But it does feel like some alternate, strange life at the moment.
Just running around overseas. Writing from Rome. Haven't had access to a good connection, or really much time.
Plenty to write though, very soon.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Tuesday, April 07, 2015
Continuity
Just as Hume showed us, throughout our daily reality are a multitude of intelligible "events" - or patterns of organization we can comprehend, identify, and anticipate - that arise and then pass away. Oftentimes we find these patterns arise in conjunction with each other at various intervals of time and space, and these conjunctions form greater patterns that we comprehend.
But there is no way to decisively identify an absolute causal mechanism that doesn't dissolve into yet another array of patterns of organization. This is the case if you narrow your focus onto concrete, material phenomena, and then further into subatomic phenomena, or whether you expand your focus to include whole systems and even abstractions outside of those systems.
Yet this doesn't seem to pose too serious of a problem to our greater intellectual projects. Because in the end we are content with constructing narratives, or stories, or ideologies that make these constellations of patterns intelligible, that we then put our faith in.
A given ideology should provide a continuous plane of comprehension to traverse. Contradictions or lapses in continuity take one out of one's state of credibility. And if such ideologies have no way of anticipating external events, most individuals will drop them for another. Further we can refine and re-organize these narrative structures to account for changing or dynamic realities, until the contradictions are so numerous that no more revisions or extensions are possible.
Descartes gets panned a lot for introducing a radical project of existential doubt, and then suddenly - perhaps disingenuously - doubling down on a dualist philosophy to construct a sort of bridge between Christianity and the emerging materialist philosophies that were growing in power at the time. One side of the debate has him selling out with his ties to the Catholic church and his lingering Christian faith, watering down his radical early modernist philosophy, while another side would have him departing from and betraying his Christian beliefs for a materialist philosophy.
But what if his philosophy was merely an ideological expression of his actual split nature, a product of a greater metamorphosis that was occurring during the time he lived, and that constructing such a narrative was the best he could have done?
But there is no way to decisively identify an absolute causal mechanism that doesn't dissolve into yet another array of patterns of organization. This is the case if you narrow your focus onto concrete, material phenomena, and then further into subatomic phenomena, or whether you expand your focus to include whole systems and even abstractions outside of those systems.
Yet this doesn't seem to pose too serious of a problem to our greater intellectual projects. Because in the end we are content with constructing narratives, or stories, or ideologies that make these constellations of patterns intelligible, that we then put our faith in.
A given ideology should provide a continuous plane of comprehension to traverse. Contradictions or lapses in continuity take one out of one's state of credibility. And if such ideologies have no way of anticipating external events, most individuals will drop them for another. Further we can refine and re-organize these narrative structures to account for changing or dynamic realities, until the contradictions are so numerous that no more revisions or extensions are possible.
Descartes gets panned a lot for introducing a radical project of existential doubt, and then suddenly - perhaps disingenuously - doubling down on a dualist philosophy to construct a sort of bridge between Christianity and the emerging materialist philosophies that were growing in power at the time. One side of the debate has him selling out with his ties to the Catholic church and his lingering Christian faith, watering down his radical early modernist philosophy, while another side would have him departing from and betraying his Christian beliefs for a materialist philosophy.
But what if his philosophy was merely an ideological expression of his actual split nature, a product of a greater metamorphosis that was occurring during the time he lived, and that constructing such a narrative was the best he could have done?
Monday, April 06, 2015
Ideas Live and Drift
Here is one thought to repeat again and again: an idea is birthed but then changes and ages over time. Its expressions are not only attributed to their semantic content, but to the actual realities in which they exist. They unfold through time both in accordance with their own internal logic and the logic with which they interact with material realities.
Did Marxism fail? Is Capitalism a failure? Well why wouldn't Mercantilism be a failure? Christianity? Paganism? Hunter-gathererism?
Built in these judgements are an expression of self. One allies oneself with or against these ideas, as one exists in relation to the material expression of those ideas, and judges them accordingly.
And so a birth - the birth of a novel idea - is made possible as an expression situated against an array of death and decay.
The source of the energy of ascent is the energy of descent, and vice versa.
Did Marxism fail? Is Capitalism a failure? Well why wouldn't Mercantilism be a failure? Christianity? Paganism? Hunter-gathererism?
Built in these judgements are an expression of self. One allies oneself with or against these ideas, as one exists in relation to the material expression of those ideas, and judges them accordingly.
And so a birth - the birth of a novel idea - is made possible as an expression situated against an array of death and decay.
The source of the energy of ascent is the energy of descent, and vice versa.
Friday, April 03, 2015
Applying Buddhism, And Other Ideas in General
It is worth revisiting this question of applying Buddhist thought (or really any body of thought) which I vaguely hinted at, but did not focus in with enough detail.
If one is to take this thought as it is purely conceived and attempt to apply it in one's own life, one may find barriers or inconsistencies. For all of its explorations of cosmic consciousness, Buddhist practice still places a substantial emphasis on the self, which functions as a useful entry point into cosmic consciousness. One is to know the self, ever deeper through meditation and life practices, and consciousness then follows. The whole practice is built around it.
The purest application of the undisturbed doctrine leads to the logical conclusion of the monastery: broken off centers where students study the doctrine and practice its teachings in order to experience what the founders themselves experienced.
Which is appropriate. The best way to experience what the original practitioners experienced is to recreate the practical system as faithfully as possible, with all of its subtle variations and gradients. This is the most reliable way to find something which is buried so deeply, and which can be so difficult for the uninitiated to access.
But then what do these centers today look like? They are fed by donations brought in from the economic mainline. They are constructed with modern building materials using modern petroleum powered equipment. They are fed by modern transportation networks, and receive large quantities of mass produced foodstuffs.
Students are safely removed from the economic mainline, and may pass back and forth from it, entering and leaving its spheres without antagonizing it. If the economic mainline goes, these centers would be very seriously threatened, and would stop functioning.
As such, this system lacks the analytical and practical tools for facing the material and existential problems facing humanity today. Which is of course as it should be. Buddhism as a body of thought was conceived at a certain point in time, and the signature of the body reflected the constellation of affairs that its first practitioners found themselves in, which I am confident is something the masters understood well.
Through this initial process, great tools and practical mechanisms such as meditation were perfected, which have reliable effects that are still observable and useful today.
And so some of these tools and even substantial portions of the body of thought can be decoupled from the greater body and put to use in one's own time with one's own ideology and practices. This decoupling threatens the full experience that the masters were attempting to articulate, but questions arise as to how much of this full experience can even be articulated now.
The system has worked for many people of course, but now it must be put to use addressing the issues that we face today. A change of consciousness is especially important, which Buddhist practice can help with. This practice can also help to dissolve that tangled pattern of habits, sensibilities, and thought patterns which keep individuals bound to the body of empire, and which keep individuals proceeding with the logic of capital, and thus in a perpetual state of dysfunction.
Fortunately there are many ways to go about doing this. This is just one of them.
If one is to take this thought as it is purely conceived and attempt to apply it in one's own life, one may find barriers or inconsistencies. For all of its explorations of cosmic consciousness, Buddhist practice still places a substantial emphasis on the self, which functions as a useful entry point into cosmic consciousness. One is to know the self, ever deeper through meditation and life practices, and consciousness then follows. The whole practice is built around it.
The purest application of the undisturbed doctrine leads to the logical conclusion of the monastery: broken off centers where students study the doctrine and practice its teachings in order to experience what the founders themselves experienced.
Which is appropriate. The best way to experience what the original practitioners experienced is to recreate the practical system as faithfully as possible, with all of its subtle variations and gradients. This is the most reliable way to find something which is buried so deeply, and which can be so difficult for the uninitiated to access.
But then what do these centers today look like? They are fed by donations brought in from the economic mainline. They are constructed with modern building materials using modern petroleum powered equipment. They are fed by modern transportation networks, and receive large quantities of mass produced foodstuffs.
Students are safely removed from the economic mainline, and may pass back and forth from it, entering and leaving its spheres without antagonizing it. If the economic mainline goes, these centers would be very seriously threatened, and would stop functioning.
As such, this system lacks the analytical and practical tools for facing the material and existential problems facing humanity today. Which is of course as it should be. Buddhism as a body of thought was conceived at a certain point in time, and the signature of the body reflected the constellation of affairs that its first practitioners found themselves in, which I am confident is something the masters understood well.
Through this initial process, great tools and practical mechanisms such as meditation were perfected, which have reliable effects that are still observable and useful today.
And so some of these tools and even substantial portions of the body of thought can be decoupled from the greater body and put to use in one's own time with one's own ideology and practices. This decoupling threatens the full experience that the masters were attempting to articulate, but questions arise as to how much of this full experience can even be articulated now.
The system has worked for many people of course, but now it must be put to use addressing the issues that we face today. A change of consciousness is especially important, which Buddhist practice can help with. This practice can also help to dissolve that tangled pattern of habits, sensibilities, and thought patterns which keep individuals bound to the body of empire, and which keep individuals proceeding with the logic of capital, and thus in a perpetual state of dysfunction.
Fortunately there are many ways to go about doing this. This is just one of them.
Thursday, April 02, 2015
Social Bouyancy
An alternative method is one thing, but in the end an alternative manner of functioning - alternative to mainstream thought and method - will be peculiar to your character. The fact remains that there are others in existence that move in the world differently than yourself, and they too are trying to be what they are.
Should you struggle to define yourself as a standalone force, you'll quickly find yourself struggling as a castaway, lost on a rough sea of striving egos.
But to extend your trust to and ally yourself with others - who may have alternative methods of their own character, but which are compatible ethically with yours - you find that suddenly you feel a buoyancy.
Whereas wills of a differing nature would be clashing against yours, they are coming up to meet the sympathetic wills of those in your sphere.
Others are interacting in ways that you may find difficult to do yourself, and filling in for your weaknesses. Others are absorbing those conflicting forces, giving you room to be yourself amidst difference.
The spontaneous individual is relieved to be among planners, and planners are refreshed to be among the spontaneous. Those who project their will forcefully and outwardly are delighted to have passive individuals absorbing their energy, while the passive are delighted to have the aggressive pushing and responding to their pulling.
The talkers are glad to have the listeners and the silent to talk to, while the listeners and the silent are glad to hear the expressions of the talkers. The jokers are glad to have the serious to joke with, and the serious are glad for the gaiety of the jokers.
All of these countervailing forces must balance themselves of course. If any one personality acquires too much power and space to exercise itself, there is a fragmentation and strain among the others, or there is an antagonism between two opposing personalities, resulting in contrived, artificial power structures which employ propaganda and repetition to sustain themselves as they disintegrate, after which creative communication can return.
Should you struggle to define yourself as a standalone force, you'll quickly find yourself struggling as a castaway, lost on a rough sea of striving egos.
But to extend your trust to and ally yourself with others - who may have alternative methods of their own character, but which are compatible ethically with yours - you find that suddenly you feel a buoyancy.
Whereas wills of a differing nature would be clashing against yours, they are coming up to meet the sympathetic wills of those in your sphere.
Others are interacting in ways that you may find difficult to do yourself, and filling in for your weaknesses. Others are absorbing those conflicting forces, giving you room to be yourself amidst difference.
The spontaneous individual is relieved to be among planners, and planners are refreshed to be among the spontaneous. Those who project their will forcefully and outwardly are delighted to have passive individuals absorbing their energy, while the passive are delighted to have the aggressive pushing and responding to their pulling.
The talkers are glad to have the listeners and the silent to talk to, while the listeners and the silent are glad to hear the expressions of the talkers. The jokers are glad to have the serious to joke with, and the serious are glad for the gaiety of the jokers.
All of these countervailing forces must balance themselves of course. If any one personality acquires too much power and space to exercise itself, there is a fragmentation and strain among the others, or there is an antagonism between two opposing personalities, resulting in contrived, artificial power structures which employ propaganda and repetition to sustain themselves as they disintegrate, after which creative communication can return.
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