A Most Welcome Invitation Down the Rabbit Hole #35 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

This theme invites deep exploration—venture down the rabbit hole and explore the many paths available, from the philosophical to the technological to the ethical. The rapid growth of digitalization and virtualization provokes many questions about how we define, understand and embrace reality.
The arts of provided many fascinating interpretations and provocations about reality, which make the topic all the more interesting to explore. What are your favourite references– pop culture or otherwise?

Total Words

939

Reading Time in Minutes

4

Key Takeaways:

  1. There’s more than meets the eye to this theme—explore the many facets that have engaged our species since even before the ancient philosophers.
  2. Reality is not synonymous with physical existence, and our reality is increasingly virtual in nature.
  3. Do we create reality, or do we simply observe or interpret it through our own filters and lens?
  4. Be mindful of the reality you create.

About Paul Ellingstad:

Paul accompanies leaders who want to innovate and grow while effectively navigating personal, organisational, societal and planetary change. He is a lifelong learner and loves systems level thinking as much as simplicity. He’s passionate about mentoring and intergenerational collaboration, particularly the diversity of ideas and experiences it offers and the opportunities it creates to achieve amazing outcomes.

Contacting Paul Ellingstad:

You can connect with LinkedIn, X or send him an email.

By Paul Ellingstad

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality…

Somehow, I doubt you’ll curse me for planting a melody in your mind, care of the amazing Queen and their Bohemian Rhapsody.  I suspect I’m not the only one who reacted to this year’s CongRegation theme with the Pavlovian reflex to sing the opening lines of this treasured tune.

But this theme also conjured up so many ideas and wonder that Lewis Carroll ignited with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  And many other artists, musicians, writers, film-makers have also made amazing contributions that further explore, provoke and excite conversation about reality.

Having worked in the tech industry for many years, it’s tempting head down the path of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) – obviously rich territory for this theme. But before starting my career, my very first course in third level education was a philosophy course, and I’ve been fascinated and progressively curious and amazed the more I’ve learned and lived since that early enlightenment. And at a time when technology has become so pervasive and we embrace of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) competencies as the key achieving economic growth and prosperity (for individuals as well as for nations), a bit of philosophical perspective blended into the discussion might be a useful addition to the conversation.

Wikipedia, offers a useful entrance to the rabbit hole of this theme. There, reality is defined as:

the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within the universe, as opposed to that which is only imaginary, non-existent or nonactual. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, reality is the totality of a system, known and unknown. 

‘Real or existent’ versus ‘imaginary’… how do we differentiate one from the other in our digital, hybrid world??  In a classic scene where Morpheus reveals the Matrix to Neo for the first time: “This isn’t real?” … “What is real?  How do you define real?”  With our increasing time and experience spent online, are those experiences as real as the ones we have in the physical world??  As Sean Parker exclaims (c/o Aaron Sorkin) in The Social Network: “We lived on farms, then we lived in cities, and now we’re going to live on the internet!” Do we conflate reality and the physical world, or is our increasingly digital existence simply another part within the totality of the system?  Perhaps real or imagined doesn’t have much to do with physicality at all.  Interestingly is you wish to dive deep on this particular thread, Plato argued in the Theory of Forms that Forms (ideas) are more real than the physical world.

Perhaps a bigger question and provocation about reality is that of acting… the authenticity of character, of behaviour, and even of being. In a world rife with imitations of everything from ideas to physical things (including counterfeit goods), is our definition, understanding, (and acceptance(?)) of reality more a matter about knowing what is… real? Is that a more useful way for us to frame reality? There is a popular motto adopted by many groups and that personally resonates which seems apropos: Esse potius quam videri (“To be, rather than seem”).  Yetvas the popular refrain “Perception is reality” also springs to mind, who’s to judge the sincerity/authenticity of our actions and our character, and by what means?

Wrestling with what seems like one of Plato’s Forms and a very philosophical issue, there is an inescapable realism that arises the more perception and performing come to mind.  The band Rush captured this reality well (from my perspective anyway) in their song Limelight:

Living on a lighted stage
Approaches the unreal
For those who think and feel
In touch with some reality beyond the gilded cage

All the world’s indeed a stage
We are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another’s audience outside the gilded cage

Perhaps the daily performance, however authentic, is reality—period.  A parting thought, care of the legendary  Kurt Vonnegut: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”   Sage advice, at least in the reality I embrace.

M.C. ESCHER – RELATIVITY (1953)

The Reality of the Realm #34 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

What are the realities for different user groups as we re-think Public Realm ? What has been missing for the last 60 years as we pivot with Urban Design for the betterment of society and factor in nature.

Multiple possibilities abound. Have we the capacity to listen to all voices …

Total Words

707

Reading Time in Minutes

3

Key Takeaways:

  1. There are many different user groups, with varying needs, sharing our public spaces – meaningful and transparent Community Engagement is a key component to enabling change.
  2. Integration of Science, Technology, Eningeering, Art. and Maths will all play a role in keeping things real.
  3. Nature and Bio-Diversity are silent actors. Time to hard wire their role in our new reality.
  4. Universal Design is a good start point ..

About Justine Delaney:

A native of Galway City, hoping is to see the City of the Tribes realise it’s economic, cultural and natural potential while at the same time adhering to our SDG commitments as set out in the National Climate Action Plan 2023.

Contacting Justine Delaney:

You can connect with Justine by email

By Justine Delaney

‘ Reality ‘ … a high level summary, refers to the state of things as they exist, independent of our perceptions or interpretations. Reality encompasses the tangible aspects of the world, including physical objects, events, and the fundamental laws that govern the universe. Reality is often contrasted with perceptions or subjective experiences, highlighting the objective nature of the external world. Reality serves as the backdrop against which our thoughts, feelings, and experiences unfold.

In many instances of everyday life, reality for one person varies with that of another, depending on, for example, a person’s physical makeup or perhaps their gender, or their ability to afford things. Their negotiations, interactions with and usage of an external space are not perceptual but their living realty.

An object or tangible aspect of the world around us can offer various quandaries to a particular user group … which is why the Reality of the Public Realm presents many exciting user cases. We are invited explore rural and urban landscapes as our commnities are pressed to re-think how Public Realms will look in the future.

Consider Public Realm and Urban Design, for example, as experienced by men, women, the elderly and the disabled. Urban design can have different impacts on these groups due to societal norms, safety concerns, and accessibility. Women often face specific challenges related to urban planning …. safety concerns in poorly lit areas, limited access to public spaces or basic facilities. Transportation systems and public facilities may not always consider the diverse needs and experiences of genders, physical mobility and how the groups use different communal areas.

Efforts in inclusive urban design aim to create environments that cater to the needs of everyone, addressing issues like safe public spaces, accessible transportation, and equitable amenities. Recognizing and addressing mutli group aspects in urban planning contribute to more inclusive and user-friendly rural and urban spaces.

The reality of urban design for individuals with disabilities often involves challenges related to accessibility and inclusivity. Many cities may not be adequately equipped with ramps, elevators, or tactile paths, making it difficult for people with mobility challenges to navigate public spaces. Additionally, issues like visual and auditory impairments can create barriers without proper accommodations, such as audible crosswalk signals or braille signage.

Efforts towards universal design, which prioritizes accessibility for people of all abilities, aim to address these challenges. Creating environments that are inclusive benefits not only those with disabilities but society as a whole. Awareness and advocacy for accessible urban design play a crucial role in fostering more equitable and accommodating realities for all.

So how are the realities of differing user groups to be shared, how can nature be factored in and how can we ensure the quite voices are heard ?

What are some of the key considerations of good public realm design:

• Accessibility
• Inclusivity
• Safety
• Meaningful and Transparent Community Engagement
• Mobility and Transportation
• Green and Blue Spaces
• Affordability
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Science, Art and Technology Integration
• Flexibility and Adaptability

Presenting and discussing realities ….. everything is impossible until it’s possible.

Reality is….#33 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

Reality is what we experience, what we feel, what we see, what we hear, and read, and touch, and smell. It’s things we invent, manufacture and it’s under threat.

Total Words

226

Reading Time in Minutes

1

Key Takeaways:

  1. Believe in reality.
  2. Accept that reality will be tough and not always pleasant.
  3. Make your reality a better one.
  4. Make other people’s reality a better one.

About Alan Tyrrell:

I’m like many people. I’m unlike lots of other people. Finding a pathway where I can. I multifail when I multitask [sometimes vice versa!]. I wear glasses. And try to keep them rose tinted. I really like music. But can’t hold a note. I’m curious. I really like #Cong. And I’ll be there this year again. It;s been a while. I’ll say hello. Say hello back.

Contacting Alan Tyrrell:

You can connect with Alan via email.

By Alan Tyrrell

Reality is…
You.
Me.
Them.
Us.
Love.
Hate.
War.
Peace.
Free speech.
Hate speech.
Crime.
Justice.
Constant.
Changing.
Donal Trump.
Donald Trump?
Human.
Inhuman.
Loud.
Silent.
Style.
Substance.
Here.
There.
19 wars today.
Tomorrow?
Threatened.
Nurtured.
Precious.
Yours.
Theirs.
Ours.
Alive.
Here.
Now.
Reality…
happens.
Grab it.
Care for it.
Protect it.
Better it.
For them.
For Love.
For Peace.
For you.
For yours.
For mine.
For Humanity.
Because you can.

Reshaping Reality #32 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

This piece is an extended discussion on the nature of reality, perception, and the philosophical and biological underpinnings of how we experience and interpret the world. It also delves into the social constructs around gender and the ethical considerations surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, specifically relating to trans individuals. I look at reality as a dynamic interplay between our physical existence and our cognitive processes. And suggests that our brains, shaped by evolution and co-evolving with language, actively construct reality through sensory experiences and interactions with the environment. This construction is influenced by our biological setup. Analogising current transphobic behaviour to past attitudes to homosexuality I use biology, cognitive science, linguistics and metaphysics to underpin trans rights and conclude that an inclusive approach, recognizing the validity of trans identities and the ethical imperative to embrace the diversity of human experiences is the only moral way forward.

Total Words

6,193

Reading Time in Minutes

25

Key Takeaways:

  1. Reality is not a fixed entity but is actively constructed (enacted) by individuals based on their sensory inputs and cognitive processing.
  2. Social constructs and language play significant roles in shaping our perception of reality and our interactions with others.
  3. The concept of ‘Quality’ as described by Pirsig in his philosophical works, suggests that our understanding of reality is deeply influenced by our value judgments and the dynamic interplay between novel experiences and established norms.
  4. Historical and current attitudes towards LGBTQ+ individuals reflect broader societal norms and biases, which change evolve over time, with language key to change.
  5. Ethical and inclusive approaches to understanding gender and sexuality are crucial for the well-being and acceptance of all individuals, especially those from the LGBTQ+ community.

About Dermot Casey:

Dermot is a husband of one and father of three.  He helps people and companies create shape and adapt to the future. He is CEO of the Industry Research and Development Group and on the board of NSAI National Standards Authority of Ireland and the Festival of Curiosity.  At work he’s an Advisor, Innovator, Investor, Teacher, Mentor. In life a Catalyst, Synthesist and ever Curious.  He likes tea, books, running but not too fast and dips in the sea.

Contacting Dermot Casey:

You can connect  with Dermot on MastodonTwitter and  LinkedIn or contact him on by email

By Dermot Casey

I run. Dashing across the road. Running is easier now. Easier. Doable. Not easy. I’m jogging 5K three times a week. There’s a rhythm to it now. One foot in front to the other. Calm tones of a podcast or playlist in my ears as jog along the seafront and west pier. I’m not out for a run right now, not in my runners. The ground is wet, slippy, the surface broken, uneven. I trip. The reality of Newtons second law of motion takes over. Force is mass by acceleration. My acceleration was building. Down I go. It happens in a second. The brain is aware I’m falling. The body reacts, arms out in front of me. My right knee clatters on the ground. The only thing damaged is my trousers, a hole in the knee. A gash on the knee underneath which will hurt later. I pick myself up and catch a breath. Ruefully musing that the impact is less that it would have been six months ago. If force is mass by acceleration, then as my acceleration was building my mass has been declining. My physical reality has changed over the last six months.

Physical reality. Reality. What exists and what is real as opposed to what underlies phenomena. The truth. One truth is we are physical beings. Embodied and existing in the world. Our physicality is important.  As biological organisms evolution has shaped our reality. Light exists along a spectrum from infrared to ultraviolet. The small piece that we can see we refer to as ‘the visible spectrum’. The rest we perceive only through mechanical means. But is it real if we can’t experience it. To paraphrase Nietzche – ‘A man has no ears (or eyes) for that which experience has given him no access’.  It’s not that this light doesn’t exist it is that we have no access to it.

What we have access to, and what we have experience of is important. Our brains and our bodies evolved to enable us to sense and orient ourselves in the world. We are sense making beings. We make sense to survive and to thrive. Our brain acts as a constant prediction engine (wonderfully described by Lisa Feldman Barrett in her book  ‘How Emotions are Made’).  This mechanism is a function of how our brains continually construct reality from our sensory experience and our experience of the world.

One example is how your brain and mine are continually constructing our visual reality. Our eyes only enable us to see a very small portion of the world. The center of our eye has a very narrow angle of physical color visual receptors. Outside this is a wider angle of black and white visual receptors. And we have holes in our eyes where the optic nerve meets the eye. Literal black holes that we can occasionally trick our eyes into seeing but for the most part never notice. Yet we see the world in dynamic full colour not in black and white with holes.  We have 100 million visual receptors in the eye but only 10 million channels of transmission into the brain.  The eye itself filters out 90% of the signals we take in and the rest of the picture it’s constructed from memory. This works wonderfully most of the time to discard information that’s not important. And to enable us to see the world as a continual colourful flow.

Our mind strives to highlight important changes. If I’m sitting in a hotel lobby discussing Congregation with Eoin Kennedy and I hold a mandarin orange in my hand under fluorescent lights that orange is a very specific colour under the wavelength of the lights. If I take that orange and walk outside to daylight there’s a very different wavelength of light. And the orange doesn’t change colour. Essentially the mind as a synthesis of eye and the brain is saying – this is same object so keep the image the same.

We are continually modelling reality and models are approximations, none are perfect, but they need to be consistent and believable and useful.  And we all model reality slightly differently. My reality is different from your reality, grounded not just in variations of genetic identity (whether coriander tastes nice or like soap) and the expressions of those genes in the environment I’ve lived and in the experiences of my own life. When I started my first job out of college I was sent for a medical.  I discovered that I had a slight red-green colour blindness. I was never aware of this before. And I’m generally not aware of it on a day-to-day basis outside of the funny coloured shapes used to test for colour blindness.

There is a branch of metaphysics – ontology (the study of the nature of reality) that looks at considers reality. Plato in his metaphysics “developed a distinction between true reality and illusion, arguing that what is real are eternal and unchanging forms or ideas of which things experienced in sensation are at best merely copies” (Wikipedia).  Views and perspectives or the nature of reality range from a pure social constructivist view (we create the world) to a purely platonic view. What is clear is that there are different types of reality that we access in different ways. Things that are not produced by us (gravity, light propagation), things that are produced by us (cars, books chairs) and things that we come to know through our interactions, our interactions with each other, our interactions with the world and our unique self-reflective interactions with ourselves. And interaction is important even with things that are independent of us.

The work of a number of other thinkers adds depth and context and a better conceptual understanding of reality. Terrance Deacon is an American neuroanthropologist, professor, and author. In his book ‘The Symbolic Species’ he explores the evolution of human language and its profound implications on human cognition and perception of reality.  Deacon argues that human language and the human brain have co-evolved. This co-evolutionary process has not only shaped our brains to accommodate complex linguistic abilities but also influenced the development of language itself. A key point in Deacon’s argument is the concept of symbolic reference, which is the ability of language to refer to things and ideas not immediately present. This symbolic reference distinguishes human language from animal communication systems.

Deacon’s ideas imply that our perception and understanding of reality are deeply intertwined with our linguistic capabilities. Language allows humans to conceptualize and communicate about things that are not immediately present, effectively constructing realities beyond the immediate physical environment. The symbolic nature of language enables the creation of shared realities or cultures – systems of meaning and understanding shared by a group. At the same time, it allows for subjective experiences of reality, as each individual’s language use and understanding is slightly different. The way we use language not only reflects but also shapes our thoughts and behaviors. The structure and vocabulary of a language can influence how its speakers perceive and interact with the world.

The biological basis for this can be seen in the work of Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela two Chilean biologists whose work significantly impacted the fields of biology, cognitive science, and philosophy, through their joint development of the concept of autopoiesis and their contributions to the theory of cognition. The broad basis of their ideas are contained in their book ‘The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding’.

Maturana and Varela’s view of reality is heavily influenced by the systemic and self-organising nature of life. They developed the “enactive” approach to cognition, which proposes that cognition is not just about representing an external world within the brain. Instead, cognition is a process of enacting or bringing forth reality through the organism’s interactions with its environment. This means that knowledge and perception are not pre-given but are actively constructed by the organism as it interacts with its world. In this view, reality is not simply an objective, observer-independent entity. Instead, reality is seen as something that arises from the interactions and relationships between organisms and their environments. Each organism, through its sensory and operational capacities, brings forth a world that is viable for its existence. This leads to the idea of multiple realities, each dependent on the organism experiencing it. Maturana and Varela extended these ideas to human understanding and social phenomena, suggesting that our realities are also constructed through our linguistic and social interactions.

Their work has profound implications for biology, cognitive science, philosophy, and even sociology and psychology. The notion that reality is not a fixed entity but is instead something that organisms actively construct challenges traditional views of perception and knowledge and the subject-object view of the world. Maturana and Varela  are very careful not to deny the “objectivity of a knowable world” so as to avoid “the chaos of arbitrariness because everything is possible”.

Maturana and Varela’s view of reality is deeply intertwined with biology and cognition. This is further echoed in the work of neuroscientist Antanio Domasio. Damasio’s ideas about reality and perception complement Maturana and Varela’s theories by providing a neurobiological perspective that underscores the importance of the body and emotion in shaping the cognitive processes that give rise to the human experience of reality. Both views challenge a purely objective understanding of the world, instead of highlighting the active role that living systems play in creating their own realities. Culture and other mental frames mediate, complicate and compromise our access to that reality, in effect bounding our reationality particularly in the social sphere.

The final element of this is Robert Pirsig and his Metaphysics of Quality. In his seminal book ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ Pirsig describes  “What we think of as reality is a continuous synthesis of elements from a fixed hierarchy of a priori concepts and the ever changing data of the senses” Human knowledge is the capability to make meaning from information (sensory data).

Reality in Pirsig framing is  “not static. It’s not a set of ideas that you either fight or else resign yourself to. It’s made up in part of ideas that are expected to grow as you grow”. In his followup to ‘Zen and the Art..’ called ‘Lila: An Enquiry into Morals’ he elaborates this philosophy, proposing that “Quality” or “value” is the fundamental fabric of reality, surpassing both subject (mind) and object (matter) in importance. He divides Quality into two types: Dynamic and Static. Dynamic Quality is the force of change, innovation, and spontaneity; it represents the unpredictable and constantly evolving aspect of reality. Static Quality, in contrast, embodies order, stability, and structure. We define reality as a noun when in essence it standing for a process as well. This multifacted view is challenging and difficult particularly for those who prefer a fixed and unchanging world.

Pirsig describes Quality as the response of an organism to its environment. “An amoeba, placed on a plate of water with a drip of dilute sulfuric acid placed nearby, will pull away from the acid (I think). If it could speak the amoeba, without knowing anything about sulfuric acid, could say, `This environment has poor quality.’ If it had a nervous system it would act in a much more complex way to overcome the poor quality of the environment. It would seek analogues, that is, images and symbols from its previous experience, to define the unpleasant nature of its new environment and thus `understand’ it.” It might also describe slipping while running as low quality.

He goes on to describe “In our highly complex organic state we advanced organisms respond to our environment with an invention of many marvelous analogues. We invent earth and heavens, trees, stones and oceans, gods, music, arts, language, philosophy, engineering, civilization and science. We call these analogues reality. And they are reality. We mesmerize our children in the name of truth into knowing that they are reality. We throw anyone who does not accept these analogues into an insane asylum. But that which causes us to invent the analogues is Quality. Quality is the continuing stimulus which our environment puts upon us to create the world in which we live.”

With the mention of an insane asylum it’s worth noting that Pirsig spent time in a mental institution. Its also worth mentioning that Ireland once had one of the highest rates of institutionalisation in asylums in the world (our incarceration rate at 1% of the population higher than the US Prison incarceration rate today). We know many of these people were not mentally ill. They were more often dynamically troublesome to the stability of a static society.

Going further philosopher Justin Garson has recently raised serious questions on how we conceptualise the idea of mental illness. Garson presents an alternative view on mental illness that challenges traditional perspectives. He suggests that what we typically categorise as mental illness can sometimes be understood as a correct or natural response to one’s environment rather than a pathological disease. This perspective is grounded in the notion that certain psychological states or behaviours deemed ‘abnormal’ in contemporary society may, in fact, be adaptive responses to particular environmental conditions or stressors. By considering the context in which these mental states arise, Garson suggests that some mental illnesses may represent a rational response to adverse or challenging circumstances. This view echoes the concept of “situated normativity,” which holds that what is considered normal or healthy behaviour can only be determined in relation to the specific environmental and social context of an individual. Garson’s stance invites a re-evaluation of how we define, diagnose, and treat mental health conditions, advocating for a more nuanced approach that takes into account the complex interplay between an individual’s biology, psychology, and their environment.

Garson’s ideas echo Pirsig’s. In Pirsig’s view, the traditional dichotomy between subject and object (mind and matter) is an oversimplification. Reality is a complex interplay of both, unified through Quality. This understanding requires us to reconceive our role in the world not as separate observers or manipulators of an external world but as integral participants in a dynamic, value-laden reality. The concept of Dynamic and Static Quality also provides an explanation for the evolution of consciousness and societal development. Human consciousness and societies evolve as they negotiate the tension between the need for stability (Static Quality) and the need for change and novelty (Dynamic Quality).

Both Maturana & Varela and Pirsig move away from static views of reality. For Maturana & Varela, reality is enacted through the organism-environment interaction. For Pirsig, it’s the continuous play between Dynamic and Static Quality. Both perspectives challenge the conventional subject-object dichotomy. Maturana & Varela’s enactive approach and Pirsig’s Quality both suggest a more integrated, relational view of reality where mind and matter are intertwined. Living systems in Maturana & Varela’s framework continuously maintain and redefine themselves, much like Pirsig’s view of reality evolving through the interaction of Dynamic and Static Quality. One implication that comes from this is that human knowledge is driven by language and conversation – new knowledge (new reality) is created when ways of talking and patterns of relationships change dynamically.

Though they come at it from completely different fields Maturana & Varela (Biology) and Pirsig (Philosophy & Metaphysics) they essentially arrive at  the same conclusions. Maturana and Varelas structural coupling and enactive world is in part a biological basis for Pirsigs Metaphysics of Quality. Maturana and Varlea, Feldman Barrett, Damasio, and Pirsig among many others highlight a tremendously rich body of knowledge across biology, philosophy, and information systems that converge on the dynamic nature of reality.

Pirsig’s philosophy also offers a framework for understanding and guiding both individual and collective behaviour. Decisions and actions are seen as ethical when they contribute to an enhancement of quality, leading to a more harmonious and dynamic balance between stability and change. By redefining morality in terms of Quality, Pirsig suggests a more holistic and integrated approach to ethics, transcending rigid moral codes and acknowledging the complex, evolving nature of human societies and personal experiences.

This has both some profound implications for society and is a powerful explanation of much of what happens in society. In 1973 to be gay was to be mentally ill according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association. Homosexuality’s history with the DSM is a stark example of how cultural and social biases can influence scientific understanding and classification of human behaviour and create a distorted reality for a minority. Originally listed as a sociopathic personality disturbance in the first edition of the DSM in 1952, homosexuality was reclassified as a “sexual orientation disturbance” in the DSM-II in 1968. This pathologising of homosexuality reflected prevailing societal prejudices of the time rather than an evidence (reality)-based understanding of sexual orientation.  In 1973 after intense debate and activism from both inside and outside the medical community, the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from the DSM-III. This decision marked the beginning of a shift toward a scientific understanding of sexual orientation. Since then, homosexuality has been recognised as a normal variant of human sexuality, and the subsequent editions of the DSM have not included it as a mental disorder, reflecting a broader societal move towards acceptance and equality. For 20 years after this decision in the US  homosexuality continued to be illegal in Ireland, changing in 1993 only after forced by court action at European level.  This in Ireland was grounded in a static view of human nature promulgated by the Catholic church which even today describes being gay as “intrinsically disordered”.

In terms of morality and quality dynamic quality has helped reshape society.  This underlines the point that new knowledge (new reality) is created when ways of talking, and patterns of relationships change. Homosexuality and same sex marriage are legal and normal. Dynamic reality reshaped and enhanced the world. Our language and our conversations around homosexuality changed. And the reality of for gay people changed with it.  Though we still have a long way to go. Almost a third of the population voted against same sex marriage.  Sex education at school level is still badly deficient, a strong legacy of church control though the new emerging SPHE curriculum will significantly address that.

And we still have people who resist these changes. The cold grasping dead hand of a conservative ideology. The Family Research Council (FRC) is a US conservative group identified by the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC) as an extremist hate group due to its actions against LGBTQ+ people. The FRC is known for making false claims about the LGBTQ community, using discredited research and junk science to dehumanize LGBTQ individuals and fight against their rights. Historically, they have opposed same-sex marriage, hate-crime laws, and anti-bullying programs.  At the Family Research Council’s 2017 Values Voter Summit, an explicit strategy was laid out for attacking LGBTQ+ rights by targeting transgender people, particularly focusing on health care for children​​.  This movement of attacking the rights of transgender people to undermine LGBTQ+ rights more broadly has been embraced by conservative and reactionary groups across many countries.

In Ireland the Iona Institute, a conservative Catholic organisation, has connections to the wider anti-gender rights movement, primarily through its links to the Novae Terrae Foundation. Novae Terrae received funds from a Russian money laundering scheme and redistributed them among several anti-LGBTQ+ rights and conservative religious groups in Europe, including the Iona Institute. Additionally, representatives from the Iona Institute have appeared at Agenda Europe summits alongside various anti- LGBTQ + and anti-abortion rights campaigners and groups, including the Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF International), which is a designated hate group in the U.S. and has spent significant funds in Europe over several years​ (via The Beacon)

The attacks against trans people and LGBTQ+ people can be divided into what what I call, the the acts of the bad, the acts of mad and the doubts of the uncertain. The bad are following the playbook of the anti-gay hysteria of the 1980s which resulted in section 28 in the UK where schools were not allowed talk about homosexuality. A situation similar to that in many schools in Ireland where under school ethos legislation religion teachers frequently teach Relationships and Sexuality Education. The bad were responsible for the description of gay people as groomers, and the idea of social contagion of homosexuality. These baseless, hysterical claims are the same as those being made against trans people today. The current manufactured state is similar to previous moral panics over homosexuality.

This artificial ‘debate’ As Shon Faye points out in her book ‘The Transgender Issue’ where  “the ‘topic’ of trans has now been limited to a handful of repetitive talking points: whether non-binary people exist and whether gender neutral pronouns are reasonable; whether trans children with dysphoria should be allowed to start their transition; whether trans women will dominate women’s events in the Olympics; and the endless debate over toilets and changing rooms.”

A key point here, and a thread that runs through conservative religious groups in this and other areas is the suppression of dynamic individual human agency. The suppression of dynamic quality. An old religious saying that Pirsig quotes in Lila is that “nothing disturbs a Bishop so much as the presence of a saint in the parish.”   There is a reactionary strain in some parts of the human soul that seeks to suppress individual agency and creativity. That which leads to growth and social change and progress. In Pirsigs terms elements of static quality seeks to suppress Dynamic Quality and suffocate human agency. There has been a general fear of individuality, personal choice and questioning the status quo. It’s been reflected across Irish society over decades in attitudes to gay people, to neurodiverse people, to unmarried mothers, to those who step outside the strictures of society. There are now attempts to apply this approach to trans people. Less successfully in Ireland so far but quite successfully in the UK.

Shon Faye has noted “Greater acknowledgement of gender variance in the twenty first century has led to the wider recognition of that fact that the spectrum of human sexuality is much more complex and much less rigid than previously thought, which can and does unsettle some people.” This is exploited by hate groups to attack trans people.  The damage being done to trans people is immense. 45% of trans people will attempt suicide. 64% of trans pupils are bullied at school. 46% say they hear transphobic language frequently at school. 84% of British trans young people have self-harmed. Trans people have higher percentages of homelessness, are more victims of violence than other groups.

These are not inherent properties of being trans. These are cruelties imposed on trans people. The mental damage done to trans people is to note Garsons point a sane reaction to an insane environment. And it’s reflective of similar damage that was done to gay people over many decades. As the environment has improved for gay people so has bullying and violence decreased, and their mental health improved.  And there is still a long way to go.

As noted by Maturana & Varela’s living systems continuously maintain and redefine themselves. We need to recognise that trans people like all living people know themselves. In an experiment done with food 100 years by Clara Davis, a Chicago paediatrician, infants, aged six to 11 months, were offered a variety of foods and allowed to eat whatever they wanted. These infants had no prior experience with ordinary foods. During meal times, the infants were presented with a selection of 34 different foods, with no direct offering or suggestion from the caregivers. The children created 15 distinct eating patterns, each different from the others, and often chose unusual combinations, like orange juice and liver for breakfast. Despite these unorthodox choices, they all managed to form a nutritious diet.

One notable case involved an infant with severe rickets (vitamin D deficiency), who was offered cod liver oil. The child took the oil irregularly and in varying amounts until his condition improved, and then never consumed it again. Humans when given agency have a remarkable ability to determine what is best for them.

In the past, societal norms and cultural values made it difficult for gay people to express their identity. Gay people frequently faced pressure to conform to heterosexual norms, leading to concealment of their true identities and significant personal distress. This pressure also gave rise to attempts at conversion therapy, a practice based on the erroneous belief that sexual orientation can be changed through psychological or spiritual interventions. Conversion therapy stemmed from historical misconceptions that viewed homosexuality as a mental disorder or moral failing, which led to the development of various harmful and ineffective methods aimed at “curing” individuals. These practices have been widely discredited and condemned by major medical and psychological organizations due to their lack of scientific basis and potential to cause severe psychological harm.  They’ve thankfully been banned in many countries.

Despite this, conversion therapy persisted for decades, reflecting the broader challenges gay individuals faced in being accepted for who they are. The same challenges are being faced by trans people today. The medical evidence in support of affirmative care for transgender people, particularly transgender youth, is so substantial as to be overwhelming. Its voluminous that I’ll reference some of these as an appendix. And medical organisations are consistent on the need for gender affirming care. Despite this people continue to resist and deny the reality of trans children. Much as in the past there was a societal attempt to deny and marginalise gay people. The problems for LGBTQ+ kids (gay or trans) isn’t their reality it’s as Shon Faye comments the social construction of “a toxic kind of shame that is directed at children for being who they fundamentally are.”

There’s something profoundly disturbing around the damage caused by toxic shame. Irish people will be familiar with the notion of Catholic guilt, the idea of having committed an offense or wrong, whether real or imagined. Catholic guilt is often toxic shame and the inadequacy that stems from how people perceive their actions or identity. People often internalise feelings of shame, especially in a setting where certain aspects of their identity (such as sexual orientation) are stigmatised with it leading to profound psychological distress.

And trans people are stigmatised. By the bad, by the mad and too often by the uncertain.  The bad we’ve noted. They’re frequently people who are ideologically opposed to trans people and see an advantage in attacking them. They’re also the ones attacking libraries and causing chaos outside the Dáil. Alt-right as well as all wrong. The mad are people who appear to have been driven over the edge in a bizarre way by the issue. Just as Don Quixote mistook windmills for giants, battling them in a misguided attempt to uphold his chivalric ideals, the mad can be seen as fighting against a misunderstood or misperceived “threat.” Trans individuals and transgender rights are about as harmful and adversarial as the windmills Don Quixote tilted at.  The harm the mad do (whether based on illusions and false beliefs, misconceptions and misinformation) is all too real and all too damaging to trans people. From writing billionaires to a formerly celebrated comedy writer to a former tennis champion it’s difficult to fathom these people.

The most important group to impact reality are the uncertain. Their doubts are understandable. To most people gender seems obvious and binary. Only 0.4% of the population suffer from gender dysphoria. That gender is neither simple nor binary can be confusing and sometimes disturbing to people. For some it disturbs the order of their world. For others it’s just strange or weird. We spend the early part of our life adapting to the world and developing our views and large parts of adulthood defending our views and trying to make the world conform to our notion of reality. We start open and dynamic, and we become static. As we transition into adulthood, our views become more ingrained, and we often spend a significant portion of our adult life defending these established beliefs and attempting to shape the world to fit them.

I know that change is possible and that the doubts of people that are uncertain can be changed. Without the dynamic nature and ability to change we’d be permanently locked into cultural norms of the past. This change won’t happen through debate. It will happen through conversation. Human knowledge is driven by language and conversation – new knowledge (new reality) is created when ways of talking and patterns of relationships change dynamically.  We’ve seen this in relation to our recent referenda on equal marriage and abortion.

It’s possible in part because the range and reality and multitudinous wonder of human variety is already present across language across culture and society. We can enact and bring this forth. A recent piece in Nature by Andrew Perfors, Steven Piantadosi and Celeste Kidd illustrates that trans-inclusive gender categories are cognitively natural and already widespread.  Their comment is brief. They note some of the challenges of objective categorisation stating “few, if any, human categories correspond cleanly to ‘objective’ or ‘unambiguous’ partitions of the world. As one example of many, colour and pitch are determined by unidimensional physical quantities — frequencies of light and sound — but our conceptual system does not code them that way.”  This ties to Maturana and Varelas work on cognition.

They further note that “Gender concepts, too, reflect social organization, resulting in languages and cultures that recognize more than just ‘woman’ and ‘man.’ Examples of these include kathoey in Thai, māhū in Hawai- ian, fa’afafine in Samoan, femminielli in Neapolitan, all of which refer to a gender category that does not fit into a binary classification and has a long history of use in each language,”

“Across languages and cultures, all lexical concepts are conventions that are heavily shaped by communicative need, and people clearly need to communicate social roles and identities. Second, if lexical concepts are primarily conventions, this means that we should choose conventions that are useful. The usefulness of sex-based categories in domains such as medicine or issues such as participation in sports is often raised as an argument for their value. However, although biological factors certainly matter for some situations, use of these sex-based categories in broad public policy frequently runs into trouble.”

“Arguments that sex-based categories are more correct rely on the deeply unscientific presumption that our categories are precise and objectively aligned to the world, even though decades of empirical work shows that this is false. Human lexical concepts are conventions that we choose, and they change as society changes. Changes towards trans-inclusive categories yield linguistic systems that are both natural and useful.”

Trans-inclusivity and trans positive language is metaphysically, ontologically, biologically, cognitively and linguistically natural, as well as useful inherently coherent (in an enactive sense) and morally just and right. Its the only ethical and moral choice. Pirsigs idea that decisions and actions are seen as ethical when they contribute to an enhancement of quality shines through when we consider trans people as people.

Trans people are not new. They have existed across societies for thousands of years.  I remember being asked why I was so passionate during the equal rights amendment. And saying that it was a small apology in an attempt to make up for lost time. Two of my best  friends in secondary school were gay. I had no idea at the time, no education around it, no understanding of it. They, like many other gay Irish people, headed to London pretty much immediately after we finished secondary school. The irony was that Thatcher was just introducing Section 28, despite which the London was still a more welcoming place for gay people.

It is clear that the arguments and harm being done to trans people as people echoes the damage being done to gay people. Damage that even now is far from fully repaired.  It is a social and linguistic drip of concentrated sulfuric acid.  Trans people, gay people, non-binary people and gender non-conforming people are real and exist.  As people we all attempt to brings forth a world that is viable for our existence. For a trans person that is different and much more difficult than for a cisgender person.

For a cisgender person the world is conforming and reinforces their identity. For trans and gender non-conforming people the world is restricting, challenging and frequently at odds with who they are.   Their reality is denied.  It’s difficult if not impossible for cisgender people to understand trans-reality. I would say it’s probably as difficult as trying to understand what it’s like to see ultraviolet light something for which we have no experience. No three year old identified male at birth identifies as female though mistake and misunderstanding.  They are clearly trying to enact the world that is viable for their existence.  That’s their reality whether they understand it at three or a 90. In the case of a former Second World War veteran. She knew she was a girl in 1930 age three but took until 2017 to begin transition at age 90 with many years suppressing who she was.

The world has too much unnecessary pain and suffering. Some of it minor accidental trips and falls. Too much of it deliberate and cruelly inflicted with devastating consequences. We’ve proven in the past that we can build better and more inclusive societies and we need to continue to do. One part of this is to include trans people fully into society. By embracing the dynamics of reality we’ll create a richer more diverse more tolerant and healthier society. And that’s a reality worth striving for.

Books Referenced

Lisa Feldman Barrett ‘How Emotions are Made’

Robert Pirsig ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth”

Robert Pirsig ‘Lila an Inquiry into Morals’

Humberto Maturana & Francisco Varela ‘The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding’

Shon Faye ‘The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice’

Terrance Deacon ‘The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain’

Antonio Damasio ‘Feeling and Knowing: Making Minds Conscious’

Articles Referenced

Justin Garson “The Helpful Delusion’ Aeon https://aeon.co/essays/evidence-grows-that-mental-illness-is-more-than-dysfunction

Justin Garson “Is a Person’s Sex a Social Construct?” Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-biology-of-human-nature/202302/is-a-persons-sex-a-social-construct

Garson, J. forthcoming. Madness and idiocy: Rethinking a basic problem of philosophy of psychiatry. Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology

Preprint at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/628f895819cb8011cfe745d4/t/64f1c0d3dc328d4d899fb43d/1693565139163/Garson_2023_Madness_Idiocy_and_Responses.pdf

Andrew Perfors, Steven T. Piantadosi & Celeste Kidd “Trans-inclusive gender categories are cognitively natural” cited as  Perfors, A., Piantadosi, S.T. & Kidd, C. Trans-inclusive gender categories are cognitively natural. Nat Hum Behav 7, 1609–1611 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01657-y

The Beacon “The accounts of the Iona Institute are opaque but its links to the wider anti-gender rights movement are as clear as day”

https://the-beacon.ie/2022/03/12/the-accounts-of-the-iona-institute-are-opaque-but-its-links-to-the-wider-anti-gender-rights-movement-are-as-clear-as-day/

As Far As I Can See #31 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

Reality and the puzzle of it discussed through the lens of a manual therapist.

Total Words

693

Reading Time in Minutes

3

Key Takeaways:

  1. Perception is reality
  2. Complications are the norm
  3. Variations are the norm
  4. Finding a common theme and strategy to work towards is the key

About Dr. Greg Tollefson:

Dr. Greg Tollefson grew up in north west Canada. The pursuit of an optimization of wellness and performance was a central curiosity and passion of his from a very young age. He has been blessed professionally with the opportunities of sharing this passion with his community through treatment, education and advocacy.
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Greg obtained a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours from the University of Saskatchewan in Human Physiology. He attended graduate school at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto where he attained his Doctor of Chiropractic. While studying Chiropractic, Greg further specialized with a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist designation.
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While practicing in Toronto, Greg networked and grew a strong reputation within the athletic community. Here, Greg had the honour of working with Olympians, professional hockey players, collegiate athletes, and was the in-house manual therapist at Toronto’s Oldest Indoor Tennis Club.

Since moving to Ireland, Greg has shifted gears a bit – working more with anyone and everyone. His practice is driven by people who are wanting more from their bodies. From 2 weeks to 90+ – there is no restrictions at either end. Greg still enjoys the steady flux of All levels of GAA athletes, road runners, athletic clubs, power lifters, rugby players, swimmers, rowers, golfers and mixed martial artists.

He loves the challenge of jumping between the two polarities, strategizing and planning with whoever is in front of him, about their body!

In the past three years, Greg has been serving as the President of Sports Chiropractic Ireland which is a member of International Federation of Sports Chiropractic (FICS). The Olympics are starting to recognize FICS members on an official level, which is great for growing our profession.

Move well, feel well. Be strong. Be mobile

Greg takes pride in assisting every patient who walks through the door to progress their quality of life based on their own specific life demands and personal goals. Greg is an avid educator of patients. He believes the importance of what he teaches patients and what they can take forward in their everyday life is by far more important than any of the hands on therapies provides.

Knowledge. Team work. Accountability. Consistency.

Contacting Dr. Greg Tollefson:

You can connect with Greg by email or see his work in Emerald Wellness.

By Dr. Greg Tollefson

As far as I can see…

Reality is a completely subjective construct.

Even the word that it’s based around — “real” — by definition – “occurring in fact” – who decides what is fact?  Is there something or someone with a final say?

A phrase that was taught to me at a very young age that sticks to me to date is “perception is reality.”

The scope of a thought becomes the framing of your mind and thereby becomes your own reality.

As an analytically trained manual therapist who has been studying the human body and nervous system for 25 years my “reality” is constantly shifting, evolving, growing, changing.

The more I know — the more questions I have.  Eureka moments followed by the valleys of despair.

The next piece of the puzzle is where it gets really complicated.  Trying to mesh my evolving reality with the reality of my patient.  Seeking some semblance of congruency with a common  theme — solution to the problem within their own reality that landed them into my office.

The reality that this complicated assimilation brings is one of a rocking boat, in an unfamiliar body of water, with unfamiliar currents, movements and weather.
Some cases and presentations very calm, peaceful and smooth — simply navigated.  Other times the polar opposite – extreme volatility, unstable, chaotic with navigation paths seeming impossible.
Not to mention the trillion variations and possibilities lying between these two poles.

I’m never bored — but often times perplexed.

This is my reality.

A Cat in the Cupboard #30 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

For something as real as reality who knew that writing about it could open so many avenues of exploration. If everyone perceives the world through their own unique perspective/lens, then there are arguably as many realities as there are people in the world! I thought that at least science was absolute in its reality but then I considered that it too is on its own voyage continuous discovery so is only ‘reality for right now’. I want more from reality than potentially shifting sands. So here it is, by starting with Quantum Superpositions (IYKYK) and winding up dead, I’ve shared in this post the four dosage levels for Delusion, my drug of choice for coping with, escaping and changing reality. Don’t take them all at once or you’ll get nothing done for the rest of the day.

Total Words

1,340

Reading Time in Minutes

5

Key Takeaways:

  1. Schrondinger’s cat was used as a thought experiment originally designed to reflect Schrodinger’s challenging of the principles of quantum superpositions – something I know nothing about. But the layman’s interpretation is that if you seal a cat in a cupboard with something that can eventually kill it, the cat is both simultaneously alive AND dead until you open the cupboard and reveal which of those two possibilties is real. Is our time on earth just one giant cupboard where any reality is a possibility and any possibility a reality until we are definitively dead?
  2. The reality of life is not all halcyon days of sunshine and flowers. Most of us consider the realities of life something that needs to be escaped or changed at least from time to time. For some that escapism can be medically or chemically induced. I prefer Delusion – flights of fancy, daydreaming, wistful thinking and even hardcore manifesting. What harm can it do.
  3. Having completed this I wonder if I have missed the third path, the path of acceptance. Maybe instead of escaping reality or trying to change it, accepting it is the other option. In a world where we’re constantly encouraged to strive towards something else/other, we might find a greater peace by seeking shelter in place.
  4. Nothing is more real, more incontrovertible and less open to interpretation or perception that being confronted with the reality of death. I can imagine away anything but that.

About Joan Mulvihill:

Joan Mulvihill, career flaneuse, artist and technology evangelist who thinks and talks at the intersection of human creativity and the digitalisation of everything else. Her artistic practice actively informs her thinking on technology and the future of organisations as she fine tunes the balance between being data driven but human led. “We don’t shape the future by having all the right answers but by asking the right questions”.

Joan is the Digitalisation and Sustainability Lead for Siemens, a professional artist, a board member of the Contemporary Irish Art Society (CIAS), the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) and the Industrial Research and Development Group (IRDG). An experienced public speaker having addressed Cultural Festivals in France, Music festivals in Ireland and Business Conferences all over.

Contacting Joan Mulvihill:

You can connect with Joan by email, Instagram, X or LinkedIn

By Joan Mulvihill

There is a cat trapped, simultaneously alive and dead, in a cupboard and a tree has fallen outside in an empty forest without making a noise. Who knows. Reality.

I had intended writing something lighthearted this year. It was going to be called, “Delusion, my drug of choice”. Alcohol, cigarettes, trippy tabs or herbally induced hiatus – they will all work for a while, the side effects are high risk and can be brutal. They can even un-real you altogether.

Disappointment is as bad as it gets with Delusion and I can handle that. The trick is managing the dosage. I’ve categorised four dosage levels as follows:

Level 1: Flights of Fancy. This is a small dose, inspired by a passing idea and nothing grounded to too much, dare I say it, reality. Effects lasts 2-3 minutes. Example: Having a ‘running away from home’ moment. Limited impulse control required. Unlikely I’ll quit my job, walk out the door never to return. Low level escapism.

Level 2: Day Dreaming. Higher dosage, may last anywhere from 30 minutes to a few lost hours. Possible but improbable escapism. Effective by staring into space or with eyes closed but may also incorporate artificial external stimulus. Example: Escaping to the country/city. Google searching homes in desirable places that are just out of reach. Low level investments can be made to support the day dream such buying lottery tickets and not checking the numbers. The longer you don’t know you haven’t won, the longer you have won. You’re the cat in the cupboard, all at once a millionaire and not.

Level 3: Wistful Thinking. This can often be confused with the day dream but involves more specific concerns and tends to be more grounded in nature. This is higher level delusion in that you may risk believing the impossible could actually happen. You wist at your peril. Like the Day Dream, external stimulus can support the delusion, e.g. Fortune Tellers, Online Dating Apps, Add to Cart (WARNING – do not proceed to payment, it’s a delusion, you cannot afford it!!!!! ).

Level 4: Manifesting. This is a high dose delusion. Less accidental mind scrolling and more intentional focus. Typically it centres on a very specific outcome, person, object, role. It involves BELIEVING in your delusion. This believing makes it high risk with side-effects including profound disappointment and hopelessness. Best suited to very patient, long-gaming, bouncing back optimists. Not suited to those with rejection intolerances or pessimistic tendencies. Also, just as there is Big Pharma, there is also an emerging Big Mani. Big Mani will have you believe that if your manifestation has not been realised it is because you did not believe enough but if you just buy this other book or subscribe to these coaching sessions, you too can have a better reality. Your delusions can happen. I am a long game optimist who is hardened to rejection. I’ll cope. Just don’t end up in a cult. Stranger things have happened.

Delusion is of course predicated on some desire to ‘change’ reality or at very least escape it for short periods. The thing is that everything is already changing all of the time anyway. Eventually science fiction becomes science fact and even existing science has the potential to be disproven with new theories and hypotheses.

In words of Einstein, “imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there ever will be to know and understand”. See. Einstein was all for a bit of delusion too it seems. It takes imagination to day dream, to have flights of fancy. We’re in good company.

They say as long as there is life there is hope. Maybe it can be just as true to say that as long as there is hope there is life. Schrodinger’s cat is both alive and dead as long as I don’t open the cupboard door. I can keep the cat alive by keeping hope alive and the cupboard door closed. But once I open that door and I see that cat is dead, then there is no hope, and no life. I cannot delude myself to believing the cat to be alive in the face of its very real death. I cannot perceive the cat to be anything but dead once I can see that it is dead. Nothing is more real to me than death. In my experience of life the only thing I can truly categorise as REAL, as immutable, incontrovertible, and irreversible is death. The only reality of life is in fact death. Everything before death is open to interpretation, a function of perspective, discovery, time.

And if I am a cat? Keep that door shut. I am high on delusion and this is surreal.

Navigating the Bizarre Realities We Live In #29 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

In this exploration of our reality, the article delves into the complexities of existence, combining personal experiences with broader societal observations. From discussing the mind-boggling nature of time and interconnectedness to addressing societal issues like colorism and the pursuit of self-acceptance, the piece navigates through various facets of the human experience with a blend of humor, contemplation, and relatability.

Total Words

1,157

Reading Time in Minutes

5

Key Takeaways:

  1. Weird Realities: The article begins by pondering the strange intricacies of our reality, touching on mind-bending concepts like the non-linearity of time and the interwoven nature of our past, present, and future.
  2. Social Complexities: Addressing societal challenges, the text sheds light on the pervasive and often unnoticed collective beliefs about colorism, sharing personal experiences to illustrate the impact of such biases on individuals and families.
  3. Self-Discovery and Inner Work: The author discusses the unexpected revelations that emerged while seeking personal growth abroad, highlighting the ongoing journey of confronting triggers, traumas, and insecurities and the profound impact this introspection has had on their life.
  4. Diverse Realities: Concluding with a reflection on the multifaceted nature of reality, the article emphasizes the varied perceptions and experiences each individual holds, underlining the necessity of embracing this diversity for a deeper understanding of our shared existence.

About Thabata Couto:

Thabata, a determined holistic therapist based in Ireland, is described as a force to be reckoned with. Her journey began at the age of 14 when she left her parents’ home, driven by a belief that the world held more than she could ever fathom. Always an avid learner, she pursued a career in civil engineering, yet something seemed amiss. Her focus was never profit-driven but rather centered on aiding people.

Amidst a bout of anxiety, conventional methods failed her, leading her to encounter Thetahealing® while studying under Michele and Marcelle. This pivotal moment transformed her life entirely. Within months, she found herself uprooting to Ireland, still grappling with a sense of being adrift. Despite securing a job in engineering, she recognized her true calling lay in holistic therapy, inspired by her own journey to help others in a similar way.

Thabata delved deeper into holistic studies and practices, pursuing courses in Reiki under Carlos Falcão, Access Bars with Janine Meira, Ho’oponopono with Joe Vitae, Yoga with Camila Reitz, and a myriad of others. Then, as fate would have it, a serious issue arose at her workplace, compelling her to resign. While the easier path might have led to another engineering position, she courageously followed her heart and established her own company to focus on holistic therapies.

Today, she finds deep fulfillment as a witness to genuine transformations in the lives of her clients, serving as a beacon of hope and change in the realm of holistic therapies. Thabata’s journey is a testament to her unwavering commitment to making a profound difference in the lives of those she touches.

Contacting Thabata Couto:

You can connect with Thabata on Instagram.

By Thabata Couto

When I decided to pen this article, I initially contemplated diving into Hermetic laws and the different planes of existence found in Thetahealing®. However, as I delved into these ideas, it struck me that our own reality is quite the puzzle without veering into the science fiction realm.

Thetahealing®, a holistic therapy that I hold close to my heart, gave me a fresh perspective on life’s dance between past, present, and future. But when I stumbled upon the concept that time isn’t as linear as we think, I couldn’t help but chuckle and put it on the backburner, thinking, “Hold on, my mind’s not quite ready for this.”

Then, one day, while traveling back to Brazil from Ireland and jesting about “going back in time” due to the time difference, it hit me. The present, past, and future all intermingle in our daily lives thanks to those time zones. How wonderfully weird is that?

Equally bewildering is the tenacity of unconscious and conscious collective beliefs about colorism in our society. Surprisingly, many people remain in the dark about what colorism really is. It wasn’t that long ago that I had my own “Aha!” moment about this. Even though my skin isn’t super dark, having some African features meant I faced rejection for years. Folks like me aren’t often considered for long-term relationships but are seen as suitable for more casual affairs. The truly astonishing part is that my own mom went through the same before my dad’s family fully embraced her.

A sense of not being good enough haunts not only me but many others. Part of this, I believe, comes from the “tough love” approach our elders thought would prepare us for life’s challenges. “I need to be stern now to toughen you up,” they’d say. This upbringing inadvertently shaped a society that doesn’t fully understand self-love or kindness, sometimes even mistaking kindness for weakness. Feeling like I didn’t quite fit in motivated me to seek myself out by moving abroad.

The funny thing is, my quest for self-discovery led to an unexpected twist. The very issues I was trying to escape intensified abroad, forcing me to tackle my own triggers, traumas, and insecurities. It’s an ongoing journey, but working on these aspects has genuinely improved the quality of my life. What’s amusing is how many people don’t even realize they’re carrying these unresolved issues into their relationships.

It’s also quite amusing that my preference for Banagher, Offaly, over Rio earns me the “crazy” label from friends here. But here’s the kicker: people in these parts are often oblivious to the constant undercurrent of feeling unsafe, even in the supposed comfort of our homes. Waking up to gunshots nearby or having to hunker down for safety isn’t an experience everyone can relate to.

The concept of “safety” itself is a curious one. As a Brazilian woman, I’ve come to accept that genuine safety might remain a distant dream. Our society grapples with mental, emotional, and physical issues. Many of us work tirelessly just to make other folks richer, dreaming of owning a home that, in reality, belongs to the bank.

During one of my yoga classes, my teacher pointed out the need for a certain level of denial to navigate life’s overwhelming aspects. It made me chuckle, but there’s truth in it. We can’t completely ignore reality, of course. The interconnectedness of our world may sound like something out of science fiction, but the COVID-19 pandemic drove home the fact that our actions can ripple across the globe and affect countless lives.

Ultimately, we all inhabit different realities, even when sharing the same physical spaces. Despite our shared language, our unique perspectives shape how we see the world. It’s quite a head-scratcher, don’t you think? Our reality is a rich tapestry woven from various beliefs, experiences, and viewpoints, and appreciating this diversity is the key to unraveling the complex layers of our collective existence.

An Uncomfortable Truth – Can We Believe The Reality We Are Presented? #28 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

Science is the search for truth and knowledge; it seeks to understand reality. Science is at risk of being undermined on many fronts, leaving us struggling to trust the reality we are presented with. There are the laws of Physics; everything beyond those can and should be questioned.

Total Words

787

Reading Time in Minutes

3

Key Takeaways:

  1. Science is the search for truth and knowledge, but science can become politicised.
  2. We can be given the impression of scientific consensus where none exists.
  3. The internet has gatekeepers who promote and suppress information to suit certain narratives.
  4. There are the laws of Physics; everything beyond those can and should be questioned.

About Cronan McNamara:

Cronan McNamara is the founder and CEO of Creme Global, a science and computing company formed from research at Trinity College Dublin. He is a Physics, Mathematics and Computing graduate with over 25 years of experience in health and risk science, working with leading scientists in the food, chemical and agricultural sectors (industry and government). His team in Creme Global has published over 70 peer-reviewed scientific papers in international journals.

Contacting Cronan McNamara:

You can connect with Cronan on X, LinkedIn or at Creme Global.

By Cronan McNamara

Science

Science is the search for truth and knowledge; it seeks to understand reality. It does this through a systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and testing theories against evidence.

Science is at risk of being undermined, leaving us struggling to trust the reality we are presented with.

Culture

A new development is the emergence of a post-modern culture in which some perceive a person’s relative or subjective view to be of equal value to scientific reality and objective evidence.

Identity Politics

In our modern culture, many people find it more important to be considered virtuous and part of a tribe rather than to think independently and critically. Politicians and organisations can suffer from this, as can individuals (or, more precisely, groups of individuals!).

Cancel Culture

Cancel culture has become prominent in recent years. People are cancelled for stating unpopular valid opinions – and even plain facts. This chilling effect on speech and debate has left people unwilling to engage, leading to a lack of rigour and balance on many topics.

Nudge

Governments and organisations have learned how to use psychology to nudge us. They can use spin, fear and guilt to persuade people to take action, pushing ideas that may not have been commonly held or believed.

Media

Media organisations, often dependent on government funding or advertising, are reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them. They can act as government cheerleaders rather than critical evaluators. Media participants are also fearful of being cancelled. This can provide cover for the activists and can lead to their narrative becoming policy without proper debate.

Fact-checkers

The emergence of fact-checkers with dubious qualifications who fact-check and de-platform reputable scientists that hold the ‘wrong’ data and views (according to who?) can give the impression that there is a scientific consensus where none exists. Dissenting voices can be positioned as “fringe” scientists or crackpots.

Internet

The internet – the great democratiser of information sharing – should have been a panacea to this, but unfortunately, it isn’t. Big tech has become a gatekeeper to the internet and information flow. It has been accused of conspiring with governments to promote various narratives and suppress others.

Conclusion

In war, truth is the first casualty. We seem to be in an information war almost all the time now – with polarised factions quickly forming on every topic and little mature debate or reflection taking place.

Language is weaponised as organisations double down on propaganda and spin to support their preferred narrative or protect their backs. In recent years, we have learned the meaning of the term ‘gaslighting’ as previously reputable institutions have burned their credibility by promoting falsifiable information. This leaves us in a challenging place of who and what reality we can believe.

We haven’t even talked about AI yet. Being gaslit by human technocrats is one thing; imagine when AGI (artificial general intelligence) systems that outstrip human intelligence start to gaslight us! Consider the small but non-zero probability that we already live in an advanced AGI simulation.

There is no such thing as ‘The Science’, a phrase that emerged during the Covid pandemic to try to stifle debate. There can be scientific consensus, and it can be wrong. This is how scientific discovery works. For me, there are the laws of Physics. Everything beyond those can and should be questioned. Scientists, journalists and citizens must do so so that we can distinguish reality from nonsense.

The Absolute Truth #27 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

Reality is the truest perception you are able to perceive in that moment.
In the sense that we commonly use, I would say that the reality of each person is formed by all the real perceptions (which I call the “real” reality) and all the false perceptions (which I call illusion) that they have from all their experiences. Both build the world view of each person and the way they feel and act through life.
This vision changes at every experience, because every experience resignifies and amplifies our perception of the Truth. So the more we live and are open to see, the more our reality expands, or in other words, more realities we can embrace.

Total Words

1,685

Reading Time in Minutes

7

Key Takeaways:

  1. . The absolute Truth is the summation of all possible realities and it belongs to the Transcendence, not accessible to human beings.
  2. Reality is a true take or perception of the absolute Truth, and it can modifies and amplifies the more we live, experience things, and are open to grow our awareness about ourselves and the world.
  3. Illusion is a false take or perception of the absolute Truth, but we can take it as our reality sometimes for a whole life, and although not aligned with our higher Truth, it’s part of it too and can be important for a while in the process of individuation and awareness.
  4. The best we human beings can do is try to amplify our perception every chance we have in order to be able to see more realities or a reality closer to the absolute Truth, so we have a vaster perspective. The Truth is probably formed by infinite, exponential and inclusive realities.

About Helena Angelini:

I was born in Brasil in 1981. I started my professional path studying Medicine . My father is a doctor and has a hospital in my city (Belo Horizonte -MG), so he encouraged me to be a doctor too. I was not sure but decided to do, planning to specialize in Psychiatry, since I’ve always been passionate about the human psyche. I studied a lot to be admitted, succeed and did it for 2 years, but then started to feel it was not for me. My world view, specially about spirituality and the interconnection between body and spirit, didn’t seem to have space there. Although everyone discouraged me to quit it after so much efforts, I was getting nauseas in my stomach when had to go to classes and understood that my body and soul was refusing to be there. I gathered the courage to leave, even knowing that my father would be upset with the decision. I just had to do it.

Months after I started Psychology and graduated in this course. I didn’t resonate with a lot of approaches that I studied in the university, but found the Jungian Psychology and started to study it on my own – since we saw very few things about his approach there. I read hundreds of books and kept trying to register and understand my dreams, a central point in Jungian Psychotherapy. Jung is open to the spiritual vision, and uses the artistic expression in the therapeutic process – which is why I felt a lot of affinity to him. In this meantime, I also learnt many complementary therapies – Reiki, Kinesiology, Naturopathy, Shiatsu Massage, Art Therapy, Sound Therapy & others. I was always a very curious spirit wanting to understand the universe and human being.

When I was 22 years old I discovered Ayahuasca. It was the most powerful experience in my life and I knew it would change me forever. I discovered that I had the ability to sing during a ceremony. In a moment, the plant literally brought out my voice, a voice that in the first moment I didn’t even recognize. It seemed like something that was stuck for years in my throat was suddenly removed, opening space for a clear, loud and beautiful sound. I realized that was a gift, and I should care and develop this gift. That’s when I decided to take singing classes.

My mother is a pianist and I played piano since I was very young, so music was ingrained in me, but I discovered the passion for singing just in this point. I started learning classical singing (Italian Arias, Operas), but as soon as I learnt the techniques I applied them to the songs that really touched me, the Celtic songs. I always felt affinity with Celtic culture, and somehow their art is very natural for me. But the Shamanic music also called me, so I was exploring both. I loved to improvise, just opening my mouth and letting sounds flow out of me, and realised how healing this was for me. I started to record some of these improvisations and that’s how my CD Hayeya! All Tribes with Evandro Lopes was born, a mix of electronic and tribal music. I decided to do a Celtic project too, which I named Celtic Seeds, recorded a CD and built a group to do presentations. We did many shows and Celtic weddings in São Paulo (Brasil), where I moved in 2011. Singing for me was always connected to healing, and I listened many times from people how transformed they felt after listening to me. But I wanted to connect even more my art and my healing, putting together both sides of me. At this point I had already completed a Sound Therapy course, but wanted to create something new, totally born from me. This was the origin of the work that I probably consider my biggest jewel: Living Singing – medicine music. I open myself to receive the sound that each chakra needs to be balanced and energized, combining my knowledge of these energy centers with my sensitivity as artist.

I was working as therapist and doing these celtic presentations in São Paulo, when I started to feel I needed to expand myself. In 2018 I felt it was the time to move to another country, something I had always dreamed about. I decided to move to a Celtic place, to be closer to this culture I love. I chose Ireland, and decided to come alone, with no acquaintances and no guarantees of work, literally following my dreams and my heart. I just felt it was my path, and trusted it. I arrived here with one bag and a temporary place to stay – all I had to rebuild my life. I started to work in a healing center in Galway, but as a new practitioner in Galway, I hadn’t enough clients, so I also went to show my art in the streets. It was a period full of learnings and beautiful experiences.

One year after I met my partner, and we decided to open a wellness center together – Emerald Wellness. He is a chiropractor and takes care of the physical part, and I take care of the psychological and energetic part – that’s how we integrate and address all human areas for complete health. We keep growing our center, I keep expanding my art learning celtic harp and celtic songs, and we now facilitate shamanic retreats, where I honor and put into practice everything that I learnt in these 19 years of Shamanism. Our next goal is to expand this healing to other countries all over the world, spreading our energy, passion and dedication for what we do. I have been living in Ireland for 4 years and I’m sure I took the right choice following my heart. I couldn’t be happier and more satisfied with life. Pure gratitude, happiness and love.

Contacting Helena Angelin:

You can see Helena’s work on Emerald Wellness, her personal site, Instagram Personal, Emerald Wellness and Celtic Seeds, check our  YouTube channel or send her an email.

By Helena Angelini

The absolute Truth is the summation of all possible realities and it belongs to the Transcendence, not accessible to human beings. We are limited by nature and, even making all efforts, it’s impossible for us to access the whole Truth about ourselves and the universe.

What I call Reality is the most accurate perception you have from the Truth. The more you live and experience things, the more you learn and expand this perception. I feel that the infinite inclusion of all kind of multiple and paradoxal perceptions is the closest path to the Truth. Something like: “This is a reality. This too. And this as well. All together at the same time”. Something close to the budist thought.

But what most people call reality is usually the sum of our realities and illusions, which are false perceptions of the Truth, although they are part of it. It can be difficult to understand, but let’s say that you had a history of feeling rejected by important people in your life. If someone that truly loves you tries to show it to you, although is true, you won’t believe it – you will believe in the false perception or illusion that they don’t love you. This is further from the Truth than the reality of the love they have, but is part of the multiple angles, narratives and possibilities that form the Truth. And somehow, our illusions play an important role for us, protecting us while we are not ready to see a bigger and deeper truth.

The best thing we human beings can do is try to amplify our perception every chance we have in order to be able to see more realities or a reality closer to the absolute Truth, so we have a vaster perspective of the universe.

For this, it’s very important to be able to break our crystallized perceptions, opinions and judgments about things. Be really open to see things in different perspectives, listen to different people, embrace different universes. Understanding that everyone will have a piece or a version of this absolute Truth, and the more you open yourself to include this version in your view the bigger you will be.

The Role Advertising Played in Turning Everyday Perceptions into Reality #26 #cong23 #reality

Synopsis:

Advertising used to be fun. My job was to come up with idea’s that people would want to look at. Maybe make them laugh. Anything to attract their attention and go out and buy a product.

Alas that all changed when they figured out that they could target people by what they were viewing on the internet.

It was a far more efficient way of reaching an audience (if a lot less fun)
Now the advertiser could connect almost directly with their customer because they knew what they were looking to buy.

Social media companies copped this and started to employ the similar tactics.

Giving people what they want.

That way they could get the viewer to stay on their website longer. And the longer they stayed on their site the more (programatic) advertising they could serve to the viewer. And the more money they could make.

The trouble is, by only showing people what they want to see, confirmation bias kicks in and they only believe one side of the story when it comes to conflict. What we percieve to be reality has become less balanced.

This causes conflict in society.

Advertising has a lot to answer for.

Total Words

1,263

Reading Time in Minutes

5

Key Takeaways:

  1. With the advent of the internet, algorithms became an effective route to target audiences.
  2. Social media Companies have learnt from this and use algorithms to push content that appeals from like minded individuals. They do this to keep the customer on their website longer so that they can, ironically, view more ads.
  3. This has created a bubble in which viewers see only content that concurs with their own. Their perceptions become reality with little or no room for other views.
  4. Because we spend almost 6 hours a day on the internet viewing content that is less balanced we as a society have become less tolerant of other peoples views, and this is a cause of conflict in the World.

About Donal O'Dea:

I’m an ex advertising Creative Director and have produced a stack of award winning work for brands like Volkswagen, Carlberg, McDonald’s and Bulmers down through the years. In between ads I co-wrote a few books on Irish culture which included ‘Stuff Irish People like’ and ‘The feckin’ book of Irish Slang that’s great craic for cute hoors and bowsies’ I’m now directing shot movies and producing an ‘advertising led’ cyber security programme

Contacting Donal O'Dea

You can connect with with Donal Twitter (x), see his work or send him an email.

By Donal O’Dea

When I started working as a Creative in advertising 40 years ago, our job was to change the way people’s thought about stuff. In a world where most products and services looked and behaved the same the single biggest competitive advantage brands had was its advertising.

If we could favourably change someone’s perception of a product we had a distinct competitive advantage.

In adland- perception was reality.

I think there were 2 TV stations and 2 (legal) radio stations back then.

And it was easy to influence people in the decisions they made.

Very often the advertising was more stimulating than the programmes they were listening to or watching.

So if you told people that a cheap cigar called Hamlet could make everything okay after a bad day (and you told them often enough) you could make them believe, perhaps that it’d be a good idea to take up smoking.

Jump forward 20 years Bruce Springsteen brought out a song called 57 Channels and there’s nothing on. He was right. People were flicking from one channel to another and were less inclined to engage with advertising.

It became harder to persuade people because markets were fragmenting. More TV stations, more radio stations more newspapers. We had to be more strategic about how we targeted the people who’s perceptions needed changing.

If we wanted to persuade people that Carlsberg was in fact, probably the best lager in the World, we’d now use researchers and media planners to identify who the best people were to aim at and then figure the best media to hit them with our message.

It was called ‘targeting’ and it was necessary because people were being exposed to more marketing communications than they could actually handle and an awful lot of advertising is wasted on people who are never going to buy our products.

Jump forward another 10 years and the internet has really taken off. A lot of people have stopped watching Television altogether. This was the era of laptops phones and tablets.

And targeting took on a new life of its own in this digital age. Now brands could look at what you were looking at online and target you with products they feel suits your buying needs. If they saw that you were looking at reviews for, say, a chainsaw, you’d be looking at Chains saw ads for a week. If you didn’t buy it you’d see ads for electric saws. If you didn’t want that…. how about a secateurs?

This was called programatic. And it was run by the computer geeks. They could write code to put consumers who wanted chainsaws in touch with people who made chainsaws. And while these ads could irritate, it was a very clever marketing tool because there was now less waste for the marketeer.

These algorithms were so clever that other industries began to sit up and take note.

Social media sites have taken a leaf out of our book. Instead of pushing ads at us, they push information that they think we’d like at us. The longer you stay on a social media site the more money they make. (Funnily enough, with programatic advertising!).

So if you’ve taken a stance on the Stormont Assembly in Northern Ireland, it’s likely you’ll get fed content that supports that view. Likewise with the way you vote… or your stance on issues on something like abortion.

If you feel something about anything the programming guys will try to target you with content to support that view. It’s all innocent enough. They just want you to hang around a little longer so that you can see some more ads in the background. Where’s the harm in that.

Now here’s the thing. 99% of the Irish population is online. The average daily usage is 5 hours 59 minutes. Business Plus August 2023

Now people are consuming more than just ads. They’re consuming news articles and opinions. And they’re only seeing ads for what they want and seeing articles and opinions that concur with their own.

With the result that a lot of people are now living in a bubble that contains only like minded individuals. People who think the same way vote the same way. Tolerance for differing opinion and voting habits is way down because it doesn’t have a voice in this bubble. And because of confirmation bias these views are unlikely to be challenged.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the ever increasing vitriol between the Republican tribe and Democrat tribe in America. It’s become difficult for their elected representatives to find common ground and run the country because the other persons opinion has played such a minuscule role in their media consumption. On each side of the divide there’s a different perceived reality.

These algorithms are causing conflict.

It’s playing a role in the Russian-Ukraine conflict

It’s playing a role in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

And I think Advertising has a lot to answer for.

God be with the day:-)