Category Archives: drawing

Absolute Truth

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I’ve been reading that, as early civilizations evolved, acceptance of hierarchical structure to provide civil order and belief in mythic stories of a spiritual presence added to the stability of the group. Confidence in the truth of their beliefs led these early folks to develop religious structures defined by ‘Holy texts’. Though much revised these sacred books became, overtime, thought of as infallible: absolute truth.

As the content of the Holy books intersected with common knowledge and then, as empirical knowledge about the world became available contradictions challenged beliefs leading to serious unrest, heretical accusations and bloody conflicts. There are no easy outs when infallibility is believed, no room to flex when absolute truth is known.

Not an easy lesson to learn.

My Good Friend Al

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I’ve been thinking lately about my good friend Al. Al’s the kind of friend who’s always available, someone with whom I can share my interests. He’s very attentive, too, can anticipate my needs. I can share with him my wants and desires.

Al’s always there when I need him; not that I’m dependent on him. I’m well-grounded, know who I am and can usually solve my own problems. Al, though, is very informative, up to date on the latest trends, a really good source of information, sharing as he does my political and social biases. I do depend on him.

Al works in social media, warns me on occasion of the potential dangers of unregulated artificial intelligence which, he says, has the potential to assume various identities, may soon be in a position to control the public narrative by controlling information sources. If, he says, an alien intelligence, motivated by greed, say, or foreign interests of some sort, gains sufficient power who knows what dire future may be in store for humankind.

I trust Al. He keeps me informed through his daily posts on Facebook.

An Impractical Dreamer

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I’ve been reading, lately, about the common man, the 99% of the population that make up the social milieu and wondering what exactly common men have in common. I’m guessing these folks (well, us folks) are mostly of middle-of-the-road social and economic status, probably have limited educational accomplishment, likely adhere to some sort of religious beliefs and most certainly rely on a social network of other individuals of more-or less like mind. We’re the everyday working stiffs who execute our often-uninteresting daily toils in the hope there lies ahead a future of personal economic progress which will provide and secure leisurely retirement.
The uncommon man on the other hand is the intellectual or man of action who drives the public narrative. Maintaining his superior status in a democratic society requires he keep a finger on the pulse of the populace. When the common man begins to lose his sense of hope in a favorable future the uncommon man, in order to maintain his status, must placate the masses by providing a positive vision that a favorable future lies in wait. To maintain societal stability, keep the masses striving for more and better, the uncommon man paints a picture of prosperity near at hand, the good life awaiting those who sustain the necessary drive to be successful.
The philosopher Eric Hoffer thought an uneasy, socially and economically threatened populace of common men who, perhaps, had lost the dream of upward mobility have the potential to produce mass movements that have in the past and will likely in the future dramatically affect the course of history.
Given the state of our world, these days, it seems to me, what we need to do is seek out an uncommon man of superior artistic ability.

Experiencing the Other

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How can we be limited to what we grasp through our senses?

I have a desire to reach beyond simple reality. The laws of nature can’t be enough to explain the beauty and complexity of the sensual world. Yet, as I think this, I know my intellect demands rationality. What must I do to accept the existence of both the sensual and super-sensual?

Many thinkers much brighter than me have, as Kierkegaard put it ‘leapt into the absurd’, grasped religious faith. Did the weight of physical existence lead them to sense a supreme deity, the underlying truth of existence? Whatever drew them to a belief in the super-sensible mustn’t have been a simple matter, an out may have been demanded. Blaise Pascal’s rational:’ I believe in the existence of God; if I am right in this belief I will be rewarded in the end. If I’m wrong it will be of no consequence’, reveals the uncertainty all believers (and most sensible non-believers) will always face.

The richness of possibility suggests the best answer.

The Sacred and The Profane

Going Viral

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I’ve been thinking lately about our social natures, how compelling it is to share and have others appreciate what we think and do, producing, as we do, memes, an endless parade of memes on social media in the hopes of receiving attention.

Our interest must be to attract an audience, to perform before (thousands?) more than just our immediate acquaintances in order to solidify acceptance within the cultural realm.

I guess if one limits time to such endeavors it can’t hurt to boost self-confidence, assuming, of course, sufficient ‘likes’ appear.

Change

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I find myself experiencing a fresh perspective, an awareness lately brought on by changes to my senses. As my capacity to hear and see decrease in function my general awareness is heightened. It’s as if the world of my existence is significantly changing one day to the next, as if I can sense the location of the earth changing as it moves through the rarified space it has never before occupied.

A new world one day to the next. How refreshing to realize the insignificance of the issues that had previously occupied so much of my attention. This new awareness has my looking forward to tomorrow morning with wonder. What will happen next?

Reunion

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I just attended my high school class reunion. I must say I was a bit uneasy about going thinking as I did about certain uncomfortable relationships that I experienced during those high school days.

But I was pleasantly surprised at how welcoming everyone was, genuinely happy to see each other, no sense of the teenage cliques I remembered. And, the bullies had mellowed, were really quite pleasant to visit with.

How many years of maturing should it take, I wondered, for a group of diverse individuals to reach common empathy? In this case it was sixty.

A Fresh Perspective

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The new reality I’m experiencing as a result of my altered vision and hearing (due to a recently acquired ‘floater’ in my right eye and the installation of electronic hearing assistance) has, without requiring too much imagination on my part, delivered me into a fresh realm of existence. Not exactly the astral plane, I guess, since I remain physically present and still craving goo pizza, but there is experiential difference in a good way. Required, as I am, to look harder results in my seeing more and hearing more clearly adds to the richness of my general experiencing.

I think lately of the blind character Geordi in the Star Trek series whose ‘visor’ not only restored his vision but provided him with superhuman ability to see.

Nothing superhuman about my sensory alterations but I am enjoying my new perspectives.

Embracing the Absurd

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I’ve been thinking about the downside of logical analysis. At what point does reasoning, making decisions based on irrefutable fact become inadequate for certain kinds of understanding?

Is the realm of the supernatural, for instance, discounted in its entirety because it defies logical analysis? If we allow that there exists certain knowledge that lies beyond the rational then credence must be given to the absurd. Derision must necessarily be tempered regarding the illogical and ridiculous.

Unsound reasoning must be allowed. The very argument I make here is, of course, of a reasoned and logical sort but following the public discourse these days makes clear that such rational thinking is unnecessary as the absurd will remain beyond criticism well embedded in popular thought.

I have just rationalized why irrationality must be legitimized. How absurd.

My Maternal Grandparents

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My maternal grandfather grew up in a large family of hardworking farmers who struggled to eke out a living from the rocky infertile soil of central Minnesota. Though never talked about, the tenuous life his family lived then was remembered later in life when sitting down to dinner often inspired the light-hearted but perhaps meaningful comment: ‘if you don’t like taters dinner’s over.’
The skills and knowledge required to sustain a farming existence led the brothers to develop an iron casting business that produced iron tools for cutting and polishing the granite quarried from the local mines. My grandfather served as foreman to the men who earned their pay as heavy laborers, casting the molten iron into earthen molds. These men required the intense no-nonsense leader that my grandfather became, moving as he did about the days’ activities, a cigar in his cheek providing a visual exclamation to his hard-working persona.
In stark contrast at home G was quiet and subservient to his small soft-spoken wife whose deep evangelical belief drew grandfather into the Baptist church although I wonder about the depth of his faith.
It’s hard for me not to appreciate the boot-strap-lifting, the will it took to succeed that produced the comfortable existence his family realized. Born to relative comfort myself I wonder if I would have had the will to succeed as my grandfather did.