Learning, Perception and Values

 

One truism which we often hear is that we learn most from our mistakes, or as Oscar Wilde put it, ‘experience is merely the name (people) give to their mistakes’ but how true is this truism? To answer we must first look at another concept and that is of change. The truth about change is that there is no such thing as change for we/everything are/is in a constant state of flux, indeed there is no such thing as ‘solid’ yet there are moments to which we give the name ‘change’ and then ascribe a value to it.

 

If change is, as we have said, a constant, then how can a concept such as ‘change’ exist? The answer very simply comes down to perception. As we are attuned/indifferent to our daily changes when something happens which goes against our concept of ‘normal’ we notice it, we go ‘ah, that was different’ even if in the grand scheme of things it isn’t. Once we have noticed this outlier to our usual experience (perception) we then, instinctively, try to find meaning to it and in doing so we ascribe ‘values’ (worth etc.) to it. We say ‘ah, this was a profound change’ and as it has been noticed and given values it seems so, indeed it seems so much so that we, foolishly, think that this is the only change we are experiencing and that it belongs to us alone.

 

How does this link to learning? Well, as we are constantly undergoing changes we are constantly, be it conscious or unconsciously, learning to adapt to the changes. It can be something innocuous such as a slight shift on a subatomic level which means that our gait is altered slightly which our body adapts to without our conscious awareness. I would argue that 99.9% of the significant changes and learning that we go through we are unaware of and what we notice, and call ‘change’ is cumulative such as water cracking rock. It takes thousands of years of constant change and that level of change is not altered but our perception of it is altered due to a) not being aware of the pervious changes and b) it seeming to be so ‘different’ that we actually notice it and so, to us, the rock has just been smashed by the water even through this could not be further from the reality.

 

One of my favourite jokes is:

 

Two fish are swimming. One turns to the other and says, ‘the water is warm today’. The other turns back and says, ‘what is water?’

 

Many of the great discoveries in the world are things which are obvious, yet they are so obvious that we fail to realise they are there until someone explains them and we go ‘well, obviously…’. Examples of these are Newtonian Gravity, Einsteinian Relativity, The Socratic Method, Tesla’s AC and so on and so forth. The Pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus said that everything was made of ‘atoms’ a couple of thousand years before the scientist J.J Thompson discovered that they were ‘actually’ there.  Even then many of the changes which we learn from are things that we already know or that are intrinsically linked to human nature. An example of this is the Atomic Bomb. After it was detonated, Albert Einstein set out trying to make sure it was never used again and to end war. He proposed convening the greatest minds to a council to discuss this issue and wrote to the psychiatrist Sigmund Freud to ask his opinion (read the letters if you can, Freud seems completely at a loss of how to deal with Einstein). Einstein’s argument can be summed up in one quote, ‘a mouse wouldn’t build a mousetrap’. In this Einstein is saying that animals would not build the means of their own destruction, or even consider it a vague possibility, but it is human nature to do so. This is something which we all know but it took the pointless loss of life, leading to the modern world of fear and paranoia, for someone to learn that human nature is flawed and that genocide is not the answer even if these lessons seem to be being forgotten as the geopolitical world slowly starts to return to the state it was in which gave birth to cataclysmic events.

 

So, from this, we can conclude that change is a constant and post hoc ergo propter hoc learning must be a constant also (discounting Plato’s theory that we knew everything before we were born and learning is just remembering what we once knew). However, there are times when we actually become aware of the change(s) which we are undergoing and once we become aware of them, as with Einstein realising the reality of the A-bomb, we ascribe values upon them and then say ‘ah, we have learnt more from this’ when in actual fact we have not learnt more or less from this than any other learning change, rather we have noticed it, ascribed values to it, and thus creating the illusion that learning, like change, is not a constant.

 

‘till next time

Method Acting And In Praise Of Gentleness

 

In the 1950s, the actors Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and James Dean (mostly Brando, the other two copied and idolised him and appeared in alphabetical order B-C-D) put into practice the teachings of the legendary Russian theatre giant Konstantin Sergeievich Stanislavski through the medium of Stella Adler’s Academy and thus the method actor was born. Whilst most acting in the theatre and on the silver screen was ‘classical acting’ (think Christopher Lee in Dracula ‘I ammmm an acccctooooor playing a vammmm-pie-y-aaaah!’ or most Shakespeare you may have seen) in which an actor quite clearly portrayed a character, method acting was when the actor ‘ceased to be’ (so to speak) and became the person they were playing (think Brando in On The Waterfront and the glove or ‘I couldabeen a contender’ scenes). In this the person ceased to be and the character was born.

 

I have long held an interest in acting in terms of the development of the personality and masks. Often, we don a mask before going out of the house, or even out of our bedrooms, to face the day. This is done to protect ourselves against the world, and is very wise, as Leonard Cohen said

 

‘…it’s always painful for (one) to take off his armour. He gets wounded immediately because there’s arrows flying all over the place. As soon as he takes off his hero’s costume he goes down with an arrow in his heart, that’s why, you know, the figure of cupid arose. You go down with that arrow in your heart, it’s no joke. It’s no joke. You feel it with your children, you feel it with your mate, and you feel it with your parents, you feel it with your friends. If ever you take off the hero’s armour, you get hit right away.’

 

Yet if we leave these masks on for too long then it is possible (as with Batman (note: I am not Batman)) that we become the mask and our ‘real self’ is lost maybe even to us, the character becomes our ‘real’ self and the actor playing the role is lost. Yet, what is more interesting is what happens if this armour, to use Mr Cohen’s term, is removed, if the ‘arrows’ pierce us.

 

Adversity is where a person’s true nature is shown. Dylan once wrote with scathing irony about a lost love who, seemingly, has gone off with his friend and were gleeful to see him suffer:

 

‘Pain sure brings out the best in people, doesn’t it?’

 

And yet this can sometimes be true. Often when people are hurt, exposed and battered they become harder yet harder doesn’t necessarily have to equate with colder. There are some people, some remarkable people, who understand that true strength lies in gentleness, that to be able to take off the armour, be it by choice or cruelly ripped for them, and behold another for who they are and accept them completely, in what Martin Buber would call ‘I-Thou’ (I’ve written about this often so feel no need to repeat but if you are curious use the search engine on this page to search ‘I-Thou’, it is a truly beautiful concept). It is in this moment when one understands that all truths and meaning in/of life is far beyond us, that we cannot wholly understand another, or even our self, and yet the only thing which matters is love. As Mr Cohen wrote, and has been repeated in different forms at different times, it is the cracks in us, in our masks, in our characters, which lets in the light, the light of gentleness, of kindness, of everything which has always been missing from the mainstream world and, as Mr Cohen said when talking about his song Hallelujah and its meaning,

 

‘That’s what it’s all about. It says that none of this – you’re not going to be able to work this thing out – you’re not going to be able to set – this realm does not admit to revolution – there’s no solution to this mess. The only moment that you can live here comfortably in these absolutely irreconcilable conflicts is in this moment when you embrace it all and you say ‘Look, I don’t understand a f*****g thing at all – Hallelujah! That’s the only moment that we live here fully as human beings.’        

 

And after all isn’t that the point of life? To be human?

 

‘till next time

 

Flat Earth And Human Knowledge

 

We humans have a problem. The problem is that we are incredibly stupid. In fact, we are so stupid that don’t even realise just how stupid we are. Over the last few months I have been reading about the Flat Earth Society, a bunch of people who believe that the earth is flat. My original response was Pavlovian, how can they be so stupid?, but then I stopped reacting and started thinking. They think that the earth is flat, so what? What difference does it make? The most common response would be that these people are so stupid that they ignore scientific fact however, there are many people in the world who believe that the earth is round but also believe that the world’s problems are caused by and can be solved by killing Jews. But, they believe that the earth is round so they must be smart, no?

 

Yes, some of the ‘flatearthers’ are concerning in their stupidity (not to mention any names but do a quick search if you are curious) but what concerns me more, something I have eluded to before, is the profound stupidity of the human ego. When things happen, we instantly assume that we know everything and then set ourselves up as judge, jury and executioner. In the psychiatrist Carl Jung’s book Answer To Job in which he tackles the biblical story of Job being tortured by God as part of a wager with the Devil, (also in which, I believe, Jung tries to tackle the issues addressed by the movement from Polytheism to monotheism for if God is omnipotent and is everything then how can there be evil in the world, something explained by the humanistic and many gods of mythology), Jung writes that when Job is being tortured, instead of trying to understand why he is being tortured and offering support, Job’s friends ‘…moralise in an all too human manner, that is, in the stupidest fashion imaginable’. Or in other words, they assume that they know the ‘truth’ and therefore judge Job, not from the perspective of him and the, if you like, ‘facts’ of the situation (which they are not privy too as Kant wrote ‘What might be said of things in themselves, separated from all relationship to our senses, remains for us absolutely unknown’) rather they view the situation from their own limited perspective of: Job is being punished by God so, post hoc ergo propter hoc, Job must deserve his punishment.

 

In the brilliant Aaron Sorkin TV show The West Wing the secretary of the president dies in a car crash. After the funeral the president clears the cathedral and has a mono-et-mono with God in which he, the president, questions the will of God viewing the whole of God’s unimaginable will, or as he puts it, quoting Graham Greene, ‘You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.’, as in relation to himself ending it with an act of rebellion, lighting a cigarette and then crushing it underfoot leaving in on the floor (presumably his moral outrage does not extend to his fellow man having to clear up the mess of thoughtless people). The brilliance of the scene (see below) is how lifelike it is, how often we, or others, experience, by proxy, the lives of others and then make it all about ourselves. Politics, economics etc. would be very different if people viewed the world, not as an extension of their self and of their will, but rather in relation to those whom their actions/and the actions they are proxy to, affect/effect the lives of others. Yes, we can say that not to believe that the earth is round is dumb, but surely we have bigger personal issues to confront before we condemn others for a stupidity which is inherent to all of us?

 

‘till next time

 

——–

 

BARTLET

Would you ask the agents to seal the cathedral for a minute?

…

You’re a son of a bitch, you know that?

She bought her first new car and you hit her with a drunk driver. What, was that

supposed to be funny? “You can’t conceive, nor can I, the appalling strangeness of the

mercy of God,” says Graham Greene. I don’t know whose ass he was kissing there ’cause

I think you’re just vindictive. What was Josh Lyman? A warning shot? That was my son.

What did I ever do to yours but praise His glory and praise His name? There’s a

tropical storm that’s gaining speed and power. They say we haven’t had a storm this

bad since you took out that tender ship of mine in the north Atlantic last year…

68 crew. You know what a tender ship does? Fixes the other ships. Doesn’t even carry

guns. Just goes around, fixes the other ships and delivers that mail. That’s all it

can do. Gratias tibi ago, domine. Yes, I lied. It was a sin. I’ve committed many sins. Have I displeased you, you feckless thug? 3.8 million new jobs, that wasn’t good? Bailed out Mexico, increased foreign trade, 30 million new acres of land for conservation, put Mendoza on the bench, we’re not fighting a war, I’ve raised three children…that’s not enough to buy me out of the doghouse? Haec credam a deo pio? A deo iusto? A deo scito? Cruciatus in crucem! Tuus in terra servus nuntius fui officium perfeci. Cruciatus in crucem. Eas in crucem! (“I give thanks to you, O Lord. Am I really to believe that these are the acts of a loving God? A just God? A wise God? To hell with your punishments. I was your servant here on Earth. And I spread your word and I did your work. To hell with your punishments. To hell with you!)

 

Bartlet turns away in anger. He descends to the lower sanctuary and lights a cigarette.

He takes a single puff, drops the butt to the floor, and grinds it defiantly with his

shoe.

 

 

Evidence Of Things Not Seen

 

The world is changing, empires rise, empires fall and a lot of boring stuff happens in-between. India has just announced plans to open a ton more airports to make it a bigger player on the world stage, part of the emerging first world countries. However, if one looks away from the markets and financial pages one will see a very different story. I have lost count how many stories I have read in the last 2/3 months about rape in India, not just rape but the rape of children. By children I mean those under 16 and also babies, months old babies being raped. I imagine this would disgust you, as it would most of the world, however, those proven to have raped children and babies seem to have one thing in common, the surrounding people support them. Yes, they are the rapists of babies but they are our rapists of babies!

 

Markets rise and fall, a very good example of this being Brazil. As Brazil was growing the gap between rich and poor expanded. Kidnapping is considered a way of life and is to be expected even for tourists (try reading one of their travel guides). When the markets started to enter recession, who was it who paid the price? That’s right, as with the UK, US et al, it was the poorest who had to pay yet Brazil lacks the infrastructure of the said countries so when it hit it hit not just hard but brutally hard and as a consequence of this Brazil have just appointed a far right leader whose first policy announcement was to cut down the Amazon (hurrah!) Rainforest (Boo!)

 

China is changing, it is going down two roads at once. On one hand you have Xi Jinping making himself dic-tator for life, writing himself into the constitution giving him the most power in China since the 60 million-man Mao (named after how many deaths he caused with his policies), Weibo (social media, think Facebook meets Google) was recently, based on Government policies, scrubbing all mentions of homosexuality off its platform, likewise social media also highlighted another problem in society, that of sexual abuse. A large percentage of girls in university is China have been sexually assaulted and/or raped by people including their teachers. One girl went to the police to report it and was told by the police that to report it would ‘dishonour her parents’. This broke over social media and was quickly scrubbed but then was carried on in defiance of the new law, likewise Chinese millennials came out en force to support homosexual rights in the streets and on social media but these events are few and far between and, probably, will have little lasting impact.

 

Why is this?

 

Universities in China, again based on new government laws, are putting up signs saying only ten non-Chinese allowed in each time. Imagine if the world did that? Chinese students are all over the world, they go to the US, UK, Canada etc to get a top rate education to take back to China but given Chinese propaganda this means that China is the greatest country in the world and subsequently Chinese students do not mix (in general) with non-Chinese students partially due to the xenophobic nature of their cultural ‘education’ and partially from an inability to have the social and emotional skills to do so. Likewise, Chinese businesses go around the world taking for China only. China First is the moto of One China, a country whose human rights record is despicable. The Germans still are not forgiven for trying to conquer the world, yet China is currently doing so and has an empire of countries it has colonised (Tibet for one) and no on mentions it in any meaningful way. China, India, Brazil, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia et al (a really great list to be on) are pandered to and given the opportunity to be become first world countries and for students and businesses to thrive. Why? Because 1^st World in this day and age, in a day and age of excess and plenty, means economically and politically ‘strong’. Human Rights are not even second or third in terms of importance and babies can be raped as long as there are airports for big business. It only depends on what the markets and news shows whereas a First World country can only be known from the evidence of things not seen. Am I outraged by this?

 

To quote The West Wing:

 

“Outraged? I’m barely surprised. This is a country where women aren’t allowed to drive a car. They’re not allowed to be in the company of any man other than a close relative. They’re required to adhere to a dress code that would make a Maryknoll nun look like Malibu Barbie. They beheaded 121 people last year for robbery, rape, and drug trafficking. They have no free press, no elected government, no political parties. And the Royal Family allows the Religious Police to travel in groups of six carrying nightsticks and they freely and publicly beat (and rape) women. But ‘Brutus is an honourable man.’ Am I outraged? No. . . . That is Saudi Arabia/China/India/Russia/North Korea/Brazil etc, our partners in peace.”       

 

‘till next time