C.A.S.E. or C.L.A.S.P?

I love acronyms...and I wanted to have a simple acronym to get across the content of a polymathic study or investigation or..case. CASE seemed quite good: Connected Arts Sciences Experience. Connected because you need in the first place to be open to perspectives of all kinds on the subject in question. By being open you get to see more, and see better what is really there. Also a state of 'openess', anecdotally defined as being 'into it' but also 'transparent', not bringing any emotional baggage to a new area of study, is optimal for learning. When we are in 'sort' mode- deciding what to accept and what 'fits' with us we aren't able to learn. We are literally blinkered- but worse- these are imaginary mental blinkers so we are also wasting energy 'ignoring' things right in front of our eyes. To see more- be open- to the artistic perspective, the scientific perspective and the experiential. The experiential aspect is the 'lived' element of any study, how it relates to our own lives as we live them. To study something- be it a river, global warming, relationships, motorbikes we need to include the experiential element to get perspective. Experience is what tells us to highlight certain areas and ignore others.

But something was missing from this- the physical aspect of polymathics. Physical knowledge is the essential fourth element in generating a polymathic perspective. When we focus solely on mind knowledge we lose the balancing factor (can't have too many balancing factors) of bodily physicality. For example, if you were making a polymathic study of violence it would have to include some physical knowledge of violence- how to knock a nail into a block of wood, how much effort is needed to smash a brick, how much it hurts to punch a sand bag. This overlaps with the experiential aspects of polymathy but physical knowledge- meaning that which we 'know' without having to think about it is a huge area of human competence- but because it can't be written down has been very much overlooked. Film and video can capture such expertise more easily and this has led to a greater appreciation of the importance of this area of knowledge. So to include physicality I suggest a second acronym- CLASP- Connected Living Arts Sciences Physicality. Does an acronym get us any further? I think it has a use as a check list for generating perspectives when looking at a new area of study.

Rod or net: the big question

I have to admit an admiring fascination for Bear Grylls' The Island. In this program a team of men have to survive for 40 days on an island. One guy, Vic, is good at fishing with a rod and on a good day brings home five fish.Vic is a loud northern type who has a chip on his shoulder about posh people...like Sam. Sam seems a bit of a dreamer and is no good at manual work. Vic leads the group in denigrating Sam as a skiver. But Sam is tough. He steadfastly keeps working on his own project which is to repair and use an old fishing net. Everyone thinks he is wasting his time but he keeps going. Every day he sets it and every day it's empty- but that's how you learn with fishing. You keep fine tuning and you keep trying. The others begin to ignore Sam but then one day he asks them to help him with the net...he's caught 23 fish!

Sometimes it's worth going out on a limb, against the group, sticking to your guns and using creativity to be audacious.

Stupidity is a form of dishonesty

I have been reading and immensely enjoying a war memoir by an Irish woman married to a German official living in Berlin during the second world war. The block leader- the party member whose job it is to collect dues and spy on the other residents is the local gardener. After WW1 he lost all his savings in the inflation of the early 1920s. In the crash of 1929 he loses his job and again all his pitiful savings needed to get married. He joins the Nazi party and finally gets married though its too late to have kids. the author remarks on a Berlin joke of the 1930s- intelligent and dishonest=nazi, stupid and honest=nazi, intelligent and honest=anti-nazi. And the gardener is honest, though portrayed as stupid- he cannot through the many lies told by his beloved party. When the war ends he is hanged by disgruntled locals- or perhaps by Russians- from a lamp-post. His luck has run out yet again.

But it made me think- we often describe people as stupid but honest- meaning they won't cheat or lie to you. But this is a child's definition of honesty. Real honesty- the only kind that has developmental potential- is knowing when you are deceiving yourself. It's having a propensity for self-deception, it is, in fact, hypocrisy by another name. 

Stupid people are forgiven for being easily deceived. But most deceptions are a result of greed not a simple mistake (you can tell the difference- a simple mistake allows of correction, the greedy reject outside correction). We are greedy for an outcome we don't deserve, or something plainly unlikely- we deceive ourselves that something is true when it is obvious to outsiders that it isn't.

Focusing on the stupidity or intelligence of a person seems less use than seeing how much they choose to deceive themselves. But even this doesn't quite hit the mark- the moral censure isn't needed. Those that deceive themselves are lacking mental flexibility. They can only see things one way, the greed makes them inflexible. By focusing on mental flexibility you outwit stupidity and dishonesty.

What path are you on?

I like paths. They seem to wobble arbitrarily but actually they follow the path of least resistance. They reflect a group intelligence- all the people or animals that have walked the same way. A dead straight path would actually be less efficient, you'd go up and down more than necessary. The more hilly the terrain the more tortuous and crazy seeming are the paths. Of course you're much more likely to lose your way on a winding path.

King of the Headhunters

Taken on Burmese border, nagaland. the number of heads equals the number of brass skulls around his neck.

Meryl Streep quotation

Meryl Streep on acting, but it could be about many things: "Pretending is not just play. Pretending is imagined possibility." Worth musing on that one. 

 

Car seen in Kohima, Nagaland

You see strange things in India and Nagaland is right at the very edge of India. Christianity is the main religion here, Buddhism is unknown except among recent immigrants. So this is very definitely not a Buddhist swastika.