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"Life expands or shrinks in proportion to one's courage." ~Anain Nin
States of Union and Dis-Union Tonight, a man will address the nation to say that everything is just fine, and it's getting even better. The man will smile, wink, and nod, and lift up his hands in a flurry of passionate rhetoric. He will extol the common American virtues, and pause for raucous applause. He will believe every word he says. We, however, will not. It has become almost passe to speak of the President of the United States as a tool, because it's become so obvious. It's like going around saying that the sky is, indeed, blue. We've gathered this by now. To spare a dollop of credit, I think the man truly believes what he's saying, though this Pygmalion won't ever see the world beyond his carefully maintained sphere. He handlers know, his most trusted staffers know, and the man behind the convenience store drinking malt liquor knows it too: like latter-day Reagan, George W. Bush has strings attached. Many. We know that we live under a tattered and torn constitution, and to quote the man speaking tonight, "it's just a goddamned piece of paper." That settles that. I've long said that things must devolve before they evolve, and for that, I must thank, without handshake, the man. He has brought us to the very bottom of the crucible, and we as a nation are busy pulverizing ourselves and the rest of the world with a maddening rhythm. I can only hope that from this brutal place that something alchemical may occur, should we add the right elements. I do not, of course, celebrate the global misanthropy which this man has been a party to unleashing. More damage than history will care to record has been exacted on the climate, biodiversity, culture, dialogue, international relations, the economy, human rights, et cetera. Yet, as in homeopathy, it's that little drop of that which we wish to stave off that has now entered the thinking person's bloodstream. Yet what to do, amid the partisan jabber? Simple: start, earnestly, the work of evolving. This means paying little mind to the Little Mind of Government, Media, and the many tentacles of distraction. Even if in November the elections see a partisan change, acknowledge and move on. An electoral reconfiguration is a very, very tiny piece in the puzzle- so much more lies with a strengthening of individual will, local action, and internal fortitude. Personal and social evolution should be controlled through the stamina and passion of the individual heart than by subscriptions to pre-ordained social movements. The most powerful social movements in history were always the ones that were not manufactured, but spontaneous, individually authentic, and based upon the Person and not the State. Such things begin quietly, as whispers. We are at a point where we have access to more information, ideas, and collective imagination than ever before. Surely, this ought to be enough to lay a transformative foundation socially, as it's already changing who were are internally. There is as much danger in losing the self in this time as there is in fighting to establish the self. The Government, while sitting atop an apex of power and tyranny, is indeed beginning to lose its seat. It, as an entity, is terrified of losing strength, and losing it to empowered individuals. I do not see a revolution marching to Washington and dismantling the State; rather, I see this paradigm losing relevance and any scrap of authority as humanity does the work that governments used to do; care for itself, reach out and forge real bonds with the rest of the world, self-educate, and finally, to be the bold pioneers that grow and become through the ardor of reaching our chosen frontier. While the man is speaking a scripted speech, I invite you to ignore it. Bake something wonderful. Make love. Go stargazing. Be rapt in the sensuous. Think upon your dreams, your cause for hope, your contribution to goodness, your virtues, your genuine and valid opinions... the State of Your Own Wondrous Union. jaybird found this for you @ 13:26 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
Monday Link Disco!!! I've been saving up all sorts of goddies for you. Let's dance!
Well now, that was fun, wasn't it? I just had to get these out of my system (and bookmarks folder). jaybird found this for you @ 09:40 in I don't know where to put this... | | permalink
The blog was similarly stricken by a case of the sleepies today. It promises to revive tomorrow. jaybird found this for you @ 09:37 in Misc. Babble | | permalink
The blog was sleepy today. It's winter, after all. jaybird found this for you @ 23:31 in Misc. Babble | | permalink
Something is always getting in If only I could stare, full-bore- at the Sun Yet I avert the eye, and in so doing, The earthen mug from Peru which holds my morning tea is warm The light that creates shadows is symbolic for a reason- Closing my eyes, I feel the window's draft- jaybird found this for you @ 12:45 in Journaling the Infinite | | permalink
Has anyone a clue what this is? ![]() It looks like a cross between a crayfish and a lobster with some characteristics of a large prawn or crab but even the experts are stumped about the identity of this crustacean. Christopher Chan, Operations Manager of Mimpian Jadi Resort in Tuaran, noticed it crossing a tarred access road, while driving to work with wife Rosie last Friday. "I've never seen it in my life," said Chan and sought Daily Express for help. We showed the pictures of it to a certified diver who shook his head and said: "I have no idea." ...There are more than 500 species of crayfish in the world. Could this be one of the 500 or could it even be a new species? Characteristic of crayfish is its joined head with the thorax (mid-section) and a segmented body, four pairs of legs and a pair of pincers. This creature has all those general features but there is something very unusual about the pincers - they are not equally curved claws as in most cases. Rather, the lower claw is short while the upper claw shapes like a sharp blade three times longer. And it is combative and fierce. jaybird found this for you @ 16:25 in Forteana, Phenomena & the Bizarre | | permalink
At the Beep: Physicist hypothesizes creator left messages A University physicist has proposed that temperature fluctuations in microwave radiation may contain messages from the universe’s creator. “It’s one of the most speculative possible hypotheses,” said associate professor Stephen Hsu, a member of the University’s Institute of Theoretical Science. However, it may be 20 or 30 years before experimental physicists develop instruments refined enough to collect the data necessary to test this hypothesis, Hsu said. Hsu said he thought of the idea many years ago, when theoretical physicists at Stanford and MIT addressed whether a universe could be created in a laboratory. They hypothesized that this could be done by creating a bubble of super-dense matter that would expand into extra dimensions. “If you did create such a universe, how would you tell the occupants of that universe that their universe was made in a lab at MIT?” Hsu said. “One place to put the message would be in a microwave background.” jaybird found this for you @ 12:21 in Science, Quantum & Space | | permalink
The Story Another installment of "Revival Policy" will be posted shortly. Keep in mind that I'm writing in a whole new style I've never tried out, so it's going to be klunky going for the next little while. jaybird found this for you @ 08:18 in Misc. Babble | | permalink
Short Fiction - The Revival Policy - Part III As a writer of science fiction, I had used the same literary devices that I felt were now being used on me. I knew nothing really of the technology of molecular nanobots, specifically of the kind that were inhabiting my brain and organs. I had to stop and think- I’d been frozen for a hundred years, brought back to fucking life, injected with this and that, and despite a gaping lack of real answers, had swallowed the new program hook, line and sinker. Paul said that he could help control my mood if there was a problem. What was he, some kind of camp counselor? Obviously not. There was no proof that it was really 2111. There was no proof of anything. Thus, that first night in the cabin saw my first existential crisis after only been alive, again, for a month and a half. I went into the kitchen, lit a candle and poured a tall glass of Tokaji. The flannel pajamas felt good on my skin, and I sank into a wicker couch to think. I relaxed into the idea that maybe I was catching up on some the karma I’d put my characters through. A voice loudly split my thoughts and I almost spilt the damn wine. “Micah, it’s Paul. Is everything alright?” “Yes, I’m fine. Are you... how did you... are you watching me?” “It’s your first night. We- I have to monitor you for signs of adjustment stress. I was passing by and saw the light. Would you like to fall asleep? I can send a signal-“ “No, please, thank you Paul but this was something I always did back home. Y’know, have a glass of wine before bed. I never lived in a log cabin before. You guys could’ve made me a beach house... heh.” “I see. Just remember Micah that your system is still a little fragile at this time, especially mentally. I’ll address this in therapy tomorrow. I recommend that you finish that glass and not consume any more alcohol at this time. I have to monitor your night time activity, just for the next few days, and you really need your sleep. Try to sleep Micah, and if you find that you can’t please press the call button. Remember, I’m here to help.” “Yes, sure, thanks Paul. I feel better already.” Shit. I was being monitored, and I had no idea as to the mechanism. How could the other Revived tolerate this? How could they so easily allow this? Perhaps I had read far too much Kafka in my previous lifetime, and I was clearly experiencing classic paranoia. But how valid was it? As I returned to the bed, pulling the covers over my head, I thought of all the things that truly inspired me; the stars, the moon, the waves at play along that stony beach back home, in that other time. Time, how thou hath vexed me. I thought of Roy, Muppet, driftwood, agate, taking the kayak out into the surf. I thought of Sunday afternoon walks, the joy of long hot baths with Roy, the bottle of champagne celebrating yet another book deal perched precariously on the edge of the tub. Life has changed; I was alive and my world wasn’t. Phoenix Ranch was a mere fabrication. It was a shallow attempt to coax me into comfort. This was the kind of thing I’d rallied against my whole life. Why did these people even take the risk of reviving me? I slept with the insecurity of a newborn. My dreams were all landslides of fear and maze-running desperation. jaybird found this for you @ 09:13 in Short Fiction | | permalink
Short Fiction - Revival Policy - Part II (see Part I below) If I had known as a younger fellow that I was going to die, but a hundred years down the lane be revived, and brought to a place I couldn’t leave where all of the décor was western-themed, I would’ve tried far harder to die completely and stay dead. The community center of my newly appointed neighborhood at Phoenix Ranch was over-the-top gaudy; large framed photographs Dale Evans and Trigger hung on one wall, saddles and spurs and fake cacti and all manner of kitschy western ephemera filled the large, open room. I asked Paul if there were other motifs available, and he laughed politely. At least the years hadn’t diminished my gay wit. jaybird found this for you @ 00:52 in Short Fiction | | permalink
New Category - Short Fiction I'm doing something a li'l bit different and am going to start presenting short fiction here on the blog. The first selection is a piece I'm in the middle of writing, and will serialize it weekly until it is concluded. This piece is quasi-science-fiction, about a novelist who is revived from cryogenic suspension after one hundred years. He "died" in 2009. I haven't written fiction in ages, so I beg your indulgence, should you choose to read it. Feedback is welcomed. And since this is a work of fiction, I've got to invoke copyright. by jay joslin You don’t always get what you pay for. jaybird found this for you @ 22:15 in Short Fiction | | permalink
those million holy whispers It's Sunday, and the mist that falls You move on, You desire much, yet are filled by these little moments. The coot, the wizened black preacher, jaybird found this for you @ 15:15 in Journaling the Infinite | | permalink
A Gray Saturday, and a little light Good evening, friends. It's been a quiet, gray day, which I decided to dedicate to musical exploration, and I've happily come across many fine tunes. I'm about to finally cut my hair, which has become a bit of a, overgrown metropolis of tangles and curls. The spectre of my unemployment seems to have finally been exorcised, though with somewhat shakey results. I will hopefully begin doing adult mental health in the community, a population change (and salary drop). That does sound very, very exciting, on paper, desite the cut in greenback. I have applications in two other places, and this gives me a chance to criticise the State of North Carolina: if you have no intention of following up on a resume, please inform the sender. Thanks. That's all. The adult MH is one gig, and another part-time gig really has me excited: teaching positive parenting, prevention and divorce education classes. I really love conducting trainings, and this gig along with contracting to train with my old company will hopefully eventually mean that I will be able to survive financially. I've always had many jobs simultaneously, so this is nothing new. I'm not out of the woods yet, though: I've only worked eighteen hours in the past week. Thus, I'm reframing my Fund Drive and turning it into the "Not Out Of The Woods Yet" Drive. I'm optomisitc, though, which has made this experience far more tolerable, and the fruits of my industry far more rewarding. Tonight, hopefully a little merry-making with friends. Thanks to everyone for your deep and lovely support- it's really helped me get through what could've been far more difficult. When I put my situation in perspective with most of the planet, however, I'm damn lucky, and that comes as a somber realization. I stand in gratitude, and also profound respect for this world, and her unpredictable orbits. jaybird found this for you @ 18:17 in Journaling the Infinite | | permalink
In Japan, Cute Conquers All There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who adore Hello Kitty, and those who just don't get why the little fluffy feline with no mouth has managed to attract a global cult following. I get the part about Hello Kitty being cute, innocent, and sentimental. She likes to have tea parties and make friends all over the world. How sweet and precious. I just can't understand why this would be of interest to anyone beyond the age of 10. But Hello Kitty is a $1 billion-a-year franchise for Sanrio, Japan's biggest maker of cartoon characters. It licenses Kitty's image to product makers far and wide. My two daughters, aged 6 and 3, have Hello Kitty pens, cups, toothbrushes, stickers, and a toy vacuum cleaner that makes a lot of noise when dad is trying to watch the World Cup. Last month, the two nearly overdosed on cuteness at a Hello Kitty amusement park in suburban Tokyo. Don't get me wrong: I'm not interested in dissing Kitty here. It's just that I've long been fascinated by Japan's cult of cuteness -- it's rather like an obsession. The everyday visual landscape of Tokyo -- the ad banners on the subway, storefronts signs, digital display screens, and various forms of mass media like manga (Japanese comics) and fashion magazines -- are just oozing with cute stuff. Cartoon characters are often used as pitchmen for Japanese products. All manner of companies and services, even banks, have licensed characters like Kitty or imports such as Snoopy, Pooh, and Miffy to jazz up their advertising. Spend five minutes in retail centers like Shibuya and Shinjuku, and you almost feel like you're in cartoon town. Cute sells big time in Nippon. Japanese cute, which the Japanese call kawaii, isn't just a marketing gimmick. It's embedded in the culture and manifests itself in social and gender roles, particularly those of young Japanese women. Cute isn't just a fashion statement -- pink lipstick, butterfly hair bands, and pastel colors -- it's also a mode of behavior. Cute girls often act silly, affect squeaky voices, pout and stamp their feet when they're angry. It seems to be a cultural statement. jaybird found this for you @ 18:06 in Culture, People & Customs | | permalink
Decades-old mystery: Who visits Poe's grave? ![]() Continuing a decades-old tradition, a mystery man paid tribute to Edgar Allan Poe by placing roses and a bottle of cognac on the writer's grave to mark his January 19 birthday. Some of the 25 spectators drawn to a tiny, locked graveyard in downtown Baltimore for the ceremony climbed over the walls of the site and were "running all over the place trying to find out how the guy gets in," according to Jeff Jerome, the most faithful viewer of the event. Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum, said early Thursday he had to chase people out of the graveyard, fearing they would interfere with the mystery visitor's ceremony. "In letting people know about this tribute, I've been contributing to these people's desire to catch this guy," Jerome said. "It's such a touching tribute, and it's been disrupted by the actions of a few people trying to interfere and expose this guy." The cryptic visits began in 1949. Jerome has seen the ceremony every January 19 since 1976. Poe was born in 1809. "They had a game plan," Jerome said of the spectators. "They knew from previous years when the guy would appear." jaybird found this for you @ 13:04 in Authors, Books & Words | | permalink
Blogger uncovers US mercenary spy ring in Haiti I seem to have uncovered a strange little black ops organization that's spying in Haiti and elsewhere. Not long ago, they were also looking to drum up some business in the US in the Homeland Security market. I got a few tips from whistleblowers. But all of the most substantial information has come from one of their own employees who wrote me a number of long letters... CAG, ostensibly staffed with ex-military and ex-"agency" personnel, wished to remain unknown and inasmuch as it was known, it wished to be known as a "management consulting" company. It was founded by US ex-patriates and is registered in Panama. And, very specifically, CAG did not wish to be seen as either a private military company or as a security company. They claimed to be management consultants. Well. All right then. Management consulting.
An affordable endeavour? Cost of Iraq war could top $2 trillion The cost of the Iraq war could top $2 trillion, far above the White House's pre-war projections, when long-term costs such as lifetime health care for thousands of wounded U.S. soldiers are included, a study said on Monday. Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes included in their study disability payments for the 16,000 wounded U.S. soldiers, about 20 percent of whom suffer serious brain or spinal injuries. They said U.S. taxpayers will be burdened with costs that linger long after U.S. troops withdraw. "Even taking a conservative approach, we have been surprised at how large they are," said the study, referring to total war costs. "We can state, with some degree of confidence, that they exceed a trillion dollars." Before the invasion, then-White House budget director Mitch Daniels predicted Iraq would be "an affordable endeavor" and rejected an estimate by then-White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey of total Iraq war costs at $100 billion to $200 billion as "very, very high." jaybird found this for you @ 17:48 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
Futurepositive: Connecting Synergistically Within the complexity field we spend much time talking about state space and the total possibilities open to the system. Here alternative answers come into their own, and in this sense complexity studies is more a female oriented approach to choice than a male one. Synergy is the study of how interactions within systems affect their joint fitness, and this depends largely upon the forms of interaction employed. In the ancient philosophy of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism, and also in its close relative Taoism, we find the observation that as well as the view of 'me' and that of 'you' we can also have the views of 'both me and you' and of 'neither me nor you'. In other words, when we view combinations or interactions we must take into account all the possible combinations, and not just those obvious or familiar to us. Relating this to our two forms of interactions, the male 'rights' approach seeks to keep 'me' and 'you' separate and to mediate a sort of mutual non-interference pact between us - a uneasy truce (as seen in the politics of Rawls and Dworkin). The female 'care' mode addresses the 'both me and you' viewpoint, and seeks to benefit both as a result - a compromise, more concerned with emotions, intuition and trust (e.g. in the work of Noddings and Baier). But what about the 'neither me nor you' viewpoint, what do we make of this ? Here we step up a level, we transcend the limitations of individual viewpoints and enter a new plane, a social viewpoint. In complexity terms this is a form of emergence and leads to new system properties coming into being, properties or opportunities that do not exist in terms of individual viewpoints. jaybird found this for you @ 13:46 in Consciousness, Psychology & Philosophy | | permalink
The Hikikomori: Shutting Themselves In After years of being bullied at school and having no friends, Y.S., who asked to be identified by his initials, retreated to his room at age 14, and proceeded to watch TV, surf the Internet and build model cars - for 13 years. When he finally left his room one April afternoon last year, he had spent half of his life as a shut-in. Like Takeshi and Shuichi, Y.S. suffered from a problem known in Japan as hikikomori, which translates as "withdrawal" and refers to a person sequestered in his room for six months or longer with no social life beyond his home. (The word is a noun that describes both the problem and the person suffering from it and is also an adjective, like "alcoholic.") Some hikikomori do occasionally emerge from their rooms for meals with their parents, late-night runs to convenience stores or, in Takeshi's case, once-a-month trips to buy CD's (sic, shame on NYT). And though female hikikomori exist and may be undercounted, experts estimate that about 80 percent of the hikikomori are male, some as young as 13 or 14 and some who live in their rooms for 15 years or more. jaybird found this for you @ 09:41 in Culture, People & Customs | | permalink
Chopra: The Peace Economy These are all "soft" alternatives to our other great exports, aerospace technologies, weapons, foreign military bases, and war itself. Since 1960 the U.S. has adapted to losing its smokestack industries (primarily steel), its energy base (oil), and now its large-scale manufacturing (automobiles). Change is hard, but if we can adapt to those things, we can adapt to becoming a global "soft" economy. Peace is soft. It doesn't hide in fear behind borders. It accepts influences from outside. It makes friends of foreigners. GM knows that it can't survive without making cars in China, so that step has been taken. The oil industry realized that it had to concede the lion's share of energy revenues to Middle Eastern regimes (unthinkable at the end of World War II), so that has happened as well. The economics of peace consists in giving the military-industrial complex a new role. Step by step the military boondoggle must be diverted into such peaceful uses as rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, funding a future for the poor, providing meaningful jobs for the elderly after they retire, and feeding the world. The Soviet Union had such a devastated infrastructure that it was like a Third World country with a space program. We are well on the way to becoming a military empire with impoverished masses at home. jaybird found this for you @ 16:34 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
Key 23: The Feral Magician ...In American culture insecurity is rampantly bred into us. So people limit themselves to safe bets. But there's also the fear of success. Fear that magic really DOES work, which requires having a responsibility of some sort associated with one's practice of it. People are afraid to take the reins of a power they deem godly; they fear becoming Icarus, of falling prey to hubris and being struck down. We're also kept down by modern Western thought, which dictates causality and Cartesian duality. Not content with disagreeing with more esoteric thought, the egregore of Western civilization has sown the seeds of fear into our heads--the fear that, if we embrace beliefs outside of a certain norm, we are insane. Not evil, which can be romanticized and thereby reclaimed, but insanity, which supposedly denotes a REAL danger. Few people fear demons; magicians and mundanes alike rarely tremble at the names of the Goetia, and rare is the person who even really believes in Satan any more as anything beyond a symbolic construct. But many fear the insane; even those who are harmless, who have something as relatively benign as bipolar disorder, are looked at with distrust by those who claim no ills to the public. And so that stigma is attached by mainstream society to anyone who practices magic, believes in spirits or otherwise plays in the ocult sandbox. Chaos magic lent some unique credibility to magic by boiling it down to its base components and explaining it with physics. Yet overexposure to Chaos magic can breed the misconception that magic is wholly psychological, that it can be captured within one's head, that the entities one works with are purely symbolic and have no life independent of human thought. This is just as draining to the spirit of magic as the idea that it doesn't exist. jaybird found this for you @ 12:31 in Spirituality, Religion & Mythos | | permalink
Lovelock: The Earth is about to catch a morbid fever This article is the most difficult I have written and for the same reasons. My Gaia theory sees the Earth behaving as if it were alive, and clearly anything alive can enjoy good health, or suffer disease. Gaia has made me a planetary physician and I take my profession seriously, and now I, too, have to bring bad news. The climate centres around the world, which are the equivalent of the pathology lab of a hospital, have reported the Earth's physical condition, and the climate specialists see it as seriously ill, and soon to pass into a morbid fever that may last as long as 100,000 years. I have to tell you, as members of the Earth's family and an intimate part of it, that you and especially civilisation are in grave danger. Our planet has kept itself healthy and fit for life, just like an animal does, for most of the more than three billion years of its existence. It was ill luck that we started polluting at a time when the sun is too hot for comfort. We have given Gaia a fever and soon her condition will worsen to a state like a coma. She has been there before and recovered, but it took more than 100,000 years. We are responsible and will suffer the consequences: as the century progresses, the temperature will rise 8 degrees centigrade in temperate regions and 5 degrees in the tropics. Much of the tropical land mass will become scrub and desert, and will no longer serve for regulation; this adds to the 40 per cent of the Earth's surface we have depleted to feed ourselves. jaybird found this for you @ 08:29 in Environment, Ecology & Nature | | permalink
Hypertime, Hyperself, and Googling The Akashic From a psychological perspective our experience of Universe has been equally if not more profoundly changed and expanded since our ancestors were struggling with fire. Imagine further the gulf between our ontological space and that of an insect or small microbe. Now imagine looking beyond our current technology and psychology, to the future of post-human intelligence vastly exceeding our own. Who is to say that these other dimensions of space described by string theory and quantum gravity will not open up to us? Who is to say that parallel universes (which apparently are right next to us - less than a micrometer, just in a parallel dimension out of our 3d space) will not become known and experienced by our future post-human selves? If David Bohm is correct about the implicate order, then there are an infinite number of dimensions of space, time and everything else, within us and all around us. All we need is believe in them and open ourselves up to them. It doesn't require any fancy technology, only a willingness inside you to go there. You'll soon learn that our physical bodies, space and time, and all that other stuff doesn't matter very much. It's just this tiny place we happen to be in at the moment. But the next moment, the one right after now, can become the first moment you are living in infinity. Many people who have taken sufficient amounts of psychedelics to have experienced these hyperdimesnions. The best part is we don't need drugs anymore to go to these places. The helped show many of us the way, but the way out is past the drug experience. I know this view has given me some flack here on this 'psychedelic' site, but I believe ultimately that drugs are a dead end. It's kind of like an old tool that has served us well, but is now no longer necessary. We cling to it because it gave us fond memories, but it no longer serves us. We have outgrown it. We have become one with these higher spaces, we are going there in dreams, in OBE's and NDE's. Death is an illusion. The holographic theory provides a great map to understand and integrate this beautifully simple and inclusive worldview. jaybird found this for you @ 20:20 in Consciousness, Psychology & Philosophy | | permalink
Bush Authorized Domestic Spying Before 9/11 The NSA's domestic surveillance activities that began in early 2001 reached a boiling point shortly after 9/11, when senior administration officials and top intelligence officials asked the NSA to share that data with other intelligence officials who worked for the FBI and the CIA to hunt down terrorists that might be in the United States. However the NSA, on advice from its lawyers, destroyed the records, fearing the agency could be subjected to lawsuits by American citizens identified in the agency's raw intelligence reports. jaybird found this for you @ 11:44 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
Ecoliteracy: A Path with a Heart I think self-organization and the newer understanding of life and complexity, when it is applied to the social realm and human organizations, can help people to find their authenticity as human beings The old paradigm model is a mechanistic model where people are seen as parts of a big machine and the machine is designed by experts who either sit at the top of the organization or are brought in from outside as consultants. Then this design of new structures is imposed upon the people who work in the organization and they are pigeon-holed in certain departments with well-defined boundaries. So the underlying model is that of a machine working very smoothly. What self-organization tells you, among many other things, is that creativity is an inherent property of all living systems. All living systems are creative because they have the ability to reach out and create something new. In the last 20-25 years we have begun to understand the dynamics of this creativity, in terms of emergence of new structures and in terms of instability, bifurcation points, and the spontaneous emergence of order. This is the underlying dynamics of creativity at all levels of life. When people understand this they will realize that human individuals as well as groups of individuals are inherently creative. So when you have an organization and you want to design a new structure and you bring in outside experts and then impose this structure on the organization you have to spend a lot of energy and money to sell the idea to the employees and the manager. Since human beings are inherently creative they will not accept the idea as it is. since this will deny their humanity. Therefore you can give them orders and they will nominally adhere to the orders but they will circumvent the orders; they will re-invent the orders and will modify it, either boycott it or embellish it, adding their own interpretation. jaybird found this for you @ 07:42 in Consciousness, Psychology & Philosophy | | permalink
Because this is important... Congressman Barr and I have disagreed many times over the years, but we have joined together today with thousands of our fellow citizens-Democrats and Republicans alike-to express our shared concern that America's Constitution is in grave danger. |