5 Things Make a post!
Feb. 2nd, 2010 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capri0mniI've had a bunch of ramdom thoughts in my head for vague-long time, now --each being too random (and/or silly and/or short) to make a post of their own. But I now have a collection:
1) At the end of the previous year, as part of its annual culture round-up, Fresh Air did a review of the trends in movies. And their in-house movie critic (and Terri Gross, the host) noted that the Movie Musical is back (yay).
The movie critic speculated on the reason. Movie musicals died out in popularity, he suggested, because people just could not suspend their disbelief that people really would switch from ordinary speaking to singing, just because of a musical cue. But now, with a vast segment of the population owning MP3 players, folks are walking around with their own customizable soundtrack in their heads, all day. So the line between controlled speach-thinking and expansive singing-thinking is blurred.
I'd also like to add cell phones (and their customizable ringtones) to the mix -- MP3 player music is still (mostly) in the private, internal realm of thought. But ringtones are public. And we've gotten used to (or we're getting used to) hearing random snatches of music at seemingly random times. And each snatch of music is different, and attatched to specific people (and, as I understand it, each phone can have multiple ringtones, to indicate who's on the other end of the line).
Modern life is now like living inside a vast, and complicated, production of Peter and the Wolf
(Actually, I realized, after I wrote it out, this next one was neither random, silly, or short. But at the time I was originally going to post it, I got so discouraged, I shoved it to the back of my mind and forgot about it, until now)
2) My father's favorite moral directive was Immanual Kant's Categoracal Imperative. He said it was like Christianity's Golden Rule, but more evolved. He would quote his own paraphrase of the first formulation of that throughout my life, thusly: "Do only what you'd like to see become universal."
Speeding through this red light, at this moment, might be a good thing for you, now, but if everyone did that, all Hell would break lose. So don't do it.
He said it was more evolved than the Golden Rule, because the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.) is still focused on your own, perhaps selfish, desires, and limited perspective. But Kant's Categorical Imperitive takes it to the next dimension, and takes other people's lives into account, and asks you to think about further implications of your actions.
So, anyway, this television episode I wanted to squee about was all about Kant's Categorical Imperitive -- both the first and second formulation -- and all through that half hour I was thinking to myself: Yes! Exactly. This. Word. It took me back to the wee-night-hours conversations I'd have with my dad, and also crystalized in my mind why leaving issues of accessibility and accommodaton for disabled people to the realm of charity isn't just annoying, it's downright immoral.
So I went online the next day, and registered on the show's website, so I could legally share the video and/or the transcript with you. I was looking to share the information in both video and text format. Because if I'm going to post about accessibility, I want my post to be accessible.
But the videos had no captioning, and the website did not offer any transcripts (just the vaguest and briefest synopses of each half hour), and there was no way, on the website, to contact anyone connected to the show to ask for captioning or transcripts. And the whole experience of trying, just sucked my squee away completely, and left a sour taste in my mouth that ruined my mood for days.
And: Bah!
I may work my way around to making that post about Kant's Categorical Imperative, and disability rights, without citing that program at all, someday. But not today.
3) I was actually replying to another person's reply, who was being snarky an critical about the philosophy of Alan Watts, presented here: Alan Watts Animated, by South Park Creators (9 mins. 29 secs).
In the excerpt of the lecture used in the video, Watts compared the Western idea of Ego inside the living body to the image of a driver inside a car, instead of something that grows organically out of a living body as part of a living planet. And he made the point that this leads us to feel naturally depressed and hostile toward the world, because we feel trapped by it.
Here's the exchange between snarky guy and me:
Anyway, some unknown person gave 666Norton420 a negative vote, and me a positive one, some time after I'd forgotten I'd made that comment (I'm assuming it was the same person, at the same time, but maybe not). And that made me feel better.
BTW, didn't XKCD have a strip awhile back about how the level of Assholeness increased in direct proportion to the number of numbers in a person's chosen screen name? ;-P
BTW #2:, I couldn't find (quickly) a transcript of exactly that bit of lecture, but I did find a quote from Watts where he expressed the same idea, in different words, here: Alan Watts On "Ego".
(and I highly recommend the whole YouTube video, if you have the time and ability to watch it.)
This one is short enough to leave outside a cut.
4) I learned, yesterday, that a newly edited edition of Elias Hicks' Journal has been published. And in the review of this Journal, it was mentioned that his children were disabled (but it didn't say how). And now, I'm kind of itching to buy the book, even though I don't have room in my house for any more permanent editions to my book collection. And I have far too many books still on my "To-be-read" pile. Oh, well.
Elias Hicks was a nineteenth century Quaker who was instrumental in the split of the religiion into two main "sects." He also painted those Peaceable Kingdom paintings; this version is one I've lived with all my life.
5) Here's a video, in ASL, with English subtitles, about the importance of filling out the census, and of specifying (if you do), that you use American Sign Language in your household (rather than just saying "sign language" which could be some made-up mushy thing like SEE or cued speach.
Dr. DonG also goes on to give some basic safety tips of what to look out for if someone comes around claiming to be from the census. So I'm including it as a PSA:
The weird thing is, ever since I watched it (I subscribe to DonG's channel), YouTube has been suggesting really off-the mark vids for me to watch, and claiming that it's because I watched this one -- stuff like eminem rap videos, and videos about TES games, etc. WTF?
1) At the end of the previous year, as part of its annual culture round-up, Fresh Air did a review of the trends in movies. And their in-house movie critic (and Terri Gross, the host) noted that the Movie Musical is back (yay).
The movie critic speculated on the reason. Movie musicals died out in popularity, he suggested, because people just could not suspend their disbelief that people really would switch from ordinary speaking to singing, just because of a musical cue. But now, with a vast segment of the population owning MP3 players, folks are walking around with their own customizable soundtrack in their heads, all day. So the line between controlled speach-thinking and expansive singing-thinking is blurred.
I'd also like to add cell phones (and their customizable ringtones) to the mix -- MP3 player music is still (mostly) in the private, internal realm of thought. But ringtones are public. And we've gotten used to (or we're getting used to) hearing random snatches of music at seemingly random times. And each snatch of music is different, and attatched to specific people (and, as I understand it, each phone can have multiple ringtones, to indicate who's on the other end of the line).
Modern life is now like living inside a vast, and complicated, production of Peter and the Wolf
(Actually, I realized, after I wrote it out, this next one was neither random, silly, or short. But at the time I was originally going to post it, I got so discouraged, I shoved it to the back of my mind and forgot about it, until now)
2) My father's favorite moral directive was Immanual Kant's Categoracal Imperative. He said it was like Christianity's Golden Rule, but more evolved. He would quote his own paraphrase of the first formulation of that throughout my life, thusly: "Do only what you'd like to see become universal."
Speeding through this red light, at this moment, might be a good thing for you, now, but if everyone did that, all Hell would break lose. So don't do it.
He said it was more evolved than the Golden Rule, because the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.) is still focused on your own, perhaps selfish, desires, and limited perspective. But Kant's Categorical Imperitive takes it to the next dimension, and takes other people's lives into account, and asks you to think about further implications of your actions.
So, anyway, this television episode I wanted to squee about was all about Kant's Categorical Imperitive -- both the first and second formulation -- and all through that half hour I was thinking to myself: Yes! Exactly. This. Word. It took me back to the wee-night-hours conversations I'd have with my dad, and also crystalized in my mind why leaving issues of accessibility and accommodaton for disabled people to the realm of charity isn't just annoying, it's downright immoral.
So I went online the next day, and registered on the show's website, so I could legally share the video and/or the transcript with you. I was looking to share the information in both video and text format. Because if I'm going to post about accessibility, I want my post to be accessible.
But the videos had no captioning, and the website did not offer any transcripts (just the vaguest and briefest synopses of each half hour), and there was no way, on the website, to contact anyone connected to the show to ask for captioning or transcripts. And the whole experience of trying, just sucked my squee away completely, and left a sour taste in my mouth that ruined my mood for days.
And: Bah!
I may work my way around to making that post about Kant's Categorical Imperative, and disability rights, without citing that program at all, someday. But not today.
3) I was actually replying to another person's reply, who was being snarky an critical about the philosophy of Alan Watts, presented here: Alan Watts Animated, by South Park Creators (9 mins. 29 secs).
In the excerpt of the lecture used in the video, Watts compared the Western idea of Ego inside the living body to the image of a driver inside a car, instead of something that grows organically out of a living body as part of a living planet. And he made the point that this leads us to feel naturally depressed and hostile toward the world, because we feel trapped by it.
Here's the exchange between snarky guy and me:
[quote] 666Norton420 (5 months ago)
ya... ummm, i'm not my body.
that is quite clear; not sure what al is trying to get at.
i can lose my feet and hands, yet i am still me.
our bodies are like our cars, figuratively speaking of course.
i've been told al is smart and wonderful to listen to.... i think he's rather hit and miss.
if i wanted to pay attention to that which is only right 50% of the time, i'd watch the weather channel.
;d
CapriUni (3 months ago)
"I can lose my feet and hands, yet I am still me."
True. And your body would still be your body -- just changed a bit. And you would have to learn new ways to walk, and pick things up. And people would look at you differently. And you would learn new things about yourself, and them.
So the you that is you inside your body would also change a bit, just as your body had changed.
It ties in very well with ideas of life and music, and planets peopling. Everything is unfolding. [unquote]
Anyway, some unknown person gave 666Norton420 a negative vote, and me a positive one, some time after I'd forgotten I'd made that comment (I'm assuming it was the same person, at the same time, but maybe not). And that made me feel better.
BTW, didn't XKCD have a strip awhile back about how the level of Assholeness increased in direct proportion to the number of numbers in a person's chosen screen name? ;-P
BTW #2:, I couldn't find (quickly) a transcript of exactly that bit of lecture, but I did find a quote from Watts where he expressed the same idea, in different words, here: Alan Watts On "Ego".
(and I highly recommend the whole YouTube video, if you have the time and ability to watch it.)
This one is short enough to leave outside a cut.
4) I learned, yesterday, that a newly edited edition of Elias Hicks' Journal has been published. And in the review of this Journal, it was mentioned that his children were disabled (but it didn't say how). And now, I'm kind of itching to buy the book, even though I don't have room in my house for any more permanent editions to my book collection. And I have far too many books still on my "To-be-read" pile. Oh, well.
Elias Hicks was a nineteenth century Quaker who was instrumental in the split of the religiion into two main "sects." He also painted those Peaceable Kingdom paintings; this version is one I've lived with all my life.
5) Here's a video, in ASL, with English subtitles, about the importance of filling out the census, and of specifying (if you do), that you use American Sign Language in your household (rather than just saying "sign language" which could be some made-up mushy thing like SEE or cued speach.
Dr. DonG also goes on to give some basic safety tips of what to look out for if someone comes around claiming to be from the census. So I'm including it as a PSA:
The weird thing is, ever since I watched it (I subscribe to DonG's channel), YouTube has been suggesting really off-the mark vids for me to watch, and claiming that it's because I watched this one -- stuff like eminem rap videos, and videos about TES games, etc. WTF?
