Jordan Peterson
And so, as of late, I've been listening to a few of Jordan Peterson's interviews.
I've avoided him, largely because of his far-right fanbase. And his appearing on Joe Rogan. Who I'm sure is a nice guy, but...just don't want to be seen in that "intellectual" hood.
But listening to him, I can see his appeal. He's a modern-day Messiah, and nothing he says in the least bit controversial. The fact that he's somehow perceived as controversial is more a commentary on the "Woke" Culture we live in. TO say that people need meaning in their lives and to strive for self improvement and to somehow turn off the vacuity of the news and social media - well, this is all fucking common sense. To disregard, dismiss the 100's of "preferred pronouns" is - at worst - fucking overdue and common sense.
And, as he's largely offending liberal sensibilities - his rational and common sense approach to sexuality and mental illness have made him a big target - (believe it or not, you can be too liberal...) - his appeal to the far right is largely that he's making sense and offering hopeful strategies for coping with what are - and will soon to be very difficult times.
In fact, a few podcasts in and I'm liking the guy more and more. His voice, a little shrill and anxious, it's the sound of a man being crucified for common sense, for speaking basic - not eternal - truths to power. So - oversized rap for being a bad-ass when it's just a reasonably smart (and educated) guy speaking his mind.
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North Sentinel Islanders
File this under: "The Most Interesting People You Will Probably Never Meet".
There's been a few articles on them - not here, but - given my reading as of late I'd thought I'd give them a shout-out.
Wikipedia on The North Sentinel Islanders (Sentinelese): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese
I find it commendable that they continue to shun and refute all outside attempts at contact.
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Primitive Mentality - Lucien Levy-Bruhl
"To them the things which are unseen cannot be distinguished from the things which are seen. The beings of the unseen world are no less directly present than those of the other; they are more active and more formidable. Consequently that world occupies their minds more entirely than this one, and it diverts their minds from reflecting, even to a slight extent, upon the data which we call objective."
Now this, merely an introduction and a chapter in, is proving an excellent read. To summarize, it's an attempt by the author to reconcile Western, or European "Civilized" thought with the differences observed in more "Primitive" cultures, such as the North American Indian, the Australian Bushmen, The various tribes of Africa and the Congo, and with too many other examples to name.
The book - 100 years old, and last republished in the 1960's, wouldn't fly today, and even in his lifetime the author suffered substantial backlash as to his Eurocentric views, his concentration on the "Magical Thinking" aspect of them, and his labeling of them as "Primitive", which has acquired a lot of pejorative connotations since this was first written.
This is - to be expected, a somewhat inadvertent racism to the book, and even in the topic, which does not devalue it in any ways. If not writing of the differences from the European POV - then who others? Perhaps, if the Chinese were more colonial, we might have some intriguing references comparing the thought patterns to theirs, but we don't. And the implicit racism derives from the fact that we have no recent references to "Primitive Tribes of White People", which is unfortunate but needs be worked with.
On that note, the fact that civilization in any number of respects has declined greatly in the past 100 years will soon provide countless "tribes" - soccer stadiums, mega-churches, filled with people well on their way towards similar plateau's of thought and enlightenment.
The most noteworthy things I've noticed so far into it:
- The Spiritual Problem, which did not exist to the Primitive Man, who existed in a one-ness with nature and with a pantheon or plethora of Gods and Spirits, in relation to man but always above it.
- The Universality of these beliefs - where, in absence of "organized" religion or spirituality most "Primitive" peoples default to this standard of thinking. This despite them being separated by continents, oceans, and thousands of miles.
- Causality: that nothing happens by accident, that everything is the action of good or malign spirits, wizards and witches, that if a crocodile or lion should come and eat someone it is invariably the result of an evil agent, for why did eat that person and not another person, and everyone knows that crocodiles and lions are harmless(!!!), and so it goes until a human agency is found and reprimanded or found accountable. (Note that many of us - myself included - do this still today, we accord too little room for chance in our lives.). This of course leads to a curious thing in that nobody, for example, dies of accident, natural causes or old age, always it is the result of an enchantment, witch or wizard, and so there is no reasonable precautions are taken against what might be regarded as entirely predictable and dire outcomes.
Now - all this and only one chapter in. All of which are substantiated by innumerable examples told from hundreds of sources 'round the world. Unfortunately, the sources again are all largely European.
More: Wikipedia on Lucien Lévy-Bruhl : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien_L%C3%A9vy-Bruhl
His influence on Carl Jung: https://carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2021/04/08/carl-jung-lucien-levy-bruhl-and-participation-mystique/#.Y9atDXaIbIV
And his place in the "Bicameral Mind" theory: https://www.julianjaynes.org/jjsforum/viewtopic.php?t=15
Worth noting that the quality and intelligence behind the book is amply displayed in the many intelligent discussions surrounding it.
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Art of the Yoni
Now I've seen more of these than I ever wanted to, no kidding, Georgia O'Keefe covered it thoroughly and very nicely, thank-you-very-much, and unless you're bringing something new to the game I'm pretty sure I don't want to see it.
We get a lot of this style of art through the thrift shop, only it's rare that it comes with an "Artist's Statement".
But it's got me thinking, I mean, I wonder if I could make a living drawing crudely symbolic dick picks? I mean, just do an endless series in a variety of styles, claim that I was the ambassador of Male Sexuality, Virility, etc, what have you...
Nope. While it's one thing for a "woman" to own her sexuality, if a man should try to own his he's considered "juvenile" and "puerile".
Rightly so.
"Ooooooohhhhh
Dolores won't you show us...
More of your clitoris...
Don't think you can ignore us..."
I priced it affordable. Maybe I should pick it up and bring it as a visual prop to the next poetry slam...
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