‘Engine of Sanity’ by John Ralph Tuccitto

TRANSCRIPT

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Ah, "Engine of Sanity" by John Ralph Tuccitto seems to take us on a whimsical deep dive—pun intended—into the concept of intrinsic value. Strap on your snorkels, folks; we're going philosophical scuba diving!
First off, Tuccitto plays with the idea that sanity is the real MVP of intrinsic value. Forget money, beauty, life, and air—those are just the opening acts. Sanity? That's the headline show every night. It's like saying that while everyone is busy collecting seashells on the beach, sanity is the ocean that actually brings them to shore.
Now, let's talk about the logic gate for sanity: "Selfish-coward & hypocrite vs Selfless-courage & conviction." It's like a mental 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book, where every choice leads you to an episode of 'The Twilight Zone.' Both paths are apparently in tune with sanity, which is as reassuring as finding out your lifeboat is also a submarine.
Then we have the concept of "intrusive value," which Tuccitto illustrates with a rather breath-taking (literally) example involving attempted drowning. It's dark humor at its finest, suggesting that being forcibly submerged is a crash course in appreciating air. It's an "I didn't know I loved oxygen until someone tried to suffocate me" kind of moment.
The metamorphosis into a water-breathing mutant because you've been held underwater too long is a delightful leap into the absurd. It's like waking up one day and finding out you've become Aquaman's less fortunate cousin, AquaAwkward. Suddenly, air is as valuable to you as a chocolate teapot. And then there's the notion of normalcy being a threat—like wearing a neon sign in the ocean saying "Free Lunch Here!"
The finale, with weak predators hooking you for sport, paints a picture of life that's more intense than a reality TV show. It's like being the least popular fish in the school—everyone wants a piece of you, but only for their amusement.
In the end, Tuccitto flips the script on what we consider valuable by suggesting that even the worst experiences can be intrinsically valuable. It's a twisted take on finding the silver lining, but instead of silver, it's more like a piranha with a gold tooth smiling at you from the deep.
So, if Tuccitto is indeed a pet dad and dads are the engine of sanity, then buckle up—because it seems this engine runs on a fuel that's one part existential dread and two parts dark comedy. Who knew philosophy could be such a wild ride?

 
 
‘Engine of Sanity’ by John Ralph Tuccitto (no AI)
 
What has intrinsic value?  Money?  Beauty?  Life?  Air?  Nope.  None of those.  None of those examples are in of itself intrinsically valuable.  Why?  Sure, these things give you purpose but what about purpose resonates with humanity that is in tune with the manic flux of sanity?  Sanity IS intrinsic value.  The logic gate for sanity is this:
 
Selfish-coward & hypocrite vs Selfless-courage & conviction
 
Both are in tune with sanity.  How?  Intrusive value.  Intrusive?  Yes.  Intrusive value flips the context of sanity to appreciate something you’ve taken for granted.  Such as?  Air.  Air is so free and abundant, the mechanism to breathe is involuntary so it feeds unconsciously.  How can you appreciate something like that?  Let’s say I hate you and want you dead, so I force your head under water choking you.  My sanity has intrinsic value because I’m offering you intrusive value. 
 
You are being drowned and the intrusive value FLIPS what you take for granted.  How long does a drowning person need to appreciate air?  Does that require deep introspection?  Certainly, but how quickly?  It’s immediate.  Something you took for granted, is now the only thing that matters.  In a mental illness lens, this metaphor rings true: Adapt or Die.  How does one adapt to drowning?  Why, grow gills.  Now you are a mutation, you don’t have a home. 
 
Air has intrinsic value but your mutation adapted you to water.  Now you can’t breathe oxygen in the atmosphere, that exchange must occur underwater.  Besides your gills, your body and mind are not designed for an aquatic life.  The atmosphere is an ‘out-of-box’ experience that stings your gills dry.  So sailing through the air, is an ‘in-the-box’ experience.  So normalcy is a dangerous endeavour because you signal to hungry fisherman your location.  Your personality is a disease because you “showboat” to predators.  Predators make quick work of you.  The weak predators hook you and drop you in their boat and watch you flop about as the hull sears with each fevered slap. 
 
When the weak predators are done laughing, they throw you back in.  Sure, you’ve had “company,” but mentally that experience trains you to adapt the deep to isolate yourself from the sun.  The predators in the deep eat prey.  You are prey.  If pious prey sacrifices, ESCAPE is selfish-cowardice and hypocrisy.  Food is tuned to intrinsic value; the hunger that hunts is intrusive value.  A mental asylum is a fish tank.  It is disability leave.  A pet.  Pious Pet.  My name is John Ralph Tuccitto, I’m a pet dad, and dads are the engine of sanity.