What are "Special Topics"?
In life, everyone has some things they prefer over others, and specific niche interests that others just don't find that interesting. This is my place to collect those things and share them with you, in the hope that you'll find them interesting too!
Moth: a social life manager for the rest of us NEW
I've decided to finally start on my social life manager called Moth, which I've been dreaming about since my late teens, at least. I'm calling it "moth" because compared to a "social butterfly" I'm a bit of a moth. (Yes, I am very funny, trust me.) I've decided that I'll write the desktop application in COBOL because that would be a fun way to learn.
My Religous Beliefs
Though I'm a baptized Mormon, and attend Mormon Church often, deep down, I'm not Mormon at all, though I was when I converted over a decade ago.
Instead, I could probably be described more accurately as a polytheist. I believe that everything living has a soul, though they are often quite small. Then, deep within the Earth rests God. God did not create the universe, but is instead a product of it. He is not all powerful or all knowing, but so much more powerful and knowledgeable than us that it often seems that way. He sleeps within the Earth, dreaming. He usually connects to us through intermediaries, what we would normally refer to as "gods". In his dreams, he does sometimes reach out to sensitive people, but contact with that source of knowing... it damages the mind. He is lonely, and our life's purpose is to grow and develop into a species capable of being a companion for him.
Effective AccelerationismNEW
My husband recently sent me some things about "effective accelerationism" and asked me how they related to my religious views:
The founders of the movement see it as rooted in Jeremy England's theory on the origin of life, which is focused on entropy and thermodynamics. According to them, the universe aims to increase entropy, and life is a way of increasing it. By spreading life throughout the universe and making life use up ever increasing amounts of energy, the universe's prpose would thus be fulfilled.
I have a few responses.
1. Appeals to "Thermodynamics"
In general, when I hear someone appeal to "thermodynamics", it feels to me as if I am about to read some kind of appeal from a crazy person, and should ignore everything else that I'm about to hear. It's a difficult thing to explain properly, but I believe that most people will understand what I mean.
2. The Univere's Desire
I fundamentally do not believe that the universe has any "desire" because I do not think that the universe is alive and possesses either a will or any other kind of emotional state. It may be the case that the e/acc are making a non-religious appeal, but my husband asked me to evaluate it through a religious lens.
I think there is a God, but he is not synonymous with the universe. He is a product of the universe rather than its creator. He didn't create the Earth, instead it was formed by natural processes. He didn't cause life to exist on Earth, most likely, but instead participated in the process of ennobling it -- subtly pushing it towards paths that lead to increased knowledge.
God does this simply because he is lonely, and he is alone, for whatever reason. Perhaps he is the last or only of his kind. Perhaps it is the nature of his kind to live far apart. Perhaps he was wounded or became lost and settled here. Or, maybe many planets have a God within them, and since we have never left we don't know yet.
But, to me, the reaction that some people have, of feeling utterly cold and alone when they see space, makes me feel that having a God somewhere is likely the exception rather than the rule.
3. Entropy as Good
I classify all discussions of entropy as info hazards of the eldritch knowledge variety. I feel that worshipping and feeding entropy is like worshipping Chuthulu. Fundamentally unwise and a likely cause of great suffering. I cannot take those seriously who would do such a thing.
My Worldview
Partially colored by my religious beliefs, and partly by my life experiences such as chronic illness, I have a somewhat different view of the world that others. I often have people get extremely angry with me or even scream at me when I share my worldview, so it would be nice to be able to share it here, where others can't become aggressive with me.
War and Peace
War and Peace is a very special series to me, full of the magic of a thousand small observations. While it's usually described as a single book when we refer to it in English, it's actually a series of books, spanning 360 chapters, published in one large volumne. It's from a genre, the parlor novel, which isn't at all common anymore, but it among my favorites.
Most discussion of the book is usually of the "upturned nose" variety, treating it as some stuffy classic novel. I don't see it at all. I think it's a humorous novel, it has escapades, and it captures the psychology of certain kinds of people very well. Pierre, for example, reminds me deeply of myself. I have never identified so strongly with a character before in my entire life.
I'd like to show you War and Peace from my eyes.
Internet "Shrines"
There is this cute internet cultural trend of collecting images and quotes about a media you really like, and creating little "shrines" in their honor.