Spirit Walk Ministry

 

"a grimoire of mystical pilgrimage" 

Spirit Walk Ministry
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
United States

contact@spiritwalkministry.com

  • About The MinistryClick to open the About The Ministry menu
    • Curator
  • The Spirit Walk
  • The Journey
  • AwakeningClick to open the Awakening menu
    • Woke vs. Awake
    • The Black Swan
    • Spiritual Snobbery
  • PropagandaClick to open the Propaganda menu
    • Confusion as Propaganda
    • Cancel Culture as Propaganda
    • Social Media as Propaganda
    • History as Propaganda
    • Education as Propaganda
    • Religion as Propaganda
    • Art as Propaganda
    • Memes as Propaganda
  • Tao
  • Qi (Chi)Click to open the Qi (Chi) menu
    • Qi Gong and Tai Chi
    • Mesmerism
    • The Chakras
  • PaganismClick to open the Paganism menu
    • Earth Mother
    • The Goddess Movement
    • Goddess Directory A-F
    • Goddess Directory G-L
    • Goddess Directory M-S
    • Goddess Directory T-Z
    • Paganism and Witchcraft
    • Pagan Festivals
    • Neo-Paganism
    • Neo-Pagan (New Age) Movements
    • Native American Spirituality
  • Nature Spirits
  • Spirit GuidesClick to open the Spirit Guides menu
    • The Trickster
    • Spirit Animals and Totem Animals
    • Land Animal Spirits
    • Bird Animal Spirits
    • Water Animal Spirits
    • Insect Animal Spirits
    • Reptile Animal Spirits
    • Extinct Animal Spirits
    • Mythical Animal Spirits
    • Angel Spirit Guides
  • Traditional Shamanism
  • Traditional WitchcraftClick to open the Traditional Witchcraft menu
    • Traditional Witchcraft FAQ's
    • Witchcraft and Paganism
    • History of Witchcraft
    • Types of Witches
    • Traditions of Witchcraft
    • The Tools of a Witch
    • Witchcraft Festivals
    • American Witchcraft
  • Traditional MagickClick to open the Traditional Magick menu
    • The Tradition of Magick
    • The Principles of Magick
    • The Science of Magick
  • CosmologyClick to open the Cosmology menu
    • Physical Cosmology
    • Metaphysical Cosmology
  • The Simulation Hypothesis
  • Physics and MetaphysicsClick to open the Physics and Metaphysics menu
    • Quantum Mysticism
    • Tesla and Metaphysics
  • Ghosts in the Machine
  • The Psychic Realm
  • The ParanormalClick to open the The Paranormal menu
    • Hauntings
    • Gremlins
    • Mediumship
  • Alchemy
  • Astrology
  • Numerology
  • DivinationClick to open the Divination menu
    • The Tarot
    • The Runes
    • The I-Ching
    • The Tea Leaf
  • Plants and HerbsClick to open the Plants and Herbs menu
    • Tree Spirits
    • Incense
  • Crystals and GemstonesClick to open the Crystals and Gemstones menu
    • The Properties of Crystals and Gemstones
    • The Qualities of Crystals and Gemstones
  • All Creatures Great and Small
  • On FileClick to open the On File menu
    • On Baseball
    • On Bathing
    • On Civility
    • On Diet
    • On Duct Tape
    • On Fasting
    • On Religion
  • Comments and Questions

The Black Swan


For millennia, it was universally accepted that all swans were white. But in 1697, Willem de Vlamingh, a Dutch explorer, discovered black swans while on a rescue mission in Australia and in an instant, a universal, incontrovertible truth was shown to be anything but. After Vlamingh’s discovery, philosophers used the term “black swan” to describe a seeming logical impossibility that could very well end up being possible. This is the black swan fallacy..

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

 

Do we really know what forces are effecting the course of our lives?
Or are our perceptions so limited by what we think we observe,
our whole concept of reality can shatter in an instant?
Can we learn to "expect the unexpected" only in hindsight,
or can we awaken and learn to do so with foresight?



A Black Swan, (a term popularized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book "The Black Swan"), is an event or occurrence that deviates beyond what is normally expected of a situation and that illustrates a severe limitation to our learning from observations or experience and the fragility of our knowledge.

One aspect of the black swan theory suggests that upon observing 100 swans the norm is to fixate on the one black swan (the black swan event) to the exclusion of the ninety-nine other white swans.  

Taleb suggests that "9/11" might therefore be viewed as a "black swan event" in that its effect was to cause a fixation on the 1% of the time that there is a security threat to the exclusion of the other 99% of the time when there is no threat.  

Conversely, Taleb also suggests that had an individual, on the day before "9/11", instituted a security policy that prevented the attack, the actions of that individual (a white swan) would have gone unnoticed as there would have been no "black swan event" to bring the matter to attention. Therefore, "the hero who prevented 9/11 and changed the course of history" would never have been recognized as having done so. 

So, can we know what goes on in our own little pond while only paying attention to the extraordinary black swan and the ripples it leaves in its wake? 

Or, can we awaken to recognize the effects the unremarkable white swans’ ripples have on our little pond as well?


 

"Things always become obvious after the fact” 

~  Nassim Nicholas Taleb ~



Nassim Nicholas Taleb spent 21 years as a risk taker (quantitative trader) before becoming a flaneur and researcher in philosophical, mathematical and (mostly) practical problems with probability.

Taleb is the author of a multivolume essay, the Incerto (The Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness, Antifragile, and Skin in the Game) an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision making when we don’t understand the world, expressed in the form of a personal essay with autobiographical sections, stories, parables, and philosophical, historical, and scientic discussions in nonover lapping volumes that can be accessed in any order.

In addition to his trader life, Taleb has written more than 50 scholarly papers in statistical physics, statistics, philosophy, ethics, economics, international affairs, and quantitative finance, all around the notion of risk and probability.

Spirit Walk Ministry

"a grimoire of mystical pilgrimage" 



 Last Updated: June 29, 2022

Spirit Walk Ministry
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
United States

contact@spiritwalkministry.com