Is it possible for a system to be both hierarchical AND innately mysterious? Is it possible for self-embedded reciprocity within such a system to lead towards a breaking out of the self same system while still being a part of it on another level? Can NON-understanding be a "part" of ANY system,...

I have this feeling that appeals to functional equivalence (or even similarity) are somehow, well, disrespectful, or at least intrinsically misleading.  Functional appeals 'work' because they abstract very specific relations from an otherwise fully real and completely embedded situation, and show how regardless of how those relations come about, if they do, then for the purposes of...

WARNING: PROJECTIVE GEOMETRY MAY PUT HOLES IN YOUR BRAIN.  YOUR MIND MIGHT LEAK OUT - IF YOU WANT YOUR MIND IN YOUR BRAIN STOP READING NOW. Okay, here is a geometric exercise that I find very interesting (for some context about WHY it is interesting, look here). It is, however, more complicated than the previous one...

Now, another challenge was proposed, to proceed to a third transposition inspired by Varela's star cybernetics. My response: simplistic/complex ---> multi-ordered simplexity  how to fix/how to engage ---> ascripted re-presencing  compulsive mappings/flexible relations ---> constructive deconstruction  textbook categorizations/situational phenomenologies ---> second-order homeodynamics  control the universe through mapping/participate in the universe through walking its territory -->  co-construction of universe and self  dominant masculinist...

The following exercise was proposed: Take the following list, culled from a critique of Ken Wilber's work by philosopher William Irwin Thompson, Coming Into Being and write the opposites. simplistic  how to fix  compulsive mappings  textbook categorizations  control the universe through mapping  dominant masculinist purposefulness  shift power from the described to the describer  psychic inflation and self-magnification  a grand pyramid with the advocate on top  lacking poetic...

I'd like to make a contribution with regards to circularity/linearity, from a geometrical standpoint.  If you don't like geometry, stop reading, or better yet, read with increased intensity. The polarity between circle/line is one that is fundamental to many geometries - they are taken to be quite different logical entities.  Primarily this arises because of...

A professor of mine, Bradford Keeney, offers the following advice: EVERY TIME YOU READ <insert your book here>, INTERACT WITH THE BOOK IN A WAY THAT YOU HAVE NEVER INTERACTED WITH A BOOK:  Some possibilities:  *drill a hole through it *drill other holes  *underline spaces rather than words  *talk to the book  *place book under pillow or bed or tv or...

Wow - wandering through Powell's books just turned up this gem - perfect for me!  It's a book with an alchemical basis (the chapters are organized by the seven basic alchemical processes), exploring philosophy, science, history, and consciousness...  but what's even better is that the book is very visual and creative.  It includes seven paper...

After working on this thesis for, well, let's face it, WAY too long, I am finally DONE.   It's actually kind of hard to believe, and I'm pretty sure that my wife was thinking that this day wouldn't actually arrive.  I should have made a bet. Basically what this means is that in the next... um,...