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Evolutions in Thought
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
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Considering, (not surprising, given my reading), the evolution mankind has undergone in terms of his thinking. (I use the terms "his", "him", "man" etc. in a gender-indifferent fashion, please don't waste my time with any politically correct gender-fascism.)
First - there is language. "In the beginning was the word...". Nothing we have done before or since has come close. Language both defines ourselves, our world and our place within it. This beginning with the word, common not just to Christianity and Judaism but a thousand different creation myths across as many cultures - this is not an accident.
Think - there are tribes (some still in existence) - that cannot distinguish between green and blue, and have to be taught the difference gradually with colored cards, have to be taught that there is a difference and then to discriminate between them.
There are arguments that even as recently as a few thousand years ago humans didn't "see blue", or not certainly as we see it today. And think of how language has evolved - across different cultures, to reflect our current epoch. The evolution of language since the invention of the World Wide Web, even, a relatively short span, how many new phrases have come into vogue? First - uncommonly to describe things that were imagined, yet not in existence, and then again commonly to describe them when they had been brought into existence.
And there are other languages, of which most of us know nothing - the language of musicians, notes, keys, clefs, of painters, whose language must naturally encompass a richer vocabulary for hue and texture, whose eye must discriminate, the jargon of a thousand unrelated professions from Priest through doctor, computer programmer, lawyer, each with a common tongue, but each as well with his own unintelligible vocabulary that allows him communion with his peers.
Language - note - not written language - but oral traditions, folklore, is what defines us, changes us, Christianity an excellent example of a myth destroyed by writing it down, in it's innumerable translations having lost almost all of it's symbolism and meanings, lost - through history, distance, through a general inability of the written word to convey over time the breadth, magnitude and symbolism of living experience.
Math, which I had considered separately but reconsidered - it's own language - but language as well, Math, the invention of (was math discovered? Or invented?) which facilitated architecture - the building of the pyramids, of Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, of spaceflight and - if we should as a species live to see it - interstellar travel. And each addition to Math's language - for example the 0, Pi, then negative numbers, prime numbers, and a thousand other concepts beyond the scope of this post - each led on to countless new discoveries and achievements. And - marvel then, that each discovery or invention follows almost as a matter of necessity from the one before it.
"In the beginning was the word...", and if you are to believe it, this makes us Gods.
How, then, can we make it better? What changes in language will improve our lot?
Now, this is a good jumping off place, considering the different cultures across the world, and how their language shapes them, defines experiences that you can't have or recognize unless you speak their language, think of what is lost when a language goes extinct, and think of what we can add to ours to make the future a more interesting place...
Tulpa
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
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I came across this a long time ago when reading up on Tibetan Mysticism, and had need of the word a few weeks ago but couldn't remember or find it. But - no sooner do you put the question out there than the internet reflects the answer back to you...
Tulpas:
Any doubts I had were allayed by the fact they have their own website. And the "For Science" slogan in the upper left. Uh-huh. In any event you can't broach a topic like this without incurring a fair bit of "woo-woo", so you have to sift the "evidence" and "testimonials" with more than a grain of salt.
But seriously, this has some curious ideas embedded within it - as in, this voluntary creation of another personality in a way resembles multiple-personality disorder, only the one is the willful creation of someone the creator wishes (and presumably can get along with), the other is the involuntary creation of a personality that often isn't liked by the principal conscious inhabitant. And the idea of projecting it into the wider world around us, that it can assume it's own corporeal shape and grow independent of the creator, well, there's some serious food for thought.
Note: We do this otherwise, with people, children, technology, etc - but there is always the intermediary step of physical creation, with Tulpas there is not.
Related: Golem, Frankenstein's Monster, Shamanism, Spirit Guides, Psychopomps, Alexandra David-Neel oh, once you begin this one you can be led down a great many rabbit holes...
Mezzani #3
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Now this was a bad idea from the get go. But I bought into it so I've only myself to blame.
First of all, cooking it up, I generally wait until the bottom softens and then push the rest down to boil. That did not work. What happened is that those damned macaronis served like little geysers and funneled up the boiling water and sprayed it all over the kitchen. Eventually I had to break them into the pot.
Secondly, even broken they're too fucking big. You can't twirl them on your fork, you have to try and impale one (at which point they make surprisingly animated attempts at escaping) and then pick it off the floor. There's no 5 second rule here, I'd have to sweep or some-such, so it's right into the garbage. Try again. Once you manage to spear one you then have the problem of fitting it into your mouth.
Yeah, right.
Mezzani #3. A thoroughly bad idea. Although I did read about some restaurant that was using them as an environmentally friendly alternative to straws...
Edmonton
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
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A quick trip with the daughter, arrive a bit early and poke around downtown, the city has grown around places I remember, or, in that other trick of time and memory, I find places I remember in unfamiliar settings, the daughter notes what a change in character and culture the city has compared to Calgary, and it's true. The city has a culture - Calgary, well, not so much. Calgary's the rich brother that didn't need manners or education or character because - hey - it had money.
Now who's laughing?
Walk past the Bistro, the old building that used to house it, now a shell that conceals the bottom few floors of a skyscraper, see other familiar old buildings revitalized, Churchill Square with it's library and concert hall, the McDonald Hotel now opened (it was closed almost the entire time I lived there), despite the large marginal contingent clearly visible on the street it's physically a much more vibrant city than when I last lived here. There's perfectly interesting and dirty streets, cafes, filled with people, a very different cultural climate than Calgary, even the daughter observes, it's been too long since I've visited, I need to spend a few days here and rediscover old haunts (those that still exist), need to come back and take a few days and rediscover it, who knows who I'll run into?
The "Wee Book Inn" - they tried Calgary, lasted a year - maybe - then folded. People in Calgary don't read books, not good books at least, I pop in and admire their selection. Nothing I need - but if you read books, know books - compare their selection - in a relatively tiny shop - with the same selection in a warehouse that represents Calgary's tastes - you'd understand.
We lunch at Bistro - they've done a fine job of rebuilding, relocating, the perfect blend of familiarity and renovation, the food, double and quadrupled in price, not expensive - but, again, the curse of memory, of ninety-five cent open faced sandwiches, those days are gone. I should have fattened up.
Nostalgia. Don't know if I'm a fan, but the sand is running through the glass, and - as I'm noticing - you never dip your toe in the same river twice.
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