Username/Avatar ... why oh why?

[Angrboda]

Apophenia is the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data.

I first popped up on theologyweb which is a largely Christian oriented forum, and as such it was a tongue in cheek poke at theists who see meaning and God everywhere they look; a cynical view of the reflection cast by the religious mind.

It has stuck because it's intellectually fitting of me. Where other people see sense, meaning or purpose, I see underneath, to stochastic or deterministic processes which give rise to epiphenomena which the foolish mistake for real. My primary study is into psychology, cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, philosophy and social psychology, philosophy of science, epistemology, and other relevant fields, looking for the mathematical, logical, and evolutionary underpinnings of things like religion, 'rationality', consciousness, behavior of groups and social discourses, and the like.

Where I don't use apophenia, I'm usually found as Vajraghosa who is a Jain saint whose name means: "Thundering Voice of Lightning"

The very sight of the saintly pachyderm [Vajraghoşa] proceeding piously to the river stirred the old spirit of revenge, and the serpent struck. Its deadly poison ran like fire through the loose and heavy skin. But in spite of terrific pain, Vajraghoşa did not forget his hermit vows. He died the death called "the peaceful death of absolute renunciation," and was born immediately in the twelfth heaven as the god Śaśi-prabhā, "Splendor of the Moon."

My avatar needs no explanation. [atm]

I've been around on the chat channels much longer than forums, and have used many names there, a select sampling being: Hanuman, Khoua Her, Kadesha, Nana, Kichigai, Mother, Mei-mei, and more. Some names have meaning. Some don't. Some have been omitted as being too personally identifying. *sadness*