Odjak

Wikipedia says:

“Introspection is contemplation on one’s self, as opposed to extrospection, the observation of things external to one’s self.

Introspection may be used synonymously with self-reflection and used in a similar way.

Introspection is like the activity described by Plato when he asked, “…why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are?” (Theaetetus, 155).”

=======================================================

Introspection has no end. We can keep doing it.

Not true.

Introspection ends when we are no longer capable of introspecting.

When we are too busy, or mentally deficient, or physically dead.

Also, introspection without extrospection is useless.

Let it not be said that I have said nothing new. The arrangement of the material is new.
Blaise Pascal

This is my 101st entry to this blog.

I have written about many things here.

I am aware that the ideas or concepts I write about are not mine. They are borrowed, adopted, learned, sometimes digested, sometimes not.

I am also aware that no new concept or idea may ever be generated on this blog.

The only thing this blog may ever be able to do is to make new connections between existing ideas and concepts, or see new relationships between events.

And that’s something we all do as part of our daily practice of living.

By the way, what I just wrote is based on a borrowed concept.

Yesterday, in Istanbul, a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, a journalist named Hrant Dink was shot dead. He was 53 years old.

Hrant Dink was a sensible and courageous journalist. He defended the rights of all people living in Turkey.

Outrage, anger, sadness, frustration, more outrage, hopelessness, helplessness.

More anger.

Nationalism is the most destructive weapon of our time.

Fanatic nationalists, like soccer hooligans are a disgrace to all life on earth.

Any government that fuels nationalism is irresponsible and self-destructive.

Anyone who acts with a nationalistic impulse is likely to be a sick person and must receive due treatment.

Anyone who nurtures nationalism in order to attain a political goal should be tried and if found guilty be imprisoned.

Be weary of people who threaten you with a flag. Next, they will threaten you with a gun.

I wish I could do something more positive than ranting and raving.

__________________
According to Reporters Without Borders

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20286

In 2006
At least 81 journalists and 32 media assistants were killed
at least 871 were arrested
1,472 physically attacked or threatened
56 kidnapped
and 912 media outlets censored
___________________

In stories animals often stand for humans. We give them human attributes.

They’ve become symbols for human activities.

A donkey is a Democrat. An elephant is a Republican. The snake is the symbol for the medical profession. The beaver serves as the mascot of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Oregon State University and the University of Toronto. It is also an emblem for London School of Economics and the name of its student newspaper, The Beaver.

The list is long.

My astrological sign is the leo. My Chinese zodiac sign is the snake. My present family name translates to hawk (that’s another story).

But I’d like to be an elephant today. No, not a Republican elephant.

I am craving for steadiness, solidness, slowness.

All ears.

Today is my day for being an elephant. What’s yours?

A story starts with a distinct sentence: Once upon a time…

This sentence marks the beginning of a narrative that may or may not be true. May or may not include facts. May or may not have happened.

In Armenian, a story starts with the sentence: There was and there wasn’t…

In Turkish it starts with: Once there was and once there wasn’t…

The binary construction is the principal behind a digital computer.

In my view, the “one and zero”, and the “there was and there wasn’t” are connected.

After all, doesn’t this add up to the human experience?

When I play music or walk or do yoga exercises, the time goes by.

I gain skills and physical abilities. I feel better.

But when I look back, there is no trace of my days. There is no record, there is no product. There is no sign of me doing these things.

It’s all gone. With time, even skills, physical abilities and feeling better disappear.
All disappear.

So, I write, I record, I videotape.
To convince myself that I’ve done something.
To have proof of my existence.

I convert my life experience with the help of a computer, and engrave it in digital form.

Everything turns into ‘ones and zeros’.

There is and there isn’t.

A musician can play a note in many different ways.

How to describe precisely the way a finger hits the piano key?

In musical transcriptions instructions are commonly used:
Legato, staccato, piano, forte, sforzando, crescendo, diminuendo, rallentando, accelerando, rituando, rubato…

You may not have noticed, I’m typing this text in diminuendo.

When I use the pencil, the pencil is the extension of my body. When I play the guitar, I manipulate the strings to express my mood. What I experience within is translated to something else and is amplified.

You can detect an angry handwriting or a joyful tune.

The keyboard of my computer does not make that translation. The vibes within my body are lost at the touch of the keyboard.

If the keyboard could react to the way I touch it, if it could respond to the gentleness or to the harshness of my fingers hitting it, if it could translate and amplify these nuances, I’d start having a different relationship with my computer.

I know you can adjust the velocity of a note if you’re using your computer’s keyboard as a musical instrument, but it is not a touch sensitive mechanism. It’s a software adjustment. It’s an order to respond in a certain way to the next set of touches, until that order is modified.

Do you know of any software or hardware that can translate the way you touch the keyboard to something else? Live?

A hand holding a pen, a brush, or a bow.

Fingers pinching the chords of a string instrument.

Fingers blocking the holes of a wind instrument.

Blowing air through a tube.

Striking the hide of a drum.

Making sounds, music, drawing, painting, writing, calligraphy…

Fingers touching the keyboard of a computer.

Pushing a button.

All these are the crossing points for what is inside of the body to what becomes outside of the body.

The simplest experience, pushing a button, is the interface between us and the computer, the most sophisticated instrument of production. Production, recording and replication too!

We talk about artful handwriting or artful playing of a musical instrument, but we don’t talk about artful keyboard stroking.

Shouldn’t we?