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  • blakecosmos posted an update 5 years, 1 month ago

    Depending on from what decade one draws their titles, it can become apparent to the reader/researcher, that what we are living now, was prefigured, with uncanny accuracy, by any number of the more brilliant minds in the last century. As a personal take on this, I will be sharing the following quotation, and then asking a question of anyone who cares to consider it. Here it is then, and for Context and Clarity, please note that where the word “BEING” is capitalized it is in if you will the grander sense, and I would argue in the sense that this sort of “BEING” would be a Divine and Personal, Deity, and where “being” is not capitalized, it refers to the condition of our having been purposely – thrown into the maw of modernity, by these “beings” and experiencing the harrowing process – of having the familiar from our sense of life, methodically stripped away from us day by day.

    “What is the absence of [BEING] abandoned man more and more exclusively to mere [beings] – leaving him forsaken and far from any involvement of [BEING] In his {NATURE], while this forsakenness, itself remained veiled? What is this were the case – and had been the case for a long time now? What if there were signs that this oblivion will become more decisive in the future?

    (and continuing)

    Would there still be an occasion for a thoughtful person give himself “arrogant airs” in view of – [this fateful withdrawal] – with which [BEING] Presents us? – (Martin Heidegger, “What is Metaphysics” 1935 Lecture Series)

    And now to my question for any, or all, or none who would choose to engage with it….

    “What is the Nature of this Withdrawal?” how does it feel, and what is its purpose?

    • Not sure I understand what you’re trying to say 😉

        • Ok let me put it like this? what is the nature of the feeling of what’s happening to us? and does it feel like something has been withdrawn? and what is the thing being withdrawn? Heidegger was pointing directly at it nearly a century ago.

            • So just to be clear here, you’re looking for the nature of the feeling and not the feeling itself? Would not the two be intertwined, though? Seemingly, one can’t fully explore the nature of the feeling without exploring the feeling first.

                • Good question Todd! Certainly they are engaged with one another, the key then for the individual falls to the method by which such things are interpreted.

                    • It’s interesting that you are suggesting to link the word “method” to “interpretation”. Though a “method” could seemingly be analogue or digital, I largely think of it as something digital – a sequence of steps that can be flowcharted, if you will, with “decision diamonds” with “Yes” or “No” as the outputs in deciding what to do next. An interpretation, on the other hand, is highly analogue. Line up 10 people, show a film clip, ask them to interpret what they saw, and you’re likely to get 10 different answers, all of which are both correct and incorrect at the same time.
                      Now, applying that bit of twisted “logic”, why would (or should) we interpret it as a withdrawal? What if what is happening right now is simply the way life is meant to progress to get us (humanity) wherever it is going? Why must we believe, or feel certain, that there’s actually been a BEING withdrawal? What if our role in all of this is simply to go through our lives and let it all unfold as it will? By us trying to control matters, are we not as guilty as the handlers of this planet who are trying to control us? And what if the feeling of a withdrawal is nothing more than our own perception that life should always be smooth (by our interpretation) and we should be BEING protected?
                      And to @Scarmoge ‘s question below, yes, where would one seek out those who have proposed methods, but more importantly, how would one know if those “methods” were valid and what gives them authority to claim validity?
                      You’ve proposed a big and interesting question, Blake.

                    • … wouldn’t one need to have a method for interpreting one’s “feeling of what’s happening?” and if so what might that look like? … and where might one go to seek out those who have proposed methods for doing so?

                • Are you suggesting that G*d has withdrawn and you are wondering why that is?

                    • No. It’s not that G*d has withdrawn, it’s that something that prevented the imposition of something external, that gets in the way of our Being In The World. It’s a feeling of something …(Some Heidegger Required)

                        • Okay I read a quick summary of Heidegger. If I grasped the general gist of his Being vs. being perspective, then it seems he’s stating something is in our way of being Whole. In other words, our Being is intentionally confused.
                          My thoughts go to a social construct (virtually in existence for all known history) that seeks to enslave a Being’s mental and physical self from the point of birth. This impairs spiritual growth.
                          Please correct me if I’ve gone off in an irrelevant direction.


                            • Nope you’re definitely on the right path. In fact, there is more to be unpacked in his work, “The Matter Concerning Technology”. As I replied to Todd, the key lies in how one makes sense of what’s happening, and having the tools, and a method to sort out our feelings and participate in our own well Being.

                                • Basically, what I get from reading this –
                                  https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/philosophy-of-technology/0/steps/26315
                                  is that we have allowed our perception of what and who we are as well as what life’s purpose is to be ‘Contrived’. And, by allowing this, our manipulated perceptions have impaired our Being. Following this thought, to ‘free’ ourselves, we would need to view our present sense of Being from outside of ourselves. As we are analogical, that would necessitate being able to source some other perspective(s) to gain a ‘fresh’ view.

                                  • … or possibly our own [Being’s] wellness?

                                  • … a quick summary of Heidegger?

                              • its like this- if you have all the answers ahead of time, what’s the point of being tested? If you have total fulfillment and bliss, what’s the way to learn about everything else, which is by definition, less than that? You have to have seperation.

                                • If one were to assume tat BEING participates in being, then perhaps there is some kind of game, perhaps a la Watts of Hide and Seek, in which we are being led on by a number of seemings, and it is a question not only of our humanity but also of our eternal destiny that is in the mix.

                                    • An excellent and densely packed response chromolady!

                                        • One of my favorite quotes by Heidegger has to do with his definition of philosophy, “Philosophy, then, is that thinking with which one can start nothing and about which housemaids necessarily laugh.” I am assuming that we are in the world of housemaids.