He who abides with letters will remain in ignorance.
- Zen parable
Language is a framework in which to communicate ideas. Ideas take form within the structure and diction of languages. Human nature dictates that ideas be broken down into understandable terms. This much is obvious. What is not so obvious is that all linguistic structures contain inherent biases towards the culture that a particular language evolved from, and by extension is limited by the same structures and diction.
This is part of the reason translation between languages is sometimes a difficult task. Often times the word in one language simply doesn't exist in another. The concept that the word represents is simply outside the thought construct of that culture. Take for instance, words like heathen in the English Christian tradition would translate to infidel in Arabic or gentile from the Hebrew. All these words are synonymous. "Outsider" as seen by each language. The perspective of the communicator and the audience is difference. In a word: context. This creates the "box" in which a communicator shapes his ideas.
Within each language and culture there exists further division in the form of subcultures. This is the language of specialization. We as a species are tribal creatures. Within each religion, profession, or hobby exists a specialized language that enhances communication by using terms and phrases that represent common ideas and concepts that are exclusive to that group. An easily identifiable example of this is "geek speak". Full of acronyms and terms that are jargon to people who don't have a certain level of proficiency with computers and the subcultures that comprise it. While it enhances communication from within it also serves the purpose of keeping nonmembers out. Again, this is basic human instinct. People who understand the lingo are insiders, those that don't are outsiders.
Look at any political or religious site to easily see this in action. Right wing people label everyone not like them as a "liberal". Left wing people refer to everyone else not sharing their opinion as "conservative". We like to label ideas and concepts. This provides an illusory framework for us to feel as though we have an understanding of the idea or concept described, even if we do not. It is important for us to believe that we understand the world around us, even when we do not. Otherwise we are left without the feeling that we know what things are and how they relate to everything else. In another word: chaos.
This is the mechanism that is exploited by communicators who recognize the power of language to manipulate you to support their idea.
This makes true objectivity a fantasy. Once one is aware that this is so, it becomes the first step towards true understanding. Everything must be questioned through ones awareness of inherent bias of the communicator. Once you are aware of the "box", you may be able to think outside of it. Politicians are infamous for manipulating unconscious bias of their respective audience through language. If you are unaware of your own inherent subjectivity, your "box", then you will have little understanding of the world around you.
The focuses on the things that make us different help us collectively categorize ideas: A prisoner of the box. A focus on questioning what an idea is, where it comes from, and what it means on a conscious level helps us understand each other and the world around us. Question everything, trust nothing. Experience reality from your own awareness knowing your own inherent bias. Then you will begin to be free.
While Windows XP is definately M$'s best client OS to date it can sometimes be a royal pain. Especially , in the hands of a luser. Oh well, thems the breaks I guess. Thanks God its Friday!
Recently one of my friends, a computer wizard, paid me a visit. As we were talking I mentioned that I had recently installed Windows XP on my PC. I told him how happy I was with this operating system and showed him the Windows XP CD. To my surprise he threw it into my microwave oven and turned it on. Instantly I got very upset, because the CD had become precious to me, but he said: 'Do not worry, it is unharmed.' After a few minutes he took the CD out, gave it to me and said: 'Take a close look at it.' To my surprise the CD was quite cold to hold and it seemed to be heavier than before. At first I could not see anything, but on the inner edge of the central hole I saw an inscription, an inscription finer than anything I had ever seen before. The inscription shone piercingly bright, and yet remote, as if out of a great depth:
12413AEB2ED4FA5E6F7D78E78 BEDE820945092OF923A40EElO E5 I OCC98D444AA08EI
'I cannot understand the fiery letters,' I said in a timid voice. 'No but I can,' he said. 'The letters are Hex, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Microsoft, which I shall not utter here. But in common English this is what it says:
One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them, One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
It is only two lines from a verse long known in System-lore:
"Three OS's from corporate-kings in their towers of glass, Seven from valley-lords where orchards used to grow, Nine from dotcoms doomed to die, One from the Dark Lord Gates on his dark throne In the Land of Redmond where the Shadows lie. One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them, One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Redmond where the Shadows lie."'
Well all, its been descent into the maelstrom of insanity your friendly neighbourhood Deviant1. Years of cube dwelling have finally taken their toll. My mind has snapped like a dry twig. Anyone who has known me for any length of time will say, "Yep, it was bound to happen and probably sooner rather than later."
Fear not though! As soon as my tinfoil hat arrives I should be well on my way to recovery. The metal cube frame has magnified the rays coming in from the aliens via the CIA. That and the political blogs here at tblog. Nevermore will I be a hypnoslave because I NOW know that the key is to wear the tinfoil hat shiny side out. That’s the key! Otherwise not only do the hypno rays get in it actually magnifies them!
So, with my trusty makeshift tinfoil hat I will wander the streets of Toronto battling the forces of Evil! Well, maybe bitterly complain about stuff like most Canadians, or at least maybe give some change to the bums (hey its good karma: buddies green crayon sign said so!). Wherever there is an office bully, I'll be there! Where there is a completely idiotic directive from management, I'll be there! Whenever some asshole takes the elevator for one fucking floor, I'll be there. Whenever the next asinine memo about pure bullshit lands on a desk, I'll be there! Whenever an uppity administrative assistant for a VP tries to push their misdirected vicarious weight around, I'll be there to bitch slap that smug look of self-importance off their useless empty heads!
Bwooo hahahahahaha! Vengence will be mine! & nbsp;
The Corporation: the pathological pursuit of profit and power
"Since Rachel Carson's Silent Spring began to expose the abuses of the modern industrial system, there has been a growing awareness that profit at the expense of Earth--of individuals, society, and the environment--is unsustainable. Joel Bakan has performed a valuable service to corporations everywhere by holding up a mirror for them to see their destructive selves as others see them. The clarion call for change is here for all who would listen." -Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, a multi-billion dollar company
What this book and documentary does basically comes from the premise that governments have granted corporations “personhood”. From that kind of “person” is a coporation? After examination by psychologists Bakan concludes that the entity is fundamentally psychopathic. How is a corporation’s personality psychopathic? Consider the following:
DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for psychopathy that the Corporation fits: &n bsp; &nb sp;
The operational principles of the corporation give it a highly anti-social “personality”:It is self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful; it breaches social and legal standards to get its way; it does not suffer from guilt, yet it can mimic the human qualities of empathy, caring and altruism.
The first assertion should be obvious, self-interest is what corporations are all about. As a matter of fact, its custodians are legally mandated to maximize profit to the company or face legal action. That is their job, As Sam Gibara, Chairman of Goodyear Tire, explains, “If you really had a
free hand, if you really did what you wanted to do that suited your personal thoughts and your personal priorities, you’d act differently.“ the CEO and the Board Of Directors have a single-minded goal to make money for the shareholders, at any expense.
Which brings us to the second assertion, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful. There are too many examples of harm to the workers and society at large to mention here. One prime example of the absolutely disgusting practice of “dead peasant’s insurance”. I could not believe that companies do this. Large corporations will put out life insurance policies on Average Joe Worker, usually without consent, claim it as a tax write off then collect when you die. Think Walmart, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble are good companies? Good corporate “citizens”? They will profit off your death. Your poor family can’t afford a funeral for you because you made slave-wage earnings at Walmart, sorry, the beneficiary is “Walmart”. Wether or not this practice is legal, I can not think of anything more “inherently amoral, callous and deceitful”.
I think that ties nicely to the next assertion that the corporate person breaches social and legal standards to get its way. Its way is to externalize any possible cost, to anyone else, regardless of its effect on anything (except profit, of course). You don’t have to look much farther than the EPA to see this coming. The worst offenders are huge corporations that externalize costs onto the environment and the relative fines are miniscule. To them it is just the “cost of doing business” makes perfect sense financially, very poor sense for everyone that has to live within the constraints of our limited environment.
Guilt? Non existent within corporate culture. As I stated before, the top officials are mandated by law to make decisions for the corporation on behalf of the stockholders: profit. To do otherwise is to shirk your corporate responsibility to the company. Yet these same individuals are mostly shielded from prosecution. Enron, anyone?
What is really scary is the public face that corporations put on in order to keep the goodwill of the populace. They spend billions on advertising and PR in order to put you at ease, McDonalds commercials with athletic people working out in them, promoting a healthy lifestyle. Giving money to various charities that give them further tax breaks, etc. These are “good deeds” by corporations to win your trust, if anything actually cost them on the bottom line they would be yanked in a minute.
So what am I saying? Dismantle the corporate form and lets all be communists and work on the collective farms and such? Hardly. I believe in free-enterprise. Reform and regulation is needed. You have been hearing (probably since childhood, if you live in the US) that government regulation is “bad for business”. Anyone who speaks out is a “godless communist”. Corporations have spent billions feeding this to all of us. Do you know by now why that is?
This form of business has risen in the last 150 years to become the dominant form on this planet. There power now rivals that of government, without regulation this power will increase to overshadow the entities that created them, governments. Want to see what will happen to the average person’s quality of life when this happens and as environmental protections disappear and workers die? Just do nothing, and see what happens.
beau·ty ; ( P ) n. pl. beau·ties 1. The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality. 2. One that is beautiful, especially a beautiful woman. 3. A quality or feature that is most effective, gratifying, or telling: The beauty of the venture is that we stand to lose nothing. 4. An outstanding or conspicuous example: “Hammett's gun went off. The shot was a beauty, just slightly behind the eyes” (Lillian Hellman)
This seems woefully inadequate. I am not sure that my concept of the term means the same thing at all. Although, I do understand the context in which the term has been used above. So what is the essence of the idea? I think beauty is an expression of acceptance of truth of reality. Everything has it. This is because all things are ultimately apart of one great reality. That beauty is expressed in truth. You may call it creation, or existance if the term suits you better. Ultimately, everything is an apect of a greater whole.
In American Beauty, Ricky Fitts' filmed a plastic bag floating around in the wind for 15 minutes. This was his epiphany:
Ricky Fitts : It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in.
One can not learn this from a book, or from a movie or anywhere else. such realizations of the beauty of reality must be experienced personally and within the context of your own perspective of this truth. Ricky Fitts realized this by watching a plastic bag in the wind. That was his path. Mine would be obviously different. So would yours. This saying from the Zen puts it better than I can:
"The Great Way has no gate, A thousand roads enter it. When one passes through this gateless gate, He freely walks between heaven and earth."
- Preface to the Mumonkan
Essentially, this means that there is no single path to truth and the realization that it IS beauty. You must experience this in your own way and in your own time. Lester Burnham had his realization just before he got shot. His path to realization was much different. But He got there and thats the kicker. This was what He had to say about it:
Lester Burnham : [narrating] I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined my street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday.
That is how I feel today, in awe of existance, and gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life.
