"Ethical individualism is the crowning feature of that edifice which Darwin and Haeckel have striven to build for natural science. Ethical individualism is spiritualized evolutionary teaching carried over into moral life." - PoF, ch 12.
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What Has Evolved
OK, here are the new rules and roles of the website, as nearly as I can make them out:
1. Carl is limited to one new journal every two weeks.
2. Carl can post only to one journal in any two week period. He will not post to anyone's journal but one of his own.
3. Carl may provide links within his posts, but only to posts within his own journals. He may not link to posts in anyone else's journal.
4. Carl's posts must be relevant to the journal topic to which he is posting.
5. Carl's posts, and the posts of anyone on the website, will be subject to review by a committee of moderators.
6. The moderators have the power to invisibilize a post, to modify a post or to suspend posting privileges of anyone on the website.
7. Moderators must exercise their power through consensus. No one moderator may take action without the approval of all moderators.
8. Moderators are selected on the basis of their congeniality with one another, and their willingness to serve as moderator.
9. The moderators as of today's date are Tom, Joel, Sebastian, Tim, John, Lori and Patri.
10. All other presumptions about the function of the website remain at status quo ante, before Carl's suspension.
This seems to be a fair representation of what's actually going on in this little world. What do people make of these?
A Reasonable Next Step
Now the whole difference between the free spirit and the unfree spirit, on the evolutionary view, is that the free spirit acts out of thinking, whereas the unfree spirit acts out of perception.
The free spirit acts out of a mental picture that he (she) produces out of thinking, whereas the unfree spirit acts out of a mental picture which is "given from the start."
This is a fair interpretation of PoF, Chapter 12.
Suppose we were to add a new rule for the moderators to apply to life on the site:
11. Moderators should invisibilize, modify or otherwise stymie posts that are not products of thinking.
Seems like a reasonable next step to take.
Free and Unfree Spirit
The challenge of our time is to manifest ever greater humanity in our thoughts and deeds. The head-centered knowledge of today has not been able to achieve this. What is needed is a wisdom of the heart. Only the heart is capable of uniting polarities and harmonizing discord. When the head is informed by the wisdom of the heart we will act on behalf of all humanity. This wisdom of the heart – the wisdom (Sophia) of humankind (anthropos) – is embodied in Anthroposophy. It is a spiritual force bearing the wisdom both appropriate and necessary for our time. It is a seed for the future. Anthroposophia, the emissary of this wisdom as revealed to the world by Rudolf Steiner, is indeed ‘the image of our true humanity’. (You will find this information on the Anthroposopohia page).
Love to all,
Patri
Plain Old Thinking
Patri,
I don't recognize this language as coming from PoF. It looks more or less made up.
The language in PoF is about independently manufactured mental images on the one hand and about observation on the other. These are functions of the head, not of the heart.
Talk about "heart-thinking" and other such, when out of context, strikes me merely as the confession that one prefers not to exercise the plain old thinking that everyone knows is in the head.
not "plain old thinking"
Dear Carl,
Even though you have your own ideas about PoF, these may not be true, and may in fact be so untrue as to be misleading to others. I personally have no desire to follow you around correcting the confusion you create by speaking of things about which you have no knowledge or experience, but PoF is too significant a work in the history of human thought to be allowed to be so poorly represented by someone with the kind of pretense to knowledge you act out, especially on a website dedicated to this product of Steiner's genius.
PoF is most clearly not about "plain old thinking", but about thinking in which the will has come fully awake to the I's participation in the process of thinking, such that there is no longer "plain old thinking", but rather "living thinking". This metamorphosis of thinking is not easy to obtain either. Steiner was well aware of the difficulties. I won't bother to quote chapter and verse to you, because that has already been done on any number of occasions to which you apparently refuse to pay any attention.
With this message I am just putting you on notice that when you grossly misrepresent PoF (or Anthrosophy) because you are either to lazy or don't care enough to become acquainted with the truth of the matter, I will be here to let others know that what you write fails to met the necessary standards of practice and investigation appropriate to someone who aspires to take spiritual science seriously.
In case you haven't quite got the carefulness with which I have just expressed myself, if we were in a bar I would be saying something on the order of (quite loudly, and for every one else to hear): Carl, you are full of **it!
your friend,
joel
for those who know how to read: In Joyous Celebration of the Soul Art and Music of Discipleship
http://ipwebdev.com/hermit/samod.html
Word makers
From my point of view, more or less made up is a huge compliment to a creative spirit. Well done Patri.
So we may say that anthroposophy begins in every case with science, enlivens its concepts through art and ends in a religious deepening. (30 January 1923 in GA257, which is the same GA as Awakening to Community but I could not find the lecture online, sorry)
In my made up words this quote validates the method: investigation and experience leads to creative expression which leads to inner change through an idea becoming an ideal. Steiner's language and its seldom satisfactory English translation becomes ugly when it is substituted for creative speech/writing. Today is Monday, RIGHT WORD on the eight-fold path. Do we have to travel the path in the ruts of specific jargon and cliches? Only if we choose in freedom.
However one values PoF, why choose to ignore the further work by its author, which includes considering how hearts have thoughts? [Michael] liberates thought from the sphere of the head; he clears the way for it to the heart; he enkindles enthusiasm in the feelings, so that the human mind can be filled with devotion for all that can be experienced in the light of thought.
The Age of Michael has dawned. Hearts are beginning to have thoughts; spiritual fervour is now proceeding, not merely from mystical obscurity, but from souls clarified by thought. To understand this means to receive Michael into the heart. Thoughts which at the present time strive to grasp the Spiritual must originate in hearts which beat for Michael as the fiery Prince of Thought in the Universe. (Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts: At the Dawn of the Michael Age)
These two quotes can be seen to creatively express the same idea.
Group Wisdom Manual
Did you see that Collective World Wisdom gathering? Why not start a work project to put together a practical manual to help people such as these with group conversation. Nothing is available now. Your book is too academic and Spocks is too society oriented. We could form a group to work on producing a practical conversation manual to facilitate group wisdom.
All It Takes Is Money
Well, ok. All it takes is money.
A year ago I tried to interest the Institute of Noetic Sciences (major players at the WWC we saw in the video) in Goethean conversation. They told me they were interested, that they weren't ready for it internally, to be patient with them and to check back in a year or so.
I've been working since then in academics in order to put a fine point on the logic involved.
Conversation wiki
Part of the group wisdom movement such as wiki is to organize volunteers. Maybe the group wisdom manual project could be added to the POF wiki project.
Probably Worth Trying
There I think we'll be experimenting. I'm not sure how a wiki would actually work, either on PoF or GC. Probably worth trying, though.
Wiki Wheel
I'm all for reinventing the wheel, 3 billion times over!
Is there a real PoF wiki project yet or is it only an idea?
Wheel of Life
I find the idea of collecting real examples of PoF at work in the Wheel of Life the most inspiring aspect of this enthusiasm.
pbwiki
It is a new idea but I am searching various wiki's that can be used right now. So far I like pbwiki.
Copywrite
Tom, are there any issues of who owns the content of a hosted wiki? I hope not!
From the pbwiki Terms of
From the pbwiki Terms of Service agreement.
User Submissions. Company does not claim ownership of any information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, tags, or other materials you submit or make available for inclusion on or through the pbwiki Service ("User Submissions"). As between Company and you, you own all rights to your User Submissions. However, to enable Company to provide the pbwiki Service, you grant Company a worldwide and fully sub-licensable license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform, and publicly display your User Submissions (in whole or in part) in any format or medium now known or later developed. Company does not pre-screen User Submissions and you agree that you are solely responsible for all of your User Submissions.
Good news
Thanks Tom - your idea has echoes of the Dialogue on Leadership project http://www.dialogonleadership.org/
There was solid funding behind it. You may be able to build on work already done there.
WOW
Their list of essays is incredible for the variety of topics we would be interested in that can be connected to sections of POF. It is amazing how doors open when you take initiative.
Inspirational
This material got me so excited 3 years ago - and the course that I run - that could link to it more closely - on Intuitive Practice is still in nappies.
It needs prioritising in my work! So many human needs to be met and here am I typing on the internet...
one more try
Carl,
Based on your last post here, I'm starting to think you won't be around much longer. But just in case:
Instead of bugging people by telling them how wrong they are, why don't you head off to that thread we had going on your Truth-in-Conversation principal and pick that back up.
If you are enjoying what it feels like to tell other folks how wrong they are and whatever, go ahead and play that out. You'll get Joel educating you, Patri will probably just start ignoring you after she educates you....You might be suspended. This might be the kind of experience you are aiming towards here. If so, fine.
Otherwise, now that you've (indirectly) made a comment as to that other issue, I wouldn't mind looking at where we dropped off. It might be lonely; I don't think too many others were involved. But at least you got to educate me and I get a chance to see if there really is any overlap in which I could begin to speak your language.
So that's what I want. If you go through another round of educating everybody in the way that just gets folks upset, I know I won't have the interest in picking our thread up. I like talking with people who are at least trying to be nice to other people. I have no idea if you are hoping to continue dialogs with me, but if so, you'll need knock off the 90% old-school educator role you take. When Joel writes a long post on his research only about 10% (on average) is explicitly playing that role. It's a balence that is working. You tend to either open your posts by telling somebody they are wrong or you pat them on the back as if they are a promising students. You then mostly mention one of your ideas that can only make sense in the overall theory you hold as if it is or should be obvious. There is simply no room for fresh dialog with you. I'm the only person here, right now, who wants to be the kind of interlocuter you seem to desparately need. I'm not asking you to follow a list of rules. All I need is for you to treat me with respect (I'm not assuming you should know what that looks like for me) and try to participate with the wider community in ways that demonstrate a basic willingness to get along. That has nothing whatsoever to do with the content of your post.
Steiner considered PoF an example of the epitome of heart-thinking. He talks about how the experience PoF is pointing towards can't be differentiated from the concrete experience of love. It's not a concept, although it can use them temporarily. With PoF you simply can't separate thinking/feeling/willing in the conventionally anthropsophical ways. gulp
Carl has been booted by the
Carl has been booted by the owner who isn't going to spend anymore time on the issue.
The Wheel
OK, you caught the bug of inspiration, just like I did. There are many organisations that are working on world awareness and on collective wisdom. Did you check out the Collective Wisdom link I posted? Now why do we want to reinvent the wheel?
Some organisations just get out into the neighbourhood and start dialogue. A small start is a start. It is possible to enter the dialogue within such organisations and bring what is creatively possible. Steiner made a start in existing organisations. What is needed is personal commitment - never mind the label anthroposophy. When folk ask where are you coming from? - that is the time to tell. Until then let's go out and do what our individual moral insight creates.
Joel is provocatively under his bed - so he posted today. I bet that he is doing more than that. Starting to involve ourselves is something that can be done anytime and anywhere an opportunity comes up. Study groups are ok for practice. Then get out and invite new folk to join in and become inspired themselves. Dr Haushka is showing what can be done in a specialised field. Biodynamics are the cutting edge of the organic movement. In Scotland we have one of the finest trainings in curative education in the world. It is all making a difference!
Is the best thing to write a book? Maybe for one or two. The rest of us have other tasks that make some kind of difference. Noone wants to read a book until the fruits of the work are soundly proven on the world stage.
Go to your task Tom - get it right, so when you are ready the rest of us will have drummed up enough interest to put you on the best sellers list.
Oops! Who let Lucifer in the room? Small is also beautiful. Slow and steady gets there right on time. Every act of freedom counts.
Every step you take is the goal you seek.
-- Jorge Louis Borges