I am not an epicurean; at best, I like to see myself as a gardener. Write, “they” say, of what you know, of your interests. Ok. I am interested in personality and philosophy –separately and together. Under the auspices of the rational mental functioning of our brain they each offer explanation toward understanding our selves and one another. The notion of “understanding” here could be very close to presumptuous if not outright arrogance I suppose. So let me begin with one of those caveats that are bound to be necessary in such a discussion. Clearly a person can live a full and seemingly productive life without a studied grounding in philosophy or personality, neither of which guarantee understanding. After all, as a species we have made it a couple million years to this point of our existence without knowing much about personality, though there has been considerable philosophical effort for some three thousand years. I suspect for some personality Types that argument would be sufficient as evidence to shrug and move on. This is not to say that those who do not pursue the question of personality, or philosophical thought, are not interested. Indeed, it may well be that they have done the consideration for themselves and have the understanding that satisfies their own need. Satisfaction is indeed a major notion in the largest sense of this discussion. They may also be committed to other matters of import that leave them little time or energy for this concern. And finally, there may well be considerations -such as belief- other than particular philosophical points of view, personality theory and findings that impact for one’s understanding. My own notion on that is that if one is satisfied in their understanding, and does not demand my allegiance, so be it. There is much to be said for a contented life.
And yet amongst us there are many who do not hold a thoroughgoing, lasting conviction, a satisfied understanding of self or others. Many are not content with the understanding we have at any given moment. There seems a truth in Daniel Dennett’s notion of “epistemological hunger”. We yearn to know; we yearn for satisfaction. This is demonstrated day after day in common parlance wherever people gather and talk of themselves and others. Always there seems to be occasion for explanation of behavior or thinking, especially if that behavior is not like our own, or that of our primary group. And more often than not there will be competing, sometimes conflicting, explanations, and the conclusion, “well, I just don’t know…” So, many of us continue pursuit toward a more complete understanding. We often subscribe to the notion attributed to Socrates that the unexamined life is not worth living (I’ve read recently that that is not what he said, or in any case its routinely been taken out of context. Unfortunately I completed that reading without setting it aside in a “to remember” pile and now will have to go in search of it again.).
What is it about such an examination of life, such an understanding that makes it worth the effort of pursuit? Perhaps it has to do with relationship both in its broadest form, and in everyday personal interaction, the relationship of nations, societies, cultures; relationships at work, at home and in community. And that is not only relationship amongst people, but between ourselves and all manner of existence from the universe to the microscopic. The worthiness of the effort is in the satisfaction of the relationship. And the first relationship we must be satisfied with is the relationship with our Self. From that knowing, the knowing of other relationships will follow, there will be understanding and the epistemological hunger will be sated –for a moment. In personality concept and philosophy, I believe, we may find the basis of our pursuit. In relationship we will –eventually- find confirmation.
It is good –eventually, satisfying- to know one’s soil and climate, and the preferential habits of the plants one hopes to nurture in a garden. I was nearly prepared to say that the greatest satisfaction in gardening is in the bloom, but quickly it comes to mind that there is tremendous satisfaction in the knowing, understanding and the toil, as well. Though I am prepared to talk of satisfaction, I dare not venture what satisfies the epicurean.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Getting Beyond Starting
In “Starting” –which I really was- I wrote, “In short, what I have just determined to do is use these spaces, … Risks understood; good will anticipated. Just that bit of acquiescence. … The writing I’m interested in is my summation in essay genre of personality, and philosophy. … Perhaps, in the end, I simply satisfy that oft-stated imperative, write-for-yourself.” And then I found in another space a piece that had been a rambling thought in my head on a long drive, and that became an “Intermediacy” as it was both connected to the Starting piece, and anticipated future direction. Now I want to get on with it, and begin working on some of these thoughts I’ve laid out. In this entry I will address the quotes above taken from “Starting.’
This set of quotes allows me to begin by noting that I am indeed following my determination to use these spaces. Two things are accomplished in this recognition: I’m patting myself on the back –which I need for self-motivation; and I am indeed writing in the format of personal essay, short as these may be. These are important to a person who has some urge or notion to write but may not have the support and structure that would be granted an established, “money-earning” writer. It no doubt is motivating to know that one will get paid for doing this –or whatever it is one likes to do, and motivating too when others grant the time and facility to write. But for those of us who have determined that we are first and foremost writing for ourselves, there is little we can –or should- expect in the way of motivation. Hence, we need to find ways to pat ourselves on the back.
Now that preceding notion could have been bordering on sniveling; it was not meant as a search for pity. Neither is “acquiescence” a search for pity. Rather it is recognition of what is, and a willingness to accept that condition and live and work within such. In my own case I recognize that the field of writers is fully occupied, and many with years of experience and practice in the craft that have developed their skill level well beyond mine. Because I have other means of support at this time in my life, and have that urge to write, I can do so to satisfy myself. And should I make any contributions to others along the way, I am twice rewarded.
The other aspect to this acquiescence is that of recognizing that “publishing” on the Web may jeopardize potential for paid publication. I call that fair, especially following the prior recognition of slim prospects such publication. That’s risk understood, and with that the hope for good will.
Phew! Perhaps this will allow me now to get on with the subjects of interest: personality and philosophy.
This set of quotes allows me to begin by noting that I am indeed following my determination to use these spaces. Two things are accomplished in this recognition: I’m patting myself on the back –which I need for self-motivation; and I am indeed writing in the format of personal essay, short as these may be. These are important to a person who has some urge or notion to write but may not have the support and structure that would be granted an established, “money-earning” writer. It no doubt is motivating to know that one will get paid for doing this –or whatever it is one likes to do, and motivating too when others grant the time and facility to write. But for those of us who have determined that we are first and foremost writing for ourselves, there is little we can –or should- expect in the way of motivation. Hence, we need to find ways to pat ourselves on the back.
Now that preceding notion could have been bordering on sniveling; it was not meant as a search for pity. Neither is “acquiescence” a search for pity. Rather it is recognition of what is, and a willingness to accept that condition and live and work within such. In my own case I recognize that the field of writers is fully occupied, and many with years of experience and practice in the craft that have developed their skill level well beyond mine. Because I have other means of support at this time in my life, and have that urge to write, I can do so to satisfy myself. And should I make any contributions to others along the way, I am twice rewarded.
The other aspect to this acquiescence is that of recognizing that “publishing” on the Web may jeopardize potential for paid publication. I call that fair, especially following the prior recognition of slim prospects such publication. That’s risk understood, and with that the hope for good will.
Phew! Perhaps this will allow me now to get on with the subjects of interest: personality and philosophy.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
from Random Thoughts; Intermediacy
What if we are right;
What are the implications, obligations, rewards, consequences?
What if we are wrong;
What are the implications, obligations, rewards, consequences?
What do we do in the absence of certainty of right and wrong;
What are the implications, obligations, rewards, consequences?
Sometimes we don’t know the answers to these questions.
Must we know all the answers, all the time? Does it matter?
Can we believe?
Can we just believe?
What are the implications, obligations, rewards, consequences?
Happiness is a condition of being; amongst many conditions of being.
Happiness is encountered; it may or may not be realized.
Absence of happiness is not the presence of sadness, though it may be.
Sadness is a condition of being; amongst the conditions available to being.
Absence of sadness is not the presence of happiness, though it may be.
A condition of being is a physical state in the course of being.
We often don’t seem to know how people come to “Be” as they are.
We often seem to have incomplete ideas of how we come to “Be”.
Ideas we hold as knowledge about how people come to “Be” are often beliefs.
Scrutinized, it often seems that the ideas we hold are mixed, maybe muddled.
Often enough our beliefs seem to be unconvinced; some, are very convinced.
Knowing and believing are peculiar conditions; sometimes they may be similar.
Knowing and believing are not absolute or complete conditions.
Their presence can be demonstrated; their absence cannot.
Their habitat, or residence, seems to be physically in the brain.
Their structure may change.
The properties of their existence are debated.
The properties of their existence may be asserted as a physical state of being.
Some people hold the idea that people are made the way they are.
Some people hold the idea that people are born bad or born good.
Some people hold the idea that people are, as they were born.
Some people hold the idea that parents have made people as they are.
Some people hold the idea that culture has made people as they are.
Some people hold the idea that race has made people as they are.
Some people hold the idea that gender has made people as they are.
Some people hold the idea that people can change; some, that they cannot.
Many people are unsure of how they themselves came to be as they are.
Sometimes people wonder why:
Others are as they are;
Others are difficult to get along with;
Others change;
Others don’t change.
Sometimes people wonder why:
Myself is as I am.
It is typical of people to categorize one another.
It is typical to be rather inexact in categorizing one’s Self.
People often categorize in terms of traits and/or stereotypes.
There are Subcategories that include typecasts and Types.
It is typical of people to typecast other people.
To typecast is not the same as to Type, it is to stereotype.
Typecasting, there are people cast as:
mean people, or nice people;
People cast as arrogant, people cast as meek.
There are good and bad, generous and stingy casts.
There are people helpful and hurtful; people type A’s and B’s.
There are people who are Black, Brown, White, Red and known as Yellow.
There skinny cast and fat cast; male cast and female cast.
There are those cast as high-energy people, and those as lazy.
People often profile others in terms of psyche, soul, spirit, being, or personality.
Profiled terms often seem indistinct, unclear, muddled.
Characteristics of a profile may be positive or negative.
Profiles are grounded in something.
Flowers are grounded.
Perhaps we should know the soil from which the blossom blooms.
Perhaps we should know the soil in which we nurture our garden.
What are the implications, obligations, rewards, consequences?
What if we are wrong;
What are the implications, obligations, rewards, consequences?
What do we do in the absence of certainty of right and wrong;
What are the implications, obligations, rewards, consequences?
Sometimes we don’t know the answers to these questions.
Must we know all the answers, all the time? Does it matter?
Can we believe?
Can we just believe?
What are the implications, obligations, rewards, consequences?
Happiness is a condition of being; amongst many conditions of being.
Happiness is encountered; it may or may not be realized.
Absence of happiness is not the presence of sadness, though it may be.
Sadness is a condition of being; amongst the conditions available to being.
Absence of sadness is not the presence of happiness, though it may be.
A condition of being is a physical state in the course of being.
We often don’t seem to know how people come to “Be” as they are.
We often seem to have incomplete ideas of how we come to “Be”.
Ideas we hold as knowledge about how people come to “Be” are often beliefs.
Scrutinized, it often seems that the ideas we hold are mixed, maybe muddled.
Often enough our beliefs seem to be unconvinced; some, are very convinced.
Knowing and believing are peculiar conditions; sometimes they may be similar.
Knowing and believing are not absolute or complete conditions.
Their presence can be demonstrated; their absence cannot.
Their habitat, or residence, seems to be physically in the brain.
Their structure may change.
The properties of their existence are debated.
The properties of their existence may be asserted as a physical state of being.
Some people hold the idea that people are made the way they are.
Some people hold the idea that people are born bad or born good.
Some people hold the idea that people are, as they were born.
Some people hold the idea that parents have made people as they are.
Some people hold the idea that culture has made people as they are.
Some people hold the idea that race has made people as they are.
Some people hold the idea that gender has made people as they are.
Some people hold the idea that people can change; some, that they cannot.
Many people are unsure of how they themselves came to be as they are.
Sometimes people wonder why:
Others are as they are;
Others are difficult to get along with;
Others change;
Others don’t change.
Sometimes people wonder why:
Myself is as I am.
It is typical of people to categorize one another.
It is typical to be rather inexact in categorizing one’s Self.
People often categorize in terms of traits and/or stereotypes.
There are Subcategories that include typecasts and Types.
It is typical of people to typecast other people.
To typecast is not the same as to Type, it is to stereotype.
Typecasting, there are people cast as:
mean people, or nice people;
People cast as arrogant, people cast as meek.
There are good and bad, generous and stingy casts.
There are people helpful and hurtful; people type A’s and B’s.
There are people who are Black, Brown, White, Red and known as Yellow.
There skinny cast and fat cast; male cast and female cast.
There are those cast as high-energy people, and those as lazy.
People often profile others in terms of psyche, soul, spirit, being, or personality.
Profiled terms often seem indistinct, unclear, muddled.
Characteristics of a profile may be positive or negative.
Profiles are grounded in something.
Flowers are grounded.
Perhaps we should know the soil from which the blossom blooms.
Perhaps we should know the soil in which we nurture our garden.
Perhaps we should cultivate that soil.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Starting
05; 5/18
Here I start on yet another beginning, on yet another writing space, and on yet another grappling effort. Though I’ve made concerted effort –and some real gain in that regard- to focus my writing to fewer spaces so that I don’t lose track of things, still I find myself starting new spaces to write in. Beginning this one I was somewhat miffed with myself for this, but even as the introduction began to flow I see the need and purpose, and now also, the “drive” for these new spaces. I’ll deal first with the rationalizations for seeking and trying these new spaces because that need is so prominent in my personality and would dog me if I did not get it explained (although, I’ve learned in recent years that I can satisfactorily keep my thoughts to myself rather than expounding unsought, unwelcome or unappreciated; but then what have I learned?; look where I’m writing).
It is in the structure of my personality type that I am very attuned to the many thoughts constantly running through my head, through my brain. I am also aware that the focus of my perception for thoughts is more forward than on history, my perception more intuitive than sensate. I know my approach to be an openness that welcomes possibility and potential; closure comes very hard. All of which means, of course, that I am one of those who likes to take in perception more than I like to get down to the doing of something with it. And all too often, the doing-something-with-it one time satisfies my existential hunger, and I’m on to the next item of interest from a distant horizon. This is not unlike Toad of Toad Hall who became obsessed with having a motorcar. So, as I see these aspects of myself come through in the efforts I make I feel both affirmed in what I know of myself, and true to type. Combined, these make for some immediate satisfaction that offsets the self-directed “miffed”.
Still, I know too that simply being true to type will not save me from –actually, may imperil me to- being stretched too thin, too scattered. And those conditions work against being productive, which of course is what most Americans are acculturated to believe they must be. And so I’m in a constant mode of organizing to stay focused, and miffed when I take on more than I can do with. Such is my concern about these new writing places and spaces.
Another aspect of the personality structural issue that concerns me is that I’m an avowed Introvert, and satisfied as such. I would demur the likely Freudian assessment to the preferred Jungian notion that the personality structure includes the potential –even, need- for opposites of one’s preferences that lie in wait within the Unconscious for their time to unfold. And when that time comes, those unconscious elements of the personality begin to bud toward blossoms. Well then, perhaps Extraverting in such a safe public space is not a bad beginning.
Finally, there is one more aspect of concern. It comes I believe, out of a philosophical orientation; skepticism. I have found these places in the digital netherworld that provide free space for anyone to “write”. Free? I have a difficulty believing in “free”, but that belief conjures up a whole other discussion for another time. In the here-and-now, let’s assume that it costs money for someone to buy and maintain the servers that host these spaces for us to use at our discretion. I know that Microsoft was very successful giving away things like Hotmail, as others have done since. But those services are vehicles of revenue-bearing advertisements placed were people are likely to come and stay awhile. I have difficulty believing that personal blogs are an enticement for ad-buyers. But then, well, maybe. And I do see that several of these places offer an “upgraded” service for a subscription fee, so maybe the free offers are lures. But what really concerns me is that someone–me?- might spend the personal investment of time and mental energy blogging away only to find it all gone one day when some entrepreneur has been unable to pay the bill for equipment and maintenance. At least to this concern there is a solution: draft to your own hard drive, and post to the blog. So be it.
Now the reason I found and engaged with these sites at all is that over the past three years following retirement I have been pursuing (a word that allows a lot of latitude) an interest in writing. As I took to the Net to find possibilities of information, instruction and support, I came across several sites that serve those purposes. Those sites, and general awareness (reading and hearing about blogs) led me to these blogging sites. Once there (here), of course the next question is, so what?
In short, what I have just determined to do is use these spaces, (“Later” at http://www.livejournal.com/users/pdlefebvre/ and, “Writing About” at http://typeon.blogspot.com/ ) as both a personal journal and as “publication” space for the writing of my interest. Risks understood; good will anticipated. Just that bit of acquiescence. The journal will clarify itself. The writing I’m interested in is my summation in essay genre of personality, and philosophy. Both very broad as stated here; my task will be to focus and articulate, and see if I have anything whatsoever to add. Perhaps, in the end, I simply satisfy that oft-stated imperative, “write for yourself.” Here goes.
Being a writer results from a number elements brought together including personality, interest, and opportunity. It includes the sense of “having something to say” and the desire to say it. Now, “being a writer” may also be a big “so what” if either what one has to say is trite, or no one else reads the work. It’s probably fair to say that by the mere effort of coalescing the elements and the sitting to do the job, that there is desire, and no doubt we could establish that there is “something to say”. But just what it is that one has to say may be a problem.
Trite does concern me. I read enough in this genre –the non-fiction essay- and pay enough attention to the biographies and interviews of noted literary artists to know that so many of them talk of their experience with the “dry times”, the waste land of imagination, the absence of the muse. Nothing comes but the trite. Actually I find these encouraging, as I’m sure they are meant to be. For how different are we in our shared humanity? That is certainly not to deny the probability of genius amongst the crowd. And crowd it is; crowded, it is. Indeed one can be overwhelmed merely by the number of writers there are plying their craft. But we can take some solace in our numbers in that given there are so many of us, it is only reasonable that many of us would at any one time be in the wasteland of trite. But that being the situation from time to time, does not mean that that is where we are meant to be, or must be.
Enter the muse; welcome the muse, whatever your muse may be. Now the mere notion of a muse prepares us for a whole different path that we’ll mark for another place and time; such an interesting notion as it is. But for our purpose here, let us, especially at such times of commonplace, have the door ajar that inspiration might come in. Indeed, let us be mindful to wonder, where be that muse, that inspiration? I have read in a forum on one of these websites that there is no help for writing improvement except to just continue the practice of writing. That statement, posted on a forum was a response to a prior question about getting help on the Internet. Intuitively I wanted to object to that response. But as I considered it further, I found that the advice has at least two aspects: 1) in itself it belies its own statement, for it was a help; 2) it supports a notion put forward at some length by Daniel Dennett in his book, Consciousness Explained (1991), wherein he outlines his theory of Multiple Drafts.
Here I’ll end this bit of conversation to take up subsequently bits and pieces left astray here.
Here I start on yet another beginning, on yet another writing space, and on yet another grappling effort. Though I’ve made concerted effort –and some real gain in that regard- to focus my writing to fewer spaces so that I don’t lose track of things, still I find myself starting new spaces to write in. Beginning this one I was somewhat miffed with myself for this, but even as the introduction began to flow I see the need and purpose, and now also, the “drive” for these new spaces. I’ll deal first with the rationalizations for seeking and trying these new spaces because that need is so prominent in my personality and would dog me if I did not get it explained (although, I’ve learned in recent years that I can satisfactorily keep my thoughts to myself rather than expounding unsought, unwelcome or unappreciated; but then what have I learned?; look where I’m writing).
It is in the structure of my personality type that I am very attuned to the many thoughts constantly running through my head, through my brain. I am also aware that the focus of my perception for thoughts is more forward than on history, my perception more intuitive than sensate. I know my approach to be an openness that welcomes possibility and potential; closure comes very hard. All of which means, of course, that I am one of those who likes to take in perception more than I like to get down to the doing of something with it. And all too often, the doing-something-with-it one time satisfies my existential hunger, and I’m on to the next item of interest from a distant horizon. This is not unlike Toad of Toad Hall who became obsessed with having a motorcar. So, as I see these aspects of myself come through in the efforts I make I feel both affirmed in what I know of myself, and true to type. Combined, these make for some immediate satisfaction that offsets the self-directed “miffed”.
Still, I know too that simply being true to type will not save me from –actually, may imperil me to- being stretched too thin, too scattered. And those conditions work against being productive, which of course is what most Americans are acculturated to believe they must be. And so I’m in a constant mode of organizing to stay focused, and miffed when I take on more than I can do with. Such is my concern about these new writing places and spaces.
Another aspect of the personality structural issue that concerns me is that I’m an avowed Introvert, and satisfied as such. I would demur the likely Freudian assessment to the preferred Jungian notion that the personality structure includes the potential –even, need- for opposites of one’s preferences that lie in wait within the Unconscious for their time to unfold. And when that time comes, those unconscious elements of the personality begin to bud toward blossoms. Well then, perhaps Extraverting in such a safe public space is not a bad beginning.
Finally, there is one more aspect of concern. It comes I believe, out of a philosophical orientation; skepticism. I have found these places in the digital netherworld that provide free space for anyone to “write”. Free? I have a difficulty believing in “free”, but that belief conjures up a whole other discussion for another time. In the here-and-now, let’s assume that it costs money for someone to buy and maintain the servers that host these spaces for us to use at our discretion. I know that Microsoft was very successful giving away things like Hotmail, as others have done since. But those services are vehicles of revenue-bearing advertisements placed were people are likely to come and stay awhile. I have difficulty believing that personal blogs are an enticement for ad-buyers. But then, well, maybe. And I do see that several of these places offer an “upgraded” service for a subscription fee, so maybe the free offers are lures. But what really concerns me is that someone–me?- might spend the personal investment of time and mental energy blogging away only to find it all gone one day when some entrepreneur has been unable to pay the bill for equipment and maintenance. At least to this concern there is a solution: draft to your own hard drive, and post to the blog. So be it.
Now the reason I found and engaged with these sites at all is that over the past three years following retirement I have been pursuing (a word that allows a lot of latitude) an interest in writing. As I took to the Net to find possibilities of information, instruction and support, I came across several sites that serve those purposes. Those sites, and general awareness (reading and hearing about blogs) led me to these blogging sites. Once there (here), of course the next question is, so what?
In short, what I have just determined to do is use these spaces, (“Later” at http://www.livejournal.com/users/pdlefebvre/ and, “Writing About” at http://typeon.blogspot.com/ ) as both a personal journal and as “publication” space for the writing of my interest. Risks understood; good will anticipated. Just that bit of acquiescence. The journal will clarify itself. The writing I’m interested in is my summation in essay genre of personality, and philosophy. Both very broad as stated here; my task will be to focus and articulate, and see if I have anything whatsoever to add. Perhaps, in the end, I simply satisfy that oft-stated imperative, “write for yourself.” Here goes.
Being a writer results from a number elements brought together including personality, interest, and opportunity. It includes the sense of “having something to say” and the desire to say it. Now, “being a writer” may also be a big “so what” if either what one has to say is trite, or no one else reads the work. It’s probably fair to say that by the mere effort of coalescing the elements and the sitting to do the job, that there is desire, and no doubt we could establish that there is “something to say”. But just what it is that one has to say may be a problem.
Trite does concern me. I read enough in this genre –the non-fiction essay- and pay enough attention to the biographies and interviews of noted literary artists to know that so many of them talk of their experience with the “dry times”, the waste land of imagination, the absence of the muse. Nothing comes but the trite. Actually I find these encouraging, as I’m sure they are meant to be. For how different are we in our shared humanity? That is certainly not to deny the probability of genius amongst the crowd. And crowd it is; crowded, it is. Indeed one can be overwhelmed merely by the number of writers there are plying their craft. But we can take some solace in our numbers in that given there are so many of us, it is only reasonable that many of us would at any one time be in the wasteland of trite. But that being the situation from time to time, does not mean that that is where we are meant to be, or must be.
Enter the muse; welcome the muse, whatever your muse may be. Now the mere notion of a muse prepares us for a whole different path that we’ll mark for another place and time; such an interesting notion as it is. But for our purpose here, let us, especially at such times of commonplace, have the door ajar that inspiration might come in. Indeed, let us be mindful to wonder, where be that muse, that inspiration? I have read in a forum on one of these websites that there is no help for writing improvement except to just continue the practice of writing. That statement, posted on a forum was a response to a prior question about getting help on the Internet. Intuitively I wanted to object to that response. But as I considered it further, I found that the advice has at least two aspects: 1) in itself it belies its own statement, for it was a help; 2) it supports a notion put forward at some length by Daniel Dennett in his book, Consciousness Explained (1991), wherein he outlines his theory of Multiple Drafts.
Here I’ll end this bit of conversation to take up subsequently bits and pieces left astray here.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Next
Regardless of what it looks like I am working at posting; it just takes me longer cuz there are so many other things need be done too. I'm getting there; I'll make something of this.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Introduction
As is too often the case, I have more ideas than time and energy to develop and exercise them. Thus, I begin this blog with an idea, little time, and an introduction that I will have to return to for completion.
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