I have been intrigued by the question of the material body and what might animate it. Is everything able to be explained by physics and chemistry, or is there something more? It seems to me that this has been THE fundamental question of religions and philosophies over the past few millennia.

Clockwork?

Let’s pretend the universe is made up of matter, anti-matter, energy and the various sub-atomic entities however we might characterise them. These are subject to the laws of the universe as we understand them. If we know the trajectory of atoms etc at any point in the past, we can trace their future activity in accordance with these laws.

Which is great. Until you consider that people are made of atoms. And that people are supposed to have free will! Their actions, thoughts, deeds, are not inevitable and governed by the universe. Whoops…

Not-clockwork? 

My way of thinking about the question is this: If we are made of atoms, AND we have free will, then something must be acting on those atoms to push them in a direction they would not otherwise have gone. A little atom is going about its business moving from one spot to another, and a ‘force’ acts on it to push it in a direction other than that which is accounted for by the laws of physics as we understand them.

Perhaps it is not quite like that. Perhaps whatever this action is, is acting on the probabilistic events of subatomic physics to rig the roulette wheel of chance. Or perhaps we are enabled to select which probabilistic event we prefer, after the fact. Perhaps the whole deal happens at a different level, one that we know nothing about yet, and the atoms and so on just act in response to what is going on in that unknown place, in respose to that unknown something. One way out is to suggest that complexity produces its own means of escaping the physics trap - I think this is called emergentism.

Life, the universe, and everything 

What is the unknown something? Plato, according to the first website below, called it ‘life’. One might consider ‘life’ an additional force, but one over which we have control (somehow - don’t ask me!). Otherwise we are left with us being moral-less robots, unable to be held accountable for our actions, helpless against the forces of the universe - in fact just being bit-part players in some great universal performance which is entirely pre-determined. This is not the way we usually like to think of ourselves!

The way in which we answer this question, I suspect, determines the kind of society we have. There are all sorts of distinctions that can be made from which different social forms can emerge. We can have things like the soul, spirit, god/s, love as the transcending force (maybe), science.  These can be differently formulated and differently weighted in different societies. We can have things like materialism and monism, dualism and spiritualism as top level concepts. It seems likely that the way we deal with this question informs just about everything else.

Our current answer appears to tend towards materialism. I suspect we need an answer to this question that is a bit more satisfying than that. But, if the answer is materialism, we need to know how to properly deal with the consequences. I suppose we just have to live within our ‘human’ reality, and kind of forget about the somewhat embarrassing mechanics of it all.

A trick

Oh, and a little trick. If you prefer the materialist, pre-determined answer, how can you be confident that it is correct? After all, you were always going to think that was the right answer. You’ve no choice in the matter. 

Some resources

A nice entry explaining some of the points is at http://www.deathreference.com/Me-Nu/Mind-Body-Problem.html. Macabre blog title, but a pretty good entry on dualism and monism. Other key words in the field include vitalism, emergentism, materialism, determinism, spirit, soul, anima.

See also http://science.jrank.org/pages/49250/materialism-vitalism.html

A relevant Bible quote is:

Genesis 2:7 - And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

With new and exotic ways being devised daily in our parliaments to lower the standard of living in western countries, it is time to remind ourselves that the strangely disfunctional pessimism that appears to be feeding our self-willed decline is not new:

Said Hanrahan, by Patrick Joseph Hartigan

“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, In accents most forlorn, Outside the church, ere Mass began, One frosty Sunday morn.

The congregation stood about, Coat-collars to the ears, And talked of stock, and crops, and drought, As it had done for years.

“It’s lookin’ crook,” said Daniel Croke; “Bedad, it’s cruke, me lad, For never since the banks went broke Has seasons been so bad.”

“It’s dry, all right,” said young O’Neil, With which astute remark He squatted down upon his heel And chewed a piece of bark.

And so around the chorus ran “It’s keepin’ dry, no doubt.” “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “Before the year is out.

“The crops are done; ye’ll have your work To save one bag of grain; From here way out to Back-o’-Bourke They’re singin’ out for rain.

“They’re singin’ out for rain,” he said, “And all the tanks are dry.” The congregation scratched its head, And gazed around the sky.

“There won’t be grass, in any case, Enough to feed an ass; There’s not a blade on Casey’s place As I came down to Mass.”

“If rain don’t come this month,” said Dan, And cleared his throat to speak– “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “If rain don’t come this week.”

A heavy silence seemed to steal On all at this remark; And each man squatted on his heel, And chewed a piece of bark.

“We want a inch of rain, we do,” O’Neil observed at last; But Croke “maintained” we wanted two To put the danger past.

“If we don’t get three inches, man, Or four to break this drought, We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “Before the year is out.”

In God’s good time down came the rain; And all the afternoon On iron roof and window-pane It drummed a homely tune.

And through the night it pattered still, And lightsome, gladsome elves On dripping spout and window-sill Kept talking to themselves.

It pelted, pelted all day long, A-singing at its work, Till every heart took up the song Way out to Back-o’Bourke.

And every creek a banker ran, And dams filled overtop; “We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “If this rain doesn’t stop.”

And stop it did, in God’s good time; And spring came in to fold A mantle o’er the hills sublime Of green and pink and gold.

And days went by on dancing feet, With harvest-hopes immense, And laughing eyes beheld the wheat Nid-nodding o’er the fence.

And, oh, the smiles on every face, As happy lad and lass Through grass knee-deep on Casey’s place Went riding down to Mass.

While round the church in clothes genteel Discoursed the men of mark, And each man squatted on his heel, And chewed his piece of bark.

“There’ll be bush-fires for sure, me man, There will, without a doubt; We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “Before the year is out.” John O’Brien

Of course I am mainly thinking of the strictures being placed upon us by the prevailing policy response to purported climate change. Even if there is such a thing as a significant effect upon climate by human activity, the most sensible policy response, and the most important part of the public debate should be to increase research into new ways of generating power and making ourselves more efficient in a cost-effective manner. This appears not to be the primary focus of the current response, which instead seems to concentrate on a kind of religious hair-shirt mentality coupled with schemes that are deliberately designed to reduce our efficiency and effectiveness - that substantially lower our productivity. More efficient energy production would benefit everyone. Carbon schemes benefit no-one. The technological response currently being pursued involves increasing the cost of power to the point that ‘green’ technologies can match the inflated price.

Not in English yet, but I am sure it is coming.

De geschiedenis van de erotiek, van holbewoner tot Markies de Sade

by Jan Willem Geerinck

 Available in stores throughout Belgium and The Netherlands from around 7 February 2011 and to be officially launched on Valentine’s day, 14 February.

For further information go to Jahsonic.

We all know that there are some extraordinary moments of realisation, change and advancement in the great story of human evolution. We also all know that the film 2001 presented us with a magnificent and dramatic presentation of momentous change. (Trailer 1, Trailer 2) And when we hear the powerful strains of Thus Spake Zarathustra, what can we think of but those seminal moments of adjustment from ape to humanity, and from humanity to…?

Many of us are also aware of the transporting music of Brian Eno, and of his involvement with the Portsmouth Sinfonia. Thus, it is the pleasure of this blog to be able to present the Portsmouth Sinfonia playing Thus Spake Zarathustra - redefining the evolution of humanity, redefining the very essence of what it is to be human…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpJ6anurfuw

By the way, here is a section from a documentary on the film. While I might not agree with every sentiment expressed in this, the doco does point to the real breadth of impact that the film had on the young viewer of the sixties and seventies.

 http://www.focuscreeps.com/Site/lustxxx.html

 I can’t embed!!! Follow the link, anyhow….

 Then there is http://visit-x.net/rammstein - German, ‘Pussy’.

and Massive Attack http://special.the-raft.com/massiveattackdvd/paradisecircus_full.swf

(see also http://highonsex.blogspot.com/2009/12/miss-jones-in-massive-attack-video.html )

I found this at sensotheque today. Couldn’t have put it better myself. See Facebook group subscription at the bottom of the page.

http://sensotheque.blogspot.com/2009/04/sensualist-manifesto.html 

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Sensualist Manifesto

1. For a true Sensualist the five senses are the highest gift. Experiencing sensual pleasure through savouring, sniffing, observing, listening and touching is their lifelong leitmotiv. Sensualists enjoy poking their noses in their lover’s armpits, love drinking the bodily fluids, revel in the soft scrubbing of skin-against-skin. Sensualists never express the word ‘sex(uality)’. Sensuality however is their mantra, eroticism their adage, tickling their addiction.

2. For a Sensualist lust equals zest for life. No libido means no energy, no creativity, no inventivity. Lust is the catalyst of their lives. They consider love-making as a language, just as fit as any other language to penetrate the darkest regions of somebody else’s mind and soul. Their heated view on things is not restricted to the bedroom. Their entire life is covered with a veil of sensual sensation. Sensualists immediately recognise each other through the poignant, passionate look in the eyes.

3. Sensualists practise slow sex, analogous to slow food, which is also focused on reawakening the senses, slowly and devotedly, by serving quality and originality. Sensualists prefer desire above fulfilment, the endless scrutinizing of each others’ bodies above a quick and simple fuck. The Walhalla for a sensualist is reaching an orgasm without even touching the other. A penetrating look can do so much more than a real penetration. Sensualists invest an abundance of time in letting the longing grow fiercer and fiercer. They drift on the energy that derives from suggestion and abstention.

4. Sensualists dote on slow sex but this doesn’t say anything about the pace of their lovemaking. They are fond of the contrast between fast and terribly slow, between ruthless and soothing, animal and cerebral, intense and superficial, distant and intolerably intimate, between being restrained and eager, between hitting and healing, biting and kissing, sizzling and freezing. It is this entire spectrum of feelings and sensations that oscillatory cranks up their lust.

5. Language is the aphrodisiac par excellence for a Sensualist. Sensualists are word junkies that send each other elongated eropoetic writings. They read arousing literature to each other and poetry compilations are used tot facilitate the traffic between the sheets instead of the habitual lubricant. Sensualists can be touched deeply by one well thought-out sentence and enjoy months of pleasurable old-fashioned correspondence. Tickle their brain (their most erogenous zone) and their bodies react instantly. Though sensualists are cerebral creatures, their sensual summit is situated in animal regions. The utter fulfilment lies in letting the beast go, letting it sweep away the monocracy of the mind. The ultimate objective of a Sensualist is to reach a complete symbiosis with a partner, becoming one body instead of two, no longer knowing where the self ends and the other begins.

6. Sensualists view lovemaking as a form of art, a skill that can be learned and honed through practise, careful observation and discussion. Every new love is a new step in the continuous perfecting of a Sensualists bedroom arts and techniques. Sensualists do not restrain their love lives to one exclusive partner or one sexual orientation. Their sensual explorations are characterised by a diversity of people, bodies, sexual practises and roles. They travel around their lover’s body, map it meticulously, know every inch of it. Sensualists are light-fingered; excel in keeping tongue, timing and rhythm.

7. Sensualists regard the body as one huge erogenous zone. Hands, feet, armpits, kneeholes and earlobes, glans penis and clitoris, nipples and tits: they are all one and the same. Fingers intertwine and almost reach an orgasm, toes are licked as though life depends on it. A Sensualist uses the body as the primal instrument for sensual pleasure; accessories add a nice touch but not really necessary. Much more important than masks, rose petals, candles and electric devices is imagination. Sensualists prefer the suggestive power of fantasy above the brutal in-your-face of pornography.

Would you like to subscribe to this Manifesto? Please join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=52190222407

Please copy paste & spread the word!

~ Het Sensualistisch Manifest in het Nederlands: klik hier

Reading a financial blog I came across this recommendation for dealing with less-than-scrupulous money men - and in this instance I am talking men only…

The text is from the Peterborough Chronicle.

A.D. 1125. In this year sent the King Henry, before Christmas, from Normandy to England, and bade that all the mint-men that were in England should be mutilated in their limbs; that was, that they should lose each of them the right hand, and their testicles beneath. This was because the man that had a pound could not lay out a penny at a market. And the Bishop Roger of Salisbury sent over all England, and bade them all that they should come to Winchester at Christmas. When they came thither, then were they taken one by one, and deprived each of the right hand and the testicles beneath. All this was done within the twelfth-night. And that was all in perfect justice, because that they had undone all the land with the great quantity of base coin that they all bought.

So there you have it. I imagine after that, for a time at least, the production of money was squeaky clean. Now, it is said, the debasement of currency involves just the flick of a switch of a printing press.

I can’t seem to be able to embed the banner, but check out  Creative Freedom Foundation for a campaign against bizarre internet restrictions, threatened in one of the most advanced democracies in the world….

 See Brian Eno: The well of freedom is running dry for more threats to liberty. and Convention on Modern Liberty too.

For all these links, thanks to John Coulthart.

Video here.

Text here.

Well, the rather halting bull theme makes a brief comeback here with a pic by Hedi Slimane from his photo shoot in Paris, November 2008. The pic is of a Minotaur sculpture. Fantastic sculpture, great pic. It’s around three quarters down the page, 16th pic from the bottom.

That Minotaur, one imagines, well knows how to procreate!
(Strange there aren’t more of them around.)

Hedi Slimane video.

Hedi Slimane Google search.

Stroll around Slimane’s other photos. They’re a bit special.