A Succession of Victories

"To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence."

- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

There's tensions between all points in the universe - that of the educated person schooling the fool and getting only resentment in return, the kindness of a stranger that's taken advantage of and original thinking being lauded until declared dangerous by powers that have heavily invested in maintaining the status quo. 

In our world, we strive so hard not to do what is right, but what is correct - to tick boxes that have been arbitrarily created. Our world has been abstracted beyond our current understanding. We have made for ourselves a world of words, symbols and commands. Anything else would be deemed "subversive" or "strange."

It feels incomprehensible to me when parents and elders tell me "when" not "if", that my path has been pre-determined. In this world, so many paths bear the footprints of legions of fear-wracked men and women that never dared and unfortunately lost. I defiantly say "No!" when told that I must and ought. The only must and ought comes from a divine source - a wellspring that I am not convinced to exist. We have choice and using this choice we can find what is best for ourselves. It took me a long time - and will presumably take even longer - to realize victory is a feeling that arises from within; it does not - and never will - come from the approval of others.

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Sense Data from the AGS

Here follows a summary of the activities of the Australian General Semantics Society National Conference and our attendance at the UN DPI-NGO Conference "Advancing Global Health" held in Melbourne, Australia.

The 1st Australian General Semantics Society National Conference
27-29 August, 2010 held at the Initiatives of Change Center, Toorak, Australia

The first day of the conference on Friday Night was muted - just a dinner held in the stately Armagh manor in Toorak. A federation mansion, it boasted a ballroom, two libraries and a conservatory - the focus point for our discussions. I met some of the AGS members - David Hewson, Pauline Heather as well as Dr. Earl Livings, Laurie Cox and Robert James and his wife Jeanne. We talked into the night before retiring for the big day ahead.

Saturday Morning saw President Robert James and elder statesman Laurie Cox make their keynote addresses and Earl make his talk on Fiction and GS, particularly A. E. van Vogt and the World of Null-A and Nexialism, a sort of fictional applied GS that has even been applied in the real world.

I then gave my talk on Overcoming Conservative Characteristics, a research into a little known chapter in Korzybski's Science and Sanity.

In the Afternoon, David gave his talk on GS and Happiness to the general public as well as another one on GS and problem solving using other sciences. Laurie talked briefly explaining GS to beginners. Robert James prepared a talk on a "sense of purpose" that GS brings as well as bringing in Initiatives of Change volunteers to give their perspectives.

Sunday morning we reconvened for a talk by David on "Identity, non-identity, then what?" which was originally published as an article in ETC. Confusing facts with inferences was a warning to us all. Earl then presented his talk on the nexus between Edward De Bono's work and GS which proved very useful, in my estimation.


31st August - 2nd of September - the United Nations DPI-NGO Conference: "Advance Global Health" held at the Melbourne Convention Center, Melbourne, Australia

Though I only attended one of the three days at the UN conference, I thought my time to be more interesting than valuable. It was admirable to see the United Nations and affiliated NGOs work to advance the Millennium Development Goals. However, the milieu of the delegates was centered around a select few organizations and their booths (we at the IGS were not given one) as well as "Workshops" which focused more on guest speakers, established players and government officials rather than opening up the debate to people like myself or even the youth delegates. Though we met many people interested in GS, its hard to explain "What GS is" since GS principles are more like verbs, not nouns. I can explain How it works or why one should use it but emphasizing "clear thinking" or "sanity" will invariably draw glances of indignation - "How dare you imply I am unsane!"

Nevertheless, it was a rewarding experience and I would like to thank the members of AGS for affording me these wonderful learning and networking opportunities.

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Like Silent Birds of Prey

Selected Observations from Adelaide - 18-22 June, 2010.

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Letting the right one in is like a process of lying to the brain so one can salve a bleeding heart. More mechanically, its like abstraction from the point of entry and acting blissfully unaware of its process. Lips taste sweet without any flavor. The sun pierces through the blades of my eyelids without mercy. The cold rattles the bones within my fingers as smoke billows to the top of the room, hazing the glow of yet more horrible television.

At the end of the longest night comes day. With the rising of the sun, laments for miseries past and cheers for enjoyment yet to come can be heard. If we cannot compromise with time, we remain its enemy. We put up arms but we are always overcome.

If there's one thing I've learned during my travels here and elsewhere, its that people are as unknowable to me as they are to themselves. Probing, demolishing and intimating - all general theories; conjectures just itching to be refuted at some later point. Maps are never territories and are in constant need of rewriting. I cannot watch and report for you - the feelings I encounter flow deep within are everpresent like the lightness of our being. A process of my own assisted design from Mother Nature. Nevertheless, I do care in my own way. All ways and none; unique in their expression. For what it's worth, at the end of the world, it's a small step in the right direction.

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http://twitter.com/crushtor