The conflict dates from the day when one man flying in the face of appearance perceived that the forces of nature are no more unalterably fixed in their orbits than the stars themselves, but that their serene arrangement around us depicts the flow of a tremendous tide - the day on which a first voice rang out, crying to Mankind peacefully slumbering on the raft of Earth, “We are moving! We are going forward!” It is a pleasant and dramatic spectacle, that of Mankind divided to its very depths into two irrevocably opposed camps - one looking toward the future and proclaiming with all its newfound faith, “We are moving!” and the other without shifting its position obstinately maintaining, “Nothing changes. We are not moving at all.”

Laura and I just read The Golden Compass so when I saw this article on a “God particle” I immediately thought of Dust. (If you haven’t read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, this will mean nothing to you.)

Here is what the scientist has to say about the God particle:

Nobel laureate Leon Lederman has dubbed the theoretical boson “the God particle” because its discovery could unify understanding of particle physics and help humans “know the mind of God.”

Fancy! Wikipedia explains that in Pullman’s novels Dust is:

Unlike ordinary particles, Dust is conscious. It falls from the sky and is attracted to people (especially adults) and objects made by people. This makes it of great interest to the Church, which believes that it may be the physical manifestation of Original Sin. It is later learnt that Dust actually confers consciousness, knowledge and wisdom, and that Dust is formed when matter becomes conscious.

Compare that description of Dust to National Geographic’s article on the God particle aka the Higgs particle:

The preferred name for the God particle among physicists is the Higgs boson, or the Higgs particle, or simply the Higgs, in honor of the University of Edinburgh physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed its existence more than 40 years ago. Most physicists believe that there must be a Higgs field that pervades all space; the Higgs particle would be the carrier of the field and would interact with other particles, sort of the way a Jedi knight in Star Wars is the carrier of the “force.” The Higgs is a crucial part of the standard model of particle physics—but no one’s ever found it.

If the God particle indeed functions like a carrier of matter, it could be considered the substance from which matter springs. As a field in which matter exists, we could imagine it as a canvas on which a picture is drawn. The canvas is the field of creativity, of consciousness, from which all matter arises, just as in most spiritual traditions Being arises from Non-Being. I’m not sure that the God particle could be considered Non-Being, but it is an interesting parallel. Pullman’s Dust is consciousness which is creative potential, the God particle is a field of potentiality in which matter exists. Here we have art, science and spirituality converging on the same idea: God is creativity is consciousness is source.

Physicists in the audience, feel free to shoot my conclusion to pieces.

Thanks to Integral Options Cafe for this wonderful poem from Li Po. Very appropriate for a Friday. Be sure to check out their original post for some background on Li Po.

Alone And Drinking Under The Moon

Amongst the flowers I
am alone with my pot of wine
drinking by myself; then lifting
my cup I asked the moon
to drink with me, its reflection
and mine in the wine cup, just
the three of us; then I sigh
for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along
with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can
but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all
around me; I sit and sing
and it is as if the moon
accompanies me; then if I
dance, it is my shadow that
dances along with me; while
still not drunk, I am glad
to make the moon and my shadow
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way.

Here at ConsideringtheUniverse, we like to make sure we include practical advice or concrete examples to explain our ideas. We don’t want to get lost in lofty ideals, complicated theories or fantasy land (and we don’t want our readers to either). I have the tendency towards this much more than the ever practical/tactical Emily. I like to blame this penchant on my parents, who -despite being extremely interesting, creative, rather non- traditional and dare I say even almost perhaps maybe perfect (just like all parents of course!) — more than probably passed on this tendency to me.

Anyway all of this to say that this post shall attempt to give a brief outline of some of my father’s work on Sensemaking (especially now that it has become a bit more practical).

I also wish to add a disclaimer (or a bit of history): Since my youth– I have dreaded anyone asking my dad what he does. He never had some simple answer like, “I am a businessman” or “I am a teacher” or even the partially-true “I am a sign language interpreter” (his part time job and my insistent response -much to his chagrin- to the question). Instead, he always endeavored to provide the most truthful response to the question that he could– which invariably required what could be described as “a long-winded response.” His response usually evoked some eye rolling or audible groaning on my part. However now (in the infinite wisdom of my mid twenties) I shall in some small way attempt to rectify my sullen teenage reactions by telling the world about what my dad REALLY does.

Here’s the short version: He learned about, researched and studied Sensemaking (a type of communications theory). He created an interview methadology using Sensemaking framework. He then created a company that uses the interview methodology. He also is a sign language interpreter.

What is Sensemaking?

According to Gary Klein: It is “a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections (which can be among people, places, and events) in order to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively”. That’s not so helpful. Wikipedia adds:

• Forming an awareness of key elements relevant to the situation. This entails knowing the who, what, when and where.

• Forming an understanding of what it all means in some bounded context, based upon past experiences, training, education and cognitive capabilities. This entails:
  • Forming hypotheses and making inferences, i.e. generalizations (predictions or anticipations) about future events.
  • Forming a sense of the implications for different courses of action.
• Making decisions by:
  • Generating alternative response actions to control the situation.
  • Identifying the objectives, constraints, and factors that influence the feasibility and desirability of each alternative.
  • Conducting an assessment of these alternatives.

Ok. So sensemaking is basically making sense of a situation.

What is the interview methodology and why is it awesome (or creepy)?

The interview methodology uses the conceptual framework of sensemaking– which just basically says that people are constantly consciously and unconsciously “making sense” of their environment (taking in input, organizing it, deciding on actions). The interview technique, using this framework, the elicits tacit knowledge, unconscious “sensemaking,” thought patterns, and/or “deep smarts” from its inteviewees. Basically the interview can reveal not only what is going on in your conscious mind but also some parts of your semiconscious and unconscious mind as well.

One guy who was interviewed using the techniques said, “They’re fantastic at coming up with what your experience was, then digging deeper to things you might not remember… Their process kind of unveils it all, like maybe discussing your dreams or something.”

I have been interviewed using the technique. It’s not something I particularly like doing with my dad- it works far too well and he learns way too much.

Sagis Corp - The Company and what they do.

So the company, Sagis Corp, was recently featured in the Star Tribune: here. Sagis Corp uses the interview technique, and their software, called SagisSense to preserve the experience and deep smarts of top level executives who are leaving or retiring.

Companies can use this deeper information to reduce training costs, minimize disruption from a departing employee, create repeatable and efficient processes, and improve sales success. The end result is that Sāgis can drastically increase your company’s performance by giving you the information needed to make better decisions. (Hmm, if that paragraph sounds markety, it’s cause I stole it from one of their marketing fliers).

From the Star Tribune: Frank Berdan spent more than three decades at a Fortune 500 company but after retirement had no way to pass on the knowledge he had gained to help train a successor…The depth of what Sagis was able to uncover about what Berdan did and why he did it was astonishing, Berdan said. “It’s a structured interview process, facilitated by some software that’s pretty clever,” Berdan said. “At the end of the process, the keys to my success were a lot more apparent. It was enlightening.”

Personally I am highly relieved my dad is using this technique on executives now and no longer on me. Can you imagine delving deeply into your unconscious thought processes every time you ate too many cookies and spoiled your dinner? Teehee, just kidding Dad.

So that’s the short answer to, “What does your dad do?”

What about my mom you wonder? Whole other ball of wax…

“The Fates lead those who will; those who won’t, they drag.”

In early December I went on a five day mindfulness- meditation retreat. It was a silent retreat at an idyllic retreat center. Because I was far way from from the noise and bustle of everyday life, I was able to relax deeply, confront anxiety and fear and reach some profound levels of awareness, bliss and peace. While I still plan to blog about this retreat, I don’t think it’s an experience that many people can relate to. “It’s great you got to sit on a cushion for 14 hours a day, I won’t be doing that any time soon,” is a common reaction. However, my recent trip from New Hampshire back home to San Francisco is just the kind of hassle-y nightmarish day we’ve all had and a perfect example of how to use mindfulness in your everyday life.

The day started off badly, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Then I had complications getting to the airport (that New Hampshire primary traffic really caused a back-up) and car sickness from all the windy roads and stop-and-go movement. Reeeealy late, I ran into the airport, filled with anxiety. Well my flight was three hours delayed (when are flights to O’Hare not delayed?) and I certainly would miss my connection. Luckily I got booked through Dulles and on to SF. I was scheduled to get back home at midnight (only an hour and half later than expected). Not surprisingly the six hour Dulles to SF flight was also delayed (they didn’t seem to have a reason). We finally boarded, but all was not well. Little “Caroline” sitting next to me was not amused with the delays. She started screeching, not in that baby-ish scared/sad way, but in the “I’m hella pissed and am going to shriek until my vocal cords are destroyed” way. It was loud. She has a promising career in the extreme metal scene. She also has stamina. I had several options at this point:

1. Try to ignore it and focus intensely on something else (which includes ignoring the frustration that accompanies the sound)
2. Feel frustrated, annoyed and angry. Feel (with the surging emotions, coursing through the body) why this has not been a good day and how airplanes are horrible.
3. Focus on thinking, try to forget about the negative feelings that accompany the sound. Remember why babies are horrible. Wonder why people have them. Go on a thought-tirade
4. Pay attention to the noise.

Option four is what I eventually chose and is simply another way of saying “practice mindfulness of sound.” The way this works is:

1. Stop what you are doing
2. Notice the sound.
3. Be interested in the sound
4. Listen fully to the sound.
5. Notice all the intricacies of the sound

After you have spent some time with the sound, then move on to noticing what reactions the sound is creating in you. Do you feel annoyed? Angry? Upset? Are you creating stories around the sound? Have your thoughts spun in a million directions? Perhaps you’ve decided that Caroline has a bad mother. The mother doesn’t know what she is doing. Maybe you have condemned her for bringing a child on board at all. (She should have known better!). Maybe you’re now thinking about your own parents and their foibles. Try to locate a spot or spots in your body where you feel the reaction to the sound. Are you clenching your jaw? Do you feel an overall tightness? Keep returning to the sound itself when you feel yourself distracted or overwhelmed. Caroline’s screeching is your home base (like the breath in meditation). Keep returning to that sound and noticing your reactions.

This worked quite well for me and the flight itself turned out to be fine. I was amazed at how much my annoyance at Caroline diminished when I practiced mindfulness of sound. However, you might not have that experience when practicing mindfulness of sound. It could happen where you actually feel more or worse when you pay attention– but this is part of the practice. What ever you pay attention to could feel stronger, weaker or stay the same. Try not to be attached to the outcome, but merely interested in what’s happening.

Just as a note, I didn’t merely get to go home after this… When I tried to get a shuttle home, a guy decided he didn’t like how the driver was handling his luggage and called the cops. Dealing with three cop cars and a lot of yelling took a while. Then I got stuck on a different shuttle and the folks didn’t know which hotel they were going to. So we drove all the way to San Francisco and then had to drive all the way back to the airport until we finally found their hotel. It was late, could even be called morning, when I crawled into bed. So, apologies if this post is a bit rambly.

Despite that Considering The Universe blog has had a marked lack of recent activity, it doesn’t follow that it’s creators have stopped “considering” recently– in fact we’ve done quite a lot of considering and are psyched to start blogging about it all.

During the holidays I had the pleasure of attending an Anthroposophy meeting where we practiced Goethean Conversation.

Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy (to quote Wikepedia) that is based on the writings and teachings of Rudolph Steiner. Steiner is a philosopher and spiritualist who describes an objective and intellectually knowable spirit realm. He wrote and taught methods (like inner cultivation and meditation) which allow a student to directly access and experience this spiritual world. We’re quite interested in Steiner here at CtU and recommend his teachings.

At the meeting I met several people who regularly interact in this realm and “see” spiritual beings and realms. While I didn’t get a chance to ask them much about their experiences, I did talk briefly to one woman. She said she found her connection to this higher realm quite beneficial but that her purpose in life was to learn other lessons, lessons unrrelated to her gift of spiritual “seeing.”

During the meeting we followed a procedure for speaking based on the article, The Art of Goethean Conversation, we had all read about the importance of ritualized speech.

In her article, Marjorie Spock (who is Dr. Spock’s sister) writes about the purpose of ritualized speech:

[Goethean conversation's purpose] is to call forth a fullness of spiritual life, not to stage displays of intellectual fireworks…Instead, they strive to enter the sunward realm of living thoughts where a thinker uses all of himself as a tool of knowledge, where, in the manner of his thinking, he takes part as a creative spirit in the ongoing process of the cosmos…

Lesser types of interchange never do this: they remain mere mentalizing, speculation, argument, a recounting of experience, an offering of opinion, a reporting. At their worst, a mindless associative rambling…While most of these lesser forms of exchange can be made to serve useful purposes, the fact that they remain on this side of the threshold condemns them to spiritual barrenness.

 

She describes how speech brings us closer to spiritual realms:

True conversations have another power. As the participants strive to enter the world of living thoughts together, each attunes his intuitive perception to the theme. He does so in the special atmosphere engendered by approaching the threshold of the spiritual world, a mood of supernatural attentive listening, of the most receptive openness to the life of thought into which he and his companions are now entering.

 

She goes on to describe more in depth reasons for why and how this use of speech is so powerful. While we had some success using ritualized speech during the Anthroposophy meeting and it certainly was an intriguing exercise, I don’t know that it “worked” as meaningfully as Majorie or Goethe envisioned during this particular meeting. However, the concepts around speech that Majorie touches on are particularly relevant and important and I have had experiences where ritualized speech creates a powerful atmosphere.

I could write many essays about the importance of speech, but for now briefly consider the following. “Right Speech” is regarded as the hardest part of the Buddhist Eight fold path, in fact the Buddha was said to have spent most of his past lives working on “Right Speech.” Just think about what you spend most of your waking hours doing, if not thinking. Probably speaking, or writing. Even when we are listening, we are evaluating what we hear and crafting our responses. Even thoughts can often be viewed as part of speech. I wrote an article about the importance of silence here, that just briefly describes an important spiritual practice found in almost all world religions. It makes sense to me then, that ritualized speech or using speech in a particular manner could powerfully influence our relationship to the spiritual world. Prayer, religious chants, benedictions, incantations and even singing are all methods of the major religions that use speech to bring us closer to God.

Even if we didn’t create a perfectly compelling spiritual atmosphere using the Goethean Converstation format during the Anthroposophy meeting, we did use speech in a different (a more sacred) manner. This practice became a powerful example to illustrate how often we use speech mindlessly, without noticing the power it actually has.

Wow. Just finished Alex Jones’ Endgame. I took a lot of notes for follow up research. Why? Because I don’t trust Alex Jones.

It seems like Alex Jones goes out of his way to discredit himself. The “global elites” he talks about so often could hardly design a more ridiculous opponent. Alex Jones is a caricature of a conspiracy theorist. It’s not that I disagree with everything he says, it’s that his presentation isn’t designed to convince even a fairly intelligent person of his case. Alex Jones is a showman whose audience consists of fellow conspiracy nuts. In that context, he seems to be doing a great job.

If you know of more credible sources for this kind of information, please share.

My friend Matt at Dancing in the Minefields posted such a great link in the comments the other day that I had to give it a post all its own. It’s an animation that helps you visualize how ten dimensions would work. I will probably have to watch it a couple of times to really wrap my head around it, but it’s pretty simple, you know, considering the subject.

Watch it: Imagining the Tenth Dimension

The author of the book that the video is based on, Rob Bryanton, also has a blog.

For the skeptics, here is a forum thread “debunking” the video. I don’t know enough about all of this to judge who is right, but maybe you will find it informative.