Technical Things.

For the group presentation I did quite a bit of work making the graphics and putting everything together. I used Blender to edit some video, Photoshop CS3 for the graphics, and Flash CS3 for the actual presentation.

I have lots (seriously lots!) of images in all states (.psd, .psb, .png) and the flash files (.fla, .swf)

I consider all of this work to be free for anyone to use and enjoy, so if anyone is needing some Jeopardy graphics just send me an email and I'll be more than willing to send back whatever you need or want.


Click here to download the final .swf presentation file. (flash viewer must be installed)
(right click > save link as)

Group Presentation.

As I mentioned in the last post, my group (4) presented last Monday on the topic of complements as explained by Kane. We parodied SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy and brought into it many examples of complements.

First of all, the questions all came from chapter 5 of Kane. We touched on some of the stories that were told, and different ideas such as 'hierarchy,' that arises in complementary situations.

Secondly, the genre of parody is a good example of complementarity. The original first existed without the parody, but gains from the parody in one way or another. They are not opposites, but give each other a meaning entirely dependent on the context of the other. Interestingly, the same sort of argument can be made against primary and secondary text. Is the primary text, or the commentary more important. Answer: neither! Though an obvious hierarchy exists, each gain sufficient meaning dependent on the context of their relationship. Primary vs. Secondary.

Thirdly, Willy Quiet William's role was that of the Otherworld, which is complementary to our world. They are not opposites, but the relationship is interconnected and symbiotic.

Coming from the immersement of the literate culture, it is difficult to think in terms of complements. We as members of the literate tradition automatically think using analytic and deconstructionist methods. It seems unnatural to think of hot and cold / light and dark / black and white / God and Satan / Schooltime and Summer ( ha, two weeks! ) as complementary things and not opposites. The world however does not function as the literate mind would like. Complements surround us challanging the literate tradition's construction of the idea of opposite.

Complementary.

My group and I (group 4) presented last week with a parody of SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy. We presented chapter 5 of Kane which is Complementarity. The idea of complements is that two or more things do not act as opposites, but as complements. They complement the other in their differing levels of sameness. Often, the sameness is perceived as being so low that the objects are not just different but actually opposite.

The classic opposite is black and white. However, black could not exist without white. The ideas, notions, and symbolism that accompanies 'black' could not exist without the ideas, notions and symbolism that accompanies 'white.' These are not opposite but complementary. They exist only in context with the other.

Even when objects pursue specific outcomes that are different, sometimes very different, it is still necessary for each to exist. Kane writes, "Thus each of the worlds, pursuing its separate ends, resolves problems by contact with the other" (175). The first example that comes to mind is that of God and Satan. Two different worlds pursuing extremely different ends, needs the other to function. For instance, God seemingly works along side Satan in the persecution of Job. Though the motivations are different and could be confused as "opposite," without Satan in the context of God, the system wouldn't work -- God's plans would not function.

Complements are abundant in the oral tradition, as its characteristic holistic view allows for the understanding of two separate entities working in close relation even though highly different. The typographic tradition is highly analytic and delights in breaking things down into separate entities that can then be set on opposing sides.

Changing.

I have decided, for about the forth time, to change the subject of my paper. After doing a lot of research and finding our very interesting things about a specific primary oral culture (Trobriand) I have decided to go a different route.

In the book The Alphabet vs. the Goddess by Shlain, he talks a lot about the development and differences of the left and right brain lobes. This is very interesting and provides a very physical contradiction to Ong's false dichotomy between Orality and Literacy. More on this later.

and more on the Trobriand peoples later also.

Starting The Alphabet Vs. The Goddess

I just started the book that Shaman Sexson allowed me to borrow. It is called The Alphabet vs. The Goddess by Leonard Shlain. The very first thing that struck me while reading the preface was that Shlain is a surgeon by profession. He heads a medical department and is an associate professor of surgery and he writes books like this. First impression: this guy is making me look bad.

I just finished chapter 1 and find it to be extremely relevant to the topics of oral traditions, and closely related to Orality and Literacy and Wisdom of the Mythtellers.

Shlain argues that the invention and rise of the alphabet demoted the feminine goddess figure from her throne and replaced her with the masculine figure. He writes on page 3, "Literacy has promoted the subjugation of women by men throughout all but the very recent history of the West. Misogyny and patriarchy rise and fall with the fortunes of the alphabetic written word." He goes about explaining this by first setting up the characteristics of femininity. Shlain claims that they are a holistic, simultaneous, synthetic and concrete view of the world. The masculine qualities are opposite: linear, sequential, reductionist, and abstract.

Ong shares this point speaking about Latin on page 111, "For well over a thousand years, it was sex-linked, a language written and spoken by males." The culture that surrounded the academic Latin scene built it for the male population, however Shlain would add that the idea of Latin's alphabetic characters were the bases for why the culture catered toward the masculine and not the feminine.

Shlain argues that the process of writing and reading force a deconstructionist view in order to understand writing. This falls under the masculine qualities, as does the basic structure of writing which is linear. Since, according to Shlain, feminine views delight in images, the alphabetic word opposes a holistic, imaged based interpretation system.

I was originally going to write about the tacit connections in nature and how the attempt of science to explain those connections degrades the oral tradition. However, I might lean more toward the feminine qualities in nature and how literacy degrades them. As Shaman Sexson told me in class, "degrade" is a very strong word. I agree, however... for me to analyze the phenomenon, it is easier to see the worst, as lesser example are then easier to find.

I am looking forward to diving further into Shlain's book and learn about more interactions with the alphabet and its surroundings.

Connections in the Natural World

So far, my favorite quote from the Kane book is "The whole world seems alive with relationships we cannot see, except as the make their presence felt in other relationships that we can see (40)."

I felt drawn to this idea immediately when I read it. I love the mystery that this implies, and the fact that Science (capitalized) attempting to explain these patterns degrades and severely undermines the mystery and wonder of the natural world.

This is primarily Kane's point when he talks about the caribou and the biologists attempts at tracking their numbers. Something else is obviously going on under the surface and no amount of scientific work is going to account for the "mystical" variable.

I would like to write my paper on something concerning that mysterious element. Kane touches briefly on the impact of science on our understanding and belief about natural things. However, I would like to focus on how Science actually masks our understanding by creating a world without mystery.



If the product of all scientific research was a world without mystery, should scientific research continue? If the natural world is keeping esoteric information and or processes from us, does Science really think that the earth will hand over her secrets. She sings them to herself, but Science does not allow them to be heard. She sings them to herself, but humanity is often preoccupied. If humanity was available to listen, would she sing them loud enough for humanity to hear? Or maybe Science has masked her song enough so that humanity no longer hears a song but a bird or the wind or the waves, beautiful still but no longer part of the entire song.



Uh... I don't really hold a high view of most Science - if you couldn't tell.

My Memory Palace

I promised that I would put my memory palace up here in pictures. So, here it is. This is now what I see whenever I walk through my apartment.

Room 1 is the LIVING ROOM.





Room 2 is the KITCHEN









Room 3 is the DINING ROOM






Room 4 is the HALLWAY












Room 5 is the BATHROOM













Room 6 is my BEDROOM