while triggering immediate, severe mental and behavioral struggles.

A child’s body requires significantly more rest than an adult’s, typically ranging from 9 to 12 hours for school-age children and 8 to 10 hours for teens. By cutting that window down to 5 hours, several compounding health complications occur:

Impaired Brain Development: Research shows that consistent sleep deprivation limits the growth of gray matter in brain regions responsible for memory, learning, and emotional regulation.

Mental Health Vulnerability: Lack of adequate rest increases the odds of mood disorders, anxiety, and depression by 55%. It manifests as heightened impulsivity, emotional instability, and aggressive behavior.

Growth and Immunity Compromise: Human growth hormone (HGH) is primarily released during deep sleep. Insufficient rest can stunt physical development, suppress the immune system, and disrupt hormones that regulate appetite.

Metabolic Issues: Less sleep is directly tied to a higher risk of childhood obesity, as a tired body produces more ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and less leptin (the fullness hormone).

Proper sleep hygiene can make a massive difference in preventing these issues. This includes enforcing consistent bed and wake times (even on weekends), removing screens from the bedroom at least an hour before sleep, and ensuring the room is dark, quiet, and coo

The fundamental idea being this behavior and others are not based on information. They are based on late Industrial Age sociological herding as a result of Stacking.

sociological herding

AI Overview

Sociological herding, or herd mentality, is the phenomenon where individuals adopt the behaviors, beliefs, or actions of a group, often overriding their own independent judgment. Driven by a desire for social acceptance and the fear of missing out, it heavily influences everything from viral trends and mob violence to financial bubbles.

The best way I can think to summarize the still early days of Stacking from 1980 to 1985 is with the slogan America is back and we really can do it all.

But first I want to insert that there is no particular bias here except that a late industrial age sociological phenomena is being presented and described.

A few items that go along with that, in no particular order:

Reagan was elected and it was "Morning in America". The malaise of the late 1970s was officially over.

Government and union employees (you know, some of which were the linchpins of our World War II victory, as previously discussed) were deemed to be lazy pieces of shit. The air traffic controllers were fired and replaced.

Baby on Board signs appeared, notably in upscale vehicles. Those signs were status symbols of female Yuppies, saying effectively, "You really can have it all, motherhood and a great career."

The Charlie Daniels Band released a song "In America" with these lyrics:
And you never did think
That it ever would happen again
(In America, did you)
You never did think
That we'd ever get together again
(We damn sure could)
Yeah, we're walkin' real proud
And we're talkin' real loud again
(In America)
You never did think
That it ever would happen again

Lee Iacocca, Chairman of Chrysler, stated that there are no cushy jobs left in America. From search, "Lee Iacocca was the legendary former president of Ford and CEO of Chrysler who popularized the blunt, anti-complacency mantra: "There ain't no more cushy jobs in this country." He frequently delivered this message during the 1980s to emphasize the need for productivity, cost-cutting, and a renewed work ethic in American manufacturing." Iacocca was the highly respected CEO who had brought Chrysler back from bankruptcy in 1978.

Given more time, I could add a lot more, but this captures the general mood in the country at that time. This is some of the process by which Stacking blanketed the entire country, starting in the high cost areas of the coasts and spreading inward.

One of the fundamental questions is how much of this sociological behavior is information-based versus how much of it is late industrial age herding, so to speak.

Which reminded me of something I saw in, I believe late 1980, prior to the incident just related. At that time, it was common for college kids to write graffiti inside the bathroom stalls. Squeezed in between stuff like, "Flush twice, it's a long way to the cafeteria," or, "In reality, Gutterman can be accused of bestiality, or cruelty to animals," appeared the following:

Never mind your mind, Keep your mind on your work.
Work! Work!
--The American

I didn't think much of it at the time. A few days later, my roommate asked me if I had seen that. I said I had. He told me he wrote it.

When you worked for a company that was thoroughly immersed in Stacking in the early 1980s my best analogy was to think of myself as being in an all male prison, except the inmates in there were more clever.

One thing that was still fashionable at that time was to take the new "recruits" around to top management and have a brief, friendly conversation of maybe 20 minutes. Most all of the top managements at companies presented themselves a pretty nice people at these meetings. This company was a little different as in the majority of the top management still presented themselves as pretty nice people, but interspersed within top management were a fair number of assholes.

One day I was scheduled to meet with a management person named Dave and another newish young recruit named Walt was going to join me. Walt was from Buffalo, New York, like many of the other young recruits from decaying Great Lakes Rust Belt hellholes that had lost their manufacturing base. Walt was what I called a Glad Hander. A Glad Hander ranks at the top echelons of Ass Kissers, like at the 95th percentile of Ass Kissers and above. You can't really blame a Glad Hander for wanting to permanently escape a Rust Belt hellhole, I guess.

So we're having a conversation with this management guy who in my opinion was showing himself to be a pathetic knob and a complete asshole. He was enumerating all the company priorities that he could list, when I asked him which of those were the most important. Cleverly, as in advanced prison clever, he replied that was like asking which leg of a 3-legged stool was most important, at which time Walt, on the edge of his seat, quickly blurted out, "They're all important!" Perfect!

Back to the history of Stacking.

Unlike Stacking in all its ugly forms that proliferate today like multiple gig jobs, side hustles, growing children compromising their health by getting 5 hours of sleep a night, empty refrigerators in homes that can afford food but don't have time to buy it, etc., Stacking at first seemed to follow a somewhat logical trajectory.

In the 1970s, as described, it was a concerted effort to get women into the workforce. That was followed in the 1980s by a push to make workaholic men seem noble and heroic.

To my recollection, that was first portrayed in a book called The Soul of New Machine by Tracy Kidder. Rather than look up reviews or summaries, I'm going to go by memory, then look later to see how accurate this is. The book was about a rivalry in the computer industry along Route 128 in Boston between DEC and the upstart Data General. Both were trying to come to market first with the fastest mid sized computer. The book describes a Data General skunk works of kids right out of college being led by Tom West, age 40, portrayed as a tough veteran of the computer wars who barely sleeps. He motivates the kids to work day and night, night and day, and they successfully bring the world's most advanced mid sized computer to market. The book hails them as modern day high tech heroes and people to emulate. That is my recollection. As in, if you know what is good for you, you need to start Stacking right now.

I think that was partly driven by Boston and San Francisco being about the only high cost areas in the country versus virtually all of it being high cost today and, of course, it was also driven by high tech product cycles and Moore's law, which also affected those areas disproportionately. So in those areas, if you were a good student and you could pretend that you were a true believer in Stacking, a job could be yours. Of course, if you didn't adhere to the cult of Stacking, then the job was no longer yours. The opposite was pretty much the case in most of the rest of the country where the Stacking mentality hadn't taken hold yet. I got a job that way. It was an internship and the company was in San Francisco. When I met the manager of the design group (it was not a computer company) we had this sort of idiotic conversation where I came around to saying I was open to Stacking in a roundabout way. That part ended with me asking if they meet their deadlines that they set for the completion of projects (everyone knows that companies that have a Stacking mentality set very aggressive deadlines that have to be pushed back). His answer was, "You bet your bippy we do," and I nodded as if that was the best news I had heard all month. I got the job. While at the job, managers talked about how they never took their vacation and stuff like that. Because I wasn't really a true believer in Stacking, they didn't hire me back. But they did hire a guy back who had been there the year before who was a true believer in Stacking and he is someone high up in the company now. OK, I just read he is now retired after decades of "outstanding performance." Awesome.

Here's an extreme example of Stacking. The word Stacking is even used in the article.

Before reading the comments, I predicted the comments would congratulate the boy for Stacking. I wasn't disappointed.

Vaibhav Bhaskar, 17, recently graduated from Steinbrenner High School with an 11.99 weighted GPA.

To achieve his 11.99 GPA, Bhaskar took 44 Advanced Placement and dual college enrollment classes.

Now, some schools are relying on the Honors Point Average system, averaging grades instead of stacking them. The change is also aimed at curbing student burnout.

https://www.aol.com/articles/high-schoo ... 57000.html

Reference:

Higgenbotham wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2026 1:11 pm
Based on the topics of the last few posts, and since we are talking about a sociological viewpoint which aligns with that of this Dark Age Hovel, it might be useful to bring up a phenomena that I call Stacking. Everyone knows what Stacking is and, since it's a pervasively engrained late stage Industrial Age sociological phenomena, everyone has experienced it. It's what everybody does to some extent and nearly everybody does it willingly. So the only thing new here to anyone might be how it's framed and some of the specific examples to be discussed. But everyone has encountered their own specific examples.

Stacking might be thought of as like a Jenga pile.



For practically every individual in this late state Industrial Age, more and more responsibilities are stacked on top of other responsibilities and no responsibilities are ever removed in a planned fashion.

According to the College Board how many score an 800 on the SAT math each year?

AI Overview

The College Board does not publish the exact number of students who score an 800 on the SAT math section each year. However, an 800 is a top-tier score that falls in the 99+ percentile.

Assuming roughly 1.5 to 2 million students take the SAT annually, this translates to an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 students securing a perfect math score across the various testing administrations.

This is one tier. They have mastered basic math and in some cases but not too many, more. Over a 40 year span, the same span as a typical career, there will be over half a million people in the workforce who are in this tier. That is a lot of people! This tier is what I would say is 2 tiers below the principal Manhattan Project scientists. Compared to them, the average person who scores an 800 on the SAT math is pretty stupid.

Many people from this tier can work in high tech companies. When they do, their colleagues will say that their company hires really smart people. Many will be in awe. But, like I've said, "Don't be wowed."

The 97th Percentile thinks of an 800 on the SAT math as the Gold Tier of mathematical ability. It would be more accurate to think of it as the Bronze Tier. These people won't solve intractable problems - they are who and what make intractable problems and the problems intractable - and they won't lead technological efforts that win wars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgXJTfRU6ig
Identity baseline whiplash phase.
Leftist cannot see the first prison.
The Leftist that do are already dead inside.
Notice the match throwers ignored. Classical Annihilation enablers.
That is actually ignored since they made a choice to be given over.

It was said we had the same grades as those fellows, but I was not in the same class.
We did there Homework in Study Hour as they did not think we did it anyways.
So She quit as My Wife did since the workers are few.
Solutions exist. Find yours.

Below is a list of the principal Manhattan Project scientists and corroboration of the fact that not a single one of them was ever a direct employee of a high tech company.

Tech companies like to tell you they hire the creme de la creme, the best and brightest, etc. But when the ultimate test came which decided who was going to prevail in World War II the tech companies had nothing to offer.

Will they have anything to offer in solving the present day crises?

Did J. Robert Oppenheimer, Edward Teller, Leo Szilard, Enrico Fermi, Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Otto Frisch, Niels Bohr, Felix Bloch, James Franck, Emilio Segrè, Klaus Fuchs, Hans Bethe, or John Von Neumann ever work as direct employees (not consultants) for any technology company?

No, none of them.

When strictly excluding external advisory roles, board seats, patent licensing agreements, and independent consulting contracts, not a single scientist on this list was ever hired as a regular, direct employee for a private technology or engineering company.

Every individual on this list spent their formal payroll careers strictly within four institutional categories:

Universities and Academic Academies (e.g., Princeton, Chicago, Berkeley, Columbia, Copenhagen, Stanford).

Government Agencies and Public Commissions (e.g., the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the National Defense Research Committee).

Publicly Funded or State-Run Laboratories (e.g., Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Lawrence Berkeley, CERN, or the Central Institute for Nuclear Research in East Germany).

Foreign State Service (e.g., military service or national government research mandates).

Clarifications on Close Associations

While many of these men had deep ties to corporate entities, those relationships strictly disqualified them as "direct employees":

Leo Szilard: He famously partnered with Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) to develop the Einstein-Szilard refrigerator. However, he was never on AEG's internal corporate staff or employment rolls; he was an independent inventor who sold patents and maintained a contract-based advisory relationship.

John von Neumann & Hans Bethe: Both men made fortunes in corporate tech. Von Neumann was a crucial architect of IBM's early computing strategy, and Bethe spent decades solving advanced solid-state problems for the General Electric Research Laboratory. However, both intentionally structured their corporate ties as elite, independent retainer-based consultants to protect their primary, full-time employment status as tenured academic professors (at the Institute for Advanced Study and Cornell University, respectively).

Edward Teller: He spent his entire career on the payroll of the University of California system (which managed the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos laboratories) and various defense advisory boards. His extensive corporate work with companies like Sandia Corporation, Ford, and aerospace manufacturers was entirely restricted to consulting panels and advisory boards.