Walrus Operator

Social Media for Social Upheaval

2009-06-19T01:24:00.006-04:00

Its no secret that social media really is changing everything. Clay Shirky on TED.com talks about the advances of media starting from: few-to-few, one-to-many, and finally into today’s many-to-many.

Mr. Shirkey says of our technological innovations that they “don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring”. Rather than the newest most up-to-date gadget on the market, it is that which becomes ubiquitous that fuels this revolution; the “largest increase in expressive capability in human history”.

This talk was given in less than a month ago and the events taking place in Iran (#IranElection) are only proving and expanding this theory. The many-to-many media (Twitter, SMS, and cellular technology) is besting the government’s efforts for censorship - while not only alerting the outside world but still functioning to organize, inform, and give voice to the people within Iran.

Will social media be the battleground for next “War on-”; the "war on networking"?

Where Science and Buddhism Meet

2009-05-26T16:12:00.005-04:00

Here is a link to an interesting article (Buddhism and Physics) that synopsizes a very intriguing video comparing the teachings of Buddhism with the culmination of modern science. This video seems to capture and tie together most of the themes I have been personally exploring via this blog.

Where Science and Buddhism Meet from Gerald Penilla on Vimeo.

An early submission by A.M. titled On the Nature of the Universe & the 'Creator' deals with much the same subject matter; trying to delineate a spirituality compatible with science. My essay on Monistic Pluralism attempts to describe the presence of a unified singularity with legitimate individuals, minds or perceptions that function (though often ignorant of their connection) within that singularity. The notion of Interconnectivity of all things brings to my mind the provocative allegory of Indra's Net. I have been briefly introduced to Kabbalaistic thought which views the totality of creation as a single system [ We Must Become a Part of Nature's System, We Are One Whole ], quite similar to the philosophic approach I took to our integration with nature in the article As Humans... For me, the composite of all of this is currently crystallizing around some of George Santayana's thought as outlined in Santayana's Spirituality and investigated in more depth in Liberating the Spirit.

Liberating the Spirit

2009-05-23T01:04:00.005-04:00

The following is an essay I wrote for a philosophy class:

Liberating the Spirit

George Santayana, a well known skeptical thinker and self-proclaimed materialist, created an in depth ontology which includes the realm of Spirit. This realm of spirit does not include the pseudo-religious way we commonly use the word to signify supernatural creators or death-surviving selves. Instead, “spirit is an awareness natural to animals, revealing the world and themselves in it (1).” This spirit may go by many other names including “consciousness, attention, feeling, thought, or any word that marks the total inner difference between being awake or asleep, alive or dead (1).” After recognizing the spirit we may move on to address the potential of liberation or salvation of the spirit; prospects which are so naturally ingrained in humans as evidenced by the rise of religions as well as the universal questions surrounding the meaning of life.

In order to understand Santayana’s realm of spirit we must first understand consciousness - which is a collection of units of momentary cognitive awareness or intuition, directing its attention at the essences which give form to objects. More basic than the spirit is the psyche – “the organic order and potentiality in a living body” and the animal force concerned with its own survival and other animal needs (2). The psyche is a more primitive form of intelligence, but is essential as a host for the creation and survival of the spirit. As “spirit is a product of the psyche” the two naturally share many affinities (2). However, the crucial difference remains: psyche is the pattern of self-maintenance and reproduction which holds its organism most valuable whereas spirit does not have persistence or potential (1) but is rather the transcendental “unattached spectator of all time and existence and the contemplator of every possibility (4).”

The Spirit wanders the world, always centered in the ‘now’ and always at the ‘here,’ observing the ways of nature and witnessing “the cosmic dance” that nature performs (1). Spirit may take on many interests. It may be “philosophical, absorbed in curiosity and wonder, impressed by the size, force, complexity, and harmony of the universe” or it may simply be a “station from which to survey the world (2).”

However, the spirit often has a hard time in realizing itself. It faces many hardships from its animal body and psyche that mitigate its transcendence. Santayana suggests that the spirit suffers torment out of sympathy for its poor lost psyche being put through the hardships of earthly life (1). The spirit wishes to see through this confusion to a vista of clarity and understanding.

Attachment is a great source of pain for both psyche and spirit. It is ignorant for a spirit to “attach itself absolutely to anything relative” – even its own life (2). This may be impossible for the psyche to accept graciously, but “the assurance that truth is eternal and that life and beauty may be perpetually renewed in other shapes” can comfort the spirit (2). The miracle of life is granted with a guarantee of death. In fact, in this cyclical pattern “life is a perpetual resurrection; and spirit too is continually being born again (2).” Spirit can rest assured of “the same rational light breaking out anew in some fresh creature (2).”

Santayana suggests we view our particular existences not as intentional occurrences planned by supernatural creators, but rather as accidents. This view, while being more scientific, also makes our happening more rare and more interesting. But we still seek salvation or liberation from the toils and troubles and pains our bodies and psyches must endure. Santayana claims that the spirit offers salvation “by shifting the centre of appreciation from human psyche to the divine spirit (2).” This salvation goes by many different names including Brahma, Nirvana, and accepting the Spirit of Christ; although it is often interpreted to include a false supernatural aspect. Instead of this external non-natural force, it is man himself “a human person assuming and adopting a divine nature (2).”

Humans may lapse in and out of touch with their spirituality, or they may choose to remain ‘enlightened’ through devotion. “Absorption in pure intuition, even if temporary, constitutes the spiritual life (3).” Necessarily, this life is “free of values and empty of striving,” because the enlightened knows not to attach to relative things (3). To live this spiritual life one must replace ideas, emotions, fears, and attachments with spontaneous, disinterested, pure intuition and thereby “detaching us from each thing with humility and humour, and attaching us to all things with justice charity and pure joy” enabling the enjoyment of truth and essence (2).

I have relayed Santayana’s view through this intellectual medium, but the actual attainment and realization of spirit would be better helped along by a poet, a painter, a songbird, or a sunrise.

“Awaken attention, intensify it, purify it into white flame, and the actual and unsubstantial object of intuition will stand before you in all its living immediacy and innocent nakedness (3).”

When that “supreme moment liberates us” we accept it without thinking or judging it and “feel withdrawn into an inner citadel of insight and exaltation (2).”

Works Cited

1) The Nature of Spirit from Realms of Being (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942 [1937]), pp. 555-572

2) Liberation from Realms of Being (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942 [1937]), pp. 736-767

3) Essence from Realms of Being (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942 [1937]), pp. 1-25

4) Stuhr, John J. (Ed.). (2000). Pragmatism and Classical American Philosophy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Monistic Pluralism & Pole Dichotomies

2009-05-23T00:57:00.004-04:00

The following is an essay I wrote for a philosophy class; what do you think? leave some comments.

Monistic Pluralism & Pole Dichotomies

The first of the seven characteristics of classical American philosophical thought is the ‘rejection of modern philosophy’ (Stuhr, 3). The reason for rejecting the prior pattern of thought was that it was “fundamentally dualistic” and attempted to answer philosophical questions in terms of dichotomies. These dichotomies are not actual categories that exist separate of the object we are describing but rather descriptions that we create to contrast one to another. We say ‘either/or’ in attempts to understand that thing’s essence; at least in terms of its relationships to idealized signs (Stuhr, 66). The pattern that emerges from this thought process is one of discrimination, separation, exclusion, and isolation where parts no longer constitute a whole but have an individuality that drives them apart. Philip Kapleau writes in the introduction to Zen Keys:

“We are deceived by our limited five senses and discriminating intellect (the sixth sense in Buddhism) which conveys to us a picture of a dualistic world of self-and-other, of things separated and isolated ... This picture is untrue because it barely scratches the surface. ... For if we could see beyond the ever-changing forms into the underlying reality, we would realize that in essence there is nothing but harmony and unity” (Hahn, 8).

This dualistic view of the world cannot give us a complete understanding because the mind does not function like a box with separate containers but more like a stream flowing with multidirectional currents (Stuhr, 149).

In opposition to this dualistic perspective, the classical American philosophy offers two seemingly opposite yet interrelated options: a monistic view and pluralistic view. The monistic belief is that the true nature of the universe is as a singularity; one wholeness that we are too limited to understand so we cling onto parts. Pluralism holds that because our experiences are unique to us as individuals that they are all equally valuable and equally real. As William James writes, “For pluralism, all that we are required to admit as the constitution of reality is what we ourselves find empirically realized in every minimum of finite life” (Stuhr, 4). It is entirely possible for individuals to have pluralistically valid individual experiences while at the same time existing as part of an integrated whole.

Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuro-anatomist explains how both dualistic and monistic thought are embedded within us. She presents a model where the left and right hemispheres of the brain have seemingly different personalities. While this lateralization of personalities within brain might be debated, her description of the left hemisphere fits with what William James calls The Tough-Minded while the right hemisphere is Tender-Minded. It is the left hemisphere, says Taylor, that is responsible for the ego and hence the duality of ‘I’ verses the ‘other’ while the right hemisphere has a tendency for a monistic view of being one with everything. Interestingly enough, she describes the ‘I’ to be solely concerned with past and future while the ‘we’ is solely in the now moment (Taylor). The ability to remember the past as a source of experience and foresee the future has very practical applications in terms of human survival. Unfortunately, this ability also leads to anxiety as we worry over possible outcomes. The ability to be ‘in the now’ can lead to internal peace and well-being. As James would agree, “we are actually multiple selves” functioning as one mutually interdependent being with “neurological unity” (Stuhr, 142).

Hegel is quoted as saying, “The aim of knowledge is to divest the objective world of its strangeness and to make us more at home in it” (Stuhr, 153). But this raises the question of how do we become more comfortable in a world where increasing knowledge leads to greater separation and distinction and we become stranger and farther away from the world we live in. To use an analogy, it is as if we began to take a clock apart to see how it works. We began studying and cataloguing all the parts and even figuring out how they relate to one another, but we became so engrossed in our work that by time we put the clock back together we forgot what its purpose was. Hegel speaks about this process:

“[the object is] a totality in itself, while at the same time (as this identity is only the implicit identity of its dynamic elements) it is equally indifferent to its immediate unity. It thus breaks up into distinct parts, each of which is itself the totality. Hence the object is the absolute contradiction between a complete independence of the multiplicity, and the equally complete non-independence of the different pieces” (Hegel).

I think this idea was at least in part represented when Charles Sanders Peirce critiqued the Cartesian method of doubt- for to be absolutely certain of everything we know and feel would divest the universe of its purpose and meaning (Stuhr, 45).

The act of drawing boxes within our minds to categorize information can be a useful way to establish facts, however if we are not careful we may forget that we have the option to view the world as a unified whole. It is quite possibly because of an imbalance in the dichotomic equilibrium with the human character that we are facing the world crises we see today (although it could possibly also be accredited as to why we are around today). The aim is for the observing mind to see the universe as a unified whole while simultaneously being able to make the distinctions that enable survival. Such a method combining monism with pluralism may lead to the ability for a richer understanding.

Works Cited

Hahn, Thich Naht. Zen Keys. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 2005.

Hegel, Georg. "Hegel, The Notion, Part B. The Object." Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences. 13 Mar 2009 .

Stuhr, John J. (Ed.). (2000). Pragmatism and Classical American Philosophy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Taylor, Jill Bolte. "My Stroke of Insight." TED 229Mar 2008 13 Mar 2009 .

NewsFlash – We Love Carnage!

2009-04-27T13:15:00.003-04:00

Searching today’s Google Trends USA (around 11:45AM) I noticed that 5 of the top 10 most searched words are related to a NASCAR wreck that took place in Talladega.

1) carl edwards crash
4) talledega crash
6) talledega wreck
9) nascar crash
10) nascar wreck

Of only slightly less importance is the outbreak of swine flu with flu and CDC related searches taking 3 of the top 10 spots. Ranking in at number 2 overall is “morris code” – a very popular reference to “morse code” most likely motivated by Google’s celebration of Samuel Morse’s birthday. Other popular topics include football, the fate of our auto companies, cell phone plans, free chicken, and of course celebrities - with “britney spears tampon” being the 32nd most interesting thing happening in the USA today.

I sincerely hope that these search trends are not indicative of what people truly care about (with some exception for the swine flu because although we should not fear it, the sharing of information is playing a vital role in preventing/containing a pandemic).

An interesting side note: this article titles “Save the Earth: Ban NASCAR” highlights some of the eco-unfreindly attributes of America’s most popular sport.

EarthShip - My Next Appartment

2009-04-23T00:11:00.007-04:00

The concept behind Earthships is to build environmentally sustainable and self-sufficient housing. Earthships recycle materials such as old tires, aluminum cans, and plastic bottles as building materials. Reusing materials like this saves on the energy that is required to recycle. These tires are filled with earth or clay serve as great insulators – naturally maintaining a comfortable living temperature. Partially burying the building, along with orienting it toward or away from the direction of light can maximize energy efficiency.

In addition, Earthships are often outfitted with solar panels or wind turbines for energy, and rainwater collection systems for much of the water needed. Water is recycled through various stages using plants to absorb and filter the water.

By utilizing modern advances in technology and our understanding of systems and design, we may create a way to live a better more integrated and sustainable lifestyle.

Not all 'green' homes need to be made in the Earthship design. Here is an example of another home with low

environmental impact. This Uber-Green Hobbit House

Regardless, these are ideas we need to become more familiar with as we search for solutions to the human crisis.

I personally would like to live in a home reminiscent of one on Tatooine or in Middle-Earth - where can I rent a room until i build my own?

Looking Forward to a Harmonious Existence this Earth Day

2009-04-22T12:00:00.004-04:00

In honor of Earth Day I am posting information regarding environmental sustainability. First I will mention that every day should be Earth Day. We have a responsibility to take care of ourselves through taking care of our one and only beautiful blue and green planet. Attending the Fairleigh Dickinson University Green Day celebration just the other day opened my horizons. Most notably to the concept of permaculture, which is an approach to designing our lifestyles to be in harmony with nature – most effectively done by mimicking some of the natural systems that already exist. Permaculture and Agroforestry are both forms of agro-ecological design theory.

Here are a few links to sites with more information on permaculture:

AppleSeedPermaculture

Permaculture Institute

Gaia University

Living Mandala

For anyone in the New Jersey area particularly interested in business, Green Ventures, and sustainable business practices, FDU is offering a few seminars on these topics:

Beyond Green: Operationalizing Sustainability in a Changing Environment
May 15, 2009

2009 Green Ventures Conference “Jumpstarting the New Green Economy”
May 19-21, 2009

Institute of Sustainable Enterprise

I invite you to look through these links and do your own research into how we can make a POSITIVE difference in regards to ourselves and Mother Earth

Santayana's Spirituality: Consciousness Pure & Free

2009-04-21T02:07:00.003-04:00

I have been reading some of George Santayana’s philosophical thoughts. I find his view of spirituality of particular interest. Without going into much detail here, I will briefly lay the framework of Santayana’s thought so as to provide context.

Santayana defines four realms; the Realms of: Essence, Matter, Truth, & Spirit. Essence is the totality of all (infinite) forms each of which is perfectly self-identical and eternal. Essences are not physical (although physicality is an essence) and are independent of time and space.

Occasionally an essence is wrenched into momentary existence out of the vague infinity. Traditionally this force is called the creative power of “God,” but Santayana argues otherwise. Instead he calls this the unintelligible force of Matter which has no ultimate reason. Existence is “an insane emphasis” and the patterns and habits of existence do not remove its arbitrariness.

The realm of Truth contains all objective facts. Anything that ever had/has/will have Essence and Matter – the fact that an essence did, does, will exist in the physical world – is Truth. Such objective truths are merely humble facts and serve only as an ideal for which we may aim.

To understand the realm of spirituality we must first understand consciousness - which is a collection of units of momentary cognitive awareness (intuition) directed at an object. This object is an essence. Because of our psyches (the human organism behind the consciousness) we cannot enjoy these aesthetic essences at face value. To truly enjoy the objects of our consciousness we must be free of convictions and belief, thus having pure intuition. In this way the spiritual life frees us from the world of organically based values.

The spirit is a novel form of being that emerges from the cognitive awareness of consciousness. The perfection of this consciousness “is to be the unattached spectator of all time and existence and the contemplator of every possibility. Such transcendence in thought of the physical is what we normally mean by spirituality... Absorption in pure intuition, even if temporary, constitutes the spiritual life. This spiritual life is thus free of values and empty of striving.”

This idea seems to me to be reminiscent of the Hindi concept of Nirvana as well as the aim of practicing Zen Buddhism.

Santayana leaves room for meaning in life, but only that meaning which we find while we are living it. “Our momentary flowering is followed by inevitable fall.”

Stuhr, John J. (Ed.). (2000). Pragmatism and Classical American Philosophy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Our Moon goes green

2009-04-17T14:40:00.005-04:00

Telegraph.co.uk reports that U.S. Scientists are planning to grow Brussels sprouts on the moon. This experiment will determine whether future space colonies can produce their own food supply – a vital element for any self-sustainable colony. A mini greenhouse dubbed a “Lunar Oasis”- participant in the Google Lunar X Prize - has been developed by Paragon Space Development Corporation in Arizona, and could be on the lunar surface as soon as 2012.

Brussels sprouts, a member of the brassica family, was chosen because of its quick life cycle. The most similar experiments are the successful greenhouses which produce fruits and vegetables near the South Pole. I wonder how Paragon will combat the extreme temperature variation from ‘day’ to ‘night,’ the drastically different periods of light/dark, and other peculiarities plant life has not experienced here on Earth. Without an atmosphere (or scalable substitute) to filter radiation and trap heat the plants do not stand a chance.

NASA has goals of manned missions to the moon by 2020 and manned missions to mars by 2030. If such missions are to occur, their viability rides on the ability to grow food in space and thus tremendously cut the costs of carrying rations into orbit. In addition plants and algae may be used to filter air and create oxygen for breathing. I imagine hydroponics to be one solution because it would reduce the costs of lifting soil into orbit. Many of the essential nutrients can either be found extra-terrestrially or harvested by growing colonies of phytoplankton and zooplankton for that purpose. The process would prove complicated and extremely fragile – illustrating how good we have it here on Earth.

Force Field Aurorae

2009-04-16T14:33:00.009-04:00

I was looking at some of these awe-inspiring photos of aurorae and pondering the essence of this beautiful natural phenomenon. Even as I was researching on Wikipedia, I Dugg across this article highlighting the development of miniature magnetosphere for protection of space vehicles. These two topics are linked, as this technology works on the same principle as the defense system spaceship earth naturally enlists on our behalf, making life as we know it possible.

A miniature magnetosphere can be created using a simple magnet and researchers from the U.K. and Portugal are applying this principle for creating portable extra terrestrial force field to protect space travelers and vehicles alike from radiation.

Auroras (northern and southern polar lights) occur in the ionosphere when charged particles traveling along the Earth’s magnetosphere collide with the upper atmosphere. These charge particles emanate from the sun and arrive as solar wind. As the collisions occur, electrons take quantum leaps – thus transferring kinetic energy into visible light.

This spectacular display is a beautiful byproduct of the forces of this world that make our existence possible.

The level of solar wind activity can influence the color of the aurorae, but different elements emit different wavelengths:

Red & Green - atomic oxygen
Pink & Blue/Violet - molecular nitrogen/nitrogen ions
Light Blue & Green - ionic nitrogen
Purple - neutral helium
Orange (w/ rippled edges) - neon

Photos of Aurora Borealis: Telegraph.co.uk -Nothern Lights

Protective Magnetic Spaceshield : The Future Of Things

Wikipedia: Aurora

Living in Plato’s Cave

2009-04-14T13:58:00.002-04:00

Tom Morris writes this article for the Huffington Post comparing Plato's Cave to the current financial and economic crisis.

Plato argued that we all live under the distorting influence of illusions. Plato uses the metaphor that we humans are prisoners, chained to a wall in a cave, mesmerized by the shadows we see flickering by – thinking that these shadows are reality.

This metaphor is exemplified by the events that have created and are continuing the economic recession. We are prisoners of the economy - we stare transfixed at the movements of the stock exchanges- thinking them to be the source of ultimate reality.

Tom Morris emphasizes courage and confidence, tempered with just a little caution, as essential to overcoming the fear of the illusory and avoid immobilization.

I'm in the cephalopod business...

2009-04-08T21:33:00.006-04:00

Here is some fresh work. The squid was created by Mike, and I decided even cephalopods should have to wear a tie to work... You can't tell from these pictures, but the briefcase has an electrical outlet protruding from it. I'll get some more pics of this power peddling cuttlefish up soon

The point of entropy

2009-04-07T16:41:00.003-04:00

Everything in this universe is chaotic, including life. Even while things seems to be headed in the direction of ultimate organizational maximization, chaotic and seemingly illogical occurrences remind us that, as seen from a existential physicist’s point of view, we are merely a sum of spontaneous and random subatomic particles that straddle the fence between matter and energy. The madness may have some as-of-yet-undiscovered method to it, like the e8 shape, but as of yet scientists have not found logical sequence in the actions of these subatomic particles, things which actually make up everything that we perceive in the material world [though not necessarily everything that is there]- and so the fact that the building blocks make no sense to us shows that life is essentially unpredictable, that the events which happen in the physical world are not teleological.

They have no path or destiny, and what beauty of it!
Think of this universe full of individual motion,
a cosmic dance of expression,
of originality and truth.

Not a pulse but rather a hum,
a constant passionate agitation,
unsynchronized existence.

Things bumping off
and mixing in
with other things
in a tangled ball of unique togetherness.

And then, there is still the point of entropy…

~A.M.

Future Energy Mix

2009-04-06T12:27:00.002-04:00

An interesting article by Fareed Zakaria titled Free At Last deals with the prospect of an energy solution in the future. Raising efficiency is the key; there is no single solution. The revolution that must occur is not technological but “one of attitudes and ideas.” It is estimated that by the year 2050 the human population will exceed 9 billion – and we will need twice as much energy. While it may be true that we need to wean ourselves from our oil addiction, oil will still play a role in the energy mix of the future. Mr. Zakaria argues that instead we will need every available source of energy and “disciplined application of technologies that already exist.” The trick is to be able to find abundant energy at low cost (including the hidden costs to the environment or in the social or military spheres). In addition, we need to limit our waste (and the energy used to dispose of it) by making everything either biodegradable or totally recyclable.

As Humans...

2009-04-04T17:46:00.006-04:00

As humans, especially living in industrialized society constantly surrounded and entertained by technology, we forget our connection to the natural world. American pragmatic philosophy offers some insight:

“An organism does not live in an environment; it lives by means of an environment.... The processes of living are enacted by the environment as truly as by the organism; for they are an integration.”
~ John Dewey

Further, how we view our place in the world has many implications for not only our psychological health but also holds the key to forging a sustainable relationship with the environment.

“Nature’s place in man is no less significant than man’s place in nature. Man in nature is man subjected; nature in man, recognized and used, is intelligence and art.”
~ John Dewey

Once we can see this, and really feel comfortably at home on planet Earth, we will realize:

“For what is best in ourselves appears then also outside of ourselves, and we and the universe are of the same spiritual species”
~William James

So we are an integration of the universe with the potential for consciousness and perception of intelligence and art. The Earth IS us. We are the universe. Surely we have responsibility to take care of ourself. We should not be subjected by, warring with, or even trying to outsmart the natural world; instead we must work with it.

I leave you with a related passage from the Bhagavad-Gita:

Know that both nature
and man’s spirit have no beginning,
that qualities and changes
have their origin in nature.

For its agency in producing effect,
nature is called a cause;
in the experience of joy and suffering,
man’s spirit is called a cause.

Man’s spirit is set in nature,
experiencing the qualities born of nature;
its attachment to the qualities causes
births in the wombs of good and evil.

What do you think?

This Tea is Good

2009-04-04T15:57:00.004-04:00

4/3/09 - Morristown NJ

I sit by my computer, for I have blogs that need writing,
gazing out my window, open – rhythmic smack of fat rain – which gradually eases through intensity and seems to toggle on/off, pattering on rooftop.
Drips fall steadily from far right corner of chimney-top slab, and occasionally from middle or elsewhere.
Far side of valley is nearly obscured through opaque mist; but green field shows brightly, mist makes the layers of depth more evident. The clouds are fantastic!
Red mug filled with green tea perched in immediate foreground, steaming on sill. Interesting how the water vapor of steam and mist are the same element but with different essences... different causation

Now the rain has cleared and I sit half-lotus on mostly dry roof
Birds chirp, warble, chatter, whistle, sing, and call from every direction. A doe grazes through a leaf littered yard. The clouds are more spectacularly defined as the west-side is lit Gold & the east-sides are shades of purple and blue with thin spots showing cream. The main mass moves east-north-east while a lower faster body moves east-south-east. Incense wafts from deep within my room through the open window and makes itself known by floating over my shoulder before it dissolves. I can picture the smoke oozing from the burning cone and forming a long trail that meanders and stretches itself only to flicker from existence at the borders of my perception. eye level with the canopy of 4-story arboretum reveals the first pink and green bus of spring ready to unfurl. As the Sun peaks between clouds, outlining the trees topping western ridge, droplets suspended from branches (bearing only potential leaves, birds, and the afternoon’s water) become thousands of prisms – fluctuating through the spectrum but with a peculiar tendency for gold. A shattered mirror propped up against a neighbor’s garage takes this scene in from 1000 angles, seems to hold the images longer than I can, and reflects the reorganized scenes back... (if only someone was watching...)

The most indigo of skys are coming – this must mean rain tonight.

I sip my tea

Green tea in a red mug

and realize this entire description has played out, reflected from nearly under the surface, of the steamy/misty beverage, shimmering mirror-like literally in front of my nose

I sip
(this tea is good)

Now the trees to the east are silhouettes against blue-pink-orange-purple crayola clouded sky. Later, a vague mist will roll in – contrasting the clarity of before. The first few drops will splat with a dull thud as thunder rumbles distantly and the zen rock chimney-top slab begins its drip.

I like this season

Goldsworthy: Rivers and Tides - Working with Time

2009-04-04T14:45:00.007-04:00

Andy Goldsworthy is a British artist who focuses in natural art. Using materials found in the landscape where he builds his pieces, Andy’s art has astounding natural and organic feel. While some if his work has durability, many of his pieces are not meant to last – as nothing ever does. In “Rivers and Tides: working with time” Goldsworthy explores the ebb and flow of time and liquidity of nature.

You can find Rivers and Tides DVD on sale @ Amazon now

“... the film follows the bohemian free spirit Goldsworthy all over the world as he demonstrates and opens up about his unique creative process. From his long-winding rock walls and icicle sculptures to his interlocking leaf chains and multicolored pools of flowers, Goldsworthy’s painstakingly intricate masterpieces are made entirely of materials found in Mother Nature – who threatens and often succeeds in destroying his art, sometimes before it is even finished.”

Follow this link to YouTube to see some Andy Goldsworthy: Rivers and Tides clips

Biomass Generation

2009-04-02T13:36:00.000-04:00

I am doing a research project on the possibility of Biomass generators and anaerobic digestors scaled to small and medium sized businesses. I have found lots of information about large scale biomass power generation plants, but the fuel for these is often grown specifically for that purpose. I would like to research a more efficient way to transform organic waste directly into energy with minimal environmental impact.
Does anyone have any information that might be useful to my search? I would appreciate any help I can get.

New Solar Energy Havesting Balloon

2009-03-31T16:26:00.002-04:00

A new technology created by Cool Earth Solar uses very inexpensive inflatable plastic balloons that utilize a solar concentrator to focus sunlight onto a photovoltaic cell at the focal point. They claim that they can capture 400 times more energy than the average solar cell with this method. While it is very inexpensive to create the balloon itself, such cheap materials are hardly durable and the cost of maintenance may be high. Some other concerns other bloggers raise include the fact that the balloons are made from plastic and the fact that photovoltaic cells tend to become much less efficient at higher temperatures (400x) and may fail.

I am glad to see technological progress and innovation in the field of renewable and sustainable energy.

Wave Farm: Agucadoura

2009-03-31T15:57:00.003-04:00

The world’s first wave farm, Agucadoura, is up and running off the coast of Portugal and generating power supply enough for 1500 homes. This technology uses the motion of the ocean’s waters to pump pistons and generate renewable energy. I wonder if this can generate energy on a flat day by tidal forces, if so it could be extremely useful in places like the Bay of Fundy, and also to its durability under stormy conditions. I wonder if there is any threat of environmentally damaging impacts such as hydraulic fluid or piston lubricant leaks into the ocean. As we will see, each location on planet earth will have a specific technology that will provide an uniquely advantageous solution to humanity's energy demands.

We shall see how effective this technology is (as I am sure it will go through improvements later down the learning curve) but until then I applaud the innovation and effort to make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place to live.

Liquid Metal Art

2009-03-31T13:49:00.007-04:00

Metal -

The word metal usually connotes ideas of hardness, strength, durability, permanence, industry. However, in contrast to its hardness metal is of such great importance to society today and societies of the past (Bronze Age, Iron Age) because of its pliability. Yet, the fluid and seemingly organic properties displayed by the metal in this video may surprise you. This ‘metal’ is actually a ferrofluid, a “colloidal mixture composed of nanoscale ferromagnetic particles suspended in a carrier fluid” and becomes strongly polarized in the presence of a magnetic field. The artists behind this ‘living’ sculpture (Sachiko Kodama & Yasushi Miyajima) use magnetism to influence the crystalline properties the ferrofluid posses. Beyond art, I wonder at future practical applications if such a technology could be used to temporarily bridge gaps in electrical wiring, temporarily shape tools to specific forms, advance Liquid Body Armor (magnetorheological fluid), or create something real from the Terminator T-1000 sci-fi technology.

Liquid Metal

a similar video : Freaky Liquid Metal

La Planete Sauvage - Fantastic Planet

2009-03-27T13:40:00.008-04:00

French animated film La Planete Sauvage (Fantastic Planet, 1973), winner of the Cannes special jury prize 1973, and directed by Rene Laloux was adapted from science fiction author Stefan Wul's Oms en série (1957). This surreal story takes place on the alien Draag homeworld of Ygam where the Draags hold descendants of the earthly human race (Oms) as pets. When these Oms escape captivity they form tribal colonies; which the Draags periodically eradicate they way we do to ants or mice. It is only after the Om called Terr steals a Draag learning device and gains insight to their advanced science that the Oms have a chance to compete for their survival. Upon leaving Ygam and finding the Fantastic Planet the Oms discover they now have the power to disrupt the Draag's mysterious meditation ritual, and use this to force a mutually beneficial treaty between the two races.

I recommend taking the time to experience this film and also note the exceptional score by Alain Goraguer

Here is part 1 of 8 (in english) from YouTube. Be sure to watch all 8

You can also see all eight parts of Fantastic Planet embedded@ The World Of Kane
or download the french version of La Planete Sauvage from veoh

Chihuly: The Nature of Glass

2009-03-26T18:26:00.027-04:00

The CHIHULY “The Nature of Glass” exhibit at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens integrates the flora of the Arizona desert with elegant glass sculptures of a fantastically pseudo-organic design. I find an interesting connection in the way both the flora and the glass sculptures are born from the desert sands. The apparent delicateness of the glass serves to contrast with the unique and hearty plants specialized to extremes of their environment. Dale Chihuly, an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur, is the creative force behind this exhibit of surreal botanic art.

Here is a link to the Desert Botanical Garden’s Chihuly: “The Nature of Glass” page

Here is a link to the Desert Botanical Garden’s Chihuly: “The Nature of Glass” photo gallery

Here is another photo album of the Chihuly Exhibit At Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens

Zen Keys

2009-03-11T21:36:00.018-04:00

The following is quoted from the introduction (by Philip Kapleau) to Thich Nhat Hahn’s Zen Keys with links to relevant articles, mostly from recent headlines. I reorganized the order of the quotes somewhat.

“In the last hundred years this process of constant and explosive change on the social and institutional level has accelerated to a degree unknown to people of earlier ages. Almost daily the newspaper reports new and dizzying crises in the world; famines and natural disasters; wars and revolutions; crises in the environment, in energy and in the political arena; crises in the world of finance and economics; crises in the increasing number of divorces and nervous breakdowns, crises in personal health, in the incidences of heart attacks, cancer, and other fatal diseases, not to mention the number of senseless deaths caused by the traffic in and extensive consumption of illegal drugs. Most people looking out on this ever-changing, seemingly chaotic world see anything but natural karmic laws at work, nor do they perceive the unity and harmony underlying this constant and inevitable change. If anything they are filled with anxiety, with a feeling of powerlessness, and with a sense that life has no meaning. And because they have no concrete insight into the true character of the world or intuitive understanding of it, what else can they do but surrender to a life of material comfort and sensual pleasure?

The contamination of our own and the world’s environment and our squandering of dwindling natural resource through overconsumption, waste, and mismanagement speak eloquently of our greed and irresponsibility.

It is out of this respect for worth of every single object, animate as well as inanimate, that comes the desire to see things used properly, and not to be heedless or wasteful or destructive.

We are deceived by our limited five senses and discriminating intellect (the sixth sense in Buddhism) which conveys to us a picture of a dualistic world of self-and-other, of things separated and isolated, of pain and struggle, birth and extinction, killing and being killed. This picture is untrue because it barely scratches the surface.

There is more to life than what the senses tell them – that in the midst of impermanence there is something always permanent, in the midst of imperfection there is perfection, in chaos there is peace, in noise there is quiet, and finally in death there is life.

For if we could see beyond the ever-changing forms into the underlying reality, we would realize that in essence there is nothing but harmony and unity and stability, and that this perfection in no different from the phenomenal world of incessant change and transformation.

‘In truth I say to you that within this fathom-high body, with its thoughts and perceptions, lies the world and the rising of the world and the ceasing of the world and the Way that leads to the extinction of rising and ceasing.’”

Collaborative Art

2009-03-10T15:33:00.007-04:00

As per the suggested reply to my first collaborative post, I have added a space faring sea-turtle to the mural. Check out some other pictures of this mural and leave comments on what I should add next.

Indra's Net

2009-03-09T01:22:00.008-04:00

I first encountered Indra's Net through philosopher Alan Watts explaining the Buddhist Doctrine of Mutual Inter-Penetration ( Pratītyasamutpāda ) in which every part of the universal energy pattern (be it thing, event, or story) is interlocked with every other part; all depending upon each and each depending upon the whole. This concept is illustrated by using the metaphor of a multi-dimensional spider web which, coated with dew, glistens in the morning light. Each drop of dew suspended upon the web contains an individual (person/event/story), and in each drop is seen the reflection of every other drop and in that reflection the reflection of the reflection and so on through infinite regression. Each drop is significant because it reflects and is reflected in every drop being integrated into an intricate whole. It follows that changing one would change all, not just in appearance, but in context and most importantly in meaning.

"Indra's Jeweled Net is a metaphor for the summation of Buddhist thought. Each of us is a jewel in Indra's Net, which replicates the whole and is the whole. At each intersection in Indra's Net is a light reflecting jewel and each jewel contains another Net, ad infinitum. The jewel at each intersection exists only as a reflection of all the others and hence it has no self-nature. Yet it also exists as a separate entity to sustain the others. Each and all exist in their mutuality. "

---Ken Jones, The Social Face of Buddhism

If your interested here is some further talks by Alan Watts on the overview of Buddhism including some history and concepts, and Alan Watts attempts to explain Zen.

Samboja Lestari – Towards “life in harmony”

2009-03-06T21:52:00.003-05:00

In this talk hosted by TED, Willie Smits discusses how he restored a patch of rainforest to a location that was previously suffering from a slash-and-burn holocaust in one of the poorest regions in Borneo. The devastation of the natural biosphere in that location directly impacted the local population quite detrimentally through loss of arable land, loss of rainfall and consequently drinking water, and wild fires. As it turns out, the solution he discusses is not only good for the ecosystem but also quite profitable for the local population. Mr. Smits shows us that technology and knowledge can be used to work with the natural order through scientific integration of cash crops, food plants, and general biodiversity for a sustainable forest. A combination of agriculture and forestry (Agroforestry) might be the next evolution in the way we interact with Mother Earth.

And you can also check out the Orangutan Outreach site

Smells Like Content

2009-03-06T12:06:00.003-05:00

Balance, Repetition,
Composition, Mirrors

most of all the world is a place
where parts of wholes are described,
within an overarching paradigm of clarity
and accuracy
the context of which makes possible
an underlying sense of the way it all fits together
despite our collective tendency not to conceive of it as such

but then again
the world without end
is a place where souls are combined
but with an overbearing feeling of disparity,
disorderliness
to ignore is impossible
without getting oneself
into all kinds of trouble
despite one's best intentions
not to get entangled with it so much

and meanwhile the statues are bleeding green
and others are saying things
much better than we ever could
as the quiet becomes suddenly verbose

and the hail is heralding the size of nickels,
and the street corners are gnashing together
like gears inside the head
of some omniscient engineer
and downward flows the garnered wisdom
that has never died

when finally we opened the box
we couldn't find any rules
our heads were reeling with a glut of possibilities,
contingencies
but with ever increasing faith
we decided to go ahead and just ignore them
despite tremendous pressure to capitulate and fade

so instead we went ahead
to fabricate a catalog
of unstable elements
and modicums
and particles with non-zero total strangeness
for brief moments which amount
to nothing more than tiny fragments of a finger snap

and meanwhile we're furiously sleeping green
and the map has started tearing along it's creases
due to overuse
when in reality, it's never needed folds

and the air's withholding the sound
of its wellspring,
and our heads are approaching a density
reminiscent of the infinite connectivity
of the center of the sun
and therein lies the garnered wisdom
that has never died

expectation leads to disappointment
if we don't expect something big, huge, and exciting
usually, uh
I don’t know, it's just not as, yeah

~ The Books

2009-03-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

"The course of history is nothing but the story of men's struggles from generation to generation to find the more and more inclusive order. Invent some manner of realizing your own ideals which will also satisfy the alien demands - that and that only is the path to peace!"
~ William James

Stroke of Insight

2009-03-03T22:03:00.001-05:00

Absolutely fascinating! You MUST watch this video. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuro-anatomist, suffered a massive stroke but had the ability to watch the process happen within her. She calls this her “Stroke of Insight”. She describes a la la land reminiscent of an artificially induced psychedelic experience. Jill found a Nirvana that exists within each and every one of us. In fact her description of this la la land reminds me of the way Alex Grey depicts our true selves in his art- as beings of pure energy. She asks a very important yet elusive question; “Who are we?” and she manages to answers it: “We are the life force power of the universe with manual dexterity and two cognitive minds.”

Quote of the Day

2009-03-01T18:14:00.001-05:00

"All that we are is a result of all that we have thought"
~Siddhartha

Quote of the Day

2009-02-28T13:32:00.002-05:00

"The aim of knowledge is to divest the objective world of its strangeness and to make us more at home in it"
~Hegel

Quote of the Day

2009-02-27T12:25:00.000-05:00

"Not to demand intimate relations with the Universe, and not to wish them satisfactory, should be accounted signs of something wrong."
~William James

Quote of the Day

2009-02-26T16:03:00.002-05:00

"No eternal reward will ever forgive us for wasting the dawn"
~J.M.

Stuff

2009-02-26T14:55:00.005-05:00

I watched this video entitled The Story of Stuff the other day, and it has changed my perspective on a few things. It talks about the consumerism our society is based upon and consequences we face from living the way we do. We often talk of ‘green’ technology, so much so that it has become hackneyed. Green tech has the intended purpose of reducing the stress we humans place upon our world, and while this is obviously a noble cause, is it enough? Hybrid cars may use less gasoline, but the production of their batteries creates enormous amounts of pollution. Ethanol seems like a great alternative fuel, but its production expends as much energy as it creates.

One particular facet that drives our consumer society is fashion. I realize from a marketing standpoint that the purpose of commercials is to sell things. However, the Moloch driving this thing demands we constantly sacrifice for the sake of progress. So fashion is simply a force that drives us to consume more, to throw out the ‘old’ (but still functional) and buy something new because everybody else has or will.

As a student in business school I constantly hear creeds such as “Cash is the ONLY thing that matters to the entrepreneur,” and I am faced with sound advice everyday that encourages a mission of exploitation; the exploitation of resources, the exploitation of opportunities, or the exploitation of anything in order to make profit.

So what is important? - It’s not fashion or monetary profit or even the survival of our social standard. Life (not just yours, but all Life), humanity, the survival of this precious planet Earth is what is universally important. What holds meaning for you?

My question to you is what can we do to work towards a truly sustainable way of life?

On the Nature of the Universe and the "Creator"

2009-02-20T16:03:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine with whom I regularly discuss some of the deeper philosophical questions of life posed this to me:

"On the Nature of the Universe and the "Creator"

Many religions, including the recent Abrahamic philosophies, conclude that
(a) God created everything and, also, that (b) God is a part of everything.

Just as many creation myths speak of an aqueous origin of life, this widespread idea of the nature of the creator and it's infinite presence may hold some remote truth when placed in the proper context. Just as the answer to everything is 7, with the proper units affixed, the following short essay will attempt to prove how one can believe in a thing that both creates everything and is a part of everything while maintaining a logical and scientific point of view.

My understanding, thus far, is that the universe is in a constant pattern of motion.
The big bang was not the beginning of the universe, but rather a part of the never-ending cyclical process that is the universe.

Assuming the infinity of time stretches forever in both directions, rather than a beginning the big bang would have to have been simply one of many big bangs, both before it and still to come.

This would imply that the universe can expand only so far, at which point everything will be spread as thin as possible.

This will lead to a reversal of the motion, as the universe begins to shrink back into itself, like a rubber band snapping back.

Just as the universe reaches a point at which it can stretch no further,
it will also reach a point when it can condense no further.

When all that is completes this inward motion, everything will be one.
Everything will squeeze together until it becomes one thing, and just as the matter or energy [one finds these two are interchangeable] reaches this point of ultimate contraction, a "Big Bang" occurs, beginning the expansion phase all over again.

Everything spreads and stretches out, only seemingly endlessly, until the universe can expand no further and once again snaps back on itself.

The parallel can thus be drawn between the moment of complete contraction and the creator of all that is. This moment when all things are one, after all, is responsible for the creation of the universe. It marks the moment when all things become one and, in essence, become the creator.

From this one sees how, according to this representation of the universe, the "creator" is indeed a part of everything that is, has ever been, and ever will be. More specifically, everything that is, has ever been, and ever will be is the creator- in which case one comes to the conclusion that there is no true and single creator but rather a collection of equal contributors. So maybe we can call that moment between the contraction and the expansion god and god can be everywhere and be everything and be everyone and we can thank god for being here.

I don’t know, what do you think?" ~A.M.

Collaborative Art

2009-02-15T15:23:00.008-05:00

So this is a mural I started on a wall in my home several months ago. I would like some input on this piece, so post your ideas and we can see this thing evolve around the communal input.