Reconstruction as an Underlying Theory for the Process of Guiding Evolution

just as the christian god is the son of the god representing and the same as god, or a perfect facsimile, our god, is the son of god, as our existence is an "approaching" facsimile of a previous and ever present perfected existence represented in our reconstructed pockets of negative entropy.

at the time of our universe's creation, a large amount of energy was realized which coalesced into our physical reality. and now we have human beings, created out of the stuff of that creation contemplating the nature of the origins of our existence.

there is the attendant problem of creation, genesis and where it all came from, who/how it was created and if there is such a thing as genesis..

in terms of our existence on earth, which serves as the basis for all contemplations. there has been forwarded the theory of evolution.

there is also the debate as to whether there is divine creation

somehow, and this makes no sense to me. folks seem to see "godly" creation and evolution (scientific) as mutually exclusive as a final theory.

to me, it's all how you look at it.

but one conundrum that i share with the dichotomy's is the idea of how to explain, even if it is just for ourselves, the seeming observation that evolution is continuing, which brings to mind two questions. what is the driving/guiding force for this evolution and what is it that we are evolving towards? they are two sides of the ultimate question. and it assumes that there is such a thing as evolution.

for me, it has been proven. to look at DNA and the complex conditions that life had to create for itself in order to work and move, there is undeniably an underlying guiding energy.

i would like to propose the theory of reconstruction.

string theory presupposes multiple dimensions.

if the origin of the energy of our universe was a white hole, or a quantum fluctuation which called this energy into existence, then there may hive been perfected presuppositions, allowing this existence..
THIS would be the guiding force for evolution as we know it. the information of the previous physical perfection or underlying multidimensional possibility is being "reconstructed" as a process embodied as evolution within our current existence.

The guiding force for our evolution and transformation a life form is embodied within the stuff of our own existence. on a level far beyond our ability to currently understand and decipher.

it is supposed that there is no way to find out what a black hole is composed of, because the information has been deconstructed in such a way as to destroy any information about the prior state of the stuff. But if this stuff came from some other area, in multiple dimensions and it's natural state is that of pure energy, then regardless of how "deconstructed" its' previous physical reality manifestation may have become, it's ultimate form of energy and the inherent information inherent, which has the same potential to once again become reconstructed, has, in effect, not been destroyed and never could be destroyed.

just as a single cell of a human, contains the information to reconstruct that human all over again. energy, even burst apart within an accelerator, contains this very same power of information which has the ability to recognize and respond to opportunities for reconstruction.. and this reconstruction does not stop once a physical sub-atomic or chemical form has been taken.. it is my theory that this energy can continue to reach ever complex forms of reconstruction, in multiple forms, guided in some underlying form, (recognizable to us as evolution) which will, if given the ability, once again reform itself into ever increasing, evolutionary forms of being.

yeah, you and me.

Consider for a moment the "black hole information paradox"

The black hole information paradox results from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity. It suggests that physical information could "disappear" in a black hole, allowing many physical states to evolve into precisely the same state. This is a contentious subject since it violates a commonly assumed tenet of science—that in principle complete information about a physical system at one point in time should determine its state at any other time.

what is the most important information?
it's the info we can't forget even if we tried.
some call it, "the laws of nature" or "the laws of physics" or "chemistry" or "quantum physics"
i call it the most important and indelible mark of divinity man will ever know.

from immeasurable physical events, billions of years later, some of this stuff congealed into you, me, our parents... an unbroken line of humanity and before that, life...
never losing the dream, never stopping, regardless of what, how, how long, where... we're here now. and soon there will be others.

it doesn't start with DNA, that's damn near where it ends, for in truth, it's below all of that to the very nature of nothingness itself.

And so, if our universe is the expansion of a previous universe then, the physical laws, the physical states and realities as well as potentialities. so, if there was "life" in the existence prior to the state of our own reality, then, it was unavoidable, that any situation in this universe where the conditions for life exist, then life itself would set about the crucial work to become alive.

this is what i mean by "reconstruction" as physical reality reconstructs itself from prior knowledge of physical states. Consider for a moment, if all physical reality did emerge from a "big bang" then all information throughout our universe was well within proximity to one another for all of it to know everything about itself. there is no need for information to travel, for it shared an origin.

DNA is just a higher state that is decipherable. on the quantum level, the connections, not so obvious, the linkage, unseen, the conspiracy, evident, yet elusive and puzzling, yet, within the lowest, smallest thing, we have found more information and a greater complexity, than we can even decode..

i will even take it one step further. if there is such a thing as a multiverse, then the potential realities and physical forms existent anywhere within that multiverse, will eventuate within our corner of the multiverse, if the potential to do so exist.

No one knows how "old" our universe is, or how "large" or how complex and multi creationed it is.. so, the information and potential for forms, is virtually limitless... which is something we always have "known".


that's one idea to explain both "divine" creation, and scientific evolution.
the divine, is divine to the furthest explanations, of "all" just as are the accompanying and complimentary scientific explanations.

it kind of makes sense when you think about it.

Ghost Story

It shouldn't be hard to come up with a good ghost story, seeing as we all live in constant fear at all times. at many times, it seems that "scary" movies, rather than being truly scary, are more an amalgamation of our fantasies for power, than our true fears.. .

The ship was about to embark for the new world with a load of fabrics, spices, liqueurs and silk to lords and ladies who had already settled in the new world. the captain was irritated as an intended bride of the son of a lord was over a day late in arriving. when she arrived the sailors at first irritated began to look with mouths agape in semi-horror/ and titillation. she was an albino with piercing eyes, large lips, stunning eyes and the most porcelain of skin color. her skin, though devoid of color, was pearlish, smooth and faultless. and her clothes, all white. of the finest finery. certainly not appropriate for a voyage of this type. she seemed to float up the gangplank, while at the same time be of crushing frailty, seemingly abut to fall, or lose step, yet graceful in every step, and quiet....

she made few appearances the first few days. and to the surprise of everyone, she was not seasick, despite heavy seas which had even the saltiest of sailors gripping the rails and evacuating the contents of their stomachs.

somehow, she was able ot remain pristine in her white silks and lace dresses...

she first seduced the captain. it seemed like an improbable and impossible feat. she was so secluded, and cloistered by her attendants, not only for her protection, but her need. she came to him in his room and quietly without a world, made quick and passionate love. his lust was far from satiated, it was in fact inflamed all the more, but he let her go, understanding the miracle of her happening. by the tie the event occurred, all but few men, lusted for this woman. happenstance and necessity had made it occur that many men, more than naught had either seen her exposed back, legs, breast, backside....

soon, it was apparent that she was lustful perhaps a nymphomaniac, yet she still held an air of superiority and dignity which defied the fact that she was making love to several of the sailors on a regular basis.
and then one night she went into the hold and had several turns each with every sailor over several days, as the ship foundered at sea.

soon it was an orgy. her remaining immaculate, the men feverish with lust. it was heaven. the stores were broken into it was fine meals, food, drink and Eden on board the ship. none cared.

then the change began to occur. at first a blemish or two upon her skin. then her hair unkempt. then the true degradation. her features distorted. her smell disgusting as if rotting flesh. edema and swollen skin, chaffed skin, oozing pustules, hair began to grow. her teeth blackened....
and then the suicides and murders, burnings, broken bones, eyes gouged out.
they knew tey had a witch in their mist. she scurried up the mast and took refuge in the crows nest as the emell that emanated made all sick and unable to partake of food or drink, as storms lashed the boat and weakness and illness descended upon the crew... at night, she would come down and kill, eat, with superhuman power. until the men who were left all cowered in fear.

she took command of the ship and when the new world was in site, she lead it up the dark river

they reached an encampment of horrid animals. where white men were enslaved in the most deplorable of conditions, kept alive, but barely, seemingly for only the enjoyment of their suffering. there she parked the ship in the river, and ate (in front of the others) alive the rest, one after the other, rotting and all, including the dead, until nothing was left but bones. then she cleaned up the ship, and slowly transformed into a beautiful maiden. and took on food and drink, and once again set sail for her intended destination.

there, she was rescued, with nothing more than a sunburn. and was thankfully reunited with her intended bride, and the slaves cowered in fear.

12 Steps to Heaven

we had an addict speak to our group for staff meeting yesterday. the guy looked just like brad pitt, but more manly. i think for the first time in my life, i understand addiction, or i guess i should say, drug addiction. the key is, it's a full time obsession. and the first time you get it, you crave to do it again, and again, and again. never satisfied.
i've concluded that addiction is a basic human construct. and that all actions, altruistic, destructive or otherwise, have their root in a process of addiction in some form. sometimes it goes haywire, but i see something universally essential and needful.
and so, for those of us who have it. i believe the task is to unearth our humanity such that we can ride it, or even get off of it at times, hopefully anytime, but definitely, we can not allow ourselves to be ruled by it.
i think it gets quite tricky when there is a lack of awareness, acceptance, realization of the destructive aspects of addiction, or when ones "self" is "one" with the addiction. and i believe this to be so, even if there are not the extrinsic signs of addictive devastation. even if only you know you have an addiction, and it's well hidden from others, it's an addiction all the same.
sometimes it can be partially, adequately, fully subsumed/sublimated into positive, constructive activities. i we can all achieved a path of ever increasing approximations towards this. and so, addiction, is the "stuff" of productivity and self advancement. it's the coal, that fuels our passions and desires. and the conflicts it brings up, are the "issues" of our lives.

I think I finally got it.

This whole 12-step thing i got a while ago.

Drug Addiction? Never understood it.

Can work with it pretty well, but still, never understood it.

But NOW, I think I get it.

We ALL know what addiction is in a sense, as we all "know" many things. the trick to life is "knowing" things front, back, center and in many different ways as it links to the essential elements of our lives. We all have addictions. Some do better with it than others. Some have addictions that don't destroy family, friends, jobs, finances, health.. Some of us do. But, they are ALL addictions.

And so, the key to understanding drug addiction, is the key to understanding something intrinsic, essential and indispensible concerning the foundational, through-and-through survival based aspect of humanity.

addiction is an overwhelming urge, an obsession, an irresistible pull with an attendant delusion of romantic fulfilment when the substance is obtained.

The drug becomes all powerful. The desire to obtain it, all consuming. The strategy employed to convince others to get, assist and facilitate it's acquisition, self-justifying

Lies, deception, dealing, bargaining, all will be used and employed. There is no price that is to high. No moral or ethic that can not be breeched. No relationship worth keeping. No responsibility has the power to nullify the drive. A million lies will be told to move, beseech, and convince the individual to move ever closer, in the most miniscule increments toward the drug.

It is a drive which denies even the individual. As long as the individual is alive, the "self" will propel the individual towards the drug. Nothing can be believed that the addict says.Nothing can be trusted that the addict promises. Even if the addict believes it and trusts it themselves, it is a lie, employed by the addiction to clear a path towards the drug.

An addiction is the essential aspect of the humans ability to relate to, with and in the world, bent towards a dark purpose.
It is insidious to the point that everthing a human being does, is done, in some way, in some fashion, in some respect, to satisfy dark addictions and urges.

Sometimes these urges are properly and fully subsumed into a noble purpose or constructive engagement.
Yet, the truth remains, that addiction is the part of humanity that is indispensible.
Just as love
Just as psychosis
Just as delusion
Just as dissatisfaction
Just as narcissism
Just as materialism
Just as the death instinct
Just as lust
Just as gluttony
Just as the belief that there is something more special, more unique, more perfect, more absolute about humans such that there not only must be a creator of the universe, but that he and only he, was the personal creator of man, in his own image... and full of, ruled by, in symbiosis, with addiction.

Black Panther's Leader David Hilliard featured article on "The Dissident Voice" Magazine.

David Hilliard was the speaker at last years Marxism conference organized by Britain's Socialist Workers' Party. The full article is available by clicking the link below. An interesting article with Comments.

David Hilliard was kind enough to meet with me to discuss Blackpantherblvd.com, Bobby Hutton, the current work of The Huey P. Newton Foundation and give me a tour around Oakland while we discussed the above matters and engaged in some African American male bonding.

I have nothing but the deepest respect for Mr. Hilliard. In my view, he is a soldier who put his life on the line to improve the situation for all blacks throughout the world. The Black Panther's is one of the world's most successful revolutionary army's, right behind Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedung, and Fidel Castro.

Romanticising Foreign Movements, Ignoring Their Lessons.

What If......

What if we were to pollute our world to the point that it could no longer sustain human life?
well, it would be great, because there would be life, and it would be able to continue to persist and evolve.
we humans, though doomed to death, would at least have the comfort that our "cousins" on Earth, still existed and persisted.

But I digress.
The contemplation is this.

If we polluted the wold
and had to leave
and had the means to leave
and take all humans with us,
and somehow we found a planet to live on
and we were able to get down on that planet
but,
it was about as polluted as our Earth currently is

now,
supposing that was all true

what would we do about it?
would we relocate to this planet
and immediately begin creating cars, trash, garbage, packaging, toxic chemicals, genetically modified foods...
or, would we suddenly be struck with the realization we need to make i order to move out of this age of enamorment and to care for this planet, -our second chance,
in a way we just could not bring ourselves to do in the year 2009 on planet Earth?

what do you think?

Multiverses

Recently, I became aware that there are new ideas about our universe in which "our" universe is but one of multiple universes in what would be termed a larger "multiverse" that would encompass all, or at least a whole bunch of other various types of universes. Some may be similar to ours, others, in fact, practically all others, may be completely different with different physical properties and laws and thus, being completely different than our own existence.

Such a view may lend more creedence to string theory, as string theory suggest or at least begs multiple dimensions in order for the math to balance out. perhaps string theory shows some partial lineage or connection or at least inherent physically shared mathmatical characteristics between our universe and other possible universes.

it has been said that if there are multiverses, then that explains "where" we came from. meaning, we were sprung free from another universe, perhaps, a singularity, from which, our reality is the result.

a famous physicist, Richard Feynman wrote a book called, The Character of Physical Law. in which he theorizes that "now" we live in a very exciting time because we do not yet know "everything". and thus, in the future, when we know "everything" then, things will become boring.

I do not agree with Feynmen and I am not a physicist. but long before, during and after the great search which he finds as seemingly the sole exciting element of existence, humans beings have loved, learned, bred, interacted, died, mourned and persisted. Perhaps Mr. Feynmen never fell in love, but it's hard for me to concede that the discovery of a unified theory could in all cases be more miraculous than a human neonate coming into the awareness of what life is, the miracle of their birth and the insanity of contemplation of a self which at one point in time did not exist. Likewise, it is hard for me to concede that the discover of the "god particle" could for everyone, be more astounding than the discovery of a depth of love of another, which shocks, surprises and fulfills beyond imagination.

In any event, on a website titled "not even wrong" it is stated,

The Multiverse theory for the universe has been a recently accepted theory that describes the continuous formation of universes through the collapse of giant stars and the formation of black holes. With each of these black holes there is a new point of singularity and a new possible universe.

The big bang that triggered our entire universe is, in this grander perspective, an infinitesimal part of an elaborate structure that extends far beyond the range of any telescopes." This puts our place in the Multiverse into a small spectrum. While the size of the earth in relation to the sun is minuscule, the size of the sun, the solar system, the galaxy, and even the universe, could pale in comparison to this proposed Multiverse.

AND

The Multiverse theory itself, regardless of parallel universes, has many implications. Most notable is the unique, complex process from which our own universe was born, and how easily it could have been different. It may imply that, out of the possibly thousands, millions, or billions of universes, ours was special enough to develop life, which, in itself is special. Maybe life in another universe has a different meaning, but we know that our universe, at the very least is special in that it houses our kind of life. If just one physical law were slightly different, then there would be nobody to appreciate the beauty that we can see on an everyday basis. This brings up the same ultimate question. If every universe began from another universe, where did it all begin?

to me, this "revelation" brings us no closer, nor further away from what we already know, which in itself is miraculous.
1. each human represents an unbroken chain of life extending as far back as life itself, or, hundreds of millions of years, in fact, an estimated 3,400 million years of Earths 4,500 million years of existence. pretty amazing. it is my contention that the "wisdom" of these ages are within every being, waiting to be tapped into and explicated as wisdom and sentient nature.
2. the miracle of our universe, life itself and existence, be it a single universe, or a multiverse, is all a matter for conjecture, because truthfully, our individual existence, constitutes the only true miracle, for without the self, there would be no meaning in or to existence, or any contemplation of it.

the point is, that at all times, there are a plethora of issues which not only intrigue, but flummox the individual. so, we have only to pick our poison. for all contemplations untimately begin and end at the same location. the self. there is no meaning outside of the contemplator. there is no existence outside of the contemplator, there is no truth outside of the contemplator.

And so, for me, the one thing that's hard to come to terms with, is the thought or notion of a beginning. and i realize there may not be any sort of thing such as a beginning. just as zero can not control one. one can not control zero. so there may not really be a one or a zero. they may be the same. and as humans, there is the truth that there are forms of contemplation which will always remain beyond our comprehension to even hold. once again. if it is not meaningful to the individual, then it has no meaning.

the truth that i have come to understand is that there is no separation. only the illusion of a very very real repetition. one embodiment of it, is called, and known, as "the multiverse".

"True" Friendship.

True friendship is a marvellous and strange thing.

Often I've marveled how individuals, who would want to have nothing to do with one another on a business venture, as a work partner, as a consultant, as someone reliable to undertake a "project" with, or would shudder to think to bring into a meeting, end up as passionate lovers, best friends, soul mates, emotional and intimate confidants...

I've seen fellows with ladies, who can do nothing other than to, in some strange way, intrigue the other individual in such a way as to become essential and indispensable, yet, otherwise, have no redeeming qualities within that individuals life.

So that's unusual, Yet, perhaps the most unusual and incredible thing about "Friendship" is that we are under absolutely no obligation in the course of friendship whatsoever, in terms of our interpersonal commitment, or "responsibility" in a sense.

For example. Nothing obligates you to take your friend's late night call, to rush out in the rain and mud to change their tire, to loan money, to feed, clothe, share details, secrets, offer opinions, to be honest, to be loyal, to be present, kind, brave, clean, reverent, trustworthy, "real" authentic, wise, moral, available....

and yet, in friendship, because of the lack of any legalistic or political or any other type of "other than" personal obligation, do we not exhibit our true natures? do we not demonstrate and act upon (hopefully) our innermost desires for who we want in our lives, what we want in our lives and the type of person we wish to be, to be with and the most importantly, engage in the vital, sustaining, meaningful and important relationships we have as humans for the short time we suffer and toil upon this Earth?

And so, at any time, this relationship can end. it is a cord, which is all-important, that tethers us to one another, from the moment we decide to pick it up and hold it. Hopefully it last a long time. hopefully, from the moment we make someone we regard as a "friend" we do not unmask that designation, until the bitter end.

The truth of the matter is that at times we need room and space from friendships. We need to learn, to grow, to reconsider, to view, critically, and with the most dire of introspective analyses, the nature, meaning and worthiness and current contextual relevance of the "friendship"

Betrayal, surely happens in the context of friendship, yet, "betrayal", of one sort or the other, is not the sole arbiter of the ending of a friendship. i believe, the true arbiter of friendship is reciprocity. If we both play and live by the same rules, and they are understandable, and meaningful and not "arbitrary", then friendship can blossom and persist.

Yet, once you get past all the bullshit, the true nature of friendship unspools and flows into the lives of the "friends".

Friends are teachers, counselors of the best sort, and repositories for the essence of our being. when we are destabilized or in crisis, they hold our "true" selves and remind us of who we are, what we are, what we're about, many times without consciousness of that role being played. simply by the way they talk, what they mention, what they remember, what they say, how they say, they pour only the best (hopefully) and most potentially pregnant aspects of our growth/love nature back within us.

They know our desires, our goals, and more importantly, what ingredients are needed to make us more full and whole. They encourage and inspire and inform us with a perspective, which in many ways is much better than if we were to watch, observe and critically view our own selves. Friends have strengths, insights, powers, skills, and strengths that we do not. In many ways, their weaknesses enhance and challenge our strengths, causing us to grow even more and to dig deeper to be that which we are destined to be.

and we can not discount the effect of the continued presence of this "other" who, over the course of time, convinces us beyond all reasonable and unreasonable doubt, that the world is real, others are real, life is important, humanity is special, and that all beings are equally as beautiful and wonderful and priceless in their own way, and so that as the ages of man roll forward, this special, loving, caring supportive and most cherished humanity, must persist and be afforded the opportunities to experience the wonders and privilege of not only friendship, but life itself.

And as the journey through life continues, we are all comforted by the fact that we are afforded the privilege of looking to the side and seeing our friends besides us, growing older and wiser and more full together through time, through life and most importantly, through friendship.

Jesus, Socrates and Paul

Professor J. Rufus Fears is professor of classics at the Univ. of Ok. he earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University, a 15-time award winner for outstanding teaching, and 3-times winner of "Professor of the Year" at the Univ. of Ok. He has written four books and over 70 articles

"history is made by great individuals and great events, not by anonymous social and economic forces"
- J. Rufus Fears
jesus and socartes were two of the worlds greatest teachers.
socrates founded the modern university.
jesus founded christianity.

both were unconventional
they received no salary
held no office
had no credentials
teaching was a vocation not a career
a "career" is not a calling, but a way to get somewhere (carriere, a highway)
a true philosopher is a lover of wisdom
such love of wisdom has nothing in comon with the modern academic discipline of philosophy

information is facts
knowledge is placing these facts into an interpretative framework
wisdom is the use of this knowledge to live your life in a moral fashion

jesus had no interest in the poliical kingdom of god
his kingdom of god was in the individuals soul
both socrates fought against the "known" and taught through refutation, contradiction and parables.

ambiguity was a means of forcing the individual to his or her own ethical decision
but only after they had been exposed to morals, and situations which pointed a way, indicated a direction which could be found by the individual within themselves

socrates asked questions
he did not lecture
his questions indicated an answer
his questions indicated directions of inquiry where the "answer" could be found

neither jesus nor socrates published
publishing is an act of implicit finality
publishing suggest that you know the truth
yet,
the true philosopher is always searching for the truth
and in this search there is only searching
as there is no earthly finality

both socrates and jesus directed their messages of individual salvation to societies that were communally based
both socrates and jesus went out of their way to be in conflict wiht their peers
sophist (socrates) and pharasees (jesus)

the trials of socrates and jesus were both "legal" and reflected the ideal of liberty under law
socrates was charged with blasphemy or atheism
or, refusing to believe in the gods of athens and corruption of the young

jesus was charged wiht blashphemy before the jewish sanhedrin
and treason for claiming to be the king of the jews before he governor pontius pilate
history teaches us, that if you want to bring someone down, you slander them and charge them with treason.

the basis of treason is always a lie
and the charge is not based on what they said
rather, the opposite of what they said and intended
it's the effect of their words, not the words which are the basis of the charge

both socrates and jesus were "innocent" of the charges
both refused to refute the charges
they refused to believe they had to defend themselves against lies
and so they said nothing
and this is what sealed their fate

Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori (Abdul Rahman): African Reinvigoration on the Shores of America

'Prince Among Slaves" is the story of Abul Rahman, an African Prince abducted and bartered for goods by his kidnapper. There are many important elements to Rahman's story, which make it culturally indispensable in the history of the World.

African Civilization: Rahman, was a Prince. His father commanded and ruled over thousands of subjects, himself, a sub-ruler to the ruler of Timbuktu. Rahman himself was lord of over 2,000 soldiers charged with guarding his peoples passageway to the sea. He was educated in Timbuktu and in the languages, culture and history of the different peoples that conducted essential trade with his tribe.

Black on Black Crime: The sad tale of Africa can not be told, in fact, would not exist without the complicity of Blacks in the acquisition of their own kind that were in turn traded for the cargo of slave traders. At the time of the beginnings of the forced exodus of an estimated minimum of 12 million Africans to the new world, African tribes, were all too willing to trade their own people for gun powder, muskets, rum, beads, etc. This was the beginning of the African arms race. Muskets became essential in the defense of ones territory. To survive without this contribution was increasingly impossible, setting off an arms race and upsetting of traditional power and relations which would become irreparably changed. It is the sad truth, that Blacks, once caught up in this arms race, demonstrated the basest of human psychological/social reactions in their quest to acquire the vital technology of power.

Cotton Production: Rahman, having been trained, educated and with his experience as a leader, was able to assist his master in the cultivation of cotton on a scale unseen in the Americas. Natchez Mississipi, the place of Rahman's plantation, would become the home to more millionaires than any other city in the New World other than New York City, due to it's climate and enviromental conditions which made it one of two ideal locations in the Americas (the other being on the Carolina coast) for the cultivation of cotton. Rahman was the leader and his knowledge made him indispensible to his master. In fact, of the New World crops, the ones that became the most valuable were the ones that Africans knew how to raise on an agricultural scale: Rice, Cotton, Tubers.

African Culture: Africa, African-Americans and the new world, is a fantastic story of survival and adaptation. Slavery began in the Caribbean and became widespread in southern America on a scale and depth much stronger than in the northern American areas. The climate was more similar to the climate of Africa, thus allowing the culture to take hold in a deeper, more penetrating and significant way, with less to adapt to. Also, to be factored in the survival of African culture is the fact that African culture was constantly replenished with each arrival of a new African. For multiple generations, the stories and traditions of Africa, literally, the best of all of Africa's tribes and peoples and agriculture's were passed on from mother and father to son and daughter. As new generations of American born Africans were rooted, new influxes of Pure Africans arrived. The final analysis is that African Culture became fully and totally subsumed into the America's, up and down the Americas in all of the locations where slaves landed. Seeing as Slavers traded with areas where they had established relations, many new world African populations, were from the same locations in Africa, thus adding a new entrenching element to the unique culture of the new world African locations.

The Story of Rahman culminates in his being eventually freed by his master, meeting the President of the United States (John Quincy Adams) and engaging in speaking arrangements with free Blacks and sympathetic whites throughout the north. he returned to Africa, where he died 4 months later of a fever, never having returned to his homeland.

Amazingly, not many years after his arrival in Natchez, he crossed paths with a Dr. he had met in his native Africa. A white Doctor became stranded in Africa when he went into the mainland and his ship sailed without him. Rahman and his tribe took care of him for the 6 months he was there and this doctor was the first white man to visit Timbuktu. The doctor persistently enjoined Rahman's master to allow him to be sold, so that his "debt" could be paid back, but Rahman was too valuable. Besides, in the meantime he became married and had several children. Each child became a new heart string with which Rahman would become bound up and trapped in his American fate....

[The son of Rahman's slave owner was married to the daughter of a minister. their relationship soon grew cool, but his wife found out why when she discovered that he was in a relationship with Rahman's daughter and had children]

Milgram, Social Psychology, Racism and Tyranny in Higher Education

Tyranny - Tyrant: In modern usage, a tyrant carries modern connotations of a harsh and cruel ruler who places his or her own interests or the interests of a small oligarchy over the best interests of the general population which the tyrant governs or controls. [1]

The problem of rampant racism in higher education is a very perplexing moral problem to come to terms with. How can those who are deemed the most intelligent, well educated, skilled academics, in this day and age, still rely on tests, measures and means to admit their incoming classes which fly in the face of logic and justification to the continued detriment of societies racial minorities and historically marginalized and excluded populations?

When we look at the famous example of Nazi Germany, I believe there is something to be said for the argument that it is human nature itself which is to blame for rampant racism in our higher education system.

racism and exclusion in higher education, at it's core, is largely explainable by what has been identified as "a fundamental attribution error". that is, in excluding minorities and historically under-resourced, under-supported, historically oppressed populations from higher education in this day and age is a self-fulfilling prophecy constructed upon creating a system that attributes the cause of racism admissions to the disposition of the individual and their "out group" rather than historical circumstance and the "qualities" judged by the universities.

why was the Holocaust perpetrated against Jews, gypsies, the mentally defective and the like? the same reason Blacks can't get into college (once they have somehow found a good school, have performed well and have prepared themselves for college) the foundations reason is the ultimate attribution error. So what we are left with in higher education selection procedures is the accentuation of difference the systematic ignoring of similarity and more highly correlatable information to determine a students potentiality in order to find an element of seeming validity to justify a set of attitudes and behaviors which are integrated into and then self-fulfilled by admissions policy

Stanley Milgram conducted a famous experiment in 1961 to answer a question about compliance. Milgram, a Yale university researcher conducted his experiment in response to the war crimes trial of Adolph Eichmann. far too frequently, Nazi leaders repeatedly came before the war crimes tribunal an stated as their defense for atrocities that they were only "following orders"

Milgrams experiment required that students that were recruited to participate in a study presumably on "learning". other students (who were in on the experiment) were "learners" and the well known effects of punishment on learning proved in animal experiments were to be replicated in this experiment.

electrical shocks were given to the "learners" by the students as directed by the lead experimenter. the amount of the electric shock varied from a small shock to a shock level labeled "danger: high voltage", as increasing shocks were administered, the person receiving the shocks called out at first in a low tone to express pain to anguished, progressing to pained and tortured vocalizations and finally culminating to a macabre silence for the highest shock level.

The results of the study were that 1/3rd of those recruited refused to administer the shocks, while a full 2/3rd complied and delivered the maximum shock level.

No one thought that the experiment would turn out. Milgram talked to other professors, graduate students and no one believed that individuals would shock other humans as part of an "experiment". As it turned out, about 1/3rd of the test subjects pulled out of the study and refused to administer high level shocks. the rest went all the way to the max. through the screams of agony and even to silence.

The participants could have stopped at any time. If they said anything like, "I think I'm hurting this person" or they expressed that they were not certain they should do it, they were to be told by the researcher, "You agreed to conduct the study, will you please continue", if they contested again, they were to be told a bit more sternly, "you said you'd finish this, we need the data set, please continue until the study is concluded."

The interesting part to me is that these folks entire reinforcement history militated against entering into a laboratory situation where in order to learn you begin electrocuting your neighbors. These were Yale students, highly educated, privileged, and yet, they participated in torture merely to participate in a "study".

What does this say? It seems that the context determines the outcome. People are obedient in settings which summon obedient behavior. A university with lab coats and assumed intelligent people carry a certain authority which elucidates obedience.

Could this in part be the reason that nearly 50 years after the civil rights movement, major universities, especially the most "prestigious" universities still justify the exclusion of racial and economic minorities? could this be a major factor the reason they cling to measures of worth which have a demonstrated non-utility in determining academic, social, or vocational success? could the appearance of righteousness, rightness, authority, be what continues to sustain a this system of institutionalized racism under the guise of "correctness"? Could this flaw or loophole in human character in part explain how the horrible destructive and multi-generational effects of exclusion upon income, access, health care and also crime, poverty and violence be sustained despite the well-known and deleterious almost tortuous effects upon those who are excluded from such opportunities?

There are ethical implications as to how our entire society participates in disparity and oppression within our own borders to those both within and without. I do believe that this is a great nation and that we have an obligation to teach and raise our children to be respectful of authority, yet we must also teach them and set an example for them in such a way that they understand that at times the demands of authority must be resisted. We must retain in our children and instill in them a certain moral authority as well as the moral resources to say, 'no, i won't do it' when facing seeming "authority". Even if that authority is academic and stands on the hallowed ground and defense that they are acting in the best interest of society and with the full backing of "the best things thought and said by the human race."

the question is for each individual in our society, "what principles should guide my conduct, regardless of who I face, what uniform they have on, what uniform I put on and what I am told to do?" If one does not have clarity on that account, then they will always be a hostage to the context and doomed to a condition of being constantly in the thrall of circumstance instead of in the position of being masters of our own fate with a moral code of conduct which can weigh and react to all circumstances of discrimination and moral questionability with confidence and preparation for the dubious claims and seeming authoritative/justified actions of those who are entrusted with the power to meet out various forms of overt and disguised justice.

Because of the failure of a solid moral grounds and moral resistance to tyranny in higher education, we are suffering a dire, grave and life risking cost as lives of poverty, disadvantage, violence and multi-generational oppression is forced upon an entire race and economic class of individuals.

and so we are left with Stanley Milgram's experiment and the somber conclusion that is inescapable.

"Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority."[2]

[1] "Tyrant" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[2] Milgram, Stanley. (1974), "The Perils of Obedience". Harper's Magazine. Abridged and adapted from Obedience to Authority.

"Man is never so authentically himself as when he is at play." -Johann Schiller.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Von Schiller 1759-1805

From, The Encyclopedia of contemporary literary theory By Irene Rima Makaryk

One of the first to take advantage of the position taken by Kant on the notion of play, was Friedrich Schiller. In his On the Aesthetic Education of Man in a Series of Letters, he hypothesized that play, itself a spontaneous drive, maintains an equipoise between the other two major drives -the empirical (material and sensuous) and rational or ideational (formal and abstract). He accorded play a position of considerable importance, not only in it's relation to art but especially in its effect on personality development, for it allowed people to realize their full potentialities. For Schiller play is an indispensable feature of humanity, especially effective, like art, as self-conscious illusion, when governed by reason. By giving play such a prominent role in human development, Schiller set the pattern for all modern discussions of play, which will always involve a polarity of play and seriousness,... in which one term will invariably take precedence over the other (Spariosu, Dionysus Reborn 59). Schiller's concept also highlights the two irreducible and often conflicting senses of play: free voluntary action and random motion.

I believe that play is an essential element of communication. The ability to play is the demonstration of an excellent and highly adaptive and creative mind. Priggishness in terms of the act of living, is a lie. Life itself is a play, it is play, we play, by playing we learn life, we learn convention. Play in other terms is synonymous with learning, experimentation, with intimacy, sex, discovery, exploration... Play is the act of action and interaction as well as mutual and social action. all disciplines, all sciences, all professions are based upon play. economy is play. tokenism and monetary theory rests in play and the act of playing. there is serious play and fun play, but it is all play.

Play is affirming of the self. It would be more appropriate say, "I play, therefore I am" instead of "I think therefore I am" for I do not believe that thinking is an act that resides in the self. At many times were are made aware of thoughts, or have thoughts, so thoughts or having thoughts, only shows that a thought was had, and not that a being exists. Whereas play is the act of individuality expressed in interaction.

I believe in playfulness and finding someone to play with is one of the most wonderful things in life. To play spontaneously, is to be alive and open and aware of it's possibilities and to interact positively, and creatively with another or with a thing, or with oneself, or ones body, ore mind, or space, thereby affirming rationality, interpretation, absurdity, critique and possibility.

I believe in play.
Surely to Play, is at least the subject to the object of love.

Essential Lessons In High Finance.

I was driving home and saw an add for Bay Alarm and it said, "Burglar Schmurglar" and underneath, was the line, "What have you got to lose?"

There are many new tag lines which are complex plays on cultural colloquialisms that tie in words that are key to the core business, in oblique ways.

But the phrase, "What have you got to lose?" seems like something that everyone in high finance should at the very least, consider fully when developing core financial products and investments.

It's as if there is a bed of raw diamonds directly under a precariously placed, wavering mountain of death, which WILL fall.. and yet, those who watch from the sidelines are dismayed that some individuals, despite repeated trips into this "kill zone" are able able to emerge with vast sums of riches, which allows them in turn, to richly reward their investors, especially themselves, as well as to have the financial reserves to capture your target business audience and threaten your very existence.

And so, you jump into the fray.

In the face of such a situation, the question isn't if you will jump into the fray, rather, when. and when you also factor in the fact that it's always someone else's riches, and someone else who is ultimately risking their financial lives in the death defying dash... then it makes sense that resources are thrown into the dark oblivion.

the fact that the money is not theirs, should result in a more cautious approach, but it doesn't.

but let's examine the flip side. A few years back, in the previous incarnation of "the bubble" there was a run up in the share price of Internet businesses. Warren Buffet, despite the allure of seeming teeming riches to be had at pennies on the dollar (and the face that domiciles were not at risk) stayed squarely on the sidelines and did not enter the fray.

Of course he was proved right, despite the fact that millions of millionaires and thousands of billionaires were made in the interim. He wanted no part of it because in consideration of the finance zen koan, "what have you got to lose?" the answer, with reflection upon the principles that drive share price, was "everything". It simply did not make financial sense to invest. the fundamentals were whacked. the amount of profit to be made, was not a part of his equasion, because the equasion itself showed there was no profit to be made.

the second principle of high finance which is routinely ignored is, "do you have the money to pay for it?" all to often the answer is "no" and yet the action is "yes". It's a case where a willing spirit sadistically compels weak flesh to dance all too gleefully and long. once again, with someone else's shoes, tutu, music, band, floor and audience.

I would propose that for the first semester of any business education, what should be done, is that the students should sit in a gym while over the loudspeaker plays, "Can you pay for it? if not, then you can't have it." followed by, "What have you got to lose? Too much? then don't do it."

This would do much to solve all future financial crises.