I wish our media & communications environment was much more like forrests, gardens & gardening.
Some remarks I made in a chat with Joshua Bach, initiated by the following tweet about blockchain. Bit out of context (Joshua's replies missing) but here future self-reference.
Conversation starter tweet:
Philosophically, blockchain is a totalitarian regime which aims to put a label on every atom in the universe. Based on confused views of signifier/signified and map/territory relations - It naively assumes that the quality of experience & truth increases, the deeper the simulacra
My replies to the follow-up conversation:
"The ZEN school (and its westernised formulation through Kyoto school) has much to say about specifically this part of the tweet in question: "It naively assumes that the quality of experience & truth increases, the deeper the simulacra"
Through it’s unequivocal focus on "absolute nothingness" (no action, nothing, nowhere, no reason, no choice, *no time* - yet real) and non-duality as the experiential state of existence - ZEN rejects the notion that ever-increasing labelling regimes (computation, modelling, blockchains & other temporal tricks) will move one closer in any meaningful way towards higher "truth" or "quality" of "Dasein".
Hence, a defining difference between many Asian philosophies and its western counterparts, is that the former is focused on "the way - or path" (process/relations/“now” centric - focused on multimodal/embodied experience of meaning/truth/quality through the act of living) while the latter is focused on preparing for some fictive point in the future (the external Christ, Armageddon, AI singularity etc. - which essentially all are an OCD view that all of reality can be neatly packaged through a process of extreme compression into our brains (the “I”), which is perceived as somehow separate from “it”).
“Existence is larger than any model that is not itself the exact size of existence” ―Robert Anton Wilson.
Part 2, after some back and forth:
I comprehend the concept of “suffering” (a word with different connotations in Japanese etc.) in eastern schools only in the context of the root-cause that its attribute to: Temporality - the illusion of being “stuck” in linear time and having to deal with the effects of causality/entropy.
In contrast to the classical western views of time (one-directional line in a low-dimensional space - which western science is just starting to question now), ZEN/Dao/Shinto etc. developed a more complex view of temporality. The cornerstones are “Absolutely Nothingness” (Infinity: “If there is absolutely everything, there is absolutley nothing” - Chinese call this “Wu-Chi”: “boundless un-manifest”) and “Non-Duality” (a singular integrated eternal processes - no meaningful separation between I, you, it, future, past).
This view of reality is *by definition* highly paradoxical (as Shunryū Suzuki said: "If it's not paradoxical, it's not true”.) and thus beyond the grasp of reasoning (knowledge, physics and other time-bound abstractions) - yet paradoxically, accessible through direct experience & practice of realisation (“know thyself, here & now”). The Japanese call this process “Kata” (Translates as “Form of a Form”: Forms which are perfected by possessing a perceptible shape and at the same time transcending it. Similar to greek Eidos (essence) - but while an Eidos is something purely transcended, which simply surpasses perspective shapes, a kata cannot realise itself except in perceptible forms). Such non-temporal dynamics are the topic of many ZEN/Kyoto school texts (Soku-hi Logic, Karma etc) - with some masters saying “epistemic status: This is a joke, mostly..” ;-)
The resulting practical (cultural/societal/political/historical) impulses are far richer than just “oh its all immutable anyhow, I give up and only meditate till I dissolve”. Toshihiko Izutsu mentions in his description of the Zen-Buddhist practice that after you de-subjectify the subject and de-objectify the object, you return to re-objectifying the object and re-subjectifying the subject. If you don't do this returning movement, you stay in one-sided mysticism and you won't have any social or intersubjective connection. It is precisely this “paradoxical inter-penetration of unity and opposition” (Ying Yang) - which forms the basis of the Ethics & Politics of Dao/ZEN etc.
You say “Proper abstraction requires correct foundations”. I agree! Yet what are those foundations? At the core of traditions like Zen & Daoism lies the appreciation of the deeply paradoxical nature of reality. In the west, paradoxes are still seen as side-effects or bugs, in an otherwise perfectly computable universe. Yet the list of paradoxes keeps growing in an ever-accelerating fractal explosion.
You say "I don't care about the quality of Dasein. I care about truth”. But what is the nature of “truth” when you remove time? I would argue “truth” can only be gained through the “the quality of Dasein” (Americans call it “having a good life”).
I truly appreciate that you will “point out when I’m just tripping” and find your “surfer analogy” fruitful: Surfing is ultimately about balance, which has been the central focus of my Qi-Gong practice: It teaches that power (“truth” etc.) comes from flow, and flow comes from relaxation, and relaxation comes from balance/harmony. It is a very demanding discipline, but not in terms of complexity of moves (its very easy), but possible depth of practice throughout a lifetime.
And so when you say “The purpose of abstraction is not to simplify things, but to make them more precise” - I would reply with “The purpose of practice is not to achieve or know things in some distant future, but to find more balance & enjoy the present moment”.
"∞OS – is an open source operating system for the bodymind": https://8os.io/about/
∞OS /eight-os/ – is an open source operating system for the bodymind. Its main objective is to help people find their own agency within and to cultivate their own idea of harmony. We base our approach on a set of principles, which are derived from a very simple idea that everything is based on a wave. We try to cultivate wave-like oscillatory dynamics within our movement, actions, and perception. In a way, ∞OS is a practice of surfing along the waves that you yourself create.
Configuring the Varieties of Experiential Nothingness:
https://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs10s/geozeroc.php
The Kyoto School: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kyoto-school/
The Kyoto School (Kyōto-gakuha) is a group of 20th century Japanese thinkers who developed original philosophies by creatively drawing on the intellectual and spiritual traditions of East Asia, those of Mahāyāna Buddhism in particular, as well as on the methods and content of Western philosophy.
Philosopher of nothingness: From ZEN Buddhism made Japanese philosophy:
"Inner Martial Arts and ZhanZhuang"- #Documentary by HuJinLing:
Shirayama Hime Jinja Shrine:
Entsuin Temple - Miyagi:
Okusawa Shrine in the summer rain:
Iwate Cliffs and Coasts - Iwate
"Dynamics of Neural Recruitment Surrounding the Spontaneous Arising of Thoughts in Experienced Mindfulness Practitioners": https://mindrxiv.org/45awd/
Genomic Profiling of Neutrophil Transcripts in Asian Qigong Practitioners: A Pilot Study in Gene Regulation by Mind–Body Interaction:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7984577_Genomic_Profiling_of_Neutrophil_Transcripts_in_Asian_Qigong_Practitioners_A_Pilot_Study_in_Gene_Regulation_by_Mind-Body_Interaction
Conclusion: Qigong practice may regulate immunity, metabolic rate, and cell death, possibly at the transcriptional level. Our pilot study provides the first evidence that Qigong practice may exert transcriptional regulation at a genomic level. New approaches are needed to study how genes are regulated by elements associated with human uniqueness, such as consciousness, cognition, & spirituality.
Indian teacher seeks to promote China-India cultural exchange through yoga:
An inspiring dialogue between the worlds most populous nations (2.7b people combined). Understanding the explosive political power of yoga etc., the Communist Party clearly is watching closely.
For many around the world, India is inseparable from yoga. When mentioning yoga, many would just simply associate it with all kinds of demanding asana practices. But for Yatindra Dutt Amoli, the ancient activity is more than that.
“Before we came here, we saw that people were more focused on the asana practice. The teachers were not making it clear that yoga is not only about practice, yoga is also philosophy, yoga is also a way of life,” the 36-year-old from an Indian university told CGTN.
In collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the India-China Yoga College was established in Yunnan Minzu University in the southwestern city of Kunming in 2015 and Amoli is just one of the first foreign teachers.
“In the beginning, my life here was very difficult, because I'm from a totally different cultural background and society,” he recalled.
The friendliness of his colleagues and his growing interest in China resulted in him staying in the country longer than he had originally planned. Now, he is trying to impart systematic yoga knowledge to his Chinese students by integrating elements from Chinese culture.
“Gradually I understood that I have to change (my teaching method), I realized that if I teach yoga philosophy, I should teach it from a Taoism, Confucianism, Tai Chi point of view and Qigong point of view, even from their ethnic culture.”
Actually, yoga is usually compared with China’s Tai Chi. For Amoli, the two widely practised activities represent two different cultures, while they also share many similarities. He compares Tai Chi to “moving meditation” and said that yoga and Tai Chi may be different in their process, but they both seek harmony between human beings and nature.
“This is cultural root. Yoga is from our cultural root and Tai chi is from your cultural root. If we communicate through the two mediums, we can cooperate more, even we can go further than cultural issues,” said Amoli.
To promote the cultural exchange, the university has also established a college specializing in Tai Chi and are sending teachers overseas including India.
“Both yoga and Tai Chi are the embodiment of the wisdom of the East. They’re good to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and our universities can play an active role in this regard,” said Lang Gongxun, vice dean of the India-China Yoga College.
He’s gotten used to life here, and Amoli said he wants to continue his stay in China to learn more about the country. He said he wants to find more ways to bring the two cultures together.
“By borders, we can say that you are Chinese, I am Indian. But as a human being, we’re all the same. Our lifestyles are quite rich, culture is quite rich. So we have to understand each other,”
said Amoli, who is obsessed with traditional Chinese classics such as Tao Te Ching, which provides the basis for the philosophical school of Taoism, and Huangdi Neijing, which has been considered as the fundamental doctrinal source for Chinese medicine.
Amoli said, when he went back to India last time, he found that people there knew very little about Chinese culture. “They said China has nothing. China only has Kung Fu,” he added.
Amoli is now devoting himself to learning Chinese. He said when he goes back to India next time or travels to other countries, he would like to tell people about other Chinese cultural treasures.
“I don’t know the political situation, and I am not interested in diplomatic things. I am just interested in cultural issues, and I think it’s time that we learn more from each other.”
"More than 20 million Americans practice yoga. It's an industry worth more than 10billion dollars annually"
Yoga is meant to shape the life. To give a good shape to life. Its a way of living.
"Motivation, Engagement and Thriving in User Experience (METUX)" - A Wellbeing Design Framework for Practice: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00797/full
There is a great need for practical tools to help designers and researchers incorporate wellbeing research into practice. The model provides a framework grounded in psychological research that allows HCI researchers and practitioners to form actionable insights with respect to how technology designs support or undermine basic psychological needs, thereby increasing motivation and engagement, and ultimately, improving user wellbeing.
We propose that in order to address wellbeing, psychological needs must be considered within at least five different spheres of analysis including: at the point of technology adoption, during interaction with the interface, as a result of engagement with technology-specific tasks, as part of the technology-supported behavior, and as part of an individual's life overall. Otherwise, important contradictory effects can be missed. After all, a technology can appear to support wellbeing at one level but severely hinder it at another level (think of tech addiction that provides momentary need-satisfaction at the moment of use but disrupts psychological need satisfaction at the life level.)
An Introduction to Slow Computing:
Paper: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/rmxfk/
Project: http://progcity.maynoothuniversity.ie/2017/12/new-paper-slow-computing/
Abstract: "In this short position paper we examine some of the dimensions and dynamics of the algorithmic age by considering three broad questions. First, what are the problematic consequences of life mediated by ‘algorithm machines’? Second, how are individuals or groups and associations resisting the problems they encounter? Third, how might the algorithmic age be re-envisioned and re-made in more normative terms? We focus on two key aspects of living with ubiquitous computing, ‘acceleration’ and ‘data grabbing,’ which we contend are two of the most prominent and problematic features of the algorithmic age. We then begin to shed light on the sorts of practices that constitute slow computing responses to these issues. In the conclusion, we make the case for a wide-scale embrace of slow computing, which we propose is a necessary step for society to make the most of the undeniable opportunities for radical social change emerging from contemporary technological developments"
ACCELERATION
SLOWING DOWN
CONCLUSION
At the core of traditions like Zen & Daoism lies the appreciation of the deeply paradoxical nature of reality. In the west, paradoxes are seen as side-effects or bugs, in an otherwise perfectly computable universe. Yet the list of paradoxes keeps growing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paradoxes #Mindful