Everyday Junglist
Bio
Practicing mage of the natural sciences (Ph.D. micro/mol bio), Thought middle manager, Everyday Junglist, Boulderer, Cat lover, No tie shoelace user, Humorist, Argan oil aficionado. Occasional LinkedIn & Facebook user
Stories (586/0)
Immunity from Evil
I wrote a piece a few years ago where I asked the question if it were possible for an evil man to be as critically self aware of his nature as a good man? I recently reposted it here. I encourage you to read that piece first as it provides some background and perspective for the following discussion. Here I ask a slightly different, but similar and related question. Are there any religions in which it would be impossible for a truly evil person to participate? How one "participates" in any given religion varies almost as widely as their basic moral tenets. For purposes of this piece I simply mean be recognized by other "members" of the religion as a "member in good standing" or as a "true believer" or "true adherent" of the given religion or faith tradition. Obviously since the person is actually evil, for almost all religions, save perhaps Satanism and maybe a few others, this would have to be by deception. So the question really boils down to this, Are there any religions which by their very nature, their very structure, would absolutely prevent an evil person from "participating" by deception? Or, another way to phrase it, are there any religions absolutely immune from deception by an evil person?
By Everyday Junglist5 months ago in Humans
Can an Evil Man* be as Critically Aware of his Nature as a Good Man?
Typically it is supposed that all good men possess similar key attributes. They have the ability to rigorously and thoroughly reflect on the nature of themselves. They fully comprehend the impact on others of their decisions and appreciate their role in contributing to or reducing the suffering of others. They feel deeply the emotions needed in order to achieve a correct understanding of these things. Emotions like empathy, sadness, guilt, shame, and others. They recognize that most people seek to maximize their experience of positive emotions and minimize the experience of negative ones. Thus they act in ways which seek to achieve this balance in the greatest number of people. They also recognize that all people are unique and all situations different. The optimum emotional balance for one person in a certain situations may vary with other persons in different circumstances. They are flexible enough to adjust accordingly to those differences and wise enough to understand when a certain balance should be aimed for given the circumstances.
By Everyday Junglist5 months ago in Humans
Yeti Encounter
The Yeti came out of nowhere. The wind was howling and all I could see was blowing snow and ice and blackness and then suddenly it was there right in front of me. The creature had to be at least twelve feet tall. It's fur was white as purest snow, but matted and coated in ice. Disturbingly, blood could been seen, no doubt from a recent kill, dripping from the giant fangs which protruded from its bear-like face. When it roared the blood flew from its mouth splashing in rivulets on the snow, melting it partially where it landed and turning it from white to red. I was so close that some of the blood splattered across my face. I could taste the iron in it as it dripped down along into the corners of my mouth. I spat out the acrid blood and immediately reached for my sidearm. Fortunately I had just removed my gloves as I had stopped to light a fire or surely I would have had no chance. I drew the gun as quickly as possible and fired off three shots in quick succession. The noise was deafening as it echoed off the canyon walls. The creature fell back just as an avalanche, triggered by the noise of the gun crashed down upon us both. We fell together, tumbling down the side of mountain carried away by the rushing snow mixed with mud and rocks. I blacked out then and awoke five days later. Still alive.
By Everyday Junglist5 months ago in Fiction
Meaning and Purpose
When God revealed himself to me and confirmed that there was a purpose to each persons’ existence I was elated. All of us were put on this earth to accomplish a specific goal. To fulfill our destiny all we need do was complete this God given task in the place and time allotted for us. I had struggled for so many years with the question of meaning in my life but now had been given the ultimate gift, the knowledge that life is not just some random series of chaotic events unfolding around us in space and time over which we have no control. Rather, our fate was predetermined by God. We would spend all of our days constantly striving to complete the objective God had planned for us from the moment of our birth. Nothing was meaningless. Each day we moved closer to fulfilling our true purpose.
By Everyday Junglist6 months ago in Fiction
The Problem of Evolution in a Simulated Universe
I have been spending a considerable amount of time lately (2018) thinking about various aspects of different simulated universe hypotheses. One topic that arose in a recent post piqued my interest, how to account for evolution by natural selection in a simulated universe. I wish to address the issue from the most common simulation hypothesis perspective, what I call the simulation hypothesis 1 (SH1) type universe. In SH1 scenarios both the universe and ourselves are 100% simulations. In other words we are 100% simulated beings living in a 100% simulated universe. Immediately it seems a concern reveals itself for evolution by natural selection implies that there be a ‘natural’ world for the selection by fitness to occur in. In SH1 there is nothing natural, everything is simulated so how could evolution actually function in such a universe?
By Everyday Junglist6 months ago in Futurism
At The Very End
He stood in silence as the glow in the sky became brighter and brighter. Eventually he knew it would become as bright as the sun, and then, shortly thereafter, his world would end. Snow and ice blew around him in all directions. The way the light glinted off it gave the appearance that he stood amidst a swirling maelstrom of tiny diamonds. He thought it very beautiful and for a moment his spirits lifted, but then grim reality struck as he realized it would soon be gone. The snow, the ice, his friends, his family, his world, obliterated by the massive solar flare ray moving at the speed of light directly toward him and everything he knew. There was nothing to be done about it now, so he pulled his parka hood up over his cold ears, bowed his head down low as a shield against the blowing snow and freezing winds, and began to walk. Slowly, one step at a time, watching the snow collapse below each boot and seeing the deep impressions he left behind. It was already beginning to melt. Each footprint slowly began to fill with water, the frozen tundra upon which he walked was becoming a lake, and he would soon drown, or freeze, or perhaps boil to death depending on how quickly events transpired after the flare hit the outer atmosphere. The snow had turned to rain. The last thing he felt was a tear fall from his eye, or was it a raindrop.
By Everyday Junglist6 months ago in Fiction
On This Day I Swear It, In 2024 I Shall Publish The Great American Pirate Themed Novel
I know that many will mock me when they read my vow today that someday I will be spoken of in the same breathe with the great American authors of pirate literature. Of all the literary sub genres the pirate novel is arguably one of the most prestigious and acclaimed. Completion and publication of a pirate focused or even pirate themed novel has been said by many to represent the greatest of literary challenges for any writer, let alone a prickly newcomer like myself. To them I say you don’t know me. You have no idea the skills I possess, the depth of knowledge of pirate culture I have obtained, the encyclopedic bank of pirate phrases, the raw talent, and frankly the ambition I bring to bear. So hear me now, and believe me later, today I vow it, tomorrow or someday later, but definitely in this year of 2024 I plan to write and publish the greatest pirate themed novel of all time. You read that correctly, the greatest (dramatic pause), pirate themed (dramatic pause), novel (dramatic pause), of all time. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
By Everyday Junglist6 months ago in Writers
Genius Grant Winner is No Einstein When it Comes to Life
Genius mathematician Ramash Rapandradan winner of the prestigious Fields Medal and most recent MacArthur Fellow “Genius Grant” awardee struggles to complete a wide variety of activities most humans consider basic to everyday life. He has made important contributions to the study of hyperbolic geometry (also called Bolyai–Lobachevskian geometry or Lobachevskian geometry), a non-Euclidean plane geometry which considers the geometry of surfaces with a constant negative Gaussian curvature. In contrast to his proficiency with the highly abstract mathematical geometry he is less capable of functioning with actual geometry especially directions, which he does not know how to follow, and often becomes lost while walking or driving short distances from his apartment in Cambridge. Ramash is also said to be a leading mind in knot theory, the study of mathematical knots. These knots are similar to those from daily life such as ropes and shoelaces, but the ends are joined together so that they cannot be undone. In precise mathematical language, a knot is an embedding of a circle in 3-dimensional Euclidean space, R3. Two mathematical knots are equivalent if one can be transformed into the other via a deformation of R3 upon itself (known as an ambient isotopy). Ironically Ramash cannot tie his own shoelaces and often considers the various problems inherent in ambient isotropy while struggling to untangle his which he sometimes ties together rather than preparing a single knot for each shoe as intended by their design. Ramash will spend the no strings attached $645,000 five year stipend to continue his pioneering work in information theory and signal processing, two important branches of applied mathematics involving the quantification of information, and the analysis, interpretation and manipulation of signals. In contrast to his proficiency with information theory he struggles mightily to process information related to many aspects of his home life including where he put any of his silverware, which items need to go in the refrigerator and which in the freezer, and how to put on pants. He also misunderstands a host of signals sent by other human beings when involved in social interactions and often mistakes a friendly smile from a woman as an invitation to take her to bed, and a handshake from a man as a challenge to a duel. Reached for comment Ramash looked down sadly, shook his head, and mumbled “What’s this all about now? Who are you? Where am I?” and finally, “I forgot to wear my pants again didn’t I?”
By Everyday Junglist6 months ago in Poets
Subscribe to my stories
Show your support and receive all my stories in your feed.