Log from #Classroom on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 5PM EDT: “Filters”, hosted by TashRikil:
[17:00:38] <TashRikil> class is starting
[17:01:12] <DragonAtma> ‘k
[17:01:20] <TashRikil> who do we have?
[17:01:30] <DragonAtma> me
[17:01:37] <Zephyr> me
[17:02:05] <TashRikil> who else? please speak or i will consider you absent
[17:02:06] <Momo> We have Vlur silentecho midnightkiss foxdemon2 dimitrianon demonicdata cene arawnn ami- all ready for class.
[17:02:51] <DragonAtma> they’re in the room but not necessarily here
[17:03:15] <Momo> That is why I was pinging them. But they look like they are not actually at their computer at all.
[17:03:41] <Zephyr> midnight is
[17:03:49] <Zephyr> but I think she’s not paying attention to irc
[17:04:21] <TashRikil> okay. so we have who we are going to have
[17:04:32] <Momo> Everyone that said anything.
[17:04:36] <TashRikil> filters are not hard to do.
[17:04:52] <TashRikil> first, what they are.
[17:05:27] <TashRikil> you all know what shields are, through either other classes, or learning elsewhere.
[17:05:52] <TashRikil> filters are not shields. shields are designed to keep everything out
[17:06:14] <TashRikil> filters exist primarily to let most everything through, and keep one specific thing out.
[17:06:31] <TashRikil> usually this thing is emotional content
[17:06:53] * Akradai is here
[17:06:58] <TashRikil> have any of you worked in a chemistry lab, or brewed coffee or tea before?
[17:07:06] <TashRikil> thank you boss. good to have you.
[17:07:12] * DragonAtma nods
[17:07:23] <Zephyr> I haven’t
[17:07:48] <TashRikil> in labs, we use filter paper. in a coffee machine, you put a filter in to hold the grounds and permit the water bearing coffee to pass through
[17:08:22] <TashRikil> tea bags are made of filter paper, keeping the leaves and spices inside, and allowing the water flavored with the tea to pass through
[17:09:08] <TashRikil> window screens that keep out bugs are also a good example. we all know how these things work, right?
[17:10:09] <DragonAtma> mmhmm
[17:10:19] <DragonAtma> light comes in, but not oh-so-annoying mosquitos
[17:10:25] <TashRikil> filters work the same way.
[17:10:58] <TashRikil> they can prevent your emotions from coming out and broadcasting, they can prevent others’ from coming in and disturbing your peace
[17:11:32] <TashRikil> but mostly, they are designed to let things pass through, so that you arent bottling up your emotions, or going around completely cut off from the world.
[17:12:40] <TashRikil> is everyone with me?
[17:12:48] * DragonAtma nods
[17:12:59] <Momo> Yes.
[17:13:15] <Zephyr> yeah
[17:14:03] <MidnightKiss> wait, what now?
[17:14:17] <MidnightKiss> sorry, Im here.
[17:14:17] <TashRikil> i’ll give you a couple minutes to backread.
[17:14:51] * MidnightKiss nods
[17:14:55] <MidnightKiss> continue
[17:15:01] <TashRikil> filters can be made to hold back things other than emotions
[17:15:08] <Zephyr> brb
[17:15:59] <Momo> So if some one loses their lunch easily they could filter their stomach region and not throw vomit again?
[17:16:04] <TashRikil> if you find that someone is draining you, voluntarily or otherwise, nothing puts a damper on that quite like a filter. it’s like sticking a large piece of felt into a vaccuum
[17:16:26] <TashRikil> usually momo, these things do not have medical benefits.
[17:16:40] <Momo> Okay. Noted.
[17:16:59] <TashRikil> specificity is important with filters.
[17:17:18] <TashRikil> the more general you make a filter, the more it begins to look like a shield
[17:17:48] * DragonAtma nods
[17:17:58] * Cene pongs and reads up.
[17:18:11] <TashRikil> filters, like coffee filters, will get clogged now and again, on either side of the filter. they must be cleaned out regularly.
[17:18:31] <Zephyr> back
[17:18:58] <TashRikil> regular cleansing rituals, the ones you already know, when applied to filters will clean them.
[17:19:31] <TashRikil> so if you imagine taking a shower, stick your filters under the shower with you.
[17:19:47] <TashRikil> clogged filters are not as effective
[17:20:21] <TashRikil> understood?
[17:20:31] <Momo> I hear you.
[17:20:50] <Zephyr> yeah
[17:20:52] <Zephyr> makes sense
[17:20:56] * MidnightKiss nods
[17:21:01] <TashRikil> filters and shields do stack together nicely.
[17:21:05] <DragonAtma> mmhmm… but shouldn’t you be able to program the filters to auto-clean on a regular schedule?
[17:21:19] <TashRikil> yes, DragonAtma
[17:21:29] <TashRikil> whatever your way is, include your filters in your way.
[17:22:39] * DragonAtma nods
[17:23:08] <TashRikil> what i suggest for placement is putting your emotional filters under your shield, filters designed to block specific attacks, or cloaking filters (blocking visual output) above your shield
[17:23:54] <Zephyr> I think my shield actually incorporates a filter, kind of
[17:24:05] <TashRikil> that is quite possible.
[17:24:07] <Zephyr> I just never realized it
[17:24:30] <TashRikil> but specificity is important, and just one is usually not enough
[17:24:52] <TashRikil> you can create a filter blocking emotional output, and you can make it facing both ways.
[17:25:40] <TashRikil> but the problem with this filter is that any and all emotions coming from you and coming from other people will clog it faster than a cork in a bottle.
[17:27:08] <TashRikil> you may layer them. filters absorbing anger, grief, sadness, pain, elation, etc can all be stacked on top of each other
[17:29:07] <TashRikil> the reason emotional filters i suggest being placed under your shield as opposed to over it are so that if someone starts attacking you, your emotions dont start bleeding out immediately.
[17:29:52] <TashRikil> filters intending to disguise your energy output must be placed above the shield to have any effect, otherwise people will just see your shield.
[17:30:43] <TashRikil> not all filters should be on at all times. you have to decide what to put on when, and when to turn it off.
[17:31:47] <TashRikil> filters plus shield layers bunched up together like a sandwich makes for VERY effective shielding
[17:32:03] <TashRikil> it’s the astral equivalent of a meshed kevlar weave.
[17:32:35] <TashRikil> is everyone with me?
[17:32:42] * DragonAtma nods
[17:32:58] <Zephyr> yeah
[17:33:28] * MidnightKiss nods
[17:33:52] <TashRikil> allow me to repeat. filters are not shields. a filter designed to repel a sword attack will be like tinfoil to a gunshot.
[17:34:40] <TashRikil> they work more like the nickel plating on a gun. they keep it from tarnishing
[17:35:38] <TashRikil> emotional filters will not prevent you from feeling anything. your dog dies, you will still be sad.
[17:36:01] <TashRikil> but other people will not be able to tell you are sad unless you say so.
[17:36:42] <Jonn> the idea of your filters is to filter from the source, not to the source?
[17:37:04] <TashRikil> you are super late. save your questions for later please.
[17:37:17] <Jonn> things get blocked when inside out, not from outside in?
[17:37:40] <Jonn> i wont be online much longer, sorry.
[17:37:54] <TashRikil> then you can read the log when we finish and educate yourself.
[17:38:07] <TashRikil> i need to keep moving along.
[17:38:09] <Jonn> its not like i have doubts on the issue. im well educated.
[17:38:28] <Jonn> i want to know your opinion. thats it.
[17:38:52] <TashRikil> those of us with overactive empathy can restrict which emotions get through, how strongly they get through, or if they get through at all with the judicious use of filters.
[17:40:12] <TashRikil> using shields for this purpose is possible, but the emotional pressure builds, and shields are very high maintenance. so what tends to happen is isolation, and then boiling over. filters are a healthier way to regulate your emotions, and others’ emotions.
[17:40:46] <TashRikil> filters are easy to create.
[17:41:04] <TashRikil> you create them the same way you create a shield, but with a specific thing to block in mind
[17:41:53] <TashRikil> because you are only keeping one thing out, and ignoring everything else, the energy pumped into a filter will be much more powerful than that which you pump into a shield.
[17:42:42] <TashRikil> you may make a filter for multiple things. it will work. but it will not be as effective as making several filters for one thing and stacking them.
[17:43:25] <TashRikil> the more things you put into a single filter, the less force multiplication i just mentioned above you will get, and the quicker it will get clogged, because it’s keeping more stuff out.
[17:44:36] <TashRikil> if you wish to create a full suite of filters that you can think of both above and below your shield, that is the most effective way to keep everything and everyone out.
[17:45:22] <TashRikil> its also very energy intense to make that many, and double it. deciding which goes where involves some thought, but less aspirin
[17:47:08] <TashRikil> filters can be damaged in attacks. some thought to make each one completely porous to all but its desired thing is well spent.
[17:48:24] <TashRikil> you have heard of mirror shields from the instruction here before.
[17:49:31] <TashRikil> mirror shields are much better effected by a couple of choice filters designed to push the energy it is blocking back down the channel it came.
[17:50:01] <TashRikil> these are just a few ideas. the variations are nearly endless.
[17:51:39] <TashRikil> questions?
[17:51:55] <DragonAtma> nope
[17:52:35] <MidnightKiss> not really
[17:52:55] <TashRikil> was i really that good or are you guys hopelessly lost?
[17:53:11] <MidnightKiss> I understand things easily 😛
[17:53:40] <TashRikil> alright. what about the rest of you?
[17:54:12] <DragonAtma> I understand things
[17:54:18] <Zephyr> I have to go for a bit
[17:56:13] <TashRikil> mmkay
[17:56:24] <DragonAtma> ‘k
[17:56:31] <TashRikil> boss? Jonn?
[17:57:52] <Momo> For a full suite filters, what main things are there one would want to filter? You said emotions and some attack forms.
[17:57:57] <Cene> So what’s the difference between a filter and a shield again? The number of things being kept out?
[17:58:28] * Cene loves how the two people asking questions aren’t who you asked for. 😛
[17:59:06] <TashRikil> cene, the main difference is not that a filter is designed to keep stuff out, but that it’s designed to let things through. so your emotions and such can breathe
[17:59:38] <TashRikil> shields keep stuff out. filters let things through, except for one or two things.
[18:00:05] <Jonn> no questions. i might disagree with some of your statements, but overall i agree.
[18:00:11] <Cene> So while shields keep things out with the exception of one or two things, filters let things through with the exception of one or two things.
[18:00:34] <Cene> And when it’s 50/50, you get a fly swatter?
[18:00:46] <TashRikil> Momo, a list of everything a filter could retain is as long as everything you have ever experienced and then some. my list was incomplete, but targeted towards empaths who have trouble turning it off.
[18:01:03] <Cene> No, but more seriously, at what point should a filter be called a shield?
[18:01:30] <TashRikil> at no point should a filter be called a shield. it isnt.
[18:01:31] <Momo> Say you wanted to throw a psiball, and you were forming the attack from the inside of your shield, would it make more sense to make a filter to let psiballs out, or just to program the shield so that things can move from the inside to the outside without interference?
[18:01:35] <Jonn> can i give my opinion on this question?
[18:01:43] <TashRikil> but highly ineffective filters try to do a shields’ job
[18:01:49] <Cene> Then I’m missing the difference.
[18:02:01] <TashRikil> the difference is intent. and intent is everything in psionics.
[18:02:21] <Cene> When I make shields, I make them so they block everything except a few things.
[18:02:31] <Jonn> Cene: a filter is a shield if you ask me.
[18:02:53] <TashRikil> it is a variation on a shield, with several intent differences.
[18:03:05] <TashRikil> enough to matter.
[18:03:06] <Jonn> like tash said, the intention is what counts.
[18:03:11] <Cene> However, what if I made a shield that blocked everything except 50 things? I’m guessing since there’s an infinite amount of things to block, it’d still be a shield?
[18:03:36] <TashRikil> yes. the difference is
[18:03:49] <TashRikil> SHIELD: EVERYTHING BUT THIS THIS AND THIS STAY OUT
[18:03:53] <Cene> So the difference being a shield protects from everything minus x while a filter lets in everything minus x.
[18:04:04] <TashRikil> FILTER: EVERYTHING BUT THIS THIS AND THIS PASSSES THROUGH
[18:04:07] <Jonn> it might be called filter because it is what it resembles to a physical counterpart
[18:04:28] <TashRikil> yes cene.
[18:04:29] <Cene> Or in other words, a shield protects from everything minus x while a filter protects from x minus everything else.
[18:05:04] <Cene> So I guess you’re saying that there’s an infinite amount of things to filter out?
[18:05:19] <TashRikil> and since everything is infiniti… infiniti minus x and x minus infiniti are two very different things, regardless of how large x is.
[18:05:56] <DragonAtma> maybe not infinite, but pretty big.
[18:06:08] <TashRikil> it is infinite.
[18:06:54] * Cene makes a filter that lets in everything minus a billion things. 😛
[18:07:08] <TashRikil> sure.
[18:07:17] <Cene> Just so they can go, ‘Nice shield’. ‘It’s a filter’. ‘It looks like a shield’.
[18:07:24] <Cene> Anyways. Nice class!
[18:07:43] <Momo> Yes, thank you.
[18:07:51] <TashRikil> Momo i didnt answer your question.
[18:07:52] * DragonAtma nods
[18:08:09] <Momo> If you didn’t have an answer, that is fine too.
[18:08:23] <TashRikil> a filter designed to keep out “psiballs” is going to get filthy fast. because whats in the psiball? ANYTHING.
[18:08:45] <TashRikil> fire? ice? acid? malice? ANYTHING.
[18:09:26] <Momo> I see. But I meant to let a certain type of attack through, not to keep one out.
[18:09:27] <TashRikil> all shields and all filters ought to be programmed to allow your attacks through.
[18:10:22] <TashRikil> you can tune them to your own energy frequency very precisely pretty easily.
[18:10:23] <Momo> By default, yes. I was wondering if something could be added to let them through easier, nevermind.
[18:10:55] <TashRikil> ok. we good?
[18:11:23] <Momo> Yes.
[18:13:11] <TashRikil> everyone else?
[18:13:34] <MidnightKiss> mhmm
[18:15:05] * DragonAtma nods
[18:16:09] <TashRikil> very good. i’m calling it here, then.

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