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Fri 16 Jun, 2006 04:40 am
Its allajoke
I was watching basketball on TV the other night and had to marvel at the physical grace and skill the human body is capable of. Only a small percentage of humans engage such potential but it certainly exists.
Occasionally I wonder around within my PC and I always find various capacities that are awesome. I am aware of software that will allow me to do creative things with pictures and video and audio and God only knows what else. I suspect there is software that will allow me to do anything I might imagine. Few of us engage one small element of the potential of the PC but it certainly exists.
McLuhan, the man with the marvelous insight, enlightens us with the knowledge that our technology is an extension of our self; the bomb extends the fist, the Internet extends the nervous system, our discussion forums lay bare the vacuous chaos and foolishness of our brain. TV allows us to observe famines, tsunamis, hurricanes, beheadings, bombings, the grace of Olympic skiers, etc. We can barely touch or feel these events in any human way but we ?'see' that they certainly exist.
Within the human body there exists such marvelous potential that is never tapped. How did we acquire such potential? How is it possible that such capability can evolve within a creature never even conscious of such ability let alone use it for any good purpose? I see that other animals seem to have what they need and they utilize all that they have. Humans seem to have more than we realize and far more than we ever explore and use, but we can ?'see' that it exists.
We have this marvelous ability to reason but we have distorted and warped this rationality to produce an Arnold like powerful and muscular upper torso mounted on long, spindle, weak, and varicose-veined legs. The upper torso represents our instrumental rationality and the lower torso our communicative action rationality. Our instrumental rationality made the bomb a reality and our communicative action rationality makes our annihilation by that bomb likely.
We use our critical capacity only to be negative. I suspect that the gods, Zeus, Allah, Jesus, Holy Ghost, etc. sit around the table in heaven havin a beer and a big laugh at all of the human antics. I suspect they have given us all this possibility just for their pleasure. I suspect its allajoke.
The the joke is all on you
But I have had similar thoughts.
At times it is frustrating that the objective of our activity is to diminish our own realization of this potential. For myself I have always lived by the motto "be all you can be".
But I think the rule of nature holds strong even here. To say that the process of creating a society of automatic equipment is harmful to the intellectual growth of the general population, is a reasonable assumption.
But the creation of this system in itself, is a great realization of human potential.
So we can say that one person's "unfolding" can be restrictive for the realization of potential on others.
Cyracuz wrote:The the joke is all on you
But I have had similar thoughts.
At times it is frustrating that the objective of our activity is to diminish our own realization of this potential. For myself I have always lived by the motto "be all you can be".
But I think the rule of nature holds strong even here. To say that the process of creating a society of automatic equipment is harmful to the intellectual growth of the general population, is a reasonable assumption.
But the creation of this system in itself, is a great realization of human potential.
So we can say that one person's "unfolding" can be restrictive for the realization of potential on others.
Our potentiol for instrumental rationality is very high but our potentiol for communicative rationality is very low. Instrumental rationality creates the bomb and communicative rationality is not able to prevent us from dropping it on one another's head.
Well I think as a civilization there we have tapped into alot of our potential. For instance whenever Iamb flying in a plane over the interstate or driving on said interstate I marvel at the intelligence and massiveness of it's construction and design. The same can be said for enormous sky scrapers, the design of huge cities, and all the day to day tasks that keep everything running. It is only the existence and cooperation of so many of us that any of that is possible.
by the way that guy who is building those roads and buildings is tapping into alot of his physical abilities, namely the ability to work long long hours without tiring.
Doctors and chemists who advance all the medical technology and drugs definitely tap into alot of their intellectual potential.
look at all the things we as a species achieve due to specialization.
Maybe if you'd like to tap into your full physical potential you could start going to ninja school between computer sessions.
The guy that can make a really good donut that doesnt go stale in 20 minutes is my hero.
My philosophy is that weve accomplished so much despite all our gods not because of them. They are but petulant little egoists who need constant stroking and obeissance . I dont need all that ****, Im too busy trying to make my world a better place. Besides , today I have ta hang a whole bunch of new towel racks we had made outta wrought iron and aint no god gonna lay out the pencil lines for me.
We are often driven by our expectations rather than our talents and potential.
Sometimes talent alone cannot get you all the way. Untapped potential is so precicely because it is unknown. What you expect may not be what you get. But even so these expectations have their uses, because sometimes it's hard find a footing when you don't know the terrain.
Stumble It!
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