Five Nuggets from Uncle Faust (Episode 2)

Five nuggets is a series inspired by an accidental collision with a similar project by Tim Ferris, author of The 4 Hour Work Week and Tools for Titans. In this weekly series, I share five things which caught my interest this week through my wanderings, web surfing, researching and time spent on Steemit.

Without further ado, five nuggets which caught my attention this week:

Discovering Quantum Consciousness in the Throes of Depression

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/quantum-brain/506768/

Recent and current life events have me contemplating mortality, consciousness and the existence of an afterlife (as I said in the first episode, I have a diverse array of interests). On an epistemological level (can we know the answers to these questions), I identify as an agnostic. About three months back, I stumbled across an article which spoke of how an afterlife could both theoretically exist and be explained with quantum physics. I may feature that article in a future edition of #fivenuggets.

At any rate, science, metaphysics, and theology have never adequately explained (to my satisfaction) consciousness. Who is the observer behind the organism? In this article by The Atlantic back in November 2016, a physicist, Matthew Fischer speaks about how his treatment for depression led him down a strange path into the quantum world of microtubules, and how their vibration and quantum entanglement creates consciousness. Ironically other biological systems utilize quantum mechanics: photosynthesis in plants, a quantum compass in migratory birds, and even the human sense of smell is speculated to be rooted in quantum mechanics.

Perhaps vibrating microtubes and quantum entanglement is not such a far-fetched thing.

An Unreal Experience - Creating The Port of Tears - WIP

https://steemit.com/art/@iamwne/an-unreal-experience-creating-the-port-of-tears-wip

I stumbled across Clarisse and her work accidentally as one of the best curators on Steemit, @liberosist, Resteemed one of her posts which wound up in my feed. She describes herself as an artist, an architectural designer, a spiritualist, a philosopher, a friend and very human. Yet, none of these descriptors does justice to the architectural renderings and the world she can create – it's stunning. I would strongly advise following her to have some unique and incredible content in your feed on a regular basis. She is my Steemit feature in #fivenuggets for this week.

30 Days of Writing Prompts

https://thoughtcatalog.com/heidi-priebe/2015/08/30-days-of-writing-prompts/

I’ve never really cared much for two types of blog articles: self-help articles and writing tips. I suppose it comes from a place where I view the vast majority o these articles as filler and throw away content with little effort or thought put into them. This particular blog post at the Thought Catalog caught my interest because of the true stretch challenges of some exercises:

• #7 – Write a compelling argument pushing the worst advice you’ve been given.
• #10 – Write the autobiography of the life you were not brave enough to lead.
• #25 – Describe the exact day you had, but from the point of view of a psychopath.

I recently started the Rapsodist Writing Contest, which was directly inspired by this article. In fact, you will note #25 on this list is the current topic for the contest running through Sunday, August 20.

I have already prepared the next topic for the second writing contest set to begin Sunday, August 20 at the conclusion of the first, but I thought I’d throw it to the readers of my #fivenuggets to check out this list and see which one makes sense for the third Rhapsodist Writing Contest. I’d be happy to entertain your thoughts on which one of the 30 topics would make for the best contest.

Waiting (Film)

At some point, the path of life leads almost every young adult into the food services industry. Perhaps it's the allure of marginally decent cash and low employer expectations. Waiting is a comedy which captures the essence of this experience so perfectly and helped prepare Ryan Reynolds for his future starring role in as Deadpool. Be forewarned, if you are easily offended, pass this one up. If you enjoy your hamburger meat sourced from sacred cows, jump in head first.

Buycott (Web Application)

https://www.buycott.com/

I’m a very impassioned person about supporting vendors with my cash when they support the causes and interests I do. I am equally as impassioned about taking my dollars away from vendors whose interests run counter to mine. I believe petitions are useless and vendors will not care until you take money from their registers.

Let me introduce one of the single greatest applications I’ve come across. With the simple scan of a Universal Product Code (UPC), this application will show you the parent company behind the veils, and determine if the product you are purchasing conforms to your purchasing ethics based upon campaigns you set up. By far one of the most powerful applications to leverage the power of Crowdsourced knowledge to support the businesses most closely aligned with your ethics.

That concludes my #fivenuggets for this week’s episode. Take care my Steemitland friends and until next time…

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If You Enjoyed This Edition of Five Nuggets, Check Out Some Previous Editions

• Five Nuggets from Uncle Faust (Episode 1) – Timeline of the Far Future, Scotch Song and Soul, New Microchip Tech, Loving Vincent Film, American Numismatic Association Money Museum