#and the answer requires three psychology degrees

[chronomally]

Luo Binghe/Shen Yuan as the "My hands look like this so my partner's can look like this" meme and Shen Yuan's hands are holding a controller

[suzukiblu]

Excerpt from an in-progress DP x DC soulmate AU starring Jazz Fenton, a very unfortunate mugger, and a smoothie. Oh, and I guess Jason is there too.

Jazz meets her soulmate in, of all places, Park Row. Or as the locals call it, Crime Alley.

Seems about right for her life, she decides as she kicks the shit out of the guy who was trying to stab him for his wallet fifteen seconds ago. Her soulmate watches her curiously, seeming unconcerned by the fuss, and takes a sip of his smoothie.

Also seems about right, for her soulmate. A guy who got too nervous when necessary violence happened was not going to survive Thanksgiving in Amity Park, much less Christmas.

Well, it is Gotham.

"Hi," he says.

"Hi, sorry, one sec," Jazz says, then leans over the groaning mugger and offers him a card to the best local crisis center she's managed to track down via research and word of mouth in the four months she's been in Gotham. Not her card, obviously, since she just roundhouse-kicked the guy in the head to protect her soulmate from him and that's arguably a conflict of interest. Or close enough, anyway. "So you should check these guys out, they've got a very high success rate in their job program and there's an associated food bank and rent assistance, if you qualify."

"What?" the mugger says dazedly.

"Also if you ever touch my soulmate again I'll make you wish for the cold mercy of the Infinite Realms," Jazz adds pleasantly. The guy goes very, very pale. Then he snatches the card from her and runs for his life and eternal soul.

"This is the nicest thing the universe has ever done to me," her soulmate muses, taking another sip of his smoothie.

"Getting you mugged?" Jazz asks wryly, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Are you religious? Do you want kids?" her soulmate asks. "Also, who's your favorite Bat?"

"Robin, obviously," Jazz says. "The overdramatic and feral little stabby one, I mean. He reminds me of my little brother. Makes me feel a little bit maternal, to be honest. So that answers two out of three, and as far as religion goes, I only believe in Psychology Today, highly customized guns, and my mom's ninth-degree black belt."

"This better not awaken anything in me," her soulmate mutters under his breath.

"That seems unlikely, or we wouldn't be soulmates," Jazz says.

"Point," he says, sipping his smoothie again. Jazz didn't even know anywhere in Crime Alley sold smoothies, but she is new around here. "Wanna go break my bed? Or maybe go get coffee?"

"You've already got a smoothie," Jazz says.

"So I do," he says.

Jazz looks him over. He's her soulmate, so she's not surprised to find him gorgeous. She wasn't ever expecting a familial soulmate–Danny is a very intense sibling to have, and her parents are very intense parents to have, not to mention everything about Dani, and "soulcousins" aren't typically a thing–and she's never been especially interested in keeping around too many close friends, so considering all that, she was already expecting her soulmate to be a romantic one. If they are platonic, it's definitely only going to be because her soulmate is an aromantic asexual. Which he probably isn't, since he already asked about kids and religion and if she wanted to go break his bed.

Then again, she's met people who'll posture worse than that. Especially guys, and especially ace ones with a clear investment in their masculinity, and given this particular guy is built like a brick house could only dream to be, chances are he has some feelings about his masculinity. Though he's also drinking a visibly pink smoothie, not a neutral-colored protein shake or generic black coffee, so . . . fifty-fifty there, maybe?

Further inquiry will probably be required.

"I'm Jazz," she tells him. "What's your name?"

"Robin," he says. Then he–pauses. Blinks. "I mean–Robin."

He looks very confused for a second, and Jazz blinks too, and refocuses her eyes a bit. Oh, is he–

"Are you overshadowing that guy?" she assumes. For the love of–of course her soulmate would be a ghost, she thinks dryly. Who'd want a soulmate their mom and dad wouldn't want to grill for information and ask a thousand invasive questions, after all? "I mean, he's really hot, don't get me wrong, he looks good on you, but I'd rather meet you for real."

"'Overshadowing'?" Robin looks bemused.

"I'm Danny's sister," Jazz clarifies. Robin does not look less bemused. "You know, the new king?"

"What?" Robin says. Jazz frowns a little, feeling a bit bemused herself.

"Do you not get out much?" she asks.

"Never, actually, but also yes and constantly and way too often," Robin says. "My job is kind of demanding that way."

"What's your job?" Jazz asks curiously. Ghosts' jobs are always interesting, even if only for how they interact and manifest with their Obsessions. She wonders what his Obsession is, actually, because smoothies seem like an unlikely option but she doesn't have much else to go on here.

Can't be weirder than Box Ghost, either way.

"I'm a Bat," Robin says, then looks absolutely alarmed and also absolutely horrified.

"Huh," Jazz says, tilting her head. He seems really big to be one of the Robins, and a little too old besides. A year or two younger than her, maybe, and even the older Robin she's pretty sure is at best Danny's age. Though that's assuming this body is the one he fights crime in, admittedly. Although it's kinda funny if one of the Bats is just named Robin. Must get annoying on patrol, though. "I didn't know any of you were dead, but I guess that's not actually a surprise either, given the profession."

"Why did I say that to you?" Robin asks tightly.

"I told you, I'm the new king's sister," Jazz says. "You know, it's the royal family thing. Technically I'm his regent, legally speaking, but only because I'm better at paperwork and he doesn't count as a legal adult in the Infinite Realms yet. Hasn't been dead long enough, you know how it is. But I've been alive long enough to, apparently? But his 'being alive' technically stopped tracking at fourteen. It's complicated, basically."

"What the fuck does that mean?!" Robin demands.

"It means you can't lie to me because you're one of my brother's subjects," Jazz says, really not understanding his reaction. Every ghost knows this, after all. The only ones who wouldn't know it are too young to be away from their guardians' haunts or even leave the Infinite Realms at all. Definitely a ghost who knows how to overshadow someone this thoroughly and fully is old enough and experienced enough to know it, though. "Whose body is that, anyway?"

"It's my father's," Robin says. Jazz's eyes widen a little and she has several very concerned internal reactions before he chokes and sputters–"I mean–it's not–he's not–!"

"You realize there is no healthy way to mean that, right?" Jazz says. Robin looks frustrated and freaked out and she feels bad about it, because she didn't mean or want to upset him, but she clearly has. "Sorry. I mean, I still secretly feel like I'm the one parenting my parents half the time, you're not the only one with weird feelings about yours."

"I'm his," Robin says, then grits his teeth in visible pain. He's this close to crushing the smoothie cup he's holding but hasn't actually done it. Jazz wonders if that's an example of deliberate self-control or subconscious restraint.

She's pretty sure Robin didn't mean to say that, though.

"Are you okay?" she asks, a little concerned. Normally ghosts just stop talking about things they want to lie about, when they realize who she is.

"No," Robin says. "I'm just his. I've always been his, I always will be, his good soldier, his worst mistake, not his actual fucking son, why am I telling you this?!"

"I don't know," Jazz says, frowning in increased concern. "Usually people can work around the inability to lie a little bit, but you sound like you're being compelled to speak. Increasingly like, actually. Hm. What's your Obsession? And what kind of core do you have?"

"What?" he says.

"They might be making you unstable, is all," Jazz says. "I don't think it'd be a soulmate thing but to be fair I don't really know how that works. Are you dead, or are you a manifestation of something?"

"I'm dead," Robin says, staring at her. "That bastard clown beat my head in with a crowbar and blew up what was left of me. I woke up in my grave and–I–how did you know that?"

"Well, I didn't, that's why I asked," Jazz says reasonably, idly wondering why the Joker isn't dead yet, since this is Gotham and obviously it wouldn't be another "bastard clown" Robin was referencing, even if he wasn't a Bat. But like, at least dead via the court system, if nothing else. The Joker is insane, yes, but no one can argue he doesn't know right from wrong at this point. Does New Jersey just not have the death penalty, maybe? She hasn't thought to check. "Maybe it's the guy you're in? He's not drunk or high or anything, is he?"

"I hate drugs," Robin says, gritting his teeth again; tightening his grip on the smoothie again. He's trembling, just barely. "I hate them. I'd never touch them. I don't know what you are. You're scaring me. Please stop."

He definitely didn't mean to say that, Jazz can tell.

But . . . he doesn't know what she is.

He doesn't know.

Well, that's a problem.

"Robin," she says gently, and for some reason his face twists painfully at the sound of his own name. "Can I see your core? Please?"

[jjkeremika]

Drop my class so i can pick you up pt1

description: erens a professor; mikasa asks for his help after class

pairing: eremika, eren x mikasa (aot/snk)

smut: yee

***********

She waited patiently as all of the students filed out of the classroom. Some stayed back to ask questions, and she slowly packed all of her belongings into her backpack until they all left.

She walked up to the front desk and called out her Professor's name. He looked up, his face still wearing a slight look of confusion, like he had thought he was the only one left, and smiled politely.

"What's up, Mikasa? Another question?" He was chuckling airily, like it was almost amusing that she had a question after almost every class. Realistically he enjoyed it; not many people asked interesting questions after class. It was theoretical physics, so everything was interesting and complex and hard to grasp, yet Mikasa had questions and thoughts that even Eren hadn't thought about--and he had a quantum mechanics degree.

She nodded and held out her notebook, which he leaned closer to get a better view of. He smelled nice.

"I guess I'm just wondering what the implications are for plotting the emerging properties along the imaginary axis and the classical properties in the coordinate plane? To me they feel the same but I know that emergent and classical properties are different."

Eren recognized some of what was in her notebook as the sketches he'd drawn on the whiteboard, but the rest looked like quick sketches she had drawn in the margins. Like she was trying to give the impression she had been thinking about this problem all class.

"Walk with me to my office and we can discuss it more there," he said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and heading for the door, Mikasa following close behind.

They made small talk on the walk over--mostly Eren asking about her day and what life was like as a psychology and philosophy double major. Unlike other professors, he never asked her why she was in her major, just why she was in his class.

She settled on: "The topic is interesting and requires a high level of thought, which if I can apply to logical situations, I can apply to philosophical situations as well."

The answer was typically satisfactory enough, and she knew Professor Jaeger didn't consider philosophical implications, just quantum and physical ones. She also knew she couldn't tell him the only reason she was enrolled in it was so she could watch and listen to him lecture three times a week.

He wouldn't understand that one. She didn’t really understand that one.

Mikasa was surprised when he shut the door behind him as they entered his office. He didn't lock it or anything, and he went straight to his desk to place his bag down like the door closing behind him was intentional. If it was unintentional, he didn't seem to care.

The mood in the room felt different than the past couple times she'd been there to ask questions. For one, the door was always open. And two, it wasn't just her and him alone in a small space with the door closed. And while usually she waited for them to be alone, she could feel her palms sweating this time. She felt the hope and nerves stuck in her throat, making it hard to swallow and sucking her mouth dry.

The giddy feeling she normally had around him was gone.

He placed his bag down and turned around. She expected him to walk over to the whiteboard in his office, but he walked over to her instead, stopping a stride or two away.

"You don't actually care about the answer, do you?" he asked in that all-knowing tone.He was eying her carefully, judging her… analyzing her.

"I… No," she answered truthfully. She crossed her arms over her chest and held her notebook close to her.

He smiled smally, rhythmically nodding. He took a step closer.

"So, why exactly are you asking?"

She didn't say anything. She was debating internally whether or not she should backtrack and say she really was interested in the answer, if she should lie, or if she should strangely just admit that he was only the reason she was in the class, thinking of questions to ask later--in his office.

"Be-because I like… the topic." She stumbled over her words and her mouth felt so very dry, like she hadn't had a drop of water all day. "It's interesting. You would know.” She forced herself to chuckle.

He took another step closer, effectively standing right in front of her, his face mere inches away.

"I'm inclined to think that's not true." His voice was low; it sent a shiver down her spine. She leaned in.

She could feel her body reaching out for his, the hairs sticking up and pulling towards him, like he were a magnet searching for metal inside her. She couldn't take her eyes off his lips, which were arched into a slight smirk. She wondered if he knew what he was doing to her.

The expression on his face suggested everything was intentional. Each step. Each word. Each breath.

His hand reached up and brushed against her cheek. He leaned closer, until his lips really were so close she was going cross-eyed just to keep staring at them. She lifted her gaze to meet his, and the contact was jolting. Almost intimidating. There was only one thought racing through her mind:

He was so. close.

The warmth of his hand on her cheek only added to the heat spreading through her body and settling on her face. She could feel how red her face was, and she could only hope it wasn't as bad as it felt. Her bottom lip quivered as she subconsciously leaned her face closer.

The feeling of his fingers against her cheek was electrifying. The static between them kept the tiny hairs perked, kept her blood pumping to all the right places. She could feel her stomach doing somersaults and the spot between her legs beginning to beg for him.

"I'd prefer it if you dropped my class..."

He rubbed her cheek with his thumb, staring into her eyes, searching for her soul. She didn't want to maintain eye contact, but he kept her face solid in his hand.

"And pursued that interest in me instead."

Her eyes opened and her lips parted in surprise. Before she could even comprehend what he implying, he'd pressed his lips to hers, almost immediately taking advantage of her open mouth and introducing her to his tongue.

After a momentary delay, she held his head between her hands and pulled him even closer to her, wanting to eliminate any space between their mouths and bodies.

He was relaxed, slow, taking his time; whereas she was hastily licking into his mouth, desperate to explore and memorize the landscape. If this were to be the first and last time, she wanted to remember all of it.

He relished in her desire. He moved his hand from her cheek to her low back, eventually sliding both hands down and hooking underneath her bum.

He squeezed and lifted her off the ground; he slapped her ass and she instantly took the hint, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist and using her core strength to hold herself up.

He sat her on his desk before breaking the kiss. “Actually…” he mumbled more to himself and pulled her down.

He flipped her around and bent her over his desk, lifted her skirt, and then there was a sharp sting and a loud smack.

Her body jolted forward as his hand contacted her lace-covered skin. A light “Ahh” escaped her.

“How about one for each question you asked?” He smacked her again. She winced at the sharp pain and yet found herself pushing back into his hand, following its shadow.

He smacked her again in the same spot. A white handprint inked into her skin. He could see it through the black lace of her panties.

“How many even is that?”

He smacked her again, same spot. His hand started to turn pink.

“Twelve times you stayed after.”

She moaned as she chased his hand, whimpering as she waited impatiently for his hand to reconnect.

“Multiple questions, too.”

His hand harshly slapped against her other cheek twice. He admired the white and pink outlines. His handprints.

He spanked her three times in a row, enjoying the way her ass jiggled in response.

“Fuck, and you’ve asked so many in class, too.”

He dropped his hands to the desk on both sides of her and pushed his crotch to her ass.

He started to circle his hips and push in and away. She was breathing heavily with each shove. She could feel his erection straining against his pant fabric.

She wanted him to spank her again. She wanted him to strip their clothes off and fuck her. She also wanted him to turn her around and kiss her so softly to take her mind off the sharp pain left behind.

One hand was underneath her shirt groping her boob while the other was under her skirt, pressing against the wet panty fabric, a barely-there darker stain of black that was hotter to Eren than the sun in the desert.

He played around with his fingers and monitored her responses, mapping out the spots she liked the most. He pressed soft yet lasting kisses against her neck and spine.

He smacked her again and she moaned at the contact. The position felt awkward, but neither of them really cared that much. Much too enveloped in the scent of the other. Intoxicated on the other.

His hands were roaming all over her soft skin. The bumps and valleys were pleasuring to run his fingers along and she was so damn curvy it felt like exploring the hills behind his house back when he was a kid—so damn exciting.

He dropped to his knees and his hands followed, lightly trailing from her back to her butt. He pulled her cheeks apart, watched the way her panties bunched in the middle, and then stuck his face in between.

He bit and kissed and licked, his hands holding her butt and upper thighs tightly as his tongue and mouth explored, eventually settling just above the wet spot.

He hoisted her legs over his shoulders and let her thighs rest along his back. He grabbed the panty bunch and pulled it aside to expose her wet, so very inviting lips.

He groaned softly before licking out carefully, like he was testing the temperature of the water before diving right in. It was an awkward angle, but he was determined, and found her clit rather quickly. A lot faster than he expected to, to be honest.

He lapped at her like a dog desperate for water, like plants rapidly absorbing nutrients when it finally rains after a long drought, like he'd been waiting for this moment his whole life. Been waiting for her his whole life.

She betrayed her body when she shouted for him to stop. She felt herself physically deflate as he removed his hands, but she needed a second to catch her breath. The warmth had been building inside of her to the point where she was about to boil over, and she didn't want that to happen yet.

She weakly lifted herself off the desk, her body having fully relaxed into whatever state he'd put her in.

She turned around to face him and immediately unhooked her bra, letting it drop to the floor with a loud bang that echoed in the now silent room.

His eyes didn't waver from hers, but sure as fuck they wanted to.

This time she dropped to her knees, maintaining eye contact the entire time. She lifted her hands to his knees and traveled lightly up to his hips, then tracing his V-line straight to the hard bulge in his slacks.

She cupped it with one hand and began to unbutton his pants with her other hand. She squeezed his restrained cock lightly as she successfully released the button and started unzipping.

Once the pants were off, she removed her eyes from him and closed them, immediately enveloping the bulge in her mouth. The fabric felt weird on her tongue, but the noise he released was so deep and so guttural, it bordered animalistic. He was fully craving her.

She tugged on the waistband of his briefs and slid the fabric down, watching as his cock popped out from the restraints. Erect and deep red, blushing like it was embarrassed from how badly he craved her. She smiled at the thought and felt her mouth salivating.

Grabbing the base with her hand, she tentatively licked at the tip, catching light beads of pre-cum with her tongue.

He was quiet because he had to be. They were in his office during the day on a crowded campus. Another student or teacher could walk in at any moment.

Eren's hands found her hair and she could feel his eyes fixed on her, so she looked up at him through her eyelashes, wide-eyed, and then ran her tongue from the base to the tip.

The smile that formed on his face etched into her memory. Screaming desire and pure bliss.

They both knew there was no one else they’d rather be doing this with.

She took him into her mouth. She couldn’t envelope more than two inches without gagging, but he didn’t seem to care. His hands lightly followed her motions, but never pushed too hard.

She looked up at him. His eyes were closed, head back, hands clasped in her hair. His hips were chasing after her mouth whenever she pulled back.

She enjoyed it, this small game of chase. She had been chasing after him the whole semester; now he was following after her. She finally got to lead. He was biting his lip, holding back the moan that scratched at the back of his throat.

She was teasing him, lightly licking and kissing the tip when he yanked her off by her hair. She was initially startled from the sudden motion, but she honestly thought about asking him to do it again.

She beamed when he pulled her hair to signal her to stand up, obeying and sighing as he let go.

He didn't immediately do anything, prompting Mikasa to ask: "What are you thinking about?"

The smirk grew wider. "If I want to fuck you here or on the couch."

[billconrad]

Numbers

    Our society cannot get enough numbers. They quantify and distinguish with infinite precision. “Bob tried to start the car three times.” Why not four, two, or one-half? Number three precisely describes Bob’s tenacity and the status of the car. Yet, only readers who use cars can appreciate this number. Fifty car starting attempts are too much.

    Many concepts can only be described with numbers, such as the time. “Fred needed fourteen minutes to complete his task.” The reader can now precisely comprehend Fred’s frustration, time management, and time investment level.

    Humans love to round numbers. “How many nails do you have? About a hundred.” Why not, “Exactly 98.” “Over 112.” Sometimes, we round to even, tens, or fives. “That took over 20 minutes.” “The speed is 55 miles per hour.” “It’s 50 kilometers to Chicago.” “We need twelve eggs.” Has anybody ever needed eleven or thirteen eggs?

     We also need to correlate our numbers. Fifteen minutes is not enough time to walk to school. $100 is too high. Wow, 310 pounds is too heavy. Numbers allow us to have descriptions with great precision and quickly show flaws. For example, Bob cannot start his car 3.5 times but can weigh 99.123 pounds.

    Humans cling to strange numerical beliefs. Seven is a lucky number. Thirteen is unlucky. Cats have nine lives. We even have a numerical religion/belief called Numerology, meaning believers must have their weddings on a specific day. Houses may not be purchased with a street number containing a nine. Being born on the first day of a month is a bad sign.

    As a writer, I think a lot about numbers. What is a good number of attempts for Bob to start his car? How would my character react to spending $120? How long does a task take? Sally finished her minimum wage job and paid $500 for a burger. It is a perfectly valid sentence, yet readers easily spot the error. Thus, a writer must choose an appropriate number to fit the situation.

    Numerical errors are easily identified; a less-than-perfect number will annoy readers. Yet, numbers represent power. A writer may define characters with extreme precision. Bob tried to start the car over 100 times. What a fighter!

    Yet, there is an unresolved problem with writing sentences that contain numbers. The rules are not ironclad. For example, these two sentences are valid: “Fifty-five is too much.” “55 is too much.” And so are these: “The fifties was a fun time.” “The ‘50s was a fun time.” “The 1950s was a fun time.”

    I have learned that the most critical aspect of writing numbers is to be consistent. Here are my general rules: Never start a sentence with a numerical number. “55 is too much.” Spell out numbers under twenty and use numerals for the rest. “The total is fifteen.” “The total is 55.” Use dashes between words. “Fifty-five”

   However, there are rules that I am not sure about. Use 5%. Use five-percent. Use #5. Use number five. It is ~5. It is approximately five. The temperature is 5ºC. The temperature is five degrees Celsius. The tolerance is ±5. The tolerance is +/-5.

   Fortunately, one thing is clear. The ending of this article required one sentence.

    You’re the best -Bill

    October 05, 2024

    Hey book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

    Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

    Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

    Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

    Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

    These books are available in soft-cover on Amazon and eBook format everywhere.

[asurrogateblog]

Sweet! :D Are there any other characters important to the story, aside from the band, you'd like to talk about?

ooh okay!

as usual I am wholly incapable of providing a short answer.

The most interesting side characters to talk about are from Cal's part of the story (basically the epilogue, see the last slide it does require that context)*

*sidenote: I do have side-characters for the "real story" obviously, but one of the points I want to make in the story is how the main cast is so myopically self-obsessed that they don't fully process the consequences of their actions outside of the circle of the three of them until it's way too late. so as a result everyone else is a little less developed (it's on the to-do list

ANYWAY. so as mentioned in the powerpoint, Cal in the present-day owns a little record/instrument shop. And speaking meta-textually, she REFUSES to get involved in an actual plot. I have a few ideas I'm playing around with for where to take her character but usually it's like "yah I'm not doing that." given this stand-off I've resorted to a more slice-of-life style of things. I guess she deserves that. arguably. a lot of philosophical questions there about whether you're responsible for the actions of the people you used to be.

so when I was thinking of her shop, I started thinking about the neighborhood around it. and I asked myself "who would be the funniest person/people to move in next door?"

Meet Arti and Ray! They're lesbian married, they're re-opening the old bar next door, and they just happen to be Clarion Call super fans. They even have matching tattoos and their bar is called Puzzlemaster after the Clarion album. In the CC universe they're definitely on tumblr making "rpf is fine" memes with photos of Roy and Nelson.

Facts about Arti:

Mellow (read: quietly chaotic), observant, creative

Trying to finish her degree in film studies on the side. Dreams of making really unsettling avant-garde horror movies.

Introduced to CC by her mom. She doesn't really talk to her family anymore (....it's complicated), but she kept the love of the music. Nelsongirl.

genuinely really enjoys bartending; mixology master

Facts about Ray:

Energetic, competitive, loud

Works part-time at a daycare to supplement their income; loves kids, should honestly be a gym teacher

Born in the Phillpines; moved to California (bay area) as a kid

Introduced to CC by their cousins. godsend for "teenager struggling to fit in who doesn't realize they're queer yet". Roy stan.

The premise for them is analogous to this: imagine, anon, that one day you're chatting with the old woman who lives next door and it strikes you that she looks a lot like John Lennon. Now consider exactly what would it take for you to go from "haha weird" to "oh my god, I think John Lennon is still alive and an old woman and also my neighbor". And beyond that, what would it take for you to actually accuse her of this.

As they get to know each other, this is the game of psychological chess going on between Cal and Arti & Ray (of course, they'd probably think that she's secretly Izzy Riles.... which she is, but that's only a third of the story).

So that's a little introduction to them! They're a lighter and sillier part of the story and I like them a lot

(I have to stop here. I have to make myself)

[alianoralacanta]

Unfortunately, this presents the point of the Trolley Problem as being, "if one tells oneself enough lies, or doesn't pay enough attention to the question and its context, one can pretend not to be culpable for one's actions by setting up a false dilemma". This is because if the Trolley Problem was presented as it is, it couldn't be as it is presented. (Depending on the exact wording, either the person under dilemma has no actual decisions at all, or has several more options than the two that are allegedly the only ones). The Trolley Problem itself is not a sound model on which to base a philosophical theory, let alone a political one. There are several complete solutions to the actual Trolley Problem, just as there are to both examples cited in the post. They require the following: 1) thinking outside the box 2) considering what resources have been ignored, underappreciated or unrealistically blocked off by the questioner 3) remembering that in the real world, issues like physics, maths, politics and psychology are real 4) checking for fallacies in the question, not just the answers (the false dilemma is only one of over a dozen basic fallacies, and philosophy is continually arguing over how many advanced fallacies exist) 5) getting information for the parts of the environment which have been concealed and are relevant to any possible solution (people who posit these dilemmas never seem to give all the relevant variables affecting the original 2 choices, let alone others) 6) identify the points of knowledge, justification and doubt. (There are some problems that can't be solved at all, but none of the three examples cited is an example. It's difficult to think of one that can be expanded to the point of an actual dilemma without hitting the problem of out-of-the-box solutions, and despite studying quite a lot of philosophy topics at degree level, I've yet to encounter one that succeeded even from professional philosophers). With that information, see if you can figure out some of those solutions - to the original Trolley Problem and the applications alike. People who enjoy considering the Trolley Problem, its criticisms and counter-criticisms may also enjoy looking into Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, its critics and apologists. (If OP's point is that some constraints exist and these have to be taken into account, a better approach is simply positing a premise. Any premise, including ones with zero relevance to any particular argument. Premises by definition cannot be changed, even if they are false outside the argument. If it were not for this implicit understanding, the majority of conversations - let alone all philosophy and politics - would keel over, for no shared basis of understanding could exist).

You know I used to think "tumblr's absolute refusal to actually engage with the Trolley Problem in favor of insisting that there must be a third, morally pure option that doesn't require them to make a hard decision and anyone who asks them to make a binary choice is just a short-sighted idiot is really fucking annoying, but I guess it's not actually doing any harm".

Anyway that was before we asked tumblr at large to decide between "guy aiding a genocide but making progress elsewhere" and "guy who would actively and enthusiastically participate in a genocide and would also make everything else much, much worse for everyone elsewhere" and the response was that there must be a third, morally pure option that doesn't require them to make a hard decision and that anyone who asks them to make a binary choice is a short-sighted idiot.

[slshyderabad2022]

Lawyer by Day, Scholar by Night

Law is the most exciting degree an arts student can pursue. It requires extreme dedication to be one. However, don’t you think joining India's best BA LLB colleges will require passion? The curriculum is challenging, with no idea about the law branch you will go in. There would also be additional subjects like Hindi, German, and ethics that you must study separately. How would your day look like? Let’s find out. 

What is a BA LLB?

BA LLB is an integrated five-year programme with multidisciplinary subjects. You will walk out with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree after graduation. This course is different from a traditional LLB programme. A traditional programme is for three years, during which you study only law. You will have to get an LLM after your LLB. However, no extra preparation is required for admission to an LLM after BA LLB. But there is a catch. You must take the bar exam after your BA LLB to be eligible for law practice in India. 

The Scholar's Side

The bar exam is conducted by the AIBE every year. You must pass this exam with high marks. Unfortunately, passing this exam is not easy. Only 48% of the candidates manage to pass the exam every year. That’s less than half of the number that appears for it. Therefore, you must study a lot to become a future lawyer. You can pass the exam if you have excellent critical thinking skills. The vast array of BA subjects offered alongside law studies (e.g., history, literature, economics, psychology) will improve your critical thinking skills. It will help you perform well in the exam. 

The Lawyer's Life

The mix of BA and law in your degree can sometimes be overwhelming. Although your intellectual skills will improve with humanities, you must still acquire knowledge to be a lawyer. Make a practical study schedule to focus on your law subjects. You must also dive into past cases and law research papers to gain an edge over your peers. Your clear understanding of each law must be reflected in the answers you write. 

Striking the Balance

Now that you are focused on your law course let us warn you about one thing. You are likely to face burnout. All the subjects, exams, and assignments will cause potentially long-term stress. You will have to take care of your mental health during your course. Have healthy eating habits and use stress reduction techniques to enjoy your learning. The best LLB colleges in Hyderabad will ensure you have a stellar experience and become a great lawyer one day. 

Despite the challenges, a BA LLB offers a rewarding path to becoming a well-rounded lawyer. The diverse knowledge and honed critical thinking skills will equip you to excel in the legal field.

[tiashads]

Successful Egg Donor Recruitment: A Detailed Project Analysis

In this article, we share our experience of successfully generating 588 qualified leads for egg donor recruitment within three months. We delve into project details, highlighting the most effective strategies that led to a remarkable 50% reduction in cost per lead.

It is crucial to note that we exclusively collaborated with intermediaries designated by the clinic to manage the egg donor recruitment process. Essentially, the clinic outsourced donor search to these intermediaries and our communication was solely with them.

Project Features

Egg Donor Requirements:

Asian descent (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Taiwanese)

Age: 20-30 years old

BMI: 18-28

Non-smoker with no history of substance abuse

Physically and psychologically healthy with a regular menstrual cycle

Higher education preferred

Residing in the USA

What does the donor receive?

Financial compensation: $15,000 (first time), $17,000 (second and subsequent times)

Additional $3,000 bonus for donors with a four-year college degree or higher

Intended parents cover all travel, insurance, medical procedures, and attorney fees associated with the donation process.

Creatives

We tested a multitude of creatives in different formats and designs, which helped us find the best working solutions.

Creatives in English feature a brightly smiling girl of the desired origin.

The main headline and creative description are in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, or Taiwanese, with the rest in English. Visuals feature a brightly smiling girl of the desired origin.

The most important thing was to filter out girls who did not match our desired origin. In the first case, the visual serves as a trigger, while in the second case, the main headline in the native language does the trick.

We tested both static creatives and conversational format video creatives. The static creatives showed the best results.

A typical phrase like “Become an egg donor for a reward” didn't work, so we used the upper limit of potential compensation on the creatives, as money plays a key role here.

What did we try?

No matter how great the creatives are, it's also important where the girls will land after clicking the ad. The options we tested:

To the website

In this case, we didn't get a single application. Why? In short, the girls just got lost on our website. For example, three buttons with the same name led to different pages with the same information written differently. Also, the site was poorly optimized for mobile.

Single-page site

A concise landing page with basic information and a questionnaire also proved ineffective. We hypothesize that a potential donor, often a busy young woman, might see our Instagram ad during a brief break. Intrigued, she clicks through but lacks the time to complete the questionnaire before her break ends. Without saving the page, it's unlikely she'll return to finish.

Quiz

The girl transitions from the ad to a site with questions. She doesn't see all the questions at once, answering them gradually — the same issue as the previous option.

Lead form

A good option for making initial personal contact with the girl. BUT! Initially, managers sent girls a huge list of questions right away, then asked for photos and invited them to a meeting. This strong pressure and insistence scared off most girls, even though they just submitted a request to learn more.

We slightly changed the script:

We begin with a greeting and a brief introduction. Then we state that the girl submitted a request to become a donor and ask: "Would you like to know more about how this works?" — our main goal is to win her over and get a response.

Next, we offer two communication options: chat or phone call. — building a trusting relationship and showing our respect for the girl.

Once a small dialogue is established with the girl, we send her a link to the questionnaire in the chat and ask when she will be ready to complete it (to set a timeframe), add her data to the CRM system, and always add: "If you have any additional questions or something is unclear in the questionnaire, let us know!"

It is important to remember that this is primarily a cold lead. The girl just showed interest, she wants to know more or is not ready yet, she needs time to think it over and discuss it with someone who can explain everything.

This approach gave us the best results! We spend a bit more time, but we win the girls over and help them in every way = more wonderful donors in the database.

Results for 3 months:

Spent: $9,202.71

In the first month, we received 134 applications at $22.50 each — during this month we tested all landing page options and changed over 100 creatives, and only at the end finally found a working combination that gave stable results.

In the second month, we received 180 applications at $16.11 each — during this month we managed to reduce the application cost by almost 30%, which is a good result, and it was during this period that we perfected our script.

In the third month, we received 274 applications at $11.98 each — fully optimized the application processing process, simplified the girl's path, and reduced the application cost by 50% compared to the first month.

Total applications: 588

Average application cost: $15.65

14% = 82 girls who completed all three questionnaires and attended an in-person interview at one of the offices.

After the interview, the girl undergoes tests and a medical examination. Based on the results, it will be determined if she is suitable to become an egg donor, and then her profile will be placed in the donor database for prospective parents. The number of girls added to the database is unknown to us.

Now it's the fourth month of our collaboration, meaning everyone is happy with the results — this is our main goal.

Summary of results:

Over 588 qualified leads were generated in 3 months

Cost per lead reduced by 50% from the first month to the third month

82 donors completed all three questionnaires and attended an in-person interview

The number of donors added to the database is not provided

Overall, the egg donor recruitment campaign appears to have been successful in generating qualified leads and reducing the cost per lead. The personalized approach and clear communication strategies have been key factors in this success.

Ready to start working with us?

Contact us via WhatsApp or Telegram, and we’ll discuss options for promoting your business.

Get in touch with me:

Telegram

WhatsApp

If you have another business that's hard to advertise on Facebook, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We work with that too.

[starship-imzadi]

S6 E9 The Quality of Life

Ah, poker.

I find it odd that Crusher compare beards to makeup and nail polish. Men grow beards (to various degrees depending on their ethnicity) naturally. Women do not naturally have makeup and nail polish. How they wear their beards could covey significance stylistically or culturally, but just having one is a more passive existence than the choice to regularly shave. As far as gender goes I imagine Crusher and Troi both have shaved body hair (though more often than not the uniform covers their legs and under arms so it's not regularly noticeable.) Also, men can and do wear makeup or paint their nails; that's just typically not true of hetero normative western men. The vast majority of women can't have beards even if they wanted to.

For some reason all of the techno-babble gibberish is getting on my nerves. I wonder how the actors felt about it. LeVar sure gets a lot of it. I think my irritation stems from how much of the plot is reliant in made up, fantastical limitations.

Exocomps! I didn't realize this was that episode.

I would think someone I've never met, knowing as much about me as this woman knows about Data, would make me deeply uncomfortable.

Directed by Jonathan Frakes!

I bet the prop department had a fun time making the exocomp.

Ah yes, the age old starship rocks.

This is oddly nit-picky, but there seems to be, in American colloquial English, a lot of confusion about pronoun usage and what's called "over correction" (a lot if people are afraid to use the wrong pronoun, this is born from a classist prejudice that sees the over use/"incorrect" use of certain pronouns, in this case "me", as uneducated; So, "I" or "myself" is used instead, when thise are not in fact grammatically correct.) Data's voice over is: "The unexplained behavior of the exocmp has greatly puzzled Dr. Farallon and myself." "Myself" is a reflexive pronoun and requires a nominative pronoun (I, you, he/she, we, they) to refer to. "I....[do something to] ....myself." It makes me wonder if this is an attempt to make Data seem smart by "over correcting" his speech, or if Data is merely mimicking the speech of a certain type of person (despite being an android Data is very much a straight white educated man.)

It's interesting that in this future world, where they clearly have AI (AI advanced enough it can pass a Turing test and is indistinguishable from people, like Data is) and yet you can accidentally make a new AI and not realize it.

This woman is rather rude. I don't like her. Her ambition is at the edge of egotistical.... and brash.

The real question isn't what constitutes life; bacteria and grass are alive but we don't value their individuality or existence outside of ecological function and rarity/variety of type. The real question is: does self awareness constitute a soul. As humans we have no proof of special, intrinsic value on account of being self aware individuals. We have no proof of this, nor of a spiritual "soul" that makes us any different from other life. So, we have no means of looking for a soul or intrinsic value in the individual existence of non-human life either. How much we value animals, and which ones, is both individual and cultural. (Data is oviously the epitome of this conundrum in this series, but it's odd to be asking those questions now even after Data made his daughter, Lal. Interestingly, Frakes also directed that episode.) I would actually argue against Data being "alive" even if he is self aware. For whatever reason he goes only to Crusher for answers, when so many disciplines grapple with the issues. I.e. psychology

Can Geordi pronounce someone deceased? I've not actually been around someone who has died....but short of being dismembered I think I wouldn't count someone out without medical intervention....sorry, that was a bit macabre.

"We're fine" except we left three people behind?!? That's not fine!!

Damn. Data getting spicy. It's rare to see Riker get this angry.

I think I'm getting emotional over an exocomp. It sacrificed itself for its friends. 🥺

What a sweet compliment from Picard.

[paul-doyle]

Experts praise Olympic gymnast Simone Biles’ mental health honesty: ‘Conversation is critical’

Paul Doyle

CTInsider.com

July 31, 2021

Simone Biles stepped away from Olympic competition and into a debate about what it requires to thrive at a high level of athletics.

Biles, citing mental health concerns, withdrew after struggling on her vault Tuesday. Support came from all corners, but Biles has also been forced to explain and defend her decision.

On Friday morning, the most talented gymnast in the world used her Instagram account to further explain her decision.

“For anyone saying I quit … I didn’t quit,” she wrote while answering questions on her Instagram story. “My mind & body are simply not in sync.

“I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface. … nor do I have to explain why I put health first. Physical health is mental health.”

And that’s at the center of Biles’ decision. Her sport requires peak concentration. Any psychological or emotional disruption can result in disastrous — even dangerous — results.

Biles, 24, has talked about the pressure associated with being the face of her team, her sport, and the Tokyo Olympics. The four-time gold medal winner at the 2016 Olympics, Biles carried enormous expectations into Tokyo.

She has also dealt with trauma. Biles shared three years ago that she was abused by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

The other component? The Tokyo Olympics, delayed for a year because of the pandemic, are unfolding in empty venues. Athletes accustomed to performing before large crowds and with the support of nearby family are competing in isolation.

However the factors mixed, Biles was not in an optimal mental or emotional place.

So she stepped away.

“She made a very common sense decision,” said Stamford clinical psychologist Reid Daitzman, who has worked with athletes for more than 40 years. “Her mind and body were just not prepared for what she wanted to do. And she could have really hurt herself. I really respect her for the decision. I can’t imagine what it was like making that decision. But you really have to be aware of your body. A good athlete is always aware of their body.”

Daitzman said an athlete’s “optimal level of arousal” is the unique place where emotions during performance and competition are high — but not too high.

Biles, Daitzman speculates, knew her OLA was off.

“She made the correct decision not to proceed even though people who have never been exposed to that level might have said no, you’ve got to keep doing it,” he said.

Greenwich sports psychologist Amy Tardio, who works with college athletes at all levels, said athletes who reach Biles’ level recognize when they are mentally or emotionally distracted.

Athletes competing in a team sport can rely on others to compensate when they are not at peak form. But gymnastics, in particular, is a lonely venture — and it’s unsafe to compete if the mind and body are not aligned.

“You have a sport where the consequences and the degree of difficulty of her performance have catastrophic consequences if she’s not mentally there,” Tardio said. “So I think we have to respect her as an individual, as well. And I think that’s one of the issues with mental health — each individual, each individual athlete … Everyone's different. Everyone is human.”

How do athletes recognize when pressure and stress is unbearable?

Dawn Shadron, UConn’s director of student-athlete counseling and mental health services, said the school’s staff works to identify signs of distress.

“Our work focuses on identifying the source of their anxiety or stress and breaking it down into manageable chunks of information and examining what is and what isn’t in one’s control,” Shadron said. “We work to develop effective coping mechanisms to use ‘in the moment’ and identify additional supports the athlete can utilize while taking those next steps.”

Daitzman began working with athletes in an era when sports psychology was in its infancy. His client list has grown from high school and college athletes to professional athletes and those training for the Olympics.

Fast forward from his work in the late 1970s to a time when the conversation about “sports psychology” extends beyond performance. Mental health — the impact of competition and preparation and pressure — is very much part of the conversation.

“We’ve come a long way,” he said.

Said Tardio, “The conversation is critical. And I think the athletes and their peers are embracing it … the conversation alone is probably a first. These are very strong, successful, accomplished, determined athletes that are opening up these conversations and they’re willing to stand there and even feel the backlash of what that means.”

Shadron said that while the focus on mental health has increased over the past decade, the sports world remains at the “earlier stages of this discussion.”

“Fortunately the voices of these prominent athletes have amplified and advanced those discussions in important ways,” she said.

Indeed, Biles is just the latest high-profile athlete to speak about mental health. Naomi Osaka, one of the top tennis players in the world, cited her emotional health when she withdrew from the French Open and skipped Wimbledon. Michael Phelps, the most accomplished swimmer in Olympic history, has talked openly about depression.

Former UConn basketball player Breanna Stewart, among the best in the world, praised Biles for speaking out.

“Mental health is real and making sure that you’re in a good mental state of mind isn’t always the easiest thing,” Stewart said. “And especially here at the Olympics, you see that everything is heightened. The pressure is heightened, the pride is heightened, the wanting to represent your country and do everything you possibly can do to win is everywhere. I think for us as athletes we feel that and it’s making sure we have a happy balance.”

The change is immense, especially among the best of the best — Biles, Osaka, Phelps and Stewart have reached the highest level in their sports.

“Simone Biles has recognized her power and utilized her voice and her visibility on this world platform in a way that is inspiring and empowering others,” Shadron said. “The more that professional athletes can lead and live by example reduces stigma and promotes the importance of attending to one’s mental health as we do our physical health.”

The shift is generational. Shadron works with a population of athletes comfortable speaking about mental health, people who prioritize the emotional component of athletics.

“Discussion of mental wellness, good nutrition, coping mechanisms for managing stress, having a good sleep plan, good study habits, creates a sense of normalcy and supports a culture of well-being,” Shadron said. “The earlier we engage in healthy discussions about thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, the better.”

paul.doyle@hearstmediact.com

[xtruss]

You've Got Mail: Teaching Osama bin Laden's "Letter to the Americans"

— Author: Irfan Khawaja | Date: Winter 2017 | From: Reason Papers (Vol. 39, Issue 2) | Publisher: Reason Papers

— Document Type: Critical Essay | Length: 3,704 Words | Lexile Measure: 1550L

"For against an objector who sticks at nothing, the defense should stick at nothing."

—Aristotle, Topics V.4 (134a1-3)

I use the phrase "dialectical excellence" in a somewhat revisionary way to name a set of moral-intellectual capacities canonically associated with a "dialectical" tradition in philosophy that includes the Platonic dialogues, Aristotle's treatises on dialectic and rhetoric, Cicero's dialogues, Thomas Aquinas's Summas, and John Stuart Mill's Autobiography and On Liberty. What makes these texts "dialectical" (as I see it) is their attention to philosophy as a conversational activity, with particular attention to the adversarial or polemical features of philosophical conversation. Philosophy in this tradition vindicates or refutes controversial claims in order publicly to demonstrate their truth or falsity to an educated but potentially indifferent, skeptical, or even hostile audience. As conceived in this tradition, "dialectical excellence" names the capacity, in adversarial contexts, to refute a sophistical argument in a rhetorically effective way.

So understood, dialectical excellence demands three sets of skills of its practitioners. One set is intellectual: the capacity to identify sophistry and factual inaccuracy at the weakest and most fundamental junctures of an adversary's arguments. A second set is rhetorical: a facility with language (ideally, more than one) that enables one to put one's case in its most rhetorically effective form, rousing the moral passions of one's audience, without exploiting the ignorance or irrationality that so often accompanies such passions. A third set is psychological: the disposition to maintain confidence in one's case without losing one's composure, lapsing into dogmatism, or giving in to intimidation. Dialectical excellence, we might say, requires the integration of all three skills in a single person, along with the readiness and ability to use those skills in the right way at the right time for the right reasons. (2)

Over the past several years, I've had students in upper-division philosophy and political science classes read and engage with Osama bin Laden's so-called "Letter to the Americans" (3) (hereafter "Letter"), a manifesto posted on the Internet in Arabic about a year after the 9/11 attack, later translated into English, but ironically almost entirely unknown to its putative addressees. In brief overview: the "Letter" offers an extended justification for the 9/11 attacks, blaming Americans for having brought the attacks on themselves, promising further attacks if the U.S. government continues its present policies in the Near East, and enjoining Americans both to change those policies and to convert immediately to (bin Laden's form of) Islam. In overarching form, the Letter is a not-very-subtle ultimatum threatening mass murder in the event of non-compliance, adding some gratuitous insults along the way.

Why promote such a document--raving in demeanor, murderous in prescription--to prominence within the undergraduate curriculum? The answer, I think, is that the Letter is an extraordinarily good counterfeit of dialectical excellence, and like all good counterfeits, offers the perfect opportunity for exercise in recognizing (and in this case, acquiring) the real thing. (4) Its cleverness and rhetoric skillfully conceal its inaccuracy, incoherence, and immorality, a fact that takes some difficult but instructive work to grasp.

Rhetorically at least, bin Laden's Letter exemplifies dialectical excellence to a higher degree than most American political or theological discourse intended for a comparably broad audience. As a purely formal matter, the Letter has the structural integrity of a Scholastic questio out of Aquinas's Summa Theologiae. As Bruce Lawrence puts the point: "In a feature of the Arab fatwa tradition, opinions are here couched as detailed responses to specific questions, [and] broken down into sections and subsections in such a way as to emphasize the irrefutable logic of jihad." (5) The result is a document that, on its own terms at least, makes a clearer and more cogent case than almost any comparable American work.

Form aside, the Letter manages to say more than comparable recent American documents, and seems to presume a higher intellectual level on the part of its audience. Where, for instance, George W. Bush's 2002 State of the Union Address focuses pointillistically and in amnesiac fashion on the 9/11 attacks and their immediate aftermath, (6) bin Laden's Letter puts the attacks in a wider and more informative historical context, marshalling a wealth of evidence to demonstrate that (on bin Laden's terms) the U.S. has for decades been a systematic aggressor deserving of massive retaliatory response. Where the speeches of American pundits, clerics, and politicians circa 2001-2002 serve up an embarrassing hash of bravado and sentimentality, bin Laden offers his audience what one commentator calls a "magnificent," "eloquent," and "even at times poetic" expression of moral self-assurance, (7) and what another has described as "the authentic, compelling voice of a visionary," expressing "what can only be called a powerful lyricism." (8) Little in Vital Speeches of the Day from the last few decades survives rhetorical comparison with bin Laden's Letter, and as far as I know, no comparable American document exists that rebuts his claims as thoroughly as he makes them.

Having appreciated the Letter's narrowly rhetorical merits, however, the fact remains that morally and intellectually, its argument is an abject failure. Morally, much of what bin Laden says in it consists of platitudes insufficiently determinate to settle any dispute between bin Laden and his American adversaries. As bin Laden's moral claims become more determinate, they also become more controversial, but the more controversial they become, the less he offers in the way of argument for them beyond question-begging citations of Scripture, question-begging even from an orthodox Islamic perspective. Moral claims aside, almost every historical or political claim in the Letter is either straightforwardly false or else ridiculously under-argued, a fact that bin Laden brazenly evades throughout the text. Finally, the Letter practically radiates illogic and bad faith: this is a document that, on the one hand, rationalizes mass murder on the grounds that "the Americans" have stolen "our" oil (whose oil?), and, on the other hand, rationalizes the same act on the grounds that the Americans show insufficient concern for the perils of anthropogenic global warming. Incoherence of this sort is par for the course throughout the Letter, and indeed, throughout the entire bin Ladenite Corpus.

I've assigned the Letter to undergraduates at Felician in three courses: an upper-division course on ethics where the topic of moral and cultural relativism comes up (PHIL 301, Moral Philosophy); a basic course on international relations where terrorism comes up (PSCI 303, International Relations); and an independent study I've designed on cultural conflict between "Islam" and "the West" (PHIL 420, Islam and the West: Encounter and Conflict). Regardless of the course, the basic question at issue is whether an objective verdict on the Letter's claims is possible, and if so, what the verdict ought to be. After a class session or two of discussion, I ask students to write a short paper defending their own views on that question. Given the unfamiliarity to them of bin Laden's historical and political assertions, I allow them to remain agnostic where they lack the knowledge to reach a verdict, but ask that they identify what further facts they would need to know in order to reach one. Since, I suggest, any thinking reader would have to reach a verdict of some kind on bin Laden's claims, it is worth knowing whether such verdicts can be defended, and if so, how. I insist, sincerely, that I am open to any verdict, positive or negative. Counterintuitive as it may seem, that insistence is central to the pedagogical value of the exercise.

The results are pretty disheartening; indeed, few assignments so starkly reveal students' dialectical weaknesses as this one. The reactions I usually get fall into two rough categories, which I call fideist resistance and thoughtful acquiescence. In some cases, these categories represent two distinctly different groups of students; in other cases, they represent the same student at different phases of engagement with the Letter. In both cases, I suggest, they represent dialectical failure.

The fideist resister is a priori convinced that the Letter's claims must all be wrong; that Americans everywhere are and have always been innocents; that the U.S. government could "never have done" what bin Laden accuses it of doing; and (paradoxically) that even if the U.S. were entirely guilty of bin Laden's indictment, its guilt would have no bearing on the cogency of his case. According to the fideist resister, it is our duty categorically to condemn bin Laden, whether or not we have an explanation for why he attacked us, and whether or not we are capable of evaluating the reasons he gave for doing so. The vehemence of our repudiation of bin Laden is the measure of our virtue, and there is apparently no better guarantor of virtue so conceived than the steadfast refusal to deal with anything that might cast doubt on our moral beliefs.

I've stated the view in its extreme form, but commitment to it comes in degrees. In its more moderate forms, fideist resisters will engage with the Letter in a half-hearted way, taking issue with this or that claim, but ultimately expressing impatience or exasperation with bin Laden's tendency to dwell on "ancient history." Since the history in question is unfamiliar and temporally distant, such students infer that historical considerations must themselves be irrelevant to so recent an event as 9/11. (9) Fideist resisters tend not to notice that their argument (such as it is) cuts both ways: If historical claims are irrelevant to the justice of bin Laden's claims, they must equally be irrelevant to that of his victims. On the fideist resister's view it therefore becomes our duty to veto historical inquiry into bin Laden's case, even if we have to forswear the discovery that the facts are on our side.

The thoughtfully acquiescent reader rejects the dogmatic and self-defeating character of the fideist resister's strategy, and resolves instead to give bin Laden a fair hearing. Having done so, however, this reader quickly runs into alien territory, and then gets bogged down in it; bin Laden's accusations against the Americans are practically designed to strike this sort of reader as both maddeningly obscure and yet vaguely guilt-inducing. Within a few sentences, the fair-minded but dialectically inexpert reader encounters a barrage of obscure but overheated references to "your" atrocities at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as those in Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, Lebanon, Algeria, and the Philippines. The reader is held personally responsible for environmental degradation and the evils of globalization, and is treated to a detailed guilt-trip over "your" addiction to drugs, pornography, and lucre. The guilt-trip seems at once over the top and yet troublingly plausible. The acquiescent reader has no idea of what to make of bin Laden's history lesson, and (being both acquiescent and allergic to history) is disinclined to seek clarification. But bin Laden's attack on capitalism, hedonism, and consumerism doesn't need clarification; the thoughtfully acquiescent student has heard all of that before, and is prepared--even eager--to allocute to the charges. (10)

And so, this student concludes, bin Laden must surely "have a point" about all the ancient history he brings up. Since he does, it must be safe to take his version of historical events roughly at face value. The less dialectically expert the student, the greater the tendency to turn "roughly at face value" into "essentially at face value," and eventually into fundamental acceptance of bin Laden's version of twentieth-century history. Having accepted bin Laden's historical narrative without a fight, our thoughtful reader is now surprised to discover how "reasonable" bin Laden sounds. For what is he saying but that al-Qaida attacked "us" because "we" attacked "them" first? And how wrong could he be, if "we" were by all accounts occupying "his" lands with "our" tanks and "our" troops? In that case, bin Laden is probably right to suggest that things would go better if only we dealt with one another (in his words) "on the basis of mutual interests and benefits." Doing so surely seems preferable to fighting bloody and interminable wars against "his" people. In my experience, students rarely if ever quarrel with bin Laden's use of pronouns, buying into it, and conceding most of his case right from the start.

Like the fideist resister's view, this one comes in degrees: sympathy for bin Laden's case co-exists in guilty and confused fashion with vehement expressions of rejection, revulsion, and contempt, and with expressions of patriotism. But the essential feature of thoughtful acquiescence is the assumption that acquiescence in bin Laden's case is more expedient than inquiry into it. We are, on the thoughtful acquiescer's view, entitled or obliged to treat bin Laden's assertions (particularly his historical assertions) as a substitute for such an inquiry, and to offer a verdict not on the facts as such (which are regarded as inaccessible on principle) but on his assertions, taking their approximate truth essentially on faith.

The upshot of the exercise is that whether they are fideist resisters or thoughtful acquiescers, our students have a predisposition to believe what bin Laden wants them to believe. The fideist resister resists inquiry into bin Laden's case because he fears that bin Laden might well turn out to be right. The thoughtful acquiescer resists inquiry into that case because she sees no reason to think that bin Laden could be that wrong. What seems lost on these students is the possibility that moral and historical inquiry into bin Laden's claims might yield a verdict that was objectively true, rationally justified, and yet thoroughly negative. Unfortunately, this is just another way of saying that what seems lost on them is the idea of moral inquiry into history as such.

In my view, the dialectical ineffectuality of our students (or at least my students, defeasibly taken as representative of a larger population) points to serious weaknesses in American higher education. Powerful institutional biases militate against the inculcation of dialectical excellence there, all of which deserve challenge. Consider three problems from a much longer list.

For one thing, dialectical excellence demands high intellectual standards along with what Aristotle calls paideia, the general educatedness that makes a person a good judge in every area of life that calls for judgment. (11) Despite the wearisome talk of "assessment," "rubrics," "mission statements," "Bloom's taxonomy," and so on foisted on us by bureaucrats, accreditation agencies, and administrators, we lack any serious way of assessing or rewarding success at paideia, and so, lack the thing itself. To be more specific, I would argue that dialectical excellence requires a more concerted emphasis on informal logic as conceived of in the Aristotelian tradition (a.k.a., "critical thinking"), and a more serious emphasis on the study of history, especially world history, conveyed less by textbooks than by real historiography. (12) Unfortunately, allegiance to the usual disciplinary (and other) tribalisms makes this an unlikely outcome, as does the loss of interest in non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields, along with the widespread skepticism and cynicism about the value of higher education now prevalent in the United States. (13)

Second, dialectical excellence demands rhetorical facility and research skills that are nowadays almost entirely the responsibility of overburdened Departments of English, where the modus operandi is to cram everything into that old standby, English 101 ("English Composition," "Writing the College Essay," etc.). Despite the efforts of the faculty who teach such thankless courses, there is no way to wrest dialectical excellence from functional illiteracy in a single semester, and no way to retain whatever literacy is achieved if the gains of that single semester are forgotten or subverted for seven (or more) subsequent semesters. Suffice it to say that if real literacy is the object, we need to rethink how things are done.

Third, dialectical excellence demands a certain psychological toughness from its practitioners that is incompatible with the "sensitivity" that is now routinely expected of both students and faculty in the classroom. We all like to be liked, but a good dialectician gives higher priority to the task of refuting sophistry and exposing falsehood than to popularity or niceness, something guaranteed to hurt the feelings of those folk in the grips of such things. At a certain point, we simply have to admit (and get administrators to admit) that hurt feelings are an integral part of real intellectual life. Many dire fears are expressed, some of them justified, about the consequences of teaching students controversial subjects in a less-than-welcoming academic environment. Much less is said about the incoherence, ignorance, and lassitude that are the predictable result of a low-pressure classroom environment, where everyone is allowed to emote with impunity because the work of dialectical contestation would generate more discomfort than is currently thought tolerable. But as matters stand, I would suggest that the "sensitive" classroom has done at least as much damage to American higher education as has the "mean" one, not that those options exhaust the possibilities. In any case, the fact remains that the "sensitive" classroom is systematically insensitive to the psychological requirements of dialectical excellence, a fact that has to be entered into any credible cost-benefit analysis.

Excellence in any field is easier discussed than achieved, and dialectical excellence is no exception. But if achieving it seems optional, consider the consequences of dialectical mediocrity. It may seem hyperbolic to suggest that we face a choice between dialectical excellence on the one hand, and murderous insanity on the other, but it's a hypothesis worth considering. As the twentieth century ought to have taught us, a society's discursive mediocrity leaves a vacuum easily filled by sophistry in the service of mass murder--think of Czarist Russia, Weimar Germany, or the colonial and post-colonial Near East. Bin Laden's Letter teaches us that lesson once again. We owe it to our students to enable them to learn it. (14)

— Irfan Khawaja, Felician University

(1) The most easily accessible online version of bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to the Americans" is the one posted at the website of The Guardian, accessed online at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver. An earlier version of this article was first presented on April 16, 2011, at the 17th Annual Conference of the Association for Core Texts and Courses, two weeks prior to Osama bin Laden's death at the hands of the U.S. Special Operations Command. Given my focus on bin Laden's message rather than his person, however, I refer to that message in the present tense throughout the essay.

(2) Cf. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, trans. Terence Irwin (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing, 1999), II.6, 1106b20ff.

(3) I refer throughout this article to students I've taught over the last decade at Felician University (2008-2018), a small Catholic-Franciscan liberal arts institution in New Jersey. Though I have not specifically taught bin Laden's letter outside of the United States, I have discussed related topics (Islamism, terrorism, U.S. foreign policy) with undergraduates at Forman Christian College and University in Lahore, Pakistan, and with undergraduates, master's students, and law students at Al Quds University in Abu Dis, Palestine. Pakistani and Palestinian students' claims on this topic are, to put it mildly, radically different from those offered by American students. I hope to discuss this issue on a different occasion.

(4) Thanks to Amy Lynch for a helpful conversation on the expertise involved in recognizing counterfeit currency.

(5) Bruce Lawrence, "Editor's Commentary," in Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, ed. Bruce Lawrence, trans. James Howarth (New York: Verso Press, 2005), p. 160.

(6) Accessed online at: https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html.

(7) Bernard Lewis, "License to Kill: Usama bin Laden's Declaration of Jihad," Foreign Affairs vol. 77, no. 6 (November/December 1998), p. 14.

(8) Lawrence, "Introduction," p. xvii.

(9) Of course, as time passes, 9/11 becomes less and less recent an event, so that a fair number of students regard it as "ancient history," and are reflexively bored by the mention of it.

(10) Contrary to a frequently repeated claim, bin Laden does not restrict his criticisms of the U.S. to the imperialist features of its foreign policy, but repeatedly and explicitly attacks the theory and practice of American freedom as such, treating American foreign policy as one expression of American freedom among others. An egregiously inaccurate version of the claim has been promulgated for years by ex-CIA agent Michael Scheuer; for a representative instance, see his interview with Fox Business (March 4, 2013), accessed online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES-xWjzZwZE.

(11) Cf. Aristotle, De Partibus Animalium, trans. D. M. Balme, rev. Allan Gotthelf (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), I.1, 639a1-12; Aristotle, Metaphysics, trans. W. D. Ross, ed. Jonathan Barnes (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984), IV.4, 1006a5-7; Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, I.3, 1095a1-12.

(12) For an excellent discussion of the teaching of history, see Christopher Hitchens, "Why Americans Are Not Taught History," in Christopher Hitchens, Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays (New York: Nation Books, 2004), pp. 265-78. For further thoughts on teaching 9/11, see Irfan Khawaja, "'Why They Hate Us': A Pedagogical Proposal," Philosophy of Education in the Era of Globalization, eds. Yvonne Raley and Gerhard Preyer (New York: Routledge Press, 2010), pp. 91-109.

(13) For example, in the fall of 2013, my own institution conducted a "prioritization review" based on advice offered by Robert C. Dickeson, author of Prioritizing Academic Programs and Services: Reallocating Resources to Achieve Strategic Balance (Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2010), and President and Principal of Academic Strategy Partners, a consulting firm. Though Dickeson makes pro forma reference to Aristotle in his book (on paideia no less, p. 45), I can attest--as the primary author of the prioritization review for Felician University's Philosophy Department--that a standard-issue "academic and administrative prioritization review" is little more than a bureaucratic assault on the existence of non-STEM academic programs, carried out in the name of something called "strategic balance." For a good discussion of the trend I have in mind, see Benjamin Ginsberg, The Fall of the Faculty: The Rise of the All-Administrative University and Why It Matters (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

(14) I dedicate this essay to Marilyn Bornstein, Benjamin Estilow (1930-2010), and Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), my first mentors in dialectical excellence. Thanks also to George Abaunza, Fahmi Abboushi, Kristen Abbey, David Banach, Joseph Biehl, Carrie-Ann Biondi, Jeff Buechner, Richard Burnor, Donald Casey, Michael DeFilippo, Gerald Graff, Christopher Hitchens, Amy Lynch, Julie O'Connell, Charles Persky, Gail Persky, Hilary Persky, Neil Robertson, and Joseph Spoerl for many helpful conversations on the issues discussed here.

— http://www.reasonpapers.com/default.htm

[mslizsteele-stories]

Gothic Academia: One

༒︎

"Wanna get outta here?" Tobio looked up from his work and stared at the gothic girl with a curious look. 

They were seated in the corner next to the window at the study centre. She's seated across from him, preoccupied with her phone. Mikasa exuded an effortlessly cool aura in her gothic ensemble. Her raven-black pixie cut framed her delicate features, emphasizing her sharp, determined eyes and her lips were painted dark plum. Strands of obsidian hair grazed her temples and nape, adding a touch of edginess to her overall appearance. 

She glanced up, arching an eyebrow with a stoic expression. "You weren't expecting me to actually work on this assignment, were you?" she scoffed.

"It is a group assignment," he reminded her. "It requires a group effort."

Mikasa rolls her eyes. "Well, this assignment is not worth my time and effort," she argued. "I'm not about to waste my time and brain cells on an analysis of 'The Blessed Girl.'"

"It's not that bad."

"The Bloomsbury version was simply the author's attempt to appease some overly sensitive feminists who complained about the harsh ending in the Pan Macmillan version and got paid for it. I'm dying on this hill." She growled, pointing a finger at him. "Besides, I could be doing something worthwhile with my time, like partying and drinking with friends."

"Well, this module is compulsory. You need to pass this class to graduate," Tobio reminded her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Might as well suck it up until the end of the semester."

Mikasa glared at him, as if ready to cut his head off. Tobio raised his hand in surrender, not wanting to argue further. "Anyways," she continued, "I don't get why we're getting assignments on top of tests, exams, and continuous assessments. I mean, we're in university for crying out loud. If I wanted homework, I could have just stayed in high school, but here we fucking are."

"It comes with the degree, Mikasa. How else are they going to assess us?" he answered.

She scoffed, annoyed. "I've been scoring straight As for damn near every test and quiz for this module. What more do they want to know? It's not like the professors take the time to actually read three to five-page essays. All they have to do is look at the Turnitin plagiarism percentage, fancy words, slap a random letter from the alphabet based on their mood, and if they like us, then call it a day."

"You still salty about Professor Ackerman giving you a C- on your last assignment?"

"Oh, most definitely. I didn't put my blood, sweat, and tears into an essay on child psychology just for that middle-aged midget to give me a C-."

Tobio chuckled at her rant. It was a mystery how Mikasa was studying Psychology instead of Criminal Justice, considering her passion for justice. She would make a great lawyer or judge.

"Well, if you wanna leave, I won't stop you," Tobio told her. "Based on what we have, I'd say that we're already done with this assignment."

"Great! 'cause it's Friday and I'm hitting the club and getting wasted. Wanna come?"

Tobio made a face at the offer. "Hard pass. Not only is clubbing not my scene, I have a shit tone of essays to finish grading."

Mikasa's eyebrows furrow with confusion. "I'm a tutor." He told her.

"Why would you punish yourself this way, dude!" she asked, shock present in her tone.

"Good resume and extra cash."

She stared at him like he was an odd phenomenon and burst into laughter. "Okay, I knew you were a dork, but I never would have thought you were goody two shoes."

"What can I say, I value my education and my future," he shrugged with a smirk. "Now run along. Wouldn't want you to miss out on your Friday shemons."

"Hilarious," she rolled her eyes. She got up and started packing her stuff into her bag.

"Don't forget that we're meeting at your place to study for next week's test," he reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she waved her hand dismissively. "But you better not be copying my answers while we're studying. Got it?"

"Please," he rolled his eyes. "I have too much pride to stoop that low, sweetheart."

She hummed, satisfied but still a little amused. "Just making sure." With a wave, she left the study centre.

"Have fun," he called after her.

༒︎

Tobio rang the bell and adjusted the strap of his backpack as he waited for Mikasa at her door. In contrast to Mikasa's gothic style, Tobio's attire was plain and simple; denim jeans, a black T-shirt, a grey jacket, and a pair of red and blue vans. His hair, which was once a buzzcut, had grown into spikes over the past three months, but he had recently trimmed the sides, giving it a faded look. He wore his glasses over his amber eyes. It was low-effort but decent and presentable - just the way he liked it.

A minute later, the door opened, revealing Mikasa in a more casual ensemble that contrasted with her usual gothic look. Her attire remained dominantly black, consisting of a zipped-up black hoodie that offered a glimpse of her cleavage, and a pair of black cotton shorts that accentuated her hips, tracing a path down to her waist. Her dark makeup, a signature part of her style, was still present, though her eyeliner, though not as bold, highlighted her captivating dark grey eyes. Just below the corner of her left eye was a faint scar, adding an intriguing touch to her already enigmatic allure.

"You're early," she stated with a stoic expression, leaning against the doorpost.

Tobio shrugged. "I like being punctual."

"You won't die or have a stroke if you're just a few minutes late, you know."

"I know. But punctuality has its perks. You should try it."

She rolled her eyes, opened the door wider and moved to the side. "Come on in."

Tobio walked inside her little studio apartment and noticed how... normal it looked. He would have thought that given her taste, Mikasa's apartment would have a dark and gothic touch and aesthetic to it, but the simplicity of the décor and interior design from the all-white painted walls, the furniture, the light brown wooden floor and the grey curtains surprised him.

However, despite how normal and clean her small studio apartment was the faint smell of cigarettes from the ashtray on the coffee where her books and notes were scattered. She must have been studying before he came.

"Sorry about that," she quickly removed the tray and disposed of its contents in the dust bin in the kitchen. "It's kinda a habit to smoke while I'm studying."

"No, no, no. It's fine," he assured with a smile. "You're fine."

"Great! Now that you're here, we can get started," she sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table. "I remember you saying that you need help with Literature. Anything specific?"

"Ah yeah," he placed his backpack on the floor and sat down across from her. "I've been having trouble with the Gothic Era. I figure that given your aesthetic, it's your area of expertise."

"Oh my gosh, yes! I have so much I wanna talk about," her face beamed with excitement. "There's so much to cover... how about we start with its characteristics? The history and background might be a bit too complex for you."

Tobio gave her a "The floor is yours" hand gesture, "Take it away, Professor Ackerman."

"Haha! Very funny," sarcasm dripped in her tone as she rolled her eyes. "Anyways, one of the key characteristics of the Gothic Era is its tone and themes which are horror and romanticism. If you look at the literature during that time, they mostly dwelled on supernatural, death, torture, the list goes on."

Tobio listened to her attentively. It was funny how Mikasa always expressed her distaste for doing assignments and school work but still excelled in her studies and was at the top of the class. She was smart and intelligent, probably even smarter than him in some of the classes he took with her.

While he acknowledged her level of intellect, he also came to admire and appreciate her passion for the things she loves or generally anything that sparked her interest. The way her face would light up and her dark grey eyes would sparkle when she talked about her favourite band or a book she recently picked up. The way her eyes would burn with fire and her jaw would clench when she ranted about her pet peeves or when she argued and challenged opinions different from her own.

Mikasa wasn't one to express herself that way to everyone outside of her friends Eren and Armin and some rare occasions him since she was usually stoic and withdrawn. He didn't mind it, but he always appreciated rare moments like these where he got to see her in her natural element.

Not forget, he had a thing for intelligent women.

She's so sexy when she explains stuff, he thought without realising that he blurted those words out loud.

Mikasa, who was explaining examples of gothic themes in Wuthering Heights, paused. "Did you... did you just call me sexy?" A tinge of red appeared on her cheeks, surprised by what Tobio said.

Tobio snapped out of his trance and flushed with embarrassment. "Shit. Did I say that out loud?"

"Umm... yeah... pretty much," she answered with an awkward chuckle, her cheeks still red. "I mean thanks... I guess?"

"I am so sorry. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable," He said, now getting worried that he creeped her out.

She shrugged her shoulders. "A compliment is a compliment. I don't mind it even though you're not my type honestly."

Ouch, he thought. I mean fair. She's allowed to have a type and a preference. But still... ouch. "So who's your type then? Eren?"

She made a face. "I mean... we dated before but it got weird and toxic and we decided to just stay friends," she sighed scratching her head. "I dunno. It's complicated, but one thing for sure is that if you're too weak to handle all this," she gestured to herself. "then you're not worth my time."

"Oooh! Yas queen," he cheered, snapping his fingers. "We stan a woman with standards."

She chuckled, leaning back against the couch and resting her arms on her knees. "Yeah, like sure I dress in black and wear dark makeup which practically makes me a goth girl, but that's just how I dress and express myself." She paused briefly. "But I do like guys who are smart and can have deep conversations with. Just as long they make it past my resting bitch face."

Tobio laughed. "Then I'm happy to say that I'm one of those guys."

"Question," she leaned forward, placing her elbow on the coffee table and putting her hand on her chin, her expression now serious. "Do you think I'm cold and unemotional?"

Tobio blinked, taken aback by the sudden question and change in atmosphere. "It's just... I've always wondered what people think of me... well people besides Eren and Armin," she explained. "I know I'm not exactly friendly and approachable, but I'm just curious to know."

Tobio leaned back and pondered her question. He had only known her since freshman year, unlike Eren and Armin who've known her since childhood. He did get the impression that she was cold and emotionless - at first at least - but he thought of her as reserved and withdrawn. It didn't drive him away even when they first started talking, but it did take some time for her to warm up to him and he didn't mind that.

"Well... I think you're capable of expressing yourself, but only to those you trust and feel comfortable with," he answered truthfully. "I'd say you're more cautious and self-conscious than cold and unemotional. You know yourself and how people might react and receive the real you since you have a strong and intense personality. But that's just me."

Mikasa nodded her head slowly, taking in his words. "Well... having a tough childhood does that to you..." she said with a sad smile.

Tobio felt a pang of empathy in his gut. She didn't go into the nitty gritty details about her life and past but he already had a rough idea of how hard it was for her. "Sorry to hear that,"

She shook her head and smiled, a genuine one this one. "It's okay, I had friends and family who looked out for me," she said before clearing her throat. "Anyways, sob story's over. I still need to explain Wuthering Heights and its gothic themes to you so pay attention."

He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

☾︎<---------------------------------------------->☽︎

Next->

[animystsoul]

Magic & Science

If we are interested in magic, manifestation, spirituality, religion, psychology & science-

in different ways we are seeking the answer to:

"what is the cause of what happens?"

And how do we participate in the cause of what happens, how do we change things? A large subject that would require a book to explore.

I have written on "causality" & "theory of cause" in different ways in other places.

The point to make is that we as humans have lived in relation to the world through different paradigms of cause in different stages of our history.

Magic vs. Science then are two frameworks through which we understand how the world works & how we ourselves relate with the world, cause what happens & can change what happens.

"What happens" is governed by larger patterns within which we are embedded, collective & individual Sanskara, as it is called in Eastern traditions, where our imprinting drives our story-line & actions.

The interest today in wounding & trauma, is an example of finding causes in the psyche to change the effects manifesting through our emotional behaviours, changing our outcomes in the world.

Magic is sometimes defined as change in consciousness in accordance with Will, but not in contradiction with Natural Laws, & does not influence matter in a direct way (the relationship is a deep topic to undertake).

The Scientific paradigm is that of Reason. Through understanding the laws of Nature, we can command them, bring them under our Will, & use them to build human Culture. They no longer operate autonomously & spontaneously, we can use them non-spontaneously, purposefully.

Reason has become a God of sorts, humans the masters of Nature.

Some quotes from:

MORE CUNNING THAN FOLK:

AN ANALYSIS OF FRANCIS BARRETT'S THE MAGUS AS INDICATIVE OF A TRANSITIONAL PERIOD OF ENGLISH MAGIC.

by

Robert A. Priddle

A Thesis Submitted in

Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts in

Religious Studies at

The University of Ottawa

August 2012

The theories of cause-effect are of interest....

— "Magicians believed human reason was insufficient when it came to scrutinizing divine mysteries: [scientific method] many occult qualities could only be discovered by the trial-and-error of practical experiment.?""

"During the English Renaissance, three dominant theories can be described to explain how magical effects operated, the theory of correspondences, the doctrine of subtle medium, and the theory of spiritual intervention."

— "The theory of correspondences states that nature itself speaks to humankind in a language of more or less mysterious signs, which are there to be deciphered.

In this regard the power is in the operation; the magician merelg demonstrates the power which exists in nature.”

- "The theory of spiritual intervention posits that non-material agents inhabit creation and can be used by the magician to bring about change through will.

Although the world is enchanted and the operator could effect change on the world though will, the Will is not his own but God's."

— "Finally, the connection between the theory of

correspondences and theory of spiritual intervention is mediated by the doctrine of the subtle medium; the body is connected to the soul by means of spiritual links that bring life to the body, which is composed of the classical elements."

— “Magicwas developing into something that would ultimately be based on the powers of the psyche: it is the mind that works magic.?

The doctrine of subtle mediums was transformed by modern magicians into an indeterminate otherworld linking the inner reality to a spiritual reality."

- "A conscious divine universe was replaced by an autonomous nature, thus changing the basic approach to magic.

In today's occultism, this approach rests essentially on training the imagination by means of visualization techniques, and spiritual entities, if they are used, are seen as expressions of oneself."

- "It was not until the late nineteenth century that it took on an institutional format.

Before the Occult Revival those that practiced magic still practiced alone…”

*This shift in the perception of magic and witchcraft can be linked in part to the scientific revolution.

As scientific rationalism became dominant in intellectual discourse, it contributed to the decline in popularity of magical practices in English society.

However, as we have seen, the moniker scientific revolution is slightly misleading

Publicly the edifice of scientific rationalism was the driver of intellectual discourse, but outside of urban intellectual circles magical practices persisted relatively unchanged, that is until the late eighteenth century."

- "Just as science diverged from a shared origin with magic and was poised to march seemingty unassailable towards modernity, magical practices and conceptions adapted to the new notions of instrumental causality."

[the-autistic-vulcan]

So it's A-Level Results Day tomorrow

Here's the thing, I got an unconditional university offer, right? but there is still the underlying personal pressure to do well, which, honestly is normal.

i even wanted to check on various websites (UK approved) and they have said variations of the same thing:

Source: brighton.ac.uk

Security: Accepting an unconditional offer means that you have already secured your place on the course, regardless of your exam results.

Reduced stress: Without the pressure of having to achieve certain grades, you may experience reduced stress and be able to focus on other aspects of your life.

Freedom: An unconditional offer can give you the freedom to explore other opportunities or take a gap year without worrying about meeting academic requirements.

Time to prepare: With an unconditional offer, you may feel you have more time to prepare for university and start planning your future.

And I have experienced l reduced stress and time to prepare for my degree, but because I did EPQ, English Lit, History (it's also the degree i wanna do), and Psychology - what would happen if I fail one, but achieve the other three? would i have to go through clearing like everyone else? or am i a special case because of me already meeting qualifications?

idk, this post was originally meant to be an update post, but i guess now i'm just letting myself let my thoughts and feelings through. But if someone does have answers for the questions above, then:

Reblog with ur answer

Tag me

use #unconditional offer

thanks, and peace out, goblins

-Ali Solar

[sarkarijobsresult]

AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023: Notification Release for 281 Non-Teaching Posts Apply Now

AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 is posted on aiimsexams.ac.in.AIIMS Recruitment 2023 Non-Teaching posts are open to eligible candidates. AIIMS Apply Online 2023 began on May 13 at aiimsexams.ac.in. 281 openings exist. The article covers AIIMS Recruitment 2023 dates, announcements, and more. Notification

AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 Notification PDF is available for various vacancies. Read the AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 Notification for details. Download the AIIMS Delhi Non-Teaching Recruitment 2023 Notification by clicking below.

Eligibility criteria Post titleAcademic credentials Senior biochemist An accredited master's in biochemistry, medicine, or biotechnology. 5 years of biochemical or clinical pathology research or practise in a medical college or teaching hospital. Senior Chemist Master's degree in chemistry with organic, bio, or pharmacology specialisation from a reputable university. Train or study for five years. Tech EditorScience, arts, or business masters Five years editing and publishing scientific books and magazines Biochemist M.Sc. biology, biotechnology, or medicine Three years of biochemical or clinical pathology laboratory research or training at a medical college or teaching hospital. Child psychologist Ph.D. in psychology, M.A. with specialised training, or equivalent. The official notifications include academic qualifying information. Application fees Category Amount General/OBC/EWS Rs.3000/- SC/ST/PWD Rs.2400/-

Selection Process AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 screening process: Written Exam (Group B and Group C Jobs)

Job-required skill test Document Validation Medical Exam Use Method AIIMS New Delhi's website will offer online applications from April 24, 2023. Apply online until May 13, 2023. Apply online before the deadline to avoid last-minute issues. Visit https://www.aiimsexams.ac.in/ to apply. Visit the official website's Recruitments page. Tap on AIIMS Group A, B, and C Recruitment to open a drop-down menu.

A new application portal opens when you click the link from there. Enter some basic information and click the New Registration Link. Give your qualifications and address. After writing their knowledge, share their experience. Select the payment gateway and enter the details. Select the city and upload all relevant papers within the size. Finally, submit and print the online application. Common Questions How to apply for AIIMS Delhi Non-Teaching Recruitment 2023? Answer: AIIMS Delhi Non-Teaching Recruitment 2023 post has all the application details. AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 has how many openings? AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 offers 281 non-teaching positions. Q3. AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 application deadline? AIIMS Delhi Recruitment 2023 ends on 13 May 2023.

[studypprogramhere]

Finding an affordable university in the USA as an international student

An A to Z guide to undergraduate studies in the USA.

Going to college is a crucial step in one’s life. It is the stepping stone to kickstart your career. But if you are an international student that wants to study in the USA, you know the pain that tuition fees can represent.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. It’s all about the money in our world 😭

The yearly cost in American Universities can be as high as 80 000$. You can still find some public schools like SUNY Stony Brook that only cost 35 000 $ (housing and all other fees included). But this is just unbearable for a middle family in a developing country.

It’s no secret that the US is one of the most expensive nations in which to pursue higher education, but don’t let that put you off, as there are hundreds of opportunities to gain funding for your studies here.

I’m too applying to US schools this year, so I decided to write this story to share my research process and the results. As a prospective student or a parent, here are three steps you need to take to find an affordable college.

Stop searching by ranking, search by granted aid

My suggestions for you

Apply, and send the CSS profile

Stop searching by ranking, search by granted aid

The classical way of searching for a university is to browse the rankings and search for schools that offer studies in your area of interest. Often, you would go to US News or QS world ranking to find out about the best universities out there. But when you visit their website, they rarely offer financial aid for international students (apart of course from Ivy League schools like Harvard or Princeton)

Now that you know about the problem, here is my solution to it. Start by visiting the websites below and start creating a 30–40 schools list. All of which depends on your location preferences and other parameters.

Discover 2023’s Top Fully Funded Undergraduate Scholarships in the USA

Online Psychology Bachelor’s Degree in the USA: A Comprehensive Guide

Emory University Scholars Program for International Students 2022-2023

Monash University Scholarship 2023: Fully Funded Opportunities for International Students

Columbia University GSAPP Admission International Awards USA, 2022/2023

My suggestions for you

At this time, you are probably disappointed. Take Berea College, the school offers fully funded studies for all the international admitted students. But the problem is that Berea College isn’t any good. The school is average, the campus is in bad shape, and current students are unhappy. So I wouldn’t recommend you go there even if it costs 0$.

So to help you with your research, here is a list of colleges/universities to which I’m applying (and others that I like):

MIT

Harvard

Yale

Duke

Cornell

Brown

TAMU

University of Texas

Stanford

Colby college

Williams college

University of Miami

SUNY Stony Brook

Haverford College

University of New York

University of Virginia

Amherst College

Caltech

Columbia University

Apply, and send the CSS profile

Once you have created your list, you should start the application process. Most schools accept the Common App, this will make your life easier, but a few schools like MIT require you to apply on their own portal.

Keep up the good work! Writing college essays and filling all the different forms is a very long process. So even if the deadline is in January, you must start at least two months prior.

I need to warn you about the CSS profile. While applying, you will be asked if you want to apply for aid, but answering yes isn’t enough. You will need to fill the CSS profile on the College Board website. Once you submit it to your schools, there is one remaining step, sending your tax documents on the IDOC portal. The college board website will guide you through these remaining steps.

Final thoughts

Applying to college is a long and tedious process. I’m experiencing it while working on the Texas application that closes on December the 1st.

If you have any questions or wanna talk about this whole process, leave me a private note. Thanks for staying until the end.

PS: This is my first article ever 😁 so please show some love