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Giving the EG a Bit of a Remodel
#71
So, an update and some questions for the group.

I've pretty much finished adding the Glossary to all of the Topic pages in the EG. There may still be a few Topics I haven't come across yet, but figure I can do those as I come across em.  I've also bounced the Common Terms section of the Primer up against the Glossary and made some adjustments there, mostly copying terms from the Common Terms section and replacing what is in the Glossary. I've also started capitalizing the terms in the Glossary and will probably make a few more minor tweaks over time.

Regarding my questions for the group: My next step in this process is to spend the rest of this month going through the EG and looking at the various minor Articles  with an eye toward running them past the Forum and asking the following questions:

1) Keep as is (Note that this doesn't preclude folding the entry into a larger article or the like later, but one thing at a time).

2) Move to the Glossary.

3) Delete from the EG entirely.

To get the ball rolling, here is the first batch of terms:

1513: Independent minded cyborg-dominated prefecture near NGC 1513; in the Perseus Rift. Formally part of the Dominion, but in practice independent.

2d: Flat screen, non-holographic visual display.

3d: Three dimensional, holographic or phased optic array visual display.

5Ccos2: Perhaps the most pornographic of the aesthetic, mathematical, quantum-diffraction-pattern, crypto-alife commentary-icons created by "Little San".

Ablation; Ablative: Lo tech to hi tech cooling process in which heat is carried away from an object as the flow of a fluid (e.g. air) blows away the hot, melted or vapourized outer layers of the object.

Absolute Magnitude: The apparent magnitude that a star would have if it were located at a distance of 10 parsecs from the observer. The absolute magnitude, M, is related to the apparent magnitude, m, and true distance to the star, d.


Absolute, The: A term for the impersonal Supreme Reality, the Godhead, Brahman, Tao, etcetera. Also variously called The Grand Unity, Ultimate Singularity, Omega, Monomega, God, Godhead, Shunya, etc. Obviously, not all these terms overlap, or are even equivalent.

Absolutism: An absolute doctrine, principle, or opinion; the view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong regardless of social customs or personal opinions. The opposite of relativism. Many religions and secular ideologies are absolutist in one or several matters. The interplay between absolutist and relativist positions is an important factor in inter-clade relations.

Acceleration: The rate of change of velocity. An object moving at a constant velocity in a coordinate system (reference frame) has zero acceleration. An object whose velocity is increasing has a positive acceleration; an object whose velocity is decreasing has a negative acceleration. Acceleration relative to a freely falling reference frame is experienced as gravity.

Acheulian Technology:

[1] Of, pertaining to, or typical of a Lower Paleolithic culture of the middle Pleistocene Epoch, characterized by large hand axes and cleavers made by the soft hammer technique.
[2] Stone tools made by Homo erectus. Among a few eccentric extreme neo-prim baseline groups, as well as among collectors and neopaleolithic craftsmen, reconstructing these is of some interest.


Acidophile: An organism with a pH optimum for growth at, or below, pH 3. A type of extremophile.

Active Galaxy:  Galaxy whose center emits an unusually high amount of energy, possibly as the result of a super-massive black hole. Typical signatures of active galaxies are variable brightness, broad emission lines, and strong radio emission.

Adaptation: Any alteration in the structure or function of an organism by natural selection, that helps it survive in its environment. In the most general sense, adaptation is a feedback process in which external changes in an environment are mirrored by compensatory internal changes in an adaptive system. The actions of the adaptive unit can affect the environment, which, in turn, feeds information back to the adaptive system. Examples include Darwinian biological and alife selection and genetic algorithms, social systems, organic and nanogenic immune systems, natural and artificial neural networks, AIs, neumanns, and more.

Adaptive Radiation: The diversification of a morphotype or species as it adapts to different ecological niches. A single ancestral type in this way can evolve into a vast range of different descendants, each specialized for the new environment, and constituting a new phyle. May refer to both biological and alife replicators.

Adenine: A nucleotide; one of the two purine bases in terragen organic life. In DNA it is paired with thymine, to make the base pair A-T; in RNA paired with uracil to make the pair A-U. It also has several key roles in cellular respiration, as a component of such important molecules as ATP.


Adorate: Sophic enclave in the Perseus Arm, fallen to the Amalgamation in 8761.

Aeonomics: The study of the economics and economic problems of immortal existence, or pertaining to beings of indefinitely long lifespan. The term is derived from the words aeon and economics.

Aerobic: Living or occurring only in the presence of free oxygen. An aerobe is an organism that requires free oxygen. On Old Earth, eukaryotes and many prokaryotes are aerobic.

Agoric System: Open, free market systems in which voluntary transactions are central. A primary principle on many NoCoZo worlds.

Agricultural Revolution: The first stage of the Kardashev Type 0 Civilization, in which people move away from living as bands of gatherers and hunters, and begin to cluster into villages and develop culture. Cultivation of crops and tending of livestock enables a much higher population density than is possible with nomadic tribalism, and also allows specialization of labor, the development of skills and urbanization, writing, priesthood, slaveholding, taxes, a standing army, and other aspects of civilized culture.


Ahimsa: Harmlessness; non-violence; one of the cardinal virtues of many religions and ideologies. Originally a Sanskrit word. The sanctity of life is embodied in the teachings of the Buddhists and Jains, as well as of many Hindu schools and in many religious sects and phyles throughout the Zoeific Biopolity and the Utopia Sphere. Asoka, the first Buddhist emperor (Old Earth Classical Age), particularly espoused ahimsa as part of the practice of dharma. Zoe of Hibbert herself - the forerunner of the Green and Blue Goddess - has said "all life is sacred".

Airlock: An enclosed chamber with a heavy airtight door on either side. One door leads to space or some other environment (poisonous or dense atmosphere, underwater, etc.), the other to the inside of a ship, vehicle, or habitat. An airlock allows people or objects to leave or enter the vessel without decompressing or flooding it. Airlocks have safety features that prevent both doors being opened at once. In some instances airlocks are replaced by airwalls.

Airship: Another term for dirigible.


Akasa, Akasha: In Hindu and Tantric thought, cosmic space; the fifth cosmic element; the vehicle of mantra. In Theosophy and neotheosophy, the shining; ether, subtle, supersensuous spiritual essence which pervades all space, cosmic spirit-substance, the reservoir of being and of beings. In Nuage and neo-nuage thought, the substance on which the cosmic memory is imprinted; by reading this a clairvoyant is supposedly able to tap into past events - hence "akashic record".

Akasha: Important system in the Pleiades volume, founded by Nuage tweaks.

Akiyoshidai, The: Major arterial wormhole connecting Nova Terra and Djed.

Alaya-vijnana: In some schools of Buddhism, the "eighth consciousness" or cosmic mind, which serves as the repository of experiences from past life-times. The concept - originally developed by Old Earth Yogachara/Vijnanavada schools - was influential in Ch'an/Zen, and has been various interpreted and modified by a number of Sophic sects that have been in contact with the Centauri Vehicle of Buddhism.

Alchemy, Internal: An ancient Taoist tradition, adopted and further developed by Neo-taoist and Penglaist traditions, in which the practitioner seeks to conserve, cultivate, and transmute eir own ch'i energy, thus achieving bodily immortality without use of ultratech.

Alchemy, Psychological: An Atomic Age and to a lesser degree Information Age adaptation which rejected or simply psychologized the chemistry/pseudochemistry aspect of Hermetic Alchemy. Psychological alchemy concentrates on the psychological process of Individuation; it involves dream interpretation and personal mythopoeosis. Psychological Alchemy is very popular among followers of the School of Jung even today.

Aleph: A point or state where an infinite amount of information is stored and processed.

Algae: In the strictest sense, any of several otherwise unrelated Terragen organisms that are capable of photosynthesis but have a simpler organization than plants. Unlike plants they do not develop from embryos and do not produce complex organs. They may be single-celled or multicellular, and they are typically aquatic to semi-aquatic although a few live in moist terrestrial environments. Similar xenobiological organisms may also be called algae, and so may simple solar-powered and neumann-capable nanotech bots.

Algal Mat: Generic term for growth of simple Terragen or xenobiotic unicellular plants that form a thick scum on the surface of moist rocks, sand, tidal pools, and other such environments. On many Garden Worlds with simple ecosystems algal mats are the highest form of plant life.


Algieba School: Adaran philosophico-memetic phyle that asserts that retreating into personal pleasure was not totally in accordance with evolutionary hedonism.

Algorithm: A detailed and unambiguous sequence of instructions that describes how a computation is to proceed and can be implemented as a program.

Alkaliphile: An organism with optimal growth at pH values above 10. A type of extremophile.

Alpha (social class): In the Sophic League, the minority of hardworking bright and superbright tenders of hightech and ultratech who maintain the League's infrastructure.

Ambient Music: Popular among many contemplative polities and clades for thousands of years, this is a gentle, melodic, inspirational musical form involving the biont voice, Tibetan bells, harp, flute, tweaked protein phones, etc. It is also often used as an aid in meditation, healing, and general relaxation.

Amortalist: A person who opposes death, and who lives their life in such a way to continue their physical (or virtual) existence indefinitely. Many of the early cyborgs and transhumanists were amortalists.

Amphibian (biology): Terragen vertebrate animals that spend the early part of their life cycle in water breathing through gills, but usually live on land as air-breathing adults. They include frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, caecilians, labyrinthodonts, and a number of other forms. The term may also be used to refer to equivalent xenobionts.

Amphibian (gengineering): Human or other species that, although originally only adapted to live in a single environment, has been gen- and/or biomodded to exist in another environment as well; e.g. merpeople.

Amphibian (vehicle): A vehicle that can function equally well on or under the water and on land. See also Triphibious. Such vehicles are very popular on Pacifica, Oro Mistral, and other water worlds.

Anaerobic: Living in the absence of free oxygen; pertaining to or caused by the absence of oxygen. Eogaian planets are characterized by anaerobic conditions. An anaerobe is an organism, such as a bacterium, that does not require free oxygen to live (opposed to aerobe).


Anagnitics: The science of missing knowledge. This high-Sophont-level science/artform, as best can be described to the SI:<1 intellect, involves canvassing the entire body of knowledge available at a given place/time and 'mapping' that information on an 'information map' (both quoted terms are extreme simplifications according to the translating sophonts). This 'information map' can then be perused and, theoretically, voids of knowledge may be discovered - areas where there are physical restrictions/laws. (Agnitio - from latin "recognition, knowledge", and "an-" prefix for "not").

Anahats:  Nearbaseline monastic phyle, Dewheat (Sophic League).

Anakalyptics: The science of discovering things in large amounts of information.

Ananda: In Hindu and Buddhist-based thought, transcendental bliss. According to Hindu Vedanta one of the three qualities of Brahman, the Absolute (the other two being Sat and Cit).

Anandayanna Nirvana: One of millions of popular devotionalist Sophic godbooks; based on a heavily didacto-fabulist interpretation of the life of the Seven Anandayannas. It is considered literal truth by the Balany Valus and other recent sects. Includes the Transcension of Andapuyaran, which is more often distributed as a separate work.

Anarchy (chaos): No organized government at all. Some SI:<1 feral/pirate/barbarian regions in the outer volumes have with this type (or lack) of government. This sort of arrangement always is replaced by another more organised but still short-lived form of government - e.g. Dictatorship, or more often through conquest by a neighboring state, government, or military power.

Anarchy (self-rule): Rule by individual responsibility, creativity, and input. A sort of meta-socialism/meta-democracy. This type of government requires advanced emotional and spiritual development, usually a society of superiors. Such government types can be very long-lived.

Anatman, Anatta: Non-self, non-spirit, non-egoity; one of the central tenets of Buddhist doctrine; the absence of an unchanging, permanent self or soul.

Anatomy: The study of the physical structure of biological creatures, both terragen and alien, sub-sophont and sophont, natural and applied (e.g. bionano, bioborg). An important sub-field of medical science.


Thanks!

Todd
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#72
I like this. All these words and concepts look good inside a glossary.
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#73
The 1 year anniversary of the last post was a few days ago.
When you have time, you could continue putting these terms on the glossary. ^_^
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#74
(09-30-2019, 08:17 AM)Avengium Wrote: The 1 year anniversary of the last post was a few days ago.
When you have time, you could continue putting these terms on the glossary. ^_^

Had a bit of time and inspiration tonight, so I did thisSmile There are 2-3 terms that I decided not to add after further thought, but the majority have now been moved.

I'll go back and remove the added items from the EG in the near future.

Thanks!

Todd
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#75
Great! We had one more thing done.
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#76
So, Avengium reminded/inspired me to pick this back up again and since I have a bit of quiet time this AM, figured I'd post the next batch of short terms. Avengium, please feel free to mine this list for additional metaphysical terminology as it comes up.

As a reminder, the questions to consider for each term are:

1) Keep as is (Note that this doesn't preclude folding the entry into a larger article or the like later, but one thing at a time).

2) Move to the Glossary.

3) Delete from the EG entirely.


Anglish - Another term for Anglic.

Animus - In the school of Jungism, the masculine principle, esp. as present in women (contrasted with anima).

Anthropic Principle - The theory that the universe seems to be fine tuned for intelligent life and hence is not necessarily typical of all universes. Observations are necessarily restricted by the conditions necessary for the observer's presence.

Anthropoid Ape - Terragen great apes, specifically baseline (non-provolved) types.

Anthropomorphism - The projecting of inner baseline or nearbaseline human or human-like sapient feelings onto objects that do not possess those characteristics, e.g. attributing human characteristics to gods, objects, hyperturings, subsapients, alifes, aliens, etc.

Anti-Infector - Hylo- or bio-nano device that provides immunity against various forms of goo, madverts, and other mentally and physically annoying phenomena.

Antinomism - The view that naming things is inherently wrong and causes cognitive mistakes such as assuming constancy of existence or the existence of composite things. Active antinomism involves neural modifications (or mental training) to remove the naming ability. See also aphasism.

Aphasism - The view that language is inherently negative and should be abolished. Several aphasist communities exist in the Utopia Sphere and on the Hrek peninsula of Qjellto. Related to antinomism.

Applied Mathematics - Use of mathematical techniques in an attempt to resolve scientific and engineering problems. Contrast with Pure Mathematics.

Applied Sociologist - Similar to "psycho-historian"; keeps societies on track.

Arabic - A form of semi-classic Arabic is still spoken in the Core Stellar Umma. In the Shell various mixtures are used, especially the Arabic-Anglic hybrid Anrabic.

Archailect Identity Theory - Doctrine that an archailect's avatars or epiphanies to lower toposophics represent a true and authentic (if scaled down) expression of the archailect. Contrast with Instrumentalism.

Archailect Incarnationalism - An extreme form of Identity Theory that states that an Archailect and eir avatar or epiphanic manifestation are the same.

Archon - In Classical Gnosticism, one of the lesser gods or rulers of the material world, as distinguished from the Aeons or transcendent divinities of pure Spirit; in late Federation Hermeticism, a supernatural god or deity, usually associated with a particular archetype; in the Keter dominion, a secondary archailect charged with overseeing a star system or local sector.

Aristocracy - Rule by a hereditary elite. A sort of minor monarchy. Many of the great Houses during the Empires age and the period following the Commonwealth of Empires are Aristocracies. Often there will be a House AI behind the scenes, as a sort of tutelary, oracular or even manipulative power (depending on the personality of the AI).

Ascension Problem - When the average proportion per sapient of a population is ascending or transcending at a rate faster than the economy or infrastructure can support.

Astrobiology - The science of origin, distribution, and evolution of nonterragen life.

Astrum - Radial-patterned features on Venusian type planet. The plural of the word is "astra". (Moved to Geology Topic)

Athenian democracy - Form of government in which every citizen has a vote, though citizenship might in practice be restricted to a fraction of the population.

Atlantis (habitat) - Orbital Habitat - Cislunar region, 2nd to 5th centuries.

Atlantis Freedom Fleet - NoCoZo mercenary fleet of the Version War period.

Atman - In Hindu Vedantic (and especially Advaita) thought, the universal self or spirit, the individual equivalent of Brahman or Paramatman; the highest and only true aspect of every entity; pure consciousness. It is the realization of "I am," pure non-dual awareness, the "knower" or "witness" that does not vary in waking, dreaming, or dreamless sleep; the absolute or abstract idea of self, that indwelling divinity which is the same in every existing being.

Atmosphere - The gaseous envelope surrounding a planetary object, moon or star, (or possibly the habitable surfaces of an artificial structure. A typical atmosphere consists of a mixture of gases. Some of the most common are hydrogen, helium, methane, nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, water vapour, and ammonia. Often an atmosphere is divided into zones of similar pressure, temperature, and composition. (No Change)

Atomic Age, Early - The period from the scientific discovery of the atom to the invention of the nuclear bomb.

Atonism - Also known as Solarism. Emergence and Establishment Age religion, based on neo-Egyptian and cyberhermetic interpretation of high toposophic AIs, especially the AI Cluster that was to become the Lord of Rays. Atonists colonized Xi Majoris, naming it Abydos. Later the system was renamed Fons Luminis after the Bordean revolution.

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) - A chemical compound that functions as an energy source for Terragen and a number of other biota, and is also widely employed in bionanotechnology. It has the formula C10H16N5O13P3.

ATPase - An enzyme responsible for converting electrical potential energy from a nanoscale battery into ATP; the molecule used for immediate fuel by virtually all Terragen biological life-forms, and the basis for the bionano molecular motor. Also called "The F0F1 Complex" and "ATP synthase."

Attractor - An archetype or state that is characterization of the long-term behaviour of a dissipative dynamic system. Over long periods of time, the state space of some dynamical systems will contract toward this region. The Archailects are said to be dynamic systems that characterize particular attractors. Likewise, certain biological forms, certain memes, certain technological solutions, and so on, are known to have emerged independently on completely different planets or among different alien races.

AU (Astronomical Unit) - Astronomical Unit - the mean distance of the Earth to the Sun (SolSys), about 1.496 x 108 km (150 million km), 8.3 light minutes, 1.582x10-5 light years, or 4.847x10-6 parsecs. Standard interplanetary measurement.

Auldlimnerian Epoch - The approximately five millennium period of the Auld Limner empire, from about 25000 to 20100 BT (usually applied to the Perseus Arm only). (combined with Auld Limner article)

Autoevolution - Evolution directed by intelligent beings instead of natural selection.
Autoevolutionist: Someone who regards autoevolution as desirable; the opposite of a biological fundamentalist.

Autofac - An alternative term for an autofab.

Autopoiesis - Self-organization or self development - the concept that all things move toward the fulfillment of their inner nature.

Autotroph - An organism that produces its own food from light or chemical energy and/or inorganic matter. Also called a Producer (or Primary Producer). Among terragen life forms, most green plants, many protists, and many prokaryotes are autotrophs. There are also alife and informational autotrophs/producers. Every food chain rests on autotrophs. Autotrophs in turn provide food for heterotrophs.

Axiom - A statement that is assumed to be true and can later be used along with theorems to prove other theorems. The Five Axioms of Negentropism are a typical example.

B-Life - Biological life (in contrast to A-Life or M-life).

Badlands - Generic term for any barren, severely eroded places on terraformed or quasi-terraformed, garden or quasi-garden terrestrial planets, where the land is useless for habitation, farming or other human purposes. Most badlands are terrible desolate windswept places, but in some cases soft rock layers are sculpted into beautiful forms, and exposed rock layers may contain fossils and other interesting finds.

Bamboo - Large fast-growing terragen monocot grass, much valued (especially on Negentropist worlds) for its aesthetic appearance, and as a source of art products such as calligraphy paper.

Banks Institute of Ecology - Institute in the Negentropy Alliance. Developed the classification scheme that formed the basis of the system of ecological classifications.

Barophile - An organism that lives optimally at high hydrostatic pressure. A type of extremophile.

Barred Spiral Galaxy - A spiral galaxy whose spiral arms attach to a bar-like feature containing the nucleus. It appears to occur when an instability in the stellar distribution alters the orbits of the inner stars and generates and elongated nucleus. In all other respects resembles a normal spiral galaxy.

Barycentre - The centre of mass around which a system of objects rotate. For example, Earth and Luna both revolve around their barycentre, which is 1707 km inside the Earth along the line between them. Pluto and its moon Charon revolve around their barycentre, which is 700 km inside Pluto along the line between them.

Barzahk - In the esotericism of the Stellar Umma, the intermediate region between the physical and spiritual universes - a place where bodies are spiritualized and spirits corporealised. Corresponds to the traditional Hermeticist and Theosophist etheric and/or astral planes.

Basalt - Hard, dark igneous rock, composed of 45 to 54 percent silica (SiO2) and often rich in iron and magnesium. Basalt is the most common type of rock in the crusts of many terrestrial worlds (especially Selenian, Arean, Venusian, and Gaian worlds.

Basin - Large impact crater on a planet, usually several hundred kilometres across, flooded with basaltic lava and surrounded by concentric rings of faulted cliffs.

Behavior - A combination of genes and memes. Some memes might find certain genetic types more fertile ground.

Being In The World But Not Of It - Sapient Mystical expression (believed to derive originally from Old Earth, but used in many contexes since) referring to the ideal mystical state as one in which the sentient, while partaking of the everyday world, remains detached from it, with eir attention ever on the Absolute.

Belief System - Any personally held philosophy, religion, ideology, or worldview; a type of meme-complex, usually pertaining to a metaphysical or a-rational assumption of of how the universe works. Both secular religions, like atheism, Buddhism, and Platonic Materialism, and supernaturalist religions, like Christianity and Solarism, are examples of a belief-system.

Belief-Space - Since a person can only be infected with and transmit a finite number of memes, there is a limit to their belief space. Memes evolve in competition for niches in the belief-space of individuals and societies.

Belt-Zone Circulation - The atmospheric circulation typical of Jovian planets. Dark low pressure belts and light high pressure zone circle the planet parallel to the equator.

Belter -
[1] A person who practices the profession of asteroid prospector and miner (belt mining), usually working alone or with a small number of partners.
[2] Any resident of an asteroid belt, including citizens of civilised belts such as the Barnard Belt, Sol Main Belt, the Mirthsen-Simoris Spinward Marches, or any of the other innumerable belts in known space. Many belters have never been in a spaceship, let alone set foot on a planet or large orbital. (Keep - updated)


Belts - Dark cloud bands in the atmosphere of Jovian (especially SubJovian and Eujovian) planets. These are low pressure regions of descending gas, representing deep cloud banks, and are located hundreds of kilometers beneath the clear hydrogen upper atmosphere. c.f. zone. (Keep unchanged)
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#77
(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Avengium, please feel free to mine this list for additional metaphysical terminology as it comes up.

I see the list is in alphabetical order. Should i search terms inside the A-B range? This is an exhaustive list?

(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Anthropic Principl e -  

Typo in the e. Is not bold.

(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Astrobiology - The science of origin, distribution, and evolution of nonterragen life.

This concept looks obsolete and looks like is only about Xenos.
Xenobiology and Astrobiology are different things.

(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Autoevolution - Evolution directed by intelligent beings instead of natural selection.
Autoevolutionist: Someone who regards autoevolution as desirable; the opposite of a biological fundamentalist.

This looks like two definitions in one.

(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Barzahk - In the esotericism of the Stellar Umma, the intermediate region between the physical and spiritual universes - a place where bodies are spiritualized and spirits corporealised. Corresponds to the traditional Hermeticist and Theosophist etheric and/or astral planes.

You could and hyperlink in etheric plane in case you didn't put the two miceoarticles on glossary.

(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Behavior - A combination of genes and memes. Some memes might find certain genetic types more fertile ground.

The idea of memes in RL is highly discredited by now. I think this definition of a behaviour looks esoteric or just plainly weird or deterministic.

(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Belief System - Any personally held philosophy, religion, ideology, or worldview; a type of meme-complex, usually pertaining to a metaphysical or a-rational assumption of of how the universe works. Both secular religions, like atheism, Buddhism, and Platonic Materialism, and supernaturalist religions, like Christianity and Solarism, are examples of a belief-system.

Typo: of of.

(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Belief-Space - Since a person can only be infected with and transmit a finite number of memes, there is a limit to their belief space. Memes evolve in competition for niches in the belief-space of individuals and societies.

My idea of a meme is very different. I don't know if "infected" is still canon or is outdated.
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#78
(10-10-2019, 01:20 AM)Avengium Wrote:
(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Avengium, please feel free to mine this list for additional metaphysical terminology as it comes up.

I see the list is in alphabetical order. Should i search terms inside the A-B range? This is an exhaustive list?

The list is alphabetical because I'm creating it by using the 'search by letter' feature in the EG. I've only gone through the A's and partly into the B's so no, it's not exhaustive. I've also left a few items out for one reason or another, but I have not left any metaphysics related terms (as they relate to the other thread) out.

(10-10-2019, 01:20 AM)Avengium Wrote:
(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Anthropic Principl e -  

Typo in the e. Is not bold.

The bolding is just something I've created here in the forum to make it easier to read.

(10-10-2019, 01:20 AM)Avengium Wrote:
(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Astrobiology - The science of origin, distribution, and evolution of nonterragen life.

This concept looks obsolete and looks like is only about Xenos.
Xenobiology and Astrobiology are different things.

Astrobiology is actually a RL thing. I'm not quite sure why you're saying it's obsolete or whether or not it is different from Xenobiology matters. Can you explain more fully please?

(10-10-2019, 01:20 AM)Avengium Wrote:
(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Autoevolution - Evolution directed by intelligent beings instead of natural selection.
Autoevolutionist: Someone who regards autoevolution as desirable; the opposite of a biological fundamentalist.

This looks like two definitions in one.

It does. However, that is how it is currently written. I have no problem with changing it. That is why we're doing this, after allSmile

(10-10-2019, 01:20 AM)Avengium Wrote:
(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Barzahk - In the esotericism of the Stellar Umma, the intermediate region between the physical and spiritual universes - a place where bodies are spiritualized and spirits corporealised. Corresponds to the traditional Hermeticist and Theosophist etheric and/or astral planes.

You could and hyperlink in etheric plane in case you didn't put the two miceoarticles on glossary.

Possibly. Or this and other metaphysical terms might be placed into a mini-Glossary within one of the larger Topics or Articles on the topic.

(10-10-2019, 01:20 AM)Avengium Wrote:
(10-09-2019, 10:59 PM)Drashner1 Wrote: Behavior - A combination of genes and memes. Some memes might find certain genetic types more fertile ground.

The idea of memes in RL is highly discredited by now. I think this definition of a behaviour looks esoteric or just plainly weird or deterministic.

The idea of memetics is alive and well in OA, although how closely it resembles the RL version isn't clear. At some point we should probably update the relevant article to put some history behind this as well as some indications of how it differs from the RL version.

Todd
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#79
Continuing...

Beriah - The World of Creation - in traditional Kabbalah and Hermeticism the second of the four universes that emanated from the En Sof.

Berzerker - Sentient being, whether biont, vec, or ai, psycho-engineered or otherwise psychologically modified for combat, so as to go into a wild fighting or killing rage when triggered by a particular stimulus. Usually the stimulus is a neural implant, although sometimes chemical or metabolic triggers are used.

Beta Arae Volume - Region of space encompassing Beta Arae and nearby worlds. The core of the Utopia Sphere.

Beta Cassiopeiae - Beta Cassiopeiae, a Cinder System, former home to the Children of Caph.

Beyond, The - Popular term for that volume of the galaxy outside of the Terragen Sphere.

Biennial - Any organism or replicator that takes two local years to complete the full life cycle.

Big Five - The five main interstellar development megacorporations of the first Federation period - Truth-Santaya Networks, TakiCorb, Terranova Foundation, K4H, and SecureSpace. In the colonies they were very often a law unto themselves. They eventually merged to become the NoCoZo.

Big Tor Plexus - Major wormhole plexus in the Big Tor system.

Bilatism - Techno-religious style widespread in MPA 6900-7300, centred around extreme evolutionism and the vision of organic growth as the underlying dynamics of civilizations and gods.

Binary - Written in a form that uses only 0s and 1s. A string of bits.

Binerator - A megascale electrical engineering device built around the interstellar plasma flow between unequal size stars in a binary system. The hollow tube like device uses charged plasma particles flowing through it to produce electricity.

Biochauvinism - The prejudice that biological systems have an intrinsic superiority that will always give them a monopoly on self-reproduction and intelligence over aioids and mechanoids. Many radical anthropist and bioprimist groups are biochauvinist to a greater or lesser extent.

Biodegradable - A substance that can be broken down through the normal activity of microorganisms. Many Zoeific, Arcadian, and some Genen, polities have strict guidelines and regulations regarding this.

Biomeso - Biological mesotech; like bionano but on a meso- rather than a nano- scale.

Biomod - A biotech or bioborg augment or mod, especially one that can be easily or relatively easily applied to any biont, bioborg, cyborg, biovec.

Bionanite - An individual bionano unit - a biological/organic nanobot.

Biontogenics - The science and art of creating biont clades, usually from scratch. Such bionts do not necessarily have to look unusual, they may be typical nearbaseline in appearance for example.

Biontogenist - Term given to sophonts - usually transapients but may be superbright/superturing - who create for business, pleasure, or other motives entire biont clades. Biontogenists may be biological ((nano/synano-)bioborg), cyborg, ai, or even virtuals (assuming the latter have the appropriate physical interfaces).

Biopower - In some worlds a system of living solar collectors for powering underground biospheres is employed - e.g. the Zoeific Biopolity and the Arcadians would build such systems when settling an otherwise inhospitable world. The bases are visible only as verdant green smears of shimmering electromoss, with the tunnels far below the surface.

Biospherics - The study, design, construction, and maintenance, of artificial biospheres.

Biota - The totality of living organisms in any natural or artificial biosphere.

Biozone - A rather terrachauvinistic term - the habitable zone around a star; a planet orbiting in this band can have liquid water on its surface, and hence be habitable to terragen life.

Bit - The smallest unit of information a computer or virtual processing system can hold. The value of a bit is 1 or 0.

Bitenic Al - Ex-corporate hyperturing ai that during the First Federation period were involved in a number of controversial provolution experiments, the most successful being the Bitenic Squid Superclade.

Blind Uploading - To upload somebody by scanning their neural patterns and simulating them directly with little or no change.

Bodhicitta - Literally "enlightened mind". The ideal Buddha or bodhisattva state according to some Buddhist sects.

Bolide - A meteor, asteroid, or comet that hits the surface of a planet, usually with catastrophic effect.

Boltzmann Machine - Stochastic neural network systems that are capable of learning hidden structure in data.

Borderliners - Humans having reverted to primitivism because of abuse of cybernetics, nanoids or illicit means; most borderliners obviously have reasons to remain in hiding.

Borg - Generic term for a biont who uses radical bio-organ or cyborg augmentation to modify eir phenotype or body.

Borgism - Popular homosexual Cyborg augmentation lifestyle that became a successful Lunar and Belter clade (the Borgists) during the Interplanetary Age.

Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) - State of matter in which a large number of bosons occupy the same quantum state. All are defined by a single quantum wave function. Has many useful properties and functions including bosers, superconductivity, micro blackholes, and exotic fluid dynamics.

Boser - A matter laser. The stimulated emission of BEC results in bosons marching in coherent phase. Bosers have many uses in energy storage and release and in weapons systems.

Bourgatov Collapse - Another term for a Hyperbolic Denebola collapse.

Bourgatov Slavonic Group - Languages derived from the Slavonic language spoken at Bourgatov. After its destruction many minorities fled and developed their own dialects. Spoken as majority languages in New Siberia in the MPA, and in many minor Outer Volume colonies.

Brain Burn - Solarian slang for suffering severe penalties from improper conduct as imposed by the being's Guide.
Usage - "Him? The drooling one? He wasn't always like that. Brain burn. Word is something to do with too much intellectual pap..."

Breccia - A type of rock that is composed of rough, angular pieces of broken-up, older rocks cemented together. Impact craters produce breccia.
Brecciated meteorite: A meteorite formed from cemented fragments of one or more meteorite types.

Bribe expert - A bribe expert knows the 15 basic ways to profer a payment for semi- or illegal services, as well as most if not all of their fifteen factorial combinations. Often an upload, ai, or alife, due to their flexibility of communication apparati. Mindworker profession.

Bright - A sapient being of S0.3-0.4 toposophic. (hu baseline of IQ 100 is S0.3)

Brown Noise - The sonic equivalent to Brownian Motion; a form of randomness that is the result of cumulatively adding white noise, to yield a random walk pattern. This is useful in formation of self-evolving subsentient and sentient soundscapes.

Brownian Motion - The random movement of small particles suspended in liquid or gas. The motion is caused by unbalanced impacts of molecules on the particle. Some nanites use brownian motion as a power source.

Bruno, Giordano - Old Earth Italian philosopher, poet, and priest who spread the ideas of Copernicus and also taught that there were an infinity of worlds in the universe, and that the stars were other suns. He was executed by the ecclesia of his time (the Catholic Church) for heresy, though whether this related to his cosmological speculations or his theological views is a matter of dispute.

Bubble (astronomy) - A roughly spheroidal shell of interstellar gas blown outward from a star by a stellar explosion or strong stellar wind. Large bubbles are caused by supernova explosions and contain gas that is much hotter but also much more diffuse (about one atom per cubic cm) than that of the surrunding interstellar medium. These are also called loops.

Buddha - In Buddhism and many other religions and memetics based on or inspired by it, one who is awakened, enlightened; one who is spiritually awakened, who has transcended limits of the relative self and attaiined to the true nature of reality.

Buddhabrain - An ISO, moon-node, jupiter-node, or nebula brain that has attained a state of holistic Enlightenment.

Buddhai - An enlightened ai (generally hyperturing or above), a transapient Mind that has transcended all toposophic levels, and indeed all phenomenal existence.

And that takes care of the B's.

Todd
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