postcard from the conceptual resort

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I’m with Jacques Derrida in fascination with our possible presence together here, i.e., through textuality, which is from me to an invented other, but also somewhat (inevitably) inventing the actual other in conscientious address. And the other—anonymous reader, loved one—somewhat invents the author.

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appeal of better ways

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A discussion I put online earlier this month, titled “To shape a better understanding to share, where should we begin?,” immediately dissatisfied me. So, I reconceived the thing, now posted as two discussions: 

•  “orienting life in relation with futuring humanity,” a couple of days ago. See the playfully titled “deep time...” posting below here, Jan. 24.
• today’s “appeal of better ways.” It constellates an array of themes for more specific attentions later. It’s a good synopsis of what I’m generally doing for my “project of humanity.”

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deep time of appellant horizons might show enthralling gravity

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“Orienting life in relation with futuring humanity” is inspired by how education undermines consumerism, undermines the appeal of authoritarian stances, and welcomes appreciation of manifold mindfulness.

Also, my discussion introduces a scalar sense of holism which is generally important for “The Project currently.”

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coming to terms

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Desire for new concepts—which I’ve not hesitated to satisfy—follows from working beyond the normal uses of standard concepts. That’s common in philosophical work, but easily seems hermetic.

The past couple of weeks offline have been very fruitful, in terms of more new concepts and advancing earlier themes. I love my days!

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the ensemble will now entertain you

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You poor things.

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being figurative is normal, for good reason

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“Meaning of significance: part 1” begins a venture about there being texted presence between author and reader which is usually figurative (showing implicature) manifoldly. A speaker/writer is figurative be-
cause being understood is normally wanted more than expressiveness.

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lifecycleness

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“‘lifecycleness,’ so to speak” prospects a felicitous neologism for exploratory conceptual work.

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autumn 2023

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No update, but you see below (Nov. 23, 24, 25) that a lot has appeared during the past couple of weeks. I expect a lot more to share this month.

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empathing toward Andromeda

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This is proximally about creative process, though ultimately about intelligent life.

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precious life

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Beyond polemic about “precious life” (sentient human life), I want to be specific (soon) about entailed fidelity to precious values associable with fair chances for thriving and individuational flourishing through curiosity, engagement, belonging, appreciation, aspiration, and much more that good parenting and teaching provide, which altogether draws a life into precious purposes, having life-long appeal. True community promotes, ensures, and advances precious reasons to live.

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heading toward a star

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Better lives design their futures relative to appealing ways of under-
standing, in light of which pasts are given significant meaning.

So, I’ve named my long listing of diary-ish, personal postings of recent years “designing and remembrance,” not that there’s direct focus on the above theme. See the “preface” there.

appealing ways of understanding

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My cyclic Project is at least that, maybe (to conceptually minded persons). I want to avoid vanity.

The topics of cycle 4 which seem most appealing to me for develop-
ment of cycle 5 are listed together under fewer, simpler headers here. The “preface” explains it all.

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summer 2023

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A narrative path over many years is a kind of extended care for being, though sometimes seeming more like alien distance of a mind possessed by its textuality—an odd cohering of ordinary life indeed: such conceptual prospecting of belonging in mystery.

mystery belonging in artistic mirrorplay

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I streamed a three-hour German film, “Never Look Away” (2018), which Lisa Zunshine (literary theorist) discussed recently, briefly. My reaction is a bit longer.

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building from a ground shared, not made foundational

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My conceptual venturing has prevailing interest in usefulness rather than showing expert fidelity to academic topics (which I can do; being practical eludes many scholars).

So, giving time to narrative about ordinary life expresses shared ground (maybe oddly so, for my part) prior to venturing which is very different (but to be shared), which isn’t abandoning (let alone devaluing) ordinary life by pursuing specialist topics, because returning to practicality is always my aim.

proximal cohering of ordinary life

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The Aug. 17 “…sense of passing days…” below has been combined with six new topics as the three part “proximal cohering…,” whose third part (the six new topics: “personified psychal cohering”) is somewhat ambitious (quasi-phenomenological).

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whose mind am i reading?

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We created gods. So, what else is new?

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an extraterrestrial sense of passing daysas human

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“Proximality and everydayness,” then “acting in ordinary attitude” begin the short project on value conceptuality.

So, the “Project currently” will emerge in terms of its parts, not at first as main headers: discursive parts of small multi-part projects which gradually become a 2- or 3-level table of contents for the Cycle 5 project.

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importance and nature of caring

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This is a midstream point in a project on value conceptuality.

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path marking

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• Cycle 1: 2009—2011
• Cycle 2: 2016—mid-2017
• Cycle 3: 2018 and merging Cycles 1 and 2
• Cycle 4: 2019—2022
• Cycle 5: 2023—

—in other words, so much conceptual homemaking.

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updated November 2024 / January 2025

I began Internet writing near the beginning of its general public availability as the Web, firstly (and heavily) in academic email discussions of Jürgen Habermas’s work (referenced as “archives of discussion,” mid-page here), a specialty I evolved during earlier decades while also I learned basic (very basic) Web page formatting and did lots of blogging....