Welcome to the homepage of Stephen Michael Hawkins (Steohawk). I'm a freelance digital artist. I mostly work in 3D, but I'm also interested in 2D. I sell high-quality prints of my artwork, but please feel free to contact me at steohawk@gmail.com for any kind of special projects.

 

 

 

 

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Lustre Photographic Gallery Wrap

Width: 20”

Height: 15”

Thickness: 1.5”

Resolution: 300 dpi

Lamination: Semi-Gloss

Price: $200

 

If you'd like to buy a print, please click here.

 

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Athanasia Foundation

 

Athanasia Foundation is an organization that's dedicated to the scientific and philosophical study of personal survival after death and other related topics. Its founder, Titus Rivas, has done a remarkable job of scrutinizing every possible interpretation of many cases involving near-death experiences and past-life memories, thus proving that personal immortality and personal reincarnation are the most parsimonious explanations.

 

 

Preventing Reincarnation

 

Based upon the research of Athanasia Foundation and my own out-of-body experience, I've concluded that the afterlife is a level of reality that's shaped by our minds. Of course, that's wonderful, but it raises several questions. Why must we reincarnate so many times before we can stay in the afterlife permanently? More importantly, how can we prevent reincarnation?

 

In order to answer these questions, we must examine any typical concerns that people might have about the afterlife, which would show us what parts of the human psyche aren't properly developed in the average living person. Many people express concerns about the possibility that the afterlife, with its ability to satisfy any material desire instantly, would eventually lead to boredom. However, boredom is caused by a lack of satisfiable desires. Since the ability to achieve material gratification isn't an issue in the afterlife, the only possible cause of boredom would be not having enough interests. Therefore, I would conclude that the purpose of life is to develop a sufficient number of interests, including personal relationships. Until this is accomplished, we'll continue to reincarnate.

 

Since the afterlife is shaped by our minds, it has no natural form. If we had never been forced to live, we would've never been forced to have sensory experiences. As a result, we would've never had anything to become interested in, and thus, we would've never desired to have any experiences. Furthermore, without ever being forced to come into contact with other people, we would've never known that they exist. Luckily, this never happened. Instead, we were forced to live and face new experiences, thus causing us to develop basic interests in life's simple pleasures. In the process of satisfying our desires for these things, each of us faced a unique set of new experiences, which in turn caused us to develop more complex interests. The probability of developing an interest in something is partly determined by some of the interests that we already have, which means that each of us will have unique interests, including a limited number of personal relationships.

 

By understanding the purpose of life, we can take measures to avoid the need for reincarnation. This could be accomplished simply by developing more interests. In order to do this, we must explore new things and, if lonely, meet new people. However, we must keep in mind that drug abuse doesn't constitute a true interest, because it's really nothing more than an escape from experience, motivated by the desire to avoid suffering, most of which is caused by the negative side-affects of addiction itself.

 

 

Preventing Amnesia After Reincarnation

 

If we fail to prevent reincarnation, we can still take measures to increase the probability of retaining our memories in the next life. This can be accomplished by encouraging parents to teach their kids to recall their past-life memories. As this practice becomes more common, there'll be a greater chance that, if we reincarnate, our future parents will help us recall our past-life memories. Of course, we must keep in mind the fact that the world's population is constantly growing, which means that new souls are being born all the time, none of who have any past-life memories to recall.

 

If the practice of recalling past-life memories were to become commonplace, society would undergo many great changes:

 

1. Without the fear of reincarnating with amnesia, death would be, at worst, an inconvenience. As a result, people would be more willing to risk their lives for worthy causes and suicide would be a better alternative to prolonged suffering.

2. People could continue working on projects after they reincarnate, which would increase the rate of scientific progress.

3. Most children would have the education and maturity of adults.

 

 

The Intrinsic Value of Gratification

 

A common misconception is that gratification is merely a means of achieving happiness. This is often illustrated by asking the question, “Why do you like <fill in the blank>?”, to which people often answer, “Because it makes me happy.” It's understandable that when asked to give a reason for why we like something, we're tempted to avoid giving the unsatisfactory answer, “Just because I do.” However, if somebody asked, “Why do like being happy?”, we'd be faced with a conundrum. Since there's obviously no satisfactory answer to that question, it stands to reason that we really don't need one for the first question. In fact, a little introspection reveals that gratification has intrinsic value, rather than merely being a means to an end. When you decide to eat your favorite food, do you see it as some chore that you have to do in order to be happy? I'm guessing not.

 

This misconception has led some people to regard desire as a negative emotion, often confusing it with the anxiety that results from not being able to achieve gratification. The people who hold this belief usually argue that we should achieve a state of constant happiness without desires. However, even if such a thing were possible, it would be morally wrong, for each of us, along with everything that makes us who were are, has intrinsic value.

 

Psychological egoism is another bad consequence of the misconception that gratification is merely a means of achieving happiness. It asserts that all of our choices, even those that we'd consider to be altruistic, are made solely to make oneself happy. However, since gratification is an end goal, altruism is exactly what we think that it is: unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

 

 

Irreducible Concepts

 

To define a word is to completely reduce its associated concept. For example, the definition of the word clock is “a machine that measures the passage of time.” This means that the concept of a clock can be completely reduced to the concepts of a machine, measurement, and time. However, some concepts, like existence and change, aren't completely reducible. As a result, it's impossible to define the words with which they're associated. Therefore, the only way to teach people the meaning of these words is to give them examples. Then they can associate the word with whatever concept it is that the examples have in common. For example, in order for people to learn the definition of the word red, they must be shown the similarity between various red objects.

 

Some of philosophy's biggest debates center around certain concepts that aren't completely reducible, like personal identity, qualia, libertarian free will, and non-natural morality. Some people argue that they can be completely reduced, but they're never able to show how. Nevertheless, they like to defend their positions by arguing that we've simply yet to discover how these concepts can be reduced. However, this is self-refuting, because it asserts that we can know what a certain concept is, but without understanding how it can be reduced. That would be just like saying that I could know what a clock is, but without knowing that it measures the passage of time.

 

Some people take a more extreme position by arguing that since nobody is able to reduce the aforementioned concepts, they must be meaningless. However, it's impossible for people to hold meaningless concepts in their minds. Just try to imagine a shape that's both perfectly square and perfectly circular; it's impossible! Therefore, it would seem that these nihilists simply don't possess the knowledge that the rest of us do. Nevertheless, there are some people who, while acknowledging the fact that these concepts are meaningful and not completely reducible, still deny that they exist as anything other than ideas. However, this could only be the case if these ideas were innate or invented. They certainly aren't innate, or nobody would ever argue that they're meaningless. Furthermore, the only way to invent a concept is to construct it from other concepts, which means that it can be completely reduced. For example, the concept of a flying car is constructed from, and thus completely reducible to, the concepts of flight and cars. Since the concepts of personal identity, qualia, libertarian free will, and non-natural morality aren't completely reducible, they can't have been invented. Therefore, our knowledge of them must be derived from experience.

 

Note: Some concepts can be partially reduced. For example, the concept of free will can be partially reduced to the concept of causality, which can be partially reduced to the concept of change. However, the only issue that's relevant here is whether or not a concept can be completely reduced.

 

 

My Out-of-Body Experience

 

I had an involuntary out-of-body experience at the age of fourteen. On retrospect, I believe that it was the result of at least three different factors. First of all, I had already made an attempt to induce an out-of-body experience during a lucid dream the previous night. Secondly, I had gone roller skating that day, which left me with a persistent feeling of motion. Finally, it was the first night for me to take a new sleeping pill, due to the fact that my water bed had recently broke, forcing me to sleep on a couch.

 

As I attempted to fall asleep, I became paralyzed. I heard a humming sound and felt my head vibrating. The sound and vibrations gradually became more intense, until they were unbearable. Eventually, I fell into a series of hazy nightmares. I dreamed that I was stuck between the two couches, and my mother was preventing me from getting out. After that, I was helping my father in the kitchen, when he suddenly stabbed me with a knife and began laughing maniacally. Everything started getting dark, and the laugh got deeper. It sounded like the THX intro in reverse, eventually becoming a low rumble. Finally, everything went black and silent.

 

All of a sudden, I woke up feeling refreshed. Something compelled me to get off the couch, but my body didn't go with me. At first, I thought that I was having another lucid dream, but I quickly realized that my experience was real. In fact, it seemed more real than any other experience that I'd ever had. I floated up through the ceiling and into the sky. Despite the fact that it was nighttime, I could make out details with amazing clarity. After that, I willed myself into the afterlife. Suddenly, I was in an otherworldly environment. I stood on a beach, dotted with strange buildings. Above me was a starry sky with several moons. I noticed people walking and flying around, but before I could do anything else, I involuntarily returned to my body.