Friday, November 26, 2010

Outside The Box, Part II

(Last week, we touched on the principle of Though Experiments, a method by which people can test and draw conclusions on things that can be impossible to test in laboratory conditions. This week, we dip again into this irrational pool.)

There seems to be no way to measure the nature of the human experience. The definition of "real" hinges largely upon the individual and the sort of world-views that they have. But can that really be trusted?

The center of the "human condition" is ultimately The Brain; the all-powerful bundle of nerves and tissue that dictate every facet of life. Even in the so-called "lesser animals," the brain gives light to everything in the surrounding world. The only thing that seems to really stop the brain are biological conditions. In a brain where there are no organic problems, the human mind is capable of creating new concepts and learning new things that an alarming rate. With repetition, the brain forms new synaptic connections which allow for greater depth and clarity of action and reasoning. But the brain's greatest strength is also it's biggest weakness - Organic construction and chemo-electrical signals are seemingly the only thing that brain really functions on.

For this reason alone, more skeptical people could argue that we cannot know with any certainty that anything we have experienced or encountered is, in fact, real. This realization has led philosophers to create a thought experiment that is horrifying yet amusing in it's implications: "The Brain In A Vat." By indulging in this exercise, we are allowed to ask ourselves questions regarding the very nature experience itself, and the potential for the malleability of simply being alive.

The experimental set-up, though hypothetical one, requires so stretching of the imagination. In theory, we would have to imagine that there is a setting like a laboratory where it is capable to suspend a brain in a fluid capable of nourishing it's tissues and keeping it alive. As well, it would require an electrical system and subsequent rig that would allow for precise electrical signals to be sent directly to very specific portions of the structure of the mind, allowing for a exact facsimile of the standard senses and memories. Presuming we are capable of this sort of place and technology, place yourself in the position of the brain. At this point, ask yourself this: "What do we know to be true? How many of our memories can be relied upon?"

Have you tasted a food so delicious that it could be described as "better than sex?" Under the parameters of this experiment, it is wholly possible to presume that your tongue (if you had one in the first place) never actually did. For that matter, if you did have a tongue that tasted something that good, how can you trust that you were actually eating it in the first place? This also begs the question: What does sex feel like, in these parameters, presuming that you are no longer (or potentially are not now) physically equipped for such an activity?

Under the scenario of the "Brain In a Vat," how can we guarantee that anything we have ever known is an actuality? If all experience can be broken down to chemistry and electricity, what are we as a species? It would nearly preclude the existence of a Soul, let alone the certainty of any sort of physical life experiences.



Come back next week and we will take one last look at this strange world. I strongly recommend you open your mind as widely as possible for next time; it's a mind-bender.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Outside The Box, Part 1

When people find themselves at an stalemate with the physical world, there are multiple avenues to choose from. Given the modern world's disposition towards hard evidence, The Scientific Method has proven itself time and time again to be the best logic for dealing with most things that are misunderstood. Without it, the modern understanding of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology might not be possible. Further, nearly anyone with the inclination and time can learn from the work of others and should they have the available resources, perform the research and experiments themselves.

However, Science has it's limits. Some things cannot be measured. Other factors or circumstances cannot be tangibly produced. Finally, there are some experiments that, ethically speaking, would be viewed as reprehensible or inexcusable even "in the name of Science."

Thought Experiments exist to let people draw conclusions regarding these hard situations, think critically, or work on tangible solutions to the intangible. Moreover, they serve to stimulate an individual to think as a philosopher or scientist, making them exercises valuable to both layman and experts alike. With the mode of Thought Experiments, the only limitation that exists is the conscious ability of the experimenter, and no situation can be viewed as too absurd or unlikely to be put to test.

Named for the alleged founder of the Athenian city-state, the Paradox of Theseus asks a question that is extremely difficult to quantify: Identity. According to legend, the ship that he used to return the young of Athens to it's home shores was preserved for multiple generations. As a matter of duty, the Athenians would replace the timbers and materials used to build the vessel as they would decay. While the notion of repairing historical items is not all that strange, it begs a basic question: At what point does something stop being what it is claimed to be? If all of the original timbers are no longer in place, is it actually the ship of Theseus? This experiment is sometimes also called "Grandfather's Axe," or "George Washington's Axe." According to popular history, the first president of United States was notorious skillful at felling trees with an axe, and would use what he called his "grandfather's axe," despite the handle and axe-head having been replaced multiple times.

The consequences of such a question can be immense. Is identity solely linked to the body of an individual? If the mind were to be transplanted into the body of another, would that person still be themselves? Is your home still your home if you were to systematically replace every piece of construction with an identical replica?

Come back next week for a much more unique stretch of the mind!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Preview for Friday, November 19th

What do an American President and a mythical Greek have in common?

Think about it.

Anything? If not, come back on Friday so we can chat.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Cane Fighting - Excerpt - E.W. Barton Wright

Self-defence with a Walking-stick: The Different Methods of Defending Oneself with a Walking-Stick or Umbrella when Attacked under Unequal Conditions (PartI)

Introduction

It must be understood that the new art of self-defence with a walking-stick, herewith introduced for the first time, differs essentially from single-stick or sword-play; for a man may be a champion in the use of sword or single-stick and yet be quite unable to put a walking-stick to any effective use as a weapon of defence. The simple and sufficient reason to account for this is that both in single-stick and sword-play a cut is always taken up by the hilt of the weapon, whereas if you attempted to guard a blow with a walking-stick -- which has no hilt -- in the same way as you would with a sword, the blow would slide down your stick onto your hand and disable you. Therefore, in order to make a stick a real means of self-defence, it has been necessary to devise a system by which one can guard a blow in such a way as to cause it to slide away from the hand instead of toward it, and thus obviate the risk of being disarmed by being hit upon the fingers.

After some fifteen years of hard work, such a system has been devised by a Swiss professor of arms, M. Vigny. It has recently been assimilated by me into my system of self-defence called "Bartitsu."

In the art of self-defence with a walking-stick, the stick is held in the hand with the thumb overlapping the fingers, and not, as in single-stick or sword-play, with the thumb resting on the blade. The stick is therefore manipulated with the wrist -- and not with the fingers as in sword-play -- and the blows are given by swinging the body on the hips -- and not merely by flips from the elbow. In this way blows can be made so formidable that with an ordinary malacca cane it is possible to sever a man's jugular vein through the collar of his overcoat.

Read More! E.W. Barton Wright on Stick Fighting

Friday, November 12, 2010

Please Allow Me To (Re)Introduce Myself...

Good Morning (or Evening or Afternoon, wherever you are) to readers of T.O.J. -

I've spent this week, and will spend most of next week, working on topics for the rest of the year. You'd be surprised at what a task this can be. It's not that there are a lack of subjects that interest me but that there are too many and I often have no clue where to start. It's a big world, and with every new country that shows up in my Blogger-Stats, I am reminded of that fact.

So I thought I'd take a few minutes today to share with you (or for those of you who have been regular readers, re-share) what this blog is about, where it is currently, and what visions I have for it's future.

When I began this blog in May-June of this year, I had very few stated goals. I began this blog with the primary intention of getting myself back to writing on a regular basis. It shows in my early articles that I had been away from a regular writing project for sometime, and do feel much more relaxed and confident as a writer now, so I can say that thus far, I can assign that to the "Mission Accomplished" list. My secondary purpose was detailed in my Statement of Intent entry: I wanted to bring back the Weirdness into the world. So after discussing ritualized suicide, eerie androids, and the history of coffee, I think I've made good on that promise.

So what does all of this mean for T.O.J. and the link to said Weirdness that it provides? Well, I've been thinking about that...

The fact of the matter is that I've had some big hits and giant misses. For instance, the entry Four Gods still manages to bring in viewers. Yet Obscure Tweet and it's cousin at Tumblr...not so much. I'm not one for Twitter, and while I like Tumblr's layout and format, it just hasn't been something I've enjoyed using for T.O.J. and really almost isn't worth going further with.

So I am, as of now, looking at the future of this blog and what I would like to do with it. As it stands, my plans with this site are tentative, and I have nothing set in stone. My goal is to eventually grow this into it's own free-standing site. I would like to develop a website not only for myself, but one where I could potentially bring on other writers, especially if they would be willing to cover specific areas (strange politics from around the globe, world music craziness, that sort of thing) and to where I would have more than just a text box with a few pictures. I am, at heart, a writer, so this is something I will stick with.

If nothing else, I've had a lot of fun. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled program next Friday barring any tragedies. In the mean-time, I have planning to do...

Cheers to you, my readers!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Bodies of Song

Common wisdom holds that music is a universal language. Every culture seems to share the use of voice or creation of instruments with which to create melody and manipulate sound. One distinction, however, can be made that seemingly few pieces of music, when compared to the amount that is recorded over any given year, will stretch across time and touch people in other generations. In the case of Europe, or it's descended cultures, classical composers such as Beethoven, Handel, and Bach have enjoyed most of the limelight in terms of historical longevity. Popular music, on the other hand, seems to come and go without notice.

But an exception to this rule seems to exist within the world of Jazz. There is a catalog of songs that nearly all Jazz musicians and singers are able to perform, commonly called Standards. These tracks help to form the basis of Jazz as a genre as well as a musical technique. Songs such as "When The Saints Go Marching In" and "In A Sentimental Mood" have been played, altered, and recorded for many years, and likely will not disappear.

One song, however, holds a deeply unusual place; a piece of music with lyrics that often don't match the tune, almost deranged in it's happy mood when considering it's subject matter. It was originally known as "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer." It's best known today by it's adopted and accepted title: Mack The Knife.

The origin of the song lies in the hands of a pair of musicians and Socialist commentators: Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Brecht and Weill began performing a show in Berlin called The Threepenny Opera during 1928, shortly before the rise of Nazism. The inspiration for the show was an 18th century musical known as The Beggar's Opera which was a commentary on the state of the British monarchy. Like so many others in showbiz, Brecht and Weill updated the show's premise to reflect the world of Post-WWI Germany, but in this transformation, a sharp and ugly thing occurred. In The Beggar's Opera, the character Macheath was a dashing hero in the spirit of Robin Hood. Under the satirical gaze of Brecht, Macheath went from a romantic thief to that of a violent sadist who killed children, raped young widows, and would be described in his introduction as more like a shark than a man. In an irony fitting of Weimar Republic-era Germany, the song was not initially slated to be in the show - it was added to sate the vanity of it's original performer.

The Threepenny Opera was performed over 1,000 times by the time the duo of Brecht and Weill had left Germany in 1933. Little did they realize how one song, written almost as a joke, would leave an indelible mark on music history.

What is interesting about "Mack The Knife" is how it has mutated over the years. In it's original form, the song is not a happy one. Here it is performed in it's original German by Christopher Lee:



This version falls into sharp contrast with how it is best remembered. Beloved singer Bobby Darin in many ways made a career off of the song, and Jazz Legend Ella Fitzgerald received awards and accolades for her rendition. In yet another ironic twist, during her star-making performance of the song, she forgot the lyrics and had to ad-lib her way through it in Berlin.



Yet most modern performances that are not in the mold of Darrin or Fitzgerald have attempted, through this generation's darkened filters, to bring the song closer to it's original intention. For the film and subsequent album September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill, singer-songwriter Nick Cave performs "Mack The Knife" with a nearly-demonic aplomb.



The myth of Mack The Knife, a serial killer with a body count matching many actual modern madmen, is is fixed within the soundtrack of Western Culture. The only thing remaining to be seen is who next unearths his murder ballad and releases it back into the ears of an unsuspecting world.