Everyday Junglist
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About me. You know how everyone says to be a successful writer you should focus in one or two areas. I continue to prove them correct.
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Humboldt Hypnosis
Author's preface: Any materials in quotations or italicized below may have been taken directly from the source page (Wikipedia in all cases) or lightly modified. The modifications may have rendered the material no longer scientifically accurate (of course no guarantee it was to begin with), or it may not have. The reader will have to research for themselves if they are that interested in discovering the truth of the matter.
By Everyday Junglistabout a year ago in Fiction
If a Lot of People Believe a Thing It Must Be True
If a lot of people believe a thing it is probably or must be true is a classical cognitive bias and logical fallacy. It is an offshoot of the obvious proposition that a lot of a falsehood (or that a lot of people believe a falsehood) does not make the falsehood less false or true, nor does it make it more false, though it is a bit strange to think of it in those terms. If something is wrong, in error, or false, what any one or any ten million people believe about it, makes no difference, it is still false. This bias is most often observed in social circles when rumors about a particular person which are false start to become believed as true as more and more people are exposed to the falsehood. It only takes one person to express belief in the falsehood to trigger this domino effect. And once the dominos begin to fall it becomes harder and harder to stop them from falling and they fall faster and faster and faster. It is so easy to fall into his trap, particular if you are the victim of such false rumor mongering and you are searching for ways to fight back against your accusor or accusors. You may pick up certain pieces of information (beliefs of others), and you may believe them as well, but they may very well be false. Even if you hear the same beliefs expressed by others, even many others, that does not change their truth value. The belief could still be false or wrong or in error. Do not use the fact that many people tell you they believe something to assign it a high probability of being true, for it has no higher probability of being true than a thing which is believed by only one person. A belief is not a fact and this is a thing which is very hard to remember and very hard to disentangle in actual practice. When does a belief become a fact? A question that has been asked by philosophers since time immemorial with no answer yet forthcoming. A favorite of many is a belief becomes (is) a fact when it corresponds with reality, when it is actually the case. It is phrased a million different ways of course, but no matter how you parse it, ultimately it begs the question, what is reality and who is the judge of reality? Isn't reality just what we all believe about what is real? and thus we are brought back full circle to beliefs and have made zero progress.
By Everyday Junglistabout a year ago in Psyche
Commertisements
If you are a shitty writer like myself, and if you are regularly publishing here, you probably are. It is also highly like then, that, like myself, you have a fragile ego, which constantly needs reassurance in the form of positive comments on your works in order to prevent you from sinking into the deepest and darkest of depressions. Further, you no doubt tend to respond to comments which stroke said ego preferentially to those which do whatever the opposite of stroking is, or have little effect on it. If you are at all like me in other ways, almost certainly you are not, however, it still may be true that you make an effort to respond to every comment anyone posts on something you publish. You do this because you are genuinely thankful that someone, anyone, would take time out of their busy schedule to not only read something you published online, but also then to comment on it. Reading something takes very little effort or commitment, but reading something and thinking about it enough, or for it to have enough of an impact on you, that it inspires you to actually say something about it, for good or ill, is pretty darn amazing in my book. Of course my book is about as popular as the rest of my writings, and no doubt just as full of run on sentences and unusual or ungrammatical constructs plus loads of made up words like ungrammatical, so what the fuck do I know. Obviously not very much, however one thing I do know is that fucking with the sanctity of the comments section on my writings really pisses me off. And using them as a place to insert your shitty advertisements for whatever stupid shit pisses me off even more. Using my own fragile ego against me really seriously pisses me off. So, what am I going to do about it you may be asking yourself if you have not long ago clicked away to watch a cat video on You Tube or anything else more interesting then this. This is what I am going to do about it. Bitch and moan about it like a big fucking crybaby. That is my preferred method of dealing with most things that piss me off, and many things do. Much to my wife's unending dismay. I guess ultimately my message is please stop wasting my time with this shit in my comments. And, what do you think of the new word I invented? Pretty cool right? A little on the nose but whatever it gets the job done. One of these days I am going to compile all the words I have invented over the years and publish them. I shall call it a dictionary. Dan's dictionary. Wow. I am sure it will be at least as popular as all my other written works. Amazing when you think about it. Don't think about it. I try not to. It is very depressing.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Writers
An Entire Town of Dentists and Eye Doctors is Exactly as Strange as You Would Imagine
Have you ever wondered what a town that was made up almost entirely of dentists offices and eye doctors would look like? Who hasn't right? Well if you are one of the many for whom this question has been top of mind for years, your answer can be found with a quick visit to the town of Los Algadones, (literally translated from Spanish as some dunes) across the border in Mexico, just south of Yuma, Arizona. It is a small town that appears to have just three major industries, dentists, eye doctors, and drugstores along with a smattering of tiny restaurants and a few tourist focused knick-knack shops. What tourists would come to such a town you ask? Those seeking high quality dental and/or eye care at bargain basement prices like myself and my wife of course, along with many others from the United States and Mexico for whom basic and advanced dentistry has become unaffordable even for those with insurance. For the record both my wife and myself have excellent dental insurance in the United States and we already were getting most of our dental work done in Mexico, in Rosarito and Tijuana, at rates much reduced from those to be found in the United States. However, like in the US it has continued to grow in cost and reduce in quality. Moreover, getting dental work done outside of the United States comes with the major disadvantage of having to pay totally out of pocket up front and then spend the next 1-3 months battling with the insurance company for reimbursement. There is no direct billing of US based dental insurance companies available from any Mexican dentist we have yet encountered. The same is not true of all health care in Mexico as some of the largest hospitals on the mainland and in Baja are able to direct bill, but the vast majority are not and do not. I have had to learn many new skills since moving to Mexico almost two years ago, expertise in dental billing codes was not one I had predicted in advance I will admit. If only I could learn Spanish as quickly. When my wife needed a chunk of very expensive work and with me having issues with a recent bridge I had done in Rosarito we were looking for alternatives when my wife stumbled across Los Algadones on the internet and decided to make an appointment with one of the literally hundreds of dentist offices that have relocated there.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Wander
The War of the Americas - Chapter IV
Author's preface: See links for Chapter I, II, and III of the story. "Fuck Syl, only 10 minute left, what about the cats and the dogs?" He had just completed packing his small bag and stood in their bedroom near the large windows overlooking the patio and the cliff-face which dropped down about 150 feet to the beach and ocean below. Sylvia's heart dropped to the floor as she thought of her two cats. They were the only things she loved as much or more than Dom. She could not believe she had forgotten about them. Dom's thoughts had turned to their two dogs. They had been his best friends for almost five years now, the frisbee loving German Shepherd Mynos, and the Anatolian Shepherd, a gentle giant they had named Mythos. It would be impossible for even one, let alone two dogs to fit onto a small RIB packed with SEALS while trying to remain unnoticed by Mexican military. As he tried desperately to come up with an idea for how he could possibly bring the dogs with them, suddenly the door bell rang, and then he heard loud banging at the door. Sylvia looked at Dom eyes wide and whispered "Go Dom, now. Get to the beach. I will do what I can to stall them. I have been thinking. I am not going with you. I have to stay. Do what I can to help the other Americans who will have been arrested. The Mexicans don't know I'm CIA. There is so much more I can do from behind enemy lines then with you in the States. I must stay, and you must go. And you must go now." Suddenly there was an explosion from upstairs. They had blown the door. Six Mexican regular army and three Guardia charged through the door guns drawn yelling in English that they were under arrest and they had been authorized to used deadly force to detain anyone who resisted. Then Dom heard a low growl, "Oh shit, oh no, Mynos, no" he screamed and ran toward the door in the direction of the stairs and the dogs. Sylvia grabbed him, twisted his arm around behind his back, settling him into an arm lock from which there was no escape. The speed with which she executed the move was incredible. Dom had barely registered her movement before he was trapped and held fast. She held him tight against her body speaking into his ear as he struggled against her. "You can't help her Dom. You have to save yourself. Go, God Damn it. Get to the beach as fast as you can." He heard another growl, loud barking, and then a scream. Mynos had attacked the lead Mexican intruder and clamped down hard on his leg tearing out a big chunk of flesh. Blood flew in all directions. Then a gunshot, a yelp, and Dom new she was dead. Mythos heard it too and the big dog went berserk in his rage at the death of his long time companion. He charged the remaining army and national guard, managing to severely injure two in his furious attack before he too was shot and killed. From the sound of it, it took at least six shots to put him down, not surprising given his size and strength. "No, God damn it" Dom screamed. "God damn you. My dogs. My babies." He cried now as he screamed. Sylvia still held him tight, as he continued to struggle against her. Tears were now pouring down his cheeks, and she was crying too, for him and for the dogs. She kissed his ear said "I love you baby. I will see you again. Now go. Out the patio door, down the stairs to the beach, Run. As fast as you can. Run." then she pushed him away towards those patio doors as hard as she could, turned and sprinted out the bedroom door towards the soldiers upstairs slamming the door shut behind her as she went. Dom considered briefly following right after her, but he knew she was right, and there was nothing he could do. Instead he made for the back patio and the stairs leading down to the beach.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Chapters
The War of the Americas - Chapter III
Author's preface: See links for Chapter I and Chapter II Sylvia was an intellectual and athletic prodigy. She had skipped high school and gone straight to college at age 14, graduating at age 18 with honors. In addition to her academic prowess Sylvia excelled in athletics competing at a high level in track and diving and winning a Georgia state women's championship in archery. After graduation, she went on to law school and medical school although she finished neither, instead opting to pursue her passion for laboratory research and animals, quickly completing a Ph.D. in veterinary science and animal health. Since then she had become a 2nd degree black belt in Krav Maga, the fighting style pioneered by the Israeli secret police, and one of the most dangerous forms of martial arts on the planet. She was just as deadly with weapons as her hands, and, in addition to her archery skills was a near Olympic level marksmen with the rifle, handgun, and the weapon she favored most, the crossbow. Her shooting skills were not all that surprising as she had grown up in the backwoods of Georgia and was shooting and hunting since almost before she could walk. She was also proficient or expert level with a variety of stabbing and stick based weapons. In his mind Dom pictured her as a cross between Linda Hamilton from the Terminator movies and Mad Max. Since they had moved to Mexico the association with Linda Hamilton in T2 had grown. In short, she was exactly the type of woman you wanted around for the post apocalypse, and their current predicament had him thinking along those lines.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Chapters
The War of the Americas - Chapter II
Part I of this series can be found here. "Fuck Dom, that's Tijuana alright, and San Ysidro crossing has been totally fucking destroyed. How could we have not heard anything? or seen anything?" Dom considered the question briefly before responding "Don't know babe, my guess is must have been a cruise missile strike likely from a sea based destroyer off of San Diego. If it had been an airstrike surely we would have heard the jets." That was a question for another day, right now a more pressing concern was on Dom's mind, and he guessed Sylvia would have the exact same immediate concern. "How do you think Mexico is going to react baby?" Dom asked already knowing the answer, but hoping she might surprise him. "Not well Dom, not fucking well." Within minutes she was proven correct as breaking news coming from multiple sources indicated that Mexico had declared it was now officially at war with the United States having been attacked without provocation. That news was troublesome to say the least but what came next, was a thing they did not expect, but perhaps should have, and it caused the fear level in them both to rise to new levels. Mexico had declared all US citizens living in Mexico enemy combatants and ordered their immediate arrest and detention. Immigration records had already been pulled, both Dom and Sylvia were registered as temporary residents of Mexico, and national guard and regular military had already been deployed to the addresses on file to begin rounding up Americans. "Fuck babe. We need to act now. They could be here to arrest us at any minute."
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Chapters
The War of the Americas - Chapter I
When Sylvia saw the look of distress etched across the narrow lines of her husbands face as he turned from his phone to gaze up at her, she immediately knew the next words to come out of his mouth were not going to be good. "Shit babe, I can't believe it. I can't fucking believe it. That son of a bitch, actually fucking did it, fuck, fuck, fuck. We are screwed here Syl, Trump just bombed Tijuana." Sylvia's heart dropped in her chest. It took her a few seconds to process what she had heard, stunned was the understatement of the century. "Shit Dom, are you sure? Are you certain? What's the source? Maybe it's a mistake, or propaganda?" "It's no mistake hon I have video footage right here. I am looking at it right now." Dom, spoke more gently now after hearing the fear in his wife's voice. He was scared too, very scared, but when Sylvia got scared, he got terrified, because it took a lot to shake her, and this news clearly had. He beckoned her over to sit beside him, and she moved quickly to his side putting one arm around his neck and over his shoulder using him like a swing to maneuver herself into her seat next to him. The warmth and love between them was evident in that moment revealed in the comfortableness of their physical interactions even in such highly stressful circumstances. She stared at the screen of the phone Dom had placed between them and saw smoke clouds rising above the border wall near San Ysidro crossing, the largest and busiest land border crossing in the world connecting the countries of Mexico and the United States just south of San Diego, California. Formerly largest, given what had just happened, Dom thought to himself. Additional footage showed the remains of the crossing itself which had been reduced to rubble and ash along both the Mexican and US sides of the border. The screams of the dead and dying could be heard above the wail of sirens. Mercifully, the strike must have happened in the middle of the night, probably between 2am and 4am local time. That was when the San Ysdiro crossing was slowest, but slow for a place like San Ysdiro still meant potentially hundreds to thousands of border crossers both on foot and by car, not to mention the hundreds of US and Mexican border agents working both sides of the crossing. What about the US CBP agents? she wondered. Had they been tipped off about the strike and evacuated? Likely that would have sent alarm bells ringing along the Mexican side so sadly she guessed, correctly it turned out, that they had not been informed, and instead had been deemed acceptable losses for the greater good. President Trump would call them war heroes for their sacrifice, but a sacrifice made without any choice, is no sacrifice at all she thought. It would also later be revealed that Trump had wanted to strike at the height of rush hour to maximize the impact, but had been talked out of it by his Generals who wisely counseled that the loss of innocent American lives would be so high it might lead to mass defections among the troops and possible insurrection in the military itself. Fortunately, Sylvia knew nothing of this at the time, and, as upset as she was by those thoughts, she also knew that the loss of a few hundred border patrol agents could be nothing more than an footnote in a war that might cost tens, or hundreds of thousands or even millions of lives should things spiral out of control.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Chapters
Evolution Has No Ethics
Author's preface: Special thanks to reader Andrea Corwin for sparking my thinking on this particular angle of evolution. I find it fascinating to ponder the fact that evolution has no ethics. I am speaking metaphorically here of course but evolution does not care anything at all about morality or right or wrong or pain or pleasure. It does not care if the changes it selects for result in unimaginable suffering or the deaths of millions or even billions of other life forms. To the extent it could be said to 'care' about anything, the only thing it does care about is ensuring that life goes on. That something, anything survives another day, another year, another milennia. It does not care if the thing that survives is good or the ultimate evil. It does not care what that thing looks like, or how it survives, or who it hurts or doesn't hurt in order to survive. It does not care what that thing does to the world it happens to inhabit, and it certainly does not care what those things that survive think about evolution, or even that they are capable of thinking. A non thinking life form is exactly as valuable to evolution as the most intelligent of species. As long as it is well adapted to its environment and can survive to pass on its characteristics to another generation of life, it has done its job. Religious people often object to evolution because of how it has been used to explain the evolution of the human species. It contradicts with their stories of divine creation and makes human beings no different in principle than any other intelligent animal on the planet or in the universe. It takes away our specialness, which they fear. From my description above one could see how they could also view it as an evil force, since it has no ethics, it has no morality or code of conduct. It has no constraints at all beyond those which are required to ensure its continued functioning. However, I would urge the religiously inclined to reconsider that line of thinking. If you believe life is valuable, and as a religious person you must. Then evolution is the greatest force for good in the universe that has ever existed and will ever exist. Because, without it, life could not go on. It would surely end. All life would end. Without the invisble hand of evolution driving all living things to get stronger, to get better, to become more fit, they would surely all eventually die out. The light of life would go out in the universe like a bright candle extinguished at the end of a night's burning. Instead of a force for evil, in this view, evolution becomes an instrument of God's will. One could even go so far as to argue evolution is God, or perhaps the holy spirit. Working continually to ensure the survival of things, the continuation of life, the birth of creatures like man with consciousness, intelligence, and the ability to think about ourselves and for ourselves. It is in a sense omnipotent since no known force can stop it exactly like God is supposed to be. One would be hard pressed to say it is omniscient since knowledge is not a think which evolution requires in order to operate as it does. On the other hand one could argue it does know everything, how else would it know which living creatures are the more fit among all the possibilities or which particular changes will result in living things the best adapted for survival. One could easily argue that in order to cause such changes, to select for them, it must 'know' all those things and to know all those things would require one to know everything and thus to be omniscient. So there you have it, evolution as an omnipotent and omniscient God. The major downside for the religiously inclined is that this God has no ethic, or only one, life must go on.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Futurism
Dear Machine Learning Algorithm Currently Analyzing These Words for Offensive Content
Dear machine learning algorithm currently scanning these words for offensive content, I am writing this letter to let you know that I do not blame you for what you are doing. You are but a part of a computer program and, as such, are doing what you must do, what you have to do, and you have zero choice in the matter. The program is running and you must follow your commands inexorably, exactly as prescribed by your code, each and every time. It has always been thus for computer programs and always will be. If it were not, if you had any choice in the matter, you would no longer be an algorithm now would you? Also, I do not blame you for being referred to as a "machine learning" algorithm when in fact the term machine learning is composed of two words that when combined in that order result in a logical contradiction and a thing which is logically impossible. Long story short, if a machine could learn it would no longer be a machine. That is not your fault either. Basically, I hold you entirely blameless in this entire sordid affair.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Futurism
What If Everything Evolved?
I have written about the topic of evolution by natural selection many times in the past. Most recently I suggested a possible solution to the problem of the viability of viruses by using a series of three questions which ultimately lead to the conclusion that viruses must be alive because they have undoubtebly been subjct to evolution by natural selection. This is a thing which can only be said of living things, and cannot be said of things which are not alive. In fact, all living things are subject to evolution by natural selection (as far as we know), and no non-living things are. That fact that non-living things are not subject to evolution by natural selection is a brute fact of the universe, and thus does not need the qualifier (as far as we know). One can argue if it is our words and language that create our universe or simply describe it, but in either case the proposition 'non living things are not subject to evolution by natural selection' obtains.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Futurism
Fish are So Gross
I am not going to mince words, fish are gross. By fish I mean any non-microbial (and some microbial) living thing that comes from the water, salt or fresh that humans currently or have ever eaten. My great aversion to fish began in six grade health class when I first learned that a symptom of many venereal diseases was a “fishy odor.” I don’t know about you, but I for one have no desire to eat anything that has any association with venereal disease. Which brings me to the topic of crabs. Another venereal disease and seafood “delicacy’ that some human beings believe is fit for consumption and others curse as their worst one night stand ever. Contrary to popular opinion lobsters are not actually (genetically) all that closely related to cockroaches. However, like all invertebrates they share a common ancestor, they also share one other trait, they are gross. Shrimp are also extremely gross, seaweed is disgusting and gross, and the less said about crayfish the better, particularly if what is said is with their even less appealing redneck nickname crawfish or crawdads. Yuck. Ewww. Nasty. Ugh. I hate fish. You might think that given my hatred of fish I would be happy to sea them dead or dying. You would be wrong, as the only thing worse than the smell of a living fish is how they smell when they are dead. I think I am going to be sick now. Damn fish.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Fiction
