Interesting new post on the physics arXive blog

I spotted this post today Quantum Entanglement Can be a Measure of Free Will on the MIT Technology Review Physics ArXive blog.  The paper that is refers to is here: How much free will is needed to demonstrate nonlocality?.

The third replicator

Here is a New York Times article on 'temes', or technological memes, a third replicator proposed by Susan Blackmore: The Third Replicator

I've read her book, The Meme Machine, as well as heard one of her lectures that she did with Mark Pesce, another one of my favorite reality engineers.  I consider her to be right up there with Dawkins.

The big question

I imagine that many people's "Big Question" that they want to know the answer to may be "Is there a God?" or maybe "What is the meaning of life?" Not mine.  My Big Question is whether the universe is deterministic or non-deterministic.  I've read numerous works that fall on either side of the issue, and had many great discussions about it.  Some people seem to have views on the topic that border on the dogmatic. I don't know, and I must accept the premise that I will almost certainly never know the answer in my lifetime. Of course I like the idea that I have freedom of choice in my thoughts and actions, but I must also accept the possibility that at 10^-32 seconds after the instantiation of this universe that it was determined that I would be here at this moment typing these words.  And these too.  Damn.

A dilemma rears its ugly head (in a green pointed hat?)

Okay.  Here is my dilemma.  I practice what I refer to, for lack of a better term, as sorcery.  I profess that human beings have the capability of altering objective reality through the exertion of will.  I don’t go dragging supernatural entities into my system, as I see no need to.  Now on the other hand, I fully acknowledge that maybe the things that I think I or others have made happen may be fortunate series of incredibly precise coincidences, that have happened to give me the exact result that I was seeking at the time, and I’m okay with that.  So needless to say, my idea of reality is rather fluid, and is probably not aligned with anything that any rational person would refer to as normal.  I believe in consensus reality, and I acknowledge that not everyone’s reality tunnels are going to align perfectly.

So, as a dweller on the “fringe”, how much validity must I ascribe to beliefs which I consider to be outlandish that I come across, without drifting into the arena of hypocrisy?

The specific case that I am referring to involves a happy chap who apparently lives in a world in which elves and gnomes are real.  And unicorns are too.  Really real.

What the hell am I supposed to make of that?  Maybe his reality is vastly different than mine is.  Maybe he kicks back and eats oranges with elves on a regular basis.  Can I judge?  I’m still trying to work this one out, but I needed to get this put down on pixels so I don’t forget about it during a bender or something.

RIP Isaac Bonewits

Upon learning today of the death of Isaac Bonewits, I reflected on the influence of his book ‘Real Magic’ on my development as an aspiring neo-pagan back in the late 1980’s.  Around 1988 or so, many of the people in my social group were Wiccans.  I had grown up in a very non-religious, but not anti-religious household.  Religion just wasn’t a part of my life.

On several occasions, there were social gatherings that I would attend that preceded sabbats, and I would always leave prior to the ritual.  One day, I decided to stay and participate.  I stayed with the group for about 3 years before I felt that I had learned what I needed to, and moved on.

During this period, I read about magic extensively.  Between the libraries at Indiana State University, and at Wyrd House, a monthly metaphysical social gathering I was active in at the time, I had the works of a wide selection of contemporary pagan authors at my disposal. I read Adler, Fitch, Cunningham, Cabot, Gardiner, Sanders, Bonewits, and many others.  Isaac’s approach to magic really spoke to me, and it informed the structure and practice of my practice for many years.

Welcome to Apophenic Apocrypha

How on earth did you end up here?  Regardless of what series of actions and choices (and more importantly, whether you actually had any choice in the matter at all) led to you reading these words, welcome. 

First, let's consider the name of this place.  Apophenic Apocrypha.  Even the spell checker on this site chokes on the name.  Apophenia is the phenomenon of perceiving patterns in random data.  The 23 Enigma is a prime example of this in action.  Apocrypha is a body of work of dubious authorship or authenticity. Numerous religious texts fall into this category. 

The subjects that I write on tend toward fringe culture, pop culture,  and the occult.  Much of my older material is located on my website SpikeVision.org.  I've also written one book, 'Quantum Sorcery: The Science of Chaos Magic' which is available from Immanion Press, or via quantumsorcery.org.