I kind of surprised myself when I reread the little blurb that I wrote underneath the discussion flow chart.  What the heck is a "holographic discussion or argument"?  I've never come across that term before.  (I'll Google it and see if anything comes up, but I wanted to put forth my idea before seeing anything else.)

   So, a hologram is a representation or picture of an object made with two beams of light with the image being recorded using the interference pattern created by the light beams.  Maybe that's a little complex, but the important bits are that it is the result of an object being scanned by two or more beams of light and the image being the result of an interaction of these light beams, rather than a simple capture of a single light beam.  The result is a 3D image of the object rather than a 2D image, shifting as you change your viewing angle.  Another unique thing about holographic images is that all the information is recorded in every part of the image, so if you break the photograph into five pieces, you end up with five complete pictures. 

   So, what's a holographic argument?  One of the things that I didn't like about the discussion flow chart was is that it only allowed for whatever the "rationalist" defined as rational thought, which would probably be classical logic, cause and effect, Newtonian and Cartesian scientific method.  That seems to be a bit narrow for my liking.  It's kind of like someone telling you that the whole world is red, but saying that you can only look through red coloured glasses. 

   The alternative, as many of you know from my previous ranting, is looking at things through an Integral Model, a la Ken Wilber.  The importance of which model you use to view reality is critical, as was recently asserted by Stephen Hawking in his latest book.  Any experienced phenomenon, even those recorded by scientific instruments, is subject to the subjectivity of the observer, their conceptual level of understanding and the filters through which they interpret everything.  In Wilber's Integral model, rather than throwing this subjectivity into relativistic chaos, it becomes organized into a hierarchical meta-model, which would take pages and pages to properly explain.  Those interested can find out more HERE.

   Like the holographic image, the holographic argument examines a question from a variety of angles and on a variety of levels, knowing that no single perspective will tell the whole story.  Something approximating truth emerges from all of the angles, and, indeed, from the interaction (interference) between different models.  An example of the latter can be seen when you ask questons that can't be answered by one model, and find another that will provide answers.  Not only is there information in the answers, but also in the nature of the models that can and can't provide them.

   I'm not sure the person who drew up the flow chart would be up to that sort of discussion, probably wanting to retreat to their Aristotelian logic and classical scientific method.  He would claim that I was violating his standards, when in fact I am just going beyond them. 

   Hmm.  The beginning of an idea.

   So, as I've been saying, I'm thinking about shifting this Blog to WordPress.  The current platform, which is connected to my DotEasy website server, has some annoying flaws in it.  It has a minimum of 4 000 characters per entry.  You can see how big that is (or isn't) by looking at some of the posts that I've had to split up.  It also has no spell check.  I tried to compose my entries in Word so that I can check them, but the problem is that when I cut and paste those entries onto the Blog screen, a lot of source code goes with it making even the shortest entries go over the character limit.  (I'm sure there's a way to save the Word document so it leaves out the source code, but who needs extra steps.)  WordPress also looks a lot more slick and has a lot of features not available here.

   The new Blog, whenever it kicks in, will still be available through the link on my main web index page.  When the switch happens, anyone who's bookmarked this site will find a message directing you to the new Blog site. 

   For a month or so after the switch, I'll probably maintain two links on the index page, designating them as new and old blog.  I'll also start by running entries on both sites for at least a few days or a week in order to make sure things are going the way I want them to.  I'm not sure about advertisements on the new site.  It's a free hosting service, so there may be some.  We'll see whether or not that's tolerable or whether we end up with Viagra ads between entries.

   This is all going to happen as time permits over the next week or two.  In the meantime I'll still be ranting here much as I have been in the past.  Thanks for checking in with my humble opinions.  I'd love to see people leave more comments.

   There's nothing really juicy happening in the news these days, other than a silly debate about plastic bags in Toronto (which I might weigh in on if it doesn't just go away).  I haven't done any heavy reading for the past few days.  The only cultural event I've been to recently was to see "Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert" last night, which I'm going to pass on reviewing as it was the final performance.

   What to write on??  Well I guess the obligatory year starter would be resolutions and plans for the New Year.

   As I said earlier, the retirement thing got off to a reasonable start over the past few months, but one of my main goals was to devote more time to personal maintenance.  This would include better fitness and diet, along with more time for personal development in other areas.  My copy of Integral Life Practice (A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening) has been sitting on my living room table for about four months now, and I've polished off a whopping 48 pages.  That about sums it up.  Ok, so resolution #1 is to hit this personal maintenance plan a little harder.  After all, I can't really complain that I don't have the time.

   2011 will see at least two major trips.  The first is my photo trip to Costa Rica, which is in the latter half of Feb.  This promises to be a great educational opportunity and the people I'm going with seem like they'll be a lot of fun.  I'm sure you'll hear lots more about it later and inevitably there'll be the photos.  The second trip will be during the summer, when I plan to take my Phoenix youth group to the Smoky Mountains.  I've done this trip a few times before and it's always been highly successful on all fronts.  Photography can be fantastic there, too, but it's also about the great hiking and other attractions.

   This blog has give me the opportunity to polish my writing abilities, but it's all rather informal.  Again, people are encouraging me to write something more formal.  I don't know whether it would be fiction or non-fiction or maybe even autobiographical, but I'm feeling more and more ready to tackle that, and hopefully something will gel in 2011.

   I didn't get nearly as far as I'd hoped in revamping my web site.  The current stuff is set up, but I wanted to put up a scrap book of all of my old youth groups, and add a Travel section.  That's still a goal, and should help keep me out of trouble for the next year.

   Anyway, enough about me.  What are your goals for 2011?

   People are saying "Where's your 2010 music list?"  Well, I'm compiling it now and it should be up within a few days.

5. Finally, about a month ago I put up a notice that Graham Hancock had written a fiction book called Entangled.  I did end up reading it and have to say that I found it mediocre at best.  Throughout, I was torn between abandoning it and finishing, finally opting for the latter.  I was disappointed because Hancock is just so jammed full of interesting ideas and information in his non-fiction work.  I was afraid that his fictions might have too much of this in it, like Colin Wilson’s fiction, but instead there was very little that was mind boggling or even mildly intellectually engaging.  The story was passable, but stopped short of a real conclusion because there is a sequel.  It’ll have to be a dry spell in good books indeed before I rush out and buy that sequel.

I'v got most of the kinks out, so I'm debuting my new Blog site.

Check it out at

http://pwiinholt.wordpress.com/

and leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

Here it is!  My list of the top music in 2010.  Since I don’t much use play lists, these are albums not songs.  Quite a bit of variety this year.

1. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach : Not all parts of this album is to my taste, but I can’t help being amazed at the quality and the variety.

2. Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

3. Band Of Horses – Infinite Arms : The better of the two albums on the list this year that make me yearn for new Fleet Foxes material.  Great tunes.

4. LCD Soundsytem – This Is Happening ; Again, diverse, interesting, experimentally new.

5. Ben Folds & Nick Hornby – Lonely Avenue :  Great collaboration.  Amazing tunes and lyrics.

6. Paul Weller – Wake Up The Nation : And he did.  Pperhaps the most under rated performer today!!

7. Take That : This one has to grow on you.  A little bit of Green Day.  A little Muse.  Along with some Kinks-like lyrics.

8. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More : The other one that echoes Fleet Foxes.  This is a great album, but sometimes seems very repetitive in its tunes.

9. Deer Hunter – Halcyon Digest

10. Cee Lo Green - Lady Killer : Not my usual musical fare, but just full of raw energy, with a couple of really killer songs.

11. Elton John and Leon Russell – The Union : For sure a couple of old timers, but put them together and magic seems to happen.  There was a big swing back to old school this past year with Plant’s new album, The Black Keys and others.  This is the one that seems to pull off “old school” the best.

12. Peter Wolf – Midnight Souvenirs : OK, a little more old school.  this one has solid, catchy tunes and moving performances.

A few conversations that I've had recently have made me realize that I probably have quite a high pain threshold.  I tend to dismiss a lot of discomforts, pains and aches that seem more notable to others.  I don't complain about rooms that are hot or cold, drafts, and most body pains (other than headaches) as I just don't seem to notice them or have them register to me on a significant level.  I think that this is the result of two things. 

First, I've done a lot of serious hiking.  I can remember many instances, whether it be hiking to the top of a peak in New Mexico, the bottom of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, or the Tobermory stretch of the Bruce Trail in Ontario, where I had to push myself well beyond any comfort zone.  Hiking up switchbacks, you learn not to look up and see how far you actually are from the top.  You just keep going, often telling yourself you need to stop, but continuing to put one foot in front of the other because you know you have to.  Nobody's going to carry you.  The campsite, the car or whatever is not going to magically appear any closer.  Reality wins.   Pushing through that kind of limitation forces you to just put aside the discomfort and, ultimately, not give it any power over you. 

The second factor that I think has resulted in a higher pain threshold is the meditation practice in which I'm engaged.  Like the hiking, meditation is very much a matter of pushing through and setting aside distraction.  It is a single mindedness and concentration which allows you to derail distractions so that they don't have power over you.

Between these two practices, I feel that I've developed a very useful characteristic.  I would recommend both as worthwhile challenges, and I would encourage parents and youth to not avoid challenge and discomfort.  Living a protected life makes for soft people with low thresholds when facing many of  life's adversities, not just pain.  Callouses, whether physical or mental, produce resilience, -and that's one of the most important characteristics that anyone can acquire. 

I'm partial to killer hikes and meditation, however I'm sure that similar results can be gotten from some sports activities or other endeavors.  Whatever it is, though, it has to be unforgiving.  You have to have a real reason for not quitting.  Unfortunately, as shown by the Toronto Maple Leafs, sports activities and teams don't always yield the same harsh consequences if you fail as does other things, like dieing on the side of a mountain if you don't finish the hike. 

The new Blog on WordPress is up and running.  Most of the kinks are smoothed out, and I'm very pleased with it.  I'll be continuing my usual mixture of random thoughts on that new platform.

Connect by using the link below and adjust your bookmarks if necessary.

http://pwiinholt.wordpress.com/

This Blog site will remain active for a while in case anyone wants to revisit old entries, (not that I really think that would be a very frequent need).

This blog was hitting between 50 - 100 hits on most days at the end of December.  Hopefully those visitors will make the transfer to the new site and like what they find.