David Foster Wallace, you will be missed...

Recent advances in neurobiology have shown that we have mirror neurons that fire both when we perform an action and also when we see other's perform the same. Brain imaging has shown that these neurons fire when a person experiences empathy. How are brain's work is not to be thought of some brilliantly constructed tapestry but more of a ramshackle of connections that form in our early childhood. While our more primitive brain is decently functional at birth the parts that make us who we are and provide our consciousness (identity) are slowly connected as we go through our early childhood. We do not understand yet how mirror neurons are recruited and whether some might be able to have what might be considered an unbearable amount of empathy. We humans are decently able to write off half the evil and violence going on amongst us. We do not see our own misdeeds and hurtfulness as we engage in solipsistic behavior at the expense of those around us (of this I'm more than guilty). To truly see us as we truly are...that might be too much. What brings me to the previous is the suicide of David Foster Wallace last Friday night.

DFW was one of the foremost authors of our time. He wrote marvelous works of both fiction and nonfiction. His coverage of the McCain's Straight Talk Express Campaign in 2000 for Rolling Stone is one of the best pieces done on a candidate. It made you wonder about authenticity as a whole. And reminded us of the hurt that comes from politics. That the one candidate you trust often lets you down hurts personally. Thus it is much easier to be apathetic about politics whether than to bring the potential of hurt to one's self. His style was crazy with all of these footnotes which he called postcards. They would change the meaning of passages. I have yet to read much of his fiction but will for sure check out Oblivion by the end of the year. Anyways the guy was a great moral thinker in a time when it seems that we forfeit our humanity for the sake of advancement and social stature. DFW was a humanist to the nth degree.

Mr. Wallace brought up some brilliant ideas in his Kenyon commencement speech. Specifically he mentioned part of what matters is how we construct meaning from experience. He noted this in a story about a Christian and an atheist. The atheist recounted an event where he was caught in a blizzard and prayed to God that he would be delivered. The Christian said so you are a believer now. The atheist goes nope, some Inuits came a few minutes later. The Christian would see the Inuits as God's form of deliverance. The atheist, however, sees the Inuits as evidence of God's absence as all that is truly out there is humanity. We all view certain events differently depending upon our socialization, genetics, and identity. The problem as I see it is that we are so quick to say to others that the way we come to see things is the right way. As if we can get enough people together who think the same then we can have truth. But this is not the way things are. This is a simple rejection of the individual, and we all value the individual no matter what we may profess. It seems the thing that we hate in others and often tolerate within ourselves is blind certainty. So why do we accept it within ourselves? What's harder than choosing doubt? It is tough to live when things are uncertain. We spend most of our lives constructing some security blankets to protect ourselves from potential falls. We create some bubble where we are comfortable b/c then we can eliminate the doubt that hounds us. But our potential for higher living probably comes when we are capable of living in solid doubt. Then we care more about the humanity around us since nothing is certain. But it is hard to see our natural, basic self-centeredness as the socially repulsive thing that it is. We go on and on as the protagonist in our own world. This is wrong headedness. There are no protagonists in this world. What we must do is eliminate the need within us to cast ourselves as heroes and work to exercise control over how and what we think. We must bring out internal monologue under control so that we can better function and understand our common man. Now I'm not saying that the key is to consider everyone better than yourself. This is not a competition. And no good comes from the constant demeaning of self. We must just simply count ourselves as equals all playing on the same stacked field. We must arise to help each other and at times forget our own advancement. The key is to recognize each moment and to live within this context. Our strivings and reachings not only doom ourself but in time may doom our society.

A Vague Dream

I had one of those return dream scenarios the other night. I'm not sure if everyone has those. I wish I knew more about how we collectively dream. Anyways I returned to a setting I know I've dreamed about before. Some nondescript location marked only by highways and buildings. The location not being key only that it was familiar. And it was kind of like a mirror dream. A vision of perhaps a path not taken. Kind of a dream of what it would be like if I was a normal gent in this region. You know that middle of the road existence that most people choose. A path where we trade potential for the satisfactory. Anyways I was at one of those moderate to large churches doing the whole young singles thing. Which might I note in real life most of these kind of suck. I mean the whole point of most of these is to meet a potential spouse. But if you do start dating someone then you become ostracized from the group. Group dynamics can be the best and worst of things. Well it seemed that I was a bit more lucky in my dream than in real life when it comes to the romance department. There was a young woman who I think was from my past and shall remain nameless in this blog. Anyways we just went back to her apartment after church and chilled the Sunday afternoon away. And in some ways this was blissful. I think it's not that I most long for sex...which I've never had...I think that I just long for companionship of a like minded soul. And that was really the extent of the dream...

Speaking of dreams... My conscious dream is that we as a country will come together and address the fact that Middle Class Americans are becoming an endangered species. This country has been founded on the hard work of the middle class. But the previous generation has gotten greedy. And by living towards excess others in this country have been screwed. And these people have much less opportunity in a land where their should be an equity of opportunity. And those who have should not be competing with their neighbors and looking to move up zip codes but instead should love their neighbors. I mean the one of the ten commandments that Jesus points out is to love your neighbor. And we in America are quick to point to certain issues but have lost this vital premise. The best ways that we can help Americans is to improve education standards in low income areas and to provide medical insurance for all of our citizens. Only one candidate is addressing this issue, Obama. Here's the thing...Education and Healthcare should be moral issues. Poverty is a moral issue. Why can't we as Americans see this and actually do something about it, even if it does affect us financially? We don't need half the shit we got. And Christian nation my ass... Real Christians would make the impoverished a primary objective. But instead the poor are forgotten as the rich get richer. This is an injustice we can actually do something about. First let's elect the only decent candidate (OBAMA). Next lets get out and start loving people.