The Language of Connectivity
John L. Waters
October 12, 2007
In past articles I've written about yogi adepts sharing their sense of union or connection by gazing directly into the eyes of a devoted student. In each case the adept and the student are both in meditation. They don't converse, sing, fidget, dance, or hum. In this state the yogic unitive sense is shared.
To illustrate sharing connectivity I present an example I've given before:
Molly Jones writes:
"It was as though someone had turned on 10,000 lights. The actual physical light in the tent had not changed, but the level of vibratory energy had gone way, way up, and it was visible as a form of light emanating from the body of Avatar Adi Da." (1)
Consider the following as a working hypothesis. Clear perception is both the start of new science and the heart of old science. For example, Isaac Newton used a glass prism as a perceptual aid as he cut sunlight into the visible electromagnetic spectrum. Galileo used a common sailor's spyglass to study the planets and their moons. Other analytic devices are perceptual aids. For example, a thermometer is a perceptual aid. Even algebra and calculus are perceptual aids. Algebra and calculus help scientists sense precisely and predict accurately. Folks might also consider autism, at least in certain savant autists, to be an analytic device and a perceptual aid.
Human science will advance, but only when certain essential perceptual aids are used. A material computer- a transhumanist device- can work, and computers already enable humans to do things humans could not do before! But the full human potential certainly includes autistic brain activity comparable to Adi Da, Daniel Tammet,(2) and Jessie Parks.(3) Indeed, the full human potential includes brain activity that is off the charts.
It's a jump to argue that English is a joke, but I'll make the leap. If I make the claim, you are free to dispute it. But no matter how logical you are in your rebuttal, the basic issue is: what you've accepted on faith but you never prove. That is the definitions and your axioms you base your logical arguments upon.
This inherent flaw in common wordiness might be what prompted Plato to say through his protagonist Socrates: "The unexamined life isn't worth living" and "Let no one who is ignorant of mathematics enter here."
Paradoxical absurdities are found in English, and in any language that translates into English.
"Prove it!" You say. In response I say,
"This sentence is false."
If you agree that this sentence is true, you didn't really read it clearly. If you disagree that this sentence is true, you are really confused. Other conundrums can be created in English. The best thing to do is to take English in good humor and not get too depressed over the weakness of linguistic intelligence. Don't spend your life quixotically jousting at legalistic linguistic windmills in rebuttal after rebuttal. Test reality. Test yourself. Move beyond words and logic to experience autistic connectivity.
Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel according to psychology professor Howard Gardner of Harvard. Dr. Gardner argues that there are eight intelligences, of which linguistic intelligence is only one. Other intelligences are kinesthetic intelligence, spatial intelligence, mathematical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, musical intelligence and naturalistic intelligence.(4) Many autistics are amazingly facile in some intelligence that isn't verbal!
People should be curious about exactly what Molly Jones sensed in Adi Da. I've been connected in meditation myself and a few meditators have sensed a similar effect while gazing at me. I have signed testimonial letters that substantiate this claim. I've read about this phenomenon on several websites. I've even written papers about it. But when I write, I might say things that some people want to attack. But since I have autism I mainly use intelligences other than linguistic intelligence. But to communicate what thoughts I have, I'm stuck with English. If I didn't talk or write at all I'd be a lot more autistic, and I'd have no way of reaching you except by gazing at you without saying anything. You'd be totally confused about me then and you might even call me an "idiot."
When we think of perceptual aids and cognitive aids, humanity has worked very long and hard for tens of millennia to project speech, perfect speech, and process speech! Refined wordiness has been emphasized by all human civilizations. Just see how linguistic intelligence is emphasized today in homes and in schools! But what about the other seven intelligences? Howard Gardner himself has been concerned about the extreme bias in present education. But schools have been slow to change. Religious cultures are even more resistant to change. Few scholars today study the human sense of connectivity.
A yogi has worked hard to switch off the linguistic intelligence. An autistic child may never learn to talk and just grow up happily connected. What does this joy sense do for a child? Well, in joy many autistic children develop an amazing "savant" talent, so that they can perform feats that seem superhuman or miraculous! To verify this just Google the word "savant" and the word "autistic." After a few hours of reading you will probably be convinced that the human brain presents a vast frontier for further research. How long will it take for scientists themselves to alter their perceptions and function in this non-verbal way?
Consider the following as a working hypothesis. Clear perception is both the start of new science and the heart of old science. For example, Isaac Newton used a glass prism as a perceptual aid as he cut sunlight into the visible electromagnetic spectrum. Galileo used a common sailor's spyglass to study the planets and their moons. Other analytic devices are perceptual aids. For example, a thermometer is a perceptual aid. Even algebra and calculus are perceptual aids. Algebra and calculus help scientists sense precisely and predict accurately. Folks might also consider autism, at least in certain savant autists, to be an analytic device and a perceptual aid.
End Notes
1. Molly Jones and Adi Da
"This story is by Molly Jones, a devotee of Avatar Adi Da, who lives in Hawaii. She recounts events that took place in November, 1979, during the weekend celebration of the fortieth birthday of Avatar Adi Da Samraj."
http://global.adidam.org/feature/realm-divine.html
2. Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant who sees numbers as colors and shapes:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html
3. Jessie Parks
"Oliver Sacks:The Rage for Order (Video No. 2358) 1997; 47 min
Audience: general adult Synopsis: Neurologist Oliver Sacks presents this program from the BBC series The Mind Traveller on Autism, focusing on a summer camp in Ontario and introducing the accomplished artist Jessie Parks. Dr Sacks discusses the causes and variety of manifestations of this neurological disorder, particularly problems in cerebellum function. I addition to outlining some of the puzzling behavioural features he also presents examples of the high abilities that may co-exist with the disorder. In fact control
and predictability can be a core obsession with a system of order that seeks to prevent a fragile world from falling apart.Jessie has devised a representational system of high complexity consisting of colours, flavours and symbols that has evolved over years of development. Wardon is interested in electricity and switches and has discovered he can stop time with a VCR remote. Assif does not talk but thrives in a world of numbers. Similarly Jessica worked with a predictable system of numbers to help make sense of her world. In all Dr Sacks presents a sensitive, humane and considerate portrait of the range of the Autistic mind."
http://www.camh.net/About_Addiction_Mental_Health/CAMH_Library/autism_otherdevdisorders.pdf
4. Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligences:
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr054.shtml
To illustrate sharing connectivity I present an example I've given before:
Molly Jones writes:
"It was as though someone had turned on 10,000 lights. The actual physical light in the tent had not changed, but the level of vibratory energy had gone way, way up, and it was visible as a form of light emanating from the body of Avatar Adi Da." (1)
Consider the following as a working hypothesis. Clear perception is both the start of new science and the heart of old science. For example, Isaac Newton used a glass prism as a perceptual aid as he cut sunlight into the visible electromagnetic spectrum. Galileo used a common sailor's spyglass to study the planets and their moons. Other analytic devices are perceptual aids. For example, a thermometer is a perceptual aid. Even algebra and calculus are perceptual aids. Algebra and calculus help scientists sense precisely and predict accurately. Folks might also consider autism, at least in certain savant autists, to be an analytic device and a perceptual aid.
Human science will advance, but only when certain essential perceptual aids are used. A material computer- a transhumanist device- can work, and computers already enable humans to do things humans could not do before! But the full human potential certainly includes autistic brain activity comparable to Adi Da, Daniel Tammet,(2) and Jessie Parks.(3) Indeed, the full human potential includes brain activity that is off the charts.
It's a jump to argue that English is a joke, but I'll make the leap. If I make the claim, you are free to dispute it. But no matter how logical you are in your rebuttal, the basic issue is: what you've accepted on faith but you never prove. That is the definitions and your axioms you base your logical arguments upon.
This inherent flaw in common wordiness might be what prompted Plato to say through his protagonist Socrates: "The unexamined life isn't worth living" and "Let no one who is ignorant of mathematics enter here."
Paradoxical absurdities are found in English, and in any language that translates into English.
"Prove it!" You say. In response I say,
"This sentence is false."
If you agree that this sentence is true, you didn't really read it clearly. If you disagree that this sentence is true, you are really confused. Other conundrums can be created in English. The best thing to do is to take English in good humor and not get too depressed over the weakness of linguistic intelligence. Don't spend your life quixotically jousting at legalistic linguistic windmills in rebuttal after rebuttal. Test reality. Test yourself. Move beyond words and logic to experience autistic connectivity.
Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel according to psychology professor Howard Gardner of Harvard. Dr. Gardner argues that there are eight intelligences, of which linguistic intelligence is only one. Other intelligences are kinesthetic intelligence, spatial intelligence, mathematical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, musical intelligence and naturalistic intelligence.(4) Many autistics are amazingly facile in some intelligence that isn't verbal!
People should be curious about exactly what Molly Jones sensed in Adi Da. I've been connected in meditation myself and a few meditators have sensed a similar effect while gazing at me. I have signed testimonial letters that substantiate this claim. I've read about this phenomenon on several websites. I've even written papers about it. But when I write, I might say things that some people want to attack. But since I have autism I mainly use intelligences other than linguistic intelligence. But to communicate what thoughts I have, I'm stuck with English. If I didn't talk or write at all I'd be a lot more autistic, and I'd have no way of reaching you except by gazing at you without saying anything. You'd be totally confused about me then and you might even call me an "idiot."
When we think of perceptual aids and cognitive aids, humanity has worked very long and hard for tens of millennia to project speech, perfect speech, and process speech! Refined wordiness has been emphasized by all human civilizations. Just see how linguistic intelligence is emphasized today in homes and in schools! But what about the other seven intelligences? Howard Gardner himself has been concerned about the extreme bias in present education. But schools have been slow to change. Religious cultures are even more resistant to change. Few scholars today study the human sense of connectivity.
A yogi has worked hard to switch off the linguistic intelligence. An autistic child may never learn to talk and just grow up happily connected. What does this joy sense do for a child? Well, in joy many autistic children develop an amazing "savant" talent, so that they can perform feats that seem superhuman or miraculous! To verify this just Google the word "savant" and the word "autistic." After a few hours of reading you will probably be convinced that the human brain presents a vast frontier for further research. How long will it take for scientists themselves to alter their perceptions and function in this non-verbal way?
Consider the following as a working hypothesis. Clear perception is both the start of new science and the heart of old science. For example, Isaac Newton used a glass prism as a perceptual aid as he cut sunlight into the visible electromagnetic spectrum. Galileo used a common sailor's spyglass to study the planets and their moons. Other analytic devices are perceptual aids. For example, a thermometer is a perceptual aid. Even algebra and calculus are perceptual aids. Algebra and calculus help scientists sense precisely and predict accurately. Folks might also consider autism, at least in certain savant autists, to be an analytic device and a perceptual aid.
End Notes
1. Molly Jones and Adi Da
"This story is by Molly Jones, a devotee of Avatar Adi Da, who lives in Hawaii. She recounts events that took place in November, 1979, during the weekend celebration of the fortieth birthday of Avatar Adi Da Samraj."
http://global.adidam.org/feature/realm-divine.html
2. Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant who sees numbers as colors and shapes:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html
3. Jessie Parks
"Oliver Sacks:The Rage for Order (Video No. 2358) 1997; 47 min
Audience: general adult Synopsis: Neurologist Oliver Sacks presents this program from the BBC series The Mind Traveller on Autism, focusing on a summer camp in Ontario and introducing the accomplished artist Jessie Parks. Dr Sacks discusses the causes and variety of manifestations of this neurological disorder, particularly problems in cerebellum function. I addition to outlining some of the puzzling behavioural features he also presents examples of the high abilities that may co-exist with the disorder. In fact control
and predictability can be a core obsession with a system of order that seeks to prevent a fragile world from falling apart.Jessie has devised a representational system of high complexity consisting of colours, flavours and symbols that has evolved over years of development. Wardon is interested in electricity and switches and has discovered he can stop time with a VCR remote. Assif does not talk but thrives in a world of numbers. Similarly Jessica worked with a predictable system of numbers to help make sense of her world. In all Dr Sacks presents a sensitive, humane and considerate portrait of the range of the Autistic mind."
http://www.camh.net/About_Addiction_Mental_Health/CAMH_Library/autism_otherdevdisorders.pdf
4. Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligences:
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr054.shtml
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