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.
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.
What Can A Technologist Do About Climate Change - a must read!
Planet Beautiful
I really hope everyone will read this.
What A Technologist Can Do About Climate Change (A Personal View) by Bret Victor
We indeed dump carbon into the atmosphere at an amazing rate and we are causing change.
We have solutions all around us, but we need the social and political will to coordinate efforts across domains to implement solutions that will mitigate and possibly even reverse the damage.
The science, engineering and technology sectors need to increase their efforts and attack this problem now. Leaders need to get behind these efforts. We need a global push.
There is no magic bullet. We need a carefully integrated, coordinated and comprehensive bundle of solutions.
The information on this web page, along with its hyperlinks, addresses how we might do this and touches on all the important aspects of the problem and its solutions.
This web page is an amazing resource. Please study it and share it with everyone you know.
My heart goes out to mothers of Jihadists, and I need to thank the people of Paris.
These are mothers of children who joined ISIS.
Remember, no one can make you waste your time on any social media platform. Everyone is welcome to scroll through and pick and choose what they want to take a look at. We can all comfortably retreat to our echo chambers and enjoy the solace of our own cliques whenever we feel too annoyed to wince and glance at another person’s point of view.
What I’m sharing now is an interview from the BBC World Service series, Documentaries. “Mothers of Jihadists” reminds us that even the evilest people on earth are human and came from real families, families full of love, hope, and compassion.
It’s easy to let heuristics and biases, our hard-wired xenophobic tendencies, our fears, and emotions push us towards hate. We are all only human. Our genetic differences being insignificant compared to ants. We are one family responsible like no other species with the heavy burden of being able to determine not only our own fate but the fate of other species of life on Earth.
If we surrender to medieval, regressive ideologies by forgetting our own hard fought battles, our enlightenment, and scientific heritage, we have already lost our souls and have become the walking dead. Remember what we are fighting for.
Talk to young people, talk to families, talk to friends and strangers and let them know who you are and why you care. The outsider is just like you, worried and concerned about outsiders.
We can rise to the challenge and do better, or we can go with the flow of fashion, hatred, greed and fear and surrender to fate as if we had no power at all.
Solutions to our problems are complex and difficult to solve so let’s not be too lazy. If we put in a little effort into solving our problems in community with others we can still make things better.
This is what I’ve learned from Paris in 2015. I am grateful to the people of Paris. My heart goes out to mothers of jihadists.
I believe in progress and I am not willing to give up yet. That statement is as close to a prayer as I can stomach right now.
We live in a dark world full of light. How ironic is that?
#JeVis
"Earth To Paris" We caused climate change and we're going to have to deal with it - now!
Don't forget the hashtag like I did. #earthtoparis
I am amazed when I talk with people who don't think that human activity has any effect on our global ecosystem. Really? Look around you.
Please join the Earth To Paris grassroots campaign to make sure our leaders understand that you are concerned.
We caused the problem and we're going to have to fix it.
http://earthtoparis.org Send a message from #EarthToParis telling world leaders to make bold commitments to combat climate change at the UN 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21). Share a Video or a Photo by Nov 22nd using the hashtag #EarthToParis. We'll Make Sure Your Voice Gets Heard....
Expanding the climate conversation
to advance progress for people and planet
This December, world leaders are gathering in Paris for a landmark United Nations convening to complete a new global climate agreement – an extraordinary opportunity for the international community to rise to meet the threat of climate change. To achieve a world where everyone lives with dignity and opportunity – a vision leaders embraced in the global goals for sustainable development – we must take strong action on climate change.
Everyone has a role to play. As governments convene for the conference, civil society groups, businesses, experts, innovators and citizens will also gather to share climate solutions and to let leaders know that we care about the outcome of Paris.
Earth To Paris—the Coalition:
What happens in Paris matters to all of us, which is why we need to expand the climate conversation beyond Paris and to the world.
A diverse coalition of groups – from foundations to technology companies to media organizations and more – is coming together to launch Earth To Paris, an innovative campaign and convening strategy to drive awareness and host events, including a two-day “Earth To Paris—le Hub” (December 7 & 8) to highlight the connection between people and planet and the need for strong climate action; showcase climate solutions and innovations; bring together communities to promote collaboration; and engage people around the world in the dialogue happening in Paris. This coalition will raise the pro le, volume and level of discussion and action around COP-21.
Earth To Paris—le Hub:
On December 7 at the Petit Palais and December 8 at UNESCO headquarters, experts, advocates, CEOs, and other leaders will discuss creative and impactful solutions to climate change. Through digital com- munications, people and groups across the globe will be able to join the event, share ideas, and raise their voices for climate action. This is an opportunity to raise awareness of the important conference taking place in Paris and to inspire bold, meaningful action for people and the planet.
Earth To Paris—the Drumbeat:
In the lead up to the United Nations convening, the Earth To Paris coalition will lead a digital activation, social media conversation with the hashtag #EarthToParis, and rally global voices on climate change.
earthtoparis.org // December 7-8 // Paris, France
Related
What if we told you even a wonderful landscape could potentially reach dangerous levels of pollution? In some regions, human activity has left over invisible harmful elements from as early as Antiquity.
AXA Futures Plenary Session on Climate Change, July 1st, hosted by the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London In December 2015 the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) will take place in Paris and is widely expected to see countries pledging to introduce more stringent cuts in carbon emissions and debating how to control global warming.
To help inform the public discussion in the run-up to the COP-21 Paris climate conference, the AXA Research Fund had researchers, AXA experts, NGOs, students and media participate in a climate risk workshop at the occasion of its 2015 Annual Ceremony. Watch the best-of!
Why Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature? Another in the series, "For those of us who didn't go to Yale".
I'm having a dandy old time on social media and at several blogs talking with people on different sides of this or that social-political fence regarding the U.S. presidential race. Whether you are a "Libtard", a "Moronative", a Commie, some brand of Anarchist, a Democratic Socialist (sounds so Nazi right? Right?) or a complete and utter Apathetic, we all seem to have some normative, set-in-stone definition of who we are politically, and therefore, certain things annoy the hell our of us.
One of my favorites kinds of pedestrian pundits is the current breed of constitutional libertarian. I always wonder when I hear someone tell me that they are a constitutional libertarian if they have heard of John Locke or anyone else from the global canon of political philosophy. Perhaps not, but I'm sure their heart is in the right place and they believe they are involved with the right side of the fence.
I have recommended the books, "The Blank Slate", "Thinking Fast and Slow" and "The Righteous Mind" to everyone regardless of how they define their political place in the world. I do this again and again and am doing so again here. At the same time, I wonder how much this helps. We have several things that contribute to our political biases that are inescapable: our genes, our circumstances at birth, our family, the quality of our education, our experiences and social normative pressures. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. There is also a vast literature about how grandparents lives influence us the minute we are conceived. It seems we all inherited certain propensities from our parents and ancestors. Imagine that.
So what do philosophy and the science of human nature have to do with my political discussions with friends and acquaintances on social media? It occurs to me that although all of us inherit political views from our parents, society and experience, very few of us take the time to reflect upon our points of view in any meaningful way. We simply take it for granted that we are a member of a pure, and righteous political clique. We're certain that if everyone just followed our ideology we could solve all of our problems. We imagine the good old days of Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan as if they were truly the best of times, forgetting how messy things really were and always have been regardless of who's in charge. This is not to say that a leader can't have an incredibly positive impact. Take Augustus as an example, the founder of the Roman empire. Perhaps Rome never had it so good as when the great Augustus created the Pax Romana and lead his vast empire for the longest period of any Roman leader. Oh, to have been born into those good old days. I sometimes think that Baby Boomers, my generation, had the best of times and worry about what we're leaving behind for the children of Millennials.
You all know that I'm a big fan of continuing education. I think we all benefit by continuing to learn, by broadening our horizons, and picking up new skills. Everyone today needs to be an autodidact, a bit of a skeptic and brush up on their critical thinking skills. We are, like our ancestors before us, trapped on an arch of time that is unpredictable, unfathomable and heading towards a black box we call the future. Even with our science and technology most of us are simply blind to how things really work. Ten years from now things will not be simpler, even if we do swallow handfuls of Modafinil. (Oh, the side effects!)
In an attempt to encourage people to break out of their bubble, to flee the echo chamber for the wide open spaces of endless possibilities I'd like to recommend the wonderful work of one of the most respected professors of philosophy in the world - Dr. Tamar Gendler.
Below are some of her lectures and an interesting paper she wrote for the Journal of Philosophy. I truly believe that everyone no matter where you're from or what side of a particular fence you're on, can benefit from this material. Please take your time and listen to these lectures. Listen when you are cooking or cleaning or taking a shower. There's no excuse not to understand ourselves better. We simply must understand each other better if we are going to create a long lasting Pax Homo Humanus. August times can be ahead.
Alief and Belief Tamar Szabó Gendler1 tamar.gendler@yale.edu Draft of 1 October 2007 Forthcoming: Journal of Philosophy Abstract: I introduce and argue for the importance of a cognitive state that I call alief. Paradigmatic alief can be characterized as a mental state with associatively-linked content that is representational, affective and behavioral, and that is activated – consciously or unconsciously – by features of the subject’s internal or ambient environment. Alief is a more primitive state than either belief or imagination: it directly activates behavioral response patterns (as opposed to motivating in conjunction with desire or pretended desire.) I argue that alief explains a large number of otherwise perplexing phenomena and plays a far larger role in causing behavior than has typically been recognized by philosophers. I argue further that the notion can be invoked to explain both the effectiveness and the limitations of certain sorts of example-based reasoning, and that it lies at the core of habit-based views of ethics.
http://www.pgrim.org/philosophersannual/pa28articles/gendleraliefbelief.pdf
Revisiting Dr. Erich Fromm
"Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape."
I first read his works when I was 19 or 20 years old and I was rapt. Recently I saw a piece on Dr. Fromm on the wonderful website Brain Pickings that reignited my interest in this marvelous intellect. His works are still relevant. If you've read him I recommend rereading his works. If you're unfamiliar read some of his books, you'll be happy you did. His style is neither too dense or too technical and he writes with a heart full of love. His insights are predictive and go straight to the heart of human nature and society maintaining their authority even in the 21st Century.
Click on the image to visit Erich Fromm dot net
To get reacquainted with Dr. Fromm spend a few minutes here:
The Mike Wallace Interview: Erich Fromm (1958-05-25) Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and social critic, talks to Wallace about society, materialism, relationships, government, religion, and happiness.
From the archives of the UCLA Communications Studies Department. Digitized 2013. The views and ideas expressed in these videos are not necessarily shared by the University of California, or by the UCLA Communication Studies Department.
We forget our intellectual heritage at our own peril.