a nation where individuality has vanished to be replaced by people who exist purely to sustain a global economy

The fundamental problem of political philosophy is still precisely the one that Spinoza saw so clearly (and that Wilhelm Reich rediscovered): Why do men fight for their servitude as stubbornly as though it were their salvation?

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So I started reading this book called A Brief History of Everything, by Ken Wilber. Wilber published his first book when he was 23 after dropping out of graduate school and has been writing ever since. His areas of interest include pretty much all academic and religious philosophy, and A Brief History of Everything seeks to demonstrate the commonalities between all of these seemingly separate disciplines and viewpoints. I decided to take notes chapter by chapter so that I don't forget what I'm reading and can go back and use them for reference later. Seeing the slowing of activity on the blog, I thought I'd post my notes chapter by chapter for discussion. On a side note, I think his theory of evolution is very similar to Robert Pirsig's, and a lot of what I've read so far is basically saying the same thing in different words. So you can use the metaphysics of Quality as a lens through which to view Wilber. Here's chapter 1:

· The whole of existence is the Kosmos, a term used to describe the sum of its parts: matter or cosmos (physiosphere), life or the biosphere (bios), and mind or the noosphere (psyche or nous). Therefore, kosmos does not only describe the physical universe. You can also include the theosphere (theos, the divine domain).

· Autopoesis, the creation of life out of life, is a profound emergent, something “astonishingly novel.”

· The universe is composed of units called holons, a term borrowed from Arthur Koestler, units that are simultaneously part of something larger and made up of smaller units (holons). This is the first tenet out of twenty that Wilber laid out in Sex, Ecology, Spirituality.

· If we look at what all holons have in common, we will begin to see what all stages of evolution have in common and therefore all of the Kosmos.

· There is a natural tendency towards agency and communion in all holons; this is tenet two. All holons are, of course, independent of each other, but also a part of a larger holon. This relationship is hierarchical, but not in a patriarchal or domineering sense. A molecule does not exert dominance over its atoms, nor the other way around. Pathological hierarchies occur when a holon loses its place or tries to exert control over other holons; these holons must be put in their place or risk dissolution. The alternative term proposed is holarchies/holarchy, which better describes the communal and cooperative nature of holonic hierarchies

· Holons also demonstrate vertical drive, either towards dissolution or ascendency. Ascendency is an emergent event that creates new holons. The idea of evolution as natural selection misses the point, as this only describes the process of “nature” selecting traits that have already emerged; it is not the process itself.

· Tenet three states only that holons emerge. The reductionist drive fails when we recognize that you cannot reduce mind to life, and life to mind; the deconstruction is discontiguous.

· Chance cannot be the mechanism for evolution. Scientists calculated that the time it would take to produce even a single enzyme is greater than the proposed age of the universe, 12 billion years. Therefore, the drive towards transcendence is present in all of the Kosmos.

Vancouver Footage

http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/video/2743

After seeing this link - Feelings?

hmmm...what do you think?

The world is meaningless, there is no God, there are no morals, you do not have a “soul.”

The universe is not moving inexorably towards any higher purpose.

All meaning is man-made, so make your own, and make it well.

Do not treat life as a way to pass the time until you die.
Do not try to find yourself, you must make yourself.

Choose what you want to find meaningful, then live, create, love, hate, cry, destroy, fight and die for it. Do not let your life and your values and your actions slip easily into any mold.

Leave yourself plenty of room to proclaim loudly, without fear or shame, ,"This is who I make myself, this is who the fuck I am!".
Remember that nothing you do has any significance beyond what it means only to you.

Whatever you do, do it for its own sake.

When, and if, the universe looks on with indifference, laugh and shout back, "Fuck You!".

Remember that to fight meaninglessness is futile, but fight anyway, in spite of and because of its futility.
The world may be empty of meaning, but it is a blank canvas on which to paint meanings of your own. Live deliberately. You are free.

You were not born in debt to some messiah that has somehow gifted you with this existence.

You, your life, your heart, your dreams, your fears, all are just as valid and important as any one who has ever lived.

Anyone who has the audacity to tell you otherwise should be avoided as if he were a flame.

Dream big, Love big, feel big....BE BIG!