Why Deep Acolyte?
I needed a username.
Deep. 1. extending far down from the top or surface. 2. very intense or extreme.
Acolyte. 1. an assistant or follower.
So maybe it doesn't quite fit literally. But it conjures a certain image. A person in a robe or other strange garb, pouring over old books, going through the motions of daily mundane task, puncutated by periods of rite and ritual. Chanting, incense, mysteries to be fathomed. I like it.
Heh. Uh, this I guess. Come back when I have content.(6-23-2021)
Politics is a maelstrom of attempting to apply simple 'us vs them' rhetoric to problems vastly more complex and diverse than the 'us vs them' framework can solve. It's normal to look back over history and say 'we should design a system so that never happens again. Those systems are sometimes called 'political systems.' Communism, demcracy, etc. All such systems come with flaws and tradeoffs. The current system is the best one not because it is best in abstract, but because changingto another system almost always means a period of bloodshed and instability followed by another step toward authoritarian style dystopia.
I take the stance of Egoism and Cosmic Nihilism. Life lacks inherent purpose from extrinsic sources, and whatever we get up to beyond the biological urges is self determined and primarily for self satisfaction. What is Man by Mark Twain strikes close to home on many of my own ideas.
A full reading of The Ego and His Own by Max Stirner, along with a few essays at random from The Essays of Michel De Montaigne is recommended if you want to dig deeper into the sources from which my thoughts are forged. Or stick around and read some of my own essays, once they're properly uploaded to the website.
What I determine to be right for me, is right.
That's complicated. I don't really have just one. I'll just go through a list. First up is Thanissaro Bhikkhu, a buddhist monk.
Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden.
Ran Prieur, a modern thinker and writer who's influenced my own thought ever since I encountered his website in my senior year of high school(12 years ago now!).
Alexis Smolensk of Tao of Dnd. On my list of people, he's right up near the top along with Ran. His advice on dungeons and dragons has been invaluable for many years now, though I enjoy reading him even when I branch out into other subjects.
So those are the big four that come to mind right now...
Yep. Occasional pipe smoker since probably 2015? There was a long stretch where one of my ex's thought it was the devil, so I didn't. There have been many more times where it just wasn't a financial possibility.
Nope. The few I've tried either had nasty side effects or didn't hold my interest. Yes alcohol, I'm looking at you. If sugar and caffeine count as drugs then yeah, I like those at least daily in the form of coffee with creamer.
Worm by John McCrae/Wildbow. Very briefly, superpowers are a thing, but they only occur in people that suffer severe trauma. The story begins by following Taylor, a girl who has just gotten her powers, as she is pulled into the local 'cape' politics and shenanigans, which rapidly uncovers alot of moral grey area, skeletons in closets, and violence. She ends up doing alot of wrong things for what she thinks are the right reasons.
Worm is long. 3 million words. So prepare yourself for that. It took me about two years to read. It contains far more depth and nuance than any other superhero themed media available currently, to the best of my knowledge.
Deep Acolyte [at] Protonmail [dot] com. It's okay to email me just to say hello or share something exciting you found. You don't have to bring gifts. Questions about my work are also welcome.