Belly Button Lint

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Tag: communication

  • Theme:

    Res ipsa loquitur

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    1–2 minutes

    “The thing speaks for itself”

    This is the legal principle that “the occurrence of an accident implies negligence.” An incident/accident proves someone was inattentive (or uncaring) earlier.

    In a bureaucratic way, the professional-managerial class works to spread responsibility, which obscures blame from decision-makers and promotes negligence without consequence.

    So, while the thing or event (the error) speaks loudly, accountability is smothered (in volume and quantity) by corporate and legal speak.

    This dodge is itself an example of res ipsa loquitur: continued negligence is permissible, not accidental, which is the negligence of responsibility.

  • Theme:

    The popular reversal

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    1–2 minutes

    We love an inversion of common concepts: it feels like wisdom to flip understanding.

    However this tendency is not always sagacious but instead formulaic, prompting a popular dismissal of the forthright as pedestrian.

    inspired by: Goethe, “Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.”

  • Theme:

    comedic grounding

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    1–2 minutes

    Comedy often employs the technique of contrasting highbrow symbols with vulgar ones.

    The highbrow symbol, which is essentially a façade, is flipped or inverted to create a sense of ridicule. This juxtaposition allows us to rediscover our humanity by highlighting the absurdity of high-mindedness and the relatability of vulgarity.

  • Theme:

    The “knower” doesn’t know

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    1–2 minutes

    How we communicate can determine how we think.

    Alan Watts shares that, grammatically, we have a noun perform a verb or interact with an action; we must have a “knower,” who is “knowing,” or a person (noun) having emotions (verb-y feelings).

    More accurately, as Buddhists or Deleuze might say, “you” is a process: the noun is a verb happening.

    You don’t have feelings, but feelings are happening. They show up unbidden and uncontrolled amid an entity called “you.” At best, the “knower” is partially aware, but is acted upon and is an action becoming, tenuously holding onto the continuity of noun-ness.

  • Theme:

    Freeing speech vs. freedom of speech.

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    1–2 minutes

    The loss of "freedom of speech" is the end of all freedoms.

    Equally dangerous but less acknowledged is "freeing speech," which is a form of liberation from meaning. We lose correspondence and consensus once interpretation is impossible because it relies on subjective feeling.

    The specificity of language tends to dissolve, stretch, or spread, but when attenuated beyond commonality, there is no communication, just noises of pain or appreciation.

  • Theme:

    talking yourselves down

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    1–2 minutes

    Narrating to yourself is insanity.

    Your reaction to something is potent, and a story forms.

    To return to normal you must re-narrate in excruciating detail with multiple hypothetical and alternate scenarios who you are, which is really only who you want to be.

    Who “you” are is a market of competing desires, each shouting their “story of you,” to which some other version of you is repeatedly having to self-talk all your selves back into the shape you recognize.

  • Theme:

    Life has to be lived

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    1–2 minutes

    The more we narrate our life, the less we are enacting t: we turn to language to fantasize and reposition ourselves, and as life grows more complex and callously brutal, words become easier than life.

    "Life will not be blathered into submission." ~ Ian McGuire

  • Theme:

    The Confusion of non-interference

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    1–2 minutes

    In electrical systems or motors, peak performance is achieved by reducing interference. That is, to reduce friction.

    In electricity, voltage and current align by peaks and valleys syncing together. Interference is a misalignment where they end up fighting each other.

    However, we do not always want peak power immediately, so by intentional misalignment, you can create a “soft start” before ramping up to peak power. We intentionally introduce friction at the beginning.

    Psychologically, we often say we want smooth-functioning non-interference and contentment as fulfillment or happiness. But this pushes us to desire non-interference (no friction) rather than peak performance (productive goals.) It fails to overcome the early “interference” for more significant later benefits.

    This derives from a slippery reversal: reducing all friction is very efficient -perfectly aligned- but is entropic. This path lowers peaks and valleys to a flatline existence: no goal means no failure, but also there is no longer voltage or current.

    A misunderstanding is at play: Our rational brains substitute more frictionless concepts during the initial misalignment, allowing us to reframe our goal as a symptom. Achieving the symptom is easier than curing the problem or achieving the goal.

    “Contentment” and “efficiency” may come from optimizing performance, but first you must struggle (encounter friction on your path) toward a greater purpose.

  • Theme:

    good manners

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    1–2 minutes

    Good manners aren’t about your performance; it is about being accommodating, gracious, and a little bit blind and a little bit distracted when somebody else’s performance falters.
    Allowing somebody to maintain their dignity is akin to forgiveness: an ultimate kindness and kinship.

    This implies that "bad manners" draw attention to another’s failures; it is marking them down and loudly keeping score.

  • Theme:

    forgiveness

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    1–2 minutes

    Forgiveness is around the corner; it is just a conversation away.

    While this seems trite, if you can forgive yourself enough to be open to the conversation rather than reveling in righteousness or embarrassment, you move into a place where you rely on them to forgive you, which is their decision/responsibility.

    After the apology and attempt at reconciliation, there is little more you can do, but in open acknowledgment and action, you create the opportunity for forgiveness.