While browsing YouTube over the last few weeks I became aware of Sam Harris, a neuroscientist/philosopher/author. I was lead there through exploring lectures and discussions around consciousness, quantum physics, religion and philosophy among other things. Ranging across Buddhist monks, New Age Philosophers, Quantum scientists, Evolutionary scientists, Comedians, and ultimately "New Atheism" I have been able to refine and contemplate nascent ideas I had in these areas. Wow, we live in a great era to be alive - all these ideas at our fingertips consumable in a variety of media formats.
At any rate, in one interview with Richard Dawkins, he mentioned that he was very impressed with Sam Harris. I had never heard of him, so I looked him up and started consuming some of his media appearances, lectures, interviews and discussions on YouTube. I quickly became impressed and inspired as well. Of course, Mr. Harris is branded as an atheist, or "New Atheist" as are Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens.
Each of these figures brings a slightly different perspective to the discussion and criticism of religion in general and of the most damaging or bad ideas inherent in the expression of some of them. I know more about Dawkins than the other two, but for the purposes of this blog entry, I will concentrate on where I think the ideas of Sam Harris are useful and interesting.
Even though Harris grudgingly accepts being labeled an atheist, he elevates the debate and raises consciousness for both traditional religious thinking as well as traditional atheist thinking. I admire Harris because he is courageously stating his case, perhaps at the risk of being targeted for harm or worse by the more extreme factions of some religions. I also admire him for elevating the discussion out of the divisive, narrow traditional bickering that usually goes on between theists and atheists.
One reason this is true is that Harris brings his personal experiences of meditation and Eastern religion to the table. He has experienced some of the beneficial effects of mindfulness and meditation. His personal perspective remains strictly secular, but he brings this awareness of a broader consciousness to his writing and arguments.
Off an on I have been in search of a reasonable faith most of my life. Like Harris, I reject the baggage that comes with traditional religions. Why wrap so much padding around the kernel of mystery that is the essence of theology and metaphysics? Why destroy the mystery by claiming certainty for things we do not know or for things that seem preposterous by our 21st century standards? Why cling to world views that are outdated and proved false by hundreds of years of scientific progress?
The things that I believe are necessary for a reasonable faith are: 1) Acceptance of the "facts" of science, 2) Rejection of superstition and claimed certainty, 3) Evaluation of religious ideas in the cold clear light of day, and 4) a modern definition of the word "faith". Regarding #4, I have long accepted the definition of the word "faith" as being that of acting confidently toward the future and acting if it is impossible to fail. I have rejected the definition of faith as that of believing in things that appear to be questionable at best regardless of logical inconsistencies or "proof" otherwise.
Faith is taking the positive experience of the Source and manifesting that abstract power into an individual expression in the relative, physical world. Harris makes a good point in one of his lectures that we will have evolved in consciousness once the word "Atheist" has no meaning anymore. My take on that is a future possibility where everyone is unified in the experience, appreciation and expression of the underlying mystery that is the ground of being for all that the Universe was, is and ever shall be.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Mis-management Styles
I recently read "Management and Mis-Management Styles" by Ichak Adizes. This is the second book in a trilogy of books that deal with roles and styles in the workplace. This one focuses on elaboration of the dysfunctional effects of mis-management. The five mis-management styles are:
- Lone Ranger
- Bureaucrat
- Arsonist
- SuperFollower
- Deadwood
Lone Ranger is a negative expression of a Producer personality. A Producer is someone who gets things done and does not like to waste time discussing alternatives and long range plans. When this personality is in a management position and has no other complementary skills of administration, entrepreneurial or integration the Lone Ranger pattern is manifested. The Lone Ranger will not take time for necessary meetings or giving appropriate instructions to subordinates. She does not have time for strategic discussions. He just wants to get things done since there is SO much to do. This can have the effect of inconsistent and inadequate communication and delegation throughout the organization.
The Bureaucrat loves systems and processes. Since, unlike the Administrator, the Bureaucrat has no complementary skills of Producing, Entrepreneurship or Integration, the result is an emphasis on form over function. As long as everything is accounted for and there is a rule for every situation the Bureaucrat believes things are running smoothly. Never mind that the organization's creativity has died a slow death and the rules and regulations are keeping people from making creative decisions required by new information or situations.
The Arsonist is an Entrepreneur gone wild. There are so many ideas and opportunities. We have to chase all of them. We need to be working on more things... FASTER!! Can we get "someone" to start on this great new idea I had this past weekend? Never mind that we are knee deep trying to get the current release finished. Wait, maybe we can add this into the current release. It should only take "a couple of weeks" to get it done. I already thought it through over the weekend. Depending on how distorted the Arsonist's time multiplier is, it could really take 2 months or longer to actually get the work done. So, the release, which was barely on schedule is now delayed indefinitely.
The SuperFollower is a negative expression of an Integrator. Typically an Integrator is the one component (in addition to at least one more) that is necessary for a leader to possess. But a SuperFollower has no other competency beyond the desire that "everyone just get along". He has no agenda of his own, no initiatives to drive and does not want to make decisions. He is always searching for consensus and wanting "everyone" to agree before a decision can be made.
Deadwood has zero competency in Production, Administration, Entrepreneurship or Integration. He is there until the lights are turned off. With no ability to push for completion, setup organizational systems, initiate creative ideas or integrate the enterprise, he is the obvious target for layoffs. However, in some organizations, Deadwood can survive for years.
Logical Positivism
Logical positivism is a school of philosophy concerned with the logical analysis of scientific knowledge. The soundness of metaphysics and traditional philosophy are attacked and positivism asserts that many philosophical problems are meaningless. Instead, logical positivism argues that there are only two sources of knowledge: logical reasoning and empirical experience, or, analytic and synthetic. Logical reasoning is reducible to formal logic and experience is the only judge of scientific theories. Emotionalism and metaphysics are victims of “bad syntax”.
The primary tenet of logical positivism is the verificationist principle, or factual knowledge. Statements must be verifiable to have meaning. A statement that is not verifiable is meaningless, and not suitable for serious attention. To be verifiable a statement must be capable of being proved true or false, at least in principle. For example, “the pen exists” is a verifiable statement. The statement “God exists” is not. The existence of the pen can be proven by simply touching and seeing the pen. There is no condition in which the latter statement can be proven true or false, therefore it is not a meaningful question for the positivist.
Statements that have no immediate concrete provability can be accepted as meaningful. For example, the statement “a small formation of ice exists at latitude ‘x’ and longitude ‘y’ on Neptune cannot be evaluated today, but an experiment could be proposed that would allow it to be tested in the future if the proper spacecraft were built and launched for this purpose.
Positivism wants to put an end to the emotional and metaphysical, at least for scientific purposes. Emotions are subjective and not objectively provable. Non-factual statements have no place in scientific, and therefore, true knowledge. Metaphysical thinking is useless.
One way positivism attempts to destroy metaphysics is by strictly defining the syntax of meaningful statements. Strict criteria for determining the literal meaningfulness of sentences are constructed. A sentence has literal meaning if and only if the proposition it expresses is either analytic or empirically verifiable. Furthermore, the word “proposition” is reserved for what is expressed by sentences which are literally meaningful. Metaphysical arguments can be successfully debunked by detailed analysis and proved to be meaningless.
In adopting these verbal conventions, positivists relegate metaphysics into irrelevance. Science should purge itself of this crass disease which has infected philosophy for generations. Science is cumulative and inductive. Phenomenalism is assumed. The world can be divided into sets of discrete objects and scientific knowledge proceeds from bottom-up. Since metaphysics does not meet the analytic and empirical criteria it is forever banished from the light of day.
Positivists believe that theories develop from facts. Scientists perform experiments, gather sense-data, correlate, classify and categorize. Theories are deducible from premises or experiences because of empirical patterns that emerge. Therefore, positivists support the inductive method of scientific laws and theories. Facts produce theories. Theories are inferred from direct observation of objects and processes. The truth of theories can only be acknowledged by experience.
The positivist philosophy of the relations between fact and theory are in direct conflict with deduction. Where deduction starts with a hypothesis or, heaven forbid, metaphysical inspiration, induction applies a sharp razor to logical and factual statements, eliminating the metaphysics and recording the atomic experiences. These atomic facts are correlated and progress upward through raw facts, sub-laws, laws, super laws, and ultimately theories.
Weaknesses of positivism as a theory of knowledge and as a cultural phenomenon are apparent. As a theory of knowledge weaknesses are rooted in the principle of verification and the assumption of phenomenalism. Positivism as a cultural phenomenon has flaws regarding the elimination of metaphysics and the impossibility of ethical theory. While positivism has largely been discredited as a general cultural philosophy, the useful tools for scientific philosophy have survived.
A strict interpretation of the verification principle seeks absolute criteria for the verification of scientific theories. Few philosophers of science still seek these absolute criteria, noting that no theory can ever be exposed to all possible relevant tests. Real science is much more about probability rather than absolute verifiability. In this respect, the positivists are too much in the ivory tower of philosophical theory rather than closely connected with the realities of science.
Phenomenalism is the view that physical objects, properties and events are mapped to corresponding mental objects, properties and events. Ultimately, only mental objects, properties and events really exist. A physical object is a collection of sense-data. That is, for the individual, the physical world is all just a construction of the specific individual’s sense-data.
Several weaknesses of phenomenalism are apparent. A strict phenomenalistic interpretation cannot allow for things that are too small or brief to be seen. What about quantum physics phenomena? Unperceived objects and hypotheticals cannot exist, which would negate much of the evidence from science history in the modern world. Abstract natural concepts such as space, time, cause-effect, mass and energy are not addressed with this view either. Phenomenalism does not allow for construction of reality which begins in the mind, or a more deductive approach to scientific progress.
The elimination of metaphysics has negative consequences as a cultural phenomenon. The fundamental problem with eliminating metaphysics is the tendency to marginalize the role of intuition and imagination in science or other activities. Examples of important science and theories developing from an intuitive concept or inspiration exist in the fields of physics and genetics in the personalities of Einstein and McClintock. These scientists and others have developed theories that originated from an internal model of reality. Experiments are then devised to prove the model.
Real-world science proceeds in a variety of ways. Some science, probably most science, develops through the positivist/induction method of correlated facts to laws to theories. These paradigms may become standard and drive further sense-data experiments within the paradigm. However, some theories are more aesthetic and model-driven, and this drive to realize the vision of the model is what determines which experiments to perform.
Another criticism of positivism and the verifiability principle from a cultural perspective is the impossibility of a theory of ethics. Statements about ethics are neither true nor false. They are expressions of feeling. But if ethics is meaningless, what is the origin of ethical principles?
Schlick was one positivist who considered ethics as a descriptive scientific theory: good is whatever gives pleasure and no pain. The first ethics impulse is an egoistic one. However, it is possible that in a society, an altruistic action is more beneficial than a purely egoistic one. The positivist’s elimination of these kinds of ethical arguments and theories, which are useful in building the foundations of societies, marginalizes the human mind and forces culture into a mindless, sterile world.
Losing intuition, emotion, metaphysics and ethics is a very negative consequence of strict logical positivism. Positivism may have usefulness as a scientific tool, but the loss of other intellectual arenas of thought become restrictive. Science can tell us things about the world as they are, but metaphysics and ethics tell us which questions to ask. Intuition provides the unconscious insight for discoveries and is an interesting area of study as to how science really occurs, as well as providing some guidance for human behavior.
Carried to extremes, logical positivism is a death toll to expansive human behavior, especially from a cultural perspective. The philosophy implies mechanical behavior and eliminates the imaginative quality that separates man from other species. Humans plan for tomorrow, imagine a future and choose ethical behavior that is not always instinctual. Without metaphysics, man’s existence would be extremely bland. Without ethics, man would have no basis for laws that create a civilized society.
Logical positivism is a welcome tool for exorcising superfluous superstition and emotionalism from modern thought in general and science in particular. However, in doing so, the philosophy continued toward an unsustainable extreme. Positivism and the verification principle are useful in picking out the most viable among a set of alternatives. The philosophy is further useful, as Kuhn has stated, as part of a joint verification-falsification process for a probability comparison of theories.
Logical positivism is one side of a sharp silver coin that provides an unequivocal separation of scientific knowledge from speculation, but it needs to be integrated as only one important part of a broad scientific or cultural philosophy.
The primary tenet of logical positivism is the verificationist principle, or factual knowledge. Statements must be verifiable to have meaning. A statement that is not verifiable is meaningless, and not suitable for serious attention. To be verifiable a statement must be capable of being proved true or false, at least in principle. For example, “the pen exists” is a verifiable statement. The statement “God exists” is not. The existence of the pen can be proven by simply touching and seeing the pen. There is no condition in which the latter statement can be proven true or false, therefore it is not a meaningful question for the positivist.
Statements that have no immediate concrete provability can be accepted as meaningful. For example, the statement “a small formation of ice exists at latitude ‘x’ and longitude ‘y’ on Neptune cannot be evaluated today, but an experiment could be proposed that would allow it to be tested in the future if the proper spacecraft were built and launched for this purpose.
Positivism wants to put an end to the emotional and metaphysical, at least for scientific purposes. Emotions are subjective and not objectively provable. Non-factual statements have no place in scientific, and therefore, true knowledge. Metaphysical thinking is useless.
One way positivism attempts to destroy metaphysics is by strictly defining the syntax of meaningful statements. Strict criteria for determining the literal meaningfulness of sentences are constructed. A sentence has literal meaning if and only if the proposition it expresses is either analytic or empirically verifiable. Furthermore, the word “proposition” is reserved for what is expressed by sentences which are literally meaningful. Metaphysical arguments can be successfully debunked by detailed analysis and proved to be meaningless.
In adopting these verbal conventions, positivists relegate metaphysics into irrelevance. Science should purge itself of this crass disease which has infected philosophy for generations. Science is cumulative and inductive. Phenomenalism is assumed. The world can be divided into sets of discrete objects and scientific knowledge proceeds from bottom-up. Since metaphysics does not meet the analytic and empirical criteria it is forever banished from the light of day.
Positivists believe that theories develop from facts. Scientists perform experiments, gather sense-data, correlate, classify and categorize. Theories are deducible from premises or experiences because of empirical patterns that emerge. Therefore, positivists support the inductive method of scientific laws and theories. Facts produce theories. Theories are inferred from direct observation of objects and processes. The truth of theories can only be acknowledged by experience.
The positivist philosophy of the relations between fact and theory are in direct conflict with deduction. Where deduction starts with a hypothesis or, heaven forbid, metaphysical inspiration, induction applies a sharp razor to logical and factual statements, eliminating the metaphysics and recording the atomic experiences. These atomic facts are correlated and progress upward through raw facts, sub-laws, laws, super laws, and ultimately theories.
Weaknesses of positivism as a theory of knowledge and as a cultural phenomenon are apparent. As a theory of knowledge weaknesses are rooted in the principle of verification and the assumption of phenomenalism. Positivism as a cultural phenomenon has flaws regarding the elimination of metaphysics and the impossibility of ethical theory. While positivism has largely been discredited as a general cultural philosophy, the useful tools for scientific philosophy have survived.
A strict interpretation of the verification principle seeks absolute criteria for the verification of scientific theories. Few philosophers of science still seek these absolute criteria, noting that no theory can ever be exposed to all possible relevant tests. Real science is much more about probability rather than absolute verifiability. In this respect, the positivists are too much in the ivory tower of philosophical theory rather than closely connected with the realities of science.
Phenomenalism is the view that physical objects, properties and events are mapped to corresponding mental objects, properties and events. Ultimately, only mental objects, properties and events really exist. A physical object is a collection of sense-data. That is, for the individual, the physical world is all just a construction of the specific individual’s sense-data.
Several weaknesses of phenomenalism are apparent. A strict phenomenalistic interpretation cannot allow for things that are too small or brief to be seen. What about quantum physics phenomena? Unperceived objects and hypotheticals cannot exist, which would negate much of the evidence from science history in the modern world. Abstract natural concepts such as space, time, cause-effect, mass and energy are not addressed with this view either. Phenomenalism does not allow for construction of reality which begins in the mind, or a more deductive approach to scientific progress.
The elimination of metaphysics has negative consequences as a cultural phenomenon. The fundamental problem with eliminating metaphysics is the tendency to marginalize the role of intuition and imagination in science or other activities. Examples of important science and theories developing from an intuitive concept or inspiration exist in the fields of physics and genetics in the personalities of Einstein and McClintock. These scientists and others have developed theories that originated from an internal model of reality. Experiments are then devised to prove the model.
Real-world science proceeds in a variety of ways. Some science, probably most science, develops through the positivist/induction method of correlated facts to laws to theories. These paradigms may become standard and drive further sense-data experiments within the paradigm. However, some theories are more aesthetic and model-driven, and this drive to realize the vision of the model is what determines which experiments to perform.
Another criticism of positivism and the verifiability principle from a cultural perspective is the impossibility of a theory of ethics. Statements about ethics are neither true nor false. They are expressions of feeling. But if ethics is meaningless, what is the origin of ethical principles?
Schlick was one positivist who considered ethics as a descriptive scientific theory: good is whatever gives pleasure and no pain. The first ethics impulse is an egoistic one. However, it is possible that in a society, an altruistic action is more beneficial than a purely egoistic one. The positivist’s elimination of these kinds of ethical arguments and theories, which are useful in building the foundations of societies, marginalizes the human mind and forces culture into a mindless, sterile world.
Losing intuition, emotion, metaphysics and ethics is a very negative consequence of strict logical positivism. Positivism may have usefulness as a scientific tool, but the loss of other intellectual arenas of thought become restrictive. Science can tell us things about the world as they are, but metaphysics and ethics tell us which questions to ask. Intuition provides the unconscious insight for discoveries and is an interesting area of study as to how science really occurs, as well as providing some guidance for human behavior.
Carried to extremes, logical positivism is a death toll to expansive human behavior, especially from a cultural perspective. The philosophy implies mechanical behavior and eliminates the imaginative quality that separates man from other species. Humans plan for tomorrow, imagine a future and choose ethical behavior that is not always instinctual. Without metaphysics, man’s existence would be extremely bland. Without ethics, man would have no basis for laws that create a civilized society.
Logical positivism is a welcome tool for exorcising superfluous superstition and emotionalism from modern thought in general and science in particular. However, in doing so, the philosophy continued toward an unsustainable extreme. Positivism and the verification principle are useful in picking out the most viable among a set of alternatives. The philosophy is further useful, as Kuhn has stated, as part of a joint verification-falsification process for a probability comparison of theories.
Logical positivism is one side of a sharp silver coin that provides an unequivocal separation of scientific knowledge from speculation, but it needs to be integrated as only one important part of a broad scientific or cultural philosophy.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Recording Part 2
I bought a Roland Boss BR-800 8 track digital recorder this weekend. It was super easy to set up and start using. I used Band in the Box to provide the rhythm tracks and recorded a couple of standards, "What is this Thing called Love" and "A Child is Born".
I'd love to post the recordings to share with friends, but I've been reading up on copyright law and am now concerned about posting MP3s on my web site or blog. Apparently that is breach of copyright law, even if I am not deriving commercial value from it. Oh well, I'll have to think about it some more. I'd hope the enforcers would have better things to do than to come after me for a few free home recordings of jazz standards.
I'd love to post the recordings to share with friends, but I've been reading up on copyright law and am now concerned about posting MP3s on my web site or blog. Apparently that is breach of copyright law, even if I am not deriving commercial value from it. Oh well, I'll have to think about it some more. I'd hope the enforcers would have better things to do than to come after me for a few free home recordings of jazz standards.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Radical Management
I just finished the book "A Leader's Guide to Radical Management". This book argues for expanding and implementing iterative and transparent management techniques across the entire organization. So, it is one of any number of methodologies and philosophies that argue for proliferating the principles of contemporary software development techniques found in Agile Scrum to a broader application.
If you are familiar with Agile/Scrum, much of the "radical" techniques will be very familiar. This is especially true about the long list of practices that are suggested at the end of each chapter. Nothing really new here.
The main premise of the book is about identifying clients and focusing on pleasing them. Clients do not have to be external customers but are also internal groups or departments that consume the output of another group or team.
There is lots of good wisdom about team leadership, transparency and client-focused operational techniques that is communicated through anecdotal stories throughout.
Overall a decent read, more interesting if you are not at all familiar with the concepts.
If you are familiar with Agile/Scrum, much of the "radical" techniques will be very familiar. This is especially true about the long list of practices that are suggested at the end of each chapter. Nothing really new here.
The main premise of the book is about identifying clients and focusing on pleasing them. Clients do not have to be external customers but are also internal groups or departments that consume the output of another group or team.
There is lots of good wisdom about team leadership, transparency and client-focused operational techniques that is communicated through anecdotal stories throughout.
Overall a decent read, more interesting if you are not at all familiar with the concepts.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Laws of Leadership
I recently read John Maxwell's "21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership". The book does a good job of laying out categories of leadership traits and supplying one or two narrative stories as examples for each one. Also, each chapter (which is a leadership law) includes introspective and actionable exercises at the end of each chapter. Some notable "laws" include:
- Law of the Lid - everyone has some degree of natural leadership talent (their lid) - the higher the lid the higher the potential
- Law of Influence - Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less
- Law of Connection - Connecting with your people is important
- Law of Intuition - Sense of timing is critical
- Law of the Picture - Lead by example - people do what they see
- Law of Momentum - Strike while the iron is hot
- Law of Buy-in - Working lone wolf style does not work
It's definitely worth a good read and use for reference from time to time.
The Ideal Executive
Recently I read this book by Adizes. It was so relevant to me that I devoured it in a few hours on my Kindle. I found out about the book by visiting the Adizes Institute web site while I was pursuing information about Life Cycles of Organizations. There was a wealth of material there about organizational theory and wisdom about many topics in the blog. Adizes is an internationally known leadership and management consultant and his insight, clarity and spiritual strength shine thought in all his writings.
The title of the book, The Ideal Executive, is a teaser, since the point of the book is that there is no such thing. Everyone tends to have strengths in different areas and weaknesses in others and no matter how much training and rounding, we all have styles that revolve around 1 or 2 basic types. Adizes system is PAEI (Producer, Administrator, Entrepreneur, Integrator).
The premise is that all types of personality expression within an organization can be boiled down to those 4 types. Most people are strong in at least one of those types. For example, a strong worker bee who has no interest in management or leadership roles would be coded Paei. Or even more uni-dimensional coding of P---, where dashes represent close to zero ability in the dashed areas. Just as this kind of narrow human being is more fantasy than reality, the opposite coding of PAEI where someone is strong in all 4 areas is equally mythical. Therefore, the Ideal Executive does not exist.
Leadership requires excellence in at least 2 areas and adequate competence in the others. For example, a coding for a very strong leader is paEI. This means excellent Entrepreneurial skills and Integration skills, competent in producing (execution) and administration. Someone with a dash in any of the four areas is lacking significant skills that will produce a leader/manager. A leader cannot be completely missing any of the 4 without the organization suffering in some way.
For each of these positive types, there are opposite dysfunctional expressions. For each type these are:
The title of the book, The Ideal Executive, is a teaser, since the point of the book is that there is no such thing. Everyone tends to have strengths in different areas and weaknesses in others and no matter how much training and rounding, we all have styles that revolve around 1 or 2 basic types. Adizes system is PAEI (Producer, Administrator, Entrepreneur, Integrator).
The premise is that all types of personality expression within an organization can be boiled down to those 4 types. Most people are strong in at least one of those types. For example, a strong worker bee who has no interest in management or leadership roles would be coded Paei. Or even more uni-dimensional coding of P---, where dashes represent close to zero ability in the dashed areas. Just as this kind of narrow human being is more fantasy than reality, the opposite coding of PAEI where someone is strong in all 4 areas is equally mythical. Therefore, the Ideal Executive does not exist.
Leadership requires excellence in at least 2 areas and adequate competence in the others. For example, a coding for a very strong leader is paEI. This means excellent Entrepreneurial skills and Integration skills, competent in producing (execution) and administration. Someone with a dash in any of the four areas is lacking significant skills that will produce a leader/manager. A leader cannot be completely missing any of the 4 without the organization suffering in some way.
For each of these positive types, there are opposite dysfunctional expressions. For each type these are:
- Producer - Lone Wolf (does not communicate or get buy-in from superiors, peers and direct reports - acts unilaterally)
- Administrator - Bureaucrat (too mega-focused on how things are done rather than what gets done)
- Entrepreneur - Arsonist (Starts too many projects - keeps team spread too thin and de-focused)
- Integrator - Super Follower (Cannot make decisions without consulting and getting consensus to a fault)
I found this personality framework very easy to remember and identify within the organization. A careful reading and study of the material in this book significantly helps you understand sources of conflict and ways to communicate with personality combinations that may create conflict with each other.
Recording Frustrations
A few weeks ago I bought Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio 7. I was excited that I'd be able to record MIDI arrangements of jazz standards and originals that I like to play. With Band in a Box, I can enter the changes and style of a particular song, export it as a MIDI file, which makes the rhythm tracks that I can play over with my own melody and solos. This would result in jazz trio recordings that I could save and post as MIDI files or convert into MP3 or other audio formats.
Well, I have not been able to get to square one. There seems to be some kind of latency problem with my audio or MIDI drivers. I cannot get the simplest recording of just a few single notes to record and be in sync with the audio or metronome. Apparently this is a typical problem when using a PC or laptop to record. I have tried many different latency settings and updated drivers to no avail.
I think I am going to abandon this effort and look into getting a standalone recorder for live audio. I do not have the patience to mess with drivers, latency and other things just to get a simple recording going on my laptop.
Well, I have not been able to get to square one. There seems to be some kind of latency problem with my audio or MIDI drivers. I cannot get the simplest recording of just a few single notes to record and be in sync with the audio or metronome. Apparently this is a typical problem when using a PC or laptop to record. I have tried many different latency settings and updated drivers to no avail.
I think I am going to abandon this effort and look into getting a standalone recorder for live audio. I do not have the patience to mess with drivers, latency and other things just to get a simple recording going on my laptop.
Transcendentalism and Mediocre Jazz
As I said in my last post I went to First Unitarian Church of Dallas this morning for two reasons. First, I discovered that the music for the service was being provided by the resident jazz ensemble for the church. I wanted to hear how they fit into a service and understand the level of musicians that participate. Second, the Adult Forum was continuing their lecture and discussion of Transcendentalism, which sounded interesting. I was stimulated by the second, disappointed in the first.
The Adult Forum uses lectures from the Great Courses lecture series that are available on DVD. These lectures are produced and delivered by noteworthy college professors in the topic. They are an excellent way to learn about a particular study area. Especially when they are viewed in a classroom setting followed by further facilitated discussion. The video lecture gets everyone on the same page to help prepare for the follow-on discussion. The only downside at First Unitarian is that there is very little time left after the video portion to have much of a discussion. But the material is usually very stimulating.
The jazz at the service was very disappointing. The keyboard sounded like a bad lounge keyboard sound. The arrangements were very low key. The solos were very short, subdued and could have been written out since they seemed to have very little spontaneity. The drums were very low energy and repetitive. The only bright spot was that the vocalists sounded good.
Maybe this is what was desired since Unitarian services tend to be very dry and subdued. That's the opposite of jazz.
The Adult Forum uses lectures from the Great Courses lecture series that are available on DVD. These lectures are produced and delivered by noteworthy college professors in the topic. They are an excellent way to learn about a particular study area. Especially when they are viewed in a classroom setting followed by further facilitated discussion. The video lecture gets everyone on the same page to help prepare for the follow-on discussion. The only downside at First Unitarian is that there is very little time left after the video portion to have much of a discussion. But the material is usually very stimulating.
The jazz at the service was very disappointing. The keyboard sounded like a bad lounge keyboard sound. The arrangements were very low key. The solos were very short, subdued and could have been written out since they seemed to have very little spontaneity. The drums were very low energy and repetitive. The only bright spot was that the vocalists sounded good.
Maybe this is what was desired since Unitarian services tend to be very dry and subdued. That's the opposite of jazz.
From Unity to Unitarian (again)
Over the last year or more I have been going to classes at Unity of Dallas that are part of the Unity Spiritual Development Program. Completion of the SDP and a following Leadership Development Program are pre-requisites to obtaining a Licensed Unity Teacher Certification. Obtaining the LUT is required to be able to teach classes within Unity spiritual communities. I did not necessarily set out to become a LUT but I was very interested in the Metaphysical studies offered there and figured as long as I was going to spend the time I might as well get credit for it. The Metaphysics classes have been excellent and last year I also completed studies in Metaphysical Bible Interpretation and Abundance.
The next class on the list was The Story of Unity which traces the history of the Unity movement from the original founders throughout the early 20th century and beyond. The material is very straightforward and not nearly as stimulating as the Metaphysics classes have been. I attended one class last week and have been considering whether to follow through with it. This morning I believe the decision was made and the answer is No. In fact, I may abandon the quest for completing the SDP as well. Here's why.
Unity of Dallas offers lots of classes and discussions. The curriculum for the SDP and LDP and LUT are interesting, life affirming and connected with self-actualization ideas from other traditions and secular expressions of healthy minded living. Some of the topics, though, are all in the same vein as each other. The breadth is sometimes lacking. For example, there will not be specific curricular study on Transcendentalism (which is a strong contributor to New Thought as a whole), Buddhism, Hinduism or other philosophic strands and traditions. You might find these as supplemental classes or discussions on the menu as well as topics that might be considered "New Age" whatever that means. But pursuit of the LUT through the SDP and LDP will be more narrow than that.
I have attended several interesting and insightful discussions at the First Unitarian Church of Dallas over the last couple of years as well. This morning I decided to go to the Adult Forum lecture and discussion on Transcendentalism. The topics covered in various adult discussion groups there are very broad and include topics on world religions, philosophy, history, current affairs and comparative mythology. I believe I am gravitating toward that approach for a while. Perhaps I will return to the Unity discussions at a later date.
The next class on the list was The Story of Unity which traces the history of the Unity movement from the original founders throughout the early 20th century and beyond. The material is very straightforward and not nearly as stimulating as the Metaphysics classes have been. I attended one class last week and have been considering whether to follow through with it. This morning I believe the decision was made and the answer is No. In fact, I may abandon the quest for completing the SDP as well. Here's why.
Unity of Dallas offers lots of classes and discussions. The curriculum for the SDP and LDP and LUT are interesting, life affirming and connected with self-actualization ideas from other traditions and secular expressions of healthy minded living. Some of the topics, though, are all in the same vein as each other. The breadth is sometimes lacking. For example, there will not be specific curricular study on Transcendentalism (which is a strong contributor to New Thought as a whole), Buddhism, Hinduism or other philosophic strands and traditions. You might find these as supplemental classes or discussions on the menu as well as topics that might be considered "New Age" whatever that means. But pursuit of the LUT through the SDP and LDP will be more narrow than that.
I have attended several interesting and insightful discussions at the First Unitarian Church of Dallas over the last couple of years as well. This morning I decided to go to the Adult Forum lecture and discussion on Transcendentalism. The topics covered in various adult discussion groups there are very broad and include topics on world religions, philosophy, history, current affairs and comparative mythology. I believe I am gravitating toward that approach for a while. Perhaps I will return to the Unity discussions at a later date.
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