virus: Strange attractors and meta-religions (was God and Level-3)

David McFadzean (morpheus@lucifer.com)
Sun, 30 Mar 1997 23:53:49 -0700


> From: Tim Rhodes <proftim@speakeasy.org>
> Date: Sunday, March 30, 1997 10:20 PM

> What are your "primary goals" if not "feeling better"? And remember, no
> matter what you say, the next question is, "And why is that something you
> want to achieve if it has no payoff (doesn't make you "feel better" about
> yourself or your place in the world) for you?"

That cuts both ways. Why do you want to feel better? If you say it is
an end unto itself, I can give the same reason for my primary goals.

If I keep asking "why" for my goals I eventually end up with "to have
a meaningful life" which I equate with "making a difference", "changing
the world" and "creating the future". If I ask "why" again I come to
the same answer, not unlike a strange attractor in a chaotic system.

Does anyone here have a different strange attractor? I imagine their
are many possible ones, e.g. "to become one with the universe", "to
serve God", "to accumulate as many toys as possible", maybe even
"to feel good". Maybe these core motivations are the primary difference
between groups of people, let's call them "meta-religions".

--
David McFadzean                 david@lucifer.com
Memetic Engineer                http://www.lucifer.com/~david/
Church of Virus                 http://www.lucifer.com/virus/