The Dangers Of Randonautica

 

To My Readers: This week's post is a most fascinating contribution by my guest poster Lee. Please feel free to comment as usual. If you have a specific comment or question for me, I will respond as always, but it may take me a bit longer to do so this week. 

God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

Dangers of Randonautica

By Lee

I'm sure many have heard the old saying, "if you play with fire, you will get burned." With that said, the best way to avoid getting harmed is to not play. Unfortunately, curiosity always kills the cat (more on that below) and with a world centered around me, myself, and I, millions of people have shown interest in a new hobby that they can download on their Android or iPhone called Randonautica.

What is it?

First launched on February 22, 2020 by Joshua Lengfelde, Randonautica is an app downloaded on a mobile device which allows a user to look for adventure in real time. The user must set an intention that they wish to look for and from there be given a random GPS signal of an exact location for the user to pursue. Wherever the location may be is what the user is expected to find once they arrive at their destination, so long as they follow the map. The whole purpose of Randonautica is, according to the official website, "used as a tool to enhance human experience with novelty by mindfully exploring the world and to venture outside their day-to-day routine."

The mobile app was programed under quantum physics and with "spirituality" in mind. According to quantum mechanics, a small change in your life can set off a series of unpredictable effects.

It's also important to note that the user has three types of locations to choose from;  Attractor, Void, and Anomaly. The Attractor type means that there is a dense area of all sorts of potential clusters of quantum points. The term quantum point describes random numbers that have been converted into a coordinate location in a densely populated area near the users surroundings that could pick up a lot of energy. The Void type is thought of being the opposite meaning with low density quantum points which would be places that have lesser populations of people. The Anomaly type is considered the strongest type of location to visit, especially if the user has a strong intention and is determined to find specific answers.

Needless to say, many videos on YouTube and other social media platforms have countless people recording different experiences with the app. There are times a person will end up finding nothing of significance, like being sent on a wild goose chase. However, more so than not, there have been many occasions where the app on the phone will find strange objects in connection to a past event, unusual or scary people, or horrifying places that should altogether be avoided. It's even been known to find things like pets that have been abandoned and where nobody would be able to find them.

Creepy Examples

​Number 1

An article from the National Post reveals:

"A group of teenagers in Seattle found a suitcase containing human remains near a shoreline after a popular smartphone app, Randonautica, prompted them to explore the area.

The group had been filming their explorations and posted a video to TikTok, a social media platform. User @ughhenry posted the TikTok on June 20 and it shows the group stumbling upon a small, black suitcase.

At first, childish laughs permeate the video as they initially think it’s filled with money, a caption reads. Egged on by the group, one girl opens the top and lifts it from a distance using a wooden stick, revealing a black plastic bag filled with something.

“As soon as she opened it, the smell was overwhelming,” read one of the video captions.

They then called the police, the video shows. The next clip shows police and fire trucks surrounding the beach.

Seattle police later confirmed the contents inside the suitcase were human remains and said investigators had found several other bags in the area, also body parts.

KING 5, a local news outlet, reported the remains belonged to 35-year-old Jessica Lewis and 27-year-old Austin Wenner. Both died on June 16 from multiple gunshot wounds. Seattle police said the case is still an open homicide investigation.

Randonautica told BuzzFeed News it was “shocked at the very unfortunate coincidence.”

“Our first reaction was to reach out to the teenagers to make sure they were doing alright. We sent a message letting them know the intention of Randonautica is not to find something disturbing like this,” it said.

The exploring app has gained popularity since much of the world entered lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The app generates random coordinates in a user’s general vicinity that the user, called a Randonaut, can then travel to. The idea is meant to encourage a “choose your own adventure” reality game."

Number 2

Another example caught on video by a man named Bryan from Texas shared a Tik Tok video where one night he was led to a destination near his home where the Randonautica app brought him. It was a street corner just few blocks from his apartment building.

When he arrived, nothing out of the ordinary happened for a few minutes as he looks around until he started searching around the ground. Near a telephone pole he spots a California license of a man. It had expired 16 years prior.

When Bryan went home to do some research on the man to see if he could return his license to him he discovers that the man on the license was in a shootout with the police back in 2001 where he ended up passing away from his injuries. Police were looking for him because he was involved in the murderer of two people near the very apartment building where Bryan lived. He also died in the area of where he found his expired license.

Number 3

A teen named Mykena on TikTok shared a video of themselves immediately following their Randonautica quest. In the video, Mykena cries and explains why she will never go Randonauting again.

The intention she entered into the app was “death,” and that’s very nearly what she found. The app sent her to a spot where a body lay still on the ground, bleeding. Mykena assumed that they were indeed dead. Based on her follow-ups and investigations from local news and police, it appears that Mykena did indeed stumble across a body, though it was only near to death. The 23-year-old victim of a recent shooting was luckily discovered in time and brought to a nearby hospital.

Number 4

Reddit user u/mindf[censored]_ shared a photo of their Randonautica experience. What was scary about the experience was not what the app led the user to, but what it led them away from.

Their post title speaks volumes: “Went randonauting last night at 3 am. Came back to my shop burned down.” Their photo indeed shows a workshop, complete with a collection of expensive tools and vehicles, heavily burned and covered in ash. They go on to respond to several comments, among which two hypotheses stand out: if indeed Randonautica is not so random, then it either got him out of the way to facilitate arson, or it saved his life from an attack.

The Angelic Doctor's teaching

Most people who use the app do it for a number of reasons. Those who are skeptical want to see if it works like everybody says. Some may use it because they are bored and because of idleness, want to have something to do that is fun or popular. Others do it because they want to jump on the band wagon with their friends. Regardless of why people do what they do, any reason for using the app can be centered on some form of curiosity. Hence the reason the app's logo is the owl looking sideways which is supposed to mean getting a new perspective.

The great St. Thomas Aquinas explains how the virtue of temperance can be violated in regards to the sinful vice of curiosity:

Curiosity

​1.Curiosity, in our present use of the word, is the vice which stands opposed to studiousness. Curiosity throws aside the moderating influence of studiousness, and disposes man to inordinateness in seeking knowledge. This inordinateness appears in a variety of ways, Thus: a) a man may seek knowledge to take pride in it; b) he may seek to know how to sin; c) he may seek useless knowledge and waste effort which should be expended in learning what he needs to know; d)he may seek knowledge from unlawful sources, as from demons; e) he may seek creatural knowledge without referring what he knows to God; f)he may foolishly risk error by trying to master what is beyond his own capacity.

2.Curiosity appears also in the order of sense-knowledge. Inordinateness here appears in an excessive love of sight-seeing; of neglecting study to gaze idly on a meaningless spectacle; of looking needlessly on what may occasion evil thoughts; of observing the actions of others to criticize and condemn them, and so on. If, however, one is intent upon material things in an ordinate way (that is, in a way that accords with reason) one exercises studiousness, not curiosity, even in the order of sense knowing.

We can see from the above understanding of curiosity that Randonautica could potentially fall under any of the descriptions laid out in a-f. Randonautica can simply be avoided by not giving into the temptation of trying it out, even if the intent is set by the user to see something "good."

St. Thomas continues to explain the virtue in opposition of curiosity:

Studiousness

1.Studiousness is the virtue which disposes a person to apply his mind for the purpose of acquiring and extending knowledge.

2.The virtue of studiousness is a part of the virtue of temperance. For it is the function of temperance to moderate the appetite, to prevent excess, in the use of material goods. In reference to the spiritual appetite for knowledge, studiousness has this temperance-function of moderating desire and preventing excess. The tie-up of studiousness with temperance is effected through the virtue of modesty. (A Tour of the Summa 288-289)

Artificial Intelligence or Satanic Power?

​The most puzzling question is how does Randonautica have the ability to search out places of interest with such precision as to reveal hidden things? Many would argue that it's a mere coincidence, a glitch in the matrix, or that A.I. itself is so sophisticated that it has the ability to know an abundance of knowledge from the collection of data that gets stored from being a super-computer. While there may be some truth in that, the question still can be deeper. How does it specifically know things so hidden as to be able to lead people to an exact location, with no possible history of stored data that leads to such things, which cannot be traced, such as expired driver's license from 15-20 years prior? I personally believe that the app itself has some form of demonic power. Why? It has been known to bring about bad luck in peoples lives who use it obsessively. It has the ability to know exact locations without any foreknowledge; a symptom of possessed people. It lures people away from belief in God or the devil by trusting it more. It becomes like a god. Lastly, it could lead to somebody's death if the person is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if the "intention" is good it can be a path leading right to Hell.

Much like a Ouija board or an amulet, the Randonautica app breaks with the First Commandment by the sin of vain observance.

According to the Theologians McHugh and Callan, vain observances are described as:

(a) those (things) by which one puts into use vain ceremonies or objects in the expectation that they will secure certain desired effects, or puts an exaggerated confidence in lawful rites or sacred objects;

(b) those by which one directs one's life through fortuitous and impertinent happenings in the belief that they have the power to influence one's fortunes favorably or adversely. This form of superstition is like divination by omens; the difference is that in using omens one chiefly seeks for knowledge of the future, while in observing chance events one chiefly intends the direction of one's conduct. Examples are found in persons who fear to make a journey on Friday or to begin any important affair during the dark of the moon.
 
​​​Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to go on a adventure without needing an app to set ones' desired effect. If you are a thrill seeker, look for things that are not dangerous and which are lawful. If you want to go to a quiet place, just make sure wherever it may be is a safe area. In other  words, common sense should tell us that Randonautica is a disaster waiting to happen.

"Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and  search not into things above thy ability: but the things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of his works be not curious. For it is not necessary for thee to see with thy eyes those things that are hid. In unnecessary matters be not over curious, and in many of his works thou shalt not be inquisitive. For many things are shewn to thee above the understanding of men. And the suspicion of them hath deceived many, and hath detained their minds in vanity. A hard heart shall fear evil at last: and he that loveth danger shall perish in it." Sirach 3:22-27