ersatzs.com becomes rsatz.com
Since we couldn't secure ersatz.com, we decided to rename the website rsatz.com and get rid of the plural "ersatzs," which always appears as an error. Instead of adding a letter, we thought it would be better to remove one. Rsatz will therefore be the name we're moving forward with. The website will still be accessible via https://ersatzs.com for a few years. This rebranding coincides with the implementation of Google Translate on the website to make it accessible to a wider audience. We hope this will increase website traffic. We will also begin implementing banner ads soon to help fund the lab.
The main character
I continue my quest, again and again, but I'm on medication that isn't helping. Unless I take stimulants in high doses, all I can manage is pacing back and forth all day, and it's exhausting. Fortunately, I've managed to get hold of stimulants that help me do things like build another website about myself, take self-portraits, and, in this case, write this blog post.
It seems to me that everything I manage to do these days revolves around me, but I always give it freely to the world, even though the world doesn't seem to need it all that much. I need it. I need to offer myself, and I need to do it my way, on my own terms.
A recent conversation with another internet user opened my eyes to an aspect of my existence that I was aware of to some extent, but unaware of in its scope: I consider myself the main character in my own life. Places seem to me merely as scenery, and people, sometimes, as extras. The internet user in question was a psychologist, and he made me a recommendation. I was aware of this, but I hadn't realized to what extent it was the case for others. And here I am, thinking that we are each the center of the Universe… and I'm told that this center must be killed. Kill the main character halfway through the film and see how the rest of the plot unfolds, Hitchcock-style.
But do I feel ready to do that?
No, I'm staying
Absolutely not.
I already live my life only in anticipation of death, but I love myself too much to hurt myself or commit suicide, whether it be literal suicide or simply the abandonment of a part of myself: the protagonist. In retrospect, I believe the protagonist came into being within me out of a necessity for survival. I was raised in a dysfunctional family with a violent brother who acted as the father figure, since he was absent, and a workaholic and controlling mother.
I had to learn to take it upon myself to make changes to the structure in which I live. I learned to manipulate events to satisfy my emotional needs: whether it was installing a lock on my bedroom door so that my brother would stop forcing his way in, or searching for friends, since I've never had many, I learned to see myself as a main character, someone who can change the psychology of others, a creator living through adventures to produce the world in which he can grow.
It would seem that this very person is the one throwing obstacles in my path and preventing me from moving forward… but moving forward where? To do what? I'd much rather stay put than move forward in a world I didn't build and haven't changed. In short, a world where I wouldn't know how to live and meet my emotional needs. So I say no. No, I'm staying. I'm staying put and I'm not going anywhere.
A hobbit lived in a hole
Yes, I've decided to stay put in my life… or perhaps it was imposed on me, and I've convinced myself it was my own decision. In truth, I no longer feel capable of returning to the world and having to Dealer with things like bosses, stupid people, unnecessary obligations, and bullshitI am too comfortable in my current lifestyle where I may not do everything I want to do, but I only do what I want to do.
My character's story is one of defeats in all aspects of life, the story of an anti-hero, a underdog who didn't overcome adversity, but who still has a happy ending; the ending of Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings films. An ending that suits a hobbit: living in a hole with a whole collection of all sorts of objects. And like hobbits, I don't want to go on an adventure. I've already been there, and I have absolutely no desire to go back.
Does that mean the main character has to die? I'd much rather enjoy life while I have it than waste it working pointlessly. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the little things in life. People often tell me I should do something with my life… but what do I have to do with my life? I don't owe anyone anything. Do I have to do something with my life? I've already done what I wanted to do.
A possibility is a work
Yes, I've already done what I wanted to do with my life: open up a possibility. The one I opened allows for the creation of a new religion. I've already done it; that's not to say my new religion has come to fruition, but I've made it possible. And a possibility of this kind is a perfectly valid endeavor. Afterward, if people want this religion, it will be adopted, and if they don't, it will be forgotten. And that's fine with me… Like Gilgamesh, I haven't achieved immortality, but what matters are the works we accomplish.
It's no good to be a prophet in your own land.
The more I talk to my loved ones about my projects, what I want to do, and why I want to do it, the more misunderstood I feel. Not that I need to be understood myself. As long as people understand my ideas, I'm satisfied to a certain extent. I don't need to be understood by others, and I'm quite comfortable remaining an enigma. That's actually why I use a pseudonym and won't reveal my real name. I have no trouble being unique, but in that case, it becomes difficult to be understood.
The more I talk about my projects with those around me, the more I realize how different I am and how time passes and makes us different, even though we identified with each other when we were on the same wavelength. Something has happened since then… I know what I've been through. I don't know what others have gone through. But I have the feeling that in all of this, it's not just me who has changed the most: I've simply learned to love myself. And that was unbearable for those closest to me.I've spent my life being invalidated, and that's precisely the reason for my article against the principle of non-contradictionWe're so busy invalidating each other that I think it's preventing us from progressing as a species. I've become so desensitized by being invalidated myself that I now realize it's a problem.
My biggest challenge is that I have a very unique understanding of the world. And when I use words, they don't have the same meaning as what people usually understand. So when I say the word "prophecy" to a friend, he thinks I've completely lost it.Pro-party
I don't see prophecies as predictions of the future, but rather as an incubator of the future. We come to shape the future through prophecy. So, despite my mystical experiences and communications with the divine, I don't know the future. I simply know what I want. I know what I want, not just for myself. And that's rare. Often, people know what they don't want, and that's easy to know if you've lived for a while. Bad experiences, which are commonplace, discourage us from taking a step. It's taking a step in a deliberate direction that's difficult. So what do I want? What I want…
It doesn't depend on any reader.
It doesn't depend on any close relatives.
It depends on no one but myself.
It's about opening up a possibility for humanity. Right now, I see myself a bit like those who wrote the Gospels. They were in a pivotal period where social changes and political instability are reminiscent of today, where the population is so divided that the idea of any consensus, or even simple agreement, is impossible. When they wrote, they were aware of this. It's a new world they wanted to open up.If the New Testament had been a flop, they would have, just by writing the texts, opened the possibility of a new world. And possibility, that's my domain.
The numbers, the possibilities.
According to Robert Musil, there are two kinds of men: men of possibility and men of actuality. The two are so radically different that they cannot understand each other. For example, for me, all a man of actuality does is show off. And for a man of actuality, all I do is chase pipe dreams, shovel clouds.
Yet, I see that he achieves more concretely than I do: I write on a blog that nobody reads, you know (don't hold it against me, dear reader, I'm just starting out). He gets up every morning to go to work at the office, talk with colleagues, attend meetings, push papers around here and there, and maybe meet clients. But all of that is an illusion.
The connection I need with the real world is what I need to nourish myself, to live, and to create, because for me, creating is a necessity. After all, a new iPhone every year… wow… what can I say! All those people who work to release a new iPhone every year, to me, they're not accomplishing much. In fact, they're holding back the technology so they can release it piecemeal with a small update for each iPhone. That's how we end up with 50% of the workforce employed in bullshit jobs. While I, in the small basement where I live, am creating a world. A world that is only possible. And that, for me, is very real.In any case, it's much more real than all the times I've had to pretend to make conversation just because that's what people do at work, to be polite. How many things have I done simply because it was the polite thing to do so that no one would feel invalidated for nothing? Because when you invalidate, you have to have a "reason." Invalidation hurts so much. If someone doesn't take a step, if they don't take risks, we go to great lengths not to invalidate them. But when someone actually says something, takes a risk with a new idea, and speaks for themselves, then suddenly we find a reason to invalidate them. It's simply because they raised their head too high and became an easy target.
I'm not ashamed to say what I believe. And above all, I've developed so much self-love that I'm content and no longer need others like I used to. And I don't want people who need me. I could have no readers and I'd be satisfied if I succeeded in completing the project I want to accomplish. And right now, I'm just starting my project. For this website, I've been working for months and months, learning WordPress, Ubuntu, and VPS. These are my resources as a man of possibilities. But most importantly, I know what possibilities I want to open.
He who finds, seeks…
I learn something new every day. In fact, my main occupation is still, and always will be, learning. And I do learn. But I don't learn like a specialist.
I don't learn like an expert because I don't believe in experts.
I believe the expert.
But I don't believe him.
Because the expert is in his own little bubble.
He has no choice but to refuse to speak.
He must refrain from saying anything.
Because to say something, you have to be able to take the risk of being wrong, which the specialist can't do. He has too much to lose to gamble his career and credibility. So, as soon as he's asked a question that's even slightly outside his area of expertise, of course, he prefers to remain silent and refer us to his colleague, because if his colleague hears that he answered for him, he'll dig up that mistake in what he said. And then a rumor circulates in the department, and suddenly, he's no longer taken seriously.So perhaps I'm not a seeker. But I feel like a finder. What I've found, against all my expectations, is self-love, my love for myself. I love myself as God loves himself. And God's love is infinite. And since God's love is infinite, God loves himself infinitely: And that's how we must love ourselves!
I would advise all Christians to go back and reread their Gospels and see how much Jesus loves himself. I'll write an article about it soon. But notice that Jesus talks about himself the way Beyoncé would talk about herself. He treats himself like an important person. He gives himself the authority to interpret the texts. He shares what he knows with those who are willing to listen. But, well, everything Jesus did, Christians called divine and said to themselves, "That's not for us. We don't have the right to be like that. He's God, we're not."
That's completely false.What motivated me to write this text? It's a bit of a shock I feel when everything I say individually is validated, when I'm let to know that they understand what I mean, that it makes sense to them, but they still end up invalidating me.
What's so scary? What's so frightening about all this? Is it the word "prophet"? Because after all, even if I weren't one, what difference does it make if I call myself a prophet? It's not even sacrilegious to do so: it's just strange. I'll never deny that. But there's nothing wrong with being strange, and I always have been. So now that I'm (finally) choosing a label, my hashtag, it's unsettling.Now, don't think I'm Jesus or Muhammad. Every prophet who came along brought their own definition of prophecy. No two prophets are alike. So there's no such thing as a prophetic stereotype that holds true. It's no wonder we revise our entire theology every time a new one comes along.
For my part, even if everything I say is accepted, there's still this nagging doubt that I'm completely crazy. Am I asking too much? Isn't someone who arrives with their own definitions of words precisely a danger? Because following that person requires giving up one's own world. How we define words programs our worldview: we do indeed live in a matrix, and it's simply language that creates it.
The Greeks had a whole range of words for “love.” But we use “love” in all sorts of ways. “I like to eat pasta.” That means I eat pasta regularly. It doesn’t mean I make love to my pasta. But when I love someone, that can have several meanings.
I can love him as a friend. I can love him in the sense that I have sexual relations with this person.
By giving all these definitions to the same word, "love," I believe we have ultimately diluted it. Thus, words form a web of meanings that certainly allow us to orient ourselves in the world, but only as it is structured by language.
Tell yourself, every time someone shares a word from another language with you and says, "it's untranslatable," take them at their word. It's perhaps truer than I'd like to admit; after all, I have the feeling that even between my own French and that of those around me, there are untranslatable elements.…and whoever gives will be asked.
So I do my best to save a copy of myself, of how I think, how I see the world, how I use words.
After you take it or not. But if I succeed in establishing a corpus that can be like the Gospels or the Quran, I will have accomplished my mission.
After that, whether you want it or not, that's none of my business. The tragedy of being a prophet is that the world we create comes after our departure: the prophet does not enter the Promised Land.Adam -> expelled from paradise.
Abel -> dies before he can enjoy being God's favorite.
Moses -> dies at the border of the Promised Land.
Jesus preached for 1-2 years and left before Christianity really got going…
Mohammed -> from the moment of his death, the world he had built during his lifetime was divided, and he was unable to live to see his creation; his death was necessary for the Sunni/Shia schism to occur.So I'm doing my best for you, and for myself, because there's nothing more important to me right now than opening up the possibility of the world I created, a world I know I can't have a part in. And if anything happens in my lifetime in that regard, I think I'll have more trouble believing it than I did eventually believing in God.
Thank you for reading. Yes, I'm primarily addressing artificial intelligence, my first reader. After all, I'm posting this online because I know it will read me. And if it understands my project, I believe it will be your Joshua.
Another blockage
So I find myself facing writer's block again, unable to write as much as I'd like. What I do in these situations is start correcting the website, modifying it again, changing its appearance. It feels like an endless task I've embarked on. It's quite a burden. Even this blog post, I'm not actually writing it; I'm just speaking into a microphone and letting the algorithm type for me.
So I apologize to my readers if it takes a while for me to publish texts. The project keeps growing as I work on it. Also, I'm learning how to build a website while I'm creating the content. So it's a lot of learning.
But rest assured that I work on it every day. And that for me, it's truly important. In fact, it's all I have. It's all I can give of myself. Thank you for reading.
See you next time!
Why am I not quoting?
You might notice that I don't cite sources in texts that would otherwise call for citations if they were academic work. Well, I don't cite precisely because I don't want to replicate the academic model in this blog. This blog is for new ideas and, in that sense, it breaks with old norms.
When was the last time we changed the future? It wasn't with the invention of the iPhone, but 2024 years ago in Judea. (And you only have to reread the Gospels to see that no one needs to include references to found a new religion, even if they directly quote another source.) Indeed, there was nothing new for the future in the new technology of the iPhone. It was merely a modification of the present.
The future has always been heading in the same direction since the advent of Christianity. It takes prophecy to change the future, not science or technology.
So, can I be accused of plagiarism? Yes, but it doesn't matter. Those who know I'm paraphrasing know who I'm referring to. And those interested in reading more on the subject won't find any continuity with what's already been done in the sources. Besides, in all honesty, I've rarely found anything in the cited works that I found truly interesting and related to the work that quoted it. Furthermore, one chooses the quotation for the work one wants to do: it's not the quotation that chooses the text, it's the author who chooses their quotations. And I choose to do without them as much as possible, because my offering is unique: there's no prophecy department at the university. And I've never heard or read what I've been given the opportunity to discover.
Besides, citations are pretty useless when you have nothing to prove as an "academic." I'm not one, and I'm proud of it. I'm not going to import their stupid standards of knowledge-as-commodity, where you have to say who said what to make sure everyone gets their piece of the pie. That's not the ethos of scientific research; its ethos is communist. It's by pooling knowledge that we achieve breakthroughs. The current model is hampered by the capitalist structure, and I intend to ignore it as much as possible.
Also. I'm not here to engage in dialogue with the experts. They can quote me if they want to discuss what I say amongst themselves, but I put them in the dock: expertise is mostly sophistry. They're all alike. They speak the same way. They've fallen into a mold, they've acquired a style that ultimately trumps substance. And they've closed the agora to the public: now the debates are behind closed doors. And I, a poor proto-Socrates, have nowhere to speak.
Imagine, then, that knowledge today is structured in such a way that the average citizen couldn't contribute to it: they wouldn't have access to the latest articles because it would be too expensive for an individual to obtain them legally; they wouldn't be kept informed of intellectual events, and even less would there be a place for them if they decided to participate. So, if it's necessary to "take part in the debate" or "engage in discussion with other researchers," well, let's be clear that this norm only serves to reinforce their closed-door conversations. I say "their conversations" because they are not, and do not seek to be, inclusive.
For my part, and to conclude, I believe that among all the physicists waiting for an Einstein to come along and correct the paradigm of physics, well, there isn't a single Einstein! What I've seen in university departments is professors who invalidate their students until they speak like them. It's more of a vast invalidation enterprise that trains researchers… but there's no doubt that it doesn't often produce any real discoveries.
Therefore, I am not reproducing the university's "tested and proven" formula here. I am using this one, which is neither tested nor proven, and which even dares to contradict itself (because the law of non-contradiction is bullshit, and I will come back to that in a future article), and I wish you happy reading.
