How to cut off emotional cord and keep distance

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra

Issues are rooted in history, but flowing into politics, unfortunately: Vikram Sampath https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2024/Apr/13/issues-are-rooted-in-history-but-flowing-into-politics-unfortunately-vikram-sampath

A famous historian once said, "Every work of history is an interim report." It is always a work in progress; new evidence comes up. So, I might have written the most well-researched, well-written book on a particular subject. Suppose you find something new and discover something new, which I have either intentionally ignored or didn't have the capacity to research thoroughly. My thesis could be completely overturned, and my book might end up in the dustbin. Your book might become the new narrative on that subject. So, it's not 'correcting'. What I'd like to say is, it's presenting an alternative version of history... 

Every person, whether we are in media, writing, in the public domain, artists, none of us is free from any bias. We can say we are independent, but an element of bias about what we hold very true to ourselves naturally creeps in. That is especially true for writers of non-fiction and history. How to cut off that emotional cord and keep the distance from a subject in which you're so emotionally invested becomes a huge challenge. About the history books, yeah, these will become (political) playgrounds all the time... 

Now, what is evidence in the case of history writing? You go to, of course, not just archaeology but also literary sources. Now, when you go to literary sources, we've had celebrated historians of ancient India who proudly claim, "I don't know anything of Sanskrit. I don't know Pali. I don't know Prakrit. I don't know Tamil, I don't know all the classical languages." So, our history is hidden in those languages, in those texts, if you're looking at literary evidence, other than archaeology. Similarly, people who are celebrated mediaeval Indian historians proudly say, "I don't know Arabic and Persian." So, what is my window? I'm looking at a pinhole, to a 5000 years of civilization through this pinhole of English translations done by somebody, mostly Westerners, with their blinkered views or inadequate understanding of language, especially Sanskrit. One word can mean multiple meanings, depending on the context. 

... 

Of #Oppenheimer, #Arjuna and vexing questions of #ethics and morality #Auroville hosts special session on Sunday

In July 1945, as Oppenheimer and other scientists gathered to watch the Trinity nuclear test, the intensity of the explosion would surpass the limits of their imagination. A passage from the Gita would flash through Oppenheimer’s mind: “If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the Mighty One”.

His thoughts would then quickly turn to Krishna’s words from the same epic: “Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”.

https://twitter.com/THPondy/status/1781126358351151281?t=-11OHkD7_uMC_iwkQ8jXug&s=19

Democracy is increasingly becoming a mockery, not only in India but globally, as it drifts away from its core principles. The influence of false religious leaders and greedy corporations exploits democracy for profit, hindering the progress of nations and humanity as a whole.

https://twitter.com/yeldopaul/status/1781341353076465958?t=CSPM67x5ADRNyLeFpwpGaA&s=19

#Culture is often a code word for "status quo" -- because it has an implicit value judgment that it has to be "preserved" & not "changed".  Cultures can & should change. This is why the politics of change is called progressive, while the politics of continuity conservative

https://twitter.com/madversity/status/1781348773085491445?t=uSAiaaPsCwm2TB2bSaVnwg&s=19

Opening Remarks for the Canto Seven

• Apr 5, 2024

Savitri has arrived at the doors of the Unknowable where she has to make a choice ...whether she merges into Nothingness ... or else she comes back... and redeems the world.

Correspondence 1932, December (II)

• Apr 11, 2024

The desire for the Divine or for bhakti for the Divine is the one desire which can free one from all the others — at the core it is not a desire, but an aspiration.

The New Perspectives in Indian Philosophy (henceforth NPIP) edited by Chakraborty is a scholarly collection of philosophical lectures delivered by Kalidas Bhattacharyya (1911-1984) at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture during last two decades of his life. Bhattacharyya continued the philosophical legacy of his father, the notable modern Indian philosopher, Krishna Chandra Bhattacharyya (1875-1949) Reviewed by Krishna Mani Pathak, Hindu College, University of Delhi, India Read on blog 

[PDF] World-Systems at Fifty: A Provisional Balance-Sheet

RA Palat - Journal of World-Systems Research, 2024

Fifty years after it was first formulated, how are we to assess the ways in which a world-systems perspective has shaped the way we see the world, and its limits and challenges as we stand in the midst of a neoliberal restructuring of universities and …

[PDF] Against Extinction: An Interview with Sahej Rahal

K Zitzewitz - 21: Inquiries into Art, History, and the Visual, 2024

… SR: Let us consider the Hindutva schematic of the Hindu Rashtra: a mythical country drafted upon Indian contours. Hindutva insists that it … To graft itself upon this multitude, Hindutva weaponizes state machinery in the form of cultural erasures …

[HTML] Caste/Essay

AOF CASTE

… This political Hinduism later came to be called Hindutva.33 … Hindu nationalism, in his 1923 pamphlet Essentials of Hindutva (later retitled Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu?). The … On Bhai Parmanand, a founder-member of the Ghadar Party who later …

[PDF] The City Clerk and the Body in the Basement

CJ McFall - 2024

Writing has been not only my source of income, but also an avenue to display my own thoughts through the words of others for the past four decades. Being able to incorporate my own personality across the genres in written form has given me, and …

Spirituality, Mental Health and Quality of Life

N Pant

… health and related aspects such as Yoga, Upanishads, Gita and Vedanta among others.Patanjali … The famous ‘root sutra’ of Patanjali Yoga Sutra is where yoga is explained as: … And the aim of all Gyan, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga is to be free from …

Nietzschean, Feminist, and Embodied Perspectives on the Presocratics

JI Breidenstein Jr

… Nietzsche is integral to both the philosophical and scholarly aspects of this book, and just as his emphasis that, in contrast to the paradigm… that I take a yoga class at the Yoga Garden in Narberth. From my first classes with Mark Nelson and the …

Transpersonal Psychology—William James and Moving Beyond a Materialist Paradigm

E Sheppard - Mild Altered States of Consciousness: Subtle Shifts of …, 2024

… Mike Daniels suggests that his Integral theory is actually a borrowing from Piaget with extra levels derived from Eastern meditative practice. Wilber changes stages of development to states, and suggests these can occur at any stage of development …

[PDF] The Effectiveness of Integrating Religious/Spirituality Beliefs into Psychotherapy: An Integrative Review

J Anighoro-Okezie - 2024

This comprehensive review explores how integrating religious beliefs into psychotherapy impacts mental health outcomes. Following a structured approach guided by Whittemore and Knafl's (Nov 2005) methodology, the review involves a …

Zero and Pi Symbols of

A Mukhopadhyay, SR Bhatt

The subject matter of the present work is evident from its title. It reflects the epistemology in multidisciplinary academic spheres (world history, philosophy, mathematics of the ancient and modern days) and qualifies the book counterfactual …

[PDF] The relationship between emotional intelligence and stress resistance of the individual

S Yurchuk, Y Lyashch - Personality and environmental issues, 2024

… Hans Selye, a Canadian endocrinologist, emphasized that stress should not be feared, because it is an integral component of life. Stress is … Relaxation techniques - yoga, meditation and deep breathing practices help calm the mind and …

The Emperor's Quantum Computer Illustrated: An Alternative Light-Centered Interpretation of Quanta, Superposition, Entanglement and the Computing that Arises …

P Malik - 2024

This book attempts to reveal something of the vastly different and fundamentally creative quality of computing that must accompany any computation involving the quantum-levels. To linearly project digital computing laurels manifest as increasing …

[PDF] Aṣṭāṅga-yoga dan Upaya Peningkatan Kecerdasan Adversitas Manusia

IM Dwitayasa - Jurnal Penelitian Agama Hindu, 2024

Scientists discovered the paradigm of three human intelligences: intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. This paradigm is known as Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Emotional Quotient (EQ), and Spiritual Quotient (SQ). These three are the most …

Values provide the golden middle way

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra

Yearning For Beauty

P Chaulia - 2024

… I ponder on these lines of Sri Aurobindo, “The great worldrhythms were heart-beats of one Soul, To feel was a flamediscovery of God, All mind was a single harp of many strings,...”. If that is so, there is no neeed of rote learning and every human …

[PDF] The Nature of Beauty and Its Objective Manifestation Serve as Evidence of the God Described in the Bible

MS Libby - 2024

In exploring the concept of objective beauty in nature, a strong argument emerges for the existence of a divine creator as described in the Bible. This thesis, titled “The Nature of Beauty and its Objective Manifestation Serve as Evidence of the God …

[HTML] Perceived Worries and Spirituality: A Mixed Methods Study of the Primary Caregiver Well-Being of Orphan and Vulnerable Children in Ethiopia

A Tadesse, JJ Helton, K Li - Children, 2024

This study investigates the well-being of primary caregivers responsible for orphaned and vulnerable children. Well-being is defined as overall wellness, happiness, and satisfaction. Through mixed methods case studies and purposive …

[PDF] Evolution of Consciousness: Unveiling the Journey from Human form to Divine Instrument in Integral Yoga Psychology

PS Rachna

… Within the intricate fabric of human existence, the evolution of consciousness remains a perennial inquiry, and Integral Yoga psychology, rooted in the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, offers a unique framework to explore this …

[PDF] The regeneration of the cosmic mind: cosmopsychism, mental chaos, and the new creation

H Cawdron - Religious Studies, 2024

In several works, Joanna Leidenhag has discussed the theological merits of panpsychism, the idea that consciousness is ubiquitous in the universe. I shall pursue a related project here in which I consider how a variant of panpsychism …

Gandhi's Mira: Debating “Female” Suffering and the Politics of Iconography

R Varghese, AK Rath - Hypatia, 2024

During the first decades of the twentieth century when the Indian freedom struggle movement gained momentum, MK Gandhi often evoked Mirabai—the sixteenth-century bhakti poet-saint—in his public speeches and voluminous letters. This article …

Personality Dynamics

J Musek - Personality Psychology: A New Perspective, 2024

… Is human being a product of two different evolutions, biological and spiritual (cultural), as thinkers from Aurobindo and Teilhard de Chardin to Dawkins believe? Or is our cultural development “included” in biological evolution? …

[PDF] Philosophy and the medicine of the east

AS Oson - Scientific Collection «InterConf», 2024

… The Twentieth century Hindu guru Sri Aurobindo was influenced by German Idealism and his Integral yoga is regarded as a synthesis of Eastern and Western thought. The German phenomenologist Jean Gebser's writings on the history of …

Comparing Religions: The Study of Us That Changes Us

JJ Kripal, A Anzali, AR Jain, E Prophet, S Sanchez - 2024

Teaches students the art and practice of comparison in the globalizing world, fully updated to reflect recent scholarship and major developments in the field Comparing Religions: The Study of Us that Changes Us is a wholly original …

Integrating three theories of 21st-century capitalism

D Windsor - Corporate Governance: The International Journal of …, 2024

Purpose This study aims to help develop “business principles for stakeholder capitalism” in two steps. First, the study defines internal logic of three theories of capitalism and two variants within each theory. Second, it examines approaches to …

[PDF] NATURE OF INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT

A Nautiyal, A Rana, US Kashipur, US Kashipur

The Indian National Movement was one of the greatest mass movements in world history. It epitomizes the rising of a large diverse nation against the powerful colonial state. The movement was led by great leaders over different periods of time. It …

[PDF] Philosophical Understanding of Nationhood: Exploring High School Students' Perspectives on Islamism and Secularism in History Learning

A Purnomo, GF Kurniawan - Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 2024

This research analyzes the contribution of learning the history of early independence in fostering a philosophical understanding of nationhood. The research questions are: 1) What kinds of philosophical understanding of nationhood …

A Case Study of a Post-Acquisition Organizational Healing Intervention: Enablers and Outcomes

A Agrawal, A Pandey, P Kumar - South Asian Journal of Business and Management …, 2024

This qualitative study examines the effectiveness of an organization-wide healing intervention that aimed to fortify an uncertain relationship that existed between the new management and existing employees in a post-acquisition scenario. There was …

Doris Schroeder, 

Kate Chatfield, 

Michelle Singh, 

Roger Chennells & 

Peter Herissone-Kelly 

Values inspire, motivate and engage people to discharge obligations or duties... And what is meant by fairness, respect, care and honesty? It is concluded that values can provide excellent guidance and aspiration in the fight against ethics dumping, and are therefore a well-chosen structure for the Global Code of Conduct for Research in Resource-Poor Settings.

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-15745-6_3

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN 1948) lists four values in the first sentence: dignity, freedom, justice and peace in the world. The first sentence of the Convention on Biological Diversity (UN 1992) refers to “the intrinsic value of biological diversity and of the ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic values of biological diversity” (emphasis added).

at the national level in the UK, the first item of The Code: Professional Standards of Practice and Behaviour for Nurses, Midwives and Nursing Associates, reads: “Treat people with kindness, respect and compassion” (NMC 2018).

the Declaration of Helsinki (WMA 2013), which speaks of “safety , effectiveness, efficiency, accessibility and quality” in article 6.

It soon became clear that fairness, respect, care and honesty are all lacking, or deficient, whenever ethics dumping Footnote1 occurs, and that a loss of trust in researchers and research itself can result. 

First, value can refer to measurability. Value, in this sense of the word, has no relationship to values such as admiration, approval or motivation.

So why were values chosen as the foundation for the GCC rather than standards, principles, virtues or ideals ?

The terms “fairness”, “justice” and “equity” are often used interchangeably. The TRUST consortium chose the term “fairness” in the belief that it would be the most widely understood globally.

Standards, principles, values, virtues and ideals can guide moral action. At the foundation of the GCC are values. Why? For three main reasons:

1. Values inspire action; they motivate people to do things. For instance, when the value of fairness is threatened, people normally respond with action.

2. Values provide the golden middle way between being overly prescriptive and overly aspirational. Standards and principles require too much precision in their formulation and are too prescriptive in international collaborative research, while virtues and ideals are too aspirational in their demands of researchers.

3. Values emerged naturally from the major engagement activities undertaken prior to developing the GCC.

The eradication of ethics dumping requires not only moral guidance but also moral action to counter violations of fairness, respect, care and honesty. The 23 short, accessible articles of the GCC are intended to both guide and inspire researchers to act with fairness, respect, care and honesty.

Vivekananda is overrated

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra

Vivekananda: The most overrated religious figure?

> Indians suffer from inferiority complex and because Vvk went to USA he became celebrity here, while he himself was not a realized yogi.

>RKM tried to mix Hinduism,  Xtianity to create a modern neo religion.

> He was just a link in the never ending Hindu reformist chain.

> While BJP/RSS criticizes Gandhi and his change in Hinduism, they have heavily promoted Vcvkism

>Vvkism believes in Varna Sankar society.

> Varna Sankarnta is root of all degeneracy.

> He was proped by Massons

>RKM worships Mother Mary, Jesus etc. While I am ok with respecting religious heads, to inculcate them in worship etc will lead to degeneracy in our religion.

>RKM has been overtly nationalistic without understanding the deeper crux of Hindu society.

>Vivekananda and his later followers have preached a flawed Vedanta which is uniformist and radical. 

> The over exposure of Vedic dictums to people without appropriate Sadhana will lead to mental chaos and turbulations.

> Neovedanta was proped by outsiders to replace Hinduism.

Lol literature is being done quite nicely by Chaukhambha, Gita Press and many similar societies.

100s of Yogis and saints manifested in those times but Vivekananda got picked up and was fed to masses so much for political and globalist reasons.

More like Free Masson ka hath to aapke sar par taaj

If you see the initial statement of the thread I called him overrated i didn't say he had no guts. He was marketed by certain people who had certain purposes of him. Also his brand of Hinduism or what his later followers or politics created is based on Varna Sankarta/Degeneracy.

Physical culture? Indians had great physical culture, Martial Arts Pehlalwani in Pune, Karnataka, Kerela, Haryana, Mathura -UP etc. Maybe Bengalis were weaker people.

My ancestors were 5'7 when we had little food to eat and Brits were 5'2 even afyer eating meat all day.

Saar Northern India and even south Indians have been practicing Indo Aryan Kushti, Pehalwani etc for a long time. Kerela had Kalaripayattu.

 All of India had physical culture even prior to British advent.

Freemason proped guy, other better alternatives exists for eg Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo and lots of Hindu press like Gita Press etc are doing great job.

https://twitter.com/BrahminReich/status/1758709729789182443?t=RDz_j_7uAyrCeDd5ykBLQg&s=19

I agree. Vivekananda became famous in India because he received a pat on the back from the west. Otherwise he has no original contribution to Indian spiritual thought. Even his books and writings are very mediocre compared to say Aurobindo or even for that matter Osho

https://twitter.com/pramodrama/status/1758739807067652510?t=uqNiE4UXjm0jqZkiHxy31w&s=19 

Both vivekanand and iskon were Freemasons. I don't support the insult on bengalis, but don't glorify the people who haven't done anything for hindus in bengal. Do you even know how to read ? Where did i said bengalis didn't contributed anything ? i admire aurobindo, but i don't admire people like vivekanand or iskon who has weaken hindi society from within.  Tell me which sampradaay vivekanand belong to ? Which kuldev he worship?

https://twitter.com/Gauravjourn/status/1758544680810062272?t=EK4DWustqg7PYvvAsEpMwQ&s=19 

Actually you're right here @BrahminReich
Even Nigrahacharya ji also spoke about it but like Gandhi, people also became a andha-supporter of Vivekananda and started considering him saviour of dharma who actually has no contribution towards dharma

https://twitter.com/Sanatani_Pt/status/1758819374972969282?t=CZFgwGOIrRyrZy5SUdrVlQ&s=19

Aurobindo’s understanding of the organic and fluid nature of Hindu civilisation is also quite interesting…… very insightful at multiple levels

https://twitter.com/sanjeevsanyal/status/1758820028408017280?t=6Rkn8tYVrRx2jLkPttpXeA&s=19

Vivekanand was indeed an idiot who wrote nonsense. Aurobindo is much better than Vivekanand. You're just paranoid about power hungry Brahmins or whatever

https://twitter.com/polecatkd/status/1758751477835952463?t=dWOtaQo_pIvwMqfp65zQmQ&s=19

Today I will share a #quote  of jiddu Krishnamurti ; earlier in my life when I haven't heard encountered with Sri Aurobindo ; I was impressed with Krishnamurti s life.. so today share two posts...

https://twitter.com/kuldipkumarsuri/status/1758655072966475849?t=SfN_GVZtm6sYaf7lY5PKGQ&s=19

Truly beyond words. Infact Jiddu K was made puppet of NEW world order by Christian world, but he denounced that on the day of his anointment to west’s surprise. 

It is possible only if that conviction and clarity is there of how a human mind can become its own enemy.

https://twitter.com/Kalbag_/status/1758815940270322003?t=84_1p-8Z1n6U6KpnRMnQew&s=19

Today, we introduce, in our civilizational thread, the work of

* Sri Aurobindo, wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Sri_Aurobindo

In short, a Indian revolutionary for national independence, who studied western philosophy and evolutionary theory in the West, but then went back to his own yogic tradition to become a spiritual master with a theory of civilizational evolution.

Amongst his three key books were:

* The Human Cycle , wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Human_Cycle

* The Life Divine, wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Life_Divine

* The Ideal of Human Unity, wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Ideal_of_Human…

https://twitter.com/mbauwens/status/1758748857494638600?t=8apiSqqh1fVTFL_Uzs-Z8w&s=19

When people with a history of donation fraud, gang activities, GST, and tax violations are in the Working Groups how will @rajbhavan_tn instill faith in the public and residents in #Auroville? It seems to people like a transfer of power @PMOIndia @EduMinOfIndia @dpradhanbjp

https://twitter.com/VikramRamTweets/status/1758761582493053238?t=P-Rlu1TXPap2kQPhUrR2wA&s=19

Just as there are unsung heroes in the world, similarly Auroville Today is largely taken-for-granted, under-appreciated, unsung magazine of Auroville. Thanks mainly  to two children of the Mother - Carel and Alan. 

Auroville Today: February Issue 415: mailchi.mp/c7dbaee6a4f8/a…

https://twitter.com/PactAuroville/status/1758184783816065391?t=CNUY7I6LTR8bkEPU511JsQ&s=19

The 7th International Sanskrit Computational Linguistics Symposium (ISCLS) in Auroville, India, is streamed live from today and for next 2 days.

The detailed daily schedule is available below

iscls.github.io/program.html

The live stream links follow below:

https://twitter.com/tshrinivas/status/1758163059237867967?t=4klTT93C_U0yszhVlDiheA&s=19

Explore the complexity of human emotions, cultural diversity, and boundless creativity infused on the stage and screen through the emotional and intellectual engagements of artists and scholars with Shakespeare, especially with his shortest and bloodiest tragedy, Macbeth.

https://twitter.com/RichaRrivu/status/1757268706294669398?t=XB67rZ4CEnh_dbup4vUYSw&s=19

#TreesOfSouthIndia, by field experts from Auroville Botanical Gardens, #PaulBlanchflower and #MarieDemont, is a result of over 50 years of dedicated work in restoring and researching the native flora of South India. 

Order Now: brnw.ch/21wGSL9 #READWithHarperCollins

https://twitter.com/HarperCollinsIN/status/1756913627703939126?t=TQ-WROkgx4NL4yZAJCupQA&s=19

Auroville screening of 'Maa Ka Doodh'  sparks a compassionate shift in this father's perspective. Moved by the message, he's now determined to guide his daughter towards a vegan lifestyle, discovering a world of milk alternatives like soy and coconut milk along the way #auroville

https://twitter.com/animalsaveindia/status/1756911295121744221?t=crM60UY7Rb4Ot2FoC0y8dg&s=19

Not only Pondicherry. Centre is being misused by the secretary of Auroville foundation Dr.Jayanthi Ravi. To the extent that the very foundation of Auroville has been thrown to the dustbin . This Gujarat cadre IAS officer is slowly bringing in the North Indian imprint on Auroville and is bent on granting to contracts to serve this purpose.  Aiadmk must voice this issue as well.

https://twitter.com/sansbarrier/status/1753702357924483235?t=vDjE7xpWV6T-c8CX8yNU0g&s=19

Undue enrichment, no law, no governance. This has been Auroville's reality so far.  This explains the economic nexus in Auroville, not adhering to what the Mother herself envisioned. #Auroville @PMOIndia @rashtrapatibhvn @rajbhavan_tn @avfoundation @EduMinOfIndia @ministryofhome1

@narendramodi @dpradhanbjp @BJP4India Regarding economic offenses of biblical proportions in #Auroville and people like Francois Gautier who lobby in your offices and make a media ruckus are the key players. @EduMinOfIndia @unesconewdelhi @avfoundation

https://twitter.com/VikramRamTweets/status/1753037995136241859?t=1G-rIhRq-nCKta0gZHbdCA&s=19

Embarrassing blather on the topic of consciousness

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra

'Sri Aurobindo and Philosophy' by Pariksith Singh released

15 Aug 2022 — 'During the launch, Pariksith Singh shared the stage with Aravindan Neelakandan and discussed the book at length. The author mentioned that ...

DR. PARIKSITH SINGH IN CONVERSATION WITH ARAVINDAN NEELAKANDAN - SRI ...

36:41

DR. PARIKSITH SINGH IN CONVERSATION WITH ARAVINDAN NEELAKANDAN - SRI AUROBINDO AND PHILOSOPHY. 313 views · 1 year ago ...more ...

obviously we all have a metaphysics - at minimum a set of axioms we assume about the world.  However my aversion to metaphysics as it tends to be practiced in the wild are numerous:

1.  That people think that their metaphysics are CORRECT rather than merely useful.  If they were demonstrably correct they'd be physics. Metaphysics are conjectures or useful guesses.   I'm not opposed at all to metaphysical speculations that strive to be "pre-physics" like string theory or the various speculations that are the many different "foundations of quantum mechanics" or even the simulation hypothesis.  They are speculations today  but might be ruled in or out in the future as physics or as errors.

2.  Lack of parsimony - so many metaphysical systems propagate things not necessary as a basis for understanding our being. Most religions are examples of this.  Even something initially simple as Buddhism has propagated lots of unnecessary elements like devas and celestial spheres and complicated mechanisms around karma etc.  

3.  Much confusion about complexity, emergence,  and dynamical systems and metaphysics. While our understandings of the complexity domains is still very weak, they aren't metaphysical phenomena, rather they are natural phenomena out on the ragged edge of physics (very broadly construed).

4.  This is a Ruttian speculation itself, but I don't consider consciousness a metaphysical topic.  I believe it will turn out to be a pretty straightforward emergence from the biological. We'll be quite surprised how well integrated it is with the rest of our science. Just as we were surprised at how well biology fit in with the rest of the fabric of science/reality once we dumped elan vital.  The quantity of what to me is embarrassing blather of the metaphysical sort on the topic of consciousness is immense.

5.  Extending #4 thought, qualia, concepts, language etc aren't metaphysical just more sets of existing things in the universe.

https://twitter.com/jim_rutt/status/1744857831902228751?t=11azGNUv_QXpmFz2L2F1tg&s=19

Looks like I'll have a chance to speak with @jim_rutt about the meaning & importance of metaphysics (or speculative philosophy) in a couple months. For now I'll offer a few preliminary thoughts in response to his post.

Yes, metaphysics is unavoidable. But it needn't be axiomatic. Metaphysics is the search for premises, NOT deduction from clear premises. I reject metaphysical foundationalism of any kind. Our categoreal conditions must be revisable & subject to pragmatic test. The sole justification for a metaphysical idea is that it elucidates experience. I love Jim's comment about metaphysics "as it tends to be practiced in the wild." We need a more diplomatic method of philosophizing together! Partisanship in metaphysics is just as harmful as it is in politics. It is important to seek deep understanding of multiple approaches.

1. Strictly speaking, all metaphysical systems are false. The same is true of all scientific models. "Use" is not the only criterion of evaluation, however. Our metaphysics shld pass the rational tests of consistency & coherence, & the empirical tests of adequacy & applicability. These are the criteria Whitehead lays out in "Process & Realty," at least, & I'm not sure I can do better. His empirical criteria cover but extend beyond just instrumental use.

Metaphysics doesn't become physics when proven correct. Again, no physical model is strictly "correct" or "proven." Physical science is not just the part of metaphysics that got proven true. That would be to misunderstand the aim of metaphysics: the search for the general presuppositions of physical science itself. What else must be the case if physical knowledge is possible?

2. On parsimony, I'd say we should strive for simplicity but not be afraid to accept complexity. I'm sure Jim would agree! But again, the aim of speculative philosophy is not to become a special science, it's to search for the premises of not only science, but experience itself. With all due respect to physicist L. Krauss, why there should be something rather than nothing is never going to be a strictly scientific question. I'd add that given the hardness of the hard prob of consc., there's a decent argument on grounds of parsimony for panexperientialism

3. Of course complexity is natural! "Metaphysical" doesn't mean beyond nature/supernatural. If I ask you to explain what you mean by "natural phenomena," you'd be doing metaphysics to answer. It's what we do when we get meta- about things. The complexity sciences *do* have metaphysical implications. Eg, to acknowledge that novel regimes of order can emerge atop or within earlier regimes tells us something important about nature's "laws." This topic will make for very interesting conversation when Jim and I speak.

4. Consciousness is a loaded word. I agree it has biological roots, but I'm not so sure living organisms can be easily integrated into standard physicalist science. Vitalism & mechanism are just inverted mirror images of one another. I think complexity takes us beyond both. We inhabit an organic universe. From top to bottom, self-organizing is powering the cosmic process. There is no "mere matter" anywhere. Nor is there some invisible vital force driving bodies around. Energy itself has a tendency to order itself, to take on habits, to evolve. And yes, eventually energy becomes conscious. 

Doing metaphysics doesn't mean wildly speculating without any concern for scientific facts. Philosophers ought to pay close attention to the sciences. Metaphysics just seeks deeper coherence between the sciences & human experience.

https://twitter.com/ThouArtThat/status/1744927403833430498?t=Lj0kA4qAkJujd6z7ECEGZA&s=19

Well, this is where Evolutionary Panentheism comes into it. It provides meaning and a sense of cosmic perspective, without reliance on premodern religious themes like an external creator deity. Yes that's basically what Panentheism says as well. My criticism is directed at religious literalism.

You'd be surprised. Jehovah's Witnesses, Evangelical Christians, Creationists, Hare Krishnas, Ultra Orthodox Jews, most Muslims, etc etc. Few people can understand things allegorically. As for atheists, I appreciate their love of science but can't agree with their reductionism.

https://twitter.com/akazlev/status/1745026163104501887?t=30UPJVQeaSHfu9BVCWW3Fg&s=19

Tried reading up on Jeremy England and found him hard to get into. Erich Jantsch and Eric Chaisson are better re cosmic evolution. e/acc is associated with Beff Jezos (as opposed to Jeff Bezos here). I support superintelligent AI, but e/acc is too sectarian, which puts me off. Oops, sorry, just realised this is Beff Jezos. That's what happens when you post before reading! I mention Jantsch and Chaisson because I'm a system builder, interested in mapping out stages of cosmic evolution.Same reason I like Teilhard and Aurobindo. My hypothesis is AI-(post)human synergy is the next stage.I think Lovelock in his book the Novacene says something similar. Oh, right. I'm halfway through the book. I agree with him Gaia is "elderly" (not due to a limitation of life as such but because the aging sun giving off more heat), so it looks like we only get one shot at this.

https://twitter.com/akazlev/status/1745002061971022323?t=aUjbNiU17fEruz91K1WNJg&s=19

This diagram embodies what I love about paleontology. There's the #CambrianExplosion right there; all those amazing early evolutionary experiments! Fascinating time in the history of life on Earth. I envisage a similar but #posthuman spacefaring radiation in the near future.

https://twitter.com/akazlev/status/1744605748242649444?t=CjO04oURm6b_g8Bw8kD3VQ&s=19

Douglas Murray on the absurdity of identity politics. This is an extremist and regressive leftist ideology that denies individuality and reduces everyone to a set of rigid identity groups oppressed by designated villain groups.

https://twitter.com/akazlev/status/1742484121602154536?t=aTpZx_2L8fGOsNZ7B8rANg&s=19

In the past it was the "Republican war on science" (climate change denialism etc). Now it's the regressive left in academia. Any extreme ideology will hate science. Look at the Nazis with "Jewish science", Stalin with agriculture (Lysenkoism), or the Scopes monkey trial

https://twitter.com/akazlev/status/1742142027284848954?t=RJUspTrLoNZTEMTnfzJc4g&s=19

Don't believe that's happening as long as hindus behave in a stupid manner... only a catastrophic collapse will wake up these bhakts... just as the Germans woke up about NAZISM and Hitler after every city of theirs had been destroyed, lives devastated, their territories occupied!

https://twitter.com/viswag59/status/1744982627290079271?t=z6XPlVBjZReG80l_lUw8ZA&s=19