Great insights. I call it insatiable curiosity and it's the first part in my trifecta of polymathic thinking
1. Insatiable curiosity
2. Humility
3. Intentional reframing to see if I understand it fully.
The final elemt you hit on is critical: targeted irreverence. This challenges our own and others self righteousness and is a key function of Stoicism that Andrew Perlot has written about.
Rock on. The "irreverence" is crucial, one of the reasons there are certain forms of meditation that, in my view, are almost anti-human. Judgement is crucial if properly used.
My reaction to the new format after trying to absorb a few of them: I prefer the prior single exploration. It’s too much for me and FOMA sets in. Maybe my age is showing. I like chewing on curiosity. By itself, it takes to unknown depths of time and space. For me, it could be a sprint or a marathon, each with its own similarities and differences.
Those "unknown depths of time and space" are what it is all about.
I appreciate the feedback Barry. I actually thought the exact opposite would be the case—I thought it would be easier to digest the theme since it would not be intricately woven into one long narrative. It is actually easier for me to write the one long narrative than it is to make individual units. Do you think this piece, as an example, would have been more valuable if it were the same content but integrated into one traditional essay?
I find that some of this creativity really does arise from the most unusual spots as long as one keeps looking for it. I had explored some of my favorite childhood movies and TV series again and somehow wound up starting to learn a bit of Icelandic and learning about ancient Scandinavian folk songs.
It might not be "commercially important" to learn to sing an Icelandic lullaby about lamb bones and glacial rifts, but it makes me feel so alive; to know that the melodies I listen to and maybe will be able to sing soon are the same melodies and lyrics that have been sung hundreds of years before our time, in front of fireplaces amidst the freezing, mystical landscapes of Iceland... I
f that's not a connection to our more primal, more connected past, then I don't know what else could be!
This is great Kai. A lullaby on lamb bones and glacial riffs; it makes me legitimately wonder what is more important and stimulating than a story like this to soothe children (and adults)? What is more grounding? Politics? Television? The fact you're learning Icelandic for play is astounding—that is the definition of curiosity.
Thank you! I’ve also just found it particularly interesting to see how a country like Iceland has dealt with long winters and dark days, with such hardship and barren soil. It takes a special way of life, an intriguing approach and a long history to not only survive, but thrive in this environment!
I haven’t found time to delve into the books yet, so far it’s been online research and rabbit holes. BUT, once my exams are over this summer I might look for a copy of one of the famous Icelandic Sagas, like the “Njáls Saga” or the “Grænlendinga Saga”! Also striking is that Icelanders nowadays also are one of the most avid readers worldwide, which may or may not have a connection and/or influence on their way of dealing with hardship!
I was reminded while reading this of my friend and teacher, Aunty Puanani Burgess. She was intensely curious, always asking questions, wanting to know, seeking to understand, yet apparently never reaching the point of "understanding." Our mutual friend, Charles Holmes, called her The Trickster because her seemingly innocent questions would trick us into awareness of ourselves.
This is a critical point, one I am also chewing on and Aunty Burgess had figured out—there is no "end". It is just a continual process of curiosity, of admiration of life and its ups and downs. Thank you for dropping this Russ, it is a perfect extension of the theme.
“Men do not allow anyone to take possession of their estates, and, if there is the slightest dispute about the limit of their property, they rush to pick up stones and weapons: but they allow others to make inroads into their life, even extending personal invitations to those who will one day possess it.” The herd will retaliate if one's brain isn't open to meddling and pressure, to the inroads. There is a balance between the two pulls; the coherence and stasis of the group and independence and curiosity that moves the group forward. When that balance is disrupted, fear rules and nose rings multiply like a virus, like the sign in the window described by Vaclav Havel, Workers of the World Unite. Your description of your meditation sounds like a complete unshackling of the brain, a vacation from the signs in the window. I must learn to meditate.
Chalks rings on Nazi propaganda posters reminded me: Propaganda is even more prevalent today than in Nazi times. Our schools, our media, our political parties are dedicated to propganda, not to the examination of ideas.
Keep a big supply of chalk, and don't just sneak around with it in the dark. Brandish it in front of everyone.
One thought…don’t ask “why?” Rather “how come?” Or “I wonder?” Why is too simple how come and o wonder ask the question I. A way which is harder to answer and requires deeper thought and gaining knowledge on the quest for an answer…our brains are wired for much greater thought than we generally allow. Sam would say you’re pushing the edges of the envelope with your efforts. We all ought to try and catch up!!
Sam, This was my way of supporting the notion of "unquenchable curiosity". as in maybe Newton saw the apple fall from the tree, and asked why, but more than likely he wanted to know "how come?" What made the apple fall the way it it. Not only the one apple, but many and how come we seem rooted to the earth when we cannot see or really feel gravity. This of course is the difference between thoughtful SEAL's and dumbassed 03"s!! One is really thinking it through and the other...well let's just say one of us is swimming around and over the beach with measuring devices and marking his results down, and the other is just planning to cross the beach with great violence of action based on the meticulous findings of the swimmer!
Haha this analogy had me laughing. I really like this point. I also the reminder of "violence of action". This is not a bad way to live a life, assuming of course we define it carefully and execute it passionately.
Curiosity is a superpower, I would wager. There is a case for believing that it has been wangled, tickled and wrestled from our grips incrementally by technology (and in part, a natural propensity to succumb to hoovering lines of digital soma to smooth out reality’s sometimes ragged edges). Hyper-curiosity cannibalises its host, because without reflection and picking out a curiosity to ponder and turn over in our minds negates the possibility of its progression, and is merely filed quickly/synaptically shredded out of necessity for the next nugget that’s just scrolled into view.
Also, hats-off to you as usual for 'going there' yourself. To study the contours of the abyss takes courage. How Hieronymus does so willingly is because there seems to be compassion in the depictions, and I suppose that is what jars and intrigues in equal measure. That it elicits this response is a clue that this is a lens we can or must use when we find the fortitude to don the crampons.
Forever the student, never the master. For me, the process or the journey to a goal is far more interesting and rewarding, than achieving the goal itself. The curiosity, the seeking, the challenge, the adaptation, the growth... that's the good stuff. Even if I were to obtain a "master" status, I don't ever see myself as ever accepting that as truth and remaining a student. This has been quite helpful in jiujitsu. It really sucks at the beginning. All of this information, all of the pressure and inadequacy, lack of awareness.. it ignited a deep curiosity to understand why and how to do something about it.
I love to swim underwater. I've never pushed to the point of lights needing resuscitation, but have come close. Pulsating vision, colors fading, fighting against every cell screaming to surface. The farthest I pushed resulted in me seeing my childhood self sitting cross legged on the bottom watching me swim towards him. He looked at me with a slightly cocked head and extended his little arm up towards me with a smile forming on his face. His mop if blonde hair swaying. He had this shifting shimmer to him that is hard to describe. As I swam over him he started to swim backwards on the bottom facing me, we were maybe a foot apart. He never broke eye contact and kept that grin on his face. I reached the far wall and a sense of peace washed through me. He drifted up and put his forehead against mine and mouthed, "I am proud of you." He pulled away and put his little hand on my heart and was gone. I broke the surface and breathed. I suppose this could be a form of meditation with the right framing.
Did you ever hallucinate during underwater trainings?
This is a trip. I’ve had a few hallucinations, both underwater and after the fact in my dreams. There is something primordial about the water, almost as if it calls us.
Curiosity is also what keeps your personal relationships from getting stale. People forget to be curious about those closest to them, assuming they know everything about them, and wonder why they are not having the time of their lives.
Great post Sam. I hope you’ll post more about #4. You’ve aroused my curiosity. (Yes, really) I think there’s another dimension to curiosity. It’s not just curiosity, but it’s willingness to explore where curiosity leads you. And, needless to say, it may lead you to uncomfortable and dangerous places. What Then?
Thinking about your essay while walking my dog this morning I found myself paying close attention to his (my dog’s) “unquenchable curiosity” as related to his sense of smell. Typically I might grow impatient after 10 seconds of him sniffing the heck out of a lamp post and give him a little tug to keep us moving along but today I slowed down and let him complete his investigations. Then I became curious about his curiosity and long story short it made for a more enjoyable than usual walk… probably due to being more present and less distracted by the selfish drivel in my own head. So thanks Sam and thanks Percy! He’s a rescue from Kentucky. Half Treeing Walker Coonhound a quarter Siberian Husky and a quarter Rat Terrier.
Sounds like a beautiful mutt, Mark. To us, the dog is merely sniffing urine. To the dog, they are reading Dostoevsky. This perspective always makes me give him that extra time.
“ I hope these micro essays will spark more powerful thoughts than one large macro essay.”
My essays are getting shorter over time (except for the occasional deep diver). I can hear my recovering grad student mind looking down on and trashing me for that brevity. So I hold on tight to Mies van der Rohe’s axiom that “Less is more”. Carry on as you’re going, Sam. If you ever need a bit of inspiration to hold that course (even as you write your long-er book!), here are some wise words about simplicity: https://bairdbrightman.substack.com/p/wise-words-simplicity
Rock on, Baird, it is an idea I'm enjoying chewing on. I think, for me at least, the variation is key. If I only wrote either long or short then something is probably wrong and I am not doing legitimate thinking. Some topics deserve long, other short—if I cut it off, I cut off the topic.
It is designed specifically for autoimmune problems, but it does so by cutting all the way down to our inner dialogue and lifelong patterns that may be negative. The Gupta Program is fantastic, and it is where I got the meditation. Even if my physical problems are somehow cured, I'm going to continue doing his meditations for the mental side of the house.
Can’t wait to start seeing targeted ads for “BLOOD CACAO!”
Great stuff, Sam. Onward on the journey!
Haha we should TM it and see how it does. It would probably appeal to the primal animal nature and do quite well, who knows?
Great insights. I call it insatiable curiosity and it's the first part in my trifecta of polymathic thinking
1. Insatiable curiosity
2. Humility
3. Intentional reframing to see if I understand it fully.
The final elemt you hit on is critical: targeted irreverence. This challenges our own and others self righteousness and is a key function of Stoicism that Andrew Perlot has written about.
Wonderful reminder.
Rock on. The "irreverence" is crucial, one of the reasons there are certain forms of meditation that, in my view, are almost anti-human. Judgement is crucial if properly used.
My reaction to the new format after trying to absorb a few of them: I prefer the prior single exploration. It’s too much for me and FOMA sets in. Maybe my age is showing. I like chewing on curiosity. By itself, it takes to unknown depths of time and space. For me, it could be a sprint or a marathon, each with its own similarities and differences.
Those "unknown depths of time and space" are what it is all about.
I appreciate the feedback Barry. I actually thought the exact opposite would be the case—I thought it would be easier to digest the theme since it would not be intricately woven into one long narrative. It is actually easier for me to write the one long narrative than it is to make individual units. Do you think this piece, as an example, would have been more valuable if it were the same content but integrated into one traditional essay?
If possible, maybe separate weekly
I find that some of this creativity really does arise from the most unusual spots as long as one keeps looking for it. I had explored some of my favorite childhood movies and TV series again and somehow wound up starting to learn a bit of Icelandic and learning about ancient Scandinavian folk songs.
It might not be "commercially important" to learn to sing an Icelandic lullaby about lamb bones and glacial rifts, but it makes me feel so alive; to know that the melodies I listen to and maybe will be able to sing soon are the same melodies and lyrics that have been sung hundreds of years before our time, in front of fireplaces amidst the freezing, mystical landscapes of Iceland... I
f that's not a connection to our more primal, more connected past, then I don't know what else could be!
This is great Kai. A lullaby on lamb bones and glacial riffs; it makes me legitimately wonder what is more important and stimulating than a story like this to soothe children (and adults)? What is more grounding? Politics? Television? The fact you're learning Icelandic for play is astounding—that is the definition of curiosity.
Thank you! I’ve also just found it particularly interesting to see how a country like Iceland has dealt with long winters and dark days, with such hardship and barren soil. It takes a special way of life, an intriguing approach and a long history to not only survive, but thrive in this environment!
If there are any particular books that are most striking, please share. This sounds fascinating.
I haven’t found time to delve into the books yet, so far it’s been online research and rabbit holes. BUT, once my exams are over this summer I might look for a copy of one of the famous Icelandic Sagas, like the “Njáls Saga” or the “Grænlendinga Saga”! Also striking is that Icelanders nowadays also are one of the most avid readers worldwide, which may or may not have a connection and/or influence on their way of dealing with hardship!
What a fascinating world. I have some rabbit hole digging to do tonight!
I was reminded while reading this of my friend and teacher, Aunty Puanani Burgess. She was intensely curious, always asking questions, wanting to know, seeking to understand, yet apparently never reaching the point of "understanding." Our mutual friend, Charles Holmes, called her The Trickster because her seemingly innocent questions would trick us into awareness of ourselves.
This is a critical point, one I am also chewing on and Aunty Burgess had figured out—there is no "end". It is just a continual process of curiosity, of admiration of life and its ups and downs. Thank you for dropping this Russ, it is a perfect extension of the theme.
Haha, yes. Maybe the point in which we "know" is the point at which we've stopped knowing.
“Men do not allow anyone to take possession of their estates, and, if there is the slightest dispute about the limit of their property, they rush to pick up stones and weapons: but they allow others to make inroads into their life, even extending personal invitations to those who will one day possess it.” The herd will retaliate if one's brain isn't open to meddling and pressure, to the inroads. There is a balance between the two pulls; the coherence and stasis of the group and independence and curiosity that moves the group forward. When that balance is disrupted, fear rules and nose rings multiply like a virus, like the sign in the window described by Vaclav Havel, Workers of the World Unite. Your description of your meditation sounds like a complete unshackling of the brain, a vacation from the signs in the window. I must learn to meditate.
Excellent example from an excellent essay. Why do many do it? Because that is what is done. Nose rings...
The fact that this particular description of meditation makes you want to do so literally makes my day. Some people just truly want to "know."
Chalks rings on Nazi propaganda posters reminded me: Propaganda is even more prevalent today than in Nazi times. Our schools, our media, our political parties are dedicated to propganda, not to the examination of ideas.
Keep a big supply of chalk, and don't just sneak around with it in the dark. Brandish it in front of everyone.
Yes. Endless supplies of chalk, and the courage to use it.
Chalk is plentiful. Places to use it are plentiful. It just takes courage, and really, not that much is needed.
One thought…don’t ask “why?” Rather “how come?” Or “I wonder?” Why is too simple how come and o wonder ask the question I. A way which is harder to answer and requires deeper thought and gaining knowledge on the quest for an answer…our brains are wired for much greater thought than we generally allow. Sam would say you’re pushing the edges of the envelope with your efforts. We all ought to try and catch up!!
Charles, I may have missed the context of this message. Was this in response to another reader or my essay?
Sam, This was my way of supporting the notion of "unquenchable curiosity". as in maybe Newton saw the apple fall from the tree, and asked why, but more than likely he wanted to know "how come?" What made the apple fall the way it it. Not only the one apple, but many and how come we seem rooted to the earth when we cannot see or really feel gravity. This of course is the difference between thoughtful SEAL's and dumbassed 03"s!! One is really thinking it through and the other...well let's just say one of us is swimming around and over the beach with measuring devices and marking his results down, and the other is just planning to cross the beach with great violence of action based on the meticulous findings of the swimmer!
Haha this analogy had me laughing. I really like this point. I also the reminder of "violence of action". This is not a bad way to live a life, assuming of course we define it carefully and execute it passionately.
Again, a bevy of ideas here Sam.
Curiosity is a superpower, I would wager. There is a case for believing that it has been wangled, tickled and wrestled from our grips incrementally by technology (and in part, a natural propensity to succumb to hoovering lines of digital soma to smooth out reality’s sometimes ragged edges). Hyper-curiosity cannibalises its host, because without reflection and picking out a curiosity to ponder and turn over in our minds negates the possibility of its progression, and is merely filed quickly/synaptically shredded out of necessity for the next nugget that’s just scrolled into view.
Also, hats-off to you as usual for 'going there' yourself. To study the contours of the abyss takes courage. How Hieronymus does so willingly is because there seems to be compassion in the depictions, and I suppose that is what jars and intrigues in equal measure. That it elicits this response is a clue that this is a lens we can or must use when we find the fortitude to don the crampons.
Thank you Will, and same to you.
Forever the student, never the master. For me, the process or the journey to a goal is far more interesting and rewarding, than achieving the goal itself. The curiosity, the seeking, the challenge, the adaptation, the growth... that's the good stuff. Even if I were to obtain a "master" status, I don't ever see myself as ever accepting that as truth and remaining a student. This has been quite helpful in jiujitsu. It really sucks at the beginning. All of this information, all of the pressure and inadequacy, lack of awareness.. it ignited a deep curiosity to understand why and how to do something about it.
I love to swim underwater. I've never pushed to the point of lights needing resuscitation, but have come close. Pulsating vision, colors fading, fighting against every cell screaming to surface. The farthest I pushed resulted in me seeing my childhood self sitting cross legged on the bottom watching me swim towards him. He looked at me with a slightly cocked head and extended his little arm up towards me with a smile forming on his face. His mop if blonde hair swaying. He had this shifting shimmer to him that is hard to describe. As I swam over him he started to swim backwards on the bottom facing me, we were maybe a foot apart. He never broke eye contact and kept that grin on his face. I reached the far wall and a sense of peace washed through me. He drifted up and put his forehead against mine and mouthed, "I am proud of you." He pulled away and put his little hand on my heart and was gone. I broke the surface and breathed. I suppose this could be a form of meditation with the right framing.
Did you ever hallucinate during underwater trainings?
This is a trip. I’ve had a few hallucinations, both underwater and after the fact in my dreams. There is something primordial about the water, almost as if it calls us.
Curiosity is also what keeps your personal relationships from getting stale. People forget to be curious about those closest to them, assuming they know everything about them, and wonder why they are not having the time of their lives.
What a beautiful point, Valentina. That is an art form unto itself.
Great post Sam. I hope you’ll post more about #4. You’ve aroused my curiosity. (Yes, really) I think there’s another dimension to curiosity. It’s not just curiosity, but it’s willingness to explore where curiosity leads you. And, needless to say, it may lead you to uncomfortable and dangerous places. What Then?
Sending your way
Thinking about your essay while walking my dog this morning I found myself paying close attention to his (my dog’s) “unquenchable curiosity” as related to his sense of smell. Typically I might grow impatient after 10 seconds of him sniffing the heck out of a lamp post and give him a little tug to keep us moving along but today I slowed down and let him complete his investigations. Then I became curious about his curiosity and long story short it made for a more enjoyable than usual walk… probably due to being more present and less distracted by the selfish drivel in my own head. So thanks Sam and thanks Percy! He’s a rescue from Kentucky. Half Treeing Walker Coonhound a quarter Siberian Husky and a quarter Rat Terrier.
Sounds like a beautiful mutt, Mark. To us, the dog is merely sniffing urine. To the dog, they are reading Dostoevsky. This perspective always makes me give him that extra time.
“ I hope these micro essays will spark more powerful thoughts than one large macro essay.”
My essays are getting shorter over time (except for the occasional deep diver). I can hear my recovering grad student mind looking down on and trashing me for that brevity. So I hold on tight to Mies van der Rohe’s axiom that “Less is more”. Carry on as you’re going, Sam. If you ever need a bit of inspiration to hold that course (even as you write your long-er book!), here are some wise words about simplicity: https://bairdbrightman.substack.com/p/wise-words-simplicity
Rock on, Baird, it is an idea I'm enjoying chewing on. I think, for me at least, the variation is key. If I only wrote either long or short then something is probably wrong and I am not doing legitimate thinking. Some topics deserve long, other short—if I cut it off, I cut off the topic.
The freedom to pursue various forms. That’s the ticket!
Good format for the curious. Love to know more about the meditation method/technique.
It is designed specifically for autoimmune problems, but it does so by cutting all the way down to our inner dialogue and lifelong patterns that may be negative. The Gupta Program is fantastic, and it is where I got the meditation. Even if my physical problems are somehow cured, I'm going to continue doing his meditations for the mental side of the house.
You’ve got your mind on your medium and your medium on your mind, to borrow from Snoop Dogg.
The blend of my essay and the rhythm of Snoop Dogg—the definition of curiosity.