the time and date can be represented as:
01:02:03:04:05:06
A reasonable one off event.
Thursday, 4 May 2006
Sequential Time
On the 4th of May, 2006 at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 o'clock in the morning,
the time and date can be represented as:
01:02:03:04:05:06
A reasonable one off event.
the time and date can be represented as:
01:02:03:04:05:06
A reasonable one off event.
Monday, 20 March 2006
Work
Work.
Now there's a concept.
There is so much to say about this subject.
What you say is correct.
What I say is (also) correct.
And what many others have said is also correct.
This is an area of discourse which each side (of which there are many) could go on about, swapping "serves", almost forever (and there are plenty enough commentators).
Since there are some that, quite cogently, argue that work constitutes a great portion of our time and our self-image and mental well-being, then it would be right to consider the issues of work in depth, and from many angles, in order to understand and then apply one's knowledge, for a better life for oneself, if for no other (more glorified) reason.
I just got this little interesting piece of information about work sent to me:
"They make up for than half of the work force. They work longer hours than everyone else in the company. From their ranks come most of the top managers. They're the midcareer employees, the solid citizens between the ages of 35 and 55 whom companies bank on for their loyalty and commitment. And they're not happy. In fact, they're burned out, bored and bottlenecked, new research reveals. Only 33% of the 7,700 workers the authors surveyed feel energized by their work; 36% say they're in dead end jobs. One in three is not satisfied with his or her job. One in five is looking for another. Companies are ill prepared to manage this group because it is so pervasive, largely invisible, and culturally uncharted. That neglect is bad for business: Many companies risk losing some of their best people or - even worse - ending up with an army of disaffected people who stay."
from
"Managing Middlescence"
Robert Morison, Tamara Erickson, Ken Dychtwald.
Harvard Business Review Boston:Mar 2006. Vol. 84, Iss. 3, p. 78-86
The implication of this abstract is that work is important, and that it is not being treated with enough respect within organisations - particularly for a whole range of disaffected workers. Luckily for you, you currently just miss out on the age range they mention. Unluckily for me, I do not.
Your comments about your work strike me as much about doing something which one considers worthwhile, as it does about "work" in a slightly narrower definition (of turning up to an office to do something to earn some money). It is the concept of alienation from work (for the proletariat - a la Marx) - in both its positive and negative aspects.
There is the wider definition of work. It can have a definite spiritual dimension. Gurdjieff was a relatively recent mystic who emphasised that one "works" (in the classic sense of working and earning a living) and that this "work", if done in the correct manner (there were a whole range of other things which accompanied this), then that would lead to spiritual development (and ultimately enlightenment). The founding Protestants (especially the Methodists and Calvinists) were very strong on the concept of work. Dr Martin Luther King said: "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."
The wider definition can have work being anything which one works at and which therefore can easily be something which provides pleasure and enhancement and many other elements.
And if this is what work is for one, then so much the better, since there is a great alignment between what one is doing and what one wants to do and one finds fulfilment in. These are the lucky people in the world.
One of the things to consider though is that not everyone may be so lucky - either from the start or somewhere through the process. These people that are "alienated" from their work must still work in order to earn money, and sometimes must engage in the most soul destroying of work in order to survive. Obviously, there are extremes here, since, due to the sheer number of people involved in this "condition", the sliding scales are minutely graduated - one example for every possible variation on the "theme" could no doubt be found somewhere in the world, and most likely in any country (although some countries would have the scale skewed one way or another more than other countries - thus the well-to-do first world countries would have more people earning good money and living an easy life yet still suffering an existenstial alienation from their work (and life, indeed) - more so than those living in poor third-world countries, who may be alienated from their work (think, factory line workers in sweat shops) but still lead a life of deprivation and, maybe, despair (maybe not).).
A careful reading of literature etc relating to this alienation would shed some light on this condition, and what it might mean to the society that these people live in, and provide a small amount of insight into the motivations behind certain acts. The more extreme forms of alienation, both work wise, but more generally from the society as a whole (even the global social concept currently in vogue), can lead to extreme forms of reaction - anger, violence, even terrorism (so-called, although it is now, unfortunately, become a catch-phrase to describe a bevy of issues and circumstances and acts that are generally undifferentiated and undiscerning).
Actually experiencing an element of the same alienation can, at times, assist in understanding what people are going through, and what drives certain behaviours (as opposed to others, which, we as "rational" individuals with a certain world-view, would consider sub-optimal or detrimental).
There is an element of actually experiencing this alienation that I am talking about when I talk about work and what it means, to me, at the moment.
Mind you, sometimes, having had an experience of this sort of alienation does not necessarily assist in making one's behaviour or reactions when dealing with certain types of situation any better - sometimes, one simply repeats (falls back on) previous learned responses. More so the pity for oneself, for one's organisation and for society.
Aristotle said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Partially, this is what work is about. It is about doing things to be excellent, so that one is excellent all the time.
I surmise that there is an element of this in what you have said - that it gives you great pleasure to be the best that you can be, and the best that others expect you to be, through your work. The quote by Theodore I. Rubin probably sums up some of the attitude: "Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best."
Or to put it another way, in another quote:
"When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another." - Helen Keller
Aristotle also said "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work" and backed it up with "All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind".
I could not agree more with the latter comment. Back we go to the concept of alienation from work, due to the nature of it having to be paid work. If your work does not need to encompass any concept of needing to be paid for (in that you are either independently wealthy, or, psychologically, do not have a notion that you have to work in order to be paid, or do not need to be paid, whether for work or not), then, according to Aristotle, there can be no question of alienation from work - and working into ever increasing pleasure will result in rewarded perfection, or, alternately and as effectively, increased perfection in work will be rewarded with pleasure.
But, see, I was also talking about a range of other things, possibly well expressed by Krishnamurti when he said: "You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life."
I am very much interested in the fact that a complete or whole life has many constitutes, of which work is only one. How to integrate all these elements into a fulfilling whole - especially when faced with a range of barriers - past learned behaviour, economic considerations, social and familial commitments, and many other issues - is an interesting exercise, which is engaging more of the population today (given the "aging" population in the first world, with more people living loinger with more money, able or needing to contemplate these issues for longer in their life).
This is the wider definition of what work may be about, or indeed, completely redefining the question. It is, indeed, something which has been ongoing for millenia, and repeatedly revisited with each new generation, in their own manner, in their own time, at the right time for them.
Each age, in the journey in life, has its own answer to fulfil - and, then, creates the questions for the answers they are living.
As I go about contemplating the questions and adhering the answers, there are valid alternate opinions and ideas which must not be forgotten, must not be ignored. Hence the value of conversation and discussion with others, through which one can be open and querulous.
Thus, as a result of such investigation and discussion, one of the elements I am forgetting is this:
"The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back." - Marcus AAnnaeus Seneca
and
"Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance." - Samuel Johnson
and
"He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor." - Menander
and (my favourite - simply due to the awesome output from this man)
"I was made to work; if you are equally industrious, you will be equally successful." - Johann Sebastian Bach
I have lost the will to continually toil, to never doubt, never look back, never stop.
I am sure that it is a temporary event, and, indeed, it only relates to a few select situations. There are a range of things which don't interest me, don't have the "pull" to maintain the motivation and drive the engine of toil. There are plenty of situations where I put in quite a deal of effort. Doesn't seem to make much reward (over and above what is expected or known to happen). This simply compounds the sense of loss, and the lack of energy to continue to toil. Cycle and spiral conspire.
Now there's a concept.
There is so much to say about this subject.
What you say is correct.
What I say is (also) correct.
And what many others have said is also correct.
This is an area of discourse which each side (of which there are many) could go on about, swapping "serves", almost forever (and there are plenty enough commentators).
Since there are some that, quite cogently, argue that work constitutes a great portion of our time and our self-image and mental well-being, then it would be right to consider the issues of work in depth, and from many angles, in order to understand and then apply one's knowledge, for a better life for oneself, if for no other (more glorified) reason.
I just got this little interesting piece of information about work sent to me:
"They make up for than half of the work force. They work longer hours than everyone else in the company. From their ranks come most of the top managers. They're the midcareer employees, the solid citizens between the ages of 35 and 55 whom companies bank on for their loyalty and commitment. And they're not happy. In fact, they're burned out, bored and bottlenecked, new research reveals. Only 33% of the 7,700 workers the authors surveyed feel energized by their work; 36% say they're in dead end jobs. One in three is not satisfied with his or her job. One in five is looking for another. Companies are ill prepared to manage this group because it is so pervasive, largely invisible, and culturally uncharted. That neglect is bad for business: Many companies risk losing some of their best people or - even worse - ending up with an army of disaffected people who stay."
from
"Managing Middlescence"
Robert Morison, Tamara Erickson, Ken Dychtwald.
Harvard Business Review Boston:Mar 2006. Vol. 84, Iss. 3, p. 78-86
The implication of this abstract is that work is important, and that it is not being treated with enough respect within organisations - particularly for a whole range of disaffected workers. Luckily for you, you currently just miss out on the age range they mention. Unluckily for me, I do not.
Your comments about your work strike me as much about doing something which one considers worthwhile, as it does about "work" in a slightly narrower definition (of turning up to an office to do something to earn some money). It is the concept of alienation from work (for the proletariat - a la Marx) - in both its positive and negative aspects.
There is the wider definition of work. It can have a definite spiritual dimension. Gurdjieff was a relatively recent mystic who emphasised that one "works" (in the classic sense of working and earning a living) and that this "work", if done in the correct manner (there were a whole range of other things which accompanied this), then that would lead to spiritual development (and ultimately enlightenment). The founding Protestants (especially the Methodists and Calvinists) were very strong on the concept of work. Dr Martin Luther King said: "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."
The wider definition can have work being anything which one works at and which therefore can easily be something which provides pleasure and enhancement and many other elements.
And if this is what work is for one, then so much the better, since there is a great alignment between what one is doing and what one wants to do and one finds fulfilment in. These are the lucky people in the world.
One of the things to consider though is that not everyone may be so lucky - either from the start or somewhere through the process. These people that are "alienated" from their work must still work in order to earn money, and sometimes must engage in the most soul destroying of work in order to survive. Obviously, there are extremes here, since, due to the sheer number of people involved in this "condition", the sliding scales are minutely graduated - one example for every possible variation on the "theme" could no doubt be found somewhere in the world, and most likely in any country (although some countries would have the scale skewed one way or another more than other countries - thus the well-to-do first world countries would have more people earning good money and living an easy life yet still suffering an existenstial alienation from their work (and life, indeed) - more so than those living in poor third-world countries, who may be alienated from their work (think, factory line workers in sweat shops) but still lead a life of deprivation and, maybe, despair (maybe not).).
A careful reading of literature etc relating to this alienation would shed some light on this condition, and what it might mean to the society that these people live in, and provide a small amount of insight into the motivations behind certain acts. The more extreme forms of alienation, both work wise, but more generally from the society as a whole (even the global social concept currently in vogue), can lead to extreme forms of reaction - anger, violence, even terrorism (so-called, although it is now, unfortunately, become a catch-phrase to describe a bevy of issues and circumstances and acts that are generally undifferentiated and undiscerning).
Actually experiencing an element of the same alienation can, at times, assist in understanding what people are going through, and what drives certain behaviours (as opposed to others, which, we as "rational" individuals with a certain world-view, would consider sub-optimal or detrimental).
There is an element of actually experiencing this alienation that I am talking about when I talk about work and what it means, to me, at the moment.
Mind you, sometimes, having had an experience of this sort of alienation does not necessarily assist in making one's behaviour or reactions when dealing with certain types of situation any better - sometimes, one simply repeats (falls back on) previous learned responses. More so the pity for oneself, for one's organisation and for society.
Aristotle said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Partially, this is what work is about. It is about doing things to be excellent, so that one is excellent all the time.
I surmise that there is an element of this in what you have said - that it gives you great pleasure to be the best that you can be, and the best that others expect you to be, through your work. The quote by Theodore I. Rubin probably sums up some of the attitude: "Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best."
Or to put it another way, in another quote:
"When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another." - Helen Keller
Aristotle also said "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work" and backed it up with "All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind".
I could not agree more with the latter comment. Back we go to the concept of alienation from work, due to the nature of it having to be paid work. If your work does not need to encompass any concept of needing to be paid for (in that you are either independently wealthy, or, psychologically, do not have a notion that you have to work in order to be paid, or do not need to be paid, whether for work or not), then, according to Aristotle, there can be no question of alienation from work - and working into ever increasing pleasure will result in rewarded perfection, or, alternately and as effectively, increased perfection in work will be rewarded with pleasure.
But, see, I was also talking about a range of other things, possibly well expressed by Krishnamurti when he said: "You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life."
I am very much interested in the fact that a complete or whole life has many constitutes, of which work is only one. How to integrate all these elements into a fulfilling whole - especially when faced with a range of barriers - past learned behaviour, economic considerations, social and familial commitments, and many other issues - is an interesting exercise, which is engaging more of the population today (given the "aging" population in the first world, with more people living loinger with more money, able or needing to contemplate these issues for longer in their life).
This is the wider definition of what work may be about, or indeed, completely redefining the question. It is, indeed, something which has been ongoing for millenia, and repeatedly revisited with each new generation, in their own manner, in their own time, at the right time for them.
Each age, in the journey in life, has its own answer to fulfil - and, then, creates the questions for the answers they are living.
As I go about contemplating the questions and adhering the answers, there are valid alternate opinions and ideas which must not be forgotten, must not be ignored. Hence the value of conversation and discussion with others, through which one can be open and querulous.
Thus, as a result of such investigation and discussion, one of the elements I am forgetting is this:
"The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back." - Marcus AAnnaeus Seneca
and
"Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance." - Samuel Johnson
and
"He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor." - Menander
and (my favourite - simply due to the awesome output from this man)
"I was made to work; if you are equally industrious, you will be equally successful." - Johann Sebastian Bach
I have lost the will to continually toil, to never doubt, never look back, never stop.
I am sure that it is a temporary event, and, indeed, it only relates to a few select situations. There are a range of things which don't interest me, don't have the "pull" to maintain the motivation and drive the engine of toil. There are plenty of situations where I put in quite a deal of effort. Doesn't seem to make much reward (over and above what is expected or known to happen). This simply compounds the sense of loss, and the lack of energy to continue to toil. Cycle and spiral conspire.
futures ineffectualness
Work has a place (especially in the Ethical life - as per Kierkegaard - or his antagonist in the book) and executing work in the appropriate manner with the appropriate attitude/mind is an important part of living a proper life.
Yet work, as we all know, is not all in life.
And business has even less a claim on life than work has - it is a pale cousin to proper work - yet assumes too great an importance and leads one astray (as a painted harlot of siren call for riches and fame).
And so I have been consolidating on the mental/psychological/spiritual improvement in re work and relationships that I started in the previous job I just had and have continued, albeit in a slightly different manner, in this job.
There is an element of adjusting to work and doing particular work (whatever it may be) for a while, until other conditions relating to my life are modified, and then looking at more radical choices associated with work and activity. There are lots of plans that I have - too many plans to actually be executed in the one lifetime that I have available to me (assuming that I will even live for a long time).
And it is certainly the case that whilst I may plan for, think about, fantazise over many different potential futures and types of work (or activities) that I could do in the future, it is virtually certain that what actually transpires in the future will be different from what I have thought and dreamt about. I am sure that, maybe, some of it will be somewhat similar, but it is just as likely that it will be completely different.
Which is an interesting concept to contemplate and address (psychologically). On the one hand, it provides a wonderful weird sort of hope for the future - hope that whatever things are like now, the future will provide something new and different, sufficiently new and different enough, to not be the same as before (in one's mind - of course, from an "identity" perspective, nothing EVER is the same as before, nor ever could be, due to the transpiration of time) that one will be invigorated and assaulted with the necessity to address life - and, therefore, as such, to live life - to engage and thereby make something worthwhile of the life lived, simply by the act of living that life in a conscious and wilful
manner. This is a good thing!
On the other hand, it is a little disconcerting to know that whatever you may think and hope for is essentially hopeless, it will never happen - and, therefore, why hope? Why bother to think, or plan, or contemplate the future?
Faced with one's ineffectualness, why bother at all - just let it all slide by, since whatever will happen is not known to us, and will happen anyway.
And it is further disconcerting to realise that one realises this and yet one still plans and dreams and hopes and thinks, way into the future, constantly turning and refining and stucturing and organising whatever it is that should be happening (and yet may never happen).
And then to realise that all of these positions, contradictory as they are, are all valid, all at the one time, and that one must hold them all in one's mind, all at once, and then still move forward, through an effort of WILL, which does, indeed, create whatever one will be moving into for the future.
Enough!
Yet work, as we all know, is not all in life.
And business has even less a claim on life than work has - it is a pale cousin to proper work - yet assumes too great an importance and leads one astray (as a painted harlot of siren call for riches and fame).
And so I have been consolidating on the mental/psychological/spiritual improvement in re work and relationships that I started in the previous job I just had and have continued, albeit in a slightly different manner, in this job.
There is an element of adjusting to work and doing particular work (whatever it may be) for a while, until other conditions relating to my life are modified, and then looking at more radical choices associated with work and activity. There are lots of plans that I have - too many plans to actually be executed in the one lifetime that I have available to me (assuming that I will even live for a long time).
And it is certainly the case that whilst I may plan for, think about, fantazise over many different potential futures and types of work (or activities) that I could do in the future, it is virtually certain that what actually transpires in the future will be different from what I have thought and dreamt about. I am sure that, maybe, some of it will be somewhat similar, but it is just as likely that it will be completely different.
Which is an interesting concept to contemplate and address (psychologically). On the one hand, it provides a wonderful weird sort of hope for the future - hope that whatever things are like now, the future will provide something new and different, sufficiently new and different enough, to not be the same as before (in one's mind - of course, from an "identity" perspective, nothing EVER is the same as before, nor ever could be, due to the transpiration of time) that one will be invigorated and assaulted with the necessity to address life - and, therefore, as such, to live life - to engage and thereby make something worthwhile of the life lived, simply by the act of living that life in a conscious and wilful
manner. This is a good thing!
On the other hand, it is a little disconcerting to know that whatever you may think and hope for is essentially hopeless, it will never happen - and, therefore, why hope? Why bother to think, or plan, or contemplate the future?
Faced with one's ineffectualness, why bother at all - just let it all slide by, since whatever will happen is not known to us, and will happen anyway.
And it is further disconcerting to realise that one realises this and yet one still plans and dreams and hopes and thinks, way into the future, constantly turning and refining and stucturing and organising whatever it is that should be happening (and yet may never happen).
And then to realise that all of these positions, contradictory as they are, are all valid, all at the one time, and that one must hold them all in one's mind, all at once, and then still move forward, through an effort of WILL, which does, indeed, create whatever one will be moving into for the future.
Enough!
Thursday, 23 February 2006
In my house there is a cave
In my house there is a cave
And in the cave is nothing at all
Pure and wonderfully empty
Resplendent, with a light like the sun.
- Han shan
And in the cave is nothing at all
Pure and wonderfully empty
Resplendent, with a light like the sun.
- Han shan
Tuesday, 21 February 2006
Behind a blood-stained curtain
Behind a blood-stained curtain, love has spread its gardens.
Lovers are busy with the beauty of the love that is beyond explanation.
Intellect says: 'The six directions are the limit, there is nothing beyond them.'
Love says:'There is a road, and I have journeyed on it many times.'
Love detected markets beyond that market.
Intellect says:'Do not set foot on the land of annihilation;
There is nothing there but thorns.'
Love says;'Those thorns you feel are only inside you!
Be silent! remove the thorn of existence from the foot of the heart;
So that you may see the gardens within.'
O Shams of Tabriz! you are the Sun cloaked by the cloud of speech;
When your Sun rose, all the words melted!
(Divan 132:1-3, 6-8)
Lovers are busy with the beauty of the love that is beyond explanation.
Intellect says: 'The six directions are the limit, there is nothing beyond them.'
Love says:'There is a road, and I have journeyed on it many times.'
Love detected markets beyond that market.
Intellect says:'Do not set foot on the land of annihilation;
There is nothing there but thorns.'
Love says;'Those thorns you feel are only inside you!
Be silent! remove the thorn of existence from the foot of the heart;
So that you may see the gardens within.'
O Shams of Tabriz! you are the Sun cloaked by the cloud of speech;
When your Sun rose, all the words melted!
(Divan 132:1-3, 6-8)
Monday, 20 February 2006
Plato's Republic Book VII
BOOK VII.
And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened
or unenlightened:--Behold! human beings living in a underground den, which
has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here
they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained
so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by
the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is
blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a
raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way,
like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which
they show the puppets.
I see.
And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of
vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and
various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking,
others silent.
You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the
shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the
cave?
True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were
never allowed to move their heads?
And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only
see the shadows?
Yes, he said.
And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose
that they were naming what was actually before them?
Very true.
And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other
side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that
the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?
No question, he replied.
To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of
the images.
That is certain.
And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are
released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is
liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and
walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will
distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his
former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to
him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is
approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real
existence, he has a clearer vision,--what will be his reply? And you may
further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass
and requiring him to name them,--will he not be perplexed? Will he not
fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects
which are now shown to him?
Far truer.
And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a
pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the
objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in
reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
True, he said.
And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged
ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun
himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches
the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything
at all of what are now called realities.
Not all in a moment, he said.
He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And
first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other
objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze
upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he
will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of
the sun by day?
Certainly.
Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him
in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in
another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
Certainly.
He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the
years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a
certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been
accustomed to behold?
Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him.
And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and
his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself
on the change, and pity them?
Certainly, he would.
And if they were in the habit of conferring honours among themselves on
those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which
of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and
who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you
think that he would care for such honours and glories, or envy the
possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer,
'Better to be the poor servant of a poor master,'
and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their
manner?
Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain
these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun to be
replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes
full of darkness?
To be sure, he said.
And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows
with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, while his sight was
still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would
be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable),
would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down
he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of
ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the
light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
No question, he said.
This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, to the
previous argument; the prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the
fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the
journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world
according to my poor belief, which, at your desire, I have expressed--
whether rightly or wrongly God knows. But, whether true or false, my
opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of
all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to
be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light
and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of
reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which
he who would act rationally either in public or private life must have his
eye fixed.
I agree, he said, as far as I am able to understand you.
Moreover, I said, you must not wonder that those who attain to this
beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls
are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to dwell; which
desire of theirs is very natural, if our allegory may be trusted.
Yes, very natural.
And is there anything surprising in one who passes from divine
contemplations to the evil state of man, misbehaving himself in a
ridiculous manner; if, while his eyes are blinking and before he has become
accustomed to the surrounding darkness, he is compelled to fight in courts
of law, or in other places, about the images or the shadows of images of
justice, and is endeavouring to meet the conceptions of those who have
never yet seen absolute justice?
Anything but surprising, he replied.
Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the
eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of
the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye,
quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees
any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh;
he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter
life, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having
turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And he will
count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity
the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from
below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh
which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the den.
That, he said, is a very just distinction.
But then, if I am right, certain professors of education must be wrong when
they say that they can put a knowledge into the soul which was not there
before, like sight into blind eyes.
They undoubtedly say this, he replied.
Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists
in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from
darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of
knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the
world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the
sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words,
of the good.
Very true.
And must there not be some art which will effect conversion in the easiest
and quickest manner; not implanting the faculty of sight, for that exists
already, but has been turned in the wrong direction, and is looking away
from the truth?
Yes, he said, such an art may be presumed.
And whereas the other so-called virtues of the soul seem to be akin to
bodily qualities, for even when they are not originally innate they can be
implanted later by habit and exercise, the virtue of wisdom more than
anything else contains a divine element which always remains, and by this
conversion is rendered useful and profitable; or, on the other hand,
hurtful and useless. Did you never observe the narrow intelligence
flashing from the keen eye of a clever rogue--how eager he is, how clearly
his paltry soul sees the way to his end; he is the reverse of blind, but
his keen eye-sight is forced into the service of evil, and he is
mischievous in proportion to his cleverness?
Very true, he said.
But what if there had been a circumcision of such natures in the days of
their youth; and they had been severed from those sensual pleasures, such
as eating and drinking, which, like leaden weights, were attached to them
at their birth, and which drag them down and turn the vision of their souls
upon the things that are below--if, I say, they had been released from
these impediments and turned in the opposite direction, the very same
faculty in them would have seen the truth as keenly as they see what their
eyes are turned to now.
Very likely.
And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened
or unenlightened:--Behold! human beings living in a underground den, which
has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here
they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained
so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by
the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is
blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a
raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way,
like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which
they show the puppets.
I see.
And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of
vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and
various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking,
others silent.
You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the
shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the
cave?
True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were
never allowed to move their heads?
And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only
see the shadows?
Yes, he said.
And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose
that they were naming what was actually before them?
Very true.
And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other
side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that
the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?
No question, he replied.
To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of
the images.
That is certain.
And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are
released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is
liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and
walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will
distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his
former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to
him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is
approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real
existence, he has a clearer vision,--what will be his reply? And you may
further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass
and requiring him to name them,--will he not be perplexed? Will he not
fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects
which are now shown to him?
Far truer.
And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a
pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the
objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in
reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
True, he said.
And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged
ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun
himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches
the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything
at all of what are now called realities.
Not all in a moment, he said.
He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And
first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other
objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze
upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he
will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of
the sun by day?
Certainly.
Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him
in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in
another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
Certainly.
He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the
years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a
certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been
accustomed to behold?
Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him.
And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and
his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself
on the change, and pity them?
Certainly, he would.
And if they were in the habit of conferring honours among themselves on
those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which
of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and
who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you
think that he would care for such honours and glories, or envy the
possessors of them? Would he not say with Homer,
'Better to be the poor servant of a poor master,'
and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their
manner?
Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain
these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun to be
replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes
full of darkness?
To be sure, he said.
And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows
with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, while his sight was
still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would
be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable),
would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down
he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of
ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the
light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
No question, he said.
This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, to the
previous argument; the prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the
fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the
journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world
according to my poor belief, which, at your desire, I have expressed--
whether rightly or wrongly God knows. But, whether true or false, my
opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of
all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to
be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light
and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of
reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which
he who would act rationally either in public or private life must have his
eye fixed.
I agree, he said, as far as I am able to understand you.
Moreover, I said, you must not wonder that those who attain to this
beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls
are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to dwell; which
desire of theirs is very natural, if our allegory may be trusted.
Yes, very natural.
And is there anything surprising in one who passes from divine
contemplations to the evil state of man, misbehaving himself in a
ridiculous manner; if, while his eyes are blinking and before he has become
accustomed to the surrounding darkness, he is compelled to fight in courts
of law, or in other places, about the images or the shadows of images of
justice, and is endeavouring to meet the conceptions of those who have
never yet seen absolute justice?
Anything but surprising, he replied.
Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the
eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of
the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye,
quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees
any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh;
he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter
life, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having
turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And he will
count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity
the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from
below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh
which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the den.
That, he said, is a very just distinction.
But then, if I am right, certain professors of education must be wrong when
they say that they can put a knowledge into the soul which was not there
before, like sight into blind eyes.
They undoubtedly say this, he replied.
Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists
in the soul already; and that just as the eye was unable to turn from
darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of
knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the
world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the
sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words,
of the good.
Very true.
And must there not be some art which will effect conversion in the easiest
and quickest manner; not implanting the faculty of sight, for that exists
already, but has been turned in the wrong direction, and is looking away
from the truth?
Yes, he said, such an art may be presumed.
And whereas the other so-called virtues of the soul seem to be akin to
bodily qualities, for even when they are not originally innate they can be
implanted later by habit and exercise, the virtue of wisdom more than
anything else contains a divine element which always remains, and by this
conversion is rendered useful and profitable; or, on the other hand,
hurtful and useless. Did you never observe the narrow intelligence
flashing from the keen eye of a clever rogue--how eager he is, how clearly
his paltry soul sees the way to his end; he is the reverse of blind, but
his keen eye-sight is forced into the service of evil, and he is
mischievous in proportion to his cleverness?
Very true, he said.
But what if there had been a circumcision of such natures in the days of
their youth; and they had been severed from those sensual pleasures, such
as eating and drinking, which, like leaden weights, were attached to them
at their birth, and which drag them down and turn the vision of their souls
upon the things that are below--if, I say, they had been released from
these impediments and turned in the opposite direction, the very same
faculty in them would have seen the truth as keenly as they see what their
eyes are turned to now.
Very likely.
Sunday, 29 January 2006
Sundays
Some days Sundays just wear me out. Not because they are necessarily busy or hectic. Nor because there are difficult things to do.
Simply because there is so much expectation associated with being able to do so much on the Sunday, and work is looming the next day, and yet, hardly anything gets done - regardless of how much actually does get done (which, on some days, is quite a lot), it is always that the expectation is never quite lived up to, and Sunday evening comes around and I feel sort of deflated and annoyed that yet another week has gone by without the masterful breakthrough in life.
Simply because there is so much expectation associated with being able to do so much on the Sunday, and work is looming the next day, and yet, hardly anything gets done - regardless of how much actually does get done (which, on some days, is quite a lot), it is always that the expectation is never quite lived up to, and Sunday evening comes around and I feel sort of deflated and annoyed that yet another week has gone by without the masterful breakthrough in life.
Monday, 23 January 2006
a thousand meters of melancholy
I shall go to the store of the tailor of lovers, tomorrow;
Wearing my long robe made from a thousand meters of melancholy.
He can cut you off from Yazid and sew you onto Zayd;
he can pair you with this one and separate you from the other.
He can attach you to one to whom you give your heart for life;
What a fabric, what a stitch, what a miracle-making hand.
(Divan 216:1-3) -- Rumi
Wearing my long robe made from a thousand meters of melancholy.
He can cut you off from Yazid and sew you onto Zayd;
he can pair you with this one and separate you from the other.
He can attach you to one to whom you give your heart for life;
What a fabric, what a stitch, what a miracle-making hand.
(Divan 216:1-3) -- Rumi
Friday, 30 December 2005
Non formosus erat, sed erat facundus Ulixes
Non formosus erat, sed erat facundus Ulixes,
et tamen aequoreas torsit amore Deas.
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 299
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
------------------------------------------------
'Ulysses was not handsome, but he was eloquent, and he caused the sea goddesses [Circe and Calypso] to be tormented with love.'
Cf. Ovid, Ars amandii, II, 123.
et tamen aequoreas torsit amore Deas.
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 299
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
------------------------------------------------
'Ulysses was not handsome, but he was eloquent, and he caused the sea goddesses [Circe and Calypso] to be tormented with love.'
Cf. Ovid, Ars amandii, II, 123.
She must owe me nothing
She must owe me nothing, for she must be free; love exists only in freedom, only in freedom are there recreation and everlasting amusement.
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 299
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 299
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Die eine is verliebt gar sehr
Die eine is verliebt gar sehr;
Die andre ware er gerne.
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 295
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
-------------------------------------------------
The one is madly in love;
The other would like to be.
From Joseph von Eichendorff's poem, 'Vor der Stadt'
Die andre ware er gerne.
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 295
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
-------------------------------------------------
The one is madly in love;
The other would like to be.
From Joseph von Eichendorff's poem, 'Vor der Stadt'
What rejuvenating power a young girl has
What rejuvenating power a young girl has! Not the freshness of the morning air, not the soughing of the wind, not the coolness of the ocean, not the fragrance of wine and its delicious bouquet - nothing else in the world has this rejuvenating power.
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 291
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 291
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Saturday, 17 December 2005
dear Symparanekromenoi
" ... we who are not consonants sounding together in the noise of life, but soltary birds in the stillness of night, gathered together only now and then, to be edified by representations of life's misery, the length of the day, and the endless duration of time; we, dear Symparanekromenoi, who have no faith in the game of happiness or the fortune of fools, we who believe in nohing but misfortune."
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 212
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 212
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Friday, 16 December 2005
the inquisitive rabble which as a rule is as dimwitted as it is inquisitive
"So everything is in order and she can reckon fairly safely on going through life without awakening any suspicion on the minds of the inquisitive rabble which as a rule is as dimwitted as it is inquisitive."
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 196
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 196
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Thursday, 15 December 2005
Life flies by
Life flies by
and we must stand still
to ingest time and matter and energy
for we are chaos
Thursday 15 December 2005 10:37am
and we must stand still
to ingest time and matter and energy
for we are chaos
Thursday 15 December 2005 10:37am
Wednesday, 14 December 2005
nothing left but eyes blinded with tears
"In due course the writing became weaker and less distinct; finally the paper itself crumbled away and he had nothing left but eyes blinded with tears."
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 187
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 187
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Tuesday, 13 December 2005
Secret Beckoning
"It is not the merry smile of happy maidens that moves us, but the secret beckoning of sorrow."
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 173
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 173
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Monday, 12 December 2005
the rushing wind
"It is true men say the divine voice is not in the rushing wind but in the gentle breeze, but our ears are not made to pick up gentle breezes, only to gulp in the din of the elements. And why does it not break forth in still greater violence, making an end of life and the world and this brief speech, which at least has the supreme advantage that it is soon ended! Yes, let that vortex which is the innermost principle of the world, even though people are not aware of it but busily eat and drink and marry and propogate without a heed, let it break forth with the last terrible shriek, which more surely than the last trump proclaims the overthrow of everything, let it more and whirl away this naked cliff on which we stand, as easily as fluff before the breath of our nostrils."
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 168
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 168
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Sunday, 11 December 2005
I am no friend of metaphors
"I am no friend of metaphors;
modern literature has given me a great aversion to them;
it has come almost to the point where, everytime I come upon a metaphor, I am seized by an involuntary fear that its true purposes is to conceal an obscurity in the thought."
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 130
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Sunday 11 December 2005 6:37am
(Waiting to fly to Singapore)
modern literature has given me a great aversion to them;
it has come almost to the point where, everytime I come upon a metaphor, I am seized by an involuntary fear that its true purposes is to conceal an obscurity in the thought."
Soren Kierkegaard
"Either/Or - A Fragment of Life"
p. 130
Penguin Classics, London, 1992, 2004
Sunday 11 December 2005 6:37am
(Waiting to fly to Singapore)
Thursday, 8 December 2005
Avoiding Work
Then there are the people who not only never deliver anything but also actively avoid work (or actively avoid actually achieving anything, or committing to anything) by any means possible. The emply many strategems. Some of the more common include the following.
Spend as much time as possible talking to people and having meetings, in the name of people needing to communicate - without there being an actual reason for the communication or the need to talk or meet;
Find someone else or some other area which can be "blamed" or allocated o do the work which should be in one's area. This works particularly well if the areas al have to work together in some manner, and if there is some common or "higher" goal they all should work towards (and the more nebulous the goal the better);
Allocate work to other people but do nothing in relation to assisting or ensuring that it is done, or checking an understanding of what needs to be done, and then ensure that have many excuses for not having done the work - making sure the excuses are not to do with you.
Thursday 8 December 2005 5:23pm
Spend as much time as possible talking to people and having meetings, in the name of people needing to communicate - without there being an actual reason for the communication or the need to talk or meet;
Find someone else or some other area which can be "blamed" or allocated o do the work which should be in one's area. This works particularly well if the areas al have to work together in some manner, and if there is some common or "higher" goal they all should work towards (and the more nebulous the goal the better);
Allocate work to other people but do nothing in relation to assisting or ensuring that it is done, or checking an understanding of what needs to be done, and then ensure that have many excuses for not having done the work - making sure the excuses are not to do with you.
Thursday 8 December 2005 5:23pm
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