OUT OF THE QUESTION

August 6th, 2019

To recap a few previous Tinkered Thinking episodes, we can take the word ‘question’ and simply lop off the last three letters to get a Tinkered Thinking idea of what this word means.  A good question, a real question sets the mind off on a quest. 

It pulls a few other things into focus regarding how we use the word question.  For instance, when someone says “It’s out of the question.” 

What does such a person mean?  Merely that the suggestion proffered will not be entertained.  Quite literally it means that whatever suggestion will not be a part of the mental quest that all involved will take on the subject at hand.

A question, in some sense is an instrument for creating a story.  Often the story is what we must discover to explain the possibilities that we wonder about, to bring reality to our ponderings.  Or rather, bring our ponderings to the hard boiled facts of reality.

To say that something is out of the question is to refuse outright that something has any chance of being part of the story. 

This cacophony of language we constantly use, is, at the end of the day, a story that is constantly rewriting itself.  Even within fields that seem more grounded like math and physics, the story of these fields evolves as discoveries are made, and more importantly, these stories evolve when a good question is posed, and the quest for a different angle begins and ultimately illuminates a new corner of the story.

It begs to wonder: if it’s not out of the question, does that mean that something is…

in question?

A LUCILIUS PARABLE: NO WAIT

August 5th, 2019

The automatic doors parted and Lucilius, using a golf club as a casual cane walked in.  The showroom was immaculate and Lucilius gazed upon the gleaming set of cars.  Lucilius spun the golf club in a wide circle and caught the ground as he took another step and did a loop around each car.  A well-groomed young man approached Lucilius with a smile and asked if there was any way he might help.

“There is,” Lucilius said.  “I want to buy a Tesla.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place.”

“Excellent,” Lucilius said magnanimously. He spun his golf club again and stopped the clock so as to point at one of the cars. “I want that one.  In white.”

“Ok, well, just a few other questions and we can get you on your way,” the Tesla salesman said.

They worked through the few details quickly and to everyone’s delight it turned out they had just what Lucilius wanted available at that moment.  Lucilius was lead out back and finally laid eyes on his dream car.  Lucilius beamed with pleasure.  He swiped a card and instantly the car was his.

The salesman smiled likewise.  “Ok, well I just need to go back inside and print off a few things, get your key and you can be on your way.”

“Excellent,” Lucilius said.

The man walked off and Lucilius slowly circled the car, swinging his golf club in a big circle.  His face was one of victory, not of something now won but about a battle he knew he would thwart from the start.  He stood in front of the car, and just as the salesman was walking back, Lucilius lifted the golf club and smashed it into the hood of the car, making a huge dent.

The salesman gasped, startled.  “What the…  what’s wrong with you?”

Lucilius pondered this question a moment.  “Not too much, and even then, I’d say I’m making progress.”

“But,”  the salesman stumbled over his words.  “Why would you do that?  It’s a beautiful, brand new car.”

Lucilius shrugged.  “Something like it was bound to happen sometime.  I just don’t like to wait around for such things.  Too much worry, and always for no reason.”

RELEASE VALVE

August 4th, 2019

A common misconception about meditative practice is that one concentrates on a sense of calm and peace.  It’s all a bit froo-froo from the sounds of it.

Many people who look as though they practice meditation also believe this is what it’s about.

If anything, a sense of calm equanimity is a by-product, not the actual product of a meditative practice.

Think of a cashier, manning a till all day.  During the whole shift there is a constant line of people waiting to be dealt with, holding items for purchase, wanting to pay.  All day, the cashier rings in items and takes payment, and all day, when each person is finished paying, they go in a loop and get back in line.  And it never ends.

For many people this is the mental status quo: just a constant, never-ending stream of looping thoughts.

A meditative practice eventually enables a person to get to the end of a shift, giving each thought it’s due and letting it go. 

Think of that cashier again, closing up shop, going home , flopping down on the couch and finally breathing a sigh of relief.  That relaxing calmness is a by product of a day well worked and over, it’s not the direct result of such work.

So too is the case for a meditative practice that is starting to work.  A person can finally get relief from thoughts that have hither-to been never ending.

Meditation becomes, first, a workshop where each of us can build and tinker with a release valve for the mind.

AUDIO DANCE PARTNER

August 3rd, 2019

First person yells, second person yells. 

First person yells louder, second person yells louder

First person screams, second person screams.

Things just don’t get better.  Hopefully, ideally, this sort of thing just collapses into silence and both walk away.  And when such people see each other again?  What are the chances that they begin again at one of those higher registers of volume?  

The chance is certainly there.

What about if we go in the other direction?  It’s counter-intuitive to speak with lower volume, but what happens when someone doesn’t hear what they wanted to hear?

They lean in.

What does that leaning in communicate to the person speaking?

Someone’s listening.

Now, are we more or less likely to get louder when we feel that someone is listening? 

It’s a no brainer:

people don’t get loud when they feel like someone is listening.

That’s basic human connection, and it functions like traction.

When a car wheel loses traction and starts spinning in the snow, gassing up the engine and spinning that wheel faster isn’t going to do anything productive.

Got to start over.  Slow down. 

Decrease that volume.

Grab traction, get in step and move on.

We match one another no matter how detrimental it is. 

The trick is realizing that any change you make will also be matched. 

COZY MIND

August 2nd, 2019

A bucket of mud is no place for an origami flower.

That paper flower would instantly soak and bloat, wrinkle and whither until nothing is left but a sloppy mess.

A paper flower is an intricate and delicate construction, and in order for it to, well, flourish, it needs the right environment, like a clean dry table on which it can be displayed.

Some thoughts and ideas are like this origami flower.  They require a certain environment in order to be constructed and appreciated.

Many people do not have a mind that can host a good thought.   Think of all the self-deprecating thoughts that are running around in people’s mind right now.  How many people would – if they could some how be relieved of this self-depreciation – start work on a nice little idea they have.  An idea that is currently squashed by the heavy dominance of negative thoughts? 

Great things have small beginnings,

but

 small beginnings require the right environment to continue.