Hi Steemit!
I've been following the blockchain concept for about 5 years; it is one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century thus far. I've been using this site for almost 2 weeks, and the potential seems endless.
Since I intend on using Steemit on a daily basis, I've decided to introduce myself!
I'm from Los Angeles, California. I emigrated from Chile at the age of 5, and have lived in California since. I am bilingual; I think in English. I enjoy all sports but follow none. I was raised by the internet and have no TV. I'm political but nonpartisan. I'm afraid of pain but not death. Information is the currency.
What do I think about God?... I don't.
I'm defined by my interests:
PEOPLE: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sam Harris, Scott Alexander, Richard Feynman, Sibel Edmonds, Seth Godin, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Satoshi Nakamoto, Isaac Asimov, Seneca, Paul Graham, Benedict Evans, J.R.R. Tolkien, Frederick Alexander, Herman Hesse, Robert F. Kennedy
VIDEO GAMES: Earthbound, FF6, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Metroid, Mega Man X, Link to the Past, Mario RPG, Castlevania SotN, MGS2, Ocarina of Time, Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Diablo, Deus Ex, Starcraft, Warcraft, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Skyrim, HotS
ANIME: Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Spirited Away, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Princess Mononoke, Attack on Titan, Mobile Suit Gundam, Macross Plus, Robotech, Rurouni Kenshin, Ninja Scroll, Hellsing, Ghost In The Shell, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Trigun, FLCL, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon
MOVIES: The Godfather II, Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, American Beauty, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Saving Private Ryan, The Matrix, Star Wars V, Cool Hand Luke, Se7en, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Man with No Name Trilogy, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Scarface, 2001, Heat
TV SERIES: Game of Thrones, Cosmos, Breaking Bad, Vice , Stranger Things, Planet Earth, True Detective, House of Cards, Mr. Robot, Rick and Morty, John Oliver, Peaky Blinders, Making a Murderer, The Walking Dead, The Jinx, Fargo, O.J.: Made in America, Eastbound & Down
MUSIC: Radiohead, Tim Hecker, Aphex Twin, EDM, Led Zepplin, Drake, The Beatles, Death Grips, Steve Reich, Jimi Hendrix, Kanye West, The Mars Volta, Kendrick Lamar, Brian Eno, Queen, Daft Punk, Fugazi, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Pink Floyd, Mac Miller, Modest Mouse, The Clash
I learned to steal when I was 7. I was 12 the first time I got caught. I stole ~80 CDs from Tower Records in a matter of a few hours (took 7 visits). They called my parents and came to a compromise ($): I had to return "all the CDs." I gave them ~30; I had at least ~250 stolen CDs. This left me with an impressive collection of classics that took me years to digest. That was the start of my kleptomania.
Good artists borrow, great artists steal. ~Pablo Picasso
I began playing guitar at 15. Musically, I think in guitar. I immediately began studying the great guitarists; then the great musicians, and then their inspirations. I absorbed culturally significant books, films, and drugs; the latter eclipsing the others. There was something profound about distorting reality, and recognizing that it wasn't reality that changed... it was you; your perception. And molecules did it.
As my sensory systems ripened for exploration, reality felt binding.
There are no right answers to wrong questions. ~Ursula K. Le Guin
Being skilled at stealing alcohol, I made many friends (opportunists) and had incredible times.
Having a great connection for shrooms, I had dozens of trips in dozens of settings.
Valuing first-hand experience... I tried Dramamine, cocaine, cough syrup, meth... finally, boredom.
Only the occasional toke remains, warping reality lightly enough to retain full control.
But none if it made a difference... I was full of emptiness, and only music filled the void.
Contentment is the only real wealth. ~Alfred Nobel
I always wanted to be in a band. I wanted to be the guitarist, in the same vein as Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Steve Howe, or Johnny Greenwood. I made several attempts, but serendipity was the rule. I learned that luck is being prepared when the opportunity presents itself; and I was determined to be prepared. I began to write my own songs. I began to write cryptic poems. I was shaping an artist. Still, nothing came close to the trance of playing music with other minds; harmoniously riffing to melodies in rhythm.
The keyboard was fundamental in my first 2 years of community college (CC); I was studying music theory. I mapped and categorized the concepts, but never fully subscribed to them. I liked to meander at the border of consonance and dissonance, seemingly because music is about tension and release. I excelled and became a music tutor. But as my transfer credits were nearly complete, I was dissuaded. Recognizing the low success rate in music, and the fact that I really just wanted to create music, I began to roam.
All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
I recalibrated, and nearly exhausted all introductory courses at my CC in the following 4 years. I studied politics, economics, anthropology, geology, geography, psychology, chemistry, language, philosophy, history, computer science, mathematics, and music. During this time, I had to decide whether to take trigonometry or statistics (the fork between science and liberal arts). I took statistics, and found it utterly boring (probably bad teacher); but I excelled at trig. Mathematics became a game of symbols. This mindset led me to physics, which has been the single most profound knowledge base in my life. I am a staunch advocate of universal physics education. I stopped stealing.
The scientist explains the world by successive approximations. ~Edwin Hubble
Physics began to deconstruct the universe into its lowest common denominators: energy, entropy, gravity, space, time, light, mass, and charge. Models increasingly became dependent on computational manipulating of data/energy: statistics, special relativity, quantum mechanics, general relativity, dark matter, dark energy, many-worlds, quantum field theory, string, m-theory, quantum gravity.
Seeking a frame of reference, we find ourselves floating. Our scope of the universe is limited, and our race is trapped in the Local Group (at best). And our ultimate goal is the acquisition of energy. Physics had me grounded; I understood. I was liberated to rethink everything from this perspective. My attention turned to music. I had developed an infatuation with word play and hip-hop... it tickled my brain.
I kept feeding her money 'til her shit started to make sense. ~Jay-Z
Senior year at UCLA, I started writing again. But just to get the ideas out of my head. I began to play with physics and math terminology; then science, and then academic. I eventually crafted entire raps, which then helped construct the songs. I now wanted to do nothing other than write music. Physics was no longer my primary focus. As music was taking over my mindspace again, I realized my health had waned. I was underweight, not eating well, overexercising, and sleeping poorly.
I was heavily bullied from 6th to 11th grade. I was conditioned (unknowingly) to not speak up, to not stand up for myself. It was my authoritarian household, where speaking back was ill advised, where I learned to be complacent and follow directions. I became a conflict avoider, and very soft-spoken. Because of the environment, I was in a constant state of tension; a habit I consciously fight today.
You can suffer the pain of change or suffer remaining the way you are. ~Joyce Meyer
In one of many car accidents, or when i dove in the shallow end of a pool, I damaged my jaw such that I developed TMJD (limited jaw movement). I could only fit three fingers (uncomfortably) between my teeth, any more and my temporomandibular joint would pop, and I would have to force it back into place by shutting my jaw. Too much jaw movement inflamed my masseter muscle, hence I avoided talking or chewing for long periods. At first I got used to it, then I was told by various doctors that I would have to live with the dysfunction. I needed to learn to relax, how to breathe, and how to rap with this condition.
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. ~Henry Ford
I began to apply first principles approach to the field of health. My curiosity led me close to the onion's core, where my knowledge was limited. In order to proceed, I had to study anatomy, biology, and neuroscience. This endeavor proved so useful, that I then used the technique on other topics of interest: politics, economics, culture, history, the self, and consciousness. Epiphanies became common. Information empowered me. I became an info addict, and my RSS feeder was my paraphernalia.
Today, I'm working on completing a variety of music projects. I keep up with the zeitgeist of all fields of interest. I eat well, sleep well, and exercise right. Everything seems in order, and I have a ton of information in my head and in my Evernote. I have chosen Steemit as my platform to disseminate my ideas, analyses, and fascinations. I look forward to growing with Steemit. Thanks for your time and consideration.
~AxiomPrime