holy shit batman

Monkeys fling their poo.

Humans are much more advanced though. We turn our poo into an idea, and turn the idea into a word, and fling that. There are several advantages to this approach. First of all, your hands don't get dirty. Second, you never run out of ammunition. Third, you're not limited to what you've got on hand--you can get all kinds of creative with this concept.

I think this adequately explains both why we use foul language, and why such language is so jarring and powerful.

So... bear that in mind when cussing or being cussed!

(see also.)

The Meaning of Life

first post!!!!!1

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This blog has a pretty imposing title. I'd like use this space to develop my overall thesis, the essential meme that I'm intent on propagating... I'd like to figure out what that is, and I think that an ongoing, open conversation with my friends and the Greater Internets is as good a way as any find out. What I do know is that it's important to find out what my thesis is.

You see, I know what the meaning of life is, but I warn you, it's a disappointing revelation.


!! SPOILER WARNING !!


The meaning of life is to spread your meme.


See what I mean? Disappointing. I mean, sure, if we were bacteria we'd have a pretty clear purpose: divide. That pretty much gets the job done. And by perusing the tree of life we can see that, sure enough, pretty much the defining characteristic of life is that it wants to live, grow, and spread. That is the simple meaning of life for every other species we know of.

But as thinking primates, we have a much, much, much vaster set of potential memes than our simple genes. For instance, consider causes that people will die for. Family, Honor, Country, Truth, Faith, and Freedom all come to mind. If you are willing to die for a cause, it is because that cause is a more essential part of your meme, your thesis, your core self, than your very DNA. Having been trained in evolutionary science, this was an interesting revelation for me.

...The reason that I think this formulation of the Meaning of Life is disappointing, is that it doesn't address any of the thorny issues that led us to ask the question in the first place. God? Freedom? Happiness? Love? Truth? Beauty? Not addressed. This formulation of the Meaning of Life requires that the answers to these kinds of questions be found elsewhere, in the memes themselves, and in their intersection with the individuals and collectives that shepherd the memes. It says: "It is your unique responsibility to discover and spread your meme. A person's life is the sum total of their impact on the rest of the universe." This is what we do, and have been doing, since we learned to talk.

So.

What is my thesis? And how can I write my thesis on the world? That's the point.

Now having said all that, I intend to leave it alone and blog more or less like a normal person.

Cheers :-)