Song of the Morning: Best Not to Think About It

I've been thinking about tautologies all day long. Don't ask me why; they're not in any paper I'm currently working on (that I know of). So finally, on the train home from work, I started scrabbling a bit in my notebook. When I actually got home and checked what a tautology is, I had to make some adjustments in my thinking. Here's what I came up with:

First, let's get the (semi)-formal definition out of the away: in propositional logic a tautology is a propositional formula that is true under any possible valuation (also called a truth assignment or an interpretation) of its propositional variables (Wikipedia). Straight forward enough.
Example: the not so meaningful proposition "A or not-A" is a tautology (oddly enough, in propositional logic, truth, as it is manifested in a tautology, is meaningless as it adds nothing new to our knowledge of the world, as Wittgenstein pointed out; it is the contingent truth that may hold the more interesting daily 'truths').

OK. But if we translate it to the natural language, for, shall we say "it will either rain or it will not rain" things get complicated. According to the law of the excluded middle there are only two options: rain or no rain. However, I propose, that for the 'only' part of the sentence to work (and thus create a tautology) one has to have some sort of "knowledge of the world" (whether it is about rain, the possibility of rain or even, perhaps, the application of logical laws on the subject matter itself). If this is so, then a natural language tautology is not pure a-priori but requires some sort of empirical elements.

There are three possible and mutually exclusive conclusions I can draw:
1. The proposition I gave as an example is not a tautology because of the supposedly empirical element (it requires verification and contains the possibility of it being not true).
2. The proposition is a tautology. Natural language tautologies, unlike formal language tautologies, do contain an empirical grain.
3. There was an error in my deduction/thought process and there is no empirical grain in the proposition.

Considering how tired I am right now, I'm leaning towards option 3.

This post's song, not unlike previous posts, has some pun intended. Regardless of my sorry, layman doubling here though, it is a good song by a good band.

Athlete - Best Not to Think About It {MP3} (from Beyond the Neighbourhood)
Band picture from their artist's profile on Last.fm.

Song of the Morning: Hope For Us

Hobbes and Leibniz are in. No, I don't (just) mean it in the popular term; I was finally able to write a few more paragraphs in my biggest paper this year (so far). This only leaves me the 18th-21st centuries in Philosophy, main eastern and western religions and all of Psychology (with William James attached). After that, it's just a matter of completing the Gedankenexperiment, writing the introduction, conclusion and intra-connecting chapters and that's it. Four more papers to go. Yay.

This post's Song of the Morning is rather emo-inflected, as it were, but still catchy enough to wake up to. It's title and opening line have a particular appeal for me these days. So, as I move on to Kant (it's because of him that I'm writing this paper, after all), just keep in mind: there is hope for us.

The Jealous Sound - Hope for Us {MP3} (from Kill Them With Kindness)
Band picture from MTV.com.

Song of the Morning: No More Running Away

I haven't posted anything lately because I am consumed. Consumed by work, by school, by the many papers I have to submit.
Musically, I am very much devoured these days by Shearwater. I just can't stop playing Rook (the CD, not just the haunting song of a similar t name) in my mind or the stereo.

But it's not just that. All this strain is challenging me in ways I've not let myself feel or be exposed to. I admit - there are some PC games I use "cheats" to win. Have I "cheated" elsewhere in my life? Perhaps, mainly by avoiding it. But there comes a time when you just can't use "cheats". It does not work, and I don't mean just morally. It feels wrong.

Sure, the fear is great and yes, the anxiety is paralyzing. I am tired all the time and my body works out of automation as if I were a zombie (besides the brief unpleasant bodily reminders that I'm still alive). In a very deep sense I am not happy. So, usually at this point I'd get depressed. The thing is, I'm actually not depressed (and that is weird). So either I'm masochistic (possible), too busy or in denial to be depressed (also possible) or maybe I'm actually trying to deal with life and myself (could it be?). Am I beginning to grow up?

I didn't wake up with this post's featured song, unlike in previous posts. I actually woke up to Damien Rice's "Cold Water" (from the wonderful 'O'), specifically the lines "Lord, can you hear me now? Or am I lost?". But I'm going to sleep with another song. It's not because I turned optimistic (I'm not). The more I think about it the more it seems overly simplistic to live life as either "optimistic" or "pessimistic". As if that was all to life. It's because I need to face my fears, face my challenges and do my best, while I can. So, no more running away for me.

Air Traffic - "No More Running Away" {MP3} (from Fractured Life)
Air Traffic's picture from the lovely music review podcast site "Have You Heard".

Song of the Morning: Irreligious Ecstasy

What do you feel when you listen to music? When you experience it? When you sing along unafraid or uncaring if anyone will overhear you? When you dance alone in the dark?
What are you when you are one with it?

While what we may enjoy may be different and there's no account for taste (or is there?), the capacity to enjoy music in the deep sense seems to be a universal trait. At least, I hope it is. While some physical aspects of this feeling can be explained, you still have to get the right "connection" to it - there's a definite subjective element at work. Sometimes I'd like a certain song, other times I'd have enough of it; sometimes I'd discover (or re-discover) a song that has been playing at the background.

The special times are when I manage to let go of myself and connect directly (or as much as I can without the neighbors interfering or my co-workers throwing sharp objects at me) and feel it, flow with it, like being carried in a mighty current towards a roaring waterfall. When the song ends, I feel drained but happy (or, more usually for me, deeply saddened), and very much alive.

This post's musical jewels are affected by religion and religious experience. The first, "Baba Yetu" by Christopher Tin, is an adaptation of the Christian "The Lord's Prayer" in Swahili. The second is a segment from the Misa Criolla, a unique blending of South American Christian Mass/Gospel music by Ariel Ramírez.

Can the feelings of wonder, deep meditation and ecstasy be fully explained by science (here and here)? Even as a non-believer I have my doubts (or perhaps especially as a non-believer). I don't have to share in a belief in order to respect it and those who practice it, especially when they create beautiful music, be it as a part of their worship or not (strangely enough, Mr. Tin seems to be creating music in his sleep).

So, while I don't believe the existence of these feelings in themselves are any sort of evidence to the existence of God, I do believe it is a very strong evidence to the existence of a compassionate, creative and living Humanity, which is something we need to keep in mind just as much as the possible being of the Almighty.

Christopher Tin - "Baba Yetu" (from the PC game Civilization IV)
Ariel Ramírez - "Gloria" (from Misa Criolla)

Incoming Lull

It is quiet now;
That peace that was allotted to us continues to elude,
Elusive in its path, it's elucidating the eco-systems of our lives:
An intermingled puzzle of duty, denial and derivatives
So cunningly contrived as to demand its own object of belief
And so alarmingly complex as to register as unity.
But I know the storm is coming,
I feel the currents in the air;
And though throughout the tension's rising
It is in peace I find despair.

Song of the Morning: "Buildings & Food"

"Woke up this morning,
Got out of bed,
Feeling no pain move over my head;
Food in the kitchen And the coffee is hot -
If I believed in God I'd thank him a lot.
But I don't and that's OK
'Cause love means next to nothing when it's going your way
But I don't and that's OK
'Cause love means next to nothing when it's going your way."

The opening lines of "Buildings & Food" by Resplendent & Mike Downey (I hope I got them right).

Well, I'm agnostic myself, so maybe half a thanks will do. Anyway, this is a realistic good day song, if that means anything (recognizing that life is not perfect but worth living none the less).

Have a good one.

Listen: "Buildings & Food" - Resplendent/Mike Downey (MySpace)

Song of the Morning: Leviathan, Bound

I'm feeling kind of under the weather these past few days, so when I woke up today with a "Still is racing" going over and over in my head, it took me a few minutes. When I've finally recognized part of Shearwater's "Leviathan, Bound" chorus, I just had to keep still and let the magnificent song end before I could properly get up.

This "Song of the Morning" segment is about being haunted by these elusive songs, about being awaken to music playing in your head that you're not even aware of, music that speaks to you in the deepest possible way. Playing that song pretty much guarantees an experience even a sub-conscious as bizarre as mine will appreciate.

Shearwater - "Leviathan, Bound" (MP3), from the beautiful Rook.

Farewell, Dr. Pausch

Yesterday I've learned that Dr. Randy Pausch, among other and many things the deliverer of "The Last Lecture", has passed away on Friday. I am still somewhat in a state of shock as I feel strangely touched by him and his words.

As I've mentioned before, Dr. Pausch has been battling cancer for the last nine months or so, and has chosen to spend his time not only with his loving family but also trying to pass along his message of life and passion about life. During this time, he has been able to reach out to many people on the net and in "real life", providing much needed inspiration (here at Carnegie Mellon).

People, including myself, have the capacity to learn from mistakes, especially in light of inspirations that walk among us, sometimes unseen. We don't always do so. Perhaps we need something extra to make that shift, to leave behind our past and start living.

Wittgenstein said something along the lines of "Death is not one of Life's events. We do not experience Death. If we understand eternity to mean not a temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our lives are endless just like our vision, which is boundless" (rough translation from the Tractatus). If this is so, Randy Pausch is immortal.

Old Man River is coming to town

Exciting news! Old Man River, a.k.a . Ohad Rein, is coming to Tel Aviv for a couple of concerts. He's been performing and living in Australia for several years after traveling around the world.

He'll be performing at Levontin 7 on July 23rd and at Ha'Ozen Hashlishit (The Third Ear) on July the 28th (both in Tel Aviv).

For more details and updates see his MySpace.

Listen: Old Man River - Sunshine (MP3) from Good Morning.
Old Man River picture from his MySpace.

Song of the Morning: Tobias Fröberg

Do you know how it's like waking up with a song in your head? And then 'hear it' playing over and over, sometimes repeating certain parts of it or changing a little of the lyrics or the melody?

I'm sure you do. Psychology tells us it's a sign of stress or maybe parts of an unfinished dream. But what sort of dream can be truly 'finished' or 'realized' at all? Not a very satisfying one, I should think.

Anyway, I've decided to try to bring as close as possible a song a day, that musical thought I woke up with or permeated my morning routine (teeth brushing, shaving, gawking at the mirror trying to muster enough strength and patience for the day's labor... you know what I'm talking about).

So, today I woke up with Tobias Fröberg' "Grace", from his 2006 "For Elisabeth Wherever She Is". I believe it was inspired by my last night's watching of one of Babylon 5's last episodes and the love story it entailed.

P.S - a couple of mental notes that came up on my way to work:
1. Is there a similarity between how Frege and Marx view language and money, respectively? Is money a sort of a language, a device that needs to be 'cleaned up' and become formal and therefore truly communicable and understandable? Are the power relations (Foucault-like) in the economical-monetary-financial discourses around money similar to the power relations surrounding the use of language itself?

2. What is the difference between rationality and irrationality? Rationality is supposedly rooted in Logic, but what is Logic founded on? How do we know and feel that a logical statement is correct? Could it involve supposedly irrational elements such as feelings and emotions? If so, then the difference between rationality and irrationality would depend on the actions or behavior arising from the thoughts or feelings, not the thoughts or feelings themselves. In other words, it would have to be context dependent to identify an action as rational or irrational. Does that mean that the thoughts or feelings themselves are neutral in regards to rationality, that it's all how they come into practice?

Tobias Fröberg - Grace (MP3)

Featured Art: Sigur Rós' "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust"

So, I've finally bought "með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" ("with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly"), Sigur Rós' latest work. When I first heard the first track, "Gobbledigook", a few weeks ago (as a preview download from Sigurros.com), I was somehow reminded of The Dodos. Something in the life-filled frenzy of the beating of the drums or the excited vocals, I guess.

But to really appreciate the song you have to listen to the whole album, and the context there is a little different, much more Sigur Rós. A new direction, some say. Perhaps so. There's definite feeling of the "old" Sigur Rós in tracks like "Ára Bátur" for those who want to look for it, as though it has gone missing or lost. It hasn't. They've grown.

P.S - I've waited around for a bit before buying this CD as I was a little worried they've "changed". Fortunately, I saw this amazing clip of Sigur Rós, Björk + Ólöf Arnalds play "Gobbldigook" live at Náttúra in Iceland. After seeing their earnest enthusiasm there I simply had no choice... :-)

Sigur Rós - "Gobbledigook" (MP3)
CD cover from CDNOW.

For Kant

Is language the true barrier? Then why don't I write?
If thought is its own pretense, why does it delight?
Who am I to think me changed? The former or the latter?
And why is it so hard to keep myself from scatter?
Is Kant's frame enough or is it too little?
How can I go into this in any great detail?
"Sapere Aude!" he exclaimed,
And are the rest of us condemned?
The categories are our judges,
Juries quick in there to find us,
Human beast or Human being?
What is thought? What is meaning?
Verdict accepted and denied,
On time's anathema's we must glide,
Seeking no substance but our own,
To transcend that we had grown.


On a personal note: grow up, don't grow old.

Travelling Without Moving

I hear the distant rumble,
The dusk sky seem so bland,
Quiet in this weary breeze
Of a long afternoon.

It is coming!
No need to place my ear against the dry soil;
The itch has finally caught on,
Catching wild fire at the remnants of my heart,
Captured in that endless struggle between hope and peace.

The calling is within, now perhaps more than without,
A silent reminder of what never was,
As it slips its thorny caress around my breast,
My nakedness bathed in blues and crimsons,
I lie awake, awaiting the tomorrows.

The caravan, long delayed,
Still echoes its slow wheels,
Those chrome tinted spokes of promise,
Crushing underneath a yellow road afield,
Landing at the appointed gate until dawn.

For morning brings the crystal quality of dread,
That wanton old faithful,
And pondering remains, as I greet the new sun,
Where is my pilgrimage setting? How many roads?

The Invasion (a methodical pause)

I've scribbled this silly little ditty for Robert Lee Brewer's poetry prompt on the topic of "Invasion". It's not surprisingly titled: "The Invasion".

I was there the night they came,
I searched they sky, I saw their plane;
Its form seemed to wildly shine
As it disgorged those conquerors of mine.

Look over yonder, behold their hair!
I cannot help but dare to stare,
The atmosphere suddenly electrified
And their presence there intensified.

I told Parker, and he could not believe:
"This is our time, our time to live!"
But even we, poor boys, had no clue
When we saw the British through.

Inner Voices

Those inner voices - what are they? How do we relate to them? How do they relate to us? What
kind of existence do they have, if any?

By inner voices I mean those quasi-collections of thoughts and emotions that act as representations of 'Significant Others' in our mind. Those we consult with, those who tell use to do this and not that, those who we imagine what they'd say and think about our choice of clothes. I'm not talking about a modern Jiminy Cricket or a Freudian super-ego, nor the detached voices that often plague a schizophrenia patient. Those voices represent others who we care about but they do so by being a part of ourselves, by being our own creation. They are an integral part of the human way to internalize others (and so play a pivotal social and ethical role within us) while also manifesting and testing desires and thoughts of our own (thus enhancing our creativity, our sense of order and our cohesive-seeming Self). Sometimes, they show that we are not alone in the dark.

But how is this phenomenon called? Why do some people get 'internalize' and not others? Are all
the representations the same (in essence, power, function, internalization status)? Where do they
fit in in relation to our 'own' internal monologue, our own main 'Stream of Consciousness'?

I'm looking for some answers.

Keeper of the Hollowed Tome

The empty pages are much sought after
(As the stain of steely ink does offer):
They keep our lore folded crisp
Lest recollection tend to lisp,
And future pass distorted truth
Limiting enlightened sooth,
Filling young with fancied notions,
Watch their heads! Their frantic motions!

Away with you, chars of black -
Let us not in this task grow slack,
The pictures tell a thousand words
Of plebs and snakes and mighty lords
Blessings, curses, all combine
In this sacred valentine -
Bloody language there to smear
an arc wide - and simply - disappear.

Not a Haiku

The leaves rustle softly,
Trees whisper in idiosyncrasy
And the brilliant shadow approaches.
I murmur angrily,
Clasping my good eye
(For the bad one is faulty -
It sees truth now:
Flickering along the edges of reason,
Resonating and dissipating in this hot summer breeze).
Where should I look for desire?
It has abandoned me at last;
At last I'm lifeless,
The least leafless in this long, oh too long autumn
That lasts and lasts,
Skewing like some Marxist's hopes
Around Christmas.
The mating season is over,
I limp away from its remains,
A hollow golden pond
And not a picnic blanket to spare.

What is Man anyway?

I'm trying to write a proposal for a seminary paper for school and this is what I came up with so far:

Kant asked four major questions in his anthropological philosophy (or was it a philosophical anthropology?):

1. What can I know?

2. What must I do?

3. What can one hope for?

4. What is Man (which can be translated, I think, into 'What is a Human Being')?

Our query begins with Kant's fourth question and from which it expands it to ask if the technology that has been developed requires a significant change in the perception of 'What is Man'. This second question suggests an existing connection or some sort of correlation between technology and Man's essence (if one exists) or some other such answer to Kant's question.

This begs the question of what kind of technological change (quantitative? qualitative? both? neither?) should be in order for the perception of what Man is to change as well. An avalanche of questions seems to follow: What is the perception of what Man is today? What precisely do we mean by 'Technology'? Have such changes in technology and Man occurred before? Can these changes even be discerned (provided they exist)?

Each of these important questions should be asked in its own specific scientific, religious, cultural, economical, technological, social, psychological (and who knows how many more categories) context and frame of reference.

Given these questions and different possible answers and angles, can we provide a single momentous answer that would be both personal (as something I would have to connect and relate to) and general (as to aspire to get to the truth or truths of the matter)? This is also a methodological question, of course. Let us provide a methodological answer.

We will use a sort of thought experiment and examine a Human process that embodies within it several of these frames of reference all rolled into one. This is possible, to some degree, using literature and history. Let us imagine then a specific change in technology and observe its effects on Humanity.

A more than adequate example for this can be found in the 'Dune' saga by Frank Herbert. According to the story, a radical change in technology has occurred that has eliminated the use of 'Thinking Machines' - there are no more computers that are as at least as advanced as what we have today (this indicates in fact two changes in technology: the use of 'Thinking Machines' and the eradication of the same machines, but we will focus here on the second change and its effects and try to isolate them).

Given this immense change in technology then, how will (or did) it affect Humanity and the answer to 'What is Man'? This question may be answered by first listing the Human reaction, changes and adaptations through the years and next by analyzing the said behaviors and attitudes that were observed and extrapolating from there as to what is the Human image they wished to preserve (in essence, their answer to 'what is Man?').

To begin this arduous task, we will list in general the categories of Human responses to the technological shift which we can observe:

1. Social-Political.

2. Religious-Philosophical.

3. Technological-Economical.

A specific type of technology, that has many kinds and manifestations, can then be used as further example and a sort of prism by which we can learn about the Human response. By this, we mean the myriad of cognitive technologies developed to compensate for the lack of artificial cognition and to further explore the Human potential.

Lastly, these various Human actions (such as the construction of specific socio-political structures) and abilities (such as the cognitive technologies) that were put forth and created in relation or conjunction with the radical change in technology will be analyzed. This analysis, we hope, would bring us closer to understanding of the Human motif that stands at their base and runs through their very core and is the answer (to the perhaps un-answerable in any direct means) question of 'What is Man'.

This analysis will be performed from a philosophical point of view (designed to withhold judgment as much as possible but also directed to perceive and seek the hidden meanings in the Human behavior and thought) and be based upon the works of Kant, Heidegger, Foucault, Popper and others.

Featured Artist(s): The Dodos

Featured Artist(s): Yeasayer