November 26, 2013

Chaos, Order, Nietzche, and the Future

“In Nietzsche’s early books, he suggested that all great art represents a balance between the wild energies of the Dionysian principle and the ordered control of the Apollonian principle, but his later books indicate a shift in his thinking. He began to feel that Western culture was too Apollonian. Because of this he seemed to imply that Western culture needed art to be more Dionysian to counterbalance its pathologically rational tendencies.”

Have you noticed lately how the most popular television shows these days (Real Housewives, Breaking Bad, any vampire show) are the ones filled to the brim with more chaos, violence, scandal, and unchecked emotions than ever before? Only 100 years ago, Western culture was pretty uptight, with their suits and manners and monocles. Nietzeche suggested that this Apollonian characteristic had dominated Western psychology, and so art (aka entertainment) should reflect more Dionysian principles in order to create a balance.

Apollonian – sharing characteristics with the Greek god Apollo – order, reason, harmony etc.

Dionysian – sharing characteristics with the Greek goddess Dionysus – chaos, emotion, discord etc.

If you examine the major trends of history, you’ll find that Western civilization tends to fluctuate between these two principles at an ever increasing rate:

Ancient Era – (Dionysian) – tribal warfare and paganism dominated this period.

Classical Ages (Apollonian) – reason and order were the emphasis here

Middle Ages – (Dionysian) – persecution against “witches” and holy wars were popular

Renaissance – (Apollonian) – Revisiting the ideals of the Classical Ages, order, reason, and harmony became paramount.

Age of Exploration – (Dionysian) – Free from any direct authority (they were thousands of miles across the sea in an uncharted land) and confronted with vast treasures and untamed nature, sailors and captains often resorted to barbaric treatment of natives.

Victorian Era – (Apollonian) – Lots of rules and etiquette made the British empire the fanciest empire of all.

Modern Age – (Dionysian) – Modern psychology seems to scream “Nobody can tell ME what do do!” all over reality TV. Expressions of self beyond the norm are becoming more and more expected, and often accepted and celebrated.

In this highly Dionysian era, we contend with (or take advantage of) outrageous/offensive entertainment, unacceptably disorganized government, and obscure and ultimately meaningless international skirmishes. What we gain is great measures of personal freedom. (The way we talk, dress, act, think, and the activities we engage in would have been considered obscene and unacceptable to people of the Victorian Era just a couple hundred years ago).

Studying this chart and considering that historical trends tend to repeat and perpetuate themselves, it seems likely that once we have reached the apex of this madness, we will begin to transform into a culture that once again values order and discipline (probably more than ever before in history). Given the high levels of technology & communication we’ve developed, I can only imagine the incredible advances mankind will make once we stop being distracted by Jersey Shore.

November 22, 2013

Graffiti in Pompeii

“Some of the most famous Pompeian graffiti is much like graffiti today. Here are a few lines found in the Basilica in the forum:

Samius to Cornelisu: Go hang yourself
Phileros is a eunuch
Virgula to her man Tertius: You’re a dirty old man
Chios I hope your piles irritate you so they burn like they’ve never burned before

(Berry: 107)”

Things like this remind me of how little mankind has really changed. In thousands of years of history I would say that we are much the same as we’ve ever been, just with fancier clothes and tools and toys. Human nature essentially has remained the same. We ponder the same mysteries and grapple with the same social and emotional difficulties.

November 21, 2013

Alexander the Great?

“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”

~Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)

Alexander III, son of King Phillip II of Macedon, was undoubtedly a great general, having conquered a vast empire that stretched from Greece in the east to the border of India in the west, and that also included the lands of Egypt. This was the first time in history that the three powerful regions of Egypt, Greece, and Persia (Asia Minor) had ever been united. It also marked the destruction of the Persian Empire, which had been a powerful force for a long time before then.

But were these kingdoms really united by Alexander? Culturally, sort of. Politically, not really. Alexander was great at conquering land and disabling political infrastructures, but he was not so great at setting up a new system in their stead. What Alexander did do was spread Hellenistic (AKA Greek) values, art, ideas, and cultural, throughout the lands he invaded. Interestingly though, Alexander, being Macedonian, was not considered by the Greeks to be Greek. Rather, after they were defeated by him, they thought of him as more of a Hellenized barbarian.

Alexander also founded many new cities, mostly naming them after himself. The most famous of these is Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt.

To understand the man called Alexander the Great, and why he was so great, I think it is most important to understand and consider his personality. Growing up as the son of an ambitious king, he was famously tutored by Aristotle, who was one of the most learned men of his day. When he ascended to the throne at the age of 16 (due to his father’s death), the Greek cities thought to break the alliance they had made with his father, not wanting to be at the mercy of a such a young man. Alexander, quickly put them in their place and began his further conquests. It seemed that he delighted in battle and conquest, not so much for the territories he acquired, but more for the love of battle and glory. He set his sights on the Persian Empire, the most powerful force of that day and he pursued it’s king, Darius II, as he fled across Asia. It is said that when one of his generals killed Darius, he was so anger to have been robbed of the opportunity himself that he hunted down his own general and killed him instead. This illustrates the kind of powerful personality Alexander had. It is clear that his quest for personal glory outweighed any other considerations.

His expansion west was finally halted when his army declared that enough was enough and turned back to head home. Alexander, likely very reluctantly, agreed but chose to take the most treacherous route home across the Gedrosian Dessert. This was perhaps to punish his troops for refusing to continue to march east or just to show the world once again how badass he was. 12,000 troops died on that march and it is widely considered to be Alexander’s greatest strategic blunder.

He died on his way back, 2 years later in Babylon. Some say he was murdered, and others that he died of alcohol poisoning (he drank a lot). But, most likely the cause of his death was a simple fever. (It’s amazing how easily God can destroy great men and nations with ease, regardless of how great they think they are.)

So was Alexander really “Great”? Well, he certainly was accomplished, and had a mighty personality, but the motivation behind his deeds were not much more than an expression of his vanity and strength (which were considerable). Yet, he was the catalyst for a new era of interconnectedness between lands of the west and the east, which had been previously divided by the Empire of Persia. Theres no doubt that he had played a major role in the course of world history. He definitely was an exemplary human in some ways and an egotistical brat in others. Was he great though? I guess it depends on your definition of great…

November 19, 2013

Nikola Tesla’s Tele-Geodynamics (AKA Free Energy)

“We will deprive the ocean of all its terrors by illuminating the sky, thus avoiding collisions at sea and other disasters caused by darkness. We will draw unlimited quantities of water from the ocean and irrigate desserts and other arid regions. In this way we will fertilize the soil and derive any amount of power from the sun. I also believe that ultimately all battles, if they should be come, will be waged by electrical waves instead of explosives.”

~Nikola Tesla: New York Times, 1915 [1]

Controlled Earthquakes

“Tesla once said to a reporter with respect to his telegeodynamic art of ‘controlled earthquakes’ that with a small amount of power it would take about two weeks to two months of vibration of the earth to bring it to full resonance, ‘and it could be made to split in two like an apple.’” That’s a scary thought. Don’t believe it? Watch this. http://youtu.be/7T0DD9KilmM?t=14m15s

But Tesla’s intentions were not to frighten us, but rather to illustrate the power of this technology. It all comes down to…

Resonant Frequencies

Resonant frequency is a term used to describe when two or more different vibrations oscillate (vibrate) in harmony with each other, thereby strengthening into one stronger vibration. It is this understanding that made Tesla’s development of AC (Alternating Currents) for powering our electrical devices possible.

In the early 1900s Tesla thought to push this to the next level, by determining the resonant frequency of the earth as a whole and pumping it up with some vibrations of our own. The way electromagnetic fields work is that they distribute energy or vibration equally to the entire field. This would mean that pumping energy into the Earth at any specific point would allow that energy to be utilized at any other point on Earth practically instantaneously.

Wireless Electricity

This means that electricity could be accessed equally at any point on the planet! The idea is, you would need some sort of receiver, but that could be as simple as an antennae. The receiver would pick up those vibrations and use them to create a magnetic field. With a little know-how, you could

But wouldn’t these vibrations effect people and ecosystems one might ask? It seems logical to conclude this, but think about how many vibrations constantly stream through your body from satellites transmitting radio, television and cell-phone frequencies to name a few. Tesla was also famous for running large amounts of electricity through his body in his experiments to discover if they were harmful. Apparently they aren’t.

Free Electricity

The big problem (or big solution depending on how you look at it) with this technology is that there’s no way to put a meter on it. Anybody, from anywhere in the world, could utilize this energy at little to no cost. Some theorize that this is precisely the reason that the theory was never put into practice.

So What?

So What!? Two words: Free Energy. This is perhaps the single impeding factor in our development as a species at this point. With unlimited energy our possibilities are limited only by imagination. Even physically limitations such as time and gravity can theoretically be defied with enough (albeit A LOT) of energy and intelligence. In addition, with this kind of global distribution, anybody could live in any corner of the forest, desolate mountain top , or deserted island without forgoing the comforts of electricity. Awesome.

nikola-tesla-and-his-wardenclyffe-towertower-and-laboratory5

“Wardenclyffe Tower (1901–1917) also known as the Tesla Tower, was an early wireless transmission tower designed by Nikola Tesla in Shoreham, New York and intended for commercial trans-Atlantic wireless telephony, broadcasting, and proof-of-concept demonstrations of wireless power transmission.[2][3] It was never fully operational,[4] and the tower was demolished in 1917.” ~Wikipedia

November 16, 2013

Shaolin Kung Fu and Buddhism

“In Buddhism there are methods to meet the various needs and aspirations of different people, which can be divided into the following three generalized levels:

1) Live healthily and happily to a ripe old age

2) Go to heaven in the next life

3) Attain the greatest, highest achievement, described variously as attaining enlightenment, achieving Buddhahood, returning to God, union with Allah, unity with the Cosmos, becoming one with Brahman, seeing ultimate reality, or finding Absolute Truth.

Shaolin Kung Fu, in conjunction with the teaching of Buddhism, can help us achieve any or all these aims.”

~Wong Kiew Kit, The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu

I think it’s important when practicing anything really to remember your purpose in doing that thing. And if you want to do it authentically, then it’s important to learn its true method and purpose. This is especially true for things which have a looong history, such as languages, artistic or craft skills, martial arts, etc. When learning one of these things your mental state must match the activity, or your efforts will be shallow and inauthentic. So, when speaking Serbian, you must think and feel like a Serbian, or else it will be difficult to internalize the language and make it feel natural. You could not approach creating an impressionist style painting with the same mindset and feelings as you would to create a photo-realistic style painting.

The purpose of many martial arts are most importantly to build character, cultivate spirit, etc., and secondarily for martial application (though this is important too). Why is this so? Well, In the instance of Shaolin Kung fu, the Shaolin Temple was a center for Buddhism long before they had any form of martial arts. The martial arts were then integrated into their methodology for achieving the three purposes outlined above. So, to practice it authentically, this must be researched and kept in mind when pursuing your training.

Also, the proper state mind and body must be understood and maintained:

“What’s Shaolin style? Shaolin style builds moral character, promotes excellent circulation, strengthens the body, creates the limbs coordination, increases agility of the mind and the body, and trains Wushu skills to such a degree that victories can be gained in all forms of conflicts. What’s the practice? Advance is like lightning. Retreat is like the wind. The head moves like the waves. The feet are as solid as stones. The body flows like a flying dragon. The hands move like shooting stars. All movements spring forth from the human mind and human being nature. Attacks are hard and strong but not excessive, they can bend like the reed in the wind, changing from one type of attack to another. The attacks contain fakes and surprising strikes that combine to react to your enemies defence. In Shaolin style, defence is like a gentle girl, soft but not weak. Attacks are tiger like, violent and appropriate. If one wishes to defeat his enemies in a fighting, he must overcome his weaknesses in practice. Practice leads to skill. Skill leads to perfection, and perfection leads to the supernatural.”

November 15, 2013

The Toltec

“When I was first studying pre-Columbian art history long ago, it was believed that the Toltecs were a defined, specific culture and civilization. This idea was derived from the artwork, inscriptions, writings and translations that were currently available. However, that has come under some debate as many scholars began to sense that the Toltecs were a mythological people.

Among the Nahuatl-speaking peoples the word “tolteca” was synonymous with artist, artisan or wise man (specifically one who was a city-dweller and wise in the ways of urbanization). “Toltecayotl” (toltec-ness) meant art, culture, and urban civilization. Some of scholars therefore deemed that there was no separate and unique “Toltec” civilization.

Later, some Mesoamerican scholars began to believe that both of the above ideas might be true, in part. They returned to the source materials. Taking those materials as having at least some degree of real-world validity, these scholars postulated that there once had been a real, historical Toltec civilization. Over time, the real Toltecs may have moved into the realm of mythology, just as the Trojans did in Greek storytelling.”

~http://pottery.about.com/od/glazesurfaces/ig/Mesoamerican-Pottery/Toltec-Vessel-with-Mask.htm

Among the most ancient civilizations of which we have information (the Trojans for the Greeks and the Toltec for Aztec) , there seems to be this repeated idea that a there was a culture ancient to even them that was technologically superior. This has lead to a pretty cool show called Ancient Aliens in which “Ancient Astronaut Theorists” contend that these cultures were in league with extra-terrestrials. While I don’t discount the theory as completely implausible, it seems equally likely that mankind used to have some sort of technology that we no longer understand. It is my feeling that this technology was based on the power of the mind or some sort of spiritual, metaphysical power that was enhanced by things like structures, rituals, and perhaps quartz crystal.

The Toltec fall under this category of an ancient civilization that was (in some ways at least) vastly more advanced than it’s contemporaries. Perhaps we are just now emerging from a many millennia spiritual or cognitive dark age. Perhaps we still have millennia to go…

The Mysterious Past

History