ANTIHUMAN's Xanga

Don't worry; I'm still a philosopher psychoanalyst

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:01:26 GMT

But I take much of Freud's beliefs figuratively or downcast them outright. Empathy is a hell of a drug. I have learned how to naturally spit out some really mean- and really funny- jokes, but I still feel guilty on the in side when I do so. It's refreshing to be the leader of a face to face organization again. I am super excited about getting my home work done before the week's end this week. I found the courage to play a single player video game alone for the first time since November, and have good reason to deem that an accomplishment. Today I just might open Fruity Loops or Open Office for the sake of creative expression. I cast away my old routine only to accidentally adopt a new, less dignified one. True, it builds great character and knowledge, but it is more difficult to justify. Through social interaction and academia I have finally learned the key differences between morality and ethics. I am fighting to compromise my old routine with my new one. I have never before wished for school to remain in session so that I can avoid my art responsibilities. Instant-gratification habits are hard to break, even new ones, and empathy is a hell of a drug.

'I don't like you. I just like the way that I interact with you. You assist in my self-amusement.'

Pick your literal poison or otherwise and get addicted, because no thing says, 'Purpose,' like a wreckless, base desire. No. That was sarcasm. How is it that sarcastic individuals can get confused by a sarcastic response to a sarcastic statement or question? Willful ignorance runs deep, and so do the tunnels a certain some one gently carved through my very being and then suddenly left vacant and cold. These tunnels were not without their grand adornments, how ever, and many others have been attracted and now fill these tunnels nearly to the brim. The tunnels all stem from a special room, though, and no one seems to be able to fit in to it- not without trying. I can only assume that dat shit be custom, yo. The tunnels may collapse in time, and those that occupy them may have to bunk up or dig their own, but that room isn't going away. I keep the light off and only rarely dust it, often wishing I will simply forget that it is there.

'It's easy to fall in love. Remaining there is the hard part.'

It's strange. Hardly any situation makes me feel embarrassed or guilty any longer, and yet I still suffer from performance anxiety. When the performance begins, I am comforted and can even run it on autopilot. I hate surprises, but, if I do not know what is expected of me, the anxiety is less. On the one hand, on the other. Duality. I almost succumbed to the Feynd not long ago. Beauty is every where, you bastard. The music will always be there to remind me. Your path is now for ever more treacherous. Mine is mostly clear. I focus on changing habits to suit my desires. There are few questions left to answer during this chapter, and they are not frightening ones.

'Stop saying, 'I know how you feel.' How could any one know how an other feels?'

We can try, we can try. It is empathy that brings about social anxiety, and at the very least we will always have that challenge to overcome. It is a blessing, to love and hate others, to be able to easily tell our stories as meaningful ones. This brings forth a question of relativity: If we can't know peace without suffering, is it also true that we can't know love without hate? Common sense may say, 'No,' but why not? Is it because love and hate are only opposites as responses, not as feelings? In that case, it may be imagined that the opposite of love is 'without love'. To crave love without knowing what it is is possible. Per haps that is the balance. You can't feel in love without the desire. The opposite then is to be in that state of loneliness where you feel completely misunderstood, with no meaningful foundation of social comfort. That is far worse than hatred, and in this way it is fitting again.

I hadn't expected this post to contain much substance without, so I began with questions from philosophy and social psychology courses and my answers to them. Don't worry, I'm still a philosopher psychoanalyst, and I'll show you...

While philosophers like Parfit and Dennett raise some serious issues concerning the independent existence of the mind, soul or ego, it would seem, at least on a common sense level, that we mostly accept the independent existence of these entities. In our ordinary language, we talk sensibly about “changing our minds,” which has a meaning, which is quite distinct from “changing our brains.” If these philosophers were right, going to a psychotherapist would make as much sense as going to a fortuneteller. Do you believe that there is such a thing as spirituality? If so, how do you explain it? If not, do you believe that a purely physical description of humanity could give us a complete explanation of human behavior?

The psychotherapist/fortuneteller bit doesn't make much sense to me. In many ways, psychotherapy generates positive results based on causality of facts. This can be true regardless of whether there is an ego, soul, or any sort of distinct identity. Saying that psychotherapy is a sham if you can't apply it to a network of neurons as opposed to a singular ego is like saying that psychotherapy is a sham if you try to apply it to a group of people in stead of just one person. Regardless of target, you are still working with real brain functions. Per haps I missed the point, because the rest of the concepts were very clear to me!

I believe that spirituality is subjective and manmade. It is an art, very real, useful, and inspiring, but not necessary or concrete. I do believe that a purely physical description of humanity could give us a complete explanation of human behavior, though there are many details that we have yet to plot out and fully understand. I for a long time have agreed with the Bundle Theory's understanding of what the mind is, but I treat the information a little differently, I think. It is said that words like 'mind', 'ego', or 'soul' are used for the sake of our language, as if convenience of communication is the only reason for these titles. The concept of ethics collapses under this pretense, how ever. If there is no true concept of mind, who dies when we murder? How can one steal from an other or lie to an other, if there is no distinction between people? There are distinctions between minds; there are separate and personal desires. They might become a little confused in such situations as the computer that mirrored the human brain, but an understanding can still me met. Ethics requires a concept of specific minds, and intelligent life requires ethics. It may still just be a shorthand, but with a far greater purpose than for the sake of conversation.

Most of us would agree that animals have minds simply because they display intelligent behavior. At the same time, most of us utilize an array of machines, which also exhibit intelligent behavior. A GPS receiver, for example, can direct us precisely to our destination with a soothing and intelligent sounding voice. Does this mean that it has a mind? Why should we not apply the same sort of reasoning that we use to posit a mind to our pet dog, to our GPS receiver, and come to the same conclusion, that it too has a mind or even a soul?

Debates can be had of free will, level of intelligence, the definition of intelligence, and ease of information processing. I imagine that an easy angle to this issue is that of motivation. Computers do not have a sense of self preservation. Computers do not react to outside stimulus for the sake of their own survival. That makes an easy distinction between, say, a dog and a GPS. The wonder returns when we compare modern robotics, such as light-weight, group operating flyers that are mindful of their environment to insects. Do insects have minds? Are robots that can avoid obstacles, maintaining zero contact with objects that could damage them, actually mindful? These robots are programmable, but so are insects (links below to both concepts). Now the concept of self preservation needs to be broken down, per haps. Can simply avoiding obstacles be considered self preservation? It can be said that the robots only avoid contact with obstacles because they are programmed to do so, while insects avoid crashing in to objects while in flight to stay alive. Do insects understand and appreciate the concept of life, though? Can all insects solve problems through cognition, or trial and error? From this perspective it is more difficult for me to form a conclusion. If I had to make a decision, I would decide that insects do not have minds simply because their brains are not complex enough to support them. Key elements of mind seem to be missing, and so robots comparable to insects do not have minds, either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCK-mNqhx44

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/vijay_kumar_robots_that_fly_and_cooperate.html

Activity Description Please discuss either: --whether you think religion has a positive or negative effect on morality or --whether you think whether the project of proving the existence of God is important.

I believe that religious dogma has a severely negative effect on morality and ethics when it outlines religious laws. Ethics are meant to be universal, not bound to one being's opinion, no matter how mighty. Morality is personal, and the same conflict arises when morals are not grounded on a personal level. When people are raised to take morality and ethics from a set of unquestionable laws, they do not understand the philosophy behind right and wrong. Concepts of right and wrong are most crucial in times of great anxiety and depression, and if some one's troubles cause some one to lose their faith, all hope of discerning right from wrong is lost. In secular society we have laws to prevent those who do not understand ethics from harming others. I feel that religious rules of morality are the same. Doing what is right out of fear or obedience or loyalty is not being righteous at all. It is simply following orders. While law may bring order, it does not raise good people, and I find that a society of good people is more valuable than an orderly one.

I don't think that it's an important endeavor to prove the existence of God. It's a matter of faith. The subject does interest me, and I pay attention to proofs for and against gods. I have yet to hear or read one that doesn't make me roll my eyes or laugh a little, and I was rather disappointed by the ones in the reading this week. I have heard more thoughtful ones from kids just entering college. I don't care how knowledgeable or powerful any being is, though. Whether or not any sort of god exists, I'm still going to live my life the way that I do. Any thing less would simply be being untruthful and unfaithful to my self. I don't respond well to threats from people who claim to have moral authority.

We distinguish between our dreams and reality, between our avatars and our personal identity and between what we watch on TV and how we respond to our "real" environment. How do you make these distinctions in our day-to-day lives? Why is it important for us to make these distinctions?

I, like most people, generally make these distinctions automatically based on old habits. It may seem a little backwards, in that case, to imagine that when I was younger it was much easier for me to 'lose my self' in fiction and my own imagination. Especially during my teenage years, when my emotions in dreams were far more intense than in my waking life. Lucidity and attachment were out of the question for me as qualifiers of what is real. My distinction between reality and dreams was challenged greatly during that time, and per haps consequentially that was when I developed a taste for metaphysical philosophy. Basically, I consider reality to be not the one with the most intense emotional stimulus and sense of adventure, but in stead what I perceive to be the most consistent and enduring. There are other methods which I use to distinguish fiction literature and film from reality, but this method even applies to those things. I can experience books and films ending; the real world doesn't just end without you. So far no avatar can compete with the sensory receptors of our brain, so I can safely assume that I am what is behind my vision and hearing etcetera.

It is important to make these distinctions for the sake of our identity and therefore sanity. I have been there, and being in a position in which you feel pressured to question your reality is highly detrimental to your self image and can distract from even the simplest tasks. In order to have a meaningful, goal oriented life, one needs to establish a sense of reality.

2. In your opinion, what are the most harmful social influences in America today? Why? be specific.

Decisive spirituality, such as religious rules, and any other strong emotional dogma that may keep us ignorant, intolerant of novelty, and divided. These things include any thing from racism, bad parenting, pseudoscience, and consumerism to most pop music and loads of Internet memes. Spirituality as a general concept is not necessarily bad, but no one should ever deny knowledge and accept conflicts of interest as eternal. The day one denies his or her ability to be wrong is the day he or she loses his or her humanity. Hatred should never be a rule, and neither should be condescension. Much of popular culture thrives on, reinforces, and creates stereotypes, and by definition stereotyping is a bad thing.

In response to an other's post on the subject of social influence:

Media was the first thing that came to mind as an answer to the second question for me, too. Much of popular culture is simply abhorrent and downright embarrassing. From discouraging critical thinking to encouraging prejudice, it's often a mess of all of our worst potential with none of our good. If aliens came to our country and analyzed and understood what our scholars provide for us separately from what our popular media provides for us, it would be like they were viewing two completely different societies, one searching for wisdom and the other throwing it away.

Roll with it, mother fucker!

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:14:31 GMT

Life's been dramatic. Work has been neglected. Girl problems. Lost hope. Feeling secluded. Learned how hard I can express feelings- and was glad that no one else was there at the time. Realized how much I value trust- too bad. Right? Remembered that the most valuable parts of a person can't be shared. Does the Internet care about any of that? Nnnnnnnnnope!

Things certainly aren't back to normal, but I am back on track- just in time for winter break, too. I've been feeling physically lazy, so I practically doubled all of the weight I've been lifting. You know. Why not? Started working on some dark core breaks, or gabber step, or what ever you want to call it. It's fuckin awesome, and if you think I'm being arrogant, it's still tons of fun to make. Scorpyd and Predaking have finished their long awaited Terminate/Destroy EP. I released it today. You can dig in to that here.

I crave the presence of other people all of the time lately. I haven't felt this way since I was working retail three years ago. I hope it's just a phase; people are gross. I guess I should get back in to raving. Need to fix car. Got my first check from Amazon for what I've published on Kindle. It was for more than just the purchases made by people I told about it. Haven't even marketed those works yet. Can't imagine who found them; can't imagine why they sent me a check in stead of direct deposit like my account preferences specify. What I really need is more of that: selling shit. Money. I hopefully will edit my new book over break so I can start a marketing campaign. Tired of waiting. Tired of being in between. Accelerate to dominate. Flexibility and freedom. Wish I had more time to pay attention to our collapsing political and economic state. Feel kind of small for not getting involved. Too much deception and ignorance on both sides, though. May be Ron Paul will fix it for me. That'd be nice: sit back, relax, the world changes in my favor on its own. That might be the answer to all of my problems: servants. Servants can spread the truth for me, fly me around the world, market my projects for me, edit literature for me, manage my accounts for me, fix my car, throw the bestest gabber raves, and prevent gross people from approaching me. I believe that I will need exactly two thousand, five hundred seventeen servants. Enlist today. Starting pay: awesome (there is no imbursement; the compensation is being allowed to exist within my awesome presence).

The words below are an update to part of my outlook on life. I am immortalizing them in song and blog.

'Making mistakes is a great way to learn, but some mistakes cost more than one can afford.

Experience is a proven road to evidence, but some times speculation paints a clearer picture.

Romanticism is action.

Knowledge is observation.

Balance is direction.

Honor is foundation.

Arbitrary codes of morality and prolonged sacrifice of basic values belong to the realm of romanticism; honor is truth.'

Autumn's bittersweet embrace

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:15:03 GMT

Ah, it's finally autumn again. I mean- it came out of no where and I am suddenly lethargic and lazy as hell. But when that's over, I'll be happy autumn is here- or it'll be winter. Heavy clothes, hot cider and chocolate, German, Spanish, and Russian folk music, and a pulsating sense of nostalgia. Reevaluation. Weird dreams. Tis the season to be Shyft!

This week's end I master a remix that DJ Istapp/Vanr did of a song off of the BlazBlue sound track and start a remix for DJ Counterforce's new release. ...And write an essay about how little I have learned about linguistics over the past month... Should be fun!

I can't for the life of me spill words upon the keys to express my self any more, but I'm sure that I'm only mildly less self-obsessed than I once was... I considered sharing some dreams here, but they are too personal- not too personal to comfortably share, but too personal to make sense to just about any one but my self. What's there to say? I like to love and I love to fight. I'm extremely sensitive and exceptionally resilient. I trust others based on consistency of their actions, not by how attractive any bit of their mind or body might be. I might be far more wild and spontaneous, if I am not aware that this matters. I tend to hold grudges until redemption or a change of consistency which reflects the issue of conflict. If you lie to me once, I will be offended. If you lie to me many times, I will have simply learned to disbelieve you- no hard feelings. I have trouble balancing my moods. My passions are strong but conflicting. I wish that I could simply pick one or two and go with them for a few years, but they have thus far failed to be inspired consistently for so long. Some times I feel like there's no point in trying to contribute to some thing novel and just want to go back to sleep. Some times I force my self to get out of bed, because my dreams are doing absolutely no thing for my sentimentality. There. I tried really hard. Now for a rant, an observation, and some crude advice!

On language:

I find the in-between stage where children are using known words in strings that can be interpreted, but in an improper fashion, to be rather interesting. The meaning of their speech can be understood, but it is incorrect. This lack of rules is similar to some acceptable dialects of languages that are essentially the foundation language with broken grammar rules. Of course the lack of vocabulary is a factor, as well, but I wonder about how easy it is to distinguish children's English from simply a very lax English. How different is the grammar of the child spoken phrase 'mommy go', to mean 'my mother is leaving', from the grammar of the adult spoken phrase 'she fine' to mean 'She is attractive'? If we didn't know the context and the speaker, the distinction between 'stage of development' and 'dialect' might fade away.

Is black English or 'ebonics' a dialect? Dialect can be used to point out very subtle differences, so, in that sense, sure. 'Dialect' can also refer to a group of similar languages that share the same ancestor (which is the definition to be used during the rest of this segment), and some people who think that the poor black masses need pity have elected this definition for black English. In this same sense, is American English a legitimate dialect which contrasts United Kingdom English? Some moron Americans who can't understand the British and Irish for what ever embarrassing reason seem to cast that implication. Last year the DEA was apparently seeking out 'ebonics translators'. If you need a translator, a means of speaking might be legitimately separate on these terms. If you need a translator to communicate with black Americans speaking English, how ever, you are simply lacking in the problem solving department. Is English Netspeak a dialect? No. It's just slang. Would you snicker at a college class that teaches ebonics or Netspeak? Yes. You would. If ebonics is a dialect, then every method of filling in the gaps of broken English used by those trying to learn a new language in a foreign land under a heavy accent from their native tongue is forming a new dialect. I can understand every thing those ganstas in the ghetto are saying, and it's not because I have rigorously studied hip hop.

Let's consider the implications. Shall we? Black English is a acknowledged and respected as a dialect of American English. You try to write a scholarly article using it. It gets rejected outright from every relevant scientific institution. Why? Because its grammar and use of slang are outrageous. A submission of this nature tends to have a very strict policy for the sake of understanding. Most institutions relying on English as their primary vehicle of communication will only accept a very strict usage of English. So this first example might be unfair, but it brings to mind a second example: if this is the case, and people who speak black English as a first language are incapable of writing scholarly articles, should we then be expected to offer college level classes that teach 'professional English' to black English speakers? You might suggest the ordinary English courses available today, but- oh no! They might not understand what is expected of them, because you're speaking a different language! There are just as many white people in the United States who can't express their selves on a professional level of English, either. It is not because they are speaking a different kind of English, it is because they are ignorant of many aspects of English.

Let's consider the history. Shall we? English has been growing and changing since its beginning. Ye olde English from the bygone tymes is nearly impossible for most modern speakers to understand all of the way through. One English has survived. Black English words will never be immortalized in historical documents as a significant phase of the language. It will not contribute to the future of the language. Neither will 1337. Do you want to know why? No one has ever said any thing of any long term cultural significance using either of them to their fullest degree. Black English and Netspeak are practically synonymous with ignorance and foolishness, regardless of out side bias. It is a self inflicted association with a purpose of being so. No matter how loosely you choose to use the word dialect, labeling black English in this way is only serving to segregate uneducated, black Americans farther from the rest of us. Next you'll want to send them to their own schools, and eventually lock them away in caves under the ground. We are all Americans and we share the same language, just like we share every thing else. If there was some biological programming that forced every black person to speak a specific brand of English which was unaffected by regional terminology, and every other subtle change in speaking across the country was likewise set in stone for every one else, that might make a difference, but it's really not that hard to adapt to an accent and a few odd terms here and there.

A revised claim on being picky:

I have come to believe that there are three things that might keep some one from liking a song that they would otherwise enjoy: genre/style bias, familiarity, and mood. Since I am biased against hip hop and country, and generally any thing with an exceptionally whiny, nasal sounding vocalist, I tend to measure songs fitted to those categories and with that trait with great prejudice. If I am hearing a cool song for the first time, my mind is gauging it against cool songs that I have memorized and have a deeper appreciation for simply because I know the notes and words and can recall good times while listening to them. Finally, if I am in the mood for some thing energetic and violent, a soft, soothing ballad will lose its subtle intensity as it is taken up by my ears. Who knew enjoying a good tune could be so complicated? The 'six listens rule' ('you don't like it? You'll never like it until after you've listened to it six times, any way'- it's sort of a joke trend that my brother and I devised) helps with familiarity and increases the chances that during at least one of those listens you will be in the appropriate mood to receive the song's emotion.

This can be applied to many things. Let's briefly take film, for example. I usually wish that they would leave sex scenes out of action movies, because a three minute sex scene is too brief for my mind to get out of 'I WANNA SEE SHIT EXPLODE AND GUNS GO BOOM' mode (disregard assignable innuendo to that phrase in quotes). It is possible for one mood to flow flawlessly in to the next, but all too often sensual nudity is just thrown in there with no regard to this matter, and I'm left almost feeling as though sex is a waste of my time, which isn't true at all! Thankfully, it is often easier to become attached to a film or a book than to a song, because I'll be damned, if I have to watch a movie or read a book six times before I am sure if I enjoy it or not.

On depression:

You look sad. Kill your self}:

New split album with K.H.D. released and stuff

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 03:17:15 GMT

The new hard core album we did is called 'Suspended in the Infinite Gabber Space' and you can check it out here! The both of us continue to increase in skill as we digress from the rusty hard core mold. For some reason I kept typing only 'The Infinite Gabber Space' while tagging it and linking to it. Looots of back tracking ensued}=<\ I kept catching the mistake only to immediately make it again else where. Oh well. It's all square now (I think). I spent possibly six hours today on the Suspended in the Infinite Gabber Space's cover art, learning how to draw and texture a semi-believably 3D looking environment around photos of Kyat and I that were filtered to blend in to the scenery. Learning on the spot is fun when you do it right the first time!

The "O" sound track, comprised of pseudo-MIDI instruments reminiscent of SNES RPGs playing tunes also reminding you of SNES RPGs, is nearly complete. Thirty two tracks are finished with eight original tracks yet to go. I am also doing some Red Ankh heavy metal covers of some of the battle music, but I'm not sure how many of those I will do (I want to do all eight of them). Writing short but complicated theme pieces is quite different from what I'm used to, which is writing long and complicated pieces that don't necessarily fit any one particular mood. Trying to imagine what seasons sound like was especially interesting, but I've been told that I nailed it.

What's possibly more exciting than releasing a new gabber album with K.H.D. that breaks down new boundaries of the genre, learning new Photoshop techniques, and being so close to finishing "O"'s sound track is the fact that after ten months my girl friend is moving back home from Kentucky. You might not care, but that's very good for me}=<)> That also means that there's less than a week until my bestest sparring buddy and the all around coolest guy ever (second to missef!) visits practically one year after his last visit from Oregon. I've been training the endurance of my grip, fore arms, and shins in anticipation (but not as much as I should be), which reminds me-

Polypropylene training weapons have my official stamp of approval. The idea that you can mold a nearly indestructible (versus smashing damage) material in to virtually any shape imaginable is outstanding. I now have a collection of one hand and a half sword, two arming swords, two gladius, one wakizashi, and two combat hatchets. I can't wait until Cold Steel presses some hook swords! I also, using the shield that I got last year as a template, designed and constructed two new wooden shields that are four times as strong for the quarter of the price (though the leather grips on the new ones may be a bit flimsier). Colored duct tape makes for both great function and form!

...The new Deus Ex is out and for now I'm resisting playing it. I never played Oblivion because I couldn't stand the unnatural look of the animations (though I hear mods have solved most of the realism issues in that game), but I think I may have to drop every thing and play Skyrim when it comes out.

If any one likes samurai movies, I recommend you watch the last forty five minutes of 13 Assassins. Best samurai battle in film ever.

All done!

Brief News and Mass Contemplation

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:35:23 GMT

Been putting a shit ton of hours in to redesigning the Shyfted Minds site, what ever that means. It should be ready by the end of the week. Mainly lots of internal linking left to do. I know that it's just a modified template on some one else's domain with a tk mask, and I know that it's not for profit, any way, so in the eyes of the kings of the scene I'm just an awkward kid with no real vision. Jesus, man, have some empathy! That makes you sound like a total cockass!

I want no thing more these days than to work my ass off on the "O" sound track and chill the fuck out in good company, but the battle rages on and on... I rarely find my self with time to get a full work out in since I returned from vacation, and yet my muscle definition has continued to increase. Not complaining. Just confused. Going to be making a new gabber album with K.H.D.. It's going to rock, but damn, I need to stop adding things to my list of things to do- or stop sleeping. The remainder of this post is going to be rather lengthy and comprised of material that I typed else where and then edited to make sense in this context. It's thoughtful. You'll hate it.

On music classification:

Genre (of music, literature, film...), I think, was an idea simply to help people describe a thing that they liked. It is easier than explaining all of the details of any one song, and most people don't understand technical music lingo, any way. Now there are two problems with genre: many people act like they think that genre names are meant to describe how good the music is (for example, 'gabber is awesome but dub step sucks'), and people act like they need to create a new genre for every little innovation or cross over. Hey, have you heard that new female fronted melodic symphonic blackened deathcore/doom metallic neofolk band!?

Nah, man. They sound too much like female fronted melodic symphonic blackened deathcore/doom metallic classical to me.

On 'futuristic' technology:

My greatest concern involving artificial intellegence, advanced robotics, and nanotechnology is that humans might not be mentally prepared for it. The same goes for genetic engineering. Humans have been trying to be their own masters for generations. Humanity has been pretending to write its own destiny since it learned to write, and now that the means to actually begin to do it are in sight, millions are claiming that they would rather pussy out? This is why the government is fucking us. No sense of adventure! More seriously, jobs are always erased and new ones are created as technology advances. Many rich individuals have always gotten a certain satisfaction from being distanced from the general public. That's no thing new. What else can be observed from history is that culture usually lags significantly behind technology. If people won't know how to appropriately react to practical human augmentation through the use of robotics and nanotechnology, if people are going to respond to artificial intelligence with anger and terror, there will be huge problems. The culture shock of revolutionary technology will be the worst during a time when all of the greatest acheivements will be morally and religiously charged, and these technologies will be, if the thinking of the general public does not change away from how it is now. Refusing to accept these new technologies will only have a more drastic distancing effect between those with and those without than we have ever seen before due to technology in any one nation.

On the subject of overpopulation, while on the one hand it seems cruel to prohibit breeding to any degree, that is the mentality that we have adopted from a time when overpopulation was not a considerable danger to our survival as a species. It probably seemed absurd to some people when we first imployed the use of traffic lights and speed limits, but as the streets became more and more populated with automobiles, regulations had to be put in place to prevent disasters. Some thing that should be rather obvious is that, in the past, we needed to produce many offspring because none of them had a very likely chance of survivial. Our system of breeding, if it could be personified for a moment, expected most of our children to die. Now overpopulation threatens the lives of our children again, leaving oversized but poor families to starve as the world's resources are drained too quickly. How can a state in which children are being born in to starvation and scarcity be better than one in which population is regulated to prevent such a catastrophe? Human beings have demanded more from their health, wealth, and ability to control the Universe around them since they first started to use tools and wear clothes. Human rights are a far newer concept. Either we have to curb our innovation, leading to disease running rampant and mass starvation leading to a sort of survival of the fittest among our selves that will keep our race going but on a much smaller scale, or we have to curb what we declare to be our rights. It sounds horrible when phrased that way, but, if we do no thing, the first scenario will inevitably occur, any way, when we run out of resources.

As George Carlin once pointed out, we have no rights. There are no such thing as rights. We invented them along with gods to make our selves feel better about the cold, uncaring nature of our unconscious Universe. We make up rights to get things done, and we break down rights to get things done. That's all.

As far as cybernetics and human bioengineering goes, the biggest problem in my mind is a similar old fashioned thinking. We have lost our humanity dozens of times in the past. Every time we simply adopt a new humanity. Humanity is a relative term and is meaning has changed with the adoption of new standards. Using it carelessly in ethics is foolish.

On 'big words':

I love a good thesaurus, but there's no thing that bothers me
more (you know, while I am observing it) than an inappropriately used
'big word'. Many scholarly articles drive me to a ridiculous level of
frustration when they constantly over word things. I keep telling my
self that I am probably too much of a simpleton to really appreciate
and understand their scholarly wisdom, but I certainly feel like they
are being pretentious on purpose just to flaunt their scholarly-ness.
When some one begins two sentences in a row with 'in other words' they
are officially a bag of douche. If you are not locked in
conversation, limited by the other party's attention span, and you are
being paid by the thousands to write this damned article, you better
fucking put the effort in to it to say it right the first time.
Conversely, many large, uncommon words are not simply synonyms of
smaller words. They are specific, and when I can find a use for them
it is usually after toiling over how to express an idea that has me
stuttering. To find the right word in that situation gives me a silly
amount of satisfaction.

On choices:

The following rant is in response to a response to this article: http://www.giftedbooks.com/authorarticles.asp?id=7 . The article has a silly looking title, but details a very interesting phenomenon that I am personally tormented by. Basically, being aware of the reality of infinite choice is rather daunting. I typed this one out with little thought, but, if you've read this far, you probably don't care. Thanks for that.

The feeling of 'this is the right choice; there is no other' is one of
the best feelings I have experienced. For many, I am sure, this
happens to them as a result of every damned decision they make, but
for /me/... I am aware that there are limitless choices. I know that
there is always a better choice. I also know that refraining from
action until the best choice is plain to me is a colossal waste of
time. The dangers of dedicating one's life to planning! The man who
plans with care and precision at every turn does no thing.
Spontaneity can accomplish zero long term goals!

'Any learning is better than none.' This is true, but hard to stick
to. If I know that I can learn any thing (if I know that I can do any
thing), then the /best/ is included therein! If I can come by the
best, then I /should/ come by the best. Right? And before I obtain
the best, I should obtain the knowledge to recognize the best. In
order to do that, I first have to learn to recognize the study
required to recognize the best. How do I do /that/, if I am now twice
removed from what I am really after!? Even while I was reading this
email, I was wondering in the back of my mind how I might better spend
my time. 'Mike and I are very similar. Why do I need to read his
ideas? I probably already know them.' And that brings me to a
related, but far more frightening question:

Why waste time surrounded by people that I can truly relate to, if I
may risk only simulating conversations with my self? So, okay, that's
easy- I'll surround my self with people who /don't/ agree with me.
Wait, but- /what/? Those people are WRONG!

It seems too black and white, but that's how it feels to me some
times. I know that we're all just a bunch of complex machines- what
could we conceivably be, if not? There is no magic in people. There
are wonders only so long as there is misunderstanding. My intellect
is teetering on the edge of my instinct. My intellect does not
understand the benefit from using copious amounts of time trying to
make new friends, when all signs point to new friends being highly
unlikely to promote any sort of intellectual stimulation. My
intellect does not understand using the presence of others as a form
of meditation, soothing that need to be social. It just seems like a
waste of time. I'm one year in to college and I already owe sixty
times the amount of money that I have ever held in cash. Chilling
with friends doesn't pay back the government, nor does it help me
ensure that the money was well spent. But what would I be doing, if I
didn't have to worry about money, didn't have to work, and didn't have
to go to school? I would probably want to spend most of it with
friends- but after telling my self to curb my social needs for so
long...? I would probably be seeking out even more impossible feats,
for fear that I am squandering my freedom. The only thing keeping me
from getting too bent out of shape about the horrendous state of the
general public and its governments is the fact that I can tell my self
that I'm too busy to make a difference. This is good, because /I can
not make a difference/. I might kill my self trying, other wise.

I think that I'll just keep going, if I don't choose a place to stop.
I'm not going to proof read this, because I'll just find mistakes that
I'll feel the need to correct for paragraph after paragraph. One last
point: I can't stand the idea of making money just to survive. I want
to make money enough to do that and feel like I'm many more than one
step ahead of my dues. You can't really know that you're going to
make that happen until you've gotten there, though, and I can only
imagine how horrible it would feel to wait it out only to die having
just barely survived all of your life. If we may never get to truly
live, but can't know if we're going to fail until it's too late, how
can we be expected to logically go about making the best choices?

KABOOM FULL CIRCLE

TODAY

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:23:25 GMT

Hoo. What's up? I feel energized. The problem with feeling energized is that it is difficult to sit still and do stoopeed school work- and when that's done, I have other sitting work to do. I should be out side sword fighting and swimming and running! *complain, complain, complain*

On the Music Division side of things, K.H.D. has released both an album and an EP since I last posted here. The album is an other compilation of squeaky clean remasters of previously unreleased tracks. Despite how frequently he throws releases at me, his work is actually getting better in stead of stale. He is a hard core force to be reckoned with feared. Since the "O" manuscript is finally complete, I have begun to pay the Shyft back catalog some long over due attention. Two years ago, in 2009, I rearranged and remastered Beat Shyfter and Drudge, the very first and second Shyft/Shyfted Minds releases. Now, I turn to SHM003: Random Overload to begin the same process. This is for three reasons, one: it feels like the right time to face that nostalgia, two: it has been eight years since the original version's release and I can't stand to think about how long I have put this off any more, and three: I rake my early albums for fitting music to use as themes for characters and scenes from "O". Now that the "O" manuscript is done, and by the way-

THE MANUSCRIPT OF MY FOURTH SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY NOVEL, "O", IS NOW COMPLETE

-I need to start thinking more about the sound track that will be a companion album to the book (and some day the film, cause it'll happen). Beat Shyfter and Drudge together contain six tracks that will appear on what will technically be a compilation known as the "O" Original Sound Track. Four more tracks have already been selected as theme music for the story from SHM003 and SHM005. Aside from that, I also need to spend time on editing the manuscript of course. My editor is almost finished with her work on it, and then I have to go over her fixes and suggestions while applying my own fixes and tweaks. It may be a long process, but I suspect that I got the story (not including punctuation and grammar) at least eighty five percent correct the first time. My path is clear, how ever. The difficulty will come after this book is published. Then what do I do? Continue working on an other story? Go on an other music spree? Spend all of my free time on promotion? The future is uncertain.

I finished the "O" manuscript just in time (along with two weeks' worth of school work so that I didn't have to bring it with) to head up to Bluefin Bay resort on Lake Superior with my family and my girl friend. The weather was awesome up there. Climbed a mountain. Climbed the rock along the shore for at least a mile. Got stuck at one point and had to brave the freezing waters for approximately one hundred twenty feet. After my brother and I found a pair of cute little water falls, we had to swim back. It was fun. It was great to be able to spend a whole week just lazing about and running around. Now I'm back to the routine and garrarrarrarr.

I got an invite to Google+. I haven't really checked it out yet, but I really, really hope that it over shadows Facebook because I'm sick of Facebook's crap and Myspace continues to be even worse. If Google wants to run a social network, Google will do it right. Right now I have two friends on there. There are apparently already over ten thousand users, though, so per haps that is soon to change.

I finally got around to listening to the 8bitpeoples discography in reverse chronological order. There is some good stuff on there. I particularly like Starscream, Random, Nullsleep, Trash80, and- holy crap- Rainbowdragoneyes. I checked out the side project of Rainbowdragoneyes, Magic Hammer, which has the outstanding description of being happy hardcore/power metal. It's not, though}=<\ It is eurobeat with extra guitars and drums some times. It even follows all of the eurobeat lyrical cliches. Still good, though! I found the last two projects mentioned while observing Red Ankh's competition at http://signmeto.roadrunnerrecords.com/, where I recently made an account for Red Ankh to see how it might help the project's fame. It seems like a really good idea for RoadRunner to create a music community like that, and it certainly makes it easier and more fun for their A&R department to pick up new acts. Note to self: get back to work promoting Red Ankh on there.

A few months ago my brother participated in a Nerf blade war. I thought it was a dumb idea, since I expected Nerf swords and axes to just fall apart after a few minutes of smacking them together. Apparently, they can hold up in an eight on eight battle (and these guys were all athletes; they were swingin hard). I foresee a larger Nerf battle occurring in the future. *now owns two Nerf maces* The beauty of using these soft, durable toy weapons (as apposed to wooden and polypropylene ones) is that we don't need skilled fighters in order to have a good time, a large scale battle won't be dangerous as hell, and you can hit people in the head without killing them. The main down side to bokken duels is that it takes a lot of practice and endurance training to have a good time. I don't know many people who have the eight years of experience that I do. Nerf may be a decent supplement, and the weapons are as cheap as bokken.

Over the week's end I was introduced to the fact that people have developed punctuation symbols to denote irony or sarcasm in a sentence. I had never thought of that, and it seemed rather intriguing. They of course never became used in a widespread manner, and were actually barely used at all, by little more than the writers who came up with the idea. A punctuation mark to denote sarcasm could be mighty helpful in text messaging, but what about fiction dialogue? Is it really necessary? Are the question mark or the exclamation point really necessary, then, if a question can simply be followed by 'he/she asked'- which is usually the case, any way. One guy allegedly came up with a whole handful of marks, such as the 'doubt point' (), 'certitude point' (), 'acclamation point' (), 'authority point' (), 'indignation point' (), and 'love point () (I found that bit on Wikipedia). Those points even have their own unicode, I guess. I just copied and pasted them as text characters! As a writer, this concept excites me, but I worry about over doing it- and I am especially concerned about these foreign characters being difficult for readers to remember/follow. Much more recently than the percontation/irony point and the others I listed above, some body decided to create their own symbol for sarcasm, which looks like a saggy boob. Not only is it dumb looking, it also costs money, has to be installed, and only works on certain platforms (on some of which the symbol will only be useful if receiving parties have the application installed, too). Now that is going too far, and still- a backwards question mark might look too much like a question mark to reasonably be considered a whole new mark. Any way...

Initiate self quote of the week:

'Every thing has been said before; every mountain has been conquered, so how do I live an original, fulfilling life? That's easy: in denial before a young audience.'

Shyfted Minds of Hard Core compilation!

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:49:50 GMT

Yesterday the first (of many!) Shyfted Minds of Hard Core compilation launched. Snatch it up at http://shyftedminds.tk! That was a lot of fun. I look forward to doing volume two in the future.

This should mean that I can get back to my writing- and I will, but there's already a new K.H.D. album all prepared for launch, an EP from Crippled should be ready soon, and Predaking is working on some thing big. I would like to start remastering and rearranging my back catalog again, too, but... book first! I've been learning a little about energy conversion and transfer to better explain the magic in my story telling, bringing it more in line with science fact. Any thing's possible with enough energy, so 'magic' is really only fantastic, in a literary sense, if its functions and effects are illogical. The more we learn about the known universe, the more it is made obvious that the only difference between science fiction and fantasy is that the wonders of fantasy make absolutely no sense, are impossible to explain, do not follow any thing logically. A fire breath weapon is biologically possible. Human beings gaining flight with the simple addition of feathered wings is not. Fire can burn in all sorts of colors, but no kind of flame will heal the wounds of fallen knights. Lightning storms can be generated with extreme changes in air pressure and temperature, but not by incantation.

...I'm not very good at rambling about my self any more. I guess that that might be a good thing. Biology text book time!

Busy, busy, busy

Tue, 31 May 2011 03:19:50 GMT

[Copied from Shyftedminds.tk]

The submission phase of the untitled SHM060 hard core compilation album is now closed. Twenty two tracks were approved for the album, but sadly there is not enough room for all of them. After the best tracks are selected from the approved batch of tracks for each of the fourteen artist that are involved, we should have an official track list. We are waiting on one premaster, and if this is not received by Wednesday of this week, the track list will exclude it and be done. Right now I have received premasters from [my self], K.H.D. (of course), Imil, Predaking, Johan Jello, Aardwolf, O.B.P., Phydomir, Mosphire, Tilduh, Skorpyd (A.K.A. Inflicted Rage, Pyroblast), 1nsane, and Crippled. Hopefully mastering and cover art will be finished this week, and we can get this thing rolled out!

[End copy]

Here's some thing that I've been neglecting lately. Let's see... Other than Shyfted Minds' first compilation album, I've come very, very near to finishing my fourth science fiction/fantasy novel. Of course by that I mean just the first draft of the manuscript, but it's the most important (or at least the biggest) step. Editing should be much more swift this time around, since I've developed a much better knack for catching inconsistencies during the writing process. Per haps a month ago I got my Shyfted Dreaming trilogy up on Amazon in paper back and Kindle formats, but I have yet to begin a marketing campaign for it... due to time constraints. It hasn't been high on my list of priorities, though, because I feel that this time around marketing my writing may be best performed using "O", my nearly finished novel, as a sort of flag ship due to its more user friendly style.

Jeez. My last post was before I began my spring semester. Well, spring semester is over with, and so is my cushy break between spring and summer semester- well, technically I have a few more hours. During the rest of my winter break I produced, as promised, Red Ankh's pair of chip tune albums, Blue and Blue Two. They're pretty wild, highly melodic, and I'm still pretty proud of them. I finished them just in time to begin school again, though, and didn't really get around to marketing them, either. Oh well. It's still a new product, if the consumer has never heard of it before. Right? Release dates are negligible on the Internet? Any way, after that I promised my self that I would take a break from music (unless it was to produce some one else's work on Shyfted Minds, contribute to a collaboration, or continue to remaster and rearrange my back catalog) to write "O". When I wasn't busting my ass writing papers and forcing my brain to care about algebra, that's exactly what I did all of spring semester (with short breaks to compose an extended cover of Murder Train that has become, much to my embarrassment, my most popular work of any kind yet, and a much more poorly received symphonic trance metal cover [no surprise, then] of one of the new [at the time] Within Temptation songs). Most of my break after finals was spent doing that and taking submissions for the compilation album, too. I got in to such a groove with the writing that it started to cut in to my physical training (a worthy sacrifice this time, because my mood and muscle kept well). With the nice weather I've been trying to get out to play airsoft once a week. It hasn't quite worked out as planned, but I've shot people with fake guns, G"O"D damn it. Went to some decent pseudo-raves. Might be seeing Brisk soon, the happy hard core guy. Ayup. Speaking of happy hard core, I also finally finished my album of the genre called 'Throw Me A Happycore Record' in February. Of all things, some tracks are heavily influenced by eighties movie sound tracks and Equilibrium. To state the obvious, it makes me rather happy}=<)) I discovered how wonderful Avantasia is, rediscovered Metallica, but have other wise been listening to video game music, folk, classical, and other things that help get/keep me in the mood to write a medieval fantasy atmosphere.

Most recently I took a four hour car ride to attend my favorite cousin's wedding, and I don't care how favorite a person is; weddings are awkward and boring for the non-deeply involved. The week's end before that I flew to Kentucky to visit my girl friend. Great time. Ugly dog. Weather wasn't too sticky. My brother's home for the summer. Slacking off, here we come. A Game of Thrones is awesome. Not because it is brutal and pornographic, but because it is the most real unreal thing that I have seen- with swords. I haven't the time to read it- I haven't the time to watch the show, either, but I have the patience to waste my time watching the show as apposed to reading the book. I have finished reading Xenophon's Conversations with Socrates and am two thirds of the way through Plato's Republic. Socrates is for ever the boss.

Oi. To do this summer: get back on a work out schedule, finish the compilation album, finish the book, run an independent book marketing campaign, produce K.H.D.'s next album, install my window A.C. unit so I don't die down here, update this thing more frequently, teach my self to manifest money (or any thing, for that matter), only play Alice: Madness Returns for a relatively short time each day, only play it after I've completed my work for the day, and stop playing it after I've beaten it... oh. And school work! I have to make sure that I've gotten ahead of the game so I can take a few days off during my girl friend's birth day/Fourth of July/Bluefin Bay week. That looks daunting all at once. I think it's time to go to bed and forget about responsibilities for a while!

Things happened. CHIP TUUUUUNE

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:49:33 GMT

After the release of SHM050, I released a twenty three minute instrumental Red Ankh piece, signed DJ Istapp and K.H.D. to the label (if you can call it that), and had a load of final papers and some final exams. I still am not really back in to the swing of school work, but I was surprised to receive straight aes. Now I am on winter break, and I am enjoying it thoroughly! I got a new sound card and microphone for Christmas, and well as a better amp for my 'studio monitors' not long before, since my last one burnt out. My guitar equipment has seen a significant upgrade, as well. All three products have impressed me, and the Blue Yeti mic has excelled beyond my expectation.

I have used the break so far to finish and release a split Shyft release with K.H.D. as well as K.H.D.'s first solo EP on Shyfted Minds, as well as a Red Ankh single(s) using my new equipment... I have six Red Ankh albums in need of reworking/remastering/rereleasing, and they all touch on different genres that I love, so it was a hard choice of which to begin with, but I decided to go with the chip tune metal one- and I plan to release a sequel album right along side it (as I did with Bronze and Bronze Two). The Orion/Wonderland Single(s) is on the net as of last night, and it's some thing that I have taken a new level of pride in. For the first time my Red Ankh music feels some what professional to me.

Orion, if I recall correctly, was the first song that I ever used video game console sound chip sounds on. It's instrumental beta version was also my most successful Red Ankh track, which was kind of embarrassing (evidence of justification of choice in metal sub genre here). It certainly is a memorable song for me, other wise, and now hopefully it's finished version will pave the way to new... good stuff. Yeah.

My brother is home for winter break, too, so I haven't been getting as much work done as I would like to. Much of my time has been spent playing Vindictus (which is turning in to a stupid grind fest just like every other MMORPG), and when that got boring Killing Floor, and watching How I Met Your Mother. Neil Patrick Harris is a delightfully funny man. I had envisioned more depth here this post, but I've been sitting on the Internet trying to bloat the Red Ankh single release experience for too long. Time to move about strength training style!

...http://shyftedminds.tk is where you can get cool stuff.

Remix Compilation Album, 'New Collective Audition' Out Now!

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:14:36 GMT

[Copied from Shyftedminds.tk]

Today is the day! The Shyft remix album, New Collective Audition, has hit the net and is available for free down load in the discography section (located in the right column [you may have to scroll down; remember that SHM052 beat it to the punch)! I was happy to recieve and release all of these great remixes, and I want to thank the artists for taking the time to bring this thing to life. I want to thank those who finished their remixes months ago for being quick and waiting paciently for the release; I want to thank those who were short on time but managed to finish their remixes regardless, and I want to than Mister K.H.D. for all of his support and for mixing me an ear catching mash up that serves as an excellent preview to the album. This mash up can be streamed below.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxU73OOzb8M]

The track list is as follows, including remixer and genre:

ElluomenniuM Part Two – K.H.D. (Nu Style Gabber)
The Face Stealer – Shyft (Dark Core/Clown Core)
To Destroy All Things – The Augerz (Hard Style)
Illuryzquin – DJ Istapp (Nu Style Gabber)
Dakkaeus – K.H.D. (Nu Style Gabber)
God Mod – Demon’s Breath (Dark Core)
The Sorcerer – DJ Gilga (Anthem Trance)
33 – M.E.G.A.L.O. Concept (Nu Style Gabber)
Ryzqk – Smilecythe (Electro Industrial)
Rompus – K.H.D. (Nu Style Gabber)
The March of the Champion – T2Kazuya (Happy Hard Core)
I Will Be The One – Shyft (Clown Core)
Unforgettable – DJ Istapp/Vanr (Free Form)
The Kingdom of the Future – K.H.D. (Nu Style Gabber)
Ondas – Shoujo (Makina)

[End copy]

And for those who might disagree with the genres, know that we all hear things differently, and some of us are more familiar with the history of these genres than others}=<)>

It's finally done. Big sigh of relief and satisfaction. I'm worn out from keeping up with school while shaping that album to the point of not really being able to think of much more to type here. The down load is up; the home page and this blog reflect that; it's up on Last.fm, but over the course of this week I'm going to continue to spread it across the reaches of the internet.