2 wnt. Main Index file: Our purpose is to create a discussion community based on writing.
Writing means that it is not real-time, face to face speaking, so it will become international. (It is in English), but I can supply translations for posts and comments written in other languages.
The purpose of WhyNotThink is improved human relations. We envision a short format investigation of where are the sore-spots that interfere with harmony. The subjects that we propose to treat are our unconscious thoughts and actions that characterize our fellow man. We as a people, don't really know how we operate on many (or all) levels. We rest in false definitions in all these realms.
✓We don't understand how our body/mind operates.
✓We justify our re-activeness, and claim that revenge is a part of "justice".
✓We don't understand how emotions serve us, and how they also enslave us.
✓We don't understand even our most intimate relationships, nor how to improve them.
✓We don't understand the value of our community, and only yearn to leave it for more promising ground. We have no attachment to our “lands”.
✓We have no clue about other mind-sets, other religions, other cultures, other civilizations.
✓We wish that the whole world will adopt our "enlightened view" of civilization, and do everything that we tell them to.
✓Hence we are chauvinists in the full sense of the term.
It is not that “we” know better in all of these realms. It is thought through discussion we can “tease-out” a better way.
The idea has been proposed that here we are like an academic brain-trust, working outside of our university duties. Outside of our duties allows us to be free from university constraints, if our school has any political leanings. I think all institutions that are financed, are sort of lead by the nose through the objectives of the financing authorities. (We're not financed, so we have sovereignty.) Sovereignty means we can follow any discussion to where it naturally leads us, and we DO NOT NEED to tip toe, (sneak around or use “sideways language”). We’re hoping to develop a direct languaging, to say just what we mean.
I really like these ideas. I think that they hold great promise.
(NOTE: We’re putting some subject linkage pages up on the navigation bar, so we will see how that develops. I’ll keep it updated.) Other things will only be here in the Index.
As you see, this site is not only the “guiding vision” of one, of me; where to go and what to do. The premise is that there will be a team, and a team not based on group-thought, but on individual perspectives. All of the team can post their own ideas. The only thing consolidated in the team will be our commitment to building a community of mutual respect. Then from there, each will follow his or her favorite threads. (You, that are reading this, could also get on the team, if you are lacking discussion on your current site). Discussion doesn’t take thousands. In fact, maybe only 1% comment. Discussion only takes your commitment and your engagement. Discussion is always differing opinions, or maybe just questions. that doesn’t mean it is contentious.
So far we have the first few posts with slightly different topics, but all focused on how this community can be structured. Now I have put them into an INDEX file to simplify the main index. The structure (whatever it will become), is the framework for understanding, that will tie the community together.
I am not used to Substack’s search feature, so I am not sure about search. How can we find something that we read last week or last month, and want to refer to again? That is where these Index and sub-indexes come in; and the navigation bar comes into play, and if its structure is well defined, it will point us where to look. Making this organization will be my commitment to you.
Maybe we don't need a flood of posts right now, but to do some individual thinking, and sharing (commenting) on the few posts that we have. This will give us some community direction. They’re all short and to the point, so I won’t put a description. So far, here the index:
19 wnt. INDEX FILE; Our Community
What are the parameters of building group coherence? Well, mutual respect is the first key. Maybe we have similar goals, to experience first hand that your thinking process stimulates new directions in my thinking process. This was my original goal in the dialog. Actually, looking into practice on the Internet, open dialog is pretty rare. Even multip…
** Keep updated on DAN’S POSTS to the right on the Navigation Bar.
__________________________
I just made the “Our Community” Index. I should really categorize the rest of our posts, and make these category sub-folders. Many are now in the categories on the navigation bar. I will work toward that, but for now they are just in chronological order here, on these various topics. Below here are some of the topics:
Sociology - Relationships - Contradictions - Wisdom -History
34 wnt. Self-Knowledge is How we Filter the World
HAVE YOU EVER sat very quietly with closed eyes and watched the movement of your own thinking? Have you watched your mind working—or rather, has your mind watched itself in operation, just to see what your thoughts are, what your feelings are, how you look at the trees, at the flowers, at the birds, at people, how you respond to a suggestion or react to…
33 wnt. Basic Human Motivation
All life needs -sustenance and -safety. Safety must be ongoing through time, so we could call it “security”. Are you insecure? Well, that’s your decision based on the consistency of the past. Even if that past is far from ideal, you have learned to manage it. Within those challenges and confrontations, you have been able to dance around them, for a good…
32 wnt. What is psychological knowledge? Does awareness lead to analysis?
What is knowledge and what do we mean when we say “I know”? You may say, “I know my wife or I know my husband or my girlfriend or boyfriend”. Do you really know them? Can you ever know them? Do you not have an image about them? Is the image the fact or an interpretation? So, to know is very limited. Scientific knowledge is also limited; scientists are t…
31 wnt. TO KNOW YOURSELF is an incredibly difficult Challenge, 2 of 2
Perhaps all my posts lead up to this one, which is the culmination of what I have been saying (Know thyself). It has been an incredible odyssey of discovery in the moment, each day triggered from another link that I follow, and not from any claimed accumulated “wisdom”.
30 wnt. TO KNOW YOURSELF is an incredibly difficult Challenge, 1 of 2
Life is filtered through my confidence in my “self-knowledge”. Perhaps this is as it should be, but whatever I justify to be my self-values, will be how I believe, think, and act. I will attempt to enforce these views upon all those around me, and judge everything and everyone accordingly.
29 wnt. Most people in the world are reactionary
Let's say that an Action is leading with your front-foot. Reaction is leading with your "back-foot". You are at the effect of other people’s agenda. There’s a time lag. If we define ourselves as powerless in this arena, then our reaction is only psychological,
13 L. Ötzi
Once upon a time, a forty-five-year-old, five-foot-two man died crossing the Alps between what is now Italy and Austria. Soon after a storm descended, so his body was sealed and preserved in ice, not to be found again for more than five thousand years.
18 GA. Culture is made within the agreements of each ethno-civilization
Each ethnic group through the centuries, and through geography, (different locations), are bound together by similar experiences and similar interpretations of those experiences. Man finds a reason for what has happened to him, and for his present circumstances. [So-called diversity might be diluting and homogenizing these mind-sets, but until the event…
28 wnt. Efforts Toward Anything can complicate Simple Happiness
You hear the far-off noises as well as those that are nearer and those that are very close by, the immediate sounds—which means, really, that you are listening to everything. Your mind is not confined to one narrow little channel. If you can listen in this way, listen with ease, without strain, you will find an extraordinary change taking place within y…
10 s.i. Is there an ART OF LIVING beyond solving another problem?
We are not wholistic, whole human beings. These are all the fragmented outlooks on life. Could we ever we face a problem from a wholly different vision that is not fragmented? Recognizing that, being aware that we are fragmented, broken up, divided in ourselves, contradictory, opposing one desire against another desire, is it possible that we could face…
9 s.i. Why is KNOWLEDGE incomplete
If we seriously talk over these questions, we both can penetrate into the problem, then it will be your own answer, not the answer of someone you have just heard respond to these questions.
27 wnt. Chasing your tail for security destroys the world
When one looks at all this very closely, objectively, non-sentimentally, non-personally; then you will see that whole set-up brings more insecurity for everybody. And yet the mind, the brain must have security to function efficiently. 1,850 words
8 s.i. Every Ideal is an escape from what you are
Why do I write these things, do I have a teaching to impart? Not Really. I use written expression to consolidate my own understanding of new ideas. Maybe you can share in it?
7 s.i. LOVE IS A VERY MISUSED WORD, signifying almost anything.
IN WHAT WE call love there is dependence, the sense of attachment that comes from loneliness, insufficiency in oneself, not being able to stand alone, therefore leaning on somebody, depending on somebody. We depend on the milkman, the railwayman, the policeman. I am not talking of that kind of dependence, but of psychological dependence with all its pro…
26 wnt. "Thought as a System" by theoretical physicist David Bohm 2 of 2
We are constantly producing situations and things which we don't intend and then we say 'look, we've got a problem'. We don't realize that it is our deeper, hidden conflicting intentions which have produced it, and consequently we keep on perpetuating the problem. So, we must ask 'why do we have this incoherence?' Nobody wants these situations, and yet …
25 wnt. "Thought as a System" by theoretical physicist David Bohm
Bohm is a notable theoretical physicist, who also is developing this thesis on the nature of thought. And he is a pioneer in that he calls, “the process of group dialogue”. I will divide this post in two parts. The first part is this introduction, and the second is an extensive Q&A, (which may or may not be similar to his concept of group dialogue).
24 wnt. World of man's essence, and his made-up world of the symbols-of-essence.
Man is like an amphibian who lives simultaneously in two worlds — water and land. Man lives between the given, and the home-made, the world of matter, life and consciousness — and the world of symbols. In our thinking we make use of a great variety of symbolic-systems—linguistic, mathematical, pictorial, musical, ritualistic. Without such symbol-system…
21 wnt. TEN MINUTES TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Nico Cost, posted Oct 20, 2024 (1,800 words) If you know Nico Cost, where can I find him?
20 wnt. Humanity Believes that the Analog Representation they see, IS REALITY.
With regard to an image: you cannot get an image of Analog, without computer geeks telling you all about digital. (I am not saying analog as opposed to digital. I am not characterizing reality at all.) We know most of reality is not available without instrumentation. Things and their movements are out there, external to us. Do they make up a wholen…
18 wnt. Authentic “being-here” is an experience that we might have lost touch with
I am not going to talk about antiquity just now. Outwardly it should be simple. We wake up, and the first thing noticed is that “the-perceiver” is here-now. But what is it perceiving and why? Let’s make some simplifying definitions and say the human is body/mind. (I won’t include “soul” until direct evidence of it comes into our picture, or that it…
7 u2e. Demographic decline is ignored, but no less lethal than the atomic bomb.
Nearly all countries outside sub-Saharan Africa cannot maintain their population-replacing levels. Some people want to reduce the world population anyway, but they don’t have a feasible plan of how to do it. Other people blithely think that immigration will solve everything. NO IT WON’T,
8 p. Political Democracy without Economic Democracy is Hollow
THIS POST IS SUPPORTIVE TO THE PREVOUS TWO. Basically, we’ve already described one scenario of what it takes to change our system.
7 p. Is “COOPERATISM” another classification, like Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism?
Society continually improves when FAIRNESS is increasing. Society continually degrades when FAIRNESS is consigned to the rubbish heap, (TINA). 4,000 wordsThanks for reading WhyNotThink’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
6 p. The Threats of Big Business; and the Business of Big Threats
What is the “utopian dream”? It is about FAIRNESS. There still can be competition, but not illegal undercutting. It is not only about endless cooperation, or Christian (and other religious) ethics.
18 GA. Is World peace passé in the western mentality?
Let me ask:Thanks for reading WhyNotThink’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.✓Are you connected with any movement for world peace? ✓Do you know anyone working for world peace? ✓Do you know of any world peace movement, either in your area or in the nation as a whole? ✓Do you think that world peace is a value that will…
5 p. Are Geriatrics Running the World? It Sure Looks like it.
It’s in terms of kind of a prophecy, or is it just another science fiction. But the future is not either/or. It is a journey with a million deviations along the way. Each junction could have some precedence, some basis for assuming how it will turn.
17 GA. Language can carve out a new space, (an expanded context), where new thoughts can develop
Therefore, it is very difficult to see pure thought for what it might be. Belief is the arbitrary choice to close the space of unknowing. It has a practical aspect to move forward with what we have now. Perhaps you can move forward even without a full “knowing”, and keep investigation alive. If altering my language can alter my living space and yield…
16 GA. The Cognitive Evolution of Mankind
[I view this article as a springboard for contemplation, not as the proof of a position.]
This is a post I made on Argomend, cross posted here.
15 GA. "If you don't know history, you will always remain a child"
This will be the introductions to investigations on the origin of language. What has language meant to humanity? (I hope you’ll find it interesting.)
12 L. World rural poverty as seen through one small Chinese village, 2nd excerpt.
First, I will give a background on Chinese villages, during Mao’s time, but it’s similar going back centuries. Charts and graphs usually demonstrate economic conditions, but a better understanding comes from actual people, what they earned, and what they could do with that money. Rigorous accounting was an important part of the commune system, to ensur…
10 L. Reflection on the Definition of Poverty. (a snapshot)
Human needs are met with assets, and skills that know how to employ those assets. (2,300 words) In the modern age we think of capital mostly as Financial Capital. We have money in the bank, and investments. We may have land with buildings that are useful to ourselves, or others that we rent them out to. We have factories, machinery, trained workers, th…
9 L. The Jewish Diaspora supports a Jewish Ethnic State
cross post from Library4Conciliation
5 p. An old theater monologue can have more to say about current events than a direct essay.
[This is performed on Youtube in a couple of places. One is an hour, and one is an hour and a half. I will tell you more about it later, maybe in a comment. I present the transcript, also because I shortened it much, and “cleaned-it-up”.] My name is PERSPECTIVES. Perspectives are different ways to interpret what we see. Perhaps our current perspecti…
14 G.A. Speech Acts Define our Possibilities
(1,500 words). Supposedly-sophisticated people sometimes use their language in a disguised way. I speak these codes, and it is up to you (if you are hip to it) to decode them. It is true that some cultures speak in very indirect ways, Japan for example. I am not considering the many cultural variations in what is considered correct speech. Let’s just …
13 GA. Contradictions appear in life
I am going to propose that contradictions are verbal constructs. Of course, all of modern life (urbanization) is a verbal construct, so that gives the contradiction weight within our society. In another society, they may be weightless. When our mental capacity cannot make a plausible reason for our circumstances, we feel at risk, and feel that somethin…
8 L. At Some Times Zionism’s thoughts were to be more Inclusive
But it was foiled. (4,000 words) This is a cross-post from my latest publication on an “anti-Semitism thread”. I rarely treat topics of such present interest, because so many of them are very polarizing. My site is about bringing people together, not further polarizing them. Also Why Not Think is a “non-polarizing” site. Plenty of other sites treat t…
17 wnt. Book review (4), “Talking from 9 to 5, Deborah Tannen
We tend to like our own style, and therefore feel that those that don’t match-up to our way of talking, are somehow deficient. If they talk softly, we may read-in that they are not confident. If they monopolize talking over listening, we might think they are proving themselves superior. If they have a “machine-gun style” with no pauses, they live in t…
16 wnt. Book review (3), “Talking from 9 to 5, Deborah Tannen
[Please think about these posts: They are actionable precepts that you can see the use of, and put into practice “right now”. (If they make sense to you.) Our site objects to talking in the abstract, or proposing things that the-other must do to make any difference, or even flying high with the metaphysical or in mysticism.]
15 wnt. Book review (2), “Talking from 9 to 5, Deborah Tannen
Again, with rituals, we consider a one-up position and the one-down position. Emotional response seems to be tied to this “prestige hierarchy”. Also it is boring, if someone is always demanding to appear on top. Maybe they do it because they’ll be more likely to be promoted above their one-down colleague?
14 wnt. book review (1), “Talking from 9 to 5, Deborah Tannen
This book is really “earth shattering” about developing understanding, collaboration and cohesion. Tannen, (78) has written about a dozen books on communication styles. This one is about the work setting, but I think it contains all of her expertise.
12 GA. Several steps to understanding human tools-of-the-mind
[I’d like to go back to the beginning just for a moment, if I can get away with it. If you’ll bear with me?) Background: Was there a “pre-verbal” human existence? That is pure conjecture based on our Darwinian theory of life. Why would I want to get tangled in conjecture of any kind? How will it support my understanding?
6 u2e. What is an authentic life?
It is a life-long individual project of sorts: to become the truest, finest, most harmonious and complete version of oneself. In contrast to an authentic life are lives characterized by alienation, reaction, artificiality, mindlessness, discordance, and cliché. This former view of life underscores your and my potential for taking charge of our lives a…
11 GA. Let's look into Edward De Bono, the famous author of "Lateral Thinking".
I don't really know what his "Lateral Thinking concept is, since I didn't read his book. He wrote 57 books and made a lifetime career out of it. Lateral Thinking was written in 1967. Included in it are four types pf thinking:1. Tools to break current patterns, 2. Tools to focus where there are new ideas, 3. Tools to gather the generated output, 4. Tool…
10 GA. Build on the good in society, while completely rejecting its destructive elements?
1. Culture is a system of symbols; more specifically, it is a historically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in these symbols. It is the summation of diverse inherited concepts expressed in symbolic form, which we communicate with. We perpetuate and develop our presumed knowledge-about, and our attitudes-towards life. Is there a way to break a…
4 p. More about the CULTURE OF SILENCE. It is real.
[Perhaps the 3 monkeys would be a good image, but I didn’t use it because it feels too old, like I already know that.] There is a definition of it in the dictionary: “A conspiracy of silence, or culture of silence, describes the behavior of a group of people that by unspoken consensus does not mention, discuss, or acknowledge given subjects. The practice…
5 u2e. Cross-post from my site, this one on Educational Anecdotes
I have just started a series with an overview of education in America. What could be more fundamental that the school system? Once upon a time with illiteracy, they were a minor influence. But now they put their indelible stamp on everything. And they are very-very different, mostly locally administrated.
4 u2e. Parts of the world are a sick place through distorted Linguistic Systems
Our language and our belief structure were inherited, because when we were born, we didn't have either. A study of our culture is therefore needed to trace the stereotypes of thought that were passed down through the ages. It is not totally clear, because while aggressiveness protected us from marauders, it also was reflected by those we attacked. Whe…
3 u2e. I propose that attention is captured, (directed) by a feeling
External Feelings come from your 5 senses. Every incoming vector is recognized and self-explained. Even when you are just sitting "doing nothing", the feeling is your normal muscle tone, your breathing, and your weight in the chair. "No external feeling" is when you are in surgery, or under other drugs, or asleep.
2 u2e. Wisdom can come in incredibly short twists
(We’re not necessarily saying how to achieve these things.) But we can also get into that. "Longing and discontent are calling you to a better life." "Doubt and fear are the voice of the status quo." "Take command of which thoughts you think." “You’ll never become great until you have overcome anxiety, worry, and fear, because all perceptions are distorted …
8 GA. Human Perception
We're all alive and living in a society, (those who are reading this), so whatever our different means of perception, they all work for our self-preservation. Isn't that enough? Each one of us have perceptions colored a little bit differently, depending on how we were taught to "look at things". If these differences are not too diverse, then all of us c…
1 u2e. Let's have a Wisdom Corner
What is Wisdom? Let's travel through some dictionary terms: ✓The natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand. ✓Knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life. ✓The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; to have an insight.
7 GA. Memory is our Identity
THERE HAS BEEN AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION ON MEMORY, so what else can we say? We can assess our basic human tools, and ask some questions about them. Some of them have certain tendencies or limitations which we can keep track of. Maybe we'll find work-arounds.
11 wnt. Linguistic Model of Behavior
In the long term, they may coalesce. That takes the study of history (to understand the long term, history of the environment also). I phrased it “what” is good/bad. But I didn’t give any properties to that WHAT. Let’s say that “what” is human behavior, of self and others. But behavior doesn’t just drop from the sky. It happens through a felt bodily…
7 L. Expertise without substance: it's too icky to know anything more.
[This was going to be a comment on 2 pp. proxy for Hate, but now I made it into a post.] ICKY refers to things, the thought of which, or the sight of which produces a very negative bodily feeling. Disgusting, yucky, horrible, offensive, unpalatable, revolting, horrid, repellent, displeasing, sickening, vile, rotten, bad, loathsome. Icky is the convictio…
2 pp. A Proxy for HATE allows the illusion of an Advanced Civilization
Correct it, either with laws, diplomacy or with force, no need for Hate. Or hate is just a way to get everyone to agree with the next aggressive program. [To suggest that your base-emotions can be practiced through someone else might seem offensive. Maybe it is? You will know if it doesn’t apply to you. Just look; proxies do get some offensive things…
6GA. What can we say about human thought?
In the human experience we can manipulate images, and they can either be tied to our present input from the 5 senses, or images that can diverge from the present moment into our concepts and memories. Thinking of the past or the future, and all kinds of other imaginations. In all cases these images are a model, separated from what they are modeling.
6 L. Poisonous Politics are Dividing America - IS THAT TRUE?
Diversity means a difference of beliefs and a difference in the common stereo-types of behavior. Racial traits might be a marker for those differences, but not the cause. The differences arose because of differing necessities, living in separate geographies and with different neighbors. How quickly can these differences assimilate or find a new "medi…
1 pp. DISCONTENT is the foundation of the western capitalist countries, satisfied only by CONSUMPTION
If you misuse language to call “Envy” as Equal Opportunity, Democracy and Human Rights, you are misinformed, or are you just disguising your covetousness tendency. Capitalism has certain inherent problems and certain definite tendencies, which you (right now) readily play along with. I will attempt to explain it here., (in 1,800 words).
2 dbt. Science has a term, “Space/Time Continuum”, What’s That?
[Here we will set out various views from separate people. It is a seed of debate, that can continue in the comments.] You could call these polemical questions. The best answer might be, So-What? Just get along with your day. Or if we have to say something,
9 wnt. Why do Bloggers Blog, and How and Why do Followers Read?
Professional authors need financial support if they want to make a full-time effort. At Why Not Think, we blog for fun, personal understanding and for our own growth. It is not better or worse, just different. Our objective is to foster discussion. I would say that this is NOT the observed purpose nor trend on Substack.
1 dbt. Ancient mankind lived only in an oral tradition, what’s the difference from now?
[Remember a couple posts back I introduced a model, with the post, “8 wnt. Is WOKE a Collectivist Threat against Liberalism, or against Civilization as we know it?] First, I had better start here with more questions than propositions. That way I’ll get things going without imprinting my “slant” on it. Second, if you want to follow this, either make a…
2.A. Be Self-Centered
This is a companion piece to a piece I wrote for my own blog, The Professional Amateur. In that piece, I talk about my experiences writing other people’s college application essays, how I would tackle them if I had to do it myself, and how I would try to get a dog an MBA. Reading that first is optional but recommended for your enjoyment.
8 wnt. Is WOKE a Collectivist Threat against Liberalism, or against Civilization as we know it?
Woke is certainly loud enough for us to perk up and take note. But my theory is that the volume comes from behind, and not from the innate power of the movement. Let’s see. THIS IS TOO LONG-WINDED FOR OUR METHODOLOGY. But please bear with me. (2,600 words)
7 wnt. Can Self-Expression be expanded? How far?
Other people might insist that you ARE your history, where you have been and what you have done, your university degrees or travel, sports ability etc. That trajectory might have landed you in your present position, but how you got there is now just a string of memories, and therefore just a bundle of thoughts.
5L. How can ideals, aims, and aspirations; be more attainable in concrete terms.
All of social science is about cultivating a sense of agency. Having a sense of agency does not mean thinking “I’m special”. Instead, it has to do with being a person in the world, and your relationship with that world. It’s what you see when you look at the world. Even if what you see is not necessarily right, you still need to be clear about your way …
5 GA. Are our values abstract or do some have more substance?
“Construal-level theory” is a theory in social psychology that describes the relation between psychological distance and the extent to which people's thinking is abstract or concrete. The general idea is that the more distant an object is from the individual, the less detailed and more abstract it will be thought of, while the closer the object is, the …
4 GA. Recall is a continuum between memory and forgetfulness
This is an example of creating a verbal context. Context one: I used to remember, but now I forget. Context two: I never remember or forget anything. I only “recall”, at different speeds. The proof is lying in bed in the morning with eyes closed. Images will pop-up from earlier work life, or schooling or even from 5 years old. Why aren’t those images …
4 L. What we call idealism is first a form of transcendence
Everything is produced little by little, so we need to pay attention to the material processes of production. Things that look really big, like global, long-distance commerce, are in fact made up many of small links. If you think about it in this way, it’s a fairly good way to work and a good attitude toward life.
1.A. On Closure in Stories
Beginnings and Endings Birth and death. Question and answer. Theory and hypothesis. Action and consequence. All of these things have one thing in common – something is articulated, and we formulate a response. Something begins, it is explored, and then, it ends. Books, issues, lives, questions, theories – all of these things are opened, and then closed. …
6 wnt. We examine contexts as a way to (perhaps), simplify contradictions
Everyone is part of an ethos. Every ethos has a cultural embeddedness, which is their way of looking at things. That stereo-type of thought and behavior is how a culture achieves coherence. It is a raw necessity. The mechanism is a language-based agreement that also evokes an emotional response, which is like the energy level that ensures activation …
3 L. Quite often my focus is on Sociology
In other words you would say, I prefer not to use my time to solve your reoccurring problems, but to look more toward my own benefits. But if society is out of balance, even if it is skewed toward me, then stability cannot happen, and some of my time is consumed with social justice, or the lack of it.
5 wnt. Discussion means looking at all sides of an argument
To better give a demonstration, sometimes we choose a writing or a video from a notable person, and analyze his (or her) underlying words. It is not that we know-better, but we can propose several altered foundational assumptions and see if that makes any difference in the outcome.
2L. What Sociological Science calls for is a kind of intellectual activism
(1,000 words) Any real problem is a local problem. One of our biggest problems now is that social research and analysis have become excessively globalized. To get a handle on a local problem, you need to keep a certain distance from the generalized abstract global discourse, but at the same time you need to maintain a global vision, accurately locating t…
I’ll put this one, 4wnt. down here for now and say it is about contradictions.
4 wnt, Artificial Intelligence is the new catch phrase.
Modern people are ready to say AI, without really understanding what it could be. I really don't know a thing about it technically? But I do machine translations, and AI has a way-bigger vocabulary than I do. I am learning new words every day with it.
3 GA. All Conventional Wisdom lives within a context
I want to check; Conventional wisdom guides us in certain realms, it ✓creates a playing field where we can move with it, ✓it may resolve some problems related to it, and it may also be ✓the cause of other problems, side effects, even more problematic.
Here are a few mini-intros:
Hello, I am WhyNotThink. The original name was Why Not Think Differently, but we opted for the short form. I didn’t say that to indicate that you are not thinking. (Is it too provocative?) This site hopes to be a discussion forum, were we can discover how other people look at things. (And weigh it for our circumstances.)
For now, I don’t know what subjects we will treat? My handle is a QUESTION, so does that mean I am open to see? Maybe my subject will be to ask questions. I hope that doesn’t become annoying. It might seem that I am chipping away at your argument? I am not; I just want to dig deeper, if we can.
In a way, we’ll all have “flexible roles”. The role of a new post is to put an “imperfect idea” out there. I call it un-formed, because if we post what everyone already agrees upon, there is no point in a discussion. So each of us will take turns in posting something that we’ve been thinking about, or something that we just saw that could be stimulating.
Without sure subjects, let this Index just be to introduce our participants for now. But we’ll see soon enough about their thinking process.
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Hello, I am Librarian. They call me that because I offer books on my Substack. I serially publish them one chapter at a time. I have tons of them ready, way into the next year. My problem is that I talk a lot. Besides, books are very long posts. I have a lot of ideas though. That is because a lot of my site is devoted to ancient history, and we are recycling so much of the old paradigm.
What from the past is a good idea for today’s problems??? I think NOTHING, really. We have to invent something completely new. Then we have to figure out how to test it, and finally to implement it, if it proves good. That is the realm of Geo-politics, which I don’t much get into. You can talk and talk about a lot of things, but some powerful forces are most often going to block you. So it is a playing field of grid-lock.
Here I hope that we can consider things that can get done, maybe just in our personal lives for starters. Don’t we have to move from small successes?
My first post is about where to find something new? Where you haven’t been looking, is the short answer. (And I didn’t talk too much on it.)
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I am Global Advances. “Advances” is a good one, isn’t it. Maybe we are advancing down the drain. Can that momentum be somehow used to create a revelation? That must be what this discussion group is all about.
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I like the idea of dialog, although it seems pretty rare. I call myself "dialogs4change", because "change" means something happens. I am not "into" talking to move hot-air. Topics should have a concrete connection to my place in the material world. Maybe they should have an actual plan for implementation?
What are your subjects? If any resonate with my interests, I would want to comment on them. I suppose that I ought to say some of the things I am interested in.
I could talk about relationship. I think we can defuse Emotion. What is the pathway into Equanimity, and is it useful? Why do I think what I think? Why do I act the way I (re)act? Let's consider the linkages Belief/Thought/Emotion/Doing/Results/Interpretation/Justification/Verification-of-Belief (OR; could there be a modification of belief?) Well, that is some of it.
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