Prepare for one of the hardest survival experience you'll ever have in DayZ!
This server provides the ultimate survival challenge on an overhauled Chernarus map, with a big emphasis on immersion and realism. You need to plan your journeys ahead wisely, otherwise you might get into unfortunate situations that often end badly. Many unique features await you to keep you struggling!
Main Features

• 1pp PVP/E
• Skills, perks, sleeping, illness and medical system from Syberia Project
• Realistic gunplay, item durability, inventory, stamina, metabolism, food nutrition, cooking and gardening
• Hardcore loot economy, everything is reduced to a bare minimum
• Smarter, stronger and more agile infected
• Radiation zones scattered across the map
• Huge bunker complex at Tisy military
• Layered clothing system
• Advanced wetness system, clothing can get wet from ground and vegetation.
• More interactions like rummaging for supplies or catching rain
• Tons of other stuff too long to list here...

Our server is actively administered and gets updated regularly, see you ingame!
Name: DZM - Hardcore Survival Realism Syberia Project - dsc.gg/dzm
IP: 152.53.45.161:2302
Discord: https://discord.gg/ebyNVTHVxh

This past week, I took my dog to a vet that I used to love going to before they switched name and owner, but it has significantly deteriorated since then, and my recent experience was the worst yet. I have always praised the incredible veterinarians in New Orleans to everyone back where I'm from, but I was genuinely shocked by what I encountered this time.
My dog had been acting extremely unusually, so I took him in. Initially, he had a blood panel, and I was told his thyroid levels were at the lowest end of normal. The vet recommended thyroid medication, but this did not explain the extreme discomfort he exhibited the day before. Additionally, he has been coughing frequently even while at rest. I requested an x-ray, which was performed. When the vet returned, she mentioned that my dog's heart looked "pretty big" and advised adding more grains to his diet and making an appointment with another vet.
I received very little clarity on what "pretty big" actually meant for my dog's health and future, and it felt like my questions were an annoyance to the vet. I never got the results of his fecal test. In the past, the vets would show me the x-rays and thoroughly explain what each finding meant, so I never left feeling uncertain or in the dark. This time, the vet was vague, seemed annoyed by my questions, and simply left to fill the prescriptions. Naturally, I turned to the internet and found alarming articles about enlarged hearts, which left me terrified.
While waiting, a vet tech saw me in tears and offered to bring the vet back to clarify things. I waited for a long time but figured she was busy, so I decided to send an email, hoping she could respond when convenient. Despite my deep distress and sleepless nights, I heard absolutely nothing back. I wrote again the next day and still received no response. It's frustrating that they are quick to respond when making an appointment, but not when it comes to follow-up questions after they've been paid.
After two days and sleepless nights filled with anxiety and terrible grief, I got him an ultrasound, all together bringing me to nearly $1,000, and the ultrasound contradicted the x-ray results. According to the ultrasound, at least, he does not have an enlarged heart. However, now he has rapid breathing, an increased heart rate, and is walking strangely—symptoms that can be caused by thyroid medication if if has put him into kidney failure or spontaneous hypothyroidism.
The vet who did his ultrasound was a wonderful person. Whereas the first vet told me she didn't have time to read my notes, the second vet came in and greeted me so kindly and chatted with me and had read every word. Whereas the first vet didn't give me the results of a fecal exam and did not show me the x-ray images nor explain them, the second vet pulled up the x-ray images done at the first vet and explained them. But I still paid a ton because of error and I still have to go back because things I wrote in my notes weren't tackled and I still have a dog with elevated respiration who is hiding.
To make matters worse, this entire ordeal has been unnecessarily costly due to the error, at a time when my financial situation is especially strained. An understatement. The misdiagnosis and lack of communication have added an immense financial burden on top of the emotional stress. This experience has left me heartbroken and anxious, and I feel completely let down by the first veterinarian. Their lack of communication and clarity has caused unnecessary distress for both me and my beloved pet, and the financial impact of their mistakes has made this situation even more unbearable.
And I still, after a huge financial hit, have a dog who is a completely different dog than he was with no answers. After a lot of stress and time and cost, I don't feel much different about his situation than before I took him in. My little guy used to be playful and bright and curious and active and clingy. He's smart and eager to learn, too -- when I ask him where my other dog is, even if she's across the room, he will run to her and boop her with his nose. When he was mouse sized, he caught on to "stay" the very first time. He signals if he wants up or down, fully understanding each. And of course does the typical sit, shake, etc. Just a wonderful little guy. And now he's the opposite. He's lost energy, doesn't seem to be curious and does things he's never done before like retreat or randomly sit on the floor or hide under a bed. It's scary to see. To others, he may be just a dog or a paycheck, but to me he is a conglomeration of memories and of years and he means an inexpressible amount. Now that his situation is a bit more complicated than it ever has been, I'm left cynical of veterinarians at this point. Due to my experience, it seems to be all about the money. And, at least from my angle, I feel like they don't want to deal with potentially complex cases and to figure out what exactly is going on with your pet if it seems complicated.
Now I have to take him in again after I had made a complete list of his issues and have paid an incredible amount due to error, only for him to incur more scary symptoms. And I'll have to pay more during an especially difficult time from a limited savings I would have liked to go toward finding a place to live. Are there any vets at all that get right to it and don't rake you for all you have when the cases might be more complicated? I'm so worried for my guy and so frustrated. Thank you for your time.

For starters, this post will probably be talking about Sunlit Man quite a bit, so be forwarned there will probably be spoilers in some form. Also, this turned into quite the essay, so prepare yourself.
That aside, I want to build a new Warlock subclass for my next DnD campaign, a warlock that works like Nomad sounds incredibly fun. Warlocks already have shardblades in the form of their pact weapon, and they have a similar magic system where they have a ton of power but it goes in quick bursts, so if seems fitting.
What I have so far:
•1 BEU will equal 1 level 1 spell slot, and can be used as such. Level 2 spells require 2 BEUs, level 3 requires 3, and so on. Upcasting spells works the same as regular casters, casting a level 2 spell as level 4 would require 4 BEUs(a level 4 spell slot). They would be able to choose the level they cast their spells at, rather than having to always cast at the highest level like standard warlocks but they are still limited by their casting level, no upscaling to a level 5 spell when they only have level 2 spells.
•they won't regain any BEUs from resting, short or long. They will only be able to regain BEUs by drawing on investiture in the world. They will not be limited in how many BEUs they can have, only by how many they can collect.
•At certain thresholds, they will gain additional abilities to corelate with Heightenings. Currents plan is at 5 BEUs they regain 1 hp per turn due to passive healing, with the healing increasing by 1 per heightening. At the second heightening (15 BEUs) they will be able to manipulate connection and communicate with others regardless of shared language(only 1 language at a time, can only be used once per day), at higher levels this may include buffs to persuasion and loosen the limitations on how effective it is and often it can be used. At the third heightening,(25 beus) they will gain a +1 to perception and wisdom checks, with an additional +1 on each subsequent heightening. At the 4th heightening(50 BEUs) they will gain +1 to strength, dexterity, and constitution with an additional +1 for each subsequent heightening. At the 5th heightening (75BEUs) they gain improved Investiture Efficiency, reducing the cost of all spells by 1(would free first level spells be too strong? Or could that potentially work?) and increasing investiture gain by 50% when drawing from a non-living power source(living things just have their 1 BEU, unless they are also invested in some form) and getting a bonus on rolls to steal investiture from slain enemies. While I'm not sure what effects to include, I feel like 100 for the 6th, 125 for the 7th, 150 for the 8th, 175 for the 9th, and a full 200 BEUs for the 10th heightening would be appropriate.
So what I really help with need is:
1) a way to recharge investiture, aka warlock spell slots, I want to sacrifice the short rest recharge and instead gain power from drawing on things around them (kind of like how you need to feed Gale enchanted shoes and such in Baldur's Gate 3, but maybe not just restricted to magic items since they tend to be rare in DnD) I need something that will allow them to keep a moderate baseline, and eventually grow in power through the course of the campaign that isn't brokenly weak/overpowered. Buying BEUs from merchants in towns could be 1 way, as well as convincing people to transfer theirs to the warlock and drawing the power from magical items and potentially spells cast on them(maybe 1 BEU per spell level, absorbed as a reaction, similar to how Nomad draws on investiture) I also need some tables on how many BEUs various levels of enchantment would give. Also considering if it would be too strong for them to gain 1 BEU from each kill as they absorb the enemy's Breath(maybe lock that behind a roll, have a chance to draw their power)
2) A balanced heightening chart, including possible changes to what I have already listed as well as buffs all the way up to the 10th heightening.
3)Some forms of Torment, in case things start to get too overpowered. They could even be tied to the heightenings, so that the stronger they become the more they have to fight around their limitations. Also potentially a baseline Torment that is always active decided by a roll on character creation.
4)I need some ideas/feedback for class specific level buffs. So far all I've got is increasing the complexity of their shardblade, allowing basic moving parts(chains, ranged weapons like bows, etc.) at level 5, and more complex devices with multiple moving components at level 9(think clocks, locks, a jack stand, etc). Maybe at a decently high level(like 13) they gain the equivalent of a Divine Breath, granting the buffs of the fifth heightening without the need to hoard enough BEUs to reach that point. Subsequent heightenings will still require the full number of BEUs(the Divine Breath Equivalent is still just 1 BEU, it just grants the buffs)
5)and of course, if y'all come up with anything else that I missed, additions are welcome and wanted.
Thanks in advance to any who take the time to read and/or pitch in.

The Life Weave:

• All living creatures possess a collection of energies referred to as "the Life Weave."
• The Life Weave corresponds to three things: The size of a creature's body, their general health, and the amount of echoes of creation (mana) they have innately stored inside of themselves.
  • Adult man has more than a child which has more than a dog.
  • Someone born healthy has a larger Life Weave than someone born sickly.
  • Someone suffering from a chronic or terminal illness have suffer a reduction in the size of their Life Weave
  • A person's Life Weave gains potency with the more [echoes they have stored within themselves.
• Esharans have slightly more on average than humans.

Abilities:

• Lifeweavers have the ability to draw upon one of their senses, physical, or mental attributes so that they may boost the power of another.
• Lifeweavers can consciously maintain their life force, slowing the aging process.
• Lifeweavers can focus on and enhance their body's processes, i.e. natural healing, getting over normal sickness/hangover, passing poison, etc.
• Roughly one in every three Lifeweavers are strong enough to manipulate the weave of others, allowing them to perform healing arts.
  • Manipulating another creature's Life Weave is the one exception to the "minimal echoes" rule. The more extreme the process, the more energy is required.
  • Healing a minor scrape may require only a little bit more, but working for hours to clean and repair a severed limb may take multiple whole vials of refined echoes
  • The speed in which a wound may be healed is also relative to the formation of the subject's weave pattern. A bolstered weave will heal faster.
  • It is impossible to regrow body parts once severed, but it is possible to reattach them or to repair injured organs provided they are mostly intact.
• Lifeweavers with the ability to manipulate the weave of others can also "snip" the threads of any being and give them to another. Whether stealing from another to bolster themselves or sacrificing a piece of themselves, the effect is never temporary.
  • It is impossible to take back a thread that you have given to someone without snipping it out again, which means that snipping your own weave to give to someone else is an irreversible process.
  • This ability is considered taboo and forbidden, though it has also allowed for miracles where a Lifeweaver was able to sacrifice a piece of themselves to pull someone else back from the brink of death.

Cost:

• Manipulating your own weave costs a baseline of echoes to perform, roughly only 1/5th of a small vial of refined echoes.
• Manipulating the weave of another requires a greater baseline of echoes, roughly double the baseline for yourself. The more extreme the alteration and the more drawn out the process, the greater the requirement to sustain the process.
• Pushing oneself too hard can be dangerous and result in damage.
  • Exerting a bolstered aspect too much or too often results in it's subsequent bolstering to be less effective. They will need to divert more to that aspect to receive a similar result.
  • Prolonged absence of a pattern will begin to damage that aspect. Someone who uses their hearing too often may start to go deaf, or someone who sacrifices their physical strength to boost their mental acuity may begin to find their bodies withering away from atrophy.
• These costs are all in addition to the general cost of depleting one's own echoes without replenishing them.
• Symptoms such as increased risk of disease, mental illness, and psychosis can compound their effects when someone is without a particular corresponding thread.

Example Combinations:

• **Sacrifice Touch, Bolster Strength:** Numb the body to gain immense physical power.
• **Sacrifice Hearing, Bolster Sight:** Deafen oneself to gain superhuman vision.
• **Sacrifice Strength, Bolster Mental Acuity:** Weaken the muscles to enhance cognitive abilities.
• **Sacrifice Endurance, Bolster Reflexes:** Reduce stamina to heighten quickness in reactions.
• **Sacrifice Dexterity, Bolster Speed:** Sacrifice fine motor skills to enhance physical speed.

Individual aspects of one's mental acuity may be manipulated in order to bolster others:

• **Sacrifice Balance, Bolster Creativity:** Compromise equilibrium to unlock higher creative potential/ability to think outside the box.
• **Sacrifice Empathy, Bolster Critical thinking:** Reduce emotional sensitivity to be able to think more critically and clearly.

A person's sense of touch is far more important than their empathy, so sacrificing touch would lead to a far greater boost in their physical strength than a minor aspect of their mental acuity would. Likewise, someone could give up all of their physical strength to bolster their intelligence and critical thinking in order to become a super genius, though this would come with extreme consequences if implemented for prolonged use.

An excerpt from "[[The Great Chronicle]]," culmination of [[Proprietor Yeoz]]' life work. Published on the 1st day of the 1st month, 357 AA.

When the first form of Adon rained down from the heavens, so too came the power over living creation. Without Adon's touch, all would be lifeless and devoid of meaning. It is known that all living things have within themselves a network of energies that bestow upon them animation. The network of life-giving substances flow throughout the body and enable one to act, though for most it is not an active process. Throughout my work I shall refer to these energies as a weave, as they have been described first hand to myself, to be as a tapestry of one's life. To manipulate the weave is comparable to reknitting fabric.
For those blessed by His touch, this weave of energies is an ethereal wonder made manifest. It has been noted by many trained and untrained Inheritors that the weave is something known or felt, rather than explicitly seen. It is the opinion of some scholars, myself included, that this weave is a complex network of pathways throughout the body through which one's lifeblood is carried. A curious exception to this (and the basis of many arguments to the contrary) is that certain plants seem to poses the weave as well, despite not subsisting on the lifeblood. While the weave is unseen, it is entirely real and possesses all living and animate creatures that traverse this mortal realm. These Inheritors are commonly referred to as "Lifeweavers," though various cultures may have their own names and misguided origins for the practice.
The abilities of any such Inheritor vary from person to person and seem to be limited only by one's aptitude, imagination, and whatever threads they may know. Compared to other manifestations of Adon, the practice of manipulating the weave of life energies does not depend on the quantity of echoes called upon; The same quantity is needed regardless of task, only enough to "grasp the weave" as it is called. Once one has grasped the weave, they are limited only to the amount of material they have on hand. Just as the other manifestations, whatever echoes used in the process are released in the same manner.
One may bundle the weaves together to localize and enhance their output, allowing for supernatural feats. A particular threading of the weave may cause a single man to gain the strength of ten, or another allow one to hear even the heartbeats of a bird a hundred meters away. These boons come at a cost, however. One's body has a finite resource of weave and to reinforce one pattern is to borrow from another. Extreme exertion of the reinforced thread may cause one's being to become increasingly reliant on its elevated status while the borrowed pattern may begin to suffer atrophy. In layman's terms, not only will one's increased strength lose its potency, but too much use of a certain pattern will cause the user to begin to lose it altogether. In addition to the rethreading of patterns, the functions of the body can be altered as well in order to reduce aging or speed up the natural healing process.
Common threads that are recognized by most Lifeweavers are as follows: touch, hearing, sight, taste, smell, physical strength, speed, agility, endurance, and mental acuity. 'Mental acuity' serves as an umbrella category for the cognitive functions of one's mind including their capacity for memory, their reactiveness and clarity, their personal empathy and charisma, among others.
While considered taboo by some cultures, many Lifeweavers possess the ability to manipulate the weaves of other creatures as well. While the process is time consuming and stressful, this ability is what lead to the discovery of the healing arts. Unfortunately, complex rethreadment which could result in the restoration of hearing within the deaf or sight within the blind requires the most adept among all Lifeweavers and is an extremely rare gift.
As with many gifts, there are those who may abuse it. While they have been outlawed and declared forbidden by most civilized peoples, there are those who have been known to manipulate the weave on less than willing subjects. I will not document these processes in detail for fear of propagating the practice, but I will note the unfortunate practice of 'snipping,' wherein one may tear away the threads of another living being to temporarily boost their own. While it is fleeting, this process is the only known way to circumnavigate any personal cost associated with altering a weave.

The Life Weave:

• All living creatures possess a collection of energies referred to as "the Life Weave."
• The Life Weave corresponds to three things: The size of a creature's body, their general health, and the amount of echoes of creation (mana) they have innately stored inside of themselves.
  • Adult man has more than a child which has more than a dog.
  • Someone born healthy has a larger Life Weave than someone born sickly.
  • Someone suffering from a chronic or terminal illness have suffer a reduction in the size of their Life Weave
  • A person's Life Weave gains potency with the more [echoes they have stored within themselves.
• Esharans have slightly more on average than humans.

Abilities:

• Lifeweavers have the ability to draw upon one of their senses, physical, or mental attributes so that they may boost the power of another.
• Lifeweavers can consciously maintain their life force, slowing the aging process.
• Lifeweavers can focus on and enhance their body's processes, i.e. natural healing, getting over normal sickness/hangover, passing poison, etc.
• Roughly one in every three Lifeweavers are strong enough to manipulate the weave of others, allowing them to perform healing arts.
  • Manipulating another creature's Life Weave is the one exception to the "minimal echoes" rule. The more extreme the process, the more energy is required.
  • Healing a minor scrape may require only a little bit more, but working for hours to clean and repair a severed limb may take multiple whole vials of refined echoes
  • The speed in which a wound may be healed is also relative to the formation of the subject's weave pattern. A bolstered weave will heal faster.
  • It is impossible to regrow body parts once severed, but it is possible to reattach them or to repair injured organs provided they are mostly intact.
• Lifeweavers with the ability to manipulate the weave of others can also "snip" the threads of any being and give them to another. Whether stealing from another to bolster themselves or sacrificing a piece of themselves, the effect is never temporary.
  • It is impossible to take back a thread that you have given to someone without snipping it out again, which means that snipping your own weave to give to someone else is an irreversible process.
  • This ability is considered taboo and forbidden, though it has also allowed for miracles where a Lifeweaver was able to sacrifice a piece of themselves to pull someone else back from the brink of death.

Cost:

• Manipulating your own weave costs a baseline of echoes to perform, roughly only 1/5th of a small vial of refined echoes.
• Manipulating the weave of another requires a greater baseline of echoes, roughly double the baseline for yourself. The more extreme the alteration and the more drawn out the process, the greater the requirement to sustain the process.
• Pushing oneself too hard can be dangerous and result in damage.
  • Exerting a bolstered aspect too much or too often results in it's subsequent bolstering to be less effective. They will need to divert more to that aspect to receive a similar result.
  • Prolonged absence of a pattern will begin to damage that aspect. Someone who uses their hearing too often may start to go deaf, or someone who sacrifices their physical strength to boost their mental acuity may begin to find their bodies withering away from atrophy.
• These costs are all in addition to the general cost of depleting one's own echoes without replenishing them.
• Symptoms such as increased risk of disease, mental illness, and psychosis can compound their effects when someone is without a particular corresponding thread.

Example Combinations:

• **Sacrifice Touch, Bolster Strength:** Numb the body to gain immense physical power.
• **Sacrifice Hearing, Bolster Sight:** Deafen oneself to gain superhuman vision.
• **Sacrifice Strength, Bolster Mental Acuity:** Weaken the muscles to enhance cognitive abilities.
• **Sacrifice Endurance, Bolster Reflexes:** Reduce stamina to heighten quickness in reactions.
• **Sacrifice Dexterity, Bolster Speed:** Sacrifice fine motor skills to enhance physical speed.

Individual aspects of one's mental acuity may be manipulated in order to bolster others:

• **Sacrifice Balance, Bolster Creativity:** Compromise equilibrium to unlock higher creative potential/ability to think outside the box.
• **Sacrifice Empathy, Bolster Critical thinking:** Reduce emotional sensitivity to be able to think more critically and clearly.

A person's sense of touch is far more important than their empathy, so sacrificing touch would lead to a far greater boost in their physical strength than a minor aspect of their mental acuity would. Likewise, someone could give up all of their physical strength to bolster their intelligence and critical thinking in order to become a super genius, though this would come with extreme consequences if implemented for prolonged use.

An excerpt from "[[The Great Chronicle]]," culmination of [[Proprietor Yeoz]]' life work. Published on the 1st day of the 1st month, 357 AA.

When the first form of Adon rained down from the heavens, so too came the power over living creation. Without Adon's touch, all would be lifeless and devoid of meaning. It is known that all living things have within themselves a network of energies that bestow upon them animation. The network of life-giving substances flow throughout the body and enable one to act, though for most it is not an active process. Throughout my work I shall refer to these energies as a weave, as they have been described first hand to myself, to be as a tapestry of one's life. To manipulate the weave is comparable to reknitting fabric.
For those blessed by His touch, this weave of energies is an ethereal wonder made manifest. It has been noted by many trained and untrained Inheritors that the weave is something known or felt, rather than explicitly seen. It is the opinion of some scholars, myself included, that this weave is a complex network of pathways throughout the body through which one's lifeblood is carried. A curious exception to this (and the basis of many arguments to the contrary) is that certain plants seem to poses the weave as well, despite not subsisting on the lifeblood. While the weave is unseen, it is entirely real and possesses all living and animate creatures that traverse this mortal realm. These Inheritors are commonly referred to as "Lifeweavers," though various cultures may have their own names and misguided origins for the practice.
The abilities of any such Inheritor vary from person to person and seem to be limited only by one's aptitude, imagination, and whatever threads they may know. Compared to other manifestations of Adon, the practice of manipulating the weave of life energies does not depend on the quantity of echoes called upon; The same quantity is needed regardless of task, only enough to "grasp the weave" as it is called. Once one has grasped the weave, they are limited only to the amount of material they have on hand. Just as the other manifestations, whatever echoes used in the process are released in the same manner.
One may bundle the weaves together to localize and enhance their output, allowing for supernatural feats. A particular threading of the weave may cause a single man to gain the strength of ten, or another allow one to hear even the heartbeats of a bird a hundred meters away. These boons come at a cost, however. One's body has a finite resource of weave and to reinforce one pattern is to borrow from another. Extreme exertion of the reinforced thread may cause one's being to become increasingly reliant on its elevated status while the borrowed pattern may begin to suffer atrophy. In layman's terms, not only will one's increased strength lose its potency, but too much use of a certain pattern will cause the user to begin to lose it altogether. In addition to the rethreading of patterns, the functions of the body can be altered as well in order to reduce aging or speed up the natural healing process.
Common threads that are recognized by most Lifeweavers are as follows: touch, hearing, sight, taste, smell, physical strength, speed, agility, endurance, and mental acuity. 'Mental acuity' serves as an umbrella category for the cognitive functions of one's mind including their capacity for memory, their reactiveness and clarity, their personal empathy and charisma, among others.
While considered taboo by some cultures, many Lifeweavers possess the ability to manipulate the weaves of other creatures as well. While the process is time consuming and stressful, this ability is what lead to the discovery of the healing arts. Unfortunately, complex rethreadment which could result in the restoration of hearing within the deaf or sight within the blind requires the most adept among all Lifeweavers and is an extremely rare gift.
As with many gifts, there are those who may abuse it. While they have been outlawed and declared forbidden by most civilized peoples, there are those who have been known to manipulate the weave on less than willing subjects. I will not document these processes in detail for fear of propagating the practice, but I will note the unfortunate practice of 'snipping,' wherein one may tear away the threads of another living being to temporarily boost their own. While it is fleeting, this process is the only known way to circumnavigate any personal cost associated with altering a weave.

Good morning, Night City!
I'm looking for a partner who'd like to join me in writing a story in the world of Cyberpunk 2077. I don't do fandom RPs very often, but this particular setting appeals to me more than enough to make an exception – although I still want to focus on our own original characters, keeping interactions with any pre-existing characters to a minimum. Naturally, for this to work you will need to be familiar with the game, but I don't expect you to have every last detail of the lore memorised – I certainly don't, and I'm fine with improvising to fill the gaps. I don't have a specific plot in mind yet, but the possibilities are endless. We could set the story in Night City or anywhere else in that world; we can use the existing gangs and factions or figure everything out from scratch. I think it's safe to say we can expect a lot of fun action scenes, a fair bit of dystopian hardships to put our characters through, and all kinds of juicy, complex dynamics and relationships for them to develop.
About me – I’m male, 26, I live in Central Europe (CEST time zone), and I have upwards of ten years of experience in roleplaying. I don’t limit myself to playing male characters, and I don’t have a preference as to the gender of yours. Perhaps more importantly, I’m not looking to write a story centred around romance – that is, I don’t want to make it a prerequisite that our characters absolutely have to be lovers at some point. If they have the right chemistry, sure, but it’s not something I’d like to have as a requirement. That being said, I'm all for interesting dynamics! The action and sci-fi elements are fun, but engaging relationships that feel real definitely elevate a story.
As far as requirements go, first of all, please be 18 or older. That aside, I’m looking for experienced, highly literate partners. Post length doesn’t matter that much to me – so long as you’re able to put out a few solid paragraphs per post – but quality does, so please send me a short sample of your writing so I can see if we’d be compatible. Of course I can send you one too if you want. I write in 3rd person, past tense, and my preferred platform is Discord. And the most important thing – please be active! I’m not a GM, and I neither want nor have the ability to drive the plot forward all by myself. I need you to contribute to the story, both in out-of-character discussions and in-character. It’s all fine and good to write a long and stylistically beautiful post, but if it’s self-contained and doesn’t offer the other writer anything to go off of, that makes it tough to come up with a response. I’m not going to start the discussion every time or always be the one coming up with what we need to develop next, so if you can’t or don’t want to be proactive in this collaboration, I’m not the right partner for you.
I think that about does it! If you’re interested, hit me with a chat message or a DM and we can get right to it. Hoping to hear from you soon!

Good morning, Night City!
I'm looking for a partner who'd like to join me in writing a story in the world of Cyberpunk 2077. I don't do fandom RPs very often, but this particular setting appeals to me more than enough to make an exception – although I still want to focus on our own original characters, keeping interactions with any pre-existing characters to a minimum. Naturally, for this to work you will need to be familiar with the game, but I don't expect you to have every last detail of the lore memorised – I certainly don't, and I'm fine with improvising to fill the gaps. I don't have a specific plot in mind yet, but the possibilities are endless. We could set the story in Night City or anywhere else in that world; we can use the existing gangs and factions or figure everything out from scratch. I think it's safe to say we can expect a lot of fun action scenes, a fair bit of dystopian hardships to put our characters through, and all kinds of juicy, complex dynamics and relationships for them to develop.
About me – I’m male, 26, I live in Central Europe (CEST time zone), and I have upwards of ten years of experience in roleplaying. I don’t limit myself to playing male characters, and I don’t have a preference as to the gender of yours. Perhaps more importantly, I’m not looking to write a story centred around romance – that is, I don’t want to make it a prerequisite that our characters absolutely have to be lovers at some point. If they have the right chemistry, sure, but it’s not something I’d like to have as a requirement. That being said, I'm all for interesting dynamics! The action and sci-fi elements are fun, but engaging relationships that feel real definitely elevate a story.
As far as requirements go, first of all, please be 18 or older. That aside, I’m looking for experienced, highly literate partners. Post length doesn’t matter that much to me – so long as you’re able to put out a few solid paragraphs per post – but quality does, so please send me a short sample of your writing so I can see if we’d be compatible. Of course I can send you one too if you want. I write in 3rd person, past tense, and my preferred platform is Discord. And the most important thing – please be active! I’m not a GM, and I neither want nor have the ability to drive the plot forward all by myself. I need you to contribute to the story, both in out-of-character discussions and in-character. It’s all fine and good to write a long and stylistically beautiful post, but if it’s self-contained and doesn’t offer the other writer anything to go off of, that makes it tough to come up with a response. I’m not going to start the discussion every time or always be the one coming up with what we need to develop next, so if you can’t or don’t want to be proactive in this collaboration, I’m not the right partner for you.
I think that about does it! If you’re interested, hit me with a chat message or a DM and we can get right to it. Hoping to hear from you soon!

Integrating Active Inference into Social Hierarchies and Neuronal Models

I. Introduction

The application of active inference to both social hierarchies and neuronal models provides a robust framework for understanding how complex systems minimize prediction error and maintain homeostasis. In social networks, hierarchies such as alphas, betas, and gammas influence learning and behavior. By integrating these social dynamics with active inference principles, we can create models that explain how individuals and neurons adapt and respond to their environment.

II. Social Hierarchies and Active Inference

A. Social Network Topology

1. Hierarchy Levels
   
   • Alphas: Top influencers who decide on key learning and behavioral directions.
   • Betas: Enforcers who support and enforce the alpha's decisions.
   • Gammas: General members who follow the directives set by alphas and enforced by betas.
2. Decision and Learning Influence
   
   • Alphas: Direct learning goals and outcomes.
   • Betas: Facilitate and enforce the learning process.
   • Gammas: Participate in the learning process and adapt to the directives.

B. Active Inference in Social Contexts

1. Minimizing Free Energy in Social Networks
   
   • Prediction Models: Each member of the hierarchy uses internal models to predict social outcomes and minimize errors.
   • Behavioral Adjustments: Actions are taken to align actual outcomes with predicted outcomes, minimizing social surprise.
2. Role-Specific Predictions and Errors
   
   • Alphas: Create high-level predictions about group goals and behaviors.
   • Betas: Enforce these predictions, minimizing local prediction errors.
   • Gammas: Adapt behavior based on the enforced predictions, aligning their actions to reduce personal and group-level prediction errors.

III. Hierarchical Neuron Models with Social Dynamics

A. Hierarchical Neurons in the Brain

1. Primary Neurons: Basic processing, akin to gammas in the social hierarchy.
2. Secondary Neurons: Integrative processing, similar to betas.
3. Tertiary Neurons: High-level strategic processing, equivalent to alphas.

B. Active Inference in Neuronal Hierarchies

1. Neuron Function and Learning
   
   • Primary Neurons (Gammas): Respond to direct sensory inputs and basic predictions.
   • Secondary Neurons (Betas): Integrate multiple inputs, facilitate learning and prediction adjustments.
   • Tertiary Neurons (Alphas): Set high-level goals and predictions, guiding overall network behavior.
2. Action-Perception Cycles in Neurons
   
   • Primary Neurons: Adjust synaptic weights based on immediate prediction errors.
   • Secondary Neurons: Influence learning processes, ensuring predictions align with sensory inputs.
   • Tertiary Neurons: Modify high-level strategies and predictions, guiding the entire network.

IV. Learning and Adaptation in Social and Neuronal Contexts

A. Diverting Negative Consequences

1. Early Learning in Children
   
   • Prediction Errors: Children learn to predict and divert negative consequences to others, reducing personal prediction errors.
   • Scapegoating: Negative outcomes are transferred to a less powerful individual (omega), who then deals with high prediction errors.
2. Omega's Role and Responses
   
   • Reconciling Surprise: The omega reconciles prediction errors through either acceptance (perception adjustment) or confrontation (action adjustment).
   • Group Dynamics: The group's behavior is shaped by minimizing collective prediction errors, often at the expense of the omega.

B. Social Enforcement and Adaptation

1. Alphas’ Influence
   
   • Decision Making: Alphas make high-level decisions that guide group behavior and learning.
   • Prediction Setting: They set the predictive models for the group, influencing overall behavior.
2. Betas’ Enforcement
   
   • Facilitation: Betas ensure that the alpha's predictions and decisions are followed.
   • Error Minimization: They reduce local prediction errors by aligning group behavior with alpha's directives.
3. Gammas’ Adaptation
   
   • Learning: Gammas learn and adapt based on the predictions set by alphas and enforced by betas.
   • Behavioral Adjustment: They adjust their actions to minimize personal prediction errors, following the group's norms.

V. Mathematical Modeling

A. Hierarchical Neurons and Prediction Errors

1. Primary Neurons (PN) [ \text{PN}i(t) = f\left( \sum{j} w{ij} \cdot \text{Input}_j(t) - \sum{k} \text{Inhibition}_{ik}(t) \right) ]
   
   • Prediction Error: ( PE_i = \text{Input}_i - \text{PN}_i )
   • Synaptic Update: ( \Delta w_{ij} \propto PE_i \cdot \text{PN}_j )
2. Secondary Neurons (SN) [ \text{SN}m(t) = g\left( \sum{i} v_{mi} \cdot \text{PN}_i(t) \right) ]
   
   • Prediction Error: ( PE_m = \text{Integrated Input}_m - \text{SN}_m )
   • Weight Update: ( \Delta v_{mi} \propto PE_m \cdot \text{PN}_i )
3. Tertiary Neurons (TN) [ \text{TN}n(t) = h\left( \sum{m} u_{nm} \cdot \text{SN}_m(t) \right) ]
   
   • Prediction Error: ( PE_n = \text{High-level Input}_n - \text{TN}_n )
   • Weight Update: ( \Delta u_{nm} \propto PE_n \cdot \text{SN}_m )

B. Social Dynamics and Prediction Errors

1. Blame Diversion and Group Dynamics [ \text{Blame}i(t) = k_1 \cdot \text{Behavior}{\text{negative}}(t) - k_2 \cdot \text{Group Support}(t) ]
   
   • Prediction Error: ( PE_i = \text{Expected Outcome} - \text{Actual Outcome} )
2. Omega Response Model [ \text{Omega Attack}(t) = \phi\left( \sum{j} \text{Surprise}{j}(t) \cdot \text{Guilt}_{j}(t) \right) ]
   
   • Prediction Error: ( PE_{\text{omega}} = \text{Perceived Injustice} - \text{Expected Resolution} )
3. Cavitation and Self-Destruction [ \text{Self-Destruction}(t) = \psi\left( \frac{dS_{\text{omega}}(t)}{dt} \right) ]
   
   • Prediction Error: Persistent high ( PE_{\text{omega}} ) leads to self-destructive actions.

VI. Applications and Implications

A. Neural Network Design 1. Adaptive AI Systems: Implementing active inference in AI systems can enhance their ability to dynamically adapt and minimize prediction errors. 2. Error Minimization: Systems designed with hierarchical active inference models are more robust to unexpected inputs and can better manage complex tasks.
B. Understanding Social Behavior 1. Psychological Insights: Active inference models provide deeper insights into social behaviors like blame assignment and scapegoating, helping to develop strategies to improve group dynamics. 2. Therapeutic Approaches: Addressing mechanisms of social cavitation and self-destruction through active inference principles can inform therapeutic interventions for individuals under extreme stress.
C. Future Research 1. Hierarchical Learning Models: Further exploration of active inference in hierarchical learning models can enhance our understanding of both neural and social systems. 2. Integrative Neuroscience: Bridging neural dynamics with social behavior through active inference can lead to more comprehensive models of cognition and behavior.

VII. Conclusion

Integrating active inference into hierarchical neuron and social models provides a powerful framework for understanding adaptive behavior in complex systems. By viewing neurons and individuals as active agents minimizing prediction errors, we gain insights into how learning and behavior are directed by hierarchical influences. This approach has broad applications, from designing more adaptive AI systems to improving social and psychological interventions.

About the Job

This is a remote opportunity. The Commerce & Retail Media team at dentsu leads strategy, activation and optimizations for large buy-side Retail Media brands (CPG, Apparel, Electronics, etc.) and Commerce clients. The Manager will demonstrate the ability to report and optimize client marketing campaigns within Citrus, Criteo, Instacart, Walmart and other retail media networks. You will play an essential role on client teams to build and execute large-scale campaigns and tests that deliver on our strategy for the client. You will deliver reporting, insights and projects in a timely manner and within budget plans supporting the team with flawless execution. You will report into the Associate Director, Paid Search.

Job Responsibilities

• Manage ongoing optimization efforts to meet campaign goals, including daily management of campaign budgets, bid management, reporting, keyword and targeting strategies, and campaign revisions based on performance history and our client's goals.
• Plan and execute retail media campaigns, including account setup, campaign builds, daily optimization, bid strategy development and managed and budget pacing.
• Interpret performance reports to provide actionable insights and analysis
• Ensure campaigns are run to agreed upon best practice guidelines
• Assist and attend weekly calls and meetings
• Collaborate across our client team and channels.

Requirements

• At least 2 years digital performance marketing experience in ecommerce / retail search, paid search, PPC, programmatic, or related field or 1+ years managing large-scale, complex ecommerce campaigns.
• Experience managing budgets, meeting KPIs and informing KPI goals
• Retail media experience (Criteo, Citrus, DoorDash, Pacvue, Walmart, etc.) is highly preferred
• Strong excel skills and analytical mindset, with the ability to identify trends and insights through data analysis
• Enthusiasm for performance marketing, new platforms and the exciting world of eCommerce and emerging platforms.
• Strong personal organizational, communication and prioritization skills with a strong attention to detail.

Preferred Qualifications

• SaaS (i.e. PacVue, Skai, etc.) and/or Display platform (ex. The Trade Desk) experience preferred.
• About the Job

Good morning, Night City!
I'm looking for a partner who'd like to join me in writing a story in the world of Cyberpunk 2077. I don't do fandom RPs very often, but this particular setting appeals to me more than enough to make an exception – although I still want to focus on our own original characters, keeping interactions with any pre-existing characters to a minimum. Naturally, for this to work you will need to be familiar with the game, but I don't expect you to have every last detail of the lore memorised – I certainly don't, and I'm fine with improvising to fill the gaps. I don't have a specific plot in mind yet, but the possibilities are endless. We could set the story in Night City or anywhere else in that world; we can use the existing gangs and factions or figure everything out from scratch. I think it's safe to say we can expect a lot of fun action scenes, a fair bit of dystopian hardships to put our characters through, and all kinds of juicy, complex dynamics and relationships for them to develop.
About me – I’m male, 26, I live in Central Europe (CEST time zone), and I have upwards of ten years of experience in roleplaying. I don’t limit myself to playing male characters, and I don’t have a preference as to the gender of yours. Perhaps more importantly, I’m not looking to write a story centred around romance – that is, I don’t want to make it a prerequisite that our characters absolutely have to be lovers at some point. If they have the right chemistry, sure, but it’s not something I’d like to have as a requirement. That being said, I'm all for interesting dynamics! The action and sci-fi elements are fun, but engaging relationships that feel real definitely elevate a story.
As far as requirements go, first of all, please be 18 or older. That aside, I’m looking for experienced, highly literate partners. Post length doesn’t matter that much to me – so long as you’re able to put out a few solid paragraphs per post – but quality does, so please send me a short sample of your writing so I can see if we’d be compatible. Of course I can send you one too if you want. I write in 3rd person, past tense, and my preferred platform is Discord. And the most important thing – please be active! I’m not a GM, and I neither want nor have the ability to drive the plot forward all by myself. I need you to contribute to the story, both in out-of-character discussions and in-character. It’s all fine and good to write a long and stylistically beautiful post, but if it’s self-contained and doesn’t offer the other writer anything to go off of, that makes it tough to come up with a response. I’m not going to start the discussion every time or always be the one coming up with what we need to develop next, so if you can’t or don’t want to be proactive in this collaboration, I’m not the right partner for you.
I think that about does it! If you’re interested, hit me with a chat message or a DM and we can get right to it. Hoping to hear from you soon!

py4cli (Scalable Argument Parser)

Target Audience

* Developers who want to develop scalable cli utility tools in python using declarative programming

Comparison

* Even Though Python have great libraries for passing command line arguments, those libraries aren't scalable for complex use case. So, I have developed a scalable argument parser, which not only helps in passing cli arguments, but also can alter the execution flow of the code based on arguments.
* The Library have two variants minimal and moderate argument parsers, minimal can be used for creating simple cli tool, while moderate is vertically scaled version of minimal argument parser & helps in controlling execution flow of the tool in addition to routing the arguments to the respective methods.

What My Project Does

* The library works fine with windows & Linux supporting basic data types like int, float, str, list, dict, bool. Further developments for making the solution even more scalable is in progress.
Kindly check out the project and documentation below,
GitHub Link : https://github.com/Palani-SN/py4cli ,
* Kindly rate the project in GitHub with stars if you like
PYPI Link : https://pypi.org/project/py4cli/
* Feel free to try this out with installation and usage.
I am still actively developing it, so any feedback/comments would be appreciated!

It’s estimated that a third of U.S. adults have metabolic syndrome. This widespread health issue is characterized by a combination of high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, excess body fat, and abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Individuals with metabolic syndrome are at risk of developing severe health issues such as type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, heart attack, and stroke.
What is metabolic syndrome?
Also known as syndrome X or insulin resistance syndrome, metabolic syndrome occurs when a person simultaneously has at least three metabolic disorders.
These conditions include:

• Obesity
• Elevated blood pressure
• High blood sugar
• Abnormal cholesterol levels
• Increased blood triglyceride levels

Metabolic syndrome is a warning sign, signaling significant metabolic and hormonal imbalances and an increased risk of developing potentially life-threatening chronic conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

Symptoms of metabolic syndrome

In its early stages, there may not be noticeable symptoms that could indicate the underlying health conditions associated with metabolic syndrome. However, as metabolic imbalances worsen, increasingly more physiological functions can be disrupted. This explains why metabolic syndrome can present a wide range of signs and symptoms.
Here are common symptoms linked to metabolic syndrome.

• Persistent fatigue
• Energy crashes, especially after eating
• Difficulty concentrating
• Brain fog
• Bloating
• Water retention
• Rapid weight gain
• Belly fat
• Numbness or tingling in hands and feet
• Joint pain and stiffness
• Chronic inflammation
• Shortness of breath
• Sleep apnea and snoring

Diagnostic Criteria for Metabolic Syndrome

Unfortunately, symptoms related to metabolic disorders often remain undetected until these imbalances reach a critical stage. This highlights the importance of regular health screenings to evaluate metabolic health, which is crucial for the early detection and diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute published data outlining the value ranges of health markers used to assess metabolic health and diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome.
These values are considered normal and not indicative of metabolic syndrome:

• Blood pressure less than 120/80 mmHg (millimeters of mercury)
• Fasting blood glucose between 70 and 99 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter)
• Triglyceride levels less than 150 mg/dL
• HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol at or above 60 mg/dL

Metabolic syndrome is diagnosed when three or more of the following conditions are present:

• Blood pressure consistently at or above 130/85 mmHg
• Fasting blood glucose higher than 100 mg/dL
• Triglyceride levels consistently above 150 mg/dL
• HDL cholesterol lower than 50 mg/dL for women and 40 mg/dL for men.

While routine tests evaluate LDL and HDL cholesterol, performing an advanced lipid profile to better understand the body’s cholesterol balance can be beneficial.
“The advanced lipid profile offers a more comprehensive understanding of an individual's cholesterol status by measuring both the small, dense LDL particles, which are considered dangerous, and the large, buoyant LDL particles, which are less harmful,” says Dr. Berg.
Causes of metabolic syndrome
While the precise causes are complex and not entirely defined, many experts agree that dietary and lifestyle choices play a significant role in the development of metabolic syndrome.
Research published in Current Vascular Pharmacology emphasizes this point, encouraging that when addressing metabolic disorders, “preventive healthcare should focus on changing lifestyle in order to reduce obesity and increase physical activity.”
Here are two of the primary causes associated with metabolic syndrome.
1. Poor dietary habits
A diet high in refined carbohydrates and sugars significantly affects metabolic health by increasing the body's demand for insulin.
Insulin is an essential hormone that stimulates various metabolic pathways and regulates energy storage.
Released in response to carbohydrate intake, insulin signals cells to absorb glucose. This enables cellular energy production, helps maintain blood sugar balance, and signals the liver to convert excess blood sugar into fatty acids for storage.
However, regularly consuming carbs and sugars can cause persistently high insulin levels. This can desensitize cells to insulin’s signaling and lead to elevated blood glucose levels, a core component of metabolic syndrome.
Over time, this insulin resistance can contribute to other conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, including high triglycerides, hypertension, and obesity.
2. Lack of physical activity
A sedentary lifestyle substantially raises the risk of metabolic syndrome.
Evidence published in Frontiers in Physiology shows that physical inactivity promotes the accumulation of visceral fat. This type of fat is associated with systemic inflammation, which is linked to insulin resistance and explains why overweight or obese individuals are at increased risk of metabolic syndrome.
This highlights the importance of engaging in regular physical activity as a powerful tool for preventing and managing metabolic disorders.
Research published in Frontiers in Endocrinology underscores this point and summarizes, "Physical activity represents a potent, non-pharmacological intervention delaying the onset of over 40 chronic metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.”
Risk factors for metabolic syndrome
Insulin resistance is believed to be the leading cause of all conditions associated with metabolic syndrome.
In addition to a sedentary lifestyle and poor dietary choices, various other factors can contribute to insulin resistance. Risk factors linked to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome include:

• Obesity
• Alcohol consumption
• Ethnicity
• Chronic stress
• Poor sleep

Additionally, the risk of metabolic syndrome increases with age. This trend underscores the importance of proactive health measures early in life to reduce future complications.
According to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “prevalence of metabolic syndrome increased from about 10 percent among 18 to 29-year-olds in all race and ethnic groups to almost 70 percent among 70+-year-old adult females.”
5 ways to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome
The majority of risk factors linked to metabolic syndrome can be mitigated by implementing beneficial dietary and lifestyle changes.
1. Limit carbohydrates and sugars
The common denominator of all conditions related to metabolic syndrome is insulin resistance, which is primarily influenced by diet. Adopting a diet optimized to support steady blood sugar and insulin levels, such as Healthy Keto®, can help prevent and potentially reverse insulin resistance and reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.
2. Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is an excellent strategy to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome and promote overall health. Research published in Nutrients investigated the effects of intermittent fasting and found that it improved several metabolic markers, including body weight, glucose metabolism, lipid profile, and blood pressure.

3. Regular physical activity

Evidence published in Diabetologia emphasizes the powerful impact of exercise, stating, "Regular exercise and physical activity has a pronounced protective effect against metabolic disease." Their research found that just 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity decreases the risk of metabolic disorders by an impressive 30 percent. The benefits of consistent physical activity include improved insulin sensitivity and reduced storage of visceral and ectopic fat, critical factors in preventing and managing metabolic syndrome.
4. Avoid alcohol
Alcohol use is a well-known trigger of inflammation and has various harmful metabolic consequences.
A study published in Scientific Reports found that a significant proportion of individuals with alcohol use disorder display one or more of the diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome. Alcohol is linked to weight gain, insulin resistance, and elevated blood pressure, all of which increase the risk of metabolic syndrome.

5. Stress reduction

Engaging in practices such as stretching or deep breathing exercises can be an effective way to manage stress levels. Reducing chronic stress is critical as stress triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone that can exacerbate metabolic syndrome. Cortisol can contribute to elevated blood pressure, abdominal fat storage, poor blood sugar control, and insulin resistance.
Research published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology states, "Stress can affect features of metabolic dysfunction, such as insulin resistance, glucose, and lipid homeostasis."
How to start Healthy Keto® and intermittent fasting
One of the best ways to restore metabolic health and prevent metabolic syndrome is to adopt a low-carb diet and practice intermittent fasting. The Healthy Keto diet prioritizes eating whole foods, focusing on organic and non-GMO options whenever possible, while limiting carbohydrate intake.
By avoiding processed foods with harmful additives, refined carbs, and sugar, Healthy Keto promotes balanced blood sugar levels, which is crucial to preventing and managing insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Here’s how you can get started with Healthy Keto and intermittent fasting.

Calculate macronutrient needs

You can use this online keto calculator to determine your macronutrient needs. It’s recommended to obtain around 70 to 80 percent of your calories from healthy fats, 15 to 25 percent from high-quality protein, and 5 to 10 percent from fibrous carbohydrates such as low-glycemic vegetables and berries.
To maintain balanced blood sugar levels, it’s vital to limit your daily carbohydrate intake to no more than 50 grams of net carbs. Net carbs are calculated by subtracting the fiber content of a food from its total carb count.

Focus on nutrient-rich meals

Choose healthy fat sources, including avocado, unrefined coconut, and extra virgin olive oil, and avoid inflammatory fats such as vegetable oil, peanut oil, and seed oils. Focus on high-quality protein options such as grass-fed, pasture-raised, and wild-caught meats, oily fish, and full-fat dairy.
Aim for 7 to 10 cups of vegetables daily, choose organic produce, and opt for nutrient-dense vegetables such as dark leafy greens. Avoid sugar, grains, fruit, and starchy vegetables to prevent blood sugar spikes and insulin imbalances, which cause perpetual food cravings, hunger, and fatigue.
In addition, starting your meals with vegetables or salad promotes digestive functions and helps buffer potential insulin spikes after eating. Those new to keto may benefit from planning a week of keto-friendly meals to avoid uncertainty or temptation that could derail your diet goals.

The best type of intermittent fasting for beginners

There are many types of intermittent fasting, such as OMAD (one meal a day), alternate-day fasting, and time-restrictive eating. Time-restrictive eating involves cycling between fasting periods and eating windows and is the ideal fast for beginners.
It's recommended to follow the 18:6 fasting pattern, characterized by abstaining from food for 18 hours and eating during a six-hour window.
”During periods of caloric restriction, the body is forced to burn stored body fat to generate energy. This explains why fasting is a highly effective weight-loss strategy,” says Dr. Berg.
How to start 18:6 intermittent fasting
To get started with 18:6 fasting, choose a six-hour eating window. Most people skip breakfast and start their fast after an early dinner, which helps achieve an 18-hour fast. During the fast, consume zero-calorie beverages such as water, herbal tea, and black coffee. In addition, using a zero-sugar electrolyte powder can help boost energy levels and keep you hydrated.
Experiment with adding grass-fed butter or MCT oil to your coffee to keep you satiated until your fast is over. Combining intermittent fasting with Healthy Keto can maximize the metabolic health benefits of caloric restriction by promoting fat-burning during your eating window.
It’s also crucial to avoid snacking in between meals. If you're still hungry after eating, add more healthy fats your meals to promote satiety and curb cravings.
Fasting is generally considered safe for most adults. However, consult a healthcare professional for personalized advice before starting any new fasting regimen, especially if you have underlying health conditions or are taking medications.

In the vast landscape of academia, students often find themselves navigating through a myriad of assignments, essays, and projects, each demanding their time, effort, and intellectual prowess. In this journey, one essential tool that students often seek is "assessment help." Whether it's deciphering complex instructions, understanding grading criteria, or simply needing guidance on where to begin, effective assignment help solutions can be the compass that guides students through their academic endeavors.
Understanding the Assignment:
The first step in navigating academia effectively is to understand the assignment thoroughly. This involves dissecting the instructions provided by the professor or instructor. Many students stumble at this stage, either misinterpreting the requirements or overlooking crucial details. Seeking assessment help allows students to clarify any ambiguities and gain a clear understanding of what is expected of them.
Research and Resources:
Once the assignment is understood, the next challenge lies in gathering relevant resources and conducting research. Here, assessment help comes into play by providing students with access to a wealth of academic resources, databases, and libraries. Additionally, expert guidance can assist students in narrowing down their focus, selecting credible sources, and structuring their research effectively.
Writing and Formatting:
With research in hand, the task of writing and formatting the assignment can seem daunting. From crafting a compelling thesis statement to ensuring proper citation and formatting styles, there are numerous pitfalls that students may encounter. Assessment help services offer invaluable support in this regard, providing assistance with writing, editing, and formatting to ensure that the final product meets academic standards and expectations.
Critical Analysis and Review:
Beyond the writing process, effective assignment help solutions also facilitate critical analysis and review. Experienced tutors and mentors can provide feedback on draft submissions, offering insights into areas of improvement and suggesting revisions to enhance the quality of the assignment. This iterative process of review and refinement is essential for academic success and is made more accessible through assessment help services.
Time Management and Deadlines:
In the fast-paced world of academia, time management is crucial. Students often juggle multiple assignments, exams, and extracurricular activities, leading to stress and burnout. Assessment help solutions not only provide assistance with individual assignments but also help students manage their time effectively. By setting realistic goals, creating personalized study plans, and adhering to deadlines, students can navigate through their academic responsibilities with greater ease and efficiency.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, navigating academia can be a challenging yet rewarding journey for students. Effective assignment help solutions, centered around the keyword "assessment help," serve as invaluable resources in this endeavor. From understanding the assignment to conducting research, writing, formatting, and receiving feedback, these services offer comprehensive support at every stage of the academic process. By leveraging assessment help solutions, students can overcome obstacles, enhance their learning experience, and achieve academic success.

Hi! The title says it all. Someone please help! I
// Why is it breaking :(
Time: 6/7/24 1:45 PM
Description: Initializing game
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com/github/alexthe666/iceandfire/core/ModItems

at com.chaosbuffalo.spartanfire.init.ItemRegistrySFire.(ItemRegistrySFire.java:52) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.eventhandler.ASMEventHandler\_517\_ItemRegistrySFire\_registerItems\_Register.invoke(.dynamic) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.eventhandler.ASMEventHandler.invoke(ASMEventHandler.java:90) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.eventhandler.EventBus$1.invoke(EventBus.java:144) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.eventhandler.EventBus.post(EventBus.java:182) at net.minecraftforge.registries.GameData.fireRegistryEvents(GameData.java:850) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.Loader.preinitializeMods(Loader.java:630) at net.minecraftforge.fml.client.FMLClientHandler.beginMinecraftLoading(FMLClientHandler.java:252) at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.func\_71384\_a(Minecraft.java:467) at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.func\_99999\_d(Minecraft.java:378) at net.minecraft.client.main.Main.main(SourceFile:123) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498) at net.minecraft.launchwrapper.Launch.launch(Launch.java:135) at net.minecraft.launchwrapper.Launch.main(Launch.java:28) at org.prismlauncher.launcher.impl.StandardLauncher.launch(StandardLauncher.java:100) at org.prismlauncher.EntryPoint.listen(EntryPoint.java:129) at org.prismlauncher.EntryPoint.main(EntryPoint.java:70) 

Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.github.alexthe666.iceandfire.core.ModItems

at net.minecraft.launchwrapper.LaunchClassLoader.findClass(LaunchClassLoader.java:191) at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:418) at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:351) ... 20 more 

Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
A detailed walkthrough of the error, its code path and all known details is as follows:
-- Head --
Thread: Client thread
Stacktrace:

at com.chaosbuffalo.spartanfire.init.ItemRegistrySFire.(ItemRegistrySFire.java:52) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.eventhandler.ASMEventHandler\_517\_ItemRegistrySFire\_registerItems\_Register.invoke(.dynamic) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.eventhandler.ASMEventHandler.invoke(ASMEventHandler.java:90) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.eventhandler.EventBus$1.invoke(EventBus.java:144) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.eventhandler.EventBus.post(EventBus.java:182) at net.minecraftforge.registries.GameData.fireRegistryEvents(GameData.java:850) at net.minecraftforge.fml.common.Loader.preinitializeMods(Loader.java:630) at net.minecraftforge.fml.client.FMLClientHandler.beginMinecraftLoading(FMLClientHandler.java:252) at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.func\_71384\_a(Minecraft.java:467) 

-- Initialization --
Details:
Stacktrace:

at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.func\_99999\_d(Minecraft.java:378) at net.minecraft.client.main.Main.main(SourceFile:123) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498) at net.minecraft.launchwrapper.Launch.launch(Launch.java:135) at net.minecraft.launchwrapper.Launch.main(Launch.java:28) at org.prismlauncher.launcher.impl.StandardLauncher.launch(StandardLauncher.java:100) at org.prismlauncher.EntryPoint.listen(EntryPoint.java:129) at org.prismlauncher.EntryPoint.main(EntryPoint.java:70) 

-- System Details --
Details:

Minecraft Version: 1.12.2 Operating System: Linux (amd64) version 6.1.52-valve16-1-neptune-61 Java Version: 1.8.0\_412, Oracle Corporation Java VM Version: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (mixed mode), Oracle Corporation Memory: 2900136536 bytes (2765 MB) / 4153933824 bytes (3961 MB) up to 9425125376 bytes (8988 MB) JVM Flags: 2 total; -Xms512m -Xmx10112m IntCache: cache: 0, tcache: 0, allocated: 0, tallocated: 0 FML: MCP 9.42 Powered by Forge 14.23.5.2860 185 mods loaded, 185 mods active States: 'U' = Unloaded 'L' = Loaded 'C' = Constructed 'H' = Pre-initialized 'I' = Initialized 'J' = Post-initialized 'A' = Available 'D' = Disabled 'E' = Errored State ID Version Source Signature :----- :--------------------------- :-------------------- :------------------------------------------------------------ :---------------------------------------- LCH minecraft 1.12.2 minecraft.jar None LCH mcp 9.42 minecraft.jar None LCH FML [8.0.99.99](http://8.0.99.99) forge-1.12.2-14.23.5.2860-universal.jar e3c3d50c7c986df74c645c0ac54639741c90a557 LCH forge 14.23.5.2860 forge-1.12.2-14.23.5.2860-universal.jar e3c3d50c7c986df74c645c0ac54639741c90a557 LCH creativecoredummy 1.0.0 minecraft.jar None LCH itemphysic 1.4.0 minecraft.jar None LCH ivtoolkit 1.3.3-1.12 minecraft.jar None LCH foamfixcore 7.7.4 minecraft.jar None LCH tnt\_utilities\_core 1.2.3 minecraft.jar None LCH forgeendertech 1.12.2-4.5.6.1 ForgeEndertech-1.12.2-4.5.6.1-build.0648.jar None LCH adhooks 1.12.2-3.3.1.0 AdHooks-1.12.2-3.3.1.0-build.0626.jar None LCH advanced-fishing 1.3.3 Advanced-Fishing-1.12.2-1.3.3.jar None LCH aireducer 0.3.0 AIReducer-1.12.2-0.3.0.jar None LCH alcatrazcore 1.0.4 alcatrazcore-1.0.4.jar 3c2d6be715971d1ed58a028cdb3fae72987fc934 LCH antiqueatlas 4.6.3 antiqueatlas-1.12.2-4.6.3.jar None LCH antiqueatlasoverlay 1.2 antiqueatlas-1.12.2-4.6.3.jar None LCH lostcities 2.0.22 lostcities-1.12-2.0.22.jar None LCH antiquecities 1.0 antiquecities-1.2.1.jar None LCH anvilpatch 1.1.1 anvilpatch-1.1.1.jar None LCH aquaculture 1.6.8 Aquaculture-1.12.2-1.6.8.jar None LCH carrots 1.0.0b1 carrotslib-mc1.12.2-1.0.0b1.jar None LCH armorunder 1.0.0 armorunder-mc1.12.2-1.0.0.jar None LCH astikorcarts 1.12.2-0.1.2.8 astikorcarts-1.12.2-0.1.2.8.jar None LCH attributefix 1.0.12 AttributeFix-Forge-1.12.2-1.0.12.jar None LCH crafttweaker 4.1.20 CraftTweaker2-1.12-4.1.20.699.jar None LCH mtlib 3.0.7 MTLib-3.0.7.jar None LCH modtweaker 4.0.19 modtweaker-4.0.20.11.jar None LCH jei 4.16.1.1012 jei\_1.12.2-4.16.1.1012.jar None LCH quark r1.6-179 Quark-r1.6-179.jar None LCH autoreglib 1.3-32 AutoRegLib-1.3-32.jar None LCH base 3.14.0 base-1.12.2-3.14.0.jar None LCH battletowers 1.6.5 BattleTowers-1.12.2.jar None LCH baubles 1.5.2 Baubles-1.12-1.5.2.jar None LCH bedbreakbegone 1.0.2 BedBreakBegone-1.0.2.jar None LCH llibrary 1.7.20 llibrary-1.7.20-1.12.2.jar b9f30a813bee3b9dd5652c460310cfcd54f6b7ec LCH iceandfire 1.9.1 iceandfire-1.9.1-1.12.2.jar None LCH mantle 1.12-1.3.3.55 Mantle-1.12-1.3.3.55.jar None LCH inspirations 1.12.2-0.2.9 Inspirations-1.12.2-0.2.9.jar None LCH reachfix 1.0.9 ReachFix-1.12.2-1.0.9.jar None LCH potioncore 1.9\_for\_1.12.2 PotionCore-1.9\_for\_1.12.2.jar None LCH qualitytools 1.0.7\_for\_1.12.2 QualityTools-1.0.7\_for\_1.12.2.jar None LCH bettercombatmod 2.1.0 RLCombat-1.12.2-2.1.0.jar None LCH somanyenchantments 0.5.5 SoManyEnchantments-0.5.5.jar None LCH mujmajnkraftsbettersurvival 1.5.3 better\_survival-1.5.3.jar None LCH betterbiomeblend 1.12.2-1.1.7-forge betterbiomeblend-1.12.2-1.1.7-forge.jar None LCH bettercaves 1.12.2 bettercaves-1.12.2-2.0.4.jar None LCH forgelin 1.8.4 Forgelin-1.8.4.jar None LCH betterfoliage 2.3.2 BetterFoliage-MC1.12-2.3.3.jar None LCH bettermineshafts 1.12.2-2.2.1 BetterMineshaftsForge-1.12.2-2.2.1.jar None LCH betternether [0.1.8.6](http://0.1.8.6) betternether-0.1.8.6.jar None LCH betterquesting 3.5.329 BetterQuesting-3.5.329.jar None LCH librarianlib 4.22 librarianlib-1.12.2-4.22.jar None LCH classyhats %VERSION% classyhats-1.6.0.jar None LCH levelup2 ${version} levelup2-1.5.8.jar None LCH lycanitesmobs [2.0.8.9](http://2.0.8.9) - MC 1.12.2 lycanitesmobs-1.12.2-2.0.8.9.jar None LCH bettertabs 1.0.4 BetterTabs-1.0.4.jar None LCH blockoverlayfix 1.0.0 BlockOverlayFix-1.12.2-1.0.0.jar None LCH bloodmoon 1.5.3 Bloodmoon-MC1.12.2-1.5.3.jar d72e0dd57935b3e9476212aea0c0df352dd76291 LCH bnbgaminglib 2.17.6 BNBGamingLib-1.12.2-2.17.6.jar None LCH bountifulbaubles 0.0.1 Bountiful Baubles-1.12.2-0.1.8.jar None LCH bountiful 2.2.3 Bountiful-1.12.2-2.2.3.jar None LCH reccomplex [1.4.8.5](http://1.4.8.5) RecurrentComplex-1.4.8.5.jar None LCH bq\_msi 1.0.9 BQ\_Multiblock\_Structure\_Integration-1.0.9.jar None LCH bqtweaker 1.3.5 BQTweaker-1.3.5.jar None LCH callablehorses 1.1.1 callablehorses-1.12.2-1.1.1.jar None LCH carryon 1.12.3 carryon-1.12.2-1.12.7.23.jar None LCH champions 1.12.2-1.0.11.10 champions-1.12.2-1.0.11.10.jar b33d2c8df492beff56d1bbbc92da49b8ab7345a1 LCH charm 1.4 Charm-1.12.2-1.4.1.jar None LCH chunkanimator 1.12.2-1.2 ChunkAnimator-1.12.2-1.2.1.jar None LCH collisiondamage 1.2.2 CollisionDamage-1.2.2.jar None LCH comforts [1.4.1.3](http://1.4.1.3) comforts-1.12.2-1.4.1.3.jar 2484ef4d131fdc0dca0647aa21b7b944ddb935a1 LCH reskillable 1.12.2-1.13.0 Reskillable-1.12.2-1.13.0.jar None LCH compatskills 1.12.2-1.17.0 CompatSkills-1.12.2-1.17.0.jar None LCH contenttweaker 1.12.2-4.10.0 ContentTweaker-1.12.2-4.10.0.jar None LCH controlling 3.0.10 Controlling-3.0.12.3.jar None LCH coralreef 2.0 CoralReef-2.5-1.12.2.jar None LCH wearablebackpacks 3.2.6 WearableBackpacks-RLCraft-1.12.2-3.2.6.jar None LCH corpsecomplex [1.0.12.0](http://1.0.12.0) corpsecomplex-1.12.2-1.0.12.0.jar b33d2c8df492beff56d1bbbc92da49b8ab7345a1 LCH craftablechainmail 1.0 craftablechainmail-1.0.jar None LCH ctgui 1.0.0 CraftTweaker2-1.12-4.1.20.699.jar None LCH crafttweakerjei 2.0.3 CraftTweaker2-1.12-4.1.20.699.jar None LCH creativecore 1.10.0 CreativeCore\_v1.10.71\_mc1.12.2.jar None LCH custommainmenu [2.0.9.1](http://2.0.9.1) CustomMainMenu-MC1.12.2-2.0.9.1.jar None LCH defiledlands 1.4.3 defiledlands-1.12.2-1.4.3.jar None LCH disenchanter 1.8 disenchanter\[1.12\]1.8.jar None LCH dldungeonsjbg 1.14.12 DoomlikeDungeons-1.14.12-MC1.12.2.jar None LCH sereneseasons 1.2.18 SereneSeasons-1.12.2-1.2.18-universal.jar None LCH orelib [3.6.0.1](http://3.6.0.1) OreLib-1.12.2-3.6.0.1.jar 7a2128d395ad96ceb9d9030fbd41d035b435753a LCH dsurround 3.6.3 DynamicSurroundings-1.12.2-3.6.3.jar None LCH dynamictrees 1.12.2-0.9.29 DynamicTrees-1.12.2-0.9.29.jar None LCH dynamictreesdefiledlands 1.12.2-1.0.0 dynamictreesdefiledlands-1.12.2-1.0.0.jar None LCH traverse 1.6.0 Traverse-1.12.2-1.6.0-69.jar None LCH dttraverse 1.12.2-2.1 DynamicTreesTraverse-1.12.2-2.1.jar None LCH elenaidodge 2.1 ElenaiDodge-1.12.2-2.1.jar None LCH enchdesc 1.1.20 EnchantmentDescriptions-1.12.2-1.1.20.jar d476d1b22b218a10d845928d1665d45fce301b27 LCH enhancedvisuals 1.3.0 EnhancedVisuals\_v1.4.4\_mc1.12.2.jar None LCH renderlib 1.3.4 RenderLib-1.12.2-1.3.4.jar None LCH entityculling 6.4.3 EntityCulling-1.12.2-6.4.3.jar None LCH familiarfauna 1.0.11 FamiliarFauna-1.12.2-1.0.11.jar None LCH fbp 2.4.1 FancyBlockParticles-1.12.x-2.4.1.jar None LCH fantasticlib [1.12.2.047](http://1.12.2.047) FantasticLib-1.12.2.047.jar None LCH firstaid 1.6.22 firstaid-1.6.22.jar 7904c4e13947c8a616c5f39b26bdeba796500722 LCH fishingmadebetter 2.2.6 FishingMadeBetter-1.12.2-2.2.6.jar None LCH foamfix u/VERSION@ foamfix-0.10.15-1.12.2.jar None LCH foodexpansion 1.3 FoodExpansion1.3.3-1.12.2.jar None LCH tschipplib 1.1.6 tschipplib-1.12.2-1.1.7.jar None LCH forgottenitems 1.2.1 forgottenitems-1.12.2-1.3.1.4.jar None LCH framevoidpatch 1.0.0 framevoidpatch-1.0.0.jar None LCH friendlyendermite 1.0 FriendlyEndermite\_v1.0.1\_mc1.12.2.jar None LCH fxcontrol 0.1.14 fxcontrol-1.12-0.1.15.jar None LCH globalgamerules 2.2 GlobalGameRules-1.12.2-2.2.7.jar None LCH ichunutil 7.2.2 iChunUtil-1.12.2-7.2.2.jar 4db5c2bd1b556f252a5b8b54b256d381b2a0a6b8 LCH googlyeyes 7.1.1 GooglyEyes-1.12.2-7.1.1.jar 4db5c2bd1b556f252a5b8b54b256d381b2a0a6b8 LCH grapplemod 1.12.2-v13 grappling\_hook\_mod-1.12.2-v13.jar None LCH gravekeeper [0.6.1.1](http://0.6.1.1) GraveKeeper-1.12.2-0.6.1.1.jar None LCH helpfixer 1.12.1-1.5.18 HelpFixer-1.12.1-1.5.18.jar None LCH incontrol 3.9.18 incontrol-1.12-3.9.18.jar None LCH infernalmobs 1.7.6 InfernalMobs-1.12.2.jar None LCH inventorytweaks 1.64+dev.151.822d839 InventoryTweaks-1.64+dev.151.jar 55d2cd4f5f0961410bf7b91ef6c6bf00a766dcbe LCH iseedragons 1.2.1 ISeeDragons-1.2.1.jar None LCH itlt 1.0.4 itlt-1.12.x-1.0.4.jar None LCH legendarytooltips 1.1.9 LegendaryTooltips-1.12.2-1.1.10.jar None LCH loadingscreens 0.3.1 LoadingScreens-1.12.2-0.3.1.jar None LCH locks 3.0.0 Locks-1.12.2-3.0.0.jar None LCH loottweaker 0.4.0 LootTweaker-0.4.0+MC1.12.2.jar None LCH reborncore 3.19.5 RebornCore-1.12.2-3.19.5-universal.jar None LCH mainmenuscale 1.0 MainMenuScale-1.3.2.jar None LCH materialtweaker 1.1.1 MaterialTweaker-1.1.1.jar None LCH mcwbridges 1.0.6 mcw-bridges-1.0.6b-mc1.12.2.jar None LCH testdummy 1.12 MmmMmmMmmMmm-1.12-1.14.jar None LCH mobends 1.2.1 MoBends\_1.12.2-1.2.1-19.12.21.jar None LCH mousetweaks 2.10.1 MouseTweaks-2.10.1-mc1.12.2.jar None LCH multimine 1.6.2 MultiMine-1.12.2.jar None LCH neat 1.4-17 Neat 1.4-17.jar None LCH notreepunching 2.0.21 notreepunching-2.0.21.jar None LCH particleculling v1.4.3 particleculling-1.12.2-v1.4.3.jar None LCH pigstep 1.12 pigstep-1.12.jar None LCH placebo 1.6.0 Placebo-1.12.2-1.6.1.jar None LCH playerbosses 1.0 playerbosses-1.12.2-1.1.0.jar 1bc8f8dbe770187a854cef35dad0ff40ba441bbe LCH portaldupebegone 1.0.0 PortalDupeBegone-1.0.0.jar None LCH potionfingers r1.0-8 PotionFingers-r1.0-8.jar None LCH realistictorches 2.1.2 RealisticTorches-1.12.2-2.1.2.jar None LCH resourceloader 1.5.3 ResourceLoader-MC1.12.1-1.5.3.jar d72e0dd57935b3e9476212aea0c0df352dd76291 LCH artifacts 1.1.2 RLArtifacts-1.1.2.jar None LCH rlmixins 1.3.4 RLMixins-1.3.4.jar None LCH rltweaker 0.5.12 RLTweaker-1.12.2-0.5.12.jar None LCH roguelike 2.4.4 RoguelikeDungeonsFnarEdition-1.12.2-2.4.4.jar None LCH roughtweaks 1.0 roughTweaks0.2.4-1.12.2.jar None LCH ruins 17.2 Ruins-1.12.2.jar None LCH rustic 1.1.7 rustic-1.1.7.jar None LCH silentlib 3.0.13 SilentLib-1.12.2-3.0.14+168.jar None LCH scalinghealth 1.3.37 ScalingHealth-1.12.2-1.3.42+147.jar None LCH setbonus [1.12.2.020](http://1.12.2.020) SetBonus-1.12.2.020.jar None LCH shieldbreak 1.1.3 ShieldBreak-1.1.3.jar None LCH simpledifficulty 0.3.9 SimpleDifficulty-1.12.2-0.3.9.jar None LCH sit v1.3 sit-1.12.2-v1.3.jar None LCH snowrealmagic 0.7.1 SnowRealMagic-1.12.2-0.7.1.jar None LCH soundfilters 0.12.1\_for\_1.12 SoundFilters-0.12.1\_for\_1.12.jar None LCH spark 1.6.3 spark-forge.jar None LCH spartandefiled 1.0 spartandefiled-1.0.jar None LCH xat 0.32 Trinkets and Baubles-32.4.jar None LCH spartanweaponry 1.5.3 SpartanWeaponry-1.12.2-1.5.3.jar None LCH spartanfire 1.2.0 spartanfire\_rlcraft-1.2.0.jar None LCH spartanhudbaubles 1.0.0 Indev 1 SpartanHUDBaubles-1.12.2-1.0.0.jar None LCH spartanshields 1.5.5 SpartanShields-1.12.2-1.5.5.jar None LCH spawnercontrol 1.6.3b SpawnerControl-1.6.3b.jar None LCH bq\_standard 3.4.173 StandardExpansion-3.4.173.jar None LCH surge 2.0.79 Surge-1.12.2-2.0.79.jar d476d1b22b218a10d845928d1665d45fce301b27 LCH switchbow 1.6.8 switchbow-1.6.8.jar None LCH tnt\_utilities 1.2.3 tnt\_utilities-mc1.12-1.2.3.jar None LCH toastcontrol 1.8.1 Toast Control-1.12.2-1.8.1.jar None LCH toolbelt 1.9.14 ToolBelt-1.12.2-1.9.14.jar None LCH trumpetskeleton 1.12-1.0.2.1 trumpetskeleton-1.12-1.0.2.1.jar None LCH tumbleweed 1.12-0.4.7 tumbleweed-1.12-0.4.7.jar None LCH variedcommodities 1.12.2 VariedCommodities\_1.12.2-(31Mar23).jar None LCH waystones 4.1.0 Waystones\_1.12.2-4.1.0.jar None LCH wolfarmor 3.8.1+alpha.1 WolfArmorAndStorage-3.8.1+1.12.2.alpha.1-SNAPSHOT-signed.jar e94e38a605842477f3ec218e6fcf781f6b3f7f89 LCH xpfromharvest 1.2.0 XPFromHarvest-1.12.2-1.2.0.jar None LCH xpbook v1.1.6 xptome-1.12.2-v1.1.6.jar None LCH yungslaw 1.12.2 YungsLaw-1.12.2-1.0.4.jar None LCH dshuds [3.6.0.0](http://3.6.0.0) DynamicSurroundingsHuds-1.12.2-3.6.0.0.jar 7a2128d395ad96ceb9d9030fbd41d035b435753a LCH rtg 6.1.0.0-snapshot.1 RTG-1.12.2-6.1.0.0-snapshot.1.jar None LCH phosphor-lighting 1.12.2-0.2.7 phosphor-forge-mc1.12.2-0.2.7-universal.jar None LCH kiwi [0.5.3.32](http://0.5.3.32) Kiwi-1.12.2-0.5.3.32.jar None LCH librarianliblate 4.22 librarianlib-1.12.2-4.22.jar None Loaded coremods (and transformers): 

MixinLoader (BedBreakBegone-1.0.2.jar)
SimpleDifficulty ASM (SimpleDifficulty-1.12.2-0.3.9.jar)
com.charles445.simpledifficulty.asm.SimpleDifficultyASM
RLTweaker ASM (RLTweaker-1.12.2-0.5.12.jar)
com.charles445.rltweaker.asm.RLTweakerASM
LibrarianLib Plugin (librarianlib-1.12.2-4.22.jar)
com.teamwizardry.librarianlib.asm.LibLibTransformer
LoadingPlugin (ChunkAnimator-1.12.2-1.2.1.jar)
lumien.chunkanimator.asm.ClassTransformer
WolfArmorCore (WolfArmorAndStorage-3.8.1+1.12.2.alpha.1-SNAPSHOT-signed.jar)

TITLE: Kant, Herder and Cosmopolitanism: An Inquiry into Historicisms, Universalisms and Eurocentrism.
18th century Prussia was a complex sociocultural landscape, which sported often contradicting imperatives of both cosmopolitanism and ‘nationalism’. While there was a unique cosmopolitan lifestyle, namely thanks to Prussia’s comparative lack of national identity in relation to western European nations, there were also counteractive efforts at establishing this national sentiment. Frederick the Great’s adoption of so called ‘progressive’ policies, such as equality through the law, and freedom of the press, had compounded Prussia’s strategic position in Central Europe, subsequently attracting an influx of trade and diplomacy, most notably from surrounding Germanic states. Regardless, Frederick II’s belief in ‘enlightened absolutism’ yet reflected a dual effort at differentiating Prussia from the rest of Europe, and thus ‘cosmopolitanism’ was something ironically in tandem with so-called nationalism. Thomas Abbt’s Von Tode fur Das Vaterland (1761) had outlined moral imperatives of sacrificing one’s own life for the good of the nation, and efforts at social cohesion were present as far back as 1715, when German became mandated for what was a nationalised schooling system.
Prussia’s cosmopolitan culture was one that was at times combated by, and at other times in tandem with auto-referential imperatives. Both Immanuel Kant and Johann Gottfried Herder were two Prussian thinkers, who’s ideas were distinctly shaped and moulded by this social context. Cosmopolitanism was not merely a lifestyle in Prussia, as institutions like the ‘Berlin Academy of Sciences’, which were central to Frederick II’s belief in ‘enlightened absolutism’, had stimulated the idea that intellectual prowess was similarly integral to Prussia’s ‘modernising’ efforts. In 1784, Herder had published his Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man, and later in the year, Kant had published his Idea for a Global History with A Cosmopolitan Intent. Both Kant and Herder imagined ‘cosmopolitanism’ very differently. Where Kant would predominantly focus on the idea of a ‘cosmopolitan order’ as a teleological end goal to history, Herder would instead profess the mere relativity of different ideas and cultural practices. Compared to Kant, Herder had centred intercultural equality as central to cosmopolitanism, and had thus abstained from deterministic, universalist concepts such as that of ‘cosmopolitan order’.
As prevalent as it was in Prussia’s multi-ethnic landscape, ‘cosmopolitanism’ also appears to have ‘triumphed’ in western societies. It is ever relevant today, and these ideas are evidently significant in their legacies. Michael W. Doyle had praised Kant’s ideas for their influence on contemporary ‘liberal internationalism’, while Frederick Beiser had lauded Herder’s ideas for its unique recognition of the relativity of different ideas, particularly when most enlightenment thinkers were instead concerned with arbitrary, universal narratives that he describes as comparatively Eurocentric. Regardless, both historians ignore how both essays may be ‘Eurocentric’ themselves, given the problematic concept of ‘political modernity’ that exists today, and which imbibes characteristically European imaginations as an object standard for societal ‘progress’. Beiser and Doyle ignore this concept, and in this sense, their appraisals reflect a very emanation of this problem. This essay will thus begin with a re-evaluation of the concept of enlightenment universalism, followed by the a formal dissemination of Eurocentrism and its relation to Kant and Herder’s philosophies. Lastly, I will examine the relationship between these concepts and the existence of contemporary ‘political modernity’, with the aim of re-evaluating these essays in the context of Dipesh Chakrabarty’s Provincialising Europe.
To assess the rigour of current evaluations on Kant and Herder’s works is to first gain a deeper understanding of both essays. Immanuel Kant’s imagination of a ‘cosmopolitan order’ was not an isolated idea, but encapsulated a rigid philosophical framework, which he sets out in his essay. In Kant’s eyes, this ‘cosmopolitan’ future would be engendered by teleological human experiences with conflict, or ‘unsocial sociability’ that would aid in the ‘refinement’ of the human spirit through the use of reason, and gradual, developmental realisation of a ‘universal moral law’. Kant maintained that reason would triumph over the course of history, and despite his rigid, and often uncompromising language, he maintains that his teleology would ultimately culminate in the ‘emancipation of all people, in all places’.
Herder’s profession of ‘cultural relativism’ may be similarly contextualised by his broader beliefs on cosmopolitanism. Herder purports the idea of a ‘volksgeist’ or ‘spirit of the people’ that may define human history, and to Herder, it is the use of rigid, abstract language that is at direct odds with cosmopolitanism. For Herder, cultural relativism is an endorsement of a ‘spirit of the people’, which may only be captured once one abstains from superimposing arbitrary narratives onto the diverse cultural practices of global peripheries. Herder and Kant disagreed on precisely which ideas they could label as truly cosmopolitan, and it is this disagreement that has stimulated similarly opposing contemporary evaluations.
Frederick Beiser’s ‘The German Historicist Tradition’ is a retrospective evaluation of different German philosophies, and maintains a particular focus on Herder’s intellectual integrity. While Beiser takes a critical stance on Herder’s notion of particularism, notably for its incompatibility with the idea of shared, universal truths, he also recognises that it is this methodology that warrants his ‘cosmopolitanism’ to have integrity. Beiser notes that Herder’s work maintains an awareness of epistemological diversity, as much as it does cultural diversity, and in this sense, Herder was thus practicing cosmopolitanism as much as he was arguing for it. Contrastingly, Michael Doyle approaches ‘Ways of War and Peace’ from an inquiry into the influential nature of enlightenment thought, more so than its intellectual integrity. His preoccupation with the idea of ‘liberal internationalism’ is, regarding Kant, a testament to the sensationalism of his ideas. For Doyle, cosmopolitanism is a noble pursuit, but is also one that is only meaningful if it is able to be put into practice. Doyle’s appraisal of Kant thus revolves around the idea that the ‘liberal internationalism’ draws much of its influence from the sensationalism of Kantian ideas, most notably those of ‘cosmopolitan order’ and lasting international peace. For Doyle, it is precisely Kant’s rigid, uncompromising language that has created a more cohesive framework for many to better understand and execute cosmopolitanism bureaucratically. It is clear that Beiser and Doyle maintain ideas of cosmopolitanism that are as diverse as Kant and Herder’s imaginations, and they are evidently to be lauded in the ambitious scope of their works.
I would argue that both historians, in spite of their nuances, ignore how Kant and Herder’s philosophies would yet be constrained in both scope and applicability. Their ideas concern themselves with a global scale, and yet the scope of sociolinguistic influences that informed these ideas is much smaller. When Beiser praises Herder’s holistic approach, he ignores how his ideas were deployed teleologically, reflecting the universalism of history in the same image as distinctly European imaginations. Regarding Kant, Doyle ignores how his abstract, universalist terminology risks contradicting the very diversity of ideas and cultures that he had imagined as part of a ‘cosmopolitan order’. It appears confusing that both imaginations of cosmopolitanism would prioritise universalism, as notably, Dipesh Chakrabarty draws considerable links between the universalist preoccupations of enlightenment culture, and the Eurocentric idea of ‘political modernity’ that they have come to unfortunately encapsulate. When Beiser and Doyle ignore this, they warrant investigation into how these essays may have contributed to this very problem through their use of abstract language, orientalist tendencies, and imaginations on historical teleology.
The ideas that came out of enlightenment were often universalist, and yet may be directly linked to specific sociocultural pressures across the continent. The problem here is that when one universalises what is an immediately relevant concept, they risk robbing other social contexts of their own ‘sovereign’ intellectual expression. Kant and Herder were no exception to this trend, and thus their use of universalism appears somewhat contradictory to the cosmopolitanism they sought after. John Pocock’s Barbarism and Religion maintains that the ‘enlightenment’, as a singular concept, is largely reductive of the multidimensionality of ideas that existed in this period. He identifies how many view ‘enlightenment’ as Franco-German in origin, maintaining that ‘the enlightenments’ may be better characterised by their plurality, given the unique linguistic paradigms that shaped different ideas.
Across numerous historical contexts, such as Scotland and France, thinkers had imbibed diverse imaginations on ‘objectivity’, and yet these ideas were distinctly relative to comparatively minuscule, and subsequently unrepresentative linguistic contexts. In 1698, a failed colony in Panama had accompanied Scottish fascination with scientific enquiry across universities, and in 1748, Colin Maclaurin’s An Account of Isaac Newton’s Philosophical Discoveries had conveyed a particular fascination with Newtonian empiricism. Following the 1707 Union Act with England, which brought new trade opportunities not found in Scotland’s failed imperialist endeavours, Scottish thought had merged into a synthesis of empiricism and political economy. Between 1739 and 1740, David Hume would publish A Treatise of Human Nature, which approached political philosophy from an empiricist imagination of the human mind and its ability to form a ‘moral culture’ with other ‘social beings’. These ideas proved influential for Scottish linguistic imaginations, as William Robertson had applied this framework to a study of pre-Columbian populations, endorsing the idea that broader societies may objectively progress in epochs from ‘barbarism’ to ‘civility'. Another example would be Montesquieu’s ‘Spirit of the Laws’, which claimed to assess the ‘utility’ of global religions in his political philosophy, yet this imagination of ‘utility’ was largely contingent on comparatively particularistic linguistic influences; Montesquieu had staunchly opposed the ‘first estate’ taxation privileges of 18th century France, and it is thus no surprise that his imaginations on ‘political triage’ were grounded in the eradication of ‘despotism’ as he had observed it in France.
Contextual forces would not merely inspire ‘enlightened’ ideas, but would also propagate universalist language. When William Robertson had examined pre-columbian cultures as part of his endorsement for Scottish ‘stadialism’, he had done so to justify ‘stadialism’ as a universal, objective concept. These examples demonstrate that while enlightened thought had often claimed to have uncovered ‘objective’ truth, the ‘truth’ of these concepts were only as true as the sociolinguistic contexts that informed them. It appears wrong that any of these abstract concepts may truly be universal, as the universalism of one abstraction ultimately risks obscuring the development and expression of others, which is a testament to the logical equity of different abstract ideas. Enlightenment universalism appears, by default, to be a problematic concept. It is the differential in scope between the influences of enlightenment ideas, and their comparatively global application, that is both Eurocentric and subversive of ‘cosmopolitan’ diversity. Perhaps the biggest irony is that while Kant and Herder had imagined a cosmopolitan future, and on a global scale, they had done so by universalising distinctly particularist influences, which are hardly applicable to the global scope their essays are concerned with. If we are to demonstrate that these ideas disjunct with cosmopolitanism, it follows that we establish the links between Kant and Herder’s universal imaginations and their comparatively particularistic influences.
Kant and Herder had experienced a number of contextual influences that draw considerable links to their philosophies. While Prussia lacked a notable national identity, and involved cross cultural encounters amongst Polish and Lithuanian populations, there was also an extensive state presence in everyday life. Frederick II’s ‘enlightened absolutism’ allowed him to embark on bureaucratic innovations on centralised authoritarian power, most notably through his imposition of standardised military training, and his emphasis on state monopolies as a means of economic regulation. Frederick the Great had prioritised bureaucratic efficiency, yet he was not the first to do so. Instead, Prussia maintained a consistent drive to consolidate its bureaucracy as far back as the ‘Edict of Potsdam’ in 1685. Frederick William I sought to attract Huguenot refugees into the fold of the Prussian economy, and by 1700, French Huguenots had played an integral role in the establishment of the Electoral Brandenburg Society of Sciences, something that would be renamed the ‘Royal Academy’ in 1744 following Frederick II’s patronage of ‘enlightened absolutism’. Frederick the Great and Frederick William I illustrate a historical context of ideological determinism; on the topic of nationhood, Frederick II had noted that “Whoever does not respect and love his own language is not worthy of salvation”. This had followed the standardised teaching of German in Prussian schools (1715), and thus Prussia’s ‘modernising’ efforts were certainly deployed with deterministic presuppositions as to what ‘modernisation’ actually meant (most notably, that of nationhood). Amidst this landscape, Kant had studied mathematics, physics and philosophy at the University of Konigsberg, and had personally participated in what would then be the Royal Academy of Sciences. Ronald Calinger describes how the academy had eventually become a hub for intellectual rigour, and given Kant’s scientific background, it is no surprise that Prussia’s ‘modernising’ imaginations would find itself reflected in his use of language.
Prussian imaginations on objective ‘progress’, and the stadialist idea of ‘modernisation’, appear somewhat tangential to a fascination with ‘unlocking’ objective truth, and scientific enquiry certainly reflected a vehicle through which this may occur. Kant’s language is similarly deterministic, and his imaginations on cosmopolitanism appear, in tandem with his scientific background, to be heavily preoccupied with the idea of uncovering universal conceptual truths. This is something exemplified by Kant’s efforts at establishing a metaphysical grounding for morality, a concept which was integral to his imaginations on reason, history, and historical teleology. There is considerable risk that such language risks marginalising intellectual diversity, as converse to Prussian sciences, these concepts had lacked objective grounding, and ideas of an objective ‘moral law’ are still subject to much contention in Philosophy. His philosophical abstractions appear to be intellectually invasive, as while they outlined a ‘cosmopolitan’ future, they had also stifled the scope for ‘cosmopolitan’ diversity by superimposing this narrative onto the image and identity of global peripheries. Kant’s imaginations on ‘universality’ were moulded in the image of a distinctly European experience with ‘modernity’, and in this sense, his argument for cosmopolitanism appears to reflect something of a contradiction.
In comparison to Kant, Herder’s essay is far more particularistic. His belief in ‘cultural relativism’ appears predominantly informed by his fascination with folklore, poetry and diverse cultural traditions that he had observed within Prussia’s multi-ethnic landscape. Regardless, his ideas on historical teleology are similarly universalist, yet link to incompatibly particularistic influences. Ernst Cassirer draws links between Herder’s experience with a multicultural and multilingual landscape and his ideas, but appears to ignore the clear links between his historical teleology and European Lutheranism. Lutheranism, by default, is a denomination enamoured by the idea of ‘divine providence’, which is to say that God plays an active role in worldly affairs. This relates directly to his preoccupation with ‘outlining’ the ‘history of man’, as the idea of ‘divine providence’ is one that naturally invokes the assumption that worldly affairs occur with a deterministic, ’divine’ intention.
Lutheranism was a predominantly European sect, having originated amidst the Protestant Reformation, and maintained notable ties to germanic culture through Martin Luther. Herder was raised in a Lutheran household, and preceding his philosophical career, he had seriously considered a clerical one. The idea that Herder could universalise history in the image of ‘divine providence’ appears problematic, namely thanks to the fact that Lutheranism was synonymous with predominantly European imaginations. Lutheranism was the ‘national religion’ in Prussia, and even after Frederick II’s period of religious toleration, Christopher Clark maintains that principles of the sect had yet become ingrained in education. It certainly appears ‘Eurocentric’ to assume that such particularism is in any way suitable for a comparatively universal application, and despite Herder’s progressive imaginations on a ‘volksgeist’, his teleological approach reflects the universalism of distinctly European norms and values. Eurocentrism is a multifaceted term however, and possesses several characteristics. To better understand Kant and Herder’s eurocentrism, it follows that we embark on a formal exploration of the concept.
Sebastian Conrad has identified Eurocentrism in ‘What Is Global History?’, which he analyses from a perspective of ever prevalent global entanglements. Like Pocock, Conrad maintains a similar awareness of how enlightenment universalism was inherently problematic. More notable however, is how Conrad explores Eurocentrism through the vein of presenting a newer, comparatively more ‘cosmopolitan’ methodology for studying history. Conrad makes the case for ‘Global History’ which effectively suggests that cross-cultural entanglements have since occurred on a global scale, and thus to study the history of different people and practices is to study the agency involved in establishing their intrinsic global connections. In effect, ‘Global History’ outlines the idea that the past is typically subject to power dynamics, which may only be eradicated by the comparatively even medium that is Global History. For instance, Conrad identifies ‘diffusionism’ in intellectual history, where abstract universalisms had historically infiltrated this measurement of global connectivity.
In Conrad’s eyes, diffusionism was an auto-referential mechanism; he details how in any intellectual context, a paradigm of objectivity may occur with relation to abstract ideas and narratives, informing the conclusion that similar ideas worldwide had merely ‘diffused’ from a given epistemological ‘centre’. This had occurred amidst the Haitian Revolution, which, given its imperial ties to France, had inspired the idea from historians like Cyril James that the phenomena was merely an exportation of distinctly European values and events. James postulates on the exportation of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’, yet these ideas maintain considerable links to the universalism of abstract imaginations of ‘justice’, as the primary vehicle of ‘sovereignty’ in Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Conrad shows us how other ideas, not conducive to any given epistemology may be both obscured and marginalised, which precisely illustrates how ‘Eurocentrism’ contains multiple dimensions. It is not merely the obstruction of intercultural diversity and equality, but also possesses a malignant agency.
Edward Said identifies this, formally, as ‘orientalism’, which breathed new life into the term following its use in the fetishisation of the middle east. He details how universalist language is often a vehicle for cultural marginalisation, which occurs when peripheries do not measure up effectively to the arbitrary values and concepts of a domineering cultural context. Said shows us how Kant’s abstract language is not merely obstructive of cultural diversity, but also marginalises it. This is supported by how Kant’s philosophical framework adopted a paternalistic view of global peripheries, construing them as inherently less developed than Europe, and in need of ‘modernisation’ through the exportation of enlightened ideas.
Kant’s broader language, such as his idea for universal moral law, appear to have considerably influenced these orientalist tendencies. The idea of an objective morality, for instance, acts as a vehicle through which cultural peripheries may be viewed as deviating from the European ideal. These moral proclivities are particularly uncompromising in nature, and, given his belief that morality itself was metaphysical, it is no surprise that so much of Kant’s abstract language reflected an emanation of these ‘objective’ virtues. While Kant had often encouraged critical debate and open dialogue, his terminology (e.g. cosmopolitan order, imaginations on the moral functions of reason) would all but subvert these principles in the interests of universality; Kant’s belief that these principles were universally applicable had defined his philosophical system, yet equally reflected a lens for the ‘European gaze’ to take hold. Kant believed in the idea of total equality between cultures, and yet his universalist language is something that poises itself against this very notion. In this sense, Kant’s belief in ‘unsocial sociability’ reflects something of a contradiction, as while he had defined it as a destructive act of auto-referentiality, against the interests of intercultural equality, this is equally something that he was practicing himself.
It would appear that Herder’s doctrines of ‘cultural relativism’ would render his essay to be largely conducive to the cross-cultural equality espoused by Conrad’s Global History, and in this sense, it appears difficult to characterise his work as explicitly Eurocentric. His essay does not only value cultural diversity, but Herder goes as far as to define history itself by the progressive imagination of a ‘volksgeist’, which reflects the very appreciation for cultural diversity that Conrad describes in his case for ‘Global History’. Moreover, his inferences around the rise of global entanglements were hardly a local observation, and also reflected the rampant imperial and commercial initiatives that had prompted ‘orientalist’ preoccupations on behalf of thinkers like William Robertson. While his imaginations on cultural relativity subverted eurocentrism in this sense, his teleological approach yet links to a comparatively localised religious sentiment, and his ‘claiming’ of history in the image of these imaginations touches on a much bigger problem with regards to eurocentrism; when it comes to how we imagine history, ‘enlightened’ universalisms have had broad ramifications for what we find ourselves revering as fundamentally ‘modern’.
Dipesh Chakrabarty maintains a particular focus on the overall legacy of enlightenment ideas, which he does through an interrogation into modern historical imaginations, and conceptualisations of both ‘modernity’ and ‘progress’. He defines historicism as the contemporary idea that history is informed by uniquely historical forces, rather than metaphysical or otherwise philosophical concepts. He argues that contemporary discourse is dominated by this concept, moreover that it has been often informed by a predominantly European paradigm of experiences. To justify his idea, he interrogates the concept of ‘political modernity’ that has encapsulated the so-called ‘modern’ experience, deriding it as a product of European ‘cultural hegemony’, or dominance, that emerged in part thanks to the universalism of European linguistic paradigms. Chakrabarty applies this framework to postcolonial India, examining how British colonialism had slowly distorted and overrode Indian cultural traditions and practices, fostering the development of a new ‘modernity’ in India. He maintains that these forms of ‘hegemony’ may gradually distort modern understandings of the past, until they are merely reflective of an exclusively European gaze; from his perspective, the universalism of abstract, enlightenment ideas risks ‘claiming’ history in the image of the Eurocentric ideal. Chakrabarty’s overall deductions are not at all reductive, nor are they unsubstantiated in light of how contemporary thinkers have reproduced enlightenment imaginations as central to their own. Not only is this indicative of Europe’s dominant ‘hegemony’, but it is something that Kant and Herder’s ideas have contributed to.
Jurgen Habermas, a German sociologist, had evaluated contemporary western societies as part of a broader sociological inquiry in the 1990s. In his essay, he explores how a ‘post-national constellation’ of decentralised government may engender universal worldly progress against nationalistic conflicts of the twentieth century. He reimagines distinctly Kantian ideas of cosmopolitan order and of lasting international peace, while also maintaining the importance of cross-cultural relativism and universal solidarity in tandem with Herder’s imaginations on a global ‘volksgeist’. His ideas draw considerable links to both philosophies, reflecting a contemporary synthesis of germanic imaginations on universality. His idea for collective solidarity is something that revolves around a universal appreciation for both democracy and universal human rights, yet these doctrines have similarly been moulded in the image of European sociolinguistic paradigms. Montesquieu had been one of the first to universalise on the problem of democracy, and the idea of basic human rights, which was influenced heavily by France’s 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, was hinged on universalist principles of ‘justice’ and ‘sovereignty’ that emanated from predominantly French imaginations on what ‘progress’ may actually entail. ‘The Enlightenment’, as described by Pocock, has long been considered a predominantly Franco-German phenomena, and Habermas’ reproduction of this sentiment merely serves as a testament to its evident ‘hegemony’.
We can observe a clear correlation between the contemporary popularity of enlightenment thought and its historical propensity towards universalism. By imbibing and re-imagining distinctly European philosophies, Habermas exemplifies how European imaginations of ‘progress’ have come to encapsulate what contemporary thinkers imagine as a part of ‘political modernity’. It is not that ‘cosmopolitanism’, or ‘democracy’ are inherently bad concepts, but instead that they ought not to become a vehicle for ‘orientalist’ marginalisation, which is fundamental to the binary nature of ‘modernity’, and how all other practices may be subsequently ‘un-modern’ or ‘backward’. There is an evident contradiction between the subject matter of these ‘cosmopolitan’ essays and their implications for how we imagine history in the image of European ‘greatness’. Perhaps this is the biggest irony of both works, yet this is something that Beiser and Doyle fail to recognise. In this sense, both historians merely praise the ‘political modernity’ that these ideas have come to encapsulate, most notably seen in Doyle’s explicit reverence of Kant for his influence on so-called ‘liberal internationalism’.
It is important to note here the titling of Beiser’s book, ‘The German Historicist Tradition’, when looking at historicism. Historicism is a relatively new concept, and yet Beiser maintains that Herder’s teleology was similarly historicist. What is significant however, is how Beiser defines Herder’s ‘historicist’ principles; integral to Herder’s ideas were that the ‘historical forces’ of global entanglements would characterise history as an interplay of cross-cultural agents, intertwining with one another to form a global cosmopolitan telos. His teleological approach, while reductive, does in many ways appear an accurate prediction for global affairs, as Habermas exemplifies how cosmopolitanism has since taken hold both in immediate reality and in public consciousness. Regardless, we ought to question the origins of this sentiment, particularly given Chakrabarty’s illuminations on ‘cultural hegemony’. While cosmopolitanism is undoubtedly pervasive, it is difficult to divorce this fact from the existence of ‘political modernity’ and how these ideas had, in the eyes of thinkers like Doyle and Habermas, come to encapsulate its definition. While Herder’s ideas appear to have accurately predicted globalisation, his universalisms also present a vehicle for the ‘claiming’ of modern historical imaginations at the direct expense of ‘cosmopolitan’ individuality. We can draw links between how his historicism has, through its contemporary influence on thinkers like Habermas, become its own ‘historical force’, complicit in forming and moulding modern historical imaginations. While Beiser was right to laud Herder for his methodological integrity, his preoccupation with a universal historicism is what had ultimately undermined these principles.
Kant and Herder utilise various Eurocentric forms of language in their universalist accounts of history, and while both maintain ties to ‘political modernity’, their works also differ fundamentally on the problem of orientalism. Beiser certainly appears more perceptive in his approach to Herder’s ideas, and while ‘cultural relativism’ has become a pertinent and often contentious term, its illuminations into the origin of many ideas, both culturally and linguistically, most certainly appear beneficial for public relations and broader intellectual conversations. Immanuel Kant, on the other hand, was far more rigid in his language, and it is this fact that enabled greater scope for the orientalist marginalisation of global peripheries. The legacies of these ideas is incredibly nuanced, yet their most problematic legacy is something that lies in their historical reverence, and what this means for how we imagine ‘modernity’. We ought always to check our own biases when we choose to revere only characteristically European ideas as ‘progressive’, as, even as cosmopolitanism shows us, the very imagination of such a beneficial concept may yet be ‘claimed’ in the image of European ‘greatness’.

I'll get this out of the way up front: My wife and I are both atheists. Our kids are only 8 and 9 years old, and we basically have no conversations about religion unless it's to explain something about a topic they bring up. No, we don't shit talk any of the religions, we try to be as neutral as possible while talking about things, but make it pretty clear that we don't believe in what they teach.
But anyway, over the last few months, my son has been talking about Jesus and heaven a lot, and now very obviously believes in them. He says things that include some pretty specific detail about general Christian beliefs, so it seems like someone is actively trying to teach him about Christianity, which is all well and good I suppose, except for a couple things...
1). They're also teaching him "defense arguments", which indicates that they aren't just telling him about their beliefs, but persuading him to believe their beliefs. We weren't too concerned about it at all when he started talking and asking about Christian beliefs, because as far as we knew he just had a conversation with someone where it came up or he heard it from any number of things, considering that Christianity is more or less the "default" belief system in the US and it's not uncommon for it to be present to whatever extent in any form of media. Maybe he developed a taste for country music. I don't know. But pretty soon it came to a point where he was talking about and grilling us on Christianity all the time (when he wasn't talking about Minecraft or Dragonball Z). We started asking him some questions, like if he believed in what he was talking about and why it was that he started believing in it all of the sudden.
"It's just my opinion, and what I believe the truth is."
"Because the Bible says that Jesus is the truth."
And many other common phrases/arguments. They don't seem like super complex statements/thoughts that a kid his age wouldn't be able to formulate himself provided he had some knowledge of the religion, except he typically has pretty cluttered speech and usually can't manage to get a thought out without backtracking a dozen times and losing the plot (probably because he inherited my ADHD, I do the same thing). It's just not the way he speaks, but the statements flowed right out of him like they were rehearsed.
2). Dude within the last week has said multiple times that he just wants to die and go to heaven. It's not because he's upset or depressed or anything, he just thinks that heaven sounds super sweet and he's ready to just get on up there and start having a great time. The first time he said this, my wife asked him if he'd want to just stay alive and enjoy being with is family and do all the things he likes doing. He said yes, but has since changed his mind and would rather just hurry up and get to heaven, and thinks we should just go with him. I'd really prefer it if my 8 year old son didn't get the idea to unalive himself because someone has sold him on the idea of hanging out with Jesus.
I have no idea who the hell he's talking to or where he's getting the ideas from otherwise, and he adamantly denies talking to anyone or having seen "Jesus things" on TV or anywhere else. That's a lie, which I'm sure he should know by now Jesus isn't a fan of. This makes me think that whoever he's talking to or whatever he's seeing or listening to has either explicitly told him to not reveal the source or implied it in some way, maybe in a "if you're parents know then they won't let you anymore" kind of way.
Right now, during the summer, he's really only at home or at a summer camp thing during the day while we're at work, so it has to be someone at the camp he's talking to, I'd assume. I don't want to be the asshole trying to demand that the camp police people's conversations about religion, but I'm also getting pretty tired of having him talk about Jesus non-stop and wanting to hurry up and get to heaven.

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This is a silly vent. I just need to get my thoughts out so they're not clogging more important things, maybe receive some takes. However harsh. My judgement and sense might be clouded by my affection fogged glasses. There is no TL/DR, because this is just for me. This will be very messy given my state of mind and the fact i don't want to elaborate on everything.
I've (F) been friends with this individual online (M) for nearly a year. We talk everyday. Call every so often. Usually nonsense, just your run of the mill goofing. Sometimes it runs deep through my own instigation. I really like him, and he has gotten more comfortable with me as the months go by.
Late last year, he was involved in server drama. He was banned. Although there was no proof, and none given to me, after a few months of being close acquaintances/moderate friends, this irked me. It was not consistent with how he behaved publicly. However I understand people can portray themselves differently. To begin with, he had quite a victim complex. Would talk as such. Gut instinct, something didn't feel right (about their accusations). I am leaving out a bit of detail, but it's too much to go into and I don't have the mental capacity for it.
Fast forward a few weeks, new server is created. Some people from the old server are in this, our (his and I's) other friends. They were fine with him. It was great. More than, actually. It was fun. We had a proper group going. Of more than 15 people, or near abouts. That ended. I knew it would, but not for the reason I originally thought. Another argument occurred between him and one of our friend's. The friend misunderstood him. He's blunt to a fault, but also quite deadpan, so his intentions get misinterpreted often. It escalated with others joining in some childish squabble. Honestly, I've never observed such immaturity. I was quite surprised when I noticed they all started to gang up on him, albeit a few that remained neutral (like myself). There was a woman there that hated him specifically, and was quite vocal about it. She associated him with his past behaviours, which he was improving upon and hadn't exhibited in a while. They were born out of depression and what have you, and I think having friends and companionship gave him a boost. Realising people cared about him. Or so I thought anyhow. I spent many nights talking to him, persuading him against certain life altering actions. No, I do not believe someone else is responsible for another in this context. However, it does not come at any detriment to yourself to nudge them in the right direction. It's up to them whether they walk it. And he did. Anyway, I'm diverging. He was eventually kicked from that server too. I enquired about it to someone else privately as I didn't want to create any more drama than there had been. That person never replied, but was active everyday, near every hour almost. Ironically, the people he thought cared for him were the ones now ripping him apart in the server some time after his kick. I was still there. The utter shock I had. Wishing his father went to war and would, y'know. Calling him all colours of insults. Claiming all sorts of things. They didn't seem to me his character at all. He's edgy, yes. But he's ironically edgy. So in that moment, he wasn't the only one who lost the group. I decided to leave right then and there.
I truly believe they misunderstood him and what he said, as he's not exactly the most articulate. He often says the wrong things, and upon reaction will correct himself. Make it understood that wasn't his intention. He just doesn't pander, to a degree. I think that catches people off-guard. A sort of 'you get what you give' personality.
Now its been around 7 ish months since then. We've grown quite close. Very close. Like I said in the beginning, he's become comfortable. Very different to how I first met him when he was guarded. We've done quite a few fun activities together. Honestly, I'd say our dynamic has turned slightly situationship. Or if not that, something resembling. We do like each other romantically, but nothing can arise as it isn't plausible given certain factors.
The first server I can still get into. I lost an image I wanted that I knew I had posted before on that server and decided to go back in (on my old account that's still in it, it's a huge server). Out of curiosity, I searched up our names to see if they had been talking about us. They had. Myself they had been talking kindly, but him they were dragging. But what caught my eye was that they said they had 'so much shit' on him. Others agreed. It was months ago. Now it's currently spinning me through a loop. I trust him, I really do. I have his back, and he has mine. But there's a niggle of doubt. Voice that's saying, "what if you're wrong? What proof are they talking about? What if he's done whatever those things are and he has just been nice to you all this time?" I've already left that server, nor do I particularly trust those individuals. So quick to shit talk others. But it keeps playing on my mind that I could be wrong.
I know you will never truly understand someone online, regardless of how genuine they portray themselves. There always an attribute that gets kicked under the desk. But he's close to it.
I suppose it's a problem with me. At the end of the day, do I trust him?
I do. And to go back to ask for this proof after seven months from someone who already has a negative bias against him..I don't know if that's wise. If it turns out to be what I already know, it may affect our friendship. Because I didn't trust him. Or maybe, as per the title, I'm just a fool. Maybe the answer is so glaringly obvious yet I'm too fool to see.
I don't know. This is my first friendship, so I'm ill-learned when it comes to this sort of thing. And for clarity, the age range of our group prior was 18-25. Which was why their immaturity surprised me so much.
I don't know. I'll figure it out, I know I will. I just don't want to make the wrong decision.
And no, I haven't proofread this. Quite literally spitting into the void. I called it a silly vent because it is just issues over the Internet. However, it doesn't lessen how it makes me feel, and think. I've never experienced any of this before.

I've seen countless people speculating on why more people don't regularly fight the bots, and it's usually either weirdly off base assumptions or rude commentary on people's ability to play the game. I want to talk about a few of the reasons why I prefer fighting bugs in the hope that it snuffs some of the judgemental commentary.
For whatever it's worth, I'm level 46, started about a month ago, and I exclusively fight bugs on helldive unless I need to farm samples/credits.
I personally don't play bots for several reasons:
● The big one is their ability to shoot through solid objects. Spewers may have wonky hitboxes with their bile but you can usually at least make an attempt to dodge. If I get shot through a wall, that death was just unfair, and skill wasn't a factor.
● Speaking of unfair, the bots don't seem to suffer the same environmental penalties as players, most notably in fog. Bots will have pinpoint accuracy in environmental conditions where I can't even see them, which again makes skill seem like less of a factor.
● The ranged nature of bots makes defense missions suck, flat out. This is at least one of the sentiments I see shared with a lot of bot players, and some adjustments definitely need to be made to these missions before they're widely accepted as fun and engaging content.
● Ragdolling. On bug missions I have to worry about chargers (makes sense to get ragdolled by) and stalkers (annoying but non-issue after clearing the nest). On bot missions it's constant, and you'll regularly be chain ragdolled, something heavy armor desperately need to help with.
● Finally, and the most complex reason, is the playstyle is different. This game is marketed as "play a super hero with a gun where you stand your ground against hordes of enemies", and that's why a lot of people bought the game. I love actively engaging with enemies, and I don't like that the main way to fight bots is "don't". Bots reward heavy tactical play, which is great! I know plenty of people who like the more soldiery feel of taking out a turret so you can push up the beach to the enemy compound (especially with a dedicated group of friends), and it's super cool we have that option. It isn't why most people bought the game, though. 2 of the bot objectives disabling some or all of your strategems regularly interferes with one of the main selling points of the game, further straying from the marketed appeal. Enemies are more commonly armored, requiring a more disciplined trigger finger for targeting weakpoints and heavily punishing the spray and pray playstyle that people are used to. A lot of factors make it feel like a different game, so it's understandable that the people who bought it for the advertised playstyle don't often enjoy engaging in the other.
The first 4 points are things that, if worked on, would vastly improve my opinion of bot missions. They're predominantly glitches and oversights that don't affect the core of bot combat and AH could stand to make some improvements here without undermining the people who already enjoy fighting bots. The last point is perspective. I don't think bots or bugs are better or easier and I certainly don't want bot missions "nerfed" or significantly changed to accomodate bug players. I think they just ask you to play differently, and unfortunately one of those ways to play is the one in the advertisements, so it's always going to be the default.