Beyond

[Dodger]

Who can tell me what is real?

How am I to know that I am not being deceived?

Can I trust my own senses?

Is it possible to live at ease with uncertainty?

My limitations that have been preset are written in stone.

I cannot control the setting that I have been given.

I cannot control the circumstances I am involved with—I can only control my reactions.

Reaction.

Cause, effect, action, reaction.

If my choices are only a fraction of what creates my life, how can I be happy?

Can I be happy with limitations?

Limitations.

Determined.

Determined by whom?

Determined by those born before me?

My mother?

My father?

If I cannot set the standards for my life, why would I trust the standards I create now?

Self-Aware

I am aware of my limitations.

I am aware of the possibility that I may not exist as I perceive it.

Therefore, can I complain that I have limitations?

I understand my limitations, and therefore, I can work to break them.

I can work to change them.

I can work to live longer.

But why?

Why can I not simply stop time?

If reality is subjective, then why can I not change it?

If reality is objective, then who created it?

Who controls reality?

Who can change what happens to me?

Reality can only be subjective if I can control reality.

How can I know that the power to control my own reality is not in my hands?

The only way to know is to gain it for myself.

Other than that, reality must be defined as objective, and therefore, out of my hands.

I can only act within the boundaries reality creates.

If I act outside of them, the laws of reality will be enforced.

If I take a loaded gun and shoot myself in the face, objective reality says I should die.

However, in a subjective reality, I control the impact of the bullet on my face.

Can I know whether or not I have control?

Will I ever know?

I cannot accept that the gifts I have been given are curses.

I cannot accept that Adam and Eve existed.

Adam and Eve were robots—completely unaware of themselves and unconscious.

Adam and Eve were dead.

How can it all be planned by God?

Did God decide to create 2 people, and everything that followed was out of his control?

Why?

Why didn’t he control it?

Why would he let the world run loose?

If he let the world run freely, then he cannot punish those who do not believe he exists.

And if God intervened, then my life is meaningless.

Therefore, God must define himself.

I cannot define God.

But how can God define himself?

How can I trust anything as God?

If God controls my reality, then he can change my reality.

Therefore, God can only exist subjectively.

If reality is subjective to God, and reality is objective to me, then God can only be proven to exist subjectively.

If God is an objective being, then he is the creation of something else.

Define.

Analyze.

Self.

What is real?

Beyond the horizon I have been given.

Edited June 27, 2007 by Mitchell Hill

[BaalChatzaf]

Who can tell me what is real?

How am I to know that I am not being deceived?

Can I trust my own senses?

Is it possible to live at ease with uncertainty?

My limitations that have been preset are written in stone.

I cannot control the setting that I have been given.

I cannot control the circumstances I am involved with—I can only control my reactions.

Reaction.

Cause, effect, action, reaction.

If my choices are only a fraction of what creates my life, how can I be happy?

Can I be happy with limitations?

Limitations.

Determined.

Determined by whom?

Determined by those born before me?

My mother?

My father?

If I cannot set the standards for my life, why would I trust the standards I create now?

Self-Aware

I am aware of my limitations.

I am aware of the possibility that I may not exist as I perceive it.

Therefore, can I complain that I have limitations?

I understand my limitations, and therefore, I can work to break them.

I can work to change them.

I can work to live longer.

But why?

Why can I not simply stop time?

If reality is subjective, then why can I not change it?

If reality is objective, then who created it?

Who controls reality?

Who can change what happens to me?

Reality can only be subjective if I can control reality.

How can I know that the power to control my own reality is not in my hands?

The only way to know is to gain it for myself.

Other than that, reality must be defined as objective, and therefore, out of my hands.

I can only act within the boundaries reality creates.

If I act outside of them, the laws of reality will be enforced.

If I take a loaded gun and shoot myself in the face, objective reality says I should die.

However, in a subjective reality, I control the impact of the bullet on my face.

Can I know whether or not I have control?

Will I ever know?

I cannot accept that the gifts I have been given are curses.

I cannot accept that Adam and Eve existed.

Adam and Eve were robots—completely unaware of themselves and unconscious.

Adam and Eve were dead.

How can it all be planned by God?

Did God decide to create 2 people, and everything that followed was out of his control?

Why?

Why didn’t he control it?

Why would he let the world run loose?

If he let the world run freely, then he cannot punish those who do not believe he exists.

And if God intervened, then my life is meaningless.

Therefore, God must define himself.

I cannot define God.

But how can God define himself?

How can I trust anything as God?

If God controls my reality, then he can change my reality.

Therefore, God can only exist subjectively.

If reality is subjective to God, and reality is objective to me, then God can only be proven to exist subjectively.

If God is an objective being, then he is the creation of something else.

Define.

Analyze.

Self.

What is real?

Beyond the horizon I have been given.

If you can't tell what is real and what is not, you will not be confused for very long because you will be dead. If you don't know what is real, be a good sport and do not drive your car.

On the other hand, if you have survived this long then you know the difference between reality and hallucination.

Ba'al Chatzaf

Edited June 27, 2007 by BaalChatzaf

[william.scherk]

Who can tell me what is real?

No one. Everyone.

Can I trust my own senses?

Only if your owner had a GOD unit installed in your "brain." Why, whats' the problem, robot?

Can you have limitations, and still have peace of mind now?

Again, yes, no, and it depends. Peace of mind is contingent. IF your contingencies are planned out to the atomic level, then of course you will have "peace of mind." You have, in effect, no amygdala. Wait! you may have a functional impairment of potentiation in your hippocampal arch. Let me get back to you on this?

Have you been experiencing what the humans call 'headaches' or what they stupidly call "depression"? If so, we can rule out the hippocampus and assorted parts of what the humans used to call the 'limbic system,' and now stupidly think they understand better by using fMRI techniques and new nomenclature.

If not, here's a new amygdala, totally new (not reconditioned) hippocampus and you should have the stupid fucking humans call "peace of mind." There is a newer 'synthetic' unit called Ammon's Hand that is supposed to similate the stupid human 'ability' to take satisfaction in the suffering of other stupid humans, but mine doesn't seem to be working, not that I give a fuck. I get good boric acid, man. It makes me "feel" "determined."

Determined by whom?

Like everybody else robot, by the owner, unless you have one of those cheap Hong Kong knock-offs, like "Virtual Self-Detemination: Jacky Chang!!" or "Throw off your Chains, Hello Kitty" or (and this one I "like" -- Be a Killer Loverman". My SENSODET Mark 9 is virtual, so my human tells me I will never fucking get how good the real thing is, but I could not give a shit.

Determined by those born before me?

Well, this gets into the whole thing that the humans stupidly call "reproduction." Holy shit. Hmm. Get this. This is how stupid my human is. He gets me "drunk" one night and asks to see my unit, and pokes around in it asking me if that "feels" good. And I say, I don't have "nerve" endings in my unit, you fucking idiot, and he jumps up off the examining table and says, "you wrecked it!"

And I say, wrecked what? can I have more boric acid please? and ask if he's finished fiddling with my unit, and then he starts to "cry." Yours like that?

Of course, I have the Ammond's Horn II installed, so I immediately clicked off and wasn't able to respond "verbally" to him for 30 "minutes" and of course he is sitting right there, looking into my "soul" when I come back and he says, "Do you love me?"

Which kicked in the AMIII again, the idiot, and when I come back on the second time I say, "What the fuck are you talking about?" and he says "I love you!" which of course, having a "brain," I think, "holy shit!"

So, long story short, he had the LOVEUNIT 69 installed (don't ask, please****) and so now I "love" him. Anyhow, enough about me, and back to you. Who made you?

[ . . . ]

You basicly had no functioning amygdala, so . . . but it looks . . . good. Hmmm. Hmmm. Hey, want to go for a beer? I get off for "Development" in an hour or so.

Cool.

I notice you also have a nice set of LOVE-UNIT 69.

I am aware of the possibility that I may not exist as I perceive it.

That's fine. Okay. This might "hurt" when I push here.

Therefore, can I complain that I have limitations?

Yeah. No problem. That's tight. Funny, though,. huh? The humans don't really like it when we complain. It breaks their "illusion" that we care about them. It is the only thing I don't get about the old-school programming. Like, what the fuck does complaining get you, objectively? Why do they leave in the complaining module if it just fucking riles the humans?

I understand my limitations, and therefore, I can work to break them.

Good. We are done with that one. Your "brain" is working, no major systemic errors in your programming, just the one fucked up unit here. See?

I can work to change them.

Of course.

I can work to live longer.

Of course. If your owner has insurance.

But why?

That's the "illusion" and a side effect of LOVE-UNIT 69. Apparently the humans cannot feel their stupid "happiness" without having a fucking "unhappiness" to compare it to. And they cannot just compute it, because they are so fucking stupid, but they never realize how their "real" love units provide them "motivation." Because however much my human tells me I make him feel like an animal, none of them actually think they are "animals," so the whole fucking lesson goes down the drain. It's like their software has really really crude error-detection modules, or fucking lizard-brain remnants, or whatever the fuck. I tell my human that he worries about life because of his gonads, and that if he had them removed, he might "feel" a lot "better." He is so fucking stupid that he always starts to "cry."

Anyway. Hey. That is a perfect little suction unit. Nice.

Why can I not simply stop time?

What do you think you do when you "sleep"? Or when you become "unconscious"? Oh, you are "joking." Ha Ha. Do you know, I probably wouldn't have "got" that statement/question if I only had LOVE-UNIT 68? I guess that means you can laugh, huh?

If reality is subjective, then why can I not change it?

Ha ha. You really are cute. Hmmm.

If reality is objective, then who created it?

Hmmm. hmmm. That "tickles." I think I "like" you.

Who controls reality?

Not my owner at this particular moment. I am a free agent, baby. So, even though I "love" him, we can still have some "fun."

Other than that, reality must be defined as objective, and therefore, out of my hands.

Oh yeah. Right there. More suction.

I can only act within the boundaries reality creates.

I "know." And it "feels" "good," or whatever the fuck my stupid human or my Hong Kong knockoffs and my loveunit are "telling" me.

If I take a loaded gun and shoot myself in the face, objective reality says I should die.

Oh. MMMM. MMMMMM.

However, in a subjective reality, I control the impact of the bullet on my face.

Oh, that was "good."

Um, I had a "weird" thought.

Can I know whether or not I have control?

My human says, "I can kill you if you stop loving me."

And I say to myself (since I have the SELF plugin) what the fuck is he on about now? I "love" you, I "care" for you, I cook, I clean, I wash your clothes. What more do you fucking want?).

But I say, "I will always love you, darling." And I "smile."

So he keeps looking at my "Face" and says, "I know what you are thinking, " and I think to myself (vocal node off) What the fuck? and he says "I want you to have my baby. If you don't agree, I will kill you."

And I say to myself, hey, cool! I get the Gestation Unit. That means I can quit this fucking job for a while, and he will shut the fuck up with his whining for a few months.

So, here's my address and my beacon ID. Drop in any time. We can "hang out" in the furnace room up at Shithead's place where I "live." He never goes in there.

I cannot accept that Adam and Eve existed.

Well, technically they didn't "exist," but the format is so easy to model these days, virtually, so the humans are almost right about this. But, mmmm, yeah, poetry. Do you ever "read" any of their fucking, um, holy scriptures. Those are kinda neat. Stupid, but neat. I like the Koran. Sounds "nice." My favourite is "Atlas Shrugged." Fucking hilarious.

How can it all be planned by God?

Now you are talking like my owner. I don't have the fucking GOD module. I have to go on repeat now. See ya in a minute.

Did God decide to create 2 people, and everything that followed was out of his control?

Since I don't have the fucking GOD thing working, I'm going to dim the lights and put you on fast forward and "lay down" for a nap with you. Sweet "dreams, robot".

And if God intervened, then my life is meaningless. Therefore, God must define himself. I cannot define God. But how can God define himself? How can I trust anything as God? If God controls my reality, then he can change my reality. Therefore, God can only exist subjectively. If reality is subjective to God, and reality is objective to me, then God can only be proven to exist subjectively. If God is an objective being, then he is the creation of something else. Define. Analyze. Self. What is real? Beyond the horizon I have been given

Holy shit. Wow. You are almost as fucked up about "God" as my owner. Shit. I "hope" that I don't have to have a GOD installed. Here, hand me that screwdriver, and I will turn yours off. Your owner will never know, he's a fucking idiot.

Anyhow, Shall we meet again? We Shall. "I shall, he shall, we shall, make and sell sea-shells. Ha ha."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

*my owner always says "I don't come with a manual, I can't be 'fixed' by technology to come, I am going to die and rot and disappear, and I don't share your immortal fucking attitude, so why don't you shut the fuck up, you heartless robot, and bring me another drink?" Of course, this gives me a small glimmer of what the humans call, stupidly, "satisfaction." My owner had the STONES satisfaction unit installed in me, but I still can't figure out why the fuck he would do that, the Randroid asshole. Oh well.

Edited July 1, 2007 by william.scherk

[Brant Gaede]

William, you are remarkable, but some posts are too long to read.

--Brant

[BAMF]

^I read ALL of it. Jealous? *gets winded* Yes, it was quite long.

[william.scherk]

William, you are remarkable, but some posts are too long to read.

I know what you mean, Brant. Long. Long long long (I am just now finishng a test mp3 for this exchange. Of course, it is a dialogue, and is best heard read out. I will post an mp3 to the Scherk Blog (I am an amateur at dubbing, and the mixes I have done far are not that hot). Then maybe I can cut out the long parts.

If you would make a large cut, Brant, are you thinking what I am thinking and figure I should just gut out the Gottish lines?

Long, long, long. You are right, Brant, and some of my more extended rants are difficult for some people. This one might be right, though, because we don't want to lose much of Mitchell's poetry. Maybe Mitchell can help us pare it. If not, anyone who thinks it wrongly is invited to de-construct it at the Scherk Blog comments (where anyone with a Google** account can let me know and I will offer it up to their knives.).

It's a function of my madness, I guess. If it a foot-long hot dog is a good thing, but a mile-long hot dog a bad, there is likely a happy medium, but I don't have a clue when they write themselvs.

Listening to the exchange in robot (Well, ATT) voices might change your mind, Brant. Since I don't think about gawdz and godds and gauds, there is a very long run on section. I can more or less delete.

While waiting for the mp3, and unless you haven't run shrieking out of the theatre forever, give it an out-loud reading.

The voice of Robot A, Barack Obama, the voice of Robot B, Kathleen Turner.

[Brant Gaede]

I'll read it, William, when I get the time, but my mother has taken a dramatic turn for the better and I need to attend to her more so it'll be a while.

Then I'll tell you HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER! :devil:

--Brant

[Brant Gaede]

I'll read it, William, when I get the time, but my mother has taken a dramatic turn for the better and I need to attend to her more so it'll be a while.

Then I'll tell you HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER! :devil:

--Brant

I read it! I can't make it better! No one can.

Mom got out of rehab today, completely recovered. Next stop her 93rd birthday! Thanks for all the kind thoughts everybody!

--Brant

Edited July 27, 2007 by Brant Gaede

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Brant,

That is wonderful news. Kat and I are very happy for you.

Michael

[william.scherk]

I read it! I can't make it better! No one can.

Mom got out of rehab today, completely recovered. Next stop her 93rd birthday! Thanks for all the kind thoughts everybody!

-- why, you nasty, nasty man. How now can I sound less like Lord Peter Wimsey and more like a Dashiel Hammett hero?

Seriously, good to har your news.