Monday, November 30, 2009

Stars Up Redwood: The Night is Light, Human Move from Troglodytes to Paniscus, Compelling {Social?} Index Investing Video

The night is light & not too cold. Clear tomorrow. Indian valley & the redwoods are magnificently, quietly there. Look around. Enjoy :)


*

... would like to move from troglodytes (humans as common chimps - war, aggression, violence) to paniscus (humans as bonobo chimps - peaceable, egalitarian, matriarchal and very sexual -- as narratives) of the mind vis-a-vis worlduniversity.wikia.com.


**

How can we develop PRACTICES, as fundamental as being a Friend, that respect & honor digital privacy & freedom from interference, for related benefits. There is great good in respecting digital privacy, and privacy, in general. Why don't the 'state,' individuals and others see that, in addition to it being in the spirit of U.S. law, which is another 'good' worth respecting, in many cases (e.g. except for war tax resistance, etc.)? Humans' common chimp behavior (troglodytes) gets me down. I'd like to create contexts and language for extraordinarily great behavior, while not forgetting human tendencies to 'troglodytism' (much human history?).

How would you, who have not respected others' privacy (legally or not), or interfered with others (whether through harming, stealing, etc.) change your behavior, and invite others to change their behavior, simply because it makes sense, and is good for the other person and for you (e.g. non-punitively)? I'd like my privacy and rights, please, and restitution from past consequences of the loss thereof. Thank you.

Language, education, culture and material resources ... seem to be part of the answer, when conscience fails ....


***

(To anyone among my FB friends who might know who took my computer and backpack:)

May I please have back my knapsack with computer, soon, which was stolen on June 23 in SF - esp. the manuscripts - and the replacement costs?

****

appreciates the yamas (yoga) - nonharming, truthfulness, restraint of sexuality, nonstealing, and restraint of greed. They can protect from a lot.


*****

Here's a compelling argument for index investing, - and socially conscious? - forbes.com/2009/01/09/intelligentinvestingbogle.html . See Vanguard's Jack Bogle's interview with Steve Forbes here, too: scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2008/12/american-dipper-nontheist-friends.html, as well as an argument, by extension, for socially responsible index investing. And check out Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds in your local library.

******

... a flourishing worlduniversity.wikia.com? a 'thing thinging' & How? And why don't people gravitate to loving bliss elicitation? More research IS needed.


*******

... wants to make possible ongoing innovation of ideas for millennia with worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Loving_Bliss_%28eliciting_this_neurophysiology%29 esp. re: e.g. loving bliss neurophysiology



*********

I blog about bliss fairly frequently : http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/ - click on the 'loving bliss' category. Here's are exploratory Guidelines for Eliciting Loving Bliss vis-a-vis Practicing a Musical Instrument {scottmacleod.com/GuidelinesPracticingLovingBlissvavMusicalInstrument.htm}

With friendly greetings, Scott


*

Game changer? An open, free World University & School wiki where we can all teach and learn? Let's make it so at worlduniversity.wikia.com. I hope World University & School will expand and extend, as well as innovate.



*

Beethoven's music is incredible ... listen closely ... :) lean back ... and let the music pour down your inner back bodymind like honey ... cascades of upwelling music ... from the 5th and the 8th symphonies ... to: just put on the 9th - here we go - bliss tripping ahead :) ...











(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/stars-up-night-is-light-human-move-from.html - November 30, 2009)

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Redwoods Up: Co-Authoring World Univ & Sch, Getting into WUaS, Clerestory

... would like to co-author worlduniversity.wikia.com with YOU.

ADD something - TEACH what you like.

It's open, and it's helpful. Let's share ideas ...

here & now ...

Teach & Learn ...


Gain fluency with WUaS and with a subject you're fascinated by, through engaging the subject fully.

worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Subjects

Get into it ...

Get into World University ...


*

Clerestory: cloud hovered yesterday in Indian valley. Today is clear - and so cool among the redwoods. Look up and enjoy :)















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/redwoods-up-co-authoring-world-univ-sch.html - November 29, 2009)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Medusa Jellyfish: Light at Harbin, Fluency in Language, Art and esp. Music is Fun, Beethoven or Mozart as 'Technologies' for LEARNING Loving Bliss?

On Wednesday, I stepped out from the Fern building at Harbin Hot Springs, and the light on the trees over the sun deck was stunning, ~ glorious.

Then, in the hot pool, the colored glass in the clerestory shown amazingly on this week's very colorful flowers, in the woman's bust above the whale's spout.


*

What happened to all the art in the streets e.g. in Berkeley, in the 1960s & 70s?

Art teaches useful skills, - it also needs markets to thrive.


Teach and learn art at World University and School...


**

... fluency in language, art and esp. music is fun, and comes through practice, and generating a milieu for its cultivation.


***

... wonders in what ways listening to e.g. Beethoven or Mozart can be a 'technologies' for LEARNING loving bliss. Might yoga poses have related effects as kinds of 'technologies' which affect bodyminds health-wise. And in conjunction with 'loving bliss?'


I also wonder in what ways listening to, for example, Beethoven or Mozart can be a 'program' for learning loving bliss or beauty. How can this change mind? Do the memories of great symphonies, that bring you great pleasure, do so repeatedly?


****

Besides all the remarkable, free, open content at World Univ & Sch, where YOU can teach, I wonder how further to generate GREAT courses and creativity. Teach about this to your web cam and post it to worlduniversity.wikia.com


*****

How to cultivate specific qualities of focus vis-a-vis loving bliss & worlduniversity.wikia.com also ... neurophysiology-wise ... with agency? I posit that humans have agency. For example we can choose what symbols to engage, e.g. books to read, and blogs to write. Start a blog here about loving bliss - http://blogger.com.

I think we can cultivate qualities of loving bliss, and through practices ... think I'll work on my Harbin ethnography ...


******

Mountains in the distance - dark tonight - the air is changed by the rain in Canyon - & the world smells good and fertile




















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/medusa-jellyfish-light-at-harbin.html - November 28, 2009)

Friday, November 27, 2009

cloud hovers in indian valley


cow owl evening concert


cloud hovers
in Indian valley,
twilight above

cow moos,
then two
then calls
an owl

night is coming ~
the air
smells fertile

heading for dinner ~
cow owl
evening concert
















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/cloud-hovers-in-indian-valley.html - November 27, 2009)

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Cloud Circulation: The Weather is Warm on Thanksgiving, relaxationresponse.org/steps, Redwoods

The weather is warm on Thanksgiving, and people are gathering with their families - relaxationresponse.org/steps - here near the redwoods.





































(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/cloud-circulation-weather-is-warm-on.html - November 26, 2009)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Alaskan Rainbows: Loving Bliss Neurophysiology - Easily, Naturally & Creatively?, S.F. Bay Area, Rainbow Movement

... curious how to richly elicit loving bliss neurophysiology - easily, naturally & creatively - in the milieu of the S.F Bay Area vis-a-vis Harbin Hot Springs ...


*

The Rainbow movement {Rainbow Gathering, Rainbow Grocery: A Worker Owned Cooperative in San Francisco ... } is beautiful ...

















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/alaskan-rainbows-loving-bliss.html - November 25, 2009)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Ridge Lines: Video Cameras in 25-ish-plus Great Universities, Healthful Practices, When the Contact Improv Jams are Cancelled

... would like to put video cameras in 25-ish-plus great universities' classes for worlduniversity.wikia.com, and not just in Stanford's, for example for this WUaS wiki


*

One ridge line, two ridge lines, third ripple mountains under cumulus, in the distance. Middle ridge line has rich, green growth on it


**

sings the benefits of eliciting the relaxationresponse.org/steps & of flax seed oil (for omega fatty acids) & a good, low-fat diet, exercise & sleep


***

Two birds, in the light, soar over the little ridge between - they found the wind current's updraft. The redwood ridge is illuminated.


****

The morning is cool, and illuminated tree tops peak over my window sill lightening the day - o, this sun is beautiful ...


*****

When the contact improv jams are cancelled, to yoga asana & dancing (at home) for the neurophysiological health benefits & changes (yamas)





















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/ridge-lines-video-cameras-in-25-ish.html - November 24, 2009)

Monday, November 23, 2009

Chestnut-capped Blackbird: How to Make LEARNING Really Enjoyable with So Much Information? Excitement in Talking, World Univ & Sch Opportunities

How to make LEARNING really enjoyable with so much accessible information, throughout life, for many?


What is learning in the human context?

In the aggregate, people learn how to read, write and in different subject matters, so learning involves the varied use of symbols neurophysiologically.

In the U.S. there's a pragmatic aspect to education, and a very sophisticated and imaginative approach to knowledge and learning, especially in great universities. The computer revolution, for example, is remarkable.



How can people (culturally) create excitement about ideas, as there was not only in Silicon Valley, when people were developing information technologies in the 1950s and '60s.


People were excited to talk with each other about innovation! Let's keep innovating.



Get excited about talking about and listening to fascinating ideas.

So consider engaging World University and School as an opportunity :)

worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses


~


Some recent postings in twitter and facebook:

*

Teach to your web camera about what people can do about Global Warming or an 'Ocean & Climate Management Plan' worlduniversity.wikia.com/Subjects

worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Ocean_%26_Climate_Management_Plan


**

World University & School worlduniversity.wikia.com is a new (vegetarian) table

Come have a seat - this potluck is great - like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware


**

Plant a seed in the garden of WorldUniversity.wikia.com - add a great link e.g. librivox.org - which will grow

or

teach 4 minutes to your web camera


And here's a related link
http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/home


***

Besides all the remarkable, free, open content at World University & School, where YOU can teach, I wonder how further to generate GREAT courses and creativity


****

Bodyminds as musical instruments metaphor & loving bliss neurophysiology as music. How would this work? Zil-lions of motifs & rifs. Musicians?

Let's talk about this :)



*****


I'm curious how to richly elicit loving bliss neurophysiology - easily, naturally & creatively - in the milieu of the S.F Bay Area vis-a-vis Harbin Hot Springs.


******

Invitation to nonhuman primates to add links or teach at worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Interpecies_Communication - Kanzi? Koko? Sue Savage-Rumbaugh :)


I think we might be able to learn a lot from other primates, symbolically ...



*******

Agelaius ruficapillus (Vieillot, 1819)

4.bp.blogspot.com/_EUq-KmVMUZo/SMraI0hwacI/AAAAAAAAA0g/9cxd_WgCsNs/s400/Agelaius+ruficapillus,+por+Arthur+Grosset.jpg

farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2618548669_32f3c8340a.jpg


Chestnut-capped Blackbird



{Shiny cowbirds use learned song, I think, to select mates. Do chestnut-capped blackbirds, as well?}












(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/chestnut-capped-blackbird-how-to-make.html - November 23, 2009)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Frozen Blueberry Flowers: Communicative Action Theory, LibriVox.Org, OLPC Mission, Somethings Delicious

Communicative Action Theory: This is what makes internet multimedia unique - hypermedia, integration of media elements, immersion (e.g. with digital hoods and gloves), interactivity, and new forms of narrativity (Packer and Jordan)


New opportunities to create with these here: - worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University


*

added "Biochemistry of 'Now" as a 'subject' - worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Biochemistry_of_%27Now%27 to World University


**

Added 'VisualComplexity.com' - VisualComplexity.com

'OpenLearn' (from Open University UK - openlearn.open.ac.uk) and

'LibriVox: Acoustical Liberation of Books in the Public Domain' (librivox.org) to

to worlduniversity.wikia.com/


***

added iSSRN for iPhone access to SSRN - Social Science Research Network - to worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Educational_Software


****

Great exhibit on WW I in Second Life - slurl.com/secondlife/Frideswide/219/199/647 with video & audio and virtual perspectives, - get an avatar and visit. It's cool.


*****

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Mission: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child#Mission

About 1 billion kids.

Please invite: worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Languages

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child


******

I hope World University & School will be the software 'circulatory' system vis-a-vis One Laptop per Child's mission:

To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.
—OLPC Mission Statement


It's an education project, not a laptop project.
—Nicholas Negroponte

worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Hardware_Resource_Possibilities



*********

added LibriVox: Acoustical Liberation of Books in the Public Domain http://librivox.org to worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Library_Resources

worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Library_Resources#Academic_Archive_or_Library


**********

It's Darwin's "Origin of the Species" 150th birthday - literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-origin-of-species/chapter-03.html

librivox.org/the-origin-of-species-by-charles-darwin/



************

Here's something delicious: thawed TJ frozen, sweetened cherries, nonfat yogurt, a little cardamom (just a little:), and the music 'Psychograss: Live Minds' .... soon to bed ... MMmmm ...


*************


the night is cool, almost cold, and a crescent moon hangs over the redwood ridge, hovering in its beauty ...

















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/frozen-blueberry-flowers-communicative.html - November 22, 2009)

California Oaks: Come to the Oakland Courthouse on Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 to Support Berkeley Protesters.

Come to the Oakland courthouse on Monday afternoon to show support of three of the Wheeler occupiers who have been bogusly charged with "Felony Burglary." What did they burglarize? Nothing. Monday November 23, 2009 12 pm rally on Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley 1:30 pm gathering at the Oakland Courthouse 661 Washington Ave (near 12th st. BART), Oakland, Room: 112, Time: 2pm

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Great Horned Owl Chicks: What's the Neurophysiology of 'Now'?, Berkeley Student Fee-Rise Protest, Zil-lions of motifs & rifs for Loving Bliss

What's the neurophysiology of 'now,' that quality of experience in life which some research (e.g. Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" and traditions (e.g. Hinduism, New Age) point to as optimal or heightened, - what's its biochemistry?

And at World University & School:


worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Biochemistry_of_%27Now%27


*

Tofu and vegetables! And there's something about the jostle-dance in the too-crowded Saturday afternoon Berkeley Bowl {almost co-op} Grocery Store which is cooperatively beautiful :)

... especially among the amazingly varied, richly hued fruits and vegetables ...


**

There's a student protest at Berkeley yesterday against a 22% tuition increase.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/20/BA611ANSAB.DTL

And here's a related youtube.com video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7MQfWABkDw

And Judith Butler on the protests:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/sep/30/california-university-berkeley-budget-protest


Police were in riot gear. Students were protesting for a just cause.

Police had completely surrounded the Bancroft library and Wheeler Hall, which building students had occupied.

Students were angry and chanting.

What else can students do except protest, when the historic University of California at Berkeley propounds the idea of free education, and the Regents keep raising fees, - for more than a century now?

(web site)

I went to this protest with a student friend from China and a Cal graduate student.


We talked about interpreting this demonstration as a touristic event. We also took photos of each other with police in riot gear, with very serious faces behind us. And one of us took a photo of another of us taking a photo of the third person in our party with a backdrop of dour-faced riot police (with weapons, I think).



As we were walking toward the protest, I wondered out loud (to my friends) who in the Alameda County financial office, was counting (accounting for) the costs of this event to the taxpayer and the university, and whether media saw this as performative event, even - something symbolic or emblematic of Berkeley, which they could capitalize on through advertising. Here the police and students become actors in, and products of, capitalism. They also become an emblem or symbol understood around the world. {I can imagine media interests thinking the Scandanavian countries need a good Berkeley protest for these particular Scandanavian politicians}. They were also performing protest.

What's Berkeley without a good student protest?

And these Berkeley protest memes ('replicating cultural units') come through time with remarkable authenticity.





Here's what I wrote to my Chinese friend:


Nice to go to the Berkeley protest with you and Sandy. It's an old (45+ years) Berkeley pattern ... As I think about it, these protests in Berkeley over the years against the UC Regents very much echo what that Chinese man did in standing down those Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square about 15 years ago (1989 actually). Talk to you later.

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989)

I observed to my friend that there's a kind of civil contract between Berkeley police and UC Berkeley students, for example, which feels very different to me than in China, which I've visited for 5 days only (in 1999). Violence against student protesters is relatively unlikely these days in California.


~

I also saw the irony and the significance of my developing the free, open World University & School which may make great educational opportunities, including Berkeley, free to students around the world.

The rising costs of one of the greatest public universities in the world, in contrast to its original mandate and charter is fascinating to me.

There's a lot of Berkley nostalgia for the 1960s these days, I think, as well.


****

Exploring in an ongoing way ...

bodyminds as musical instruments' metaphor & loving bliss neurophysiology as music. How would this work? Zil-lions of motifs & rifs. Players?


Contact Improv brings everything together neurophysiologically in great ways ... the movement, the teach, the improvisation are wonderful ...



To get to bliss ... ? Harbin pools ? MMmmmm .... :)








(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/great-horned-owl-chicks-whats.html - November 21, 2009)

Friday, November 20, 2009

Native Beech Morning: OLPC Community Summit, World Univ & Sch Hardware, Posts to Social Networks

attending the open One Laptop per Child Community Summit San Francisco tomorrow starting at 9 am - http://tinyurl.com/y95uja2 vis-a-vis World University


*

You might enjoy World University & School. There's even a hardware section, for free or very low cost technologies, particularly for OLPC countries: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Hardware_Resource_Possibilities and so much more at this open, free, Teaching and Learning wiki, - like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware.


**

shop coop - use cloth bags, and recycle & reuse - BAN STYROFOAM {thanks to a canvasser in Elmwood} and lessen the waste stream personally into our oceans - a huge problem for decades


***

The winter rains have begun, - there's a lull in the falling water, I'm heading for the wine, & then to Berkeley :)


****

'edit this page' Wikipedia's openness protocols for worlduniversity.wikia.com - the idea of the encyclopedia, neutral pt of view, talk page


*****

Berkeley cafe, friend pulls up, poetry ahead ... :)


******

4 copies of 'Rise Up Singing,' four voices, and some good, sonorous walking bass lines - and a lot of music, daily Mmm - sounds like a wild, trip - set of lifelong 'practices' ...


*******

Bodyminds as musical instruments' metaphor & loving bliss neurophysiology as music. How would this work? Zil-llions of motifs & rifs ... Players?


********

developing 'edit this page' Wikipedia's openness protocols for worlduniversity.wikia.com - the idea of the encyclopedia, neutral pt of view, ... 'talk' page, 'history' page (all changes are saved), adding anonymously or with a pseudonym, etc., locking of some controversial pages (until they 'cool' down, neurophysiologically?) ...


*********

: Worlduniversity.wikia.com: MIT 2001, Berkeley abt 100, Yale abt 20, Stanford abt 10 plus youtube - Free, Open, Online COURSES -

Harvard 1 FREE Ph.D. {a Doctor of Education} - Thank you


**********

added the FREE 'Library of Economics and Liberty' to World University wiki - worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Library_Resources#Encyclopedias


***********

Worlduniversity.wikia.com will age well.There's a lot here already. Check out FREE 'Educational Soft,' & 'Courses' > youtube.com/edu


************

distant mountains - so clear today - the air is fresh in Canyon


*************

wants to make it easy, educational & fun to go from e.g. worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses into a virtual world (e.g. SL) Goethe Institute?

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses#Language_Learning

How might we do this with musical or contact improvisation, for example, or any subject? Teach, Learn or Add at World University & School ... a wiki, like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware ...


***************

listening to UC Berkeley's Professor Charles Faulhaber (as historian) on History of Early California - inspiring - will add ref to worlduniversity.wikia.com


****************


Oregon: I am Pharmaceutikles, God of prescription meds!


Scott: Hail, Pharmaceutikles ... I'm heading to Delphi for the waters soon. What prophecies seek you?


Oregon: Lo, merry wanderer- seek for me the mysteries of the methyl and the ethyl groups!


Scott: Know ethyl, - methyl is a mystery, at {D}elphi group Merrily, wanderer.


***********


Thanks for adding these 15 civil engineering video lectures: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Civil_Engineering How to generate fruitful conversations with World Univ & Sch ? Might one complement these videos with ones from MIT OCW which address similar issues from different perspectives so that everyone benefits ...and learns? Which course material? How might India get clean water country-wide? Sounds like a project for civil engineers :) WUaS would love it if you'd keep an eye on the 'Civil Engineering' subject, and occasionally you links. This might help a lot of people, and we'll all learn more about civil engineering :) ... What relevant, complementary material is there at MIT or CalTech, for example? Thank you :)


And then digg, delicious and google for relevance? What would you suggest?

And how could people with video-capable hand held computers benefit and engage the knowledge the first video imparts ? :)

Might people with video-capable hand held computers teach to their mobile devices to add to converse with the above video? I think so ...

























(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/native-beech-morning-olpc-community.html - November 20, 2009)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Lights from the Redwood Sleeping Deck Murmur with Warmth



Illuminated Harbin


The lights from the
redwood sleeping deck
murmur warmth
in the November eve,
in the dark and rain.

More than a palette,
more than a trip,
this world is alive
with evensong color.

The evening is cool,
and, present in this beauty,
the warm pools call.






















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/lights-from-redwood-sleeping-deck.html - November 19, 2009)

Shark Ponds: Watsu for Sharks, Harbin-wiki-virtual-world-graphy, Harbin Residents



Here's Harbin-from-the-inside - "Watsu for Sharks, Yavelow."

I see this as a great example for Harbin-wiki-virtual-world-graphy:


... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8My5nzbw-9Y ... (video no longer works)


... head's in the way, philosophically, I think :)


Yavelow is a skillful Watsu {water shiatsu} practitioner (he's also self-published a Watsu book), and is a body worker, and long term resident, - and is very funny.


Mostly Harbin residents were in the audience, and this (such gatherings are monthly events) was for residents; Yavelow mentions that Ishvara, Harbin's founder in 1972, is in the audience. I found this on Facebook, which a Harbin resident friend had posted, for his Harbin friends.



* *

Two other Watsu videos -

Watsu ~


https://youtu.be/cKuLSTL3qeE

*

Watsu and Wassertanzen (part 1)


https://youtu.be/GXxWo5_TM1E





















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/shark-ponds-watsu-for-sharks-harbin.html - November 19, 2009)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Fires in California: Big Map of the State, Go Where you Like! Explore ... So much Beauty

Big map of California ... Go where you like! Explore ... so much beauty, so many species :)


https://web.archive.org/web/20100316091302/https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=20093

(was: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=20093 )







Fascinating history ...

1960s and early 70s {counterculture} has roots here ...













(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/fires-in-california-big-map-of.html - November 18, 2009)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Deep Canyon: into the pools, into the vision vessel, releasing



into the pools

into the vision vessel at Harbin,

in the dark and the rain



... releasing and the relaxation response :) MMMMmmmm







which isn't necessarily the neurophysiology of loving bliss ... and freedom ...


but let's explore ....












(title picture was:
http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/canyon5.jpg)

(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/deep-canyon-into-pools-into-vision.html - November 17, 2009)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Mt. Baker's Wells Creek: Video Footage of Hippie Antics? Did the SF Mime Troop Ever Play Against ...?, Forests as the World

Scott would love to see video footage of hippie antics at Cal Berkeley football games, etc. in the 1960s and 70s ... Know of any? Let me know :) URLs? Web site addresses? ... I'd also like to see a lot of related video footage from the 1960s and 70s.



* :)) ...

Did the SF Mime Troop ever play against Cal's Bears in 'The Game of Go' ? Go Bears! ... & invitation to Teach SF Mime at world university ...


hut, hut, hut, hiking - ok here are the rules - no football players on the game board, and the mime troop is out in left field - way out - now, berkeley will send a black tile around the perimeter of the board in an infinite regression - program that, Troy (the Q.B.). Now, Alfonso, no capitalist satire, this time ... yes, to musical innovation


**

Scott wonders whether the word for world is still forests?



***

... seeking social science/internet ethnography papers about robotics, virtual world avatars and bots for webnographers.org - invitation to add

















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/mt-bakers-wells-creek-video-footage-of.html - November 16, 2009)

Malawian Hippos: Vision Informing World Univ & Sch, FREE Harvard Doctor of Education Degree NOW at WUaS, Adding ALL Musical Instruments

Here's some of the vision informing WorldUniversity.wikia.com is here - click on 'global university' label at scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/global%20university & Add your thoughts here or there :)


And this vision is ongoingly instantiated here: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University


*

World University & School vision partly here: http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/global%20university - And/or start a blog yourself about World University & School at http://blogger.com :)


**

California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park is free this Wednesday (3rd Wednesdays of the month).


***

Credit and degree-granting in familiar & unique ways in some years - see FREE Harvard Doctor of Education degree NOW (apply before the end of the year) at WUaS for 25 at http://WorldUniversity.wikia.com">WorldUniversity.wikia.com



http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses#Free_Degree_Programs


****

added "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization" PBS series: to worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Ancient_Greece & BBC Drama series are already there

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Ancient_Greece


*****

Here's Bill Gates' TED Talk on philanthropy - ted.com/talks/view/id/451 - and, especially, education.


******

worlduniversity.wikia.com is gonna be messy ~ in the beginning, & should clean up real preetty, while remaining messy {innovating} hopefully ...

especially when and if we add all the musical instruments in the world - Add one ... :)


*******

World University wants to extrapolate from Wikipedia's openness protocols for worlduniversity.wikia.com - the idea of the encyclopedia, neutral pt of view, ...


talk page to work out disagreements, where every change is saved, wiki openness, and then ongoing innovation


********


worlduniversity.wikia.com is for you to teach and learn creatively, academically, too - it's like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware - Teach, Learn, Add












[These posts are from Twitter and Facebook again].


(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/malawian-hippos-vision-informing-world.html - November 15, 2009)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Bonobo in Water: Why Have Americans Spent So Much on War Historically, and with No Return?, Learn from Millions of Years-old Bonobo?, "The little book of Bonobo for People: Insights into Bonobo Philosophy" ?



Why have Americans been willing to spend so much of their tax dollars (around 50%) historically on war-related efforts, when it seems to me to amount to a complete loss ... money flowing out of the country, - a total sink. Why have the public and media been so unsuccessful at transforming this? What's a history of why Americans have been willing to spend irrationally on wars far away?

This may have changed with the American War in Vietnam, when the American public's distaste for seeing body bags on TV gave rise to significantly less mortality in wars since then. But history can often repeat itself, and war has much precedent.


*

What could Kanzi, the Bonobo, teach us (humans) about Bonobo ways of thinking? I wonder if Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a Bonobo researcher who works with Kanzi, might write at some point something like "The little book of Bonobo for People: Insights into Bonobo Philosophy," or help Kanzi to write it, through logo-graph quotes.




**

Could humans learn from another primate species about peaceableness? Bonobo seem to harm very little ... and this has taken shape over millions of years.




















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/bonobo-in-water-why-have-americans.html - November 15, 2009)

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Owl Monkey Family: Move from Pan troglodytes' Human Behavior to Pan paniscus?, Other Primates and Bonobo, Cultures of Loving Bliss?

How to move from Pan troglodytes' (common chimp) human behavior to Pan paniscus' (Bonobo) human behavior (peaceable, egalitarian, matriarchal and very sexual), and/or orangutan behavior (solitary and smart, and peaceful) human behavior, - and with the comforts of modernity? (These interpretations of these higher primates' behaviors are simply my readings of relatively current primatalogical data and literature, as narratives). Human history suggests to me that this may be difficult, or might happen only in highly distributed ways vis-a-vis geographical territories. Yet cultures emerge all the time in new ways that shape and reformulate what I see as Pan troglodytes' (common chimp) human behavior (e.g. violence, aggression, and war, as well as peaceableness). I see examples of this, for example, in the 1960s and 1970s in Western countries (e.g. in counterculture), in the Society of Friends (Quakers), as well as in the south of India (all, but e.g. Kerala - in my experience; I don't know the history of the south of India very well). Identity conflict, in particular, seems to have deep roots among humans. Does this most closely reflect common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) behavior?

Yet the positive effects of music and ecstasy (MDMA), for example, as well as language, suggest to me, too, that there are interventions that are transformative to people (bodyminds), in addition to culture, e.g. the cultures above, and education.

Social psychology (e.g. Zimbardo 1972 prisoner and guard experiment) shows, too, that social determinants have far-reaching effects on behavior.


*

It seems like learning from the past (history), as well as creating possible choices (e.g. cultures and/or social psychology) to transform what for me seems like Pan trogolodytes' (common chimp) behaviors are good ideas. How to do this? There are so many ways, but, for example, I see supporting, and innovating with, the Society of Friends (Quakers), or developing World University and School as furthering this, potentially remarkably, as well as connecting / networking with people.

Universities and reasoning, too, seem, in general, to mitigate common chimp-like (Pan troglodytes) behavior.


**

How might people create multiple, distributed cultures for eliciting the neurophysiology of loving bliss {cultures that actually make loving bliss happen}? How might people or individuals create this so that it's both normative (doesn't feel weird, - in the context of, for example, the progressive post-1960s San Francisco Bay Area in 2009) and freeing? In my experience, for example, India and Hinduism create kinds of 'freedom' cultures, with techniques that lead to bliss - spiritual practices ~ most successfully. But in traditions of individualism (which I see in the U.S.), in my experience, it's great if people can create and find this neurophsyiology independently, and on their own.

Here are some possible approaches for individuals to explore eliciting loving bliss: scottmacleod.com/LovingBlissPractices.htm


What would you add to these, and/or how far do you go?


Let's let each other know :)




*

Relaxation response can go very deep ...

















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/owl-monkey-family-move-from-pan.html - November 14, 2009)

Friday, November 13, 2009

Elephants: Loving Bliss as Lifestyle and Practice, Bonobo, World University and School Places?

How to ease into loving bliss, as lifestyle and practice, when and as one wants these neurophysiological qualities?


After all these millions of years, why isn't this yet possible, I wonder? All of the other 376 higher primate species, or so, live naturally, although they probably don't live with the neurophysiology of loving bliss, when and as they want it. Bonobos seem to have some aspects of this (besides being very sexual, they seem to be very peaceful and egalitarian, the latter two possibly being bases for loving bliss), as I interpret the data.


Creating places and cultures for this to occur, with an historical rootedness, and great ethos, such as that of the Society of Friends (Quakers), would be fascinating, especially since we don't yet know how readily to elicit loving bliss, when and as we want it, especially in qualitatively rich ways, as if drawing a bow across a cello, or by ingesting 1000 mg of flax seed oil, 3-4 times per day, with food, (for omega fatty acids) which have harmonizing and brightening qualities, (as well as many other clinically proven, health benefits) in my experience.



Harbin Hot Springs, Bonobo, and remarkable care-giving {in a culture of non-harming}?

Yes, but easier said than done :)


Teach this at World University & School? Yes, in part ...




Youth hostel-like {in association with Quakers}, clothing-optional, hot spring retreat centers for Watsu {water shiatsu}, 1-3 hours near beautiful, natural areas, outside every city in the world, first in 3000-8000 language areas? :) Yes ...

















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/elephants-loving-bliss-as-lifestyle-and.html - November 13, 2009)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Marine Biological Diversity: Interspecies Communication, Philosophy/Religion, Primate Narratives

Hey Joan and Friends,

Yes, I'd like to facilitate the development of more interspecies' communication and its study using information technology, and perhaps begin to explore abstract concepts like 'nontheism' and 'friendliness,' etc. Using a wiki (editable web pages) seems like a fascinating and practical approach for doing this.

Here's a slightly clearer formulation of my Philosophy / Religion distinction (as forms of belief) than below: http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/10/bonobo-together-nontheist-friends.html. The first group you, Joan, refer to - analytical philosophers, e.g. Willard van Orman Quine ("The Web of Belief"), Richard Rorty and his neo-pragmatism, and Richard Dawkins, for example, are all unambiguously nontheistic, and nonreligious. It's part of their ways of thinking and cultures (i.e. philosophy and evolutionary biology). The latter two, William James and Huston Smith, assume aspects of theism and religion in their analyses; Harvard's William James explains belief, and Smith explains religion. Most major religions I know of circle around theistic/deistic concepts, even Buddhism, in practice, I find. And Taoist temple practices in China, for example, theify or deify seminal Taoists, I think. {Concerning Taoist thinking, I find Laozi and Zhuangzi's writings alone edifying}.

Primatology potentially offers whole new kinds of narratives vis-a-vis religion and human experience, and there are a number of higher primates who use language. Here's a later version of Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's TED Talk video (ted.com/talks/susan_savage_rumbaugh_on_apes_that_write.html), where not only do Bonobo write, but they also attempt music making, through imitation. Religious 'memes' - Dawkins' 1976 term for replicating cultural units (e.g. words, but he uses the example of a novel and a summer dress) - are very 'contagious,' but I don't think other higher primates besides humans have caught one of the 8-10 major religions' (Smith) bugs, in my reading of primatology. And primates are old and stable species!, with relatively little culture; text-based religion seems pretty young to me, vis-a-vis genes and species, as well as vis-a-vis other primates (although Scott Atran and other cognitive anthropologists / evolutionary biologists, which we've mentioned in this email list, begin to explicate religion from an evolutionary perspective). What can nontheist friends learn from this?

The sentence you ask about reads as it was written: "I can think of few examples of what you call 'emergence' or explicit 'nontheistic friendliness' in my readings of the primatological literature, although language-learning by primates (e.g. sign language and logographs) may be just this, in its own [Promethean] way," - except that I've changed the last word from Protean to Promethean, - who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals, in the Greek myth / narrative.

I think nontheist Friends are keeping the hearth warm, and the fires burning, vis-a-vis religion (connectedness and community?), Quakers and reason.

Thanks for your asking for clarification.

With friendly greetings,
Scott

http://scottmacleod.com






Scott,

I think I am missing a lot of what you are trying to say here. Are you suggesting that it would be possible to develop a sort of interspecies' esperanto with which to hold a typewritten conversation about ultimacy with other primates?

I'm also missing the connection between the speculations of primatologists and the list of authors describing non-theistic beliefs. I'm surprised to see Huston Smith on the list, but I'm sure it has been more than a decade since the last time I read his "World Religions." I don't recall anything on non-theism other than the sections on Buddhism and Taoism.

In the next sentence do you mean to begin "I can think of a few examples" or "I can think of very few examples?"

Joan



--- On Fri, 10/30/09, Scott MacLeod wrote:


From: Scott MacLeod

Subject: [NTF-talk] Re: Our Inner Ape.
To: nontheist-friends@
Date: Friday, October 30, 2009, 7:30 PM
- Hide quoted text -


Joan and Nontheistic Friends,

I wonder if as-of-yet unexplored ethno-wiki-virtual-world-graphy
as method - http://www.webnographers.org/index.php?title=Ethno-wiki-virtual-world-graphy & http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/search/label/ethno-wiki-virtual-world-graphy
- could be the basis of a comparative, developing conversation between homo sapiens and other language-using higher primates, about such questions. I wonder, too, what primate researchers Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Frans de Waal and Jane Goodall and the myriad of primatological researchers at universities around the world, for example, would say about these questions of connectedness. Among humans there is a very wide variety of nontheistic beliefs (from rigorous, analytic philosophy, Richard Rortyian philosophy, to William James' "The Varieties of Religious Experience," to Huston Smith's "World
Religions"). I can think of few examples of what you call 'emergence' or explicit 'nontheistic friendliness' in my readings of the primatological literature, although language-learning by primates (e.g. sign language and logographs) may be just this, in its own Protean way.

And "What canst thou say?" I think we're seeing what nontheistic friends are saying here. :)

Are we coded for certain kinds of behaviors, just as labrador retrievers seem to be coded for kindness, as a breed, for example (as are species of higher primates)? See for example - http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2008/10/world-university.html (October 7, 2008 - the picture here is great:) about labrador retrievers. In what ways can we humans learn? Can we humans learn kindness and thoughtfulness, as well as peacefulness, simplicity, integrity, {and social justice} & love and happiness? In what ways can primates learn? They obviously can learn language, which some thought impossible. (See the TED Talk, for one; Koko is another example). Can higher primates learn other aspects of social interaction? Could common chimps learn to become Bonobo?

With friendly greetings,
Scott


http://scottmacleod.com
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University













(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/marine-biological-diversity.html - November 12, 2009)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Mountain Springs' Spas: Mountains in the Distance


mountains in the distance
gray today
the air smells fresh
in Canyon























(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/mountain-springs-spas-mountains-in.html - Novvember 11, 2009)

Trees and Views: Invitation to Nonhuman Primates to Add Links or Teach at World Univ., Culture of Books, Edit This University, Bagpiping with Nature

... Invitation to nonhuman primates to add links or teach at worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Interspecies_Communications

Kanzi? Koko?


Sue Savage-Rumbaugh? :)


Sharing tools, technologies and language with Bonobo species. Funny & edifying: ted.com/talks/susan_savage_rumbaugh_on_apes_that_write.html


*

is glad we live in a society of books - for centuries now - and now information technologies: (scientifically gen.) replicating messages ...


idea celebration!

Public libraries are so cool.


**

Edit this World University & School worlduniversity.wikia.com and steal that other ' Steal this Film' film - Google it {http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=steal%20this%20film&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#}


***

Total online privacy now. Total privacy now. There are laws about safeguarding this in the U.S.

How to turn these into cultural practices?


****

Bagpiping, the trees and distant views which I see (inputs) become new gracenotes and musical notation to the output of my chanter :)



















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/trees-and-views-invitation-to-nonhuman.html - November 11, 2009)

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Burrowing Owl: Information, Technology, Wikipedia's Definition of Information

Here's a definition of 'Information' germane to the course I teach on the "Information Technology Revolution:" Information is a message about something, and is the state of a system of interest. Message is the information materialized.


*

Technology is the use of scientific knowledge to specify ways of doing things in a reproducible manner. (Thanks to Manuel Castells, Harvey Brooks and Daniel Bell).


**

So information technology is about {'scientifically' generating} replicating messages, in short

{where 'information' is a message about something, and is the state of a system of interest; message is the information materialized. And where technology is the use of scientific knowledge to specify ways of doing things in a reproducible manner}



***

And information 'As a message,' from Wikipedia:


As a message

Information is a term with many meanings depending on context, but is as a rule closely related to such concepts as meaning, knowledge, instruction, communication, representation, and mental stimulus. Simply stated, information is a message received and understood. In terms of data, it can be defined as a collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn. There are many other aspects of information since it is the knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction. But overall, information is the result of processing, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the person receiving it.

Information is the state of a system of interest. Message is the information materialized.

Information is a quality of a message from a sender to one or more receivers. Information is always about something (size of a parameter, occurrence of an event, value, ethics, etc). Viewed in this manner, information does not have to be accurate; it may be a truth or a lie, or just the sound of a falling tree. Even a disruptive noise used to inhibit the flow of communication and create misunderstanding would in this view be a form of information. However, generally speaking, if the amount of information in the received message increases, the message is more accurate.

This model assumes there is a definite sender and at least one receiver. Many refinements of the model assume the existence of a common language understood by the sender and at least one of the receivers. An important variation identifies information as that which would be communicated by a message if it were sent from a sender to a receiver capable of understanding the message. In another variation, it is not required that the sender be capable of understanding the message, or even cognizant that there is a message, making information something that can be extracted from an environment, e.g., through observation, reading or measurement.

Communication theory provides a numerical measure of the uncertainty of an outcome. For example, we can say that "the signal contained thousands of bits of information". Communication theory tends to use the concept of information entropy, generally attributed to Claude Shannon, see below.

Another form of information is Fisher information, a concept of R.A. Fisher. This is used in application of statistics to estimation theory and to science in general. Fisher information is thought of as the amount of information that a message carries about an unobservable parameter. It can be computed from knowledge of the likelihood function defining the system. For example, with a normal likelihood function, the Fisher information is the reciprocal of the variance of the law. In the absence of knowledge of the likelihood law, the Fisher information may be computed from normally distributed score data as the reciprocal of their second moment.

Even though information and data are often used interchangeably, they are actually very different. Data is a set of unrelated information, and as such is of no use until it is properly evaluated. Upon evaluation, once there is some significant relation between data, and they show some relevance, then they are converted into information. Now this same data can be used for different purposes. Thus, till the data convey some information, they are not useful and therefore not information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information#As_a_message


****


How might we generate loving bliss information technology, which 'rock'?














(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/burrowing-owl-information-technology.html - November 10, 2009)

Monday, November 9, 2009

Orangutans 'Live': World University & School, Orangutan~Harbin~Contact Improv~Love, Interspecies Communication

World University & School ... below ...

*

Orangutan and Hound Dog video ...

(Some Twitter and Facebook posts)

Scott ... watches orangutan videos with great enjoyment. They're so smart - much to learn - and with limited language abilities - they're trippily fascinating.





There's Harbin, contact improv and love here in "The orangutan and the hound" ...


Check out this video above, and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's TED Talk here at World University & School's 'Interspecies' Communication' subject:

worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Interspecies_Communications


**

Added "Steal this Film" & new 'Freedom of Speech' section to webnographers.org/index.php?title=Videos#Freedom_of_Speech_and_Hacker_Movement

webnographers.org/index.php?title=Videos#Freedom_of_Speech_and_Hacker_Movement


***

Fall of the Berlin Wall commemoration: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/11/09/video-the-world-commemorates-the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall/



****

Scott: You can, too. I think I'll add a new 'Subject' at WorldUniversity.wikia.com -'Interspecies Communication' w Orangutan/Hound Dog National Geographic video :)

Friend: How about some Terence McKenna? ;)

Scott: Add away ... WUaS is open ... and Teaching and Learning are the foci ... Would you like to teach to your web camera about his work? How might these become part of university lectures at some point? His work is fascinating ... He traveled far ... :)


*****

Scott .... would like WorldUniversity.wikia.com to be principally in 3000-8000 languages, not just 1 or 2 - all made possible by the web (7700 langs?)


******

Any J.S. Bach~Mushroom Music schools around the world? Let's start a Juilliard-level one at the open, free worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Music


*******

Scott received in the mail "The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson" :)) and is reading it. Who will teach this at WORLDUNIVERSITY.WIKIA.COM?


********

Have you changed your passwords and made BACKUPS recently? Makes sense ... TCP/IP - the internet's river banks - are quite open protocols in ... the beginning, and theft and hard drive problems still occur all the time. There are 3 free, automatic, online storage (2 gig.) services here: http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Educational_Software


**********

Stream live what you'd like to teach via Justin.tv or Ustream.com or in Second
Life. All of this is FREE at "Educational Software" at World University
and School - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Educational_Software. There's a wiki scheduling calendar when you join the google group. :)

groups.google.com/group/World-University-and-School


***********


World University & School like the Grateful Dead? ~ Loving and sharing great idea-music? worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Subjects









(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/orangutan-videos-world-university.html - November 9, 2009)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Bonobo Friends: How to Ease into a Living-in-the-Forest Chimpanzee Lifestyle, Cultures of Peace, and with Loving Bliss?

I'm curious how just to ease into a kind of living-in-the-forest chimpanzee or orangutan lifestyle, which has developed over millions of years, but with many of the comforts of modernity. I prefer Bonobo chimpanzees over common chimps, but both have lived quite similarly to one another over all these millions of years, compared with to humans.

I see this simply as a kind of thought experiment. Did hippies do this, in a sense?

Chimpanzee lifestyles seem simpler, freer, easier, and much more natural than humans. There's a beauty and freedom in living simply.


Here's a video that highlights an orangutan's intelligence, generosity, playfulness ...



*

I'm also curious about the role of culture vis-a-vis questions of peace. Quakers - the Society of Friends - have had no violence that I know of in Quaker history (from texts) within the Society of Friends (Friends have experienced violence toward them for the their beliefs), which suggests to me that, concerning violence, culture plays a role vis-a-vis human history/biology, with its significant history of war, aggression and violence.

The south of India similarly seems to have a culture that plays down violence. As just one example, it's hard to find a nonveg restaurant in the south of India. I speculate that this culture reflects Hinduism's understandings, and the valuing here of nonharming {ahimsa}.


**

In wondering how to ease into a kind of living-in-the-forest chimpanzee lifestyle, I wonder how we might explore this vis-a-vis the neurophysiology of loving bliss, naturally.


***

How to bring Friends (nontheist Friends' centered peace, simplicity, integrity, community, equality, love, happiness and social justice) and Bonobo together? And in what ways could we continue to develop interspecies friendships?


Interspecies-wiki-virtual-world-graphy, I think ... For example, both Sue Savage Rumbaugh and Jane Goodall befriend their chimp friends, other species, who are also their subjects.


























(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/bonobo-friends-how-to-ease-into-living.html - November 8, 2009)

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Harbin Hot Spring's Source: Invitation to Harbin Friends to Create Harbin-wiki-virtual-world-graphy ...

Invitation to friends at Harbin to create Harbin-wiki-virtual-world-graphy ...

{http://www.webnographers.org/index.php?title=Ethno-wiki-virtual-world-graphy}


Please post recollections, ideas, photos, etc. of Harbin.


For example,


What is Harbin?


What is the Harbin experience?


What is Watsu?



What happened at Harbin in the 1960s?


What happened at Harbin in the 1970s?


What happened at Harbin in the 1980s?


What happened at Harbin in the 1990s?


What happened at Harbin in the 2000s?


What's the Harbin community today ...



What's your vision for Harbin in the future?


Who are the wildest folks who have been here?





Here's the wiki with some initial questions ... I'm interested in. But it's open, so we create it in any way we might want to ...


Start your own parts of it, add content and ideas of your own invention, get psychedelic, watery ...

... from the Harbin pools ...












(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com - November 7, 2009)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Niagra Falls Rainbow: Apart so Long, Loving Bliss, Bonobo Poetry



Bonobo Loving Bliss


Apart so long,
returning to Harbin,
and the soft,
autumn rains
fall again

Where are you?
Into the pools,
free again, in the warmth,
but with little cuddling
in the pools,
this eve.

Loving bliss,
Bonobo poetry
is about intimacy
and sexuality,
and remarkable
bodymind neurochemistry,
all lyrical and luminous.

Harbin is as close
as we come
in human understanding,
in my experience,
to Bonobo life,
where the milieu
is great,
and with
the potential for
so much wondrous,
open intimacy.
Yet Harbin's humans
seem somehow restrained today -
despite people being freer here,
emerging from the 1960s and '70s.
Perhaps its the times
and the age?

So why not Bonobo life?
Four to five hours ~
possibly -
of intimacy a day -
with loving bliss?
All is possible :)
What do
primatologists say?

And Bonobo life
with empathy, delight,
sympathy, centered caring,
tenderness, sensitivity,
ineffable ecstasy,
incredibly positive -
potentially lifelong -
feelings of connectedness,
sublimity, kindness,
love in the air,
gentleness,
an understanding of developing,
mutual otherness,
friendship,
mirthful, playful freedom in mind, words and gestures,
thoughtfulness, dating,
cuddling/physical intimacy/sensuality (1-2 hours per day),
making love (intimate and warm)~coitus,
a delightful, “glowing” party,
ongoing smile ~
sincere and charming affection ~
“flow” experiences (see Csikszentmihalyi)
with a community / network across generations,
openness, generosity,
coming closely in tune with good friends,
fulsome trust,
anticipatory, beneficial surprises,
sweetness, nurture,
receptivity {to love}, sharing,
hail gladdening love,
non-harming, altruistic engagement,
acts of kindness ~ voluntarism,
considerateness, cordiality,
congeniality, collegiality,
flourishing (viz. eudaimonia),
warm, radiant fun,
sociable, flirtatious,
and gleeful inner and outer movement,
which some people experience while dancing,
having a ball with you,
euphoric merriment,
cherishing as well as feeling / being cherished,
(love-related) passion,
the numinous,
old friends,
an unburdened feeling of lightness of being,
falling in love,
the fun of raising / being with kids,
cheeriness, positive psychology,
following your bliss,
well-received, intense, salutary interest,
the deep, inward release
which comes in remarkable /
easing moments
and which is cultivatable,
deeply exuberant, beneficent pleasure with another ~ a partner ~ a love,
best friends, understanding,
reverie, friendliness,
what gives you joy?,
imagination to love profoundly
and then to love,
wholesomeness, well-being,
peace, peace of mind,
and at peace-ness,
being in love, ahimsa {non-harming},
a good connection,
virtue, esp. of transcendent,
jubilant love, helpfulness,
doing good, loving touch
(e.g. a gentle hand, hugs, massage, Watsu*Waterdance {Wassertanz} & more),
singing "I love you,"
the inspiration for the creation of great,
loving art,
rich, bountiful inventiveness / imagination in amity,
Harbin Hot Springs,
heart consciousness,
harmony,
the neurochemistry of romantic
love~heightened levels of four neurotrophins, -
i.e. NGF, BDNF, NT-3, and NT-4,
loving bliss ~
*MMmmm ~ loving bliss and practices for this*~
(naturally, and with many qualities,
but ecstasy is a reference experience ~>
oxytocins~dopamine~seratonin, endorphins),
practicing loving bliss vis-à-vis a musical instrument,
balance,
wonderful, oceanic wholeness,
free love, happiness, contentment,
the joy / rapport / 'reading' of minds that goes on between two (or more) skillful musicians / listeners, who are improvising,
love letters, harmony love fests,
love is the answer,
loving bliss as friends,
the thought, experience, and generation of love,
quiet wisdom ~ love of wisdom,
and sophisticated, intuitive caritas.



To elicit loving bliss
neurochemistry is indeed
a process yet
unexplored fully.
Possible but how?
Music as metaphor
offers a rich beginning.
And iwth openness and trust?
Like Bonobo
musical instruments?
Yes. :)















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/niagra-bliss-apart-so-long-loving-bliss.html- November 5, 2009)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Bonobo Sitting: Society of Friends & Harbin Hot Spring's Synthesis, World Univ Principally in 7700 Languages?, Writing Bonobo, Loving Bliss Poetry

Here are some of my posts today in social networking sites (Twitter and Facebook):



Society of Friends / Quaker and Harbin Hot Spring's synthesis? - beautiful, clothing-optional, natural-area, hot spring retreat centers 1-3 hours from every city in the world for relaxation ... for relaxation response elicitation ...

... as a way to financially support World University & School, and to create a site for teaching both Watsu, but also much else?

Yes ...


*

If http://WorldUniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University were principally wiki in 3000-8000 languages (7700 languages, creoles, pidgins, and dialects total?), and not just 1 or 2 principle languages, university & knowledge would become distributed ...


Shall we call WUaS "Linguists' World University and School"? Or "Hippie World University and School"?


**

... would like to richly explore writing Bonobo chimpanzee, loving bliss poetry, drawing on primatological data and research ...


***

would like the 'state' in anthropological and social science senses, as well as 'identities' to orient toward nonharming (ahimsa)


****

sees WorldUniversity.wikia.com as a next, "Next, Whole Earth Catalog" - clean oceans of Teaching & Learning, and creative idea exchange, like MIT Open Course Ware with wiki {editable web pages} information technologies.



*****

Heading for Harbin :) ...











(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/bonobo-sitting-society-of-friends.html - November 4, 2009)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Frozen Niagra Falls: When and If Things Seem Tumultuous? Love in its Best Senses ..., And Poetry

When and if things seem tumultuous ...

what to do?

Relaxation response in the middle of busy-ness? And then explore love in its best senses


scottmacleod.com/daltonletter.htm#BestLove



And then explore this neurophysiology independent of what's happening around you which may be leading to frustrations?


And get enough sleep :)


*

And explore poetry, as well ... Basho, for example?


**

When will the Niagra Falls of World University & School begin?














(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/when-and-if-things-seem-tumultuous-love.html - Tuesday, November 3, 2009)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Roots Web: Worlduniversity.wikia.com Will Age Like Good Wine, Composing World University and School

Worlduniversity.wikia.com will age like good wine. To see some of http://Worlduniversity.wikia.com's abundance, check out the FREE 'Educational Software' and also 'Courses' > youtube.com/edu. There's a lot at WUaS already.


*

Here are some recent World University and School letters as examples of this composition:



October 17, 2009

Universitians,

In case you missed today's World Univ & Sch's (free education) presentation at Nonprofit Commons' mtg in Second Life, here's the chat transcript: scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-world-university-school.html

Please send people with different languages (looking for 3000-8000), and internet experience, to World Univ & Sch - like Wikipedia with MIT Open Course Ware. I'll make public the Google Spreadsheet with moderators, languages and nation states soon. I think you'll need a gmail address for these, for the times you might visit this growing resource.

I added a HOSPITAL in Second Life (for teaching) from Imperial College London: worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses#Medical_School_and_Hospital

Please invite friends to join both the Facebook and Google Groups: groups.google.com/group/World-University-and-School. (You may have to click two "join this group" buttons).

This list of great FREE educational software at World University & School continues to grow: worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Educational_Software :)

I'd also like to invite you to add, teach and learn at WUaS. It's the group knowledge production aspect of World University which will make it soar. (Wikipedia has 175 languages with 13 millions articles and it started in 2002)

There's a lot! of material already here. For rich sources for teaching and learning, check out youtube.com/edu and (MIT-originating) instructables.

Best,
Scott


scottmacleod.com


worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University




October 16, 2009

Hi, All,

Here's the chat transcript about World Univ & Sch (free education) from my presentation this morning:

scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-world-university-school.html

(bit.ly/L2uEK)

And here's worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Courses - like
Wikipedia with MIT Open Course ...

Here's great FREE educational software at WORLD UNIVERSITY & SCHOOL:
worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Educational_Software :)

And please join the Facebook and Google Groups:

facebook.com/group.php?gid=48753608141

groups.google.com/group/World-University-and-School (have to
click two "join this group" buttons)

Please send people with different languages (3000-8000) and internet
experience to World Univ & Sch. I'll make public the Google
Spreadsheet with moderators, languages and nation states soon. I think
you'll need a gmail address for these, for the occasional times you
might visit is resource.


All the best,
Scott

http://scottmacleod.com





From Nonprofit Commons/NetSquared, after presenting in the morning in Second Life:



You were excellent and VERY well-received!

I have tweeted your blog entry to our networks. Feel free to ReTweet
this:

In case u missed today's Nonprofit Commons mtg, here's chat transcript
abt World Universty &School (free education): http://bit.ly/L2uEK #fb






-----Original Message-----

Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 11:40 AM
To: M
Cc: S
Subject: Introducing World University & School in Second Life to Netsquared (SF Technology Group) in SL

Hi M and S,


Thanks for inviting me to talk today.


I posted the WUaS part of the transcript here:

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-world-university-s
chool.html


All best, :)
Scott


http://scottmacleod.com
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University




(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/roots-web-worlduniversitywikiacom-will.html - November 2, 2009)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Mandarin Dragonet: Loving Bliss or Love and Bliss? Ragas as Color, New Forms of Quaker 'Silent Meeting'?

Loving bliss or

love and bliss ...

as neurophysiologies?


In focusing on eliciting loving bliss, naturally, I have ecstasy (MDMA) as a reference experience in mind, as well as my own experiences growing up; I would say I'm a little orchestrated for loving bliss in my bodymind. Genes and upbringing? MDMA is important here because its similarities to loving bliss suggest that both are neurophysiological experiences, one from a synthetic substance, in the brain or bodymind. And I've found it's possible to elicit loving bliss, naturally, but perhaps with less intensity compared with MDMA.


I'm also interested in love and bliss independently of each other. For me loving bliss involves "experiences that are deeply, gratefully harmonizing, and reciprocally appreciative and affectionate, both with a friend or friends, and alone, as well as profoundly and naturally high at the same time, and which are ongoing, biological, 'flow' experiences," which I write about here: scottmacleod.com/LovingBlissPractices.htm.


In this same letter, I also suggest the following, as practices

practices for bliss


listening to music

dancing

singing

making music

playing

eating extraordinary food

making love

conversing

engaging great music

enjoying incredible nature

traveling

opening to bliss while moving back and forth between Harbin Hot Springs' hot & cold pools

shaping a virtual world to explore practices of loving bliss?

smiling ~ beaming :))

~ What helps you elicit bliss naturally?




For love:

reciprocated, ongoing affection

exploring love in art, music, and ideas with a dear friend

nameless, loving understandings

receiving and giving warmth





as well as these further ideas about love, also as

practices for love:

scottmacleod.com/daltonletter.htm#BestLove



I'm particularly fascinated to explore the intensity, the variety of qualities, and how to 'access' these qualities ~ like bow strokes on a cello, when and as we want them ~ of eliciting loving bliss.


*

I see metaphorical colors while listening to ragas, especially some played by Ravi Shankar. There's an echo in these experiences for me of traveling in India, for example, and seeing actual, colorful lights in temples, women's saris, public buses, in people's cars, and in so many varied places. This aspect of sound and light are expressions of Indian culture and the Indian mind for me, which I greatly appreciate. They border on the 'trippy.' India is colorful and very connected.


**

In the same way that nontheist Friends are creating something new vis-a-vis a kind of traditional understanding of unprogrammed Quaker Silent Meeting, I would like to contribute to creating space for complementary expressions of nontheistically Friendly 'Silent Meeting,' such as contact improvisational dance jams, soaking in the Harbin Hot Springs' warm pool (not only does this facilitate the relaxation response, but I find remarkable parallels with sitting together in a Quaker Meeting house room in Silent Meeting spatially), contra dancing, singing, and many more related processes.

With friendly greetings,
Scott

http://scottmacleod.com


***

Priolepis cinctus (Regan, 1908)?

http://www.eol.org/pages/213561?category_id=13

http://z.about.com/d/saltaquarium/1/0/w/I/1/awakefieldmandarin_400.JPG

photographyblog.com/images/photo_of_the_week/16220505/Mandarin%20Dragonet.jpg

reefcorner.com/images/Mandarin1.jpg


http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/images/246_mandarindragonetgreenshrimpi.jpg




Mandarin Dragonet
















(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2009/11/mandarin-dragonet-loving-bliss-or-love.html - November 1, 2009)