After I finished my previous post Cycles and Timelines I wondered what period in history I would focus on next. Tarnas in his book used the Saturn/Pluto and the Uranus/Pluto cycles a lot to point to some very interesting data in history. Aspects between Pluto and Uranus as well as Saturn are very often pointers…… Continue reading Science and the Collective Unconscious
Cycles and Timelines
At the moment I am totally fascinated by a book called Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas. In the book he writes about the aspects of the outer planets and the resemblance with the world history. I read the book shortly after it came out in 2006 or so and found it really interesting. But…… Continue reading Cycles and Timelines
Always Together but Not the Same
In my previous post I wrote about values as being transitions from one phase of life into another, that I placed in a model of development. In this post I want to write a little more about the model of mind and matter where the model of development is based upon. How the four elements relate to each…… Continue reading Always Together but Not the Same
About Development, Values and Transitions
So, I think a lot about development. And I wrote several posts about development on this blog. It fascinates me how things move along a certain pattern. A pattern that might look very different from any other pattern, but what might be similar on a certain level. Most of those posts and most of my…… Continue reading About Development, Values and Transitions
Human Development of Energy, Matter, Concepts and Information
Energy – active potential Matter – passive structure Concepts – active structure Information – passive potential Matter is the passive structure of the active potential energy as concepts are the active structure of the passive potential information. Primordial Energy – Action Primordial Matter – Manifestation Primordial Concepts – Interaction Primordial Information – Emotion Individuation -…… Continue reading Human Development of Energy, Matter, Concepts and Information
Development of Perception
The way we perceive the world is totally different from the way a young child perceives the world. I always understood that was the case, but I could never really imagine how that child would perceive the world. Or how that would develop into how we, as adults, view the world. David Bohm describes that…… Continue reading Development of Perception
The Difference between a Problem and a Paradox
One of the most interesting, but at the same time hard to grasp, subjects that David Bohm wrote about, is inner conflict. I talked about that in some earlier posts. The first one was a post called When the Mind is Trying to Escape the Awareness of Conflict, where it became clear that, according to…… Continue reading The Difference between a Problem and a Paradox
The Paradox of Civilization and the Shadow Carried by All
A few days ago I followed the live stream of TEDx Amsterdam. I really like the concept of TED and have watched many videos of their previous talks. Those that have my special interest are the ones about the relation between the individual and society. That is why I was especially fascinated by the presentation…… Continue reading The Paradox of Civilization and the Shadow Carried by All
The Map and the Territory
Some time ago I watched the video ‘The divided brain and the making of the western world’ from Iain McGilchrist. The talk was really very interesting, so I started reading his book, ‘The Master and his Emissary’ that does a very good job in looking at research on the difference between the left and right…… Continue reading The Map and the Territory
How Matter is Influenced by Meaning
In the book ‘The Essential David Bohm’ is a chapter called Soma-significance and the Activity of Meaning, which was very interesting in how he thinks that mind and matter interact. Well, actually he says that interacting is not the way it works. And therefore the word ‘Psycho-somatic’ is not right, for explaining what he meant…… Continue reading How Matter is Influenced by Meaning
Serious about Creativity
Recently I came across a very interesting woman, Paula Scher. I saw a Tedtalk from a few years ago where she talked about design, play and being serious. In that talk she differentiates between being solemn and being serious. Differentiating between those words is not natural for me, because I have a general feeling of…… Continue reading Serious about Creativity
Understanding the Meaning of Concepts
We bring up our children with too much conceptual abstractions, that they have to memorize. They have to learn concepts without realizing the underlying reality. Learn concepts without understanding the meaning. They have to learn what others think is important. And slowly along the way, they lose the ability to think creative. It is like…… Continue reading Understanding the Meaning of Concepts
An Aesthetic Experience
Ken Robinson on Aesthetics and An-Aesthetics: An aesthetic experience is one in which your senses are operating at their peak. When you are present in the current moment. When you are resonating with the excitement of this thing that you are experiencing. When you are fully alive. An an-aesthetic is when you shut your senses…… Continue reading An Aesthetic Experience
The Artist and the Scientist in Dialogue with the World
David Bohm on Art, Science and Dialogue: Artists are not just ‘expressing themself’, not just ‘pushing outward what is already formed inside of them’. The first thing the artist does is only similar in certain ways to what they have in mind. As in a conversation between two people, they see the similarity and difference,…… Continue reading The Artist and the Scientist in Dialogue with the World
Art and the Context of Society
Living in a certain place and time, we tend to think within a certain set of values and act upon them as if they are universal. And we use our critical skills to judge ‘everything’. It is a set of values that is a sum of the whole society, and living by its rules is…… Continue reading Art and the Context of Society
What is Art?
If the definition of art has developed over time, and if it is defined as ‘a product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects the senses, emotions and intellect’ and also says that the word art was traditionally used for skill or mastery, but later as an intention…… Continue reading What is Art?
More Power Needs More Coherence
David Bohm on Power and Incoherence: We cannot grasp the totality but we can have a feeling for the whole. We can have the attitude of not restricting ourselves to parts, but to allowing our consciousness to be based on the whole of whatever we can experience. Turn to the whole of reality as far…… Continue reading More Power Needs More Coherence
Thought Thinks the Problem is Out There
David Bohm on Thought: Thought has developed traditionally in a way that claims not to be affecting anything but just telling you the way things are. Therefore people can not see that they are creating a problem and then apparently trying to solve it. The ecology has not in itself a problem, it works perfectly…… Continue reading Thought Thinks the Problem is Out There
A Coherent Approach to Reality
David Bohm on Coherence and Consciousness: If we can have a coherent approach to reality, then reality will respond coherently to us. But nature has been tremendously affected by our way of thinking. There is very little left on earth, that isn’t affected by how we were thinking. The major source of unhappiness is that…… Continue reading A Coherent Approach to Reality
Creativity to Prevent External Pressure and Internal Decay
David Bohm on Creativity: Creativity is essential, not only for science but for the whole of life. If you get stuck in a mechanical, repetitious order, then it will degenerate. One of the problems is, that every civilization got stuck in a certain repetition. The creative energy gradually died away and that is why the…… Continue reading Creativity to Prevent External Pressure and Internal Decay
Creating Something New Together
David Bohm on Dialogue: If the meaning of communication is to convey information or knowledge from one person to another, then the essence of communication is ‘to make something common’. Dialogue as a special kind of communication, is ‘to make something IN common’. Or creating something new together. But in most cases there is a…… Continue reading Creating Something New Together
Time and the Meaning of Life
The first part of the meaning of life, is to build a personality with strong values. Values that are worth defending. Use them to choose a direction, stick with it and make it a succes. Challenge the cultural background and make decisions on personal experience. Keep what works and improve it. Defend your decisions if…… Continue reading Time and the Meaning of Life
Creativity Grows on Insight and Understanding
Creativity has an inherent order that grows on insight and understanding. It has to develop according to that. It might need rules and boundaries to keep growing in a certain direction. It might need ideas from others to grow even further … but … only after a certain amount of independent growth. Without interference from…… Continue reading Creativity Grows on Insight and Understanding
Integrity needs Honesty
There can be honesty without integrity, but no integrity without honesty. Although integrity needs honesty, it does not mean you always have to be absolutely honest to others. It just means you have to be absolutely honest to your self. Being honest to others is many times just giving a personal opinion. And that opinion…… Continue reading Integrity needs Honesty
Mechanism vs Meaning
Recently I listened to an interview with the very intriguing title: Is Consciousness Energy? The title made me really curious, as I have been wondering about that for a long time now. It is an interview of Dean Radin with Christian de Quincey, whose final conclusion is that consciousness is not the same as energy.…… Continue reading Mechanism vs Meaning
How we Expect Answers from Limited Theories
Going through some online tapes of David Bohm, I found a recording where he says something very interesting. Well, actually I find almost everything he ever said very interesting. But the recording made me realise something else. Last week I found an article online that said that his ‘complete lack of ego completely disguised the enormity…… Continue reading How we Expect Answers from Limited Theories
Dialogue as Creating Something New Together
Finally I started reading the book On Dialogue by David Bohm. I was not sure at first that I wanted to buy the book, as there is so much to find online. Like this Proposal for Dialogue. But although I am fine with reading bits and pieces online, or borrow a book at the library,…… Continue reading Dialogue as Creating Something New Together
Our Incoherent View of the Whole
Coherence is a word that David Bohm used a lot. I noticed it in the video that I wrote about in my previous post. It is a word with a meaning that is rather general. A word that you read without really noticing. But the more I became aware of the word, the more I…… Continue reading Our Incoherent View of the Whole
The Difference between Thinking and Thought
Recently I found a real treasure! At least that is what I considered the video that I found of David Bohm. It is a video where he talked about his life, recorded about two years before his death. There is a part of this video on Youtube that is called David Bohm on perception which…… Continue reading The Difference between Thinking and Thought
Collective Sharing of Individual Knowledge
Last week I found some really interesting sites. The first one was Quora. I found a blogpost that highlighted some good reasons to get involved there. I clicked through and was indeed immediately hooked. It is a question and answer site, where anyone can ask and answer all kinds of questions. But apart from that, you…… Continue reading Collective Sharing of Individual Knowledge
How we Re-Cognise what we Experience
Differentiating between the functions of the left and the right hemisphere of our brain. What does each brainside actually do? Chapter two of The Master and his Emissary gives a very extensive description of the differences between the two. One of the first subchapters is about different forms of attention. Which form of attention belongs…… Continue reading How we Re-Cognise what we Experience
Focus vs Context and Language vs Psyche
A few weeks ago I came across a blogpost about a book called The Master and his Emissary. The writer of that post thought the book was very important, maybe even the book of the century. In that same blogpost was a video with the writer of the book, Iain McGilchrist. I watched that video…… Continue reading Focus vs Context and Language vs Psyche
The Physical, Aesthetical and Moral Stage of Development
In letter XXIV of his aesthetic letters, Schiller mentions three stages of development. He says there is a development that each individual, as well as the whole of humanity, has to go through. It is also a development that has to happen in a certain order. Each stage can be longer or shorter with each individual,…… Continue reading The Physical, Aesthetical and Moral Stage of Development
Polarisation and That what is Inbetween
I was planning to write a post about ‘the medium between law and necessity’, another phrase in the aesthetic letters. But looking at the subject, I realised it was something I have been writing about again and again on this blog. Not using the same words, but the essence of those posts was mainly the…… Continue reading Polarisation and That what is Inbetween
The Instinct of Play
The previous post was about two different instincts, the sensuous and the formal instinct. Two instincts that are opposed and that make us struggle to integrate in our human nature. This is again a post about The Letters on Aesthetic Education of Man from Friedrich Schiller, like a few of my previous posts. I am…… Continue reading The Instinct of Play
Sensuous and Formal Instinct
At the end of part two of the Letters on Aesthetics, Schiller talks about two opposite roads that depart us from our destination. He calls it false roads and says that only the beautiful can bring us back from this twofold departure. In the beginning of part three (letter 12) he talks about those two…… Continue reading Sensuous and Formal Instinct
Creativity beyond Praise and Criticism
Still reading the letters on aesthetic education, I tried to understand the beginning of part two. In that part, Schiller paints a picture of how the individual is blinded by the age in which he lives, the society in which he is born. But also about the struggle of that society itself. That has this…… Continue reading Creativity beyond Praise and Criticism
Form becomes Independent of Meaning
Being distracted by the art of language and the definition of art in my previous posts, I now continued reading Schiller’s Letters. At the end of part one, Schiller goes a long way to describe the influence of the culture on the individual. The individual who loses the contact with the whole. The inner union…… Continue reading Form becomes Independent of Meaning
The Developing Definition of Art
Art is a difficult word to define. Wikipedia defines it as ‘a product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects the senses, emotions and intellect’. It also says that the word art was traditionally used for skill or mastery, but later as an intention to stimulate thoughts and…… Continue reading The Developing Definition of Art
The Art of Language
I love it when suddenly things start to make sense, when thoughts come together. I was again reading the book On Creativity, because I was searching for the definition of some concepts. Those of creativity, aesthetics and art. All my previous posts about aesthetics point to the importance of those concepts as an essential step…… Continue reading The Art of Language
Free Will Between Inclination and Duty
So I started reading Schillers letters on aesthetic education. But it is not what I would call an easy read. If I was not determined to understand what he has to say, I would have already quit. But before I started reading from the beginning, I had a quick overview. And in that overview I got…… Continue reading Free Will Between Inclination and Duty
Between Instinctive and Moral Behavior
Lately I am fascinated by the concept of aesthetics. What exactly does it mean? Is it subjective or objective? How important is it? I already wrote about the view of Kant, Adorno and Bohm in the posts Beauty is Not Just in the Eye of the Beholder and The Worldview of Aesthetics. And that of…… Continue reading Between Instinctive and Moral Behavior
From Aesthetics to An-Aesthetics
Last week I saw another video of Ken Robinson. He had a TED-talk some years ago about how schools kill creativity, which I watched several times because I thought it was great. Well, he had another talk (Changing Paradigms) of which RSA made an animation. Which I also love, I really like to see a…… Continue reading From Aesthetics to An-Aesthetics
The Concept of Water
Seeing the theme for this years Blogactionday made me think of a story in the book I was reading. The book, On Creativity, is about the importance of creativity. How we all have this inner desire to discover and create something new that is whole, harmonious and beautiful. It is not something rare, it does…… Continue reading The Concept of Water
How to Confront Inner Conflict Instead of Ignoring it
Sometimes David Bohm says so much with one sentence, that I feel the need to take it a bit apart. It is a line in the first chapter of the book On Creativity. He describes how the mind tries to avoid contradictions. It is often too confusing or painful to stay with a certain problem,…… Continue reading How to Confront Inner Conflict Instead of Ignoring it
Will Confusion Really be our Epitaph
Today I started reading the first chapter of the book On Creativity by David Bohm. I already wrote some posts about what struck me most in the preface of the book. And this first chapter made it even more fascinating. Many times, while reading, I wanted to go and write a post about it. But…… Continue reading Will Confusion Really be our Epitaph
When the Mind is Trying to Escape the Awareness of Conflict
This post is about another block to creativity, a block that prevents us from expressing the creativity that is present in each of us. Self-sustaining confusion of the mind. This not the usual confusion, the confusion we experience if we just don’t understand something from outside. Bohm, in On Creativity, says that this self-sustaining confusion…… Continue reading When the Mind is Trying to Escape the Awareness of Conflict
The Worldview of Aesthetics
With my previous post I compared different views on aesthetics. It were the views, as I understood them, from Kant, Adorno and Bohm. But I did not compare their totality. Now that is too difficult for me to do, as I only have a very general understanding of each of their views. But even if…… Continue reading The Worldview of Aesthetics
Beauty is Not Just in the Eye of the Beholder
Creativity has to do with recognizing differences and similarities. Recognize patterns that have a certain appeal to us, patterns in which we see beauty. Now it is often said that beauty is subjective. That beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But according to David Bohm in On Creativity, beauty is not purely subjective.…… Continue reading Beauty is Not Just in the Eye of the Beholder
Recognizing Patterns from an Underlying Reality
Maybe I can better change the subtitle of this blog. Since reading the book Science, Order and Creativity, creativity seems to be the main focus of my blog. But while thinking about that, I realized it always was the main focus of my blog. Of all the blogging I did so far. My focus was…… Continue reading Recognizing Patterns from an Underlying Reality