design
Mad Science of the Multiverse
The”anthropic principle” is a hybrid idea - part scientific hypothesis and part philosophical argument - which seeks to account for our presence in a life-sustaining universe using inference and probability.
It asks the questions: why does our universe seem fine-tuned for human life? Did an Intelligent Designer plan this universe just for us, or is it simply one of many universes in a larger multiverse, the random byproduct of an endless process of creation with no beginning and no end?
Misdirection and Reinforcement
"If the phenomenon is forcing us through a learning curve, then it has no choice but to mislead us. When Skinner designs a machine that feeds a rat only when the right lever is depressed, this is extremely misleading for the rat. But if the rat doesn't depress the correct lever, he becomes extremely hungry. [...]
Robots, Goblins and Alien Amoeba: Fermis Paradox
Reprint of an article originally published in New Dawn Magazine #100, expanded and revised with original illustrations. Was the Earth colonized by extraterrestrial scientists?
Interview with Jordan Stratford
When I met Jordan Stratford + online I was really excited to have the opportunity to talk to him, because our stories complement each others' so well. I set up one of the first big Gnostic sites on the web in the mid-90s but wound up getting initiated as a priest in an African witchcraft [...]
Key Concepts
Cognitive frames of reference informing the G.F.N. mission:
Antinomianism - taboo-breaking as a means to wisdom, e.g., the “transgression” of Georges Bataille, Ikkyu , the “left hand” or “short path” of Tantra and Vamamarga.
Animism - the underlying assumption of indigenous shamanism is that everything is alive and capable of communication: rocks, streams, machines, people, clouds, insects, [...]
The Incredibly Strange Story of Intelligent Design
Reprint of an article originally published in New Dawn Magazine #97, expanded and revised with original illustrations. A fascinating survey of alternative human origins theories and their links to Gnostic mythology!
Retinal Rulers
"The moment I close my eyes, there appear on the retina strange geometrical figures and designs, together with vague lights and even more sinister shapes beyond, as of great creatures past the conception of mankind - and the most frightening thing about them is that they are creatures of intelligence - immeasurably alien." - [...]
Divine Implosion
"The universe is not born of the design or act of a genetic God, particularly since the genetic God in the Bible is only a degenerate God. The universe emerges from the process of the infinite retreating upon itself, as if this infinite were characterized by a kind of impurity. This retraction of the infinite [...]
Antinomian Antics: Sabotaging the Matrix
Reprint of an article originally published in New Dawn Magazine #85, expanded and revised with original illustrations. An overview of the antinomian strain of gnostic Christianity, touching upon a variety of scintillating and outrageous themes!
Demiurge
"You see, the religious people — most of them — really think this planet is an experiment. That’s what their beliefs come down to. Some god or other is always fixing and poking, messing around with tradesmen’s wives, giving tablets on mountains, commanding you to mutilate your children, telling people what words they can say [...]
