This blog represents the result of years deep contemplation, critical analysis and deduction about the secrets of this simulation we call life. It is a philosophical soap box designed to provoke our thinking. It is in effect a deeper look into the less conspicuous things that happen all around us; specifically, things which we see everyday and often take for granted – especially when we should not.
I am Xenocrates, the purveyor of these ideas. My individuality is moot. I am a timeless paradigm, the result of centuries of collective human thought brought to bear on a single soul. Long after this body is gone, these ideas will continue to live on. None of these ideas are new – but the presentation is. What I am attempting to do here is relatively unprecedented; unifying what would be considered diametrically opposed ideas in an effort to create a unified system of thought.
Join me here regularly, as I explore some of the more troubling efficacies of this simulation. If you are reading this type of content for the first time, I guarantee that it will challenge your existing ideology in new and provocative ways. Prepare to blow your mind. If you are not, I’m sure there’s more you can add. Either way, I welcome all commentary. I’m more than interested in hearing your point of view. Please bear in mind that much of the discussion here is not for the weak of mind. You have been warned.
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April 11, 2009 at 12:17 am
X
As weird as this may sound, you seem to portray my vision of how i would be in the future. Every blog i read seems to explain my own thoughts yet in much more detail. And your humor is amazing. In a way i feel like im complimenting myself. Im 18 yrs old and alot of your blogs hit on things i thought up independently through my experiences and some reading (dont let my age fool you) and to find someone who thinks alot of the same things except with greater understanding is somewhat liberating. I love the way in which you present these many ideas. I wouldnt have done most of them any different. Excuse my enthusiasm but there is no one in my life who i feel shares these ideas even remotely, most of them either being too “young” in mind or being the second type of theist you described in a blog… the ones brought up that way from birth. anyway, i want to know more about you as you seem a lot like myself, including the gender and race you claim.
April 11, 2009 at 12:36 am
X
i just finished reading uninteresting people and the way you express your obvious intellectual superiority is the most hilarious thing ive encountered in a while. Truly genius in my opinion, and boy am i one to rarely give praise.
April 11, 2009 at 1:10 am
xenlogic
Hello X,
I appreciate the kind words. However, I don’t particularly consider myself to be any more or less smart than the next person – despite my IQ. I just choose to think about things more deeply. Some people say that I over think things – but one could easily counter argue that they under think their entire existence – which is more often the case than not. I don’t particularly feel like being yet another mindless automaton regurgitating information on the internet like 90% of other blogs. Thus, this blog is an expression of that ideal.
Don’t be too quick to give me credit though. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know everything. That’s why I am always in the pursuit of knowledge. Thus, in the presentation of my ideas, I hope to learn from others as well. It’s a perfectly symbiotic relationship I hope to culture with perfect strangers on the internet in a collaborative pursuit of truth. It’s an adventure I’m equally excited and enthusiastic about. It’s amazing what can happen when one reflects their mind off everyone else.
- Xen
April 11, 2009 at 1:36 am
Evan
you’re somewhat modest and its cool, but wouldnt you consider the fact that you actually take the time to think deeper as a reason for your greater intellect? i myself am told nearly everyday that i think too much (maybe because of all the long depressive periods and what not)
. but what they dont understand is that id rather suffer so than be the mindless automaton. and after the suffering is a greater understanding, which brings tons more fun! i dont require your modesty, though i suppose you’ve acquired it as a way of dealing with people. i actually find it somewhat boring. but i give you props as ive made many many enemies with my inability to be so modest (i am after all only 18). im sure you understand where im coming from however and in my praise as there is no one for me to relate to. kids seem to mature and think so slowly… no thanks to the government and the schools. and also the grand majority of the black community, as ignorant as they are. lol i feel so much different sometimes i think im an alien but i know that i havent met enough people like yourself. i just dont know where to find these people! everyone else is just so uninteresting.
April 11, 2009 at 9:35 pm
xenlogic
Sir Evan,
I think I seriously underestimated you – and you’re probably right; I have had to handle so many other people who just don’t get it that I’ve subconsciously come up with a routine where I’ve assumed that most people won’t by default. One might think this is insulting their intelligence, but it is not. So I need you to understand a few things to give this some context:
The predictability of most people’s responses is kind of nauseating. But every once in a while, a truly brilliant response comes through and that makes the effort well worth it. The trouble is, because people are naturally and inherently inclined to follow the dumb remarks of every other dummy that came before, you have to control how they think – and eventually they’ll get it.
…eventually. *yawn*
When they do, they usually whimper a silent “oh… I see” and promptly disappear into the inconspicuous anonymity of cyberspace from whence they came, never to be heard from again. At this point, they lurk more and comment less. You know they’re there by their IP addresses which show up on the visitor’s log. They just don’t say anything.
But if I’m being honest, I used to be pretty naive in thinking that most people would have the capacity to understand some of these ideas provided it were broken down in like Fischer-Price as my Canadian friends would like to say. Unfortunately, I’ve since come to the conclusion that such is a pipe dream.
That phrase “common sense” is such an oxymoron. I’ve since come to realise that people believe whatever they believe not because it makes sense – but because they’ve been socially conditioned to believe it – even when it’s bull. That’s how a mindless automaton thinks. Their gullibility speaks for them – not their thinking capacity. So I’d like to think that what I’m doing here is reclaiming the collective right to defend common sense, one idiot at a time.
So far, I’ve got nearly 30,000 of them… and counting.
Here’s the trouble, X: There are over 6 billion people on this planet. At any one time, when a genius comes along, he/she is VERY alone. Most geniuses don’t really realise that until they’ve alienated half of their immediate community. So does that make them a genius? Not really. What’s the point of being smarter than everyone else if nobody cares?
Now you understand my position.
Personally, I think having a high IQ only means that one’s brain crunches larger amounts of information faster. It doesn’t mean they’re smarter. Most people loose traction on a problem once it reaches a third tier of complexity. Geniuses almost never loose traction. So other people think they’re smarter. They’re not. They just have more efficient brain matter for lateral thinking. But that’s not all that being smart is about, is it?
Being smart doesn’t mean just being able to crunch more data than everyone else. It’s about seeing the BIG picture and making good use of it. There are so many brilliant people out there who spend so much time brooding at night about their dark gift that they never mature to anything more than a 14 year old. There are too many people out there like that and I often count them along with the rest of the automatons. Anyone who exhibits a default and predictable behaviour is a mindless automaton – no matter how high their IQ.
A genius should distinguish themselves positively – although the over exuberance of youth often obfuscates that. In the technology industry, I meet these people all the time. They’re called hackers and they spend their entire life writing viruses for computers or coming up with some other brilliant kind of mischief to destroy the world.
If one is smarter than everyone else, there’s no point in being an evil genius. Sooner or later, the rest of humanity will subsume them and the world will advance no further than remembering how brilliant – and evil they were. Kevin Mitnick once held the internet hostage via a Texas Instruments calculator. Big whoop. What else has he contributed to humanity? Not much. Most people don’t even know who he is.
Now compare Albert Einstein… and you’ll see my point.
People who are cognitively gifted were specifically put on this planet to aid in the collective cognitive quantum leap of all mankind – not just themselves. Failure to do that only means that said genius only constitutes a waste of human DNA. It just makes him a walking calculator – and geniuses die younger. You knew this right?
However, I’m not going to pretend like I’m some goody two shoes.
I do like taking some liberties with the lemmings – largely because it’s fun. In all honesty, it’s a lot like a scientist having an easy morning conversation with a lab rat over coffee while reading the Sunday paper – just a few hours before skewering it to alter its DNA. The rat won’t even know what hit it. Do you think the scientist will ask the lab rat for the sports section after having it’s spleen cut from its gut? Not likely.
Skewering the collective population doesn’t benefit either of us. There’s very little point to being “smart” if nobody else gets it or if you don’t learn from anyone. It’s like a brilliant musician playing Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenberg Concerto #3 in G-major at the Hollywood Bowl with no one there to hear it. He won’t know how good he is and he will not have made anyone feel any better because of his music.
People are a necessary evil that every person has to deal with. One of the key lessons is learning how to manage the minds of people who are obviously not able to process information as quickly (or thoroughly). While one can be condescending (very easy to do), an even greater challenge would be to see if they can teach them something new.
Most of the times I’m not successful – but I’m getting better. I find that the Socratic method works nicely. Unfortunately, this does not work with everyone. I’ve since learned that when you’re dealing with a rabid dog, you can’t teach them quantum physics. So it’s best to just put it down – with the wicked and blind efficiency of a poison tranq dart direct to the carotid artery. No whimper, no fuss, no mess.
Ya dig?
Cheers,
-X
April 12, 2009 at 12:21 am
Evan
I understand what you mean of course. The wall i hit here is the overambitious one. I hit it so hard that I try to aspire to be something more than human. This is due to my need to do something no one else can. Except i know that i can not do anything anyone else cant and it drives me crazy. I hate lowering my standards however and sometimes feel as if taking over the world and teaching pigs to fly wouldnt be enough. Have you ever suffered from this?
I do terribly in school and feel absolutely no need for it as I know precisely where it will and wont lead me. Constantly asked what i want to do with my life, people get the same answer and cannot deal with it. This is especially true in the case of my parents who are christian to the core. I have a terrible time dealing with the fact that they may never understand me.
Were you constantly in and out of hospitals and talking to silly PhDs who thought they knew you better than you knew yourself? Everyone seems to want to waste my time in whatever way they can.
I suppose my only solace is in females. I dont need to explain to you this kind of satisfaction im sure, however it makes me feel like im playing with things that arent even human.
” So it’s best to just put it down – with the wicked and blind efficiency of a poison tranq dart direct to the carotid artery. No whimper, no fuss, no mess.”
This particularly relates to what I mean. The way i acquire, discard, and often reacquire these people makes me feel more like AI with senses…
Theyre like fleshy blowup dolls… or even slaves. As if they are my personal and free porn stars(maybe not as skilled or used up), calling upon them at any moment i please. Sometimes i wish I were very ugly, then maybe i wouldnt feel like such a puppeteer. However I am happy to announce that I actually feel somewhat bad about it.
I agree with most geniuses being assholes. I see the effect of the super elite in my everyday life. Watching as my friends and family become slave to such easily grasped deception. I sometimes wonder what the differences between me and them(elite) really are. Besides the obvious scale of control. Surely such a detached attitude towards everything around me is not healthy. I will admit, this world seems to want to rip me and anyone else who thinks like me to shreds. Ive even tried to be just as ignorant in an attempt to end suffering. But this of course is futile. I am a hopeless intellectual, lost in a world of zombies. One thing i can be especially sad about is that they arent after my brains. irony intended…
I have no plans for the future. Im just along for the ride. I foresee my early doom if i continue down this path, but what am i to do. Your suggestions of positively applying my mind is something i have bounced back and forth, to and from. As I am very detached and care little about humans this may take some work. My inability to relate is no doubt a strong reason for this but I am still a human myself and must cling tight to the emotions i still have. I want to love and feel like my application of thought is benefiting those that i love. ANY, and i repeat… ANY advice you can give me would help, as you are still alive(and appear content). thnx
April 12, 2009 at 1:59 am
xenlogic
Hmm,
Your situation is very familiar to me. Allow me to relate:
All the time. While I would use a different choice of words, I can definitely say that I understand what you mean. The trouble with a mind like ours is that there is often what feels like an innate and spontaneous need for differentiation. You feel it by needing to do something no one else has – a sense to go above and beyond. It’s like a prick stuck in the back of your mind, slowly driving you mad. There is a way to fix this issue, but you must first appreciate certain things:
It is not enough to be different just because. Any idiot can do that. If you’re going to be different, do so with a purpose. Without purpose, one will only come off as a “wannabe“. Find a well defined purpose for what you aim to prove and then let that drive your motive. Without that purpose, what you feel will be nothing more than raw, flailing, undirected power. That’s when you’ll become dangerous to yourself and to others.
It’s like a broken high tension power cable. All that electricity spouting from it is certainly a demonstration of the raw power contained in it. However, it is completely useless to anyone, because it is not connected to anything and the electrical power is not directed anywhere. So it lays there, dancing all over the ground while several hundred thousand volts fire out the broken end in no particular direction – just waiting to electrocute some innocent passer-by to death.
This is obviously a dangerous situation to be in, since that’s how many smart kids get led down the wrong path, usually ending up hurting someone – seriously. Remember those gunmen at Columbine? They were brilliant outcasts too. Did you hear about that 15 year old German boy who robbed a bank of 12 billion pounds in England using a laptop? He destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. He was a genius too – now behind bars. I think you see my point.
It’s never enough to have ambition, high standards and raw brain power to boot. You have to have a sense of direction to go with it. Otherwise, that raw brain power becomes dangerous in a very real way.
You mentioned that you were doing terribly in school. That’s not good. When I was growing up, I found that I was always too smart for my teachers, too smart for my Sunday School teachers, too smart for my college lecturers, too smart for my Bible Study teachers, too smart for the councilors @ church, too smart for my pastor, too smart for my parents – too smart for virtually anyone within 100 miles radius of my immediate environment. To make matters worse, because of the community in which I live and my ethnic affinity, most of my friends thought me to be an “Oreo” because apparently I think like a “white man”.
LOL!
I find that both fascinating and hilarious for several reasons I covered in a blog post I wrote about Breaking the Stereotypes. However, I digress…
The point I’m making is that I used these institutions of learning, at school, at church, at home, anywhere I went, to give myself a sense of purpose and direction. I researched all of my facts and presented them in a logical, easy-to-follow manner, debunking many of the myths and fallacious ideologies of my intellectually challenged kin. I wasn’t well received in every place I went, but that gave me an even stronger sense of purpose and direction.
As I got older, I realised that most of the people I communicated with simply lacked the capacity to grasp some of the ideas I presented. So my sense of direction came from wanting to share my point of view in a way that was both constructive and enlightening. I have come a long way since then and I have grown significantly less naive about it. My methods have improved as well. For example, I learned that it’s easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar.
So your objective, sir, is as follows:
1. Become educated. Prove your worth in the fields of education. Learn what everyone else knows. Break it down and contribute something of your own. This is the best way to prove whether you’re as intellectually gifted as you think you are. Then in the process of mastering this domain;
2. Discern your talent. Everybody has one. I didn’t learn to write like this over night. I always knew I loved to write. But it took years of trial and error to hone it to what it is today. In fact, a lot of my writing skill was learned from people who aren’t as cognitively gifted as myself. Apropos;
3. Always remain humble. While it’s easy for cognitively gifted folks to feel arrogant, arrogance is an intellectual death sentence. It doesn’t open one to learning anything new. So don’t shun criticism unless you feel it doesn’t contribute anything useful to your self development. In so doing;
4. Sculpt the man you must become. Once you have learned how to tame the raw energy inside you, you will find that you are becoming more and more mature, eventually becoming the adult who you were intended to be, knowing when & when not to indulge the minds of others. Then finally;
5. Learn people management. Up until very recently, I couldn’t resist the temptation to feed on the gullibility of the masses for my own intellectual entertainment, like a vampire would feed on its human herd. But even that gets boring after a while and it’s far too easy. Furthermore, enemies aren’t immediately as useful as friends. They become more relevant as you get older. So ultimately, you can’t get away from having to deal with people who don’t get you. So challenge yourself: Find a mechanism that allows you to communicate with anyone on almost any subject. The sense of wonderment they express to you in return is so powerful, that you’ll look back at your old self with great disdain – and even feel a little foolish for things you’ve said and done in the past.
When you get to that stage of developmental maturity, then my friend, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with. I can promise you that.
Cheers,
Xeno
April 21, 2009 at 11:20 am
Richard
June 15, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Richard
Hey Xeno, you should do like Alamanach and get a RSS feeds for Comments as well. It’s very useful and almost necessary.
June 15, 2009 at 7:19 pm
xenlogic
One is already there, chief. Look at the top of the comments queue.
June 16, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Richard
I see it…thx.
How about 1 feed for all comments for any topics. Therefore, nothing can be missed…???…whether old or new.
June 16, 2009 at 6:55 pm
xenlogic
Hmm… that sounds a bit… tricky. I might have to mod the underlying code for the theme. Not sure I can do that without moving this platform to my own server. Will think about it seriously.
June 23, 2009 at 9:10 am
Richard
Thanks cause it really helps. Like right now, I forgot to Subscribe to a Comment Feed and I’m now searching through to find it. The Search provided doesn’t search comments.
November 15, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Darshana
I came upon your blog while researching a talk on cosmetics and the math behind beauty. To your credit, your intelligent observations and ability to reason in logic and common-sense simultaneously made me want to read further.
I have grappled with the question of intelligence vs smart and have come across all permutations of this in people. I lament the fact that outside of academia, my exposure to people who are smart enough to use their intelligence for thinking outside of topics or fields that they are educated or familiar with is minimal. It seems that this gamble to laterally think and explore is limited (or at least my exposure to these people until now has been). It seems like conversation revolves around what we are exposed to in media/popular culture (TV, newspaper,etc) and the desire to exercise my brain and debate someone about topics outside of these areas is limited.
I would add one point to your 5 points in response to Evan. “Seek out others who are willing to challenge you intellectually-preferably the ones that disagree with you.” I look forward to doing the same with you.
November 16, 2009 at 12:29 am
xenlogic
I appreciate your kind insights, Darshana. I mirror your sentiments as well.
November 29, 2009 at 11:32 am
mykl
“People who are cognitively gifted were specifically put on this planet to aid in the collective cognitive quantum leap of all mankind – not just themselves.”
Does this mean you believe in God(s)? I’ve just discovered your blog and find it intriguing but I have a hard time accepting that the deep thought and introspection (and use of scientific findings, statistics?) you indulge in could lead a “genius” to this conclusion. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding the intent of this assertion?
I respect your right to believe in the supernatural and I mean no offence but my reading time is limited and I’d rather look elsewhere if your ultimate philosophy is along the lines of -God did it-.
November 30, 2009 at 12:40 am
xenlogic
Mykl,
To answer your question directly, no, I’m not really a believer in God(s) – not as defined in religion. There are several posts on here that address that very question though. The Christian idea of God (which is the one I was socialized to believe in) is riddled with problems that no Christian seems willing to answer. To top it off, I discovered that Christianity is really a modern day mythology. So, no, I’m not really a believer in that context.
I am open minded and willing however to consider any evidence that I may have overlooked in the search for an answer.