Category Archives: philosophy

Delayed Gratification

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I’ve been thinking lately about how satisfying one’s desires ought to be thought about as one ages. The delayed gratification test given to young children involving one marshmallow now or two awhile later is meant, I guess, to determine a child’s sense of discipline, discernment and desires.

The idea of having it now or saving for later should, I think, be nuanced later in life as we age and our tastes and health are factored into what waiting means. At some point, when all possibilities are considered, it seems reasonable to consume and enjoy immediately.

First Nature

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I’ve been thinking lately about the idea of one’s ‘first nature’, that time of youthfulness when the ‘new’ occurs daily, a time of pure experience, deeply felt, uplifting and thrilling in one instance disheartening and dispiriting the next, a time when one’s true self is revealed.

A time lost when only a few years later a ‘chain of events’ defines who one becomes: imposed responsibilities, social demands and the realization of a personal identity restrict imagination and limit possibilities. The infinite is made finite.

An existential loss unrealized until years later when, if fortunate, one is exposed to insightful youth who rekindle the fire, the magic of one’s ‘first nature’. A reason, I suppose, to interact with the young; a way to remember who one truly was.

Non-Representational Art

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In the late 1940’s and early ’50’s artists painting in a non-representational manner had no language or means of conveying what they were doing. The intention was to create paintings of substance while eliminating pictorial space and figure/ground relationships. The problem being that not much could be said about what one was doing and what sort of meaning such work might have.

The result of these concerns was a move toward extreme minimalism, appreciation lying, I guess, in a Zen-like meditation on an essentially monochrome canvas. The artist Robert Irwin contemplated this orange painting for weeks moving one or the other horizontal lines up or down fractions of an inch.

Curious to consider how to interpret such a personal activity. No wonder, I suppose, why such concerns confound the viewing public and remain an esoteric interest at best.

Technological Dangers

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I’ve been thinking lately about the technology I, like most everyone else, carry around with me in my pocket every day, wondering whether the use of this incredibly useful device might impose opioid-like addiction that some of us may not be able to control. As the small machine, through algorithmic manipulations learns who each of us is it selfishly feeds our needs and desires modifying our realities through sensationalized clickbait and presenting us with the news it knows we want. Demanding more and more of our time and attention the small device controls our ability to function on a daily basis: access to bank accounts, keeping appointments, staying in touch with others and performing necessary tasks depend on its benevolence.

The scifi notion of a controlling artificial intelligence may already be here residing in our pockets and purses.

Traveling

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I’ve been traveling lately through large unfamiliar cities. Hampered, as I am, by short-term memory loss and an inability to follow directions, the visual glut and auditory din I encounter has me exhausted. I find myself lost almost immediately upon arrival at the train station (or airport or bus terminal) as I try to decipher the abstract metro maps or follow the fine lines of the tram or bus routes on the city directory the friendly information folks handout with a smile. By the time I stumble upon my lodgings and rest up a bit I have to remind myself of the danger of going off without sufficient attention to place and getting lost all over again.
The upside of it all being the realization that people the world over are open, friendly and ready to help a disoriented stranger and are, I think, appreciative that someone would be interested in visiting the place they call home.

Beauty is in the Ephemeral

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I’ve been thinking lately about the nature of beauty: about how much determination of the beautiful relies on its fleeting existence.

Some might argue that art captures beauty in permanence, but I would suggest captured beauty relies on context: Michaelangelo’s virgin in his Pieta is beautiful in relation to her youthfulness and suffering. Generally, the beauty of young women relies on the ephemeral nature of their youthfulness. Similarly, determining beauty in the natural world relies on a subconscious realization of changing seasons.

Realizing beauty is an uplifting experience that might not be possible without an awareness of one’s mortality: our ephemeral existence.

Facing Our Ultimate Demise

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Forgive me, if you will, for dwelling on the morbid but I can’t help thinking about the ultimate aftermath, what might be awaiting us after our final demise.

The fear most of us feel when such thoughts occur, I suspect, may be about facing the unfamiliar, leaving behind the faces, placers, environment, social connections that is one’s world. if we set aside the science of biological existence which seems reasonable from a spiritual perspective most any scenario is in play. Imagination would suggest intriguing possibilities for what might come next.

My Tragic Dental History

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Having just had to go to the dentist for an issue with one of the few remaining teeth I have left has me thinking about my dental history.

At the age of twelve I lost my top four front teeth to a car dashboard (a time before seat belts). The partial dental replacement I got after that was held in place by wires around the molars, that, over the years, ate away at those supporting teeth eventually resulting in the need for an upper denture. Throughout my life I’ve become quite familiar with the dreaded root canal procedure that did preserve some of the lower molars for a while, but eventually the caps broke down and the teeth cracked.

I should, I suppose, appreciate the richness of my dental experiences; experiences that those with sound teeth never realize.

Visible Man

Progress of Civilization

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I’ve been reading about an ancient village site in the near east that archaeologists have determined to have been inhabited by a people practicing plant cultivation, pottery and other technologies 2000 years before what generally has been thought to be the beginnings of the agricultural revolution, which, I guess, disrupts the linear timeline science prefers to view as the progression of civilization.
The finding suggests that some pre-historic groups chose the more sedentary lifestyle provided by agriculture while others opted for the less work intensive life of the hunter gatherer: that is domestication of plants and animals was not necessarily found to be the preferred choice of all people of time and place.
The choice may have been about preferring egalitarianism to a developing hierarchy based on material accumulation. Maybe these forward thinkers might have seen how illness and death spread amongst sedentary populations exacerbated further by diseases caused by close contact with domesticated animals.
In retrospect, in view of the ecological impact material accumulation has imposed upon us now, a simpler lifestyle was a good choice. Comfort and security, of course will always win out in the end.

Cultural Irrelevance

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I almost went to the Barbie movie. So much hype seemed to promise a bit of satire, adult content, but, in the end the more likely probability of saccharine overload dissuaded me.


Which has me realizing how far out of pop cultural awareness I’ve fallen. I find popular music genres often abrasive, non-musical and generally beyond my comprehension and what passes for comedy these days is lacking in humor and rude.


Contemporary visual art, the cultural expression I’m most able to relate to I find incomprehensible at times. I find myself wondering what motivates these young artists, what their message may be. So, I’ll continue to do what suits me aware I am nowhere near the Avant guarde. I’ll trust the energy exhausted these days might arrive at useful insights about our shared experiences and not be just about hype.