Boring stuff first: since a number of people have been kind enough to make a gift pledge, I have activated payments (I think!), so that others can, should the mood take them.
It’s wonderful to have you here, Iain, I’m so inspired by your work and ideas, and have listened to/watched so many of your vlogs/podcasts elsewhere. All the very best!
Thanks Iain for a fascinating and really interesting post. I am a huge fan of your work and finding you speaking on YT a few years ago has opened a whole world of education and thought provoking interests for me. Substack is such a brilliant community that holds no bar to who we are and who we want to speak with or share to. I've just launched my Substack too and I am so pleased we are both here.
Wonderful to see these artistic offerings, and thank you for featuring David's piece among them. We refer to you and your work frequently at the studio and it influences not only his art but our approach to the practice and 'business', such as it is.
...
I've enjoyed the late Peter Brown's term for the nature of 'this' - he called it "Radiant Presence". 'Presence' encapsulating the constancy, the groundedness, the stillness, the eternal, and 'Radiance' articulating the ever-changing, fresh, multitudinous display of expressions that the presence takes.
You've given me a great deal to reread and soak in this morning, thank you Iain.
Just registering a slight caveat regarding Plato: There are, of course, multiple Platonisms, just as there are many versions of Aquinas. The static Plato may be the authentic one, but I can’t quite accept it. Socrates is too subtle and shrewd, and too often ends a conversation in aporia. I suppose my own affection for Plato is filtered through a prism of Trinitarian theology and hermetic wisdom, yet I surmise a less abstract, more genuinely dramatic system, one which gets coopted into angelology, perhaps. For a somewhat different take on Forms, I recommend Edith Stein’s synthesis of metaphysics and phenomenology where the complex relations between essence and existence acknowledge the musical aspects of being as flow. And Hans Urs von Balthasar is good, too, in recognizing the existential horizon in which the beauty of form arises.
Thanks, Brian, the distinction you make is one I am aware of, but should perhaps mention more often - it seems to me between the wise aporia of Socrates, and the clever knowing LH of his disciple, Plato (though there is the Theaetetus ...) I am also aware of Edith Stein and von Balthasar, the latter of which I approached with an enthusiasm that was disappointed in the end. But heigh ho
Science too often lacks the movement back to right. Stepping out of time reflecting, analysing, and mapping is totally fine if it is part of the 'leading' goal of participation in creation. If not, we get stuck in the delusion of separation. From not knowing, to knowing and back to the awareness of of being incapable of knowing in full what is still becoming. Yes, all relational is the deep beautiful truth here....
A warm welcome here Iain, and thank you for diving in at the deep end.
A request from a very right hemispheric artist here, is to also plan some conversations outside of academia. The one with Caroline Ross was a great example of body wisdom. More people from the practice of presence please. The ones normally not first to talk. You interviewing them, shining your incredible light and erudition on the processes of non lingual intelligence. You read the poetry, now talk to the poets. How does the farmer use their right brain. Dive into right hemispheric learning (called play). Invite Jacob Collier.
At near sixty I am finally finding my voice in large part because of reading TMAHE now several years back. I wish this breakthrough --this permission-- for many more of my fellow rights, it is high time we speak up. On my Substack I have tried to put my own words to how I experience a left dominant world but I find it near impossible to do justice to the other way. Your Substack might be a great platform to also have these kinds of conversations....
Science too often lacks the movement back to right. Stepping out of time reflecting, analysing, and mapping is totally fine if it is part of the 'leading' goal of participation in creation. If not, we get stuck in the delusion of separation. From not knowing, to knowing and back to the awareness of being incapable of knowing in full what is still becoming. Yes, all relational is the deep beautiful truth here....
A warm welcome here Iain, and thank you for diving in at the deep end.
A request from a very right hemispheric artist here, is to also plan some conversations outside of academia. The one with Caroline Ross was a great example of body wisdom. More people from the practice of presence please. The ones normally not first to talk. You interviewing them, shining your incredible light and erudition on the processes of non lingual intelligence. You read the poetry, now talk to the poets. How does the farmer use their right brain. Dive into right hemispheric learning (called play). Invite Jacob Collier.
At near sixty I am finally finding my voice in large part because of reading TMAHE now several years back. I wish this breakthrough --this permission-- for many more of my fellow rights, it is high time we speak up. On my Substack I have tried to put my own words to how I experience a left dominant world but I find it near impossible to do justice to the other way. Your Substack might be a great platform to also have these kinds of conversations....
Wonderful seeing fellow artists inspired by your work and words Iain. Thanks for sharing. You've been a strong influence and inspiration in my work, art and transformational experience design through puzzles. As I've mused myself, I suspect it is not a mere coincidence that puzzles are such a strong feature in the current zeitgeist.
"The use of paradox can often be a way to shift, bend, or break rigid frames. Embracing paradox— the ability to hold seemingly contradictory ideas simultaneously—can help break our default frames and spark breakthroughs. In puzzles, as in paradoxes, opposites always coincide with one another. Observing the coincidence of opposites at your fingertips can be an effective way of "shaking the snow globe" and seeing the pieces from a fresh perspective."
If puzzle art is of interest to you personally, I'd be glad to send one along in thanks.
I'm very much looking forward to your dialogue with Michael Levin.
Indeed, Jasen - and I am in fact complete puzzle addict - mainly the Times Cryptic Crossword, but other Japanese 3-D figure puzzles too. I'd be glad of a new one -thanks
There is something of a golden thread I am following these latter days. Your name, your work I see links writers in overlapping networks across substack. Our modern mind brings different contexts to your thought. I come with some science experience but found the more dogmatic expressions of denial of 'intention' curiously odd in people who showed every sign of... intention. There seemed at least one place in the cosmos with room for the phenomenon and an exception to their philosophy.
I was relieved to be nodded toward Alasdair MacIntyre a while back now, to Aristotle and Telos. MacIntyre went for Aristotle more than Plato, though Plato to my mind said some wonderful things. CS Lewis, 1964, in 'The Discarded Image', (Selected Materials, Chalcidius) suggests Plato already intimated that we have been given eyes to see the sky and ears to hear melody so that we might know the motions and harmony from which we are descended.
And there was Blake of course, and the thread, the golden ball and the gate in Jerusalem wall.
The ARC conference?? There are clear connections between this and funding from climate change deniers and even eugenicists who still entertain Charles Murray's Bell Curve and subsequent (disproved) genetic racism- surely positions that are abhorrent from your carefully researched scientific realism and pluralist cultural/ philosophical wisdom? I understand you are a conservative, but surely you can see the dangers of the ARC movement?
Is your question framed in a hopeful way that reflects a balance of left and right brained analysis? Is not the very invitation to Dr McGilchrist to make a presentation at the conference a good and hopeful sign of those who advocate for genuinely free speech and lively debate?
I've listened to several of the presentations - and some were not to my own personal preference and perspective religiously, politically or philosophically. And no one to my knowledge spoke there that literally "denies" there are real issues with climate change. But they do question the coopting of the data (and its interpretation) for the purposes of social engineering and manipulation.
The "dangers' of the ARC movement? What of the "dangers" of the opposing perspectives which ARC brings a thoughtful challenge to? The charges you bring against ARC are not beyond reasonable criticism. (Well - that's what my own "left-brain" is telling me, anyway🤗)
I just saw your piece, so I brewed some coffee to sip while enjoying the read! Thank you. Lovely way to begin the day, and in the studio too. I am with those artists.
I’m copying the Annunciation by Simone Martini, 1333. Am doing it just for painter self-education, so I can emulate his style, and it sure is an undertaking, what with preparing the wood and buying gold. The work itself has amazed me more than I expected, even from a starting point of deep respect. Many times as I trace his lines, I pull back in awe, and tears fill my eyes. Again and again I encounter an exquisite mind attuned to something very good. The way you describe the biological process encompasses my feelings about this painting. There are higher goals at work. It’s all so lovely, and I thank you.
That is so beautiful, Shannon. How wonderful that you do this in these dark days. The mastery of a skill, the touching of radiance. Simone Martini has been a touchstone for me since my teens. Something is living and working through you. And copying is now out of fashion, but I found that copying teaches one so very much. Even writing a piece in the style of a poet or writer teaches one a way of being and observing that is a revelation. Thank you
Dear Iain! I am so very touched that you mentioned my record - Wandering Talk. I can't tell you how much your work and wisdom has been revelatory for me! Thank you so so much.
It’s wonderful to have you here, Iain, I’m so inspired by your work and ideas, and have listened to/watched so many of your vlogs/podcasts elsewhere. All the very best!
Thanks, Sam!
Thanks, Sam!
So much to contemplate! Thank you, Iain for sharing your work and art with us.
Thanks, Regina! Great to hear.
Thanks Iain for a fascinating and really interesting post. I am a huge fan of your work and finding you speaking on YT a few years ago has opened a whole world of education and thought provoking interests for me. Substack is such a brilliant community that holds no bar to who we are and who we want to speak with or share to. I've just launched my Substack too and I am so pleased we are both here.
Thanks for your companionship, Sally! I am glad you liked my stuff.
Wonderful to see these artistic offerings, and thank you for featuring David's piece among them. We refer to you and your work frequently at the studio and it influences not only his art but our approach to the practice and 'business', such as it is.
...
I've enjoyed the late Peter Brown's term for the nature of 'this' - he called it "Radiant Presence". 'Presence' encapsulating the constancy, the groundedness, the stillness, the eternal, and 'Radiance' articulating the ever-changing, fresh, multitudinous display of expressions that the presence takes.
You've given me a great deal to reread and soak in this morning, thank you Iain.
Oh, and yes, you've successfully turned on payments :)
Thanks!
How wonderful that you picked up that at the studio so soon! And yes, radiant presence is good, isn't it?
Just registering a slight caveat regarding Plato: There are, of course, multiple Platonisms, just as there are many versions of Aquinas. The static Plato may be the authentic one, but I can’t quite accept it. Socrates is too subtle and shrewd, and too often ends a conversation in aporia. I suppose my own affection for Plato is filtered through a prism of Trinitarian theology and hermetic wisdom, yet I surmise a less abstract, more genuinely dramatic system, one which gets coopted into angelology, perhaps. For a somewhat different take on Forms, I recommend Edith Stein’s synthesis of metaphysics and phenomenology where the complex relations between essence and existence acknowledge the musical aspects of being as flow. And Hans Urs von Balthasar is good, too, in recognizing the existential horizon in which the beauty of form arises.
Thanks, Brian, the distinction you make is one I am aware of, but should perhaps mention more often - it seems to me between the wise aporia of Socrates, and the clever knowing LH of his disciple, Plato (though there is the Theaetetus ...) I am also aware of Edith Stein and von Balthasar, the latter of which I approached with an enthusiasm that was disappointed in the end. But heigh ho
Science too often lacks the movement back to right. Stepping out of time reflecting, analysing, and mapping is totally fine if it is part of the 'leading' goal of participation in creation. If not, we get stuck in the delusion of separation. From not knowing, to knowing and back to the awareness of of being incapable of knowing in full what is still becoming. Yes, all relational is the deep beautiful truth here....
A warm welcome here Iain, and thank you for diving in at the deep end.
A request from a very right hemispheric artist here, is to also plan some conversations outside of academia. The one with Caroline Ross was a great example of body wisdom. More people from the practice of presence please. The ones normally not first to talk. You interviewing them, shining your incredible light and erudition on the processes of non lingual intelligence. You read the poetry, now talk to the poets. How does the farmer use their right brain. Dive into right hemispheric learning (called play). Invite Jacob Collier.
At near sixty I am finally finding my voice in large part because of reading TMAHE now several years back. I wish this breakthrough --this permission-- for many more of my fellow rights, it is high time we speak up. On my Substack I have tried to put my own words to how I experience a left dominant world but I find it near impossible to do justice to the other way. Your Substack might be a great platform to also have these kinds of conversations....
A thousand thank you's. ... Bertus
And how composers compose
Science too often lacks the movement back to right. Stepping out of time reflecting, analysing, and mapping is totally fine if it is part of the 'leading' goal of participation in creation. If not, we get stuck in the delusion of separation. From not knowing, to knowing and back to the awareness of being incapable of knowing in full what is still becoming. Yes, all relational is the deep beautiful truth here....
A warm welcome here Iain, and thank you for diving in at the deep end.
A request from a very right hemispheric artist here, is to also plan some conversations outside of academia. The one with Caroline Ross was a great example of body wisdom. More people from the practice of presence please. The ones normally not first to talk. You interviewing them, shining your incredible light and erudition on the processes of non lingual intelligence. You read the poetry, now talk to the poets. How does the farmer use their right brain. Dive into right hemispheric learning (called play). Invite Jacob Collier.
At near sixty I am finally finding my voice in large part because of reading TMAHE now several years back. I wish this breakthrough --this permission-- for many more of my fellow rights, it is high time we speak up. On my Substack I have tried to put my own words to how I experience a left dominant world but I find it near impossible to do justice to the other way. Your Substack might be a great platform to also have these kinds of conversations....
A thousand thank you's. ... Bertus
I like it, Bertus, thanks!
Wonderful seeing fellow artists inspired by your work and words Iain. Thanks for sharing. You've been a strong influence and inspiration in my work, art and transformational experience design through puzzles. As I've mused myself, I suspect it is not a mere coincidence that puzzles are such a strong feature in the current zeitgeist.
https://releasingthemuse.substack.com/p/collaborative-puzzle-solving
"The use of paradox can often be a way to shift, bend, or break rigid frames. Embracing paradox— the ability to hold seemingly contradictory ideas simultaneously—can help break our default frames and spark breakthroughs. In puzzles, as in paradoxes, opposites always coincide with one another. Observing the coincidence of opposites at your fingertips can be an effective way of "shaking the snow globe" and seeing the pieces from a fresh perspective."
If puzzle art is of interest to you personally, I'd be glad to send one along in thanks.
I'm very much looking forward to your dialogue with Michael Levin.
Indeed, Jasen - and I am in fact complete puzzle addict - mainly the Times Cryptic Crossword, but other Japanese 3-D figure puzzles too. I'd be glad of a new one -thanks
Ingression takes place after the initial encounter.
this statement sounds like an argument for possession now that I’ve examined it. Do you think there’s anything in it, Iain?
Could you expand on this?
Ingression takes place …
Thanks for posting the Levin paper and response. Deep stuff (well over my cerebral chin!) but definitely fascinating.
There is something of a golden thread I am following these latter days. Your name, your work I see links writers in overlapping networks across substack. Our modern mind brings different contexts to your thought. I come with some science experience but found the more dogmatic expressions of denial of 'intention' curiously odd in people who showed every sign of... intention. There seemed at least one place in the cosmos with room for the phenomenon and an exception to their philosophy.
I was relieved to be nodded toward Alasdair MacIntyre a while back now, to Aristotle and Telos. MacIntyre went for Aristotle more than Plato, though Plato to my mind said some wonderful things. CS Lewis, 1964, in 'The Discarded Image', (Selected Materials, Chalcidius) suggests Plato already intimated that we have been given eyes to see the sky and ears to hear melody so that we might know the motions and harmony from which we are descended.
And there was Blake of course, and the thread, the golden ball and the gate in Jerusalem wall.
The ARC conference?? There are clear connections between this and funding from climate change deniers and even eugenicists who still entertain Charles Murray's Bell Curve and subsequent (disproved) genetic racism- surely positions that are abhorrent from your carefully researched scientific realism and pluralist cultural/ philosophical wisdom? I understand you are a conservative, but surely you can see the dangers of the ARC movement?
In good faith I ask:
Is your question framed in a hopeful way that reflects a balance of left and right brained analysis? Is not the very invitation to Dr McGilchrist to make a presentation at the conference a good and hopeful sign of those who advocate for genuinely free speech and lively debate?
I've listened to several of the presentations - and some were not to my own personal preference and perspective religiously, politically or philosophically. And no one to my knowledge spoke there that literally "denies" there are real issues with climate change. But they do question the coopting of the data (and its interpretation) for the purposes of social engineering and manipulation.
The "dangers' of the ARC movement? What of the "dangers" of the opposing perspectives which ARC brings a thoughtful challenge to? The charges you bring against ARC are not beyond reasonable criticism. (Well - that's what my own "left-brain" is telling me, anyway🤗)
Dear Iain,
I just saw your piece, so I brewed some coffee to sip while enjoying the read! Thank you. Lovely way to begin the day, and in the studio too. I am with those artists.
I’m copying the Annunciation by Simone Martini, 1333. Am doing it just for painter self-education, so I can emulate his style, and it sure is an undertaking, what with preparing the wood and buying gold. The work itself has amazed me more than I expected, even from a starting point of deep respect. Many times as I trace his lines, I pull back in awe, and tears fill my eyes. Again and again I encounter an exquisite mind attuned to something very good. The way you describe the biological process encompasses my feelings about this painting. There are higher goals at work. It’s all so lovely, and I thank you.
That is so beautiful, Shannon. How wonderful that you do this in these dark days. The mastery of a skill, the touching of radiance. Simone Martini has been a touchstone for me since my teens. Something is living and working through you. And copying is now out of fashion, but I found that copying teaches one so very much. Even writing a piece in the style of a poet or writer teaches one a way of being and observing that is a revelation. Thank you
Your encouragement fills up my heart, Iain. Thank you for telling me these beautiful things!
Ingression leaves an impression upon the viewer, but some phenomena must be encountered before ingression takes place. @Nicolamiller
Thank you. I’ve just seen your reply. Food for thought 😊
Dear Iain! I am so very touched that you mentioned my record - Wandering Talk. I can't tell you how much your work and wisdom has been revelatory for me! Thank you so so much.
I am thrilled, Orlando. it's so wonderful to see how creative worlds connect. Thank you.
My God. How you skate the plains of truth, beauty and goodness. There is no better substack. Thank you.