Theory of Knowledge: Nicholas of Cusa’s De Docta Ignorantia
One of my favorite works, that is both awe inspiring and completely enlightening. And can leave you pondering it’s simple words for hours and in many different ways:
Human knowledge is a collective and unifying activity; there are three stages in acquiring this knowledge: phantasy, reason, intellect.
Phantasy (sense knowledge) has for its scope the unification into a single representation of the multiple data of the senses.
Reason (meaning abstractive and discursive knowledge) is the faculty which abstracts universal concepts; it never arrives at perfect unity. The knowledge of reason, moreover, is deficient because it represents reality in an improper manner, for it is only founded on individual beings. Hence it follows that concepts result from contradictory notes, for instance, unity and multiplicity, being and non-being. The principle of contradiction, the basis of Aristotelian Scholastic logic, is good within the limits of reason, but it gives us an improper knowledge of reality.
We arrive at the knowledge of the reality (God), and hence of unity and the infinite, only by means of a third activity of the spirit, the faculty of intellect, which is supra-rational understanding, mystical intuition. This faculty, overcoming all differences and multiplicity, presents the reality (God) as perfect unity, in which all differences are reconciled in the infinite life, the “coincidence of opposites.” The principle of coincidence is for Nicholas of Cusa a new one on which logic must be based in order to arrive at the knowledge of reality.
Hence the title of Nicholas’ work De Docta ignorantia, which indicates the limitation of human understanding (reason) as opposed to the knowledge of God that is free of all such limitation (supra-rational). Thus the agnosticism of Nicholas of Cusa is corrected by his fideism, which of course has nothing to do with philosophy.
God is infinite. The infinity of God leads Nicholas of Cusa to affirm the coincidence of opposites. Observing how, in a circumference carried to infinity, the straight and the curved line coincide, he affirms that in the infinity of God all oppositions are identified, all distinctions overcome, and all contrariety fades into nothingness, since the correlative is not to be found. God is the “implicatio” of all opposites. But what in God is “implicatio” and “complicatio,” becomes “explicatio” in the universe, which results from multiplicity, distinction, and opposition.
The Heroes of Capitalism
Joe Cassano: President of AIG’s financial products division. Cost so far to U.S. taxpayers: $180 billion. Cassano made $300 million before leaving AIG last year.
Angelo Mozilo: Countrywide Financial. In 2007, Mozilo unloaded $121 million in options. That same year, the company announced it had lost $704 million, and the share prices tanked. Last fall, Countrywide’s new corporate owner agreed to pay up to $8.7 billion to settle a massive predatory lending suit.
Frank Raines and Daniel Mudd: Fannie Mae. In 2006, Fannie paid a $400 million civil fine to settle charges that Raines and others? overstated earnings. Raines walked away from his six-year tenure $91 million richer. Starting in 2005, successor Mudd continued the reckless policies. He left last year more than $10 million richer. Your bill: tens of billions
Senator Chris Dodd: Chair of the Senate Banking Committee, Dodd was behind bailout language that protected bonuses for Wall Street companies—including that shocking $218 million given to AIG execs. In 2003, he accepted two special “VIP” mortgages from Mozilo’s Countrywide, reportedly saving up to $70,000.
Phil Gramm: Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said in 2001. “I see the American Dream in action.” The Texas Republican, who has since retired from the Senate, fought to deregulate those infamous credit-default swaps that brought down AIG and other derivatives. He also blocked attempts to limit the kind of predatory lending that wiped out thousands of families. Today, Gramm is a well-paid executive at Swiss banking giant UBS.
Federal regulators: The Federal Reserve and the SEC failed to stem the reckless behavior of big banks—despite clear warning signs of potential collapse as early as 2006. Regulators took at face value assurances from banks that they had enough capital to back up their financial gambles.
Alan Greenspan: The Federal Reserve’s former chairman dismissed the idea of a nationwide housing bubble as “most unlikely” while further fueling home sales with low interest rates. In 2004, he even encouraged home buyers to pursue risky adjustable rate mortgages against the advice of other experts. And he opposed attempts to regulate the exotic financial instruments at the heart of the current mess. Greenspan recently admitted that he has “found a flaw” in his worldview, which strongly favored unrestrained markets.
Jim Cramer: “Bear Stearns is not in trouble,” the host of CNBC’s Mad Money shouted on March 11, 2008. “Don’t move your money from Bear!” The Wall Street bank collapsed days later. Cramer made similarly bad calls about Lehman Brothers and Bank of America. His excuse? He relied too heavily on personal assurances from insiders at those banks.
Us: Many of us borrowed too much and bought homes we knew we couldn’t afford. And by not paying attention to and not participating more in our political system, we made it too easy for those in Washington to get in bed with corporations and special interests.
Naming and shaming some of the key culprits is only a start.
Metta Bhavana meditation affirmations for all
May I be well
May I be happy
May I be free from suffering
May my friends be well
May my friends be happy
May my friends be free from suffering
May those beings I do not personally know be well
May those beings I do not personally know be happy
May those beings I do not personally know be free from suffering
May those I thought to be enemies be well
May those I thought to be enemies be happy
May those I thought to be enemies be free from suffering
May all sentient beings everywhere be well
May all sentient beings everywhere be happy
May all sentient beings everywhere be free from suffering
I am kind
I am patient
I am loving
I am caring
I help others
Compassion Meditation Binaural Beat Brainwave Entrainment Gamma Waves.wma
by “miss_silver and OmegaPoint; members of AboveTopSecret.com”
‘Bach To The Future‘ – New Deep Meditation Tool!
A binaural beat brainwave entrainment track for deep meditation overlaid with the classical music of Bach along with hypnotic ocean waves, designed to take the listener on a graduated basis from alpha, to theta and then to delta brainwave patterns, a meditative state ordinarily achieved only by Zen and Yogi masters with over 20 years of meditation pratice (scientific and other info to follow).
Instructions for use:
1) Method – Use stereo headphones, and sit upright, listening with eyes closed, while attempting to remain conscious throughout, although falling asleep, especially when new to it, is not an uncommon occurance.
2) Use Daily – It is recommended, to get the full benefit, to use this as part of a daily meditation practice. You can expect to notice results within days or weeks, and bigger ones over the duration of a month or two.
3) Start Slow – I would also suggest, for the first 14 days, that you listen only for the first half hour to prevent any sort of “overwhelm” from the new stimulous, which tends to surface previously unresolved and repressed unconscious material. The first song, absent Ocean waves, repeats at the half hour interval.
4) Sit after listening – Lastly, to get maximum benefit and results from each listening session, please sit for 15 minutes to a half hour after listening. The greatest benefit may reside during this absolute quiet time while remaining in the target brainwave pattern.
Enjoy!
Bach To The Future – Brainwave Entrainment Meditation.mp3
by “miss_silver and OmegaPoint; members of AboveTopSecret.com”
Source - http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread473254/pg1#pid6513818
News Events and Links I’m Following 6/16/09
GM spent a lot of money to “buy up and destroy mass transit”
The automobile did not come to dominate American transportation by chance or by public choice. It happened as part of a plan by auto makers to buy up and destroy mass transit companies. General Motors led the way. As recently as the 1920s, many American cities and towns were connected by a network of electric railroads and interurban trolleys. Within cities, electric street railways, trolleys, and elevated trains, moved large numbers of people easily and cheaply, with minimal congestion and pollution. But steel-wheeled electric/rail mass transit systems did not serve the needs of the automobile manufacturers and their allies in the steel, rubber, glass, concrete, and oil industries.
GM’s ‘reinvention’ starts with $25 million battery lab
General Motors took a big step toward its reinvention as the “New G.M.” today when it opened what it calls the largest automotive battery laboratory in the United States, a move the struggling company believes will hasten the development of electric vehicles.
General Motors opens largest automotive battery laboratory in the U.S. GM invests $25 million in the 33,000-square-foot Global Battery Systems Lab Lab will develop and test the drivetrains underpinning alternative vehicles Opening comes one week after company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
General Motors CEO resigns as part of bailout deal
General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner announced his resignation early Monday — the latest change for the troubled automaker. White House and GM sources had told CNN Sunday that Wagoner would resign as part of the federal government’s bailout strategy for the troubled automaker.
Departure of General Motors’ CEO part of government’s bailout strategy GM’s president and chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson, to replace Rick Wagoner GM to get 60 days of financing; Chrysler could get $6 billion
Tehran is running scared of the uncontrollable forces of freedom
The surge of revolt threatened to become a tidal wave. So the Islamic republic responded with ‘a coup against the coup.
Iran seldom admits the international media. It makes an exception at election times because it wants the world to see the Islamic republic’s glorious democracy in action. Thus some 400 foreign journalists and television crews were given ten-day visas to cover Friday’s presidential election, and for a week we really did see a vibrant and impressive democratic process.
Admittedly the four candidates were handpicked by the regime, but they ranged from the liberal to ultra-conservative, offered starkly contrasting visions for the future and engaged in remarkably outspoken TV debates. The people responded. Armies of supporters took over the streets, festooned every square with posters and banners and, on election day itself, flocked to the polling stations in numbers that shamed most Western democracies.
The charade ended abruptly on Friday night. Scarcely had polling ended than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s cronies in the Interior Ministry and Elections Commission declared him the winner. They gave him not a razor-thin victory, which might just have been credible – the President did have legions of diehard supporters among the pious and rural poor. They gave him nearly two thirds of the vote, a figure that defied belief and raised two unmistakable fingers to the Iranian people and the world. They claimed that the main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, lost heavily even in his own village. The number of votes allegedly cast for Mr Ahmadinejad, 24.5 million, was probably chosen so that he could claim to have more support than any president in the republic’s 30-year history. The previous high was just over 20 million, cast for the reformist Mohammad Khatami in 1997.
The crackdown began instantly. Mobile phone and text messaging systems were taken down so the opposition could not organise. Opposition websites and international news services were blocked. Baton-wielding security forces flooded on to the streets. Overnight the festive atmosphere turned to fear, exuberance to terror, as the regime showed how evil it is.
All weekend protests were ruthlessly suppressed. Demonstrators were beaten. Foreign journalists, including a reporter and photographer from The Times, were detained. Leading reformists were arrested. Iran’s “Prague Spring”, its “Velvet Revolution”, was crushed with Soviet-style ruthlessness by a regime practised in silencing dissent. Mr Ahmadinejad, the self-styled man of the people and champion of the oppressed, unleashed the full force of the state machinery on his own population.
News Events and Links I’m Following 6/15/09
The Coming Economic Collapse and the Second American Revolution
Some of the facts that should be plain that clearly show that revolution and economic collapse are coming:
1. 15% of all subprime mortgages were foreclosed in May with foreclosure rates climbing. Alan M. White of the Valparaiso Law School.
2. The Federal Reserve needs to “borrow up to $3.25 trillion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30″. Bloomberg
3. China has agreed to buy only 200 billion of Treasury T Bills (sold to finance the debt) total next year, while the oil exporting nations and the rest of the world have agreed to buy 300 billion total. This leaves over 2 trillion dollars that domestic investors will have to buy to float the deficit of the fiscal year that starts September 30th. Congressional Budget Office (After private investors had their private investments taken by the Government and the Unions in the Chrysler and General Motors deal, the experts say that the vast majority of the T Bills will not be sold, meaning the Government will have to print the money monetizing the debt)
4. Dozens of US cities (Like Flint Michigan) may have to bulldozed entire neighborhoods “as part of drastic “shrink to survive” proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline in the nation’s cities.” London Telegraph
5. Democrats in Congress hid a $100 billion bail out of the world’s credit system by the International Monetary Fund, tucking it into the war supplemental intended for operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, according to lawmakers’ aides quoted in a Reuters report.
6. “I will tell you what the problem is,” Collin Peterson (Democratic Chairman of the Agriculture Committee) told the New York Times, “they give three times more money than the next biggest group. It’s huge the amount of money they put into politics. The banks run the place (US Congress).”
7. “And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin
8. “After yesterday’s widespread announcement of a “new world order” by the world’s media, “The world is a step closer to a global currency, backed by a global central bank, running monetary policy for all humanity.” Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of London Telegraph
9. “Toxic Asset Plan Will Leave The Same Amount Of Toxic Assets In The System, But With the Taxpayers Now Liable For Most Of The Losses” Financial Times
10. “The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s.” This is three times the actual Bush deficit in spending in the first 100 days of President Obama’s Presidency. Bloomberg
11. “Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.” June 12, Bloomberg
12. Across the country growing numbers of tax payers are stating that they will not pay anymore taxes. Promising to not file and just to refuse to pay, growing numbers of US tax payers have said enough is enough; “We Are Not ATMS!”
13. The Tea Party movement continues to grow, as the anger of the American people over government waste; The Tea Party Movement Grows & The Tea Party Movement Grows 2
On the Streets of China, Electric Bikes Are Swarming
Right now the future buzzes along at a sedate pace. Government regulations limit the top speed of e-bikes to about 12 mph. But manufacturers are building bigger and bigger machines with speed regulators that are easily removed. E-bikes that are basically pedal-powered machines with an electric boost are common in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but e-scooters with heavier motors and top speeds of around 30 mph, fast enough to rival mopeds, are growing in popularity.
The e-bike boom owes much to Chinese policy. The government made developing e-bikes an official technology goal in 1991. Major Chinese cities have extensive bicycle lanes, which means riders can avoid the worst of rush-hour congestion.
Indeed, as engineers around the world scramble to create eco-friendly, plug-in electric cars, China is already ahead of the game. Says Frank Jamerson, a former GM engineer turned electric-vehicle analyst: “What’s happening in China is sort of a clue to what the future will be.”
Don’t Call What Happened in Iran Last Week an Election
It was a crudely stage-managed insult to everyone involved.
The BBC says clashes between demonstrators and police in Tehran are the most violent in a decade.
Below are thousands of Iranians chanting not “Death to America” or “Death to Israel,” but “Death to the Government.”
Oppressive governments that face ferocious resistance in the streets often don’t last very long. The Islamic Republic regime has been durable so far, and reports of its imminent demise have been premature, but there is only so much it can withstand.
Hatred, chaos and savage beatings in Tehran
He was surrounded and pleading for them to stop but six men with clubs, batons and metal rods kept battering a young Iranian man with ruthless force. The swing that keeps replaying in my head was the black baton that smashed the man in the skull behind his left ear.
Seconds earlier the man had dared to stand up to the baton wielding men because they had shoved a 14-year-old girl. For his chivalry he got one of the most savage beatings I have ever seen at the hands of four Iranian riot policemen and members of the Baseej, Iran’s plain clothed volunteer militia.
“To hell with Iran,” he said as he sat beaten and battered along the sidewalk. “This is not my government. This is not my country.”
A grown man who watched the beating burst into tears.
This was a glimpse of the ugly aftermath of Iran’s presidential elections, which sparked outrage among supporters of candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.
Moussavi’s backers are calling President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s landslide victory a sham. They’re demanding the vote be annulled. The government’s response has been a ruthless and violent crackdown.
