Wave 4 | Corewebworks

[Cory Duchesne]

With the latest fracas involving Alex, I thought now would be a good time to share what I've been working on lately. It's nothing too great, just a meeting ground between some distinct philosophical trends, some of them very recent and relatively popular (Alain De Botton), others more obscure (a sample of the writings of David Quinn, whose writing is hyperlinked to his book), further back are some water-like selections from JM Barrie, and even further back in time I draw from Kierkegaard. At the bottom of the ocean are old gems from the fragments of Heraclitus.

Likely more than a few icons are featured that I haven't mentioned, including Lau Tzu and some open minded western physicists.

I enjoy mixing wisdom (sun) with entry level mysticism (water), and perhaps someone might find it to be good medicine.

Wave 4 | Core Webworks

I should add, some of you might find it interesting to read an interview I did with John Horgan, a relatively interesting man who has wrote a few books that I enjoyed quite a bit when I was younger.

John Horgan on Free Will

[David Quinn]

Horgan is obviously equating determinism with fate (or pre-determinism). While he is perfectly correct to reject fate, it looks like he is going the whole hog and rejecting cause and effect as well, which is silly. Instead of going into it more deeply and exploring what cause and effect really means and the infinite freedom it points to, he is backing away from the whole thing in horror.

We are probably going get more of this kind of backlash over the next few years, as science demonstrates with increasing clarity the illusory nature of free will.

[Cory Duchesne]

Yes, I thought the cultural change in the Yanomano (due to the activity of Christian missionaries) was a very good example of causality operating. It's a phenomena that has a striking contrast to the clinical timidity we see in a guy like Steven Pinker (who I used to consider quite edgy).

To overcome fate, in my view, it fundamentally requires "vital energy". You might call this energy the will to power (as opposed to Schopenhauers "will to Life", which is concerned with romance, status and reproduction). If this vital energy (the will to power) acquires the correct concepts and intelligence, it can operate on culture to transform it. The concepts and intelligent usage of them simply has to emerge through causality. The horror, in my view, is the stark reality that there are only a few rare individuals who have this vital energy, while many others are limited only to the will to life. Basically, the homogenizing and feminizing of society functions largely to erase the distinction between those who have vital energy and those who don't.

I have a question for you, Dave. Do you think we should expect people in positions of societal power to delve into these areas too boldly? I think it could easily cost them their career and family, and on some level they must know this. To lose such attachments by accident would be certain death.

[Diebert van Rhijn]

If this vital energy (the will to power) acquires the correct concepts and intelligence, it can operate on culture to transform it. The concepts and intelligent usage of them simply has to emerge through causality.

Some interesting thoughts there, Cory. But I do think the "vital energy" won't be able to acquire correct concepts, "truth", without heading towards losing that vitality. It's an area I'd like to explore a bit further in a longer post in the near future as it's somewhat new territory. It's not being talked about much.

Nietzsche says something that comes close to my ideas: "the spirit (Geist) is the life that itself cuts into life". And it's not an isolated text. He often implies truth, consciousness cuts and wounds. That it works disabling and eventually starts countering vital signs. While this is more an intuitive statement of him, or perhaps an observation, maybe even autobiographical, I think there is here something more worth exploring. What is happening here, simply said, is that the origin of a power is originating from its particular "secret". It can only work because of it not being known. Especially in terms of the psychological, especially in terms of the sociological. The term "secret" is unbelievable inadequate here but for this post it has to do.

[Cory Duchesne]

If this vital energy (the will to power) acquires the correct concepts and intelligence, it can operate on culture to transform it. The concepts and intelligent usage of them simply has to emerge through causality.

Some interesting thoughts there, Cory. But I do think the "vital energy" won't be able to acquire correct concepts, "truth", without heading towards losing that vitality. It's an area I'd like to explore a bit further in a longer post in the near future as it's somewhat new territory. It's not being talked about much.

Despite one possesses the vital energy, that does not mean there will not be a great deal of opposition and strain to one's will. In my estimation, it is wise to use opposition and strain as sources of power, to watch and wait carefully until someone makes the first attack and then use that against them to advance personal aims. The highest levels of power present an appearance of passivity.

Who can wait quietly while the mud
settles?
Who can remain still until the moment
of action?
Observers of the Tao do not seek
fulfillment.

I would prefer never to exploit a man who has no intention of competing or subjugating me. It is a waste of energy in my view to ever be predatory, and it is also not pleasing to my conscience or artistic preferences. A world where people are not used as a means to an end is possible.

Nietzsche says something that comes close to my ideas: "the spirit (Geist) is the life that itself cuts into life". And it's not an isolated text. He often implies truth, consciousness cuts and wounds. That it works disabling and eventually starts countering vital signs. While this is more an intuitive statement of him, or perhaps an observation, maybe even autobiographical, I think there is here something more worth exploring. What is happening here, simply said, is that the origin of a power is originating from its particular "secret". It can only work because of it not being known. Especially in terms of the psychological, especially in terms of the sociological. The term "secret" is unbelievable inadequate here but for this post it has to do.

The less a man is inclined to compare himself to other men (to find a foothold for his own ego), the more he is in possession of a secret. Many years of solitary living reveal many subtle and valuable insights that no other man could ever know. To speak of one's personal Tao would cause more lies than Truth. As Nietzsche said, talking much about oneself is a likely route into truth-concealment.

There is a type of man who has a great inner emptiness, and from that, he looks to the external for cues. He doesn't know how to act so he follows other men around, asking them personal questions, being inquisitive. It is not long before he is envious and hence, destructive to spirit. The envious man is predatory, and will spend his life chasing his rival for a piece of the secret.

One might ask... why waste all that energy chasing another man? The answer: applause. He wants applause and the man he's envious of, at bottom, is at least useful for satirizing, robbing, mocking and slandering, as such activities can be sources of power.

I can't help but think of Thomas Edison, who once gathered up some popular breeds of animals and killed them through electrocution with the intention of selling a story that it was Nikola Tesla who was responsible. History is full of quality stories depicting this Cain and Abel type rivalry.

The man lacking the secret is the man least willing to make personal sacrifices. He kicks dirt in his rivals face and runs into the sunset with a woman in his arms.

The bright path seems dim;
Going forward seems like retreat;
The easy way seems hard;
The highest Virtue seems empty;
Great purity seems sullied;
A wealth of Virtue seems inadequate;
The strength of Virtue seems frail;
Real Virtue seems unreal;
The perfect square has no corners;
Great talents ripen late;
The highest notes are hard to hear;
The greatest form has no shape;
The Tao is hidden and without name.
The Tao alone nourishes and brings
everything to fulfillment. 40, Tao Te Ching

[David Quinn]

I have a question for you, Dave. Do you think we should expect people in positions of societal power to delve into these areas too boldly? I think it could easily cost them their career and family, and on some level they must know this. To lose such attachments by accident would be certain death.

Yes, that's a good point. Given that there is hardly been an example in all of history of a person of societal power publically renouncing his worldly attachments and declaring a love for the truthful life, I certainly have no expectations of anyone doing this in the immediate future! But it is still worthwhile pushing these people to at least face the issue, whenever the opportunity arises.

[Cory Duchesne]

I have a question for you, Dave. Do you think we should expect people in positions of societal power to delve into these areas too boldly? I think it could easily cost them their career and family, and on some level they must know this. To lose such attachments by accident would be certain death.

Yes, that's a good point. Given that there is hardly been an example in all of history of a person of societal power publically renouncing his worldly attachments and declaring a love for the truthful life, I certainly have no expectations of anyone doing this in the immediate future! But it is still worthwhile pushing these people to at least face the issue, whenever the opportunity arises.

He seemed to be warm about the idea of coming back next year. I was not in the position to push him at the time, but I plan to do some pushing in some years ahead.

The most generous interpretation of John's view of free will is that that we have free will insofar as we have a free arm. For instance, there was no specific cost I had to pay to have an arm, it was included in my birth.

Likewise, we are all born with some will, and it is very much a specific organ, but it's more difficult to understand. The will involves the brain in unison with the endocrine system and one's conceptual self, so "the will" is manifold, some aspects of it are perceivable, some imperceivable. And like anything, it's rooted in the unknown (boundless).

In the same way one can lose an arm (or the ability to use it) by cutting the circulation off, society, family and friends can suffocate the individual will, replacing it with a blind, homogeneous impulse towards mundane gratifications and survival.

The most difficult thing for secular people to realize is that the will must be defined and exercised consciously, but this only occurs through a synthesis of both empirical and analytic reasoning.

With increasing reliance on pipe dreams (transhumanism), bureaucracy and medications, the will is getting buried deeper and deeper. With that, the cost of retrieving it higher and higher.

Something that we were born with, that we were given for free, is now something to retrieve at a cost.

[Cory Duchesne]

But I do think the "vital energy" won't be able to acquire correct concepts, "truth", without heading towards losing that vitality.

What are you talking about, Kierkegaard is more Vital than ever!

Vital Energy

-

Draw some Vital Energy from the Octagon

[Diebert van Rhijn]

Then again Kierkegaard wrote in Stages on Life's Way

• Depression is my nature .... My cunning is that I am able to hide my depression; my deception is just as cunning as my depression (….) The safest deception is good common sense, dispassionate reflection, and above all a candid face and an openhearted nature. Behind this deceptive self-confidence and security in life there is a sleepless and thousand-tongued reflection that, if the first pose becomes unsure, throws everything into confusion until the opponent does not know whether he is coming or going, and once again one attains one’s security. And so deep within-depression. This is true; it stays on and continues to be my misery. But I do not want to throw this misery upon any other person.

The secret of the vital power of his ideas might lie in his capability to hide the depression? That power was not as much the ability to "acquire correct concepts" but just as much hiding something. Nietzsche writes: "Every philosophy also hides a philosophy; every opinion is also a hiding place, every word is also a mask." (Beyond Good and Evil, 289).

My assertion is as thus: the vital source behind every apparent power or powerful idea is always the secret. Any concept grabbed and applied is nothing but another mask, its success and truth value only made possible by what has to remain out of sight, not as much out of desire or by some clever act of hiding but as part of the whole mechanism. Even in ultimate logical sense this is the case: all what is known can only be carried and fueled by an overwhelming massive unknown.

[Cory Duchesne]

Then again Kierkegaard wrote in Stages on Life's Way

• Depression is my nature .... My cunning is that I am able to hide my depression; my deception is just as cunning as my depression (….) The safest deception is good common sense, dispassionate reflection, and above all a candid face and an openhearted nature. Behind this deceptive self-confidence and security in life there is a sleepless and thousand-tongued reflection that, if the first pose becomes unsure, throws everything into confusion until the opponent does not know whether he is coming or going, and once again one attains one’s security. And so deep within-depression. This is true; it stays on and continues to be my misery. But I do not want to throw this misery upon any other person.

The secret of the vital power of his ideas might lie in his capability to hide the depression? That power was not as much the ability to "acquire correct concepts" but just as much hiding something. Nietzsche writes: "Every philosophy also hides a philosophy; every opinion is also a hiding place, every word is also a mask." (Beyond Good and Evil, 289).

My assertion is as thus: the vital source behind every apparent power or powerful idea is always the secret. Any concept grabbed and applied is nothing but another mask, its success and truth value only made possible by what has to remain out of sight, not as much out of desire or by some clever act of hiding but as part of the whole mechanism. Even in ultimate logical sense this is the case: all what is known can only be carried and fueled by an overwhelming massive unknown.

It is through acquiring correct concepts that one clearly sees the value in restraint. One constrains one's impulse to latch on to a specific person, or an audience, to form a bond. To do so would be certain death. Despite taking vacations in the public, one must always retreat inward, and yes, the inward life should be kept secret. It's by clearly knowing the truth that one knows what one ought to do.

What you seem to be talking about is the capacity for sacrifice. The possibility to be sincere in a one-dimensional sense is there, and it is sacrificed like a little lamb. To constrain the will in this manner means more moments of insincerity, but these moments are more of a dam clogging up a river, gathering water, only to unleash much greater waters of sincerity.

The Nature of Applause

[brad walker]

Draw some Vital Energy from the Octagon

I prefer pop.

[Cory Duchesne]

Draw some Vital Energy from the Octagon

I prefer pop.

mmmm, yeah, you might be being sarcastic.

There is some pop music I like when they don't lay it on quite so thick and succumb to emphasizing the human side so much. That song had some good sounds going in the intro, the artist could of easily put good lyrics and imagery over it and toned down the confidence. It's good for kids. But that's the problem with our culture, it designed for kids, with the adults largely at the expense of preserving gross immaturity.

There are lots of instances though of artwork for kids being good for adults as well, but I can't say that Kelly Clarkson song quite makes the cut. Too much about her self esteem, a common trend in lyrical themes.

I would consider pop music to be anything that's easy to appreciate, such as Ceremony by Joy Division.

[brad walker]

Thank you for sharing your spiritual scrapbook and your opinion about an American Idol winner.

[Cory Duchesne]

You keep walking brad Walker. Walk hard, and walk away.

[brad walker]

A punch-lying.

[Tomas]

A punch-lying.

Wow. I saw something like that growing up. One of those after school fights where the testosterone was raging in our junior high days. The local bookie was at the fight, he paid out handsomely that day...

Good video, by the way ;-)

[brad walker]

You keep walking brad Walker. Walk hard, and walk away.

March On, Cory.

[Kunga]

Cool web-sight Cory !

Accept disgrace willingly.
Accept misfortune as the human
condition.
What do you mean by "Accept disgrace
willingly"?
Accept being unimportant.
Do not be concerned with loss or gain.
This is called "accepting disgrace
willingly."
What do you mean by "Accept
misfortune as the human condition"?
Misfortune comes from having a body.
Without a body, how could there be
misfortune?
Surrender yourself humbly; then you
can be trusted to care for all things.
Love the world as your own self; then
you can truly care for all things.

- Tao Te Ching

[Cory Duchesne]

Thank you, Kunga. :)

[Cory Duchesne]

You keep walking brad Walker. Walk hard, and walk away.

March On, Cory.

Don't be Scared, Brad

[Cathy Preston]

That Punch-Lying owned video is awesome! Nice website too Cory.

[brad walker]

Don't be Scared, Brad

A Greyface!

If you can master nonsense as well as you have already learned to master sense, then each will expose the other for what it is: absurdity. From that moment of illumination, a man begins to be free regardless of his surroundings. He becomes free to play order games and change them at will. He becomes free to play disorder games just for the hell of it. He becomes free to play neither or both. And as the master of his own games, he plays without fear, and therefore without frustration, and therefore with good will in his soul and love in his being.

And when men become free then mankind will be free.
May you be free of The Curse of Greyface.
May the Goddess put twinkles in your eyes.
May you have the knowledge of a sage,
and the wisdom of a child. Hail Eris.

[brad walker]

The Sacred Chao

[Cory Duchesne]

Don't be Scared, Brad

A Greyface!

I agree. We should aspire to be in a state of play.

Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.

[brad walker]

No, I agreed with you.