zealot: n; the reason that arguing with a zealot is futile is because he zealot uses words only so they function consistently within a conceptual framework shared by other like-minded zealots. the meaning of the word, its truth value is secondary, if not irrelevant to he needs of ideological consistency. an argument presupposes a shared conceptual space; with a zealot this can never be the case.

zero: n; a hypothesis/assumption is a zero, a point of origin and all the possibilities which the hypothesis/assumption allows are numbers that follow, that can be counted out from the zero.

Zizek: n; 1. “one can never wear a mask without paying for it in the flesh”. 2. “what i am running away from when i voluntarily take refuge in servitude is thus the traumatic encounter with the big Other's ultimate impotence and imposture.” 3. “sometimes, the only truly subversive thing to do when confronted with a power discourse is simply to take it at its word.” 4. the problem with Zizek and other cultural theorists and intellectual amalgamatists is that they attempt to provide a predictive scheme which originates from a synthesis of incomparable terms. this synthesis is based on a belief that that the lexicon of the symbolic / descriptive universe of specific thinkers (Hegel, Lacan, …) refer to specific, concrete, entities which are common and therefore comparable (e.g. imagination, freedom, etc.). however, the symbolic / descriptive universe of any thinker posits (or at least delimits) the world to which it refers (and Zizek knows this and always argues this). therefore, there is nothing to compare. or, they can be compared, but not for any predictive, or scientific, or even explanatory purpose, but only for the evocative nature of their juxtaposition…as thought-launches. in other words, Zizek should only be read seriously as fiction.

zooplankton: n; if one says that for a filter-feeding whale, due to its extreme size, that it's reality is a reality of food and feeding, then perhaps one could say that for human beings, devoid of swiftness or large teeth or wings but in possession of very large brains, that their reality is a psychological reality, that it is the zooplankton of images and desires etc. which sustain us.

Zurn: n; “it is well known that there are rooms which emit an odour of misfortune, of crushing poverty, and nothing can be done about it”.

zzzzz...: ?; 1. if it is true that some things are truer than others, that some truths are more inclusive and cast a larger shadow than others, then perhaps the largest shadow in this book is cast by life, who is always one's teacher, and who will one day not ever be needed again. 2. if the failure of any truth is its insufficiency, is its limitation when confronted with something immeasurable, then my failures here are of a single kind— speculation without action is privilege and not an understanding at all. my personal failure documented here should be recognized; this privilege of mine should be actively dismantled, re-assembled, re-integrated into living and therefore understood. 3. No is the only frontier.