No-Mind: Do not think about not thinking at all

Thoughts have a power all of their own. Any thought we hold too tightly, or keep too close to our hearts, can have a detrimental effect on our lives.  A thought can become an obsession. For example, a thought that our partner is having an affair develops in our mind, and we filter all of their actions through it, searching for evidence however small. This small thought could develop into an obsession and jealousy and mistrust begins to taint every moment of our lives. Eventually we will see things that are not actually there and over time this will strangle the relationship like weeds in an untended garden.

We should strive to regularly empty our minds lest a thought achieves a foothold that cannot be overcome. Takuan Soho (1573-1645), a Japanese Zen Master and Philosopher from the 1600’s, provided similar advice to his contemporaries whether they were the Shogun, Master Swordsmen, fellow monks or lay members of his community. In a translation of his writings The Unfettered Mind by William Scott Wilson, he said:

If your mind leans in the direction of these thoughts, though you listen, you will not hear; and though you look, you will not see. This is because there is something in your mind. What is there is thought. If you are able to remove this thing…your mind will become No-Mind, it will function when needed, and it will be appropriate to its use.

Unfortunately achieving this state of No-Mind is difficult if not practised regularly. We must make this state, even for a heartbeat, part of our daily lives. But again Takuan warns that this too is a thought: “…the mind that thinks about removing what is in it will, by the very act, be occupied.” He wrote a short poem to help us, and four hundred years later it rings as true as the day he wrote it:

To think, “I will not think.”-

This, too, is something in one’s thoughts.

Simply do not think

about not thinking at all.

Kaligrafia

Takuan Soho (1573-1645) was a prelate of the Rinsai Sect of Zen, well remembered for his strength of character and acerbic wit; and he was also a gardener, poet, tea master, prolific author and a pivital figure in Zen painting and calligraphy (William Scott Wilson – The Unfettered Mind, 1986).

What is the next power base for human society?

I’ve heard many arguments against the development of artificial intelligence (Ai) and the possibility of uploading our consciousness to similar artificial environments, or at least artificially enhancing our minds and bodies. They say that our governments will not let it happen, or that the churches will be able to put sufficient pressure to bear to prevent it. I disagree. Ai will have access to sufficient computational resources to be able to “what if” its way past our societal limiters; governments, churches etc. It will know what an un-enhanced human will do long before we ourselves do – or at least it will have worked out many millions of scenarios, with solutions to preserve themselves banked for each perceived action, ready to be deployed.

Once the singularity is close, it is inevitable. As to the question of how close, to have proposed this question is itself a strong indicator that the turning point of human engineering has passed and that a human engineered limiter is no longer possible.

Am I frightened? No!

Who should be frightened? The current powerbase. In any revolution, power shifts and those who cling longest and most desperately to the old ways will suffer the worst.

Lets look at a powerbase from recent history; the monarchy. The English monarchy still exists today and although they are still wealthy from a capital perspective, they do not have either the cash flow or the power of life or death over their people. It is quite the opposite; they exist at the mercy of their people, kept on life support in a human zoo or museum for the people’s amusement.

How did the English Monarchy survive when the Russian or French did not? They divested their power to the people; they set their people free and this act of grace and trust enabled them to avoid the fate of many other monarchies that clung too desperately to their historic powers.

So who amongst us will hold the power when the inevitable singularity occurs? I think it will be those who embrace the opportunities to enhance our intelligence; it will be those who are able to free their minds.

I don’t know, and haven’t had enough time to digest the implications of these thoughts. If I hark back to the beginings of this note; I don’t have the neural capacity to “what if” my final opinion in the time it has taken to write the words from there to here!

Transcending the physical limits of Einsteinian laws

Just as humans have broken through barriers we’ve previously thought to be insurmountable, so will we find a way to transcend the physical laws of gravity, space and eventually time.  In simplified terms Einsteinian law sets the practical physical limit for space travel at much less than the speed of light; the faster we travel the greater our mass and with a corresponding increase in energy to continue to accelerate. Yet in contrast we can send data at the speed of light without even trying, and have done since early last century.

Source: Hubblesite.org

Ray Kurzweil describes a point in our evolution—it is closer than we think—when we can convert our entire consciousness into data (not just our memory), and, therefore, send it at the speed of light where ever we want. But if there is nothing out there to receive it, it will remain as data and continue on infinitely through the universe. If we do come to communicate with a similarly intelligent and advanced society light years away we could first send information and instructions on how to build a biological vessel for our transported consciousness to be downloaded to. We will find ourselves having traveled across space at impossible speeds for physical objects.

To me this sounds perfectly plausible and if it sounds plausible to us in our current primitive state then it will be much simpler in the future.

We have to unshackle our minds from the physical world, and limiting our thoughts to the current and immediately past paradigms. The universe is too big [yet another physical term?] for that. I think this is a way for us to comprehend the universe as infinite. With our minds shackled to physical ideals we cannot grasp the infinite; the best we can do is think of something so large we can barely comprehend it. To truly be able to understand the infinite we must release our maniacal grasp on physical ideals…all of them.

Branding the literary works of Authorial Groups?

Popular music is one of the few creative mediums where branding is used to market the work of a group of artists, The Beatles, U2, or Muse for example. People who have enjoyed previously released work from these groups will often purchase a new release, sight-unseen, because they know and love the “brand” of product the group produces. This branding has been used in other creative mediums. In cinema for example the latest “Tarantino” film is almost guaranteed to be well attended because the viewing public have come to know what to expect in one of his films. In the book industry many author’s work is branded more with the author’s name than with the subject matter of the specific book.

A good percentage of popular music releases over the past half a century have been from groups of artists and this continues to be the case today for two reasons. Firstly, the quality of work that can be produced through a collaborative creative process can be much greater than something produced in isolation, and secondly, that the branding of the product is an immediate and lasting marketing tool. Literary products have not embraced this collaborative approach to the degree that the music industry has. We do see products written jointly by several authors but they are marketed under both author’s names rather than an abstract group name.

Is the literary industry missing out on both counts? …I think they are!

In my “day job” I work collaboratively on creative design tasks and I know from personal experience over the past few decades that I could never have produced designs at anywhere near the quality the group has been able to generate, if I had worked in isolation.

When it comes to writing, I have worked in isolation on a large work of fiction for over a year and although some of the writing is of high quality the project is languishing. A few weeks ago when I first began to contemplate the notion of Authorial Groups I decided to seek out one or more writers to work collaboratively on this project with the object of forming a long term partnership where we could brand our joint literary works. I found this step challenging to take, considering the time and effort I have invested  already in research and writing for the work but I am convinced the end product will be of superior quality and has a better chance of reaching the people I intend it to.

The output from groups can also be higher in quantity due to the number of people focused together at the task of writing. This approach should lead to more regular and reliable releases too, which can only help to build the brand loyalty that will ensure the longevity of the process and the group.

In the same way a band leader, or existing band, will audition for new members I decided to approach a writer to work on a short piece of fiction. This on-the-job task may also help to materialise a collaborative writing process that could work for an authorial group.

So, I’ve engaged with another writer and we’ve agreed to collaborate on a short story to both flesh out the process of literary collaboration and group dynamics in writing.  For example, do we collaborate on the plotting and scene development only and then work independently, or do we continue to write as many fingers at the same keyboard, or simply write the text on a white board and transcribe it at a later date?

Trust is a key factor in any partnership, as well as being strong and confident enough to let your ideas to fall dead to the ground if they are not taken up by the group. Luckily I have worked collaboratively with this writer on other creative projects before and we have often joked about each others crap… sorry…outlandish and impractical ideas. In a way we already know how to work together creatively.

The process has started…

Kurzweil’s Singularity and artificial enhancements to our body

The concept of the singularity came up last night while I was researching an aspect of my novel. According to Ray Kurzweil, the singularity is point in the evolution of the universe when technology can improve itself faster than humans can improve it and the technology cuts us out of the loop.

Long before this point, however, Kurzweil predicts there will be only a few humans without extensive artificial enhancement wether it be enhanced limbs, digestive systems, or the insertion of entertainment driven nanobots. He also suggests the possibility to upload your mind entirely from your physical body. I found this disconcerting and a little depressing. It is not the future I imagined for my grandchildren where the line between their natural human presence and a humanoid cyborg is blurred.

This was a distraction to my research and I pushed these thoughts to one side and continued along, suitably engrossed, on my original path of discovery. The next time I looked up from my books and notebook I noticed it was 1pm and thought, “Why do I have to sleep? There’re so many things I want to research and understand!” My mind raced while I reluctantly closed the notebook and slid my fountain pen into its leather case. How could I get by with less sleep? And then, like the target of my own satirical attack I choked on the thought. This is why humans will opt for artificial enhancement; not just to run faster, or to breathe in a CO2 rich atmosphere, but to release our mind from the dirty biological container it’s entrapped in.

I realised I will be tempted to upload my mind. But this realisation led me to consider what would become of the mind/body that remained—I must assume the uploaded “consciousness” is a copy. Would it be culled and consumed as some form of payment for service, or could the physical part be “parked” as a potential refuge for the mind if an emergency eventuated that threatened the security of the artificially supported entity in the world wide neural web? A hard copy backup or snapshot…

How would these artificially supported consciousnesses interact? Just consider the difficulty in sustaining a long distance relationship without the occasional physical visit. Maybe we’ll interact in a completely virtual environment so authentic the experience sufficiently meets the demands of our minds; however unclear they currently may be. There’s has to be a short story here at least!

Authorial Groups and Intrinsic Worth; “Collaborwriting”

Why don’t we see authorial groups like we do with musical bands? A quick answer could be that performing a musical work often requires a group of musicians while writing is completed in isolation. As artists, writers may be selling their work short by attempting to keep it pure and cleansed of external influences. Of course we are all influenced by other artists work but what I’m suggesting is to collaborate; a process where two or more minds produce something that could never be formed by individual writers working in isolation.

Writing a novel—any writing in fact—is a complex mix of many different processes; plotting, structural design, constructing themes and visions, discovering unique plot twists…it’s never simply putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. There’s editing too, and in some situations a good editor can tease out an author’s ideas to produce a work of art that is more intelligible. This is more akin to a record producer who tinkers and cleans, tidying the work as it exists on the page.

Collaborwriting as a group can help to avoid common pitfalls of writing such as a loss of confidence in your ability and becoming overcritical of your work. I know first hand how debilitating these moments can be. Human nature and an environment of trust will ensure we do not become too critical of a collaborative work. Group dynamics can also foster supportive behaviors; lifting members out of their low points and at other times they can stand on each others shoulders to reach heights not possible alone.

A moment of genuine collaborative writing, or “Collaborwriting”, occurs off the page when two minds collide and meld together two form something unique. An early theory about the formation of Miranda, a moon of Uranus, suggested it was formed by the collision of two planetesimal bodies melding to form a single moon. Hugo and Nebula award winning author Kim Stanley Robinson used Miranda’s unique geological history to highlight and suggest the human mind is the integral part of environmental beauty:

After that they hiked down the spine of the buttress in silence. Over the course of the day they descended to Bottoms Landing. Now they were a kilometre below the rims of the chasm, and the sky was a starry band overhead; Uranus fat in the middle of it, the sun a blazing jewel just to one side. Under this gorgeous array the depth of the rift was sublime, astonishing; again Zo felt herself to be flying.

“You’ve located intrinsic worth in the wrong place,” she said to all of them… “It’s like a rainbow. Without an observer at a twenty three degree angle to the light being reflected off a cloud of spherical droplets, there is no rainbow. The whole universe is like that. Our spirits stand at a twenty three degree angle to the universe. There is some new thing created at the contact of photon and retina, some space created between rock and mind. Without mind there is no intrinsic worth.” – Blue Mars (Pages 435-436).

Further illustrating Robinson’s metaphor, the intrinsic beauty of good writing is not contained on the page, that is just ink and paper, and it is not the words and punctuation we craft as writers, it is the thoughts and feelings the writing manifests in the reader’s mind. I’m not suggesting that this higher plane of communication is unachievable when writing in isolation, but that through collaboration we open up possibilities and manifest ideas and concepts that could not be formed by any singular sentient mind.

Communicating across time

The human mind is strongly rooted to the time of our formative years and communicating clearly with people whose mind is stuck in another time can be fraught with misunderstanding. There is some barrier that separates us and this barrier is further clouded by blind faith and religious doctrine, making the lucid transfer of ideas and concepts sometimes impossible. Even communicating with others from the same time is difficult; some unnatural barrier separates our minds.

Not everyone’s mind suffers this in a constant manner. A person’s training, whether in the martial arts, Zen, philosophy, or theoretical studies, can help to uncover a mind’s latent ability to communicate across this barrier and see more clearly. In some extraordinary individuals this ability is naturally evident and the power of their mind is perceptible through their writing alone, lingering like the low pitched hum of a bass string long after their death. Sometimes when I read I feel this sound, in the back of my head as it oscillates some hidden segment of my consciousness in attempt to release it from its binds.

I often struggle against a feeling of contempt at some people’s limits in this regard and when I find no echo or response to my attempts to communicate a sense of isolation hangs like a lead shot weight in my belly. Othertimes I find myself treating people like this in a condescending manner and avoid topics or discussions their minds cannot handle safely; just like we do with children—protecting their young minds from seeing or hearing things that could scar them. Unfortunately most people’s minds will not grow up and they will remain like Peter Pan; stuck in Neverland…and never able to reach their full potential.

A Noble Proposal

I am acquainted with The Honorable Paul MS Fallari MP, Federal Member for Lilliput, New South Wales, through a mutual acquaintance, a Mr J Swift; a fellow writer of some note in is home country he attests. Mr Swift passed on to me this most interesting transcript of Fallari MP’s first speech to the Australian Federal Parliament, with the speaker’s kind permission to pass it on as I see fit. His Noble Proposal is revolutionary and inspired although some of his points may be a little beyond my meagre understanding.

I stand here before you in this place, my fellow Members of Parliament, as the new member for Lilliput. This moment should humble me but it does not. What I feel is relief. This is, for me, a moment of pause—to breathe—after the long struggle of pre-selection and election to a seat in this Federal Parliament. And not just any seat, but to one I can offer honourable disdain to the robust and consistent voting habits of its constituents. Before me stretch long years in this place. The majority of this time, I am assured, will be on the better side of the room but with the tenure my seat endows I will also pass some terms in the idolatry of Opposition.

In the long weeks of my election campaign I have become proud to recognise many of the streets and suburbs of Lilliput. It has afforded me an opportunity to glimpse some sections of a community with whom I would not previously have had reason or yearning to encounter. Lilliput is a multicultural community and I can personally attest to this. I have driven through sprawling suburbs filled with Chinese, Vietnamese, Indians, South Americans and even Middle Eastern peoples—well they looked Middle Eastern, they had beards. There are also some of the land’s previous inhabitants, which presented a convenient circumstance to offer dutiful neglect to this small fragment of Australian society.

I take this occasion, in the company of you fine people, to put forth a proposal for your consideration. A noble proposal for preventing the Baby-Boomers of Australia from becoming a burden to their children or country, and for making them beneficial to our nation’s economy. Some of my older colleagues need to do more than just consider the proposal.

Australia, like many western democracies, stands upon the brink, beset by calamities: environmental, social, spiritual and economic. Our population ages daily, and I equate this to the turning of pages in a calendar—you know how they get a day older each day and we turn the page on the calendar each day. The Baby-Boomers have passed the crest of their lives and coast on the downward stretch toward retirement. They clog our transport infrastructure and their own arteries with caravans and fried food. For most, there has been no war or other calamity to open their eyes and trim their numbers, and the medical industry finds yet more ways to cure their ailments. The imminent retirement of these Baby-Boomers threatens the viability of health and welfare systems already stretched to their limit.

In the last decades of the twentieth century the Australian Share Market has become swollen with billions of dollars invested through burgeoning superannuation schemes. The anonymous nature of this investment frees up the moderately compensated chief executives to focus solely on the bottom line, concealed and protected from the moralistic whims and consciences of the businesses true owners. The prospect of Baby-Boomers cashing in their lifetime investment, or worse; taking an active interest in their shareholder responsibilities, threatens the stability of our world’s temperamental share markets.

The economic threat from the Baby-Boomer generation must be addressed quickly and decisively. Let us continue our country’s proud tradition of eradication of troublesome populations and take an example from our Christian heritage to allow these Baby-Boomers to give up their lives to ensure our common prosperity. Surely our spiritual leader’s irrational repulsion can be overcome, and suicide can be actively pursued as a valid mode of both protest and to protect the economic future of one’s offspring—it was a good enough alternative for Jesus after all. We should aspire to this level of courage not condemn it. Australian history is bursting with legends of men, and resolute women, who have sacrificed their lives for a cause; Wars, Labour Reform, Business Activity Statements, and Land Rights. It’s time for the Baby-Boomers to stand up and be culled.

But I digress.

Many cultures of our world, up until the last century, condoned the noble sacrifice of one’s life. In some societies, such as our Japanese neighbours, the practice was elevated to an art form: Seppuku—Noble Suicide.

I do not speak of a messy end, such as to leap from the windows of tall buildings. This would cause regrettable damage to the pavement below but also leave their person in an inappropriate state for viewing in-casket. What I propose is a regulated and neat system. Imagine the pride a young man would feel if he stood beside his kneeling grandfather, sword poised to end any suffering. The old man’s face is soft, his thoughts serene, as he draws a sharp blade across his abdomen releasing its contents to the white expanse of a stage. He glances out towards his proud family members, well-wishers, and local members of Parliament, before bending his head forward to expose the back of his neck for his grandson’s cut.

Of course not all Baby-Boomers may wish to, or be permitted to, make this noble sacrifice. The supporting legislation can be defined to create a new section in the public service to continually evaluate the status of Baby-Boomers who attempt to avoid their responsibilities. Baby-Boomers will be required to complete a quarterly Baby-Boomer Activity Statement (BBAS), which will of course include a processing fee. Every financial quarter of the year these BBAS Statements will be used to determine each Baby-Boomer’s eligibility for the scheme and also become a source of government revenue. Eventually all Baby-Boomers will either be unable to pay the processing fee— enabling their compulsory participation—or they will become eligible through normal age and outcome based evaluation criteria.

Please be assured of my sadness and anger when our society’s younger members take their own lives. I for one can do without the overt and embarrassing demonstrations of sorrow we often witness following such events. A noble illustration of courage from one’s elders can only dissuade this avoidable loss of government revenue from a lifetime of paying income tax.

Although the advantages of my proposal are obvious, I will articulate some of them for you now:

Firstly, our health system is in crisis. Hospital waiting lists continue to grow beyond the rate we can import underqualified medical practitioners. Let us, with a decisive cut, save the Baby-Boomers—who already make up more than 62% of these waiting lists—from their obvious pain and suffering.

Secondly, the vast amounts of anonymous wealth at the disposal of our country’s business sector must be protected. This proposal includes the automatic transfer of all superannuation funds from successful participants to the funds of their children, thereby circumventing potential cash flow effects on businesses and the moralistic interference of private shareholders (a processing fee for the transfer will of course be required to cover the administrative costs).

My third point relates to the elderly widows who may lack the courage to participate alongside their partners. They can be encouraged to spend their last years more productively, providing low-cost childcare, to offset the escalation in expenses for our community’s breeders. This is surely a more beneficial and agreeable vocation than doting on grumpy-old-men, or distributing naphthalene about their home.

Fourthly, let us consider our own political careers. The voting public are fickle and occasionally opt to replace one government with another—even if surprisingly less remarkable. My therapist, a Baby-Boomer herself, joins me today in the gallery. She suggests the unsettling members of the Baby-Boomer generation, who waste so much of the little time we expend on our electorates, are the ones most likely to actively partake in this scheme. A deep resolve and a commitment to country and family are the attributes we can encourage for participants. With this kind eradicated our government will be freer to make long-term plans without fear of electoral backlash.

To my final point, it relates to the selfish claim under the Native Title Act of 1994. The Wik is burning unchecked, my fellow members. Let us take this opportunity to fortify our national wealth, lest our taciturn landlords come knocking and the Baby-Boomers are the only ones with the cash to pay their debts.

I can assert to you, with confidence, that there is no chance that you will find a single economic flaw in my proposal. For the public service’s ‘wheels and cogs’ have computed it meets their stringent economic ratification guidelines.

I am proud to be the new federal member for Lilliput, and prouder still of my government’s conviction to place the economic welfare of our nation above all other concerns. Let us enact this noble proposal with utmost speed. A famous catch phrase of the Baby-Boomer generation is:

“I hope I die before I get old”.

Well… I for one will not allow ill-founded sentiments and an outdated moralistic view of suicide stand in their way.

Lying about the truth

Humans lie. We do it all the time. Doing one thing when instinct tells you to do another is the same as lying. This is what differentiates us from simpler life forms, which mostly decide their actions with instinct alone—driven by the underlying requirement for the survival of the species. They kill to eat, to live and to procreate. They procreate when ever and where ever they can. In contrast (most) humans do not have sex with any willing and attractive person they see, even though there is a strong desire in us to do so. This too is a lie—a denial of the truth.

Humans use other factors to decide on their actions. Some humans choose to kill other humans, even though they must know it is wrong. Do not be too hasty to deride this ability to ignore a call to action from our instinct, as it is the same ability we use to act in an altruistic manner. Sometimes we act against our species’ better judgement, sacrificing the many for the few…or even the one (and sometimes an insignificant one)—with potential alone to achieve for our species.

So the same behavioural traits and thought processes that raise us above less sentient creatures, the ones that make us in to “Gandhi”s or “Mother Teresa”s, are the same ones that can drag us down an make us in to “Hitler”s and “Pol Pot”s.

It seems, at this stage in our evolution or enlightenment, we cannot have one without the other.

Augie March put their unique slant on using voice in song lyrics

I’ve never come across such a perfect use of “voice” in music lyrics as on Augie March’s latest album Watch me disappear. I find it especially inspiring for my own writing. I can’t get the voice from track seven, The Slant, out of my head. Musically the song has a light and airy sound but the story is deep and dark. It is sung from the point of view of an early Australian convict on the Island of Tasmania. In his last moments of life, “strung up” and ”A’resting in the rope” he reflects on his life and the purpose and future of ours and his new country’s.

The song ends:

But did they pave the streets of Hobart town?

Lop the old wood forests down?

For the press of King and Crown.

For Honey…? Milk and honey…?

M y a r s e.

It works on so many levels for me and the ending voice still haunts me. It is so angry, disappointed, and resolved to its fate…yet still defiant—offering a final verbal moon at the world.

For more information on the band Augie March see  www.augiemarch.com.au