Modus Dei

Welcome to God Mode, where a philosopher/teacher/writer/supernerd posts whatever he feels like.

[modusdei]

There is a creature,

What perverse force created it I do not know

(i cannot say),

It watches us, hungers.

Its eye pursues us

Quietly, patiently, unrelenting.

Our only veil is darkness

Yet it hears us breathe.

It waits, and waits,

Easily seen but impossible to look upon.

Never doubting, it whispers

Between our heart-beats its eternal creed:

"Always forget. Never forgive."

It watches us, hungers.

[modusdei]

I'd feel bad about not posting any of my story yet, but then I only have 3 followers, so...

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There's a million different ways to half-ass your life. I'm officially sick of all of them.

Let's get started, shall we?

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Sci-Fi/Fantasy Story

I hope to be posting the first couple pages of the story I'm working on very soon. I want to touch it up and run it past my editor first (by editor I mean girlfriend).

I'm writing in an after-the-fact interview style, much like Chuck Palahniuk's Rant.

Why do I feel like I'm standing at the edge of a cliff?

[modusdei]

I would definitely read a Mad Men comic. From: http://www.flavorwire.com/353109/mad-men-characters-drawn-comic-book-style

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Awesome illustration of Spinoza's metaphysical system I found a while back. I can't remember where I found it, anyone happen to know the source?

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Picture of Hillary and Bill Clinton in 1975...

What I love about this picture is that everyone has 100 pictures just like this. Who are we, and what can we become?

From iliketowastemytime.com/2012/10/29/rare-historical-photos-pt-4-18-pics/

[modusdei]

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

You tumblrbot, you.

[modusdei]

Belief, Math, and Superman

This is the first in a series I am naming "Consider the Following Lecture a Bonus!", a quote taken from the illustrious Dr. John Zoidberg.

I have found that if you ask the average person "Is the number 51 prime or composite?" they will almost always say "prime."

In epistemology (a branch of philosophy that deals with belief, knowledge, and justification), there is a distinction between two different kinds of belief that is brought up a lot: de dicto belief vs. de re belief. De dicto is Latin for, loosely, "of the word." De re is Latin for, again loosely, "of reality."

So what the hell does that mean? Well, the example that I've heard most often to explain it involves Superman, of all things.

Imagine you want to figure out whether or not Lois Lane believes that Clark Kent can fly. On the one hand, Lois Lane believes that Clark Kent is an average person like herself, and so is not able to fly. This is what we would call the de dicto version of the belief: Lois believes that Clark Kent, her very normal co-worker, cannot fly. Reasonable enough.

But we know more, don't we? As a matter of fact (or rather, in reality), Clark Kent IS Superman. Lois Lane believes, obviously, that Superman can fly, so therefore she must also believe that Clark Kent can fly, as they are one and the same person. This is what we would call the de re version of her belief. While she would say "No" if you asked her the question, there is a sense in which she does in fact believe that Clark Kent can fly.

So, as a matter of chance, Lois believes de re that Clark Kent can fly, but she also believes de dicto that he can't.

This works because there is a piece of information which Lois Lane does not have available to her: the fact that Clark Kent is Superman. But what if a person had all of the relevant information directly available to them and still held contradicting de dicto and de re beliefs? How could that happen?

Well, is the number 51 prime or composite? If you are like most people I've met, you will believe that it is a prime number. But what if I were to ask you to tell me what 17 times 3 is?

Take a second if you need to...

Yeah, it's 51. So 51 is not a prime number. You've known all along how to multiply and divide numbers. In fact, you don't need to go out and look around for an answer to a math problem like that, you don't even need to use a calculator or a pencil (although they can save time). All of the math you are capable of doing is already in your head (or to put it the way a philosopher would: it is a priori knowledge). We have all of the relevant information available to us. As a matter of fact, 51=17x3, so we already know de re that 51 must be composite. Yet most of us believe de dicto that 51 is prime. Why?

My best guess: It sort of just feels prime, doesn't it?

[modusdei]

Gorgeous blooms on these cliffs Midst a battery of sticks and twigs, Gravity toils away, Blisters on its hands from tightening ropes all day, Lashing down all it sees. But its pull is like a father's, and not like a king's, And the rule of the land is more like a strong suggestion, As this strong current begs for the open ocean...

From Matchstick Maker by Bowerbirds

[modusdei]

Good days/Bad days

Some days it seems like I can't avoid misery without some kind of crutch: junk food, drinking, smoking, caffeine, sex, mindless television sessions...

And then some days I realize that all I really need to be ok is good weather and great music...

I thought today was the second kind of day, until I realized how much coffee I already had.

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Celebration

So it looks like I finally have more than 0 followers. Specifically, I have 2. I am going to get so drunk tonight.

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I hope I can be that kind of father someday.

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Writing

I'm working on a story for a book right now, not sure what it will become. It's going to be science-fiction/fantasy.

Just to be clear, it won't be science-fantasy, but actually both science fiction and fantasy.

What I'm saying is that there will be robots and wizards. What more could you want?

[modusdei]

www.theboredninja.com/pictures/moss-graffiti/

[dcamacho]

“The impartiality which, in contemplation, is the unalloyed desire for truth, is the very same quality of mind which, in action, is justice, and in emotion is that universal love which can be given to all, and not only to those who are judged useful or admirable. Thus contemplation enlarges not only the objects of our thoughts, but also the objects of our actions and our affections: it makes us citizens of the universe, not only of one walled city at war with all the rest. In this citizenship of the universe consists man’s true freedom, and his liberation from the thraldom of narrow hopes and fears.”

~Bertrand Russell  (via dcamacho)

[modusdei]

What's in a Latin word?

So to help clarify for my whopping zero followers so far, "Modus Dei" is Latin, and depending on the context could mean "Mode of God", which is a reference to the brilliant pantheist philosopher Baruch Spinoza, one of my heroes...

Or for the gamers out there, it can also mean "God Mode"

I know it's a cheat on a lot of different games, but whenever I hear it I first think of Twisted Metal 3 for some reason.