I felt very lighthearted while watching this movie “De Dana Dan”. Sometimes watching nonsense movie is simply a stress buster.  However, I could relate this title to the ever changing dynamic environment of various industries. I am reading the concept of the “Blue Ocean Strategy”  – a fantastic articulated means to acheive competitive advantage. A strategy that I believe requires resolve and deep intuition to pursue. That means leadership assumes critical importance to adopt this strategy. However, we are always looking for short-term solutions and end up in a hole which forces us to take limited risks and deviates us to adopt the path of influence. Moreover, we as leaders have failed to realize the concept of “blue oceans” or we are not able to forsee the external environment correctly. A dissonance exists and it means the leaders are not wearing the customer’s shoes.

So does that mean leadership is the most important criteria to successful ventures, businesses and enterpises? Let me reflect and explore that in my next post.

The Colloquium for Interdisciplinary Music Research has started again. We have currently two sub-colloquia, one for empirical music research and another that focuses on music and emotion.

The Empirical Colloquium convened last Thursday to discuss Tuukka Tervo’s work on sensory dissonance models. Sensory dissonance is the sensation of roughness or discord that we can have when hearing two or more notes. The “sum”, or compound of the notes can sound unpleasant or tense, instead of pleasant and clear like in the opposite case of consonance. Traditionally, intervals such as octaves, fifths and fourths have been considered consonant, while sevenths, seconds and even thirds have been dissonant.

There are two aspects in this perception of dissonance, the cultural one (we are used to certain kinds of tone combinations and tuning systems, and judge those we find pleasurable as “consonant”, and those that we find tense or unfitting in the context as “dissonant”) and the sensory, psychoacoustical one. The latter, where the degree of dissonance can be measured from the acoustical components of the sound stimulus and the physical properties of our auditory perception system, was on the table last Thursday.

There are many models of how to calculate how dissonant a certain compound of notes, or a certain passage of music is. This is considered an important factor in how the piece of music would be perceived, remembered or categorised, and therefore an interesting topic for music research and for instance the applied field of music information retrieval.

Tuukka has tested various models of sensory dissonance by comparing their results with the judgements of dissonance made by music students. He used real musical material; chords, drone music and piano jazz, and has now performed the experiment and a preliminary analysis. You can read about both in the embedded presentation. This work is part of Tuukka’s master’s thesis, due for completion next year.

THE “WHY” QUESTION

HOW TO DISCOVER YOUR VALUES and LIVE IN HARMONY WITH YOURSELF

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Values are core beliefs which guide and motivate attitudes and behaviour.

When you value something you want it (or want it to happen).

Values are relatively permanent desires.

Values are answers to the “why” question.

You keep on asking “why” questions until you reach a point where you no longer want something for the sake of something else. At this point you have arrived at a value.

Let’s take an example – I was once teaching a Post Graduate Professional Programme at a premier university, a centre of excellence, and I asked a student, “Why are you doing this academic course?”

“To gain qualifications,” he answered.

“Why do you want to gain qualifications?”

“To succeed in my career.”

“Why do you want to succeed in your career?”

“To reach the top.”

“Why do you want to reach the top?”

“To get power.”

“Why do want do you want power?”

“To control people,” he answered.

“Why do you want to control people?”

“I want to control people.”

“Why?”

“I like to control people.”

“Why?”

“Just for the sake of it – I like controlling people,” he said and further why’s elicited similar responses related to control. [Control for the sake of control – that’s when you discover your value!]

I realized that control was one of his values and maybe he was a future megalomaniac in the making!

The same line of questioning of persons undergoing higher education may reveal values like knowledge, money, status, standard of living, ambition, achievement, growth, reputation, excellence, fame.

Values are our subjective reactions to the world around us.

They guide and mould our options and behaviour. Values are developed early in life and are very resistant to change.

Values develop out of our direct experiences with people who are important to us, particularly our parents.

Values evolve within us not out of what people tell us, but as a result how people behave toward us and others.

Remember, there cannot be any “partial” values.

For example: you cannot be 50% honest (half-honest) – either you are honest or you are not honest!

Are you doing you MBA?

Keep asking yourself why you are doing it, and you will ultimately arrive at your value.

“Why are you doing your MBA?”

“To learn the art of management.”

“Why do you want to learn management?”

“To get a good job in a top firm as a manager.”

“Why?”

“To make more money.”

“Why?”

“To have a high standard of living.”

The person I was talking to re-iterated here, again and again, since standard of living was his value but you can go on and on till you find your true core values.

In one case I was surprised to find conformance as a prime value in a student of MBA – she was doing MBA because everyone else, especially most of her friends, were doing MBA!

With the rise and predominance of the utility value of education, the most important criterion for ranking B-Schools is the pay-packet their students get and not other factors like the quality of faculty and infrastructure, academic achievements and ambience etc.

That’s why there is a rush towards IT and Computer Science as compared to other more interesting and challenging branches of Engineering and Technology – money seems to be the cardinal value amongst students these days!

Some do prefer the civil services even after completing their Engineering from premier institutions as, for these individuals, things like status, service, power, and maybe, patriotism may be important values.

• Is a high salary important to you?
• Is it important for your work to involve interacting with people?
• Is it important for your work to make a contribution to society?
• Is having a prestigious job important for you?

It is most important for you to find out your own values (by the “why” method) to avoid value mismatch.

Value mismatch is at the root cause of dilemmas in your life.

Even when you plan to marry or have a relationship you must look out for value mismatch.

A conflict between your personal and organizational values may result in ethical dilemmas at the workplace, while value mismatch between two persons may sow discord and cause stress and turbulence in a relationship.

Your values are possibly the most important thing to consider when you’re choosing an occupation or workplace.

If you do not take your values into account when planning your career, there’s a good chance you’ll dislike your work and therefore not enjoy it.

For example, someone who needs to have autonomy in his work would not be happy in a job where every action is decided by someone else.

It is important to distinguish between values, interests, personality, and skills:

• Values: the things that are important to you, like achievement, status, and autonomy.
• Interests: what you enjoy doing, like reading, taking long walks, eating good food, hanging out with friends.
• Personality: a person’s individual traits, motivational drives, needs, and attitudes.
• Skills: the activities you are good at, such as writing, computer programming, and teaching.

Of these, interests, skills and personality can be developed, but values are intrinsic core beliefs inherent within you. You have to look inwards, analyse, introspect, reflect and endeavour to discover your own true values.

Whether it is your work or relationships, value congruence is of paramount importance – your values must be in harmony for the relationship to tick.

Value Dissonance due to mismatch between individual values and organizational values can cause great strain and trauma at the workplace.

Even within yourself, in order to avoid inner conflict there must be no confusion about your true values.

Remember the saying of Mahatma Gandhi: “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony”.

Dear Reader, please sit down in a quiet place all by yourself, introspect, ask yourself the “why” question and find out your own values.

First know yourself. Then know others.

Try to ascertain your and their values (personal values and organizational values too!).

Avoid value-mismatch and value-dissonance to the extent feasible.

The extent of mutual harmony in your values should determine your choice of work, activities, relationships, friends and partner.

Is freedom an important value for you?
Is the career or job you are considering (or the person you want to marry or have a close relationship or friendship with) going to give you enough freedom?

Do you value leisure?

Oh, yes! Leisure is not only an important value but also a determinant of character – If you want to know about a man find out how he spends his leisure.

It’s true in your case too – If you had a day off what will you do?

Would you read a book, write a story, go hiking outdoors, play your favourite sport, adventure sports, chat with friends, picnic, see a movie, eat your favourite cuisine in a restaurant, or cook it yourself, socialize in your club, spend the day at home with your family, study, play with your pet dog, or see TV at home, or just spend the day in glorious solitude enjoying quality time with yourself?

Or would you rather not “waste” your leisure time and spend the day doing something “useful” connected with your work, career or advancement towards “achieving” your “goals”?

How you spend your leisure reveals vital clues about your values too!

Do you value humour, fun, pleasure, food, enjoyment, sex, family life, quality of life, status, money, success, fame, power, prestige, security, nature, loyalty, love, affection, independence, privacy, togetherness, tranquillity, adventure, leadership, followership, competition, contentment, creativity – look within, reflect, find out for yourself, and the values of others too who you want to relate with – match and harmonize your values, and be happy and fulfilled in your work and your relationships.

Remember, at any important milestone in your life, when you have to make a vital decision, whether you are on the verge of selecting a career, a job, a house, or a marriage partner – trust your sense of values!

In conclusion here is a quote from the German Philosopher Friedrich Hegel: “A man who has work that suits him and a wife whom he loves has squared his accounts with life”

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

Appetite for a Stroll

vikramkarve@sify.com

Find simplicity in the middle of chaos.
Find harmony in the middle of dissonance.
Find opportunity in the middle of difficulty.

(Albert Einstein)

Over at GirlGame, aoefe posted an essay, “Dissonance“, on the contrast of her traditional beliefs about gender and relationships against the truths (and untruths) she has learned in the Roissy-sphere. In one column, she presents what I call the “nice guy” view of relationships; in the other, she presents the most dystopian elements of the Roissy sphere. Obviously, for all of these dichotomies, the truth is somewhere in the middle. I’ll attempt to mediate these incongruities as well as I can.

1. I thought my accomplishments [as a woman] mattered vs. they are inconsequential to men. Achievements matter to men in relationships, but not in the same way they matter to society at large. Why is this? Society values devoted specialists, while in relationships, there’s a premium on well-roundedness. It’s better for one’s spouse to be modestly intelligent, good-looking, charming, and educated than it is for that person to excel at one to the detriment of others. As is a husband’s, a wife’s role is difficult and multi-faceted. She has to be a lover, a mother, a best friend, a spiritual and intellectual partner, and (when her husband is ill) a caretaker– a tough job with a wide array of responsbilities. Integrity and kindness are crucial. So are intelligence, education, ambition and beauty, but diminishing returns have already set in by the time a woman enters the top 1% for any of these. It doesn’t hurt for a woman to have a 150 IQ, but it’s not necessary.

Society, in the external sense, rewards people for being “pointy” rather than well-rounded– for reaching the apex of a narrow discipline. No one gets a promotion for being a great father, or for having a lot of hobbies. Professional athletes are not expected to be belletrists, nor are poets expected to excel on the basketball court. Obviously, there are practical limits on the extent to which one can invest all of one’s endowment into one discipline, but those who excel are often those who reach and push those limits, and they’re rarely well-rounded. This is just an inherent trade-off in life.

The female lawyer is a Roissy stock character for overblown “pointiness”– the woman who has invested the bulk of her time and emotional energy into the rigid, competitive, and rationalistic discipline of law, placing her social and inner lives on the back-burner. This is what’s rewarded (and requisite for any measure of success) in large-firm law (“biglaw”). It is not what most men want in a relationship.

Are a woman’s accomplishments treasured by men? Yes, absolutely. Skill, passion, intelligence, dedication, and artistic talent are major turn-ons. That said, while the difference between a “10″ concert pianist and an “8″ matter for one who aspires to the world stage, it’s just not an important factor in a relationship. Moreover, sacrificing important virtues for the sake of achievement, as is required in the most cutthroat careers (investment banking and large-firm law) makes a woman undesirable.

2. I thought confidence was attractive vs. confidence in a woman is not required. A woman’s confidence is an asset in a relationship, and a major turn-on in the bedroom. Yes, it is very attractive for a woman to confident, just as it is for her to be accomplished.

The world of “game”, however, is that of the crude sexual market. Sexual market value (SMV) is different altogether from desirability in the context of long-term relationships, to the point that there’s very little overlap. (This is one of the reasons why combat dating, casual sex, and the nightlife scene are among the worst places to look for relationships.) A woman’s SMV is based on her ability to provoke short-term, r-selective sexual desire. Intellectual, personal, and spiritual confidence– all of which matter immensely in long-term, loving relationships– have no bearing on a woman’s SMV. Even sexual confidence, although it makes a woman great in bed, does not appreciably raise her SMV. Her “market value” is largely determined by her looks, although it can be boosted via a certain bitchy social confidence that many men conflate with physical attractiveness, because they lack the self-awareness to recognize its influence.

On a related note, here’s a nasty secret about SMV. It has very little correlation, if any, to whether a person is good in bed. The casual-sex scene is focused entirely on the pursuit of social status, not great sexual experiences. In fact, most people would agree that peak sexual experiences require intimacy, trust, and love between the two partners, and are therefore completely impossible on the casual scene.

3. I thought men enjoyed curves vs. men are turned off by less than slender. We’re all different. I’d say, in general, that I prefer a curvy and slightly muscular build with a BMI around 21-22. On a 5′8 (173cm) woman, this would be 138-145 pounds (63-66kg). Muscle, curves, fat– I like it all, in moderation. My tastes differ from those of the stereotypical male in other ways: I prefer small-to-medium breasts (perky A-cups) and dark skin color. I also find small bellies– the kind that are flat when a woman is standing, but soft and slightly pudgy when she sits– irresistably sexy. We men are all different in what we like.

What’s relevant to a woman’s success on the sexual market is the ratio of the number of men who prefer her body type to the number of women who have it. About 0.5% of men prefer obese women. If only 0.25% of American women were obese, instead of over 30%, they’d be “niche” lovers in a privileged position. Very thin women are in a good position because they’re preferred by such a large percentage of men but, in my experience, many of those are not the best men, just as women who prefer six-pack abs tend to be uncultured. The men who criticize their BMI-20 girlfriends for being “too fat” tend to be jackasses in other ways– misogynists, cheaters, bad lovers, and creeps.

Also, let’s not forget that the men who are most critical of womens’ bodies are those who have very little experience with real women. Men with even modest amounts of experience know that the emotional context triumphs over minor nuances in physical appearance. The Internets harbor quite a few basement virgins with this attitude, but I wouldn’t put much stock in what they think, unless one is interested in dating men like this guy (watch 1:00 – 2:00).

4. I thought aging was natural and acceptable vs. aging is ugly you might as well die. On the sexual market, a woman’s value plummets precipitously in her early 30s but, as I’ve said before, SMV is irrelevant to a woman’s long-term desirability. Desirable men marry women in their 30s and 40s all the time. In fact, most desirable men I know in their 30s and 40s prefer a woman 2-5 years younger than they are, not 10-20.

Men’s preferences for age gaps tend to be correlated to their inexperience, and it’s easy to imagine why. I’m 26, and although maturity is much more important than age, I’d most likely prefer to be with a woman of 23-26. I have no desire to date a 20-year-old. Why? Because I have before, when I was 23. I’ve dated women of every age between 17 and 22, and I’m basically done with those ages. Most of the older men who prefer women in their late teens and early 20s, in my observation, are those who never had the chance to date attractive women when they were young. I have, and I’ve moved on.

A woman whose self-worth is tied to her sexual market value, and to a steady diet of crass male attention, “might as well die” on her 30th birthday, because these benefits are about to recede from her life forever. Women with more mature senses of self-worth generally do fine. If they take care of themselves and age well, they’re highly desired by men their own age (including, if they’re married, their husbands) for long-term relationships.

As for aging being “ugly”, I don’t think so. I know some very good-looking 80-year-olds. They aren’t sexy to a 26-year-old’s eye, but they’re still attractive people. Attractive young people tend to age into attractive older people, even though they don’t inspire carnal lust later in life. Besides, very few people are ugly, even among those who are overweight. Most people I find sexually unattractive, but I would qualify far less than 1% of people I meet as ugly.

Moreover, even beauty itself is not necessarily tied to youth or SMV. Consider Michelle Obama. She’s a stunningly beautiful person, physically and otherwise, but I certainly wouldn’t consider her a sex symbol. Her beauty is derived from her elegance, intelligence, passion, and physical comeliness– not raw sex appeal. As a 45-year-old woman, her SMV (outside of her marriage) is virtually nonexistent, but I’d be thrilled to marry a lady like her, and one who ages as well as she does; and it’s no surprise that her husband, even with the presidency and millions of options, adores her. I bet he’s faithful to her as well; if he weren’t, I’d be angry, because she’s a wonderful woman.

Most men in happy marriages remain in love with their wives, even as they age. Who minds a couple laugh lines on the face one fell in love with? They’re a reminder of times enjoyed together. On that note, shared memories and depths of intimacy achieved are not easily replaced, and keep a wife’s “marital value” buoyant, rendering what happens to her SMV utterly irrelevant.

5. I believed I had value vs. to men I have very little. You do have value, in the world of long-term relationships. If you’re in a happy marriage, your husband will adore and treasure you.

On the casual sexual marketplace, however, people are interchangeable commodities, valued and priced according to a single measure of status. Absolutely no one is exempt from this. For a woman, this is largely determined by her appearance; for a man, it’s based on his “psychosocial dominance”, or Game. People who find this immoral or appalling, such as me, are best to avoid the casual-sex market and the combat-dating racket at all costs.

It’s important to note that “Game’s” tenets are often self-confirming biases. People with such a dismal view of human nature tend to find themselves surrounded with low-quality people, and the behaviors they encounter confirm their negative stances. “Game” is calibrated toward sociosexual success with low-quality people, the reason for this being their sheer number. In truth, the quality of people is not distributed like a bell curve. It’s shaped much more like a pyramid, and those who desire lifestyles of high-frequency sexuality must target the wide but dismal base of it.

6. I was mate selective because of personality type vs. I am hypergamous due to biological drive. “Hypergamy” is a difficult word to discuss, because it means different things to different audiences. There’s good hypergamy and bad. For women to desire men for their character, intelligence, integrity, ambition, and integrity is a great form of hypergamy, and one that impels society to grow. For women to desire men based on their sociosexual dominance or because those men are desired by other females (preselection) is bad hypergamy. The word hypergamy is used pejoratively in the Roissy-sphere, but largely because the style of hypergamy seen in the world of casual sex, Game, and combat dating is the disgusting and immoral variety. Hypergamy doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.

It’s virtuous for a woman to be selective, but vicious for her to be picky. The distinction is as follows: the selective woman places a high value on intimacy, love, and men worthy of her affections. She gives her body and heart only to men who earn them, but does not reject men prematurely. The picky woman is one who rejects men for trivial reasons, such as poor fashion sense or a lack of Game.

7. I thought men were just men vs. men are alpha, beta, omega and zeta. The sexual marketplace, and the reversion to pre-monogamous sexual norms, created these artifacts. Alphas are the men who succeed in this nightmarish world, much like the rats and vermin that inhabit ruined environments. Betas are men, leaning toward monogamy, who are desirable for long-term relationships, and who succeeded in the previous regime, but are shortchanged by this one. Gammas (or omegas) are the men who succeed at neither, and often make fools of themselves attempting to become “alpha”. Zetas are analytically connected to the distribution of the prime numbers.

8. I thought racism had died out vs. racism is alive & well. The world of casual sex and combat dating is hellish, bringing out the worst in people. It’s also one of the most superficial social environments on earth, focused intensely on physical presence. This means that race will undeniably have a major role in it. For woman, race has a strong but complex effect on her SMV. For example, the obnoxious alphas often desire racial variety for the sake of “collecting” a complete set of racial categories, but they prefer to date blonde white women for the status benefits afforded. By contrast, the betas, who are significantly more desirable for (and desiring of) long-term relationships, tend to be very open to dating women of all races, and many are dating interracially. Love is far too beautiful to be rejected on such trivial grounds.

Racism is dying out, slowly, but this society has a long way to go. Interracial love, relationships and marriage are bringing down racial barriers rapidly, although the dehumanizing and ruthlessly competitive environment of casual sex and combat dating is one of the last places we’ll see racism disappear.

Here’s a quick update: in the coming months, I will be releasing two new publications on Amazon. The first is Eternal Dissonance, a screenplay I wrote over three years ago. The second is a new novella entitled Spiral. I will keep everyone updated as time goes on.

So Adam and Eve were walking around being amazing. They were walking with God. They knew not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And they were fine. Then they were tempted by the snake and fell to sin, bringing the remainder of humanity with them.

Separation. Distance. from God. There was now dissonance between them and between them and God. But they couldn’t reach God.

But God didn’t want to leave us in this state of utter separation and dissonance and ugliness. So he was like “Yo, Son, Go down there and die for the sins of everyone.” And that’s what Jesus did. And we have resolution (to some extent at the moment) in Him.

But it isn’t that easy. Jesus rocked the world upside-down and backwards. He changed everything. He was a king but a servant. saved the world but washed people’s feet. Lord but a friend. A son but a Son of God. Crucified but the Messiah. Broken but Whole And Holy. man but God.

This ain’t normal, friends. He flipped the world on its backside. He shook the world. He created tension. Or at least uncovered it. But through this amazing tension we’re able to seek and see him more. We are free through his tension. He made more tension and felt more tension than anyone can ever feel.  The dissonance ringing in His ears must have been unbearable. But He is God.

Right now I feel a lot of tension. Not a lot of resolution. College essays. Homework. Relationships. Family. They are tense. But maybe these tensions are where we are supposed to thrive. Without extreme dissonance we won’t know resolution. Everything will sound fine. But we have to keep finding tension. Keep sitting in the tension. Keep working through the tension. If you don’t see any, just ask. It’s all around.

Tension hurts and tension is hard.  I hate the lies I tell myself. I hate calling God a liar by not believing what He says about me. I hate living in pain. But I think that’s where God can come in to things and make peace within us even though there is none around us.

We aren’t going to miss tension. We aren’t we aren’t going to know true peace until we go back Home. Peace is good. But there’s a plan and a reason for every tension too. Let’s live by Jesus’ tension. Let’s rock the world on its side, inside-out.

(un?)fortunately frustrated and tense as usual,

coop

Keep your eye on the target... where?

I don’t know what the hell is happening to me. There are so many things in my life which I would all want to materialize, but something doesn’t feel right. I don’t know. I want to be a real student. I want to make the most out of my college years. I want to learn new things. I wanted to be larger than myself.

These goals create in me a multitude of desires that shout to me that they should be fulfilled. Yes, they should, but not altogether. Maybe some should just be forgotten… abandoned when at the point of already getting there. Maybe some are really important, but the path is not too desirable enough for me to even try walking on. I am young, and my energy for trying new things is endless. However, I feel the need of focusing all the energy into one goal after the other, yet… my desires come in groups. These groups call on me to pick out the bad apples. Indeed, the bad apples can be the sweetest ones on the tree, and the good ones might not always suit one’s taste.

The closer I get to these altogether, the more I want to back off. It feels strange. I, myself, am overwhelmed by the demands for time and effort these goals ask from me. The demands are endless and confusing that I don’t know how to pick one from the other… which would lead to which. I think I’ve messed it all up. I’ve lost sight of the path I’m taking. That is, if I really have a definite path.

I don’t know. I’ve gone ridiculously far, and turning back on all these sounds stupid. I think I’m slowly becoming stupid… or confused. Confused is such a euphemism for the word stupid. However, I don’t want to look at myself as stupid. I definitely am not stupid. I just view things differently. I don’t want full packages; parts and pieces would do. I’m not yet prepared to face the whole. I’m afraid I won’t live up to the expectations and changes of achieving a new whole, yet that’s the same thing which drives me nearer to it. Nearer and nearer, then backing off.

I’m up to something good, but “good” isn’t universally defined. Its meaning is one filled with subjectivities and bias. These subjectivities create different forms of the word “good”, and I think my goals were fooled by such shapeshifters. Yet, I’m telling you, I’m up to something good, but what is it, that I do not know.

The whole experience of belongingness… the whole experience of acquiring and using new knowledge… the whole experience of being someone you longed to be… all these, even just a bit of these would do. Yes, I could say I have gone really close to these… at some point, had almost basked in triumph from reaching these goals. However, the victory is fake and short-lived. Here I am now, caught between decisions I can’t wisely make.

You can’t step on the same river twice. Once you’ve abandoned it, go on and leave. Physically, at least, for experiences and memories become parts of you as much as your mind and body stays with you. With choosing a path, you have to abandon the other. In my case, I’m abandoning the one which is almost completed. The end looks too good to be true. When things are too good to be true, chances are, they really are not. Then, some might say, when things look too good, they might get even better. To that, I don’t think so. At least, my present condition won’t allow me to think of it all that way.

Now, the promise of the other path looks so inviting. It calls on such a huge change that I’m not sure whether to face or not. I want to take things at my pace… at a meticulous, albeit slow way. I have decided on things. For now; on such a small scale. Short-lived consequences are about to cascade. No decision entails a consequence, may it be bad or the worst. Hold on. Here I go. My grip on the bars is loose, and I’ll most likely tip off and start the whole bumpy ride again. I just don’t know how to focus.

by Rick Gunderman

Yesterday morning I changed my Facebook status. I do this on a daily basis, and typically include politically-charged thoughts or lyrics from songs I like. On September 11, 2009, my status read:

“Rick Gunderman remembers today the victims of 9/11 – the sacrificial lambs who paid for the crimes of US capital-centric imperialism in the Middle East.”

It had occurred to me in the week leading up to the eighth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon as the TV documentaries and jingoist news demagogues reared their heads. For the eighth time I found myself reflecting on that paradigm-shifting event in a very different manner than many people around me.

For a significant proportion of the Canadian and American populations, it is a time to remember the victims of the attacks as the Saints of Democracy. These fallen 3,000 to the media-vulnerable mind represent heroes whose death at the hands of nineteen Muslims will mean hell reigning down from Beirut to Islamabad.

Innocent, they were. Heroes who died in the name of democracy, freedom and independence? Not quite.

It is strange to me how cognitively dissonant the dominant views on 9/11 seem to be. On the one hand, many people are aware of the history of U.S interference in the Middle East. Maybe not quite the extent, but they are aware that the American government has got caught up in affairs they ought not to for decades.

Yet many of these same people also believe Osama bin Laden to be some sort of satanic incarnation, and believe that the wars in and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan were in some way justified.

This is attributable more than anything to the aforementioned paradigm shift. After 9/11, the media rallied to the calls of the ultra-right Bush Administration and their hound dogs in Congress. Those calls were for nationalist unity, a culture of militarism, and the blurring of the line between patriotism and state-obedience.

Theories abound that the United States government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, but solid, incontrovertible evidence is lacking. What is clear is that some of the most powerful members of the Bush Administration wanted “a new Pearl Harbor.”*

The Bush Administration used patriotic and emotional blackmail to round up enough scared and proud Americans to re-elect them and to marginalize all opposition to their warmongering agenda. Through this, they have legitimized for many North Americans illegal invasions, torture, religious and racial intolerance, and military fanaticism.

The approximately 3,000 victims of 9/11 were not heroes safeguarding a democracy or a free way of life – the United States has neither. No single capitalist country in the world allows for the maximum freedom for their people nor does democracy mean anything more than the right to pick an unaccountable representative.

The Bush Administration did not mourn those who died in the attacks. It would come as no surprise to me if they didn’t get drunk and have a party as soon as Bush’s national address was done. They got exactly what they wanted: a nation paralyzed by terrorism with a national media telling them to trust the government or perish in a terrorist-induced hellfire.

The victims were sacrificial lambs, dead because the crimes of their government against the people of the Middle East caused nineteen members of those societies to strike back. Then, their memories were exploited to convince the 300,000,000 American survivors of 9/11 to elevate Bush from president to God-king, and the Republicans from political party to the manifestation of patriotism.

* Richard Armitage, John Bolton, Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and several other Bushies were members of the Project for a New American Century, whose publication “Rebuilding Americas Defenses” explicitly mentions a new Pearl Harbor as necessary to implement their agenda. This is EXACTLY what happened. Proof can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century#.22New_Pearl_Harbor.22

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/nc-pilger.html

http://www.terraknowledge.net/news/terrak040503a.htm

and for the original…

www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

Date: September 9, 2009

Place of Purchase: Atlantic Supervalue

Purchased: Various Groceries

Price: $46.93

       I had to grab some groceries to last me until the weekend today. I had a list, at least I thought I did. I estimated my food supply would come to about $20, but that quickly changed as I passed the chips…then the pizza…followed by a tasty looking new variety of barbeque sauce, and so on. Did I need any of these items? No, probably not.

       I believe my choices were guided by subtle marketing strategies, and psychological conditions I was experiencing at the particular time I decided to get groceries. Had I of eaten before shopping, or been anywheres other than college all day, my decisions and purchases may have been different. I believe a major factor in some of my purchases was an act of compulsive consumption, after a long day of classes I felt change in my normal list of food may serve as an antidote for my tension or anxiety (although, I havent become excessive or repetitive yet). Another mistake I typically make is going to the grocery store hungry. Everything just seems like a good idea, any package that says “filling” or “delicious” seems to end up in my cart. My perceptual selectivity grabs anything that offers to instantly fill my need.

     I now have enough food to last until the weekend, but went way over budget. I feel some dissonance about my purchases… yes I attained food for myself, but in an inefficient way due to situational and psychological factors.

    They were good chips though….

    RC

By Dena T. Smith

Since his inauguration, President Obama has used just about every forum possible to stress the need for health care reform. We’ve heard the pragmatic arguments: in the current system, we spend too much money on treatment rather than focusing on preventative care or that all the power is in the hands of private interests inflates costs. And we’ve also heard plenty of opposition to government intervention from the right. Two Tuesdays ago, I wrote about the need for the president and health care reformers to frame changes to the system in a way that people would feel motivated to create and/or support reform. I discussed what role altruism could have in this process (click here to go to the post). To re-cap, in the framework of classic theories of altruistic behavior, if people are to support an overhaul of the American health care system (as a helping behavior), they have to feel compelled to act and that the costs of the act would need to be minimal compared to the benefits of change. In other words, wanting to help combined with a bit of self-interest are the necessary cocktail.  In the last few weeks, especially given the failure of the pragmatic (generally economic) approaches in convincing both congress and the public to change the system, the President and his team of health care reformers have locked in on emotions more intensely than ever before. One way in which they hope to activate people’s emotional responses is by swaying religious leaders to publicly emphasize the values of their respective faiths that might potentially push congregants to support government intervention in and alterations to the health care system.

The New York Times describes this as situating health care reform as “a core ethical and moral obligation,” (NY Times)   Specifically, last week, Mr. Obama addressed thousands of American religious leaders. For instance, it has been reported that he telephoned about one thousand Rabbis, as the High Holy days approach. A major tenet of Judaism is the notion of social justice, which includes helping those less fortunate, those who are struggling, those who are in need – as a moral obligation. These themes will surely be addressed in temples accross the country in the coming month, when attendance is at its peak for the year and the President reportedly asked these Rabbis to address the need for health care reform at the same time.  For those who hear these sermons, then, the benefit of reform is heightened, as a respected religious leader has endorsed its benefits. Additionally, the identity of individuals who attend religious services is generally tied to their religious background.  Because of this, guilt and even dissonance from acting in a manner incongruous with the beliefs of one’s Rabbi or other religious leader, would be heightened, if congregants do not support the reforms that both their religious leader and, by implication, their religion seems to support. In other words, if the President can convince religious leaders to publicly support health care reform, the odds of congregants supporting the process also increases; people are exposed to the need for change, feel as though it’s a good/the right thing to do and also open the door to experiencing dissonance if they act in a manner that is in opposition to how they imagine their religious leader and fellow temple (or church or mosque) members would. Dissonance theory suggests that people alter their cognitions and/or behavior in order not to experience the unpleasantness and even torment of acting in a way that is in conflict with their attitudes. Further, this line of thinking suggests that the more salient an attitude is (i.e. someone’s religious values that dictate taking care of those less fortunate – especially when a religious leader is clear about the connection between health care and altruism), the more conflict they would feel if, say, they did not support the democratic party’s push for health care reform.

The question, however, is whether blurring the boundaries between politics and religion will push people to feel increased motivation towards health care reform or, on the other hand, to feel as though it’s a political invasion on their private moral beliefs and customs. If people see this as an emotional issue, this strategy could be quite successful as in the case of support for the Iraq war, as argued by Pagano and Huo (see link below).  Emotions are very powerful factors in our support (or lack thereof) for political endeavors. However, if people feel intruded upon or as if their places of worship have been invaded by political pandering, this could all go terribly wrong.

Obama Calls Health Plan a Moral Obligation

The Role of Moral Emotions in Predicting Support for Political Actions in Post-War Iraq

Despite using the principles of influence, social networks and negotiation, change efforts in an organization can falter for different reasons. There has been a great deal of interest in finding out why people are so unwilling to stop out of their comfort zones and accept change. Some of the major  impediments to change are:

• People believing that the change effort is yet another fad: Over a period, many employees have come to perceive different change programs as fads because they associate these with previously failed initiatives. As a result, they do not pay attention to the merits of the arguments. Change induces dissonance, and people often reduce the resulting stress by reverting to previously held assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors.
• People who believe that change agents are not credible: Employees tend to view the strength of the change idea by associating it with the person who advocates that position. In other words, if the change manager is credible, the idea is seen as convincing. On the other hand, when the manager is perceived as untrustworthy, people tend to reject the change ideas.
• People who have difficulty unlearning old ideas and approaches: Most often, people do not know how to stop what they have already been doing. When they are faced with uncertainty and ambiguity, they feel a sense of loss of control and this leads them to persist with their existing methods and approaches.
• People who have difficulty learning new patterns of behavior: When people face unfamiliar situations, they often fail to comprehend the complexities of the situation. They may also feel apprehensive that if they try out new behaviors and fail, they would attract criticism. Faced with a fear of failure and believing that change would make little difference, they may refuse to invest in learning new methods and approaches.
• People who feel that change threatens their identity: When faced with crises or threats, people tend to uphold their pride rather than appreciating the learning challenge that it offers. There is great comfort in existing belief structures, as these constitute one’s personal identity. Any attempt to change behavior may be seen as a challenge to that identity. As a result, it generates resistance to change.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Line of Sight

This is a prayer attributed to Sir Francis Drake that was read in church last week.  I love the dissonance that it stirs within the suburban soul:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

May the modern church, reclaim its mission to:

DO JUSTICE–May we be DISTURBED deep in our souls to care for the Orphan of our culture, to nurture and remember the widowed of our world, to visit the imprisoned, to clothe the naked INSTEAD of resting comfortably in our pews week after week.  May we be a FORCE of COMPASSION in this world.

LOVE MERCY--May we be a people who are DISTURBED to the point that we stand up for what is RIGHT and to shun that which is WRONG.  The church has been far too silent when it comes to issues requiring mercy such as the kind that Organizations like International Justice Mission, Invisible Children and Compassion International deal with.  Why has the church been so silent on the issues of same sex marriage and homosexuality?  (What I mean is there HAS to be a COMPASSIONATE response full of mercy that the church can and ought to embrace instead of letting these intolerant buffoons that dominate the media be the poster child for the church on these issues)*

WALK HUMBLY–I think the fact that the church has been the establishment for too long in our culture that we have lost virtually ALL of our humility.  Thanks to organizations like the Religious Right, we have abused our position as a majority and in the process forgotten what it means to be humble servants to the disenfranchised of our world.  We have forgotten what it means to wash feet, touch and heal lepers, and the like.  May we be DISTURBED to humility–to a world view that sees others who are different, who believe differently, who look different, smell different, etc. as Beautiful Creations of God . . . and maybe, just maybe, we shall begin to love them as Jesus would.

If we can do some of this then perhaps, just perhaps, we shall dream bigger, sail farther away from the shore, fall more in love with life and less in lust for things, venture into wilder places, and in doing so, get a much, much, much larger vision of God.

I know–wild hair ideas from a guy without any hair. . .

Guitar instrumental work is difficult to get the public to be pleased by it. Only true Rock and Metal guitar fans I feel can appreciate it (if any cares to dispute then please do).

Billy here, will be appreciated.

His songs on his player are definately Vai/Satriani influenced, I mean, who isn’t though really? But their mantle is an awkward one to climb to being as they have been there for so long and never been removed from it. Will they ever?

Possibly so if Mr. Connally here didn’t have to quite do everything all by himself. After putting the tracks together, putting them down and to the morons, copy and pasting, copy and pasting then the work currently available to listen to is pretty impressive. Initially aprehensive about the tunes that I’d here i find myself flowing along and enjoying them because too many times they are eye-cringing, boring or just way OTT.

The balance of sound is there, the highs match the lows but I feel the journey which the tracks take us do not really take you very far. You want to chillout, be flown to magical places on this magic carpet called Guitar Solo but your’re just taken to the kitchen for another cup of Chai.

It’s difficult for me to appreciate this kind of work nowadays as the variety I feel can not really progress any further than what it has done due to the already mentioned maestros previously said.

Same old, same old it may be, but on the positive note, it is right up there though. The depth of the growling, supporting rythym humming along with the delighful, wailing over the top that good old Zakk loves to bits and has done for blinking years. Cognitive Dissonance is cool as. Fast and furious at parts and grows wonderfully, harmonious, soothing and great production for what you could say is a bedroom guitarist.

www.myspace.com/billyconnallymusic

The Magalog selects the best looks from the S/S 2010 Kris Van Assche collection.

Source: men.style.com

Hilary Hahn here playing Schoenberg’s violin concerto, the second movement. I find this music to be beautiful and so benign. Also very much to the point. Serialism gets so often talked about, analysed and criticised too for being too intellectual. In fact, it was made into an intellectual specimen by the critics and listeners. I don’t find this music in anyway unsettling, disturbing or harsh – words often associated with this level of dissonance. It helps too to have such a great recording as this.

A manifestation of myself during the summer and autumn

Creative assistant (sound): dtx

Thanks to: Shirley and Tony