The Lexicon

I use a lot of recurring words, phrases, concepts, and themes to make my points. In my experience, repetition helps convey complicated ideas. It also helps provide context for new ideas in a concise way. If I use trigger words and phrases to take the reader back to a certain idea, I can avoid a lengthy explanation of the same core concepts each time I discuss an idea I happen to be thinking about.

I didn't set out to develop my own private lexicon, it just sort of happened. It started out as a joke, really. I found that few understood my sense of humor the first 50 times I'd refer to something and laugh... But after the 51st repetition, the conceptual continuity would kick in, and people would get the reference.

Building conceptual structures comes natural to me, so the development of a lexicon was in many ways inevitable.

Below is a list of words, phrases, and concepts that make regular appearances on Stationary Waves. Not every word or phrase on this list was developed by me or someone I know. This list will continue to grow as necessary. This is not an exhaustive list of the Stationary Waves Lexicon, it's just the things I can think of right now. I will update this list as required.

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1. A term coined by Murray Rothbard for libertarians who believe in a capitalistic utopian, ungoverned society.

Austrian School (of Economic Thought):
1. A branch of economic thought that favors logical deduction over mathematical computation, historical interpretation over data analysis, and market supremacy over governmental intervention.

1. The national language of Bangladesh
2. A Sanskrit-derived language spoken primarily in the Eastern part of the Indian sub-continent.

Blood Glucose (also "BG"): 
1. The concentration of glucose (sugar) in human blood.

Border:
1. The imaginary line that separates millions of people who are nothing like us from millions of people who are also nothing like us.

Bunny Effect, The: (see also: The Spider Effect)
1. A human being's inexplicable desire to want to express love toward things simply because they look cute.

Cognitive Time-Horizon:
1. The length of time over which a person is capable of conducting some kind of internal cost-benefit analysis.

Contrapositive Influence:
1. The tendency of weaker versions of an opposing argument to make one's own views more polar. For a contrapositive influence to occur, the weak opposing argument must be made by someone who is already considered repulsive, so that the effect of moderating his/her argument repels us further into our own extreme.

Courage:
1. Knowing that every situation is best served when you think clearly and reasonably about how to solve your problems and then act toward resolution.
2. Action and dignity in the place of paralyzing doubt.

Creed
1. The foundation on which all of our moral decisions are based.
2. A moral code.

Commitment to the Idea:
1. The process of fully endorsing any stated concept, and acting in accordance with that endorsement.
2. Endorsing a belief not merely in thoughts and words, but in action and conviction; having no doubt as to the truth and/or (positive) value of a concept and living life accordingly.

1. A condition in which a diabetic, being unable to metabolize glucose in the blood stream, consumes fat instead. Ketones, a byproduct of this process, build up in the blood stream, causing severe health complications.

Economics Siren: (See Also: Fnord)
1. The voice inside you that says, "Hey... Wait a minute. That doesn't make sense!" any time you encounter an economic concept or statistic presented in a politically charged context. 

Endurance Base:
1. A foundation of cardiovascular fitness developed in advance of the forthcoming season of training.

1. The study of the source or origin or determination of knowledge.

Faith:
1. Favoring what one wishes to be true over what one knows to be true.

1. A Swedish word meaning "speed play."
2. A method of interval training that often involves sporadic speed variation.

Fear:
1. The most profound, all-consuming sensation of self-hate.
2. Hating oneself (momentarily) so much that one beliefs one has no reason to resist adversity.

First Postulate of Being Rich:
1. You don't get rich by throwing your money away needlessly.

Food God:
1. The concept/entity worshipped primarily by leftists, who ostensibly wish to achieve "sustainable" and "ethical" food production, but who in fact merely want to use the world's food security issues as a springboard for a socialist agenda.
2. Gaia

Fostering a Culture of Activity:
1. The act of making, not just regular exercise, but physical movement in general a regular aspect of one's daily life. [e.g. walking or biking as a form of transportation, not a workout; getting outside because you like to be outside, not because you want to exercise, etc.]

Gnome Hypothesis, The:
1. Any chain of logic that is valid, but derived from imaginary or unproven assumptions.

1. The act of conflict resolution [Note: This is Ryan's preferred redefinition of the word.]
2. An entity that engages in the act of government
3. An entity that professes to rule over people [Note: This is the common-use definition of "government."]

Gub:
1. The mental goop that causes a person or group to belabor a situation with excessive rules: You're gubbing the place up!
2. The unstoppable force that causes government institutions to expand, or one such institution: If you don't pay your taxes, Gub will arrest you.

Hyperfitness:
1. A workout program designed by Sean Burch that emphasizes plyometrics and strength training moves that involve combined motions.

Idea of the Perpetual Beginner (or Myth of the Perpetual Beginner):
1. The principle of withholding information so that those without it become dependent on those who have it.
2. Promoting or glorifying novices in order to take advantage of them.
3. The mental state of always feeling as though one is merely at the beginning of a process, never at the middle.

Imaginary Knaves:
1. The villains to whom we give credit for the various evils of society. Examples might include "Big" Anything, "the bureaucrats," "immigrants," members of various social minorities, climate scientists, et cetera.

JuChrIslamism:
1. That whole God-of-Abraham thing.

Practical Nihilism
1. Any set of beliefs that are so vague when articulated that they equate to believing nothing at all.
2. Believing so fervently in "open-mindedness" that a believer can no longer take a concrete stand on any particular issue whatsoever.

Self-Hate:
1. The final, unanswerable argument against leading the life you wish to lead.

Shotgun Theory:
1. An idea that only seems true when it is expressed vaguely.

Spider Effect, The: (see also: The Bunny Effect)
1. A human being's tendency to recoil in horror from harmless or even vulnerable objects if they look creepy enough.

Stress:
1. The act of making oneself feel bad for that which is beyond one's control.

Tact:
1. Temperance applied to interpersonal communication.

Total Interpersonal Communication Breakdown:
1. The inability of any party within a relationship to convey meaning to any other party

Utility Temperance:
1. The ability to exercise restraint in the face of unabashed hedonism, simply for the sake of not being too decadent.

Whore Culture:
1. Society's tendency to reject self-reflection and self-evaluation in an effort to get away with unquestionably unethical behavior.
2. Society's tendency to feel entitled to silly, unearned, trivial things.

Worry:
1. The paralysis that prevents positive action from taking place.
2. Fear as a substitute for action.

Xenomisia:
1. From the Greek xeno- (foreign) and -mis (to hate). Xenomisia is a hatred or dislike of foreign people, things, concepts, ideas, etc. Whereas "xenophobia" is a fear of that which is foreign, xenomisia need not actually entail any fear at all.