Sign in
Topic

Thoughts

A collection of 23 issues

when is an argument logical? and why that requires an intimacy

Not in the sense of correct or incorrect conclusions, but in the sense of when is an argument or discussion between two people actually a logical argument?  Only if it takes place in a single axiomatic space.  (which is rarely the case!)  In order to actually have a logical argument, both people have to agree on a single space, or set of initial assumptions.  Given the real world of complex inner spaces, this probably means that one person must enter the other's space to explore it and look for inconsistencies and bring up real world data to explain.  Which is why this sort of real argument is necessarily very intimate.

But the type that often occurs, where each person is talking from within their own space, is both illogical and frustrating.

...
1 min read

Raw Comforts

For work, I've been put up in 400/night, fancy hotels with player pianos and gleaming artwork, in suites with jacuzzi tubs with views of Hollywood Hills or right in the middle of Mardi Gras.  And I appreciate it.  But, for some reason its comforting getting takeout on the street from the Flying Falafel, whose motto is 'your balls are in good hands', hearing the workers off-color joking in Spanish 'CHING-a tu madre'.  The way that San Francisco is gentle with its homeless, with the crazy people on the street, is also comforting; maybe because it makes me feel that I could be real too, that if I felt a bit crazy or had something not quite expected to say, that no one would raise an eyebrow.

What I find oppressive is the fast food chains that force every worker to say the same words hundreds of times a day.   I'd rather live in a world where people can be themselves, even if its messy and raw.

...
1 min read

The lighter side of activism...

So I signed a petition today at dailyKos, asking congress to prevent Trump from having the authority to start a nuclear war.  And I thought, well,  petitions aren't very effective and I don't know if this will do any good.  But at least, if there is a nuclear war and we are all gonna die, at least I know I signed a petition....

hm.

I did get a bunch of people at the peace fair today to agree to make phone calls against that SB1142 bill.  Now back to aligning voter files to enable our communities product.  Would it have made any difference if I just went hiking?  But then there was Anna Maria with the families of those killed by the border patrol.  I think I'm glad I went.  Fighting back is a funny thing.

...
1 min read

Omit Needless Motions : thoughts on the Alexander technique

A friend introduced me yesterday to the Alexander technique, which after reading about on various websites, I still know very little about.  Here is why I consider that a failing in principle.

I am not merely a demanding, impatient, spoiled American, though I am those things too.  But the technique, or the description of it I was able to gather in my very brief reading, seems to me to contain powerful principles that reach beyond use of one's body.

The Alexander technique, in my limited understanding, involves not only release of tension but minimalist motion and effort, a conscious avoiding of unnecessary muscle action.

This principle of minimalist, focused effort is both general and powerful: Omit Needless Words.  Treat every problem as if its solution were extremely simple (Extreme programming).  Write.

So here is a challenge to you folks who do understand the Alexander technique, who are teachers and who have dedicated years to its understanding:  Can you write a page or two of imperatives that distill your deep wisdom to the fewest possible words?

In the meantime, I'll keep reading:

http://www.alexandertechnique.com/ http://alexandertechnique.com/resources/joshuaselfstudy/

...
1 min read

took me long enough: the key..

..to a good life is having a framework in which you can spend the bits of time doing good things, things in line with your long term deep goals.  That's it.  And that's the software I really want to write, the thing that ties together the long-term threads and deeper goals with the daily feed and workflow.  But in the meantime use the tools there are, which maybe could already be used that way...

kinda obvious but most things that make sense are obvious, no?

...
1 min read

Writing anonymously and what's wrong with Google Plus

Second things first:  Google Plus is too all-encompassing and controlling.  I can't get a feed to publish elsewhere, or hack at, or stream, or store as text.  Anything I write there lives ONLY in Google Plus, it seems, and can be taken out only manually.

And I'm not sure I want to write primarily for my friends.  If I wanted to tell my friends something, I'd send them an email.  If I have an idea to share, it seems cleaner in some way to publish it anonymously - or at least without notifying my friends - so that it stands on its own merits, and the reaction to it is not muddled up with relationships and niceness.  Besides, if the writing is both honest and personal, it may relate to people my friends know or would recognize, and that is the last thing I would want.  Unavoidable, perhaps, but not desireable.

Postscript:  Google Plus may open itself up when the API is launched: http://www.readwriteweb.com/hack/2011/06/google-plus-puts-out-a-call-for-developers.php

...
1 min read

Subscribe to Thought Overflow...

does this work? maybe.
jamie@example.com
Subscribe