Everyday Junglist
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About me. You know how everyone says to be a successful writer you should focus in one or two areas. I continue to prove them correct.
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Who Do I Write For?
A writing colleague from this website whom I greatly admire said something in a reply to a comment I had posted on one of her stories recently that got me thinking very deeply about many things. In addition to being a good reminder of why I admire this person, it challenged me in ways I had not expected. Ultimately what she said boiled down to a question. Who exactly do you write for? Many people say that knowing the answer is one of the things that separates “successful” writers from those who are not. They argue that knowing who your readers are and tailoring what you write to meet the needs and wants of that group is the only way to build an audience and the key to selling your work. I do not think that argument is completely incorrect, however, it is for sure very wrong in one key aspect. It is not the ‘only’ path to success in writing, however one defines that loaded term. For purposes of this discussion, I will define it as the ability to make money from one’s writing (i.e. the ability to sell the things one writes to other people we call readers.) It might be the easiest way, it might be the fastest way, but it is definitely not the only way, and, one could argue it is to the detriment of any writer in the long term because it greatly limits the scope of what they may potentially write about, possibly causing them to lose out on much larger opportunities in other areas where their skills and knowledge may actually be a better fit. It certainly does not limit their ability to write run on sentences as shown by the example of the previous sentence. Moreover, it is almost impossible to know what any given person wants to read and many people, me included, take great offense if they feel they are being pandered to or targeted in a naked attempt to profit.
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Writers
Feeling a God Cry. Runner-Up in Self-Editing Epiphany Challenge.
In the excerpt below the enslaved servant of the Goddess Elyria, the warrior-scholar Baj Expatrianis asks the Goddess why she would not accept a mortal female as an acolyte nor take one as a forced servant.
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Critique
Quitting Gets an Unfairly Deserved Bad Rap
In a world of rah-rah never quitters, it is hard to be the lone voice of dissent. It is a brute fact that if your objective is to increase enjoyment and happiness in your life quitting is more times than not the smarter move from a time investment perspective when it comes to just about any subset of activities one might pursue.
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Humans
History of the Simulationist Church
At some point a group splintered from the mainstream simulationist church. They remained convinced of the correctness of the simulation hypothesis and in their beliefs did not stray far from the eighteen (known) maxims of the simulationist’s creed. The first maxim explains that the universe, our world, and all things within (a part of) it are the simulation (are simulated). This includes us. The second says that the basis of the simulation is a quantum computer of near/actual infinite energy and thus has randomness “baked” in, ergo the simulation has randomness “baked” in, therefore predestination is impossible in the simulation. While the third maxim says that free will exists in the simulation only in so much as the parameters of the simulation code (physical/natural laws) allow. The creed has nothing to say about the purpose of the simulation though it does at least allude to its creators, the so-called simulators, who were/are ultra intelligent beings, not Gods, but possessing what we would consider God-like powers.
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Longevity
Ghost of Wittgenstein Worries That Donald Trump's Existence Invalidates a Foundational Concept of Logical Analysis
The ghost of what many consider the greatest philosopher of the modern age, Ludwig Wittgenstein, appeared this morning outside his family estate of Haus Wittgenstein (also known as the Stonborough House and the Wittgenstein House) on the Kundmannagasse in Vienna, Austria. He appeared to be deep in thought and in great distress. Several onlookers who got too close received verbal tongue lashings from the great philosopher which caused them to break down in tears and run home to their mothers seeking comfort. Those who were able to approach at a respectable distance could hear him muttering to himself. Reportedly he was mostly speaking to about the current president of the United States, Donald Trump. He was worried that the existence of Trump has called into to question a foundational concept of logical analysis. Said the author of two of the greatest works on the philosophy of logic, language, and the mind ever written, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations, “It has been accepted as the case since the beginnings of logical analysis and certainly with the advent of formal logic that those things which are nonsense can have no truth value. They can be neither true nor false. Yet, Donald Trump seems to regularly utter words in a certain order within our shared language that routinely violate what we all believed was an unbreakable rule. He somehow manages to say things which are both nonsensical, yet also false at the same time. Even more worrying is his seeming ability to break this rule with his actions which also manage to make no sense (ie. be nonsense) and yet somehow also be false at the same time. I understand this second concept may be difficult for those of you with limited intellectual capabilities, which frankly is basically all of you, to understand, and I will not be wasting my time explaining it to you, but suffice to say it is correct and you are a fool for questioning it.
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Humor
The War of the Americas - Part XI
Sylvia knew she had only moments to make a decision that might very well be her last. After what he had revealed, the General would never let her leave his office, let alone the base, alive. She did not know how much more he might plan to say or how much time she may have, and her mind raced as she considered then quickly discarded one idea after another. Stalling for time by attempting to plead innocence was a losing strategy. The General knew she was an agent of the CIA and would not be convinced otherwise. She was confident she could easily take him in one-on-one combat if she chose to try and fight her way out, but she also knew he was not alone. They were surrounded by his best, most capable men. They remained invisible, but Sylvia knew they were there, and it would not be possible to take them all before at least one of them got a bullet into her or a knife. It was not so much the fact of their numbers or even skill level, she had taken on large numbers of highly trained opponents before and come out on top. It was more about the lack of knowledge of the terrain upon which she would be fighting. She had no idea of the layout of the room she was in beyond the lighted circle where her interrogation by the General had taken place. Of the base beyond this room, she knew even less having been blindfolded the very few times she had been escorted anywhere. After she had exhausted all possible options in her mind, she was resigned to fight it out. If she were going to die, it would be on her feet, and even though she knew she had no chance, she would make the enemy pay a heavy price. Sylvia prepared mentally for the fight to come, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, centering herself. Just as she was about to leap out of her chair and attack there was a tremendous explosion, then almost immediately after two more. The building shook and she almost fell to the ground, only managing to stay upright by grabbing onto the edge of the General’s large wooden desk. The lights went out briefly, then flickered back on, much dimmer, and mostly red, as the emergency backup power kicked in. Debris fell from the ceiling and dust choked the air as klaxons wailed. Suddenly a young Mexican soldier ran straight past her to the General speaking quickly, his voice quivering with excitement and fear, “Sir, it’s the Americans. They have found us. Those explosions were the impacts from three cruise missiles launched from near San Diego. Everything topside is destroyed. We have lost at least a thousand men and women.” At that, the young soldier’s voice trailed off, and he almost broke down, but regained his composure some before speaking again. “Sir, what hope do we have against the Americans? How can we possibly win when they can strike us with such force with such ease.” The General took hold of the young soldier by his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes, there was a sadness evident in his own eyes, and in his voice as he spoke. “Son, there are no winners in war, the only question is how much do you lose? How much can you afford to lose? But as to your question, others have asked themselves the same, the Viet-Cong, the Taliban, and they endured, just as we shall. Now, I need you to gather up all our surviving forces and sound the general evacuation order. I will activate the base self-destruct procedure. The Americans will already have launched a B2 stealth bomber from Whiteman air force base in Missouri. It will be carrying at least one bunker buster.” The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber was only 30minutes from attack distance as the General spoke. A portion of its ordinance payload did consist of two 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), commonly known as bunker busters. Although they are precision guided, unlike most bombs of that variety they are not designed to hit the target, but rather to hit beside it, then penetrate under it, creating a shock wave and large cavern or hole which the target then collapses into, obliterating and burying it in one step. They were designed to destroy other weapons, specifically weapons of mass destruction hidden in well-protected facilities deep underground. In this case the target was not a weapons storage site, however, it was built deep under a mountain and thus its capabilities would be ideal which his why the president had personally ordered its use in this attack.
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Fiction
Alchemy, Astrology, and Simulation Hypothesis
For most of my adult life I had dismissed astrology as junk pseudoscience without a second thought. Strangely I never once thought to question that belief or the source of it until much later in life when I encountered some writings which caused me to reconsider and examine the evidence for myself. Personally I love stuff like that, writings that make you question your most cherished or least examined beliefs, practices, thoughts, etc., and then requires you to justify them. This is how we grow and evolve as persons, by constantly having to justify the way we think, behave, act. And we must justify those things to others for sure, but mostly we must be able to justify them to ourselves. That justification must be strong enough to withstand the most potent of attacks and survive if it should be deemed good enough to build your own life around. For me the best method for doing this is the scientific method and so in my own life I use a modified version of what I do for a living, research science, as a way to mold/build what I hope is a justifiable life. Hypothesis generation, designing experiments (methods), evidence gathering, testing, discussion, and drawing conclusions, are the major elements of the process of doing science and they work quite well (at least for me) as a process for doing life. Of course, you will note that nowhere in my neat little tidy summary of how I have mastered life and how to live it did I mention the words feelings or emotions or any other touchy feely stuff. Nor did I mention that a huge part my life has been a disaster and a mess and full of pain and misery. I take some consolation in the fact that the vast majority of experiments do not “work” or are considered “failed”, so it should be no surprise that so are the vast majority of things one tries in a life full of experimentation. No doubt I just need to tweak my system a little more and it will be nothing but rainbows and lollipops from here on out. Lol!
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Futurism
Belts With Holes are Dead
Author's preface: In one possible dystopian future the fall of man was brought about not by a nuclear holocaust or alien invasion, nor by a biological agent unleashing a zombie plague or a global economic collapse, but rather by an event so mundane, so random, so seemingly inconsequential that not even the wisest of men could have predicted it. This is the world of belts with holes are dead. A world ended when the last belt with holes suddenly disappeared from our planet earth. A hellish nightmarescape where the ability to keep one’s pants up even if they are too large is no longer an option for most. The rich seclude themselves in future belt enclaves where they live in relative luxury and wear whatever size pants within +/- two sizes they desire while the poor live in squalor, suffering from constant pants droppage or doing anything they can to just get by. The lowest of these, the so called “below the knee cutters” are the worst off by far. Their misery was so great that they actually took scissors to every pair of pants they owned and cut them off below the knees. Sick I know, do not read on if you are faint of heart. The only hope left are the so called Pioneers of Future Belts. Will they arrive in time to save our once beautiful planet and usher in a utopian paradise where everyone, regardless of means, can choose to wear whatever pants they want, no matter the waist size or inseam length? These stories represent the collected works of just some of the people who lived through those dark times. Pray their future does not become our own.
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Humor
Dogs of War
Recently, a friend relayed the story of someone he had known who had been killed in a home invasion. This person had thought they were safe because they had several large dogs on the premises all trained to attack anyone who might foolishly attempt a break in. Relying on dogs as the sole or even primary defense of your home is a very foolish idea. The right breed, used appropriately, can be highly effective as a supplementary tool to a well-designed home defense strategy, but they are never enough on their own. This was recognized even in the ancient world, but it is even more true today. One of the weaknesses of dogs for home defense is their susceptibility to poison. In the case of the story my friend had told me the invaders had simply poisoned his dogs, strolled into the home and killed him. Despite the story, it is not as easy to poison a dog as one might think. Although dogs will eat many things, most poisons have either a very rancid odor or awful taste and very few animals will eat them intentionally. The smells and tastes can be masked, but only to a degree. One of the reasons why it is a good idea to keep your dog well fed is that a well-fed dog is much less likely to eat something with a questionable taste or smell, than a dog which is ravenously hungry. The odor/flavor problem limits the number of potential dog poisons that are available, and that number is reduced even further by the necessity for any such poison to be extremely fast acting, killing or incapacitating in minutes, not hours or days.
By Everyday Junglist10 months ago in Petlife
The War of the Americas - Part X
Author’s preface: It is important to emphasize that this is a work of fiction and that while the current presidents of both the United States and Mexico are featured as key elements of the plot, what is said by them and/or about them is totally fictional and is in no way meant to suggest that is how they are in real life or what they believe in real life. The actions they do or do not take in the story are also of course totally made up. I have no idea how either would respond if this situation were actually to arise and my knowledge of the specifics of the politics of Mexico is very limited. My knowledge of the structure of their military, etc. is based on what it publicly available and may be less than accurate or completely wrong. I know nothing as to the existence or not of a Mexican intelligence apparatus let alone the level of sophistication it may or may not possess if it does in fact exist. Hopefully it is also obvious that I have no idea what the CIA’s assessment of the mental fitness of any world leader is, nor do I even know if they produce such an assessment. I also have no special knowledge of the CIA, its operations, policies, procedures, or history. In that way I am like 99.999% of all people on the planet.
By Everyday Junglist11 months ago in Fiction
Exactly Like Me
Consider the following thought experiment from your own perspective. If everyone was exactly like yourself would the world be a heaven or a hell? I don't mean exactly like you genetically or in appearance or even in sex (they could be male or female or whatever), or even in skills and abilities or intelligence, rather I mean all persons on the planet shared your likes and dislikes, your tastes and preferences, your beliefs about everything from the least to the most consequential. This includes things like your religious beliefs, ethics, tastes in music, food, features you find physically attractive in potential mates, etc. In this world would you be happy or miserable? And, as importantly, would everyone else be happy or miserable. Would such a world be a utopian paradise, a world at war, a world full of happiness or full of misery and sadness and boredom? Finally, ask yourself if you think the answer would be the same for everyone. What would a world full of people exactly like your mom or your dad or Donald Trump or fill in the blank look like for example.
By Everyday Junglist11 months ago in Humans
Something Is Always Coming
"The future is very scary. It 's always out there, right in front of you, waiting, mocking you, calling you an idiot, and then not one shortest possible moment in time later, it's here, in the present, laughing and punching you in the face, and then before you can even respond, it's gone, into the past, and you are just standing there, face bloodied, looking like a fool as the future stands there in front of you, mocking you, calling you an idiot." -- D. DeMarco, 2017
By Everyday Junglist11 months ago in The Swamp
