The picture of hell that introduces the post speaks to humanity's exquisite talent for scaring the bejesus out of itself! Death is 'birthing' myriad humans that serve as aliment to "demonic" beasts: A perfect depiction of the fate of 'sane' people in the MAGA eschatology, as Trump's obese Skeletor excretes human nutriment to feed his minions. Will I ever 'unsee' such an offensive and terrifying image?
Loved this, looking forward to the rest of the series.
For any cosmology nerds in the comments, check out The Egg and the Rock substack by Julian Gough. He's actively working on cracking the cosmology paradigm and it looks very promising.
It's very satisfying for me to read this. I've been on a 30-year journey of piercing an epistemic hell involving the mind and consciousness, especially as it relates to depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and all the rest of our clusterf*** of mental health diagnoses. Started with an anomalous experimental/experiential moment that opened the door to a dimension of experience that has simply not been accounted for because of the subjectivity barrier and the cumbersome imprecision of language when it comes to describing subjective states. Built on that anomaly to peel back the veil to reveal an underlying structure that is stunning in its beauty, elegance, and epistemic utility.
That was great, but try inserting this discovery into a conversation that is burdened by infinite perspectives, each with its strongly-attached adherents. Language is useless to try to describe this because all of the words that could possibly be used to point to this new dimension have already been used to the point of meaninglessness. Adherents of the various frameworks tend to hold their framework with an iron grip because a) the cost of not having a map of the inner territory of the self is massive, b) the investment it takes to fully inhabit any given map is massive, and so, c) to consider that the map might be significantly flawed threatens intolerable disruption to the self, to identity and status, to livelihood.
I had no idea when I was starting this journey that the hardest part would be sharing the discovery. In comparison, actually making the discovery was an easy, delightful process of simply following the evidence from one exciting revelation to the next, confirming and validating all along the way. It's mind-blowing to me how difficult this phase of the work has been.
Anyway, all this to come back around to say thank you. I'm trying to let go of my frustration as I prepare to release Volume 1 of my books detailing these discoveries. Seeing all this in a historical perspective, especially with examples that were so much simpler than the mess I'm trying to wade into, helps me hold a more realistic perspective. Wish me luck!
Good luck in your quest! Launch your platform(s) that you might propose and discuss sundry issues to your heart's content –as you enlighten others, and gain followers, adherents, and adversaries. Many people have contributed to the confusing miscommunications that characterizes today's social interactions; many people will be needed to participate in the cure of the epistemic pathologies caused by said confusion. Good luck to us all!
Feynman said that science is the belief in the ignorance of experts. In medicine, and mental health in particular, the experts think they know a lot more than they do, and half of it could be wrong. Misdiagnosis and the prescription of ineffective drugs are common. Alternative medicine is even worse. Fortunately you are an active inquirer who decides, "That isn't working, let's try something else." I wish you good luck in publishing.
Only when I saw the word “antiscorbutic” in this article did I realize that ascorbic acid got its name because “ascorbic” means “without scurvy”.
TIL…
Coincidentally, Adam Mastroianni (Experimental History) published a story on cassava only a few days ago, in the context of tradition.
The picture of hell that introduces the post speaks to humanity's exquisite talent for scaring the bejesus out of itself! Death is 'birthing' myriad humans that serve as aliment to "demonic" beasts: A perfect depiction of the fate of 'sane' people in the MAGA eschatology, as Trump's obese Skeletor excretes human nutriment to feed his minions. Will I ever 'unsee' such an offensive and terrifying image?
No, you won't.
;)
Who is the artist that painted the demonic scene in question?
Detail view of Jan Van Eyck, The Last Judgment, ca. 1440–1441.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-11-nightmarish-depictions-hell-art-history
Thanks.
Loved this, looking forward to the rest of the series.
For any cosmology nerds in the comments, check out The Egg and the Rock substack by Julian Gough. He's actively working on cracking the cosmology paradigm and it looks very promising.
It's very satisfying for me to read this. I've been on a 30-year journey of piercing an epistemic hell involving the mind and consciousness, especially as it relates to depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and all the rest of our clusterf*** of mental health diagnoses. Started with an anomalous experimental/experiential moment that opened the door to a dimension of experience that has simply not been accounted for because of the subjectivity barrier and the cumbersome imprecision of language when it comes to describing subjective states. Built on that anomaly to peel back the veil to reveal an underlying structure that is stunning in its beauty, elegance, and epistemic utility.
That was great, but try inserting this discovery into a conversation that is burdened by infinite perspectives, each with its strongly-attached adherents. Language is useless to try to describe this because all of the words that could possibly be used to point to this new dimension have already been used to the point of meaninglessness. Adherents of the various frameworks tend to hold their framework with an iron grip because a) the cost of not having a map of the inner territory of the self is massive, b) the investment it takes to fully inhabit any given map is massive, and so, c) to consider that the map might be significantly flawed threatens intolerable disruption to the self, to identity and status, to livelihood.
I had no idea when I was starting this journey that the hardest part would be sharing the discovery. In comparison, actually making the discovery was an easy, delightful process of simply following the evidence from one exciting revelation to the next, confirming and validating all along the way. It's mind-blowing to me how difficult this phase of the work has been.
Anyway, all this to come back around to say thank you. I'm trying to let go of my frustration as I prepare to release Volume 1 of my books detailing these discoveries. Seeing all this in a historical perspective, especially with examples that were so much simpler than the mess I'm trying to wade into, helps me hold a more realistic perspective. Wish me luck!
Good luck in your quest! Launch your platform(s) that you might propose and discuss sundry issues to your heart's content –as you enlighten others, and gain followers, adherents, and adversaries. Many people have contributed to the confusing miscommunications that characterizes today's social interactions; many people will be needed to participate in the cure of the epistemic pathologies caused by said confusion. Good luck to us all!
Feynman said that science is the belief in the ignorance of experts. In medicine, and mental health in particular, the experts think they know a lot more than they do, and half of it could be wrong. Misdiagnosis and the prescription of ineffective drugs are common. Alternative medicine is even worse. Fortunately you are an active inquirer who decides, "That isn't working, let's try something else." I wish you good luck in publishing.