| Author | Message | ||
     sushil_yadav |
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment Dear Group Members, I want to share an article with you. This is about the link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues. The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature. Thank you, Sushil Yadav Please note : The article has been written in short sentences rather than paragraph-form because it is about subjective experience / emotion/ reduction of thought. Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment. Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct. Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel. Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet. Subject : Environment can never be saved as long as cities exist. Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking. If there are no gaps there is no emotion. Today people are thinking all the time and are mistaking thought (words/ language) for emotion. When society switches-over from physical work (agriculture) to mental work (scientific/ industrial/ financial/ fast visuals/ fast words ) the speed of thinking keeps on accelerating and the gaps between thinking go on decreasing. There comes a time when there are almost no gaps. People become incapable of experiencing/ tolerating gaps. Emotion ends. Man becomes machine. A society that speeds up mentally experiences every mental slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety. A ( travelling )society that speeds up physically experiences every physical slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety. A society that entertains itself daily experiences every non-entertaining moment as Depression / Anxiety. FAST VISUALS /WORDS MAKE SLOW EMOTIONS EXTINCT. SCIENTIFIC /INDUSTRIAL /FINANCIAL THINKING DESTROYS EMOTIONAL CIRCUITS. A FAST (LARGE) SOCIETY CANNOT FEEL PAIN / REMORSE / EMPATHY. A FAST (LARGE) SOCIETY WILL ALWAYS BE CRUEL TO ANIMALS/ TREES/ AIR/ WATER/ LAND AND TO ITSELF. I am trying to get the following experiment conducted in a psychophysiology/ bio-chemistry laboratory. There is a link between visual / verbal speed ( in perception, memory, imagery ) and the bio-chemical state of the brain and the body. Emotion can intensify / sustain only when visual and verbal processing associated with the emotion slows down ( stops / freezes ). The degree of difficulty of an emotion depends upon the degree of freezing (of visuals and words ) required to intensify and sustain that particular emotion. Experiment: Subjects (preferably actors specialising in tragedy / tragic roles ) will be asked to watch a silent video film showing any of the following:- (1) Human suffering. (2) Animal suffering. (3) Suffering ( Destruction ) of Air / Water / Land / Trees. Subjects will be asked to intensify and sustain the subjective feeling of pain/ grief for the sufferer. The chemical changes associated with the emotion in the body(blood) would be measured by appropriate methods. The silent video film will be shown at different speeds : (1) 125% of actual speed. (2) Actual/real speed. (3) 75% of actual speed. (4) 50% of actual speed. (5) 25% of actual speed. Results : (1) Intensity of emotion increases with the decrease in visual speed. (2) Intensity of emotion is maximum when visual speed is minimum (25% of actual speed) (3) The amount of chemical change associated with the emotion in the body(blood) will be found to increase with the decrease in visual speed. (4) The chemical change is maximum when visual speed is minimum. (5) The amount of chemical change will increase with the decrease in breathing rate. Breathing becomes so slow and non-rhythmic that it stops for some time at the inhalation/ exhalation stages. The above co-relations will be valid for all subjects -even for those who cannot feel pain/ grief. Such subjects will experience emotion associated with boredom/ discomfort/ restlessness/ irritability/ uneasiness. The chemicals released will be different but the co-relation between visual speed and amount of chemical will be same( the breathing rates will be different/ fast). All subjects will experience some kind of emotion. [If scientists can discover 4000 different chemicals in cigarette-smoke then they can certainly detect the few chemicals released in blood when weexperience higher-level emotions like pain, empathy, compassion, remorse etc… ] In the 2nd stage of experiment we shall replace the silent video film with a Narrator ( Audio only ) and repeat the procedure thereby establishing the link between intensity of emotion and verbal speed. The narrator will slow down verbal speed by-- speaking slowly, stretching words, repetition of words/ sentences & making use of pause/ silence between words. Please note: (1) A THINKING MIND CANNOT INTENSIFY / SUSTAIN ANY EMOTION. While this statement is generally true for all emotions, it is particularly true for all painful emotions. (2) In a society in which visual ( verbal ) speed and breathing- rates are fast , pain / remorse / empathy cannot be experienced. It is impossible. PROOF. Proof of the link between pain and slow visuals / words :- In the last century man has made thousands of movies / films on various themes / subjects. Whenever pain / tragedy is shown in any film the visuals ( scenes ) and words ( dialogues ) are always slowed down. In many films tragedy is shown in slow motion. At the most intense moment of pain the films almost become static / stationary. Tragedy-films provide direct proof / evidence of the link between pain and slowness. Pain can intensify / sustain only when visual ( and verbal ) speed slows down( stops/ freezes). CHANGE IN VISUAL SPEED OVER THE YEARS One thousand years ago visuals would change only when man physically moved himself to a new place or when other people ( animals / birds ) and objects ( clouds / water ) physically moved themselves before him. Today man sits in front of TV / Computer and watches the rapidly changing visuals / audio. He sits in a vehicle ( car / train / bus ) and as it moves he watches the rapidly changing visuals. He turns the pages of a book / newspaper / magazine and sees many visuals / text in a short span. CHANGE IN VERBAL SPEED OVER THE YEARS In ancient times verbal processing was “live” in nature—ie it happened when people actually spoke. Today there is non-stop verbal processing inside the mind through print and electronic media ( newspapers, books, magazines, radio, television, computer etc…) as a result of which the verbal content & speed has increased thousands of times. The speed of visuals ( and words ) has increased so much during the last one hundred years that today the human brain has become incapable of focussing on slow visuals /words through perception, memory, imagery. If we cannot focus on slow visuals / words we cannot experience emotions associated with slow visuals /words. Before the advent of Industrial Revolution Man's thinking was primarily limited to : (a) visual processing ( slow visuals ) (b) verbal / language processing ( slow words ) Today there are many kinds of fast thinking : (1) visual processing ( fast visuals ) (2) verbal / language processing ( fast words ) (3) Scientific / Technical thinking ( fast ) (4) Industrial thinking ( fast ) (5) Business thinking ( fast ) (3), (4) & (5) ARE ASSOCIATED WITH NUMBERS / SYMBOLS / EQUATIONS / GRAPHS /CIRCUITS / DIAGRAMS / MONEY / ACCOUNTING etc… As long as the mind is doing this kind of thinking it cannot feel any emotion - not an iota of emotion. In a fast society slow emotions become extinct. In a thinking ( scientific / industrial ) society emotion itself becomes extinct. EMOTION IS WHAT REMAINS IN THE MIND WHEN VISUAL /VERBAL PROCESSING SLOWS DOWN (STOPS/ FREEZES ) There are certain categories of people who feel more emotion (subjective experience ) than others. If we attempt to understand why (and how ) they feel more emotion we can learn a lot about emotion. Writers, poets, actors, painters ( and other artists ) WRITERS Writers do verbal ( and associated visual) processing whole day- every day. They do slow verbal ( and associated visual) processing every day. (A novel that we read in 2 hours might have taken 2 years to write. This is also the reason why the reader can never feel the intensity & duration of emotion experienced by the writer ) POETS Poets do verbal ( and associated visual ) processing whole day- every day. There is more emotion in poetry than in prose. This happens because there are very few words ( and associated visuals ) in poetry than in any other kind of writing. There is a very high degree of freezing / slowing down of visuals & words in poetry. ACTORS Actors do verbal ( and associated visual ) processing whole day- every day. During shooting / rehearsal they repeat the dialogues ( words ) again and again ( the associated visuals / scenes also get repeated along with the dialogues ) PAINTERS Painters do visual ( and associated verbal ) processing whole day- every day. They do extremely slow visual processing - The visual on the canvas changes only when the painter adds to what already exists on the canvas. There are some important points to be noted : All these people do visual & verbal processing - whole day - every day. They do slow visual & verbal processing. They do not do scientific / industrial / business processing whole day - every day. Most of the city people doing mental work either do this kind of mental processing which is associated with NUMBERS / SYMBOLS/ Equations / Graphs / CIRCUITS / DIAGRAMS / MONEY / ACCOUNTING etc… or they do fast visual ( verbal ) processing whole day - every day. This kind of thinking ( processing ) has come into existence only during the last 200 years and has destroyed our emotional ability ( circuits ). SELF-ASSESSMENT OF ( SUBJECTIVE ) INTENSITY OF EMOTION IS ALMOST ALWAYS WRONG. Suppose the maximum intensity(and duration) of a particular emotion that can be experienced by any human being is 100 units. Let us suppose the maximum intensity(and duration) of that particular emotion ever experienced by two people A & B in their entire life is : A - 100units B - 20 units Now suppose A & B are made subjects on a particular day and are asked to feel that particular emotion under experimental conditions ( or outside the laboratory ) and the intensity &duration they actually experience is : A - 90 units B - 18 units If A & B are then asked to indicate the intensity &duration of emotion on a scale of 0 -10 their response is likely to be ; A - 9 B - 9 Who is right and who is wrong ? A is right. B is wrong - B is wrong by a wide margin - B has experienced an intensity(and duration) of 18 units out of a maximum of 100 units and his correct / actual score should be 1.8 Self- assessment ( self rating ) can be accurate only if people have the capacity to experience the highest intensity &duration ( units ) of the particular emotion under study. Because of physical work and slow visual/verbal processing in small(slow)agriculture based societies of the past, the mind used to experience a state of emotion all the time. If we read one thousand-year-old literature we will not come across the term "boredom" -the concept of boredom did not exist in slow societies. There were long gaps between different visuals and between words/ sentences -and people had the ability to experience/ tolerate the gaps -it was normal for them. Emotion can intensify / sustain only when visual / verbal processing slows down ( stops / freezes ). In an Industrial (thinking) society people experience very little emotion because of fast ( visual / verbal / scientific / industrial / business ) thinking Suppose the maximum intensity and duration of a particular emotion ( for most people ) in a fast society has reduced to 5 units ( from 100 units that people used to experience in earlier /slower societies ). If such people experience 4 units of emotion they will give themselves a rating /score of 8 on a scale of 0-10 whereas their actual score should be 0.4 IN A FAST SOCIETY SLOW EMOTIONS BECOME EXTINCT. [b]IQ Vs EQ [/b] IQ always has an element of change in it – IQ is about trying to make/ discover/ invent something new all the time. Change is an inherent feature of IQ. IQ is also about thinking more in less time—it involves speeding up of mind. Someone who does more mathematics in less time is considered more intelligent in mathematics. IQ is about change and speed. EQ is about sustainment of the same feeling/experience over a period of time. When we experience any higher-level emotion for 10 minutes we experience the same feeling( subjective experience) over and over again for 10 minutes. The( same) feeling can sustain only if there is Repetition. EQ involves Repetition—Constancy—Sameness. IQ and EQ are contradictory. IQ and EQ are opposites. IQ and EQ are inversely proportional. (1) A thinking species destroys the planet. (2) Animals lived on earth for billions of years (in very large numbers) without destroying nature. (3) They did not destroy nature because their thinking / activity was limited to searching for food for one time only. (4) Man has existed on earth in large numbers for only a few thousand years / a few hundred years. (5) Within this short period Man has destroyed the environment. (6) This destruction took place because of Man's thinking. (7) When man thinks he makes things. (8) When he makes things he kills animals / trees / air / water / land. ( Nothing can be made without killing these five elements of nature ). (9) A thinking species destroys the planet. [b]Intelligence Is A Curse. [/b] This planet is on the verge of total destruction. The cause of destruction is – overactivity. [Out of millions of species in this world the human-species is the only one that has indulged in overactivity] The cause of overactivity is – Intelligence. [The environment would never have got destroyed if Man had been only as intelligent as animals] Intelligence is the biggest cause/ source of destruction in this world. [In fact Intelligence is the only cause of destruction in this world other than natural causes] MENTAL WORK IS INJURIOUS TO THE MIND AND PLANET. There is no higher purpose behind work. People do not work because they want to work. People work because they cannot stop working. People cannot stop physical activity and mental activity (simultaneously) for even 2 minutes. For most people it is a choice between physical and mental work. The switch-over from physical work to mental work is disastrous for the planet. Man can do the same physical work every day. Man cannot do the same mental work every day. When man used to do physical work ( farming and related activities ) he could do the same repetitive work day after day- generation after generation. After the Industrial Revolution when man switched-over to mental work he began a never ending process of making new machines / things / products-- a process which can only end with the complete destruction of environment ( planet ). The nature of mental work is such that man has to do new mental work every day- in fact he has to do new mental work every moment- Man cannot repeat in the next moment the mental work that he has already done in the previous moment. A mathematician cannot solve the same problem of mathematics every day- once he has solved it he will be forced to take up a new( unsolved) problem. Even when he is solving one particular problem he has to move from one step to another - there is a continuous change involved -- there is no constancy at any stage. An engineer cannot design the same machine again and again –once he has made a machine he will try to make changes/ design a new one. A writer cannot write the same article every day- he will be forced to write something new every day/ every moment (This is also the reason behind endless discussions/ debates/ arguments). [b]Discussions, Debates and Arguments. [/b] Let us examine how much discussion we are collectively having in Industrial Society every day. Millions of pages in print – newspapers / books / magazines. Millions of web-pages on internet every day. Now add to this all the conversation (discussion) we are having through radio / television / telephone and several other media every day. And add to this all the discussion we are having through face-to-face interaction. The volume of discussion per individual in one week is greater than the total discussion someone living in pre-industrial society would have in his entire life. There is too much discussion in modern society. Discussion is not solving our problems – discussion itself has become a problem – a gigantic problem. A society that does mental work will discuss itself to destruction [extinction] A society that does mental work will argue itself to destruction [extinction] A society that does mental work will debate itself to destruction [extinction] A society that does mental work can never stop discussions / debates / arguments – it is impossible. It will discuss / debate / argue till the last moment of it’s existence. Discussions / Debates / Arguments – these are creations of a society that has switched-over from physical work to mental work. Discussions / Debates / Arguments – these are diseases of a society that has switched-over from physical work to mental work. Discussions / debates / arguments can end only in agriculture-based societies that do physical work. We cannot do physical-work and mental-work simultaneously. There is an inverse relationship between physical-work and mental-work. If one is high [more] the other has got to be low [less] If we want to do physical work we have to reduce mental activity by the same proportion. If we want to do mental work we have to reduce physical activity by the same proportion. There is very little discussion / debate / argument in societies that do physical work - ie, agriculture-based societies - And this is the reason why they are millions of times saner than industrial societies. Change is an inherent feature of mental work. Since change is an inherent feature of mental work - a society that does mental work can never be at peace with itself – it is impossible. A society that does mental work will always be restless. Only those societies that do physical work [agriculture and related activities] can find contentment and peace. AS LONG AS CITIES EXIST WE CAN NEITHER SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT NOR THE MIND. To save the [ remaining ] environment from destruction man will have to return back to physical work [ smaller communities ]. To save the mind from mental diseases man will have to return back to physical work [ smaller communities ]. [b]Criminality and Abnormality. [/b] Industrial Society has collectively killed billions of Animals and Trees [ Remember -plant and animal species developed over a period of millions ofyears] It has also killed most of Water and Air [ Please note - polluting Water and Air is equivalent to killing Water and Air ] The soil was not fertile when the earth was created. It became fertile - very slowly - over a period of millions of years. And look what man has done - He has covered millions and millions of hectares of land with cement and concrete. All the land that has been covered with cement and concrete has been killed. Man has stockpiled thousands of tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear material and nuclear waste which is going to remain highly radioactive and carcinogenic for the next thousands of years - and which has already leaked into the environment hundreds of times. What could be more criminal than this. What could be more abnormal than this. Lawyers and Judges are trying to catch a few criminals. They don’t realize the entire Industrial Society is criminal. Psychologists and Psychiatrists are trying to classify a few people as abnormal. They don’t realize the entire Industrial Society is abnormal. Industrial Society is collectively making millions of tonnes of weapons and explosives [of all kinds] every year – and then it wonders why there is so much violence in this world. Big Mystery. If you make millions of tonnes of weapons and explosives on earth they are going to be used on earth – they are not going to be used on Mars. Make things Buy things Sell things This is not the purpose of life. Destroy Shopping Culture. No one deserves more. Everyone deserves less. There was a time when Man knew nothing about the number of species and millions of species existed. Today Man knows the names of millions of species and nothing is left of the species. It took millions of years for millions of species to slowly come into existence on earth - and man has decimated all other species. After destroying millions of highly-developed species on earth Man is today searching for a few molecules of life in outer-space. If a few microbes, a few molecules of methane / water are found on Mars - it becomes the newspaper headline. They call it progress. The following is about to come true. Nature can exist (1) before man. (2) after man. (3) not with man. Environment can be saved only if we stop production of most [ more than 99% ] of the consumer goods we are making today. ENVIRONMENT CANNOT BE SAVED BY RECYCLING THE ATTEMPT OF AN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT BY RECYCLING IS LIKE SHOOTING SOMEONE 10,000 TIMES AND THEN TRYING TO SAVE HIM BY TAKING OUT ONE BULLET. Time is running out for this planet. Yours Sincerely, Sushil Yadav Please note : Fast emotions =emotions associated with fast visuals/fast words/fast breathing/fast heart-rate. Slow emotions=emotions associated with slow visuals/slow words/slow breathing/slow heart-rate. Rate of thinking=number of visuals/words processed per minute. Gaps between thinking =gaps between visuals/ words/ sentences. Regarding Industrialization there is an important point to be noted. Modern Industrial Society has existed for 100 years - 200 years - 300 years. When we compare this period with the total duration for which human society has existed on earth this period is so short - so small that it almost does'nt exist. It is almost zero. Material things don't bring peace and happiness. Today billions of people have got things which even Kings did not have in the past. Car, computer, television, fridge, telephone - no King ever had these things. But people are still restless and unhappy. The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems - besides destroying the environment. Our Minds cannot be spiritual or peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be spiritual or peaceful if we destroy Nature. Consumerist-Lifestyle is just not sustainable. If we do not immediately return to living a very simple and frugal life then very soon there will be no human life on earth. [b]Think Positive. [/b] Psychologists say -- Think Positive. Politicians say – Think Positive. Economists say – Think Positive. Scientists say – Think Positive. Everyone says – Think Positive. Arctic ice is melting – Glaciers are melting – Rivers are drying up. Think Positive. Fish population in Oceans is down to 1/3 of what it was 100 years ago. Think Positive. Pollution levels are going sky-high and valley-deep. Think Positive. There used to be millions of members in most species of Animals and Birds. Now they are down to thousands and hundreds. Think Positive. Weather is getting more and more irregular and unpredictable. Think Positive. Thinking positive is the height of insanity. Thinking positive is the height of abnormality. This is a world that has become completely incapable of feeling Pain, Compassion, Remorse and Guilt. The planet is getting destroyed moment by moment – and people are thinking positive. Very soon there will be 1 Animal and 1 Tree left in this world – and people will still be thinking positive. They will be holding Seminars, Conferences and Global-Summits to save the Environment. There is an important point which the human-species needs to understand. People think they can save the Environment by doing something. We can never save the environment by doing something. It is overactivity that has destroyed environment in the first place. Human-species is the only one out of millions of species that has indulged in overactivity on this planet [ And for this very reason the human speciesis going to exist on earth for the least amount of time] And it is not Mild Overactivity – It is Excessive Overactivity – Exponential Overactivity. We cannot save the environment by doing something. We can only save it by doing less of what we have been doing - much less of what we have been doing. If we want to save environment we will have to reduce human activity [overactivity] by 99%. [b]The Illogical Logic of Man. [/b] A few birds have got infected with bird-flu and Man has started killing millions of birds. They say birds are a threat to humans. Sometime ago there was Mad Cow disease and Man started killing hundreds of thousands of cows. They said cows are a threat to humans. Ever since Man came into existence - millions of humans with infectious diseases have transferred such diseases to millions of other people - and will continue to infect millions more in future. Such people are a threat to rest of the people. Man should follow the same logic here and kill all infected people. It is Man who has killed millions of people in Wars and other forms of Violence – and can kill millions more any time in future. Man should follow the same logic here and kill all people. It is the human species which is the greatest threat to humans and all other life on this planet - In fact the human species is the only species which is a threat to all life on Earth. Man has decimated all Animal and Plant species – polluted the Sky and Oceans - and poisioned every square inch of earth. In a mere 200 - 300 years Industrial Society has destroyed all that Nature laboriously created over a period of millions of years. Humans pose the greatest threat to other humans. Humans pose the greatest threat to all other life on earth. The so-called Rational and Civilized Man should follow the same logic here - and destroy the entire human race. Please note : If you indulge in Factory Farming – If you torture the birds – confine millions of them in prison like conditions – depriving them of Sunlight and the freedom to walk and fly – you are creating an environment for the spread of virus and disease. [b]Lifestyle of Mass Destruction. [/b] Destruction is an inherent feature of Development. Progress = Destruction of Nature. Development = Destruction of Nature. We can have Sustainable Lifestyle. We cannot have Sustainable Development. Development can never be sustainable. Sustainability and Development cannot exist together. Development and Sustainability are opposites. Development and Sustainability are contradictory. Sustainable Living is associated with consuming less – being satisfied with a simple and frugal life. Development is associated with never ending desires – always wanting more. Sustainable lifestyle requires Constancy. Sustainable lifestyle requires Sameness. Sustainable lifestyle requires Repetition. Development is associated with Change. Development is associated with New. Development is associated with Transience. Industrial Societies can never be sustainable – When you make thousands of consumer goods you kill Nature - you kill Animals, Trees, Air, Water and Land. A Society that does mental work [city based] can never be sustainable - it will keep on making consumer goods - destroying the environment moment by moment. Only agriculture-based societies that do physical work can be sustainable. The term Sustainable Development is like the terms Stationary Walk. Silent Talk. Wakeful Sleep. Dark Sun Gentle Torture. Dry Rain. Peaceful War. There was a time when Man used to say – I work in order to feed my family. I work in order to put Food on the Table. Today man is putting a lot more than Food on the Table. Cars, Computers, ipods, Aeroplanes, 200 TV Channels, Luxury Yatchs, Caribbean Vacations, Palatial Homes, Video Phones, Designer Clothes, Designer Drugs, Cosmetic Surgery …………… The list is endless. Man is putting thousands of consumer goods and services on the Table. There is too much weight on the Table. [b]And the Table has begun to creak. [/b] The more you put on your table the more you take out from the mouths of Animals and Birds. The more you put on your table the more you kill Animals and Trees. The more you put on your table the more you kill Water, Air and Land. The more you put on your table the more you kill Mountains and Valleys. The more you put on your table the more you kill the Sky and Oceans - the Rivers and Lakes. There are so many things on the Table that one can barely see the Food. We need just a few things to live. And we are making thousands of things. Billions of people are engaged in making, buying and selling of thousands of consumer goods. Destroy Shopping Culture. Go back to Simple Living. Go back to putting just Food on the Table. sushil_yadav | ||
| IVAN |
A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO HUMANITY Indeed sushil, good points. Complexity of modern society is a challenge, which I personally find often distasteful. Though I enjoy the many benefits of modern technology, easy travel and communications, abundant food, this computer on which I write, etc., there is also the deleterious cost to our natural environment, hidden costs that sometimes don't tally for decades, like the great fish die-off, or cancer rate increase, often too late. What I find distasteful is the constant rush, the pressure to perform, to buy things so you don't appear 'poor' to others, and this insane drive to succeed with material evidence, big house, big new car, etc. Having lived in the 'good ol days' in New England, back in the 60s, I still remember an admired simplicity, perhaps legacy of their native son Henry David Thoreau: "simplify, simplify...", though it may have been enough to say it once. I now live in southern California, and though I love it here I still remember with deep nostalgia that other simpler life, which no doubt no longer exists even there. Yet, in truth, I would not surrender the good things of a comfortable modern life for the hard scrabble existence of our ancestors, not even a hundred years ago. The fact is that modernity brings ease and convenience, and time, freedoms which our forebears never had. Should we destroy this modern society because the costs to our well being and the Earth's environment had become too great to bear? Probably not, for it is better to build than to destroy, always. Better that we modify what it is we are doing with a conscious awareness of the costs of our benefits, so not to be dazzled by our success but sobered by its costs. Will Gaia shrug us off the planet like a dog with fleas, and kill off humans by the millions with some horrific pandemic? Probably not. Life has achieved a sense of cosmic balance that we humans of Earth are only dimly becoming aware, that all life is interdependent as one complete planetary whole; and though we are very impressed with our achievements, we are but one tiny part of that whole. Let us become a part of that whole. Better to become more aware, to find balance in our lives in all things, to simplify, and to learn to respect all living things, not just our insatiable appetites for things. When we had come to this awareness, we can then call ourselves mature as a human species. Until then, we are like scrounging little animals running away with each new thing we found, and glorifying in our feat, then throwing it away. We cannot throw away our humanness in the process of achieving civilized order and material success, because Who we are is all we really got. Better to find the balance between this Who and our beautiful world Gaia. On another note, perhaps more immediately pressing than the gradual erosions due to our material avarice is this: www.faithfreedom.org (See Letter to Mankind: "Dear fellow human") Regression towards barbarity, from which we are only now evolving, is a greater threat to human civilization, our human freedoms and accomplishments, than material greed. Those who claim to speak for God by killing others are now the clear and present danger to humanity. Ivan And then there is this: Sea of Plastic legacy of a 'throw away' society -video by Charles Moore | ||
| Ed Chesky |
Ivan, Reference what you and Sushil have pointed out I have been working on a study of the psychological effects of war and brain injury on soldiers as it manefests itself in terms of homelessness, substance addiction and criminal behavior among our veteran population. The causes of homelessness, criminal behavior and substance addiction among our veteran population are complex but related to the factors you talk about. I have sent you acopy of a draft briefing I started on the subject as part of University Group Project. I'll send you the completed brief when its done. I hope we can use it and the data as a tool to begin to explore this issue from a scientific perspective. My Best Ed Chesky | ||
| Ivan |
Hi Ed, Sushil, I haven't yet addressed the part of fast vs. slow Mind yet. That's because I'm still thinking about. I think there are good points, especially the emotion portions of it. Are we becoming desensitised by our fast way of life? Is TV, sound bites, short email text, internet search, cell phone messaging, all moving too fast for our primitive brains? Perhaps yes. I have to think on it some more. So I'm still reading the post. Cheers, Ivan | ||
| Ivan |
WE NEED BALANCE IN OUR LIVES Very interesting, Sushil, that you chose a 'fast' text with short sentences, almost an outline form, to express your idea, rather than a 'slow' paced essay.  I might add your idea of what happens to human emotional response in a 'speeded up' society is revealing, something I had not thought of before, that we emotionally close down. Films is a good example, that in very fast action films there is almost no emotional involvement, something I find lacking in typical American modern films, whereas slow films, the kind evident in European gendre, or older films, there is quite a bit of emotional response. But those are slower too, more dialogue, and music. In fact, something I didn't see in your paper, perhaps I missed it, is the power of music to elicit emotional response, sometimes even in fast paced films. Have you considered that? Most interesting that silent video run at fast speeds elicits little emotion, while at slower speeds it has the opposite effect. I once had to sit through an hour of sample commercials, and then rate them. When the market research company rep called me a couple of weeks later to ask me about what I saw, I realized I had almost no retention on what I saw. It was rather fast paced, more like images and sound bites. (BTW, they never asked me back.) I guess I must be a poor subject, if emotional content is lacking. So how about fast thinking, or information delivered quickly, like on Google searches, or non verbal imagery? It seems that we can consume large amounts of information quickly, but what does it do to our emotional development? Probably little in that area, so the heart shakras are starved, while the head shakras are satisfied. Is there a natural conflict between the two in modern society with its many fast needs? Is this why modern humans need animal pets, or swim with dolphins, or spend time out in nature in the wilderness, to make up for this emotional defficit? I suspect so. So what is the solution to balance out our fast info needs, and fast paced life modern technological life, fast travel and communications, with our other emotional needs of a slower pace? Music? Look at the success of the Apple iPod for example. We need to find some methods of slowing down in our leisure activities. Reading books, especially fiction, is one way. Another is live theater, where we see real live people speaking and getting us emotionally involved in the play. More European style films? Or a vacation on the beaches of Tahiti? That was very slowing for me, actually to my own surprise, as to how much I could chill out. I had the same experience in Trivandrum, India, or on the isle of Kho Samui, Thailand, where my modern mindset was put on slow idle, which was most wonderful. We need the slow pace, to counter balance the fast demands of a modern technological world. Otherwise we run with our minds, racing from event to event, even exercise at a high pace, all to achieve. But what? A heart attack? Is this what our starved emotions bring us in the end, an early end to our lives? We need balance, consciously seek balance, if we are not to destroy all we had built up. Fast thinking, but slow dialogue. These are the balances. Fast work, but slow leisure. Fast action and travel, instant communications, but reading. Somehow we have to learn to balance out these dipoles of our existence, if we are to remain healthy, and sane. Reading poetry, as you suggest, has a counterbalancing effect on our being. And if we are happy in our being, rather than filling the emotional void with more food, more material goods, more destruction of our environment, we can instead find the balances that restore, that refresh the soul, and refill the heart shakras, then we become more complete beings. That, or as you say, we make ourselves extinct! I am not so fatalistic to think our planet is on the verge of destruction, but nor do I think we can continue with our current priorities, more goods, more success, more money, without damaging ourselves somehow. Greater awareness of this, a greater state of mind that validates our need to also slow down and feel, that is where we need to be. How do we get there? Religion? Not likely, mostly that leads to wars. Tai Chi? Better. Meditation and yoga? Good stuff, if we can find the time. I think we need more dialogue, more written and spoken, to talk to each other intimately. In Russian, such talks is called "dusha dushi", which means "soul to soul", and that is what is being missed. Though we are not totally aware of this, we yearn for the old times when we had more time, and were more together as a village, a family, a people. Love is what gets hurt in the very fast paced world of today, and there is no substitute for this. We need to love one another, or we get lost. Sex is a poor substitute without love, and mathematics cannot fill the voids of the heart, nor can material toys. We have to remember our humanness, to write and read, to talk. Then we can handle the demands of the rest of it, the technological fast paced world we created, and save our planet. Thanks Sushi! Nice work. But what about music? Well, time to take a nap. Sleep, it restores the mind. Ivan | ||
| sushil_yadav |
Thank you very much Ivan and Ed for reading the article and expressing your views. I will talk about other points later - right now I want to say a few things about Music. There is music that increases breathing and heart-rate and there is music that reduces breathing and heart rate. One kind of music can make us excited/restless - another kind can make us relaxed and peaceful. Humans have always indulged in music , song and dance. In pre-Industrial society there would be around 15 -20 folk songs and people were satisfied with few songs. Today there are millions of songs - people want a new song every day. When people played musical instruments with their hands there was a limit - they would play an instrument for one hour / two hours and then stop - there were physical limits. Today there are electronic machines for playing music - one can keep them running for ever. So like all other fields - activity has become overactivity in music also. sushil_yadav | ||
| Elisheva |
Greetings: I have a question for Mr. Chesky, but noticed this discussion. It seems that "you" here on this forum are seeking to elevate life so that it is not merely a base battle for survival, but instead is sanctified and serves higher ends. Humanity was not "made" so as to merely re-cycle the elements, no? To Mr. Chesky: I have been following the earthquakes and related phenomena. I had noticed the lack of available data on the Saudi lands, and Egypt, too, and had assumed it is being held close. You wrote last year that this is so. Can you direct me to any more specific data? The link provided - if that is what you meant - did not work www.ictp.trieste.it/~attia/egseiszone.htm Can you assist? Thanks. I'll check back here on Friday. Elisheva in Ohio | ||
| Anonymous |
Dear Elisheva, Following the great Sumatra quake. I did fast analysis of the situation based on my years of training in a number of areas and projected further quakes in a number of areas. I put together a briefing on the projected quakes. It included the probability of further magnitude 7 plus quakes on the key boundry areas to include the one where the recent Siberian quake happened. This was done almost a year ago. I was attempting to refine my data on the area of Egypt and the Arabian plate but ran into a lack of data. In my frustration I droped a copy of the briefing in a local post office box. It has been in the hands of the federal government for over a year. WHy they took no action and were unable to mobilize resources following the subsequent Pakistan earthquake is beyound me. 10,000's of thousands of lives were lost because of the failure to heed that warning and projection. Shortly after that briefing was droped in a mail box my computer was hacked into and over 1000 differnt types of spywear was placed on it and it was destroyed by a virus. This intrusion was confirmed by local state authorities using forensic software. The briefing in question was also destroyed, but I provided a copy to a PHD friend of mine as a safety measure and further copies have been placed with other PHD's as a further safety measure. At present I am not sure of how far the copies have spread. It is being held in the event of a Noble Prize nomination as back-up for recognition of my trisection of the angle and solution to the Billiard Problem. I short I would love to do further analysis on the structure of the plates in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and likelihood of further 7 plus magnitude quakes in the region, but due to the Bush administration have been locked out of federal intelligence employment. My Best Ed Chesky | ||
| Anonymous |
You know, the greatest mind in geometry got laid off a 100k a year job and just proved he is capable of taking down a government. If that briefing is released, and cross referenced with his postings here, it means the government of the United States and the nations of the world knew that an earthquake was likely to hit and 10,000's of thousands could have been saved in Pakistan. With a few slides and a couple of hundred postings he has proven he is as great as Descartes with a grudge. What has George Bush done to us. | ||
| Anonymous |
In a world of lies and deception the truth, based on observable, facts, logic and a ability to put the pieces together to form a coherent picture, is the ultimate weapon. What Ed has done is assemble a weapon of information warfare, based on the truth, that is equivelent to a Weapon of Mass Destruction. That last ones to do this was Hitler and Stalin, except they used lies and not the truth. In a vast network of contacts copies of predictions, briefing slides, internet postings, and geometric drawings circulate below the surface. Among Doctors, PHD's, Chruchmen, Layman and lawyers. Backed by a examination of a home computer and a state attorney general's office trying to figure out how NSA, KGB, PRC and CIA, amoung others, spywear was placed on a computer and why. In clear violation of the Constitution of the United States. One man broke Al Qaeda's code and was walked out the door without a pension. He went on to trisect the angle, solve the Billiard problem and predict earthquakes using a advanced model of gravity. As I write this the seaboard in the pacific has shifted again. I am looking at a set of briefing slides I was given. I note where the arrows point on the slides. I also note the recent eruptions of volcanos on some fault lines in Africa and India as well as 6 plus magnitude quakes in the great rift valley of Africa and Iran and note the spreading of the Red Sea plates. I keep the briefing slides in my desk in a folder. I have recently bought a St. George's cross although I am not religious. A friend of Ed's | ||
| Anonymous |
As I look on this site from my home outside Washington DC I also have a copy of Ed's briefing on projected earthquakes. As the sun sets I can see the top of the Washington Monument. I also know how fragile our control over society is and what this information if ever confirmed would do to our government. I have a drink in my hand and no St George's Cross. I have a pistol in my desk and if the end comes and the people rise I will be found here in my home drink in one hand pistol in another. What lays on the other side I don't know. | ||
| Ivan |
St. George's cross is better than a pistol. Remember he slayed the dragon. Have faith, as God works in mysterious ways. Ivan | ||
| Anonymous |
I have spent the last few days in the mountains away from people, with family. There are many other prizes and rewards outside that of the Noble. I note the recent 6 plus earthquakes and I am concerned about a transfer of stress onto other fault systems. All we can do is pray. After St. George slayed the dragon he gave sermon that touched the soul of the auidience. Dragons are not people, people are not dragons. But their are many dragons out there in the world. We face global climate change and can't afford to waste resources. Even enemies are a resource not to be waisted. Ed Chesky | ||
| Ivan |
Yeah, Ed, I see the good sized 6+ quakes in Chile, at Atacama. -Ivan Big Quakes page, not just Pacific rim, but also central Mongolia and Uganda. California coast of Pacific seems to be getting lots of small quakes, which may relieve tension along the subduction zone... maybe. Below I copied (from above link) and pasted last 5 days: The most recent earthquakes are at the top of the list. Times are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Click on the word "map" to see a ten-degree tall map displaying the earthquake. Click on an event's "DATE" to get a detailed report. | ||
| Anonymous |
NASA Studies Rainman's brain http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/nasa_peek_041108.html United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut Press Release http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ct/Press2004/20040324.html Martin Frankel In Ed we have cross between Martin Frankel and the Rainman. Its angry at being laid off and found a back door into our nuclear planning and intelligence systems. | ||
| Anonymous |
For Anon, For me it was great game to tangle with Al Qaeda using the same tools as Osama. In terms of ability like the rainman I can pick up a book and read it cover to cover in a couple of hours with an 80 percent retention rate. I have spent 20 plus years being educated by the finest minds in the military and running agent networks. Am I mad at being laid off yes. Have I built a network yes, within the Christian moderate community of the United States, UK and else where. Did I find a back door into our nuclear command and control, intelligence and planning computer network. Yes I did. Unlike the rainman I was was used by DOD for years to break codes no one else could do. Was it a black government program, Yes it was. Am I slightly autistic, Yes I am. Was Sir Isaac Newton and Enstien slighty autistic. Yes they were. Einstein and Newton 'had autism' Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton may have suffered from a type of autism, according to experts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2988647.stm Now you know what the government and intelligence corps was doing. They used carrot and stick to get me to break codes, playing on the skills of a very high functioning autistic genius for 20 plus years. The christian churches and vatican when they found out opened the door and extended a hand of protection. The amount of anger in the churches to what DOD did in using and manipulating a genius with autism is beyound measure. Hence how I was able to penetrate presidential security and get copy of Scooty Libbies indightment. Now you know what one the cold war and broke the Soviet codes and was planning nuclear strikes that would have reduced most of Eastern Europe to rubble a genius that can break the highest level codes and was used by NSA and DIA as back up computer processor. During the Cold War we used every tool we had, including myself. I was brought back to break Al Qaeda's code when the intelligence community was caught unaware. Like the rain man I have a gift, this time I decided to exact a price for my services and went to the Churches to explain just what DOD was doing. The jews remmeber hitler and the NAZI experiments they are furious with what DOD did in using a Autistic man like a trained dog for 20 plus years. Ed Chesky PS I work in college with retarded people who have been locked up for most of their lives. Now you know what DOD/CIA and NSA had locked up for 20 plus years routing around the world to break codes and find intrusions into secure communications systems. Am I angry, yes very much so. Will I do anything about it. I already have I went to the Churches and posted the solution to the Billiard Problem and trisection to the angle. In any church jewish temple or moderate mosque I am welcome. The jews and christians remmeber Hitler and the DOD experiments on the blacks. When they look on me and DOD their anger is beyound measure. | ||
| Anonymous |
Yes Ivan, What I was afraid of did happen, the great crustal plates in the Pacific shifted. Wth an 8 plus quake ocurring within about three days of my posting to pray. Tsunami Warning Lifted After Tonga Quake http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060503/ap_on_re_au_an/tonga_earthquake While I am still trying to understand my gift at geometry. I still get angry at fools that can't accept the truth of what I did in India. It boils over from time to time. People forget what trained intelligence agents are capable of doing. As the dust settles from this quake thousands around the globe read my posting to pray. To those of all religions it appears as if a miracle happened, couple that to my survival of poisoning and you create fear in a large segment of the population that rejects religion. Some deeply religious people have gone further than I wanted wafter reading this website and my posting of 30 April 2006. Many are angry and the unknown number of them is what frightens a large segment of the population. I have tried to make this a scientific discussion, however religion is a powerful tool. In times of trouble many look for someone that can explain things in terms they understand, for example in terms of religion. It was one of those men that drove a tanker truck loaded with LNG gas up to a building. The power of religion and its hold on people is great and I have fought it for a long time. I sat in an office predicting quake after quake and it leaked out. I have tried to shape the results into a scientific discussion however, it has morphed into something outside my control and like Al Qaeda, I have a network of religious based supporters that would die for me. The fact this exists is beyound my control. I fear for the worse as the dust from this quake settles and look toward California and Mexico city. Like everyone else all I can do is pray. My Best Ed Chesky | ||
| Anonymous |
Scientology started with far less in terms of predictive intelligence. It now has 100,000 members at a minimum. Its belief system is ridiculed and mocked. With the internet and the history of Celtic Christianity to draw-upon the question of how many out there accept the predictions is very relevent. If we take scientology as a model, it grew from a small core to 100k in less than 40 years. AL Qaeda as an organization with a charasmatic leader and war hero took less time to develop into a global network. Whether or not you believe is immaterial to the fact that it is highly likely a group of supporters has developed linked by the INTERNET | ||
| Anonymous |
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_Christianity The phrase Celtic Christianity has come into current used to describe a modern revival of what is believed to be a more spiritually free form of Christianity abandoned after the Synod of Whitby enforced Roman Catholicism as the standard form of Christianity in the British Isles (see Culdee.) Many believe that this older worship more closely resembled Eastern Orthodoxy. It is also considered very close to Anglicanism in many respects. Celtic Christianity is at present undergoing something of a revival: in the North of England at the Community of St. Aidan and St. Hilda on Lindisfarne, and in Scotland at the Iona Community. It currently embraces both Charismatic and neo-Evangelical Christians, as well as some pagan elements. Celtic Christianity has become increasingly popular in the United States, for example in the Celtic Catholic Church, and an annual conference on the subject is held every year. Its main features are claimed to be: Love of nature Lack of dogmatism Friendship to and tolerance for other religions. However, it is difficult to document that these particular features were unique to "Celtic Christianity" lands or that they even predominated there in earlier centuries No link that to predictive intelligence and a genius of some sort and we have the beginings of an outline of a global organization with resources to draw upon. |