My DreamI worked in a boring gray office block, high up in one of the back rooms i found an old boring tin locker which was a bit taller than I was with a door that hung askew and wouldnt lock, this locker was in a row of others. I discovered that stepping through it led to a beautifully ornamented spiral stairwell in a well lit castle based around a tower shape, the whole castle was as beautiful as it could be with loads'a well furnished rooms of every type. Outside was a perpetually sunny world of natural beauty and opulence although it was completely devoid of people. I showed my Brother and for a while it was our secret, we went back and forth in amazement and had a great time, then for some reason he decided to stop coming and eventually completely shunned the experience. Things from this point turned a bit bad. I kept going there and began to think about moving there all together and maybe never coming back, by this time it had named itself "the 4th world". My Dad was still alive but i wasn't getting on with him hardly at all, this was partially what influenced me to plan moving there. I have a card at the shop so i figured; hey seeing as im not coming back I can just put loads'a supplies on the card and take them with me, so I got loads'a fags plus necessities, plus loads'a luxuries. I also went to another floor in the office block and hung around surreptitiously finding out info on how to grow and cultivate vegatables, while also keeping my eyes open for any I could steal. This continued for a while until one day I had a big falling out with my Dad and the argument ended with him saying "and in the morning you can get up early and help me work on the car" it was freezing at this time of year and the mornings were gray plus it involved lying on gritty concrete for hours. So I decided now was the time to move to the 4th world. I agreed to work on the car and I left, i collected all my supplies etc and sneaked into the room where the locker was, but it had gone! all that was left was a dark and grimey square patch on the floor where it was sitting. I was so unbelievably gutted. So I started asking around, turns out lots of old stuff had been moved around for maintenance etc and that most of it had been moved to this one long corridor, so i went there and it was the type of corridor youd get in an American high school full of students bustling and chatting in whispers, but everything was gray and moved slowly with blurry edges, all down one wall was hundreds of lockers and mine was one of them but I didnt know which. As i urgently nudged my way between the students which took considerable effort, searching for the locker with the wonky door, I picked up on the whispered gossip, a lot of it was about me and how everyone knew all about my plans and the locker etc and how they had done all along, plus none of them believed it really was a portal and the general consensus was that I was mad. It was then that I realised that I hadnt actually been involved in the story at all but the whole thing had actually happened to a clinically insane, clinically obese girl in a high school in America, many years ago. I could actually picture her face in gray, with dark sunken eyes and a stoic but disgruntled expression on her face, it also transpired that she was guilty of a non-stipulated but very serious crime, and that it was in all the papers across America at the time. I could see the headlines but couldn't read them . . .then Paul rung me and I woke up.Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- The TV laid on its side. Another dream. I had a family composed of; a beautiful, young, slim, dark haired wife. A young daughter, and a fully grown gorilla that we had raised from birth. We were all walking on the common in Sherfield, it was a beautiful and hot summers day, suddenly we spotted a very small (two feet high), shiney, pitch black alien with rubbery looking limbs. The material this alien was made out of was absolutely solid and impenetrable, we realised the reason for this was because the creature was created digitally, and was in a sense comprised of three-dimensional pixels. For some reason we went for a drive, I was driving with my wife next to me, I looked back and my wife had put our daughter, the gorilla, and the alien in one big black box so that they couldnt see each other, or the world outside. Next to the box was a large tv laying on its screen. We got out just up the street from my house and there were hundreds of other freakish, digitally created creatures everywhere, causing all kinds of chaos. I was worried for my family and for the future of the human race. One of the creatures was a short, little, thing with a bright red hat, a stupid look on its face, and long arms folded at its sides, fists up, as I walked along, it repeatedly tried to punch me with arms that could extend hundreds of meters in seconds so I ran away. I realised that these creatures were just crazy and didnt actually have any negative intentions or any logical intentions at all. Then I just sat on the curb talking with my wife, kid and gorilla watching the creatures go about their business.Later the noise of Paul working on his patio woke me up.Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------Kelly and the TigersAnother dream . . .I was walking up from Bramley road toward my house, it was a very hot summer, all the colours looked slightly altered with reds and greens seeming to stand out above the rest, for some reason it was normal for tigers to roam the streets, I think they were used to keep down the population of rabbits of which there were plenty, I was quite afraid of the tigers attacking me, specifically biting my ankles, when I reached my house I looked up at what should have been my Brothers window but Kelly Blackburn was leaning on her forearms and looking down at me, it was her room, she told me she had a half riddle - half joke for me, just as she started telling me my alarm went off and i woke up.Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- My Old Re-occuring Nightmare. . . a limited expanse . . .. . . A black fog of crowded, grey shadows.Apparent among them, a looming, dark pyramid. As it grows closer and closer its shape changes until it resembles a titanic, circular pagoda puzzle. On each shelf, save the highest . . . Disturbances. Limitless, shifting black scribble-freaks that would not fit in ANY space in a jigsaw. They mingle n squirm like faminous, toothless vagrants. They search with a sickening and feverish desperation through crinkle-crunch black sacks. As their agitation intensifies, my dread becomes all pervasive. As I looks on, I feels it in the pit of myself like boiling TCP. I morbidly reflects how strange it is, that the worst thing I can imagine is the one thing I cannot define. Regardless, I feel it coming, I know they will find it, as they always do, it's just a matter of . . . A dislocated twitch! An excited intensification of a scribble-freaks darkling gleam! It will be rewarded! It is here! The lucky misconstruct wrenches itself with ease towards the flat-topped peak. It's eagerness is perverse and horrific. The freak is at the breach! A sour-milk light begins to coalesce like a pillar of mist. The pillar stands high, and within it a dark cloaked figure, far too tall and thin to be stable. It's face a void within a void. Two deep maroon eyes, with inward falling flecks of brilliance, pierce into me.Then I wake up distraught . . .Copyright © 2009 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- A night-mare is fed before it is born ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- My NightmareEVERYTHING compressed down and down into the smallest, and unimaginably densest, it could possibly be, it happened gradually, evenly and unstoppably . . . then, that smallest thing, that iota, became everything again, that is it became all of existence without increasing in size one bit, then it all compressed down and down again until it became the smallest it could be, then it became all there was again! Each time it became as small as it could be, I thought ~That must be the end, as it cannot get any smaller~ but then it did, it just went on and on! It was terrifying!Copyright © 2009 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Juicyplummers! . . . another dreamI wrote this down instantly on waking . . .I was standing at a shop counter, a semi-attractive woman was talking to me from the other side, we were flirting ever so slightly. She asked me how old I thought she was, she had long, curly, blonde, reddish-tinged hair with a parting in the middle, I guessed hesitantly that she looked about 32, she looked shocked and asked how old I was, I said thirty and apologised if I had offended her, she said she was 70! and that she had been taking vitamins and minerals all her life . . .{At some unknown point during this dream I was a teleporting freefaller who could fall toward the ground and teleport back up into the sky again, so as to fall for as long as I wanted, I was falling with a friend and possibly my Dad, we were pushing the limits slightly by getting a little closer to the ground each time before we teleported, so as to distinguish an applicable limit}. . . Suddenly I was lying in the grass near the path that leads from my house, through the park to the shop, a woman comes over and sits down next to me and starts talking, I can't remember what she is saying but it's all friendly chat, she is the aging actress from "Coronation Street" whom Ken Barlow was having an affair with. She is a little drunk. I look over at the path in the semi-distance and see my Mum, my Nan's partner; Ken, and a few other men and women of similar age, all apart from my Mum are drunk, swaying and having difficulty standing, the actress tells me that they have all been for a meal and a drink because my Nan had died (which I already knew) and they thought it was important to be together. The actress is flirting with me very subtly . . .. . . Now I was just across from there, driving down Bramley Road, it had been snowing hard, I was in a small work van, it became stuck on a deep snow drift. The main problem was that the clutch wouldn't go all the way down. A middle aged, dirty looking man with long hair covering his eyes who I recognised from somewhere, jumped in to help me, he may have been based on the crazy killer from "No Country For Old Men". He didn't say anything, just got behind the wheel and tried to start it. I got out and went to the front to try and jump up and down on the clutch, which was now huge and sticking out of the front of the vehicle. Eventually it budged and the van started, he just drove off, I shouted "Fucking Twat!" as the van was in the distance. I realised that someone had been watching all this happening from the front garden of one of the houses along Bramley Road, just a little way down from me, it was the actress from "Coronation Street" again. I felt a little guilty and embarrassed for shouting and swearing, but she didn't seem to mind and seemed kind. The man in my van circled around and picked me up, and I realised he had just been warming up the engine / making sure it was ok, and felt a little foolish. I got in and we started talking as he drove. He seemed a little simple, amused, bemused, lonely, sheepish, eccentric, and younger than me. He told me a story about a job he had recently started, his boss had told him that he stank and to go and have a wash, so he locked himself in a small cupboard with a tiny basin and a tape recorder, and recorded his smell, he thought this whole story was amusing and chuckle-worthy in a childish sorta way. He played me the tape of his smell, we neither of us believed it would work and both found the concept amusingly laughable. But then I started to smell it, it was disgusting! I didn't want to open the window, in case I offended him . . .. . . Next I was lying on my old bedroom floor with Fran from "Black Books" (She was my good friend), We were both quite a bit younger, Paul, my real life friend was miniature and asleep in a nearly empty mushy pea tin, the tin was resting with its bottom corner slightly down, and Paul was actually curled up and asleep in the cold, greenish fluid that had gathered at the bottom. Some other unseen persona may have been on the bed, but I'm not sure. We were all half asleep (apart from Paul) and talking in our sleep, but aware of it at the same time, we were talking about different types of mushy peas, Fran said she really liked and preferred "Juicyplummers", I said "Oh yes!" and agreed. We were then awake, and we decided it would be hilarious to cram Paul's tin full of mushy peas, which were only a little smaller than his head, so when he woke up he would freak out in a very surreal way! I had it in mind to be careful not to suffocate him. We proceeded to do this, in near hysterics! . . . Then Paul, still being miniature was in a longer tube made from quite a few linked toilet roll centers, he was still covered in peas. From his reactions as we covered him in peas, we could tell he was about to wake up, we decided the time was right to put our pet gerbil / hamster that was high up in a cage nearby, into one end of the tube and let it run along at him through the peas just as he was waking up, and his surreal awakening would experience would be complete, we imagined it as being hilarious! Just as we fed the gerbil / hamster into the tube, desperately stifling, an approaching explosion of hilarity, I woke up! ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Georgie Held The Key"the only truly honest people are; the very young, psychotics, and dying patients."when i first heard this it struck me as very cool, seemed like it made sense, but i had my doubts.something has just clicked ~ it makes total sensewhen i quoted this to others they were like "no way i dont agree at all, I'm a completely honest person!" the cause of this reaction is mainly because they took offense at someone saying that they wern't totally honest, but also that it was misunderstood ~ probably largely because the quote is not worded accurately enough to convey its full meaningthe knee-jerk way of perceiving it is to think that it is saying, that most people are dishonest (by implication liars) that they know the truth but are attempting to deceive others for some less than benevolent reason.this is not what it means at allits main point is that most people adapt their own view of reality and themselves to fit in with and justify their own personal drives, motivations (positive or negative), and largely, their neuroses ~ and *as a conglomeration of these personal aspects* to protect themselves from feelings too painful to face, feelings that would certainly arise by really facing up to certain truths.it makes sense to me that the more apparent these truths are, the more twisted the person attempting to shield themselves from them becomes, and in extreme cases insanity could ensue.i strongly believe that the person shielding them self is not doing so consciously, otherwise the "shield" would break down and become ineffectual, after all if you're conscious of something, you're conscious of it. try denying something you know, you cant, its just not going happen,it like being told "spend the next thirty seconds trying NOT to think of a pink elephant" aint gonna happen.its secondary point gives a further reason as to why this individual denial takes place (why didnt the Egyptian accept he was drowning? ~ because he was in denial) but seriously, the second reason is because of society, or more accurately the state and flux of personal interactions . . .. . . a very young child out with its mother, upon seeing a one armed man might innocently remark "Mummy, why has that man only got one arm?" what is wrong with this? nothing, its a fair, succinct and honest question. the one armed man may take offense (especially if you suggest he killed Harrison Fords wife) but the fault does not lie with the child, it lies with the one armed man and his insecurities. the way this develops into a society wide fault goes like this;the one armed man gets insulted or embarrassed and takes offense,he then berates the child and/or its mother,the child and/or its mother are then further insulted, embarrassed, or are made to feel guilty,(of course, sometimes this dishonesty can be used as a tool, in a direct attempt to stifle others, namely evil)they then learn not say this kind of thing again, ie to hide they're true thoughts and feelings to some level,some of these thoughts or feelings then fester within individuals, unspoken and unaccepted . . .. . . eventually becoming insecurities, which cause negative reactions to the truth, and the cycle goes on and on, more easily escalating than dissipating.Psychotics, Psychotics are already insane, they are the extreme result of repression of truth of greater and greater levels of obviousness, keep pumping air into that football, its gonna get apparently more n more solid until, one day ~ BOOM!!! A psycho is born from a football shaped egg! as they "explode" any chance of withholding any desire, truth, or instinct explodes with them. ~ the amniotic sack of denial is ruptured once and for all. Creating an honest but wholly undesirable character with no place being with others.reading the above section, you should know that im not saying ultimate "honesty" is desirable in every aspect of life, indeed i believe a certain amount of restraint is essential in order for our social society to function.Dying patients, This interests me the most, the very young being honest makes perfect sense (they simply havent discovered any reasons or acquired enough insecurities to see the need for dishonesty). Psychotics being honest makes perfect sense.Dying patients . . . hmmm ~ it could simply be that dying patients have nothing to lose, or that their honesty could come about from an innate sense of needing to be at one with themselves before they pass on to what ever comes next,~ anything to declare? ~again, remember I'm not talking here about the dying patients honesty with those around him, but only about him having an absolute, unfiltered, view of every aspect, of everything within his understanding.if this is true, then, under the conventional view of heaven and hell etc, psychotics are damned.me personally? i just find it a DAMN shame that any need for denial or dishonest arise in the first place,~ "Hey you there! Mother! Let that kid say whatever He wants!" ~~ "We dont need no education" ~~ "If you dont face and defeat them, you pass your demons on to your children" ~What dya think?Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Divine, Anthropic, and Individual Time, The Anthropic Principle answers the question; why do we exist in this universe, at this time, with these laws of physics and this amount of dimensions? The answer is that if these conditions didn't exist, we wouldn't be around to ask the question. This also suggests there are a myriad variety of combinations of conditions including different amounts of dimensions and maybe even different laws of physics, of which are likely to be incomprehensible to us as beings who only know what we know. I believe in a God of some sort, in as much as I believe there is a plan, logic, and reason to all this. For arguments sake assume that God is sentient and eternal, and that he created our universe and everything in it. If this is the case, then as far as I can see, there are two possibilities;1, God is out of time, and time didn't exist before God created the universe, in which case God is not technically eternal, as "eternal" relates to time. Our current understanding supports this.2. God is effected by time and is still eternal. If this second possibility is true, then he must of waited an eternity before creating our universe, so why now?"Why now?"? The Anthropic Principle answers this; "Because we are here now."Therefore each of us, as a whole and individually, no matter at what point in history we exist, are presently in the presence of God, that it to say we are all temporally equidistant from him, whether or not he exists within time, or out of time, or both.What dya think?Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Occult. The Combined Memories Of Moments Alone. Each one of us owns their own world, a story. A story made up of moments, moments of sadness, of relief, of release, of peace, of pain, of boredom, of insight, of anger, of frustration, of joy, of everything besides. A story no one else can ever know. An essentially hidden life.What dya think?Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- FLUXEmotional Addiction, As A Base Mechanism Of Good And Evil."A man can only see what he observes, and he can only observe what is already in his mind."An emerging scientific field called psychoneuroimmunology is demonstrating the connection between the mind and the body, and is beginning to help us understand the link between how we think and how we feel. We now know that our every thought produces a biochemical reaction in the brain. The brain then releases chemical signals that are transmitted to the body, where they act as messengers of the thought. In this way, the thoughts that produce these chemicals in the brain allow our body to feel exactly the way we were just thinking. Essentially, when we have happy, inspiring, or positive thoughts, our brain manufactures chemicals that make us feel joyful, inspired, or uplifted. For example, when we look forward to a pleasurable experience, the brain immediately makes a chemical neurotransmitter called dopamine, which turns the brain and body on in anticipation of that experience, and we feel excited. If we have thoughts of hate, anger, or insecurity, the brain produces chemicals that the body responds to in a comparable way, and we feel hateful, angry, or unworthy. Another chemical that our brain makes, called ACTH, signals the body to produce chemical secretions from the adrenal glands that make us feel threatened or aggressive. When the body responds to a thought by having a feeling, the brain, which constantly monitors the status of the body, notices that the body is feeling a certain way. In response to that bodily feeling, the brain generates thoughts that produce corresponding chemical messengers, so that we begin to think the way we are feeling. Within this state of flux, thinking creates feeling, and then feeling creates thinking, in a continuous biological feedback loop. This cycle eventually creates a particular state in the body—what we call a state of being—that determines the general nature of how we feel and behave. For example, say a person lives much of her life in a repeating cycle of thoughts and feelings related to unworthiness. The moment she thinks about not being good enough or smart enough or enough of anything, her brain releases chemicals that produce a bodily feeling of unworthiness. Now she is feeling the way she was just thinking. Her brain notices that, and she begins to have thoughts of insecurity that match the way she was just feeling. Her body is now causing her to think. If her thoughts and feelings continue, year after year, to generate the same feedback loop between her brain and her body, she will exist in a state of being that is called “unworthy.†These repeated chemical signals cause the cells of the body to function in undesirable ways, making us sick. This starts to explain how the mind can physically modify the body. In the book I talk about a man I called Tom, who developed one digestive ailment after another. This finally led him to examine his life, and he realized he had been suppressing feelings of anger and desperation over being in a job that made him miserable. Tom’s mind and body were in a feedback loop of thinking and feeling that amounted to toxic attitudes that his body just “couldn’t stomach.†He had been living in a state of being revolving around victimization. His healing finally began when he paid attention to his habitual thoughts and realized that his unconscious attitudes were the basis for the person he had become. There is significant scientific evidence suggesting that the mind has a direct effect on the body…both for better and for worse. Research demonstrates that we can cause our bodies to be sick just by the anticipation of a future event or the memory of a past experience. In both cases, it is our thoughts that are creating powerful chemicals of stress to alter most of the systems in our body. So what we think about and the intensity of these thoughts directly influences our health, the choices we make, and our quality of life.1, Events (which occur often, over a space of time) cause a particular, emotional, reaction.2, If this occurs frequently enough, the subject becomes addicted (most effectively during childhood), to the proteins associated with said emotion, and therefore the emotion itself (subject can be addicted to multiple emotions simultaneously).3, Subject will consciously or unconsciously attempt to cause events that will trigger the desired emotion, an emotion which can be positive or negative.4, At some point subject will recognise (and understand) a similar or identical emotion in someone else, and experience a powerful sense of empathy.5, This will lead to a feeling of justification, and the assertion that said emotion is natural to the human condition.6, The subject will attempt, to some degree throughout the period of their addiction, to bring about this particular emotion within another person, in order to experience "A reassertion of justification"etc.7, If the person is subjected to this frequently enough, he will seek, within others, an empathy that directly relates to said emotion (the most likely person he will receive this from is the original subject), he will do this even before his emotional addiction takes hold.8, The "subjectee" then becomes the "subjecter", as the cycle continues (go back to 3,)~If the emotion the subject is addicted to is positive, the attempt to cause this emotion to come about in others is, incidentally, an act of good. If the emotion is negative, then the attempt is incidentally, an act of evil.I say "incidentally" because this act of good or evil is not the primary motivation behind the attempt. I feel, emotional addiction (positive or negative) causes the addicted to perceive a medium of false, emotional reality, between themselves and the externally causal, events which effect them. They are clouded in illusion.However, there are some things which can be inspired by this process which utterly transcend it, namely: "True Good, and True Evil".True, non-incidental good and evil, are of a wholly greater caliber and operate within a far purer state of economic flux .~The performer of incidental acts of good and evil, can eventually become consciously or unconsciously aware of the existence, of the quality, of good or evil inherent in his actions, and also of its significance and resultant feelings. Feelings which the performer can either enjoy or dislike. If the latter; the performer is likely to change his alignment and renounce his good or evil ways, incidental or otherwise. If the former, then the performer is likely to become truly good or truly evil. In other words: the motivation behind future acts will be truly, to either make another feel good or bad, in order to regain their previous enjoyment, and not solely to reassert justification of a particular emotion, or to gain a sense of empathy. This process as I've described seems to betray a lack of choice. This is not so ~ we all possess will.Be Good, Be Bad, Be Real . . . its your choice, but I beseech you: "Be Good!" :D xXxWhat dya think?Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- SynaesTheism. Synaesthesia is the term for the effect and the process, of connections between different areas of the brain, links. Especially links (originally tenuous) between distant or largely unrelated areas, which cause a combined, but wholly distinct effect of thought. Synaesthesia is the origin of all language, and Ive recently learnt that the original origin of all art is hallucination (caused mainly by self-imposed trance states, the effects of drugs, and sensory deprivation), and the origin of hallucination is synaesthesia. Before a certain level of synaesthesia was reached, language as we know it, and art, did not exist. Therefore, it seems evident that the more extreme the state and level of synaesthesia, the greater and more diverse is the ability of the brain. Each synaesthetic connection is essentially a pathway. A pathway is essentially potential of movement. The greatest possibility for potential of movement is open space. The universe is full of open space. Atoms are open space in the vast majority. Many scientists believe that the sub-atomic universe behaves more like thought than matter. It has been proven that consciousness directly effects matter, just as matter effects consciousness. The widely accepted view of God is that "He" is omnipresent and a conscious entity. I believe this. I guess Im a synaestheist.Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Dogs Don't Like James Brown.What separates us from the animals?Empathy and Intelligence.Intelligence is pretty self explanatory, our brains are better "machines".But what is empathy? What are its aspects? and What does it suggest?Empathy, most blatantly, is our ability to feel and understand what others are feeling and experiencing.Now the "understand" part is a result, almost exclusively, of our intelligence. But why do we "feel" what others are feeling? This is something more, something which transcends basic, cold, machine like, intelligence.So why don't dogs like James Brown? Partly because their level of intelligence denies them a certain level of understanding of rhythm, beat, method etc. But, in the vast majority, because they don't "feel" the music, they don't feel what James Brown, his band, or what others who are enjoying it are feeling. But in essence they don't feel the emotion encoded in the music. Music is after all a purely emotional language, a language like any other, which needs a certain level of understanding to be able to "read" it. But unlike any other, also needs a certain level of empathy.Why can't animals empathize with others at certain levels?Because they have never felt what others are feeling, here is an Ironic Circle;IRONIC CIRCLE (one can only see what one observes, and can only observe what is already in ones mind)1, Lack of intelligence and therefore lack of ability to understand the reasons behind the emotions.2, Lack of time spent empathizing, recognizing, and actually feeling the emotions of others.3, Lack of experience of certain emotions or levels of emotion.4, Lack of desire to feel what others are feeling.5, Go back to 1.How does this ironic circle change into a transcendental circle?It changes / coalesces over millennia by a process of evolutionary altruism.Altruism. The selfless concern for the welfare of others.Evolutionary Altruism. This came about because of the simple fact that just as the philosophy "every man for himself" undeniably works for the individual, "share and share alike" undeniably works for the group, and therefore for the individual.Because of these facts, two essential types of creature have evolved; the social creature, and the "lone wolf". These are usually distinct among species or genders within species, ie all wolves are social creatures, and all male lions are solitary creatures. But, just as a male lion may, in times of dire need form a partnership with others, a man may choose to deny his kin in pursuit of his own selfish desires.The Evolution Of Emotion Through The Hardwiring Of Altruistic Tendencies On A Level Relative To Their Experienced Success Rates. Within a generally social species, altruism becomes so commonly practiced that over millennia, the "deep furrows" of the pathways in the brain which relate to altruism are passed down through the process os evolution, until they become an essence of a certain species, just as they have with us. Which is why we find it so abhorrent when an individual deviates from the path laid out by these "deep furrows" such as by murderers, rapists etc.I would say there is a very real danger of mankind in general regressing into a non-altruistic state due partly to the fact that because of our increased ability to communicate over distance, we know longer have as much need to socialize face to face, and therefor our altruistic hardwiring could eventual fade due to lack of necessity, and the world would be a terrible place indeed.If you want proof that these altruistic tendencies have become hardwired, all you need to do is question why people give to charity (caritas), even when its a charity that does not effect anything or anyone they know.Anyway, "emotions":All emotions fall into two essential categories, these categories are nothing as easy as "Good" and "Bad". They are in fact; Altruistic and Non-altruistic.Non-Altruistic. Greed, Envy, Fear, Desire, Satisfaction (of certain types).In fact, I wouldn't describe these as emotions at all, but more as basic survival instincts, just as are hunger and the clinical reaction of pain. These four "emotions" are merely the "hunger" and "pain" of the consciousness / the psychology, as opposed to the physical.Boredom. "Boredom is interesting" haha ~ Boredom is merely a lack of stimulation of intelligence, therefore the more intelligent you are the easier you become bored. The statement; "Only boring people get bored" is NOT true.Altruistic. Happiness, sadness, grief, anger, hate, love, the state of "missing" an entity,These are all the result of hardwiring caused by positive and negative, relative peaks and troughs, which occur whilst living out the social permeations which are originally and continuously permeated by altruism.Empathy. Empathy is the very causal glue which holds the entire process together, and in fact, that which makes it possible. But almost paradoxically, just as this empathy allows the social to function, it is also the case that this "functioning" caused empathy to arise in the beginning. It is because of this apparent paradox that I believe that the whole transgression between the "Ironic Circle" and the "Transcendental Circle" must be one of evolutionary coalescence taking place over millennia, and fueled by the increasing definition and "depth of synaptic furrows" brought about by circumstance and accentuated by ever increasing "hardwiring" which in turn was caused by circumstance.Some might say, circumstance relies on coincidence, but seeing as everything is preceded by something else, order and reason have always been. Therefore, there is no such thing as coincidence, and every aspect of every creature (indeed everything) is inevitable, destined."We have to believe in free will, we have no choice".TRANSCENDENTAL CIRCLE1, Intelligence (increased by evolution) allows the understanding of the reasons behind emotional reactions.2, Time spent empathizing, recognizing, and really feeling the emotions of others.3, The ongoing gaining of experience of certain emotions or levels of emotion.4, The altruistic desire to feel what others are feeling.5, Go back to 1.Altruism is transcendental, ie at a higher and more complex level than basic selfishness. It makes you wonder if there is, perhaps, a next higher transcendental level of which we are as yet unaware?This is why we, along with James Brown, but not necessarily animals, have what is commonly understood as "Soul". :)Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- One Pulse Of A Strobe.The moment before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes.Yeah, that's called "LIFE".When you're young a week is a long time. This is because, relative to how long you've lived so far, it is a long time. As you live longer and longer the comparative ratio increases, making a week seem shorter and shorter. Is this why, at the penultimate moment of your life, your whole life appears, in a flash, as one single moment?Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Freefall.Each one of us is falling from the sky without a parachute. It's just that we have, on average 84,096,000 miles to fall, as opposed to 2.4. Youth ends when you see the ground.Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Perceptual Pixels?A pixel is generally thought of as the smallest single component of a digital image.Firstly an example of the nature of perception. This idea is very tenuous and is based largely on reversible points of view. It is inspired by the observance of the process of thinking whilst walking. Two people having a conversation during a stroll. The more heated their discussion, or the faster its pace, the faster they tend to walk. The more relaxed their discussion, the slower. What does this suggest? You could say that the faster the brain is working, the greater stream of information it is capable of processing, information relating to the conversation and its changing surroundings. Now this is the tenuous bit: You could also say (on the flip side) that the universe, surroundings, or existence that the strollers are aware of is in fact the product of the functioning brain, and that the apparent speed of the change occurring within the strollers surroundings is in fact a result of the speed of the brains ability to process information, (information relating to the discussion and relating to the apparent surroundings, being essentially the same thing.)Perhaps the limit of rapidity of worthwhile and understandable discussion AND the limit of the rate at which the brain can process information which results in the limit of clear perceptual awareness of change occurring in its surroundings at a certain definitive rate, are one and the same.The world, in a sense, is an illusion, an illusion based on illusion . . .. . . what I'm trying to say is that the "world" is essentially just as much a construct of the brain, as the information received by the brain is a signature of the world.A Seeming Perceptual Pixelisation of "Time". The pixelisation of time as described in the following, is most probably purely imaginary, and remains more an explanatory tool of thought.Ever tried to catch a fly? Bloody difficult isn't it? This is because a fly sees things around it moving far slower than we do. Why is this? When someone shooting a nature documentary wants to film a plant growing, he uses time lapse photography, in other words he takes snapshots or frames far less frequently than would a standard video camera. This causes the plant to appear as if it's moving much faster. The fly does the opposite, it takes HYPOTHETICAL "snapshots" at a far greater frequency than we do, which causes everything it sees to appear far slower, giving it plenty of reaction "time".Species Perception. There is no such thing as time, only rate of change. Each conscious life forms perception is based upon its evolved requirement for speed, which encompasses its required distance of travel and the reaction time required for its survival . . .. . . well, actually this is not strictly true. It is more that these aspects influence the speed / frequencies at which its hypothetical "snap shots" are taken. For example, The May Fly only lives for one day, which to it seems the perfectly justified norm based upon its perceived flow of "time" / rate of change.When relaxed or distracted, as you are whilst having fun, you feel safe, there is no need to focus as much / take in as much detail (or take as many "snap shots"), therefor time seems to go faster. Alternatively, when in dire straits, waiting, or bored your attention is focused or you are not sufficiently distracted (ie you're taking frequent hypothetical "snap shots"), and time seems to go slower.We have the ability to alter our perceptual flow of time, but apparently with only a limited regulation of frequency. What is it about us and our relationship with existence that causes this limit? Perhaps the reality of the standard "rate" or "flow"of "time", is like a rule that we can perceptually stretch, but not too far. I can stretch it solely for me as an individual, but it can be stretched on a far greater, and yet very real scale during time dilation, but I digress . . .If the brain really is taking snap shots at varying frequencies, then why do we never see a stuttering of the world around us? You could guess that our brain limits the maximum and minimum of its frequencies in order that this never occurs, or you could guess that our brain fills in the gap as it does in certain cases of memory loss. I'd say the latter is, in its essence, true. But I believe the reason which would be first and foremost in preventing us from being aware of any stutter, or any seams, is that we only perceive what we are "shown" by our brain. For us to be able to be aware of a stutter, we would have to be aware of the temporal, metaphysical, or actual gaps in our field of perception. Obviously this is impossible, you can't perceive gaps in your own perception.Could the pixelisation of time and space be real? There is a theory that suggests that everything is made up of loops in space and time. Perhaps there is such a thing as the pixelisation if existence, for just as the fly observes the world around it - an observer observes subatomic particles - The more he focuses on a particles location, the less its momentum is distinguishable, and vice versa. This is echoed in the way that an observer alters his own perceived flow of time. Time and space as "weaved" together as a continuum, as Mr Einstein tells us. They are not distinct, they are space / time. OBSERVANCE and level of CONCENTRATION effect the perceptual flow of time, along with the ability to witness certain qualities of matter, and also the perceived awareness of beauty."When confronted with true beauty you feel it, you instantly recognise it, say for example the beauty resides in an image of a flower or the tone and style of a beautiful singing voice, the instant you analyse what about each is beautiful ie the curves, colours and relative angles of the flower or the emotion, accent and inflection of the voice, the effect and awareness of its beauty can be lessened."Without this perceptual pixelisation, everything would be stagnant and uniform, each event would merge into the next, making just one seamless drone of indistinct, unshaped, occasion. One place to exist. One object to behold. You, would not be you. You and me, and everything, would be "all"."All in all is all we all are." ~ Kurt Cobain.Instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, etc, we would have one huage "Omni-one"."You, and the rest of The Universe would become one aspect of itself, non-relative, traveling as one in the same direction, singular, stagnant and temporally fused."This is why we metaphorically broke time into segments, such as seconds etc, in order to more easily grasp the flow of time, but essentially to allow us to feel individually distinct, a feeling ultimately required for us to function in this reality. I have seen the underlying geometrics of existential perception whilst in a k-hole . . ."ketamine is capable of causing a form of synaesthesia which encompasses all of the senses, and produces a unique, visual, audio etc perception of reality unlike anything that we experience in day to day life, which can appear as if you are existing in a constantly shifting and heaving universe comprised of the miniscule building blocks of geometry.". . . could these "building blocks" be signatures of existential pixels? Who knows?Or it could it simply be that our brain doesn't literally take "snap shots", but rather focuses on certain relevant bits of information? This would make sense in dire, under-stimulated, fun, or relaxed situations, as described before.Certain autistics' brain's have lost the ability to be selective with information in certain areas. Commonly, this makes them amazing artists, but with attention to detail far outweighing imaginative flair. An autistic or brain damaged individual with this condition is known as a savant. Does this mean that for a savant engaged in his art, that "time" seems to slow down to a far greater degree than nearly any an average person would experience?Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Ripples.We are products of our environments, (environments taken in the broadest sense to mean not just our physical surroundings but also events which effect us in some way however tenuous) and seeing as we've evolved into social creatures, events which involve other sentient life, (especially our own species) effect us on a greater scale than do events of similar potency, but that which do not include other sentient life.What are emotions really? And where do they come from?Firstly and incidentally, to be able to feel emotion, you need to be self aware. The more self aware you are, the greater piquancy of your emotions.Say certain events transpire that cause you to feel an emotion, positive or negative, at a clearly higher level of piquancy than you would usually feel in your day to day life. Then later we meet someone we know who is utterly unrelated to the previous events, while we are still under the emotional influence of them. We react to that person and the things they do with regards not only to the things they do, but also to the way we are feeling due to the previous events.. . . This is a transferal, a mere continuation . . .They have not experienced said previous events. They have nothing to do with WHY we are feeling the way we are.So why are THEY effected by them? The simple answer is, because they HAVE experienced said events. We are not just products of our environment / the events we experience, we ARE the events we experience, and they reason they effect others less strongly than they do us, is because each event is only one tiny part of us, which shrinks with time, what they are experiencing is all of the events of our make ups.Each one of us IS, as I see it, our own environment.YOU are a metaphysical, conglomerate knot of your own environment, of a particular piquancy. A piquancy wholly unique to yourself. And it is that very piquancy that you feel behind your eyes when you open them in the morning.So what is emotion? Emotion is change. Changes in our essence, for better or worse (our essence being the combination of our experiences, among other things). What we ultimately FEEL are the ripples of change within us, the alteration of our "Souls", some of which alter our very foundations. This is far more likely to occur when our foundations are being formed, (ie when we're very young). Indeed, at this time it MUST occur, because formation IS alteration. These metaphysical ripples act as such. They have peaks and troughs just as do the ripples on a pond, or of a light particle / wave. You wouldn't know you were on a high without the lows, and vice versa.Don't these passages themselves cry out! at being nearly devoid of emotion¿ It is this clinical view which clears the way for these insights into said emotion. How Ironic?!?!Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------Passion vs CynicismNo action is worth while without some level of emotional involvement . . .. . . every emotion, positive or negative, no matter how subtle is essentially passion . .. . . every possible type of cynicism is essentially a petty "knee-jerk" response to envy of one form of passion or another . . .. . . and is therefore a clear sign of the cynics lack of passion and so his lack of ability to feel emotion in general.What dya thinkCopyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- Ericeric . . . A True Story.I've just finished work, a twelve hour night shift. I spent very nearly the whole time by myself, in the same area. At the very start of the shift I noticed a bee sitting on the wall, on a small piece of black foam. Thinking he was dead, I gave his wings the tiniest of taps. He cleaned his wings with his legs and lethargically walked a few millimeters, proving also that he wasn't stuck. I named him "Ericeric" (airy - sir - rick) after the Monty Python song "Eric The Half A Bee". Every time I returned from a break, he was still there, on the piece of foam. Still alive. I thought perhaps he had come here to die, and considered briefly putting him out of his misery. Ten hours in to the shift? . . . He was still there. Another thought occurred, that perhaps I had made a poor choice of name, and that Ericeric was preparing to give birth. At this point, being a little stir crazy, knowing a new shift would be starting soon and that Ericeric faced an unknown fate, I made a sticker with "LOOK AFTER THE BEE" written on it, and an arrow. I stuck it to the wall above him. Ten seconds later he flew off! . . .. . . Twenty minutes later he returned, buzzed around for a bit, and then was gone.. . . Goodbye Ericeric!Copyright © 2008 Brett Hutchins ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------