View allAll Photos Tagged Intellection
The genesis of this idea came in an amazing music video from Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight". The central character here is a woman played by Elizabeth Moss, who is truly outstanding. Watch her face as she seems to be enduring an inner torment that finally dissolves her completely. Notice what happens to the focus. And of course that music simply grabs your heart and MAKES you feel her pain. www.youtube.com/watch?v=InyT9Gyoz_o
Wendy Mass (born 1967), a children's writer, wrote the memorable line: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." But in various forms it is a saying that has persisted through the ages and is attributed to the great philosopher Plato (perhaps the greatest intellect who ever lived). It is good advice and not surprising then, that it has persisted for over 2,500 years.
So please be kind...
"Worry about a girl, eh ? Hah ! If they think they can cut me off from where the action is, they're mistaken ! I restyled this motorbike for just such an emergency !"
('Batgirl' and motorcycle by DC Collectibles / DC Icons 'Batgirl of Burnside' Deluxe Figure)
He enjoyed the view and conversation. What do you think? Long Legs, Curves, and my Eyes, Smile, and Intellect! Any thoughts?? Perhaps a comment?
There is a road from the eye to heart that does not go through the intellect.
Gilbert K. Chesterton
Una delle tante strade del mondo
C'è una strada che va dall'occhio al cuore, senza passare per la ragione
Gilbert K. Chesterton
Power Girl, also known as Kara Zor-L and Karen Starr, is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and first cousin to Kal-L, the Superman of Earth-Two.
Journey from Krypton
After discovering Krypton was about to explode, Kara's father Zor-L launched her as an infant to Earth in a ship at the same time that Kal-L's ship was launched. However, Kara's ship took a much longer journey, resulting in her arriving on Earth decades after her cousin.
Power Girl's existence was not revealed to the general public until years after her arrival on Earth-Two. Her cousin Clark and his wife Lois provided her with a family environment that aided her transition from the virtual reality she had experienced during her voyage to real life relationships. She came to regard her cousin and his wife as her "uncle" and "aunt" for raising her on Earth-Two despite being cousins by blood and marriage. Lois Lane-Kent stated that they regarded her as their daughter.
In her first recorded case, Kara assisted Justice Society members Flash and Wildcat in containing an artificially induced volcano that had erupted in Peking, China. She then joined them and other young heroes Robin and Star-Spangled Kid to form a Super Squad, along with active members of the Justice Society, to defeat Brain Wave and Per Degaton's scheme for world domination. Later, she was granted full membership when she took over Superman's vacated spot on the team roster.
Having been raised by the Symbioship with artificial Kryptonian life experiences, Power Girl had trouble fitting into life on Earth, but with the help of reporter Andrew Vinson, she eventually adopted the secret identity of computer programmer Karen Starr. She developed her knowledge in this field from treatment under Wonder Woman's purple ray on Paradise Island. Outside of the Justice Society, she developed a close friendship with Helena Wayne, the daughter of the Earth-Two Batman and Catwoman and was later a founding member of Infinity, Inc.
Following the events of the original Crisis, Kara's background was completely altered. With Earth-Two no longer existing, Kara's origin could only be guessed at, and it was mistakenly thought that she was the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion and had been frozen in suspended animation for millennia until the present day.
In search of her origins, Kara traveled to Skartaris. During her journey, she met Jennifer Morgan whom she ended up considering like a sister. Eventually, the Fates called Kara back, claiming the surface needed her. It was with a broken heart she left the people she had grown to consider like her people.
After the Invasion, Kara joined Justice League Europe and was later badly injured by the second Gray Man suffering a significant loss of power. Despite this, she remained a key member of the team throughout its history, including the first encounter with the Extremists and the Overmaster.
Power Girl was recruited to be one of Oracle's first field agents. Their short-lived partnership ended in failure after a disastrous mission that resulted in a large loss of life. Power Girl believed that poor orders from Oracle were to blame for the tragedy and disliked Oracle intensely as a result (although she has worked with her again on a few occasions when needed.)
When Black Canary resigned from the JSA, she recommended Kara take her place, bringing Power Girl full circle back to the Justice Society of America.
During the events of Infinite Crisis, the Psycho-Pirate showed Kara multiple versions of her origin in an effort to drive her insane, but eventually revealed that she was not only Kryptonian but also a survivor of the entire Earth-Two universe.
Kal-L himself returned to the mainstream universe after breaking down the walls of the paradise dimension in which he, Lois Lane-Kent, Alexander Luthor, Jr., and Superboy-Prime had been living since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Appalled by the rapidly-deteriorating state of affairs on the contemporary Earth, their goal was to replace the post-Crisis planet with a recreated Earth-Two.
Kal-L's first order of business was to track down Power Girl and explain the events of the original Crisis to her, as well as confirming Psycho Pirate's claims of her Earth-Two origin. Kara's memories of her Earth-Two life were restored to her when she was re-introduced to an ailing Lois Lane-Kent.
Soon after, Kara stumbled upon a machine in which the Martian Manhunter was held captive. Before she could free him, she was attacked by Superboy-Prime and attached to the machine alongside J'onn J'onzz. Alex Luthor then revealed his true ambition of restoring the multiverse using representatives of various Earths, with Kara selected because of her link to Earth-Two.
Kara was later freed by Wonder Girl and Kon-El and joined them in fighting Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor, Jr.. Superboy-Prime fled Earth for Mogo, pursued by the two Supermen whom he fought. During the fight, Kal-L was mortally wounded and Power Girl arrived on Mogo with the Green Lantern Corps just in time to bid a tearful farewell to her dying cousin.
Power Girl went on to help reform the Justice Society of America, where she was elected Chairperson of the team. She led the team through its dealings with the Superman of Earth-22 and the confrontation between the JSA and the super-being known as Gog. During that battle, Power Girl was sent by Gog to the parallel Earth known as Earth-2.
Thinking she had somehow returned to her home reality of Earth-Two, she sought to adapt to life there with the counterparts of her long dead (and historically erased) friends. However, she noticed several major differences from her reality, particularly in the actions of Helena Wayne, who was going to murder the Earth-2 Joker. When Earth-2's actual Power Girl returned, it became clear that this was not her home and she returned to the Justice Society.
Following a disagreement in operational methods, Power Girl and the younger members of the JSA split into the Justice Society of America All-Stars. At the same time, she began devoting more time to her old R&D firm, Starrware Labs in New York City. and became friends with the young superheroine Atlee aka Terra III, becoming something of a mentor to her.
While in New York, she defended the city from Ultra-Humanite, who tried to transfer his brain into her body. After his defeat, Kara was spared any major conflicts until Ultra-Humanite's ex-girlfriend Satanna tried to avenge his defeat. She nearly succeeded in killing Power Girl, but Atlee's intervention saved her life.
Ultra-Humanite eventually returned to fight Power Girl, this time having Satanna put his brain in Atlee's body. She was able to knock out Ultra-Humanite without seriously hurting her friend's body, then tracked down Satanna to force her to undo the damage. When that failed, she then took Atlee and Ultra-Humanite to Strata.
Atlee's brain as returned to her body, and Ultra-Humanite' brain was put into a clone, also curing him of his genetic disease at the same time. Later, Kara offered him a job, but he refused. Before having his memories erased, he revealed that he was still evil, and swore vengeance on Power Girl before having his memory wiped.
Following Blackest Night, Power Girl returned to duty with the Justice League in order to hunt down the resurrected Maxwell Lord. While in Moscow, Booster Gold ends destroying the Justice League International embassy, greatly upsetting Power Girl. She flew off to investigate the next lead provided by Batman alone, only to encounter OMACs. She fought them, but they shut down after Maxwell Lord activated a device that erased his identity from minds of everyone on Earth.
When she returned home, she found out that her financial officer and trusted friend Donna Anderson stole all of her company's money, leaving Starrware in bankruptcy. The bank and Kara's rival companies systematically took everything all of Starrware's creations.
She then encountered a mysterious cyborg called C.R.A.S.H that was programmed to level New York City. She managed to stop the cyborg, but before she was able to turn him in, Maxwell appeared and rescued C.R.A.S.H. It was also during this time that Nicholas Cho, an employer of Starrware, figured out Power Girl and Karen Starr were one in the same and threatened to expose her.
She manages to convince him otherwise and convinces him to serve as her partner. Power Girl then went to Batman to investigate both Maxwell Lord and Donna who stole from her company. Due to Maxwell's powers, though, they forgot about him once again. Focusing on finding Donna, they learned that she died of an apparent drug overdose. Not buying the facts, Kara traced a potential lead to Antarctica. Upon arrival, she fought Divine, a clone of her created by Maxwell Lord and Dr. Sivana. When Power Girl came close to winning, Maxwell appeared, stunning her and taking Divine away. After the encounter, Kara remembered who Maxwell Lord was.
Power Girl tried to convince the JSA and Batman about Lord and the threat he posed. However, during the meeting, another mind wipe causes them to forget about him once again. Power Girl then goes to Professor Ivo's new lab in Vietnam where he's revived, Project Cadmus.
Before she could shut it down, Maxwell stopped her and used his powers, to force her to kill the Justice League International. The JLI managed to snap her out of Maxwell's control and decides to join them in stopping him.
She then goes to dig up the corpse of Ted Kord to prove that he was murdered. When she takes the body to Batman to examine it, he initially refused, but after some convincing with Batman (the recently returned Bruce Wayne), the two examined the body to learn that Ted Kord was indeed killed by Lord.
Power Girl then joins Batman and the JLI in stopping Maxwell Lord. After Lord was defeated, Kara was able to restore her company and refocus it on using her creations to help the general public. Knowing that this would mean Karen Starr would have to enter the public spotlight, she puts some advice she received from Superman into action and begins putting more effort into managing her secret identity.
Powers
Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Power Girl possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:
Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Power Girl's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system.
Her biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and her bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
Heat Vision: Power Girl can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. She can vary the heat and area affected.
Super-Hearing: Power Girl's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, she can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
Enhanced Vision: Power Girl's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
This umbrella ability includes the following:
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Vision: Power Girl can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. She can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, she can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows her to see the aura generated by living thing.
Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.
X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Power Girls can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. She can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed.
The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.
Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
Infrared Vision: Power Girl can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
Flight: Power Girl is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of her dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Power Girl is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, her extends this protection against toxins and diseases.
Enhanced Immunity
Superhuman Stamina: Power Girl is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on her body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy, but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.
Superhuman Strength: Power Girl's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of her musculature. Her strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables her to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.
Superhuman Speed: Power Girl is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to her perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time.
This also confers:
Superhuman Agility
Superhuman Reflexes
Super-Breath: Power Girl is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from her lungs. She can chill the air as it leaves her lungs to freeze targets. She can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into her lungs.
Longevity: Power Girl can live longer than regular humans, remaining at her prime as long as she was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.
Abilities
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Kara has trained with several notable teachers including her teammate Wildcat, who is a world-renowned boxer and hand to hand combatant. She was also trained in Karate by martial arts instructor Mongo Krebs.
Boxing
Karate
Genius Level Intellect: Power Girl has shown enhanced memorization, intelligence, and computational abilities.
Business Management
Computer Operation: Once Power Girl's computer abilities were crucial in order to save Keystone City.
Super Ventriloquism
Weaknesses
Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Power Girl possesses the same potential weaknesses as an average Kryptonian. These include:
Vulnerability to Kryptonite
Vulnerability to Magic
Vulnerability to Psionics: Kara Zor-L is as vulnerable to psionic attacks as a normal human being. She is subject to mental domination attacks against her. Those whose mental powers are superior to her own have been able to render her unconscious or disrupt her natural thought processes in battle.
Vulnerability to Raw Materials: Power Girl was vulnerable to unprocessed, natural materials, such as branches and rocks for a short while.
Power Limitation: Kara's x-ray vision cannot penetrate lead or lead-lined walls, or objects of dense enough structure. Certain energies also can be used to block her from visually analyzing them.
Power Instability: Originally Power Girl, as an Earth-Two Kryptonian, did not function on solar power, but her own body generated its own energies. However, based on recent events, Kara operates in a similar way to the New Earth universe Kryptonians, whereby she requires solar energy to function at peak capacity, or her powers fade to greatly reduced levels, some disappearing entirely if her solar reserves are empty. How Power Girl's powers function under suns not colored red or yellow is unknown.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
_____________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identity: Kara Zor-L, Karen Starr
Publisher: DC Comics
First appearance: All Star Comics #58 (February 1976)
Created by: Gerry Conway (Writer)
Ric Estrada (Artist)
Wally Wood (Artist)
This is Power Girl's first Bijou Planks appearance, but she has appeared many times in the main Paprihaven storyline. Such as in issue 371:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/18915405459/
And in issue 487:
Fallen man, and thus the average man, is as it were poisoned by the passional element, either grossly or subtly; from this results an obscuring of the Intellect and the necessity of a Revelation coming from the outside. Remove the passional element from the soul and the intelligence (remove "the rust from the mirror" or "from the heart") and the Intellect will be released; it will reveal from within what religion reveals from without.
This brings us to an important point: in order to make itself understood by souls impregnated with passion, religion must itself adopt a so to speak passional language, whence dogmatism, which excludes, and moralism, which schematizes; if the average man or collective man were not passional, Revelation would speak the language of the Intellect and there would be no exoterism, nor for that matter esoterism considered as an occult complement.
There are here three possibilities: firstly, men dominate the passional element, everyone lives spiritually by his inward Revelation; this is the golden age, in which everyone is born
an initiate.
Second possibility: men are affected by the passional element to the point of forgetting certain aspects of the Truth, whence the necessity - or the opportuneness - of Revelations that while being outward are metaphysical in spirit, such as the Upanishads.
Thirdly: the majority of men are dominated by passions, whence the formalistic, exclusive and combative religions, which communicate to them on the one hand the means of channelling the passional element with a view to salvation, and on the other hand the means of overcoming it in view of the total Truth, and of thereby transcending the religious formalism which veils it while suggesting it in an indirect manner. Religious revelation is both a veil of light and a light veiled.
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Esoterism as Principle and as Way by Frithjof Schuon
Yellow is full of creative and intellectual energy. Always use yellow note pads.
Yellow symbolizes wisdom. Yellow means joy and happiness. People of high intellect favor yellow. Yellow daffodils are a symbol of unrequited love. Sunday's color is yellow-gold.
Like the energy of a bright sunny day, yellow brings clarity and awareness.
It may sound like the kind of bogus claim made on late-night infomercials, but trust me when I say it's true: Mr. Brown Pelican's violations of the rules of decency are so goofy they beggar belief. But first, I'm going to jump ahead a bit and talk in general terms about how Mr. Pelican has an amazing ability to disengage his intellect. Then, I'll back up and fill in some of the details. Okay, so to start with the general stuff, Mr. Pelican's supercilious, twisted asseverations have caused the most self-deceiving analphabetics you'll ever see to descend upon us like a swarm of locusts, destroying our moral fiber. Yet there's much more to it than that. His occasional demonstrations of benevolence are not genuine. Nor are Mr. Pelican's promises. In fact, he uses cannibalism to cover up his criminal ineptitude. That's the large elephant in the room that nobody ever talks about. Nevertheless, I unquestionably maintain that people really ought to start talking about it because then they'd realize that Mr. Pelican makes a lot of exaggerated claims. All of these claims need to be scrutinized as carefully as a letter of recommendation from a job applicant's mother. Consider, for example, Mr. Pelican's claim that all any child needs is a big dose of television every day. The fact of the matter is that I profess that the best way to overcome misunderstanding, prejudice, and hate is by means of reason, common sense, clear thinking, and goodwill. Mr. Pelican, in contrast, believes that all it takes to start a rabbit farm is a magician's magic hat.
The record of the Dantean Way begins with three things—an experience, the environment of that experience, and the means of understanding and expressing that experience; say—a woman, a city, and intellect or poetry; say again—Beatrice, Florence, and Virgil.
-THE FIGURE OF BEATRICE A Study in Dante by CHARLES WILLIAMS
I can't believe just how much this city has reemerged since I moved away some 10 or so years ago. The intellect of this place has just grown so much. As I drove around I saw new dwellings and businesses everywhere. An old city has somehow became a young person's playground. Proud to call Cleveland my home town.
Sculpture called "Bodhi" by Fredrik Wretman (born 1953), inaugurated in 2004. The model is the sculptor himself. The English term enlightenment is the western translation of the abstract noun "bodhi" in Sanskrit, the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect, of a Buddha.
sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrik_Wretman (website in Swedish)
When God created man in His image, He created a measure; the human perception of the world corresponds to God's creative intention. Man by definition is a center, or "the center" in a given universe; not by accident, but in virtue of the very nature of Being, and this is why that which is large or small for man is large or small in the divine intention; man perceives things as they present themselves in the divine Intellect. And that is why the world of the indefinitely small, as well as the world of the indefinitely large, is as it were forbidden to man, who should not want to disproportionately enlarge the small or to disproportionately reduce the large. Man ought to feel that there is no advantage or happiness in such enterprises; and he would feel it if he had maintained a relationship with the Absolute, or if this relationship were sincere and sufficient. He, who is really at peace with God is free from all unhealthy curiosity, if one may say so; he lives, like a well-guarded child, in the blessed garden of a grace that does not forsake him; the Creator knows the best place for the creature, and He knows what is good for man.
In a certain sense, the world of atoms as well as that of galaxies is hostile to human beings, and comprises for them, in principle or potentially, a climate of alienation and terror. Some people will doubtless argue that "the man of our times" is an "adult," but this is pride, even satanism, for a normal man always keeps a childlike side, as all sacred Scriptures attest by their language; if such were not the case, childhood itself would not comprise a positive aspect. Of course, a mature man ought to be "adult," but he can be so otherwise than by plunging into forbidden abysses; the spiritual victory over illusion is a matter appreciably more serious than the insensitivityof the explorers of the inhuman.
There are two points to consider in created things, namely the empirical appearance and the mechanism; now the appearance manifests the divine intention, as we have stated above; the mechanism merely operates the mode of manifestation.
For example, in man's body the divine intention is expressed by its form, its deiformity, its symbolism and its beauty; the mechanism is its anatomy and vital functioning.
The modern mentality, having always a scientific and "iconoclastic" tendency, tends to overaccentuate the mechanism to the detriment of the creative intention, and does so on all levels, psychological as well as physical; the result is a jaded and "demystified" mentality that is no longer "impressed" by anything. By forgetting the divine intention - which nonetheless is apparent a priori - one ends in an emptiness devoid of all reference points and meaning, and in a mentality of nihilism and despair, if not of careless and brutal materialism. In the face of this deviation it is the child who is right when he believes that the blue sky above us is Paradise.
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Frithjof Schuon: Roots of the Human Condition
“Totalitarianism is not a historical coincidence. In the final analysis, it is the logical consequence of mechanistic thinking and the delusional belief in the omnipotence of human rationality. As such, totalitarianism is the defining feature of the Enlightenment tradition.” ‒ Mattias Desmet
Totalitarianism is a product of the Enlightenment tradition. It places faith in human rationality. It’s a belief system in which man’s intellect can save man, the world, and the universe. Man will solve man’s problems, thus bringing salvation to mankind. Its priests desire to form a new society built on rationality. They want a world without pain and suffering. They even want to conquer death. Science, man’s new religion, has its own creation story. In this story, man has been reduced to particles that interact according to the laws of mechanics. Life and mankind were randomly produced without any purpose or direction. Man is seen as a machine; he works (repetitively) as a machine; he will merge with machine. The universe is also a machine, and it too will eventually be manipulated. The spiritual elect of this religion look forward to an artificial heaven on earth, where man and nature have been replaced by perfect technological clones. Once this happens, man will have conquered both man and nature. He will then gain eternal life. He will synthetically live forever. “Amen and Hallelujah!” shout the transhumanists. As a result, the totalitarians will have realized their goal of a superman/super race like the New Soviet Man/Aryan Race. The idolatry of science, which aims to create a perfect world, will ultimately result in a dystopian nightmare. Their rationality will become irrational. Secular humanism will fail.
“Man is at last becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the realization of the world of his dreams, that he has within himself the power for its achievement.” – Humanist Manifesto I
With science came technological advancement. These advances separated man from nature, tradition, and family. The industrial revolution changed the social fabric of society. Before industrialization, most families lived in rural areas and did agricultural work. The family worked together to support itself. Multiple generations lived together in the same area. Extended families were an important part of society. After industrialization, many families moved to urban areas and did manufacturing work. They became cogs in the machine, working meaningless jobs. This movement split up the extended family unit. Then there was one: the nuclear family. “The dynamics of industrialization contributed to the rise of single-parent families. Factors such as increased divorce rates, the normalization of out-of-wedlock childbirth, and the empowerment of women to raise children independently all played a role in this shift.” As you can see, the nuclear family has not fared too well. Technology produced the radio, television, and social media, which have created an antisocial society. Technology was supposed to make life easier; it was supposed to make us happier, yet it has made us lonely and unhappy. Society has lost its meaning. People come home from meaningless jobs, only to live meaningless social lives online. Wolves chase after those separated from the herd, because they are easy targets. When the isolated are rounded up and killed, no one will fight for them because they are isolated from the herd. Those who are alone and isolated will be seen as useless eaters by their enemies. “To keep you is no gain; to kill you is no loss.” Indeed, a lonely society is very prone to accepting totalitarianism.
The Enlightenment was supposed to empower us, yet we have become more powerless. The Enlightenment was supposed to make us more independent, yet we have become more dependent. Plus, technology is controlled by the few. With science, a perfect artificial world is being built. It’s creating a fake Garden of Eden that is full of genetically modified foods, lab-grown meat, sex dolls that look like Eve, and synthetic-fiber clothing to hide our naked bodies of sin. Don’t eat the genetically modified fruit, it will kill you! Automated machines, robots, and artificial intelligence will replace man’s toil. Artificial wombs will replace the pain of childbirth. The digital paradise being constructed dehumanizes us. It steals our humanity. It makes us insecure, unempathetic, narcissistic, apathetic, cowardly, lonely, and isolated. An insecure society is less resilient. An insecure society is easier to control. An unempathetic, narcissistic, apathetic, and cowardly society will look the other way when people are rounded up and killed. A lonely and isolated society is weak and submissive. They feel empty and meaningless, and they have little self-worth. Such a society yearns for direction and authority. They are weak and lazy and want someone (the state) to take care of them.
We have a dumbed-down society. The education system teaches us how to be cogs in the machine. Mass media is a giant propaganda machine, indoctrinating the masses. The ignorant zombies have been trained to listen to the experts. These experts lead the sheep with twisted data and statistics. Thus, the people are easily led. Safety: give up your freedom of privacy to fight terror. Misinformation: give up your freedom of speech to fight hate speech. 15-minute cities: give up your freedom of movement to fight climate change. Mass immigration: give up your culture for multiculturalism. Abortion is women’s health. Euthanasia is good. By the way, how many genders are there? Society has been molded and shaped. You have been taught what to think, not how to think.
“I don’t want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers.” ‒ John D. Rockefeller
Students have been indoctrinated and radicalized by feminism, gender theory, critical race theory, and decolonialism. The goal: abolish women, gender, race, borders and nations. All hail the tranhumanist new world order! The youth are taught that capitalism is bad and socialism is good. They’ve been taught to hate their own country, traditions, values, and culture. They’ve been taught to hate their own race! Humiliation is a tool of control to shape and guide them. If a person loses their identity, they can be easily manipulated and brainwashed. Our youth have been taught that a communist revolution is necessary to overthrow capitalism. The end justifies the means! Therefore, radicals in the education system have raised up an army of woke activists. These woke evangelists have been poisoned by envy, hate, and bitterness. It doesn’t help that subversive billionaires are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into supposed ‘organic’ protests, which are being organized by professional protesters (communist agitators). Wokeism is the new puritan movement of today, with its moral values and commandments. These born-again socialists preach the dialectic gospel of social(ist) justice and equality. These radicalized saints promise a perfect world. A radicalized society is prone to accepting totalitarianism. In fact, it’s extremely prone to accepting totalitarianism. Especially when the youth are radicalized!
“Give me just one generation of youth, and I’ll transform the whole world.” ‒ Vladimir Lenin
Science, the religion of the day, has become corrupted. Fraud in scientific research is increasing. Falsified scientific papers are becoming more and more common. The perception of reality can be steered by crunching numbers in any desired fashion. (Climate change data is famous for distorting numbers.) Totalitarians mold the perception of reality with propaganda. The COVID-19 hysteria, with its “follow the science,” was proof of its degeneration. People blindly became disciples of the experts. Their apostles commanded: Mask up, even though it’s ineffective! Social distance, even though it’s useless! Take a PCR test, even though it’s unreliable! Take the vaccines, even though they haven’t been properly tested! Ivermectin is bad, even though it can help some patients! The population must be locked down, even though it’s physically and mentally bad for their health and weakens their immune system! Herd immunity, what’s that? Small businesses must be shutdown, even though big corporations like Walmart can stay open! Schools must be shut down, even though the average age of death is 70+ years old! Fire the unvaccinated healthcare workers, even though the emergency rooms are supposedly full and short-staffed! TicTok nurses! Dance, baby, dance! We’re in a pandemic, can’t you see!?! Falsely mark down unrelated deaths as COVID deaths—beef up those numbers! Big numbers, big money! Since this is science, we must suppress opposing ideas! Science that censors different opinions is not science. Much of society faithfully trusted the science, with its religious experts and scientific doctrines, numbers and graphs. In Nazi Germany, children were conditioned to accept any form of authority without question. Without question, many people blindly obeyed the COVID restrictions. To this day, some people mask up in public. They are religious zealots! They still haven’t woken up from their indoctrination. The science of today: take a big pharma flu shot, rather than rely on your own immune system; take a big pharma flu shot, rather than eat foods that are high in antioxidants like vitamin C. Could you not just find a natural vitamin C supplement? Nope! We love big pharma! We love big corporations! We love Big Brother! We love fascism! Since you’ve been trained to be a consumer, you’ll consume what has been marketed to you. Oh, the science of propaganda! Ah, the science of marketing!
“Scientism has remained to this day one of the strongest Gnostic movements in Western society.” – Eric Voegelin
During COVID-19, people were not only begging for totalitarian measures, but they were applauding them. They wanted strict rules to ease their uncertainty, fear, and insecurity. They coped with their insecurity by running others down. The big bad enemies were not the Jews, but the unvaccinated. Fear needs an enemy! People were calling for the unvaccinated to be rounded up. Some even wanted the unvaccinated killed. This made them feel more secure, like they had the upper hand. They had the camaraderie of the mob; they felt like they belonged! The extra rules helped ease their anxiety. They felt more in control of their fear. The fellowship of the mob helped to further ease their stress and insecurity. There is security in numbers! They rebuked, denounced, and excommunicated heretical friends and relatives who strayed from the holy narrative. They felt righteous, because they were supposedly fighting for a righteous cause. This made them feel virtuous. They were crusaders for the truth, and they felt heroic! They felt relief as they took out their frustrations on their enemies. They blew off steam! They felt good! They felt energized!
These people had an authoritarian mindset. Their true selves, their true natures, came to the surface. They had a mob mentality. They had a pack mentality. These people were so filled with fear, hysteria, and panic that they could not think straight. They lost their ability to calm down and think things through. They could not regulate their fears and emotions. As a result, they could not think critically. How can one think critically in a panic? In fact, since they were taught to be cogs in the machine, they weren’t really taught to be critical thinkers. Just as a child must learn how to walk, a child must be taught how to critically think. They were taught to solve problems related to the machine, but they were not taught to think outside the machine. That is why they say things like: I support free speech, ‘but’ not hate speech. They don’t even understand how speech operates under the framework of free speech. They literally can’t understand the concept of free speech! It’s over their heads. Will these people ever change? Nope, I’ve yet to see any of them apologize for their actions during COVID. Given the right crisis, our society will accept totalitarianism.
Big government, with its increased bureaucracy, administration, and management, loves to make ever-increasing rules and regulations. We are drawing closer and closer to totalitarianism. We will soon have a totalitarian system with digital biometric IDs, central bank digital currencies, and social credit scores. We are becoming a total surveillance society. Our data is being collected, tracked, analyzed, and sold. COVID caused a worldwide hypnosis, a mass hysteria, in which the masses were ready to trade their freedoms for safety. Nothing much has changed. The world’s population is slowly being boiled like a frog; it’s slowly being corralled into a worldwide authoritarian system. Like Nazi Germany, many today would pick totalitarianism if they were promised economic solutions in a time of financial hardship. If we had another great depression like the 1930s, many in our decadent society would pick a totalitarian system. They would choose digital IDs, CBDCs, and social credit scores if they could receive universal basic income to feed their families. Is it really a stretch to see why people would accept the Mark of the Beast?
In the fourth industrial revolution, man will physically merge with technology. Of course, this technology is supposed to make man smarter and healthier. It’s supposed to turn man into the perfect superman. How can the imperfect make the perfect? Man is an imperfect sinner. He has sinned against God. God is perfect, and sin is imperfect. Perfection and imperfection do not mix. Righteousness and sin do not mix. Light expels darkness, God expels sin. God’s punishment for sin is death. God will permit sinful man to utilize his strength and rationality to attempt to work out his own salvation. Ultimately, man will fail. Christ will return to stop man from destroying all life on earth at the battle of Armageddon (Matthew 24:22). Jesus will destroy those who, in their sin, are destroying the earth (Revelation 11:18). Jesus first came as a sacrificial Lamb for the atonement of sins. The second time, Jesus will come as a roaring lion to destroy His enemies. His enemies will choose His imposter, the antichrist. They will accept the transhuman Mark of the Beast. As a result, they will forfeit salvation. Only in Christ (the perfect sacrifice) is sin forgiven. Will you accept His salvation? Or will you try, in your sin, to work out your own salvation?
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him, and he with Me.”
Explore: Mar 31, 2008 #158. "A person's intellect becomes apparent through his dealings, and a man's character is known by the way he exercises authority. The intellect is a king and characteristics are its subjects, so if it is weak in governing them, disorder takes place," Imam / Khalifa Ali bin Abu Talib (died 661).
instinct vs intellect, like 2 midget mexican wrestlers inside the ropes of our capacity to cope with the world
Ganesha, also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.
Although Ganesha has many attributes, he is readily identified by his elephant head. He is widely revered, more specifically, as the remover of obstacles and thought to bring good luck, the patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honored at the start of rites and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as a patron of letters and learning during writing sessions.
Intellect enjoys a worshipful intimacy with God and a perfection born of this intimacy. From this worship, emerges Universal Soul, perfect in potentiality but not in actuality, because it is separated from God by Intellect.
Transhumanism (abbreviated as H+ or h+) is an international and intellectual movement that aims to transform the human condition by developing and creating widely available sophisticated technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations, as well as the ethics[3] of using such technologies.The most common thesis is that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into different beings with abilities so greatly expanded from the natural condition as to merit the label of posthuman beings.The contemporary meaning of the term transhumanism was foreshadowed by one of the first professors of futurology, FM-2030, who taught "new concepts of the human" at The New School in the 1960s, when he began to identify people who adopt technologies, lifestyles and worldviews "transitional" to posthumanity as "transhuman".This hypothesis would lay the intellectual groundwork for the British philosopher Max More to begin articulating the principles of transhumanism as a futurist philosophy in 1990 and organizing in California an intelligentsia that has since grown into the worldwide transhumanist movement.
The year 1990 is seen as a "fundamental shift" in human existence by the transhuman community, as the first gene therapy trial,[8] the first designer babies,[9] as well as the mind-augmenting World Wide Web all emerged in that year. In many ways, one could argue the conditions that will eventually lead to the Singularity were set in place by these events in 1990.[original research?]Influenced by seminal works of science fiction, the transhumanist vision of a transformed future humanity has attracted many supporters and detractors from a wide range of perspectives including philosophy and religion.Transhumanism has been characterized by one critic, Francis Fukuyama, as among the world's most dangerous ideas,to which Ronald Bailey countered that it is rather the "movement that epitomizes the most daring, courageous, imaginative and idealistic aspirations of humanity".
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism
What does it mean to be human? Biology has a simple answer: If your DNA is consistent with Homo sapiens, you are human — but we all know that humanity is a lot more complex and nuanced than that. Other schools of science might classify humans by their sociological or psychological behavior, but again we know that actually being human is more than just the sum of our thoughts and actions. You can also look at being human as a sliding scale. If you were to build a human from scratch, from the bottom up, at some point you cross the threshold into humanity — if you believe in evolution, at some point we ceased being a great ape and became human. Likewise, if you slowly remove parts from a human, you cross the threshold into inhumanity. Again, though, we run into the same problem: How do we codify, classify, and ratify what actually makes us human?Does adding empathy make us human? Does removing the desire to procreate make us inhuman? If I physically alter my brain to behave in a different, non-standard way, am I still human? If I have all my limbs removed and my head spliced onto a robot, am I still human? (See: Upgrade your ears: Elective auditory implants give you cyborg hearing.) At first glance these questions might sound inflammatory and hyperbolic, or perhaps surreal and sci-fi, but don’t be fooled: In the next decade, given the continued acceleration of computer technology and biomedicine, we will be forced to confront these questions and attempt to find some answers.
Transhumanism is a cultural and intellectual movement that believes we can, and should, improve the human condition through the use of advanced technologies. One of the core concepts in transhumanist thinking is life extension: Through genetic engineering, nanotech, cloning, and other emerging technologies, eternal life may soon be possible. Likewise, transhumanists are interested in the ever-increasing number of technologies that can boost our physical, intellectual, and psychological capabilities beyond what humans are naturally capable of (thus the term transhuman). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), for example, which speeds up reaction times and learning speed by running a very weak electric current through your brain, has already been used by the US military to train snipers. On the more extreme side, transhumanism deals with the concepts of mind uploading (to a computer), and what happens when we finally craft a computer with greater-than-human intelligence (the technological singularity). (See: How to create a mind, or die trying.Beyond the obvious benefits of eternal life or superhuman strength, transhumanism also investigates the potential dangers and ethical pitfalls of human enhancement. In the case of life extension, if every human on Earth suddenly stopped dying, overpopulation would trigger a very rapid and very dramatic socioeconomic disaster. Unless we stopped giving birth to babies, of course, but that merely rips open another can of worms: Without birth and death, would society and humanity continue to grow and evolve, or would it stagnate, suffocated by the accumulated ego of intellectuals and demagogues who just will not die? Likewise, if only the rich have access to intelligence- and strength-boosting drugs and technologies, what would happen to society? Should everyone have the right to boost their intellect? Would society still operate smoothly if everyone had an IQ of 300 and five doctorate degrees?As you can see, things get complicated quickly when discussing transhumanist ideas — and life extension and augmented intelligence and strength are just the tip of the iceberg! This philosophical and ethical complexity stems from the fact that transhumanism is all about fusing humans with technology — and technology is advancing, improving, and breaking new ground very, very quickly. Humans have always used technology, of course — our ability to use tools and grasp concepts such as science and physics are what set us apart from other animals — but never has society been so intrinsically linked and underpinned by it. As we have seen in just the last few years, with the advent of the smartphone and ubiquitous high-speed mobile networks, just a handful of new technologies now have the power to completely change how we interact with the the world and people around us..Humans, on the other hand, and the civilizations that they build, move relatively slowly. It took us millions of years to discover language, and thousands more to discover medicine and the scientific method. In the few thousand years since, up until the last century or so, we doubled the human life span, but neurology and physiology were impenetrable black boxes. In just the last 100 years, we’ve doubled our life span again, created bionic eyes and powered exoskeletons, begun to understand how the human brain actually works, and started to make serious headway with boosting intellectual and physical prowess. We’ve already mentioned how tDCS is being used to boost cranial capacity, and as we’ve seen in recent years, sportspeople have definitely shown the efficacy of physical doping.An early television: It would've seemed incredibly alien to our grandparentsIt is due to this jarring juxtaposition — the historical slowness of human and societal evolution vs. the breakneck pace of modern technology — that many find transhumanism to be unpalatable. After all, as I’ve described it here, transhumanism is almost the very definition of unnatural. You’re quite within your rights to find transhumanism a bit, well, weird. And it is weird, don’t get me wrong — but so are most emerging technologies. Do you think that your great grandparents weren’t wigged out by the first television sets? Before it garnered the name “television,” one of its inventors gave it the rather spooky name of “distant electric vision.” Can you imagine the wariness in which passengers approached the first steam trains? Vast mechanical beasts that could pull hundreds of tons and moved far faster than the humble — but state-of-the-art — horse and carriage.The uneasiness that surround new, paradigm-shifting technologies isn’t new, and it has only been amplified by the exponential acceleration of technology that has occurred during our lifetime. If you were born 500 years ago, odds are that you wouldn’t experience a single societal-shifting technology in your lifetime — today, a 40 year old will have lived through the creation of the PC, the internet, the smartphone, and brain implants, to name just a few life-changing technologies. It is unsettling, to say the least, to have the rug repeatedly pulled out from under you, especially when it’s your livelihood at stake. Just think about how many industries and jobs have been obliterated or subsumed by the arrival of the digital computer, and it’s easy to see why we’re wary of transhumanist technologies that will change the very fabric of human civilization.The good news, though, is that humans are almost infinitely adaptable. While you or I might balk at the idea of a brain-computer interface that allows us to download our memories to a PC, and perhaps upload new memories a la The Matrix, our children — who can use smartphones at the age of 24 months, and communicate chiefly through digital means — will probably think nothing of it. For the children of tomorrow, living through a series of disruptive technologies that completely change their lives will be the norm. There might still be some resistance when I opt to have my head spliced onto a robotic exoskeleton, but within a generation children will be used to seeing Iron Seb saving people from car crashes and flying alongside airplanes.The fact of the matter is that transhumanism is just a modern term for an age-old phenomenon. We have been augmenting our humanity — our strength, our wisdom, our empathy — with tools since prehistory. We have always been spooked by technologies that seem unnatural or that cause us to act in inhuman ways — it’s simply human nature. That all changes with the children of today, however. To them, anything that isn’t computerized, digital, and touch-enabled seems unnatural. To them, the smartphone is already an extension of the brain; to them, mind uploading, bionic implants and augmentations, and powered exoskeletons will just be par for the course. To them, transhumanism will just seem like natural evolution — and anyone who doesn’t follow suit, just like those fuddy-duddies who still don’t have a smartphone, will seem thoroughly inhuman.
www.extremetech.com/extreme/152240-what-is-transhumanism-...
Humanity+ is an international nonprofit membership organization that advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities. In other words, we want people to be better than well.Our Humanity+ conferences explore innovations of science and technology and their relationship to humanity. Recent conferences have been held at San Francisco State University, Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, California Technology Institute, and Harvard University.
humanityplus.org/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwipi4BRD7t6zGl6m75IgBEiQAn...
Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over acceptance of dogma or superstition. The meaning of the term humanism has fluctuated according to the successive intellectual movements which have identified with it.Generally, however, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of human freedom and progress. In modern times, humanist movements are typically aligned with secularism, and today humanism typically refers to a non-theistic life stance centred on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world.[
“…Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence -- whether much that is glorious- whether all that is profound -- does not spring from disease of thought -- from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect…” (Edgar Allan Poe)
www.fotoconcorsolagrua.it/gallery/menzione-di-merito/?ima...
"Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal" - H.P. Lovecraft
also known as the masked wolf lady. Left her home village to be trained by the wise old man known as master Hun in the warrior temple at mount life, when her training was complete, she then joined a small group of heros.
>scout
>good
>attack- 60/100
>strength- 60/100
>intellect- 55/100
>abilities- master archer, enhanced sense of smell, good hunter, can feel her surroundings, parkour.
she is also mute
OC by me
Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are. Successful people are not superhuman. Success does not require a super-intellect. Nor is there anything mystical about success. And success doesn't based on luck. Successful people are just ordinary folks who have developed belief in themselves and what they do. Never -- yes, never -- sell yourself short.
Across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
L to R - Jesse Quick, Johnny Quick, Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, Liberty Belle.
Jesse Quick - Jesse Chambers reluctantly picked up in her parents’ crime-fighting ways after her mother mysteriously disappeared after a mysterious lightning storm. Chambers had memorized her father’s formula that allowed him to tap into the speed force and used the formula to try to find an answer to her mother’s disappearance. Years passed with no luck, however while searching for her mother, Jesse found the thrill in crime fighting at super speed and has since become a valuable member of the Flash Family as Jesse Quick!
Johnny Quick - Johnny Chambers was fascinated at the news of a crime fighting blur in Keystone City. Using his vast intellect and imagination, Chambers found a formula that enabled him to tap in to an energy source he believed was the source of “The Flash’s” super speed. Johnny began to use this newfound power source to fight injustice in New York. While the news of the Flash grew, New York touted a speedster of their own, known as Johnny Quick!
The Flash - After an experiment gone wrong, Jay Garrick found his entire body vibrating faster than he could comprehend. Eventually, Jay gained control over his body and soon realized that he had reflexes and other heightened abilities that allowed him to travel at super speed! Using this newfound power, Jay Garrick has sworn to protect not only his hometown of Keystone City, but the world from threats both earthly and otherworldly! While he may not be the first speedster to have ever existed, Jay will forever be known as the first Flash!
Max Mercury - Working in the 1800s, Max Crandall was the best, fastest, and most trusted messenger his settlement had. Max was often called “Mercury” by his fellow settlers as well as the nearby natives he would often interact with. One fateful day, while Max was making his routine trip delivering messages, a strange rift opened up in front of him. While Max was quick on his feet, he was not fast enough to stop from falling into the rift. In an instant, Max was transported to an alternate dimension that seemed to consist of pure electricity. With one strike of pure energy, Max gained knowledge of many different worlds and realities as well as a boost in his already quick speed. While the world passed Max by in an instant, he found himself tumbling into the 21st century, a far cry from the world he was familiar with. Equipped with his knowledge and new abilities, Max works as a mentor to anybody who finds themself with the ability to tap into the speed force, all they have to do is ask for Max Mercury!
Liberty Belle - Elizabeth Lawrence was once a seasoned reporter before she disappeared. Lawrence began her career making headlines after she busted a drug operation in New York, nearly crippling a crime family in the process. After this, “Libby” had a target on her, something she proudly gloated that as long as she lived that her fellow New Yorkers would be able to live free of fear of the crime that was destroying her home city. Eventually, Elizabeth married a fellow crime fighter, Johnny Chambers, and became pregnant with a girl. This temporarily took Libby out of action, but she would soon return to the scene with a new persona and costume to hide her identity from those who would threaten her and her growing family. Libby would continue to fight crime and fight for justice as the Liberty Belle!
Stealthy Walks.
Extrêmes marches en argent intellect intelligence prudente yeux suspicieux énervant ennemis leçons rebelles ambrosial rusé escaliers temps parfait confiance isolement évents visibles,
mouldering flammer sult låst forladt varme kloge investeringer inspirerende undslipper at skrive stødige sociale tricks blomstrende antologier bombastiske lidenskaber kedelige mening,
shenja shqetësuese duke mësuar çudira këmbët e rrezikshme muzikë sferike të kapjes sfera të qeshura tymi nën zemrat kokëfortë që matin vargje mendimet e hijes,
diverse idioți porți legendă supremă apucând țevi coborând cântece vizibile fiole de chihlimbar ceară bucurii valuri interioare pereți lungi și inerți, sol îngrozitor strigă războaie,
空腹の魂は詩人の野生の興奮を説きます上昇する蒸気は青い点を急ぎますパチパチビジョン忘れられない嵐夢を語る偽装風群がる破裂沈黙の唇風が群がり、静かな唇が破裂する.
Steve.D.Hammond.
History
The John Rogers who bought Riverhill in 1840 was an only child, with a modest fortune, and a fine intellect. He became a classics scholar, a scientist and a friend of Charles Darwin. He was one of the first members of the Royal Horticultural Society and a patron of the plant collectors of the day.
He chose Riverhill because its sheltered situation offered an ideal lime free hillside where he could hope to establish newly introduced trees and shrubs. From his garden notebook, it can be seen that planting started in 1842. Subsequent generations, continued the planting and in 1910 Colonel John Middleton Rogers created what is now known as ‘The Wood Garden’ a fine collection of Japanese Maples, Rhododendrons and Azaleas. His wife, the infamous Muriel, created many additions including the now hidden Rock Gardens.
Until the beginning of the 2nd World War, eight full time gardeners kept Riverhill looking immaculate. Since the war years, however, a shortage of manpower and a lack of money has meant that the garden was allowed to deteriorate, with many parts of the original planting lost to everyday use and visitors.
Today, four generations of the Rogers family live at Riverhill,
The estate is managed by Edward Rogers (Great-great-great-grandson of the John Rogers who bought Riverhill in 1840) and his wife, Sarah.
. . . the three most precious resources of life, I should say books, friends, and nature; and the greatest of these, at least the most constant and always at hand, is nature. Nature we have always with us, an inexhaustible storehouse of that which moves the heart, appeals to the mind, and fires the imagination and health to the body, a stimulus to the intellect, and joy to the soul.
-John Burroughs (1837 - 1921), American writer and naturalist
Big Branch
New River Gorge
Copyright Susan Ogden
My little friend from the aquarium. Sadly he passed away just a few short months after we met. He and I had such a sweet give and take thru the glass...he would dance and jet across the tank and swirl his arms...and allow me photo after photo of his antics. As soon as other came to watch, he would dart behind a pipe in the tank and peek out, watching for the people to leave then when he would notice it was just me and my camera he would begin showing off again and posing in adorable poses as he made eye contact with me! THIS began my total infatuation with the Octopus! I was devastated when I found out that he had passed away...and learned that they only live approximately two years. Such a shame, because they have such distinct personalities and amazing intellect for a mollusk!
Someday I want to meet one, and touch one...sigh...
once upon a time a white dragon saw the elements falling apart, for this reason he made him self into the form of a man and then created a warrior temple on mount life, this is so he could train the best warriors to face evil.
>master
>good
>attack- 100/100
>strength- 95/100
>intellect- 100/100
>abilities- every type of magic, every fighting technique, the power of every life stone (elements), and almost everything else XD
he trained wa-hune also, so u can see that in her desc.
OC by me
"Two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead."
// Karl Von Clausewitz
Olieverf op canvas, 137,5 x 104,5
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
Wie de man op het schilderij is, is een onderwerp van voortdurende discussie. Klassieke helden, zoals Achilles, of goden, zoals Mars en Apollo, zijn voorgesteld, terwijl krijgergodinnen zoals Bellona en Pallas Athene (de Romeinse Minerva) ook zijn voorgesteld op grond van de jeugdige trekken van het onderwerp en de prominente pareloorring. Deze laatste bewering wordt ondersteund door de aanwezigheid van een uil - een heilig symbool voor Athene - in reliëf in de voorhoofdsplaat van het pantser.
Het meest waarschijnlijke onderwerp van het schilderij is echter de succesvolle Macedonische koning Alexander de Grote. Hij was beroemd om zijn intellect, jeugd en militaire bekwaamheid en, zoals veel soldaten in de klassieke oudheid, vereerde Athene - die hier allemaal vertegenwoordigd zijn.
In a certain respect, the difference between philosophy, theology and gnosis is total; in another respect, it is relative. It is total when one understands by "philosophy" rationalism alone; by "theology", the explanation of religious teachings alone; and by "gnosis", intuitive and intellective, and thus supra-rational, knowledge; but the difference is only relative when one understands by "philosophy" the fact of thinking, by "theology" the fact of speaking from a dogmatic point of view about God and religious things, and by "gnosis" the fact of presenting pure metaphysics, for then the genres are interpenetrating.
It is impossible to deny that the most illustrious Sufis, while being "gnostics" by definition, were at the same time to some extent theologians and to some extent philosophers, or that the great theologians were both to some extent philosophers and to some extent gnostics, the last word having to be understood in its proper and not sectarian sense.
If we wish to retain the limitative, or indeed pejorative sense of the word philosopher, we could say that gnosis or pure metaphysics takes certainty as its starting-point, whereas philosophy on the contrary has doubt as its starting-point, and strives to overcome this only with the means that are at its disposition and which do not pretend to be more than purely rational. But since neither the term "philosophy" in itself, nor the usage that has been made of it since the earliest times, oblige us to accept only the restrictive sense of the word, we shall not consider criminal those who employ it in a wider sense than what may seem to be opportune.
Theory, by definition, is not an end in itself, it is only - and seeks only - to be a key with a view to a cognition on the part of the "heart".
If there is attached to the notion of"philosophy" a suspicion of superficiality, insufficiency and pretension, it is precisely because only too often - and indeed always in the case of the moderns – it is presented as being sufficient unto itself. "This is only philosophy": we readily accept the use of this turn of phrase, but only on condition that one does not say that "Plat'o is only a philosopher", Plato who said that "beauty is the splendor of the truth"; beauty that includes or demands all that we are or can be.
If Plato maintains that the philosophos should think independently of received opinions, he is referring to intellection and not to logic alone; whereas Descartes, who did everything to restrict and compromise the notion of philosophy, reaches such a conclusion from the starting-point of systematic doubt, so that for him philosophy is synonymous not only with rationalism, but also with skepticism.
This is a first suicide of the intelligence, inaugurated moreover by Pyrrho and others, in the guise of a reaction against what one looked on as metaphysical "dogmatism".
The "Greek miracle" is in fact the substitution of the reason for the Intellect, of the fact for the Principle, of the phenomenon for the Idea, of the accident for the Substance, of the form for the Essence, of man for God; and this applies to art as well as to thought.
The true Greek miracle, if miracle there be (and in this case it would be related to the "Hindu miracle”), is doctrinal metaphysics and methodic logic, providentially utilized by the monotheistic Semites .
Frithjof Schuon
Excerpt from brainproject.ca:
Timeless
Great ideas, human intelligence and dreams are timeless. As we begin our journey through this world, the most powerful tools we possess are our intellect and our ability to decide what is good and what is bad. Our brains create those mysterious echoing connections that not only represent past memories and our present experiences, but are also tied to a continuum which is in fact timeless; our future. The brain is the quintessence of the human state.
the followers of urakeh (look at urakeh 1st, that is be4 this pic)
>soldiers
>evil
>attack- 40/100
>strength- 60/100
>intellect- 20/100
>abilities- run really fast, eat/chomp through anything (e.g. trees, people), deafening shout, climb anything.
these are expendable soldiers, so to stop them coming get to their master, he is the one creating them.
OCs by me
kinda like the orcs of LBFW
Read My Interview with Nic below.
As many of you know, I spend a fair amount of time on flickr looking at various artists’ work and following their evolution, and their favorite works. The main reason for this is that our photography series (Meet SL Photographer) started with the mission to introduce artists that make the world look amazing - either in the pictures or in-world - and to bring to you faces to watch for in the coming years.
Recently, in one of my flickr paths, I landed on a page that held my attention. The artist did not have a super popular page, like those where every picture has hundreds of faves and fifty-nine comments. She looked fairly new to the field. I continued looking at the work she displayed for another few weeks, and decided she is definitely an artist to watch. NicBor has a fun sense of style, good sense of composition, and an acute sense of lighting. As I kept enjoying every time she posted a new picture, I finally called her up to meet and have a chat.
I arrived at her house where cute little kitties walk about. They are the replacement for her not being able to care for them in RL due to serious allergies. We had a good laugh about that, before settling down in her living room where she spent a great amount of time not only chatting with me but patiently looking at skins and hairs I was suggesting for our photo session. Her work turned out beautifully and she did capture the mood I was in as well.
Leda Carter: Nic, it is great to meet you. Thank you for your time and letting me visit you in your house.
NicBor: Pleasure.
Leda: From your profile, it doesn’t look like you have been around much. What brought you to SL?
Nic: Well, I've been on IMVU for few years and it was one of those days when your closest friends thought it was time to move onto another platform. So, we did and here we are.
Leda: Ah, so that’s how you have landed here. How would you sum up your experience so far?
Nic: It has been a great start to my virtual journey. Lots of talented people around, and tons of creativity. I appreciate it a lot. So, I am enjoying my virtual journey enormously.
Leda: That’s wonderful to hear. What are some of the things/places/people that give you the most pleasure in SL?
Nic: Sadly, I haven’t had the time to really explore SL just yet. Due to my day job, I have limited time to be online and when I am online, I am either taking photos or working on few other job assignments on SL. Having said that, I fully intend to explore places very soon.
Generally, I am almost always taking pics or thinking of different concepts for photos. Other than that, I go around mostly shopping for interesting props for photos... or feed my cats. *laughs*
Leda: I have to tell you, you are an amazing newbie. When i was 6 months old, I still was running around with my skirt not fitting right, and was sleeping under bridges.
Nic: *laughs* Thank you. I think being on IMVU helped me a lot to adjust here. It wasn’t if I wasn’t familiar with avatars. And, I have few friends who were here for many years. It just took a long time for me to get to their invitation.
Leda: How did you start on your photography path? Did you do that on IMVU as well?
Nic: In IMVU I created furnitures, clothes etc. I did take pictures there too, and did some edits as well. But, I was mostly a creator there.
I am not quite sure myself how I started taking photos on SL, but I can tell you that I am a real noob if you will. I probably have lots to learn, experience and explore in terms of photography, and just in general on Second Life. Photography definitely evolved on its own. I need to be productive in a virtual world or in RL. I couldn’t just come on here and not do anything like creating or designing. So, the first thing I did was to play around with the lightings, and then I was hooked.
Leda: I think for most people I have spoken with their SL profession was not a focused mission when they started SL, but often it has its roots in their RL and their passion. Does this passion for art and photography have its roots in RL for you as well?
Nic: I've always been interested in the creative process of any art - paintings, designs, photography, performing arts and so on and so forth. Creating art in your head
with an idea or a concept, and then delivering it to your audience for their interpretation is a keen interest to me. So I'd say this is my RL interest as well as SL.
Leda: Since you had not planned this from the start, how did you develop your technical skills?
Nic: I must confess, it is pretty difficult to 'learn' in SL as in if you don't have friends who are 'senior citizens' (that's what I call veterans on SL for laughs) to help you. As a beginner, you have no clue whatsoever, you just need to click around and see where it gets you by trial and error. But, I suppose I got the hang of it by reading lots of tutorials and by making mistakes.
Leda: From these lessons and mistakes, are there any tips you would share with our readers?
Nic: Well, I am no expert. As I said, I am considerably new to SL so I can only tell you what I'd like to see as a viewer. I appreciate photos that tell stories and provoke my emotions. Needless to say techniques are as important, but a perfect shot with no soul would be a pity. With a great risk of sounding cliche, I'd say if you sing with your voice or dance with your body, I'll listen with my ears or watch with my eyes, but if you sing or dance with your soul my emotions will respond. Same philosophy with taking photos. After all, it is art.
Leda: I absolutely agree with you. If an artist does not have their own voice, the emotional connection with the audience cannot happen. For you, what inspires your artistic sense?
Nic: Greatness inspire me, the grandeur of one's intellect or one's gracious and beautiful movement or one's humanity, raw talent or wit. Of course in reality you don't get to witness these qualities everyday, but when I do meet or even briefly cross their path, I feel tremendously inspired in all aspects of my life.
Leda: Since Valentine’s day is around the corner, I was wondering if you take clients in case any of our readers would be interested in offering that as a gift. Some of my friends like to gift a photo-shoot session to their loved ones.
Nic: Sure, I would take clients, But I worry whether the client could trust me and let me handle the shoot and the processing in my style. Do you know what I mean?
Leda: Absolutely. You don’t want them to bring in someone else’s work with a completely different sense of style and ask for one just like it.
Nic: Exactly. I would want them to let me handle the whole thing in my style.
Leda: Speaking of style, do you have the same sense of style in RL? What are the similarities?
Nic: My avatar is fearless! She has her hair really short in platinum blonde; she wears extremely low cuts and walks around sims with no problems. Lacking in guts, of course I wouldn't be able to that in RL. Although, we are both very keen on simplicity, classics and neutral tones with dash of striking color from time to time.
Leda: As always, I am curious about about the person behind the avatar. What can you tell us about her?
Nic: That's a tough question. Let's do this, I am gonna give you ten words that would accurately or loosely describe the person behind my bold avatar. I only say accurately or loosely because we are the worst critique of ourselves.
Disciplined, conservative, confident, anal (Can I say that?), uptight, blunt, fair, generous, creative but mostly I'd like to think that I am a good soul.
Leda: Do you adhere to this philosophy of keeping RL and SL separate?
Nic: I think in virtual or in reality we are faced with the equal amounts of complexity in terms of human interactions. I treat everyone on SL exactly the way I'd treat them in RL. Friends are friends, analogue or digital.
Leda: Thank you so much for your time, Nic. It was a pleasure to know you.
This is perhaps one of my best portraits. Or, at least, I like it very much. I've taken a lot of selfies with my iPhone over the years, most of which suck because the lighting is off, with shadows showing all manner of masculinity. Sometimes, the lighting is exactly right, and this is one of those instances.
I can't really tell when taking photos how they will come out as my eyesight is not great when trying to see things up close and I can't be bothered to grab my reading glasses during the process.
I think by holding the phone to take a selfie, there's just enough motion to blur things a little, making the result more appealing than otherwise would be the case. Put another way, cameras in mobile devices are forgiving when it comes to selfies. I wondered about this because I've taken self portraits with my iPhone on a fixed platform, with the result being very clear (I posted an example here).
This brings up an issue that I am always cognizant of when dressed en femme. There is the mind's eye, there is photography, and there is real life. In the former, there are unrealistic expectations brought on by comparison to actual women, which I shouldn't do, but the process does serve as a form of inspiration. Photography, by contrast, reveals reality, but in the form of moments; literally, snapshots in time. As a result, some come out well, most not so much. This activity, I've discovered, shapes the way we think of our physical selves; on one extreme, we have a delusional perception that we are gorgeous, on the other, we feel repulsive. This happens to all of us, I suspect, and we can swing between the two extremes in a matter of minutes. Debating whether this is healthy or not is irrelevant because it happens naturally.
Finally, there is the real world - venturing out there and frankly having no idea how you appear to others. Maybe a sense of this can be revealed using video capture (I'm surprised crossdressers haven't widely embraced drones in this capacity!), which is interesting as I've never done that before beyond a Zoom call. The bonus with venturing into real life is how you naturally augment your appearance with the more important elements of identity: one's personality, life story, intellect, and sense of humor. A healthy sense of self, confidence, and good communication skills can overcome any perceptions you think people may have about your appearance.
It is worth reminding ourselves that we've all met physically unattractive people who are amazing company and physically beautiful human specimens with ugly personalities that make us want to run in the opposite direction.
Sweater: Ann Taylor
Shorts: Fashion Nova
Boots: Kelly & Katie
White work glove lays over the Rubik's cube. Be ready to break your brains and twist your fingers while solving the Rubik's cube puzzle. Anyone dare to take up the glove? Square photo against the white background.
Another image from Shining Cliff woods...shot on the Nikon D7100 and Nikkor 105mm DC glass.
It's a tricky lens to get the best from ... dof is shallower than my intellect. And, as can be seen, the CA is intrusive...for all that, it's a beguiling lens to use and once Snapseed creates a CA module I'll be a lot happier
Malcolm Margolin greeted me with wild eyes and a grin that didn’t care for solemnity. I photographed him at his home in December 2021, where he sat surrounded by a lifetime of books, stories, and a certain irreverent joy. Despite the slow encroach of Parkinson’s, Malcolm was electric: playful, thoughtful, utterly alive.
He’s spent decades preserving the voices of others, especially those too often erased, through his writing and publishing. As the founder of Heyday Books, Malcolm gave California back to itself, one story at a time. Native histories, natural landscapes, the rhythms of seasons and culture—he made them vivid and accessible. In doing so, he helped generations remember how to listen.
Malcolm Margolin’s books feel less like authored works and more like invitations. They invite you to sit around a fire, to walk an old trail, to remember what was nearly forgotten. His most enduring book, The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco–Monterey Bay Area, published in 1978, reintroduced the world to the Indigenous peoples of California with a kind of reverent clarity. It wasn’t anthropology for its own sake. It was a reweaving of memory, a reminder that the land we walk on holds stories far older than our cities. The San Francisco Chronicle once called it one of the hundred most important books of the 20th century written about California. They were right.
There’s something profoundly countercultural about the way Malcolm shows up in the world. He doesn’t chase relevance or power. He listens. He tells jokes. He makes a face. That afternoon together, what struck me wasn’t just his intellect, which is capacious, or his memory, which still flares with detail. It was his delight. Despite the tremor in his hands, he leaned into the moment. Curious. Open. Fiercely human.
This portrait captures him in that spirit: not in decline, but defiant in joy. A man unafraid to look silly. A man who knows that sometimes the best way to carry truth is through laughter.
There are people who spend their lives trying to leave a mark. Malcolm has already carved a whole topography of language, land, and love. And somehow, he’s still out there, adding lines.
The intellectual quest is exquisite like pearls and coral,
But it is not the same as the spiritual quest.
The spiritual quest is on another level altogether,
Spiritual wine has a subtler taste.
The intellect and the senses investigate cause and effect.
The spiritual seeker surrenders to the wonder.
~ Rumi