SwimModSponges

Thanks for catching that typo! always good to have another pair of eyes. Deja vu is a misfiring of neurons in the brain by which things you have not seen before trip the memory trigger and make you feel like you have. First-hand experience with this due to epilepsy- when the wires go cross that's a big side effect- everything before a seizure feels like the strongest deja-vu you've ever experienced. As far as measuring time as a spatial dimension, yeah it's a bit of a trip. The best way I've been able to imagine it is taking a literal view of the Maori phrase- imagine all your life you've been walking backwards without realizing it. This is like that, only instead of going straight backwards imagine yourself going in an angle that doesn't exist to your perception. The retina is not 2D, the rods and cones are 3D cell structures and even if they weren't there are enough of them to recieve light from enough angles to create three-dimensions. Illusions and forced perspectives actually rely on 3D vision, tricking your eye into thinking there is increased or decreased depth. a two-dimensional being would theoretically see a two dimensional object, just as we see a table. They would be able to extrapolate the third dimension by virtue of the existence of say... the two dimensional shadow of three-dimensional things. We can see three-dimensional shadows of the fourth dimension, as Sagan pointed out. There's a 4D sandbox that aproximates a representation of 4D objects interacting with the 3D world digitally.

Ok, cleaned it up and shimmied it down. Should be done.

People still have coins?

The journey.

bassoonami

I love the fat, and I love the pretense. I don't write "how I think smart people sound," I use words I think sound pretty, and I like writing really long sentences with as many clauses as I can jammed up in 'em.

That's just how I write mang.

OK the essay is done. https://unevenedge.com/topic/47167-dont-mind-me-just-trying-to-start-a-religion/

I still have to complete the references section and add sources to everything, but it's done. On the Worship of Time I. On the Utility of Religion II. On the Dissatisfaction of Current Structures III. On the Search for Greater Truth IV. On the True Structure V. On the Pageantry I. Of all the things on the rapidly shrinking list which we believe separates humankind from the rest of biological life on Earth, arguably the most removed from our natural origin is the propensity for religion. No other being of which we are aware holds within itself the capacity for the level of abstract thought required to ask the larger questions regarding its place or purpose in reality. So too does this drive to quantify and revere existence appear virtually universal, within essentially all known societal groups throughout history. Indeed, the expanded thought required to ask these questions appear to go in hand-in-hand with the cognitive ability to form complex communities. But how and why does one come to religion? Anthropologists have been studying this phenomenon since the very beginnings of the field in the late 1800s. During this time, many popular theories arose; Edward Burnett Tyler, the world’s first professor of anthropology at Oxford, put forth the assertion that religions arose from early human attempts to understand natural phenomenon as essentially the work of living entities (Segal, 2006). The logic of “animism” thereby attributes the same level of cognizance to the monsoon as the tiger. He further agued that religions evolve via a sort of natural selection, by which those attributes of early religions which prove useful are passed along to later religions, while those that no longer serve a purpose are lost among the branches of the phylogenic tree. Others, such as Bronisław Malinowski; a revolutionary field anthropologist from the early 1900s who studied the peoples of Papua New Guinea and the surrounding islands, pointed to the individual cathartic effects of religion, and suggested that our early lack of knowledge regarding the world around us was a cause of significant stress. The belief that there was some form of explainable “magic” behind reality resolved this dilemma. A sociological perspective posited by Émile Durkheim during this time, however, suggested that religion came about as a direct result of the creation of societies; in that those ideals held by a society, and the goals which propel it, are inherently exalted and given embodiment. Through whatever origin, however, the impact the various extant and extinct religions have had on the face of our planet is by very definition monumental. The great pyramids of Egypt and Mesoamerica, the complex networks of burial mounds left by the peoples of the First Nations, Stonehenge, the massive carved heads of the Olmec, the Sistine Chapel… It is clear that religion has served as the inspiration behind some of the greatest works of our species. Apart from Its impacts on art and society as a whole, the physiological effects of religiosity on the individual are striking as well (Levin, 1998). This of course leads logically from Malinowski’s catharsis hypothesis; with the placebo effect of religious beliefs being a catalyst for the positive thoughts and emotions which directly correlate with positive health. And indeed, living a “virtuous” life according to a set structure has undoubted benefits. Religion is an amazing invention; I, as an atheist, would love to be able to tap into its potential. II. The singular unifying fact that precludes me personally from investing faith in any current belief structure is that they, through no fault of their own, are inherently based around falsehoods. Again, this is to be expected; almost all extant religions were created thousands of years ago when humanity was much less aware of the construction of the reality around them. For confirmation of this, one need only look at their creation myths, none of which accurately represent the factual geological history of the earth, much less its place in the universe. It stands to reason that the religions created under these circumstances would be entirely subjective and based on the writer’s own understanding of the small piece of the world around them. The acclaimed author Isaac Asimov released a two-part guide to the bible, in which he used verified facts about the world at the time to explain the historical context surrounding how it was written and why. Apart from this singular preclusion, a myriad of other issues sours me on the concept of all current religious structures; including but not limited to widespread abuse of authority, systemic violations of human rights, militant fanaticism, and charlatanism to extort vulnerable populations. III. The question I am struck with is this: What is worthy of worship? This question of worth is inherently subjective of course; there are indeed an infinite number of things greater than man that one could argue deserve our adulation. If one were to assert that whales, for instance, were deserving of worship simply by virtue of being the largest living animals, I would have no qualms against their claims. Similarly, belief structures centered around the worship of the sun, or bodies within our solar system would be every bit as valid. Subjectively however, the worship in which I wish to partake would go beyond the admiration of specific observable entities in the environment, but instead focus on the search for verifiable underlying truth beneath the surface aspects of the reality we experience. There have been movements based on the concept that the individual; as the being unlike any other due to the fact that one fully experiences it, is that which is most worthy of worship. Again, however, I must reject this belief structure as well, as my search is for some truth greater than myself. IV. The universe, as it truly exists, was not made for us. The whole of the “reality” which the human mind is capable of perceiving, represents the dim light of a flickering candle against the darkness of an unknowably immense cosmic gulf. Vision, arguably the most developed and relied upon sensation within the human consciousness, is defined as the ability to transform the activation of specialized cells by differing wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, into a “picture” in our minds of the world around us. These specialized cells, however, are only able to detect a sliver of the spectrum of radiation that exists. As limited as our electromagnetic sensitivity may be, it is infinitesimal when compared to our understanding of the true nature of other facets of reality. As we have made strides in our ability to artificially supplement our knowledge of radiation; from ultraviolet and infrared and beyond- so too has our knowledge of the “quantum” nature of existence begun to take shape in the recent decades. These discoveries serve to further the realization that we exist in a reality consisting of dimensions far greater than those of which we are able to perceive with our limited senses and consciousness. It is here that my search for the ultimate greatness leads. In the beginning, all reality consisted of a single point. A point is defined as being without dimension: no length, no width, no height. This point repeated along a continuum, however, forms a line; a single dimension. Forward and back. So too, when repeated along a continuum, this singular dimension coalesces into another; a two-dimensional plane. The three dimensions with which we are most familiar, are of course the result of a plane repeated along a continuum as well. Imagine a notepad; the first dimension would be defined as a line drawn along it. The second dimension would be the sheet of paper upon which it was drawn, and the third dimension representing the whole of the stack. But what of our three-dimensional reality? What is the dimension defined by the continuum upon which our existence is repeated? The fourth dimension is time. Imagine the notepad again; only this time the three-dimensional world is represented as a single page. Time, therefore is represented as seconds passing by as pages of the notepad are flipped. Our perception of this fourth dimension is as limited as that of our eyes to infrared. To our subjective experience, time is unidirectional: we move forwards along it; unable to cease or reverse its inevitable march. Additionally, we are only able to observe backwards; one can recall the past, but not the future. The indigenous Māori people of New Zealand have an interesting proverb to describe this: Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua. I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past. To submit a phrase of my own making: Point to an instant that is now, and you will find that it is gone. Outside of our candle-in-the darkness subjective view of reality, however, the moments which make up what we define as reality constitute a four-dimensional sort of super-solid; past, present, and future existing as a singular construct. A two-dimensional individual would only experience a cross-section of a three-dimensional object being passed through its plane; a pin being pushed through the notepad would only be a dot when viewed as a cross-section within the sheet. So too is our brief glimpse at the “passage” of time. Image, if you will, that you were a two dimensional being that has only ever been able to see the plane around it. Now imagine being granted the ability to look up and down at a three-dimensional universe. Imagine yourself this time, a three-dimensional entity walking backwards into the future. Imagine being granted the ability to turn around and observe the whole of four-dimensional reality sprawled out around you. This view of a concrete structure of time is supported by evidence observed in our three-dimensional reality as well, at its most basic level. Everything in existence; from yourself, to the medium upon which you are reading this, to the rocks on the sea floor, to the furthest star, all of reality is made of chemicals. Chemicals are absolute in their destinies. A molecule of hydrogen, under the same conditions, will always react with a molecule of oxygen in the same exact manner. Radioactive elements will always decay. Entropy will continue to spread subatomic particles further apart until the very end of physical reality. Due to the laws of physics, all of it will happen in a singular, precise manner. Even those “outliers” are acting in accordance to their specific place in existence due to circumstances beyond our observation. A universe made of chemical reactions inherently “unfolds” as it were, in a manner that is both exact and specific. The chemicals in your brain processing this information are acting in accordance with this rule of reality; your thoughts and actions are an incredibly minute part of a single, continuous chemical reaction. From this axiom, one can conclude with certainty that the concept of “free will” is simply an illusion caused in full by our inability to observe reality as it truly exists. Time, therefore, is not only the most universal experience of humanity; it is that which controls our fate. Being that it is also literally a dimension above our observation, I can think of no greater fundamental truth more worthy of worship. V. How does one worship a concept such as time? My ideas regarding this subject are entirely subjective, of course. Personally, I choose to honor time by expressing patience, and respecting the time of others. I will endeavor to not weep for moments in the past which have brought me to the present, I shall not fight the coming of the future. I will live my life perfectly, in accordance to my position within reality as it unfolds, and I will be reverent towards the fact that I am able to experience this existence within an infinitely complex universe, with higher dimension than we likely know. But what of a specific embodiment to worship? The majority of world religions focus themselves around the reverence of specific gods, indeed the very defining characteristic between an atheist and a theist is the belief in a deity. From Allah to Zarathushtra, it seems to be somewhat of a prerequisite for religions to have a mascot. Certainly reverence of those individuals who’ve brought us towards scientific enlightenment with regards to the subject is in order; however these scientists are still human, and therefore do not fit the criteria of representing something greater than us. Therefore in the following text I will outline my own personal thoughts regarding the creation of a purposefully false idol. It should again be noted that my own concept of a time deity is entirely subjective; based off my own personal interests and thoughts regarding the subject. As is my prerogative, the personal deity I am choosing to worship will be mostly based around a being of the same general function within my favorite video game series: Akatosh, Dragon God of Time in the world of the Elder Scrolls. For me to delve into the deep lore of the masterful story crafters behind this award-winning narrative series would only do a disservice to the reader and those other individuals who’ve spent countless hours establishing and interpreting these fantastic works of fiction, so for the layman I shall describe him thusly: Akatosh is often depicted as an ouroboros, a symbol used throughout our own history to represent the cycle of time. When Akatosh coalesced into being, it resulted in Time (which up until this point had all existed simultaneously) collapsing into the “forwards” direction we all experience, ending the chaotic Dawn Era and beginning the structured Merethic Era. This ideation overlays nicely on the framework of the four-dimensional universe previously discussed; the Dawn Era representing the existence of past-present-future as a singular concept, and the birth of Akatosh representing the creation of our own subjective, forward-ticking experience of the passage of time. Graven idols to Akatosh, can include representations of the dragon god itself in its many forms and interpretations as laid out by the lore. Time keeping devices, such as the as the hourglass, sun dials, pendulums, clocks, etc. could also represent reverence towards the existence of time. Prayer or meditation on the subject of the Eternal Dragon would also serve this purpose, along with the burning of special sanctified incense and listening to music centered around the subject, such as select works by Pink Floyd and Tool. Again, any suggestions made heretofore have been entirely based on my own beliefs and understanding of reality. The fundamental working of existence is are immensely complex topics, and as religion is a deeply personal concept, I encourage all people to examine life closely; to seek out their own deeper meaning and truth, and if one should encounter an idea that one feels worthy, one should absolutely go about defining and worshipping it. As for me and my house, we shall serve Akatosh. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Helen Keller was in favor of eugenics.

Roast was a success.

Turns out I wasn't supposed to add broccoli either.

You know what? I 100% see that. Very unfortunate camera angle.

Thankfully I wasn't sick at all during the night, just before bed and after waking. Feeling a lot better now.

Ive been informed that this amount would be more accurately described as "most of the bottle."

Only a horn and a half. Had 3 Oktoberfests at the restaurant though.

Just thtrw that ip. Good night thid is.

That's the part I love about the outtakes form Who's Line; everybody else just starts swearing and getting raunchy, and Wayne Brady's just back there like, "Oh gosh..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9izx5zlIvs

I'll eat whatever stinging plants I want, thank you.