Never in my natural-born life

Substitute for “never have I ever” (the phrase not the game), “I can’t make this shit up”, something unbelievable for others, a “swear on” yourself without actually swearing and avoiding a jinx or bad juju tether.

Long-winded response to add edge to a story or sentence.

An attention grabbing phrase for some one/thing/situation that is shocking and/or more serious than just an “ever” . More common around idiom users and anybody you picture when hearing “certain folks”

Similar to: “never in a million years”, “on my momma”, “y’all ain’t gunna believe this but I swear…”.

“Y’all, never in my natural-born life could I make this mess up.”

“I swear, never in my natural-born life would I betray you and ours like that”

“I ain’t lying when I tell you, that fight was crazy! They were ruthless! I’ve never in my natural-born life seen two people get after each other like that!”

by NotoriousME July 29, 2024

Spectral Variables (Natural and Exact Sciences)

Even in the hardest sciences—physics, chemistry, mathematics—spectral variables operate, though they're often harder to see. They include the material history of your equipment (was that laser calibrated correctly?), the human factors in "exact" measurements (who read the dial and were they squinting?), the theoretical assumptions baked into your instruments (your detector is built on theories that might be wrong), and the metaphysical commitments that shape what questions seem worth asking (why this phenomenon and not that one?). The natural sciences achieve their precision not by eliminating spectral variables—impossible—but by developing elaborate rituals to keep the ghosts at bay, knowing they can never fully succeed.

Spectral Variables (Natural and Exact Sciences) "You think particle physics is pure? Every result is haunted by Spectral Variables: the grad students keeping the detector running on three hours of sleep, the funding decisions that prioritized some experiments over others, the theoretical biases in your data analysis software. The numbers are exact; the ghosts are infinite."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 23, 2026

Critical Theory of Natural Sciences

The application of Critical Theory to the natural sciences—biology, chemistry, physics, and fields studying the natural world—examining how they're shaped by social forces and how they can serve domination or liberation. Critical Theory of Natural Sciences asks: How have natural sciences been used to justify racism, sexism, colonialism? How do funding and institutional power shape research agendas? Could natural sciences be practiced differently—more democratically, more ecologically, more justly? Drawing on feminist science studies, postcolonial science studies, and environmental justice, it insists that natural sciences are never just natural—they're social through and through.

"Science is science, they say. Critical Theory of Natural Sciences asks: whose science? Funded by whom? For what purposes? Biology justified eugenics; medicine experimented on enslaved people. Natural sciences have histories of harm. That doesn't make them wrong; it makes them human. Critical theory insists on remembering those histories—and building science that doesn't repeat them."

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 4, 2026

Theory of the Natural Spectrum

The theory that "naturalness" exists on a spectrum, not as a binary category. What counts as natural varies across contexts, cultures, and historical periods—things once considered natural (slavery, patriarchy) are now seen as social constructions; things once considered unnatural (homosexuality, women working) are now recognized as natural variations. The Natural Spectrum recognizes that naturalness is not a property of things themselves but of their relationship to cultural categories, scientific understanding, and historical context. A smartphone is unnatural in one sense (not found in nature) but natural in another (made from natural materials by natural beings). The theory calls for mapping where phenomena fall on multiple axes of naturalness.

Example: "He argued about what was 'natural' as if it were simple. The Theory of the Natural Spectrum showed why it wasn't: a virus was natural in one sense (biological), unnatural in another (harmful), natural in another (evolutionary product). The spectrum revealed that 'natural' was doing many jobs, not one."

by Dumu The Void March 7, 2026

Philosophy of Naturalistic Orthodoxy

A branch of philosophy that examines the nature, justification, and implications of naturalistic orthodoxy—asking philosophical questions about the foundations of naturalism itself. The philosophy of naturalistic orthodoxy investigates the epistemological status of naturalist commitments: Can naturalism justify itself without circularity? How do we know that nature is all that exists? What counts as evidence for naturalism, and what would count against it? It also examines the limits of naturalism: Can naturalism account for logic, mathematics, meaning, and value? Does naturalism's own claims presuppose something beyond nature? The philosophy of naturalistic orthodoxy is essential for naturalism to be self-aware rather than merely assumed, for naturalists to understand the philosophical foundations of their worldview rather than treating them as self-evident.

Example: "His philosophy of naturalistic orthodoxy work asked whether naturalism can account for its own most fundamental tool—logic. If logic is just a natural phenomenon, why think it's universally valid? Naturalism's confidence in reason may require something naturalism can't provide."

by Abzugal March 16, 2026

Sociology of Naturalistic Orthodoxy

A branch of sociology that examines how naturalistic orthodoxies are socially constructed, maintained, and challenged within academic and intellectual communities. The sociology of naturalistic orthodoxy investigates how naturalism becomes the default worldview through education and training, how it's maintained through institutional mechanisms (funding priorities, publication standards, professional boundaries), how dissenters (intellectuals who appeal to supernatural or non-natural explanations) are marginalized or excluded, and how the orthodoxy responds to challenges from religious thinkers, postmodernists, and other heretics. It also examines naturalism as a boundary marker—distinguishing "serious" scholarship from "faith-based" thinking, "real" knowledge from "mere belief." The sociology of naturalistic orthodoxy reveals that naturalism's dominance isn't just about evidence; it's also about social power, institutional authority, and the natural human tendency to treat one's own worldview as simply "how things are."

Example: "Her sociology of naturalistic orthodoxy research showed how scholars who questioned naturalism were systematically excluded from prestigious journals and conferences—not because their arguments were weak, but because they violated the orthodoxy that defined 'serious' scholarship. The boundary policing was invisible to those who benefited from it."

by Abzugal March 16, 2026

Contextualism of the Natural Sciences

A philosophical framework holding that natural science knowledge is context-dependent—that what counts as good science, valid experiment, acceptable theory varies with historical, technological, and social contexts. Contextualism challenges the image of science as a timeless, context-free pursuit of truth. The experiments possible in one era depend on available technology; the theories accepted depend on what questions seem important; the methods considered rigorous evolve over time. Contextualism doesn't deny that science discovers real features of the world, but insists that discovery is always discovery-in-context. It demands that natural scientists and historians attend to the conditions that make scientific knowledge possible.

Example: "His contextualism of the natural sciences meant he studied how the development of the telescope didn't just reveal the heavens—it created new kinds of observation, new questions, new standards for what counted as evidence. The context shaped the science."

by Dumu The Void March 20, 2026