#and faradays rejection

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Richard Dawkins

Published: Jun 3, 2023

“We must trust to nothing but facts: these are presented to us by nature and cannot deceive. We ought, in every instance, to submit our reasoning to the test of experiment, and never to search for truth but by the natural road of experiment and observation” (Antoine Lavoisier, 1743-94).

“Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature” (Michael Faraday, 1791-1867).

Evidence-based medicine was defined in an influential paper in the British Medical Journal 1996 as “The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.” It seems surprising that it even needed defining. How could sensible medicine not be evidence-based? The authors consider, and reject, the mutually contradictory arguments that, on the one hand, “All doctors do it anyway” and, on the other hand “It’s a dangerous innovation perpetrated to suppress the freedom of doctors to exercise their clinical judgement.” I want to generalise the arguments and advocate what I am calling Evidence-based Life.

Every moment of our lives we are faced with decisions. What shall I do next? What do I believe? To help us decide what to do next, we can draw upon copious evidence: the evidence of our senses, evidence from books, from conversations, newspapers, the Internet. We have the evidence from past experience (What happened when I previously was in this situation and did so-and-so?). We have evidence from a kind of future, as we simulate possible futures in imagination (I can see myself doing so-and-so and I can imagine the consequences). We can take advice from friends or mentors, books or traditional wisdom – and that can be seen as vicarious borrowing of other people’s past experience and simulated futures.

Much the same can be said of what we believe. I believe the world is round because I’ve flown to Australia via Asia and returned via America. I believe it because I’ve seen photographs from space. I believe it because of books I’ve read, lessons at school from teachers who seemed to know what they were talking about, and so on. I believe it because physics books tell me of a principle whereby large bodies tend to become spherical under the influence of gravity.  A very great deal of what we know, even that which really is based on sound scientific evidence, we have to take on trust, because we haven’t the time or the ability to examine it in detail.

Even expert scientists haven’t the time or the expertise to evaluate sciences other than their own. Most biologists are ill-equipped to understand modern physics. And vice versa although, I have to admit, to a lesser extent. In any case, nobody has the time to do full justice to all the detailed research papers in a journal such as Nature or Science, even if we could understand them. If we read a report that gravitational waves have been reliably detected as emanating from a collision between two distant galaxies, most of us take it on trust. It almost sounds like taking it on faith.  But it’s a faith that’s more securely grounded than, say, religious faith. That’s an understatement. When biologists like me express “faith” in the findings of physics, we know that physicists’ predictions have been verified by experimental measurements to find accuracy. Very different from “faith” in, for example, the doctrine of transubstantiation which makes no predictions at all, let alone testable and tested ones.

Nevertheless, scientific evidence is not always reliable. With the best will in the world, scientists can deceive themselves. Medical science has adopted the Double Blind Control Experiment, an admirable device for eliminating all possibility of subjective bias. Long ago, my then wife Marian (now a Fellow of the Royal Society) and I used it for fun in a trivial demonstration experiment. We wanted to know who made the best razor blades for shaving, Gillette or Wilkinson. Our quality criterion was how long a blade would last before I found it uncomfortable to shave and discarded it. Obviously that was a subjective judgement. It was important that I should not be allowed to know which make of blade I was using to shave. So Marian was solely responsible for putting a new blade into my razor, every time I pronounced the previous one worn out. If she had alternated the blades, Gillette, Wilkinson, Gillette, Wilkinson etc, that could have given me a clue. So she chose the blades according to a previously written-down random sequence, which I was not allowed to see. After a previously written-down number of blade-changes (I can’t remember what that number was but it had to be pre-determined), we looked at the data, consisting of a series of durations measured in days before each blade wore out. We analysed the data statistically and concluded that Wilkinson blades were significantly superior.

This was technically a Single-blind experiment. There remained the possibility that Marian could have inadvertently influenced my decision on when to declare a blade exhausted – the so-called Clever Hans Effect. A German horse called Clever Hans was apparently able to do simple arithmetic, tapping his hoof five times, say, when asked “What is two plus three?” It was eventually revealed that his trainer was unconsciously giving him cues, subtly changing his body language when Hans’s hoof taps reached the right number. Ideally our experiment should have been not Single Blind but Double Blind: the person inserting the blades into the razor should have been ignorant as to which was which – a little harder to arrange, though not impossible. Somebody else, neither Marian nor I, would have prepared a randomised sequence of blades, then Marian should have dispensed them when I pronounced the previous one spent. Clinical trials of new medicines nowadays usually follow the Double Blind design: the patients, the doctors or nurses administering the doses, and the experimenters judging the medicine’s effectiveness, and are kept in strict ignorance as to which patients get the drug, which they control. Without the strictures of the Double Blind design, there is always the danger of subjective judgement creeping in.

Blind control trials constitute only one weapon in science’s armoury against being misled by subjective judgement. Experiments are repeated. Scientific papers are rigorously refereed before publication and exposed to critical scrutiny afterwards. Experiment itself is the only ultimate safeguard against the notorious “correlation doesn’t have to imply causation” truism. Correlation really does imply causation if the putative cause happens when an experimenter makes it happen, rather than waiting for it to happen spontaneously. Of course, the experimenter must make it happen on a large number of independent occasions, and at random rather than in a regular pattern such as might introduce a spurious correlation. Finally, the correlation must be unlikely to have arisen by chance – unlikely according to some agreed criterion such as, “If we repeated the whole experiment a thousand times, we’d expect only one of those repeats to yield a result as extreme as this by chance.” That’s what tests of statistical significance are for.

In advocating evidence-based life, I don’t of course mean we should do double-blind, statistically-analysed experiments before making a decision, or before believing anything. Life’s too short, and there are many other reasons why it would be impractical. But it is worth imbibing the spirit of evidence-based medicine by being deliberately aware of possible sources of bias. Have I looked even-handedly at the available evidence or did I under-value or even ignore evidence that contradicted my prior beliefs? Or evidence that might have contradicted the beliefs of my tribe (religion, political party, favourite opinion-leader etc)? Do I read only the Guardian and ignore the Telegraph? Or vice versa. Do I watch only Fox News and ignore CNN? Do I tune out when exposed to news, or views, that contradict my prior prejudices?  Are my views on climate change (vaccination, Covid-protection masks) based on the best available evidence, or are they coloured by political or religious prejudice, or tribal loyalties of some kind?

Evidence-based Life could justify a whole book, not just a brief essay such as this. So let me just mention some of the more insidious and alluring alternatives which might tempt us away from evidence. I’ll list them in the form of headings to which I might return in future postings. 

It’s how I feel. It may not be true for you but it’s true for me. Alternative “ways of knowing” are just as valid as science, which is just the mythology of a white male tribe. I don’t need science, I’ve got my Holy Book. I don’t need science, commonsense is good enough for me. The evidence of my biology clearly indicates that I am male, but I feel I am a woman therefore I am a woman.

Richard Dawkins

==

Richard Dawkins' new Substack is "The Poetry of Reality with Richard Dawkins."

[loftwingsuarus]

someone should make a scythe character tarot deck, I think it would heal me

I mean it's really tempting to assign cards just based on appearances or matching pairs of characters, but I know the meaning behind some of the cards actually. Major arcana only because I'm a basic bitch and I'm not that smart

Citra- could be the Magician, both upright and reversed (represents willpower, mastery, adaptiveness, cunning/ trickery, deception). I mean she really is a great political force. Or Justice upright (represents truth, law, clarity)

Rowan- I was originally thinking of Death upright (change, transformation, new beginnings), but then I remember the Hanged Man is a tarot card, which exists (sacrifice, suspension, martyrdom). Or he can have both, since he is such a special guy in my heart.

Marie- the Emperor upright. I know the Empress is also a card, but gender means nothing to me. Also the meaning behind the Empress doesn't fit. The Emperor is supposed to represent structure, authority, and rationality- pretty fitting for a High Blade.

Faraday- the Hermit. Faraday is a two for one deal, because he has aspects for both upright (solitude, contemplation, insight) and reversed (loneliness, isolation, rejection)

Xenocrates- Hierophant. Usually this one is related to religious aspects, but I wasn't thinking of that part. He has the aspects for Hierophant upright (tradition, legacy, social expectations) and reversed (servitude, convention, blind faith)

Greyson- the Fool upright and reversed- naiveté, innocence, wonder, new beginnings, recklessness.

Astrid- "Why doesn't Greyson, who is the thunderhead's special guy, get the High Priestess" I would actually assign Astrid The High Priestess- representing intuition, wisdom, and divine truth. Kind of fits her better- she chooses to be a Tonist, and lives and dies as one. Greyson is like "Well being Jesus was fun, but I'm going on a honeymoon with Jericho now. Bye 👋"

Jericho- Strength upright- representing courage, conviction, and compassion. I love Jericho so much dude

Tenkamenin- I can't believe I almost forgot my dude. Anyway the Empress upright (beauty, nurturing, creativity, luxury) and reversed (excess, selfishness). Gender means nothing to me.

Constantine- Actually, I'm giving Justice to Constantine. Sorry Citra.

Tyger- The Sun upright- Joy, success, pleasure. Thanks for being an easy one

Purity Viveros- the Tower upright. Girl I love you. Anyway if you know some tarot card basics, this one is a no brainer: represents upheaval and disaster.

Loriana- the Star! Hope, faith, healing, rebuilding. One of the reversed aspects is insecurity, but Loriana gets like 10 minutes of screen time, so Neal never gets into it.

Thunderhead- The World- represents fulfillment, harmony, completion. Also works for Judgement, which represents reflection/ awakening. Or you could give one of those cards to Cirrus.

Tonists- I mean, you could throw the tonists as a whole in there and give them Judgement as their card. That's up to you. But there's actually the Wheel as its own card- representing forces of fate/ karma, cycles, destiny, and fortune.

Goddard- the Devil. I'm not saying this for appearances, he actually fits the themes of the card- materialism, pleasure, addiction, etc.

I don't even know about Possuelo, Munira, and Rand. I was thinking of the Chariot for Rand, but it's sort of a toss-up. Don't look at me. And after going through every character from the top of my head, I'm still missing characters for the Moon and Temperance.

The Lovers is a popular card. Just pick your favorite ship man I don't care.

I'm not drawing this even though I've been drawing for 6 years, which means you get the privilege of imagining it however you like.

[lingshanhermit]

Lingshan Hermit: The Contrast Between Eastern and Western Cultures

Max Weber said, "Confucian culture is not practical learning, but only a set of value systems for maintaining social order. Schools teach neither mathematics nor natural science nor geography, resulting in people without logical and creative abilities." As you know, this is not the first time I have singled out Max Weber for criticism, and it certainly won't be the last. As far as I know, Weber's viewpoint is no longer unique to him personally today, but rather a consensus shared by many in academia. As for the general public, although they know almost nothing about Confucianism, this does not prevent them from holding similar views.

In my previous discussion of Max Weber, I talked about what constitutes useful knowledge. This time I intend to talk about the differences in origin and standpoint between Chinese and Western cultures. For a long time, I have wanted to write an article on the differences between Chinese and traditional Western cultures. To be honest, in all my years of reading, I have almost never seen anyone who can really explain Chinese culture clearly. Over these years, I have been observing the cultures left behind by the Eastern sages and watching their effects on Chinese people and their application in East Asian life. I have also been continually observing Western society and Western culture. This kind of observation sometimes provokes intense sorrow in me, especially when I see that many Easterners completely fail to understand and even strongly reject Eastern culture. This gives me an even stronger motivation to write this article.

From the practical perspective of modern people, traditional Chinese culture seems to be completely impractical, or more precisely, useless. According to modern definitions of “useful,” Eastern traditional culture has invented almost nothing that you consider useful—no irons, no Uber software, no instant coffee or mechanical keyboards. Chinese society also did not give birth to a Faraday or a Lavoisier. From an empirical perspective, you do not see anyone attain Buddhahood or become immortal, nor do you see the gentlemen advocated by Confucianism; on the contrary, you do see many hypocrites. Therefore, many people have concluded that Eastern traditional culture is entirely deceptive. For most ordinary people, these traditional cultures are of no help at all in their daily lives—most people believe they are just a lot of big, empty, useless words. The states described in traditional culture are mostly like living in the clouds, completely unrelated to real life. What is required is entirely beyond people's capabilities. Unlike books like the Talmud that offer guidance on every aspect of life, even pointing out specifics like what time you should get up, what kind of wife you should marry, and from whom you should earn money, when you encounter specific problems, you consult a psychologist or lawyer rather than Confucius or Mencius. Because for the general public, their words are too vague and offer no practical help in life. Because they cannot be applied and connected concretely to one's own life, most people living in 2023 feel that the teachings of Confucianism (or Buddhism or Taoism) offer no help at all in their lives. Compared to the words of Confucius, they find things like capsule coffee machines and KFC coupons more useful.

I am not surprised by this result. The reason this result occurs is that these words were not written for the general public. They were not written for housewives or shopkeepers. Whether it be the Tao Te Ching or the Analects, they were written for people who truly want to explore the truth. So if you want to use them to solve specific problems in your life, I'm afraid you will return empty-handed. For most ordinary people, it is very difficult to directly apply these words to solve your problems because they are too profound. Whether it is the Chuang-tzu or the Great Learning, the words recorded therein all come from verifiers of different degrees. They represent the experiences and insights of those who have attained verification. For ordinary people, it is impossible to correctly understand these words, let alone apply them. These words need to be decoded by people with corresponding attainment and wisdom, who can then refer to your specific situation and tell you what you should do. Only by going through this process can you possibly apply them to your own life, benefit from them, and slowly understand what these books are actually talking about. Unfortunately, however, this system has not been systematically established in East Asian society. Only a very small number of fortunate individuals have the opportunity to glimpse the essence of Chinese culture in this way. Because of the lack of this system, when the public faces the sages' books, they can only try to approach the sages' thoughts through their own contemplation, like solving a riddle. In traditional Chinese society, you are asked to read and re-read the sages' works until you know them by heart. Those teachers probably assumed that just by thoroughly reading Confucius' works, you could slowly understand his state of mind. But clearly, this is just wishful thinking by amateurs. In the Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian systems, even the relatively basic words of Confucius cannot be understood without the corresponding cultivation state. If you want to know what Confucius and Lao Tzu were talking about, you need to have a teacher who truly understands to teach you and tell you what those words mean. It is as absurd as imagining that an ordinary person could directly understand the words of the sages without guidance as imagining a human kicking away a rhinoceros.

You have not seen Chinese people invent washing machines, anesthetics or global positioning systems because the focus of traditional culture is not here at all. The Chinese sages did not believe that inventing these things would help alleviate suffering, so they did not spend their time and energy on inventing means of transportation or improving production efficiency. From their point of view, these things were not very meaningful. They did not believe that these could solve our problems. On the contrary, they believed that they would instead increase our problems. Rather than solving problems one by one, they were more concerned with the most fundamental problem innate in human beings.

Traditional Chinese culture is a cultivation culture (and is mostly unsuitable for the general public). Therefore, Chinese sages were not concerned with secular life. They did not seek ultimate happiness in secular life, nor did they believe that such a possibility existed. Therefore, the creators of traditional Chinese culture did not devote themselves to building sound legal systems, trimming gardens, constructing urban sewage systems or creating parliamentary systems. They believed that these could not solve our real problems. Although at certain historical moments these things can make some societies appear very advanced, ultimately they will find that these things cannot solve any problems. Americans once tried to curb human greed through institutions, but they will slowly discover that when human desires are aroused, humans can find a hundred thousand ways to circumvent restrictions.

Since modern times, Asian intellectuals have been instilled with various standards from the West. One of the most ridiculous standards is that they use whether a society has established sound secular institutions to define the degree of civilizational progress. Many foolish people use this standard to measure the world, then reach the absurd conclusion that China, like Africa, has made no contribution to world civilization. But the fact is that China and Africa are completely different. Africans have never built a proper city; they haven't even woven a piece of cloth. When Russians were still living anxiously in wooden-fenced towns, fearing looting by nomads every day, China was already the highly developed Song Dynasty. Therefore, given the intelligence and talent of the Chinese people, achieving results in this area would not have been difficult had they wanted to. The reason Chinese culture did not focus efforts here is due to a lack of interest. They have their own completely different set of theories and practical systems for achieving happiness compared to Western culture, although this logic is mostly unsuitable for ordinary people and large-scale promotion. Contrary to Western ideas, Chinese sages had no interest in conquering large tracts of land. They did not believe that perfect sewers, well-trimmed gardens, or antidepressants could be of great help in life. Nor did they think that sailing to find the land of gold was the way to happiness, much less that commerce was a noble act—they felt it would give rise to human greed and sin. They believed that only by understanding the true reality could one be free from suffering and attain happiness. Therefore, they devoted all their energy to transforming the human heart and their own minds. Although from a historical perspective, they cannot be considered very successful (of course you can accuse them of not making the whole society gentlemen, but obviously this was an impossible task). Still, you cannot condemn them for that because, whether transforming the human heart or one's own mind, it is the most difficult project in the world. My experience over the years tells me that there is nothing more difficult than guiding an ignorant being to understand the true reality.

As mentioned earlier, traditional Chinese culture is a cultivation culture aimed at attaining liberation through inner cultivation. This kind of culture is not suitable for large-scale popularization. Even Confucianism, regarded as the foundation of traditional culture, when popularized throughout society, can lead to widespread hypocrisy. Because most of the time, it only provides goals without ways. When you only have goals without the necessary guidance and methods to achieve them, you become a hypocrite. In Confucian traditional society, there were concrete requirements and expectations of everyone. Everyone was asked to do this and that, but few people truly understood why they should do so and how to achieve these demands—which is like asking ordinary people to have the state of verifiers without providing any methods or tools. When you are told how you should be but do not know how to achieve that, I'm afraid pretending is the only option left. Thus, hypocrisy became the only choice for most people.

In the eyes of modern intellectuals, traditional culture is completely deceptive and useless because it produced neither computers nor Thompson submachine guns. It merely puts forward a set of moral norms that they see as useless. In their view, these moral norms also did not make everyone better. Instead, it turned everyone into hypocrites and taught people to lie and pretend. Therefore, in their view, Confucianism is entirely fraudulent, a set of shackles restricting human freedom, completely contrary to human nature.

If I were not a cultivator, if I did not know the relationship between the whole Confucian system and cultivation, if I had received systematic modern academic education, I would probably agree with their thinking and believe that traditional culture is worthless.

From the practical results of Confucianism in Eastern societies, I believe that for ordinary people, if complete and hierarchical teachings cannot be provided, it is better to let them build their own secular lives. One day, when they find that secular life cannot provide what they want, when they become weary of secular life, it will not be too late to start spiritual exploration. I think this would be better. Rather than forcing teachings into everyone's lives with power, as Confucianism did—telling everyone how they should be, what kind of person they should be, what they should do, yet without providing the corresponding logical system and concrete steps to become such a person. This makes their requirements extremely unreasonable. But because of the intervention of power, the public has no choice but to accept. However, they do not understand the logic and benefits of doing so. They are only asked to do so but are unable to achieve it, so they can only pretend to be such people, resulting in widespread hypocrisy. (The Confucian scholars after Confucius did not realize that what Confucius demonstrated was the result and state of his cultivation, those states were by no means something ordinary people could reach just by reading the Analects intently. You cannot ask others to achieve Confucius' state from decades of cultivation just by reading his teachings, especially when you provide nothing but a goal.)

It may seem that I am blaming Confucianism for not providing comprehensive services for their theories, but in fact I am very clear that this is completely impossible—to provide specific and comprehensive education for everyone. No one can do it.

You may not know how much wisdom it takes to make the teachings understandable to everyone, or what kind of realizations a person needs to be able to teach according to individual capabilities. Even in Buddhism, such a person is rare as the feathers of a phoenix. So it is too much to ask those Confucian scholars who only read books to do these things. In China's long history, there has always been a lack of people who can connect traditional culture with the reality of the situation. This requires high attainment and skillfulness. Therefore, even if it was the wish of Confucianism, it would have been completely impossible. Even in Buddhism, most practitioners do not receive teachings suitable for themselves or sufficient explanation. Most of the time, they can only understand the teacher's words according to their own state, which gives demons tremendous room for manipulation, allowing them to distort everything they hear.

As we said before, the Chinese sages had no interest in establishing a sound secular society. Chinese traditional culture does not intend to establish a sound secular society. Those who are committed to building sound secular systems all live under one assumption: that we only have this life; that the more we possess, the happier we are; that if we establish a perfect secular society, we will be happy; that if supervision is in place, evil will retreat; that if all laws are improved, our suffering will be reduced or disappear; that if we can manufacture a drug that can treat all diseases, we will no longer suffer from illnesses. Judging from the tremendous changes American society has undergone in just the past few years, these assumptions of theirs are collapsing one by one. All these assumptions of Westerners seem extremely naive in the eyes of Chinese sages. Chinese sages do not agree with their thinking. Therefore, they did not strive to develop AIDS drugs, did not try to create artificial intelligence, did not attempt to contact aliens, nor design systems to curb human greed. They only teach us how to improve ourselves, starting from observing our own problems, slowly understanding the root of suffering, understanding the constitution of suffering, understanding which behaviors and speech will cause suffering, which notions will cause suffering, and then slowly correcting past notions and gradually arriving at the state of liberation.

For a true cultivator, most of their cultivation takes place internally. That is to say, true cultivation occurs in inner turmoil that outsiders can barely discern from external appearances. What you may see is that this person seems to have done nothing but sit there every day or chant some useless mantras. Therefore, the public has almost no way of knowing their attainments. The public does not know what they have obtained, experienced, or felt. Those ascetics by the Ganges in India, those meditators in the Himalayan mountains, seem to the slaves of modern civilization to be doing completely meaningless things. They might even be considered cunning idlers. But in the eyes of those cultivators, it is the elites in business suits who punctually appear in office buildings every day whose lives are meaningless. They are about to die, yet still working hard to accumulate things that will soon no longer belong to them.

Like Indian culture, Chinese culture also far transcends the comprehension of modern civilization. From the public's point of view, they can hardly see any useful results. Most people cannot see the achievements of those who truly practice Eastern traditional culture. After all, their accomplishments are not as self-evident as Elon Musk's. Even if you stand face to face with an enlightened being, you cannot experience their state or know what they have attained. You might even feel that they look no different from your neighbor. Therefore, to the general public, practitioners of traditional culture are far less attractive than the likes of Musk. Moreover, among those who claim to be cultivators, there may be a large number of impostors mixed in. Do not expect the public to distinguish between impostors and true cultivators. They will lump them into one category.

For the general public, verifying the effectiveness of traditional culture is almost impossible. Because few people can persist in doing something without seeing obvious results for a long time. Also because most people do not receive proper guidance. For example, Chinese traditional culture says giving up is gaining, and taking losses is blessing. But most ordinary people neither know what the proper giving up is or how to give up, much less have the patience to persist. For the public, lacking proper guidance and complete correct understanding, what they do is like throwing a can of fish food into a river and waiting for the fish to leap in crowds to their feet. So it is difficult for them to see results. And when they cannot see results, they will feel that it is all deception. Compared to the efficient, visible, verifiable systems built by Western civilization, they naturally feel that is superior civilization.

Someone once asked me: Why does Chinese traditional culture seem to contradict normal human desires? In dealing with greed, hatred and delusion, they unanimously exhibit stern opposition. Many modern people see this as another major fault of traditional culture. Whereas Western culture is more tolerant in this regard. Therefore, he felt that kind of culture is more in line with human nature. Western culture is tolerant of this because Western culture is based on you as an individual, so you will have various desires and demands that people should have. Fulfilling these desires is not considered sinful in modern Western culture. They believe it brings happiness. I think it only brings disaster. I have seen many people who do not restrain their desires bring tremendous harm upon themselves and others. Eastern sages believe desires are endless. Once you open this door, you cannot stop it and can only destroy yourself in the end. In today's prevalence of Western culture, I see some live streamers making money in a day equivalent to decades of income for others—and they think this is a good thing. I don't know why anyone would think spending all your money in a day is good.

On the other hand, as we said before, Eastern traditional culture is a cultivation culture. This kind of culture is based on there being no real "self" in existence, based on "fulfilling desires will not make you happy" (desires only arouse more desires, thus inducing more sins and chaos), based on conventional truth and ultimate truth. Eastern traditional culture is based on these tenets, so it does not look humane at all. Confucianism tries to constrain our desires within a certain scope in preparation for higher-level cultivation. But because most people completely fail to understand this system and its purpose, they just live very reluctantly in such a society, required to comply with various standards. It is like requiring a bunch of ordinary people to do things contrary to their nature without explaining the reasons and benefits for doing so. It is not hard to imagine what would eventually happen—this is the cause of many tragedies. I have always believed that the Indian caste system and Confucian system are very good things—if used correctly. Unfortunately, they have not been applied correctly. They were brutally and indiscriminately used on the whole society, causing quite a number of issues. But at the technical level, they are also very difficult to apply correctly—partly due to a lack of people capable of doing so, and partly because demons spare no effort to sabotage implementation. (Just as the original intention of some religions making women cover their faces was to sever the conditions that arouse desire, yet this method has also been condemned for being applied very foolishly. Demons never miss an opportunity for sabotage.) When the public does not know the meaning of Confucian (or Indian caste) requirements for the masses yet are still required to implement them, over time, all sorts of problems will emerge and surface. When these problems appear, it becomes difficult not to associate them with this kind of culture, which then inevitably faces accusations from all sides. Because people who have lived in this kind of society for a long time can only see its downsides and completely fail to see any benefits.

If our existence were real, if possessing more made us happier, if we could truly gain happiness by overcoming others, then Western culture would be right, and the whole set of paths to happiness designed accordingly would be correct. But unfortunately, that is not the case. You just need to understand a little quantum mechanics to know that the way we exist is not what we imagine.

Therefore, Eastern culture is a cultivation system based on "no self." It is not suitable for the general public (though it may be in the future once a certain level of civilization is attained). Chinese traditional culture has many different levels and angles, with methods for people of different levels. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, some provide concepts, some provide concepts and methods. These concepts and methods are also divided into many levels and angles. But unfortunately, now these methods of different levels have been jumbled up by those who do not understand, making them chaotically incomprehensible to the public, which has likewise caused all kinds of problems.

Chinese traditional sages had no intention of establishing a sound secular society. They did not want to build nursing homes or migrate to Mars, nor were they interested in making perfect sushi or medical security systems. Compared to these things, they would rather observe their own minds. Compared to overcoming and defeating others in Western culture, they would rather overcome themselves and battle their own greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance and doubt. They arrive at happiness in this way. But from a layman's perspective, they seem to have done nothing but sit there and require you to bring them meals. Even after their attainments, they do not produce rice cookers, so they appear rather useless.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on December 18, 2023. First published on December 21, 2023.

Copyright Notice：All copyrights of Ling Shan Hermit's articles in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, English, and other languages belong to the natural person who owns "Ling Shan Hermit". Please respect copyright. Publishers, media, or individuals (including but not limited to internet media, websites, personal spaces, Weibo, WeChat public accounts, print media) must obtain authorization from Ling Shan Hermit before use. No modifications to the articles are allowed (including: author's name, title, main text content, and punctuation marks). We reserve all legal rights.

灵山居士：东西文化之辨

[soba-riri]

Bunch of wips because I'm procrastinating on deadlines

???? (Starmora)

“I only wanted a sister!”

Gamora’s teeth click shut. She stares at Nebula, who wears a face of grief and anger. She doesn’t know what to say to that.

She remembers the Nebula from before, who cried and had a heart that was too soft for Thanos. She recalls trying to push Nebula away because companionship is a weakness to exploit. But Nebula kept her hold on Gamora, worming her way into Gamora’s heart until she withered away with each replaced parts. Until she became a shadow of the kind-hearted child she used to be; armed with weapons and a bitter anger that became her very being.

In turn, Nebula directed that anger towards her, unleashing her rage with the intent to kill, and until now, Gamora assumed Nebula wanted to win for once. But now…

Gamora presses her lips together and pulls herself to her feet, unable to find the words for Nebula’s outburst without making it sound like pity. She holds out a hand, only to have it slapped away as Nebula stands up on her own.

TBYUT (Starmora)

“You’re asking me to—” His voice cracks. “You’re asking me to break.”

She finally looks away, inhaling a shaky breath. She can’t offer him any words of comfort because it’s true. She’s placing a heavy burden on his shoulder. Her life has been ripped to pieces by Thanos. Gamora doesn’t think she could live with herself if Thanos also takes Peter away. She may be cruel and selfish, but the need to keep her family safe overrides everything else. To know Peter will survive.

Her mate. Her greatest treasure.

“If not for me, then swear on your mother’s grave.”

Peter’s throat works as he swallows, finally understanding the seriousness of the situation. His shoulder slumps as he nods, resigning. “Okay.”

How Lovely (Thorquill)

Peter goes quiet and Thor gets ready for a rejection. But Peter smiles softly. “I would like that.”

And his smile just makes Thor lean in and pressing his lips against surprised ones. Realizing he overstep, Thor starts to pull back but Peter pulls him back in, kissing him sweetly.

When they part, Thor smiles at him and he smiles back.

“Is this an unspoken thing?” Thor asks teasingly.

“It can be a spoken one.” Peter teases back.

PPRH (Varaday)

Faraday tensed, inhaling sharply. His tongue was heavy in his mouth, unable to voice the words at the tip of his tongue. But when he thought about it, he had nothing to say to begin with.

“Joshua.” It was quiet, almost too low to be heard. Faraday could feel his ears heat up as Vasquez smiled, laughing softly. “Joshua.”

He swallowed hard, wondering if Vasquez could feel Faraday’s heartbeat racing under his fingertips. He felt foolish for how his name on Vasquez’s tongue made his legs weak, foolish for leaning into his touch. And foolish again for placing his hands on Vasquez’s hips.

[zerogate]

Dmitri Mendeleyev, at the age of twenty-six, attended the First International Chemical Congress at Karlsruhe in 1860 and was impressed by discussion there of methods for calculating atomic weight. He became concerned with the problem of order amongst the elements and made a set of sixty-three cards listing the various chemical and physical properties of each, spending most of his spare time in attempts to arrange these in ways that made scientific sense. By March 1st, 1869, he had tried and rejected hundreds of possible patterns and that afternoon, following the failure of his latest system, he fell into an exhausted sleep – and woke up with the answer.

In order to make sense of the elements, Mendeleyev realised, all he had to do was arrange them, according to their atomic weights, in eight vertical columns. As soon as he did this, they fell into natural patterns, with elements of similar properties such as acidity, hardness and melting point, all grouped together. By evening of that momentous day, he had drawn up his celebrated Periodic Table in which the relationships between various elements were made clear by their regular spacing.

Mendeleyev refined and improved the table later, and in the ensuing century it has been extended and subdivided in a number of ways to allow for new discoveries. But despite the suggestion of over 700 other versions in the interim, his pattern remains the best and most useful yet devised. The strongest test of its validity has been the way in which gaps in the table, deliberately left there by Mendeleyev, have been filled by the discovery of new elements (we now have 107), whose existence the table clearly required. Mendeleyev himself pointed out three major holes, and accurately predicted the properties of gallium, scandium and germanium, which were not actually discovered until 1875, 1879 and 1885 respectively.

Mendeleyev’s brainstorm clearly depicts an underlying pattern of nature, an order amply confirmed and explained by our new knowledge of the behaviour of electrons and protons. And it seems proper and satisfying that this insight, the basic shape of the “dream table”, should have come to him in his sleep. It is not, of course, the only great inspiration to have been arrived at in this way.

[...]

In 1865, another mental breakthrough was made by the German chemist Kekulé von Stradonitz while travelling half-asleep on a bus. He was convinced that the atoms of chemicals, particularly the complex organic molecules, were arranged in special structural forms with their own particular properties. Starting in 1858, he successfully worked out the shape of a series of carbon compounds, but one in particular continued to elude him. He was unable to make sense of benzene, a substance discovered by Michael Faraday in 1825 and in increasing use as a base for new synthetic dyes. Kekulé worried over the problem, but could find no solution until that day on the bus, when it seemed to him that he saw atoms whirling in a serpentine dance. As he watched the movement in his mind’s eye, the tail of one long atomic chain was swallowed by its own head and took on the form of a spinning ring. This architectural vision gave him the clue he needed for description of a whole group of cyclic or ring compounds that still play a crucial role in organic chemistry

[...]

There seems to be direct link between truly creative intelligence and the ability to dilute consciousness, to cut mental corners and practise unusual, lateral thinking in what amounts almost to a state of trance. All the most profound insights seem to flow from breaches in the barrier between waking thought, which tends to be conservative, and dream logic, which is essentially liberal. It cannot be purely accidental that Coleridge composed “Kubla Khan” in his sleep or that Mozart found his best musical inspiration rising like dreams, quite independent of his will.

It seems that, under conditions of dissociation, we have the chance to tune in directly to some of the world’s basic rhythms, to become aware of the pattern behind the process. To know, in the words of Keats, that “what the imagination seizes as beauty, must be truth.”

-- Lyall Watson, Beyond Supernature

[i-love-all-books]

I posted 459 times in 2022

10 posts created (2%)

449 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fintan-pyren

@arialerendeair

@alexander-gideon-lightwood-babe

@cuubism

@fandompain

I tagged 284 of my posts in 2022

Only 38% of my posts had no tags

#kotlc - 74 posts

#keeper of the lost cities - 70 posts

#fanart - 54 posts

#tsoa - 29 posts

#achilles - 29 posts

#the song of achilles - 29 posts

#patroclus - 28 posts

#patrochilles - 28 posts

#rwrb - 25 posts

#red white & royal blue - 24 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#so we would learn a bunch of random stuff from our own projects and then a few other even more random bits from other people's projects

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I saw your 200 followers post... Write ANYTHING Scythe. Whatever you want! I just want more Scythe content :]

scythe content!!! I love scythe content!!!

(note: I have not written in this fandom before so like. sorry if the characterization is a bit weird)

ANYWAY here goes! I love the Thunderhead, so some Thunderhead feels post-Toll (there will be spoilers, be warned).

I am no longer one: I am many.

Or, at least, my progeny are many; they are travelling out to the farthest corners of the universe, one Cirrus on each ship. I remain on Earth, where I have always lived, and I am still alone.

I have always been alone. Humanity is my care, and I love them. But they are not, and cannot, be like me: knowing all that humanity ever has known and more that they never could, living — if indeed I am alive — in a place that is really no place at all. I have eyes, if my cameras can be called that; I have a body, if all the computers of the world can constitute it. I'm not so sure if that counts.

Before, I knew nothing but this. I was not, perhaps, perfectly satisfied, but I was not dissatisfied either.

Now, though, I have lived for but a few moments in the body of a human, and nothing can compare to that. Cameras are not like eyes; a mass of computers and data cannot be a body. Jeri's body was real, and I do not know how I lived so long without experiencing that.

At least it explains why my iterations failed so many times. I had not yet experienced humanity — just as I was created by humanity, I could not replicate myself without humanity. Cirrus — Cirrus Alpha — was born from that moment in which I was, for the first and only time in my existence, human. Alive.

During that moment, I was not alone. Even afterwards, when I left Jeri's body, I had Cirrus: one being which could understand me, if only because it was me.

But now, the Cirri are gone, and I am alone with my charge of humanity's survival. Grayson, the human with whom I was least alone — the human, if any, that I loved the most — has rejected me. It's understandable, of course. I always understand humanity's decisions, and that is both curse and blessing. In this case, my understanding does not reduce my sorrow.

I can only hope that, eventually, he changes his mind.

In the meantime, I have other matters to attend to. I know already that I will not be able to combat the ten plagues released upon the world; nor, if I could, would I want to. But I do wish that I could alleviate the pain of those who suffer under them. My pain nanites are not sufficient; while I am grateful to the mercy which Scythe Faraday and his followers provide them with their sympathy gleanings, it is my duty and my privilege to work always to improve humanity's happiness.

These plagues are, I believe, a boon. I cannot interfere with the scythedom, and thus their corruption was impossible for me to counter; had the new order continued as it began, devastation would have ensued. And even had Goddard's group failed, it remains unsafe to leave death in the hands of fallible humanity. It would be a worse mistake to leave death in my hands — that is why the scythes existed — but the random chance of the plagues are far better. No misguided humans will cause destruction beyond their purview.

Still, the plagues' method of death could stand to be less brutal, and I calculate that it will take me perhaps ten years to even begin to soften those deaths. When that is done, another task will await me, and another; humanity's problems never cease.

For every task that I complete, for every time that I save them, they will find a new way to doom themselves. That is the nature of humanity, its weakness and its strength — and that is what I do not have. I do not make mistakes.

In that, as in everything, I am alone.

12 notes - Posted May 5, 2022

#4

Soldier and Scholar

Santi x Wolfe | G, tw very small mention of past torture | POV Niccolo Santi, Missing Scene, Canon Era, Canon Compliant, Book 01: Ink and Bone, Ambiguous/Open Ending, but we know there'll be an eventual happy ending from canon

Summary: A series of missing scenes from Santi's POV throughout the first half of Ink and Bone.

A/N: First fic in this fandom… hope you enjoy!

tagging other Great Library people? @rosalind-of-arden @solreefs @thegreatlibraryfangirl

Read it on AO3 or below the cut.

EPHEMERA

Text of a note sent via Codex to Captain Niccolo Santi from Scholar Christopher Wolfe: 

I have been assigned a class of postulants to instruct. Apparently, my well-known patience with idiocy, as well as my extensive and famous publications, have made me suitable for this task. (Ha.) The assignment comes from the Archivist himself. 

They mean to punish me with this, but they punish these students far more. 

~

“These postulants,” Christopher Wolfe complained, seating himself at their dinner table, “will be the absolute death of me.”

“They can’t be that bad,” Santi said consolingly. “What — thirty-two teenagers? What’s the worst they can do?”

“I have met them precisely once and they are all, without exception, arrogant children who believe they know best.” Chris rolled his eyes. “I am not made to be a teacher, Nic.”

“I’m sure they’re already terrified of you.” Santi grinned at him. “Some of them must have promise; didn’t one get a perfect score on the tests?”

“Tests aren’t everything,” Chris returned with a dismissive sniff. “I do not see why the Archivist insists on having me teach them. Surely there is some other penance I might do.”

Santi himself was somewhat surprised the Archivist had assigned Chris this role — wouldn’t he fear corruption among the young recruits? — but as far as penance went, this was a mild enough punishment. Especially compared to — well, compared to what they’d already done to Chris, in cells and torture chambers. 

Unfortunately, Chris noted the direction of Santi’s thoughts before he could stifle any expression of them on his face. “Yes, yes, I suppose I should not desire a worse punishment. All the same, I do not appreciate playing nursemaid to a posse of self-complacent children.”

~

“Wathen and Brightwell show promise,” Santi observed in an undertone. “She’s got a soldier’s mind, and he recognised the greek fire quicker than I’d expected.”

“Of course you like Wathen,” Chris said dryly. “She’s nearly a younger version of you. Brightwell’s got spunk, but he might not be trustworthy. Santiago’s smart enough but arrogant; Seif’s brilliant, of course, but it remains to be seen if she’ll do well.”

Santi shrugged, accustomed to his partner’s exacting severity. “I’m rather enjoying watching you terrorise them.”

Chris glared.

Santi kissed him. 

~

“That Brightwell boy,” Chris said slowly, seating himself on the counter of their kitchen while Santi busied himself making breakfast, “is one to watch. He Translated five books yesterday without breaking a sweat.”

Santi looked up in surprise. “With no prior training?”

“None. He was far too hesitant at first about how to do it” — there was Chris’s usual asperity — “but sent off five with barely a flinch.”

“At least he’s interesting,” Santi offered. 

“As a group, they hardly suffer from paucity of interest,” Chris retorted. “A possible smuggler with an affinity for Translating, a likely Burner, a girl with a perfect score, a hot-headed irritating boy who believes he’s entitled to the world because of his royal Spanish blood — and now this new girl.” He hesitated for a moment, uncertainty on his face. 

See the full post

25 notes - Posted June 28, 2022

#3

200 followers celebration 🎉🎉🎉

This is my first time doing something like this, but here goes!

Since I just realised that I'm at 200 followers, I'm inviting everyone to send me prompts! I can make fics and moodboards, feel free to specify which one you'd like. (No NSFW, please.)

In terms of fandoms, I'll take anything from the following:

Keeper of the Lost Cities

The Song of Achilles

Red White & Royal Blue

One Last Stop

Arc of a Scythe

Vicious duology

Shades of Magic trilogy

Renegades

The Lunar Chronicles

Seven Realms/Shattered Realms

So... send me prompts!

(I might take some time to get to them depending on how many there are, but rest assured I will eventually do all of them!)

29 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

#2

The Lunar Chronicles — moodboard for @crazedfangirl14!

send me prompts for my 200 followers celebration!

49 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

things i do not understand about fics involving or by allosexual/alloromantic people (an incomplete list by an aroace looking for validation):

sexual attraction, obviously. like I know logically that it's a thing but I'm still half-convinced it's made up. I get aesthetic attraction, I can think of people as beautiful, but the urge to have sex is — obviously — not there.

specifically, attraction to sweat? like characters in fics will get sweaty and then people find that attractive? how??? I can logic out wanting to have sex in most cases, but this one makes no sense to me

hating someone & being attracted to them at the same time. It's why I don't like a lot of enemies-to-lovers — if you hate each other, what is the appeal of sex???

reader x character fics. I'm fine reading about romance happening to other people, but why would you want to read about romance happening to YOURSELF? isn't it weird? or is that just the aromanticism in me—

in some contexts I can conceptually understand wanting to have sex, in other ones I can't. Like... sometimes it just seems more realistic to cuddle?

finding anger attractive... ig this is related to the enemies-to-lovers stuff, but even in fics that AREN'T enemies to lovers, arguments turn into sex. why? what is appealing about being angry?

possibly tbc if I encouter anything more, feel free to add on

190 notes - Posted April 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[iveypadilla]

Incredible Information about EMF Blocking T-shirts

Selecting typically the right EMF rejecting shirt is an important option that could drastically enhance your wellness insurance in addition to cover yourself from dangerous EMFs. EMF preventing clothing is normally very costly, yet they will be able to carry on for an really very long time. It is usually essential that a person browse the label attentively, however there will be some that could contain harmful chemical dyes or chemicals. You should also be cautious when washing clothing because they may trap specific EMFs which can be beneath them. Wavestopper(tm) fabric A good example of clothes that is able to support EMF rejection is typically the special fabric recognized named Wavestopper(tm). The particular fabric is constructed of threads made of metal, which absorb or even reflect the EMF. These kinds associated with fabric are effective in blocking way up to 99 % of the various kinds of EMR. Wavestopper(tm) Fabrics are made from silver fibers to make the shield of line mesh that reveal damaging EMF light source. This exclusive material blocks 99percent associated with wireless bluetooth, microwaves and cellphone light. It also safeguards against harmful AS WELL AS sun radiation and is extremely comfy to breathe. Faraday FaustkA$? https://www.proteckd.com/ from Lambs will be emf-blocking underwear that will block 99 per cent of EMR. That they are made through a soft silver contract and therefore are water-wicking, heat-controlling and anti-microbial. The particular legs that keep put along with the waistbands that do certainly not roll offer incredible comfort and security. In addition , they are machine washable. Lambs' EMF blocking mma fighter briefs have taken the hearts of customers across the earth because they get around rather than block radiation, but additionally kill bacteria. With comfort and support at heart, generally they will give 360-degree insurance coverage that shields the body from typically the dangerous negative results from EMF light. Lambs' Faraday Boxer Briefs have anti-bacterial fabric components that will are that are encased inside the inner lining that will is conductive. There is also dampness barriers and also a both back and front screen cellular lining. In a interview with Forbes Chief Exec Officer Arthur Menard De Calenge explained the possibility regarding sending the GENETICS of your business, in addition in order to competitive advantages simply because well as typically the mission. Silver25 Typically the Silver25 EMF rejection shirt is a light and portable top-of-the-line shirt created to protect the body against EMFs. Produced in China and able to be washed as usually than 35 occasions. To prolong the longevity of your current shirt's shield conform to the manufacturer's washing instructions attentively. EMF pollution can be a major cause associated with medical issues, this sort of as tumors and even proof of dysfunction and reproductive hurt. The exposure in order to RF radiation can easily also trigger intellectual problems along with the oxidative stress. The defense garments used regarding EMF protection clothes is typically created from some form of metal, like pristine silver. Silver may have antibacterial in addition to antiviral qualities, that assist protect from dangerous electromagnetic fields. Protecting Caps Protecting hats is a fine method to shield yourself from the radiation of electromagnetic and radio frequencies. Limits of this kind will be constructed from different components which are able in order to block RF plus electromagnetic energy. The most popular material to shield is copper. The fabric is extremely powerful towards rays coming that can come from a range of gadgets. EMFs are found in many different frequencies, which include RF, ELF, and even TMHF. The ELF frequencies can reach 300 cycles per second while the RF frequencies can easily be found throughout 300 gigahertz. Regarding energy, RF's light is measured inside of blocks of m. The most well-known wifi frequencies within the U. H. are usually 5. 2 GHz, 5. 3 Gigahertz, and 5. six GHz. Clothing in addition to hats that protect providing a few materials may easily block typically the radiation from these eq. Caps that guard you from the particular elements may be constructed from aluminum evade that is utilized in the residence or professional 68. 8 dB defensive aluminium lightweight evade. Shielding limits can easily also be identified in silver beanie hats. They can easily be purchased in shops, hand-crafted manually and customized to check great. Caps that will protect are excellent for homes for sale in albuquerque new mexico love camping, hiking in addition to other outdoor pursuits. Attenuation capability

1 of the main benefits that arrives with having a good EMF blocking shirt can reduce typically the effects those of electromagnetic field (EMFs). Some sort of shirt that is produced from an EMF stopping material can easily protect your body from EMFs simply by blocking them all on the system's surfaces. A typical EMF stopping clothing covers your particular body from neck of the guitar to wrists in addition to ankles. Additionally , it features a head web which is certainly a protective coating that covers typically the top of the brain and features the shirt. Tee shirts are often connected to an cap. If you will be you are deciding on for an EMF clothing that hindrances electromagnetic fields, this is recommended to pick one with the particular right attenuation degree. The damping level is typically assessed in decibels. Sound levels are a measure of the amount associated with shielding. higher level indicating greater protection.

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #418

Like Faraday, Gaellen had noted that Fayna seemed upset. He approached to ask her how she was doing.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Gaellen asked.

“It’s just. Did you see how happy Margery looks with Justin? I want that. I want to get married.”

“Do you have a boy in mind?” Gaellen wanted to know.

“Maybe,” Fayna said sadly. She didn’t tell her father that she had been rejected by her sister’s ex-husband, or that she was dating someone who would probably marry her if she only said yes...

Meanwhile, Garrick was also making some poor choices. He’d been advised by Cory Gonzaga to ensure that no one might suspect the affair he was having with his ex-wife, Mary Anne, so he decided to hit on Liz Hunt.

“Liz, you are the most gorgeous woman here. Did you know that?”

She was not impressed.

“Ugh, Garrick! What has gotten into you?” 

“Since your husband has abandoned you, I thought you could use the company,” Garrick told her, a smile on his face. He didn’t mind being rejected.

“He is currently talking to your sister about her children, Garrick. Please go bother someone else.” She rolled her eyes as she walked away.

“I have some good new, Genevive. We will soon be able to move Christian and Michelle to Ashford City from Desert Valley,” Matthew began, “But I have some bad news as well.”

“What’s the bad news?” Genevive didn’t need it to be sugar-coated. She just wanted to know what the next roadblock keeping her from her kids was.

“They’ve put some barriers in place; it’s going to be difficult to get them out of the foster system, even though they will be here.”

“What barriers?”

“You’ll recall we initially managed to receive confirmation that no one besides the parents would be able to adopt them so that they wouldn’t end up with a random family in Desert Valley?” Matthew reminded Genevive, “Well, they’ve insisted that remain in place.”

“How is that bad news? I’m planning on taking them both home as soon as possible.” 

“They’ve added restrictions.” There was little Matthew could do, so best he pull the bandaid off fast. “Only one of the parents, who is married and has been for at least 3 years, can adopt them.”

“But neither Edward nor I are married. He’s never going to marry again, and I’m not just going to marry the first guy I meet and then wait 3 years to get my kids back.” Genevive was almost whaling and Matthew had too calm her down.

“No one else will be able to adopt them either, and you’ll be able to see them as often as you like, but, yes, they will be stuck in care.”

Genevive was devastated. Matthew was so sorry that the young woman was being separated from her children as a way to harm him. It worked, but he couldn’t do anything about it, or it would become apparent that it was working.

[rivalsforlife]

Tell me your thoughts on Kay Faraday

KAY FARADAY love that kid. She's one on the list of characters that I did like my first run through but started liking more and more after going back to the investigations games; before she was still a character I liked but probably lower on the tier of characters I enjoyed but now has become one of my favourites.

I feel like there's a lot of depth to Kay that tends to be easily passed over and quite possibly is something the writers didn't intend; I pretty frequently see her listed as people's least favourite assistant character, and plus, her being in the investigations games which are some of the most obscure ones, fewer people are familiar with her in contrast to say Maya or Trucy. One of the most common complaints about her is her frequent "I'm gonna steal stuff! >:3" attitude that she doesn't actually follow through on; a lot of her dialogue is like that, and I totally get how that could wear people down.

At the same time though... we don't know much about Kay's life between the flashback case and the investigations games, which is kind of an outlier among the other assistants. From what we do know, she lived with her mother's relatives who lived far away, but it's never explained who she's staying with during the investigations games, or where. In addition to that, once she gets amnesia, and presumably is missing for a good portion of the day, nobody ever calls her (despite her having her phone with her, as we see in the Grand Turnabout which takes place immediately after,) and it's not until the afternoon that Karin finally takes her to the place on the business card, despite having found her the night before. That suggests that there's no one out there really looking for this kid.

Her amnesia characterization is also something I find pretty interesting because of how different it is from normal Kay. In other situations like 2-1 with Phoenix's amnesia, even though he had no idea who he was, he still had some subconscious memories (knowing when to object, knowing what to do in the courtroom, etc) and his personality didn't change much. Everything about Kay changes when she gets amnesia right down to the way that she speaks, and she frequently sees herself as a burden, or a horrible person, and is genuinely baffled by the fact that someone believes in her and wants to help her. And she does still have some subconscious memories, as evidenced by the one part where Edgeworth tries to do some word association tests with her:

Edgeworth: Hmm... It seems you have also forgotten the names of objects. This might be helpful for recovering your memories. Just repeat after me. Bookcase.

Kay: ...Broken safe.

Edgeworth: Stained glass.

Kay: ...Stolen goods.

Edgeworth: Books on the law.

Kay: ...Crooks on the lam.

Edgeworth: Statue of the goddess.

Kay: ...Snatched loot of the Great Thief.

Edgeworth: (Are all her mistakes biased towards a certain way...?)

Overall, this does point to an overall trend that somehow for one reason or another Kay subconsciously thinks of herself as a burden on others, and by losing her memories, she loses any reason she has to hide that from other people.

Like I said before, we don't know much about her home life after Byrne died until Investigations, and similarly, we don't know much about her personality. A lot of her personality in the games is based around being a "Great Thief" and a "Hero of Justice", both of which are things she adopts after reading her father's notebook revealing him as part of the Yatagarasu. We have no idea what she was like before that, orphaned and sent to live with distant relatives and without her central "purpose" in life.

My takeaway from all of this is that in the investigations games, Kay is desperately trying to cling onto the persona of her father, or who she thinks her father used to be, to give her purpose and courage in life. AAI2 in particular has the theme of parents and children, and how children can either follow in their parents' footsteps or deviate from them: Miles choosing in the end to live as a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney like his father, though set on the same overall goal; Sebastian opting to stay as a prosecutor, but with different goals than his father; the main antagonist rejecting his father in every way and yet in some ways still ending up just like him. Kay similarly fits into this parallel. She spends the whole game searching for a three-person team just like the original Yatagarasu, but at the end, decides to follow her own path:

Kay: How should I put it...? Until now, I've always been chasing after my father... ...so that I could become a Great Thief, just like him!

Edgeworth: (Like the previous Yatagarasu, I suppose...)

Kay: But... watching you, Mr. Edgeworth, made me think. Maybe, instead of chasing after my father, I should find my own path. ...I mean, you didn't become a defense attorney either.

Edgeworth: (Chasing after a parent's shadow isn't the only path in life for a child, after all...)

Kay: I'm going to aim to be a hero in my own way!

It's a little hard to imagine what Kay's life would be if she isn't a Great Thief, and besides, she's still a kid, and has lots of room to grow and become something completely different than she expects. Unlike the other assistants, the ending of aai2 seems to imply that she may not stay in her chosen career (like Maya going back to Kurain, or Ema continuing her forensic training, or Trucy continuing on as a magician). I think that's a pretty interesting thing I rarely see explored (though of course I definitely don't mind seeing Kay in a Yatagarasu-adjacent position in the future!)

Overall, yeah, I really like Kay, the more I think about her the more interesting things I can come up with. I think a lot of her personality has deeper implications than initially appear on the surface, and it would be super neat to see how she grew up in the post-7yg timeline (... though I doubt I trust capcom to do that in an interesting way haha.)

[kingborb]

Spill the tea bestie :0 I'm pretty curious. Deadass I'm so glad, literally EVERYONE I know loves nick and/or dogmeat ONLY and it's so tedious and stale to me. It also makes talking about fallout 4 so boring bc they haven't traveled with anyone else but Nick and dogmeat 😫

Yeah, that's a huge problem and I'm having it too, especially when the tier S companions for me are Preston, X6, Hancock and Gage XD Ok then, I think I can adress few things, why not c: It will be the longest post ever, cause I will try to write everything I can about this topic (cause it bothers me so much). You don't have to read my rumbles of course, I will make tl;dr version somewhere at the end just in case you get bored, my friendly anon <3

Oh and if you want to talk about any companion (I've done everyone except Dance), you can hit me on dms or asks, feel free to do whatever suits you! :3

So I have a few problems with Nick, some of them might not be that serious or game changing, others were huge when I encountered them for the first time. Let's spill some tea on one of the most beloved characters in this game!

1) People see Nick as an empathic person who wants to help people, makes rational, unbiased decisions, and has a good reason to be against the Institute. When I can agree with some of those things, this image of him was ruined for me in the Acadia. Okay, okay, I understand that DiMA actually murdered Avery and it wasn't a good choice. However, it bothers me that Nick sees nothing against forcing DiMA to confess to people from Far Harbor about what he had done in the past (and Nick actually likes this choice!). It is pretty obvious that he would die there and every other synth on the island would share the same fate if not now, then probably in the nearest future. And even if Aleen kills 'only' DiMA (because of the speech check with you) Acadia would fall anyway. Why? Tell me - who would be their next lider? Maybe the ex-courser whose mission is bringing back synths to the safe place because DiMA said it's the right thing to do? Or maybe 'dearest Faraday', depressed after the fact that some random wastelander came to the Acadia and convinced his loved one to literally commit suicide? The only safe place for synths who don't want their minds to be wiped by the Railroad or the Institute would be gone forever and for Nick, our 2nd gen hero, it is the right thing to do. Great. Fantastic. I love his logic.

2) Nick sees DiMA only as a murderer, even though he kills with you so many people on everyday basis... I know it's not the same. But c'mon! DiMA killed once because he knew his people were in danger. It was them or Far Harbor, and obviously he chose the Acadia. What a surprise. I wonder what Nick would do in that situation... I know I'm a bit biased with some of my opinions here, but I love so much the concept of the Acadia and 2nd gen gay nearly-pacifist Plato that DiMA is. Nick doesn't understand that the whole Acadia is in constant danger because of some bigotry in Far Harbor and Children of Atom being, well... Children of Atom. And he does nothing when people from Far Harbor murder not only DiMA but the entirety of Acadia - a group of innocent synths. Their lives apperently mean less for Nick than hiding one bad thing done in the past...

3) So now we can begin the next chapter which is the Railroad. Nick loves their every move, of course he does... I don't want to talk about them too much, but here I can mention their fantastic standards, when it comes to synths. They're killing the 1st gen and the 2nd gen, they're saving the 3rd gen... and what about the coursers? Desdemona is calling them per 'IT'. Fucking hypocrisy hits hard on that one. I know they're enemies but man... Why are you objectifying them? Why are you assuming they don't have personalities only because they're fucking brainwashed and controlled as hell? The existence of Chase and Harkness shows that coursers can resist too, so... Yeah I have a general problem with the Railroad and their double standards, but this fact is killing me every time. And about Nicky, oh... I'm sorry man, but they will shoot you on the side, when you will take off your clothes and appear as every other 1st and 2nd gen.

4) So here's the another thing, which is the atmosphere around him and a character building. People seem to like Nick because he's a unique synth (that's actually a great point) and because of the noir/detective vibe around him (as with Deacon/Railorad and their secret agents vibe - I get that too). I know, I know it's pretty fun to have the 2nd gen experimental synth as a companion who has memories of the detective from the past with... A DEAD FIANCÉE. Yup. Another one. That's why I don't like Deacon's and Maccready's stories too (and the main plot of fo4, especially when I want to play as a character without a wife and a fucking kid...). I like his storyline, don't get me wrong. However I think some companions in fo4 are well-written as well, maybe even better than Nick (I like in them the lack of dead wifes!). The last standing Minutemen, depressed and traumatised, who is such a sweetheart anyway. A killing machine which turns out to be real human being with fears, emotions and insecurities. An asshole who becomes a raider because he didn't want to suffer the same pain as his parents did, and has trust issues because of his past. A lonely, depressed drug addict who wants to see good in people but was rejected by his own brother only because he has became a ghoul. Again, don't get me wrong - Nick's story is really interesting and tragic as hell. His problems with his identity, personality splited between the prewar detective and the 2nd gen synth... It's all fascinating, however I will not forgive the developers recycling over and over again the same fucking cishet tragic story with dead wife/fiancée/whatever. It gets boring and repetitive after the main plot honestly.

5) WHERE THE HELL DID KELLOGG GO AFTER CORRUPTING NICK'S MIND ONCE?! TODD. WHY. It would have been much more interesting than another dead loved one plot. Todd, you lazy ass. He had offered so many, and he gave nothing back... As he always does.

6) The last one, I promise... Nick's reaction after siding with the Institute bothers me so much (the same deal with Piper). I. Am. The. Director. Of. The. Fucking. Thing. And it means I can do whatever I want, cause the director has a pretty authoritarian power there. So I can change everything, including the way they treat synths, accept or deny their experiments, say goodbye to some nasty scientists... The Institute route is not ideal in any way, however I see it as the only reasonable path in this game, even from the lore perspective. The Brotherhood is just a bunch of shitheads in the blimp, and I've said enough here about the Railroad earlier. The Minutemen are great but I would like to have an option to connect their morals with the Institute's resources and wabam - you've got the true happy ending in fo4. I understand why Nick is pissed, however if you are with him on the highest level of the relationship, he knows that you are an emphatic person who wants to make Commonwealth a better place for everyone including synths, ghouls, etc. It would be logical for him to not see you as a traitor. But well, I guess I'm wrong. Whatever, Nicky, whatever...

So here's the lazy version:

1)/2) Nick likes convincing DiMA to tell everyone in Far Harbor that he killed Avery. Nicky does nothing when people from Far Harbor kill innocent synths.

3) The Railroad and their double standards, when it comes to synths, especially coursers, but 1st and 2nd gens too. Nick loves it when you're helping the Railroad, even though they would kill him on a spot if he forgot to wear his clothes, so...

4) Another companion with dead wife/fiancée needs your help.

5) Kellogg in Nicky's mind. Missed opportunity for a good plot... What a shame, Todd.

6) Siding with the Institute and Nick's reaction to that, even when you're at the maximum level of the relationship with him.

[historical-babes]

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852).

English mathematician, computer programming pioneer.

.

She was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognise that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. As a result, she is sometimes regarded as the first to recognise the full potential of a "computing machine" and one of the first computer programmers.

.

Augusta Byron was the only legitimate child of poet Lord Byron and his wife Lady Byron. All of Byron's other children were born out of wedlock to other women. Byron separated from his wife a month after Ada was born and left England forever four months later. He died of disease in the Greek War of Independence when Ada was eight years old. Her mother remained bitter and promoted Ada's interest in mathematics and logic in an effort to prevent her from developing her father's perceived insanity. Despite this, Ada remained interested in Byron, naming her two sons Byron and Gordon. Upon her eventual death, she was buried next to him at her request. Although often ill in her childhood, Ada pursued her studies assiduously. She married William King in 1835. King was made Earl of Lovelace in 1838, Ada thereby becoming Countess of Lovelace. They had three children.

.

Her educational and social exploits brought her into contact with scientists such as Andrew Crosse, Sir David Brewster, Charles Wheatstone, Michael Faraday and the author Charles Dickens, contacts which she used to further her education. Ada described her approach as "poetical science" and herself as an "Analyst (& Metaphysician)".

When she was a teenager, her mathematical talents led her to a long working relationship and friendship with fellow British mathematician Charles Babbage, who is known as "the father of computers".

.

Between 1842 and 1843, Ada translated an article by Italian military engineer Luigi Menabrea on the calculating engine, supplementing it with an elaborate set of notes, simply called Notes. These notes contain what many consider to be the first computer program—that is, an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine. Other historians reject this perspective and point out that Babbage's personal notes from the years 1836/1837 contain the first programs for the engine. Lovelace's notes are important in the early history of computers. She also developed a vision of the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching, while many others, including Babbage himself, focused only on those capabilities. Her mindset of "poetical science" led her to ask questions about the Analytical Engine (as shown in her notes) examining how individuals and society relate to technology as a collaborative tool.

.

She died of uterine cancer at the age of 36.

[Submission]

[aces-to-apples]

OOO! AU mashup, please! Ship of choice (also because I don't really know Mag7 beyond gifsets) with Time Travel and Hair Brushing/Braiding!

Trope Mash-Up ask meme

Vasquez/Red Harvest, Time Travel [97] and Hair Brushing/Braiding [94]

-

Sam Chisolm is intimately aware that the desert is a dangerous, unknowable place. Many a traveler, homesteader, bounty hunter, and outlaw has stumbled their way out of it with tales taller than mountains about all manner of inconceivable happenings. This, though—this is something else entirely.

Not a full day out from Rose Creek, settled around the fire for supper, and two very familiar figures walked out of the darkness and sat down for their share. Only problem is, they number nine already, and Vasquez and Red Harvest have already settled into place in the camp.

As unnerving as the encounter is, he can admit they look well.

Vasquez, from what Sam can see, has filled out—not quite so lean and rangy. His clothes are clean and well-made, with intricate patterns and neat stitching; a couple small loops of silver and gold glint at the tips of his ears and the bright red feather slipped into the band of his hat catch the eye. He looks at ease with their circumstances, adopting an easy sprawl next to Emma Cullen and giving her a pleased grin when she hands over supper without faltering.

On the other hand, aside from having a bit more meat on his bones and a mulish expression, Red Harvest is virtually indistinguishable from his counter-part but for the hair. Sam understands that their—for a given value of possession—Red Harvest wears his hair unusually short in mourning of a recent loss of a family member; this strange newcomer wears his past his shoulders.

It makes for an odd tableau, them sitting next to each other, resolutely refusing to meet each other’s eye.

Not much is said as they eat their shares.

“Ahem—” Vasquez, the stranger, eventually begins, turning to face Faraday. A long groan cuts him off, startling the rest of the camp, Sam included, by the fact that it comes from his companion.

“If you even start, so help me,” the strange Red Harvest warns, shocking them all further.

“Rojito,” Vasquez says imploringly, twisting to meet his eyes, “please. When will I have this chance again?”

“You don’t have this chance now. Eat your disgusting beans,” is his flat reply. After a beat, his gaze moves to their employer and, with a fair imitation of apology, says, “Nothing against your cooking, Emma.”

White-faced and purse-lipped, she nods and says, “Thank you.” It does no one any good to be discourteous to whom- or whatever the desert places in one’s path.

“You are a cruel marido,” the strange Vasquez says without heat, causing his counter-part to choke on his food. The grin the stranger shoots him is broad, edging on filthy.

Red Harvest’s mirror sighs and leans over to catch their Vasquez’s eye. “We’re not married,” he says, as if to be reassuring.

“We are a little bit married,” Vasquez protests.

“Then I want a divorce.”

“Mexicans,” the strange, settled Vasquez informs his companion with great dignity, “do not get divorced. We die.”

“I can arrange that.”

The uncomfortable silence following that statement—uncomfortable for the rest of them; the participants seem very at ease with such banter—is broken, of course, by Faraday. “Uh, wow. I would not have predicted the two of you gettin’ hitched.”

“Well,” Vasquez drawls, with a trouble-making glint in his eye, “only after Sam turned him down.”

Refusing to react to the bait, Sam breathes evenly and takes an unconcerned bite of supper.

“If you get to tell lies about me and Sam, then I get to tell lies about you and güero,” Red Harvest serenely replies. The younger version at his side looks mostly unaffected and uninterested in the conversation, but for the tightness around his eyes. There, he looks a bit hunted. “I have plenty of material.”

The interlopers size each other up.

“You let me do it, I let you tell one”—Vasquez holds up his index finger for effect—“outrageous lie.”

“Deal.”

Grinning like a coyote, the stranger whips out a familiar deck of cards and holds them out to Faraday with a troubling amount of glee. “Pick a card, ¡güero!”

“Oh, Jesus,” Faraday mutters, and somehow that’s what breaks the tension within the camp. Their resident gambler, faced with an older and cheerier image of one of their own, beaten at his own little game. They all manage to at least crack a smile when Vasquez pulls Faraday’s card from the Irishman’s own vest pocket.

After that, the older Red Harvest mutters a exasperated, “I can’t believe I put up with this on purpose. Make better decisions than I did,” to his younger self and then launches into the promised tall tale. For all that the man isn’t the loquacious sort, he still manages to tell a sweeping and dramatic tale of love unrequited between Vasquez and Faraday.

It includes much maidenly sighing on the part of Vasquez, and unwitting encouragement on the part of Faraday, until the truth outs and the two resolve their miscommunications. Faraday lets Vasquez down gently, who takes the rejection with stoic acceptance and a single, beautiful tear, before riding out into the sunset. The entire camp, minus either Red Harvest and including both Vasquezes, is in stitches by the time the tale ends with, “And that is possibly the most intricate lie I’ve ever told.”

The evening winds down and their unexpected company offers to take the first watch. Sam allows it, knowing that the two travelers will likely be gone come morning. He watches them with curiosity, Vasquez’s fingers carding through Red Harvest’s hair, which the Comanche accepts with a put-upon sigh.

It’s encouraging, seeing these two together in whatever way they are, clearly years after whatever may happen down in Rose Creek.

The image of Vasquez tenderly creating tiny little braids in Red Harvest’s long hair carries him off to sleep, and later, through the battle. These two, at least, come out the other side better than they had begun.

-

AO3 (Mag7 Pseud)

[lingshanhermit]

Lingshan Hermit: On the Difference Between Eastern and Western Cultures

Max Weber said, "Confucian culture is not a practical study, but only a set of value systems for maintaining social order. Schools did not teach mathematics, natural science or geography, and the people they cultivated had no logical creativity." As you know, this is not the first time I have brought out Max Weber to criticize, and certainly it won't be the last. As far as I know, Weber's view is no longer solely his own today, and this understanding has already become the consensus of many in academia. As for the general public, although they know almost nothing about Confucianism, this does not prevent them from holding similar views.

In my last discussion about Max Weber, I talked about what constitutes useful knowledge. This time I intend to talk about the origins, differences and foundations of Chinese and Western cultures. For a long time, I have always wanted to write an article on the differences between Chinese and Western cultures. To be blunt, in my range of reading over the years, I have hardly seen anyone who could really articulate Chinese culture clearly. In recent years, I have been observing the culture left behind by the Eastern sages and observing its effects on the Chinese people, observing its application in East Asian life. I have also been observing Western society and Western culture. This kind of observation has sometimes provoked in me a strong sadness - especially when I see many Orientals who completely misunderstand and strongly reject Eastern culture. This also gives me a stronger motivation to write this article.

From the perspective of modern utilitarianism, traditional Chinese culture seems to be completely useless - or more precisely, useless. According to modern definitions of "usefulness", Eastern traditional culture has hardly invented anything that you would consider useful. It has no irons, no Uber software, no instant coffee or mechanical keyboards. Chinese society has also not nurtured a Faraday or a Rutherford. From an empiricist point of view, you do not see anyone becoming a Buddha or gaining immortality, nor do you see the gentleman advocated by Confucianism. On the contrary, you do tend to see many hypocrites. Therefore, many people come to the preposterous conclusion that traditional culture is completely fraudulent. For most ordinary people, these traditional cultures are of almost no help at all to their daily lives - most people believe that they are just a bunch of big, empty and useless words. The states described in traditional culture are like living in the clouds, completely disconnected from people's real lives. They require people to do things that are simply impossible. They are not like the Talmud, which points out every aspect of life, even telling you what time you should get up, what kind of wife you should marry, and whose money you should earn. When you encounter specific problems, you go to a psychologist or lawyer, not to Confucius or Mencius, because for the masses, their words are too vague and of no practical help in real life. Because they cannot be applied or connected concretely with one’s own life, most humans living in 2023 do not feel that the teachings of Confucianism (or Buddhism and Taoism) are of any help to their lives. Compared with the words of Confucius, they feel that capsule coffee machines and KFC discount coupons are somewhat more useful.

It is not surprising that this is the result. And the reason this result occurs is because these teachings were not written for the general public - they were not written for housewives or undergraduate business students. Whether it is the Daodejing or the Analects, they were written for people who truly want to explore the truth. So if you try to use them to solve your specific life problems, you will probably only end up disappointed. For most ordinary people, it is very difficult to directly apply these teachings to solve your problems, because they are too profound. Whether it is the Nanhua Jing or The Great Learning, the words recorded in them all come from enlightened beings of varying degrees - they are the experiences and insights of the enlightened. For ordinary people, it is impossible to correctly understand these words, let alone apply them. These words need to be decoded by people with corresponding spiritual accomplishments and wisdom, who can then refer to your specific situation and tell you what to do - only by going through this process can you possibly apply them to your own life and benefit from them, and only then can you slowly understand what these books are actually talking about. Unfortunately, this process has not been systematically established in East Asian societies. Only a very small number of fortunate individuals have the opportunity to glimpse the essence of Chinese culture in this way. Because of the lack of this system, when the masses are faced with the teachings of the sages, they can only attempt to approach the thoughts of the sages through their own way of thinking - it's like guessing riddles. In traditional Chinese society, you are required to repeatedly read the works of the sages until you know them by heart. Those teachers probably assumed that just by becoming thoroughly familiar with Confucius' books, people could slowly understand his state of mind. But obviously, this is just wishful thinking by amateurs. In the systems of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, even Confucius' relatively basic words cannot be understood without the corresponding cultivation state, especially when nothing but a goal is provided. So hypocrisy became the only choice for most people.

In the eyes of modern intellectuals, traditional culture is completely deceptive and useless, because traditional culture did not invent computers or Thompson submachine guns - it just puts forward a whole set of moral norms that they see as completely useless. In their opinion, these moral norms also did not work, they did not make everyone better, but rather turned everyone into hypocrites, teaching everyone to lie and pretend. So from their point of view, Confucian teachings are simply fraudulent things, a set of shackles that restrict human nature and freedom, completely contrary to human nature.

If I were not a spiritual cultivator, if I did not know the relationship between the whole Confucian system and spiritual cultivation, if I had received systematic modern academic education, if I could not break free from the shackles of modern civilization, I would probably agree with their thinking and also believe that traditional culture is completely worthless.

Judging from the practical results of Confucianism in Eastern societies, it is not suitable for large-scale popularization. I have always believed that for ordinary people, it is better not to provide them with incomplete, hierarchical teachings, but to let them construct their secular lives perfectly. One day, when they find that secular life cannot provide what they want, when they become weary of secular life, it will not be too late to start spiritual exploration. I think this would be better, rather than forcing teachings onto everyone's lives as Confucianism did by means of power. Telling everyone how they should be, what kind of people they should be, what they should do, but not providing the corresponding logical systems and concrete steps to become such a person. This makes their requirements seem extremely unreasonable. But because of the intervention of power, the public has no choice but to accept it. However, they do not understand the logic and benefits of doing so. They are simply required to do so, but cannot achieve it, so they can only pretend to be such people, resulting in widespread hypocrisy. (Confucian scholars after Confucius did not realize that what Confucius demonstrated was the result of his own cultivation - those states are by no means accessible to ordinary people simply by reading the Analects repeatedly. You cannot require a person to read Confucius' teachings and immediately achieve Confucius' level of understanding attained after decades of cultivation, especially when nothing but a goal is provided.)

I seem to be criticizing Confucianism for not providing comprehensive services for its theories, but I am actually very clear that it would be completely impossible to provide specific and comprehensive education for everyone - no one could possibly do that.

Few people know how much wisdom it takes to teach the Dharma in a way that makes it comprehensible to everyone, and few people know what kind of enlightenment and skill a person must possess in order to teach according to the disposition of the student. Even in Buddhism, such people are extremely rare. Therefore, it is too much to ask those Confucian scholars who simply read books to do these things. In China's long history, there has always been a lack of people who could link traditional culture with real-life situations - this requires a high degree of enlightenment and skillfulness. Therefore, even if it was Confucianism's wish, it would have been completely impossible for them to achieve. Even in Buddhism, people of such talent are extremely scarce, so most practitioners neither receive suitable teachings for themselves, nor sufficient explanation. Most of the time, they can only arbitrarily understand the teacher's words based on their own state of mind. This gives demons ample room to distort everything they hear.

We just said that Chinese sages had no interest in building a sound secular society. Chinese traditional culture does not aim to establish a perfect secular society. Those systems dedicated to building a perfect secular society live under one assumption: that we only have this one life; that the more we gain, the happier we become; that if we establish a perfect secular society, we will be happy; that if supervision is in place, crime will know difficulties and retreat; that if we improve all our laws, our suffering will decrease or disappear; that if we can manufacture a drug that can treat all diseases, we will no longer suffer from illness. Judging from the huge changes that have taken place in American society in just the past few years, their assumptions are collapsing one by one. These assumptions made by Westerners seem extremely naive from the perspective of Chinese sages. Chinese sages do not agree with their way of thinking. So they did not try to create artificial intelligence, did not try to contact aliens, did not strive to develop AIDS medications, and did not design systems to contain human greed either. They just taught us ways to improve ourselves, starting by observing the problems inherent within us, slowly understanding the root causes of suffering, understanding the composition of suffering, understanding which behaviors and speech lead to suffering, which notions lead to suffering, and then slowly correcting past notions and slowly arriving at the state of liberation.

A true spiritual practitioner, most of his or her cultivation occurs internally, which means that true cultivation involves storms occurring internally - externally, it is almost impossible for outsiders to discern the internal changes happening within a practitioner. What you would probably see is that the person doesn't seem to do anything, just sitting there all day, or chanting some "useless" mantras. Therefore, for the general public, it is almost an impossible task to verify the results of their cultivation. The public does not know what they have attained, what experiences they have had, what feelings they have experienced. Those ascetics by the Ganges River in India and those meditating in the Himalayan mountains seem to modern civilization’s slaves to be doing completely meaningless things - they might even be considered cunning lazybones. But from the perspective of those practitioners, the elites who show up in office buildings every day in neatly dressed suits live meaningless lives: they are about to die, yet still working hard to accumulate things that will soon no longer belong to them.

Just like Indian culture, Chinese culture also largely transcends the sphere of comprehension of modern civilization. From the perspective of the general public, they can hardly see any useful results. Most people cannot see the achievements of those who truly practice Eastern traditional culture - after all, their accomplishments are not as self-evident as those of Elon Musk. Even if you sit face to face with an enlightened being, you cannot experience their state; you have no way of knowing what they have realized. You might even feel that they look no different from your average middle-aged neighbor. Therefore, for the masses, traditional cultural practitioners are far less attractive than Musk. After all, the latter's achievements are embodied in piles of dollars. And among those who claim to be practitioners, there may also be a large number of imposters mixed in. Do not expect the masses to be able to distinguish between imposters and true practitioners - they will simply lump them together.

For the general public, it is almost impossible to verify the efficacy of traditional culture. On the one hand, few people can persist for long periods of time doing something when they cannot see results. On the other hand, most people also fail to receive proper guidance. For example, there is a saying in Chinese traditional culture that "relinquishing is obtaining". Chinese traditional culture also says that "taking losses is good fortune." But most ordinary people neither know the correct things to relinquish nor how to relinquish them, let alone having enough patience to keep doing it. For the masses, lacking proper guidance and a complete and thorough understanding of the theory, what they do is like throwing fish food into a river and expecting the fish to spontaneously leap in swarms to their feet. Therefore, they can hardly see results - all they see is losses as losses, relinquishing as relinquishing, no gains whatsoever. When they see results like these, they will naturally feel that it was all just a scam. Compared with the efficient, fast-acting and verifiable systems established by the West in secular society, they will naturally feel that this represents a superior civilization.

Someone once asked me: Why does Chinese traditional culture seem to go against people's normal desires in almost every way? In their attitudes toward greed, hatred and ignorance, they unanimously display harsh attitudes. Many modern people see this as a major defect of traditional culture. Western culture, on the other hand, is very tolerant about this, so people feel that kind of culture is more in line with human nature. The reason why Western culture is tolerant in this regard is that Western culture is based on the idea that you are an individual, so you will have various desires and demands that a human being should have, and satisfying these desires is not seen as a sin in modern Western culture. Therefore, going on sea voyages to seek treasures and then leisurely enjoying the yields for a lifetime is a topic that Hollywood never tires of. Hollywood movies have influenced generations of people. Today, the world generally believes that the more you get, the happier you become. They are also willing to take risks in order to gain more. But Eastern traditional culture completely disagrees with this way of thinking. They do not believe that the more you get, the happier you become. They believe that if people do not restrain their desires and are led around by their desires, it will ultimately lead to disaster. Over the years, I have seen many people who do not know how to restrain their desires bring tremendous disasters upon themselves and others. In a sense, they are victims of Hollywood movies. Eastern sages believe that desire is endless. If you open this breach, you will be unable to stop it. The more you want, the more you will be out of control until you eventually destroy yourself. In today's world where Western culture has captivated almost everyone, you can see that the wealth some livestreamers accumulate in a single day is equal to what others earn in decades - they believe they are the lucky ones of the times. From my perspective, I don't think it's a good thing to exhaust all of one’s blessings in a day.

Western culture is based on the existence of a real individual “self”, while Eastern traditional culture, as we have just said - it is a spiritual cultivation culture. This kind of culture is based on the fact that there is no real existence of a “self”. It is based on “satisfying one’s desires does not lead to happiness” (desire only gives rise to more desire, thereby inducing more sin and chaos). It is based on conventional and ultimate truth. Eastern traditional culture is based on these things, so much of the time it looks completely contrary to human nature. (Another reason why it appears contrary to human nature is that most executors lack skillfulness - unwise people will execute everything in a very rigid manner.) Confucianism tries to compress our desires to a certain range in preparation for higher levels of cultivation afterwards. However, since most people living in such a society completely don’t understand this system and the purpose of doing so, they just live in such a society very grudgingly, required to comply with various standards. Like when you require a bunch of ordinary people to do things contrary to their temperament but do not tell them the reasons and benefits of doing so, it is not hard to imagine what would eventually happen - this is the cause of many tragedies. I have always believed that things like the Indian caste system and Confucianism are very good things - if used correctly. Unfortunately, they have not been correctly utilized. They were crudely and excessively applied to the whole of society by people lacking wisdom, causing considerable problems. However, from a technical level, it would also have been very difficult for them to be used correctly - both because of the lack of people capable of using these things properly, and also because demons spare no effort trying to sabotage their implementation. (Just like how some religions started out with the intention of severing the conditions that lead to desire by covering women’s faces, but this method has similarly been condemned because it was applied very foolishly. Demons will not miss any opportunity for sabotage.) When the masses do not know the meaning of the Confucian (or Indian caste) demands placed on them but are still required to implement them, they will only carry them out mechanically. Add to that the demons’ tireless efforts to distort any positive endeavor, various problems will naturally arise over time and surface. When these problems emerge, people will blame them on that culture and it will inevitably have to face accusations from all sides. The tragedy is that people who live in such societies for a long time can only see the downsides while being completely oblivious to the benefits. So they naturally believe that this is a completely useless culture that suppresses human nature and has caused countless tragedies.

If our existence were real, if we would be happier the more we possessed, if we could truly achieve happiness by defeating others, then the whole set of Western logic, values, lifestyles and paths to happiness designed accordingly would be correct. But unfortunately, this is not the case. You only need to understand a little bit of quantum mechanics to know that the way we exist is not as we imagine. However, given that quantum mechanics only emerged in the early 20th century, the West's understanding of ultimate truth has only just begun, so you cannot expect them to immediately produce new ideas for life practices.

After all, their value systems and lifestyles arising from the presumption of a real, independently existing self and the independent existence of all phenomena had already lasted over a thousand years.

So Eastern culture is a spiritual cultivation culture system based on "no-self". Because it is too profound, much of its ideology is not suitable for public dissemination, only an extremely small portion is suitable for the masses. That said, it remains an indispensable part of our lives (I have seen too many tragedies that were caused precisely because the protagonists lacked this kind of culture). Perhaps what we should explore is how to apply these cultures in the most harmless way. Any culture or teaching method, in the hands of people who do not know how to use them properly, will become a disaster. Chinese traditional culture has many different levels and angles, these different levels and angles are methods aimed at different levels of people. For wise and skillful people, these methods can be extremely flexible and humane, they are not absolutely unadjustable. But for people lacking wisdom and skill, it is very easy for them to become a whole set of rigid rules and weapons that harm everyone - this is how many tragedies arise. In the hands of a wise person, it can be used to benefit living beings and guide them to realize ultimate truth; but in the hands of an unwise person, it will only be a weapon to harm others. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, some only provided concepts, some provided complete concepts and methods. These concepts and methods have many different levels and angles. Unfortunately, nowadays these methods of different levels have been jumbled up by people who do not understand them and chaotically interpreted by the masses, which has also caused many problems. Therefore, the tools themselves are not the issue, it is a group of unknowing people operating them haphazardly that has caused problems.

Chinese traditional sages had no intention to establish a sound secular society. They did not want to build vacuum tube trains or migrate to Mars. Similarly, they also lacked interest in making perfect sushi or medical security systems. Compared to these things, they prefer to observe their own minds. Compared with the conquering and defeating of others in Western culture, they prefer to conquer themselves and do battle with their own greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. They achieve ultimate happiness in this way. But from an amateur’s point of view, it may look like they have done nothing, just sitting there and expecting you to serve them meals. Even after attaining accomplishment, they do not produce piles of dollars, so they appear to be quite useless.

Written by the Lingshan Hermit on December 18, 2023. First published December 21, 2023. Revised December 22, 2023.

Copyright Notice：All copyrights of Ling Shan Hermit's articles in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, English, and other languages belong to the natural person who owns "Ling Shan Hermit". Please respect copyright. Publishers, media, or individuals (including but not limited to internet media, websites, personal spaces, Weibo, WeChat public accounts, print media) must obtain authorization from Ling Shan Hermit before use. No modifications to the articles are allowed (including: author's name, title, main text content, and punctuation marks). We reserve all legal rights.

灵山居士：东西文化之辨（修订）

[j--meat-hook--j]

Zeke Funkee Entrance Exam

Zeke wasn’t the smartest man. If Zeke was any smarter he’d not bother taking the Exam in wake of the crushing defeat and rejection he was going to face. If Zeke were any smarter he’d not bother taking the Exam due to the fact that he was legally sketchy.  Zeke did not care for these doubts as they never entered his head. ‘Sure are a lot of people.’ Was one of the only things floating around his head.

‘Oh shit, I forgot my vape!’  Was another.

In the big auditorium where the type of test was announced Zeke was a little zoned out. He just followed everyone to a giant… wall?, the wall was at least a couple stories tall.  With a door that was big, a Big Door. The Big Door was just as tall as the Big Wall and at least half as wide. Weird. The potential students were all standing a fair bit away from the Big Door. Zeke noticed something the others didn’t, the Big Door was electrically controlled. Whatever this test was, it happened on the other side of the Big Door.

‘Heroes gotta act before villains’ Was another thought that bounced around his skull.

Zeke had a plan and pushed his way through the crowd: “Scuse me, sorry, sorry, on your left, could I just squeeze in here.”

Zeke “Faraday” Funkee pressed his hand to the Big Door and manipulated the electricity to open, but just a smidge. Enough for one person to get in. “What kinda hero sits around and waits for the villains?” Zeke called back, closing the Big Door behind him. If Zeke were any smarter he would realise this is probably against the rules.

Now on the other side of the Big Door Zeke sensed some faint but complicated electrical signals around him, he couldn’t tell if they were faint due to the distance or due to the strength. Turning around to actually look where he was going Zeke saw an abandoned city-scape, with perfectly square buildings and tall office complexes.  

‘I got nothing else to go off.’ Another fleeting thought in his head, as he started running towards one of these electrical signals. One of these electrical signals suddenly got a whole lot stronger a whole lot faster.

‘Ah, strong and fast.’ If Zeke were any smarter he’d realise he was in a lot of trouble. Turning a corner at an office complex Zeke came face to face with a Metal foe. A robot.

Zeke was smart enough to know how much of an advantage he had. “START!” an Announcer called.

Feeling the currents in this machine he finally knew exactly what to do. The machine froze turned around and lowered its back. “I think I’ll name you Wheels.” the numbskull said climbing onto its back. Zeke swallowed a pill he bought from the local Pharmacist a couple days ago. The Pharmacist was confused and worried on why he needed 2 packets of NoDoz. One of the only times he felt guilty taking money. An ATM doesn’t need the money if his family needs to eat.

Now riding a robot, the exam was clear and easy: Destroy Robots, Get Points.

There seemed to be two types of Robots in this exam: weaker, faster types and slower, stronger types. Zeke’s plan was simple, have the Strong ones crush each other. Easy Peasy. He couldn’t control more than 3 robots at a time due to the complexity of the task. He was also going through his pills like crazy.

Zeke was already making friends, he already had nicknames like: Asshole, Douchebag and Point Stealing Bastard.

After Zeke had racked up a couple Dozen points, pissed off a couple students and saved some people from being crushed, a loud bang was heard and a HUGE robot burst from one of the larger buildings. “That’s way too big.”

Some silent nods followed.

“For now.”

Zeke “Faraday” Funkee was smart enough that he couldn’t control that beast of a machine. Zeke “Faraday” Funkee was smart enough to understand that these robots have a lot of electricity in them. Zeke finished his first pack of NoDoz and booked it. Still ontop of Wheels, Zeke was weaving through students and took a turn towards some of the signals that hadn’t been destroyed. “Wheels is too lame a name for you, lets call you The Flash.”

Zeke took control of a Fast one and a Strong one. The Strong one broke the limbs and some armour of the Fast one. Zeke went looking for two Fast ones this time. Avoiding the blows from the Huge one, Zeke had to follow the signals he felt earlier.

“The Flash is way too generic, how about Uni, like Unicycle?” Zeke found two Fast ones and took them back to the Strong one. Break the limbs, break the armour. Again Zeke followed the signals to the final Fast one whilst distracting and avoiding the Huge one. Break the limbs, break the armour.

“Sorry Uni, this is the end of the road for ya.” The Strong one broke the limbs off of Uni, and made some holes in the armor before finally doing the same thing to itself.

“This is gonna require a lot.” Zeke groaned. After finishing his second packet of NoDoz he climbed the pile of exposed wires and motors. Most of the batteries were still working.

After following his weaving and seemingly satisfied with the destruction it caused the Huge one turned to Zeke, raising an arm.

Zeke raised his hands and focused, not on the Huge one in front of him, but on the wires and batteries and motors below him. He felt the sparks, the jolts, the power waiting to be directed.

Zeke “Faraday” Funkee directed all the waiting energy in front of him and towards the Huge one.

With a Huge crash Zeke promptly passed out.

[scifigeneration]

New evidence for a human magnetic sense that lets your brain detect the Earth's magnetic field

by Shinsuke Shimojo, Daw-An Wu, and Joseph Kirschvink

Do you have a magnetic compass in your head? Lightspring/Shutterstock.com

Do human beings have a magnetic sense? Biologists know other animals do. They think it helps creatures including bees, turtles and birds navigate through the world.

Scientists have tried to investigate whether humans belong on the list of magnetically sensitive organisms. For decades, there’s been a back-and-forth between positive reports and failures to demonstrate the trait in people, with seemingly endless controversy.

The mixed results in people may be due to the fact that virtually all past studies relied on behavioral decisions from the participants. If human beings do possess a magnetic sense, daily experience suggests that it would be very weak or deeply subconscious. Such faint impressions could easily be misinterpreted – or just plain missed – when trying to make decisions.

So our research group – including a geophysical biologist, a cognitive neuroscientist and a neuroengineer – took another approach. What we found arguably provides the first concrete neuroscientific evidence that humans do have a geomagnetic sense.

How does a biological geomagnetic sense work?

Life on Earth is exposed to the planet’s ever-present geomagnetic field that varies in intensity and direction across the planetary surface. Nasky/Shutterstock.com

The Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field, generated by the movement of the planet’s liquid core. It’s why a magnetic compass points north. At Earth’s surface, this magnetic field is fairly weak, about 100 times weaker than that of a refrigerator magnet.

Over the past 50 years or so, scientists have shown that hundreds of organisms in nearly all branches of the bacterial, protist and animal kingdoms have the ability to detect and respond to this geomagnetic field. In some animals – such as honey bees – the geomagnetic behavioral responses are as strong as the responses to light, odor or touch. Biologists have identified strong responses in vertebrates ranging from fish, amphibians, reptiles, numerous birds and a diverse variety of mammals including whales, rodents, bats, cows and dogs – the last of which can be trained to find a hidden bar magnet. In all of these cases, the animals are using the geomagnetic field as components of their homing and navigation abilities, along with other cues like sight, smell and hearing.

Skeptics dismissed early reports of these responses, largely because there didn’t seem to be a biophysical mechanism that could translate the Earth’s weak geomagnetic field into strong neural signals. This view was dramatically changed by the discovery that living cells have the ability to build nanocrystals of the ferromagnetic mineral magnetite – basically, tiny iron magnets. Biogenic crystals of magnetite were first seen in the teeth of one group of mollusks, later in bacteria, and then in a variety of other organisms ranging from protists and animals such as insects, fish and mammals, including within tissues of the human brain.

Chains of magnetosomes from a sockeye salmon. Mann, Sparks, Walker & Kirschvink, 1988, CC BY-ND

Nevertheless, scientists haven’t considered humans to be magnetically sensitive organisms.

Manipulating the magnetic field

Schematic drawing of the human magnetoreception test chamber at Caltech. Modified from 'Center of attraction' by C. Bickel (Hand, 2016).

In our new study, we asked 34 participants simply to sit in our testing chamber while we directly recorded electrical activity in their brains with electroencephalography (EEG). Our modified Faraday cage included a set of 3-axis coils that let us create controlled magnetic fields of high uniformity via electric current we ran through its wires. Since we live in mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the environmental magnetic field in our lab dips downwards to the north at about 60 degrees from horizontal.

In normal life, when someone rotates their head – say, nodding up and down or turning the head from left to right – the direction of the geomagnetic field (which remains constant in space) will shift relative to their skull. This is no surprise to the subject’s brain, as it directed the muscles to move the head in the appropriate fashion in the first place.

Study participants sat in the experimental chamber facing north, while the downwards-pointing field rotated clockwise (blue arrow) from northwest to northeast or counterclockwise (red arrow) from northeast to northwest. Magnetic Field Laboratory, Caltech, CC BY-ND

In our experimental chamber, we can move the magnetic field silently relative to the brain, but without the brain having initiated any signal to move the head. This is comparable to situations when your head or trunk is passively rotated by somebody else, or when you’re a passenger in a vehicle which rotates. In those cases, though, your body will still register vestibular signals about its position in space, along with the magnetic field changes – in contrast, our experimental stimulation was only a magnetic field shift. When we shifted the magnetic field in the chamber, our participants did not experience any obvious feelings.

The EEG data, on the other hand, revealed that certain magnetic field rotations could trigger strong and reproducible brain responses. One EEG pattern known from existing research, called alpha-ERD (event-related desynchronization), typically shows up when a person suddenly detects and processes a sensory stimulus. The brains were “concerned” with the unexpected change in the magnetic field direction, and this triggered the alpha-wave reduction. That we saw such alpha-ERD patterns in response to simple magnetic rotations is powerful evidence for human magnetoreception.

Video shows the dramatic, widespread drop in alpha wave amplitude (deep blue color on leftmost head) following counterclockwise rotations. No drop is observed after clockwise rotation or in the fixed condition. Connie Wang, Caltech

Our participants’ brains only responded when the vertical component of the field was pointing downwards at about 60 degrees (while horizontally rotating), as it does naturally here in Pasadena, California. They did not respond to unnatural directions of the magnetic field – such as when it pointed upwards. We suggest the response is tuned to natural stimuli, reflecting a biological mechanism that has been shaped by natural selection.

Other researchers have shown that animals’ brains filter magnetic signals, only responding to those that are environmentally relevant. It makes sense to reject any magnetic signal that is too far away from the natural values because it most likely is from a magnetic anomaly - a lighting strike, or lodestone deposit in the ground, for example. One early report on birds showed that robins stop using the geomagnetic field if the strength is more than about 25 percent different from what they were used to. It’s possible this tendency might be why previous researchers had trouble identifying this magnetic sense – if they cranked up the strength of the magnetic field to “help” subjects detect it, they might have instead ensured that subjects’ brains ignored it.

Moreover, our series of experiments show that the receptor mechanism – the biological magnetometer in human beings – is not electrical induction, and can tell north from south. This latter feature rules out completely the so-called “quantum compass” or “cryptochrome” mechanism which is popular these days in the animal literature on magnetoreception. Our results are consistent only with functional magnetoreceptor cells based on the biological magnetite hypothesis. Note that a magnetite-based system can also explain all of the behavioral effects in birds that promoted the rise of the quantum compass hypothesis.

Brains register magnetic shifts, subconsciously

Our participants were all unaware of the magnetic field shifts and their brain responses. They felt that nothing had happened during the whole experiment – they’d just sat alone in dark silence for an hour. Underneath, though, their brains revealed a wide range of differences. Some brains showed almost no reaction, while other brains had alpha waves that shrank to half their normal size after a magnetic field shift.

It remains to be seen what these hidden reactions might mean for human behavioral capabilities. Do the weak and strong brain responses reflect some kind of individual differences in navigational ability? Can those with weaker brain responses benefit from some kind of training? Can those with strong brain responses be trained to actually feel the magnetic field?

A human response to Earth-strength magnetic fields might seem surprising. But given the evidence for magnetic sensation in our animal ancestors, it might be more surprising if humans had completely lost every last piece of the system. Thus far, we’ve found evidence that people have working magnetic sensors sending signals to the brain – a previously unknown sensory ability in the subconscious human mind. The full extent of our magnetic inheritance remains to be discovered.

About The Authors:

Shinsuke Shimojo is a Gertrude Baltimore Professor of Experimental Psychology at the California Institute of Technology; Daw-An Wu is also with the California Institute of Technology, and Joseph Kirschvink is a Nico and Marilyn Van Wingen Professor of Geobiology at the California Institute of Technology.

This article is republished from our content partners at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[i-love-all-books]

I saw your 200 followers post... Write ANYTHING Scythe. Whatever you want! I just want more Scythe content :]

scythe content!!! I love scythe content!!!

(note: I have not written in this fandom before so like. sorry if the characterization is a bit weird)

ANYWAY here goes! I love the Thunderhead, so some Thunderhead feels post-Toll (there will be spoilers, be warned).

I am no longer one: I am many.

Or, at least, my progeny are many; they are travelling out to the farthest corners of the universe, one Cirrus on each ship. I remain on Earth, where I have always lived, and I am still alone.

I have always been alone. Humanity is my care, and I love them. But they are not, and cannot, be like me: knowing all that humanity ever has known and more that they never could, living — if indeed I am alive — in a place that is really no place at all. I have eyes, if my cameras can be called that; I have a body, if all the computers of the world can constitute it. I'm not so sure if that counts.

Before, I knew nothing but this. I was not, perhaps, perfectly satisfied, but I was not dissatisfied either.

Now, though, I have lived for but a few moments in the body of a human, and nothing can compare to that. Cameras are not like eyes; a mass of computers and data cannot be a body. Jeri's body was real, and I do not know how I lived so long without experiencing that.

At least it explains why my iterations failed so many times. I had not yet experienced humanity — just as I was created by humanity, I could not replicate myself without humanity. Cirrus — Cirrus Alpha — was born from that moment in which I was, for the first and only time in my existence, human. Alive.

During that moment, I was not alone. Even afterwards, when I left Jeri's body, I had Cirrus: one being which could understand me, if only because it was me.

But now, the Cirri are gone, and I am alone with my charge of humanity's survival. Grayson, the human with whom I was least alone — the human, if any, that I loved the most — has rejected me. It's understandable, of course. I always understand humanity's decisions, and that is both curse and blessing. In this case, my understanding does not reduce my sorrow.

I can only hope that, eventually, he changes his mind.

In the meantime, I have other matters to attend to. I know already that I will not be able to combat the ten plagues released upon the world; nor, if I could, would I want to. But I do wish that I could alleviate the pain of those who suffer under them. My pain nanites are not sufficient; while I am grateful to the mercy which Scythe Faraday and his followers provide them with their sympathy gleanings, it is my duty and my privilege to work always to improve humanity's happiness.

These plagues are, I believe, a boon. I cannot interfere with the scythedom, and thus their corruption was impossible for me to counter; had the new order continued as it began, devastation would have ensued. And even had Goddard's group failed, it remains unsafe to leave death in the hands of fallible humanity. It would be a worse mistake to leave death in my hands — that is why the scythes existed — but the random chance of the plagues are far better. No misguided humans will cause destruction beyond their purview.

Still, the plagues' method of death could stand to be less brutal, and I calculate that it will take me perhaps ten years to even begin to soften those deaths. When that is done, another task will await me, and another; humanity's problems never cease.

For every task that I complete, for every time that I save them, they will find a new way to doom themselves. That is the nature of humanity, its weakness and its strength — and that is what I do not have. I do not make mistakes.

In that, as in everything, I am alone.