Borders and grids are Us

 With a long interest in how we as humans perceive our environment, I found this quote to be quite adequate:

"....the imposition of the gridded survey defines the lands as a uniform and monotonous mathematical space turns the lands into a trackless expanse viewed from above."

In many ways we see land as two-dimensional and existing with geometrical shapes. Look at any map, look down from a plane, and you will see this. In a recent issue of Nature NAS scientist John Holmes reviews a new book, "Liberty's Grid", by historian of science and mathematics Amir Alexander.

Alexander relates how the "rectilinear grid was imposed and how it has fed into the US consciousness."

"In Alexander’s telling, the grid is grand, ambitious and uniquely American. It is not only a blank, boundless canvas, but also a causal factor of different aspects of the United States’s trajectory and character."

A interesting book, but as Holmes rightly criticizes, Alexander often confuses cause and effect. Alexander tends to blame many events in our American history on the gridded map and ignore other elements at play in our American culture.

"Fly over the United States or walk its city streets and you can’t help but notice the country’s seemingly endless patchwork of rectangular blocks of land. The origins of this ‘grid’ lie in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when the early US early leaders sent surveyors out to carve up vast tracts of land acquired under treaties and to expand settlement westwards to the Pacific coast."

In other words, dividing up this country was a rushed job without real thought to the landforms. Not that they mattered anyway, except as resources to exploit. Ask the Native Americans about that.

Good points here:

"“Written not on parchment but into the mountains, valleys, and plains of North America, the Great American Grid embodies an ideal of America as a land of unconstrained freedom and infinite opportunity,” Alexander writes. His central thesis is that, although dividing up much of the United States into a geometric grid might seem like a convenient solution to a difficult problem, when viewed from a historian’s perspective it becomes an expression of American exceptionalism and a means to fulfil the idea of the country as an “empire of liberty”."

It is in the last explanation of criticism by Holmes that I agree. Simply because Alexander either ignores or circumvents the psychology and sociology of creating borders, visible and invisible. In basic philosophical perspective, it's creating and outlining territories, just as wild cats and canids do by urinating on the edges of their territories. And those borders are dynamic, not static. This has been a main foundation of human war since civilization. Except for traditionally nomadic peoples, where land borders are blurred or don't exist.

We could hypothesize that borders are a human construct, but other species prove otherwise. The real mystery is how we add layers of human culture and society on and in those human-drawn lines. Or perhaps that is our default subconscious way of looking at reality. What is the global traditional shape of most structures? Walls with straight lines and 45 degree corners.

Our Demons

Everyone has demons. The worst demon of all is denying acknowledgment of your demons. Conquering and ridding your demons is not the answer; they never go away. They are part of you no matter how much you try to deny them. 

But we also have an angel, too. The best angel is knowing how to live and control the demons. Consider the famous quote by Sun Tzu, Chinese warrior, strategist, philosopher, and teacher, from his book "The Art of War":

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

 Or, as Irish singer/songwriter Hozier eloquently sings:

"All you have is your 'fire'
And the place you need to reach
Don't you ever tame your demons
But always keep them on a leash…"

 

Secrets in a Strange Land

 "The secret always finds its way out, if not in words, then somatically, and most often in a way that it can be dealt with and helped in a straightforward manner. [Usually] So what does the woman do when she finds the secret leaking out? She runs after it with great expenditure of energy. She beats, bundles, and burrows it back down into the dead zone again, and builds larger defenses. She calls inner guardians and ego defenders to build more doors, more walls. The woman leans against her latest psychic tomb, sweating blood and beathing like a locomotive. 

A woman who carries a secret is an exhausted woman. Secrets cause a person to become haunted."

- excerpt from Women Who Run with Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Quantum time, quantum people

It's unnerving, and rather irritating, when someone you reconnect with after 4+ decades tries to pin you to a point on a linear time scale, expecting you not to move from that point.

Change is the only certainty in life, perhaps in all reality. Some people box their memories of another on a point in time and expect them to permanently reside there, existing only within the two points on a timeline, their timeline. Then ask many years, timelines, later why we aren't still sitting on that stretch of time. It's worse when that stretch of time is relatively short.

Same could be said of history. History is not just one recollection or explanation of a point or stretch of time. It's multiple recollections, even interpretations. Any narrative of history should always be considered in that way. Partly because of the quantum nature of time, where past, present and future are the same (time flows back and forth, it never stands still). Even if we were present in a point of historical time, our recollection is within the frame of our own mind. And our recollections are biased.

What I eventually realized was that person has pinned his or herself to that point in time, and thus the image of another person occupying that same point never moves on. And neither does the image of his or herself. Those people are prisoners of their own minds, stuck on a small point or stretch of time, refusing (or afraid) to move forward. And expecting other people to be the same. 

                                    Henrik Sorensen/Getty

We construct or deconstruct our future

“Many crucial issues need to be handled globally, and involve long-term planning. In contrast, the governmental focus is on the short-term and the national or local. Moreover, the actions of large corporations are less and less easy to regulate by any government.

In tackling climate change, for instance, we are asked to make short-term sacrifices for the benefit of people in remote parts of the world 50 years (or more) into the future — to pay an insurance premium now, as it were, to reduce the probability of a worst-case climatic disaster during the lifetime of a child born today. Politicians are influenced by the press and by their inboxes. So these actions will slip down the agenda unless there’s public pressure. Governments will only prioritize these actions if pressured by a popular crusade. But that’s how all big social changes happen: abolition of slavery, black power, gay rights, etc.”. - excerpt from interview with Martin Rees, astrophysicist

What separates children from adults, and humans from non-human primates, is the ability to think about time over long-term. That includes predictions, actions, consequences, and planning. Unfortunately, the tendency is to think short-term and even disregard long-term. I call it the “Me Now” mentality. Most profit-driven interests are short-term, and governmental actions have been following suit.

However, most successful businesses are those that plan for the long-term, while also considering short-term. Most financial planners, historians, and ecologists are trained to think in terms of many timelines: past, present and future. But our culture and society tend to nurture short-term goals and ignore or deny long-term predictions and consequences. We are experiencing the effects of that now; especially in the current economic and political arenas.

It’s time to change that. We are not children, and we are not monkey or apes.

Or, are we?

The Rule of Seven. Happy New Year, Self!!

I hate the number seven. It seems that every seven years, my humanity is tested. Sometimes the trial is tough, challenging, and sometimes I fail. Trip and fall. Hit my head and have a headache for a year. But I always get up, put myself back together and carry on. The Survivor mentality. 

Or, as my father used to say, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

“By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void.” - Miyamoto Musashi

This time was another test of my humanity. It wasn't as devastating as it was back in 2006. But, then again, I'm not as young as I was either. And betrayals never get any easier to bear. Again, this was partly my own fault for forgiving an earlier transgression that I should have not have. 'Another chance,' I convinced myself. And it bit me a few years later.

"I feel like 
I've been here before, 
and you know, 
it makes me wonder, 
what's goin' on, 
under the ground."
Déjà vu.

Lesson hammered home. The Void.

Yet..... if this past trial had not happened, I would not be where I am now. I am strong, happy, productive, and full of life. Living what exists now, I also know what no longer exists. And I am grateful for that. Rising from the ashes and flying with flames of rebirth. "In my pockets, I carry new-found fruits and seeds that nourish my journeys. And scatter some along my way."

Happy First Anniversary, Phoenix. Welcome back, you old wolf. 
Let's go, brother Coyote. We have an adventurous road of discovery ahead of us.

“The truth is that strength lies in the interior of the Warrior: in his heart, his mind and his spirit… The heart is essential in helping the intellect to understand the spirit.” - Miyamoto Musashi, Book of Five Rings

A-Z Challenge. Ohm.

In case new readers haven't caught on yet, I have an odd and inexplicable curiosity of names. (My favorite subject is toponyms, but that's for the letter 'T'.) This interest even surfaces in my science writing where I often address scientific names and common names of, well, just about everything in science. Yet, I am also known for totally disregarding official names, including my own. I'll let the couch-psychologists toy with that.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes (literally, desert dust) and listening to a quail thumping outside my window while waiting for my coffee to brew, the roulette in my mind landed on a rather insignificant word for today's letter 'O': ohm.

What's in an 'ohm'?

Some might recall from physics (the 'F' word, 'fysics') class learning about the relationship between the potential difference applied across a conductor and the resultant electric current; aka Ohm's Law.

Those with an engineering slant will immediately gravitate to that Pièce de résistance of electricity, the ohm. It is an SI (International System of Units) unit of resistance: the proportionality of current and voltage in a resistor. The definition of ohm as a unit has undergone several revisions since the 1860's, but it also has been assigned a symbol: Ω. That's easier to remember.

Probably few know that Georg Ohm, the German mathematician and physicist, received most of his education in chemistry, mathematics, physics and philosophy from his self-taught father, who was a locksmith by trade. His brother, Martin, also became a well-known mathematician. Despite the lack of exceptional institutional education, both siblings surmounted that resistance with family motivation. Seems to be the 'Ohm way.'

But there are more 'ohm's to be had. A large impact crater on the far side of the Moon (cue Pink Floyd) is known as the 'Ohm lunar crater'. The name of that crater was assigned by the the International Astronomical Union, and, of course, in tribute to our friend Georg Ohm.

The Ohm River lies in the region of Hesse, Germany, and is a tributary of the greater Lahn River. Suitably, the town of Homberg/Ohm in the valley of the Ohm was famous for its beer in the 13th century.

Now let's go across the ocean to the U.S. The small town in Ohm, California, was named (1900) after the Ohm Ranch. Thomas Ohm, a German native, established the ranch in 1868 and raised grain. I wonder if his crop was hops.

South of the border, a Mexican of German descent, Germán Ohm, was a popular featherweight boxer. His boxing career was short, spanning the age 18 to his retirement at 22. Most of his fights of recognition took place in the late 1950's. Seems that his fists carried the Ohm legacy of resistance.

Sweeping across the globe now to India, and overlapping centuries across time, 'ohm' is also an alternative spelling for 'om'. The sound is a mantra of Hindu origin, but also a sacred sound in Buddhism, Dharma and Jainism. The syllable represents many meanings depending on the source.

Anyone that grew up in the 1960's (me, for instance) will recognize its association with the Flower Child and Peace Anti-war Movements. One explanation probably describes it in both earlier and latter contexts: ""OM" is the reflection of the absolute reality, it is said to be "Adi Anadi", without beginning or the end and embracing all that exists." Or, as I like to put it, "No matter where you go, there you are."

And with that, let's slowly form the syllable 'Om' in our throats and mouths, slowly humming it out with no resistance, and embrace the day.

"Ohm....................."

A-Z Challenge: L. Life is a strange thing.....

One door closes and another opens.

Deja vu from 18 years ago. 

"Life is a strange thing
Just when you think you learnt how to use it
It's gone."
- Shakespears Sister - Hello

Precious Proteins

There I was; leading a small team of scientists to save these precious proteins for the world. For the future. Ice cream proteins. We had two of these rare proteins that expressed smooth, creamy, flavorful ice cream. And recovered another from an evil group of industrial men. It had been stolen from a collaborator; this one expressed rich butterscotch ice cream.

I had hidden these proteins in a house. But as the private industry group of men were surrounding us, I distributed the three precious proteins to three individuals in our small group (one looked like Albert Einstein). And told them to run. Run, hide; don't let ourselves, and the proteins be caught. Faint, punt, divert those bad men away from each of us. Don't listen to their pleas and lies.

We must preserve and keep these proteins safe. Safe for all to access in the future. Without modifications, without capitalization; free for all mankind. 'Run, and protect them with your lives.' For these are the keys to the Perfect Ice Cream. RUN!!!!

Then there was a small party outside, a gathering of friends to share food and music. Graeme playing guitar (I didn't think he had a music bone in his body), a girl with short blond hair and fine voice, and I thank John and Tracy for coming all the way from Indiana to play bass and share in the celebration. Of ice cream.

Full moon triggers wild and vivid dreams at night.

A Test of My Humanity

“By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void.” - Miyamoto Musashi

To suffer a loss of spirit is a test of your humanity. Losing someone dear to you; a parent, a child, a spouse, a lover - the emotions that tear through your being like a hurricane and leave you stranded on a desert in pain, every drop of life sucked out of you. Left on your knees, empty and dry, not knowing how to live or die. Your soul is ripped out of your chest and your heart lays beating in your hands. The emptiness is a bottomless pit once filled with love and presence. 

How does the spirit feel such pain? No other physical ache equals that of a grieving soul and a heart in pain. In the aftermath of a recent personal trauma I traveled to find my spirit again and heal the pain inside while wrestling with a gaping hole of emptiness. A spirit torn asunder, scattered in pieces and I knew I would never be the same.

Intellectually, the scientist I am realized the internal pain resulted from stress and shock; thousands of neurotransmitters and hormones raging uncontrolled in my brain and my body (beta-blockers would have helped). The same neurochemicals that regulate physical pain control psychological pain. Yet, what makes me human struggled to resolve the conflict of the pragmatist and the humanist within. I had to dissociate from the pain and grief to find humility and peace. Needing to find the remnants inside and nurture their growth to fill what had been lost, I returned to old medicine for my soul: the mountains.

As I gazed at the deserts and mountains passing below me the world became bigger and I became miniscule. Sprouting metal and mental wings, I watched time unfold, shape the earth and terraform history. I saw time guide the waters as they cut through the earth, smoothing mountains and eroding layers of colored sediments. Rivers and creeks gouged deeply into the land leaving threads that snaked through the terrain below. It reminded me of yards of speckled velvet thrown from above, lying quietly ruffled and wrinkled. Colored mesas and tabletops reached up to the sky above like stalagmites. Scattered straight and winding roads transected the land like large pencil marks made by humans and their machines. 

I imagined the singularity of elements and the bonding between them, the evolution of nucleic acids and proteins transforming into creatures, and the dynamic complexity between the inanimate and animate. I imagined life being born and dying, all within a blink of an eye.

Nothing is static and nothing acts in isolation. Everything is connected in a measurable or immeasurable way. Everything is mutable to some degree. The dichotomy of our consciousness to reason and make choices between our biology and our environment scares most people. Yet that is what makes us human: the capability of making decisions and choices. Even indecision is a choice. And every decision and choice is a trade-off with consequences, good and bad. Sometimes, that requires considerable strength.

Relative to the stage below, I realized that my pain, my thoughts, my drama, my life were inconsequential to the play. All before and after me are actors on this stage of time forever caught in a play billions of years old and which never ends. I don’t need to rationalize my existence nor that of others. The meaning of my life does not derive from without but from within and my interaction with my surroundings. My life, my death are one in the same. It is Humility. I again resolved myself with the world around me, acknowledging my capabilities, fears, faults and desires and the essence of who I am and can be. 

No one can take that away.

At 11,000 feet in the air and without hesitation I faced an old fear and conquered it. By embracing my fears, my death, my weaknesses, I regained my strength. Again life infused my soul and my spirit soared like an eagle over the mountains upon which I stood. My only remaining fear was to act without honor or in dishonesty to myself. And to unconditionally give it all away. That will not happen again.

I have found what I am made of: something transient yet tenacious, not dismantled by loss but recomposed by it.

Let the healing begin.

“The truth is that strength lies in the interior of the Warrior: in his heart, his mind and his spirit… The heart is essential in helping the intellect to understand the spirit.” - Miyamoto Musashi, ‘Book of Five Rings’