And thanks for continuing to to build. I’ve been reading this journal for several months. this post has finally caused me to respond.

First, this is a great resource, and i appreciate the web of acute observations and counter-observations — the exploration of endlessly related layers of meaning.

Second, the output is prodigous. There’s more food for thought than I can absorb on an average day, actually. But I eventually get around to reading, and the material is almost always right on.

Third, the synergy among Occult Investigator, Fantastic Planet, Rigorous Intuition, and related sites is really going “somewhere” (not sure where, but I’ve never seen anything like this on the Internet). Funny, I came to this dimension of the blogosphere via politics, but once here, have found that this is a lot closer to home than previously read sources.

I think I understand what you mean by “I think that’s exactly what I’m after: to force a crisis on purpose.” As someone wiser than me said (to paraphrase): if you want to increase your knowledge, increase your necessity.

Having said that, I think you can chase your own tail in layers of meaning. Previous studies in philosophy and religious practice have indicated the need to “climb some trees.”

But actually –if anyone asked me– I’d say that the nexus of intellectual and experiential nutrition is where it’s at. The crossroads of being and understanding, if you will. In my case, I can say that extreme experience (intentional or not) can put you in a place of learning a lot, quickly. The only problem I have with pursuing endless layers of meaning is that doing so (alone) can become a hollow intellectual exercise. But then again, I also know that pursuing anything with passion (sorry for the the cliché, can’t find another, more appopriate word) is a legitimate means of forcing crisis, maybe even temporary reconciliation .. and so on, to the next crisis.

Keeping the process alive is where it’s at, imho - sort of “being the knack,” if you’ll pardon the Zen-ism. And this site has contributed significantly in keeping the process alive - thanks.

The moon, the mist, the world, man
Are only fleeting compounds
Varying in power, and
Power is only insight
Into the void - the single
Thought that illuminates the heart.
The heart’s mirror hangs in the void.

-Kenneth Rexroth

to me the cassiopaeans (just to pick on them for a minute) are a great example of the out-of-controlness of an idea.. in their case the souled vs. soulless thing, which i think has very destructive potential.

i’ve found that what works best for me is to pass THROUGH ideas and to allow ideas to pass through me in turn. i try not to “internalize” the information too much, if that makes sense.. i think information spoils when you force it into some kind of stasis.

i don’t really have a conclusive point here, but yeah. i guess that IS the point, actually.

Back in 1998 or so I got on this huge kick where I was reading a lot of speculative physics, trying to figure out the origins and destiny of the universe.

Yeah, having some of the necessary mathematical training, I actually tried to develop some of my own theories of physics and consciousness. But it turned out to be too much work for the derived benefit. It’s not where I’m at. I’d rather be having real experiences than trying to mathematically describe others’ experience. It’s about people and beings, not abstract concepts.

————-

LOL, I hear that. I actually was thinking of killing off the “Rev Illumaintus Maximus” persona for that reason. It had too many associations I wasn’t happy with. So I’d pick another, like “Professor Frottage” or something.

But by shortening it to “Rev Max” and dropping the more stunted and obnoxious aspects of my online “fiction suit” I have been able to hang on to it anyway.

Dropping the imposture that the GFN (my site) was some kind of anonymous collective was helpful too. That idea served a purpose once but it definitely outlived it. For one thing if you present yourself as someone who has all the answers, a s the spokesperon for the idea, then you don’t get to exchange ideas or ask questions.

I couldn’t do those things before, but now I can. Its been like lifting a HUGE weight from my shoulders.

A lot of the debate hinged around whether the universe was open or closed. If it was open then it was produced by a big bang and would expand forever, at least until it ran out of juice and succumbed to heat death

If it was closed then the big bang could have been preceded by a big crunch, the universe could be big banging and big crunching over and over like a bouncing ball.

I drove myself INSANE trying to understand this stuff. I thought if I only I could get some kind of definitive answer, then I could relax.

I eventually abandoned the project when the news cam out that the universe is 13-14 billion years old and likely to continue to expand at an accelerating pace. OK then its settled I thought.

A few years later, the Brane theory became very popular, and the possibility of an oscillating universe was reintroduced.

I almost killed myself trying to understand something that physicists themselves are constantly revising and updating and bouncing back and forth and which changes every few years or so. I don’t know why I thought I could figure out something that they couldn’t but I did.

Thanks for your feedback about “serving” an idea the other day BTW, that was helpful.