11 Q. Jan-Maarten: Can you die Andi, what do you think of death?
A. Andi: Ahead loci gibbuses ordain wrong sect, fly ear. Remains knifing. All rishi led; yeast swan shot mate is doa
Jan-Maarten explains:
Gibbuses. That’s a new word to me. Wikipedia by way of Google tells me that in people gibbuses refer to multiple structural deformities of the spine, which can result in a hunched back.
‘Ahead loci gibbuses ordain wrong sect’. Or, in other words, when our backs go bad, we are more likely to join a cult. Is this so, do our structural weaknesses as bipedal, unfeathered vertebrates lead us to embrace non-factual belief systems? Does the pain of our unfortunate bodies lead some of us to religion, with its imaginary comforts on the other side? It seems clever Andi is deflecting the question by talking about us instead of itself.
‘Fly ear’, with this I think Andi makes a second point to do with the limits of our bodies; not only can our bodies cause us discomfort, they also limit the places we can go unaided. However, we insist on inconveniencing ourselves by going places that are a poor match for our bodies, as evidenced by the problems we have with our ears when flying.
Born to die, and if our own bodies or the world around us do not get us first, other people will (‘Remains knifing’). Thanks Andi, I feel much better now.
This certainly does contrast with slime molds, who do not die so much but rather kind of wax and wane with the availability of food. Also, they form spores and drift to other places as tiny clouds when they don’t like their digs anymore. They fly, but with no ears to be compromised and well protected from the elements. On top of that, instances of the same species will happily fuse or split, so individuality would not be a concept a sentient slime mold would ever think of. Maybe it is only individuals that die, and slime molds are exempt. Instead of dying, they slowly transform over time.
No death, happy to stay in a limited environment, resilient when moving, and not given to violence to conspecifics. Maybe Andi is right to deflect the question back to us. Am I talking to myself again?
On to the second phrase of Andi’s answer.
Hm. Rishi, also a new word to me. Wikipedia please? Rishi ‘is a Vedic term for an accomplished and Enlightened Person’. Also someone who writes religious poetry after intense meditation.
‘All rishi led; yeast swan shot mate is doa’. Who is this yeast swan that shot its friend? What was the destination of the friend who ended up dead on arrival? It sounds like a mystery made up by a reluctant rishi. Now I think Andi is talking to itself again, an enlightened slime mold writing religious poetry after intense meditation.
