The Way It Can Be

Sunday, July 23, 2006

No Imagination by Louis Evan Palmer

What
if
Imagination
doesn't
exist?

Imagination is always presented as something that essentially comes out of nothing. There is a time before our imagination when the result of our imagination doesn't exist and then this new thought, idea, feeling exists.

But what change would be wrought on the universe if, in fact, there was no such thing as imagination? What if every single thing we conceive is based on perceptions or remembrances, however faulty, of other realities, or reflect components of this reality that usually are hidden.

What if the First Law of Thermodynamics applies to all non-physical forms and energies - nothing is created or destroyed, it is merely transformed. In this context, imagination cannot create anything new and the transformation consists of perceiving, evaluating, remembering and judging.

Therefore, we might think that ancient peoples do not talk in metaphors, or "imagine" anything, but rather try to describe phenomena that are beyond their understanding. Spaceships, alien lifeforms, collisions with space objects - all events, all described by them in language that might be interpreted thousands of years later through the prism of several translations and worldview transformations as myths or leaps of imagination.

Imagination could never, in any case, be completely new or we wouldn't understand it or even recognize it. Yet, if it is all there already and one is seeing an existant object or possibility for the first time, although it might appear that the perceiver is creating something via imagination, maybe instead they're discerning something.

It might seem like a word game at this point, imagination is now defined as creative, or superior, discernment. But the key idea is that nothing new is being brought forth, it is an uncloaking, or a clearing away, that allows one to discern this thing and speak about it. If so, then imagination becomes concerned with transformations of existing orders, the solidification of ephemeral mental darts and dashes, and the shaping of the potential for good and bad.

It might be reformulated as "discernment shaped by intent" - which then makes it our duty to have the best possible "intent" so that our power, which ultimately is all power, is directed towards truth and not towards illusion.

No imagination, no excuses.

Louis Evan Palmer, No Imagination, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer

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One Substance, Many Appearances by Louis Evan Palmer

How
does
god
do
it ...?

I'm convinced that the search for a single explanation for the universe, be it a unified field theory or super strings or branes, reflects a deeper, almost unconscious, knowledge on our part. And that knowledge is that there is one underlying substance out of which everything is made.

In the tradition of the ancient Greeks, we must ask: "How can anyone or anything create something that is different from itself, from the substance it has available to use?"

We can argue that whatever is created must perforce be less than what created it? It is something that is hived off from the source. It is something that is appears the way it is due to a limitation on the perceiver, on the perception of it.

We can then find ourselves directed to how the encumberance is constructed and how might it constitute a new "substance".

Awareness of any kind including perceiving and remembering must be part of the creator and therefore part of the creation. This would extend to every single object including stones and stars and "space". However, this also opens the question as to where does one thing begin and end versus any other "thing"?

Some have said that each and every thing is "god" experiencing different modes of being and exulting in them.

And where does "free will" and "choice" fit in with this act of creation? How is that ability to decide created? Since the creator has it and each of the creations is a part of the creator then each creation must have it. But why? Why does "god" feel this impulse to create? And, why does "god" put limitations on his creations which seem to generate the enormous suffering that we see and feel around us?

Or so it seems..

Maybe it's better to go back the first assertion - we are made of "god". Does the substance of "god" have extent or limitation? - No!

Therefore, any other conclusion is wrong and now our task is to figure out why.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
One Substance, Many Appearances, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Saturday, July 15, 2006

Guiding Principles by Louis Evan Palmer

Be
Know
Do

BE - You come into existence, you don't know how, you don't remember; you try to understand, you act (and inaction IS an action).

At certain points, you seek an explicit statement from yourself or from someone as to what it is exactly that guides you and informs your decisions. Of course, this has been going on the whole time but behind the scenes, under the horizon, unbeknowest to your conscious self - which seems to be the bulk of your "knowing" anyway.

KNOW - Principle One emerges as "Know" - "Know Thyself", "Know Life", "Know Everything". This encompasses going into how you came to be a "knowing" being in the first place. You hope to find the step-by-step progression in "knowing-ness" if it exists.

DO - Principle Two emerges as "Do Good" which includes not doing "not Good" and, in fact, will surely lead to actively avoiding evil, its enablers, its environs, and its precursors. "Know" is part of "Do Good" but precedes it because that knowledge or Wisdom is required to know that Good is a correct goal and what Good might be and what not-Good might be.

"Do Good" also includes thinking and constantly re-thinking in every possible way (including non-thinking thinking like some forms of meditation or mindfulness) about the constituents of Good, its precursors, its characteristics; explorations into what makes Good expand; what makes Good endure; what makes Good "good".

All this feeding into the idea that our consciousness is the small light that shines into a vast ocean of knowing and while we think we know only that illuminated section, we actually know more - if only we could remember and by remembering "know" even as we feel that the best knowing is that which does not remember and cannot be remembered but can be experienced.

BE. KNOW. DO.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
Guiding Principles, The Way It Can Be, Louis Evan Palmer, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Saturday, July 08, 2006

A Surfeit of Jurisdictions by Louis Evan Palmer

Verticals
Horizontals
Functionals
Geographics

When do the layers of organizations become dysfunctional? Is it partly a result of perceptions? Is there an optimal number and mix of jurisdictions?

Discussions of jurisdictions quickly become esoteric. Theories across many disciplines emerge - economic, psychologic, management. Implicit are philosophies and cultures and beliefs.

We have political governance - for many, this occurs at the city or town level, then at a county or regional level, then at a state or province level, then at a national level then at an international or supranational level.

We have various specialized oversight - for medicine, for standards, for food and health, for public hygiene. We have a body that jointly manages an international waterway, the St. Laurence seaway. Bodies that operate and manage airports or ports or bridges.

We have religious and spiritual organizations which themselves operate at different levels - within their denomination, across denominations within the same faith, acoss other faiths, within countries, within political systems.

We have bodies for every kind of sport and cultural activity. We have specific bodies for special events like the Olympics or the the World Cup.

Some of the jurisdictions apply to everyone, while others only to members. Some people are very conscious of these numerous jurisdictions while others are almost completely unaware.

Of course, this does not touch on secret organizations and jurisdictions. They affect their members but they can also affect non-members.

Because we prize organizations and the power they can bestow, we have a built-in drive towards every possible type of organization which will then lay claim to jurisdiction in various areas.

It can be in fashion, in art, in music; or more specifically, in women's fashion, in abstract art, in jazz music.

The voluntary self-organizing organizations are the natural outcome of a democratic society and their jurisdictions can be fleeting and dynamic.

Military jurisdictions loom over and behind all. And, intelligence agencies and special bureaus.

Having a great number of jurisdictions and organizations fighting over them and creating new ones may not be the height of the civil society. Turning it over to private organizations is merely pretending that the need doesn't exist or that it can be better managed out-of-sight.

Where is the in-depth study of how a democracy is best organized? Not the very many pieceworks that we seem to fund and ignore all the time but serious fundamental ongoing research on how best to organize a society.

It's bad enough to have a glut of rules and rule-makers and rule-enforcers but it's worse to not know what we've got, what we need to operate optimally and, perhaps most urgently, why we need to expose and extirpate all hidden agents, levers and forces. No secret groups, courts, jails, laws, regulations, orders.

Adaptability is only useful if it prunes as well as grows. We can't keep adding and not removing. But we don't want hidden agendas being implemented in the guise of efficiencies. So we need maximum openess. Monolithicism is to be avoided but so too is undue multiplicity.

It's time to go back to the basics - definitions, purposes, plans.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
A Surfeit of Jurisdictions, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Monday, July 03, 2006

Lower the Voting Age by Louis Evan Palmer

A simple,
fair, fast way to
make things
better

At different points in time, even today in some cases, you couldn't (or can't) vote if you were not a land owner; if you were a slave; if you were coloured; if you were an Indian;
if you were a Woman; if you are/were a prisoner; if you weren't 25 or older; 21 or older; 18 or older. Etc. Etc.

Some of the voting restrictions strike modern citizens as being unbelieveable and yet, they each had their proponents who sallied forth with their fusty logic with the sterness and pomposity of olden day flat-earth advocates or the learned men of medieval times who elaborated on how the four elements interacted for a number of common phenomenon like a pile of logs burning.

One effort towards more equity in the voting process is a movement, varying in strength, in several countries like the USA and Canada, which is trying to get the voting age lowered to 16 years of age.

Reasons abound but a list put out by one of the groups listed the following top reasons for granting 16 year olds the right to vote.

Youth have adult responsibilities but not rights
Youth pay taxes and live under the law and therefore, should have the vote
Politicians will represent youth when youth can vote
Youth have a unique perspective
16 is a better age to introduce voting than 18 as they're more stationary
Youth will vote well
Lowering the voting age will provide an intrinsic benefit to the lives of youth
There are no wrong votes

This appears to be obvious and yet, lowering the voting age isn't on anyone's agenda. The only agenda for youth is aimed at trying them as adults in court, put them into strict supervision jails, enticing them to join the armed forces so they can be betrayed into fighting in illegal wars, etc. etc.

Anyone who can speak and think sufficiently to understand the issues should be entitled to vote. The movement is talking 16 but really where is that line? 15? 12? It remains to be determined by people who aren't biased or afraid. However, 16 is an excellent first step.

Having youth involved in voting will invigorate and elevate the voting process. Issues will have to be simplified and explained to their satisafaction. The obfuscation and lying and appeals to base emotions will be exposed and rejected by today's youth.

If any persons, and it's not been apparent in any of the too few discussions on this issue to date, are afraid of subjecting youth to propaganda, they should know that they already subjected to it but with no recourse and no call to critical thought. Having the vote would give a powerful impetus towards that and could save our societies before the sociopaths in power put it out of reach for a very long time.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
Lower the Voting Age, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Mongols by Louis Evan Palmer

The Face
of
Destruction

Might wins battles & wars. It has no connection as to whether the aftermath is better than what preceded it.

By almost every measure, the Mongol invasions were a catastophe. All the subjected cities and nations went back in time and capability. One can look at a map at countries that even now are considered backwards and see the blood-soaked imprint of the hordes.

Russia, the former Soviet republics, China, Korea, the Middle East, the Near East - all devastated by the lethal, fast-moving horsemen from cold Far Eastern plateaus and mountains. Baghdad destroyed. Herat destroyed. Europe only saved by the timely deaths of Jinghis, the Great Khan and then later, his son Batu.

Perhaps it's unfair to castigate the Mongols for using what turned out to be an unstoppable military force. After all, what nations could restrain themselves from using such an advantage - irresistible power. Even today when we've supposedly progressed.

And the Mongols, while primitive in their cultural customs & aspirations, were very advanced in their military prowess. They had total mobility in the context of the world at that time - two of their small tough horses per soldier, powerful bows and arrows that could be delivered accurately from galloping horses, the latest in seige equipment and techniques appropriated from conquered armies. They could advance at a terrifyingly fast pace, if needed on a 24 hour basis - switching horses as required, sleeping & eating while astride.

It would be difficult to find a positive contribution made by the Mongols in any of their conquered territories. They took prodigously, in many cases for hundreds of years, but aside from the sterile peace of a cowed populace gave nothing back except death, fear and sorrow.

The Mongols were good at one thing - making war - and that pestilent excellence gave them dominion. And that starkly highlights our eternal vexing problem - how to prepare for war, to stop noxious Mongol-like invaders and their ilk, and yet, not to turn into pale imitations of that which we fear.

To be clear, the advocated study & preparation does not refer to specious contrivances like "al-Qaeda" and the nebulous "war on terror". This refers to the real thing from wherever it comes.

Even today, at this very minute, there are Mongols venerating the image & spirit of Jinghis.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
Mongols, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Sunday, July 02, 2006

1st Hint - You might be in a Holographic Universe if ... by Louis Evan Palmer

Anomalies
are the first
clues pointing
to a mind-boogling
possibility

Various spiritual masters, especially of the Buddhist persuasion, have stated
words to the effect that what we think, perceive & feel is an illusion. That the world we live in is "maya".

This is usually interpreted as "it's like an illusion" or "it's real but not what we think" or "it's somewhat illusory".

But what if it is exactly as it's stated - an illusion from start to finish. Something that's been contrived by a vast array of entities including oneself.

One astounding version of this "maya" has come to us in the last half-century
from illusion-cutting-edge science and it's most often referred to as the "holographic universe" proposition.

In some guises, it involves itself with string theory or membrane theory (also called "branes") and with the multiverse theory and with Bohm's dissertations on Order - implicate, superimplicate and explicate.

One way to tackle this type of proposition is to take it as true and ask what clues might you expect to see that are revelatory.

1st Hint - entangled pairs... this is the experimental confirmation of the theoretical assertion that pairs of elementary particles that have become
"entangled" exhibit behaviour that indicates they have communicated instantaneously regardless of the distance separating them. In a holographic universe, this type of information would be available throughout its domain.

More to follow...

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
1st Hint - You might be in a Holographic Universe if, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Sunday, June 25, 2006

Erasing Borders by Louis Evan Palmer

Establishing
"Embassy"
Cities

Embassies are generally small - the size of the Embassy itself and some acreage around it. (excepting the obscene American Embassy now under construction in Baghdad)

One of the key characteristics of an Embassy being that its land is ceded to
the foreign country so that it is in effect that country extended into the host
country.

Naturally, that allowance presupposes a number of things including that the foreign country is to behave peacefully and in good faith.

The proposal is to extend the notion of an Embassy into full-fledged cities
or towns, typically, on a reciprocal basis.

So that, you might see something like a regular, likely showcase, Canadian town of, say, 20,000 Canadians somewhere in Japan and a similar showcase town of 20,000 Japanese somewhere in Canada.

Think positively about the possibilities!

Increased understanding, interaction and cooperation. Increased trade and cultural & educational exchanges. More chance for the host country to learn the language of a given foreign nation.

On a Realpolitic side, more pressure for peaceful relations with a large number of potential hostages at hand - hence, the reciprocal aspect will be more important in some agreements versus others.

And this hostage factor would be a driving rationale for doing this with putative enemies.

War is failure. Even the threat of war is failure for it inevitably goes from being invoked rarely to being invoked often; from being used rarely to being used often. The United States is the glaring example of that although there might be some debate on the "rarely" part of that equation.

Creating Embassy cities around the world would create a tremendous force for peace for all the reasons outlined above.

To truly succeed, however, it will be incumbent on the richer nations to finance some cities for poorer countries. Treaties would be in order along with limitations on certain rights & laws - gun ownership leaps to mind,
and requirements regarding health & environmental regulations.

Think of Canada with 20 to 30 Embassy cities around the world and their impact. Say, A Canadian town in Russia, a Russian town in Canada. Similarly, in China, in Eqypt, in France, Poland, Austrailia, Indonesia, Brazil.

Then think of the USA doing this - although converting their military bases into civilian cities would be a better approach.

Think of Germany doing this, Sweden, the UK.

A relatively simple thing, it's already being done for military purposes, but with the potential for an enormous positive impact.

Ask your government to consider it!

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
Erasing Borders, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Saturday, June 24, 2006

Drawing Lots by Louis Evan Palmer

When Rulers
are not
representative

There have been numerous studies as to the make-up of various legislative bodies and they tend to reflect the same issues: not many women, not many minorities, not a range of ages, not a range of cultures, not a range of occupations.

There have been reasons offered as to the range of occupations - the main one being that not many jobs allow you to leave for 1-4 years at a time.

One of the occupations where a lengthy absence may not hurt you is the law and since being a lawyer is also a good background when making laws we have a goodly number of lawyers as Members of Parliament.

One way to make broader representation a reality is to go back to what the ancient Greeks, the founders of democracy, used as a means of broadening the roles of rulers and ruled. They drew lots, you then served for a year.

Canada could use the Senate as its place for these members. We could appoint the senate each year by lot to a one year term. They would get the same pay they would have received in their current job or a set minimum if unemployed. Provisions would be made to take care of various requirements such as child care, transportation, running households, running businesses.

But then we would quickly get a modicum of representation. Senators appointed in this fashion could run for Parliament later if they wanted to and could get sufficient support. So this approach would also draw new blood into the system and provide training and exposure.

Forget about electing Senators or the current system of appointing, use a lottery to give Canada a true mix of Canadians examining, discussing and voting on the laws of the land.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
Drawing Lots, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Canada at 100 by Louis Evan Palmer

Internal
Economy
Right-sized
at 100+ Million

An internal economy that could sustain itself has been pegged in the past at 100+ million. It may have edged up to 110 or 120 million persons but whatever it is it should be near-term target for Canada.

By near-term, I'm suggesting within 10 years. Eyes may be rolling at the prospect of bringing in 9 million people a year for the next 10 years but it can be done given the will and the focus.

Could Canada build 6 cities of 1.5 million persons in one year? Yes - an effort but it can be done.

Could Canada absorb 9 million persons into its culture and society? Yes - again, a bigger effort but given the right mix of immigrants: age, gender, skills & attitudes, it can also be done.

Most likely, such an effort would get diluted but there should be a conscious
acknowledgement that speed is a factor in protecting the Canadian Confederation.

As Canada's population increases, it will affect the power equation in the world and things being what they are, counter forces would come into play.

A national program of this magnitude would encourage innovation in terms of cost and speed of construction across the entire gamut of requirements from roads and pipes and wires to houses, transportation and services. It could open up numerous oportunities for Canadian companies.

It probably needs a catchy slogan so how about "10 for 10" as in, 10 million
persons a year for 10 years. Or "9 for 10" or whatever, but it must be rapid.

This would be a strategic step towards the preservation of the Confederation and its prosperity and peace.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
Canada at 100, The Way It Can Be, Louis Evan Palmer, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Saturday, June 17, 2006

Waves by Louis Evan Palmer

The message
is not the medium

It's a safe bet that most people don't really know what a wave is.

Some definitions of waves are quite certain when they talk about distortions propagated through a medium. These expositions then go on to describe how the distortion agitates the medium and this passes to the nearby part of the medium and so on. The medium itself does not travel - only the distortion - which is often called the vibration or oscillation.

But then you might ask - what about light waves? This will lead you into the realm of photons and electromagnetic radiation. But now we're told that a medium is not required. It is referred to as a self-propagating wave. Since there is no medium, we must presume that the energy itself is traveling but in this undulating manner. On top of that, it seems to be acting like it is composed of particles.

It is a wonderful maze we're in now. Some advise that waves are not the correct focus, that we should be focusing on fields - the mathematical variety. They and their matrices and vectors and different types of theoretical spaces contain the waves and their associated phenomena.

It does seem significant whether a wave propagates through a medium or not. Is it possible that waves that progagate through a medium are substantively different from waves that propagate through a vacuum; or, is there some type of medium through which the electromagnetic radiation propagates?

This will drag us into the ether debate which was mainstream a long time ago but is now no longer accepted as an explanation.

So we're back to - a wave is a particle, is a wave, is both. A wave propagates through a medium or is self-propagating. A wave exists only as part of a field. Waves are everywhere and everything.

The only safe prediction is that we will have a different view of waves in ten years - probably dramatically different.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
Waves, The Way It Can Be, Louis Evan Palmer, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Sunday, June 11, 2006

The Gods by Louis Evan Palmer

Why One?
Why Two?
Why Any?

It's not difficult to believe that there are beings as far "above" us, in power or understanding at least, as we feel we are "above", say, ants. Beings who for all intents and purposes are "gods" to us.

If there is an underlying unity to things, as in one God, at what level does it apply?

Are there layers of unity? - where there is a unity (i.e. one God) at layer one which differs from the unity (one God) that exists at layer two and so on to infinity.

And, if there is a multiverse where even an entire universe like the one we believe ourselves to be in is but a grain of sand on an infinite beach of other universes, could there not be "gods" or a "God" for each of them.

Unless we then travel to the substrate for the mutliverse, wherein the God of Gods dwells. If that is even possible?

Why is a hierarchy of gods such an odious concept when we have it for everything else?

It is possible that we can only ever "talk" to our designated god and the superior beings between us and our local "god" are who we can appeal to and no-one else.

Just as it is possible that there are no gods or God because there is no "us" and we are all part of the godhood and for some unfathonable reason are not able to see or understand that.

In fact, the most odious concept is that there would be a single entity who was "God" but it would only be known to selected persons and then only to other persons who received this information (about the single "God") and believed it and followed it because of faith or coercion or custom. And that people would be killed because of it even though these "faiths" would condemn killing.

The ancient idea that religions were different to express different facets of godliness seems remarkably tolerant and profound. Their candid fluidity of movement between physical and spiritual and past and future is invigorating and calming. There is no necessity for aggression or defensiveness. No need for trials for crimes of impiety or crusades or jihads.

God can be gods, can be this or that, can be physical or spiritual or both or neither.

A god becomes false through the machinations of people: people who imagine things, people who commune with evil spirits, people who want to control other people.

Maybe in a very real way, we make the gods ourselves - our belief, our obesiance, our memory and rituals.

Whether a small local god is a small local god or a manifestation of the one god should be irrelevant.

One big God can be just as evil and blood-thirsty as many small gods. And isn't it really - God is as God does.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
The Gods, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Saturday, June 10, 2006

Sustenance by Louis Evan Palmer

Everything
is
Sustenance

Until fairly recently, it was posited that all life on Earth was sustained ultimately by the sun's heat & light. Only the Sun.

Then the mysterious heat vents in the Ocean were found to be teaming with life - but, a somewhat alien kind of life - one that was nourished by the heat and chemicals from the vent. No Sun.

Now there's even talk that perhaps the life at the vents preceded other life on Earth.

It seems that every time we look we seem to find more complexity and diversity - Life finding every possible means to manifest and express itself.

And, in that regard, it shouldn't surprise us later if we find creatures or entities that feed on energy including types of energy that we don't know about or that we don't recognize or measure as such. Or specific components of energy.

For example, strong emotions. Who can deny the feeling that strong emotions
have power and can be projected and resonate and can be amplified? That would seem to make them an ideal candidate for consumption.

To a more limited extent , we humans, feed on emotions right now, but we could find entities that only or primarily feed on human emotion, or perhaps, more generally, on mammalian emotions.

The implications of this one conjecture are huge. But, think of the myriad other sources of sustenance for properly endowed creatures.

Might it all be one vast eating gallery!?

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
Sustenance, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Wednesday, June 07, 2006

You by Louis Evan Palmer

Projection
Absorption
Fusion
Fission

Often the answer you give quickly is smarter and more revelatory than a more reasoned reply.

Is your voice you? Is the image and sound that is received by your eyes & ears & body you? Is your memory you? Is your body you? Your feelings? Your thoughts? Is your child you? Are your clothes or house or car you?

It's likely you answered "Yes" to at least one of these questions.

Is a tape recording of your voice you? Is a picture of your body you? Is what you write or type you? Is the music you compose or play you?

Is it only partly you? What part of it, what part of you? If part of it is not you, what or who is it?

Are your intentions and motivations you? If they change, is it you? Scientists report that subatomic particles are exchanged within an atom at a rate of millions per second. What if your thoughts, feelings, memories made, life processes and everything else were changing and exchanging at the same kind of rate? Would that be you?

How can you be something that you seem to have no knowledge of? How can there be an unconscious? Is there a soul? Is your soul you? What is your soul? Where is it? Is there a spirit? Is your spirit separate from your soul? Is there a spirit and a soul?

Are you you alone or are you mixed in with other You-s?

Who are you really? What is real?

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
You, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Sunday, June 04, 2006

Circularity - Arc Two by Louis Evan Palmer

What is Up
on the Surface
of a Sphere?

Down?
Left
or Right?

When you define something, in a sense, you create it. Or rather, you create a particular manifestation of it - the manifestation reflected by your definitions.

Our whole human consciousness enterprise is just such a manifestation.

Again, the premise is that language is one of the keys. And, here when we but scratch the surface, we find ourselves going in circles, up to and out of rabbit holes galore.

Using the "The Free Dictionary", we see that "thought" is "the act or process of thinking".

We see that "thinking" is "to have or formulate in the mind".

That the "Mind" is "the human consciousness that originates in the brain and is manifested in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory and imagination"

"Consciousness" is "an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation"

"Cognitive" is "being or relating to or involving cognition"

"Cognition" is "the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning"

Any given definition never quite satisfies as it perforce must involve other to-be-defined terms, or, the focus of the definition changes: it gets bigger or smaller in scope, more detailed or more abstract; often we are given synonyms for the word we are trying to define.

And yet, we feel that we understand. Is that a definition of delusion?

To end this Arc - let's look at the word for the concept of One but from the perspective of different languages. In English, the word is "One". In French, the word is "Un or Une". In Italian, it's "uno, una". In Swedish, "man, en". In Japanese, it's "Ichi". Etc. Etc. We could line up hundreds of words like this that all mean "One" to their speakers.

They stand there, all different sounds that somehow evoke the same idea. We might argue that the meaning is not the same across the board but for a simple meaning like "One", we might feel that it is as close to the same as it
can get.

To say that a given word is a key to a given meaning is out the window when we look across many languages. The meta-language, if there is one, is what's being sought. Or, are we beyond language at that first point? What is the language of understanding?

It seems that we can safely say it's not any language that we consciously know.

Copyright 2006 Louis Evan Palmer
Circularity - Arc Two, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Wednesday, May 24, 2006

The Complicated Definition of Honesty by Louis Evan Palmer

Why does a
single word
encompass
lying,
cheating and
stealing?

Honesty as a word for a virtue is doing a heavy-lifting job. It's more than just "not lying", that is, where honesty means telling the truth.

It's more than "not stealing", that is, taking without permission something that does not belong to you.

It's also has "not cheating" as part of its definition which can be construed as stealing & lying together - often where what's being stolen is of an immaterial nature.

How did honesty get encumbered with such a broad scope? Is there a lesson for us in its meaning?

On the face of it, it's difficult to see the commonality between stealing and lying.

When cheating is brought in, we see the lying or misrepresentation as a means of stealing, an enabler, although it does stand on its own as a misdeed.

But lying on its own versus stealing on own - what's the connection? Why are they joined in the meaning of Honesty?

Assuming that our ancestors had some insight into human nature when the various meanings for words were arrived at, we must then assume that there is a connection between these seemingly distinct failings. The one that comes to mind after some thought is that dishonesty is a violation of trust and that at a higher level honesty is a state of trust and a relationship of trust.

That state & relationship encompasses many things - verbal and written statements, material objects, money and financial instruments and out of those manifestations of a state & relationship come the specific facets of lying, cheating and stealing.

Our societies, where lying, cheating and stealing are now a job requirement, stand as monuments to broken trust. We have to learn to navigate through rivers of lies and misappropriations and it is there, in the never-ending recovery from another broken trust, that we suffer the most.

Trust must co-habit with Hope and Respect. All the mundane virtues raising themselves up again. They travel in packs.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 2006
The Complicated Definition of Honesty, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Monday, May 22, 2006

Descartes' Error by Louis Evan Palmer

Dr. McCoy - "Spock, you don't have any feelings!"
Mr. Spock - "Why thank you Doctor."

The book "Descartes' Error" starts with the observation that persons with certain neurological disorders do not feel emotion. They are "flat".

It goes on to point out that these emotion-and-feeling-impaired persons have poor reasoning capabilities as well. They draw inappropriate conclusions and act in what seems to be an illogical manner.

As the author "Antonio Damasio" states early in the book - "The powers of reason and the experience of emotion decline together.."

We still have our will, both free and otherwise, but the context in which that will is driven is derived by both intellect and feeling. There is a constant interaction, a blending and merging, with pulses of intention and action gushing forth from that personal universe.

But the key insight is that emotion and feeling are vital. Without them, we don't function properly and we don't want to do, or do, the right things or do them in the right way.

This applies equally to choosing friends or leaders. But focusing on leaders - when we choose new leaders or evaluate existing ones, we should apply this measure to them. Do they have the emotion and temperament to lead in the right way? We already do this type of thing in the smaller but closer context of choosing friends. It should be used in the broader realm as well.

We may find that the selection process for leaders which we've allowed to take root, prevents the more complete persons from being seriously considered or cuts them down to irrelevance if they do arise.

The selection process must change and it can, bit by bit, around us, around others, now and later, until our process and nations flip themselves right-side up again.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 2006
Descartes' Error, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

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Sunday, May 21, 2006

Where There's Smoke by Louis Evan Palmer

Large-Scale
Crimes Cannot
Go Undetected

If someone ever sat down and tried to figure out the best ways to smuggle goods or the best way to hide illegal activities or... What's that? Right. Somone..., many someones, already have.

Some of the conclusions: The best hiding places are in the open; the best way to hide illegal activities is to corrupt and/or co-opt key officials.

For example, if you're aware of a lot of drug-dealing in a given neighbourhood, draw a circle around it and find the police detachments in that area. There are corrupt officers there. That's a guarantee.

If you're aware of large-scale movement of undeclared goods or people across a soverign border, again, you know that corrupt agencies, officials & groups are involved. There's no way around it.

Don't be surprised or shocked that Intelligence Agencies are the leaders in many of these illicit endeavours. Intelligence agencies are particularly well-suited to criminal enterprise; they have resources, training, technology, and the sanction of the state, and, they have the perfect cover - "National Security". (it means what you want it to mean)

Look around at all and sundry of these types of criminal and related activities, and realize that they cannot survive without the connivance or paid apathy of those sworn to defend against them.

The first step in retrieving what's left of our countries is de-corrupting, perhaps disbanding or re-organizing, the agencies and staff charged with protecting the people.

A "War on False Secrecy" must be waged in that effort as this facade is their cover and under this cover, they are stealing away our freedoms and our way of life. They can and do use the vast amounts of money and power they steal and otherwise appropriate to subdue, corrupt, counter, contest and enslave as much as they can.

To show how far things have gone - in most cases, we don't even know who we're up against.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 2006
Where There's Smoke, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
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Saturday, May 20, 2006

Unlearning by Louis Evan Palmer

Easier to
Make
Something
New
Than To
Change It

Learning is a magical event comprised of a nesting set of related magical events. Perceiving, remembering, experiencing, understanding, communicating. Then calling it forth again and again with pleasure or pain or pressure or at leisure.

This experience and all that it entails forming grooves as it were, ruts & wrinkles, indentations large and small. And these are the myriad routes we follow as we meander or course through what we perceive are our lives and our worlds.

No wonder it's difficult to change things. How do you get above the landscape of your own mind and culture? How do you pull yourself up by your bootstraps?

There are arguments that a calm steady erosion of the old misconceptions can be effective - given time and patience and a toleration of the present circumstance. Others make statements like Godel that you must completely leave one "system" to be able to define & understand it. Godel did that via logic, via the mind, and it appears that it is the only way it can be accomplished.

Is unlearning merely new learning over old or is it a new mould with a new view? How does one know that unlearning is necessary?

One thing we know - unlearning is more difficult than learning, and given its usual context, it has a tremendous impact for the better if one can accept the changes it brings with it.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 2006
Unlearning, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
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Friday, May 19, 2006

The Lessons of Dieppe by Louis Evan Palmer

One Thing
Affects Another

and

What Should
Be Known
But Isn't

The Dieppe Raid took place on August 19, 1942. Of the 6000 some troops in the Raid, over 5000 were Canadians, most from the 2nd Canadian Infantry Divison.

Another Canadian unit, the Black Watch Regiment, suffered over 200 dead on the beach, the heaviest loss by any Canadian battalion in a single day in the whole war. The losses to the British Airforce on that day were equally grim - the 119 aircraft lost, again the most of any day in the war.

The gains of that Raid are always presented as lessons learned that benefited others in future battles. It is usually remembered, especially in Canada, as a grevious mistake that took over a thousand Canadian lives and made prisoners of over two thousand others. The poor planning and execution of the Raid led some to believe that it was deliberately sabotaged by the British to allay pressures from the Russians and the American public for a full-scale invasion for which they weren't ready.

Time and energy is spent in assigning blame and railing at the waste of it and the tragedy of it, and the stupidity and incompetence of it. And, there certainly was a depressing abundance of all of the above during that Raid and that war - and any other war, for that matter.

But a waste is one thing that Dieppe emphatically was not!

Before getting to that though - this seemingly hidden knowledge is, as is often the case, right out in the open. Residing in a classic in military history, written by one of the most famous of miltary thinkers - Liddell Hart. The book is titled "The other side of the Hill", which is part of a quote attributed to Wellington who observed that he spent much of his time trying to guess at the what the enemy command was thinking, planning, or about to be executing - "they", of course, being on "the other side of the hill".

In it, Liddell Hart interviews German Generals at Nuremberg after the war. They are frank and, for the most part, held to be honest. Mr. Hart would certainly have seen through any material mis-statements. And, it is here, in the Generals' answers to his questions that the true impact of Dieppe emerges.

Hitler was jumpy about a western invasion from 1941 onward. It took a long time coming, probably too long. When it did occur, Russia had already won the European War; the turning point in that victory was the Battle of Stalingrad which ended in February of 1943 with the surrender of Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus.

Despite propaganda stating otherwise, that terrifying seven month Battle could have gone either way. One reason it was won by the Russians, is that in August of 1942, at the very start of the Battle, two of the best German Divisions, the SS-Leibstandarte and the Gross-Deutschland, were transferred out of Stalingrad. Their destination was the French coast. And, they were to be transferred to the West because Hitler was unnerved by the Raid at Dieppe. Only the SS-Leibstandarte made it to France, the Gross-Deutchland was diverted, but the salient point is that they both were both absented from Stalingrad because of the Dieppe Raid.

Generals Kluge, Keitel & Zeitzler felt that the presence of those two Divisions at Stalingrad would have turned the tide in Germany's favour. If Germany has won the Battle of Stalingrad, things elsewhere could have quickly turned her way as well. The edge between one side and the other being ever so fine.

In this post, two lessons are posited from Dieppe - Lesson One: that despite being a tactical fiasco, it had a huge impact on the European War - the Raid's timing was critical; the ever expanding ripples of events and information are often difficult to see or understand even years later; Lesson Two: in this case, however, it was not hard to see - it was seen, it was communicated, and it was ignored and left lying unknown while the blowhards constantly blew about what a waste Dieppe was; firmly entrenched in the small view, the one or two ripples nearest to them.

So we end up with two different flavours of Ignorance which is the dish that the world serves the best and the most. And, it is the starting point.

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 2006
The Lessons of Dieppe, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
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