I only have a few minutes, but the connections between these 4 conceptual frameworks has been erupting in my mind over the last couple of days and I need to get some ideas down on paper before they disappear.
I have summarized the concepts in The Spiritual Universe in another blog. Information as it relates to the Universe is touched on in another blog as well. I believe the fundamental concept that underlies all these frameworks is the notion that everything is connected. There is one It, The Thing Itself (which is a term originally coined by Kant if I am not mistaken). God is the traditional name, but we get into trouble if we view God as something separate from the Universe or ourselves.
The Thing Itself is not physical in the sense that we traditionally think of physicality. Science of Mind follows from the long philosophical tradition from ancient Eastern religion, Plato, early Christian philosophers such as Plotinus, through Spinoza, some of Kant, Hegel etc. This strain of thought views the Universe as spiritual, not physical. Ultimate reality is not physical, but something else. We perceive the physical and use physical laws, but the underlying Reality of everything is "spiritual".
The Spiritual Universe views this ultimate reality as "physical" from the perspective of modern physics. That is, modern physics tells us that there is no "there" there. Everything is energy and relationships. Information and emergence talks about information being the ultimate "stuff" of Reality. Jung proposes the "Collective Unconscious" , another way that all is connected.
One division between these lines of thoughts is that the more secular strains (Spiritual Universe and Information) take a fairly agnostic and reactionary use of the stuff. Science of Mind proposes a constant interaction with Mind, the Universal Intelligence. Jung speaks of interaction to some degree, but mostly through archetypes that come to us through the Unconscious. Science of Mind definitely recognizes the importance of the subconcious in gaining proficiency in two-way interaction with the One.
That's all I have time for right now, but I just thought it interesting the way religion, philosophy, science and psychology are more connected and relevant to each other now more than ever. The more we learn about how little we really know about ultimate "physical" reality the more we understand that Ultimate Reality must run on higher laws and what we see is not what is really there.
Science of Mind is the one discipline that tries to tie all this eclectic thought together into a cohesive set of practices to maximize the usage of the power of getting out of the way of the Universal Intelligence and letting The Thing Itself express through the individual.
More later on this topic after my thoughts bake a little more.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
High Fashion
What do I know about high fashion? Almost nothing. So, I am violating the first rule of blogdom, which is to write about something you know a lot about. But, I am in sync with the stated framework for this blog a couple of times of generalizing personal experience, vicarious or otherwise. So, here goes...
High fashion that I am discussing is in the context of world-class clothing design. The kind that occurs in Paris, Milan, Rome, New York, London and other fashion centers of the world. Clothing for the rich and famous. Clothing that eventually makes its way down to actual stores, and yes, some clothing that nobody would ever wear.
For many, this topic is considered shallow, materialistic and intertwined with decadent and excessive lifestyles. Yes, yes and yes. However, there are some interesting aspects of the lifestyle, personal characteristics, and culture of this world.
First, the visual virtuosity of world-class fashion designers is remarkable. Quick attention to detail, immediate annoyance with any visual artifact that has any degree of aesthetic imperfection. This is a skill shared with all visual artists, but seems particularly focused on the practical world in the eyes of a fashion designer.
Second, the love of large public events created strictly for the purpose of a real world artistic experience. Instead of a canvas, sculpture or wall, the medium is time and space. Much time, money and effort spent on building elaborate structures that meet the highest aesthetic standards that must fit within the bounds of the overall creative vision for the event.
Third, the love of dressing beautiful women in beautiful clothes. The designer's eyes seem to view beautiful women as artistic media for draping textures, colors, materials and delightful hairstyles. Within the culture there appears to be a comfort with the human body that is beyond that of normal tolerance. Perhaps this is enhanced by the fact that all the bodies are beautiful.
Beyond all the hype, materialism, glitz and glamour, there appears to be an underlying love of the human form, especially women. When Valentino was asked, "What do women want?", his reply was "I know what women want. They want to be beautiful." I believe this comment is much more profound than the superficial interpretation we might be tempted to give it. Especially coming from a man who spent his life loving to dress beautiful women in beautiful clothing.
High fashion that I am discussing is in the context of world-class clothing design. The kind that occurs in Paris, Milan, Rome, New York, London and other fashion centers of the world. Clothing for the rich and famous. Clothing that eventually makes its way down to actual stores, and yes, some clothing that nobody would ever wear.
For many, this topic is considered shallow, materialistic and intertwined with decadent and excessive lifestyles. Yes, yes and yes. However, there are some interesting aspects of the lifestyle, personal characteristics, and culture of this world.
First, the visual virtuosity of world-class fashion designers is remarkable. Quick attention to detail, immediate annoyance with any visual artifact that has any degree of aesthetic imperfection. This is a skill shared with all visual artists, but seems particularly focused on the practical world in the eyes of a fashion designer.
Second, the love of large public events created strictly for the purpose of a real world artistic experience. Instead of a canvas, sculpture or wall, the medium is time and space. Much time, money and effort spent on building elaborate structures that meet the highest aesthetic standards that must fit within the bounds of the overall creative vision for the event.
Third, the love of dressing beautiful women in beautiful clothes. The designer's eyes seem to view beautiful women as artistic media for draping textures, colors, materials and delightful hairstyles. Within the culture there appears to be a comfort with the human body that is beyond that of normal tolerance. Perhaps this is enhanced by the fact that all the bodies are beautiful.
Beyond all the hype, materialism, glitz and glamour, there appears to be an underlying love of the human form, especially women. When Valentino was asked, "What do women want?", his reply was "I know what women want. They want to be beautiful." I believe this comment is much more profound than the superficial interpretation we might be tempted to give it. Especially coming from a man who spent his life loving to dress beautiful women in beautiful clothing.
Re-Dedication
It has been a very long time since I have posted a blog. I have been thinking recently that I needed to start again. My original goal was to post something every day. That turned into anywhere from a few times a week to weekly to monthly depending on what was going on. I believe that blogging is a public form of a journal, less personal, more abstract, maybe.
Dave Winer has stated that one aspect of high quality blogs is that they are about something the writer knows a lot about. I thought about that, but decided that I'd take a different approach. What I have been trying to do most of the time is to abstract from my life experiences into something that might be generally interesting. So, it ranges from commentataries on things I have read, reviews of events, but, mostly just thoughts on things that happened to me or that I thought about. However, the thoughts are usually generalized into more of a semi-philosophical question or exploration.
At any rate, from now on I am hereby committing to blogging on a "regular" basis. Daily is good if I can keep it up. I place no restriction or format on what I will write. Having stated this "publicly", now I have to do it, right? :-)
Dave Winer has stated that one aspect of high quality blogs is that they are about something the writer knows a lot about. I thought about that, but decided that I'd take a different approach. What I have been trying to do most of the time is to abstract from my life experiences into something that might be generally interesting. So, it ranges from commentataries on things I have read, reviews of events, but, mostly just thoughts on things that happened to me or that I thought about. However, the thoughts are usually generalized into more of a semi-philosophical question or exploration.
At any rate, from now on I am hereby committing to blogging on a "regular" basis. Daily is good if I can keep it up. I place no restriction or format on what I will write. Having stated this "publicly", now I have to do it, right? :-)
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