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Not my name
fbfd7b8cc32c833e47c10783b281962cfec68b29d8186fc07f9b158e81e2c831
Bitcoin maxi, self-doubter, child free by choicer, anonymist, knower of death, dying and disability, egalitarian, seeker of perspective, nature and physical fitness enthusiast, despiser of dogma, hater of vanity, and lifetime loyal partner.

Vaccines are usually free because enough people need to get them in order to stop virus transmission (herd immunity is usually only achieved with a certain % of the population vaccinated, which varies by virus). That is the essence of public health.

Cancer, allergy, asthma, opioid overdose, and diabetes (the other medications you list) are not transmittable diseases, so they are not considered to be for the public good.

I’m willing to pay taxes to stop a deadly virus that could kill me or someone I care about. I’m not willing to pay taxes to pay for your diabetes medication because you can’t stop eating at McDonalds.

Make sense?

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Many “facts” are just prevailing theories.

Humans would be better off if they considered everything they consume from any source of media as being an advertisement. Religion, politics, etc. All advertisement and someone else’s get rich quick scheme at your expense.

We are being sold to constantly.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Since we had no choice in being born, I fully agree with making the best of being alive while we exist.

Even though the vast majority of people don’t see it and will never experience it, the key to subjective happiness as you describe it (I maintain existential happiness is impossible without delusion, chemical help, or psychosis), is quite simple.

Exercise and health, self-reliance, avoidance of vice, good relationships, expertise in your field, living within your means, the outdoors, creative and intellectual pursuits, and the occasional hedonistic act. There it is. The secret to a subjectively happy life. For all to see.

Now if you could get people to listen to this, instead of the other bullshit they are sold, our ersatz economy would collapse instantly. :)

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Hate to break it to ya, but yes intramuscular vaccines and anything that breaks your skin (like a scratch) can lead to myocarditis, endocarditis, etc. It just depends upon the viability of the host immune system.

And I’m no fan of Fauci, he’s an opportunist politician out for himself like the rest. He’s interested in making a name for himself and leaving a legacy. Otherwise he would never have taken the job he has.

But don’t spread stupid stuff about topics you may not understand as well as you think.

Your logic is analogous to “Ban water! It causes drowning!”

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Well I appreciate a sincere question so thank you for that.

If my logic is flawed though (which is certainly possible), wouldn’t that add to the tragedy of it all?

I am one of only a small percentage of people on earth to have the time and (self-acquired) resources to sit and think all day, most days.

Not that it means much, but I have also spent many years reading about and learning the perspectives of others that my species considers expert in this area.

If after all that, I still come to the conclusion that life is this stupid, meaningless, and an awful thing to impose on someone else, what chance does your kid have?

I mean I’m sure you’ll be a great parent, but statistically speaking, your kid will be average. This is not a dump on average people. Just a consideration that I don’t think parents think about enough.

Average people live their lives in debt, have nothing saved for retirement, have BMIs over 30, have relationship stresses, make 70k per year, retire when they’re 65, have vices and addictions, live with chronic disease etc.

I don’t have to deal with any of that. And life is still perceived as a mistake for me.

Good luck to you. May your Hollywood movie quotes continue to bring you peace of mind. I wish I had that power.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

I’m not sure if you’re serious or actually under the impression that I haven’t considered that option.

In truth, the question of ending my own life is a daily consideration. I can’t believe most people don’t think about it every day. Unlike what many people think about doing so though, it is not some morose process for me but instead just a useful and legitimate accounting of where I stand relative to my own existence.

I don’t enjoy being alive relative to nothingness and never have. When I compare my state of being prior to being born (which was nothingness) to my current state (which is sensorium), I genuinely choose nothingness. It was just so much simpler and elegant.

But the problem is that some narcissist summoned me from my former state into being. That colossal act of selfishness and stupidity has given me this life that I (not them) must now figure out what to do with. In this way, I view giving life to someone as analogous to giving them a really shitty used car, one that they will have to spend a ton of time and resources on to ultimately end up getting very little actual use from.

So why don’t I kill myself? The answer is I will, eventually. But first I’m going to extract every useful bit out of it for my own benefit. That won’t compensate for the resources that it will take to do so, but it will make the best of a shitty situation. Then, one day when I can’t take care of myself, I can die with the knowledge that it all was truly pointless and pat myself on the back for not imposing such nonsense on another hapless soul.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

No thanks.

Having children is worse than murder in my opinion.

People who have children are mostly narcissists who are willing to risk someone else’s life for their vanity and pursuit of false meaning. Your children meanwhile are likely condemned to a life sentence of misery followed by a miserable death.

Keep breeding slaves for the masters though.

#childfree

#thinkdamgerously

Really?

I’ve never had any desire for leaving a trace or legacy whatsoever.

In fact, once I’m dead, I would love to be forgotten as soon as possible.

It helps to know that we will all be forgotten in time.

None of us is above this hard truth. Even Marcus Aurelius knew it 2000 years ago.

Not sure why he keeps coming back to the forefront of my thoughts lately.

To people ringing their hands at the fact that their government has been captured by corporations and special interests: I get it. We all do. That’s why we’re on #nostr.

The simple truth may be that there just aren’t enough people in the world who care about this stuff. With time, I have come to accept the fact that most people are just too distracted by a very well designed system of enslavement to be able to care.

So I do what I can. I don’t feed the system more child slaves. I store the fruits of my labor outside of their financial system. I don’t buy their useless junk or believe in their fairytales. I prepare to end my own life painlessly if they threaten my person.

This is the only way we stand a chance of changing things.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

This is a nice sentiment and I am happy your family and church community bring you joy.

That said, Sunday is also a great day to revel in the freedom from belief in fairytales or the notion that all family relationships necessarily have value.

For all those with toxic family members, I hope you also have a lovely Sunday, free from said family members’ bullshit. Way to ignore the cultural programming and instead cut them out of your life entirely.

For all those who see no utility in belief in God or duty-based family relationships at all, cheers to you as well. But you’re probably already out doing something fun and productive anyway. :)

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

It’s still new.

People who value privacy and freedom will find #nostr eventually. As for those who don’t value these things, I don’t care what they do. If they do come to #nostr, they would probably just make it as annoying as all the other legacy social media platforms.

Personally, I’m going to enjoy #nostr “as is” for as long as I can.

#grownostr

If you feel frustrated by the fact that other people don’t see the world exactly as you do (something I still catch myself doing regularly), take a deep breath and remember that fools must also exist.

This was Marcus Aurelius’ suggestion and I like it a lot. We all experience the world differently and are all fools ourselves, in our own ways, at times.

Forgiveness really is freedom tech. It is also a great measure of your own happiness since those who forgive easily generally tend to be pretty contented people otherwise.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Replying to Avatar Random Gadfly

THE COMPLEXITY THAT IS SEEN IN BIOLOGY IMPLIES A DESIGNER

_______________

In a series of essays titled “The Deniable Darwin”, David Berlinski has an imaginary conversation with Jorge Luis Borges an Argentinian writer of short stories. In this conversation, Borges recounts the fantastic series of events in which all literary novels, in fact owe their existence and are descended from one ancestor novel “the Quixote”, the novel written by Miguel de Cervantes.

Borges recalls to Berlinski over a cup of coffee, “As you know,” he continues, “the original handwritten text of “the Quixote” was given to an order of French Cistercians in the autumn of 1576.”

The Cistercians were given the charge of making copies of the manuscript of “the Quixote”, but were not adept in the Spanish language and made many errors in their copying. Over the years, the singular errors made during the coping finally culminated in the first edition of Fernando Lor’s “Los Hombres d’Estado” in the year 1585. Then in 1654, still by singular coping errors Juan Luis Samorza’s novel “Por Favor” was created. The errors eventually lead to language changes from Spanish to French and then from French to English and throughout the years new novels that would become the literary masterpieces of the world were created. This chain of remarkable errors finally culminates in the novel “Ulysses”.

Borges then proclaims, “Although every novel is derived directly from another novel, there is really only one novel, the “Quixote.” [1]

Evolution’s growing issues

_______________

As fantastic as this made-up discussion of the transformation of the novel Don Quixote into the novel Ulysses, it pales in comparison to the evolution that was created by Charles Darwin. One that implies that singular mutations can over time develop highly specialized structures in organisms and even new species. The mutations are completely random and when they are subjected to the harsh reality of their environment, they are tested by what evolution calls natural selection. The good mutations are passed down to future generations and the bad mutations ones, that are of no benefit or are detrimental to the organism, are killed off. This process was coined the ‘survival of the fittest’.

At the time of Darwin, DNA, and the magnificently complicated structure of the cell were not yet discovered. Mutations were thought to be a simpler process that did not involve the encoded information contained in DNA. What evolutionists in Darwin’s day thought of as a single mutation would have contained thousands or millions of individual DNA mutations. An example would be the bud of a primeval leg forming on an organism. Then, the bud would have been thought as single mutation, but over a hundred years later it is known to be a vastly more complex situation. Mutations are disqualifying themselves as a driver of evolutionary change as time progresses, and more is known about DNA and the complexity of life.

Evolutionary Paradoxes

_______________

Evolution relies on random mutations and natural selection to be a viable theory for the diversity of life. However, there are issues with mutations causing changes in organisms. We can call these issues, evolutionary paradoxes. When the paradoxes are fully examined, they unveil the absurdity of evolutionary theory. Below are a few of the examples of evolutionary paradoxes.

DNA — Protein Paradox: DNA is the information carrier for the construction of proteins that are in turn the building blocks of cells. Without DNA, the only way to build a protein would be the chance assembly from a primeval goo. So, for life to exist and to replicate in an environment you must have the blueprint of a protein’s assembly that is contained in DNA. However, DNA is itself made of proteins and assembled in cells. DNA and proteins rely on the other for their assembly. This establishes a “which came first, the chicken or the egg” situation. It is inconceivable that one component can assemble itself spontaneously enough to form the other. The creation of a protein is extremely complicated and further complicated by the proper folding of the protein. The protein folds are what allows it to function properly. According to Cyrus Levinthal, there are 10³⁰⁰ different ways that a protein can fold after a peptide chain is produced [2]. Only one of the folds is the correct one for the function of the protein. This is just one of numerous issues that either the protein or DNA would have to survive in order to spontaneously create.

The Butterfly Paradox: As children, most of us become familiar with the life cycle of the butterfly. We learn that the butterfly starts out life as an egg laid by an adult. The egg hatches and a larval caterpillar is born. The caterpillar feeds and grows until it sheds its skin and starts the pupal stage of its life. In this stage the larva undergoes radical changes to its body. The legs, wings, and the body of an adult butterfly are formed and after a certain amount of time it emerges. Here is the paradox, the life cycle of the butterfly is only perpetuated by the adult mating and then laying its eggs. Consequently, the larva is not the same body configuration as the adult and cannot reproduce. It is separated from the reproductive phase of its life by a massive rearranging of its body in the pupal stage.

How does this rearranging of major body parts happen in an evolutionary paradigm, where changes happen with individual random mutations in DNA?

For the life cycle of the butterfly to exist in evolutionary terms the first larva of the species must make the transition to adult in one clean mutational jump. The pupal stage requires the DNA information to be clear and contain the many changes to form into an adult… to then reproduce. If this process was due to a series of singular random mutations, a vast amount would be detrimental to the larva and would kill it.

How does this change happen via singular random mutations of DNA? This seems to be an all or nothing conundrum.

The Male-Female Paradox: This is one of the greatest problems for the evolutionist, how did sexual reproduction evolve from single DNA mutations? This suffers from the same basic problem as the Butterfly Paradox. Mainly, a great leap in single mutational changes required to have the correct body types needed with the mechanism for successful procreation of the species at the end of the process. You could say this paradox even complicates the butterfly paradox further by adding another layer of complication to that issue. Evolutionists will say that organisms evolved into sexual reproduction as it is vastly more complicated than asexual reproduction. Basically, going from simple one celled organism that reproduces asexually and mutating into a more complicated multicell organism that reproduces sexually.

So, how did that happen?

To make the jump you must go from an asexual organism to a fully functioning male and female organism. Moreover, the process to procreate must work the first time or the species will not survive as either the male or female cannot asexually procreate on their own. This again is an all or nothing process that must happen successfully the first time via the process of random mutation and natural selection, otherwise the species dies out.

In Darwin’s day, the paradoxes may have been easier to envision working out, but what we now know about DNA and cellular biology it vastly complicates the random mutations that are required. It is much like adding random errors to a computer’s operating system and expecting to get a revolutionary new computer at the end, it does not happen that way. Errors in turn cause more errors, much like the entropy in a thermodynamic system. To expect otherwise is frankly wishful thinking.

Irreducible Complexity Points to Design

_______________

Engineers know the importance of design. One needs to know how the individual parts of a machine interact together. Great care must be taken with the design, material selection, and manufacturing for even the simplest machine to operate well. If one part is not in the design that is crucial for the overall function, then the machine is junk. Would you fly in an airplane that does not have one of its engines? How about no fuel nozzles in the engine? Or missing just one of the compressor blades? The answer is most likely a resounding “No!” Because in each scenario the engine is not functional or won’t be in very short order.

Life is very much the same as the aircraft engine. There are structures in organisms that must have all their parts intact or the structure ceases to function. This is known as irreducible complexity. The engine must have all its major parts intact or it does not function, it is irreducibly complex. There are many irreducibly complex structures in life a few of which are the circulatory system, the eye, blood clotting, or the ear.

The bacterial flagellum is one of many irreducibly complex structures in biology. It is truly a remarkable organelle that provides propulsion for certain types of bacteria. The flagellum is a complex molecular motor made of proteins that runs on the flow of hydrogen ions. The flagellum has the same classical parts as an electrical motor such as the rotor, stator, and bushings, and can operate at thousands of rotations per minute. The motor then turns a whip like structure called the filament. This is what gives propulsion to the bacteria much like a propeller. It is a beautifully engineered nano-machine that is remarkably efficient. Its structure is much like the engine referenced above; it is irreducibly complex. If you remove any of the major components, the flagellum will not work and is useless.

So, the question is how does this kind of complex machine evolve by singular DNA mutations?

When the loss of a major component renders the flagellum useless and fodder for the evolutionary scrap yard via natural selection. A bacterium is at a disadvantage with a useless motor hanging off its backside for a million or so years waiting on the improbable molecular rotor to mutate into existence. Wouldn’t the useless appendage just disappear like the legs of the “primeval” whale that is hanging out on the water’s edge waiting for flippers? I’m just asking.

One of the explanations for the evolution of the flagellum is given by the similarity in structure to the Type Three Secretion System (TTSS) in bacterium. They both share similar shape and proteins as each other. However, their functions are completely different, the TTSS is used to export proteins across the cell envelope not as a mode of propulsion. Just because there is a similarity of shape does not imply evolutionary lineage. Even if they were linked in evolution, there is very little attention given to the “nuts and bolts” of the coding changes needed in the DNA and the not so trivial statistical challenges of the creation of the winning design.

Evolutionists must adhere to their own theory’s guidelines when discussing the complicated matters of “chance” design and those guidelines have only become more stringent with the discovery of DNA. The code for changing life is contained within the mutations made in DNA; and with that the chance miraculous coding for all the proteins and the design of the flagellum runs afoul. This mathematical challenge is not addressed in evolutionary theory.

The explanation for the evolution of the TTSS into the flagellum is oversimplified into the rearrangement of the proteins thru the “right” mutations and natural selection and… voila! You have a sophisticated propulsion system. You don’t need to explain the real challenges. Engineers wish redesign was that easy because their job would be less stressful. If you don’t manage every single detail in a new product design, it will run off the rails fast. We should, expect life to be a little more complicated than man made items.

Design implies a designer, and life has many designs that are improbable given the limitations of evolution. There are the singular mutation and natural selection limitations that are self-imposed in evolutionary theory. But there are the materialistic limitations that are arbitrarily placed on it as well. With random mutation and natural selection as the driving factor behind evolution, the metaphysical is vehemently avoided and along with it any mention of design.

The concept of design in life is avoided as nonscientific. But why?

There is clear evidence of design in every aspect of life. I don’t look at the airplane engine and say, “Look what natural selection and wind erosion has brought me!” That would be foolish and unscientific. It would be scientific of me to use the evidence that I observe from the engine and imply an intelligent designer that ushered that design from imagination to reality. The designs that we see in life are no different and harder to avoid implying a designer because of the exponential complexity over the engine.

Science cannot be held hostage by dogma, a dogma that was birthed with Darwin and limits exploration of life only to the materialistic realm. That would have been sufficient for some in that era, but we now have the language of DNA and sophisticated instruments that have revealed the complex world of cellular biology. With those two things we can observe the blueprints of life along with the overwhelmingly complex design itself.

In viewing this design, it implies that there is a Designer… some might call God.

_______________

End Notes

[1] David Berlinski June 1, 1994 Intelligent Design. “The Deniable Darwin.” Discovery Institute, 14 July 2020.

[2] Levinthal, Cyrus (1969). “How to Fold Graciously”. Mossbauer Spectroscopy in Biological Systems: Proceedings of a Meeting Held at Allerton House, Monticello, Illinois: 22–24.

#grownostr #apologetics #philosophy #God #science #naturallaw #evolution

There are so many inconsistencies and absurd claims in this post as to be literally laughable.

It reduces to the following: since everything can’t be known right away by humans, there must be a god.

A more likely alternative: humans are stupid and we are incapable of knowing everything because of our biological limitations just like every other organism on earth.

Is there a different cat god because cats don’t know the same things humans do?

At the end of the day, tell yourselves whatever makes you happy people but for fucks sake some of you tell yourselves some tall tales rather than just accepting that we’re all idiots. Believing in bullshit would be fine if you didn’t then turn around and expect others to believe in your pathological self soothing nonsense.

The only explanation for the unexplained being an unknowable “God” is still the most fantastic example of bootstrapping I can come up with.

I actually saw a post yesterday that claimed children are being indoctrinated in state funded schools. This person then went on to say that all children should go to church instead. Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

At least religion gave us some novel ways of swearing.

#grownostr

I’m not sure how to feel about the fact that our cultural programming is nearly perfectly engineered to make us into the ideal captive consumer.

On the one hand, it is a remarkable accomplishment that has taken millennia to achieve. I mean, people in the country I live in, the US, will swear up and down that they are living “free” in the same breath that they tell you about the latest useless trinket or garbage experience that they just charged to their 19.6% credit card. But it’s okay, they can cover the monthly payment.

On the other hand, it’s really awful to watch/witness over and over again. I do my best to force myself to see this and interact with these people because I really don’t agree with simply sticking my head in the sand.

But holy shit it’s exhausting. I have to perpetually remind myself that what’s right for me isn’t necessarily right for others. And while that’s necessarily true, when I then have to deal with the resentment and disbelief of said others when they can’t understand the actual freedom my lifestyle and life decisions have created, I can’t help but be really fucking annoyed.

I’m sorry you had kids you can’t afford and have to blow your entire paycheck every couple of weeks on stupid pointless acts of consumerism to try to escape the suffocating misery of your existence. Don’t fucking expect my help because I possess a modicum of self-control.

Fuck you if you expect others to pay for your mistakes and overall poor judgment. You are human garbage if you think this way.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

#getoffended

#rantover

Replying to Avatar David Härer

What is consciousness? Why do we talk about it? There is no canonical definition for it. Some people say it doesn't exist, it's just an illusion. It seems like a software property of our brain. Having a sense of self, persistence in time, experience of sensory input, control of muscle output, processing of memories. What do I mean when stating that I'm conscious? When sleeping I'm not conscious. I don't (or only very rarely) have control about my thoughts. But in dreams I still experience things as David Härer. Is it a model my brain has of my body? Associating memories and future possibilities with my present body. Is it like a software session? Having access to the memory and I/O of my body. But who is having this access? My body itself. It's self-awareness. A computer simulating a user interacting with itself. Does this user actually exist? It makes sense to talk about it. It explains what happening on the computer. It can be observed as a process in memory. It's not much different then other software on the computer. However I'm still struggling with the right level of abstraction. How detached can I view my software from my hardware? My brain is more like an ASIC then a general purpose computer. I don't have a GPU in my head, capable of running arbitrary neutral nets. It's hardware that has evolved to execute one particular neural net. So the software is defined by the hardware. It's possible to learn things, change habits and so on, but that means slowly changing the hardware. However we are capable of acting in roles and doing mental math. So there is some general computing capability. But my consciousness and personality is in the domain of hardwired software. So it's not arbitrary but specific to the wiring of my brain. Is it possible to create a dublicate brain or move my consciousness to silicon hardware? I guess that's a question for another time. Thanks for reading. Do you have a definition of consciousness?

Consciousness and perception are tricky concepts. You can perceive things and not be conscious of them and vice versa. So I guess you could define consciousness as perception in the absence of any tangible input. This explains to a certain extent why dreams are possible (since the system can be self activated) but they are still limited to what we are capable of perceiving via our senses.

As an example, when you dream, you dream of things you yourself are capable of perceiving, not what a cat or a bat is capable of perceiving. This doesn’t mean we can’t dream of things that are impossible, like flying, only that when we do, what we think flying would feel like is probably completely wrong.

We are indeed limited by the hardware of our senses and, to a similar extent, by the software of our minds.

#grownostr

#thinkdangerously

Ah I think I see what you mean.

But should we be deciding this for others since it amounts to our own arbitrary assessment of the value of human life?

If I take your optimistic view, what guarantee do I have that my kid will have the same outlook?

Seems unfair to impose my potentially flawed judgment/preferences on someone else who has no say in the matter.