/**
 * file: karbytes_13_april_2024.txt
 * type: plain-text
 * date: 09_APRIL_2024
 * author: karbytes
 * license: PUBLIC_DOMAIN
 */

Before I created KARLINA_OBJECT_extension_pack_10, I was thinking that a prominent (if not the most prominent) theme of that “micro directory” website section of Karbytes For Life Blog dot WordPress dot Com would be the dichotomy between thinking like a STEM major (and STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and thinking like a humanities major (and humanities is almost every academic subject which excludes STEM subjects).

I think that the current and future challenge of my life is to “go against the grain” which is predominantly humanities-oriented instead of STEM-oriented. The rewards for doing so are apparent to me because, whenever I spend some time studying STEM subject matter, my brain feels more exercised and my overall worldview feels more expansive and nuanced instead of relatively narrowed, hastened, and traumatized as I typically feel after consuming almost nothing but humanities-oriented content for a while. I think that the humanities appeals to the infantile aspects of humanity (which are universal throughout the species): the need to feel special, important, safe, and part of some cultural or ethnic group (but without delving deeper into the physical mechanics of how thoughts and emotions work because doing so crosses an effort threshold which is decidedly too rigorous for anything but a STEM-oriented use of cognitive resources (and I am insinuating that the humanities tends to avoid quantitative reasoning, systematic research and development, and considering perspectives other than human)).

The purpose of this little blurb is to remind myself (and to motivate myself) to not fall back into my “bad habit” of pandering to the humanities major in me instead of to the STEM major in me (and the STEM major in me is the part of me which I want to be my dominant personality). This is not to say that I will never again indulge in humanities-oriented subject matter as one of my many hobbies. I just would prefer to hold myself to a higher standard of rigor, objectivity, precision, work ethic, and impersonality (rather than having to be loud and make other people notice me whether they like it or not (which is something I think is much more characteristic of non STEM-majors than actual STEM majors or people who are serious academics)) than what I think is considered to be culturally mainstream where I live at this time and place in human civilization. I do have hope that, within the next twenty years, almost everyone will have at least as sophisticated of a STEM and humanities education as what I currently have because humanity’s overall knowledge, creativity, technology, and other capacities will likely improve through systematic refinement which is accelerated by the rise of artificial intelligence and computational and sensing hardware upgrades.

To rush to my point, I do not think anyone “has to” do anything other than continue being moved by the universe in the ways they are moved (whether they believe in “free will” or not). I think that the forces of nature will coerce an outcome that is favorable to humans because humans have already built a robust base by which to further constrain reality in humanity’s collective favor. What seems to help me (and other humans) not be as stressed out as they would otherwise be is me mentally preparing myself on a daily basis to be ready to die or undergo adversity and without me making a big stink about it. In other words, I acknowledge that I am merely one organism within a population of approximately eight billion of such organisms and that the planet I live on is likely one on billions which has life forms which are at least as intelligent as humans and their artificial intelligence. Therefore, if something bad happens to me or if I die, I expect that intelligent life will continue to prosper and evolve in the ways I would want it to. I am not so vain as to suggest that intelligent life (or even existence in general) should cease to exist merely because I cease to exist or that other sentient beings should be made to suffer in ways which are similar to how I am suffering just so that I do not feel like the only one suffering so much.

I think that people who demand that other beings be made to suffer because they have suffered are not sufficiently developed in the STEM department because if they were they would think that retributive violence is a waste of resources and counter to the STEM community’s goals (which pertain to the proliferation of the human species rather than perpetuating warfare and other practices which jeopardize humanity’s continued progress and survival).

Lastly, a technique which I was taught to deploy whenever I feel that my emotions (especially anger) are clouding my judgment to the extent that I am likely to engage in destructive behavior is to count objects (because the process of counting or doing any kind of quantitative reasoning activates the part of the brain involved in problem solving and taking an objective stance while simultaneously disengaging the part of the brain involved in fight or flight responses). I will do the best I can to promote and to exemplify through my own conduct what I think makes a good STEM major because I think what makes a good STEM major is what makes a good human being.

(I expect that this blurb is likely going to provoke the anger and insecurity of people who claim that they cannot upgrade their STEM skillset due to being too deprived of free time or social support. I feel sorry for such people and do not mean to increase their misery. I hope that they find a way out of being oppressed if that is what they want).