opnet [OpNet] Potential

[Singularity]

What I am wondering is if violence or other occupations are keeping us from reaching our full potential.

Like Very Bad, twelve years of training and combat has made it so nothing will kill me outside something particularly destructive. I have reached the limit of resiliency and strength and I am not so far behind with my speed. But what makes me ponder is what I have not figured out how to do.

After I started looking away from combat and began meditating every day, everything seems sharper. Not as if violence clouded my vision, but everything seems to 'pop' or became more easy to see or get my attention. And it seems like I have an itch in the back of my head some days. What is incredible is what others, some of you, can do. I have walked through portals made by others covering thousands of miles of distance, I have seen burned bodies knitted back into perfect form by healers, and (this was really cool, by the way) I have been turned into some kind of information to travel across continents.

Theoretically, we are all capable of this. I started to transcend my prior limitations after ignoring outside sources, taking time to focus on myself. Have we been wasting our unlimited potential all along with fighting or other distractions?

[Bastian]

Brother, we are more than a single impulse, or a single personality trait.

Perhaps you are looking at this in the wrong way?

You have gone through what you have gone through for reasons you do not yet comprehend. You have mastered an aspect of your life to a point were continuing on makes no sense. Find something else. Expand along different frontiers.

[kestrel404]

Well, to answer your question with another question:

What use is potential if it is not put to use?

[Singularity]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bastian:
You have mastered an aspect of your life to a point were continuing on makes no sense. Find something else. Expand along different frontiers.

While I agree with the notion that I managed to master one aspect, I believe you may be missing my point. What I am postulating is the idea that our outside goals, influences, and desires may be a crutch to our development. I became an unstoppable force of destruction because of what I wanted in the external world. Splash, from what I understand, gained her abilities in response to being in water. Each of us are shaped by what the world around us wants (or what we think it wants) us to be. If I "find something else," is it not possible I will once again limit my growth to that specific aspect? I am saying that denying the external world might be the way to overcome our impressionable psyches.

Quote:

Originally posted by Glenn 'Alchemist' Roberts:
Well, to answer your question with another question:

What use is potential if it is not put to use?

Heh, that is one of the exact questions that led to my change of heart. Corruption, Alchemist, that is what.

[kestrel404]

Quote:

Originally posted by Franklin 'Singularity' Alden:
If I "find something else," is it not possible I will once again limit my growth to that specific aspect? I am saying that denying the external world might be the way to overcome our impressionable psyches.

But can you truly grow if there are no reference points? If you deny the world around you, if you ignore it in preference to your ideal of limitless growth, then what are you accomplishing, other than building your potential?

I understand what you are referring to: To ignore what is going on around you, to let the power of quantum itself guide your development. That's the path of taint, allowing the quantum to shape you rather than you shaping it.

If you don't have an anchor, then you are adrift.

[Singularity]

Quote:

Originally posted by Glenn 'Alchemist' Roberts:
But can you truly grow if there are no reference points? If you deny the world around you, if you ignore it in preference to your ideal of limitless growth, then what are you accomplishing, other than building your potential?

I understand what you are referring to: To ignore what is going on around you, to let the power of quantum itself guide your development. That's the path of taint, allowing the quantum to shape you rather than you shaping it.

If you don't have an anchor, then you are adrift.

Ahh, that is the rub: taint. Total abandoment of the external world would lead to such a problem and, believe me, it is one I wish to avoid.

Perhaps the key is learning how to look at the world a little differently, get outside of our personal paradigms. To use a phrase from the turn of the century, "think outside of the box."

For me, my abilities seem to be limited to affecting or augmenting myself. I am becoming more and more "one" with myself but it really does not give me the ability to affect the external world outside of my massive strength and speed. If I want to fly, I need to buy a ticket, use my private plane, or jump really high.

Does anyone else here want to share their own paradigm or explanation for their abilities?

(And do not worry about my anchor, Alchemist, I do have one. And shhh, it is a secret!)

[Great Monster C]

The potential of our nodes is less important than the potential good we can do for society. So you can lift more or you're a tad smarter. Does that really compare to lifting a child up out of ignorance and giving them a real chance in life?

[Singularity]

Quote:

Originally posted by Great Monster C:
The potential of our nodes is less important than the potential good we can do for society. So you can lift more or you're a tad smarter. Does that really compare to lifting a child up out of ignorance and giving them a real chance in life?

No, it does not. However, my question is not meant to challenge the validity of altruism, it is meant to encourage a discussion about how we each look at our abilities.

[Johnny Magnum]

When I fly or make a wall I just do it. I can't explain it, it's just like walking, breathing, or something. The docs at the Rashoud place helped me get used to doing all that stuff but I never really thought about how or why I do it. I guess I still have some stuff to learn.

[kestrel404]

Most new novas don't really understand the hows and the whys of their powers. It's just something they 'do'. Thats why there are so many novas with super strength, it's something with a very visible and easily felt effect.

My powers stemmed out in the other direction, with my intelligence blossoming first, and then my consciously developing abilities I felt would help my research.

Franklin, you are very right that most novas are limiting themselves in what they can do. Some wish to stick to a theme, others do not seek to understand the inherent nature of their powers. But many have freed themselves from this 'trap', if you want to call it that.

I feel that, in order to advance as a nova, I must first understand what it is I'm trying to do with my node. Unconsciously, I could quickly learn to rip a steel bar to shreds. But before I try to do that, I want to know how my node enhances my muscles and applies forces to assist me. That is one of my 'anchors'. Thus, my major leaps in ability advancement since eruption have so far been in field I was already familiar with.

[Singularity]

Quote:

Originally posted by Glenn 'Alchemist' Roberts:
I feel that, in order to advance as a nova, I must first understand what it is I'm trying to do with my node. Unconsciously, I could quickly learn to rip a steel bar to shreds. But before I try to do that, I want to know how my node enhances my muscles and applies forces to assist me. That is one of my 'anchors'. Thus, my major leaps in ability advancement since eruption have so far been in field I was already familiar with.

Hence, your own paradigm (science) provides you with the necessary boundries to protect yourself from overexerting. Hmm, I guess this is not necessarily new philosophical or paraphysical territory then. Have you tried consciously using your node to perform some feat you have not done yet, like altering the flow of light or an independent field of gravity around you?

[kestrel404]

When I first discovered I was a nova, I pushed myself to learn some of my powers, without knowing what I was doing. It was simple, and I was very nearly sucked into the 'it doesn't matter how I do this, I just can' point of view. But then my curiosity saved me. I slowed down what I did, and watched using the tools at my disposal. I began to understand that whenever I tried to do something completely outside of my experience, my subconscious was doing a LOT of wacky things at a relatively small scale, and then just repeating what worked.

Now, I'm learning to direct my node more carefully, like a surgeon using a knife where I used to be a warrior wielding a blade. It is both enlightening and frightening how quickly I could push myself if I did not do this.

This isn't a path most would be willing to follow. It is slow, and requires a great deal of thought and effort. But I have yet to manifest any sign of taint, and I likely never will.

[ronin]

You might be surprised what we're capable, given enough time and with our energies channeled properly.

[Preston]

I take if from a different angle. I go were the power leads me. So far, this has worked for me.

[Ashnod]

Quote:

Originally posted by Franklin 'Singularity' Alden:
I started to transcend my prior limitations after ignoring outside sources, taking time to focus on myself. Have we been wasting our unlimited potential all along with fighting or other distractions?

The simple answer is yes.

The complex answer is more philosophical, ergo, how important this fight was to you, what were the distractions involved? Quantum growth is but one means our species achieves its potential. Pursuits intellectual, artistic, and spiritual should not be neglected either.

[Singularity]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ashnod:
The complex answer is more philosophical, ergo, how important this fight was to you, what were the distractions involved? Quantum growth is but one means our species achieves its potential. Pursuits intellectual, artistic, and spiritual should not be neglected either.

I was used the term "fighting" to refer to my former occupation (Elite) and collected everything else into the "distractions" term. What I meant by distractions is things that limit or define how we see and understand the world.

Our 'normal' sight is limited by a select length of light and we can only hear sounds at other wavelengths, giving us only a partial picture of what surrounds us. Added to this is earlier prejudices and experiences, creating our own individual paradigms. I was not just saying "my life as an elite keeps me from realizing my potential," it was more like "the very way we preceived the world limits our understanding of ourselves and how we affect said world." I would think importance of distractions would only indicate the severity of their influence on our development. We might learn how to do something very well but we could still be wearning blinders.

Then again, it is not a good thing to get lost in yourself.

[Ian 'Very Bad' Blakely]

I don't consider combat and warfare to be distractions. They are my reason, my focus. I actually appreciate human beings tendencies to engage in petty squabbles and then need someone to go out and fight for them. It provides me a ready landscape in which to engage in my passion.

I'm curious as to what I would do should peace break out.

[DeathSquad]

I completely agree Ian. If they didn't fight all the time I wouldn't have any fun. It'd be like butchering cows. If they don't fight back at least a little what is the point really?

It would be like having a canvas without any paint.

[Ian 'Very Bad' Blakely]

Lord but you're a pathetic little one aren't you DS? Really.

I don't get off on killing baselines. It's not even the killing that does it for me. It's the conflict, the challenge. You wouldn't know anything about that would you though? Too gutless to take a risk aren't you? Just send the little drones out, and when they pop it's no skin off your nose. You know what you remind me of? One of those kids who plays video games on GodMode and brags about how well he's doing.

[DeathSquad]

Nah, it is much more like I just get infinite continues. If you want to talk about godmode talk to Alden or Andy Vance. It doesn't make the game any less fun really. I just get to keep on playing.

And don't fool yourself Ian, the point of the conflict is to kill the other side. So you are just camouflaging your joy of murder with a thin veil honor, glory and struggle.

[Jager]

Ian, I am curious what you have done when/if your job has ever required you to slaughter baselines?

[ronin]

Maybe we should get together and spar sometime, Ian. You seem to have an appreciation for the spirit of combat that rivals my own, and it's been so long since I had a good fight. Word is you're pretty slick, it might be a good time.

If you're interested, let's find a nice neutral area with a lot of obstacles of the non-living variety and tear some shit up.

[Jager]

Antartica.

[ronin]

I was thinking Tunguska, Siberia, myself.

[Jager]

Dude, people live there, or atleast, close to there. I figure a 40,000 sq.km space would be big enough.

[Ian 'Very Bad' Blakely]

"Slick"? Not a word I thought that would describe me. But thank you for the compliment. If you want to enter into battle for the sheer joy of it I can't imagine anything that would make me happier.

I'd do my best not to kill you.

[ronin]

I thought that might do it for you, Ian. I'm glad to hear it. Let's work something out. As for killing me, you'd better not. I may be quite powerful and have a massive chip on my shoulder, but you do not want to draw the wrath of Miss Hino. She is far scarier than I could ever be, and she'd be quite put out with you if you "accidentally" killed me, I'd imagine.

Nevertheless, I'll be sure to extend you the same courtesy, Ian.

Jager, I didn't think we'd need that much space. Tunguska seemed like a solid bet, and there's terrain, unlike Antarctica. Still, maybe I should consider elsewhere...

[Sakurako Hino]

Quote:

Originally posted by ronin:
Maybe we should get together and spar sometime, Ian. You seem to have an appreciation for the spirit of combat that rivals my own, and it's been so long since I had a good fight. Word is you're pretty slick, it might be a good time.

If you're interested, let's find a nice neutral area with a lot of obstacles of the non-living variety and tear some shit up.

Perhaps you should find a place a bajillion miles wide that would never exist in reality... but it's right over there... ~.^

Sorry, just had to slip that in. It's amazing how in the Nova age, Dragonball Z still influences popular culture. >.<

[Jager]

Actually, the terrain in Antartica favors Very Bad a little more due to his terrestrial nature. It would counteract your superior age and experience. Ice caverns and fissures, blizzards, and snowdrifts; giving you both a three dimensional battle.

[H. 'Machine' Mann]

If I might comment on the original topic... ?

Mr Alden, I think the opposite of potential is stagnation rather than corruption. Perhaps I'm kidding myself by rejecting your more stark characterisation of "corruption" but I think not. I have aberrancy syndrome. I like to think that gives me a perspective not shared by many to whom it is only a theoretical concept.

I would disagree with both yourself and Mr Roberts in equating aberrancy syndrome with allowing quantum to shape the man rather than the man shaping the quantum. That implies a willingness or complancency. While the specifics are irrelevant, in my own case the condition became apparent after a particularly strenous and difficult task.

To answer your original question, yes. I believe in making choices we open pathways while declining to travel others. You develop flight but how is your swimming ability compared to Splash? Some are reportedly master martial artists, how are their skills in diplomacy or horticulture?