Dear Lawrence
i enjoy our interaction a lot : ) It doesn't matter if you will remember it
or not next year. I will. And even if I don;t, it will have changed me in a
way & so the memory of it will be there in some other way, even if i cannot
recall it. The reason why i enjoy it is because i feel free w/ you to think
& interested enough about what you think to express what it is that i think.
Why? You are older that me, a man, native English speaker, live in a
different country - what is that we share after all? How come i feel
challenged but not threatened by you - fine emotions that are hard to
accomplish amongst best friends who grew up together even? If you have a
theory, please share it. (i guess your theory is = we share nothing & that's
why?)
My theory= we share ethos.
Could ethos be described as "principles and aims/aspirations expressed
through politics"? "Coming from a similar place" sounds much more exact. Of
course ethos is more than what is allowed & what is not. BUT what is allowed
is dictated by one's ethos, no? I think you are right - it is a sign of the
ethical to pay attention to others, since the only way for ethos to be
expressed (recognised) is through interaction w/ others. Others, who we meet
in space & time, others who we have access to. virtual space is some kind of
geography & this is indeed a metaphor. As all language is. As all concepts
are.
It is a tendency of digitisation to abstract from the physical - perhaps
yes. But still, this can happen in so many different ways. Abstraction does
not mean denial. For example, I know several couples who met through the web
& later in person, that now live happily together (marriage, kids, the whole
packet). I love your Thessaloniki story. and the Berlin story as well.
Sounds you are travelling quite a bit. So do I. Seems that our digital
activity has not discouraged us from physically moving - perhaps it has
inspired us even.
Yes, the gaps in Aristotle is partly what I mean re his arrogance. He does
not deal with thought. He just thinks. Brilliantly, sure, but he also makes
it easy for himself as well, by not dealing w/ any counter-arguments, by
jumping into conclusions, by driving through the forest straight where he is
aiming at, without really looking at what comes up on the way. Have him talk
w/ Wittgenstein for a sec - imagine them two in a living room, enjoying a
glass of porto. Wittgenstein would walk out first I think. And i bet
Aristotle wouldn't be really bothered.
Sthg you wrote made me think. "I spend a large part of my time in what
passes for the rural in Britain and have spent a lot of time in cities. I
see no difference at the ethical" Is that true? Farmers have the same ethics
that bank officers have? I know, this is a horrible generalisation, but
still - it sounds bizarre. How come experience does not affect their ethics.
Experience is affected by where you live, isn't it? I just found your
statement really striking. I will have to think about this for a while. It
doesn't feel right or wrong, just strange...
And so we move to the question of "what is ethos for?" or "what good does it
do you?" or simply what does it serve? Happiness of course. A clearly
defined ethos makes life simpler, doesn't it?
Happiness is the purpose of life & the quest for it is the meaning. Joseph
Cambel says sthg like this as well, replacing happiness w/ bliss. (I like
the idea of Cambel in the room w/ Aristotle : )
So anyway, ethos is a tool or a skill to have so that you can lead a happy
life, the Greeks said. No northern European (French & German mostly)
investigations ala "what is is?". Instead, the Greeks dealt w/ very simple,
down to earth, useful, practical philosophical issues. How can I be happy?
First, belong. Cause this defines you as human. (so, come on, participate in
the digital era, don't demonise computers) Then, choose how to do so: be
clear as what your ethics are so as to not suffer from confusion, errors,
mistakes; so as to not be cornered having said one thing & done another, so
as to be trusted by others & have faith in your self, thus be self-assured,
thus confident. (wanna blog? ok, do it). Then choose your politics. Your
strategy in other words. So as to fight your battles in a system that can
actually get better, so that you can improve in the long term, be more
sucessful. (how will you blog?)
I am actually smiling as i write this cause my logical sequences are
somewhere in between silly & obvious. Yet, I want to shake off any
assumptions - have them drop from the tree & then see which one i want to
keep & which to throw.
So, continuing the prev. par, yes Blogging can be godlike too - i love that
you brought up such a word!
There's so many of us, yes. But any more than 5 or 6 people is "so many
anyway - at least as far as knowing what each thinks goes. Exactly because
there's so many of us, some stand on a Vima and try to be heard. To explain.
To express. To speak. To share. To be exposed, to open up. Just like in the
agora - too many people there too, for 5thcBC standards.
I say: sharing is the ethos of the digital world citizen. And you say:
> "I share in all sorts of ways. I go online when I need to… I really don't
> follow you. Being online is habitual for me. No more"
>
Sure, you share in many ways - that makes you human. Choosing to share
within a non-geographical space, though, - to share w/ strangers, in the
presence of other strangers, whom you'll probably never meet, but engage
with on an intellectual level does state sthg about you. Not everyone does
it, right? Many could even judge you for doing so. Or wonder. But your ethos
is such that allows or even dictates it. And this ethos is shared by all who
do it, just like you shared ethos w/ everyone in that march. Would you say
marching is habitual for you? No more?
thanks for talking more about the thing i did not understand.
"Politics arises because we all have different ethics and behaviours" -
that is very interesting. I would say that about diplomacy maybe : politics
arises because we all have different behaviours. We have different
behaviours because we have different ethics probably, which we negotiate
though some form of diplomacy. Yet, to be able to do so (do politics,
diplomacy, dialogue) we must have some ethos shared. Cause we might disagree
& i might want to talk about it, while you might want to shoot me. This is
not politics, nor diplomacy of course. Our ethos would be so different then
that we wouldn't be able to apply our politics. I must think more about
this - i found what you say very interesting.
demanding your data in order to let you download a brochure is their policy
no? what is the difference of policy and politics you think?
What is "bedraggled"? Dictionary.com said "wet,limp"...?
I use it a lot as well, esp. when i work : )
and, alas, i must get to work now once more. It is pretty hot here in
Athens. In 2 days I'll be in Budapest & in 3 in Warsaw - they tell me it
might be hotter there though... where are you based & how is teh weather
there?
xxxeugenia
--
"And the sky can still fall on our heads. And the theater has been created
to teach us that first of all."
-- Antonin Artaud, "No More Masterpieces," 1938.
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