tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6299778085761977152024-02-06T20:25:55.371-08:00The Ramblings of a Wandering Philosopher the intrepid sojourns, both internal and external, of a young man trying to find his way in a contemporary global cacophonistic existence Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-629977808576197715.post-70355818232448055642013-11-25T14:37:00.003-08:002013-11-25T14:37:43.884-08:00Revealing as Metaphor<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Recently the
world has been revealing itself to me metaphorically. The bird is not a bird it
is a representation of something more, it is a sign orienting my thoughts and
actions in a certain direction. Each waking moment is slowly becoming more like
a dream, in which I interpret the physical reality before me by association
with stories, myths, previous experiences and the complex web of attitudes that
form my belief structure. This interpretation of the world is not intentional.
It is as if the world is speaking to me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">The world is
never what it seems. This thesis has been confirmed repeatedly throughout
history as new paradigms have been accepted. My personal experience has led me
to accept a new paradigm and thus a new worldview. It is beyond the merely
theoretical, it has literally changed the way I “see” reality. Understanding,
and seeing the world entirely metaphorically requires and openness to an
infinite range of possible meanings of symbols placed before the observer. The
conceptual framework excludes no possibilities, but is shaped by prior
experiences. The task is to take an inventory of these past experiences and
detach yourself from them to a degree that excludes them from your conceptual
framework. This detachment does not abandon them from your mind. It only
relegates them to the unconscious. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Once we
begin to cleanse this conceptual framework, new associations of meaning are
formed when signs and symbols are presented to us. The unconscious is opened to
a greater degree in order to assign meaning to things. The conscious mind
operates to accept or deny such and such a meaning. I submit that there are
inherent value assignments in the acceptance of certain meanings. Since value
assignments are intuitive judgments, and not derived reasons (this point is
highly contentious), we then have a new intuitive way of coming to know
reality. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">When we come
to know reality in a way essentially linked with value assignments and
unconscious operations exuding meaning on symbols, much of our reasonable
deliberation becomes obsolete. Daily life becomes a dance of silence, it
becomes an activity of the mind observing, listening and waiting for direction
as to what to do next. The willful choices one has become more about what value
to assign to certain interpretations of symbols, than about what actions to
take, because as metaphor exudes itself upon the observer, you are guided to
and from certain patterns of action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">This is a challenging thing to write about because it is fundamentally different mode of conscious understanding of reality. Currently this new mode is vague to me, it has been exciting and scary to enter in to. But it is providing insights I never thought possible, and presenting opportunities of courses of action which are on the whole more beneficial than before. From my experience this shift in understanding requires some degree of trust in the automatic metaphorical interpretations presented, this trust is hard to exercise, but nonetheless produces some fascinating results.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-629977808576197715.post-51731703070967516512013-11-25T14:32:00.003-08:002013-11-25T14:32:29.067-08:00Love, faith and the unknown<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #999999;">Recently I
fell in love. I will go beyond the ends of the earth for this beautiful human
being. Without serving any justice to the poetic nature of my enamored experience
with this individual, here is a brief passage on a (probably confused) theoretical
understanding of love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #999999;">Love is a
leap of faith into the life of another, in this leap between the pillars of
reason and judgment there is freedom. In fact the leap of faith is in some
sense the only freedom to be found, it is where we temporarily step into the
indeterminate realm of understanding, it is liberation from any preconceived
notions, it is the truest expression of courage, because it is the willful
determination to enter the unknown knowingly. Faith is the assent beyond
belief, it is not necessarily unreasoned, but it is conscious in that there is
a willingness to accept, that which may be unreasonable. Faith is more efficacious
than belief and therefore more profound because it serves as a greater impetus
for action. Faith often requires us to sacrifice, and alter many preexisting
beliefs, habits and modes of existence. Love is requires these sacrifices most
often. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-629977808576197715.post-61145435942483798412013-11-14T08:52:00.003-08:002013-11-14T08:54:43.072-08:00The outset of renewed foundations<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ll1-FOyPdjS526JdOaPQz-IsFO4n114XO7cKdJlnkE_gE0dKZMukamaz9GmamBWHboKae0xVHtIJwg3EGGbaSEC-EDnhTuveuyXcUsFpZQK942HvvDdX7j6vnH2EmMfA9KD5zcWX5pvu/s1600/P1000942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ll1-FOyPdjS526JdOaPQz-IsFO4n114XO7cKdJlnkE_gE0dKZMukamaz9GmamBWHboKae0xVHtIJwg3EGGbaSEC-EDnhTuveuyXcUsFpZQK942HvvDdX7j6vnH2EmMfA9KD5zcWX5pvu/s400/P1000942.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">A brief
survey of the mindset of the global youth culture reveals a heightened sense of
angst, discontent and disillusionment in authority. This mindset is collective
and is growing. Its symptoms are wide and deep in the global society, but there
is one thing that binds them, a call for a renewed sense of justice. We
inherited a world in which ecosystems are collapsing and financial markets
govern the world more so than democratic institutions (or any government for
that matter). We have witnessed the rise of the democratic capitalistic model
emerge as the dominant mode of existence and means of production. We are the
first to be raised in a truly hegemonic mode of existence without any genuine
challengers to its authority. At least our parents had the soviet communist
model to aspire to. If not aspire to, then to compare to. We are the first
generation who will have been fully immersed in the World Wide Web from cradle
to grave. The emergence of the web has also fundamentally changed the means in
which we produce things, and therefore by Marx’s logic changes the ways we
interact with each other. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">The world is
fragmented. Coinciding with the disillusionment with authority there has been a
definitive shift in power relations between individuals, firms and governments.
This division I call the fragmentation of authority. There is a new balance
being reached because of new technologies, the individual and small groups now
have the ability to influence the state of affairs throughout the world at a
faster rate and leverage than ever before. Governments and firms have aptly
responded by developing an increasingly sophisticated security force to protect
their interests from the perceived threat of change agent groups. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Young people
are fundamentally change agents. The inevitability of young people coming to be
in positions of power is only one reason it is the youth that is the ultimate
driver of change. Older folk either accept the new ideas, designs and tools
that the youth develop or they stagnate and loose their positions of power.
Youth must leverage the nature of their relationship with those in positions of
power by recognizing the new condition of a shifting asymmetry between the two
groups of people because of the technological and historical context in which
this relationship developed. I use the term “youth” loosely. Youth is not an
age. Youth is a state of mind, it is the consciousness that comes in degrees at
different points in time, but can nonetheless be maintained for a continuous
period, in which the agent has an open, receptive, actively engaging attitude
towards the unknown, new and different. Comporting with this consciousness are
new ideas of fair, right and normal. Thus, what is deemed fair, right and
normal is changing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Young people
today have coalesced in new and exciting ways. It was only two years ago that
the Arab Spring stirred the Middle East and North Africa. It was only two years
ago young people took to the streets and encamped themselves in the US’s cities
during OWS. Say what you will about the faltering of these revolutions and
movements, they nonetheless successfully inserted a renewed focus on
distributive justice into our contemporary political debate. We also must
remember that movements often take decades to climax. Recall the civil rights
movement, it was over ten years after Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of
the bus before the civil rights act was signed into law. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Young people
are crying out for environmental justice as well. It is not a question whether
climate change is real; it is a question about how to solve the problem.
Products and firms that are environmentally conscious have a clear market
advantage amongst young people compare to their counterparts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Young people
are turning away from “pop” culture in increasing numbers, by choosing
alternative lifestyles. The concept of getting a career after school is either
not feasible, or not desired. This is because of economic factors (in many
parts of the world with youth unemployment exceeding 50% in much of Europe and
the Middle East) and growing disillusionment in the consumer lifestyle handed
down to us from those in power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">These
movements are globally interconnected, largely because of technological
changes, but more importantly because of the hegemonic paradigm of consumer
capitalism and its consequences on planet and social relations between people.
Furthermore, the incompetence of governments (whether they be sophisticated
democracies or age old dictatorships) to solve the problems facing us today
provides a common context for a certain consciousness to arise. The recognition
that one struggle against oppression is fundamentally interconnected with all
others allows us to be in solidarity globally.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">There is not
yet a name for this common consciousness, for this common uprising. Perhaps it
does not yet need a name, it is still in its infancy. But it needs to be
nurtured and sustained. For if we fail to continue and persist in these
struggles the consequences will be dire. The power structure that we are trying
to change is highly organized and global in scale. In order to counter this I
submit that this movement must also do better to organize itself, to utilize
the billions of young people and their corresponding allies in unison to
manipulate the sea changes in the world for our benefit and the benefit of the
planet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">We can see
the endgame of the current paradigm, a pillaged earth with less than 1% of the
population controlling social and political outcomes, perpetual warfare on
behalf of industry, and incompetent democratic institutions to protect the
interests of those who need it most. The global youth movement needs to develop
its endgame, it needs a common vision that we can always compare our efforts
against. We all may have individual visions, but these need to be linked to
something greater than ourselves. When we act collectively results emerge that
we could hardly deem possible. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">I am calling
for new foundations, out of the ashes of the postmodern fragmentation of power.
New institutions need to emerge, new foundations worthy to stand upon. WE need
to consolidate our power so that there may be a legitimate counter to the
powers that be. Institutions acting for the good, and foundations rooted in a
collective consciousness of collective struggle. I have many ideas about how to
go about this, but I thought I would lead with the why. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-629977808576197715.post-23020058384231200372013-11-10T13:44:00.002-08:002013-11-10T13:45:54.561-08:00the spectrum of humbleness <div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Aristotle
thought that virtues were means between two vices, one of excess and the other
of deficiency. Although humbleness was not a virtue to the ancient Greeks (it
is rooted in the Christian tradition), I submit that it is an important value
to uphold and strive for. Before more of an explanation of this particular
virtue, let me make some remarks concerning ethics and virtue in general. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">The question
“how to live a good life?” does not haunt us, but sustains us. Recently my life
took a radical and unexpected turn, withdrawing from college and leaving behind
so many things I had worked diligently for. Coupled with the constancy of the
unknown of the future and the impending oncoming of that unknown, and all the
anxiety that comes along with such thoughts. Perhaps this change is not
radical, but the example is supposed to be an instantiation of periods of flux
in our individual lives. It is easy to imagine these periods. Asking ourselves
“how to live a good life?” during these times allows us to see change as
opportunity, it drives us forward. The Japanese word for crisis most closely
translates to opportunity. Flux is akin to a crisis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">In periods
of flux doubt arises. Doubt is the precipice of new beliefs and new habits. Doubt
allows us to drop certain beliefs and habits for others. However, one can be
passive or active in this process. Passivity would be not thinking, and
questioning the self and its proper role within certain contexts. These periods
of flux are essentially a change of context. Activity would be the contrary,
thinking and asking questions in order to guide the process, rather than
letting the process guide you. Therefore, the questions one asks are going to
be of paramount importance. I submit that the most fundamental of these is that
one aforementioned. But what is good? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">There are
sparsely enough pages in the world to fully comprehend, let alone answer this
question. Let me say very briefly my view. It is called pluralism. This is the
view that there is a plurality of things that we can consider good, such as happiness,
flourishing, virtues, autonomy, communal well-being, and fair distribution of
inequities. While some theories privilege one of these things over others, I
take a nuanced approach that takes into account many, if not all of these
factors when determining what is good and worth pursuing. Weighing these
factors against each other is messy, but ethics is a messy science, and
accuracy like that found in other fields may be too high a bar to set. However,
when asking about how to live one’s life virtues are going to play a very
important role. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">In
contemporary philosophy not much time is spent asking the question how to live
one’s life best. Philosophers often ask more abstruse, abstract and technical
questions. Those types of questions I often find deprived of any real
consequence and void of any reigns of practical reason that the average human
being could latch on to, let alone have any use for. It is the task of the
philosopher is to love wisdom, that love entails a love for her fellow humans.
She must therefore ask questions of pertinence to them, not just those
understood by a few. Enough about philosophy and ethics in general, back to the
virtue of humbleness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">On one end
of the spectrum is self-worthlessness. On the other is Narcissus, complete
arrogance. Humbleness is the mean between the two. If you are anything like me
then you swing from one end of the spectrum to the other continually. Seldom
stopping for a moment to glimpse what it may be like to be humble. This
pendulum action brings forth the question; how would we know when we are in
fact exercising the virtue? First some more remarks on the virtue itself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">My last
entry spent time discussing self-worth and its corollary. The subjective nature
of these things shows that what is worthless for some is worth for others, the
same holds for the vices and virtue here. The spectrum has a different range
for individuals. One person’s humbleness may be another’s arrogance, and
vis-versa. Let us then define self-worthlessness as an inappropriate
application of pity, and arrogance as the inappropriate application of a sense
of grandiosity. Humbleness is those the appropriate application of these two
things. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Appropriateness </i>is going to
be very context and person relative, contingent on a myriad of factors.
Nonetheless a continuous medium will arise out of different mediums throughout
a span of time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">What makes
humbleness good? It is easy to say what makes the corresponding vices bad. The
misapplication of pity leads to antipathy. The misapplication of grandiosity
leads to scorn form others and failed endeavors. Humbleness helps us avoid
these things. It leads to material success, because of the proper application
of ones talents lacking apathy and receiving the proper praise from others.
Humbleness inculcates a sense of confidence in the self, and through the
confidence in the self, confidence in others. Humbleness allows others to
perceive you as reliable and honest. All these being good things, so is
humbleness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Now to the
question of knowing when we exercise the virtue, I am inclined to say intuition
is the guide here. We are intuitively attune and in sync with ourselves more so
than any other piece of reality, we therefore are going to be well suited to
intuit when an appropriate application of grandiosity and pity is reached.
However, it is going to require much more than this. It is going to require
active reflection on the application of such things, as well as open curiosity
with others for feedback. The other must be used as a sounding board and mirror
in order to understand the self. Preferably those that are close to you so that
honesty can be a principle to guide the reflective conversation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">The best way
to know is to practice humbleness. There will at some point be an intuition
that you have arrived, the more it is practiced the more that intuition will
arise. Soon it will become such a habit that it will become like recalling a
memory, and it is silly to ask why we know that we remembered such and such.
You have all the justification you need for that knowledge. Virtue is similar,
you <i>become</i> humble, you do not need to
<i>know </i>that you are, you just are, it
is apparent. Just as apparent that you <i>are
</i>a person. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-629977808576197715.post-74631369995335306342013-11-07T14:05:00.002-08:002013-11-07T14:05:24.484-08:00On self-worth<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">There is a
gnawing sense of restlessness aching through me as I sit and fill my days with
contemplative practice, artistic expression and study of philosophy and
literature. All these things seem to be worthwhile endeavors, but what is
worthwhile? And why is it so? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">I first must
note that this line of questioning is nothing novel, for it is one of the most
common questions ascending in the cannon of great thinkers. I therefore have no
illusions that my contribution to the subject will have any time withstanding
propriety. However, I can offer what I see to be some original insight. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">The sense of
restlessness arises out of a lack of self-worth, somehow by filling the void of
time with things I deem worthy I feel incomplete. This is so because these
activities, my art, are not producing anything of value external to me. (These
claims are not necessarily true. They are only descriptions of an internal
psychological state). What I deem worthy is thus weighed against what others
deem worthy. Not only what others <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">deem </i>worthy,
but what they also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">designate </i>worthy.
This distinction draws our attention to internal and external states. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deeming </i>something worthy is an internal
state that does not need to be stated or expressed in any concrete way. One may
deem a piece of art worthy, but never act on the worth of it, or make decisions
consciously that are grounded in some way on the worth of it. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Designation </i>of worth is contrary to this
in that it is the deeming of worth coupled with the conscious activity of
acting on the worth of said object, or though, or belief. An object, for
instance a poem, is designated worthy when the perceiver of it acts upon it.
That is, they utilize their recognition of the worth of the poem in some
decision-making procedure. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">Hopefully
this distinction draws out the internal/external difference between worth. In
this way, because of my solitude of expression (this is in large part why I
have decided to blog) there is a sense of self-worthlessness. This leads to a
sort of antipathy, and paralysis in decision-making, exactly because I am not
designating these activities of any worth, although I deem them as such. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">We all get
caught in this frustration, always searching but never finding worth. It stems
ultimately from a lack of self-worth. What would it mean to designate you
worthy? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">Simple, one
must act on the primacy of the self. One must become self aware enough so that
you act on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that which is you</i> (as an
infinite being as noted before), while deeming that thing that is you of value,
of worth. We all do this in a certain sense, but it becomes hard to do so when
there is little reciprocity from others that what you do is of value. When the
reciprocity lacks we often choose to do what others designate valuable instead
of ourselves, we then become reflections of those actions and fall once again
into self-worthlessness.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh48xwJNHlv8x5-4A2hHkrlYou1PqIS-sjw_QUdqNby4FhM78XtkrKXj9mryWU7Sm2cw5r_wXLU6hL7dPJIFDLLrSQLmLCvw3dKRYmtef1eIJ9BZ3bFw2T5o372Otr0DfRaKWgvaHNU44yx/s1600/bread+not+bombs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh48xwJNHlv8x5-4A2hHkrlYou1PqIS-sjw_QUdqNby4FhM78XtkrKXj9mryWU7Sm2cw5r_wXLU6hL7dPJIFDLLrSQLmLCvw3dKRYmtef1eIJ9BZ3bFw2T5o372Otr0DfRaKWgvaHNU44yx/s400/bread+not+bombs.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bread not bombs sticker on unexploded american ordinances in Laos </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">The word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">responsibility </i>comes from the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">response</i>. What is the proper response to
one when they are expressing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">themselves
as themselves, </i>so that they may feel self-worth? In other words what is our
responsibility to others so they may feel self-worth? The answer should be
apparent from the assumptions made prior. We can choose to designate what they
are doing as worthy. This would entail a sense of admiration for the unique
expressions of the other, because in so far as it is an expression that they
deem valuable and of worth it ought to be designated as such. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">Are there
limits to the designation of worth? I will leave this question up the
tacticians of logic. My remark would be that the human spirit is of such an
inclination that the designation of value aligns with our inner most selves,
these selves being fundamentally good, worthy things, the limits are not
transgressed by the multitude plurality of designators of worth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: white;">Letting this
argument unfold allows me to better understand why there is this gnawing sense
inside me. What it fosters is a sense of self-confidence. Patience must be
exhibited by those of us that choose to use their art to express themselves patience
for others, but most importantly for the self, to designate their art of value.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-629977808576197715.post-39545494849704176592013-11-06T08:24:00.003-08:002013-11-06T08:24:51.754-08:00Further remarks on the intuition and its relationship with the intellect<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Living at
your parents house is a bit like being on a sail boat, with lots of amenities,
in the middle of the ocean. However, this boat has no apparent destination.
Meanwhile, fabulous blossoming islands float by on the horizon, yet the captain
of the ship refuses to steer towards one of them and anchor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">This ^ was
my facebook post this morning. I am living at my parents house. The need to do
so arose after the determination was made for me to leave college for a
semester. There were some pressing family health issues that required me to
weigh two sets of competing responsibilities. One the one hand, the
responsibilities to college, my dear friends, and my position as student body
president. On the other, the responsibilities to familial health and personal
well-being. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">In<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Gift of Death<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>Derrida speaks
about having sets of obligations and sometimes you will have to sacrifice one
for the other, upon doing so a sense of remorse is felt. Well, this situation I
was a perfect example of Derrida's writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Being a
senior in college and being the student body president precipitated a lot of
stress, coupled with the family issues in the background the stress became
dominant in my daily life. I exhibited lack of sleep, racing thoughts, erratic
behavior, all being symptomatic of stress. This connects with the earlier
posts, because as my intuition to spirit grew out of a personal integration, my
intuitive understanding of the world seemed to lead to an exponentiation of
itself. This understanding placed under the proper conditions and environment
can become conflated for, and in conflict with the intellect. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">The intuition expresses and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">immediate<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i> understanding of the world,
while the intellect<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mediates<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>to
its understanding of the world. This is why the intellect is so poor at
understanding the world<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as it is,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>as
spirit. The intellect has many more links in the chain of understanding,
whereas intuition is linked directly with the world. The intellect is therefore
more likely to loose its way. For a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">full</i>
understanding there must be both the intellect and intuition in agreement.
There is generally a stronger confidence in the assertions of the intuition in
the mind than those of the intellect. This is so because of the nature of the
more direct connection between the intuition and reality. However, when the
intuition is mistaken and one tries to commensurate the intellect with a
mistaken intuition an anxiety develops in one’s mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">We can
imagine cases where the intuition impresses a very strong association with a
certain mode of reality, and where the intellect already has an established
understanding that is contrary, even contradictory to this intuitive
understanding. Anxiety will develop when these two understandings attempt to reconcile
themselves to the degree that their respective representations of reality
differ. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">This is the
type of anxiety that arose during my first two months of my senior year in college.
As stated before my intuition began telling me things about the world, my
intellect then attempted to commensurate itself (which had a vastly different
understanding of the world) with this new reality. While I have always claimed
to believe this newfound mode of reality, I never had a full understanding of
it. That is my intuition and intellect were never aligned on the matter. I suppose
this anxiety was inevitable considering my integration process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">For instance,
intellectually my obligations lay with professional and academic work.
Intuitively, they lay with family. The strong understandings of these
obligations on both sides needed to commensurate, one needed to be dropped for
the other, the intellect thus needed to shift, now intellectually my
obligations also lay with family. No easy shift however. Perhaps this would
have been easier for another. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">I am
utilizing personal experiences to better explain the philosophical concepts I
hope to elucidate here. Ideally this strategy helps tell a story to the reader
that is more communicable than simply speaking wholly abstractly and
theoretically. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">Til next
time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt;">~D</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-629977808576197715.post-87535315938788420082013-11-04T11:45:00.000-08:002013-11-04T11:45:06.422-08:00an intuition to spiritTo answer the questions at the end of the last post. 1) Blogs a valuable if they are intended to be valuable and they are received by at least some as valuable. As far as I can tell, this is going to hold true for just about every blog out there. Since it would be rather perplexing if most people blogged without the intention of their posts being valuable. 2) By the answer to question one, we can see easily the answer to question two. The criteria is just ask the blogger and anyone who has read it if they perceived it as worthwhile.<br />
<br />
<b>A piece of the journey thus far</b><br />
<br />
The past few months of my life has seen an unfolding of events that can appropriately be deemed miraculous.<br />
<br />
It began with an earnest cleansing of personal values and deep commitments made to God during a spiritual experience, the details need not be told (inquire if interested). Determining these values began an integration of the self and the world around me. However, when the world is seemingly so disassociated with my values a sort of cognitive dissonance was created.<br />
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Freud defines the normal primary cognitive process as one that does not hold contradictions. Cognitive dissonance is just that, a set of contrary, even contradictory beliefs one simultaneously holds.<br />
One the one hand is this newly integrated self, one the other is an entirely non-integral world. On the surface, the world we live in claims to be predictable, controllable and understandable, let us call this surface world the surface. But the surface, as goes without saying is entirely mitaken. The surface is manifested and makes itself apparent vis-a-vis the claims that we make about it. In so far as, what we as communicating beings of this world say about it, reflect at the bare minimum our perception of the world, and therefore a perception of the world, then other's claims may rightly inform my understanding that the world on the surface is like surface.<br />
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Now, moving to the deeper, non-surface world. Let me speak some about the nature of human and the non-surface world and the relation between the two. We must begin from the assertion, one that is grounded in contemporary physics and has also be aptly argued for throughout history, that the universe is infinite. Since the world is infinite, any predictions about its behavior will only be short-lived, any attempts to control it using finite methods will be in vain, this though is contrary to the surface understanding. Furthermore, we are infinite beings. Perhaps this means we have infinite particles in us, but that is not how I am intending for the concept to be applied. I am applying it first an foremost to thought, the life of the mind is infinite, it can never reach its own limits, because it has none. The infinity of the mind is compounded when we think collectively, but is of infinite magnitude individually as well. To illustrate this, imagine anything, now imagine that same thing with the tint blue, now imagine that same thing twice as large with a yardstick to compare sizes. We could play this thinking game ad infinitum. Thus, since the mind has no limits and we are fundamentally our mind, or soul, or thought, or whatever the popular nomenclature of the day is, we are fundamentally infinite beings.<br />
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This infiniteness is to a scale, yes there are scales of infinity, that privileges us with the possibility of a certain connection to the infinity of the universe, a type of understanding as to the determining effects of the causal structure preceding us and proceeding us. This connection is reached when we align ourselves with our own infinite structure, once our minds reach a certain level of self-awareness and willingness to adapt to external stimuli by way of pure intuition changing one's noetic structure without interference from personal preference, but from intuition alone. This alignment process, with the infinite self and the infinite universe surrounding us, further perpetuates itself.<br />
<br />
This is one way I can describe what began to unfold for me as I furthered my own integration, this is one of the realizations I reached. This realization surprised the hell out of me, non-logical in many sense and non-predictable because of the intuitive nature of the mode of coming to know, and the vast assumptions needed to be made to even articulate the experience. But a deep visceral feeling has succumb me that these experiences are indicators of some interesting truths about reality. While this feeling may not give you reason to believe any of what I say, it does provide me justification for believing these things. <br />
<br />
This is only some of the theoretical background one needs to step into my mind and begin to understand the path that has lead me here and the depth of serendipity that I am able to recall within this journey. To leave for some HW, I leave the reader with this affirmation of the infinity of the world and spirit.<br />
<br />
The well of spirit is infinite, conflict both internal and external a brought about by the illusion of abundance and scarcity, when the world is in fact infinite spirit, there is no abundance, nor scarcity.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUnSxZ_bMnaztMQ1H6OnfnBjkhRBPINVqf5IjpQzQARjeWyInmyV28pvcTL9GECYbLtkKLUF-WU0xt9YWpT_k5eP9wMYW4rBjGIia3wEIRTPwdvuvi5yigT7zXzXUAEEIVxpBAIlw8FgUH/s1600/P1010240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUnSxZ_bMnaztMQ1H6OnfnBjkhRBPINVqf5IjpQzQARjeWyInmyV28pvcTL9GECYbLtkKLUF-WU0xt9YWpT_k5eP9wMYW4rBjGIia3wEIRTPwdvuvi5yigT7zXzXUAEEIVxpBAIlw8FgUH/s640/P1010240.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boy monks in Bankok train station. They gave me a statue of Ganesh, the god of luck and travel. I was worried about my solo journey into the hills of Laos. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-629977808576197715.post-15099685692641567222013-11-03T12:08:00.001-08:002013-11-04T07:24:17.231-08:00what does it mean to blog?This being my first blog, I ask myself firstly; why am I choosing to blog? Secondly, what does it mean to blog?<br />
<br />
The answer to the first question is not as apparent as it might seem. It requires some reflection about the state of affairs my life has brought me to lately. How candid are these things anyway? How revealing are these about one's personal life? Is this the full dissolution of private and public life?<br />
<br />
I choose to answer no, there is still a line between my private and public life. Surely, there will be moments when the private life creeps into this blog. However, not here and now, let it suffice to say that my writing has came to a point in which their desire to be read by the public outweighs their personal importance to me, and I therefore resolved to attempt to publish them. This being the easiest and most accessible medium of publication in the contemporary world, the blogging has begun.<br />
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Now to the secondary question, what does it mean to blog?<br />
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Blogging first and foremost seems to be the act of displaying ones individual expression to the global community vis-a-vis the www. But much more can be read into the phenomenon of blogging.<br />
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The internal psychological state of the blogger for instance. The very act of blogging, regardless of the content of that blog, reveals something about the psychological state of the blogger. But what exactly. Firstly, I argue that it primarily points to a desire to be heard. In so far as a desire to be heard is manifested by the belief that one has something of worth to say, then the blogger also believes they have something of worth to say. Now a desire to be heard is likely wrapped in a number of other psychological factors, however it is most significantly associated with the psychological attitude that ones personal expression, whether it be written, visual, or tonal matters and ought to be available for the entire world to observe and join into conversation with.<br />
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The central question thus becomes; what proportion of the indefinitely large number of blogs valuable enough that the entire world ought to have access to them? The next obvious question is; what set of criteria would we need to answer this question?<br />
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These thoughts will have to wait until next time, for now I am going to play in the sunshine. Hopefully this first post was a success.<br />
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cheers,<br />
D<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZlTFaPUAHOqpxSUmbbcSMspXHRDUSHqRVBR0YNSjeLZrpL-c6rs9JFz4M9nCl-0cY4A2EjhrwAPA891Oa8FlZVz_8MyiB1ayP3Ls4ojnmc9J17mM9GtDTnhb9Mz3Ir88G_PYTcBQEpvU/s1600/blog+background.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZlTFaPUAHOqpxSUmbbcSMspXHRDUSHqRVBR0YNSjeLZrpL-c6rs9JFz4M9nCl-0cY4A2EjhrwAPA891Oa8FlZVz_8MyiB1ayP3Ls4ojnmc9J17mM9GtDTnhb9Mz3Ir88G_PYTcBQEpvU/s640/blog+background.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">~success always all ways~</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18195243786347105103noreply@blogger.com0