Quantum hauntology

Recent IPS posts on quantum electrons led me to Bryant, who references Karen Barad, an advocate of Bohr's QM and who wrote Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement .... Here's one of her articles called "Quantum entanglements and hauntological relations" in Derrida Today 3.2 (2010): 240–268. The abstract:

"How much of philosophical, scientific, and political thought is caught up with the idea of continuity?

More holonics

Continuing this tangent in the IPS religious differences thread a few more of the last posts:

I'd agree that no one methodology can exhaust an object's agency a la OOO. However, how can we coordinate the various methodologies through a meta-paradigm? Isn't that one of the goals of an integral approach? We have AQAL, which does a gigi-glossary comparison, but that doesn't tell us much about how they interrelate, partly due to a lack of the 'you' dimension per Edwards criticisms. And it seems like at least some of these 2nd-person approaches are in fact the 'relational' and 'in-between' meta-methods by which to correlate the 1st and 3rd person. Again they don't exhaust or fully define an object yet they provide a more comprehensive coordination of multiple perspectives. In a less critical mood (like now) I might even suggest that this is one of the attributes of a cross-paradigmatic level of cognitive complexity. Except that (critic returning) such models of complexity themselves are sorely lacking in such 2nd person insights we see in this thread, with consequent gaps (more like gaping holes) in their cross-paradigms.

From Edwards' Ph.D. dissertation:

An holonic tangent

In our IPS discussion of religious differences we've taken a sidebar into holonics as it relates to the topic at hand. Some excerpts:

theurj:


Balder said: "Concerning this union being social rather than mystical, I don't see it in either/or terms.  I don't think there's just one type of "real" union.  I think there is value in both mystical (UL) and sociocultural (LL) experiences and expressions of unitive events, which can be mutually informing but which are also both irreducible objects (in OOO terms) in their own right."

Lady Gaga's Christmas present

Her Christmas present is this formerly unreleased single from Born This Way, Stuck on Fuckin' You.

More on religious difference

Here are a few more excerpts of the discussion I started in this post.

Balder:

In my paper, as you know, I tried to reason from certain principles within recent Integral thought towards a conclusion which really is not embraced by Wilber at this date -- one which is more "pluralist" and less "ontotheological" than the official version of Integral remains.

Arnsperger's back

Christian Arnsperger finally has a new blog post after 5 months. Here are a few excerpts:

"The housing asset-price bubbles was used as a strategic tool. It was encouraged and consciously sustained. It was, in a sense, the ultimate bet: Let a localized inflationary craze generate sufficient bank-account wealth for a sufficient number of people, so that when they start to spend this as yet unbacked monetary wealth, the material wealth that was needed to back it would start getting produced.

The postmetaphysics of religious difference

Balder started a thread at IPS of this name. Here are the first few posts. For the ongoing discussion visit the thread:

Balder:


I just came across an essay on religious pluralism which appears to touch on some of the themes we've explored here in the past (I've read the abstract and conclusion so far, and will dig in to the rest tomorrow.) The Postmetaphysics of Religious Difference.  For those interested, here's the abstract:

Correlation of color and sound

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

Something in the quantum enlightenment thread reminded me of this tract by one of my former mentors, Paul Foster Case's "Correlation of Sound and Color." He reveals heretofore esoteric secrets "so that prepared minds may use color and sound...for the development of a well-rounded consciousness, for the liberation of the profounder powers of subconsciousness in works of that true Magic of Light which from time immemorial has been called theurgy*."

More on critical theory

Another resource, for some of the newer members not familiar to avenues we've already traversed, is eco-transitions. It too is an integral critical theory of where we've been and are going. And from an integrally informed, and previously kennilingus-approved, economist, Christian Arnsperger. I also referenced him in the progressive economics thread. A few quotes from the latter:

What is integral critical theory?

The above article was shortly followed at Integral World by “What is integral critical theory” by Joe Corbett. He too recognized the foundations of critical theory in the Frankfurt School, which in turn was strongly influenced by Marx and Weber. He notes that critical theory's raison d'etre is “human emancipation from oppression,” hence why I chose this particular forum (town hall). As Anderson notes, one must take their 'enlightenment' into the world and help others. Otherwise it is so much narcissism selling product under the guise of emancipation. Moreover, Corbett indicates that a main premise of critical theory, a la Marx, is that the socio-economic sphere must be transformed first for the vast majority of people to even approximate anything vaguely resembling personal liberation. Even Kennilingam recognized as much in Excerpt A.

Here are a few excerpts:

What is critical integral theory?

This is the name of a new article by Daniel Gustav Anderson at Integral World. Following are some excerpts reminiscent of our recent conversations at IPS on OOO. I'm also starting a thread at IPS to see if this will generate some discussion. Excerpts:

"You need to specify an ontology, a set of concepts that account for the stub-your-toe world of experience and limitations.

"I proposed to read Nagarjuna's central concept of dependent origination through the diction of Marxist and post-Marxist categories.

"The world is understood holistically, as a whole and by reference to the relation of the parts to the whole. The category of contradiction is of particular importance here, as it toward ways in which the totality of relations is conflicted.

William Black on financial crime

I recently became aware of William Black's work at the blog New Economic Perspectives. His latest interview with Taryn Hart is a must see if you want to understand the guts of the last financial crisis, why nothing was done to prevent it, why nothing has been done to correct it and why it is inevitable that something like it, or worse, is bound to happen again. The level of this criminal behavior is astounding, and even more so that Obama is an apologist for it. This article at the blog discusses why no one went to jail for these crimes:

Question:

"You played a critical role during the S&L crisis in exposing congressional corruption. During that period of time, a lot of corruption was exposed; a lot of people in the financial sector went to jail, including Charles Keating. I wonder if you would contrast that to the last credit crisis, let us say from 2007 to 2009 where a lot of money was lost, a lot of things went wrong, but nobody went to jail. Instead of going to jail, they walked out instead with multi-million dollar bonuses. What was the difference, what was behind this in your opinion?"

Black:

"[In] the Savings & Loan crisis...our agency filed well over 10,000 criminal referrals that resulted in over 1,000 felony convictions and cases designated as nature.

Spiritual domination of the fittest

This article by Joe Corbett at Integral World is enlightening, adding support to the much vaunted claim that Kennilingam and kennilingus is an apologetics for political conservatism and capitalism. A few excerpts:

"Ken Wilber['s]...model of justice has a peculiar resemblance to the 2500 year old notion of justice found in Plato. At the top of the social pyramid in Plato's utopian Just society sits the philosopher-king (Ken Wilber). Surrounding him are the loyal and obedient warriors who protect and defend him by any means necessary, whether he is right or wrong (the inner circle of Wilber devotees). Next comes the merchant class (Joe Firmage and other wealthy benefactors of the Integral Institute), the lowly but necessary servants who support the needs of the philosopher-king and his warriors with booty that the king and his warriors have helped to secure from the common masses (the clients and patrons of the books, merchandise, and seminar-workshops of Ken Wilber Inc.). And just in case anybody forgets who the beloved philosopher-king is they need only look at the front cover of any given Wilber publication adorned with the face of none other than KW himself.

Your action delayed the destroy the internet Bill!

Update received in my email. See what lateral power to the people can accomplish via the internet? This is just what the corporatocracy cannot stand and want to quash. Keep up the good fight comrades! :


BREAKING NEWS: Because of immense public pressure, the House Judiciary Committee cancelled their vote on the bill that would kill Internet innovation and free speech -- and adjourned for the rest of the year!
Over the last 36 hours, over 97,000 people like you signed our joint petition with reddit against this bill, and thousands more called their representatives. This momentum succeeded in stopping this bill, for now.

Sales data refutes piracy claims

I recently posted on the insidious and speciously named Protect IP Piracy Act. The crux of the claim is that piracy robs sales from the owners of the content. Is that true? Check out this study by Michael D. Smith. (Also see his article here.) An excerpt of the write-up:

"Our results suggest that (1) online 'free' distribution can complement legitimate purchases of media goods, (2) legitimate digital distribution channels can reduce the demand for piracy, and (3) that digital distribution is unlikely to cannibalize sales in physical channels in the short-term"


Recall Bryant noted anecdotally that sales of The Speculative Turn at Amazon went up when the free pdf version of the book was released.

Malad(a)y Greetings

From Cthulhu, patron saint of OOO. Madness and woe to you and your kin.

What the media didn't tell you about arresting Occupy LA

This story is absolutely shocking about how the police arrested the LA protesters. So shocking that I will provide the story in full from one who was arrested. What the flying fuck has the US come to? I'm embarrassed for my country over this.

My Occupy LA Arrest

by Patrick Meighan /  blogspot / December 6, 2011

Quantum OOOrgasm

Once again our IPS OOO discussion returns to the quantum, since the thread kicked off with Morton's interpretations of it in "Here comes everything." Some excerpts:

From this post on nonlocality at Morton's blog, the commenter quoting Morton:

"For example, in relation to nonlocality you say, 'nonlocality. This is definitely metaphorical and not literal, at least as far as we know, since real nonlocality, which is a quantum phenomenon, only occurs (we think) at very small scales.'” 

Morton responded to this commenter in this post. But honestly it sounds like jibberish to me. This is where I prefer Bryant's clear writing style. Morton is so obtuse here under the guise of aesthetic rhetoric that his tropes have no traction, for me.

Lakoff responds to Luntz

In his Huff Post article today he chastises the progressives for once again dumbfoundedly accepting Luntz's framing, not realizing its importance. "It's a trap," he says. If progressives merely frame their agenda as opposite to Luntz's suggestions they maintain the frame. This is a must read for a more effective way to step outside the wrong frame and into the right one. For example:

OOO, Buddhism & penis size

Our IPS discussion has returned to the relation of OOO and Buddhism. Here are a few snippets of that discussion:

Balder:

What is the status of the self in OOO?  Does it lead back to conceptions of an independent, isolated nuclear self?

theurj:

I don't think so. My sense is that an object's autonomy is not devoid of its (inter)dependent origination. And that its withdrawn nature is akin to the emptiness of the self (or any object). Bryant might be more aligned with this interpretation, being Buddhist.

Sachs: 5 steps to fix our economy

Jeffrey Sachs' 11/28/11 Huff Post article is clear and concise on how to fix our broken system.

"First, restore the Glass-Steagall Act's separation of commercial banking and investment banking, and strongly regulate derivatives trading. The financial casino continues to infect the core of the banking system and the real economy.

Lakoff preempts Luntz

I look forward to George Lakoff's response to Luntz's recent comments. However Lakoff has already offered advice to OWS on how to frame itself. From this 10/20/11 AlterNet article:

"It seems to me that the OWS movement is moral in nature, that occupiers want the country to change its moral focus. It is easy to find useful policies; hundreds have been suggested. It is harder to find a moral focus and stick to it. If the movement is to frame itself, it should be on the basis of its moral focus, not a particular agenda or list of policy demands. If the moral focus of America changes, new people will be elected and the policies will follow. 

Frank Luntz scared of OWS

When the chief conservative spin meister is worried about OWS you know the movement is having a significant impact. According to this post Luntz spoke at the Republican Governors Association this week and said he's “scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I’m frightened to death” and acknowledging that it is “having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism.” He then proceeded to offer advice on how to reframe the message in the hope of neutralizing it, as follows from the linked article. I look forward to Lakoff's re-frame of this frame.

– Don’t Mention Capitalism: Luntz said that his polling research found that “The public…still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we’re seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we’ve got a problem.”