Friday, March 12, 2010

A Condition of Nonperception

Lovecraft ~ Abigail Larson

We do not know who discovered water but it was almost certainly not a fish.
Anybody's total surround, or environment, creates a condition of nonperception

~ Marshall McLuhan

10 comments:

Yodood said...

This explains why otherwise intelligent people become unaware of the evils perpetuated by the groups with which they identify and gather. Someone whose primary identity is American cannot perceive the U.S. atrocities.

human being said...

first this frightens... but then you think, is this condition of total surround real at all? or it's just a premise in words...
the example of the fish and water lacks something to be applicable to humans...

very thoughtprovking anyways...

Yodood said...

human being, can you identify the myth by which man justifies his antagonism to nature within the machine of civilization? I believe that is the intent of the metaphor. When we go along to get along our intrinsic relationship to nature becomes invisible!

Is this the something you found lacking?

human being said...

hey Yodood... dear freind... thanks a lot for this intellectual and wise answer... in PI's words, a real 'pearl of wisdom'...

there are many myths with the theme of rape... projected in literature too... like Leda and the Swan... i regard them as an act of invading the nature... especially because that god presents itself with a cover-up... as if he is part of the nature... but the aim is making the woman (nature) of his own...

but you say, 'within the machine of civilization' ... and i cannot think of any myths encompassing this...
can you help me?
:)

i understand and agree with what you say... especially your first comment... this horrible thing is happening in my country too... and even has put an end to a lot of lives...
but you know, crows tend to be hopeful... (a defence mechanism?!) perhaps i'm cheating myself by trying to find a positive way out...

i don't want to believe that we, like fish, cannot be aware of the surroundings that is completely engulfing us... this holds for the majority... but if you have trained yourself to be sensitive to the tiniest waves and vibrations, then you are not a fish...

i'm living in an environment with that force of total surround... but i have suffered and lost lots of things... especially the comfort of an ordinary fish life... to understand the water... and i know all its movements... and the worlds beyond it...

see what i mean?
don't know... perhpas i'm missing some point...

this dialog is a precious gem...
thanks for your thoughts...

namaste!

Yodood said...

human being,
the only civilization I can discuss with experiential evidence is the vast and most rapidly expanding western civilization being bullied by the US into taking over the world. The underlying myth of this fishpond of gullible guppies is that man is god's heir to an earth he made specially for us as material for our experimentation and development of product lines for the enrichment of the most god fearing and subjugation of the most skeptical.

That myth

— being unconsciously obeyed 24/7 by people going along to get along as we head for the cliff of unsustainability and extinction as fast as our gas guzzler can go.

Garth said...

As a fish myself, I couldn't possibly comment :)

human being said...

and this is your month,PI... you should have had a great time in the pondering pond, eh?
:)



Yodood...
my dear deep-thinker friend... extiction? never!
as long as there are people like you... with this frame of thoughts, man can find a way out of that total surround...

this is that hope i'm talking about... you are one in that 'western civilization that is bullied by US' (loved the way you described the situation in our shared world...)
and awareness has a domino effect... even a little wave can spread throughout the pond... so just go on spreading your beautiful thoughts and ideas...

i'm going to visit your blog if you don't mind... i just love to have another window in this wall in front of me...
:)




.

fish
fish
fish
every
one
of
us
with
a
forgotten
wish

fish
fish
fish
every
one
of
us
with
a
forgotten
bond
swimming
in
a
pond

.





peace

Tom said...

i am afraid to comment, content to be a fish in a fishbowl.

Barlinnie said...

The earth itself was a great ball of ice for well over 90 million years. i'm not surprised a few living forms had to adapt. ><((('>

Harlequin said...

McCluhan is deadly, as usual.
the visual is also compelling.
My ongoing vigilance is concerned with being co-opted into the very things I say I am resisting..... but this is the tension for anyone who is trying to be a reflective person, I guess.

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