Become Aware Of It, Pay Attention To It. Read About It, Learn About It, Write About It, Talk About It. Teach It.
Reflections upon anything under the sun and beyond. It may not be easy to be a Global Citizen, but it's not hard to engage the Globe.
A Plea For Progress
Inspired by my friend Lori Isner's plea.
I watched the Republican Convention. I found it boring and shockingly simple. (We get Katy Perry and who sang at the RNC?)
I’m dumbfounded.
I have a question for all of you: Do you really believe the “End Times” are here and a con man can fix it? An Islamist con man or a billionaire con man, a con man is still a con man, and he doesn’t give a damn about you.
I have listened to Obama haters and Hillary haters for years. I still don’t know why they hate them so much. I have tried to understand. I don’t know if they know exactly why they hate them so much. Are certain people attracted to a more hateful culture, or perhaps it’s merely banal preferences and nothing more? What’s your reasons for hating? I want to hear your reasons. I want you to try to convince me because I want to defeat hatred. I’d like to live in a world where hatred is rare and fleeting.
Politically correct, say what?
All Americans should know that talk radio is full of inflammatory speech. There is hate speech across the political, ideological spectrum. There is obviously a big market for hate in the world. Hate and fear are human emotions. I can’t imagine a tiger hating a leopard. Only our species, I suspect, know how to hate. Imagine the days when we found it entertaining to watch a heretic burned at the stake. We didn’t have TV shows to represent it, we went to see the real thing. Did we hate the plague way back when or did we just fear it and marvel at the mysteries of God’s punishments?
From my perspective, certain types of people seem to thrive on hate speech a tad bit more than others; certain people seem a bit more sensitive to any slight coming their way. Certain types of people also seem to love fire and brimstone and divisive rhetoric leading to biblical conflict, bloodletting, and death. I don’t like those kinds of people. But there are good reasons to go to war and we should all demand to know them and understand them before we start weighing the costs of collateral damage and personal sacrifice. We should also demand to know if winning such a conflict may have a real chance of improving things.
I can't tell you how many conservative Americans in Hong Kong told me they would return to the USA, grab their guns and join the new civil war if Obama got elected. They seemed to be convinced that a black, Kenyan, Muslim in the Whitehouse would be the end of the great "American Way". They all stayed in Asia of course. Is their current horrific and panic infused narrative an extension of their disappointment in having to endure eight years of Obama? Why do so many seem to gloat and revel in the destruction of Syria, screaming from their armchairs, “I told you so, I told you so!” The new breed of lone wolf terror we're seeing every day is confirmation of what? “It’s their fault!” “It’s their fault.” “Kill them!” Are we really still so interested in manufacturing reasons to go to war that we’ll ignore the hard work required to defend ourselves from the buggy software of bad ideas? Are dead soldiers and suffering troops the only things that represent righteousness? Is that it? Does God require our suffering and vengeance in the name of the Lord, in the name of Mohamed? How many YouTube channels are devoted to survivalism and tactical gear? Religiously inspired war, is that all we can hope for? In the name of this or that God or ideology must we really destroy our kind hearts and our natural will to live? Must we find our love for our children snuffed out by anger and grief? Is a journey back to the middle ages, or ancient barbarism all we can hope for? Can't we do better than that? Are there not more noble projects to consider?
The first human mission to...?
Even the very brightest and best of us can be vulnerable to fear-based narratives. A negativity bias does exist. But I want to know your true aspirations. What are you willing to do for your average man or woman obeying the rules and struggling to survive. I’m talking to those of you who think of yourselves as leaders. There is evidence that ideological propensities have some basis in our genetics and how our genes express themselves due to environmental circumstances, and we are all, to a certain extent, determined in our beliefs by our communities. None of us are as free as we think we are to choose our beliefs and behaviors. Social norms get the better of all of us to various degrees. But when you think of yourself as a leader in your domain you had better have a very detailed description of your beliefs and ideas ready for any audience. If you want us to follow you we need to know what you want for us, why you want it and how you’re planning to get us there. The devil, my faithful friend, is always in the details.
In my opinion, rationalism breeds hope while faith in anecdotes often sends one toward hatred and fear. If humans continue to survive and thrive we may evolve into more rational and loving creatures. But if we are to survive and thrive we must deal with real existential threats, threats that are real deal breakers, threats that could end the human race. There are also true enemies to a more enlightened way of life and they must also be defeated. We have to hold all communities accountable for their ideas and beliefs. We have to pick the right battles and win them. And we have to tame the beast within us, and to do so we’ll all need some loving support.
Things are so good now it's hard to imagine we might not make it. And yet, many people have become so negative that the "End Times” is the most exciting and relevant motivating force in their lives. Perhaps it is time to reevaluate the definition of modernity. Perhaps the black box of technology is the only thing evolving. How terrifying is that?
Why would she give a fuck about humanity, her creator?
We’re still simple, superstitious animals unable to contemplate the fruits of intellect and wisdom. We are, perhaps, too well entertained to invest the time and energy required to entertain good ideas, to contemplate the complex, to finesse our understanding of the facts and invent simple solutions that would bring a stronger and deeper peace and prosperity to us all. We are still too vulnerable to con men who take advantage of our fight or flight instincts in order to enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.
I know Hillary haters will always hate Hillary; to change one’s mind about hate admits a certain betrayal of oneself. I understand that but don't let him in people. Be patient, a better Republican will come along in four years. But only if Republicans commit to making themselves better Republicans. Your party is going through a bad patch perhaps, but things can turn around. Just say no to the scam, please. Our system is less than perfect but it's still worth fighting for. We only have to work together to improve things. Look around you and be thankful you’re an American. You don’t need a faker’s help. A savior is not coming to fix things. We have to fix things.
I hate labels. I am tipping right and left hoping to strike the right balance. I suspect, like most of you, I just want to be proud to be human. I want the human race to live up to its potential. Now that’s a project worth suffering through a marathon of baby steps.
Rave!
Not a Zombie.
The only philosophical question that matters is whether or not to jump.
We can always
quibble
about what
“jump”
means.
It's a long way down.
“On the grounds of all my experience, which has lasted for several years now, I can say with full confidence that in their form, angels are completely human. They have faces, eyes, ears, chests, arms, hands, and feet. They see each other, hear each other, and talk to each other. In short, they lack nothing that belongs to humans except that they are not clothed with a material body. (Heaven and Hell #75)” Swedenborg
Vanity is power, power is vanity.
Do you hear the trumpets in the clouds?
Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
Is it Übermensch?
Trump’s people,
simple people running on pure emotion.
They thrive on dogma and crave the mad ramblings of despots.
Violence and death give their lives meaning - open any flavor of "Good Book" to see what I mean,
or simply turn on the TV.
Does she know?
There are zip codes in NYC (reference Sam Harris) with people who have done more to improve the lives of all creatures great and small than any mass of sheepish, genuflecting, fear worshippers have accomplished in 200 thousand years of humanities
stumbling,
gross,
and horrifically painful struggle for survival.
Is that living?
Brutish and short, brutish and short, human life was brutish and short…
(Do ants suffer? Does asphalt burn? What Host has suffered for my cheeseburger? Ethics, what a bore.)
It must be mundane. It must be random.
Knowing which mushroom can kill you is knowledge worth having.
You're yellow! You're yellow! Ya yella! Ya yella!
Trump embodies our sickly need for dictators who appeal to our childish fantasies of
honor,
glory
and triumph.
(And yes, lines must be drawn and if crossed by the other, the other must meet dire consequences!)
Are we not surviving well now?
Survival is enough for the species but insufficient for the mind.
Does she know where she's going? Do they know what they're waiting for?
"If you see Buddha on the road, kill him."
If we can't kill the thoughts and ideas that drive us toward solipsism, we will inevitably succumb to our
slow,
imperceptible,
instincts
and continue to revel in our self-righteous struggle with pain.
We will continue walking zombie-like in a faceless crowd of heroes, giants, and demigods while the real dangers swell without our knowing
and wipe us out of the universe.
Why wait for the radiating portends of a supernova when our imagination can ignite
the fires of hell on earth.
Lest we forget Oppenheimer's prescient words as he quoted the good book Bhagavad Gita,
"I have become death, the destroyer of worlds."
Oh, proud words.
Proud indeed.
So proud.
Death and destruction are
what our species invented with our amazing self-consciousness.
So if it's rapture we want
we will have it,
perhaps sooner than later.
Forget life,
God's speed -
to heaven!
What is time?
What is the end?
I said nothing, I only followed her and enjoyed the colorful surroundings.
(Our king is our concept of freedom. What concept of freedom is that?)
And by the way, I do a great James Corden.
I do existential happiness,
I smile and giggle while pushing the stone up the hill
and laugh madly when I watch it rolling back down into the ravine.
It’s what I do.
It’s the artful deal I made.
Mine will be a Happy Death.
Happy life,
happy death,
humorous and long enough,
humorous and long enough.
Shall we do joie de vivre?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Mundane images, mundane women - it must be mundane.
The Better Angels -
Black First Lady,
Rapper Gal,
and
Comedian from a foreign country.
Bliss -
if only for fourteen minutes and forty one seconds.
Consumed - a blissful cigarette.
A Collection of My Favorite Sam Harris Conversations from “Waking Up Sam Harris Podcast”
Sam Harris
if you are familiar with Sam Harris then you know he’s a controversial intellectual, but I think that if you make the slightest effort to listen to him honestly you’ll be able to understand that his highly considered, nuanced and thoughtful views are not as scary as some people would like to make out.
When I listen to some of these podcasts I get brain orgasms and that’s one of the reasons I want to share them with you. If you're not already a fan I’d recommend you take a look at his work and listen to his podcast; his guests are truly fascinating, prolific and extremely relevant individuals.
I’ve been familiar with the people below for many years now and I find the style of dialogue on Sam Harris’s show adds value to my understanding of these surprisingly insightful intellectuals.
Do yourself a favor, Google these people and become familiar with their thought and work. For me, learning from people like this is the definition of a good time.
Max Tegmark
Paul Bloom
The Dark Side A Conversation with Paul Bloom
https://www.ted.com/speakers/paul_bloom
http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/474588/why-empathy-is-a-bad-thing/
Daniel Dennett
Joshua Oppenheimer
FILMMAKER - Joshua Oppenheimer
The Moral Gaze, A Conversation with Joshua Oppenheimer
Dan Carlin
Douglas Murray
David Deutsch
Jocko Willink
Jonathan Haidt
Michael Weiss
Sam Harris “The End of Faith” One and Two
https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/the-end-of-faith-sessions-1
https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/the-end-of-faith-sessions-2
Don’t shy away, listen to these podcasts whether you're a fan of Sam Harris or not. You won’t regret it and you might even find Sam defanged a little bit.
You might also enjoy The Rationally Speaking Podcast.
Stay curious and keep communicating.
A Few More Thoughts on Brexit
My thoughts below were inspired by a piece I just read on Medium entitled, "A Few Quick Thoughts on Brexit". I have heard a number of decent people voice similar concerns and I'm sympathetic.
In particular, I understand what this writer is getting at here:
"Simply saying they are not valid, or lesser, or they are stupid. Or they are idiots. That is racism’s ugly cousin elitism, so don’t turn it into a fight of the ugly. You think that is going to help people feel included?
If you hate racism, then you really really really should hate any economic and social system that creates and rewards massive inequality. Because when you get that. You get racism."
I often find myself frustrated and adopting a highbrow tone with people when discussing emotionally charged and complex issues that constantly confront us in the media. I could spend page after page on ad hominem attacks on Donald Trump for example. In my opinion, he is a fool and not qualified to be president. But I don't believe that my friendly neighborhood Trump supporter is equally a fool or an idiot for supporting him. I can have conversations, sometimes very productive ones with Trump supporters and gain insight into their concerns.
I am nostalgic for the days when people liked arguing with people face-to-face in cafes. "We argue to discover, knowing we can't injure ourselves." I'm paraphrasing a quote by French Situationist, Guy Dubord from his book, "Society of the Spectacle".
I understand Chris Arnade's point that inequality may be a cause of racism. At the moment' though, I don't want to get into that. The subject of what causes racism today causes many conversations to shut down. My intuition is that pernicious identity politics have infected our use of language to a point of semantic stress that is rather unusual historically speaking.
I do know this however, we need to make an effort to communicate more carefully with people who are simply concerned about their future and tired of being disrespected.
Many people find it difficult to keep up with the rapid changes in culture, technology, science, global business, trade and all the many complex aspects of our world today. We live in tender times, even calling attention to this can be seen as insulting or high-minded.
If we take a moment to think about our unprecedented global circumstances it’s not hard to understand why so many people are frustrated with the status quo. It seems that fewer and fewer of us know what's going on inside the black boxes that we've all come to depend on. It can easily feel like we're losing control. (I can't fix my carburetor, but my car always starts.)
When have humans lived connected to a global, digital network? It seems like it all started for most of us just a couple of decades ago. The technology has evolved and so must our institutions, governments, businesses and ourselves. But how best to inspire this evolutionary process is one of the most complex and irksome questions of all? We are facing coming to grips with processes that lead us towards solutions rather than dogmatic solutions that have existed all along and merely been ignored by the elites, or the intelligentsia, or the technocrats, or the atheists, or our enemies, or _______. Just fill in the blank.
In some ways we are all spoiled consumers who have lost the plot and stopped participating in community building in favor of witnessing the entertaining spectacle of progress with its proliferation of cool stuff and labor saving devices.
Many of us can travel the world and yet we don't, or if we do we do so aimlessly and superficially. This is sad. We live in a world where we have access to many cultures and many of us still prefer to hunker down with the familiar and enjoy commiserating about our trepidations.
I know, you can tell, I'm urbane. But I am not an elitist, far from it, I simply miss the intellectualism of simple workers. Cities and towns used to be full of them; these thoughtful, down to earth, extremely intelligent people who wove the fabric of society and defended families and their communities.
Some of the best, and I do mean best, intellectuals I have known were red necks, farmers, workers, taxi drivers, plumbers, waiters, cowboys, teachers, etc. There was a time when it was fashionable to read a book after work and play pool with friends at the local pub while talking about things that were a challenge to understand. This was, of course, before we could easily live in the comfort our digital silos. This was way back when little Republican children went to the same school with little Democrat children in Washington D.C., and people of different ideological stripes felt a responsibility to collaborate with each other for the greater good, for their children’s future in other words.
The fact remains that there is no turning back without throwing away the tremendous progress we have made, without turning our backs on our human potential, and the better angels of our nature. Our world is not going to get any easier to understand. We’re all going to have to work hard to keep ahead of issues that convey true existential risks.
Think of what kind of economy you want and what the tradeoffs are. We all need the time, patience and self discipline to educate ourselves. We have the resources if we choose to activate them, if we chose to invest in them. Then we need to talk with each other and figure out how to get things done. Many of us do this, but far too many of us just sit back and watch. (Was Chauncey the Gardener really wise, or just simple.)
Beating up Polish workers in the U.K. isn’t going to help you get back to mining coal, weaving cloth or tending land on huge estates. Things are always changing so we must learn how to think ahead and prepare for the future that’s coming, not just the future we are nostalgic for. Only tomorrow is coming and what tomorrow will be like is much harder to predict than it used to be.
No one is going to listen to a sanctimonious jerk drone on about his or her concerns. We need to start by listening to each other and really making an effort to understand each other. We can’t afford to talk over each other anymore. The changes are coming hard and fast and we need the force multipliers born of intelligent and careful collaboration across cultures and ideologies.
And yes, we need to tell it like it is and call it as we see it. Dishonestly has no place in the discussion.
We all need to participate in whatever ways we can to make positive connections and contribute to improvements in our institutions and communities, no matter what silo we live in. If we all open up a little, we might be able to find solutions to our problems, and relieve some of this social and cultural pressure that’s been building up recently.
It all starts with honest and careful communication.
Good Self Defense, Good Platform, Good Shooting
The right tools for the job...
This post was inspired by:
Why I “Need” an AR-15
Enjoy it.
Well done, I enjoyed your article. You did a great job explaining why millions of people love their AR-15. Your points seem indisputable to me. I'll read the other pieces you mentioned.
I have nightmares though and I’ll tell you about that after saddling you with a little background about me. (I'm not assuming you give a shit, but just in case.)
I was born in Colorado, I started traveling when I was still in my mother’s womb and was fortunate enough to go around the world every decade of my life and I’m pushing sixty. I feel at home in our world.
I was given my first shotgun and rifle when I was 10 years old. My family hunted. My dad was a veteran of WWII and he was also assaulted in a home invasion, probably a botched robbery, he was home alone at the time; the bad guys used a knife and got away — my dad nearly died. After that, there were more guns around the house instead of locked up in the utility house where we had a workshop and stored tools and other things.
I won’t bother to list the various types of guns I own and have owned. I will say that I sincerely loved my AR-15 and my Glock 19 for all the reasons you’ve made clear in your article. I sold them fro reasons that will become obvious should you continue reading.
I’ve lived in seven countries. I’ve never been banged up abroad. I’ve never been locked up abroad. I’ve never been mugged, and I’ve never even been pickpocketed. I must be the luckiest man alive. There should be a Guinness record for this kind of stuff.
All of the countries I’ve lived in have very strict gun control laws, no I wouldn't call them gun owner control laws. If I shoot I have to go to the shooting club. Most have to leave their firearms at the club locked up and secure. Unfortunately, or perhaps not, my weapons won’t do me a bit of good if the proverbial excrement hits the fan in Hong Kong. If the culture suddenly becomes rife with roving thugs and gangs I’ll be stuck defending myself with my three-inch blade Spyderco folding knife. I’m doomed!
Thankfully all of the countries I’ve lived in have been extremely safe places. To explain why would be a complex equation that I don’t have time to bore you with here. If you’re curious, have a look at Hong Kong Police Force crime statistics website to get an idea why I probably don’t need to worry too much about having to defend myself. Then just google any police website in any large city in America and weep.
http://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/09_statistics/csc.html
You write on the subject so all this stuff will be trite old news to you perhaps.
What’s the deal? LA Crime rose in 2015? I mean, why is that? If people didn’t have any AR-15 rifles would the crime rate rise even more? What do you think?
http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-crime-stats-20151230-story.html
In 2013 HK had a population of 7.188 million. It’s a crowded city. I never feel threatened here unless I’m out drinking with my British buddies. I’m just teasing.
OK, sorry for all the background info, I just wanted you to know that I don’t have anything against guns, just against drunk Brit football fans. ...teasing again.
Now I’ll get to the point and I’d love it if you would write something on this subject because I sincerely think you’d do a great job. Yes, I'm interested in your solution.
Google this: How many good guys killed a bad guys in the USA in 2015?
11 times a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy, saving lives
http://www.washingtontimes.com/multimedia/collection/good-guy-gun-stopped-bad-guy-gun/
Here’s Why A Good Guy With A Gun Always Gets Killed
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/12/11/Here-s-Why-Good-Guy-Gun-Always-Gets-Killed
Guns in America: For every criminal killed in self-defense, 34 innocent people die.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/19/guns-in-america-for-every-criminal-killed-in-self-defense-34-innocent-people-die/
I’m not going to drill any deeper here. If Americans want Glocks and AR-15s they should have them. If Donald J. Trump wants to buy every adult in America an AR-15 he’s free to do so if he can find the money. America is still a relatively free country and our constitution is still there working for us. If San Francisco makes it hard for you to carry your pistol you can move to Oakland. But here’s the image I can’t get out of my head. Let’s say a shooter with evil intentions wandered into a crowded shopping mall armed to the teeth with enough ammunition to kill hundreds of people and just a fraction of people in the space had pistols, maybe one person has an AR-15 out in the car in the parking lot. ( Oh God, this sounds like Kenya .) The shooting starts, and before the police or security guards arrive on the scene our good citizen “soldiers” pull their weapons but in the confusion aren’t sure who fired the first shot. What happens next? Chaos, more people dead, some by “friendly fire”? Find some data on it and then analyze the heck out of it. I'm interested to see what you come up with. I am not being facetious. We the people of the USA, millions of us as you have pointed out, feel we need to be a bit tactical to be good Americans. Or maybe we just love, love, love target shooting. Those of us with various and necessary resources educate ourselves, we take the time to train with our weapons, we secure them responsibly, we practice rigorous gun safety. A few of us are preparing for — name your conspiracy or catastrophe… We are a spectrum of types of people who own guns.
Sadly the statistics don’t lie, and yes they can be spun. In Africa and Central America, I was lucky and happy. I’ve traveled all my life armed with a camera. Yes, I have my pocket knife, I’d feel naked without it. I’m from Colorado, that’s my excuse. And, I am not a statistic, lucky me. And true, people suck at gauging probabilities.
So what happens when we all have guns? What’s next? Give everyone training and a deputy badge? I’ve said it many times, I feel blessed to have lived in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Europe and other places where I never felt I needed to worry about having a gun for self-defense. Knock wood, I’m a lucky fellow, and those cultures are profoundly good in my humble opinion.
Was I more worried for the month I spent in Italy this year because there were refugees in the country and ISIS had shot up Paris? I wasn't. Am I just stupid? I'll tell you the military people on the streets of Rome are a thing to behold. I'm glad they are there.
It scares me to think of walking around in a town with an armed population. I guess despite my good fortune I just don’t trust people that much, I drive defensively because I don't really trust the other drivers. l have a healthy respect for experts and professionals, though. I respect and count on our well-trained police force in Hong Kong. I feel secure here. It's a civilized place.
Anyway, enjoy your firearms, I mean this sincerely, and continue to educate and communicate around the subject. Until you roll out that solution of yours that you fear will be ridiculed we need to keep the conversation going. I reckon it will take a quiver of solutions to bring gun related deaths in America down to rates we can be proud of.
I know one thing for sure, wisdom is more important than bullets. I’m thankful for having had the chance to live in peaceful cultures around the world. I’m looking forward to the Star Trek culture where we humans don’t have to fear other humans. Yes, I know, I’m a bit of a dreamer.
As for my friends in the US who are preparing for the worst it helps to know this: an Army is better than a Corps, a Corps better than a Division, a Division better than a Brigade, a Brigade better than a Regiment, a Regiment better than a Battalion, a Battalion better than a Company, a Company better than a Platoon, a Platoon better than a Squad, a Squad better than a Section, a Section better than an individual no matter how well trained and armed.
Cooperation, discipline, and training are needed to effectively manage any institution, business, government or group. Values are important. I hope we all spend ample time learning what’s needed to live well together in peace. Read, “The Art of War”. It may be a cliche, but knowing where our values come from and learning from our wise predecessors is great self-defense. Reading books is good self-defense. Compassion and understanding are qualities needed for good self-defense. Mental and physical health are needed for self-defense. Respect and consideration are qualities needed for good self-defense. Love, well, love is really something special.
And yet, I know, it’s only a matter of time until the next mass shooting. I hope the next time some of the victims will bum rush the person with the gun and perhaps save a life or two through their courage and action. Maybe the next time people will get lucky because they’ll be a responsible gun holder in the crowd who’s trained well enough to stop the threat despite the chaos and confusion. Whatever happens, people are going to continue to die of gunshot wounds in the USA. I guess it’s the American way. As I get older it becomes harder for me to justify all the death and destruction caused by people with guns.
Oh God, now I’m thinking about that Biker shootout in Waco last year. Oh man!
Be safe.
Reflections on Different Orientations to Life
William James
How can we explain the difference between one person’s perception of Truth and another’s? Humanity seems like it’s constantly making progress and getting “smarter”, and yet, we also seem to be getting dumber at the same time. Our perception of what is dumb or smart seems to depend on our innate mental and emotional orientation in combination with our unique experiences.
Lately I've been revisiting William James and I'm finding his ideas still compelling and explanatory in this era of cultural Schizophrenia and fragmentation.
“A social organism of any sort is what it is because each member proceeds to his own duty with a trust that the other members will simultaneously do theirs…. A government, an army, a commercial system, a ship, a college, an athletic team, all exist on this condition, without which not only is nothing achieved, but nothing is even attempted.”
Today it feels like we all live in silos, safe places online and in communities where we surround ourselves with people similar to ourselves where argument and discovery become anathema to our way of life. We struggle to maintain our status while signaling desperate, almost religiously motivated beliefs in ideological anchors without which we would disintegrate or be reduced to vain solipsism.
Polarization is a phenomenon often observed in nature. It’s also an easy mental construct, hence the plethora of logical fallacies illustrating our tendencies to “exclude the middle”, or drastically simplify complex systems.
If we are so easily frustrated by attitudes differing from our own, what is the point of even trying to make ourselves understood or of advocating certain beliefs or positions?
(“People are idiots, I give up.”)
At the end of his article “Will to Believe,” James quotes Fitz James-Stephens:
"We stand on a mountain pass in the midst of whirling snow and blinding mist, through which we get glimpses now and then of paths which may be deceptive. If we stand still we shall be frozen to death. If we take the wrong road we may be dashed to pieces. We do not certainly know whether there is any right one. What must we do? ‘Be strong, and of good courage.’ Act for the best, hope for the best, and take what comes. If death ends all, we cannot meet death better."
Conservative and Liberal, surely these concepts change over time. Are you optimistic or pessimistic or a little bit of both depending on the circumstances of any given moment?
ONCE BORN - James’ example of this is Walt Whitman, and he quotes R.M. Bucke’s description of him:
"He never spoke deprecatingly of any nationality or class of men, or time in the world’s history, or against any trades or occupations–not even against any animals, insects, or inanimate things, nor any of the laws of nature, nor any of the results of those laws, such as illness, deformity, and death. He never complained or grumbled either at the weather, pain, illness, or anything else. He never swore. He could not very well, since he never spoke in anger and apparently never was angry. He never exhibited fear, and I do not believe he ever felt it."
On the other side we have the TWICE BORN and pessimism:
"There are persons whose existence is little more than a series of zigzags, as now one tendency and now another gets the upper hand. Their spirit wars with their flesh, they wish for incompatibles, wayward impulses interrupt their most deliberate plans, and their lives are one long drama of repentance and of effort to repair misdemeanors and mistakes."
But are Twice Born types doomed to paralysis and unhappiness? Not necessarily.
The twice-born reach a new and higher plane:
"The process is one of redemption, not of mere reversion to natural health, and the sufferer, when saved, is saved by what seems to him a second birth, a deeper kind of conscious being than he could enjoy before."
James treatment of truths is particularly explanatory. Truths are convenient and practical ideas that move us forward for a time and ultimately change over time. Truth as an adjective, as a subjective value, a phenomenon that derives its value from our feelings and experiences.
One of the most interesting conceptual dualisms of James’ thought is his idea of there being two types of people, the Tender Minded and the Tough Minded.
See:
Temperament
The Tender-Minded
- Rationalistic (informed by principles)
- Intellectualistic
- Idealistic
- Optimistic
- Religious
- Free-Will-Oriented
- Monistic
- Dogmatical
The Tough-Minded
- Empiricist (fact based, “reality” based, evidence based
- Sensationalistic
- Materialistic
- Pessimistic
- Irreligious
- Fatalistic
- Pluralistic
- Skeptical
If one feels that one’s experience leads one to believe that something is true, and this belief is beneficial, and one can act on this truth, and if one’s behavior continually validates this truth over a sustained period of time, then one is secure in his belief.
Criteria needed to believe something to be true:
1. there is enough good evidence to make the idea seem true within the current context...
2. the idea can stand up to counter arguments...
3. the idea has to keep consistently predicting future results...
This works for both types of people in any context throughout history. The Earth was flat and now it’s a sphere. Our explanations of how things work changes over time. Our tools of observation have evolved (technology). Our knowledge base has grown (science). Our narratives have evolved according to our human experience (culture).
Some people believed in angels in the 19th century, while today we have people who believe in ancient aliens. Many put their “faith” in science, reason, evidence based principles, and technology, while others are of a more absolutist orientation maintaining certain attitudes with a kind of religious fervor.
Ideas must continue to predict future outcomes to remain useful and prescient. The utility of beliefs is ultimately important. If your beliefs don’t hold up to scrutiny they are no longer useful, living truths.
William James saw almost all “truths” as akin to religious beliefs. His understanding of “the divine” was broad and inclusive. Religious belief could include things like one’s fervent reverence for The Constitution, Prince, David Duke, Sexism, Nationalism, Racism, Writing on a Scroll, or even one’s fanatic support of one’s local sports club.
In this sense the Russian hooligans in France are engaging in a kind of religious crusade by traveling across Europe to attack opposing teams fans. This behavior has the same emotional quality as a religious belief. When people in the USA join militia groups to defend THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA they are displaying a kind of religious zeal. When people engage in tirades about the intentions of THE FOUNDING FATHERS they are defending their SAINTS.
This kind of religious fundamentalism extends to the Donald J. Trump phenomenon. In a broad sense, Donald Trump’s brand of “benign” racism, sexism and nationalism is a form of religious fundamentalism. (“Gays love me... Mexicans love me... My black man loves me... I’m the best to women... I’m building a wall, he’s Mexican, he can’t be objective...”)
When I shake my head in disbelief at how any intelligent person could support a man like Donald J. Trump I find satisfying explanations in the works of William James, and I’m sure it works both ways. If you’re a Trump fan and you want to know the difference between you and me William James will have something for you too.
In the end it’s down to a “...man’s total reaction upon life”. What’s Godlike for you may seem like the devil to me. And so it goes in 2016 as it was in 1907. We get better and better at certain things but we all remain simply human.
Revisit him here:
BRODO (Meat Bone Soup) Anytime
Well, this really does sound good. I love soup and a good broth is simply satisfying. Creating a rich broth is a labor of love and must be a stress reducer. Perhaps we all need to get back to spending more time in the kitchen hacking our own BRODO recipes.
I tend to think this is more than just a transient food fad. The earliest restaurants were soup kitchens. I first heard about the history of the Suppenküche (soup kitchen in German) from Fabrizio Wiest who started a restaurant of the same name in San Franciso. It opened in 1993 and it's still there although under new ownership. Hearty food never goes out of style.
http://www.suppenkuche.com/dinner.html It's still there... I've got lots of memories of that place.
The Princely Value of Free Thought and Tolerance
Prince is gone but he will continue to inspire generations. He left us infinite possibilities— that’s part of his magic. Without his indisputably inspiring body of work, he would have been just another highly evolved genius that few people knew of. I’ll leave it to his friends and family talk about his life and who he was. I was just an enthusiastic fan. I saw him perform six times and regret not having seen him seven or eight times. I have never seen anyone perform like Prince. He was truly unique. Every once in a while, God gives us human treasure. (In deference to his faith I speak of God.)
Prince, SLAVERY
How improbable it seems to stumble upon the circumstances that would allow a person to develop just the right combination of skills, in loving relationships with other talented people, that would lead to honest creative expression and productivity. I wonder, isn’t that what any healthy human being wants, simply to be able to be her true self and express herself fully.
What kind of legacy can one leave if one is stressed, starved and abandoned?
Our quirky, volatile, emotional, rational human mind, that emergent faculty many of us feel is so worth defending and nurturing, that Godly creative energy nested in nature, those brainy, embodied systems, that essence that sets us apart from other life forms on earth are the qualities that make humans precious. Is humanity destined to become an evolutionary force of life, of good, healthy, balanced expressions of the joy of living? Or are we more akin to a disease, a living nemesis of life, a horrifically imperfect, organic, credulous computing device destined to be a flash in the universe, a temporary anomaly in space-time? When will we arrive at the pinnacle of cultural expression? Perhaps culture is better imagined as a graph revealing ups, downs, and plateaus with only one certain outcome, an eventual end point.
Steven King might write a book about a world full of City States separated by ideological and religious values. Each City State would be pure: A Nazi State; A Catholic State; A Sunni State; An Atheist State; A Mormon State; A Hindu State; An Epicurean State; A Stoic State; An Ayn Rand State; A Goth State; A Paleo State... Imagine a world without Identity politics; a world without politics. It would be a fun read.
In such a world which City State is the best? Where freedom of thought is nonexistent and everyone is literally born into someone’s Utopia/Dystopia can we be fully human? How can we know for certain that North Koreans aren’t living a good life? Objective criteria for making such a judgement could never exist in such a world. Where there is no freedom, and no differences to explore and learn from, the potential for evolution dissolves and the whole miraculous system shuts down.
Everything derives from other things. Any creative person understands this. We are all influenced by many things. Living with an open heart and mind allows us to experience life as a creative journey in which we have a semblance of control. Unpredictability, volatility, mistakes, questions, confusion are all a part of the process of discovery.
Think of the multiverse, in each universe you exist in a matrix of infinite options, let’s think of them as choices for now. At some point in childhood you start making choices, later you grow up to make decisions and each time you make one your subsequent actions create another branch in the evolution of your life experiences. If you overlay all the parallel universes you see the evolutionary tree of “yourself” moving in all sorts of directions with good, bad and mediocre outcomes. In one universe you are someone like Prince, in other’s you are a drug addict living on the streets. Everyone’s multiverse tree is unimaginably large and complex. A Syrian child killed by a drone strike or a barrel bomb at the age of five only made it so far in one particular universe, he hardly made it to the point where he could choose much less make decisions. But this same boy, in another universe had a long and productive life full of love and creativity leaving an amazing legacy to his world.
The tree of possibilities is immense, but I hesitate to call it infinite. I lack the faith and the math skills to go that far. But each of our trees, within that layered, multi-dimensional model of reality, are good and bad outcomes and we are hardly in control of any of them.
Each force in the universe is doing its work, each influencing everything to a certain degree according to the laws of nature, of God. We are part of an ever-changing milieu, the most any of us can do if we are healthy is to learn how to make good choices and decisions. The best thing any of us can do is be compassionate towards ourselves and each other.
I have discovered a new rule for my life. I shall not be the cause of my own pain and suffering. When bad things happen to me I’ll face them stoically and continue to do my best, but I will no longer abuse myself. This I no longer give myself the right to do. I will need a lot of love to find the strength for that. Learning to love oneself for the right reasons, what a corny cliche, and yet, it’s those of us who can reconfigure cliches in profound ways that create the best art. And what is living if not an art?
The theory of quantum mechanics, which reigns over the tiny world of subatomic particles, suggests another way multiple universes might arise. Quantum mechanics describes the world in terms of probabilities, rather than definite outcomes. And the mathematics of this theory might suggest that all possible outcomes of a situation do occur — in their own separate universes. For example, if you reach a crossroads where you can go right or left, the present universe gives rise to two daughter universes: one in which you go right, and one in which you go left.
"And in each universe, there's a copy of you witnessing one or the other outcome, thinking — incorrectly — that your reality is the only reality," Greene wrote in "The Hidden Reality."
Look Mom, No Americans
I doubt Donald Trump’s wealth managers used Mossack Fonseca. Mossak Fonseca is just one of hundreds of law firms around the world that setup offshore companies and manage wealth. A gold spooner like Trump will have the best wealth managers money can buy. (Oh, but wouldn’t it be fun if we could follow Trumps money?)
There is a lot of old money behind the well organize and well-planned dissemination of the Panama Papers. I can’t wait to see the conspiracy theories that are going to flow from this particular leak.
Recent ICIJ funders include: Adessium Foundation, Open Society Foundations, The Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Fritt Ord Foundation, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, The Ford Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts and Waterloo Foundation.
For now, no Americans.
The United States has trade agreements with offshore banking jurisdictions. International trade agreements are unique and complex. If you are a billionaire who’s been around a while you’ll have lawyers who will make sure that you’re working with law firms and banks that are friendly to your purposes in jurisdictions friendly to your purposes.
The Panama US Tax Information Exchange Agreement includes a clause, Article 5, that specifies the terms of information sharing between the two countries on tax related matters:
The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide upon request by the competent authority of the requesting Party information for the purposes referred to in Article 1 of this Agreement. Such information shall be exchanged without regard to whether the requested Party needs such information for its own tax purposes or the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime under the laws of the requested Party if it had occurred in the territory of the requested Party.
The Article goes on to make clear that Mossack Fonseca’s type of services would certainly be included in the information request.
At present, there are no Americans or American firms named but that will change. Have a look at shotgun data created by Brian Kilmartin at CARTODB, a BIG DATA MAPPING PLATFORM
Shotgun Data Map relating to Mossack Fonseca clients: 441 clients, 3,072 companies, 211 beneficiaries and 3,467 U.S.-based shareholders of the Panamanian law firm.
Now take a look at data activity nodes gathered by FUSION INTERACTIVE UNIVERSE.
We will know soon enough who’s been doing business down in Panama. Porn stars, pro-wrestlers and other unfortunates who thought that all they were doing was protecting their wealth from the tax man. The Uber Rich with their sophisticated wealth managers, law firms, and banks will skate free.
You see, there are just no incentives to stop them. The theory goes that huge multi-national corporations and individual billionaires have the resources to know how to spend their money in better ways than government bureaucracies. You see, they’re creating added value and jobs, or robots, or labor saving machines, or labor saving algorithms or some such thing. They understand labor arbitrage, an integral component to the availability of cheap stuff at Walmart. And let’s not forget the luxury goods industry that needs the fraction of one percent to keep going. In other words, where would the world be without the Uber Rich? In fact, could there be anything of beauty in our world without corruption and oligarchs? The paleo world isn’t that attractive to me anyway. And I must admit that I got uber excited by the spectacle of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome this year.
When you look at hardline Trump supporters with their wide hopeful eyes and their firm belief that an entitled billionaire idiot savant can fix everything, you understand the power of elites and the mysterious force of money. When you remember the wide eyed enthusiasm for the first African American president and his simple slogan, “Yes we can”, along with his performance over the past seven and a half years, it’s not hard to comprehend the power of our current system and the passion with which oligarchs will fight to protect it.
When you create the game you make sure the rules are in your favor.
It may seem ironic but it’s probably time to show some compassion towards the Nouveau Riche in America who are petrified right now. They can’t help it that they are not Uber Rich. They never had the pedigree to be Uber Rich.
The lucky few who dropped out of college and became Uber Rich, and then started philanthropic empires are outliers. They came out of the system and truly innovated. They really did create added value, jobs, cool products and labor saving algorithms. We need these people, but do you think their most important incentive was to become Uber Rich? Perhaps for some of them. But I think the motivating factors in their lives were much more complex and of much higher value. They paid their taxes according to what their lawyers and wealth managers stipulated that they could get away with under the law, and sheltered their wealth. Now they are giving their money away and doing it smartly I might add.
We need to strike the right balance between all the great socio-economic theories and the law. We have to struggle forever trying to maintain that balance, for there are many forces that can erode it.
It’s not hard to imagine why poor and middle class people might feel that it’s unfair that they can’t shelter the little they have from irresponsible and venal politicians, greedy business people, poorly run institutions and badly managed bureaucracies that cause harm. When it’s the poor and the middle class who die in wars to make the system friendly for wealthy tax dodgers; when it’s the poor and the middle class who bail out the banks; when it’s the poor and the middle class who are losing their jobs to machines, robots, and labor saving algorithms it’s not hard to understand why people would feel angry, and frustrated. When life is this absurd it’s not hard to understand why simple people would vote for an entitled, idiot savant billionaire.
Joseph Alois Schumpeter, Austrian-born American economist and political scientist.
According to Christopher Freeman (2009), a scholar who devoted much time researching Schumpeter's work: "the central point of his whole life work [is]: that capitalism can only be understood as an evolutionary process of continuous innovation and 'creative destruction'". Wikipedia
Perhaps it’s time to let the destruction begin. Either that or strike a better balance.
Now Read This:
Branko milanovic, serbian born economist - click the image for more information
I'm Spiritual But Not Religeous
I'm spiritual but not religious
Sometimes people share things with you through social media that really make a difference; that have, dare I say, the power to change your worldview and give you a direct line to happiness or make you a better person.
Take this wonderfully inspiring video as a case in point. Very popular I might add, very popular.
Perfect. The truth was never so funny and so profound. The truth will set you free from bull shit. Really it will. Really! Trust me. This I can tell you. The truth is tremendous. Excuse me. Excuse me. The truth is really great.
Meet Ted Cruz - a new patch on an old garment.
What qualifies a person to lead a nation? Perhaps it's just having the gumption to want to lead, and perhaps a little faith, and maybe a bit of talent for showmanship, and let's not forget ambition and a desire for power.
Does anyone really need background knowledge across complex domains to be able to know what decisions need to be made to serve and protect a nation? Do they need to be wise? Do they even really need to honestly care about common people? The game of politics often seems to take precedence over such academic sounding ideals.
I'm sure we can all list, at least, six leaders from history who's megalomania was the primary driver and reason each came to power eventually leading their nation or the world to disaster.
The people never seem to notice that their beloved leader is only in it for himself. It always seems to take hindsight to bring evil to light.
Go ahead, take a minute, and make that list. Mine would take me, at least, two hours to compile. A day if I wished to make a complete list, and I'm no historian.
Are we left with a choice between dumb and dumber, between inept and idiot savant, between bad and evil?
A man can be good at real estate deals and still be a fool. He can be a pious pentecostal and still lead the planet to armageddon.
Perhaps I'll stop right here by accusing myself of hyperbole.
I hope you will enjoy this BBC Documentary, Ted Cruz - Republican.
Happy Easter Globe Hackers & Friends
I find it fascinating that our ideas of nature change over time. It's a mark of our amazing imagination that we can discover and share new ideas about our universe and its meaning. To celebrate Easter this year I want to share a free podcast with you: "Einstein and The Mind of God."
You'll hear from some of the great physicists of our time discussing what made Einstein such an amazing creative thinker, and individual with all of the messy and sometimes exacerbating complexities genius inevitably includes.
Here is a sample of what you can expect from the series:
I suppose Christ rises in mysterious ways, again and again. Here's hoping that understanding grows and things only get better.
Has it been seventy-one years of peace?
Here it comes again, the wrath of mankind!
Baghdad- March 13, 2003
Today any coward can produce shock and awe. With a little bomb here and a little bomb there, her a bomb, there a bomb, everywhere a bomb bomb. Any fool who can pull a trigger can create chaos. Any idiot can get tactical weapons training.
Perhaps we've been too fortunate, perhaps we’ve been too lucky, perhaps the last 71 years — however bloody they have been in regions of the world where our real politics have played out in epic manipulations of our world — has simply been an anomaly.
Yet many of us in the West have enjoyed decades of peace and binging consumerism. We’ve been able to consign death and destruction to the Third World— mere externalities. Our control of commodities and energy has given us the power to own more things and enjoy unparalleled freedom. We’ve been awash in information and entertainment. It’s been a good run.
Today machines are becoming smarter than people and we’re still pining about making widgets. We can’t even respect and feel thankful for the slaves in foreign countries who make our cheap stuff.
(You see, real men are anti-intellectual. It’s time for war!)
We’ve learned nothing from The War to End All Wars and World War II, and we’ve learned nothing from the invention and use of its ultimate terror tool, nuclear bombs.
And so it’s beginning to look like a new race war is brewing. Extremist groups blabber on about it incessantly. Like Charles Manson, they think it’s inevitable. The stated aim of Daesh is unfolding like clockwork, and all the fools are rushing in concocting their poisons. The better angels of our nature are being trumped by our human propensity for fear and hate. Men in bars across the Western world are talking of murder and revenge as if the collateral damage of decades of illegal wars in the Middle East was an insignificant and meaningless spat, a mere preamble to a greater conflict, a warm-up for the big show.
“You see after 9-11 everything changed!” When we become victims the gloves come off.
Why are so many of us so comfortable with hate?
The world is going towards a very dark place exacerbated by technological progress, globalization, global extinction events, climate change, inequality, stateless corporations, narrow ideological thinking, magical thinking and its hate child terrorism. Idiots like Donald Trump are just symptoms of a greater conflagration caused by human psychosis.
We have always been close allies of death and destruction, to understand this one only needs to crack open a religious book and read; one needs only be a fan of mythology and history.
9. Exodus 32:27-29
Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.' "The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, "You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day."(NIV)
If we stop building trust, we will be left with only suspicion and hate.
Prepare to spy on your brothers and sisters; grab your war kit and prepare to fight and die; say goodbye to your sons and daughters; grab your kit for desperate survival— the zeitgeist compels us to do so and we are powerless to stop it.
We are being conditioned to want mass death in the guise of holy war. Has this always been the case? Crusaders unite! Give the people what they really want: to be ugly, to be ruthless, to be brutal like the storied days of old. Prepare to suffer, the party is over, prepare for the wrath of humanity. Unleash the hell stuffed missiles, that divine energy that has been sweating in silos for decades now. Release the poison gas supposedly outlawed in 1925. Let’s spend our genius and treasure on weapons of war: Let's liberate life on earth from the horror of humanity. Let's do what God wants.
6. 1 Kings 20:28-30
Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the LORD: 'Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’” And they encamped opposite each other for seven days.
So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. (NKJV)
Syrian cities today.
But wait, we have a hero waiting in the wings of power and righteousness, President Elect Donald Trump has more powers than all the Marvel Comic Book heroes combined. He will use tools like torture, military might and mind control to rip the faith right out of 1.6 billion Muslims who will magically become Christians overnight turning into evangelical Trump supporters. Our world will finally be perfect. We can dream can’t we?
"He may be talking, but he'll talk a lot faster with the torture…” Donald Trump
It's a complicated thing this Islamist insurgency. Can we see through it? Must all manner of faith be destroyed? Which kind of magical thinking is the best? Is a reality based world view just too hard for evolved human societies to create? Does egotistical ambition always outweigh common sense among the talented and driven?
The desire for recognition is a dangerous addiction.
We will all be forced to draw the line somewhere and all sides will spout a cacophony of opinions. As identity politics grows and calcifies groups will be forced to confront their fates. Some will join in the violence surrendering to a purer nature. Others will take a more nuanced view and struggle to keep the peace from completely falling apart. Peace is like a dam that needs constant maintenance lest it crumbles unleashing utter destruction like a great flood perpetrated by God.
Why did Einstein think that Gandhi was the greatest political mind in human history? History, that untamable beast. When Nation States no longer wage conventional wars we can only wage war on each other. The end of history is just another excuse to clique up and fight!
Pitting one's God against another's God and becoming the agent of God's wrath is, perhaps, just too ingrained in human minds to give up. Religion— that old tribal brick and mortar, that old tribal differentiator, that old tribal motivator, that old trope, may be with us until the end of days.
So what, pray tell, will set my people free?
Preaching Doubt Is Wise
Being skeptical, questioning everything, looking for alternatives to things that are obviously far less than optimal is a labor of love. It takes courage and commitment to turn away from what most people simply take for granted or accept with ease and certainty.
Here's one of my favorite questions:
Are there multiple, overlapping ways to solve this problem.
Most of our problems are solvable. We must continue improving everything. But first we need to face our doubts honestly.
We need only open our eyes and minds and decide that we have a long way to go and we are able for it; and if we recognize that doing the hard work required to improve things will be the greatest, most fulfilling adventure of our lives we can find the strength to carry on despite our doubts.
Today I'd like to share this TED Talk by Casey Gerald.
His talk is inspirational and wise.
Feel free to doubt.
Do the Devil's work.
Mundane Citizen: Is she here now?
Holy Mystic: Yes, my son, she came from the sky, borne by angels. She is coming to you now. A great energy filled their wings produced from refined chemicals from ancient life forms that had for millions of years been hidden deep in the earth. This energy powered these benevolent waifs temporarily removed from the company of God and allowed them to introduce many of God’s children to the wonders of the earth and far away cultures. People are no longer limited by the winds and the forces of the sea. They are finally lifted up into the sky like the stories of old. We are not belabored by our muscle, sinew, bones and lungs; we no longer have to ride on the backs of beasts; this same form of energy now powers our chariots allowing us to do more work, and to navigate greater distances many times faster than before. Our home is both bigger and smaller now. You know all this of course, but I am still amazed and I love talking about it. Praise be to God.
Mundane Citizen: It seems God loves Engineers who create such amazing things.
Holy Mystic: Engineers do the Devil’s work. God uses the Devil to perform miracles.
Mundane Citizen: I see.
Holy Mystic: Do you feel better now, knowing that she is on her way?
Mundane Citizen: Oh yes, I feel much better. Is she well?
Holy Mystic: Yes, quite well, spirits entered her mind changing its state releasing her anxiety like air escaping a tight place.
Mundane Citizen: It seems God loves Psychiatrists and Neurologists who spend their days learning how the brain and the mind works; indeed it seems that these Scientists inspire Chemists who find ways to use chemicals to relieve pathological states of mind and body.
Holy Mystic: Both psychiatrists and chemists do the Devil’s work. God uses the Devil to reveal great mysteries to mankind. But these discoveries are actually revealed through God’s Laws. The laws of this particular universe are the One God's Laws; make no mistake. Certain miraculous methods and best rituals help mankind produce substances, materials, and tools that help us live longer, more productive, happier and healthier lives. Praise be to God.
Mundane Citizen: Surely God made humans very clever to uncover these mysteries of nature. Indeed, Scientific Theories are useful and predictive.
Holy Mystic: Yes, God is great. Prophecies are the closest we come to any truths. Many don’t understand this. Do you feel better now?
Mundane Citizen: Yes, Priest, I feel very much relieved. Theories and prophecies are synonymous are they?
Holy Mystic: Yes and no, but no matter. Did you know that later she will journey to the Heavens with divination practices and tools to discover, on some deeper level, how the stars and their intimate objects move and behave. Mysterious writings and characters are constantly being written to make these things possible and their workings transparent to the mind. These symbols are used to represent the mysteries of God’s mind and God's Laws; even though one can never really know God's mind, but God's Laws are actually available. All of this is done with a certain amount of independence and freedom of will. And from these musings they create fantastic tools that help them create even more amazing things. All from God's Laws. God is great!
Mundane Citizen: Indeed, God must love Inference too. Why not I suppose? It seems God also loves Physicists, Cosmologists, Mathematicians and those Engineers who do the Devil’s work. They produce Spacecraft, Gravity Detectors, Nuclear Power Pants, Rockets, Particle Accelerators and Colliders, Telescopes, Microscopes and Satellites that both discover things about Nature and this particular Universe and serve to make Life more convenient for us. Life is messy but super interesting isn't it.
Holy Mystic: You are learning my friend, but I must insist, physicists, cosmologists, and mathematicians are also doing the Devil's work. God uses the Devil for many things. ‘Life’ is not real but an illusion. This is a temporary mind place, a stopover on the way to somewhere else. Even God was mystified by his creation so he created another conscious being to give him a new form. When this happened he split in two and can only be brought back together when mankind finally understands. Mankind’s understanding is vital to Cosmic Integrity. A fall from Grace can only be made right through Faith in this understanding, this Vital Integrity.
Mundane Citizen: May I ask what it is that we are to understand ultimately?
Holy Mystic: You are to understand that you are to cling to God your Creator.
Mundane Citizen: This seems selfish to me for some reason. Shall I pursue knowledge in order to understand how to cling to God? Which books or practices must I adopt?
Holy Mystic: Just do the Devil’s work my son and many generations from now perhaps God will Reveal himself to mankind. The process for this is the process for this. As for books; concern yourself only with the books that haven’t been written yet.
Mundane Citizen: Am I to understand that God’s ancient prophets were more pure or less pure having not known the Devil’s work? Were they not more interested in composing books than considering the future? Is the word of God not important? It seems they were more concerned about humanity's end— at least, many were.
Holy Mystic: Precisely my son, the Devil’s work was still hidden in those days. God did not tell Moses to write e=mc2 on a stone tablet. You must die first before you can be Reborn. The ‘age of wonder’ was the beginning of all of the Devil’s work, but as the generations come and go throughout time (as time is perceived by us) bodies of nature constantly change, and the light may be switched on or off depending on the caprice of circumstances and probabilities. As for those kinds of books, bibliolatry will sully your heart and pollute your mind.
(mundane citizen thinks for a moment)
Mundane Citizen: It seems at that God also loves Biologists.
Holy Mystic: Yes, you are beginning to see. Biologists do the Devil’s work. Any science known to mankind is the way of the Devil. God's mind is infinitely open and much more than full; God's mind is creative.
(quick pause)
Holy Mystic: Do you feel better now?
Mundane Citizen: I suppose so, perhaps things are not as complicated as I thought.
Holy Mystic: Things are both complex and simple: when you engage in the Devil’s work complexity becomes simple until you meet complexity again. It is a great cycle that is constantly begging the question in order to Reveal the right question.
Mundane Citizen: Father, what is time?
Holy Mystic: There are many answers to this question. I will give you the best one of many. Time is an illusion, my son. Space and time— both illusions. The material world is also an illusion whether dark or light. Energy is also an illusion, even dark energy. A form is an illusion. Nothing bends. There is nothing small and there is nothing big. Relativity is not relative. All things as we perceive them are derived from only one thing— God. God is everywhere and nowhere until one is reunited with God. One either observes God and is not forgotten by God or ignores God and does not truly live. I would say, does not even exist.
Mundane Citizen: Oh, I see. The quantum of God is truly spooky.
Holy Citizen: What you said just now is interesting. This is an insight that should be more common.
Mundane Citizen: Thank you, Father.
(A long pause... A thoughtless quiet ensues— an almost pure meditative state. Here our interlocutors can almost feel the gaping mouth of the void.)
Mundane Citizen: What is love?
Holy Mystic: Love is also an illusion. Love, a movement and a rest, an action; there is only The Loving— but, this action comes and goes; it oscillates. The Right Intention is the important thing (if one can call a thing a thing at all) people often mistakingly call this ‘God’s Love’. And yet I must say that God's Love is very close to the Right Intention.
Mundane Citizen: Yes, I can see that a thing isn’t necessarily a thing but only a designation or category, a tool for human thought. If one presumes that certain premises are correct... Sorry, I'm lost. It’s hard for a simple person like me to make such assumptions. The right intention? This escapes me for now, but I am getting something from contemplating it. I feel it.
Holy Mystic: It doesn’t matter.
(a pregnant pause)
Mundane Citizen: How can an illusion exist? Or does a kind of meta-illusion perform some necessary function in your Cosmology, Philosophy, Exegesis, Theology or spiritual Insight?
Holy Mystic: Yes, in a certain— sense.
Mundane Citizen: Is wisdom difficult to interpret?
Holy Mystic: Not necessarily my son, Wisdom is like pornography, a trained mind will know it when it experiences it.
Mundane Citizen: Interesting analogy...
Holy Citizen: Let your mind do what it must. This 'doing' you will perceive as your will. In reality, only God’s will is done. You are only here for a short while. Your real place is not a place, your true life waits for you in another dimension, in another state of being. For now just do the Devil’s work and see what happens.
(Holy mystic puts his hand on Mundane Citizen's shoulder for a second)
Holy Mystic: Do you feel better now?
Mundane Citizen: Yes, Father, I suppose so. God uses the Devil’s work for the good of humanity, or perhaps not, or perhaps it shouldn't really matter what God’s intentions are. I guess I will have to find out what the right intention is. I am still not clear on that.
(a short pause, Mundane Citizen takes a deep breath)
Mundane Citizen: I sometimes feel as if I am God’s creator. But this is ridiculous.
Holy Mystic: No, my son, God simply is the Devil’s work. When all is united in God something different will begin again. Do you see now? Do you feel better now?
Mundane Citizen: May I say something— I mean no disrespect…
Holy Mystic: Certainly my son, say whatever you wish and do not fear. I am not your judge or your punisher. I am not the one to show you the way or any which way. Only mankind can oppress mankind. Only an individual can oppress an individual. Freedom is also an illusory state of perception and can only be experienced in fits and starts. Only mankind can grant licenses or grant liberty. Remember what you render unto Caesar. Only mankind can imprison itself. Temporary states of being moment-by-moment lead nowhere but where they are determined to go. A true man of God cannot oppress another human being. We are here to facilitate your liberation if only for a moment.
Mundane Citizen: You are a very strange Priest.
Holy Mystic: All true Mystics are strange, surely you know this. I didn't figure you for a fool.
Mundane Citizen: I am no fool, I just wanted to say that. One more question?
Holy Mystic: Ask as many as you wish.
Mundane Citizen: What is God?
Holy Mystic: Never mind God— just do the Devil’s work.
Mundane Citizen: Thank you, father.
Holy Mystic: Farewell my son…
(Holy Mystic directs a short, dignified bow towards Mundane Citizen and Mundane Citizen reciprocates respectfully. They part.)
Mundane Citizen: Oh, Father— why do you use the word “mankind”.
Holy Mystic: It doesn’t matter, we all know we are only human.
(Holy Mystic turns away again and then says over his shoulder...)
Holy Mystic: Tell her I said hello.
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe…
Dr. Francis Crick is giving a seminar on consciousness at Salk Institute in La Jolla California.
Attendee: “But Dr. Crick, you haven’t bothered to define the word ‘consciousness’ before embarking on this.”
Crick: “I’d remind you that there was never a time in the history of biology when a bunch of us sat around the table and said, ‘Let’s first define what we mean by life.’ We just went out there and discovered what it was—a double helix. We leave matters of semantic hygiene to you philosophers.”
What we have here is a failure of imagination.
Cool Hand Luke
It seems that many people in the U.S. are afraid that America is losing its global hegemony. There are barbarians at the gates. Conventional means of domination have failed us over the last 30 years. Some people would have you believe that the end is near. We're losing everything. The zero sum game is played out and the United States is going to be the ultimate loser.
Barbarians at the Gates by Chris Appel
Beyond all that, the "Us vs. Them" divisiveness is increasing as evidenced by "the culture wars" that everyone on all sides is talking about.
So how do we win, by brute force? Is there only one way to think about how groups of people around the world can coexist in a peaceful, sustainable way where more and more people can thrive and the integrity and health of our planet's ecosystem can be maintained for the benefit of all life on earth? And do we need ever more material wealth to thrive? Obviously not. So who are the people imagining a better way? Where are the communities that are doing things differently? Can these communities compete with the powers that currently control the global socio-cultural narrative?
Joseph Nye developed neoliberal ideas of power and independence way back in the 1970s, later coining the phrase "soft power" to differentiate between attraction and persuasion vs. coercion. In 2004, his book "Soft Power" continued this train of thought after the horrific events of 9-11, at the height of the war on terror. I was in Japan when I read it and I remember having some fairly deep conversations with Japanese colleagues about the idea of soft power. One can imagine how nuanced my Japanese friends views concerning the subject might have been.
Soft power sounds nice. Shall we woo them with romance and magic, seduce them with high culture, convince them through wise sounding lectures, entice our competitors and enemies with promises of progress and wealth beyond imagination; tell them all about freedom and democracy, tell them how soft the rabbits are and how they'll be able to pet them anytime they want if they just get with the program. We'll get you educated, air-conditioned, and freed from all those things keeping you from the American Dream. Never mind that you might be perfectly happy with your current culture.
It's a simple and intuitive idea. I remember decades ago, way before I knew much of anything about anything, joking that all the USA needed to do to control the world was to disseminate sports franchises, theme parks, Hollywoods and all the paraphernalia of consumer culture to places too rough and out of touch with the American way to fall in line with the needs and desires of The American Total World Domination Company. I'm being slightly facetious, Noam Chomsky and Chris Hedges are not.
When did globalization start? Perhaps when humans migrated out of Africa 60,000 years ago. Or perhaps when the Spanish and Portuguese jump started globalization at the beginning of the age of discovery and hence kicked off the original great game between East and West. Let's not forget the VOC, Dutch East India Company, or the British East India Company. Wait, what about the ancient Silk Road routes that were regularly used from 130 BCE? It all depends on how we define globalization I guess.
Capital Stock - a Dutch innovation.
Humans are very robust, competitive, violent, intelligent and adaptive. There is evidence of human trade going back to the Stone Age. We have conquered the world and each other for thousands of years. We did it for food, hunting grounds, territory, material goods, mates, slaves, gold, silver, and money. Controlling commodities is a sure way to get rich and powerful. And some would say, going back to the 19th century right up to now that the greatest commodity to control is people.
Can you imagine bumping into a stranger way back when? It must have been mortifying, a kill or be killed emotional reflex that stays with us today and is evidenced by the ease with which we turn toward xenophobia when anyone or any organization cries boogie man. I'm also thinking of Al Pacino in Carlito's Way when he starts to feel like he's being setup. He has to think fast, and figure a way out, but way before his strategizing starts he has that instantaneous, deep down gut feeling that something isn't right and he's going to have to fight and perhaps kill to survive.
http://www.pictureboxfilms.com
I used to bristle when people talked about human nature. We are complex creatures, how could anyone be able to talk about human nature. Over the years, we've learned a lot more about our species. But nature is a secretive thing and we'll need a lot more time to figure out what really makes our species so combative and so prone to certain social norms. The Us vs. Them mentality isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Will we evolve? Will things change? Perhaps those are impossible questions to answer. One thing is for sure we can't tolerate a failure of imagination anymore.
This brings me to the point of my post.
I highly recommend you read this recent article from The Baffler. Keep Fear Alive The bald eagle boondoggle of the terror wars by Kade Crockford.
Watch this too, they're making good points that need to be made and need to be thought about.
Can We Reconcile Hatred and Human Potential?
A friend mentioned that it’s very important to mind one’s spiritual hygiene. He felt that your overall state of mind at death will linger on forever somehow. His primary concern is with overcoming hate in one’s life. To this, I quipped: What about the guy who’s had a bad year and is in a particularly nasty head space when he’s suddenly hit by a bus? What lingers when your atoms recycle through natural processes? Some people claim to know. It seems that the mind of God is easily accessible to certain people via profound spiritual experiences.
His concern with hatred is truly important regardless of its narrative package.
I was being a bit cheeky talking about getting hit by a bus. It is indeed important to overcome hate— for uncountable reasons. We can leave death out of it. Hate is bad for everyone. One might even say that hatred and ignorance are the leading causes of death.
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24
When I'm frustrated, angry or disappointed I never feel hate, I only feel exhausted for a moment and then I let the emotion go. If an evil man is horrifically punished I feel neither regret or satisfaction. When my team wins I feel happy only for a moment.
Human emotions should flow naturally and freely. The human intellect must be trained to flow. The human spirit needs the kind of dedicated, methodical training an athlete endures. Language comes from the embodied mind, wisdom from the embodied spirit.
spiritual (adj.)
c. 1300, "of or concerning the spirit" (especially in religious aspects), from Old French spirituel, esperituel (12c.) or directly from a Medieval Latin ecclesiastical use of Latin spiritualis "of or pertaining to breath, breathing, wind, or air; pertaining to spirit," from spiritus "of breathing, of the spirit" (see spirit (n.)). Meaning "of or concerning the church" is attested from mid-14c. Related: Spiritually. An Old English word for "spiritual" was godcundlic.
In avibus intellige studia spiritualia, in animalibus exercitia corporalia [Richard of St. Victoror (1110-1173): "Watch birds to understand how spiritual things move, animals to understand physical motion." - E.P.]
Life on Earth is not at all like the vacuum of space. We breathe, we are not void although some of us can contemplate the void and play with concepts like infinity. We can be overwhelmed by a feeling that the rock in front of us is alive but we know intuitively that animals and minerals are very different things. Here is a question too many of us take for granted: What is energy? Read up on it from a scientific perspective, or even just a linguistic perspective.
Kinetic Energy - Chemical Energy - Heat Energy and the work is done.
I try to understand myself, the world, nature and why people behave the way they do.
When I have a profound "spiritual" experience I don't assume it necessarily has anything to do with God — this human construct we seem to need so desperately — I simply meditate upon the incomprehensible and enjoy the wonder of it all.
"The lack of a unifying theory would be a perfect embodiment of Haldane's quote that "the universe is not only queerer than we suppose but it's queerer than we can suppose". Our failure at finding a unified theory would only mean our success in discovering that the universe is an inexhaustible source of riches. For this we should be grateful." Freeman Dyson
(Yes, I'm familiar with Dyson's take on Climate Change. You can be mistaken and still be brilliant.)
If we are fortunate life will be a surprising and enjoyable adventure; we'll be able to do our best and come what may, for better or worse, we’ll grow.
I feel very comfortable being insignificant. I'm a puff of whatnots in this particular universe.
This is one of the many reasons why the Stoics make sense to me:
“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.”
“All cruelty springs from weakness.”
― Seneca
Biology is a messy, complex thing, there is nothing simple about it, and yet people crave simplicity and easy answers. Simple stories are sticky.
We are all extremely fortunate to learn whatever we learn while we're alive. We are here for such a short time that it's amazing that any of us can become truly wise. Generation after generation is strapped by common biases. We go round and round dealing with the same problems in new ways. (I think of Kant, Hegel and Marx here. Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis— and yes, great insights often become dogma.)
“If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people.”
Marx, Letter to His Father (1837)
Despite the rapid growth of literacy in the 20th Century, and information technology becoming ubiquitous in the 21st Century, so many of us remain ignorant. Garbage in, garbage out... This is why it's so important to take pains to spend time with the best books, the best ideas, the best people, the best activities one can find, and to do those things that make you healthy and happy. A happy and healthy person’s love and intellect are potentially boundless. Those of us who have been neglected rarely flourish. Given a little love, constant education and good health, the human mind can become a truly infinite resource.
Loving-Teaching-Giving
Getting stuck in the mire of petty prejudices is tragic. Hate is the worst kind of mental quicksand.
It's practically impossible to hate if you love learning and growing.
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
― Marcus Aurelius
Special & General Theories of Faith and Mystery
I have been told by some Christian friends that they are not interested in learning things about Christian tradition and that writers like Dr. Robert Price author of "Blaming Jesus for Jehovah" intend to "rip the faith right out of their hearts."
We know so much more about this photo than the ancients knew about the night sky.
I suppose some Christians haven’t the courage to face the real mysteries of life. Perhaps they fear their fragile narrative would fall apart if they learned something about their tradition.
For some, ignorance is truly bliss. Simple, faithful Christians can subscribe to whatever nebulous fantasy their group imagines and revel in the belief that anthropologists, historians, scientists, and other “curious types” are incapable of experiencing their special state of ecstasy.
It must be truly wonderful to belong to such an exclusive club, or to float on the bandwagon of the masses.
I’ve heard many Christian friends in Hong Kong say things like: "I am not curious and people who are, are sad, soulless creatures." "Our world is magic, yours is mundane." “I don’t need an explanation because I feel it.” “My Jesus is indefinable.” "The Bible is a magic book."
Jesus said: "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you.
Jesus said: "Those who know all, but are lacking in themselves, are utterly lacking."
From the heretical gnostic Gospel of Thomas.
(Agape becomes Christian kōan.)
Whatever “it” is, of course, remains undefined— a vague wisp of righteousness, a warm fuzzy feeling, a steady sense of perpetual comfort. In a Christian mystic’s rarified state of being these vague feelings equal meaning, I suppose. As if calling oneself a Christian bestowed a kind of monopoly on goodness. Those magic words: Jesus; Christian; Christ; Bible are sufficient ends in themselves. Just say the words. Eat, pray, love.
Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō
(It should be obvious that anyone regardless of their background or tradition can do good works.)
There’s no need to know anything about Byzantium or the Holy Roman Empire. History is forbidden fruit. Any form of knowledge is a fall from grace. Those who seek to understand are committing the original sin all over again. Any triumph of understanding is a betrayal of our divine ignorance.
Grace requires pure faith in ignorance— a childish state of perpetual innocence.
Just take that fateful leap into the bosom of the mono-father out there in heaven somewhere and everything will make sense. Just submit to the lawmaker. Just surrender your will, your freedom, and your mind and you will have everlasting life.
(I think of the displays of emotion North Koreans bestow upon their leader and the polemic of Christopher Hitchens.)
It takes courage to learn about one's tradition.
The kind of Christian who would read this book would be courageous and have faith in himself. The kind of Christian who would read this book would already have a glimmer of understanding of the real mysteries of the universe. The kind of Christian who would read this book would know that knowledge of oneself and the world is a good and beautiful thing.
Faith without curiosity and understanding is shallow. Every child knows this.
"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it's comprehensible." Albert Einstein
Now he's my kind of mystic.
A true curious mystic.
Blue Birds Fly & I Keep Singing Bowie Songs
OK, this is personal.
I became acquainted with David Bowie when I was a young teenager in Denver Colorado. I visited a friend and we sat listening, dissecting the lyrics and singing along. We knew we loved this guy. He was someone we could relate to, he seemed by virtue of his voice and art to understand us personally. As the years flew by he kept giving and I was never disappointed. Right up until the end, he was creative and courageous. His last song at once creepy, poetic and profound. He was so alive when he made it and yet he knew he was dying of cancer. He truly lived while dying.
Trailer Video Description. In tincidunt erat dolor. Nunc quis tortor ligula. Etiam tortor odio, bibendum at egestas eget, elementum id orci. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi imperdiet faucibus ligula, id vulputate sapien accumsan eget. Duis sit amet ante augue, ultricies gravida dolor.
Life will kill us all. The difference between us is how well we live and how well we express our true selves. It's a downhill run for me now. If I live until 70 I'll be thinking of David Bowie and about how many bullets I've dodged. If I don't make it until 69 I won't be surprised. This is partly my response from stoicism, for we must all be ready to die, ready for anything to live well.
I'm really very sad he's gone. I felt the same way when John Lennon was murdered by a goofball with a handgun, but I was so young then, i could only feel rage, vengeance and heartbreak. The feeling of loss, this time, is better somehow. I guess dodging bullets has it's charm and it's therapeutic effects.
gun sex
Thank you Helen Green for making this. I'll cherish this little film from now on and I hope you keep conceiving and representing his birthdays for a few more years.
I really loved this movie. I think it's time for a movie night. I'd better call my friends and buy good quality copies of his films. It could be a nice party - over tea of course.
A classic scene that really effected me when I saw it. I know memory is fallible but I believe I almost cried tears of triumph.
I'm lucky to have seen six of his shows over the past 40 years.
I'm sorry friends, I'll still continue to sing his songs at parties, while driving, at the Circle K while drinking beer with friends and anytime I feel pretty damn happy to be alive - even if I'm out of tune and with my voice cracking from old age and the love or red wine.
Adios D.B.
Have A Much Happier 2016
Maybe it's time to rethink what we want for ourselves. What the heck, 'tis the season for resolutions and reflection after all.
chienandalou ecstatic man
Allow me to share a few of my favorite videos from The School of Life. Enjoy.
At the heart of Japanese philosophy and wisdom lies a concept called 'wabi-sabi'; a term which denotes a commitment to the everyday, the melancholic, the somewhat broken and the imperfect. It's a term we need a lot more of in our lives.
I really hope you all have a truly wonderful year.