It bothers me that the incident with Dr Henry Louis Gates has been turned into a racial discrimination story. I think there is a deeper issue, one that has been overlooked in our indignation that there still exists racial prejudice in our institutions. It is important to note there was no racial component of the original 911 call.
I think Mr Gates would have been treated the same way if he were caucasian. It was not so much the color of his skin but his disrespectful address of the police that got him into trouble. America, in spite of our right to free speech is not a country where a man may, after legally identifying himself in his own home, express tumultuous displeasure at his situation without being taken to task by the police.
I think that Dr. Gates's exclamations of racial intolerance, with it's reported vehemence and abusive language, were not how one of his stature might be expected to act. It may have been emotionally driven, it may have had components of past injustice, or it may have just been a matter or Dr Gate's losing his cool. I will go so far as to say his reported comments and language were inappropriate, even vulgar. But vulgarity is speech, protected speech. And rudeness is not a crime, even in Cambridge Massachusetts.
Lets replace Dr. Gates, a Harvard professor in his own home in Cambridge, with "Mr Davis" a white man of identical age, a homeowner, in his own home in Boise Idaho. Police arriving in his home might have been faced with a similar dilemma, A man in his own home, properly identified, loses his temper and uses harsh language, perhaps "Communist, Jackbooted Thug!" He may have loudly proclaimed his rights as a man in his own home, legally, being abused by a "authoritarian federalist agenda." he may have even shouted to his neighbors as he was taken away that he was being detained by servants of the "Elitist Socialist leftist regime." He might have offered slanders against the officer's mother.
An ugly scene to be sure, but not one that should have resulted in his arrest. If socially important in his community, there may well have been a hue and cry by the local and state media against the abuses of power that many conservative Americans are currently concerned about.
What I am concerned about, is how a different kind of American, available in black, white and all the rest of our national palette might have fared. In this scenario, the neighborhood would have not been as nice as the one in Cambridge or the one in Boise I used as a basis for the aforementioned "Mr. Davis" incident. This neighborhood could be eastern Portland , in my own home town. where there are many persons living in a less affluent lifestyle. A lightly mixed neighborhood mostly white, though with some Asian , Hispanic and Black residents. The white guy in in this house would probably not be college educated, most likely an underemployed blue collar worker . His reaction to being hauled from his own house though properly identified, would not be very different from Dr. Gates or the semi-fictitious Mr Davis. He too would be angry, probably abusive, and indignant to consider his arrest while legally inside his own home. The same might be the case for a Black man from Oakland, or or any person of any color in any city.
Without the money for high power legal representation or some kind of social notoriety or political connections, such an individual would not have had his charges dismissed, and may have had to spend some time in the city lockup till the judiciary system got around to him. Lost time from work would have hurt his family and perhaps even have cost him his job.
My point is that we are losing the more egalitarian aspects of our political culture. All men are created equal but may not be treated the same way. The divide is not always based on traditional bigotry, non-whites have risen to power all over our nation, even to the highest office. I contend that anyone who is willing to play along, will get along. Playing along means not insisting on your rights. It means not making waves, it means not whistle blowing. In spite of our rights, I have counseled to many a young firebrand that they should never tell a police officer about rights, they already know about your rights and may even know more about them than you do. It is the act of resistance to authority, the uncooperative attitude, that can, has and will result in unpleasant encounters with law enforcement, with courts, even with the sourpuss at the Drivers License Bureau, who can make you spend your entire day in a line.
It does not matter why a person has been abused. As long as we focus on the why, we will be distracted from the issue of abuse of power. The fact that the Gates Incident is all about race now, completely hides the fact that you are not allowed to mouth off to the police, even when in your own home. It is a measure of liberty, these interactions between officials and citizens. It is the tenor of these interactions, informed by what Americans watch on tv and movies that has resulted in almost universal low grade distrust, even fear of law enforcement officers. Innocent persons, understanding that what they say and do in the presence of legal authority may result in arrest or injury, are less likely to be fully communicative.
Class discrimination is something of a non subject to most of us, we like to think of ourselves as equals, having left all that aristocratic nonsense back in Europe. But in our country the class distinctions are marked not by heritage, but by bank account. If two are at odds, and the courts become involved, it is not the validity of legal argument that solves the dispute, it is how much lawyer time the litigants can afford. It is common practice to make sure that courts decisions are delayed as long as possible in the hopes that the other side will no longer be able to afford an attorney and so the case is dismissed without any decision. The more affluent of the parties becoming the winner.
So the issue is buried. No one is asking about the potential abuse of authority, no one is interested in the fact that Mr Gates's social and political connections are what got his charges dropped. Now its the "Race Card" and a feel good skit about buddies having a sit down over beverages.
Too bad we are all looking the other way. What else might we be missing?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Name Blame Game at the Snark Park
Damn liberal. Stupid fascist. Neocon. Satanist. Hippy. Redneck, Volvo drivin' Latte sippin', Npr listenin' tree hugin, elitists.
We know who that is. Except that I know a hard-shell Republican cattleman in Idaho that drives a Volvo, enjoys lattes, listens to Morning Edition and has personally planted thousands of trees that he paid for himself.
I once regularly took part in a discussion group. This group was diverse by design, deliberately inviting persons of opposing viewpoints, in order to make for a lively session. Unfortunately, all too often opposing sides would end up squared off, red faced, hurling epithets at each other, dissolving the discussion. In order to deal with this problem we had to identify it.
Humans are pattern seekers. Humans are lablers . This is an important tool for us, helping us to quickly identify new stimulus by the similarity to known ones. Having never seen a puma, one that has seen a leopard will most likely avoid a puma. Yet this characteristic can lead us astray. Having encountered a racist lynch mob, might a black person be wary of white ones? Is he correct to assume they are all the same? When the leopard experienced sees the puma, and recognizes it as a threat, he can act, flee, climb a tree, hurl rocks or fire. He has labeled it danger. He no longer needs to think. When primitive man met another man, a stranger, it often devolved into a hostile encounter. Even today when a person is significantly different, the immediate unthinking response is "danger". Animals in nature will actually do whatever they can in order to gain advantage or defense without actually engaging in a physical conflict, bluffing with puffed hair like a cat or barking as does a dog. Other primates ( no we are not descended of apes, we are apes, future post if you please) will use a variety of displays, Physical postures, loud noises, thrashing branches and leaves. It is notable that many will hurl excrement. This is a particular favorite when one troop is in conflict with another of the same or similar species .
So we have that moment, in my discussion group, at a family dinner, in some street encounter or radio call in show, when one persons intellectual capacity is no longer present. Then, with hot emotion, one calls another a "dirty fill-in-the-blank".
When the self-described lefty describes some one as a fascist, it has nothing to do with the union of the interests of state and of business that is the original definition of fascism. It is just a label that denotes a hated enemy. Oddly, we may fear the leopard or the grizzly bear, but we usually save hatred for those that are of our own species.
Name calling is the sign that intellect has been overwhelmed by our emotions, that an open mind has been shut and that emotion, not reason, is ruling the hour. It is a signal of failure. It is the hurling of excrement.
Our discussion group added a 5th rule. No Monkeys! If one cannot remain intellectually engaged, then one has devolved into a lower primate, and is unwelcome until the return of reason.
We must turn away from knee jerk labeling, as much as it feels good. So too the "snarky response" so beloved in some of our internet communications is little better. The Snark is the sign of arrested development, the snotty middle-schooler that cannot actually defend a position, but in stead will be arogantly dismissive, making no case but that of ridicule. We enjoy the emotional thrill of hearing a person or viewpoint we disagree with being made into an object of fun. However there is little to be had from such diversion. All too often our most important public dialogs devolve into Snark and name calling. Surely when times are so delicate we can put aside childish expressions of emotional satisfaction in favor of rational and reasonable debate. we need to banish the chattering monkey of our lesser natures
When the monkeys throw poo, let reason be your rain coat.
We all need to stay clean.
We know who that is. Except that I know a hard-shell Republican cattleman in Idaho that drives a Volvo, enjoys lattes, listens to Morning Edition and has personally planted thousands of trees that he paid for himself.
I once regularly took part in a discussion group. This group was diverse by design, deliberately inviting persons of opposing viewpoints, in order to make for a lively session. Unfortunately, all too often opposing sides would end up squared off, red faced, hurling epithets at each other, dissolving the discussion. In order to deal with this problem we had to identify it.
Humans are pattern seekers. Humans are lablers . This is an important tool for us, helping us to quickly identify new stimulus by the similarity to known ones. Having never seen a puma, one that has seen a leopard will most likely avoid a puma. Yet this characteristic can lead us astray. Having encountered a racist lynch mob, might a black person be wary of white ones? Is he correct to assume they are all the same? When the leopard experienced sees the puma, and recognizes it as a threat, he can act, flee, climb a tree, hurl rocks or fire. He has labeled it danger. He no longer needs to think. When primitive man met another man, a stranger, it often devolved into a hostile encounter. Even today when a person is significantly different, the immediate unthinking response is "danger". Animals in nature will actually do whatever they can in order to gain advantage or defense without actually engaging in a physical conflict, bluffing with puffed hair like a cat or barking as does a dog. Other primates ( no we are not descended of apes, we are apes, future post if you please) will use a variety of displays, Physical postures, loud noises, thrashing branches and leaves. It is notable that many will hurl excrement. This is a particular favorite when one troop is in conflict with another of the same or similar species .
So we have that moment, in my discussion group, at a family dinner, in some street encounter or radio call in show, when one persons intellectual capacity is no longer present. Then, with hot emotion, one calls another a "dirty fill-in-the-blank".
When the self-described lefty describes some one as a fascist, it has nothing to do with the union of the interests of state and of business that is the original definition of fascism. It is just a label that denotes a hated enemy. Oddly, we may fear the leopard or the grizzly bear, but we usually save hatred for those that are of our own species.
Name calling is the sign that intellect has been overwhelmed by our emotions, that an open mind has been shut and that emotion, not reason, is ruling the hour. It is a signal of failure. It is the hurling of excrement.
Our discussion group added a 5th rule. No Monkeys! If one cannot remain intellectually engaged, then one has devolved into a lower primate, and is unwelcome until the return of reason.
We must turn away from knee jerk labeling, as much as it feels good. So too the "snarky response" so beloved in some of our internet communications is little better. The Snark is the sign of arrested development, the snotty middle-schooler that cannot actually defend a position, but in stead will be arogantly dismissive, making no case but that of ridicule. We enjoy the emotional thrill of hearing a person or viewpoint we disagree with being made into an object of fun. However there is little to be had from such diversion. All too often our most important public dialogs devolve into Snark and name calling. Surely when times are so delicate we can put aside childish expressions of emotional satisfaction in favor of rational and reasonable debate. we need to banish the chattering monkey of our lesser natures
When the monkeys throw poo, let reason be your rain coat.
We all need to stay clean.
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Unpopular Component of this post is the *rahthah* Giddy and upbeat mood. Some find such more distasteful than depictions of curmudgeonity etc. Informed consent , being important to me, I offer this humble caveat to those unhappily affected by such expression.
.....Oh yes , I will feel free to use Creative Typesetting as well...what with the affliction of poesy and all that.
Back from Otherwhere.
I went on a journey, the place name being deceptive, I shall just say that though all places are temporary, some can be... then not be.. then be again.. ***First there is FeakMountain, then there is no Mountain.... then there is.***
In any case it was a place where many small worlds come together, and enjoy each other, sharing good and goods,
Encamped I was with thanks for my sweet friends, Titania and Oberon, and especially Jamis/Shamus who allow such a **ck As I to there, sup nectar. Peopled with beauty, with Frolicsome Youth, Sage Waggotry and as much decorative behavior as can be hauled in heavy truck and long trailer. Also too, a quieter bower, up on the wooded road to FarSide where primitive camp "Bob" is not far from ecotopia and the flamingo road. Generosity of the Coolshoes allowing hale friends to be well met with mornings quiet, Ma'squeeters vigilant, and bathing in stumbl'ing range.
By day, happy are all the visitors, bedecked afresh and daring more liberty than is in their Dailyworld common. By night a town of our own, of Rockcandy Mountain laid out on forested loops and meadows. of 3 a.m cheesecake, and panpipes at dawn. Bursting expresions of glamour, Lit ludic and lyric, and of passions hidden by evenings drawn cloak.
Many hands Do make for light work and with so many hands at hand, even chores were game-like and mistakes corrected quick and gone from care.
I went seeking something. Something I knew but did not know. {a Known-Unknown damn you Rummy!} I was there to look in many mirrors, many eyes to see my own future's shape. And what I saw there came as a surprise. Brighter than expected is a path, and one I enjoy, of letting my hungry brain and Lunic spirit more say and expression. The other path too quiet, and aloof, was the one I expected, to linger back and let others play through. But others enthusiasm , fed my own better flow, and I think Not to be a Prosepero, to not drown my book and bury my staff certain fathoms deep, mayhap not for a long road to come.
We are not so different from bacteria. When a colony sends out scouts to find more resource and territory, the simple creatures send back a chemical semaphore, announcing a rich find of fertility, or another message announcing barrenness. In the first case, the colony extends to the new good, resources and energy redistributed to support this find. In the latter nothing, and the scout, having done it's duty, and receiving no resource, easily dies.
We too will prosper when we send out the message of prosperity, and will be isolated when we broadcast failure.
The messages I received, of happy abundance, though in the face of some privation, caused me to have an increase in capability, even to my astonishment. Sleep deprivation is usually a source of ill health, of exhaustion, the loss of wit and of will, and if prolonged can be quite debilitating. Yet, at 20 hours of activity I felt no need for sleep, and was able to continue jolly efforts on behalf of pals and pleasures. Eating well and with all in happy anticipation or grateful reunion, I passed 30 hours with no ill effect. Time out for much frivolity and play was a constant, and seemed to energize rather than tire.
Now I am Very Experienced in fun and labor, and I knew that this was folly. When I did sleep, it would be a long one with concomitant aches and fatigues on awakening.
But I was having so much fun! "let's sing some more, hand me that mug! come give us another kiss dolly!
27 hours just fine thanks,
38 hours. nothing worse than having to think longer for just the right word
40 hours
At 42 hours my Intellect said, " I know you feel fine but this can't be possible. I hear-by order you to lay your ass down before you fall down or embarrass yourself through bad judgement.
So like a little child that does not want to be sent to bed I made myself to lie down away from all the lovely froth and to sleep, till my body needed no more.
When I awoke, I felt very nicely rested, and on moving, was not wracked with aches or a pounding head and wounded chest. Lively and hungry I walked into the encampment kitchen to forage for some late afternoon snack.
except it was morning, early morning. I had slept a whole six hours. I suffered no ill effect whatsoever.
I guess a little validation is good for ya.
More experimental results to come.
.....Oh yes , I will feel free to use Creative Typesetting as well...what with the affliction of poesy and all that.
Back from Otherwhere.
I went on a journey, the place name being deceptive, I shall just say that though all places are temporary, some can be... then not be.. then be again.. ***First there is FeakMountain, then there is no Mountain.... then there is.***
In any case it was a place where many small worlds come together, and enjoy each other, sharing good and goods,
Encamped I was with thanks for my sweet friends, Titania and Oberon, and especially Jamis/Shamus who allow such a **ck As I to there, sup nectar. Peopled with beauty, with Frolicsome Youth, Sage Waggotry and as much decorative behavior as can be hauled in heavy truck and long trailer. Also too, a quieter bower, up on the wooded road to FarSide where primitive camp "Bob" is not far from ecotopia and the flamingo road. Generosity of the Coolshoes allowing hale friends to be well met with mornings quiet, Ma'squeeters vigilant, and bathing in stumbl'ing range.
By day, happy are all the visitors, bedecked afresh and daring more liberty than is in their Dailyworld common. By night a town of our own, of Rockcandy Mountain laid out on forested loops and meadows. of 3 a.m cheesecake, and panpipes at dawn. Bursting expresions of glamour, Lit ludic and lyric, and of passions hidden by evenings drawn cloak.
Many hands Do make for light work and with so many hands at hand, even chores were game-like and mistakes corrected quick and gone from care.
I went seeking something. Something I knew but did not know. {a Known-Unknown damn you Rummy!} I was there to look in many mirrors, many eyes to see my own future's shape. And what I saw there came as a surprise. Brighter than expected is a path, and one I enjoy, of letting my hungry brain and Lunic spirit more say and expression. The other path too quiet, and aloof, was the one I expected, to linger back and let others play through. But others enthusiasm , fed my own better flow, and I think Not to be a Prosepero, to not drown my book and bury my staff certain fathoms deep, mayhap not for a long road to come.
We are not so different from bacteria. When a colony sends out scouts to find more resource and territory, the simple creatures send back a chemical semaphore, announcing a rich find of fertility, or another message announcing barrenness. In the first case, the colony extends to the new good, resources and energy redistributed to support this find. In the latter nothing, and the scout, having done it's duty, and receiving no resource, easily dies.
We too will prosper when we send out the message of prosperity, and will be isolated when we broadcast failure.
The messages I received, of happy abundance, though in the face of some privation, caused me to have an increase in capability, even to my astonishment. Sleep deprivation is usually a source of ill health, of exhaustion, the loss of wit and of will, and if prolonged can be quite debilitating. Yet, at 20 hours of activity I felt no need for sleep, and was able to continue jolly efforts on behalf of pals and pleasures. Eating well and with all in happy anticipation or grateful reunion, I passed 30 hours with no ill effect. Time out for much frivolity and play was a constant, and seemed to energize rather than tire.
Now I am Very Experienced in fun and labor, and I knew that this was folly. When I did sleep, it would be a long one with concomitant aches and fatigues on awakening.
But I was having so much fun! "let's sing some more, hand me that mug! come give us another kiss dolly!
27 hours just fine thanks,
38 hours. nothing worse than having to think longer for just the right word
40 hours
At 42 hours my Intellect said, " I know you feel fine but this can't be possible. I hear-by order you to lay your ass down before you fall down or embarrass yourself through bad judgement.
So like a little child that does not want to be sent to bed I made myself to lie down away from all the lovely froth and to sleep, till my body needed no more.
When I awoke, I felt very nicely rested, and on moving, was not wracked with aches or a pounding head and wounded chest. Lively and hungry I walked into the encampment kitchen to forage for some late afternoon snack.
except it was morning, early morning. I had slept a whole six hours. I suffered no ill effect whatsoever.
I guess a little validation is good for ya.
More experimental results to come.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Psychospace
This is a repost of previous work. I have some fresh underway, but I am suddenly called away
to go the the Fine Faire! http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/
Psychospace
A term Coined by me and is used to provide A theoretical model for use in the understanding human social psychology.
Please be advised. This paper contains information that may, once assimilated, significantly alter your personal viewpoint. Even if you dismiss this theory, anecdotal evidence suggests that it will surface repeatedly as you view the world we all live in.
Humans communicate. Though the many disciplines of human intellectual and social activity differ endlessly in a seeming infinitude of detail, they all agree on this point. There is no school of thought or philosophy that states that all of human knowledge and experience stays solely and entirely with the individual. And even if there was one how would we know, since they wouldn't even try to tell us, not believing it possible.
It is fairly universal to assume that ideas can be passed to others, and be received as well. The act of communication, being so fundamental, has spawned many fields of study.
The map is not the road. The menu tastes very different from the meal (hopefully). A common misstep in intellectual investigations is the onset of faith, or blind acceptance that the theory is the truth. This always leads to enhancement of data supporting the theory, and dismissal of evidential leads that point away from support. We must always remember that we are only having a discussion and not describing reality.
Last chance to leave before your brain gets accessed and rewritten
Psychospace is a biologically active environment consisting of the some total of all human thought and discourse. It has no material existence except as an active pattern in our neurology and the various communication media we use. It is an ecosystem. It is an ecosystem full of organisms as simple as viruses, and as complex as a 36 acre cottonwood growth. In biology, life is known to grow, reproduce, and show response to stimulus, consume matter or energy, and excrete. Everything we call life has these characteristics. All of these characteristics are shown by ideas. They grow, becoming larger and more complex. “let’s all share” can grow into an international socialist movement. They reproduce, as simply as a few words spoken to elaborate educational systems. They certainly respond to stimulus. Challenge any cherished belief and observe the changes the idea causes in its “environment” in response. Consumption of resource may to some be a littler harder to prove. In a non-material environment, made of patterns of information, pattern is all there is. Space and matter become the same thing. Some may make the argument that the medium of the message is the food of the psycholife. For the last quality, excretion, I only suggest you look all around, the waste products of human thought are only too evident. Some may even say this work is an example.
If for a moment we let ourselves assume that Psychospace is a living world, we can start to work, thanks to what herr Doktor Einstein called “gedankenexperimenten” or thought experiments. Choosing a set of rules, and allowing yourself to picture the results. For this experiment, our rules are those of biology, our experimental theory that life exists as pure thought patterns. If there is a biology at work in the human ultra conscious, we should find forms that make biological sense. Microbes are simple organisms, multiplying quickly as they encounter fit conditions and resources. Ideas that simple abound. Observations about the gross state of our physical world are a good example. “it’s cold” as an idea can only survive where it is cold, or imbedded in ideas about other places that are cold, or are said to be. A culture (large ecological niche, like a forest or a dessert ) may be so infested with the idea that it is cold, that it colours the entire world view of that culture, altering their reactions. The microbe “there is not enough of what you need to go around” has so affected those persons and cultures carrying it as to have dominated the larger scale of human history. It just so happens that these days there is “enough to go around” and that our actions are dominated by an untruth. Microbes in real biology are the inventors and pioneers. Every more complex organism owes its very structure and function to its own microbial ancestors. Consider the “A or Not A” of Aristotle. Most of western thought is based upon this idea that something is one thing or the other, not both. Physical reality has shown us otherwise many times, yet it remains a critical part of all we do. Indeed, without such ideas we could not build things or discover chemistry.
Evolution is evident in psychospace. We need only examine our understanding of the physical sciences or history to see where “unsuccessful life forms” became extinct. The earth and man centred cosmology of the pre renaissance world has become for the most part extinct, supplanted by the current model. True, that old model is not extinct, but exist as a zoological curiosity, used primarily as a teaching example.
Table 1. some theoretical correspondences between biology and Psychospatial ecology
Bio/ecological form ---------------- Psychospatial Analogue
microbe ---------------------------- simple idea
virus --------------------------------single image, symbol or sound
multicellular organism-------- ---compound idea
ecological niche ---------------- ---social, cultural or professional institution
predation---------------------------- the “hard sell” or unwelcome prositalyzation
parasitism ---------------------------a rider attached to legislation, subliminal content
reproduction ----------------------- education, indoctrination, conversation, gossip
Notice how most of the above examples are not in the form of nouns, but verbs. It is as though we can see the results of these life forms without being able to comprehend the life forms themselves. Tiger prints, tiger droppings, tiger mauled carcasses and tiger smell suggest a tiger. Another useful biological model may be the model of disease transmission. In an infection, the resources of the infected are diverted to the needs of the infectious agent. Bacterial or protozoan infections occupy sections of the body, consuming resources, and toxifing the environment with their waste products. Viruses co-opt the reproductive cycle of the cells, causing them to reproduce the virus. An influenza epidemic has many features in common with “informational infections". Consider the birth, evolution and eventual spread of fascism in the 30’s. It is now accepted that many people who took part in the fascist movement were not themselves evil. At the time it seemed a wholesome concept to those who embraced it. It spread through Europe and America like the flu. And like the flu it changed its host population's activities and health.
One need not be restricted to pathological models. Consider the process of colonisation of new land. Oceanic volcanoes produce new land and we have observed the process where first one and then another life form gains a toehold. Hawaii is the perfect example. What was once a savage rocky outcrop is now a lush tropical ecosystem. Also we can consider what has occurred in Australia and the Americas with the introduction of new species. A new organism arrives and either exploits a niche as yet unexploited, displaces an organism already in place, or dies out.
These last two models are exemplary of the movement of more complex organisms in psychospace. Democracy, Christianity and other religions, Darwinian evolution, the cubist movement in art, existentialism, punk rock, tabloid journalism, the mid-east peace process among others are all involved in these bio-analogous events.
Everyone has suspected this for a long time. We use language and take positions based upon this understanding. We have head or the “toxic environment of Washington politics”. Parents worry about the “exposure” of children to dangerous thoughts. We are told of a fashion that is “sweeping the nation” or that a political belief has “taken root”. Indeed we live in a time where people are as protective of their cultural territory as they are of their own homes. Languages are said to be in danger of “extinction”, moral codes are “threatened”.
In America we hold that freedom of expression is held sacred, but that sacredness is always challenged when an idea is considered antithetical to the cultural status quo. Some may think our speech freedoms equate to an unsanitary environment. I suggest that a person raised away from all potential pathogens never develops a robust immune system. I have seen this as well in the practice of trying to isolate populations from competing ideas. In both the Biological and Psychospacial practices of this discipline, once the protected population is exposed to the more diverse/less sterile environment, the result is usually catastrophic to the original status quo. Eventually those beings and idea sets that are flexible and to a degree tolerant, are the ones that survive. Most are quickly overwhelmed by the new environment. I suggest that the procedures used by animal husbandry and horticulture can be used on the intellectual process itself .
Ideas are as dependent upon us as we are upon the places we live, and the things we consume to live. As I have allowed my research to continue, I have found that the number and complexity of “Higher life forms” is enough to suggest that the diversity of these forms may rival our own biology. In some way, all of the gods and demons of human imagining are real and alive. They are accompanied by creatures both base and sublime, passing through us with no more consideration of us than a flu virus or head lice. I have encountered more that a few persons , exposed to this idea, that have worriedly asked me if I thought any of these things were “Alive”. I have always responded, to the affirmative, that is the heart of this theory. "No", they say, "I mean more like us, aware, conscious perhaps". I can only reply to such queries that real biology has given rise to us, and perhaps others, that seem to have awareness. Given the richness and flexibility that seem to pervade in psychospace I can only concede that it is possible. They are then very concerned to know whether or not they may be aware of us. Could some idea “wake up” and smell our coffee? At this time I am satisfied to observe the bioactivity as it presents itself. Should evidence ever surface to suggest that there is a non-corporeal intellect, I will certainly pay attention.
They live and move through us, As alive as any thing made of chemistry. And though they are still as new as we, in that short time they have developed a richness that has mirrored the explosion of life on our planet, and at a rate that puts that original explosion to shame.
So now we can assume that madness may become infectious. I have performed experiments showing that moral behaviour codes can modify the actions of those around us, causing those codes to be written into new territory. Consider the fate of the small town, discovered and developed by the larger city. The “neighborliness” goes away, people cut you off in traffic like in town. And it is not just the newcomers, the locals quickly give way to the lower grade behaviour. In another case, I found tipping to be contagious. A person who gets tips as part of their regular income is much more likely to tip themselves. Grumpy people can bring down others moods, jollity can be infectious, or irritating .
And now there is one more life form out there. Or should I say in there. Inside your head dear reader. Now you know about it. It is alive, and just reproduced itself into your head space. Ignore it as you wish, I have found it very likely that you too will be compelled at some time to pass this organism on to another appropriate habitat.
At this stage in my research, I have only opened the door to what may well prove a world as large as our own, and fraught with wonders and terrors to sate the wildest appetites. I welcome your observations and experiments
And no , I have found no antidote.
Come look for me at faire, booth 234 or "camp "BOB" on the way to farside
to go the the Fine Faire! http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/
Psychospace
A term Coined by me and is used to provide A theoretical model for use in the understanding human social psychology.
Please be advised. This paper contains information that may, once assimilated, significantly alter your personal viewpoint. Even if you dismiss this theory, anecdotal evidence suggests that it will surface repeatedly as you view the world we all live in.
Humans communicate. Though the many disciplines of human intellectual and social activity differ endlessly in a seeming infinitude of detail, they all agree on this point. There is no school of thought or philosophy that states that all of human knowledge and experience stays solely and entirely with the individual. And even if there was one how would we know, since they wouldn't even try to tell us, not believing it possible.
It is fairly universal to assume that ideas can be passed to others, and be received as well. The act of communication, being so fundamental, has spawned many fields of study.
The map is not the road. The menu tastes very different from the meal (hopefully). A common misstep in intellectual investigations is the onset of faith, or blind acceptance that the theory is the truth. This always leads to enhancement of data supporting the theory, and dismissal of evidential leads that point away from support. We must always remember that we are only having a discussion and not describing reality.
Last chance to leave before your brain gets accessed and rewritten
Psychospace is a biologically active environment consisting of the some total of all human thought and discourse. It has no material existence except as an active pattern in our neurology and the various communication media we use. It is an ecosystem. It is an ecosystem full of organisms as simple as viruses, and as complex as a 36 acre cottonwood growth. In biology, life is known to grow, reproduce, and show response to stimulus, consume matter or energy, and excrete. Everything we call life has these characteristics. All of these characteristics are shown by ideas. They grow, becoming larger and more complex. “let’s all share” can grow into an international socialist movement. They reproduce, as simply as a few words spoken to elaborate educational systems. They certainly respond to stimulus. Challenge any cherished belief and observe the changes the idea causes in its “environment” in response. Consumption of resource may to some be a littler harder to prove. In a non-material environment, made of patterns of information, pattern is all there is. Space and matter become the same thing. Some may make the argument that the medium of the message is the food of the psycholife. For the last quality, excretion, I only suggest you look all around, the waste products of human thought are only too evident. Some may even say this work is an example.
If for a moment we let ourselves assume that Psychospace is a living world, we can start to work, thanks to what herr Doktor Einstein called “gedankenexperimenten” or thought experiments. Choosing a set of rules, and allowing yourself to picture the results. For this experiment, our rules are those of biology, our experimental theory that life exists as pure thought patterns. If there is a biology at work in the human ultra conscious, we should find forms that make biological sense. Microbes are simple organisms, multiplying quickly as they encounter fit conditions and resources. Ideas that simple abound. Observations about the gross state of our physical world are a good example. “it’s cold” as an idea can only survive where it is cold, or imbedded in ideas about other places that are cold, or are said to be. A culture (large ecological niche, like a forest or a dessert ) may be so infested with the idea that it is cold, that it colours the entire world view of that culture, altering their reactions. The microbe “there is not enough of what you need to go around” has so affected those persons and cultures carrying it as to have dominated the larger scale of human history. It just so happens that these days there is “enough to go around” and that our actions are dominated by an untruth. Microbes in real biology are the inventors and pioneers. Every more complex organism owes its very structure and function to its own microbial ancestors. Consider the “A or Not A” of Aristotle. Most of western thought is based upon this idea that something is one thing or the other, not both. Physical reality has shown us otherwise many times, yet it remains a critical part of all we do. Indeed, without such ideas we could not build things or discover chemistry.
Evolution is evident in psychospace. We need only examine our understanding of the physical sciences or history to see where “unsuccessful life forms” became extinct. The earth and man centred cosmology of the pre renaissance world has become for the most part extinct, supplanted by the current model. True, that old model is not extinct, but exist as a zoological curiosity, used primarily as a teaching example.
Table 1. some theoretical correspondences between biology and Psychospatial ecology
Bio/ecological form ---------------- Psychospatial Analogue
microbe ---------------------------- simple idea
virus --------------------------------single image, symbol or sound
multicellular organism-------- ---compound idea
ecological niche ---------------- ---social, cultural or professional institution
predation---------------------------- the “hard sell” or unwelcome prositalyzation
parasitism ---------------------------a rider attached to legislation, subliminal content
reproduction ----------------------- education, indoctrination, conversation, gossip
Notice how most of the above examples are not in the form of nouns, but verbs. It is as though we can see the results of these life forms without being able to comprehend the life forms themselves. Tiger prints, tiger droppings, tiger mauled carcasses and tiger smell suggest a tiger. Another useful biological model may be the model of disease transmission. In an infection, the resources of the infected are diverted to the needs of the infectious agent. Bacterial or protozoan infections occupy sections of the body, consuming resources, and toxifing the environment with their waste products. Viruses co-opt the reproductive cycle of the cells, causing them to reproduce the virus. An influenza epidemic has many features in common with “informational infections". Consider the birth, evolution and eventual spread of fascism in the 30’s. It is now accepted that many people who took part in the fascist movement were not themselves evil. At the time it seemed a wholesome concept to those who embraced it. It spread through Europe and America like the flu. And like the flu it changed its host population's activities and health.
One need not be restricted to pathological models. Consider the process of colonisation of new land. Oceanic volcanoes produce new land and we have observed the process where first one and then another life form gains a toehold. Hawaii is the perfect example. What was once a savage rocky outcrop is now a lush tropical ecosystem. Also we can consider what has occurred in Australia and the Americas with the introduction of new species. A new organism arrives and either exploits a niche as yet unexploited, displaces an organism already in place, or dies out.
These last two models are exemplary of the movement of more complex organisms in psychospace. Democracy, Christianity and other religions, Darwinian evolution, the cubist movement in art, existentialism, punk rock, tabloid journalism, the mid-east peace process among others are all involved in these bio-analogous events.
Everyone has suspected this for a long time. We use language and take positions based upon this understanding. We have head or the “toxic environment of Washington politics”. Parents worry about the “exposure” of children to dangerous thoughts. We are told of a fashion that is “sweeping the nation” or that a political belief has “taken root”. Indeed we live in a time where people are as protective of their cultural territory as they are of their own homes. Languages are said to be in danger of “extinction”, moral codes are “threatened”.
In America we hold that freedom of expression is held sacred, but that sacredness is always challenged when an idea is considered antithetical to the cultural status quo. Some may think our speech freedoms equate to an unsanitary environment. I suggest that a person raised away from all potential pathogens never develops a robust immune system. I have seen this as well in the practice of trying to isolate populations from competing ideas. In both the Biological and Psychospacial practices of this discipline, once the protected population is exposed to the more diverse/less sterile environment, the result is usually catastrophic to the original status quo. Eventually those beings and idea sets that are flexible and to a degree tolerant, are the ones that survive. Most are quickly overwhelmed by the new environment. I suggest that the procedures used by animal husbandry and horticulture can be used on the intellectual process itself .
Ideas are as dependent upon us as we are upon the places we live, and the things we consume to live. As I have allowed my research to continue, I have found that the number and complexity of “Higher life forms” is enough to suggest that the diversity of these forms may rival our own biology. In some way, all of the gods and demons of human imagining are real and alive. They are accompanied by creatures both base and sublime, passing through us with no more consideration of us than a flu virus or head lice. I have encountered more that a few persons , exposed to this idea, that have worriedly asked me if I thought any of these things were “Alive”. I have always responded, to the affirmative, that is the heart of this theory. "No", they say, "I mean more like us, aware, conscious perhaps". I can only reply to such queries that real biology has given rise to us, and perhaps others, that seem to have awareness. Given the richness and flexibility that seem to pervade in psychospace I can only concede that it is possible. They are then very concerned to know whether or not they may be aware of us. Could some idea “wake up” and smell our coffee? At this time I am satisfied to observe the bioactivity as it presents itself. Should evidence ever surface to suggest that there is a non-corporeal intellect, I will certainly pay attention.
They live and move through us, As alive as any thing made of chemistry. And though they are still as new as we, in that short time they have developed a richness that has mirrored the explosion of life on our planet, and at a rate that puts that original explosion to shame.
So now we can assume that madness may become infectious. I have performed experiments showing that moral behaviour codes can modify the actions of those around us, causing those codes to be written into new territory. Consider the fate of the small town, discovered and developed by the larger city. The “neighborliness” goes away, people cut you off in traffic like in town. And it is not just the newcomers, the locals quickly give way to the lower grade behaviour. In another case, I found tipping to be contagious. A person who gets tips as part of their regular income is much more likely to tip themselves. Grumpy people can bring down others moods, jollity can be infectious, or irritating .
And now there is one more life form out there. Or should I say in there. Inside your head dear reader. Now you know about it. It is alive, and just reproduced itself into your head space. Ignore it as you wish, I have found it very likely that you too will be compelled at some time to pass this organism on to another appropriate habitat.
At this stage in my research, I have only opened the door to what may well prove a world as large as our own, and fraught with wonders and terrors to sate the wildest appetites. I welcome your observations and experiments
And no , I have found no antidote.
Come look for me at faire, booth 234 or "camp "BOB" on the way to farside
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Michael Jackson Not dead
check test,, Is this thing on?
This is a Shameful Post. and in bad taste. You have been warned.
I wanted to be the first to say I SAW Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, alive and well.
He was just sitting there, having tea with Elvis and JFK. He and the 2 old Geezers were having a good laugh about "escaping the Rat Race"
But seriously folks, it is just a matter of time before the Deification sets in. Years ago I noticed "Elvis Alters", mostly in southern homes. Elaborate shrines to "the King", Iconic and decorated with pictures, flowers, (usually plastic) candles, incense, looking very Jesus-y. It inspired me to collaborate with an artist to produce a limited set of prints, black velvet Elvis up on the cross, complete with golden record halo and TCB where INRI would be. This was the young sexy Elvis, but we dressed him in the later Elder Elvis white outfit. Of course we called it , "Elvis Christ". With glee, a few years later I encountered a wonderful music stage act entitled Jesus Presley. I had to have them play in the club I ran at that time. Even Earlier I had noticed very Catholic enshrinements of JFK. not quite so deistic, but certainly saintly.
Now we are due for another deification. Death will be Mr Jackson's greatest career move. Like Princess Di before him, all the sins will be glossed over. She wasn't "England's Rose" before the accident. In fact, she was deeply reviled and humiliated in the British and American tabloid press, as was Michael Jackson. Had Elvis lived, he would probably have been some kind of super Wayne Newton, master of Vegas and Branson. (well maybe he might have become the first Christian Emperor of America, but that is an alternate reality)
Like Elvis and Di and JFK, (And Marilyn and Jim and Kurt et al) we will see permanent shrines, in public, and in homes. All of the creepy stuff will be played down, and sooner I think, rather than later, someone somewhere is going to see Mr. Jackson, alive and in hiding. In some cases this will be deliberate, the act of impersonators, but more will be mistaken identities, wishful visions and downright hallucinations. There may also be a rash of those that will claim to be an unknown love child, ex-lover, secret confidant and of course psychic channel to the pop afterlife. Maybe some enterprising scalawag will found a cult of some kind, perhaps one will grow of it's own accord.
Death can really clean things up. Once dead, a person is no longer a complex hard to figure out living reality, but a distilled symbol of the things we want to believe are true. This is not just for the famous either. I know too many examples of persons who when alive were known as unpleasant wretches, parasites, drunkards, ne'er-do-wells and that ilk. "Oh Uncle Charley was such a nice old codger."they say of a dangerously psychotic alcoholic. "Ralf was a good friend, a brave soul, we miss him so much." about a man who chose suicide by cop rather than face the music of his own life. There is wishful thinking there as well, we all hope to be remembered in the best light. The Founding Fathers are a good example. It is only recently have we heard the less popular truths about some of those men. I choose to respect them any way, not because they were flawless but because they tried to rise above "that's just the way things are done". It is this attempt, if only for a moment, to be more than the cultural dictates of the time that gives me inspiration for my country and my self.
So what about Mr Jackson? it might be better if we recalled all aspects of his life, the parental abusehe suffered, the isolation, the unsettling details as well as his contribution to entertainment and music. To know that we are complex, conflicted beings, capable of heaven capable of hell, often in the same person.
But I do know something of human nature, and I can guarantee that eventually somewhere we will see the headline,
Michael Jackson Alive!
I just wanted to be the first.
till next time.
Slainte!
This is a Shameful Post. and in bad taste. You have been warned.
I wanted to be the first to say I SAW Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, alive and well.
He was just sitting there, having tea with Elvis and JFK. He and the 2 old Geezers were having a good laugh about "escaping the Rat Race"
But seriously folks, it is just a matter of time before the Deification sets in. Years ago I noticed "Elvis Alters", mostly in southern homes. Elaborate shrines to "the King", Iconic and decorated with pictures, flowers, (usually plastic) candles, incense, looking very Jesus-y. It inspired me to collaborate with an artist to produce a limited set of prints, black velvet Elvis up on the cross, complete with golden record halo and TCB where INRI would be. This was the young sexy Elvis, but we dressed him in the later Elder Elvis white outfit. Of course we called it , "Elvis Christ". With glee, a few years later I encountered a wonderful music stage act entitled Jesus Presley. I had to have them play in the club I ran at that time. Even Earlier I had noticed very Catholic enshrinements of JFK. not quite so deistic, but certainly saintly.
Now we are due for another deification. Death will be Mr Jackson's greatest career move. Like Princess Di before him, all the sins will be glossed over. She wasn't "England's Rose" before the accident. In fact, she was deeply reviled and humiliated in the British and American tabloid press, as was Michael Jackson. Had Elvis lived, he would probably have been some kind of super Wayne Newton, master of Vegas and Branson. (well maybe he might have become the first Christian Emperor of America, but that is an alternate reality)
Like Elvis and Di and JFK, (And Marilyn and Jim and Kurt et al) we will see permanent shrines, in public, and in homes. All of the creepy stuff will be played down, and sooner I think, rather than later, someone somewhere is going to see Mr. Jackson, alive and in hiding. In some cases this will be deliberate, the act of impersonators, but more will be mistaken identities, wishful visions and downright hallucinations. There may also be a rash of those that will claim to be an unknown love child, ex-lover, secret confidant and of course psychic channel to the pop afterlife. Maybe some enterprising scalawag will found a cult of some kind, perhaps one will grow of it's own accord.
Death can really clean things up. Once dead, a person is no longer a complex hard to figure out living reality, but a distilled symbol of the things we want to believe are true. This is not just for the famous either. I know too many examples of persons who when alive were known as unpleasant wretches, parasites, drunkards, ne'er-do-wells and that ilk. "Oh Uncle Charley was such a nice old codger."they say of a dangerously psychotic alcoholic. "Ralf was a good friend, a brave soul, we miss him so much." about a man who chose suicide by cop rather than face the music of his own life. There is wishful thinking there as well, we all hope to be remembered in the best light. The Founding Fathers are a good example. It is only recently have we heard the less popular truths about some of those men. I choose to respect them any way, not because they were flawless but because they tried to rise above "that's just the way things are done". It is this attempt, if only for a moment, to be more than the cultural dictates of the time that gives me inspiration for my country and my self.
So what about Mr Jackson? it might be better if we recalled all aspects of his life, the parental abusehe suffered, the isolation, the unsettling details as well as his contribution to entertainment and music. To know that we are complex, conflicted beings, capable of heaven capable of hell, often in the same person.
But I do know something of human nature, and I can guarantee that eventually somewhere we will see the headline,
Michael Jackson Alive!
I just wanted to be the first.
till next time.
Slainte!
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