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[N.T.M.]

I was thinking about starting a new blog that would cover a variety of topics, all of which, I suppose, indirectly relate to the main theme here, that being the value of life. I thought I'd name it, "Musings of a Polymath," and It'd take the structure of an informal conversation, or something long those lines. Anyway, I copied and pasted what I wrote for an introductory post below.

Please let me know if this is an idea worth pursuing, or if I should just throw it away. I want to use this blog for the purpose of sharing some unique ideas (and possibly some more mundane ones).

I titled it, "Something about History."


Hello, and welcome to my new blog! I’ll try to make the introduction brief, but there are several points that I would like to touch on before delving into the main content. I’m not entirely sure where to begin, so I suppose I’ll just start by talking a little about the background for this blog.

After being absent from the blogging scene for over a year, I recently began wrestling with the idea of writing again. It was an enticing thought, but very little beyond that; I didn’t have any clear plan in mind. One option I considered was resuming my old blog. I thought that, if anything, I could use it just to get a solid foundation, but after reviewing some of my old posts, I found several points that ultimately led me to discard it entirely, by which I mean that I changed the name and archived the posts.

Now because I don’t want to make the same mistakes again, I’m going to take a moment here to outline a couple of these points and the measures I’ve taken to correct them. I’ll start with one of the most concerning problems, and that was the style of writing I employed. I didn’t have any qualms about the content, but the presentation seemed a little too verbose, and while it could easily be argued that there’s nothing inherently wrong with a little verbosity, it did seem to convey—unintentionally, mind you—an air of pretension. Moreover, it came with the risk of alienating a large portion of readers, which is obviously counterproductive for anybody interested in building a subscriber base.

So, what’s the antidote, you ask? Candor, obviously. Without this crucial ingredient, you’re always running the risk of coming off as an ***hole, or, at the very least, communicating ineffectively.

Moving on...

Another problem with my old blog was the scope I limited myself to. By restricting myself to only one topic—that being immortality through biomedical intervention—I eventually started to lose interest, and, in consequence, my activity suffered (Consider for a moment the year gap I mentioned.). So what’s the solution? Expand the scope! And that’s exactly what I did by changing the name.

Again, moving on...

I’m looking up now at the volume I’ve written, and it’s much more than I was shooting for. The irony, of course, is that I devoted a whole paragraph to discussing verbosity... and then part of this paragraph explaining that (Candor, remember?). Anyway, as for the actual content of this blog, it could probably be described best by simply listing some of the topics I’m interested in. So here it goes: Medicine, health, physics, philosophy, religion, linguistics, music, information theory, video games (maybe), and miscellaneous random notes/compilations. I could go on for a while, but I’ll just stop myself here.

Until next time...

I wrote it on an impulse, and I think that shines through pretty clearly.

[Layberinthius]

For the things which would be difficult to communicate effectivley, use youtube and a webcam and communicate them verbally, then link to the videos in your blog and tag them appropriatley.

[N.T.M.]

For the things which would be difficult to communicate effectivley, use youtube and a webcam and communicate them verbally, then link to the videos in your blog and tag them appropriatley.

Yep. That's what I thought I'd do. Also, I'll come up with a formal introduction and reserve this post (the OP) for use as a historical reference.

[N.T.M.]

*Bump* All right. Here's the formal introduction. What do you guys think?


It’s a beautiful evening in mid-autumn. You’re walking along a path in the wilderness, wending your way around rocks and encroaching trees when you look down to discover small patches of golden light dancing across the floor—interstices cast from a variegated canopy above. You consider this for a moment, and then you look up and notice the surrounding trees, branches swaying contentedly in a light breeze, displaying leaves suffused with orange and yellow hues set against the dark blue backdrop of the sky. Looking out at this incredible canvas of colors, you take a slow, deliberate breath as you find yourself enraptured by the ineffable beauty of nature.

I thought I’d compose a formal introduction by opening in a poetic frame. I realize that I might have overextended myself a little, but it does call attention to the central theme of this blog, and that is emphasizing the beauty of life. More specifically, it’s defining the beauty of life by exploring it through deductive analysis and observation—the universe as viewed through a scientific lens.

Now many would consider this to be a point of conflict, contending that you can’t discuss the aesthetic aspects of life, maintain a purely scientific perspective, and expect the two to not—by nature—undermine each other. To these people, the element of mystery is an inseparable part of nature’s beauty, and whenever something new is learned about the physical world, the beauty of the subject matter is reduced precisely to that extent. To this, I would not only have to disagree, but I would have to go further as to say that understanding how the world works adds to its beauty.

Throughout this blog I will be riding on that premise with entries that I hope will provide stimulation for any thinking mind. Posts will have a very candid flair and, above all, aim to be original (With the thousands of blogs on the internet, reiterations of already popular ideas are certainly not needed.). Also, topics will range within anything that I think might draw interest, so you can expect things to be very eclectic.

Lastly, I should say what’s already been implied, and that’s that all critical comments, or comments of any kind for that matter, are welcome, although I can’t offer any guarantee regarding a response (Those who know me might say that I’m remarkably antisocial, which is a quality that likely bleeds into my internet habits.).

Well, that’s all. I suppose it’s appropriate at this point to end on the classic Star Trek utterance: “Live long and prosper.”

[N.T.M.]

Why the negative rating? A negative rating by itself isn't constructive.

[theconomist]

A promising start but as the french would say; ce n'est que de la forme, point de fond. We need to see some content to be able to judge, I still don't see where you're going with this but if you do decide to continue I'd be interested in reading.

[N.T.M.]

A promising start but as the french would say; ce n'est que de la forme, point de fond. We need to see some content to be able to judge, I still don't see where you're going with this but if you do decide to continue I'd be interested in reading.

I actually started it already. My premise is basically that life is scientifically beautiful and worth exploring, which relates to immortalism by supporting the incentive to extend healthy life span. That being said, it's very eclectic; I write about whatever's on my mind at the time. Some of the topics are rather polemical, too (religious views, etc.).

I should also add that if I'm going to write anything at all, it'll have to be in this form. So if this doesn't work, I'm done. I just thought that public writing would be a nice way to voice some of my thoughts while also indirectly supporting the movement to extend healthy life spans.

Anyway, here's the blog if you want to check it out: http://www.longecity...-of-a-polymath/