Everyday Junglist
Bio
Practicing mage of the natural sciences (Ph.D. micro/mol bio), Thought middle manager, Everyday Junglist, Boulderer, Cat lover, No tie shoelace user, Humorist, Argan oil aficionado. Occasional LinkedIn & Facebook user
Stories (562/0)
Maxim Creep
Balance The topic of balance came up recently in a conversation with a friend. She was relaying the results of one of those personality tests that claim they can classify your personality “type” based on certain behaviors, characteristics, and/or tendencies. There are hundreds but the vast majority are based on the Meyers-Briggs classification system which is itself an out-shoot of Karl Jung’s personality type theory. The point of this post is not to debate the merits of Jung’s theory, like many theories in the social sciences, it has its proponents and detractors. Instead I will accept it as generally accurate and ask what that implies from a self improvement perspective.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Psyche
A Simulationist Reflects on the Death of His Cat
Authors note: I had not had any contact with Simulationism or the Simulationist church in over six months. I was beginning to think the entire movement had collapsed or decided to go back underground or maybe even never really existed in the first place. If you look at the volume of articles written about it in any forum there has been a precipitous drop. I do not have the correct tools to do any sort of thorough analysis but it has become topica non grata in the past few months and I have seen very few mentions in any writing on this site or any other in the past two at least. Apparently somebody still believes however as an email showed up in my inbox yesterday with the subject line “Diary of a Simulationist -Excerpts.” The sender was mblover69@(redacted).com. Cute, mb for Mike Bostrom no doubt but the 69 thing is kind of gross. lol! When I tried to respond everyone’s best/most hated friend mailer-daemon got the reply instead and kindly informed me it was undeliverable. Oh well, I tried. The entire thing is a mess of pseudophilosophical statements touching on religion the simulation and evolutionary theory. Throughout it all though is a very (real) human emotion for a widely shared human experience, great sadness at the death of a beloved pet. Like many of us the diarist is looking for a reason behind the seeming purposeless of that terrible loss. The picture was included as an attachment. Apparently our mysterious simulationist is a Stephen King fan, drinks orange juice, and has questionable taste in pajamas. Note that I refer to this person as “him” and “he” in the title and throughout though in truth the gender is unknown. The contents of the message are below in unedited form.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Futurism
- Top Story - July 2021
Thinking and Rethinking Thought LeadershipTop Story - July 2021
Thought Leader - Definition A thought leader is an individual or firm (agency) that is recognized as an authority in a specialized field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded. In the sciences or other highly technical fields this makes sense though I still find it mostly unhelpful. It is usually more of an indicator of ego than actual accomplishment with the so called “thought leaders” mostly (though not always) self anointed (or anointed by a small group of other self anointed thought leaders) as such.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Journal
DNA Determinism Continues to Dominate Public Discourse
Philosophy of DNA Determinism It is almost hard to believe how conditioned we have become to accept the philosophy of DNA determinism (and it is a philosophy, it is not a science, though it is supposedly based on science). The surprise and shock that is expressed at what should be a common sense and more than obvious conclusion (environmental factors are just as, or more important, then gene sequence in complex disease outcome) is astounding. I have written about this issue on occasion before but the topic deserves a wider audience.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Humans
Sorry But DNA Sequence Data Cannot Be Used to Design a Personalized Fitness or Nutrition Plan
As a practicing research microbiologist/molecular biologist it pains me to constantly be the naysayer when it comes to claims that some of my own colleagues have made and continue to make with respect to the “power” of DNA sequence data. To hear these people tell it with DNA sequence data alone we can cure virtually any disease, have perfectly optimized diets, and maintain ideal weight with minimal effort. Moreover by following our DNA optimized fitness plan we can expect to live in perfect health to the ripe old age of 300 at which point we will die peacefully in our sleep.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Longevity
The Last of All Redundant Essays
The Most Redundant Words to Delete From Your Writing Advice on extraneous words from the Random House copy chief The consensus of opinion these days seems to be that redundancy in writing is bad. While it may be the general consensus it is not an absolute certainty that this is the case. In fact it might possibly be the case that redundancies are more superior to other methods of emphasis when it comes to getting and keeping your readers attention, despite what Random House copy chief Benjamin Dreyer says in the above linked piece.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Journal
Miracles and Free Will
Way back in the dark ages of January 2018 I wrote a piece in which I attempted to explain why I believe free will would be impossible if we lived in a simulated universe. As part the argument I wrote “if any intervention collapses free will than miracles do.” If you agree with that position it follows that in most (one could say all or almost all) major religions we do not have free will. My reasons for believing this are really quite simple. If any choice/act/decision we make can be “over-ruled” by the actions of a more powerful being or beings we do not have free will because the natural course of events has been altered and we had/have no choice in the matter. We have lost the ability to freely choose and thus we have lost free will. A “positive” miracle like raising of the dead might seem a great thing, and it certainly is for the revived dead man, but what about for the men that chose to kill him? They lost their choice. Their choice was revoked and thus they lost free will. If one or any lose free will, all do. The situation is identical for a simulated universe, except in place of God or Gods we have a Simulator or Simulators that intervene. If they alter the code to make something occur that would not have occurred in the natural or simulated but unmodified course of events, free will is lost for all. Even if it only happens one time, to one person, or even to one animal, or plant, or rock, or atom, or subatomic particle. Any intervention results in the total loss of free will for all things for all time. Since I find it very hard to believe that simulators would create a universe and then never intervene in any way in its evolution I find any simulated universe extremely unlikely to have free will. This same argument holds for any ‘real’ universe, including the one we (likely) live in.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Futurism
A Brush With Greatness
Every once in a while I come across something truly great. I see something, or hear something, or read something, in other words experience something so awesome, so unique, so powerful that I must stop and acknowledge that thing’s greatness. Mostly this acknowledgement is done only with myself in my own mind, like a silent applause, an imagined bow, or a mental gasp. I usually take a note of the thing and perhaps later mention it to a friend, or do a quick Google search when I have the time. Almost never does it go beyond that. Recently (many years ago now) however I came across something so great that I cannot remain silent. I must acknowledge in public the utter and complete awesomeness of it.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in 01
The Sexual Repression Hypothesis
Author's preface: I will admit this one is going to be a tough call for the censors..oops...I mean moderators to judge. On the one hand it is full of graphic material, on the other hand it really isn't all that graphic. More importantly, it is intended and I believe does make a very salient point which is that the "theory" espoused by Umair Haque in the linked article is absurd and ridiculous just like my made up "sexual repression hypothesis" in this article. The fact that it can be made to sound so appealing and so sensical is a tribute to the ease with which words that play into our preconceived prejudices and biases lull us into agreement with them even when they are outrageous, unjustified, and just plain stupid. Umair is a master at that game. That is why he is so popular. Playing into people's prejudices, biases, and fears is a sure fire winner when it comes to popularity contests. Intellectually challenging satirical rebuttals of such material are massive losers in those contests which is why I continue to linger in obscurity while Umair enjoys massive online readership. But you know what, Frack him. I don't play the fear and prejudice game and I never will, but I will call out those who do, every single time I get a chance.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Filthy