Big Think

Timothy Monicken commented on What is your question? on January 19, 2008, 2:33 AM

I'm uncertain about what your true point was; although, I imagine it has more to do with our present-day penchant for material entitlement/ "immediate gratification," and perhaps the hedonistic/ epicurean preoccupations of today's self-indulgent lifestyles, than with questions surrounding the poor choices made by each and everyone of us throughout our youth. Certainly, our corporate business entities, in terms of their governance, etc., act like spoiled children when they SHOULD know better, but this to has been seen as "water under the bridge" and we can only hope that we are wising up quickly. It will take a major shift in the "haves" mentality for there to be an equitable future for all. Sustainable ecologies will indeed only be attainable when we are collectively thinking & working from the "same page." The internal dialogues will indeed have to become more measured and authentic if we are to achieve more keenly adaptive understandings & ever-broadened sensibilities about our world & fellow humans. To do this, my group hopes to further encourage the internalization of our mapped collective human intellect. But then to do this, people will have to pay many times over with their investments in time & effort BEFORE that internalization takes hold... it like sending people back to school with no "immediate" payoff. To be sure, not an easy task, if people continue to embrace the "short view." It requires a shift to the "long view" mentality... the Japanese could do the required exercises much more easily than those of us in America - sad, but true.

Timothy Monicken commented on What is your question? on January 19, 2008, 1:56 AM

WOW! All I can say is WOW! That was the best bit of conscience-jarring that I've seen on this site! Have you thought of running for President? I wish I could say unequivocally that I have been a prime example of "good stewardship" for the talents given to me in my life... I can't. But I think I'm trying hard, and I'm giving it my best for the most. Still, this question of stewardship should NOT be seen as some piece high moral ground taken by some "neurotic Puritan." And even if that were the case, the question would still be a valid assertion of whether one has chosen to fight the "good fight," or simply given up in the face of adversity. and, the later is an easy trap for the unprincipled, unschooled mind... I fear fatalism eats at the heart of our youth as the public schools have continually eroded the place of "dialogue" in our pedagogical practices. No longer are students made to stand and perform... to address an audience of their peers on a daily basis. Literacy and language skills suffer immeasurably as a result. Those fortunate enough to be involved in debate or theater, are perhaps saved from this obvious deficit upon leaving our secondary schools, but still their sense of the "meta" is starved, until someone or some class helps to regain ground in this area. But I'm off on my favorite tangent which concerns American education and the need for change in our pedagogy. Anyway, stewardship of one's gifts is seldom brought to mind nowadays, and we need to hone our gray matter to the best we are able, if we are to prove adequate to the many challenges and "cusps of catastrophe" that are soon to confront humankind.

Timothy Monicken commented on What is your question? on January 19, 2008, 1:26 AM

Yea... one day at a time... it's not always easy, but seldom does it have to be overwhelming.... BALANCE in our lives - is sometimes "easier said..." But it is at the very crux of our ability to persevere. There is a piece of "circular" poetry/ prose that goes like this: "Patience is the greater part of Commitment; Commitment is the greater part of Consistency; Consistency is the greater part Perseverance; Perseverance is the greater part of Patience." >> I try to live by these words... they have helped to keep me "sane" all these many long years!

Timothy Monicken commented on What is your question? on January 19, 2008, 1:08 AM

Sorry Sir Richard, I have to side with "Murphy Law!" Our track record as a species is NO kind of glowing example of "cooler heads prevailing." Both of the World Wars "happened" because of short-sighted empire-building and plain human GREED. We will only become "civilized" when the species as a whole entity, is working from the same page... I'm NOT say totalitarian one-mindedness, NOR am I advocating a laissez-fair capitalism without a conscience or sense of built-in assurances for bottom- line levels of "equity" for all. Ultimately, those who claim to be "civilized" can "afford" to be. While it was, albeit, a farcical comedy, "Trading Places" (with Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Lee Curtis), pretty much hit this issue squarely on the head.And the "butler character," played by one of your own, Denholm Elliott, could see the travesty of the game being played out before him - himself, powerless to act until "things" feel into place which allowed him to take a bolder initiative.In terms of Maslow's hierarchy, where the BASICS are concerned, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool socialist - "from cradle to grave!" "Life with measured dignity" SHOULD be an inalienable human right! Until that is achieved worldwide, any DREAMS of a civilized planet are merely that!

Timothy Monicken commented on What is your question? on January 19, 2008, 12:30 AM

If one has ever viewed the movie "Dogma," perhaps you can understand this "play on words:" I am less interested in what I, or another "stand for" as much as what they will stand for... "ideas are fine... you can change an idea... beliefs are trickier... people die for beliefs...." Let's see, there were the "Crusades," the Iconoclastic wars, the wars between Protestants and Catholics, and that's just "Christianity."I'm just saying that perhaps TOLERANCE is best achieved when we DO NOT take our religious or cultural conditionings as the "be all and end all" of our short "itty-bitty" existence on this earth. I mean, WHY does any religious fanatic/ or extremist believe that his/her religion has "cornered the market" on the "mind of God" or some eternal wisdom??? I once had a friend, now deceased, who said that any person who has not found their religion to be decidedly "incomplete," and also seen attractive elements/practices in another, is either blind, or simply brainwashed... I tend to agree. I'm decidedly Christian in how I relate to God, but love the Islamic sense of God's perfected symmetries. I like the eightfold path practiced by Buddhist monks. The Hindi facets of the "GODHEAD" hold intrigue for me. Perhaps we could all stand to be a bit more eclectic in our personal decisions on what makes sense to us... rather than spouting off "dogma" or entrenched 'canonized' thought that often had its beginnings in early control of the masses. Think hard on the aspects of your religion that don't set well with you, on a "gut level," then trust your gut/ instinct and don't be swayed by circular logic, or illegitimate fear mongering. That's what I stand for... and WHAT I'll stand for is ONLY freedom to question and be as esoteric in your cultural-religious ideation as you choose to be.