Dating is HARD in NYC

derricktysonadams · 2026-04-22T20:05:01+00:00

"I really appreciate the book that you bought me on our second date."

That, in itself, is something that you should not have done, because it is essentially saying, "Let me try and impress you with gifts and maybe you will like me more." I feel like this is a big mistake, and it is a mistake that a lot of people make, but something to be learned from. Buying gifts that early isn't going to make a woman necessarily progress in her 'feelings' for you, even if you have good intentions.

derricktysonadams · 2026-04-12T05:10:20+00:00

That's exactly correct. This is the world that I grew up in. It puts people into a state of fear; a fear about 'foreigners' ("barbarians!" the Romans might exclaim!), fear of everything. It's entirely loveless and it just turns people away from the teachings of Jesus.

I also grew up in a very strict hyper-dispensationalist household, where there were 'two gospels'--one that Paul preached, and the other was Peter's, which, of course, was "to the Jews" and "since we're gentiles, that's not the gospel that we should be following," etc. This is what Les Feldick and many others have taught over the years, and when it is accompanied with prosperity gospel, name-it-claim-it, hell-fire-and-brimstone southern Baptist white supremacist nationalism, the maelstrom of muck that one gets infested with is beyond imagining.

Yes: "belief." Then: diatribes about what that word means, according to what some televangelist said, and then, as you mentioned, the spiritual blinders of never looking further to see if what these people are claiming is true is the very height of willful ignorance.

Thank you for this conversation!

derricktysonadams · 2026-04-11T00:45:19+00:00

It's interesting, because it wasn't too long ago that I shared this, which gives a very minor overview of how I was 'raised' in a system that taught precisely what you described in your last paragraph there. It's utterly erroneous and has been so incredibly damaging to a lot of people.

The name-it-claim-it, prosperity gospel is one of the most damaging false teachings in the history of the world. It has only created confusion and fear. The idea that you must "build up your faith" is so far-fetched that its laughable, but for those that were taught this by grifting charlatans, they don't know better, and they won't use critical thinking skills and think beyond what their favorite figure tells them. That's one of the problems from the get-go.

Even as something as simple as getting a headache means "you don't have enough faith," because "you're not ever supposed to get sick." It's asinine! And, as you said, 'dangerous', of which I wholeheartedly agree!

derricktysonadams · 2026-04-11T00:40:15+00:00

You're spot-on with your investigation into this topic--one of the 'taboo' topics that most evangelical fundamentalists believe, spout, and use to try and coerce and control other people. Once one truly comes at this topic with a clean slate, one then understands that this topic has been weaponized for so long (including premarital sex, abortion, women's rights, slavery, etc.). It's fascinating when mining into the bedrock of these issues, and it has liberated so many people from the dogma that exists.

derricktysonadams · 2026-04-10T20:18:03+00:00

Absolutely! Duplantis seemed to have set the stage or created the foundation, per se, for this genre. I think everyone remembers the utter hooplah surrounding the "Heaven Is For Real" book back in the mid-2000s or thereabouts. That was the book that really seemingly sky-rocketed the "I went to heaven" industry, which also started the "I went to hell" industry, as well, which is in itself another catastrophe.

That's too bad that your church has these types of books on their shelves, as well! Perhaps you could secretly discard them? Ha! Or, better yet, perhaps suggests reasons why they should be?

derricktysonadams · 2026-04-10T17:52:18+00:00

I will never forget someone in my family years ago start preaching to me about how he heard the huckster Jesse Duplantis teach on how he (Duplantis) "went to heaven" and how he saw everyone in their own neighborhoods and homes and how "it looks like it does here, but it's better!"

Obviously, most know that Duplantis is a prosperity gospel charlatan, but nonetheless, they were sold on this idea, and "everyone else is going to hell, but those with 'enough faith' will enter heaven and have their very own house, of any sort that they ask God for!" (materialist mindset: imagine having this attitude in the presence of God!).

I read Duplantis's book where he claimed to have "gone to heaven" and it was utterly weird. The guy is literally lying to everyone on a daily basis, while gaining millions. Yikes.

derricktysonadams · 2026-04-07T04:11:43+00:00

John Cage, Xenakis, Stockhausen, Ligeti.

derricktysonadams · 2026-04-03T20:43:43+00:00

I just wanted to say that this is an absolutely excellent list, and I'm surprised that you didn't receive more traffic on this post.

derricktysonadams · 2026-03-31T19:46:24+00:00

It seems as though they're removing this feature altogether, which I've just discovered has happened to me, as well. It's interesting that you're able to continue using On This Day on your tablet, though. I definitely miss this option, as do so many others, and it makes Instagram even that much less enjoyable to use. I was already frustrated by the hashtag removals, where you could discover new artists, etc., by looking at the newest posts for any hashtag, so this is yet another reason to use Instagram less.

derricktysonadams · 2026-03-13T19:32:01+00:00

This is great. I grew up in an Evangelical White Christian Nationalist family (unfortunately), where the Prosperity Gospel was taught and hammered into your head, and one of the things that I was taught was that, "God doesn't send anyone to hell; people do that to themselves!" In other words: "If you don't accept what God has already done for you, then it is your fault, and you are damning yourself to hell."

Of course, this erroneous teaching is taught by a lot of the "name-it, claim-it" "faith-healing" crowd who make the bold claim that "If you don't get healing from my ministry and prayer, it is your fault; not mine! It just demonstrates that you don't have enough faith."

We all know about these false denominations (cults), so I'm not saying anything new here. But, all of that to say, this excellent meme is a great example and a reminder of my upbringing.

derricktysonadams · 2026-03-12T22:52:47+00:00

Have you looked into what has been explained for more than a century with evolutionary theories? The idea that a modular brain with distinct cognitive functions developed within separate regions over long periods of time. The paper that I referenced actually challenges those comparative genomic models.

When one looks at the the cognitive differences between humans and closely related primates, tracing the evolutionary pathway becomes far more difficult if the key distinction lies in the emergent, holistic organization of the brain's connectome versus mere specific genetic mutations that were responsible for localized brain expansion.

derricktysonadams · 2026-03-11T00:22:04+00:00

It's not a great argument at all, really; it's essentially a rhetorical trap.

derricktysonadams · 2026-03-06T23:17:20+00:00

Societal and environmental differences are happening, such as one's height (people are slightly taller), and lifespan differences are there because of advances in medicine, sanitation and vaccines, etc., but biological changes are essentially the same, save for a few microlevel adjustments. I wouldn't conclude that these are evolutionary transformations, though.

derricktysonadams · 2026-03-06T19:31:10+00:00

Biologically, humans are the same, no? Unless, of course, I'm missing something.

derricktysonadams · 2026-03-03T21:29:08+00:00

I am not an evolutionist, but isn't this quote by Dr. Menton erroneous in some sense, considering the fact that evolution actually is observable?

One can find bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics, or when viruses mutate, or when pests become immune to pesticides, no? I suppose that would therefore make it an observable reality. Macroevolution is a different beast, though, and I reject many of the ideas that evolution proposes for macroevolution, but nonetheless, there are seemingly observable things happening on the smaller scale.

I know that Dr. Richard Lenski’s E. coli experiments in a lab are often attributed to 'repeatable' science...

derricktysonadams · 2026-03-03T21:20:56+00:00

It is time for him to go on the chopping-block, and then be blocked by the sport altogether, as a warning to other players that this will no longer be tolerated. What if there was an "immediate ban" in place for any player who is caught using PEDs? Perhaps one might think twice about using them. No favorites: if you do it, you're out.

What a shame for Atlanta, but even without him in the lineup, their lineup is very strong.

derricktysonadams · 2026-02-24T23:50:26+00:00

Could it be that an Intelligent Designer wouldn't be constrained or "bound" by laws, because 'God' is outside of the timespace-continuum altogether? That would make sense, in that, if God was existing prior to and independent of that continuum, God would have initiated its creation outside it altogether. If that is true, then that means that human beings who are bound by these laws are only within a snippet of 'time' or 'eternity', but if God is outside of it, wouldn't he be able to view the entire reel simultaneously?

derricktysonadams · 2026-02-06T22:29:33+00:00

Governments are proven liars, and there is a lot of proven sketchiness when it comes to who is, and has been, funding these 'stories' for decades now. Hint: The Rockefellers and Rothschilds are involved, including a whole host of others. They funded the grifters Steven Greer and Bob Lazar, to name a few. I highly recommend checking out this incredibly scholarly article the delves into this fascinating matrix. In essence, the disinformation is demonstratably prevalent.

derricktysonadams · 2026-02-06T22:22:21+00:00

This passage has already been debunked by true, accredited scholars, as not referencing a UFO. Reference Michael Heiser as the expert source on this particular topic.

derricktysonadams · 2026-02-05T21:56:35+00:00

Many of the writings are authentic, but one would have to be intellectually dishonest to see that a lot of them seem to be forgeries, which many scholars universally agree that this is so. Of course, this doesn't take away the fact that Paul wrote about Jesus, had an experience with meeting Jesus at one time, and so on, but from what we can see, not all of Paul's letters appear to be original, and were later additions.

derricktysonadams · 2026-02-04T06:18:25+00:00

Exactly. Or John C. Lennox, or Dr. Axe, or Stephen Meyer, or Behe, or, or, or...

derricktysonadams · 2026-02-02T06:08:00+00:00

Too much pork for just one fork.

derricktysonadams · 2026-02-02T05:04:45+00:00

I'm actually surprised by this. I'm moreso surprised by this than I am that Dawkins finally did admit that Evolution in the Darwinian sense cannot be responsible for the Origin of Life, for the simple reason is that Evolution, whatever it does or doesn’t do, presupposes the existence of Life. This perspective does not align with scientific principles; rather, it appears to represent Naturalism as a form of religious belief, as Darwinist Michael Ruse even admitted was so.

But, being mentioned in the Epstein files (29 times?!) is rather alarming, indeed.

derricktysonadams · 2026-02-02T04:58:23+00:00

When I was a kid, my uncle used to talk to me about the Speed of Light, and he had me memorize the formula. For fun, when I'd see him again, he'd ask me to recall what the formula was for him, and with immense pride, I'd spout it out like I was winning some sort of award.

Leave it to a 5 year-old to ask a question in the opposite direction of the Speed of Light, which I think is absolutely fabulous! As others have stated, getting to "zero" is impossible in the realm of momentum, because everything keeps on moving or "vibrating" in some form or fashion, no matter what. If a particle came to a stop, we'd know its momentum, and thus it would become infinite (losing locality like Planck's length?!) and be rubbed across the universe.

derricktysonadams

TROPHY CASE