Owl & Ibis - A Confluence Of Minds

Kudos to Mona Leiter on her November 12, 2019 Owl & Ibis - A Confluence of Minds presentation, "Taking the Hero's Journey." Mona's take on myths and myth-making based on Joseph Campbell's work, as templates for molding persons and as entertainment, was truly exceptional. For those who missed it please find a PDF copy of her slideshow here , and a PDF resource file of the videos she showed at the meeting and other references here . Again, great job! }:> ~:)

retreat : a period of time when somebody stops their usual activities and goes to a quiet place for meditation and thought. Friends, Beginning December 1, 2019, Owl & Ibis - A Confluence of Mind will stop holding in-person meetings.  I need a break along the lines of the definition of a ‘retreat’ given above. I have been allowed my full say at O&I, at other local freethinker meetings, and on my websites on a wide range of matters. I have also learned a lot from each of you. For all this I am grateful.  The matters on which I’ve expressed my views include many of what I think are the most important issues in anthropology, the other social sciences, the natural sciences, the humanities, religion, and in current US and world affairs. Regrettably, many of these issues give me grave concern about the future of Humankind and Earth.  It is time for me to critically examine my views on these matters and others, and change my thinking and behavior as needed

“Hope as a Natural Virtue” Peter J. Leithart First Things November 22, 2019 “Dante’s  Commedia  draws on the tradition of the seven virtues, four ‘natural’ (justice, prudence, temperance, fortitude) and three ‘theological’ (faith, hope, and love). ... Exceptional pagans can achieve natural virtue, but, with very few exceptions, the habits of faith, hope, and love are beyond their capacity.” Above is a link to a short essay you might find as interesting as I do. It addresses an existential dilemma others with far greater minds than mine were in, yet found a way out. See for example, Kierkegaard and C.S. Lewis. I am currently in a similar if not the same dilemma. The four ‘natural virtues’ given in this essay are also those of  Stoicism  - courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom. I certainly cannot claim mastery of any or all of them. Besides, to do so would make me a saint and a sage. Either is a very rare achievement. I do not sniff at or take  sag

Kudos to Steve Yothment for his October 22, 2019 Owl & Ibis presentation, "5G - The New Cellular Network." Steve took us from the first generation of cellular phone technology up to the present in a concise and clear manner. Steve, an electronics engineer, was most patient and accommodating of the attendee's many questions and concerns. Steve also showed six short videos about 5G. Those who could not attend the meeting may view Steve's slideshow as a PDF document  here . Live links to the videos shown are on the last two slides. Other questions came to mind but there wasn't enough time to discuss them fully. Here's a sampling of thoughts Steve's presentation elicited: How did Humankind progress from radar and television as new and awe-inspiring technology around the time of World War II to today and the astonishing capabilities of 5G and other electronic technologies? Who exactly is controlling or driving the development of 5G?

For over 200,000 years Humankind has made every effort it can to escape its “primitivity” and thereby flourish. These efforts include choosing: ·         Food production over hunting and gathering; ·         Metal over stone tools; ·         Vehicular conveyance over foot travel; ·         Cities over movable campsites; ·         Surplus wealth accumulation over subsistence economics; ·         Tribal state politics over small band egalitarianism; ·         Science and reason over myth and religion; ·         Hydro-power and fossil fuels over human and draught animals; ·         Democracy over autocracy; ·         Nationalism over empire: ·         Globalism over nationalism; and ·         Capitalism over socialism and communism (ongoing). Now, with the West in a state of full-fledged  modernity , many non-western nations on the verge of joining them, and all the others working hard and dreaming to follow and enjoy the fruits of modernity, there is a b

“The Consciousness Illusion” “Phenomenal consciousness is a fiction written by our brains to help us track the impact that the world makes on us.” by Keith Frankish September 26, 2019 The above is a worthless, self-contradictory essay from  Aeon , an otherwise good source of information and ideas. The essay’s argument is an example of thinking that continues to undermine the social sciences and mislead the public, and gives an off ramp and free pass to those who wish to absolve individuals and society of moral responsibility for individual behavior and group action. This line of thinking goes something like this: “We really can’t help ourselves. What we think and do is determined primarily and at bottom by our genes and physiology, over which we have little to no conscious, volitional control. We need an evolutionary biology of human behavior because religion, secular moral philosophy, and the social sciences have failed to deliver an exact, predictive scie

China has a global strategy and they are implementing it – control as many natural resources as possible and the transportation links between them and China. I do not think the Chinese envision a global, green, collaborative future for Humankind. For them the future is one of winner and loser nations. See  Africa and China . China is planning and acting to win. The U.S. and other Western nations still see themselves as continuing to retain their privileged position by cajoling or coercing the rest of the world to line up  behind  them. How? Through  ‘international development’  or by force, if necessary. The U.S. and rest of the West have no unified, strategic plan compared to the Chinese. That is, more precisely, they have no nation-based, international political, economic, ecological consensus on anything closely resembling a global plan. They only have alliances and facts; and those in power, particularly in the U.S., politically manipulate (propagandize) those facts, d