Random Notes 20150321

Random Notes 20150321

Friday, March 20, 2015

Body-Mind

Life coaches such as Tony Robbins have posited that the Mind and Body are closely linked.  To change your mental state, begin moving your body differently.  When you speak over the phone, the other person will hear and sense on a subconscious level your facial expressions and your body movement even though they cannot see you - you cannot fake this.

If you are depressed, you body is turning inward and drooping.  Change your body and you can snap out of it (assuming no underlying medical condition).  

To get in Peak State every morning I do a variation from the following menu:

• Shadow box each fist until the count total gets to 20
• Resistance tubes 5 times on bicep, forearm and squat
• Do 80 jumping jacks
• Push fists upward, then pull into chest violently and shout “Yah!!”
• Make a foot fist with each foot alternating with each step and count to 20 then stop.
• 20 sets of Breath Walking (look it up on youTube)
• 5 very deep breaths imagining that water is pouring over you and in and out your lungs.

In summary, the body and mind are linked tightly.  Change your movement and you can change your emotional and spiritual state.

Napoleon Hill

Hill claims that the secret to wealth will reveal itself only when one is ready for it.  This is true for many things.  The clarity of seeing large areas of the Earth from a plane comes from being high above the ground.  In the same manner, age brings us, in a way, to a higher view of things that we did not see when younger.  I recall at the age of 16 when my brain suddenly expanded to the point where I understood things at an astonishing rate that I had not gotten before.  The same experience happened when I began the practice of focused meditation around the age of 32.  Now, at the age of 40, I am more “ready” for some ideas that five years ago I would have considered absurd or silly.  What are some of these things?  

• Peak State is not a luxury, but a necessary practice to get exponentially better results.  Being in Peak State is a hell of a lot of work, but well worth it.
• Spirituality is necessary for higher quality strategic thinking.
• Drama is Truth for some people - for these people scientific reductionism has no meaning at all.  And, they are correct in more ways than one.
• Decisions are made on an emotional level.  We merely use logic to justify what we have already decided to “get the story straight.”
• All human endeavors involve Body, Mind, Heart, and Spirit.  We can also say, in other words, Material, Mental, Emotional, and Meaningful.  Neglect of any of these will lead to the destruction and poverty of the souls participating.

East versus West

After years of studying philosophy, history, theology, the split between the East and the West comes down to Plato versus Aristotle.  Plato’s world is that of an imperfect physical world as an opaque reflection of the perfect realm of Ideas, or heaven; Christianity is Augustine’s “City of God.”  Aristotle’s world is that of Four Causes: Material, Formal, Efficient, and Final causes.  The Protestant and Catholic West is Aristotelian, interpreted through Thomas Aquinas.  The Eastern Orthodox is Platonic, as interpreted through the Fathers.  The West takes argumentation very seriously.  The East takes the City of God concept very seriously.   

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Freddy Martini  

Random Notes 20150210

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Community Coffee

Growing up in Louisiana, I grew up drinking Community Coffee.  Eventually I got sick of it from over use.  But, I drink it occasionally now that I live far away and cannot purchase the stuff in local stores.  Perhaps once every two weeks I may drink 2 cups of the stuff.  I have the Dark Roast Select, which is a little better than the regular stuff.  

Coffee is the social Sacramental Drink par excellence.  You cannot just pour the stuff from a bottle like soda drinks or bottled water.  You must go through several procedures to make it.  And, like tea, it is good for the essence of social life: conversation.  Gather around a cup of coffee and have communion with conversation.  Take this, all of you and drink it for this is my coffee, made for you. 

Tony Robbins Pareto Principle

The Pareto Principle says that 20% of the causes produce 80% of the effects.  Tony Robbins says that the formula for success is 80% Psychology and 20% Mechanics.  Coming from anybody else, this may sound like another feel good, positive thinking bull crap statement.  But, Tony Robbins has the credibility to back up this assertion as he is one of the richest men in the world.

So, we should focus on managing our mental, emotional and spiritual energies most of the time, and only focus on the mechanics of execution 20% of the time.  A lot of this means to focus on the most important things, and delegate everything else.  Are we “stressing the small stuff”?  Outsource that stuff to India, China or the Philippines.  That is what I do.

The Problem of Induction

I have studied philosophy since 1992 - it has been 23 years.  The Problem of Induction is perhaps, still, the most haunting problem, the most persistent, and still there is no solution in sight.  What is the core of the Problem of Induction?  It is the foundation of the Scientific Method.

Consider the following.

• I have observed one million swans.
• All one million swans are white.
• Therefore, all swans are white.

Or, more scientific:

• I have observed 1000 pieces of copper.
• All 1000 pieces of copper conduct electricity.
• Therefore, all copper conducts electricity.

From the first, do you consider that there are any Black Swans?  

This process, my friends, is the Problem of Induction.  It is the foundation of the Scientific Method.  Yet, it has absolutely no basis in logic or proof.  It is a method that works most of the time, but not all of the time.  

• Jets crash.  
• The conclusions of medical studies change every 2 years.  
• Nobody can predict the stock market.

So, if we are dazzled by the supposed success of our “scientific civilization” we must remember that there is no reason to conclude the truth of any scientific claim - none whatsoever.  

This, when you think about it, is absolutely shocking.

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Freddy Martini