Watched the democratic convention. How many times did you hear someone say ‘existential’? Did they mean:
Meaningful? Emotional? Positive? Real? Empirical? Spiritual? achievement?
Let’s face it. ‘Existential’ is a thesaurus word – just like ‘gay’ was.
Ancient Mariner
Isn’t it great that we have a new hobby – the meaning of existential? Marc’s observations are a true experience; when we hear folks use the word, we tend to feel they really don’t have a substantive argument. Marc is wise beyond his years (He has many).
Mariner promises this is the last post about existential.
Just to warm up the reader’s egotistical, self-centered brain, what you have warmed up has nothing to do with existentialism. To use another awkward analogy, existentialism in its correct, philosophical perspective, is not who you think you are.- that is not what’s important. Who you think you are is a result of interacting with reality.
Many years ago an individual, unnamed at the time, described his philosophy of life as an effort to experience as many different sensations, emotions, circumstances and social engagements as he possibly could because, he said, “I am what I experience”. He believed in the philosophy of existentialism.
Given Schroeder’s cat in a box, the cat is not real until you otherwise experience it. What makes it real is a context provided by reality, not one’s egotistical, self-promoting ego – the reader didn’t know until reality presented it to them. A valid existential moment. One has the realization that until reality interacted with you, you could not add the experience.
Philosophically, those who believe the existential experience is what gives meaning and purpose to one’s life, believe reality is what defines us and shapes us. Our own definitions of ourselves are a way of interpreting that existential moment.
So, now that this wonderful, abstract word is not just part of your vocabulary but also an existential experience – and a hobby, mariner leaves the reader to enjoy a newly defined sense of self.
Ancient Mariner
Mariner expected the common response to be “Doesn’t this guy have anything else to do?” The feedback from friends and readers was varied. Two responses to the post are examples.He admits his detailed meandering may have caused confusion. This time he will be breviloquent.
On the second line of the post, classic Latin suggests it is an essence or a state of continuous ‘being’.
Graphically, in the sequence 4,5,6 5 is the existential relationship.
The moment of behavior combined with the impact of present reality is the existential moment. That moment provides meaning to the behavior and to the definition of reality.
He said it was a hobby.
Ancient Mariner
When is something existential? Defining this word can be a hobby. Its origins, going back to classic Latin, suggest it is an essence or a state of continuous ‘being’. Today, it has many applications as a moral circumstance, an historical value, an empirical experience or a moment of reality.
Mariner’s interest in this word goes back to his college days when he had a philosophy class. The word has many faces. A common use today is as a form of empiricism, where all knowledge comes from experience. Social activists often use the word as a transition point where an idea becomes reality. (a quote from a political aide who said, “If we don’t do something about this, it will become existential.”). Philosophers use the word as a way to describe an entity – like how a rabbit interacts with reality is what makes it a rabbit. (Remember, this is a hobby).
What makes using the word ‘existential’ difficult is that it is two-faced, that is, it is one moment with multiple conditions. For example, someone could say “My experiences are who I am, meaning that they exist because they experience it”. Another individual could say, “My existence is how i react to reality”. A subtle difference for sure but the context of one begins with the person and the other begins with reality.
The classic definition of existential means ‘relating to reality’. That’s it. It is a condition, not an act; it is an interaction, not a conclusion; it is a noun, not an adverb.
He hopes the reader has enjoyed this existential moment.
Ancient Mariner
Mariner recently read an account of the next phase in AI: Merging corporate data with personal data taken from one’s own computer or smartphone. It is an attempt to “read the interests of the user” in order to provide an instant integration between user interest and what’s related in the cloud. Today’s search engines won’t be needed. The intent is that the cloud and the user are one unified operation. Microsoft will keep its own copy of all files, websites, everything executed on a person’s private computer.
It is fascinating to read arguments from both sides of this objective. AI folks see this progress as a great service to the user; privacy advocates see this progress as not only an invasion of privacy but more broadly see a future where society is managed to the extent that an individual’s ability to reason unique personal solutions for a ‘real’ world doesn’t exist.
When humans aren’t allowed to see genuine reality, their control of reality disappears. Historically, this is the complaint about dictatorships because the dictator determines what matters. Mariner’s oft-cited movies, 1984 and Matrix, are about the loss of individuality because AI dictators say what is real.
Already a person’s budget, housing and other accessories are limited to what is seen on a screen ad page. Could there be other options? Even the banking industry is offering to manage your cash for you – don’t need checkbook records anymore; it is possible to be in debt and not know it.
Mariner knows he is peeing in the ocean. There is no government, no culture, no enterprise that can avoid the move toward replacing one’s individuality with the pseudo compassion of Amazon as to what’s the best deal. In fact, medical science has already made artificial brain parts. Be wary if someone suggests installing a receptacle in your neck; your brain will know only what’s on your smartphone.
Armageddon progresses.
Ancient Mariner
Recently mariner and a lifelong friend have been sharing contemporary experiences. Since childhood, both have had an interest in the smaller creatures of nature in its undisturbed state. Walks in the woods took lots of time to wander and poke around, turn a leaf, explore a small creek, observe the toads, frogs, and small grass snakes, noting evidence of moles, raccoons and rabbits, and turning a rock or two looking for salamanders.
Yes, it was a flashback experience but in slow motion, truly recalling the hobbies that were shared as children. There was an unexpected benefit for mariner: the real world had been set aside lock, stock and barrel. Totally immersed in the quiet, organized world of wilderness, angst disappeared. The noise and dangers of 2024 were not present. The future was not needed in this stable, balanced wilderness.
In reality, of course, even the toads and frogs are at risk. In fact, over 200 frog species have gone extinct. The same can be said of the salamanders and other amphibians. Nevertheless, for the moment, mariner was able to experience the grace of Mother Nature, its quietude and orderliness. It was a soul-cleansing experience.
It used to be that attending church services was another means of experiencing grace. Today’s rampant existentialism seems to have made that moment of grace hard to find. Grace is similar to resetting the clock every once in a while. The real world is still in uninterrupted confusion and confrontation – but the clock keeps the ‘real’ time.
So the lesson for sustaining one’s real self is to get away from the world; visit childhood’s innocent memories, allow your self to be distracted and forget angst. Places and times where humanity has not ruined the natural world can still be experienced as a fellow creature of Mother Nature’s world.
Ancient Mariner
Mariner feels compelled to address the immigration issue. Amid all the other pressures in a rapidly changing society and a rapidly changing planet, immigration serves as the most dependable barometer of progress or failure. How Homo handles immigration will tell the world whether humans are up to the task of surviving in the new biosphere.
Humans are accustomed to tracking history by the occurrence of wars. It took over 300 years of savage fighting for the Vikings and British to settle their differences; it signaled a transition from tribal government to monarchy. It brings to mind the current war between Islamic theocracies in the middle East and Jesus-oriented nations. It took about 1,000 years and innumerable wars to move from Roman theocracy to a separation of church and state. It took four wars in the 1850’s and two world wars in the 1900’s to move from economic colonialism to independent national economies.
Measuring history and the future by wars is more like taking taking one’s temperature at the moment rather than measuring progress over time. Immigration management is not a war as such but rather a timeline depicting how humans adapt to the pressures of a changing world.
Migration is an intrinsic behavior, not a war. It’s been around since Homo habilis left Africa more than 60,000 years ago. While on the subject, when was the last time the reader moved, AKA migrated? There is a distinct difference between an act to dominate and an act to survive.
So do not succumb to the current belligerent attitude about immigration; society will be measured by it’s methods of accommodation, not how high the fence is. Immigration is just beginning to rise at unusually high rates. To some degree, one can fault incompetent dictatorships – how does one build a high fence around a dictator?
More significantly, the changing climate will cause many nations to fail because of economic and habitable failure – yes, even Florida.
Beneath it all is a slow, painful transition from capitalist society to socialist society. Not that capitalism will disappear, just that saving as many people as possible from inhabitable lives will require more distributive philosophies of government.
Ancient Mariner
It is 94 degrees with humidity at maximum levels thanks to Iowa corn which sweats as much as humans do. Dare not go outside. What to do … what to do … Alright, mariner will write a post.
It is too bad that the planet is in such disarray in these times. Smoke rises from rampant fires around the world, 20 violent wars ongoing and the political smoke of a human race facing unknown confrontations. Mariner will offer another source for smoke – language.
Language used to be quite parochial. No doubt Neanderthals had little to discuss when, 50,000 years ago, they met one another roaming across Europe and the West Siberian Plain. Slowly over the centuries, humans around the world discovered stuff they had to name like family, weapons, food groups, territories and fellow animals. (If anyone knows the word for ‘donkey’ in Itsekiri, let mariner know.)
Then the age of economics emerged. Language needed to remember abstract stuff. Words were needed for nuance and situation. And so it went until there were so many words in a given language (typically nation-based) that dictionaries were needed to keep track of them all.
So these tomes have done until a new flood of words is emerging on the Internet. Social Media users are not bound by region, generation or linguistic discipline. The traditional dictionaries must be holding their probosces as they add multi-lingual words like RIZZ, PADAWAN, CROMULENT, SMISHING and an endless expansion of acronyms. e.g., LOL. The French are notorious for garbled words; new ones are être en PLS, bader and gayolle. Don’t forget the new linguist – Regenerative AI, capable of generating new content in response to a submitted query by using a large reference database of examples – many contributed by social media or invented by AI as a logarithmic average.
Language is smoking.
Ancient Mariner
The animal kingdom always has looked down on the plant kingdom. Plants are around for animals to use for food, housing, entertainment, protection, etc. Plants do not respond to treatment by animals; they don’t whimper, try to escape, take defensive action – plants are around for the purpose of supporting animal life – it’s that simple.
In recent decades, definition of the term ‘agency’ has been shifting in philosophy, psychology, botany, chemistry and even nuclear physics. Generally, the word agency means the ability to take reasoned action based on whatever unique circumstance presents itself. Without agency, a human could not play tennis, eat a peanut or remove a finger from the fire. Biologically, humans still can make decisions, have emotional responses and fabricate circumstances even if suffering from intense paranoia, absolute narcissism, extreme prejudice, advanced dementia or any other interpretive disorder. What is not present is the act of agency – decisions responding to real, external situations.
A simple dementia example is when someone suffering from dementia tries to call a friend who has passed on. Memory is present, emotions and a response to personal need are present – but no agency. Agency is a reasoned reaction to external reality.
Do not confuse anthropomorphism with agency. Just because one can imagine that a creature, or anything for that matter, has human sensitivities doesn’t mean it has agency. Mariner often has cursed the table fork as an evil, demented character because it decides to throw food on the front of his shirt. Many readers surely have tried to have a conversation with a cute sparrow, preying mantis, or a llama. All living things have a finely tuned agency that has no relationship with the human imagination.
The idea that all living things have some degree of agency is the new element in the definition.
He was in the garden the other day when he discovered a new little oak tree among the flowers. Mariner is fond of oak trees. But he had to advise the oak tree that he was going to dig it up because it was in the garden. So the oak tree said “You’re blocking the Sunlight, you idiot.”
Ancient Mariner
1 – Go 100 percent Vegan. Cows and sheep are exceedingly wasteful in terms of Armageddon (or the Sixth Extinction, they are the same thing). Too much land, too much processing and not the best regimen for general health. Our fellow creatures will appreciate it, too. Further, go true vegan and don’t eat seafood; only 20 percent of ocean edibles remain.
2 – Switch to Solar Power. This actually is a good budget move. If you can afford the batteries, go off the grid.
3 – Prefer non-plastic wrappings and containers for food and retail products. Glass and waxed cardboard or paper are better.
4 – If you are young enough and have a lawn in the back yard, convert it to home grown vegetables. Even a youngster like mariner remembers living off a basement of home-canned stews and soups.
5 – Those folks lucky to have stable income probably have three times the clothing they really need. There are other folks nearer than one may think who desperately need clothing.
6 – Refuse to vote for anyone over fifty-five or a totalitarian or a money-maker from industry; vote known locals, not PAC advertising.
7 – Vote for a tax overhaul that strengthens government’s role in health care, retirement, social services and wage support.
8 – Vote for government control over free-ranging corporations; they are as expensive as cattle.
9 – Among your many charities, adopt a destitute political region – local, county, state or nation.
10 – Don’t plan for children you can’t afford – yes, this involves women’s services including abortion – and castration.
Readers with conservative views may call this list bald-faced socialism, even communism. It is true that Planet Earth’s core economic system is capitalist in nature. But capitalism only works as long as there are enough resources for everyone. This characteristic is what drives evolution. When there is a shortage in the biosphere, it is time to make changes to restore the balance. When the biosphere, including global shifts in weather or massive domination by one species, is dysfunctional, dramatic change approaches the biosphere. Many, many scientists see a probable chance for a Sixth Extinction.
As to political conservatives, even crows know to share food with another crow that has no food. Armageddon is not about profit. It’s about survival. There’s always the nuclear war option. That would satisfy Mother Nature to be a genuine Sixth Extinction.
Ancient Mariner