Will to Truth

Please note that the post times of the following two posts were edited so that this post comes as part 1 of 3 in a large post.

Fractal (The Mandelbrot Set).

In mathematics, the Mandelbrot set is a set of points in the complex plane, the boundary of which forms a fractal.

When computed and graphed on the complex plane, the Mandelbrot Set is seen to have an elaborate boundary which does not simplify at any given magnification. This qualifies the boundary as a fractal.

The Mandelbrot set has become popular outside mathematics both for its aesthetic appeal and for being a complicated structure arising from a simple definition, and is one of the most well-known examples of mathematical visualization.

Fractals are often said to be the simplest demonstrations of beauty, paradoxically their simplicity makes them infinitely complicated and unending in design. Common fractals in nature are apparent in plants' branches, veins in leaves, skeletons of animals, branches of animals' veins and nerves, proportions of chemical compounds, lightning arcs, and the geometry of crystals.

Mathematical Symbols.

π = Pi, if you don't know, get the fhek off my blog. :-)

φ = The golden ratio, an irrational mathematical constant, (1+√5)/2, approximately 1.6180339887

It's a calculation for graphing logarithmic spirals and fractal sequences found in nature. The ratio created is also found universally in nature in relation to components of aesthetically pleasing subjects.

ƒ(x)=1/x is a mathematical singularity, where zero gives ±∞.

On a graph, given the value of zero, the function will explode as in the theoretical state of the Universe at the big bang. A physical paradox.

The Binary Star.

This design is about beauty and individuality. But please don't read that as pride. I am but a Debaser.

Read from the bottom point clockwise, following the longest lines (as you'd draw a star), and skipping over characters already crossed, ending with the top right point (which would then connect back to the bottom), the binary reads 1010011010, which, in decimal, is 666. Please trust, it's not satanic, though at a glance, it is nothing but. I don't, by any stretch of the imagination, even remotely have any inkling of any idea, not even any fickle, fleeting, or otherwise slightest belief in any character, entity, force, power, or emotion, that could be classified by any means as this "Satan." This drawing and theme is something I started working on when I was about 17, and is a reference to the all too common 'Semmelweis reflex' reaction to Atheism, agnosticism, and related topics, which is merrily depicted in this comic:
http://abstrusegoose.com/229


This number is called out in the Australian band Cog (one of my favorite bands and songs of all time) in 1010011010, about freedom, peace, and illusion, which references the George Orwell dystopian novel and film, 1984, wherein individuality is restricted by Big Brother, and the subjects are persecuted for their thoughtcrimes against the totalitarian, oligarchical collectivist society. This is also close to the theme of another favorite novella, Ayn Rand's Anthem. Thirdly, this systematic restriction of free will is referenced in another dystopian novel and film, A Clockwork Orange. Partially in thanks to a high school English teacher, my taste was fulfilled by experiencing these three brilliant pieces of literature. I will now never live without expressing myself and my satire in some way.


A very in-depth, two page description of the meaning behind the Binary Star design in its own rite can be found on my blog here (beware Semmelweists):
http://rcarhart.blogspot.com/2010/02/binary-star-defined.html


Truth?


So why tack "truth" on it; it's a pretty powerful message, especially on top of an otherwise deafening stamp; breakfast table in an otherwise empty room...


Because it's the Will to Truth.


This is beyond good and evil. There's no such consequence. It's math and it's physics. It's nature. It's all there is. It's a compilation of definition of pure aesthetic. It's the unguided, exposed, raw, natural, unending, sheer, blatant, pristine patent of reality as we know it. In all its glory and there for all to rejoice in.


So if that's absolute positivity, where's the balance? What's at the opposite end of that? Expecting unbridled fear, loathing, rage, grief, confusion, inadequacy? Those are only emotions. They exist only in the mind. It's the hidden secrets; the private thoughts of Einstein's God. The long forgotten drafts of the simplest, yet most complicated details of the Universe. And I can't imagine they'd be any less divine than what's revealed in the details.


This, the wonderment of the unknown, is what keeps the species motivated. Discovery through experimentation and exploration. Godsend confessions of the machine. Reverse engineering the alien technology within which we reside. We've acknowledged that our very growth as a planet is guided by Natural Law. We've been playing in the sandbox for millions of years. Hundreds of thousands of years by our calculation of our current particular self-defined species. We've seen our own invention shape our lives exponentially between generations, even unimaginably to our very recent ancestors. Yet we don't know what to strive for technologically, as our understanding of Natural Law is still juvenile. Perhaps even in its infancy. Aside from that, nor do we have any notion that we will behold any semblance of grasp on the inner workings of the Universe. So we continue to play in the sand! I don't know about you, but I am un chien that thinks that that is more than enough to live for, to die for, to strive for, to co-exist for; a solid basis of morality, conceivably fairer than any enforced conformity.


It's the curiosity I had as a little kid. I had no idea when I was seven, and thought about a question mark as a tattoo, that it would turn out to be so endlessly synchronous. So that finally lies at the very top.

Binary Star, Defined

Please note that the post time was edited so that this post comes as part 2 of 3 in a large post, and is displayed after its corresponding piece. This post is part one of a two part explanation of the Binary Star portion of the particular tattoo idea.

Forget traditional connotations of faith and luck for star tattoos. That's not really me. A star shape itself is a symbol of the obvious: a celestial star. This signifies my love for astrophysics. A desire to understand the Cosmos. All of my tattoos are/will be of my views and passions, and are related to philosophy and/or physics.

Celestial stars, from our perspective, are for the most part minuscule and insignificant, save the Sun, one of the primary ingredients in the very existence of our lives, which reminds us of their remarkable power, potential, and influence. Though we know that they aren't everlasting, that time is relative, and that their presence is constant for the most part as far as we are concerned, enough to trust and to navigate by. A symbol of eternal astonishing beauty, stars are however still insignificant in relation to each other and to further bodies. They beckon us to investigate deeper into the abyss of the heavens.

Having five points (as does any specific number) gives additional meaning to a star symbol. Apparent to us in nature almost exclusively to living organisms such as flowers and oceanic creatures, as well as the basic shape of the human body (think Vitruvian Man, another design I'm contemplating over), five points signifies the sacred occurrence of life as we know it. Five points represent a quest for Divine Knowledge and the secrets of life, a perfect reference to Einstein, who only claimed to wish to know the thoughts of God, in seeking a unifying theory. The rest... are details.

Further, Earth, water, air, fire, and spirit are often represented in the five points or angles of this star, and alternately, touch, sight, sound, taste, and smell. Both are curious lists that have deeper roots I'll speak of later in this blog.

Displaying the pentgram, or regular five pointed star outline, with one point directed downwards, is, yes, commonly associated with the devil, the devil's head, and frowned upon in sin. Fuck the devil. To be crystal clear, I don't believe in good, evil, Heaven or Hell. The significance in inverting my pentacle is as it has been since junior high, when I sewed one on a stocking cap: the goat's head.

I miss that hat.

The goat can still be thought to be demonic in nature, but you know this can't be true in my case.

Not to give credit to astrology and zodiacal mythology, but therein, a goat is shy, introverted, creative, has an aversion to making large decisions, is a dreamer, and is a perfectionist. Though a.) I don't believe in horoscopes or fortune telling, and b.) I wasn't born in the year of the goat, the goat does correspond to the Western Cancer sign, which is mine, and these attributes are exactly of my nature. The Cancer, or crab: can walk sideways, as the individual will take alternate paths in life; and, again, within its shell, is introverted; and is caring, sensitive, appreciative, and indirect. Again, however, I don't believe in this spiritual folly, and aim not to support it much. After all, I recognize that the main component in fortune, to make it seem credible, is ambiguity.

Though when circumscribed (not circumcised), as the symbol is in my hat pictured, the pentagram is considered a pentacle, which traditionally gives it concrete evidential mystical and/or satanic connotation, the only significance I hold when including the outlining circle is simplicity, symmetry, and perfection (ie: beauty), as does the star itself.

My reference to the goat is one that lies in opposition to the symbol of the sheep, the sheep being a blind follower, en masse; an unquestioning sacrifice; and a symbol of Christ. This I traditionally view as nonsense, as blasphemy. Yes, I see Christ as blasphemous. I don't believe in a personal god, nor do I believe that were there one he could justify such actions as personifying himself in such a manner. A goat, on the other hand, is either a leader of masses, or a follower of his lone path: even if it means rejecting traditional and modern edicts. Even if it means being rejected by the modern masses. And he couldn't care less. I'll be who I am, and say what I feel, for those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. That goat, not Satan, (is me).

Finally, but not last, I'd included an interweaving string of binary code to the design, and call this entire concept the Binary Star. A binary star, literally, is a stellar system consisting of two stars orbiting their center of mass. This phenomenon is precious in astrophysics, allowing specific measurements and predictions to be made in dealing with the systems themselves, as well as understanding star systems in general.

And last, the binary reads as 1010011010 in the design, which as mentioned before, translates into the decimal 666. I've explained why use binary, now why use the number of the beast, when I've just disproved my star's reference to Satan?

Another blog follows. If viewing this blog singly on the page:
http://rcarhart.blogspot.com/2010/02/1010011010-defined.html

1010011010, Defined

Please note that the post time was edited so that this post comes as part 3 of 3 in a large post, and is displayed after its corresponding piece.

First and foremost, the original negative connotation associated with the number 666 comes directly from the Bible. I don't hold any truth in anything contrived from said source. Sorry Mom, but it is, as all other history is, be it true or false, all hearsay, and one with a logical and curious mind such as mine must take it with a grain of salt... All other darkness is prescribed to the number as descendant to the same source of hearsay and, dare I say, ignorance.

I use the number because, growing up, when I first started to doubt that which was fed to me, I started to first research everything that directly went against what was suspiciously being preached to me. I therefore learned a lot about a lot of things, including this "evil" number, and I became inseparably attracted to it.

Secondly, I have a habit, especially in discussing personal philosophies, or subjects that I have very intricate reason to display, to tend to show only a 'tip of the iceberg,' and to present a debased version of whatever meaning I initially intended. Some people get tattoos because they think they are pretty, and that's all you see. I get tattoos that dignify the ink running as deep into my skin as can be allowed, and you have to dig into me to grasp them. Even so, when the average stranger, client, aquaintence, or even friend inquires as to my underlying meaning, I don't care to share much further than a brief jaunt of what it means to me. But it's all here. I'll be who I am, and say what I feel, for those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. (As further discussed in regards to my arm tattoos.)

As a mathematical figure, 666 is a natural (1, 2, 3 ...), palindromic (ten animals I slam in a net; race car; dammit, I'm mad!; I, madam, I made radio! So I dared! Am I mad? Am I?, etc), repdigit (11, 444, etc; 666 is trips) number.

666 is abundant (the sum of its divisors is greater than two times itself):

The divisors of 666:

SUM(1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 37, 74, 111, 222, 333, 666) = 1482

2(666) = 1332

(interestingly, this is the sum of its palindromic/repdigit divisors, 111 + 222 + 333 + 666 = 1332)

The abundance of 666 is:

1482 - 1332

150

666 is triangular (think bowling pins, 1, 3, 6, 10, etc). This is because it is the sum of the first 36 natural numbers:

1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666

Since 36 itself is both square and triangular, 666 is the sixth number of the form:

n^2(n^2 + 1) / 2

36(37) / 2

1332 / 2

666

and 666 is also the eighth number of the form of doubly triangular numbers:

n(n + 1)(n^2 + n + 2) / 8

8(9)(64 + 10) / 8

72(74) / 8

5328 / 8

666

666 is the magic total of the prime reciprocal magic square using 149.

I'll use an example, as this square would be 148 digits up and down.

Using 7, the repeating digits are as follows:

1 / 7 = .[1][4][2][8][5][7]

2 / 7 = .[2][8][5][7][1][4]

3 / 7 = .[4][2][8][5][7][1]

4 / 7 = .[5][7][1][4][2][8]

5 / 7 = .[7][1][4][2][8][5]

6 / 7 = .[8][5][7][1][4][2]

And the digits of each column, as well as each row, add up to 27, its magic total.

666 is a Smith number (composite number whose digits' sum is equal to the sum of the digits in its prime factorization):

6 + 6 + 6 = 18

2 * 3 * 3 * 37 = 666

2 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 7 = 18

Of the first million natural numbers, about 2.99% are Smith numbers. The more numbers you count to, the less percentage will be Smith numbers.

Using Roman numerals, 666 is represented as DCLXVI, which are in perfect consecutive descending order, once each:

D = 500

C = 100

L = 50

X = 10

V = 5

I = 1

But perhaps the most remarkable and beautiful of all properties of the number 666 is that it occurs as 13th prime in numbers following the Padovan sequence:

This is also the most complicated of the notable properties of 666:

P(0) = P(1) = P(2) = 1

and

P(n) = P(n − 2) + P(n − 3)

The first 13 values of P(n) are:

1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 16, 21

This is illustrated in the following diagram:

Also closely related is the Fibonacci sequence:

For me personally, the relationship between these two, and the relationship between the complicated, intricate almost unknowable patterns in the formulas, and the simplistic, breathtaking beauty of the spiraling forms that they create, and the fact that they are found in nature, is completely, utterly, fricking, dumbfounding.

Continuing yet deeper, this Fibonacci sequence is defined by the Golden ratio or φ (an irrational constant, included on this chest piece), and the Golden section, expressed as follows:

φ ≈ 1.6180339887

(a + b) / a = a / b = φ

This ratio describes the relationship between lengths of sides, when:

And so, this ratio, being used in the Vitruvian Man, as well as many other works of art, in accordance to geometric proportions found in nature, most notably between human body parts and human faces, especially as illustrated by da Vinci (among many), and, having also been used in works of music, can be found universally in nature, organic and inorganic. These self-similar, recurring patterns, described in simplest term as fractals, build the shapes defining the following examples:

branches in plants

veins in leaves

skeletons of animals

branches of their veins and nerves

proportions of chemical compounds
lightning arcs

geometry of crystals

Imitating the truest reality possible, it is said that obvious occurences of the Golden ratio in nature, and art forms using the Golden ratio as a basis of proportion, are the greatest performances of beauty.

The Golden ratio is also found in connection with 666, in the following expression:

-φ = sin 666^o + cos (6 * 6 * 6^o)

Sine and cosine, describing relationships between triangles and circles, gives yet another reason to incorporate a circle as I so desire. I've often thought of that for a tattoo, and/or the usage of the symbol for pi to recognize the awesomeness of the circle. Now I shall have that, and more.

Finally, the four lengths of line segments in a pentagram (shown in red, orange, green, and blue) are in Golden ratio to one another:

Pi, when written in binary, has several strings where the binary for 666 occur, naturally. The first instance of this is just after the 600th place after the decimal. It reads 1010011010 from the 601st to 610th places consecutively. There are 22 occurrences of this string in the first 32,768 digits.

Math. Nature. Beauty. Tell me how you get Satan out of that.

Will to Meaning

We have come to see how great is the unexplored, and many lifetimes will not bring us to the end of our quest. We alone, of the thousands who walk this earth, we alone in this hour are doing a work which has no purpose save that we wish to do it. Some day, we shall stop and build a house, when we shall have gone far enough. But we do not have to hasten. The days before us are without end, like the forest.
The adventures first… explanations take such a dreadful time.

I had my artist draw up a design based off the above MSPainting:

Part one of three of the Wills to Life:

Will to Meaning:

O worm, of you, I am jealous. Of all my cares, my troubles, my goals, my inhibitions, my feelings, and thoughts; you have no complication. Everything I want to be. A simple, content, focused entity just doing it all because he lives. No other motivation. No other reason. Not even reason to be sociable, to even see more than to determine darkness from light. Lacking a brain. This is the animal could I be I would be. The self mobile creature, most different from human, for these reasons desirable.

But what plight, what misery! To be, and not of consequence! If you have no reason for cares, certainly there is no one has cares of you. What does it matter to another --or to you for that matter-- if you can move, when you have noplace to go to? If you can self-reproduce, you're originally unimpressive. Another clone. Couldn't be bothered if you were to be demolished. Won't miss you, never reminisce of you, not interesting enough to mention, even to put forth thought upon. And certainly never be sought out specifically, save as for bait, used once, as bribery for another. Disposable. O worm, whoever doesn't pity you has forgotten quickly, your forgettable attendance.

O brain, for you, I am eternally thankful! We have discovered so much together! You make me human, and who I am. For all the joy, the laughter, the excitement, the beauty, I've you to thank. Elation and euphoria are your gift to me. I've known you for all my life, and there's no one who will ever be closer. We know things of each other that no one else can ever know, and sometimes I'm sure you know me better than myself. I owe it all to you. You give me motivation; you give me reason. Because of you I can experience the world! I can expect you'll be there for me every day. I am free to roam and meet others to discuss our experiences. I am free to relax and enjoy just being with you. We can decide together.

But there are times we don't agree. I can't stand it when we're suddenly faced with these ugly dilemmas. You show me all the tragedy in the world, and every irritating obstacle in my path. You're inescapably present. Even when I'm sleeping, you discuss what you desire. When it suits you I become unreasonably fearful in my sleep. Without you, I'd never be afraid. Anger, depression, longing, tiredness, boredom, apprehension, and paranoia are your weapons against me. O brain, how I wish I could forget you.

I am here to discover and examine paradoxes. Then make simple art out of them. Then mark them on my body. Then just tell people that I'm a big Pink Floyd fan to avoid an eight hour long conversation struck up by small talk.

But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high, as you can see.
No matter how he tried he could not break free.
And the worms ate into his brain.

That which nourishes me destroys me. As the worm eats through the brain, all because it happens to be in its path... does it inherit some profound insight? And the brain certainly couldn't go on, had there not been countless worms disposing of the countless brains that came before it and perished, cluttering the hillsides. Unfortunately for the brain though, this time, the worm came prematurely, and, if the worm isn't gaining any knowledge after all, everything the brain had stood for is gone, lost, if only tainted. If of course indeed it wasn't all an illusion to begin with. But what does the worm care? At least it stands a chance of putting the poor damned brain out of its misery.

"logos" refers to the Greek word for meaning. Rather than power or pleasure, Viktor Frankl's logotherapy, or Will to Meaning, is founded upon the belief that it is the striving to find a meaning in one's life that is the primary, most powerful motivating and driving force in humans.

So you

thought you

might like to

go to the show.

Part two and three next.

Will to Power Tattoo Sketch

Part two of three of the Wills to Life.

Tattooed over the heart on my upper left chest, pretty far left. First ink in color.

This design is in reference to my heritage and family (blood running through the heart, and my having the last name Hart), especially my sister (also having a heart logo tattoo), as well as to the obvious emotional underpinnings of its title, in reference to Human Motivation.

The shaky, upward moving graph line within is not only representative of a single heartbeat, depicting the wonderment of life, but with an upward trending allusion to Human Evolution, Human Experience, and Human Understanding. The shape created by a graphed heartbeat is fractal in nature, another theme which runs across my tattoos.

"macht" refers to Friedrich Nietzsche's Wille zur Macht or Will to Power, suggesting that achievement, ambition, dominance, and the striving to reach the highest possible position or class in life is the most valuable goal for man.

Will to Pleasure: Human Wisdom Design

This design refers first to the difference between information and meaning, but also heavily to harmony, beauty, balance, symmetry, freedom boundary and limitation, efficiency, logic and proportion, pleasure, responsibility, circumstance, purpose, importance, finity and infinity, science, causality, casualty, birth, identity, perfection and imperfection, wonderment, and the foundation of life in the Universe. It's a reference to Human Wisdom amidst ultimate uncertainty.

The concept is part three of the Wills to Life, and is tattooed high on my left bicep.

Will to Pleasure:

Incorporated symbols:

♀ Venus

• the shape itself suggests the straight line, the logical efficient path that lightning should take to the surface of the curved Earth from a given point (at the cross)
• also represents the element copper, the most common heat and electricity conducing element
• associated with the principles of harmony, beauty, balance, the feelings and affections, and the urge to sympathize and unite with others
• involved with the desire for pleasure, sensuality, personal possessions, comfort and ease
• governs romantic relations, marriage and business partnerships, sex, the arts, fashion and social life
• associated with the branching structure of veins, also apparent in trees: the fractal nature of life

♎ Libra

• associated with balance, incidentally ruled by Venus in astrology
• shows one straight path and one path curving in the center, in reference to the shortest path not always being the most effecient, in regards to obstacles and circumstance

Ω Omega

• the "Great O," abstractly representing pleasure and wisdom
• refers to the density of the Universe
• the end, or time of death
• electrical resistance, or ohms
• Chaitlin's Constant in computer science, informally representing the probability that a randomly chosen program will halt, generally suggesting infinite possibilities represented as one end result, and suggesting random or incomprehensible bits of information, or guided chaos

η Eta

• represents efficiency, especially in thermodynamics and electronics
• appears probably most commonly in electrical contexts where the transistor is used as a temperature sensing device, e.g. the thermal "diode" transistor that is embedded within a computer's microprocessor (which processes information at increasingly efficient speeds)
• shows that efficiency is not only important, if not crucial, but generally occurs in perfect harmony within natural settings, though not necessarily following logic

i

• symbol for information (which has no inherent meaning)
• implies denotation, or information as opposed to meaning

@

• often implies a rate, relationship, or location: a specificity
• implies connotation, or meaning as opposed to information

299,792,458

• c, or the speed of light in a vacuum (without obstacles), in meters per second
• a constant, fixed exactly by official definition of the meter
• a finite value which connects time and space
• a universal speed limit for physical bodies and forces including information, exceeding which would destroy the relationship of cause and effect
• meaningless information can breach this speed limit, instantly creating a remote signal with which nothing can be discerned other than the event that created it occurred

(a human fetus)

• representing life; the connotations of life, that the chaotic Universe is in perfect harmony to harbour life on Earth
• man's quest for information and understanding
• the responsibilities that man has in gaining this wisdom (the omega in the symbol is also representative of a burden riding on his back)
• advancement of informational technology
• man's path in evolution

(a key)

• symbolic for the gained power of opening and closing
• represents knowledge, mystery, curiosity, discovery, identity, belonging, individuality, guardianship, security, guidance, and initiation
• also implies imperfection; copying or cloning; and male/female interaction and sex/impregnation, the initiation and continuation of life

(hedon)

• allusion to Sigmond Freud's Pleasure Principle, or Will to Pleasure
• hedonism is a philosophy and ethical structure based on the thought that the feeling of pleasure is the only intrinsic good, suggesting that one will do whatever it takes for nothing other than pleasure's sake

Debaser Tattoo

Since I got my first tattoos and possibly shortly beforehand, I'd considered getting this.

Debase: to corrupt, adulterate, simplify, contaminate, pollute, defile, degrade, demean, debauch, bastardize, beasialize, pervert, cheapen, deconstruct, reduce, cripple, devalue, disable; in character, quality, value, or significance..

Debaser is a Pixies song based on a silent surrealist French film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí called Un chien andalou. The film debases morality and standards of art, and is one of the best-known surrealist films of the avant-garde movement of the 1920s.

Debaser is therefore a concept that is very close to me, its core experience being free-association dream logic, suggesting no plot, meaning, or goal. Nihilistic in nature, absurdist by definition.

The print is over my liver. Just halfway between the bottom of my ribcage and the bottom of my nipple on the right hand side.

Got me a movie,

I want you to know.

Slicing up eyeballs,

I want you to know.

Girlie so groovy,

I want you to know.

Don't know about you,

but I am un chien andalusia

Wanna grow

up to be,

be a debaser.

Here is a cool and related xkcd comic:

Current arm tattoos, defined

I got my first two tattoos within two weeks of each other in San Jose, April 2008, and it was meant to be a two part set from the beginning. Ever since, I have been forming new ideas, designing, and redesigning constantly.

This post explains my first arm tattoos.

Here's the format in which each tattoo is printed on each arm:

This was my first tattoo, on my left arm. Second, I got the right arm done in the same fashion, but they are meant to be read from left to right from the observers' perspective, or in other words, my right arm then left.

The easiest way to start to explain the meaning behind this, is to define each word, but it needs to be noted, that the first conceptual theme is, that each word can be synonymous, per arm.

This means, respective to the top lines, the corresponding bottom lines debase the deeper meanings of each concept, making ironic, repetitive phrases, with no apparent meaning to a passive observer. This represents how personal the philosophy behind the tattoos is.

So I'll start with the right arm, which reads:

Experience Concept

perception perception

I describe this concept as a whole, as representing Human Reason, or learning from the past.

Experience

–noun

1. a particular instance of personally encountering or undergoing something:

My encounter with the bear in the woods was a frightening experience.

2. the process or fact of personally observing, encountering, or undergoing something:

business experience.

3. the observing, encountering, or undergoing of things generally as they occur in the course of time:

to learn from experience; the range of human experience.

4. knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone:

a man of experience.

5. Philosophy. the totality of the cognitions given by perception; all that is perceived, understood, and remembered.

–verb (used with object)

6. to have experience of; meet with; undergo; feel:

to experience nausea.

7. to learn by experience.

—Idiom

8. experience religion, to undergo a spiritual conversion by which one gains or regains faith in God.

Concept

–noun

1. a general notion or idea; conception.

2. an idea of something formed by mentally combining all its characteristics or particulars; a construct.

3. a directly conceived or intuited object of thought.

Perception

–noun

1. the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.

2. immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment:

an artist of rare perception.

3. the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; precept.

4. Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.

Next, the left arm, which reads:

Evolution Impetus

progression progression

I describe this concept as a whole, as representing Human Responsibility, or growing into the future. I had previously thought of it more as Human Motivation, but lo and behold, it grew into a deeper meaning for me.

Evolution

–noun

1. any process of formation or growth; development: the evolution of a language; the evolution of the airplane.

2. a product of such development; something evolved:

The exploration of space is the evolution of decades of research.

3. Biology. change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift.

4. a process of gradual, peaceful, progressive change or development, as in social or economic structure or institutions.

5. a motion incomplete in itself, but combining with coordinated motions to produce a single action, as in a machine.

6.a pattern formed by or as if by a series of movements:

the evolutions of a figure skater.

7. a movement or one of a series of movements of troops, ships, etc, as for disposition in order of battle or in line on parade.

8. any similar movement, esp. in close order drill.

Impetus

–noun

1. a moving force; impulse; stimulus:

The grant for building the opera house gave impetus to the city's cultural life.

2.(broadly) the momentum of a moving body, esp. with reference to the cause of motion.

Progression

–noun

1. the act of progressing; forward or onward movement.

2. a passing successively from one member of a series to the next; succession; sequence.

3. Music. the manner in which chords or melodic tones follow one another; a succession of chords or tones.

4. Pertaining to, or according to the rules or principles of, geometry; determined by geometry; as, a geometrical solution of a problem.

And so, when anyone asks, all I usually say is that it's a personal philosophy, meaning to learn from the past, and grow into the future.

However, Human Reason, Human Motivation, and Human Responsibility, being some of the core images of each print, are thoughts that I build upon every day. Human Responsibility has become a very troubling concept for me, in that it is always evolving on itself. To paraphrase a favorite quote, I am a friend by first impression, a cult by definition, and a scientist by default; and it has me running circles.

Notably, I get a lot of people who ask what impetus means, and/or assume that it's in Latin. I get even more people who ask why I'd get this tattooed (to which I only respond, "why wouldn't I?"), and more yet checking to make sure they're just stamps, and not permanent tattoos. Some will even scoff to my face at what-the-fuck-ever they assume the tattoos mean, without asking. Their oblivion is only an impetus to my cause. Eat a bag of dicks, you ignorant sheep, and revel in pretending that it's bliss, while I design some more ink.

As far as I can see, there are two available worlds existing inside an ultimate reality. The first, closest to us, is our perception. Our perception is a skewed, ever changing model of what we think is reality, defined by our experience. This model becomes a concept of our Universe. This is Human Reason.

The second world is our physical Universe, from which we construct this perceived model. Reality is all there is to know, yet, in its entirety, it is so far unknowable. In wanting to be moral, that is to prosper within this reality; and to make our perceptions as true to reality as possible; we must progress in our exploration of the Universe. Our curiosity for power, pleasure, and understanding, remains our impetus, which evolves our perception of the beauty of reality. This is Human Motivation.

A philosophy is but a perception.

perception is defined by morality

morality is defined by beauty

beauty is defined by reality

reality is defined by nature

nature is defined by physicality

and physicality is defined by physics

Physics is the fundamental philosophy.

I tend to give a short meaning to inquiring minds. Nobody has time to hear all this, and I don't care to let random people in on it. Most people would get lost in it anyway, not to sound pretentious... However, here it all is now, for those interested enough to find out. Hopefully, if you're still with me, you can now understand it enough to appreciate the personal suggestion in them for me.

I have, and will update and tweak the meaning here, and am always willing to discuss with those genuine few.

But my tattoos will only get weirder and deeper.

brb

lol