Streaming about streaming (with hyperlinks and footnotes)
George Clark 08 February 2007
The following four paragraphs are a stream of consciousness about streams of consciousness. Hyperlinks have been added to allow digging deeper for some of the key concepts. This serves as a model of how a wiki might be used by readers to expand on a root text. Note that if suitable third party references are not available then readers can write new pages and link to them.
Stream of consciousness about communicating
I read a lot but am not prepared to reel off what I have learned at the drop of a hat. It is more my style to prepare my spiels1 ; to present lessons. I do not savour the cut and thrust of debate. I prefer the dialectical hermeneutic style where the various claims, concerns and issues are researched and harmonised as much as possible before the various stakeholders are drawn together. This cuts down on the tension that has to be on open display2 .
Aha – there are no immediate calls on my time. But the machine which is me has been geared up to answer calls. There is thus some cognitive and emotional dissonance. This is the crux of the retirement experience. Unhooking from the imperative to ‘do’3.
Aha – I sense the need of a context (a social context ie other people with fire in their bellies) in order to focus on a topic for deep consideration. Without a context I am free to leap off at tangents - and I do. A word or phrase captures attention so I do a Google [define:] on it and then check it out in Wikipedia. This usually affirms that there is material out there should there be a need to take it further and so I let the topic drop until another one turns up. I did that this morning with ‘stream of consciousness’. I have now given up being intellectual about the concept but I am still putting it into practice.
Aha – there is an issue about my not wanting to push my personal needs and interpretation on the world. There is a tendency to be submissive and introvert4 . I normally relate this to early programming in the family situation (nurture) lying on top of a hard wired disposition (nature). I have no way of knowing how much nature/nurture is involved nor of the extent to which the mind can be reprogrammed. But I like to think that (a) it is possible and never too late to change your mind and (b) that a blend of psychotherapy and meditation is likely to be the most efficient way of doing so.
Ref also questions and answers
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