love, narcissism, defaultilogic and scornography with Jeremy Sherman

jon atack, family and friends

Jeremy gifts us some of his new words that portmanteau concepts. Criticism of Malkin's model of narcissism ('feeling special') and Jeremy's embrace of the doctrine of foregone inconclusions. A delight for the eager mind. Jeremy's Book, Neither Ghost Nor Machine, can be bought here: https://www.amazon.com/Neither-Ghost-nor-Machine-Emergence/dp/0231173334/ Notes: From Scouting for Boys, 1908: “The practice is called ‘self-abuse’. And the result of self-abuse is always - mind you, always - that the boy after a time becomes weak and nervous and shy, he gets headaches and probably also palpitations of the heart, and if he still carries it on too far he very often goes out of his mind and becomes an idiot. The use of your parts is not to play with when you are a boy but to enable you to get children when you are grown up and married. But if you misuse them while young you will not be able to use them when you are a man: they will not work then. So for all reasons be on the look out against this temptation, it is easier to stop it at first than when it becomes a habit. The next time you feel the desire coming on don't give way to it; resist it. If you have the chance just wash your parts in cold water and cool them down. Wet dreams come from it especially after eating rich food, or too much meat, or from sleeping with too warm a blanket over your body or in too soft a bed or from sleeping on your back. Therefore avoid all these. Avoid listening to stories or reading or thinking about dirty subjects. You will soon find that the temptation will not worry you so much. Be strong and don't give way to it.” And this, from Scouting For Boys, 1911: In this chapter much has been said of the active measures which a boy should take in order to become strong and well. We should be equally concerned in saving and storing up natural forces we already have. In the body of every boy, who has reached his teens, the Creator of the universe has sown a very important fluid. This fluid is the most wonderful material in all the physical world. Some parts of it find their way into the blood, and through the blood give tone to the muscles, power to the brain, and strength to the nerves. This fluid is the sex fluid. When this fluid appears in a boy's body, it works a wonderful change in him. His chest deepens, his shoulders broaden, his voice changes, his ideals are changed and enlarged. It gives him the capacity for deep feeling, for rich emotion. Pity the boy, therefore, who has wrong ideas of this important function, because they will lower his ideals of life. These organs actually secrete into the blood material that makes a boy manly, strong, and noble. Any habit which a boy has that causes this fluid to be discharged from the body tends to weaken his strength, to make him less able to resist disease, and often unfortunately fastens upon him habits which later in life he {233} cannot break. Even several years before this fluid appears in the body such habits are harmful to a growing boy. To become strong, therefore, one must be pure in thought and clean in habit. This power which I have spoken of must be conserved, because this sex function is so deep and strong that there will come times when temptation to wrong habits will be very powerful. But remember that to yield means to sacrifice strength and power and manliness. For boys who desire to know more of this subject we would suggest a splendid book by Dr. Winfield S. Hall, entitled, "From Youth into Manhood." Every boy in his teens who wants to know the secret of strength, power, and endurance should read this book. And if you want to read the whole thing (it's really fascinating, actually): https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29558/29558-h/29558-h.htm And to learn more about the Portuguese Man O' War: https://animalia.bio/portuguese-man-o-war