[Xmca-l] Re: Life off grid - communitas?

[Larry Purss]

Huw,
I noticed the juxtaposition of description/discourse AS [anti]idea on one
side with mediated knowledge generating powerful ideas WITHIN concrete
activities on the other side.

I question whether *discourse* actually straddles this either/or divide.
Locating concrete activity AND discourse on the same side as the location
for engendering the development of mediated knowledge. [including the
mediated understanding of types of *discourse* coursing through
architectures]

On Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 9:03 AM, Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Yes, but I disagree with the hook-ups with the capacity for the sublime
> wonder or notions of guilt and morality.  These are experienced, for sure,
> but I think this is really something extra that is brought to the fray by
> those with the freedom and capacity to be sensitive and responsive towards
> it in their own idiosyncratic ways.  There seems to a rather large matter
> of overlooking that the leviathon of 'humanity' is actually composed of
> architectures we have yet to understand.  And, moreover, it is not the
> object of wonder that induces wonder, but rather the capacities and
> inclinations of the subject.
>
> The brief still point in the article (is it an article?) is the observation
> and reminder that a great many people are in thrall of the idea of
> unmediated knowledge, which is something to complement the usual anti-ideas
> of simplicity and description.
>
> If we live in virtual sanitised worlds in which the small problems of
> nature are kept at bay, we lose our sensitivity to anything of any greater
> power.  For those people who have never elected to be curious, they really
> do not have an option other than to respond to that which is happening to
> them here and now.  The underlying theme here seems to be, again, the
> disconnect between the (anti) idea of description (and discourse) and the
> notion that psychological developments that equate to the the realisation
> of powerful ideas such as mediated knowledge are dependent upon concrete
> activity, which is about facing reality.
>
> Huw
>
>
>
> On 27 October 2015 at 14:55, Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Mike, Huw, Greg,
> > I have just read Latour's wonderful and provocative exploration of the
> > disconnect between earth and earthlings and his sense that we have lost
> the
> > sense of the *sublime* and must search for an answer in
> > rearranging emerging  assemblances imagined AS  nodes, tapestries, and
> > weaving strands of being/becoming.
> >
> > Latour wants to "bridge" the gap [the disconnect] with earthlings on one
> > side and Gaia on the other side. Gaia's fundamental feature is that of
> the
> > "trickster".
> >
> > Greg sent a link to living off the grid and asked if this expressed
> > *communitas*? I experienced the examples as very heroic and trusting in
> > being rugged individualism.
> >
> > I hope we can engage with this thread. I will point out that Latour
> > emphasized there are no nodes, knots, weaves, and TAPESTRIES without the
> > open spaces, and I want to call attention to this fact. My imaginal
> *spaces
> > as places* asks if we must envision SHARED LOCAL PLACES where there exist
> > *inter (-) mediate* assembled assemblances  where the STRONG Ich [capital
> > I] becomes the WEAK ich [small I] which opens up imaginal *third* spaces
> > for *du* [intimate you]. Spaces of shared dialogue where Gaia as
> > trickster/Hermes is honoured. A place of hope and dread with always a
> gap.
> > The place of intervals and "ma".
> > Latour is engendering grand narratives/myths with *disconnects* [as
> falling
> > away from ...]. A neo-Platonic myth.
> > Larry
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 5:09 PM, mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > It turns out that Wednesday in LCHC we are discussing Latour's article
> on
> > > waiting for Gaia. I attach it for those interested. It raises Huw's
> > > concerns and multiplies them by a few terawatts.
> > >
> > > Just in time for Halloween!
> > >
> > > mike
> > >
> > > On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 4:27 PM, Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > That looks like a compelling film, Greg.  Is 'off the grid' used
> > > > metaphorically, i.e. is it about living away from societal norms, or
> is
> > > it
> > > > principally about generating their own power etc?
> > > >
> > > > I have always thought it rather telling that the skills that society
> at
> > > > large tends to value the most (finance, entertainment) are invariably
> > the
> > > > most useless when it comes to living within a small community.
> Maybe,
> > > > maybe, this is because community is not something easily achieved
> > outside
> > > > of settings of co-dependence that are not mediated by money,
> > > qualifications
> > > > etc.
> > > >
> > > > Then again, one has to ask about the nature of a production
> > documenting a
> > > > more independent way of living whilst simultaneously reconnecting
> with
> > > > societal values by lugging a wide-lens camera around with
> homesteaders
> > at
> > > > one end of the camera and a series of official film selection
> > committees
> > > at
> > > > the other end of apparatus.  Is there some kind of hipster quality to
> > > that,
> > > > about being radically happy in the city centre or radically happy out
> > in
> > > > remote places, provided the umbilical chord isn't cut?  Or is it more
> > > > simply communities celebrating their existence and survival -- "we're
> > > here
> > > > and we do things differently".
> > > >
> > > > Either way, what seems to be interesting for me here is the change in
> > > > meaning for basic skills and community values that seem to go hand in
> > > hand
> > > > with 'disconnecting'.
> > > >
> > > > Best,
> > > > Huw
> > > >
> > > > On 25 October 2015 at 02:30, Greg Thompson <
> greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Is this a new form of communitas:
> > > > > http://lifeoffgrid.ca/
> > > > > (link is to a 3 minute trailer for a movie about folks living life
> > off
> > > > the
> > > > > grid)
> > > > > Some of the folks seem to suggest so. Others maybe not so much.
> > > > > -greg
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
> > > > > Assistant Professor
> > > > > Department of Anthropology
> > > > > 880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
> > > > > Brigham Young University
> > > > > Provo, UT 84602
> > > > > http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > It is the dilemma of psychology to deal as a natural science with an
> > > object that creates history. Ernst Boesch
> > >
> >
>