What’s Your Story?

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Our backgrounds reveal who we once were and how we got to where we are

While writing my novel Soul Train, I wanted to model one of the characters after a dear friend and colleague of twenty years. He’d recently passed away and I realized that the only thing I knew about his personal life, aside from what I learned from his wife, was the university he attended. I knew his worldview and philosophy of life, but I knew very little about the experiences that had shaped it. Fortunately, after contacting some of our mutual friends and colleagues, I was able to piece together some of the amazing places he’d been and things he’d experienced and done. In the process, I became aware of how little I knew about many of the people who, on many business and social occasions, sat across from me.

When we apply for a job we hand over our resumes and curriculum vitae to strangers, but chances are members of our family and friends would be surprised by some of the items on them. Maybe we don’t share that information out of modesty, or because it would bore people. But in an appropriate context, such as informal get-togethers, the sharing of stories about a person’s family, education, employment, travels, significant others and formative experiences can promote understanding and deepen our appreciation, perhaps even provide life lessons for young people and others. It would certainly provide topics for future conversations and deepen our respect for the person’s life journey.

To avoid the “Do you want to talk about me or should I?” embarrassment, the host or someone else could suggest, “You know what would be great? How about we go around and each one take ten minutes to tell the highlights of your story?” My first experience of this was in a Dale Carnegie class when I was in high school. The lesson being taught was “Speak in terms of the other person’s interests.” I came away knowing the names and backgrounds of thirty adults (I was the youngest). Much later, as an adult, I experienced this again on several occasions with various interest groups. Each time it was so delightful, to this day I remember many of the people and their backgrounds. And importantly, those “round-robin” stories invigorated our conversations on other matters. 

The sharing of personal histories within the family is especially important for young people. It helps to shape their identity, ties them to the past and provides lessons for the future. Whatever the context, family, fun or business, the sharing of personal backgrounds stimulates a great deal of wonder, appreciation and laughter. 

Telling our personal story constitutes an act of consciousness that defines the ethical lining of a person’s constitution. Recounting personal stories promotes personal growth, spurs the performance of selfless deeds, and in doing so enhances the ability of the equitable eye of humanity to scroll rearward and forward. Every person must become familiar with our communal history of struggle, loss, redemption, and meaningfully contemplate the meaning behind our personal existence in order to draft a proper and prosperous future for succeeding generations. Accordingly, every person is responsible for sharing their story using the language of thought that best expresses their sanguine reminiscences. Without a record of pastimes, we will never know what we were, what we now are, or what we might become by steadfastly and honorably struggling with mortal chores.

Kilroy J. Oldster, Author, Dead Toad Scrolls

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

Reflection

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I recently encountered a metaphor relating to reality. I passed over it quickly so I’m not able to reference the source, but the image stuck with me—perhaps because it aligned with Plato’s notion that the reality we experience is akin to shadows projected onto the wall of a cave. In my reading, the author created the image of a rowboat floating on a lake. The author observed that we couldn’t see the boat, only its reflection. The boat itself represented ultimate reality and its reflection our experience of that reality. Similar to Plato’s observation, the point being made was that the reflection is not the boat; the physical universe is a reflection of  ultimate reality, the obvious example being how we are blind to the quantum dimension that constitutes and sustains the world of matter.

That was nice. But what kept me thinking about the metaphor was the author’s comment that the clarity of a boat’s reflection, our perception of it, is determined by the state of the water. When the lake is still, the reality is more perfectly reflected and there’s more of a one-to-one relationship. As the water becomes more agitated the reflection becomes distorted. The more the agitation, the more the distortion.

On a recent photography expedition to the Everglades, I went farther south to photograph some turquoise water. In Key Largo, gateway to the Keys, I asked at the Visitor’s Center where I could find the closest access to clear water. I was surprised when the lady indicated that the best place was Key West. I didn’t want to drive 100 miles, so I asked if there was any place closer. “Not really,” she said. “It’s private property all the way down.” And it was. On both sides of the divided highway it was wall-to-wall shops and trees and signs, no water to be seen. After driving about forty miles I finally pulled into a restaurant that advertised “Waterfront Dining.” Indeed, after cruising the parking lot until a spot opened, I was shown to a picnic bench where, beyond the piers of a three-story deck where people sat at a bar I could see the water—and a small beach boarded by fences with no access, no place to walk along the water. As it happened, the “music” was so loud I had to leave. After two more such places I realized that, while the Keys had plenty of entertainment venues, they were not conducive to appreciating or photographing nature. I turned around and headed north.

Reflecting on that experience, I think about the juxtaposition of the beautiful and calm, clear water and the disturbed reality just thirty or forty feet from the beach. What I learned is that, along with travel comes the turbulences of traffic congestion, noise, rushing, frustrated waiting, the anxiety of making connections on time and spoiled environments. One of the reasons why, after traveling, we say “it’s good to be home” is that it’s the place where the “waters” are calm and the reflections are clear.

You can’t see wisdom, but you can see its reflection. Its reflection is happiness, fearlessness, and kindness.

Silvia Boorstein, Author, psychotherapist, Buddhist teacher

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

Part—Whole Relationship

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Individual expression matters

Image

Do you see the jetliner? Remove any one of the pixels in the above image and there would be a hole in the whole (photograph). It wouldn’t be complete. It wouldn’t be the same photograph. Some might say it would have a flaw.

The universe presents itself to us as a system composed of parts-within-wholes, of systems within systems, organized through time and evolution as interdependent levels of complexity. Each part, including you and me, is integral to the whole; and, in some holographic sense, each part is a microcosm of the greater macrocosm. Each part contains within itself the seed or template of the whole.

Christian de Quincey, Philosopher and author

Each and every individual pixel within a digital image is a necessary part of the whole picture—if it’s to be complete. Because pixels have unique characteristics such as size, color, luminance and value they are also individuals by virtue of their boundaries, each bearing a strong relationship to those in close proximity, less so for those farther away. Even the myriad of individual pixels so distant they appear to be unrelated are present and contributing to the whole picture.

Had the above scene been photographed on film, the parts would have consisted of grains of silver halide which are “fixed” entities. They couldn’t be changed. On the other hand, because digital pixels are “virtual,” consisting of  units of electron excitations, they can quite easily be manipulated—for instance, made lighter or darker with changes in color and saturation. Whether the image substrate happens to be paper or a computer screen, photographic images are mechanical systems, constituted of parts that can be manipulated—in the developing and printing processes or using software applications such as Photoshop in the case of digital images.

Not so with living systems, which are composed of other living systems each of whom continuously makes choices regarding their function and relationships. At every level, a living system is referred to as a “holon” because the uniqueness and integrity of the whole depends upon the integrity of its parts. And because each individual holon—cell, organism or person—makes decisions for itself relative to its condition, purpose, function, environment and host of dynamic considerations, such systems are said to be constituted of “members” rather than parts. When parts are interchanged within a mechanical system it returns to its functional design. But when members are replaced in a living system it is newly constituted. At every level then, as change occurs—within a living system or its environment—the holons change. They become new by adapting, or they die. (Thus the expression relating to human beings, “Grow or die.”) And when a human holon dies, the system within which it was a member—family, business, organizations—adapt to the change.

System scientists refer to the decision-making capability of a holon as autopoiesis “self-making.” By our choices we constantly make ourselves new, not just our experiences in life. My dear friend and philosopher of science, Beatrice Bruteau, wrote that “In all living systems it’s the interactive union of the parts, the sharing of their being, their energies, that constitutes the new whole.” The sharing of their being—atoms unite to make molecules, molecules unite to make cells, cells unite to form organisms, that in turn unite to make organs, that unite to make… You get the picture.

Whether we share, what we share and how we share our beingness, beyond but including what we do, how we do it and how we behave and talk makes a profound difference for the wholes in which we are members. This is especially so for those within our close circle. But it’s also the case, by extension and facilitated by the electronic media, for those beyond it, the larger holons within which we function as members—family, community, church, business, industry, nation, species. As members of a church, community and political systems, we remake these larger holons by our presence and everyday choices. For instance, one of the lessons we’re learning on this turn of the evolutionary spiral is that the person or persons we elect or allow as our leaders, directly impacts the reality of a nation.

Considered broadly, in the above image I’m reminded that every human being (pixel in the analogy), regardless of circumstances, is an integral part of the emerging picture of the human family. Every day, the quality and manner of our character, choosing and relating contributes to the making of this picture.

What happens in and to one of the system’s parts also happens in and to all its other parts, and hence it happens in and to the system as a whole.

Ervin Laszlo, Systems scientist, philosopher

Image

This is a a greatly enlarged section from the lower right corner of the sky image above, to demonstrate how individual holons (pixels in this case) contribute to and constitute the larger image. To better discern the jet aircraft, step back from your screen about fifteen or twenty feet.

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

History And Perception

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Imagination is at the heart of contemplation


Wrench

My reflection begins with the observation that someone, likely a man with dirty hands, placed this wrench on an oil drum inside a mushroom farm in Loveland, Ohio. But where was it before that? Might it have been used in a factory, a gas station or railroad yard? Did it hang on a pegboard above someone’s basement workbench? Was it cherished? Was it even used? Had it sat in a metal or wooden drawer filled with other wrenches? Had it been dropped in the dirt and rained upon? Not this wrench. There’s no of sign of rust. With each of these possibilities I imagine the environment, what the users would be wearing, the grease on their hands, dirt under their fingernails—the calendar on the wall, the smell of oil and gasoline, the sound of a baseball announcer coming from an cheap plastic radio and the voices of workmen talking, perhaps yelling, sounds absorbed and held in this object’s metallic memory cells. Yes, these are stereotypical images. But flights of imagination, like pieces of a puzzle, contribute to the picture of human evolution, the strengths and vulnerabilities that spark appreciation and evoke compassion.

My imagination shifts to when the wrench was new, when it looked its best, gleaming bright steel with the manufacturer’s name engraved on it. Was it on display in a window? Or was it one of the many that were wrapped in brown paper and put in a box with a drawing or photo on top, specifications and serial numbers on the side? There are no right or wrong imaginings in contemplation. Each and every reflection contributes to the unfolding development of self and the perception of reality. Imagining is at the heart of contemplation. As well as enabling the exploration of times, places, events and abstractions that we could not otherwise experience physically, and sidestepping everyday thinking, imagination inspires creativity and fuels our appreciation of what was and is, as it is.

Back to the wrench. I think back to the manufacturing process. I see minerals being scooped from the ground by giant, loud and smoke-belching diggers. They’re crushed and dumped into a crucible where rock transforms into molten, smoking and fiery liquid. Sparks fly. Gloved men with black goggles handle the controls in a dark factory with a dirt floor. The cars parked outside are vintage 1930’s. Men in the office wear double-breasted, three button suits, starched collars and ties with finger-length clips to hold them in place. Their office managers wear suits, and secretaries wear dresses with nylons that have seams down the back.

Further back, I see a gray haired man sitting at a drafting table wearing spectacles. He wears a tie, but his sleeves are rolled up and he smokes unfiltered cigarettes. With fine-pointed pencil in hand he transposes a sketch with notes on dimension and weight into a blueprint that will be used to create the model and mold for this wrench.

Much farther back is the visionary (or visionaries) who met the challenge of a connection problem. How does a man connect two pieces of metal in a way that they will almost never come apart without purposefully being separated? Trial and error. After many attempts and failures, someone (innovation more often begins with an individual rather than a group) imagines a threaded bolt with flat sides and a tool with a handle that would turn it. Tighten and untighten. Brilliant!

Descending the historical ladder even further, where did the iron ore for this particular wrench come from? China most likely. Other possibilities include Australia, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Minnesota and Michigan. And whose idea was the making of a molten soup consisting of iron oxide, magnetite, hematite, goethite, limonite and siderite, particularly when these minerals are scattered around the world? I think about motivation, the need for a material harder than any rock, the desire to build things that would last—and win wars. Motivation leading to innovation.

I can see this wrench new, old or ancient. I can see it whole or as a conglomerate of parts. I can think about it as a solid or liquid, even as fields within fields of quantum energies. Perception is a choice we make. What is the consequences of our perceptions? There’s beauty in the eye of the beholder, and so much more when we trace anything to its beginning.

There is nothing in all the world that is not God’s manifest glory and essence.

Kabbalah: A Jewish mystical discipline that explores the nature of God and the universe 

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

About This Image

Wrench

Theme: History And Perception

Negative #: 516-C2

Fred’s Mushroom Farm

Lebanon, Ohio

September, 1978

I was riding country backroads looking for something to photograph when I saw a sign that read Fred’s Mushroom Farm. The place intrigued me, so I went in and told the manager I was a photographer; would he mind if I photographed his facility. Not only did he grant permission, he gave me a tour and described the process of growing mushrooms. He introduced me to his employees and displayed great patience while I photographed anything that caught my eye.

I shot about six rolls of 120 film in that facility, all by available light. Of the images I printed, not one was of mushrooms. In passing from one room to another, I saw this wrench sitting on an oil drum. I composed the shot and made one hand-held exposure. The light level was very low, so I was not surprised when the slow shutter-speed resulted in an image with shortened depth of field and slight blur. I didn’t print the negative. Years later I was paging through my contact sheets and decided that, because of the simplicity and graded light, the image might have possibilities. Now, it peaks my imagination ever time I see it.

Besides being exhibited and published, I used this among other images in my Visual Communication classes to illustrate a comment made to a reporter when he asked one of the masters of street photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson, the secret of his success. His response: “Be there and f8.”

© Copyright, David L. Smith, 2014. The images and the associated contemplations on this site are protected against any and all commercial and promotional use without the permission of  the author. However, permission is granted for individuals to download the images and print them for private, non-commercial, non-promotional use.

Vision And Realization

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The primacy of consciousness

Construction Workers

The relationship between the workers seen here and their towering creation took me to that place of amazement over what and how fast we can build. Prior to these steel structures being set in place, beams that would eventually support the bleacher seats in a football stadium, there were innumerable people involved—those with the vision and desire: geologists, engineers, architects, attorneys, politicians, bankers, investors and city planners. I think of the tonnage of paper documents, the multiple terabytes of information and images, the specification and sourcing of raw materials, contracts and the scheduling of contractors, all needing to be coordinated before the golden shovels could even break ground.

Consistently, I’m puzzled by how so few men can erect such enormous structures involving so many parts and heavy materials in such a short amount of time. How do they know where to move the dirt? I see conduits and all manner of PVC pipes sticking out of the mud without any indication where the walls will go—a testament to precise planning and measurement. How do builders determine structural stresses in advance? And how do they manage every aspect of the process so the structure will be plumb and sound? Another wonder is how supervisors manage  to maintain teamwork, keeping multiple contractors on the same page, coordinating their activities in proper order? It seems to me that the building trades have arrived at, or are quickly moving toward, the realization that moviemakers enjoy, that whatever can be imagined can be built.

Pondering the notion of vision and realization, I think of the causal relationship between mind and matter, thought and form. I think about some of the great engineering feats: the Giza pyramids, the Great Wall of China, Teotihuacan in Mexico, the Panama Canal, the Manhattan Project, the Apollo missions, the Palm Islands in Dubai, the International Space Station. They all began with a vision to honor the gods, solve a problem, end a war, explore the cosmos, build a nation or fill a need like the U.S. Interstate Highway system.

It’s easy to look back and celebrate that the human mind has accomplished great things. Looking forward, however, is the vision of what’s possible reason enough to create it? Just because we can envision a weapon, drug or deadly virus, should we produce it? As technologies advance, the ethical questions compound exponentially. Excitement over discoveries can overshadow the consideration of ethical consequences.

We create what we can imagine, in part because it’s a challenge. Can it be done? If we build it, will they come? Looking around my room I can’t identify even one object that was not first a thought or influenced by thought. Look out your window. Is there anything there that was not first a thought or influenced by thought? The only thing that comes to mind for me are clouds. Not the garden. Not the trees that were planted, moved or modified in some way. Not even the rain drops that left acid stains on my car. Wait. Not the clouds either. In addition to water vapor, they’re composed of a myriad of man-made compounds, aerosols and particulate matter, all the residue of thought-produced products and processes.

Is there anything anywhere on the planet that was not first a thought or influenced by thought? What about insects, birds and animals? Consider how human beings have influenced their evolution, migrations and the foods they eat. The moon bears our imprint, as does the bottom of the ocean. Might the deep ice at the poles, magma and the worms growing around oceanic hydrothermal vents be exceptions? What about the planet itself? The solar system? The Milky Way galaxy? Everything emerges from thought, even thinking about thought. If not from the human mind, the mind of the Creator.

I personally believe that consciousness does indeed permeate the universe, that the universe proceeds intelligently in its evolution and must therefore be conscious… Consciousness is inherent in every level of the universal holarchy by logical argument.

Elisabet Sahtouris, Evolutionary biologist

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

The Evolutionary Spiral

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From darkness we advance toward the light

Oil Tank Stairway #1

The metal stairway in this image evokes in me considerations of the evolutionary spiral, the universe’s operating system, which we know to “favor” increased novelty, diversity, adaptation, complexity and order. Along the bottom steps of the oil tank, I see the significant ordering that has already occurred. In the steps above and combined with the railing, the lighted way indicates that the direction is onward and upward. Finally, conveying purpose to this ascending pathway is the mass of the structure behind it—the universe.

Extending the metaphor, I would place the current generation of humanity in the area of transition, where light and order are emerging from the darkness (wherein dwells ignorance, short-sightedness, intolerance, self-centeredness and the illusion of separation). I imagine the transition toward the light being fueled physically by health and well-being, safety and security, strong economies, innovations in every domain, the pursuit of excellence and what works for everyone. And because consciousness gives rise to form, I imagine that love, compassion, tolerance, collaboration, empowerment, ethical behavior and the like are the energies at the leading edge of illumination.

To some this may sound saccharine or unrealistic, particularly in light of how we’re portraying ourselves in the mass media and entertainment venues. But evolution is a universal, unbounded and dynamic process that has operated, and will continue to do so, with or without human beings. What’s different in our time is that we understand this and we’ve gained some knowledge about the patterns that support living systems.

In his study of 26 societies, Historian Arnold Toynbee found that a civilization’s  prospects for survival were greatly enhanced by the movement of information and resources from the top of the society to the bottom. Those that accomplished this feat of uplifting citizens at the lowest level survived the longest. On the other hand, collapsed civilizations had in common an “inflexibility under stress and the concentration of wealth in a few hands.” He also observed that civilizations disintegrated when their leaders stopped responding creatively, and they “sank owing to nationalism, militarism, and the tyranny of a despotic minority.”

Addressing the challenge of moving in the more positive direction, systems scientist Dr. Janis Roze, advised: “We must now give equal time and focus, equal or even greater energy to those human qualities that are constructive, growth enhancing, confidence and trust inspiring, so that the power of these qualities can be consciously developed and applied both to individual lives and to the directing of societal and world affairs.”

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi connected the dots, tying the individual to evolutionary process by observing: “What evolves is not the self trapped in our physical body, which will dissolve after death. Rather, what will survive and grow is the pattern of information that we have shaped through our existence: the acts of love, the beliefs, the knowledge, the skills, the insights that we have had and that have affected the course of events around us. No matter how smart, wise, or altruistic a person might be, he or she is not going to contribute to evolution except by leaving traces of complexity in the culture, by serving as an example to others, by changing customs, belief or knowledge in such a way that they can be passed down to future generations.”

As far back as we’ve been able to see, human evolution favors the passing on—physically, mentally and socially—of characteristics, qualities and thinking that promote survival and growth.

Pursuing the metaphor further, light doesn’t emerge from the darkness, it dispels and gives form to it, creating well-ordered shadows. Consciousness (light) is fundamental, illuminating a particular direction. Progress is not a straight line, but a spiral. The direction toward a better life, individually and collectively, is in alignment with the patterns in the evolutionary spiral. The direction of choiceful change is either up or down. There’s light on the steps ahead, darkness on those below, so personally and socially we’re deciding every day to step up or step back down.

We live on a different planet now, where not biology but symbolic consciousness is the determining factor for evolution. Cultural selection has overwhelmed natural selection. That is, the survival of species and of entire ecosystems now depends primarily on human activities.

Brian Swimme, Cosmologist

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

Coalescence

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Making the slightest contact, separate masses tend to “pull” to one another

Reflecting upon these raindrops, I’m drawn more to their  journey than to my usual inclination to trace subject matter back to its origins—perhaps because the first appearance of water on Earth has not yet been ascertained. Water known however, that gravity keeps it contained. None of it escapes into space. According to the United States Geological Survey: “If the total amount of water vapor fell as precipitation all at once, the Earth would be covered with only about one inch of water.” But “If all the world’s water was poured on the contiguous United States, it would cover the land to a depth of about 107 miles.”

Considering this image, each of these drops and droplets began to take shape as invisible molecules of water vapor high in the atmosphere by attaching themselves to a nearly invisible dust particle. As more and more water molecules attached—coalesced—and their weight increased, gravity pulled them down, through the atmosphere, causing even more coalescence. When a gazillions of these infant droplets grouped together, attracted by their electrical charges, their size increased to form a cloud where more attraction and more coalescence resulted in a drop that literally, well, dropped. Coalescence continues even when a drop splatters and runs.

The drops in this image didn’t land on the leaf and line up this way. Their sizes and alignments are a product of their travels, conditioned by the physical forces and electrical fields they encountered along the way. And the continue to change state, evaporating back into the atmosphere. In the liquid state, drops of water assume a rounded shape because a sphere requires the least amount of energy to form and has the least possible area for the volume it encloses. That makes it the most economical, energy-efficient way of enclosing and separating two volumes of space—water and surface. Aside from the physics, I love the aesthetics—how the drops are transparent and reflect the sky. Earth and sky integrated as one.

Another feature that comes to mind when contemplating this image is the water cycle, the change of state itself: liquid—vapor—solid (ice). It’s a perfect metaphor for transformation because water is constantly changing. Like the universe and all it contains, there’s a continuous rising and falling, birth and death, breathing in and breathing out. Lub dub, lub dub. Drip. Drip.

In preparing this post, I was delighted to find Ken Wilber’s quote in my database. It beautifully conveys the transcendent perspective of coalescence, connecting being with perception. Having enjoyed a career as a visual communicator, I appreciate the significance of perception and the opportunity to expand it. We become more by seeing—ourselves, humanity, environment, God—as more. Indeed, looking deeply into everyday objects and processes generates appreciation. And that can take us to the place where we are the sun, the rain and the earth.

You in the very immediateness of your present awareness, are in fact the entire world, in all its frost and fever, in all its glories and its grace, in all its triumphs and its tears. You do not see the sun, you are the sun; you do not hear the rain, you are the rain; you do not feel the earth, you are the earth.

Ken Wilber

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My other sites:

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

Journalism Ethics and Audience Discernment

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What’s a citizen to believe? With all the buzz about “false” and “fake” news, foreign influence in elections, intelligence leakers, inflammatory talk shows, social media manipulators and AI capabilities, how can we know the truth of anything that’s being reported? We can’t. Given any situation that’s reported, we weren’t present to experience what actually happened. Even if we had been, our perception might well differ from other first-hand accounts.

Irrespective of the medium or source, “news” that’s reported is almost always second-hand and beyond. I saw this first hand when I worked in three television stations. Because we’re emotional, meaning-making beings living in constructed personal realities, information sharing is always subjective, a matter of interpretation. Consistent with the purpose of this blog, my primary intent is to appreciate rather than criticize. In this case, I’ll recommend five aids to discernment to help separate the wheat from the chaff.

First, I want to acknowledge the many journalism trade organizations and corporations that have formulated and published Codes of Ethics, including the journalists who adhere to them. I tip my hat to all who are practicing “socially responsible journalism,” where truth-seeking takes priority over shock, glamour or entertainment values.

Although one can earn a degree in journalism, no certification is required. It’s a “field,” not a “profession” where one must have demonstrated ability to become licensed to practice. Anyone, even a nine-year-old or a sociopath can claim to be a journalist and publish material. What makes one a “professional” in this field is employment by a company in the news business. And one of the benefits of that label is that, in some places, it accords that person respectability because their employers adhere to and enforce a code of ethics. In these companies, across all media, serious violation of their code can be grounds for dismissal.

In decades past, self-regulation through these codes combined with policies of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) created an atmosphere of public trust. We could generally be confident that we were not being deceived or manipulated. Today, however, largely because deregulation and the Internet opened the gates to anyone with a microphone or computer who wants to report the news, that trust is being significantly eroded.

This is particularly due to certain tabloid, radio, television and Internet entities that, despite claims to the contrary, have consistently demonstrated bias and deceptive practices. Even these can profess a code of ethics, but there’s a huge discrepancy when it comes to motivation and intent. It’s the difference between promoting an ideology and, in contrast, reporting information that’s true and accurate while preserving, protecting and strengthening the bond of trust between American journalism and the American people.

Our best protection against entities that would confuse, weaken or threaten this relationship through false news, misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories and so on is the individual’s capacity to discern truth from falsehood. Wikipedia defines “discernment” as—

The ability to obtain sharp perceptions or to judge well… It involves going past the mere perception of something and making nuanced judgments about its properties or qualities. Considered as a virtue, a discerning individual is considered to possess wisdom, and be of good judgment; especially so with regard to subject matter often overlooked by others.

The first aid to discernment is to observe the media provider’s motivation and intention. Is it to persuade, influence, arouse audiences or attract advertisers? Do they blur the lines between news and entertainment or news and opinion to maximize audience share? Are they seeking power or converts? Do they exaggerate or hype a story in order to support a social, economic or political agenda? Does their perspective or presentation originate in dualistic worldview where everything is black and white, good or bad, right or wrong? Are they trying to become the moral arbiters of right and wrong? Or are they honest brokers of truth? Do they strive to provide relevant, useful evidence-based facts in context to inform, promote understanding and empower their audiences to make appropriate(healthy, responsible, wise) adjustments to change?

My litmus with respect to motivation and intent is “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves… A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit… by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15-20). In the vernacular: If it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.”

The second aid to discernment is to trust your gut. We can’t entirely trust our minds when it comes to discernment because of the tendency to rationalize or spin information to suit our point of view and values. Studies show that it’s the unconscious, nonverbal cues like body language, that tell us if we can trust what someone is saying. A study by psychologist Albert Mehrabian found that, with respect to credibility and trust, words contributed 7% of the message, tone of voice 38% and body language 55%.

Intuition or gut impressions are important. Along these same lines, it’s widely known that the conscious mind (center of will power, long term memory, logic, critical thinking) uses 10% of the brain, the tip of the iceberg, while the subconscious mind (center of beliefs, emotions, habits, values, long term memory, imagination, intuition) uses 90%. The latter is what drives us. It takes significant effort to balance it with the former.

I notice that when a presenter is a “showboat” or makes the story about him or herself, the needle on my trust meter goes way down. It goes down even further when the person is boisterous, aggressive, antagonistic, blaming, name-calling or boiling over with determination—especially when they intimate that their opinions are the only correct ones.

The third aid to discernment has to do with the world-view of a company or reporter. Or both. A view of the world and human beings in general is revealed in the pattern of content a person chooses to present. In only telling us what they deem important and presenting it in ways consistent with their perception of the audience, they reflect their mentality and values. Most people don’t realize that when we’re watching a newscast, we’re largely witnessing the news director’s consciousness and preferences which in many cases represents the corporation’s values. What to look out for are news anchors who “perform” the news for their superiors. That’s fine in a Late Night comedy context, but not in a serious newscast.

On the one hand I once knew a news director who behind the scenes used language that betrayed his perception of the audience as being stupid, gullible or ignorant. At a different station, the news director assigned a reporter to exclusively cover “good news in the city.” If the preponderance of a company’s news stories are consistently negative, it may indicate that those in control of the operation either have a negative worldview or believe that tragedy and mayhem are what their audience wants to see or hear. Balance requires giving substantial time to stories that encourage, uplift or empower.

A common example of imbalance is when a television newscast consistently and predominantly covers vehicular accidents, fires, domestic abuse, crime and corruption. Because these are out-of-the-ordinary events, news directors deem them to be “newsworthy” and in some instances they are—and coincidentally attract eyeballs to advertisers because they’re emotionally charged. Factual news has a higher purpose. The socially responsible justification for reporting such stories is not only to communicate what happened, but also to increase awareness of tragic events so viewers, civic leaders and politicians can learn what to do or not do, even take preventative measures to reduce their occurrence or find solutions.

A further step forward is the presentation of stories that present a model for what’s working, especially those that can be replicated. For instance, these real stories. The corporation that adopts a policy of maternity leave for both parents and equal pay for women. The church or other group that recycles or collects and delivers tons of food and clothing to countries where people are starving. The commercial fisherman who releases tons of mackerel in a net to save trapped dolphins. The woman who turned decommissioned city buses into shower stations for the homeless. The Goodwill volunteer who turned over to her manager an envelope containing $10,500. that she found in a bag of clothing.

These kinds of stories show the best in us to the rest of us, build trust in our neighbors and confidence in our leaders. Socially responsible journalism functions to educate and empower, not simply to inform and entertain. Otherwise, the public gets a one-sided, incomplete picture of humanity and society, one that results in passivity and feelings of helplessness, fear, worry and depression.

The fourth aid to discernment is to listen to our conscience. Philosopher Immanuel Kant, who wrote extensively about ethics and ethical decision-making, considered the human conscience as the ultimate source for informing us of right and wrong. Practically, his “categorical imperative” advised that we “Act on that maxim which you will to become a universal law.” “Categorical” mean unconditional. So the Kantian test in the context of a news presentation asks the question: “Would I want the whole world to feel what I’m feeling as a result of this news presentation?”

The fifth aid to discernment is to consider the consequences. Similarly, English philosopher John Stuart Mills proposed the Principle of Utility, recommending that we “Seek the greatest happiness for the greatest number.” This suggests that journalists choose their stories and modes of presentation in consideration of what story or information would yield the best consequences for the welfare of the society. In Mills’ terms, “The morally right alternative produces the greatest balance of good over evil.”

And parents, for the sake of the future, should make sure that children acquire critical thinking skills.

Expressed in personal terms, what in me does a particular news program or reporter encourage? Bonding or fragmentation? Caring or indifference? Tolerance or intolerance? Love or fear? Conflict or collaboration? Action or passivity? Our role as citizens requires that we act in the best interest of both ourselves and society, and responsible journalists help us to do that.

We have to remember, as journalists, that we may be observers but we are not totally disinterested observers. We are not social engineers, but each one of us has a stake in the health of this democracy. Democracy and the social contract that makes it work are held together by a delicate web of trust, and all of us in journalism hold edges of the web. We are not just amused bystanders, watching the idiots screw it up.

Robert MacNeil (Of The MacNeil/Lehrer Report on PBS)

While I’m not proposing a change in your media diet, my hope is that these aids to discernment will serve as a nudge to observe the media with eyes wide open, so we’re not duped by “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” What we ingest through the media can diminish or enhance our own worldview and life experience. It’s a choice we can and domake every day.

Journalism is one of the more important arts of democracy, and its ultimate purpose is not to make news, or reputations, or headlines, but simply to make democracy work.

Davis (Buzz) Merritt (Editor and Co-Founder of Public Journalism)

 

Many national and international media organizations have codes of ethics. Their values and articulation give us hope.

National Public Radio “Our journalism is as accurate, fair and complete as possible. Our journalists conduct their work with honesty and respect, and they strive to be both independent and impartial in their efforts. Our methods are transparent and we will be accountable for all we do.” Their principles include: Accuracy / Fairness / Completeness / Honesty / Independence / Impartiality / Transparency / Accountability / Respect

Poynter Publishing The Poynter Institute is a school for journalists that also practices journalism. The guidelines describe the values, standards, and practices they pursue.  Their core values include accuracy, independence, interdependence, fairness, transparency, professional responsibility, and helpfulness.

Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) RTDNA is the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. RTDNA members include local and network news executives, news directors, producers, reporters, photographers, editors, multimedia journalists and digital news professionals in broadcasting, cable, and digital media, as well as journalism educators and students.

American Society of News Editors (ASNE) The ASNE “focuses on leadership development and journalism-related issues. It promotes fair, principled journalism, defends and protects First Amendment rights, and fights for freedom of information and open government among its members. It’s principles include: Responsibility / Freedom of the Press / Independence / Truth and Accuracy / Impartiality / Fair Play.

Associated Press Media Editors Their principles are a model against which news and editorial staff members can measure their performance. “They have been formulated in the belief that news media and the people who produce news content should adhere to the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct.” They include: Responsibility / Accuracy / Integrity / Independence.

Gannett Newspaper Division “We are committed to seeking and reporting the truth in a truthful way / Serving the public interest / Exercising fair play / Maintaining independence / Being accountable / Acting with integrity. Editors have a responsibility to communicate these Principles to newsroom staff members and to the public.”

Society Of Professional Journalists “Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with integrity. The Society declares these four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media.” Seek Truth and Report It / Minimize Harm / Act Independently / Be Accountable and Transparent.

Journalism Codes of Ethics From Around the World A listing of U.S. and International Ethics Codes

This site provides a clickable list of organizations that publish their codes of ethics. 

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

Reality

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Nothing is what it appears to be


In this image I reflect on the notion of “reality,” that it’s both individual and a construct. There’s the reality that I, as the photographer, experienced—the bright sun and the people on the hill. And part of that reality includes cars in a parking lot and an observation platform to the right of the walkers. So, the reality within the frame is a small fraction of what I experienced. Further, the realities of the individuals walking down the path are entirely different from my experience, each having a unique perspective based on a complex of references, preferences, relationships and motivations. And then there are the realities that you and other observers will read into this image.

For instance, there is humanity’s exploration of the planet, it’s advance into the future or the scale of the Earth and human beings relative to the immensity of the sun. Yet another reality is the image itself, experienced differently on a screen or on paper. These and other realities are quite easily seen and understood because our senses provide our brains with stimulations that construct meaning based on past personal experiences.

What we do not see is an “objective reality.” While our sensory systems evolved to maximize the potential for survival and growth, they do not detect the realities that give rise to life and form, the worlds of quarks, atoms and quanta. For instance, the photons that are stimulating our retinas when we look at the above image. Objectively it has no color. What the brain interprets as color has everything to do with the reflection and absorption properties of surfaces. We say a fabric is “red,” for instance, because the combination of threads absorb the colors of the visible spectrum other than red. Put another way, “Blue” is the experience of a lack of yellow. So while our eyes perform the critical task of providing wavelength input and generating stimuli accordingly, it’s actually the brain that “sees” color. The same is true of shape, texture and dimension, properties the brain uses to interpret and construct our visual reality. Actually, every sensation is a mental construct.

People act, not on reality, but on the pictures in their head.

Walter Lippman, American reporter and political commentator

In themselves and aside from our perception, even solids are constructs. In the quantum realm nothing is solid. There is no matter, only vibrating fields that blink in and out of existence. There’s far space then matter within and between the atoms in the hardest metals and minerals. The same goes for the universe—as we know it. All matter reduces to “quanta” and energy “fields.”

For whatever reason, this image reminded me that the realities of everyday life are personal constructs, moment to moment interpretive creations where all my sensory inputs are filtered through a myriad of past experiences and influences including physiology, ethnicity, psychology, family, education, peer associations, socialization and work to name a few. Even the realities and the symbols that represent them are momentary constructions. I’m reminded of the indigenous people in the Americas who experienced Spanish galleons for the first time. They saw them sea monsters or monster canoes and regarded rifles as barking sticks and fire sticks. New realities rely upon established ones to make sense of them.

On the one hand, the awareness that reality is a construct is humbling. It leads to the observation that we live somewhere in the middle between the ephemeral and immensity. It’s also empowering because, if my personal reality is a construct, I can alter it—make it better. What’s more, the leading edge of consciousness and technology that’s expanding our understanding and capabilities in both directions suggests that something grand is in process. From this perspective, and in the image above, I see us walking into that light with enthusiasm and determination.

The physical world is a domain, a segment, and hence a manifestation, of the intelligence of the cosmos. The vibrations that produce the phenomena of physical and nonphysical phenomena are part of the reality of the world, a world that is in-formed by, and manifests, the intelligence that is not only “of” the cosmos, but is the cosmos.

Ervin Laszlo, Author, systems scientist

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net

Form And Function

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“Exquisite” happens when parts unite to form a greater whole

Aside from the beauty of the reflections, the image of this motorcycle encourages several lines of contemplation. The first is a deep appreciation for the human capacity to extract elements from the earth and shape them into virtually unlimited forms. Size, shape and surface, even strength of materials and temperature tolerances are a few of the variables that designers and engineers can manipulate—which amazes me!

My father was a toolmaker for the Ford Motor Company. He sometimes said he could make anything from metal. When he heard that I was chipping fossils in creek beds with a hammer and screwdriver, he surprised me with a professional looking pick and hammer that he had made from a single piece of steel. The handle was textured for gripping and the head had a needle point on one end and a flat prong on the other for prying. It was beautiful and it worked.

Having gained the ability to shape the earth into anything we can imagine was certainly a key step in humanity’s ongoing physical and intellectual transformation. By literally having “the whole world in our hands,” the forms we have made, and are continuing to create, are informing us about our values and choices. Do they sustain and build? Make us better? Promote understanding? Lift us up? This particular form, the motorcycle, peaks my aesthetic nerve. I never owned one, but this image helps me appreciate how so much potential power, visually and literally, can be contained in such a relatively small and beautiful vehicle.

Another line of contemplation derives from the observation that many different forms have been organized into a highly functioning whole. A motorcycle is an excellent example of the often misused term, “synergy,” initially used to describe a system where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Indeed, extract any part, no matter how small, and the system will perform differently—or not at all. 

There’s also a lesson in diversity here. If all the parts took the same form or performed the same function, they wouldn’t constitute a whole capable of functioning at all. In both physical and social systems, differentiation and diversity are essential for full functioning. Because diversity improves resilience, and therefore adaptability, it’s a survival and growth strategy that bacteria learned about two billion years ago. A common metaphor for demonstrating this is the orchestra, where individual musicians unite to form a whole that exceeds what any of them could do alone. And, being a member of a large group challenges the performers to do their best. It applies to all systems—Broadway plays, business teams and churches. Every part in a machine, and every member of a society has a role to play. And in doing so, their unique performance is enhanced.

What is anything but spirit taking form?

Alex Gray (Artist)

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My other sites—

Love And Light greetings.com: A twice-weekly blog featuring wisdom quotes and perspectives in science and spirituality intended to inspire and empower

David L. Smith Photography Portfolio.com: Black and white and color photography

Ancient Maya Cultural Traits.com: Weekly blog featuring the traits that made this civilization unique 

smithdl@fuse.net