ABOUT

Rantangent originated as an attempted Book / Text that explains the entirety of the Universe and Human manifestations in it from the beginning of time to the future…ideally in simple terms. It began when the creator became enlightened to the state of the world as not progressive but headed for a collision course with apocalypse (end of human civilization and possible all individual species). Hopefully, the text would embody enough universal truths in as simplistic terms as possible to make it universally readable, knowing understanding is for the individual.

It would be somewhat cosmic, but also reality-based. Since existence takes place on a spinning rock with a gaseous atmosphere and time is kept track of by axial spins and revolutions around a fireball that is enormous from the relative size of the planet and individual people on the planet, but microscopic relative to the entirety of all physical space, cosmic understanding would be required to be included. However, explaining these things needed to be done so in a manner of universality (being undeniable or at least generally accepted by people across the world to be true without regards for cultural or existential differences).

For example, it would be stated that time is linear—an assertion that is crucial to understanding reality. While everyday people know this in their existential ontology, it is rare, if ever, that it gets mentioned aloud and is brought to awareness where varying perceptions of time are altered into more uniformity.

As you can see, human psychological phenomena will be addressed.

One of the texts predecessors, rivals, geneses, and antecedents is the Bible, a universally known text as the most widespread Book of Life across human’s planetary existence as a single entity comprised of individuals. The explanation about how time is linear and existence is cosmic are for the most part affirmed in the Bible. However, the Bible is very matter of fact in it’s assertions about the nature of time. Rantangent was going to do a lot more descriptive analysis before making bold claims. Devoting time to understanding language, linguistics, words and symbols, and the evolution of human civilization from curent understanding from varying groups of people from the spiritual to the scientific and including those external to macro level divisions, Rantangent would provide a simple as possible overview of the reality it’s creator understands according their own sincere truth and having taken into account general claims from various sources and adding in certain other reason…ideally letting the reader know outright what was speculative and was true, in a personal attempt at objectivity even from self-authorship.

Moving forward and due to the nature of time and global events and the general state of the world, the text was going to include a complete “map” of the current social systems in place, from an objective standpoint: meaning giving the reader an brief but necessary explanation of the nature of existence from the standpoint of scientific materialism (physical reality of humanity, earth, basic ideas of resource use, consumption) and all subjective experience as absurd, metaphysical assertions as too abstract to be considered universally acceptable, noting that bodies are purely physical, human behavior as phenomenal and otherwise meaningless. These are not to be the text’s supreme truths, but critical to beginning. The role of subjective experience would enter the text later.

This separation was done because of the premise that human experience has lead to immense uniqueness among humans’ in their identities, and this is recorded by social sciences which also contribute significantly to the writings. The writings are also premised in personal experience, many frustrating ones. Even the language in this text is from an objective-truth based standpoint…the way people speak when giving an interview in a documentary is markedly different from the way the speak and behave in their everyday experience of life where subjective experience and personal and community identity rule and objective/universal truth is swept under the rug. It is obvious that people can be truthful, but that they separate it from their every day personal experience. Thus, the writing process would include parts that are mostly my personal rants and other parts of explanatory

Due to the extreme nature and vast coverage of the entirety of the universe and humanity’s role in it, a book seemed utterly impossible to describe major overarching concepts of the human social world. Therefore, it turned into a website which includes a wide variety of the same topics provided by the attempted Book. Below is a letter provided to would-have-been readers as a ‘foreword’ to the Book.

Dear whomever,

The following is a rough, rough, rough draft of a document I hope could be very influential for all of humankind and their future. I personally am not an expert in any particular field (except the sport of tennis…which, albeit a very narrow field considering the magnitude of human endeavor, still requires a massive amount of psychological understanding, technical knowledge, equipment and material understanding, strategizing short and long term plans and attitudinal maintenance, significant financial assessment skills, many issues related to the human body and mind, and finally will provide many life lessons through experience, etc.).

However, I do have a fairly extensive “renaissance man-ish” well-roundedness to my repertoire of knowledge. And while our economy tends to favor those in highly specialized areas, such as a particular area of law, medicine, psychology, or accuracy kicking a football through a big H, I do hope you agree that this document, if properly developed, could be an incredibly valuable tool for humanity as it progresses through time toward eternity.

As such, I would like you to know a little bit of background and why I write this document.

My subjective experience of life is something I have totally abandoned for the purposes of developing an understanding of the world. Originally, my personal life and journey was like this…

I wanted to be a professional tennis player. One night before school, I watched on TV a match at the US Open between Sampras and Agassi (Sampras won, I think it was ’98). I knew that was what I wanted to do…these guys were battling each other in front of thousands of fans under the lights in New York City, the capital of the world. The fans got so into it and I knew the sport was a very difficult one that required a lot of mental fortitude and technical training. It was just so awesome…special…something not many people could do.

My tennis journey kept me on a healthy track through a lot of stuff with friends and dating and family and a ton of dental issues. So, the point is, when I finally went to college, I did so only because I was not good enough to go pro at that point. Basically, I could have, but I probably would have spent a lot of time and money without being very successful even though I could have learned and got better through the experience.

I also chose a major that I thought would be relatively easy and interesting so I could focus on tennis which was really the only thing I cared about. Sociology turned out to be really fascinating…although I didn’t realize how unique it really was until after traveling the world on the pro tour and then teaching tennis after that. I’ve just learned so much about humanity, people, and the current state of affairs in the world and I think it’s helped me paint an accurate “impressionist” painting of the world. I say impressionist because, for me, life is kinda like continuously learning stuff and putting an image view of the world together. Most people, I think, tend to figure out what they want in their own life (often are told it by others) and just try to navigate reality with a more self-focused intention.

This is totally acceptable by people…as much of the development of the formal rules (laws and bureaucracy) are done so according to a generally accepted (albeit subject to change) sense of individuality — a relatively common understanding of how self-interested the individual is permitted to be versus how much they must adjust behaviorally to society (in all its forms…familial in the micro and perhaps international law on the macro). This paragraph should illustrate a tiiiiny bit of the types of things sociology delves into…it is a very vast subject since it is EVERYTHING HUMAN.

It gets into religion, race, social dynamics, behavioral tendencies, integration, human use of space (building structures, both intentionally by planners/designers and subconsciously…city planning has many political aspects to it and it should appropriately done somewhat fairly to all the members of it, balancing interests of rich/poor, classes, etc.) and so much more. Because of sociology’s great broadness, it left me with some holes in the worlds functioning on a “real” level. Like, in my mind…”if this is true stuff and sociology’s methods of research can produce so much accuracy, why is the world kinda messy and hodge podgy and not more utopian? Or at least, why doesn’t the world use it? Instead, the world just functions as it will, with the hundreds of millions of people just doing what the heck ever as we all float through time and the abyss on this planet?”.

So, I studied a lot of other things, philosophy, religions, law, etc. Which leads me to where we are now. I have written this work as an attempt to provide something that can do a number of things at once. Kill a whole flock of birds with an asteroid, so to speak. HAHA.

I wanted to make this my personal magnus opus—including every thought and experience I’ve ever had that mattered with regards to the world we live in—without ever really having drafted another book. Basically, do it once, do it right, and edit it over time until its perfect. I wanted to include stories, poems, factual analysis, heated personal rants, change subject areas on a whim, etc. You will soon read it and see the types of crap I was trying. These are all things I’ve attempted to do to try and enlighten the world and alter the direction of humanity, deliberately, and in a manner nobody has ever done—by enhancing individual consciousness through a various set of concerns that are somewhat more futuristic, and certainly more realistic than the masses know. One day, perhaps, humanity won’t have this thing they call “masses” of people who tend toward extremity nor devalue or dehumanize any individual’s spiritual existence. Perhaps, as a result, people try to create a united humanity, a new religion (even a syncretic religion would be fine). Maybe a more truthfully based form of government, etc.

When I say form of government, I don’t mean giant bureaucratic buildings with pillars and people in uniforms, I MEAN IN THE MINDS OF THE PEOPLE. Perhaps a self-governing humanity. We all have quite an incredible inherent sense of morality…though sometimes it takes time or experience. Who knows. It’s all wild ideas. I honestly believe, based on my accumulated knowledge, that we are going to need everyone if the species is going to survive indefinitely.
I have been incredibly emotional throughout the writing process, and even the development of this knowledge base and these ideas. Another main point of the book is to provide something that, when a child reaches a certain age, it is a quality reading material to enhance their understand of the world, so they might be able to better navigate it. Humanity has changed fundamentally, and progress and change happens so quickly, that I worry about their ability to cope. I worry about existential risks. I love humanity in all its forms…I hope that comes across. As an individual, I have my personal needs for love and companionship, but in this work, I intend to share anything I have to in order to accomplish something else.

So, I’m handing this to you, to ask for any input, perhaps pass the torch for a while, for editing, or just so you can read it and cross out what you hate, circle what you love, and whatever. We are all going to be gone one day, and a new generation may or may not replace us. I just feel its important to share some of this. My education has completely changed my movie-viewing experience where I see ethical issues so differently. Like in Terminator 2, the only person (Sara Connor) who cares about humanity losing “its” war is held in an insane asylum. Its symbolic, to me. You might see, I hope you do, that it bothers me when humans view their problems and issues as directly opposing other humans. They face issues that my conflicting or contradictory, but they are all one species to me, and I pray that every last soul on earth acknowledges this. I say this, and I mean it, even though it still hurts so bad that some women I’ve loved dearly are out there sharing their lives with others…privacy in intimate relationships is special and important to me, sacred…and I feel like I was good to them and now its gone. It really sucks. How all of our minds divy up the world into private and public lives is a fascinating thing. I hope this text can also provide some insight into how humanity might move forward, and maybe change how people treat each other. I truly believe sharing information is a great thing (pink floyd/s.hawking “keep talking”) and so I do it openly in here. Do what you will with it, and get back to me when your ready. I’ve gotten lazy and burnt out and am risking sharing it before its done. I wanted to just wait years to get it done, but I cant, i don’t know why.

Sincerely,

Dr. Rantangent

P.S. Major points and purposes/intentions of the work

(1) Just rant about the world, who knows how the readers will respond, but because it addresses worldly affairs, it should affect it all somehow…I think and hope in a way that positively impacts people spiritually. Also, it should be a form of therapy for me. My humble little soul has experienced a horrific world where everyone in my life is literally suppressing my soul and assuming I am not as capable as I am and so they “educate” me by basically filling my mind with more and more information and “guidance” and I really cannot take any more. I fucking know more than most of the people who are telling me what the fuck they think I need to know. I can’t take any more literature being dumped on me or any more people telling me about things and filling my head with more ideas…its already overstuffed. So, rantangent is about unstuffing it all and making my own sense of it. I try to be truthful and I think my understanding of the world is pretty fucking obviously true. The world is literally ruled by money which is a common theme throughout rantangent. Human’s deviate from universal truth and view fellow humans in ways that are sick, divisive, exclusive, inhumane, ignorant, and unloving…it bothers me.

(2) Through -tangenting (talking about so many random things and not making sense really…), the reader may seem confused at first, but as they exist in the world, it will make more sense and a giant picture of the world that is more accurate will be in everyone’s mind…giving a higher portion of people a similar sense of what’s going on…allowing them to engage in more mutually beneficial behavior and pull the strings of our fate according to more accurate perceptions.

(3) Draw relationships between the physical world and metaphysics (religion, perception, personal desires, etc.) so that people can maintain a more practical view of the physical world, particularly when it comes to managing resources and not harming the earth in ways that could create existential risks…even where something might just harm a particular population in a small part of the planet. Also, explain to the reader how everyone on earth is caught up in the concept of “progress” and as we all grow and expand, it changes economics and how we use resources and it leaves a lot of the people at the bottom behind…its possibly part of our nature that this has to happen, but it is also political bullshit/greed, etc.

(4) Include whatever form of writing is appropriate to make whatever points are necessary. Right now, I speak fairly straightforward throughout most the work. However, at some points, it turns hostile and takes the “I” form more. This is deliberate. I also would like to include some stories, perhaps a small script explaining views of various characters with different ideals (stoicism vs. selfishness and even more).

(5) BRING PEOPLE UP TO DATE ON THE CURRENT WORLD. Its very globalized and its created a global religion of money as major capitalists cross national boundaries to earn untold wealth (which so often comes in the form of others’ labor). I don’t care if this is evil or not, I care that people know that this may or may not be the best use of resources for our kind (it has produced a significant amount of new technology and possibilities and made many lives better, but at costs…some unknown such as the displacement of families as kids go to college or travel for work and the like. Marriages are highly affected by economic structure too.). As such, I plan to explain the history (adam smith, marx, american law/corporations) of their development briefly and the justifications.

(6) Rationalisation and Individualisation: ( Ind..) Modern society is characterized by these two concepts. Individual life courses are, more than ever in human history, determined purely within the individual decision-making. This is beneficial but also leaves society a bit lost. Think “chaos star” from magick where the arrows go in all directions. Humanity is deviating from one another on a massive level in terms of how they think and view life, the realms of thought are not shared as much, particularly as people travel internationally and there is immigration in all directions. (R): this is a concept of humanity in which modern society and social life is characterized by every decision being rationalised, and systems created for everything. It’s “disenchantment” from traditional, esoteric, or religious forms of life. While it seems great and practical and makes sense, and I’m quite okay with it, we still never know what we might lose by giving up abstract ideas and spirituality. It’s tied to the placement of science at the apex of our world. Which is funny, because social science doesn’t get much cred…it should…as long as how its implemented is ethical and maybe behind the curtains a bit.

(7) Love. I have a huge section on what love is or may be. Particularly with relationships. In a very urbanized humanity with the majority of us living in dense settings, the number of sexual partners has increased substantially and the length of time that relationships last has dropped. Its personally troubling beyond words in my own life. For society, generally, it is hard to know how it will play out. Conceptions of love are changing and I have a feeling its going to hurt a lot of people, inevitably, as people realize their conceptions are incongruent with others. This doesn’t address the specifics of what those are, just the fact that they can be conflicting and cause problems for mutual interpersonal relations. I won’t get too explicit… I don’t think.

Also, I’d like to touch on the chaos of war, and how much more people need to just understand some new psychological concepts and how the war is not fought physically any more, but psychologically and especially by pulling strings on our fate as a species. I have tons of notes on everything I wanted to get to. I never will which is fine. I’ll need some forward to explain to the reader that they need to get books or go online to find out specifics or get in deeper on any particular realm that the work touches on.

PLEASE NOTE: AS OF DECEMBER 12, 2022, I HAVE BECOME AWARE OF MALICIOUS, UNTRUTHFUL, OR UNFAIR ACTIVITIES ON THE INTERNET BY DEFINITION…SO, I KNEW THERE WAS ALL SORTS OF BAD INTERNET BEHAVIOR, BUT THE PARTICULAR CONCEPTS WERE UNSPECIFIED TO MY KNOWLEDGE AND ARE NOT A TACTIC OF RANTANGENT BY ANY MEANS. THESE INCLUDE:

sealioning, whataboutism, straw man fallacies, poisoning
the well, tribalism, hatemongering, debate obsessiveness, tone trolling, appeals to nature, and sockpuppetry.

Whataboutism as a device of annoyance is not used, but as a device to force deeper exploration in the presumptions upon which thoughts or ideas are premised, it is not such a bad method of entertaining with willing participants.