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Thanks for all this.I am working to develop a course I am calling “escaping from ideology”I argue that each of us is captivated by several ideologies (religion, political party, brand loyalty, team loyalty, personal loyalty …) and that the ideology begins as soon as we transition from an observation to an interpretation (even as soon as we name that thing a chair rather than a stool, couch, art object, craft object, or thing).I begin with the duck / rabbit ambiguous image and ask if you are a duckist or a rabbitist and why!
I include several “escape from ideology” case histories.
I reflect on the question “what ideologies am I captivated by”I am often accused of scientism, and work to stay wary of that trap.I claim to be “seeking real good” with the hope that is not an ideology.
Progress has been slow, and I hope to sustain attention to this project again soon.
Lee Beaumont############################
On Oct 14, 2021, at 11:28 AM, michael kazanjian <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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"Hard science" would have a decent appreciation of metaphysics, mereology, etc. if the cultists read my book, Unified Philosophy: Interdisciplinary Metaphysics, Ethics, and Liberal Arts, 3rd edition. Cognella Academic Publishing.
Michael M. Kazanjian
############################On Thursday, October 14, 2021, 10:23:31 AM CDT, T.R. Pickerill <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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Now if only the cult of ‘hard’ sciences had a descent appreciation of Metaphysics.--
Excellent discussion. Thanks everyone.
Brandon, I would welcome the chance to schedule a call and have you report on Emerge. I would have liked to have gone.
Also, this idea of meme-attractors is very real, at least for me. Indeed, since 2016, I have felt this calling literally as a cultural force pulling me. That was when I started the “weird turn” that would become the Garden. (Note, for those tracking the labeling of things, the Garden was initially called “The Garden of UTUA,” but because the name of the system evolved to UTOK, I now just refer to it as the Garden, or sometimes UTOK Garden. UTUA, which stands for Unified Theory of psychology and Unified Approach to psychotherapy, has evolved into Unified Theory Of Knowledge, aligned to solve/resolve the Enlightenment Gap).
Consider, for example, that there is a clear sensibility associated with the metamodern movement called “sincere irony”. The first time I heard of the metamodern was probably middle of 2018. Then, a few months or so later I learn about sincere irony and as soon as I did, I said “Holy Shit, that IS the genre of the Garden and I did not even know it existed”.
I experience these kinds of synchronicities everywhere I look. Consider, for example, we are talking here about “meme-driven attractors”. Well, that IS one meaning of the M E Flower in the center of the UTOK Tree of Life.
<image001.png>
Notice that the shape of the ME flower is a swirling yin-yang symbol. Also, notice that the small pedals are fractal representations of the larger one. The Big ME in the middle represents large scale Metaphysical Empirical systems of justification, whereas the small m.e. represents each individual’s metaphysical empirical being in the world. Of course, with a little flexibility of thought, it spells MEme.
Finally, as yet another example from today, consider that over on Alexander Bard’s IDW list, today they announced a podcast series, Return to Metaphysics. Here is the thumbnail.
<image002.png>
One of the participants is Alex Ebert and I have a podcast with him in a couple of hours. Bottom line, there are synchronicities popping up everywhere I look. And I’ll be damned if it isn’t one of the most fundamental signs of hopefulness I am seeing. That is why we need to avoid the moralization trap, “wake up” out of cults ala Africa Brooke, and get into much more grounded, healthy and wise metaphysical empirical ways of being in the world.
Best,
Gregg############################
From: theory of knowledge society discussion <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Alex Goodall
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2021 6:49 PM
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Subject: Re: TOK Open Letter
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Very interesting, Brandon.
I've just come off the second session of Rebel Wisdom's Sensemaking 101. One of the participants, originally from Japan, spoke very movingly about the serious issue of social isolation in Japan, linked to the broader issue of extreme conformity, suppression of individualism, and scripted interactions.
Another participant suggested a similar dynamic exists in Korea, and is perhaps emerging in China.
Perhaps these could also be seen as resulting from attractors in socio-cultural evolution - arising from attractors related to the earlier value meme, creating extreme conformity. But perhaps there is also an effect of interacting attractors: perhaps a conformity-attractor and a modern-attractor generate unresolvable tensions that can only be dealt with via seriously dysfunctional behaviour - such as isolation (for 30 years, sometimes), for example.
Pure speculation, of course - but the idea of meme-driven attractors is very..... attractive.
If you go ahead with your Emerge debrief, I'd love to listen in.
Thanks
Alex Goodall
On Wed, 13 Oct 2021 at 22:04, Brandon Norgaard <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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This is related to the notion of attractors in socio-cultural evolution. If we take spiral dynamics and other similar theories of the stages of socio-cultural development, we can also recognize that there are attractors within each value meme that essentially put social pressure on people to take those values to the extreme. This is how attractors work. The modern value meme (I want to avoid referencing those silly colors often associated with these stages) has an attractor for more and more enterprise, material wealth, and competition that eventually leads to the global economy that we are now living in. The postmodern value meme has an attractor that tends to lead to precisely the sort of cultish and brainwashing flatland wokeness described in this article, because avoiding the exploitation based on power dynamics is seen as paramount and thus everyone becomes suspect of perpetuating the old order of hyper-modernism.
Some people are working to establish metamodern attractors that would out-compete the modern GameA rat race and also the postmodern ultra-woke cult of flatland. I just got back home after attending the Emerge Gathering in Berlin over the weekend. Many of the leading metamodern thinkers of our time were in attendance. I was there to import these ideas into the USA so that we might be able to improve the social/political/economic situation here. If anyone would like to have a discussion and debriefing about the Emerge Gathering, send me a message and maybe we could set up some time to talk.
Brandon Norgaard
From: theory of knowledge society discussion <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Zachary Stein
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2021 7:25 AM
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Gregg,
Thanks. Cult is exactly the right word. I have been talking lately with Steven Hassan, the leading cult expert in the US. We talk about Robert Lifton's work on how brainwashing happens... and relate it to current events. Below is the basic model, for those unaware of this work.
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Lifton’s Eight Signs of Brainwashing
Robert Jay Lifton interviewed people who had been subject to brainwashing during the Maoist cultural revolution. His work distilling the structural properties of environments that result in undue influence was path breaking.
1. Milieu Control: Control of environment and communication within that environment. This includes not only monitoring and controlling what people communicate, but also when, and how, including attempts to control internal dialogue.
2. Mystical manipulation: The contrived engineering of experiences to stage seemingly spontaneous and supernatural events, such as synchronicities and mind reading. Everyone is manipulated by and for a higher power.
3. Demand for Purity: Establishing impossible standards for performance, thereby creating an environment of guilt and shame. No matter how hard a person tries, they always fall short, feel bad, are punished, and must work harder.
4. The Cult of Confession: The destruction of personal boundaries, and the expectation that every thought, feeling, or action—past or present—that does not conform to the group’s rules be shared or confessed. The information is not forgotten or forgiven but used to exercise further control.
5. Sacred Science: The belief that the group’s dogma is absolutely scientifically and morally true, with no room for questioning alternative viewpoints.
6. Loading the Language: The use of vocabulary to construct member’s thinking into absolute, black-and-white, thought-terminating cliches understood only by insiders.
7. Doctrine over Person: The imposition of group beliefs over individual experience, conscience, and integrity.
8. Dispensing of Existence: The belief that people in the group have the right to exist and all ex-members and critics or dissidents do not.
On Wed, Oct 13, 2021 at 10:16 AM Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I stumbled across this today and thought it was worth reflecting on…
An open letter: why I'm leaving the cult of wokeness by Africa Brooke
https://ckarchive.com/b/d0ueh0h67mpd
Best,
Gregg
___________________________________________
Gregg Henriques, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Graduate Psychology
216 Johnston Hall
MSC 7401
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
(540) 568-7857 (phone)
(540) 568-4747 (fax)
Be that which enhances dignity and well-being with integrity.Check out the Unified Theory Of Knowledge homepage at:
https://www.unifiedtheoryofknowledge.org/
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Zachary Stein, Ed.D.
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