June 8, 2008 archive

Thought polarizes. Bohm Dialogue heals. Updated with free advice

[Updated with Free Advice section at end of essay.]

What are we going to do about those stubborn Republicans who just won’t see the facts?  They just won’t listen to reason.  Luckily there is another way to affect matters which requires less convincing and more listening and self-awareness.  The listening means learning where people are coming from.  The self-awareness means discovering that our own thought is part of the problem.  Thought is flawed in a fundamental way, and it cannot solve the problems it created.  That’s right, anyone with a firm belief that their thoughts are reliable and correct is contributing to the disharmony of our era.

The good news is, we can do better.  Herein I discuss the views of David Bohm on the nature of thought, outline the principles of a Bohm Dialog, and add some of my personal experience of the kinds of habitual thought/feeling impulses which give rise to alienation, prejudice, and even war.

Memories of a Mini-Series

There was an era in television prior to the expansion of cable and genre channels when many of us did not in fact even have cable. My mother to this day does not have it.

The era of the “mini-series”, and the special “network movie” some of them were bloated and silly but typically when a network ran one nobody wanted to compete and they became inevitable cultural bonding experiences.

One of my favorites was “V” an alien invasion movie. Alien invasion movies always go two ways: either they really are peaceful and humanity reacts in a bloodthirsty manner full of paranoia and suspicion and painfully holds up a mirror to itself or the aliens really do want to eat us, enslave us, or steal stuff.

So I decided I would once again watch “V” just for the heck of it. Spaceships come to earth with beings, there is initial apprehension followed by relief when the aliens look like humans and ask for help to assist their dying planet. All they want are some silly chemicals and they explain that their environmental situation is more dire than ours an interesting hat tip given that during the Reagan era people were claiming that trees caused pollution. Everybody kinda likes the aliens since they also promise to share their knowledge and they are quite polite.

What we need to know

I went to the convention center early this morning because I wanted to get a good seat to hear Bill Moyers give his keynote address at the National Conference on Media Reform. As I sat there, this is the song that was playing in the background.

They say ev’rything can be replaced,

Yet ev’ry distance is not near.

So I remember ev’ry face

Of ev’ry man who put me here.

I see my light come shining

From the west unto the east.

Any day now, any day now,

I shall be released.

Fitting way to open the day, isn’t it?

Pony Party: Lazy Afternoon Edition

I am having a deliberately unproductive day.

Tomorrow I hit the local “Viking Cooking School” for a one day course in French cuisine. I am going to bring the camera and try and get a few shots. I took a course a year or two ago and the kitchen was to die for. We used all commercial grade equipment and it does make a huge difference in time and efficiency. If I won the lottery it would be an awesome treat to do one of those expensive and totally unnecessary kitchen make overs.

I took a few goofy pictures this week. A pair of barn swallows nested in a corner at the front of the house.

This was the nest when it was about half completed. They like to use mud as their base material and stuff twigs, grass, dog hair and whatever in between. Barn swallows are not very keen about human paparazzi. But this week the babies started zipping out of the nest. They like to perch near it. I imagine their wings aren’t quite strong enough for long flights yet.

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Look at this one peering out of the top….

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Out of the nest….

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I think it would be fair to say they were “not that into me”…..

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