Friday, November 30, 2018
Quality or Quantity?
Much quality is swallowed up by the simple force of volume. When there is so much work to be done, sometimes there is simply not enough time to make sure a job is properly carried out from start to end, with all of the necessary details in place. It takes time, care, and effort to ensure that all pipes are properly installed, that all electrical is properly connected, that all materials are properly bonded and joined together and that the aesthetics are pleasing as well. For things to be nice, and to work well for some time, it is sometimes necessary to slow down, and not do so much. Small wonder then, that we have this deep social need to continuously accelerate, and then expect everything underneath to hold into eternity.
Underneath
To replace a faulty sewer line, we had to first remove the topmost layer of sidewalk, which was done by picking up the sectioned slabs at their seams with the claw of an excavator, and then letting them drop down and shatter under their own weight; otherwise the slabs needed to be struck with a sledgehammer, which is admittedly exhilarating but very hard on the body. The pieces could then be picked up by a Bobcat and hauled out.
After the sidewalk was removed, it was then necessary to dig a trench for a couple hundred of feet, which was 6 feet down at the deepest point, where sewer mains continued to the public sewer. One of the more striking aspects of this dig was the condition of the soil itself, underneath the removed walkway. Other than a few scurrying spiders on the surface, and some worms and larvae nestled against the various tree roots, there was no sign of any insects whatsoever.
The soil was dead. There was no need for any bombs to go off, or poisons to be spread, and there was no natural desertification present. However this was a sort of desertification in the end, a desertification achieved by the spreading of a dominant form of life as a self contained and delineated layer over another lower layer, smothering the latter in turn.
Because in the soil were all kinds of water pipes and humming electrical wires carrying electricity and media data. And of course on the surface was a vibrant community full of playing children and music and barbecues, among other things.
But what does it take for those topmost layers to be periodically renewed? Of course, it requires a living soil that is in this case completely displaced and separated from the topmost layer, where it is maintained at a distance, and where its products are trucked in and spread about. But this space and this separation itself is contributing to a great strain, and all of the strata of living things are exhausting each other.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
For the Moment
Just finished a 17 day stint of intense work, and there is probably more to come. I've put together some of the posts I've been working on when I had the chance tonight, and I expect it to be like this in the near future. I'll just keep getting notes down and then putting them together when I can.
Flare
As yet another episode in the public spectacle of selective grief reveals, the hand-wringing over Saudi brutality happens to flare up over a single elite journalist, blotting out the starved Yemenis for starters. One can see very visibly the proportions of energy going to those subsets of society resting atop of and exploiting the vast expanse of those underneath.
California Fire
The fall winds came in to clean Los Angeles, and briefly in the morning light the city was clear and vibrant until the smoke came up in a towering column to the north. Soon there was ash floating down and when the wind changed, the smoky haze covered the city and you could smell it.
It will be curious to see how the fires in Malibu effect world affairs, it being a prominent cultural center and home to countless wealthy celebrities, exerting influence on a local government which itself has been tugging against the central government for some time.
And the neglected and abandoned regions below the Malibu hills rose up to sap away some of their resources back, looting the burning mansions, themselves booty acquired from legalized hand-over-fist looting of the body politic.
It will be curious to see how the fires in Malibu effect world affairs, it being a prominent cultural center and home to countless wealthy celebrities, exerting influence on a local government which itself has been tugging against the central government for some time.
And the neglected and abandoned regions below the Malibu hills rose up to sap away some of their resources back, looting the burning mansions, themselves booty acquired from legalized hand-over-fist looting of the body politic.
Ressentiment
Resentment tends to fix one into place what one currently is, halting growth, learning, and a general progression towards harmony. It is how people can manage to fuse themselves with preposterous worldviews and opinions. How and why that happens is another matter for another time.
Welcome to The Machine
Infrastructure and resource conditions have a propensity to reflect on the individual. After all, infrastructure and resources are mediums through which individuals are mutually and simultaneously renewed over time.
What I mean is this: if someone hits a pothole, or there is a mechanical failure and they lose control of the vehicle, hitting someone else, or cause a number of other chain reactions that result in harm, it doesn't matter what conditions are on the ground, the individuals involved are going to feel not a small measure of guilt, and such an experience is going to profoundly alter their images of themselves and their worldviews.
The host that serves guests poisonous foods is going to preside over the suffering of loved ones, and feel like a disgusting failure regardless of personal culpability. The farmer can look over a drought-strangled crop and feel personally useless. The laid-off worker who can no longer afford house payments and is turned to the street along with family feels instinctually responsible, no matter the cognizance of the injustice. And so on.
The physical violence done to the individual through decaying infrastructure and dwindling resources is at the same time a profound personal and spiritual violence, and that devastation leads to further destruction of infrastructure and resource, through mismanagement and interpersonal conflict and carelessness and all the like, and on it goes.
It is as if people are being placed on the rack to be stretched out and tortured by the very bones and sinews which they are supposed to be compose, and which serve to connect them to each other and nurture them in turn.
In fact, the currently running TV comedy "The Good Place" imagines a hellish afterlife in which demons torture people by consciously subjecting them to carefully designed material and spiritual chaos, discord, and confusion, much of it environmental and relational, leading to hilarious results. As a fictional device it is entertaining, but its less interesting to imagine it as a real possible metaphysical construct, than as a fictional compression of a vast and terrible process, peculiar to modernity, that proceeds as a matter of course.
So a society is very much a general commitment to the flourishing or at least the wellbeing of the individual. Standing alone as a statement, this is noncontroversial and at the root of many a theory of society. But it gets much more complicated on the ground and in motion.
Where did The Machine come from, if not through the actions of multitudes within cascading generations, metabolizing together for the sake of flourishing and wellbeing. But it has all extended too far, recklessly expanding and contracting, pulverizing those caught under its blooms, and rending its own children to break them down into constituent parts when it has to contract and reshape upon meeting its limits.
A social body must beware of the multitude of powers that it unfolds to perpetuate itself, as these powers must be maintained over time for the sake of all. Power for the sake of itself is a commitment to nothing, and soon enough its impressive energy flows become the implements of torture for its wielders.
What I mean is this: if someone hits a pothole, or there is a mechanical failure and they lose control of the vehicle, hitting someone else, or cause a number of other chain reactions that result in harm, it doesn't matter what conditions are on the ground, the individuals involved are going to feel not a small measure of guilt, and such an experience is going to profoundly alter their images of themselves and their worldviews.
The host that serves guests poisonous foods is going to preside over the suffering of loved ones, and feel like a disgusting failure regardless of personal culpability. The farmer can look over a drought-strangled crop and feel personally useless. The laid-off worker who can no longer afford house payments and is turned to the street along with family feels instinctually responsible, no matter the cognizance of the injustice. And so on.
The physical violence done to the individual through decaying infrastructure and dwindling resources is at the same time a profound personal and spiritual violence, and that devastation leads to further destruction of infrastructure and resource, through mismanagement and interpersonal conflict and carelessness and all the like, and on it goes.
It is as if people are being placed on the rack to be stretched out and tortured by the very bones and sinews which they are supposed to be compose, and which serve to connect them to each other and nurture them in turn.
In fact, the currently running TV comedy "The Good Place" imagines a hellish afterlife in which demons torture people by consciously subjecting them to carefully designed material and spiritual chaos, discord, and confusion, much of it environmental and relational, leading to hilarious results. As a fictional device it is entertaining, but its less interesting to imagine it as a real possible metaphysical construct, than as a fictional compression of a vast and terrible process, peculiar to modernity, that proceeds as a matter of course.
So a society is very much a general commitment to the flourishing or at least the wellbeing of the individual. Standing alone as a statement, this is noncontroversial and at the root of many a theory of society. But it gets much more complicated on the ground and in motion.
Where did The Machine come from, if not through the actions of multitudes within cascading generations, metabolizing together for the sake of flourishing and wellbeing. But it has all extended too far, recklessly expanding and contracting, pulverizing those caught under its blooms, and rending its own children to break them down into constituent parts when it has to contract and reshape upon meeting its limits.
A social body must beware of the multitude of powers that it unfolds to perpetuate itself, as these powers must be maintained over time for the sake of all. Power for the sake of itself is a commitment to nothing, and soon enough its impressive energy flows become the implements of torture for its wielders.
Monday, November 05, 2018
My Method
I've been sort of asleep at the wheel the last couple of weeks on the writing front. But there is reason for it.
I can tumble down a flight of stairs and call that "my method." In a similar manner, I try to improve, strengthen, and systematize what is really a chaotic and tumultuous life path. The writing is good when I have the energy to write, and the fire is burning just enough to "see."
Careers and financial obligations in the forms of book deals are a good way to weld oneself into a disciplined writing pattern, so to speak, but I don't currently have any of those things going.
No ground is entirely sound. I can attempt to "control" the fall and that is about it.
I can tumble down a flight of stairs and call that "my method." In a similar manner, I try to improve, strengthen, and systematize what is really a chaotic and tumultuous life path. The writing is good when I have the energy to write, and the fire is burning just enough to "see."
Careers and financial obligations in the forms of book deals are a good way to weld oneself into a disciplined writing pattern, so to speak, but I don't currently have any of those things going.
No ground is entirely sound. I can attempt to "control" the fall and that is about it.
Learning and Development
The development of higher brain functions eventually fixes the lower functions into a more stable and persistent state, which still retains some flexibility and dynamism, but which eventually "sets" and grows stubborn.
This is most apparent in the contrast between child learning and adult learning, and accounts for why children are so much better at learning "intuitive" skills like new languages and artistic modes of expression like music.
The child, without full development of the executive functions, has recourse to an instinctual and intimate connection to a given skill; the fundamentals of the skill become largely automatic and natural, and as the child ages and advances the skill, begins to think more reflexively in refining it.
Learning advanced skills as an adult is a very different process, and requires much more reflexive thought.
I can reach for a water bottle and instantly open the threaded cap without thinking about it, as I learned to do so at an early age. However upon recently learning to put together various pipes, and work with various tools, which feature threads that allow twisting and tightening in the exact same direction as the bottle, I have to momentarily reflect on what I am doing logically and then proceed.
This is most apparent in the contrast between child learning and adult learning, and accounts for why children are so much better at learning "intuitive" skills like new languages and artistic modes of expression like music.
The child, without full development of the executive functions, has recourse to an instinctual and intimate connection to a given skill; the fundamentals of the skill become largely automatic and natural, and as the child ages and advances the skill, begins to think more reflexively in refining it.
Learning advanced skills as an adult is a very different process, and requires much more reflexive thought.
I can reach for a water bottle and instantly open the threaded cap without thinking about it, as I learned to do so at an early age. However upon recently learning to put together various pipes, and work with various tools, which feature threads that allow twisting and tightening in the exact same direction as the bottle, I have to momentarily reflect on what I am doing logically and then proceed.
Difficult Terrain
One curious thing about mountain communities and communities occupying sheer-faced canyons is the limit to their localized economic development. The simple logistics of sheer surfaces and the constant pull of gravity puts hard constraints on patterns of development that usually run away on wide open spaces, patterns that develop with an intensity that is all the more extreme the closer these spaces are to bodies of water, rivers and other conduits for resource extraction and commercial transportation. As production clusters and minimizes friction and maximizes economy, growth, and complexity, development accelerates.
Yes, we can still truck up various construction materials and supply the basic modern amenities like housing and commercial structures, but you simply don't see the industrial parks, large scale power generation and waste management, refineries, malls, and dense housing in mountain and canyon communities that you see in urban environments.
The underdeveloped character of a given mountain or canyon neighborhood also lends the space a unique and "unspoiled" character that makes it easier to justify that community's fierce protection of that character, and strengthens the resistance to further development in those regions.
Yes, we can still truck up various construction materials and supply the basic modern amenities like housing and commercial structures, but you simply don't see the industrial parks, large scale power generation and waste management, refineries, malls, and dense housing in mountain and canyon communities that you see in urban environments.
The underdeveloped character of a given mountain or canyon neighborhood also lends the space a unique and "unspoiled" character that makes it easier to justify that community's fierce protection of that character, and strengthens the resistance to further development in those regions.
I Won
Our primary mode of transportation, the mode of the automobile, is - in keeping with its nature - completely overrun with, or largely driven by - no pun intended - private motive. What I mean is that for any given traffic-filled street, to do anything at all, or to get anywhere or go in any direction, you must compete with many others that have private motives of their own, which often conflict with yours.
The very form of the infrastructure itself allows for the forceful assertion of private interest, or the will of the individual who controls an independent and self-contained vehicle for transport.
The functional need to traverse space and close distance is necessarily coupled with prevailing social instincts, which themselves gave rise and sustenance to the automobile as the dominant form of transportation.
A majority of the drivers on the road in an American urban environment are not only concerned about traversing a distance, but doing it as quickly as possible. Further, under cursory observation, what many drivers are interested in from moment to moment is not an absolute minimization of travel time, but a relative accomplishment of traveling faster than and being in front of their closest peers, which gives rise to a variety of traffic patterns and occurrence of accidents, given the constraints of road and signal infrastructure and traffic law.
The simple act of traversing space becomes a tense psychodrama in which a majority of the drivers on the road must best each other in the skill of driving. Granted, there are all sorts of motivations spanning the wide open road, but especially in the city where the heat and pressure of private gain begets more of itself, more drivers find themselves pulled into a consciousness where the others around them need to be surmounted or at least defended against, and it produces a social environment of its own.
The very form of the infrastructure itself allows for the forceful assertion of private interest, or the will of the individual who controls an independent and self-contained vehicle for transport.
The functional need to traverse space and close distance is necessarily coupled with prevailing social instincts, which themselves gave rise and sustenance to the automobile as the dominant form of transportation.
A majority of the drivers on the road in an American urban environment are not only concerned about traversing a distance, but doing it as quickly as possible. Further, under cursory observation, what many drivers are interested in from moment to moment is not an absolute minimization of travel time, but a relative accomplishment of traveling faster than and being in front of their closest peers, which gives rise to a variety of traffic patterns and occurrence of accidents, given the constraints of road and signal infrastructure and traffic law.
The simple act of traversing space becomes a tense psychodrama in which a majority of the drivers on the road must best each other in the skill of driving. Granted, there are all sorts of motivations spanning the wide open road, but especially in the city where the heat and pressure of private gain begets more of itself, more drivers find themselves pulled into a consciousness where the others around them need to be surmounted or at least defended against, and it produces a social environment of its own.
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