I wrote this in the methods section of my MSc as a footnote, thought you might enjoy:
"Ontologic refers to what is real. Epistemic refers to what can be known about that which is real. Everything and nothing can be real, with the possibility, or no possibility, for knowledge, or no knowledge, of that which is, or is not, real. There are ranges here that delimit the limits of human existence, reason and understanding. Logic refers to the real nature of reasoning, as in making truthful knowing assessments about these ranges, and by extension, about that which is, or is not, real."
I don't think so, myself. I think there is some steam being let off, maybe a bit of shuffling around in the positions of power in the world at large.
I would like to think that people in general are coming to their senses and not wanting to acquire for the sake of acquiring - but I honestly don't believe that is the case. So, things will pick up and carry on in much the same way - that's my prediction.
Indeed, babylons biggest problem is its abuse of language. And of course thats what eventually causes the tower to fall.
The source of the economic meltdown is the dwindling lack of resources of our mother the planet earth. There are hardly any fish left, forests left, grains left, water left etc. And our populations continue to explode.
I talked with my folks about this stuff while they came to visit me and they were like -oh, we went through the same thing in the sixties, it will pass. By christmas no one will even remember any of this.-
But I dont think its the same. Mainly because all of the problems seem to me to be accelerating to some sort of climax that we will be reaching within the next 5 years. The earth simply cant support us and we cant change fast enough to survive without dramatic upheaval.
As you may notice Ive been feeling extra stressed about this stuff lately. I went to the book store and read some books that support more elagantly what Im trying to shout from the wilderness. Unfortunately coupled with my stress is an increasing frsutration with attitudes of complacency and sort of turning away and carrying on. I guess because I see myself doing that as well. After all what can we do about it. And afterall, everything in our world has always been the same so why think it will be any different ever.
interestingly the stress and frustration is coupled with bizarre new perceptual shifts in my awareness. Mostly really good luck at basic things like always knowing when people are going to call and when the streetcar will be there. All that synchronistic stuff is coming on strong right now.
the elders say the sequence of world events is acceleratiing at such a pace that prophetic fulfillments that are yet to come will from this day forward follow closely upon one another. Since what we will be dealing with in each of these instances is cataclysmic, when each event strikes, it will be with such magnitude and force that, if we are not already prepared, nothing we can do will make any difference.
Your folks are right - no one will remember. Whether this stuff is real, or it all blows over, no one will remember.
We humans with our vaunted brains have pretty damn poor long-term memory collectively.
Of course you are right about the stresses on ecological systems that exist because of Homo sapiens, and our population increases are endlessly adding to that. Will something give? Will the earth implode? I'm not sure it's going to be so dramatic.
We've all seen extinctions, mass starvations, genocides, world wars etc. before. What is there to come that we haven't yet seen, I wonder?
Here's something of what I mean. This is from the wikipedia entry on Nishapur (Neshabur), Iran:
"For a time Nishapur rivaled Baghdad or Cairo: Toghrül, the first ruler of the Seljuk dynasty, made Nishapur his residence in 1037 and proclaimed himself sultan there, but it declined thereafter, as Seljuk fortunes were concentrated in the west. In the year 1000CE, it was among the 10 largest cities on earth. After the husband of Genghis Khan's daughter was killed at Nishapur in 1221, she ordered the death of all in the city (~1.7 million), and the skulls of men, women, and children were piled in pyramids by the Mongols."
Are we facing a greater catastrophe, a greater malignancy, are we more unprepared and defenceless than were the Nishapurites?
So what's the question then? I don't think any of us really know if the situation is "real" or "fake". Maybe because it hasn't really happened yet. No lines for food rations in my neighborhood at least.
As always, the worst effects will probably hit the poor people and countries first, so of course us rich people think everything's OK and conveniently forget about it.
Also, you can try to get your info from CNN or conspiracy theorist websites but it will inevitably be distorted through the lens of someone else's agenda.
Next option, look at the Dow indexes, gross domestic product, inflation, smog levels, birth rates, cancer rates, polar bear death rates, oil prices, terror levels, and the price of gold everyday and try to figure it out for yourself.
I dont know about the rest of you but I don't know what the frick a "Dow index" is. Maybe someone else on this blog does.
Next question I think you people are asking: what is the worst case scenario and how can we/should we prepare for it.
Mass genocides...i've got nothing for you guys here short of bomb shelters and weapon hoarding.
As for the heightened awareness thing, I don't know, maybe Harper put something in the water.
Good points. It is all relative - the situation in N. America is of course much different than in poorer countries, and our perceptions are all biased for that reason.
Personally, I just can't see what is so dramatically different about what's happening now and what has happened in the past. Is "western civilization" on the brink of collapse? Well, it wouldn't be the first civilization to succumb to environmental overload, financial collapse, etc. My point is that humanity has been through this all before, though perhaps on smaller scales. On a personal level that may offer no comfort or relief, but I'm just trying to look at the bigger picture here. I don't feel like a complacent person, in fact I feel like I've lived most of my life trying to minimize my impact on the environment - mostly out of necessity because I have no money! And really, I think the whole financial situation is an inevitable consequence of human greed, which is the foundation of human trade in the first place. I don't know how you would get a financial system without people "wanting stuff", and I also don't know how you could avoid having financial bubbles and collapses when people "want stuff".
I'm no economist, certainly, so maybe I'm being unbelievably naive. But I do feel that there are some pretty fundamental things at the base of all of this that we may not be able to do anything about, if we even should...
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16 comments:
It's real alright, but it's still a myth, and thus can be toppled in an instant.
Word: spologit
Nothing is real.
Everything is real.
I wrote this in the methods section of my MSc as a footnote, thought you might enjoy:
"Ontologic refers to what is real. Epistemic refers to what can be known about that which is real. Everything and nothing can be real, with the possibility, or no possibility, for knowledge, or no knowledge, of that which is, or is not, real. There are ranges here that delimit the limits of human existence, reason and understanding. Logic refers to the real nature of reasoning, as in making truthful knowing assessments about these ranges, and by extension, about that which is, or is not, real."
Heh heh heh...
Real is not real.
Can you unpack that for me a bit?
:)
Nope!
Not real is real!
Of course, the key word in all of this is "is".
Heh, good point.
So what does that say about 'be'?
No that wasnt what I was refering to. This is an example of the dissection of language leading oneself nowhere and avoiding the essential.
The essential is;
there seems to be dramatic, irreversible, catastrophic change taking place in the world that feels to me as if its coming to a head very soon.
And i was wondering if you guys thought that those things are real or if they are imaginary. Just a hiccup. business as usual.
wordverification: reper
I don't think so, myself. I think there is some steam being let off, maybe a bit of shuffling around in the positions of power in the world at large.
I would like to think that people in general are coming to their senses and not wanting to acquire for the sake of acquiring - but I honestly don't believe that is the case. So, things will pick up and carry on in much the same way - that's my prediction.
Greed will find a way!
Indeed, babylons biggest problem is its abuse of language. And of course thats what eventually causes the tower to fall.
The source of the economic meltdown is the dwindling lack of resources of our mother the planet earth. There are hardly any fish left, forests left, grains left, water left etc. And our populations continue to explode.
I talked with my folks about this stuff while they came to visit me and they were like -oh, we went through the same thing in the sixties, it will pass. By christmas no one will even remember any of this.-
But I dont think its the same. Mainly because all of the problems seem to me to be accelerating to some sort of climax that we will be reaching within the next 5 years. The earth simply cant support us and we cant change fast enough to survive without dramatic upheaval.
As you may notice Ive been feeling extra stressed about this stuff lately. I went to the book store and read some books that support more elagantly what Im trying to shout from the wilderness. Unfortunately coupled with my stress is an increasing frsutration with attitudes of complacency and sort of turning away and carrying on. I guess because I see myself doing that as well. After all what can we do about it. And afterall, everything in our world has always been the same so why think it will be any different ever.
interestingly the stress and frustration is coupled with bizarre new perceptual shifts in my awareness. Mostly really good luck at basic things like always knowing when people are going to call and when the streetcar will be there. All that synchronistic stuff is coming on strong right now.
the elders say the sequence of world events is acceleratiing at such a pace that prophetic fulfillments that are yet to come will from this day forward follow closely upon one another. Since what we will be dealing with in each of these instances is cataclysmic, when each event strikes, it will be with such magnitude and force that, if we are not already prepared, nothing we can do will make any difference.
incredible word veri!: hesse
Your folks are right - no one will remember. Whether this stuff is real, or it all blows over, no one will remember.
We humans with our vaunted brains have pretty damn poor long-term memory collectively.
Of course you are right about the stresses on ecological systems that exist because of Homo sapiens, and our population increases are endlessly adding to that. Will something give? Will the earth implode? I'm not sure it's going to be so dramatic.
We've all seen extinctions, mass starvations, genocides, world wars etc. before. What is there to come that we haven't yet seen, I wonder?
Here's something of what I mean. This is from the wikipedia entry on Nishapur (Neshabur), Iran:
"For a time Nishapur rivaled Baghdad or Cairo: Toghrül, the first ruler of the Seljuk dynasty, made Nishapur his residence in 1037 and proclaimed himself sultan there, but it declined thereafter, as Seljuk fortunes were concentrated in the west. In the year 1000CE, it was among the 10 largest cities on earth. After the husband of Genghis Khan's daughter was killed at Nishapur in 1221, she ordered the death of all in the city (~1.7 million), and the skulls of men, women, and children were piled in pyramids by the Mongols."
Are we facing a greater catastrophe, a greater malignancy, are we more unprepared and defenceless than were the Nishapurites?
P.S. sorry I took out my prev. comment - I felt that I kind of got stuck in a loop.
So what's the question then? I don't think any of us really know if the situation is "real" or "fake". Maybe because it hasn't really happened yet. No lines for food rations in my neighborhood at least.
As always, the worst effects will probably hit the poor people and countries first, so of course us rich people think everything's OK and conveniently forget about it.
Also, you can try to get your info from CNN or conspiracy theorist websites but it will inevitably be distorted through the lens of someone else's agenda.
Next option, look at the Dow indexes, gross domestic product, inflation, smog levels, birth rates, cancer rates, polar bear death rates, oil prices, terror levels, and the price of gold everyday and try to figure it out for yourself.
I dont know about the rest of you but I don't know what the frick a "Dow index" is. Maybe someone else on this blog does.
Next question I think you people are asking: what is the worst case scenario and how can we/should we prepare for it.
Mass genocides...i've got nothing for you guys here short of bomb shelters and weapon hoarding.
As for the heightened awareness thing, I don't know, maybe Harper put something in the water.
Good points. It is all relative - the situation in N. America is of course much different than in poorer countries, and our perceptions are all biased for that reason.
Personally, I just can't see what is so dramatically different about what's happening now and what has happened in the past. Is "western civilization" on the brink of collapse? Well, it wouldn't be the first civilization to succumb to environmental overload, financial collapse, etc. My point is that humanity has been through this all before, though perhaps on smaller scales. On a personal level that may offer no comfort or relief, but I'm just trying to look at the bigger picture here. I don't feel like a complacent person, in fact I feel like I've lived most of my life trying to minimize my impact on the environment - mostly out of necessity because I have no money! And really, I think the whole financial situation is an inevitable consequence of human greed, which is the foundation of human trade in the first place. I don't know how you would get a financial system without people "wanting stuff", and I also don't know how you could avoid having financial bubbles and collapses when people "want stuff".
I'm no economist, certainly, so maybe I'm being unbelievably naive. But I do feel that there are some pretty fundamental things at the base of all of this that we may not be able to do anything about, if we even should...
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