abyss – Harmonia Philosophica

Touching the untouched.

Photo by **Spiros Kakos** from **Pexels**

Jellyfish are about 95% water, which makes them very difficult to study because most of the underwater tools available to marine biologists are clunky, heavy, and often shred jellyfish and other delicate creatures to pieces. A new ultra-soft gripper uses fettuccini-like ‘fingers’ inflated with water to gently grasp jellyfish and release them without harm, allowing scientists to safely interact with them in their own habitat. (1)

We touch things to experience them.

We see things to view them.

And what we see and touch is there. Never going away. Stable environment for scared little humans. Search the depth of your soul. It is what you don’t see that shapes your being. It is what you cannot touch that really touches you back. It is what you can touch that you cannot really touch. Because it is there only because of the things you can never touch.

Try to touch the cosmos…

Don’t be afraid.

It is afraid of you!

You are the raging abyss. Pouring out into existence.

Existence that should never be there in the first place.

Touch the cosmos!

Break it into pieces!

See?

You are still here…

Religious violence. Analyzed?

Artificial intelligence can help us to better understand the causes of religious violence and to potentially control it, according to a new Oxford University collaboration. The study is one of the first to be published that uses psychologically realistic AI – as opposed to machine learning.

The study published in The Journal for Artificial Societies and Social Stimulation, combined computer modelling and cognitive psychology to create an AI system able to mimic human religiosity, allowing them to better understand the conditions, triggers and patterns for religious violence. (1)

We like to analyze things.

To find the logic behind the deepest evil.

But there is not logic in the shadows.

The cosmos is a bad place.

Full of free will and degradation.

Devil’s biggest trick is that he has convinced us he does not exist.

You must believe that there is malice in the cosmos in order to fight it.

No logic. No cause and effect. Just pure malice.

But there is a way out.

The darkness can be fought.

But not through the light.

This is too logical and predictable to even remotely work.

But through transforming the darkness itself.

Look inside.

You are the raging abyss.

Dark.

Furious.

The destroyer of worlds.

And at the same time…

The life-giver of the cosmos.

A small snail.

A delicate flower.

Birds singing.

It is not that the abyss is far away.

This IS the abyss.

Whispering gently…

Are you afraid enough?

Thinking. Remembering. Being.

IBM researchers are developing a new computer architecture, better equipped to handle increased data loads from artificial intelligence. Their designs draw on concepts from the human brain and significantly outperform conventional computers in comparative studies. They reported on their findings in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing.

Today’s computers are built on the von Neumann architecture, developed in the 1940s. Von Neumann computing systems feature a central processer that executes logic and arithmetic, a memory unit, storage, and input and output devices. Unlike the stovepipe components in conventional computers, the authors propose that brain-inspired computers could have coexisting processing and memory units.

Abu Sebastian, an author on the paper, explained that executing certain computational tasks in the computer’s memory would increase the system’s efficiency and save energy. (1)

Thinking. Remembering.

Remembering. Thinking.

Within the dark forest, you think of the abyss.

Within the dark abyss, you remember of the forest.

Remember because you think.

Thinking because you remember.

Within the dark forest, you simply wander around.

Within the dark abyss, you just die and open your eyes.

Existing because you think of nothing…

Being only because you forget everything…

Did you learn anything? Listen to the abyss.

Jason Chan makes a point to periodically interrupt his lecture and ask students a question about the material they’ve covered. The associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University does this to regain students’ attention, but more importantly, to enhance their ability to learn new information.

Researchers know the retrieval process is beneficial for new learning and a new meta-analysis by Chan and his colleagues confirms that but found there are limits. The research shows the frequency and difficulty of questions can reverse the effect and be detrimental to learning. It also is not enough to simply ask a question; Chan says students must respond to see a positive effect on learning. The work is published in the Psychological Bulletin, an American Psychological Association journal. (1)

This is something well known.

Only when the student wants, does the master appear…

But what would the student want to learn?

If he has not learnt anything yet?

Look into the void.

It is the abyss staring at you.

You know it is there.

Only because you once were part of it…

Meditation going wrong? Watch out what you look for…

Meditation is increasingly being marketed as a treatment for conditions such as pain, depression, stress and addiction, and while many people achieve therapeutic goals, other meditators encounter a much broader range of experiences – sometimes distressing and even impairing ones – along the way.

Meditators reported multiple unexpected experiences from across the seven domains of experience. For example, a commonly reported challenging experience in the perceptual domain was hypersensitivity to light or sound, while somatic changes such as insomnia or involuntary body movements were also reported. Challenging emotional experiences could include fear, anxiety, panic or a loss of emotions altogether. (1)

As any powerful tool, meditation can also turn against its practitioner.

Any knowledge comes with personal pain.

Remember what happened in the forest with Midas.

The abyss is not for everyone to look at.

Not just because it may stare back.

But because you might realize that you are (creating) the abyss.

Every fear, every emotion, every pain is yours. Every experience which you have lived or which you will is yours. Every life and death in this world is yours. You are the creator of life. You are the destroyer of the worlds.

Do you like you?