H ύπαρξη μας ως κύτταρα της Γης // Quotes ~ Αποφθέγματα ΧΙΙI

Transcript του παραπάνω απίστευτου βίντεο…

Κι αν είμαστε λοιπόν απλά κύτταρα στον μεγάλο ζωντανό οργανισμό που λέγεται Γη; Θα μπορούσαμε να το ξέρουμε; Τα κύτταρα μας ξέρουν ότι είναι κομμάτια μας; –άσχετα αν πεθαίνουν από μόνα τους, ή εμποδίζουν τον πολλαπλασιασμό τους αν αυτό είναι εις βάρος του οργανισμού. Το να μην εμποδίζουν τον ανεξέλεγχτο πολλαπλασιασμό τους και να μην πεθαίνουν στην ώρα τους για το καλό του οργανισμού το λέμε με μια λέξη ΚΑΡΚΙΝΟ.

Αν είμαστε απλά κύτταρα του οργανισμού που λέγεται Γη, ποιο όργανο της θα μπορούσαμε να είμαστε; Ο εγκέφαλος; Θα μπορούσαμε να σχηματίσουμε μια κοινή ανθρώπινη συνείδηση, ένα όργανο, αντί να δρούμε μονάχα σαν εγωκεντρικά κύτταρα που τα ενδιαφέρει μόνο το DNA τους και τα μιτοχόνδρια τους; (υποσημείωση: όλα τα κύτταρα ενός οργανισμού περιέχουν το DNA του — τι θα μπορούσε να είναι αυτό το οποίο αντίστοιχα ενώνει εμας με όλα τα έμψυχα όντα του πλανήτη αλλά, γιατί όχι, και αυτά τα οποία θα λέγαμε άψυχα;)

Ξεκινώντας από το 19:20 του παραπάνω βίντεο:

Lets look first at why a cell in the body becomes cancerous. In the centre of each cell are the genes. They contain the information that keep you functioning as a single living organism, rather than just a bowl of biological soup. Now if the genes in a cell are disturbed, that cell may become selfish, . . it may no longer support the system as a whole, but instead go off, doing its own thing, at the expense of the body , – – it becomes a cancer.

Now when we consider human beings in a community, we are looking at an organisation of minds. And the parallel to the genes is now to be found in the centre of minds, at our inner cores. Its that deepest level of inner wisdom which many mystics and philosophers have often spoken of. That inner awareness of being much more than we normally experience – a part of something much greater. and when we loose touch with this inner wisdom we also become selfish cells, out of touch with the needs of society as a whole, living at the expense of each other.

The philosopher Alan Watts referred to this selfish isolated way of existence as “the skin encapsulated ego”. What’s inside the skin is me – and what’s outside the skin is not me. Biologically speaking this is, of course, true – we are each separate biological individuals. But it is not the whole truth. We are much more than that . . we are creatures with an inner life – with an existence that stretches beyond our biological identity. We become stuck in this limited way of seeing ourselves because the real self, our deepest sense of ”

I” – what some call the pure self – is actually very hard to grasp. Trying to describe that deeper sense of self is very much like trying to describe a hole in a piece of wood. If you ask people to describe a hole such as this, they may start by saying “Well, its a round hole”, you say “Yes”, they say “It’s a wooden hole, and its red”. But you say “Hang on, the hole isn’t wood, the hole isn’t red. And they say “Ah-ha the hole is black”, “No, that’s the background”. And suddenly they’re stuck – what’s the hole? How do you describe the hole itself, without describing its surroundings?

In a similar way, it is very difficult to grasp and define our own inner sense of self. Instead we tend to describe our selves in terms of what surrounds us. . . our many possessions . . the roles we play, our social status . . our beliefs – both scientific and religious. . .

This limited sense of identity may not in itself seem very dangerous, but it does have some far- reaching consequences. . . It turns out that many of the ways in which we mistreat and abuse the environment stem from our seeing the world as separate from ourselves. We may take fairly good care of what is inside the skin, but we don’t care nearly so well for what is outside the skin.

As the late Gregory Bateson said; “If this, meaning this me versus the world attitude, if this is your estimate of your relationship to nature, and you have advanced technology, your likelihood of survival will be that of a snowball in hell. You will die either of the toxic by-products of your own hate, or simply, of over-population and over-grazing”.

And Bateson went on to say “That if I’m right the whole of our thinking of what we are, what other people are, has got be be restructured. The most important task today is to learn to think in a new way”.

 

Weird Papalagi and a Fake Samoan Chief: a footnote to the noble savage myth

Ανακάλυψα αυτό το κείμενο στα αγγλικά που αποδεικνύει την πλαστότητα του Ο Παπαλάγκι. Στενοχωρήθηκα πολύ. Αλλά αξίζει μια ανάγνωση και έναν συλλογισμό: τι σημαίνει το ότι το βιβλίο δεν είναι αυθεντικό, πού φτάνει ο εθνοκεντρισμός του συγγραφέα, πόσο, όπως ο αναλυτής του παραπάνω σχολιάζει, κάθε τέτοια προσπάθεια δεν είναι κι αυτή μια προέκταση της Ευρωπαϊκής αποικιοκρατίας, ανάλογη θα προσέθετα εγώ στον διαχωρισμό των παιδιών που πεινάνε σε μετα-αποικιακές χώρες της Αφρικής…

Όποια και να είναι η ιστορία πίσω από την διαφαινόμενη σκευωρία πίσω από αυτό το βιβλίο, δεν με απέτρεψε από το να βρω μια κάποια βαθύτερη αλήθεια πίσω από κάποιες από τις γραμμές του. Do I also desire to be deceived, I wonder?

BABEL: from the Biblical story to the González Iñárritu film

This is my assignment for my Great Works of Art course in Aarhus. I wrote it last December but just now remembered to share it.

Full text (.PDF)

Abstract:

The biblical story of the Tower of Babel hints at a perfect, common language that humans apparently used to possess which almost allowed them to reach the heavens. Using and analysing Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s 2006 film Babel, I shall compare the two Babels and how they deal with miscommunication. I will show that the kind of perfect language that the biblical story details is impossible to exist, because of the inevitable (mis)uses of language such as lying, and I will explain how verbal, as well as nonverbal communication, their short-comings and strengths and their portrayal, make the 2006 film a great work of art.

Danish Diaries #15: Finale (?) and some thoughts on blogging in general

More than a month has passed since I came back from Denmark. I’ve been thinking: “I’ll write a nice big post that sums it all up! I’ll say what I loved and hated about Denmark and its people, what new experiences that place gifted me with” and so on and so forth.

So far, I have had no motivation to write that post whatsoever. I just don’t feel like doing it. My experience from Denmark, as time passes, becomes more and more confused in my head. Details are slipping away. My skills in Danish, after months of understandable, no, welcome unuse, are leaving me like the alcohol leaves a boiling pot of rakomelo. I get more and more tired of talking about Denmark when people ask for the simple reason that I feel as if I have not many interesting things to say. I mean, what: “Yeah, it was kind of boring and mundane most of the time, Denmark and the Danes were a disappointment for the most part, but the Erasmus experience was nice, I met new people and made great friends” blah blah blah. I’m just feeling kind of indifferent towards the past few months of my life abroad. It was generally an uninspiring experience. The most inspiration came from the people I met that became my new international friends, the ones that gave me the great motivation that made me want to learn new languages — I’m hyped to say I’m studying German and Spanish and feeling great about it. But other than that…

A good thing it left me with, no question, is even more of a sense of being a good friend of myself, just doing my own thing and having fun. This kind of independence, welcome as it is, also has left me a little bit scared. Lots of times I prefer staying alone and doing whatever it is I like doing each day than meeting friends or going out. Aarhus had me sharpen my introvert side to a bleeding sheen, made me just accept who I am including probable and improbable manifestations of myself depending on the circumstances and people and all that. But right now, I feel… not exactly not sociable, no. I want to get to know new people, sure. It’s just that I’m in the phase of “but where are all the nice people at? They must not exist at all”. Which is of course a delusion of extraordinary magnitude and unfortunately a very common one among our generation.

Another thing that’s happening the past few weeks is that I don’t really feel like writing or talking about what I’m doing. I’m conscious that, right now, I prefer just living, honing my skills and spending my free time in various ways and just not talking about it at all. Who knows? Maybe it’s because I feel as if I have no-one to talk to? I mean, even my blog. Even if I write here, what’s the point? This, the point: I’m trying to figure it out. Why not just go out and live rather than sit here, essentially boasting? I started off this blog with the idea to “write things worth reading or do things worth writing”. I certainly have done so in the past: myself from four years ago would look at me and beam with satisfaction, proud of the things I have done and maybe written. But, right now, I feel as if what I write is not worth reading and what I do is not worth writing either. That is not to say that I’m not doing things worth doing. No, no! I think I’m now doing very worthwhile things but of questionable narrative worth. With experience comes maturity and now I have greater expectations from what a thing worth writing about might be. I want to write something inspiring; not for you, dear reader, but for me. I hope this day comes soon.

Quotes ~ Αποφθέγματα ΧΙΙ

[… ] The principle led to the much later adoption of Avogadro’s Number, a basic unit of measure in chemistry, which was named for Avogadro long after his death. It is the number of molecules found in 2.016 grams of hydrogen gas (or an equal volume of any other gas). Its value is placed at 6.0221367 x 10²³, which is an enormously large number. Chemistry students have long amused themselves by computing just how large a number it is, so I can report that it is equivalent to the number of popcorn kernels needed to cover the United States to a depth of nine miles, or cupfuls of water in the Pacific Ocean, or soft-drink cans that would, evenly stacked, cover the Earth to a depth of two hundred miles. An equivalent number of American pennies would be enough to make every person on Earth a dollar trillionaire. It is a big number.

Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, p.93

[…] Η αρχή οδήγησε πολύ αργότερα στην υιοθέτηση του Αριθμού Αβογκάντρο, μιας βασικής χημικής μονάδας μέτρησης η οποία πήρε το όνομα της από τον Αβογκάντρο πολύ μετά τον θάνατο του. Είναι ο αριθμός των μορίων που βρίσκονται μέσα σε 2,016 γραμμάρια αέριου υδρογόνου (ή ενός οποιοδήποτε άλλου αερίου ίσου όγκου). Η τιμή του ορίζεται στα 6.0221367 x 10²³ ο οποίος είναι εξαιρετικά τεράστιος αριθμός. Φοιτητές χημείας καιρό τώρα διασκεδάζουν προσπαθώντας να υπολογίσουν πόσο μεγάλος είναι ο αριθμός αυτός. Μπορώ λοιπόν να αναφέρω ότι είναι ανάλογος του αριθμού των ποπκορν που θα χρειάζονταν για να καλύψουν της ΗΠΑ σε ένα βάθος 9 μιλίων, των φλιτζανιών νερού που περιέχει ο Ειρηνικός Ωκεανός ή από τα κουτάκια αναψυκτικού που, αν τα στιβάζαμε ίσια, θα κάλυπταν την Γη σε ένα βάθος 120 μιλίων. Ένας αντίστοιχος αριθμός από Αμερικάνικες πέννες θα ήταν αρκετός για να κάνει κάθε άνθρωπο στην Γη τρισεκατομμυριούχο. Είναι μεγάλος αριθμός.

Bill Bryson, Μικρή Ιστορία Περί των Πάντων (σχεδόν)

 

 

Ι Talk To The Wind

Lyrics
Said the straight man to the late man
Where have you been
I’ve been here and I’ve been there
And I’ve been in between.

I talk to the wind
My words are all carried away
I talk to the wind
The wind does not hear
The wind cannot hear.

I’m on the outside looking inside
What do I see
Much confusion, disillusion
All around me.

You don’t possess me
Don’t impress me
Just upset my mind
Can’t instruct me or conduct me
Just use up my time

I talk to the wind
My words are all carried away
I talk to the wind
The wind does not hear
The wind cannot hear.

Αν θέλετε να ακούσετε μια από τις καθηλωτικές αλλαγές στην ιστορία της ροκ, απλά ακούστε αυτό το κομμάτι και μετά το Epitaph, όπως είναι στο In The Court Of The Crimson King.

Γύρω στο 13:00 γίνεται το γύρισμα.

Hopes for 2012

Ideally, right about now I would have the time, mental clarity and drive to post a New Year’s post that would show the world my ideas about what I wish to happen this year, my “resolutions” etc. Talking about resolutions, Mario blessed me with a brilliant idea: I wish my resolution this year to be HD. Everyone’s expecting a kind of VGA year. Well, not me.

You see, I’m at a crossroads of my life. I now live in Athens — for good. My future is uncertain beyond the point in time when I’ll get my degree in Cultural Technology, which can’t be too far away now. Uncertainty is refreshing but also scary. It’s not the change that is scary, it’s the possibilities, the endless possibilities… Before I have to take some important decision, I’m engineering my life to make living in Athens properly after something more than five years as much a pleasant, efficient, productive and educational experience as possible. In this way I may be able to make the eventual decision, under the insofar unknown circumstances, from a better position. It’s not easy and if one thing’s for certain, it’s not going to become easier. No matter how hard you plan to learn this language, read that book, cook that food, play this game, meet that person, gain the skill you always wanted to (now you have the time!), earn that money (with a little bit of luck), do that totally random thing, it’s obvious even from this early on that I won’t be able to make it all. I do have a list of things I want to do or achieve within 2012 (it does have a ring to it, this number, doesn’t it?), or at least within the next few months, but I feel it is kind of pointless to share it with my readers — either of them. Actions are going to talk much louder than words. In text form: actions are going to shine much brighter than pixels on a monitor.

My personal hope for 2012 is to not let myself be drowned in this constant pessimism that is spoon-fed to us in every way imaginable (it’s a pretty large spoon, hence the suffocation hazard). Right now, I want to live my real life, breathe the real air, take my real chances, radiate my true colours; everything else will come. I wish the same thing to everyone else. Don’t allow yourselves to be kept in the depths. Make it to the surface! See the world that is above and beyond, at least catch a glimpse of it. Be true to yourselves and maybe we can make something out of this situation. Even if the change comes, surf the wave, don’t break it. Never be afraid. Peace and respect. That is all.

Hey, in the end, it did come out as a “wishes for 2012” post. Great success! Also, I wrote this on my reborn Cuberick. After 10 months of hiatus, my desktop PC is back with a better heart. Welcome.