Category Archives: thoughts

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In or out of the box?

Should I think in or out of the box?

The box is really all that, which, if we could wrap it all up and throw it in a trunk, constitutes our life.
A trunk the size of a few furniture removal vans you say?
Exactly! However, …
What we have to do is to compress everything into thoughts. Yes, the Ford Mustang and the mansion and the aircraft and all our issues, alles, and pack them away into a trunk. And, while we are setting things up lets give this trunk an appealing name. I love the French language for its wonderful sounding words. I will put everything into a coffret. Bugger the trunk and the box.

So what is left? Me of course, but without all that ballast weighing me down. I have suddenly become liberated to soar detached as an observer and thinker.
Quickly, while soaring and thinking, I realise humanities’ emphasis and reliance on communication and knowledge.
Rapidly I see more stuff appearing in my mind eye. I see a more purpose built, indexed web emerging that enables me to extract required, relevant information in seconds.
I see people communicating without the need of a clunky, – albeit highly evolved since the Motorola brick of the nineties, – mobile device and that doesn’t require any hands. And no, definitely no, I do not see anybody walking around with a thing called an Apple Watch. Hell no. (I am fearful that Apple has lost their vision.)

The humanity I observe has snuffed that watch idea long ago, along with all these other obscure practices of scrolling, swiping, tapping, pinching, texting, and replaced it simply with voice control and looking. It even works while you are sitting in a movie theatre next to hundreds of other voice controlled devices or while you are driving a Harley Davidson through a park with a rock concert on the one side and Victoria Falls on the other. Activated by a mere whisper, – even if you feel you need to shout at it like most mobile users have the habit of punishing their loved piece of hardware, – and coded with your own special bio-chemical key, all you need do is talk, – and, look.
On the subject of looking, that’s where it all happens for most of us. What do you look at and what do you use to look?
Here’s what I see with all my ‘stuff’ packed in the coffret.

We’re about to see the next edition of Google Glass and maybe it might even be unveiled at Google I/O 18th May 2016. Sure, the first batch of Glass was a bit like the Motorola brick in a more subtle way, but it broke the news and the barrier of acceptance and laid a foundation towards a totally new concept, – a wearable computer with a heads-up display and voice activation bringing everything you have on a smartphone in front of your eyes. Tony Fadell is working on it. What was Sir Jonathan Ive working on again at Apple? Hopefully not another watch thingy.

I can actually unpack my coffret for now again. No need to soar and cogitate any further. The next life-changing device is so close you can even buy an older version of it on Amazon already. But, hold back for a while. There are some challenges. Nothing, I believe, that could not be solved in a fraction of time when I look at the last ten years of innovative technological thrust and the brains that are engaged to start that next almighty explosion of ‘omg i must have this thing or I’ll be such a loser.’

Battery life, what else? yawn, to this day remains the accompanying Comrade Nemesis. I am also so tired of hearing about it and the perpetual 30% improvement from release to release. How many percent was there in hundred again? Just flipping get it sorted out now! We’ve been hankering around that since forever. Give me something that runs out when I don’t need it and stays charged when I do. If I wear it it can charge by gyroscope or gravity or my pulse or light or something, cause I am alive and I move you know, so make use of it. Eye movement detection can be my enter key if I don’t want to talk all the time and like that I could scroll too and navigate for instance. I personally think glasses are cool, be it sexy shades or academic looking spectacles, whatever, and hooking up with fashion designers of eyewear is the way to go. If you run out of ideas or your development gets stuck put a project on Freelancer or Fiverr and pay a few well spent bucks for some out of the box, err coffret, ideas. There is a world of millions listening and it’s so simple to access and it’s bustling with ideas, it just needs to be tapped. Hello Google, Apple, …, there is your market research.

So after all that, is it in or out of the b.., ahm, coffret thinking that is required?
I think for us to make progress in leaps and bounds we need to understand the inside of the box and occasionally leave it behind.
It’s wonderful to dream up science fiction and gravity propulsion at +lightyear speeds but closer to the ground an inside understanding with an occasional outside view probably enables the best results.

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the ‘waiting’ in between

By that I mean the time ‘in between’ that it takes before I get what I want.
What if that waiting is actually just in my mind?
From the moment I want something until I have it, the clock ticks. But, should I really be a waiting?

You see I have this thing about time. It’s a dimension humans have created to dissect the present and in the process forgetting the whole.
Time is an industry that thrives on measurement and disruption. Time is fashion and villain. It’s impersonal and a pain, and it’s relative. Of course time is also a foundation block of my current reality.

Anyway, I like to simplify stuff. Therefore I like to remove one component from my universe: time.
No other living creature lives by a tik-tok. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
From very young I have heard it said: “This (or that) will take a long time?”
I’m not a physicist but after many decades of living by the rules of time I still have a problem being able to tell (the) time.
So to hell with time. Actually forget about speed and distance too. Drop the human constructs and just live without having to define everything for a moment.

I can see space clearly. It’s the transparent nothingness between objects. Some refer to it as the void, but this nothing is something.
Space is everywhere; it’s also between where we are and what we want. If we can make that space ‘work’ for us instead of seeing it as a hurdle multiplied by time, then we are onto a good thing.
In my book Austrafica I went into some detail what I perceive this nothingness, which I called ‘Invisibles,’ to be. Here is what I thought up.

Invisibles are not spiritual, religious, metaphysical or ghosty stuff. They are not a ‘them,’ ‘they’ or ‘it’ either. There are also so many Invisibles that if we would count them we would be countlessly counting.
Invisibles are never-ever visible to us, at all. If we can imagine them existing then we should visualize them as being entirely different to anything we know, which might be inherently difficult for various reasons, because they aren’t measureable in any way. They are not even noticeable to us and the closest thing is ‘no-thing,’ but even that means the opposite, the negation of a thing, which they definitely aren’t. Transparent dust maybe gives an idea, but don’t dwell on it because Invisibles are really indefinable. One can say that they are all the invisible stuff in-between all the visible stuff. They are not of matter and as soon as we think of them being something they disappear, and when they disappear chaos appears and the ‘waiting’ is back. So what are they? Because to the fleeting observer and thinker they aren’t, but we are trying to say they are, the best description is ‘Invisibles.’ You could imagine them as being connectors. The less definition we give them the more they exist, and the more we accept them, – kind of like allowing, – the more our life will run smooth.
Odd! I know.
By acknowledging ‘them’ we are at least not in ignorance or in denial of them and that is the important crux. Although we can never see them they are everywhere even where we think they aren’t. Because of that they have been given the name of ‘fillers,’ and the attribute of ‘smoothers.’ Without them there would really be nothing or in other words everything would be so dense that nothing could exist except maybe matter of the densest kind and chaos of course. Some might say chaos is the natural state, well, maybe here we are about to redefine its meaning. Regardless and nevertheless Invisibles are so important and yet so invisible that we tend to forget they exist. That is a problem we should seek to remedy.

The moment we acknowledge that the space ‘in between’ is filled with Invisibles, chaos ceases and smoothness takes over. Once there is smoothness all the invisible parts around us connect right to the end point of that which we want/think about and, that could be in another room, country, galaxy or universe. The unconnected pictures suddenly flow into one big ‘present’ for us.
So next time you stare at nothing acknowledge the Invisibles and imagine how it connects you smoothly to that which you want, without, aah, a second of waiting.

Acknowledging the Invisibles is the only practice required, others talk about subatomic sized energy particles and of consciousness and being aware.

“There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others who have a large vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendship between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality impossible to describe.”
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

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get back inside

It’s the kind of words you could hear someone yell from the porch on a rainy day.
It could be the name of a bistro.
It’s a vociferous frustration when you opened something up you should not have touched.
It implies that whatever it is, whoever it is, it or they came from the inside.
Get back means to return, to the inside in this case.

Right now however, ‘it’ must be on the outside, because why else would I be reprimanded to get back inside?
The ‘it’ is actually a facet of me.

I was sitting inside the lounge on a chair. But I heard it clearly said, “get back inside.”
The time was just after 5am. Where is inside at that time of the morning? Cosy-snugly bed, no?

Admittedly the meditation was a bit, ‘all over the place.’

In my supposed mode of passive observation I had to rope-in my freely wandering thoughts time and again.
If it would have been a dream it would be called lucid dreaming, because you know what you are doing and you maintain some form of control.
I clearly was two things at once: observer and practitioner, and, I have on occasion caught myself being even more than two things at once.

During writing of my first book I have occasionally practiced spawning numerous thought streams at once and then sitting back to observe: i.e. traveling on the Orient express, flying an aircraft, having dinner and conversation and leaning a fast motorbike through the curves in Mpumalanga with Beethoven’s 6th (Pastorale) in the background.
Indeed I thought I was successful at it. I just worked up a voracious appetite for chocolate afterwards.

Multi-tasking, multi-processing, time-slicing, – fascinating ideas, computer jargon I know, but if a robot can do it surely I can too. Brilliant creation our brain is!
In short most of us will concur that I have probably never reached my destination on the Orient express, crashed the aircraft, was absent minded at dinner and an irresponsible danger on the motorbike. Yes you are right. I never completed any one of them except the Symphony, and why should I? There were another thousand other things to do and I was only interested in the highlights.
Such is the power of our beautiful mind.

Well, this morning an inner voice decided it was appropriate to remind me to ‘get back inside.’
Inside is where I truly am. The outside is a distraction and probably an illusion, – or all is an illusion.
While I am deeply anchored inside I can become a better observer and conductor.
I think what ‘it’ was trying to tell me was, “go outside by all means but stay connected to your true guiding self.”
I’m safely back inside now, peeping out occasionally till next time.

To Beethoven, to Me, to everything at once inside.

Get back inside now!

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Freedom of: What did you say?

I mean the Freedom of Speech.
I have cogitated for long about this simple statement. I thought it was clear at first.
However, we humans have made it extremely difficult to the extent that it actually only exists within contained walls.
We have controlled speech on all fronts and the curtain is getting thicker and closing more and more.

Some inflated individuals can stretch their freedom of speech unaffected, others better whisper if they want to survive.
I order to get a grip on it we should really be tought what it means before we start thinking to use it for what it doesn’t mean.
But who will teach us?
Government, religion, philosophers, fanatics…

I can’t actually believe that speech is so unfree. It’s ‘freedom of speech’ for heavens sake.
Some of us know about the power of words. Words are thoughts expressed. Words are two-thirds towards action.
We need no licence for words. Our birthright is ‘Freedom of Speech.’ Words: just say them and watch the ripples turn into eruptions.

But, are we not heading towards Newspeak, George Orwell’s fictional controlled language used in the totalitarian state Oceania in his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four?

I was recently inspired by what British comedian Bill Hicks wrote about freedom of speech in 1993 when he responded to a priest who had bemoaned the ‘blasphemous’ content of his television special. He said:

“‘Freedom of speech’ means you support the right of people to say exactly those ideas which you do not agree with. (Otherwise, you don’t believe in ‘freedom of speech,’ but rather only those ideas which you believe to be acceptably stated.) Seeing as how there are so many different beliefs in the world, and as it would be virtually impossible for all of us to agree on any one belief, you may begin to realize just how important an idea like “freedom of speech” really is. The idea basically states “while I don’t agree or care for what you are saying, I do support your right to say it, for herein lies true freedom.”

The full article is here: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/06/23/bill-hicks-censorship-freedom-of-speech-letter

Most constitutions mention the freedom of speech. Some countries just sweep it under the carpet and many people are non the wiser either.

In the South African Constitution
Chapter 2: Bill of Rights
Section 16: freedom of speech and expression, including freedom of the press and academic freedom.
Explicitly excluded are propaganda for war, incitement to violence and hate speech (advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm)

The First Amendment in the US protects the freedom of speech. It then dives at length into what is and isn’t allowed to be said.

I am shocked to read that the Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression and yet I have watched full-on confrontations between radio presenters and government officials.

In modern Germany, the Grundgesetz guarantees freedom of press, speech, and opinion, but censorship does exist especially when we take certain perpetuated historic events into consideration.

In the UK free speech has long been recognised as a common law right.

As I sit here and write I know many of us want to say some things, talk about some things, bring them into the open, instead of silently accepting because of the ‘grave repercussions’ our exercise of freedom of speech could have. I just need to look at what some famous and outspoken authors and commentators have been subjected to and I’d rather leave that exercise for another day.

Here it is again: ‘Freedom of speech’ means you support the right of people to say exactly those ideas which you do not agree with.

I do support that right! I would expect that my right to freedom of speech therefore also exists(?)
I can dust off what I don’t agree with and what I don’t care for and move on.

Thank you Bill Hicks (Rip)

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days and I

A day is a big canvas that is painted by the universe before I wake up.
Viewed from a distance, days drift past like poetry floating on a cloud drizzling me with droplets of paradise.
Lovely stuff.
Have another sip of Shiraz.

On closer look though…

My real day is more like waking up in a movie that plays at speed multiplied by two, to a reality I barely comprehend and a script that arrives late.

My deliberate intent to have a ‘smooth’ day does not re-paint that canvas or slow the day down, all it does is fiddle with my attitude.
I have concluded that there is a sovereign entity called ‘a day’ and then there is ‘I’ who is part of everything else that paints this canvas. I am then mercilessly merged with that day. It helps if I try and be content with that because the day will happen upon me regardless and everyone else keeps on painting.

How do I approach a day when I wake up after a night of restlessly purging nightmares, or when I open my eyes thirty-thousand feet high squashed in coach-class, or stare at the ceiling in a stuffy flat in the concrete jungle, or without any possessions on a park bench?
What do I do when this is another day where I feel like Mr Nothing and I am clueless and I am lost?
What do I do now that I know, that I don’t know how this day is gonna shape up?

Jumping up all groggy, croaking and moaning is one way to say, “Hey, I’m still around and ready to face you head-on, just give me a moment.”
Meditating just after waking, – before coffee, workout and all, undoubtedly has a soothing effect on the irascible morning mood.
Bonding with nature by walking barefoot on dew-drenched grass at dawn, while energising and re-vitalizing, changes nothing of the day either.

Some days go easy and smooth and I accomplish great things at super speed and on other days, every time I look at the clock, its a few hours later and nothing has happened.
I still haven’t been able to figure that one out because it’s not for my lack of wanting it to happen.

Good days for instance, when everything works, should be stored as templates so that other days can base themselves automatically on such acquired intelligence. Where I come from that’s called learning. But days won’t have any of that. I mean we’ve been waking up ever since we’ve existed, – as long as humanity has been around. That should have ironed out the very last glitch in waking up and sorting our days. But it clearly hasn’t.
Why not?
Has evolution overlooked something?

I want to nail each day perfectly. I am also convinced that even the most difficult questions, this being one, have a simple answer. If it doesn’t, then I’m either looking at it wrong or it’s man made. Wearing academic lenses presses my nose flat against the fish bowl bluring any clarity and trusting in a divine plan is no ticket for finding an answer either.

So how do I get a perfect day?
Well it seems that it depends entirely on how well I can navigate the unpredictability of the billions of ripples that other elements cause in my day.
It’s like flying at warp-speed through galaxies of stars avoiding collision at all cost. One wrong move and you have an argument, a crash, a dis-ease…

A day is an unemotional and impartial constant of chaos I am always subjected to.
A day has so much paint on it’s canvas that if it were audible it would just be deafening noise.
A day actually isn’t alive. I am the only one alive and I do the growing (evoluting) or stagnating.
Only I have the ability of using a tool that has become super-sophisticated with time.
I can think!
Therefore, I can choose what of the day I like and where I must duck and dive and (re)act.
I can choose to operate from a basis of ethics. I can be mindful and gentle or I can behave irrational, believe nonsense, create disasters, abdicate responsibility and be fanatical.

Here’s what differentiates between just another day and ‘my day:’
My thoughts, and, my being aware.
To be aware I have to be present with my senses in the now. All five, six, nine, 21 or 57 of them.

Those senses require a big processor with a large memory and firmware with actions called instincts hardwired which speed up my lethargic decision making process.
It makes a significant difference if I keep that processor in tip-top shape.

I feed it only the finest, purest ingredients and pamper it with care, – most of the time.

For better days!