the e-magazine issue 21 / 2008 Imagine a future in which cows are extinct. Imagine your children can only see them in books. Imagine you could have done something to save them. Don’t wait until it is too late. Act now and protect our planet. c 5 Editorial e 6 Scrapbook o Ovi Magazine’s 8 I, Me, Self-Forgetfulness, Thematic publication Dehumanization by Emanuel L. Paparella 14 Who by Jan Sand Chameleon Project Tmi n 18 Staring into the magician’s eyes by Asa Butcher t Issue 21 May 2008 20 From the Piscean Person to the Aquarian Self Editors: T. Kalamidas - A. Butcher by Rene Wadlow General mail: info@ovimagazine.com e 24 Who am I? by Asa Butcher Advertising 27 “Me” by Jan Sand n advertising@ovimagazine.com Submissions 28 I, cynic submissions@ovimagazine.com by Thanos Kalamidas Subscribe to Ovi magazine subscribe@ovimagazine.com 30 Ego (In Greek) Use our content publish@ovimagazine.com t by Dimitra Karantzeni 35 Cogito Ergo Sum © Copyright CHAMELEON PROJECT Tmi by Rene Descartes s 42 The unbearable lightness of me by Thanos Kalamidas 47 Ovi Mosaic by Luis Alves 48 Me, a name I call myself by Asa Butcher Me 3 Editorial Every time we are referring to ‘ego’ why are makes the big difference, his ego is accompanied we all ready to throw an anathema? Every by talent and intelligence, something missing from time we talk about egos why does our mind another contemporary the current President of the automatically go to super egos, twisted personas United States, George W. Bush, who is just …ego and personalities? Of course, Hitler, Stalin and and the rest is an empty cell! Mao had a super-ego, but then so did Churchill, Roosevelt and de Gaulle, otherwise how could The usual suspects have joined Asa and me in a they survive the responsibilities laid upon them? thematic issue for the Ovi magazine with the very difficult title, ‘me’! However easy it looks when The people who have the self-confidence to explore, you first think about it, the theme actually becomes expose and exhibit their self and their talents in any increasingly difficult when you try to do it. But we part of life, in art, politics or science, must have a did it and here we are with our 21st thematic issue. strong ego otherwise they would be lost in the crowd and with them all their creations would be lost as Asa gave his best …I presume to create a factional well. – I love using words like that in places like this – layout and it did make his life hell to find a way You don’t need to go far, look at Barack Obama, the around …me! man’s ego is shining from miles away and there is nothing wrong with this, after all, he’s expecting to Thank you all for the hard work and the ideas you carry the hopes, not only of a nation, but of the whole shared, a big welcome to new contributors and a big world. thank you to our readers whose increasing numbers never stop amazing us. If Obama didn’t have a strong ego he would never Thanos Kalamidas manage to be where he is. Of course and that is what Me 5 Th r e e wo rd s t o ruin a m a n ’ s e g o: “Is it in?” SCRAPBOOK Dear Editor, “ME a name I call myself....” Ovi is the ME of free speech, of ideas and Voices sought and listened to from around the world. Ovi is the honest practice of seeking, tweek- ing and obliquing various points of view in an open cyber space forum, with the willing- ness, knowledge and stamina needed to hear and endure opinions hot, lukewarm and cold; affable, mildly agreeable and hostile. In putting into ACTION these belief based disciplines, YOU, and others like YOU, con- tinue and help to fortify the ideas and prin- ciples of FREEDOM and how, when, where and why FREEDOM is important and blesses every ME, EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE. Respectfully, Leah Sellers GEORGETOWN, TEXAS THANK YOU LEAH FOR THOSE MOTIVATIONAL WORDS. WE ARE SORELY TEMPTED TO WRITE THAT THERE IS NO ‘I’ IN ‘TEAM’ BUT LUCKILY WE ARE BEYOND CLICHES. ASA & THANOS 6 Me One evening Rene Descartes went to a local tavern. The bartender said, “Good evening Monsieur Descartes! The usual drink?” “When you read God’s Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, ‘’It is talking to me, and about me.’’” - Soren Kierkegaard “I don’t mind what the opposi- tion say of me so long as they don’t tell the truth about me.” - Mark Twain “Actually, I...this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I’m talking about... when I’m talking about myself, Descartes replied, “I think not.”, and promptly vanished. and when he’s talking about Dubito, myself, all of us are talking about me.” - George W. Bush “Psychoanalysis. Almost went ergo three times - almost. Then I de- cided what was peculiar about me was probably what made me cogito, successful. I’ve seen some very talented actors go into analy- sis and really lose it.” ergo sum - Bette Davis “Even if I set out to make a film about a fillet of sole, it -René Descartes, would be about me.” - Federico Fellini “I don’t care what you say about me. Just be sure to spell my name wrong.” - Barbra Streisand A psychiatrist asked her multiple per- sonality patient, “So, do you feel like you’re cured.” He replied, “Absolutely. We’ve never felt better.” Me 7 I, Me, Self-Forgetfulness, Dehumanization By Emanuel L. Paparella 8 Me Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations. --Albert Einstein Josiah Royce made a distinction between anonymity and servitude of its individuals the individual self-conscious I, and the to processes and forces that hamper their social me who can only become self- creativity and identity. Indeed, this is the reflective within a community. The question of freedom. ancient Greeks warned us that the unexamined life is not worth living; We live in two worlds which hardly that man needs to ask the question what understand and communicate with each does it mean to be human and only after other: the humanistic world and the adequately answering that question will scientific world. Those who live in the latter he be able to devise a theory of “the good are quick to point out that technology has life.” provided us with the means to subdue the earth and free the destitute and oppressed But there is a more profound concept of the masses from brutalizing labor. That is self. St. Augustine puts the riddle of the self however only partly true given that millions this way: What is so much thine as thyself of people in the third world as I write this and what is so little thine as thyself? What remain oppressed and exploited. Those Augustine is pointing out is this: underlying people usually fail to observe how in the the question “Who am I” is a further 20th century, after World War I, the very question: “Is my I really mine?” Ultimately concept of Utopia present even in Marxist this is the question of freedom asking “How ideology practically disappeared. In the much in control am I of the self?” 19th century, when belief in the so called “inevitable” progress of science was Those are questions acutely felt by prevalent, utopia was felt to be the very goal perceptive modern men who feel themselves of history. “thrown into existence” in a world largely devoid of meaning, condemned to play Utopia meant a world without oppression certain roles within certain social structures and injustice, without hunger and class oriented toward consumerism, production, conflicts. Marx certainly envisioned it as success and material affluence. Question the culmination of man’s history, after a that Thoreau already attempted to address few inevitable dialectic class conflicts that way back in 1847 with his reflections is. This vision is no longer with us. As on Walden Pond. Closer to us Jacques Einstein pointed out in the 20th century, Ellul explores extensively the modern we are now mainly preoccupied with the phenomenon of value-free technological means of the goal of utopia. In the process “efficient ordering” which pervades all of perfecting those means, the goal, i.e., aspects of modern life since Descartes (see utopia itself, is lost sight of. Nowhere is this his The Betrayal of the West). more apparent than in the field of education where means have long ago swallowed up Previous to Ellul, Marx had already goals and “educrats” have firmly established identified this form of alienation in the themselves as the well-paid managers of individual’s role as object of exploitation. those means. It is no secret that bureaucracy But this alienation transcends the mere now absorbs 60% or more of the money economic sphere of one’s humanity and earmarked for education in the Western occurs in all types of societies. In fact, the World. greater the organization of a society, i.e., the interdependence of all its social phenomena At this sorry stage of depersonalization, and the determinism of its processes, the pressing question is about our very the greater seems to be the alienation, humanity. Are we still capable of acting Me 9 those means. It is no secret that of time and place. Society is “individuation.” In those types bureaucracy now absorbs 60% or perfectly capable of adapting and of societies, man has not only more of the money earmarked for molding these impulses and even dehumanized himself but he education in the Western World. perverting them in order to fit is unable to cure himself. An them into its principles of reality. outside force seems to be needed. At this sorry stage of All that needs to be done is to It can only come from the few depersonalization, the pressing make people believe that their individuals in whom the image question is about our very wants are their needs and that to of authentic humanity is still kept humanity. Are we still capable of be deprived of those wants is be alive and who have the courage acting humanely? Is the self still victimized. Politicians seem to be to free that image by condemning home? If it is not, that may explain very good at this sort of game. As and altering corrupting social why so many individuals do not Jackson Lears has aptly written structures. Solzhenitsyn jumps to know what do with their leisure. in his No Place of Grace: “… mind. They simply do not know what A therapeutic world view…has to do with their selves. Pascal for become part of the continuing In the 60s we had in America a one provides the answer as to why pattern of evasive banality in counterculture movement largely so much of modern recreation modern culture. Celebrating sponsored by college students and assumes a mode of centrifugal spurious harmony, the therapeutic theorized by Herbert Marcuse in dissipation rather than one of outlook has further undermined his book Eros and Civilization. centripetal concentration. In his personal moral responsibility and He thought, as some misguided famous Penseé he points out that promoted ethics of self-fulfillment intellectuals still do, that a new the cause of our unhappiness can well attuned to the consumer ethos humanity was on the horizon, be identified in the fact that we of 20th century capitalism.” ushered in by new technological cannot simply sit still in a room Our incessant talk shows are developments which would for more than a few minutes. mere symptoms of that kind of keep oppressive work at a Or as Dante illustrates it in his cancer eating at our Western minimum while raising leisure Commedia, to be alone is a civilization. When the disease has and freedom to the maximum. terrifying experience if no self is become pervasive, people begin The aggressive instincts identified encountered. It is in the loss of the to sincerely believe that to be by Freud as aroused by social self that much modern existential human and to have self-esteem repression, would simply wither angst can be located. Once I have is to own a care equipped with away. So would Judeo-Christian lost my self, I may knock at the a telephone with which to order morality, another vestige of door of my own home and find pizza on the way home. Some social repression. This new that nobody lives there any longer. have even installed make-believe man, reminiscent of Nietzsche’s To say it with Dante, “so bitter phone with which to confer more overman would be characterized it is that death is little more.” At self-esteem and self-importance by the fact that he would not have that point I may become unable on themselves. To drive while to merit life; he would simply to pursue the question of my own talking on the phone give others enjoy it. Whatever aggressive humanity. the impression that momentous instincts might be left in him decisions are being executed. would be sublimated through Dante for one needed Virgil’s sports and the building of civilized guide to overcome the three beasts The gorilla with a telephone communities that respected nature. that obstructed the beginning of in his paw is of course merely his journey into the self. And here funny. A much less amusing Here we should pause to note that we return to the theme and sinister aspect of this of the many hippy communes of freedom and pressure to adjust and conform established in the 60s, few determinism. are the propagandistic and survived and those which did had Contrary to what ideological apparatuses that some kind of religious foundation. Freudianism have distinguished the 20th In any case, this was perhaps the may hold, century People caught in those last naïve attempt at utopia on the humans are not monstrosities can hardly be part of modern technocratic man. mere bundles imagined as being endowed It never came to pass. What did of impulses with a shred of autonomy or as come to pass is best explained by independent striving after what Jung called Allan Bloom in his controversial 10 Me The Closing of the American Mind capitalistic or the socialist camp, angst of which a where he provides an analysis of bother to seriously ask the Thoreau or a this “new man.” Far from being question How can we humanize Heidegger tolerant and simply enjoying these economic structures that speak. life in Utopia, the “new man” leave so many people at the This is a has by now entrenched himself margins of prosperity? Even sort of in the University’s chambers of Nobel winners in economics and sickness power (the same chambers at science do not seem to be able to that whose gates he was protesting in formulate the question, never mind is hardly the 60s) and from there he now answering it. noticeable in imposes “political correctness” on the workaday academia. All done, mind you, in What seems to be desperately world where the name of civilizing tolerance needed is an independent picture the afflicted and equality. of humanity; i.e., an awareness are engage in all of being a self. Without that sorts of productive What in reality is at work is a picture even the need for a journey activities geared to sort of Nietzchean nihilism and is not perceivable. As Kierkegaard repress the anxiety, while relativism. As indeed Nietzsche best rendered it, man then remains remaining lost “in a dark wood” correctly foresaw in the 19th in the despair of self-forgetfulness, with not even the faintest desire to century, once God is dead, one in the “sickness unto death” seek “the right way.” This is the is left with little more than “the of the well adjusted individual life of quite desperation. will to power,” or a reduction of identifying with the values of his persons to functions of emergent society, blissfully unaware that he Tragically, in that self- social conditions. Within such a has been reduced to a consuming forgetfulness and imperceptible community, neither God (be he automaton. loss of identity, modern man the one of the Judeo-Christian becomes less than primitive man; tradition or Plato’s) nor man (as When man cannot conceive of his he becomes, in fact, less than a conceived by the Renaissance) own destiny any longer and begins beast, a monstrosity. Elie Wiezel is any longer the measure of all to talk of soul as mere mind, and is right in affirming that the proper things. The measure is constituted then of mind as mere “software,” ethical implications of mankind’s almost exclusively by material and then indeed the sickness may be Nazi past have hardly been drawn. economic structures. terminal. For when the I is lost, For we remain unwilling to one cannot even grieve over its question our humanity and thus In song and in dance this man will loss. And Kiekegaard is not talking relive the terror of such a past. end up bragging of the fact that here of a mere psychological It is easier by far to lay flowers he is a “material man,” turning phenomenon. Rather he is talking on the tomb of the Third Reich’s vices into virtues on his TV about an existential despair, the Unknown Soldier in an inauthentic shows where everybody washed gesture of reconciliation. one’s dirty linens in public, But reconciliation requires where every opinion is as good remembrance, acceptance, the as any other, where triviality and asking of forgiveness, the granting banality reign supreme and truth of forgiveness, repentance, is prostituted to expediency and reparation. When these are missing freedom is mistaken for license. reconciliation becomes a mockery. This new humanity is constituted It becomes self-forgetfulness. As by economic structures conceived Dante and Vico have been trying as a sort of demiurge fashioning it. to teach us for centuries now, to be But this demiurge named “market” human is to be forced to ask about far from being a panacea can one’s self, to be compelled by the easily become an instrument of image toward which is thrust and repression and dehumanization which emerges at the intersection when not tempered by justice. of essence and existence, at the point of ethical tension between Few people, either with the what is and what ought to be. Who? The classic riposte to Descartes who boldly claimed he existed because of his thought was a tale wherein he entered a bar and things are obvious to others and many are exceedingly subtle. Kurt Vonnegut, for one, was very disturbed that he had never seen By Jan Sand discovered but I now know that my digestive system at either end or in the middle has nowhere the sensational possibility of even one of Janet Jackson’s nipples. ordered a martini. When the his asshole, a simple ignorance So my self identity obviously lies bartender asked if he wanted which possesses most of us. It’s elsewhere. an olive in it Descartes waved a sure bet that many individuals his hand and muttered “I who pontificate over life, fate, It is common for most people to think not.” Whereupon he the nature of the universe, etc. identify with their names. This is promptly vanished leaving are equally uninformed. Being usually a gift of our parents and behind not even a puff of practical, he solved the problem very frequently conjured up on a smoke. Nevertheless, without with an arrangement of mirrors whim so it rarely has much solid Descartes’ thoughts he surely and triumphantly displayed, in significance. Nevertheless, for would not exist today. “Breakfast of Champions”, a rough most of us, it acquires such total sketch of his accomplishment. It attachment to our conceived But this problem persists in each was rather abstract and, like many essences that many people spend of us at each moment of our other abstract pieces of art, was their lives scribbling it in the existence throughout our lives. somewhat ambiguous. Not even most surprising places in the There is much we do not know one of his closest acquaintances conviction that we are thoroughly about ourselves and many of us would have recognized him from represented in the world. never find out. Some of these that. Aside from other things it During WWII some character could have been a Christmas star named Kilroy and thousands of or an asterisk (pun accepted) or a accomplices scratched his name moon crater or the winking eye of on all sorts of surfaces throughout God. But I accept his designation. the world but nevertheless his anonymity remains pretty much Some years back an internist absolute. suspected some evil was working its way into my gut so It is customary in many modern he inflicted a gastroscope on situations for people to rename my oesophagus and while I was themselves. Hitler and Stalin undergoing continuous gagging and Marilyn Monroe and Cary (I have no future as a sword Grant did so and I doubt that swallower) let me peek at the they will be remembered under view to distract me. No evil was any other name. “Superman” in 14 Me Finnish is Terasmies which means cutting my fingernails still leaves functions of the brain although not ‘man of steel’ but pronounced in “me” firmly intact. More radical to the self itself who would not English is almost sounds like ‘tear- butchery such as detaching arms consider the important nervous ass man’ and he certainly does and legs and an appendix removal functions of sneezing, coughing, move around quickly. Most of the still leaves behind the essential digesting and farting more vital women of the world routinely “me” but most probably spiced than itself. Nevertheless, Oliver rename themselves when they with rather strong emotions. Sacks who devotes himself to the get married. My original family With me, as with most humans, strange effects of defective central name had a peculiar arrangement as opposed to chickens who nervous systems has clearly of letters that were frequently occasionally can make out demonstrated that the seemingly misspelled which never bothered headless, decapitation does stable “self” is subject to immense most of us but my brother something final. So the essential modification by nervous system objected. “me” seems to inhabit the head problems as illustrated in his book and specifically, the brain. “The Man Who Mistook His Wife The rest of the family never for a Hat”. took the name as anything but For a while anatomists suspected trivial and to make my brother that the essential self was deeply Although I, and no doubt many happy chose a simple one easily involved with the pineal gland but other men, have often harbored spelled. Initially I never thought subsequent more sophisticated strange misconceptions about twice about it but the change procedures with modern brain their wives, the hat business seems occurred when I had gotten used scans leaves the impression rather unique. And it follows that to the old name at the age of that the self is rather widely we also have been subject to twenty and it struck me, after the distributed throughout the entire misconceptions about ourselves. change, just how insignificant a structure of the brain. The ancient adage “know thyself” name really is. I suddenly had to is a fairly impossible directive confront myself as an anonymous Since sight, with me as with most since, not only are there an almost two legged mammal and I first humans, contributes hugely to infinite number of aspects to each found the experience rather the sense of existence I have individual but they keep changing unsettling. On the other hand the sense that I exist between from moment to moment so the it was liberating. Many of those my eyes and about three or act of knowing changes the target, things that a human being accepts four centimeters behind my somewhat like a psychological as an integral part of his/her being forehead. It would seem to me equivalent to the Heisenberg suddenly became highlighted that a person born blind might uncertainty principle. as external baggage that can be place themselves somewhere So the problem is like that of carried or put aside. else in their body but I have no a lepidopterist who mistakes a information on that. Perhaps dogs puff of smoke for a butterfly and Like any horse, rabbit, lobster or exist close to their noses. attempts to pin it to a cardboard. hummingbird I suddenly became a mobile lump of protein with a But there is now no doubt that Who am I? Damfino. very individual existence and a the self is one of the minor limited lifespan (if I was lucky) of something in the area of a mere century. Whether or not my new name or my old name is recorded somewhere that more or less random accumulation of letters will convey nothing at all of this strange individual animal which seems to be me. I say “seems to be me” because chopping off bits here and there still leaves me behind. Donating blood or having a haircut or Jedi Works by photographer Cátia Cóias Brick by Brick Cátia Cóias (29) is a Lisbon- based artist and photographer. She attended the Fine Arts course, London Metropolitan University, and the Photography course at the Hackney College, London, as well as the Photog- raphy course at Ar.Co Lisbon (Center for Art and Visual Com- munication). She has a degree in Visual and Technological Communication. Cátia was the founder of the fanzine theredrollerball, she is a member of MEF, Movement of Photographic Expression, and maintains the blog http://ladona- bionica.blogspot.com. To the Fishes... * (*allusion to Father Antonio Vieira’s literary work Sermon of Saint Anthony to the Fishes) May God Forgive Me #2 Staring into the magician’s eyes By Asa Butcher I “ finally finished Sophie’s Choice, err I mean, Sophie’s World!” I exclaimed to Thanos, after four weeks of steady progress through its 480-pages. Thanos smiled and asked, “So, did it make you want to explore philosophy further?” I mulled over his question for a few seconds, washing it over my palette like a fine wine, and replied, “No.” From his startled expression, I guessed that he hadn’t expected that answer. Sofies verden was written by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder fifteen years ago as a book that makes philosophy accessible to a wide audience, but was primarily aimed at teenagers. Today, it has been translated into fifty-three languages, over thirty million copies have been printed, including three million copies sold in Germany alone, and the Finns call it Sofian maailma: romaani filosofian historiasta. Title Sophie’s World Author Jostein Gaarder Original title Sofies verden Naturally, I stuck to the English translation by Paulette Country Norway Møller, who did a fantastic job capturing Gaarder’s turn of Language English phrase, the philosophical analyses and the bizarre events that Genre Philosophical novel happen to Sophie and, later, Hilde. Once again, I have to Publisher H. Aschehoug & Company Published in English 1995 comment upon the incredible skill of a translator because the Pages 508 pp overseas’ success of a book falls heavily upon their shoulders ISBN ISBN 82-03-16841-8 and they can never receive enough recognition for their job. The reason for my negative answer to Thanos’ question does not mean that I disliked the book. In fact, it gave such a comprehensive overview of philosophy that I was left battered emotionally and exhausted mentally. Gaarder starts from Mythology, moves onto the Greek philosophers of Democritus, Socrates and Plato, and then hits the Renaissance, Baroque, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke and Hume. The pace refuses to relent, as the reader is introduced to Berkeley, the Enlightenment, Kant, Romanticism, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Marx, Darwin and Freud, which are all names and periods that are all familiar to us all. However, chapter after chapter you are forced to analyse your own surroundings and ask those famous questions, such as ‘Who are we?’ and ‘Why are we here?’, plus tackle the statements, ‘To be, or not to be’ and ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Gaarder’s book covers so much of western philosophy that I wasn’t sure my brain could cope with many more revelations. I think I am one of the ones who prefer to nestle in the fur of the white rabbit, as opposed to philosophers who “are always trying to climb up the fine hairs of the fur in order to stare right into the magician’s eyes.” The white rabbit motif is a recurrent theme throughout Sophie’s Choice, damn, Sophie’s World, so you had better like those furry beasts. One aspect of the book which I noticed was the way that Gaarder approaches Religion. He doesn’t dismiss the idea of a God, nor does he proclaim a higher deity in charge of our fate. Well, he sort of does to Sophie and Hilde, but to reveal anything more would spoil the story. Anyway, the way he deals with religion can be summarised in one of his story’s paragraphs: A Russian astronaut and a Russian brain surgeon were once discussing religion. The brain surgeon was a Christian but the astronaut was not. The astronaut said, “I’ve been out in space many times but I’ve never seen God or angels.” And the brain surgeon said, “And I’ve operated on many clever brains but I’ve never seen a single thought.” The plot of Sophie’s World follows a 15-year-old called Sophie Amundsen (Sophie, from the Greek ‘sophia’, meaning ‘wisdom’). When she receives two anonymous messages in her mailbox (Who are you? Where does the world come from?), a postcard addressed to ‘Hilde Møller Knag, c/o Sophie Amundsen’, and a handwritten course in philosophy, her life changes forever. The course is taught by a fifty-year-old philosopher called Alberto Knox, but it could also be Hilde’s father Major Albert Knag…nothing is certain as the story progresses. Sophie’s World will open your mind to philosophy and teach the basics that everybody should know. It may trigger an urge to explore philosophy further or it may frighten you to consider the scope of your own life, but, whatever you take from it, the book will get you to start questioning everything! From the Piscean Person to the Aquarian Self By Rene Wadlow My earthbound self makes Wild love and toast for tea. My thoughtful self Works with concepts of other worlds. The self of my soul Explores dark, melodious caverns. My creative self Weaves intricate pictures with words. All these precious selves Make up the me that is me. Brenda Brown It is widely believed that humanity is coming to However, the outlines of what I call the Aquarian the end of an historical cycle and is entering into Self are already visible. Much has been analysed a new age with the start of the new millennium in a difficult but important book by C.G. Jung Aion. — a passage from the Piscean Period to the Age of Much of the book is devoted to Jung’s analysis of Aquarius. The Piscean Period, which inaugurated the Piscean structures, structures that he uses himself the Christian era, (symbolized by the two fish sign with his introvert/extrovert, anima/animus typology. used by the early Christians) is fading into the However, he sets out at the end some of the elements Aquarian Age symbolized by the bearer of water. of what he calls The Self. I would use the term Aquarian Self to mark the distance which exists Each age has a dominant image of the nature of the with some of the ways that the term Self has been person related to the spirit of the age. Thus, the used in the past. central image of the Piscean Period has been that of the person — a term which comes from the mask The Aquarian Self, symbolized by the pouring of worn by actors in Greek and Roman drama. The idea water — or by the image of a river formed from a of the person was developed by Greek and Roman multitude of streams — is a synthesis of intuition, Stoics. The mask and the person behind the mask cognition, emotion and action. Synthesis will be the was a symbol of the duality of the body/soul, of the keynote of the Aquarian Age as sharp duality was the body/mind, of male and female; of ethno-centered keynote of the Piscean Period. identity: we/they, Greek/Barbarian. The Aquarian Self will be seen as the integration The duality of the concept of the person was an of body, soul and spirit. C.G. Jung and Roberto advance in individualization from the earlier Ages Assagioli, the father of psychosynthesis, are of Aries and Taurus, of which the ram and the bull forerunners, followed by more recent schools of are symbols — animals which were significant in humanistic and transpersonal psychology in which these earlier ages. The pre-Piscean model was that Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow are important of tribal consciousness with an impersonal sense of figures. undifferenciated identity with nature. The person and his mask is a step toward the worth of the individual, In addition to these forms of Western psychology, but a mask can be dropped in a period of danger there is a growing interest in techniques and ideas so that there can again be identity with the tribe drawn from Indian philosophy, with its emphasis on – village. yoga, tantra, and the energy centers of the body (the charkas and the kundalini). The Tibetan forms of The shift from one age to another is subtle. There Buddhism, the Japanese school of Zen, and Taoism will be no world-wide fireworks saying “You are with its integration of feminine and masculine energy now entering into the Age of Aquarius.” Piscean are all streams coming into the synthesis. images of the nature of the person will not suddenly be replaced, and body/mind terminology is likely to We are just at the start of a profound transformation continue for some time. of our understanding of ME. Me 21 22 Me “I am Me. In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. Everything that comes out of me is authentically mine, because I alone chose it -- I own everything about me: my body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, whether they be to others or myself. I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears. I own my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes. Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing, I can love me and be friendly with all my parts. I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know -- but as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and ways to find out more about me. However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me. If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought, and felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me. I own me, and therefore, I can engineer me. I am me, and I am Okay.” - Virginia Satir Me 23 who am i? By Asa Butcher My Ovi bio describes me as “An almost-30 Englishman who resides in Helsinki with his pregnant Finnish wife and young daughter. Hates tea, banana and panpipes, enjoys a guilty obsession with DVDs and his sense of humour has caused him many problems.” There’s nothing more satisfying than encapsulating your entire life in 36-words clumsily typed early one morn- ing and then occasionally updating it in the areas demanding attention. If you ever want to fill a half-hour then browse through the other bio entries on our Ovi team page and discover snippets of information generously shared by our contributors. When a new contributor joins Ovi I always ask them to send a photo and a 30-word bio, and it one of my secret joys reading others’ attempts at summing up their life and achievements in this tight word limit. Will they be witty? Will they be mini-CVs? Will they be abstract? Will they actually send one? How do they want to portray themselves and how honest will they be? The Ovi bio, like the CV, is the opportunity to focus attention on our achievements, our strengths, the facets of our personalities we actually like and want to share with the world. We don’t really want a ‘warts ‘n all’ bio crammed full of shocking person- al revelations that would make Courtney Love blush. 24 Me However, we all have those dark secrets. We all have When this triple combo strikes you can be over- personal thoughts, actions and memories that we whelmed, all morality evaporates from your body would rather forget, but they relentlessly stick to our and you basically become a bastard. While under sub-conscious like chewing gum in hair. We have all the influence of this monster I have been uncharac- had thoughts that scare us, thoughts that come out of teristically nasty to loved ones, spat words of hatred the cranial ether and bring further feelings of guilt, at strangers and generally indulged in behaviour mortification, shock or disbelief, like imagining some unbecoming of a gentleman. I can only describe the horrific medieval torture for somebody who pushed sensation as an out of body experience where you in front of you at the store. can see and hear everything you are doing, but have no control over your vindictive actions. Let me reassure you that it was the first idea that came to mind, whether it is lodged in my sub-con- I don’t know whether my wife keeps an Asa Emer- scious is up to you to decide, but I will try to keep gency Pack in her handbag, consisting of a chocolate my own dark side out of the article or you will never bar, handheld fan and an energy drink, to break out return to the pages of Ovi ever again. Intriguing, huh! at the first symptoms, but it sounds like a good idea. Since I am no psychologist, I’ll listen to the voices in I am certainly strange in many aspects of my life, my head that whisper in tongues that the way we deal but if you think I am going to share them all to the with these thoughts is what separates us from the voyeurs among you then think again. For now, I will Charles Mansons of the world. Whether the voices offer a revised 30-word bio: are true or not, I believe we all need the dark side to appreciate the light. An almost-30 emotionally unbalanced, psychotically unstable, physically unnerving, sexually inadequate, There’s no better feeling than ignoring the impulse professionally erratic, financially insecure, athleti- to inflict torture on that queue-jumping SOB in the cally stunted, romantically detached, parentally poor supermarket, it certainly makes you feel moral and and domestically challenged Englishman surviving in saves a hell of a lot of planning, kidnapping and Helsinki with his family. extreme law-breaking. However, there are times that even I come dangerously close to a personal breaking Now, you must decide whether that was a witty, hon- point - don’t worry, there are safeguards in place. My est or terrifying bio… own frightening alter-ego surfaces when I am simul- taneously hungry, hot and tired, which I imagine is I told you that you wouldn’t return to Ovi if you the same for most people. knew the truth about the Butcher Boy! Me 25 “Me” By Jan Sand I am an instrument erected Mostly by myself. Although I have much suspected I am off the shelf Of a bio-engineer Who fumbled with his chemicals, It becomes very clear He must possess clever pals If they could construct me. I walk alone, I talk alone, I think you must agree I am a most unique machine That works completely free. I write, I eat, I love, I run - I have all sorts of active fun But mostly what delights me most Is not to be a gassy ghost. It’s my solidity. Me 27 i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me my- self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me I, cynic myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me my- self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me my- self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myselfBy i me myselfKalamidas Thanos i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me my- self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself W i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself self i me myself i me myselfand i me myself i me myself i mething heni reading me myself i meworks myselfon myself thati me i me myself articles, i me egomyself myself comes essays the only outi me myself i meof is that W i me myself i mehat i me myself i me myself myself myself an egoi me of thei whole has me myself myself to doiwith if it idoesn’t me myself me myself becoming i me exist, i me part myself i me my- myself i me myself a sense the inner acceptance and the combinationi me myself i me i me myself i me myself i me myself myself i me myself i me myself i meeverybody nearly myself i metries myselfto i me myself i me myself of spirit and body i mebecause myself ithat’sme myself what ithemeegomyself i me my- self i me myself i me myself convince you to isuppress me myselfyour i meego, myself your i me myself iis.meFeeling myselfsure i meof myself the draw i memy myself bodyi meandmyself my i me myself i me myself‘I’ i me andmyself your i‘me’, me myself plus it i me gets myself worsei me whenmyself i mespirit myself– icall meitmyself i me myself personality if youi want me myself – bringsi me myself i me myself i meitmyself comesi me myself i when to religion me myself i me myself i me myself the suppression andi me what myself effecti me myself it has to myi me myself i me myself i me my- surroundings. self i me myself of thei me egomyself is the ionly me myself way toi salvation, me myself isome myself iWould me myself i me myself i me science philosophy and art evolvedmyself i me myself if i me myself i me myselfhow i mecan myself youi understand me myself i me themyself worldi that me myself i metheremyself i me myself weren’t i me myself egomaniacal, i me myself self-centred ofteni me myself i me myself i mesurrounds myself i meyou myself i me if you myself don’t i me myselfyour understand i me myself i me myself arrogant peoplei meto domyself i me myself it? Probably not!i me myself i me my- self i me myself ego? i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself A myself i me myself i me t the self i me myself ihas very melanded myself samei time myselfon i me me myself myself earth it looks i me likemyself i me televised through the ego I neveri understood i me myself religion, myself i me myself iChurchill, me myself ithis i me myself me myselfHitler, i me i me myself me myself myself Kennedy, obsession i me i mewith myself especially to suppress the ego. i meDaVinci, myself i me myself i me myself i me i me myself i me my- myself i me myself Marx, i me myselfreality i me myself showsi andme myself this is ai me very myself strongi meegomyself i mePicasso, myself i Einstein me myself i meallmyself were abouti themselves me myself i me myself i me myself i methat myself i methe forces myself vieweri me intomyself i me corner his small myself i me myself i metomyself going all kindi meof myself extremes i me tomyself i me prove it. I myself i me my- self i me myself i me myself sometimes i memost laughing myself of ithe metime myself- i me myself iknowme myself that I isound me myself very icynical me myself i meworld but this myself i me myself i me myselfdepressing. i me myselfSo i me myself what’s withi me myself this i me myself i mewould ‘I’? Since myselfhave i me stood myselfstill i mewithout myself some i me myself of these i me myself i me myself i mewhen myselfhasi me myself iapocalyptic it become me myself i and me myself why has i me myself i me myself egomaniac andi arrogant me myselfbastards. i me myself i me myself i me my- self i me myself i methe boosting myself ego ibecome me myself bad? i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself A myself i me myself i me Imyself ctually self i me myself ihoping me myself have noi me that ithese myselfonly answer, me myself are thei me i mequestions rightmyself B myself i me myself i me i me myself iour questions, mescreens i me again ut then themyself myselfini the i meegos television myself ithe melast myself me myself myself beginning thati me i meI myself myself have mentioned overwhelmed few years. I’m sorry myself i me myself i me i me myself i me i me myself i me my- to say i me myself i me myselfapparently i me myselfexpecting i me myself i me myself no answers sincei meI’mmyself in i mebut myself i me myself we should i me myselfself stop confusing i me myself i me myself i me confidence myself i megood myself i me myself balance with myi me myself ego. You iseeme Imyself never i me myself andi me egomyself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me my- with stupidity. self i me myself forceimy me ego. myself i meyears A few myself agoi me myself I read i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself a profile i me myselfover i mehow myself i me‘me’ myself self i me myself myself andi me checki me manyi metimes myself ‘I’ in myself a speech, myself i speeches Churchill’s i meused Hitler i me and myself me myselfjust myselfthei words i me myself curiosity i metomyself led me find out i me i me W me myself i me myselfhen thatmyself ihe’s me going i meI see to myself i mecoming myself myself ion myselftoi me i me myself somebody mestage myself myself be the in hisi me myself i me myself i me late-twenties trying to proveithat nexti me i me myself myselfJackson Michael me myself i me my- i me myself i me myself i me myselfhei me hadmyself used iti me myself equally as imany me myself timesi andme myself just as i meimitating myself i me myself i me a grotesque myself figure i me myself i me myself i me of contemporary myself i meoften. myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself popi me art myself or a girli me whomyself thinksi me thatmyself Budapesti meismyself i me my- self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself iame myself South i me myself American country i meand myself Europei meismyself an i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i meEnglish myself iprovince, me myselfiti doesn’t me myself matter if their ego myself i me i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself is boosting underi metheir myself minii me myself skirt I know i me myself i me my- that self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself ithey me myself are idiots i meandmyself they imajor me myself i me myself in stupidity; theiri me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i meego myself i me myself is wasted. i me myself It is wasted i methere because myselfarei me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself beautiful people i me who myself knowi me myself where theiri me ego-myself i me my- self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself ibeauty me myselfis and they are exhibiting exactlymyself i me myself i me myself i me that. i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me‘myself’ D myself amn, myself i me i me finished I nearly say andi me I haven’t myself or ‘my’ myself i what myselfused i me over 600 me myself i me the myself myself times! wordsi me i metomyself i me my- I wanted ‘I’,myself ‘me’ i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me my- self i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself 28 Me i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me myself i me How can I play hide & seek when 21 children die every minute? Who’ll play football with me when 21 friends die every minute? If I close my eyes and count to a 100. 35 children are dead. Ovi Bookshop Victims by Bohdan Yuri Keep the change, he motioned with his hand, then got out and stared at the space he’d occupied. Damn, he admitted to himself as the yellow taxi sped off to pick up another fare, there goes another story and its inherited victims. ioioioioioi by Thanos Kalamidas “My dear mother and father,” Enter. He remembered when he used to write a letter, how many centuries was that be- fore? Pins & Needles by Andrew Farley Even before I opened my eyes, I could the feel the warm midday sun splashed across my face. As the room came into focus and my eyes adjusted to the light, a familiar sense of disappointment washed over me. War on Terror by Thanos K & Asa B Every day we all fight a war against terror, but do not be mis- taken into thinking that terror merely comes from terrorists. Oh no, you will find it in the most unlikely of places. Beautiful People #3 by Thanos Kalamidas The Extraordinary Beautiful People is Thanos Kalamidas’ graphic novel series and it is unlike anything you have ever seen before. Dark, surreal, stylish and thought provoking are just four adjectives that come to mind, but feel free to choose some of your own. Just One Target by Thanos Kalamidas “Please, please sit down. I will start in a minute when you are all quiet.” Lonely & Herbert the Hare by Asa Butcher Two short stories from the mind of Asa Butcher. Missing by Mark Hayton “Aaaaarrggghhh!!” a war cry, quickly followed by the thump of hand on plastic. The alarm clock silences. This is the Dawn of Man. I lift up my head open my bleary eyes and cough deeply. COMING SOON... 15 Brand New Titles - Check www.ovimagazine.com/cat/56 EgO By Dimitra Karantzeni ΕΓΩ. Πόσο ισχυρό είναι τελικά, ακόμα και να υπερκεράσει οι οποίοι θεωρούν πως και πόσο επηρεάζει την πορεία τις δυνατότητες, τις ατομικές αιχμαλωτίζοντας την προσοχή ενός ανθρώπου; ικανότητες κάθε ανθρώπου, την του κοινού περιστασιακά, εμπειρία, τις γνώσεις και τις αξίες κλέβοντας λίγα λεπτά από Η ιστορία, τα γεγονότα, η του. Αρκετοί επιμένουν να το το χρόνο του τηλεθεατή – καθημερινότητα, μας πιστοποιούν ονομάζουν άστρο, με αποτέλεσμα καταναλωτή, πως καταξιώνονται, ότι η επίδρασή του είναι μόνο η ελληνική επικράτεια πως αναδεικνύονται αίφνης καταλυτική, καθώς δύναται να είναι ήδη υπερπλήρης από σε προσωπικότητες ιδιαίτερου να σταθεί ισάξια στη ζυγαριά, επονομαζόμενους «σταρ», βεληνεκούς. 30 Me Η διαφορετικότητα, που κάποτε δίχως ελπίδες να αποκτήσουν ήδη μας επαληθεύει πως το ήταν ταμπού, αντικείμενο ικανό αριθμό ομοϊδεατών και «εγώ», φτάνει πάνω και πέρα από κριτικής, αιτία ψυχικής συστολής εν τέλει, να επιβιώσουν στο κάθε αντικειμενικά συγκρίσιμο και μοναχικότητας, σήμερα χώρο και στο χρόνο. Συνεπώς, μέγεθος, ικανότητα, ιδιότητα, έχει αναδειχθεί σε νούμερο την αντανάκλαση της νέας προσόν κτλ. ένα προσόν, εγγύηση μιας πραγματικότητας τη βλέπουμε επιτυχημένης σταδιοδρομίας, περίτρανα στα νέα επιστημονικά Ιδιαίτερα στον τομέα της μέτρο σύγκρισης και αφορμή και ερευνητικά αντικείμενα των πολιτικής, τα φαινόμενα είναι για – θεμιτό ή αθέμιτο τελευταίων δεκαετιών. εξόφθαλμα, τουλάχιστον σε – ανταγωνισμό. Και όλα όσους επιδιώκουν να διαβάζουν αυτά γιατί η εποχή της μετα- Η επιστήμη της «πίσω από τις γραμμές», πέρα νεωτερικότητας, η ζωή σε μία επικοινωνιολογίας, ανθεί από από τη λεγόμενη «προτιμητέα παγκοσμιοποιημένη κοινωνία- το 1960, αλλά έχει φτάσει στο ανάγνωση». Χαρακτηριστικό σε τίποτα δε θυμίζει το ένδοξο ζενίθ της την τελευταία 20ετία, παράδειγμα το ακόλουθο: παρελθόν, όπου πρωτιές στις καθώς τίποτα στις μέρες μας, οι επικοινωνιολόγοι έχουν συνειδήσεις των ανθρώπων από ένα μεμονωμένο άτομο, καταλήξει στο συμπέρασμα πως ο κατακτούσαν άνθρωποι με έργο, ως μία πολυεθνική εταιρεία, Μέγας Ναπολέων (Βοναπάρτης), πνευματικό και μη, με αποθέματα δε νοείται να έχει διάρκεια εις από τις στρατηγικές και ψυχικής αντοχής, άνθρωποι ζωής χωρίς δημόσιες σχέσεις. κυβερνητικές μεγαλοφυΐες του δημιουργικοί, πρωτοπόροι, Πράγμα το οποίο, μέχρι εδώ, 19ου αιώνα, δε θα είχε στις μέρες παραδείγματα προς μίμηση… Οι παραδόσεις, οι αξίες, τα πιστεύω και τα ιδανικά, δυστυχώς δεν μεταλαμπαδεύτηκαν σε κάθε περίπτωση.. Η ενοποίηση, η ανάγκη εξεύρεσης του ενιαίου, κοινού χαρακτήρα, του κοινού κώδικα, «ψαλίδισαν» ότι περίσσευε και κράτησαν μόνο το ευπροσάρμοστο, το ευμετάβλητο, το συμφέρον.. Είναι σαφές ότι η μεταβολή της κοινωνικής πραγματικότητας αντικατοπτρίζεται σε κάθε τομέα της καθημερινής ζωής, σε κάθε κλάδο της σύγχρονης πραγματικότητας, στη θρησκεία, την επιστήμη, τη λογοτεχνία.. Και δε θα μπορούσε να είναι και αλλιώς, διότι ο δογματισμός, η πιστή προσκόλληση σε κάτι και η άρνηση ακόμη και του ενδεχομένου της εξέλιξής του, παρέμεναν και παραμένουν στο περιθώριο, μας την αντίστοιχη απήχηση, καθότι το ανάστημά του δεν αντιπροσώπευε την μεγαλειώδη προσωπικότητά του, - ήταν εξαιρετικά κοντός, ακόμη και για τα δεδομένα της εποχής του - , και το παρουσιαστικό του δεν θα κάλυπτε τις επικοινωνιακές ανάγκες των διαμορφωτών του σωστού prestige ενός πολιτικού. Και είναι πράγματι πιθανό να το πιστέψει κανείς, αν τον συγκρίνει με το σημερινό πρότυπο του πολιτικού. Ευθυτενής, με άνεση μπροστά στον τηλεοπτικό φακό, με αδιάφορο πολιτικό πρόγραμμα και κυρίως όραμα, αλλά με περισσές ρητορικές δεινότητες, τάσεις να πείθει το κοινό και να δημιουργεί ρεύμα, που σημαίνει μάζα, να τον ακολουθεί.. Μία καλή κίνηση των χεριών, ένας παθιασμένος λόγος και ίσως μία φωτογραφία με ένα παιδάκι στην αγκαλιά, ίσως αρκούν και με το παραπάνω για να κερδίσουν τις εντυπώσεις της προεκλογικής εκστρατείας και να θαμπώσουν τους ψηφοφόρους, οι οποίοι μπορεί την ίδια στιγμή να υποφέρουν από την κυβερνητική του πολιτική, ή να μην φέρνοντάς τη στα μέτρα τους, με πράγματι, έχει απογειωθεί, καλύπτονται στο ελάχιστο από αποκορύφωμα την ένταξή τους αγγίζοντας τα όρια του την ουσία των προγραμματικών στα ψηφοδέλτια όποιου κόμματος επικίνδυνου, καθώς, καλώς του δηλώσεων – εάν αυτές παίζει καλύτερα το παιχνίδι ή κακώς, τα σύγχρονα Μέσα υπάρχουν – . της ψηφοθηρίας, μοντέλα που Μαζικής Επικοινωνίας, προστάζουν τα κάλλη και τα ακολουθούν κατά πόδας κάθε Με λύπη μου παρακολουθώ, προσόντα τους αναμετρώνται με αντίστοιχη πρωτοβουλία. ως νέος άνθρωπος, γεμάτος αμιγώς πολιτικά πρόσωπα, και Βεβαίως με το λαϊκισμό, ανησυχίες πως οι τηλεοπτικοί το χειρότερο, έχουν πραγματικά συνάδει και υποκρισία. Οι ίδιοι μας δέκτες κατακλύζονται περισσότερες πιθανότητες λόγω άνθρωποι που πρωτοστατούν, καθημερινά από πρόσωπα, δημοτικότητας να εκλεγούν και εκπροσωπώντας τη λογική της ας μου επιτραπεί η έκφραση, τέλος άκρατοι εθνικιστές, που κλειδαρότρυπας, τείνουν το σχεδόν γραφικά, των οποίων καπηλεύονται τις εθνικές αξίες δάχτυλο επικριτικά απέναντι η αγωνιώδης προσπάθεια για του τόπου και πανάρχαια αγαθά σε κάθε αντίστοιχη πράξη, εντυπωσιασμό, τους οδηγεί στο σαν και αυτά της δικαιοσύνης, παρουσιάζοντας εαυτόν ως να χάνουν, μέρα με τη μέρα, της ελευθερίας και της ισότητας, άνθρωπο με παιδεία, αξίες, κάθε μέτρο, να προσπερνούν για να διατηρηθούν στην κουλτούρα. κάθε ηθικό φραγμό, να βιώνουν επικαιρότητα και να μιλήσουν την κατάπτωση και να ζουν τάχα, στην καρδιά του μέσου Γιατί λοιπόν, ενώ μπορούμε ευτυχισμένοι έχοντας πλήρη Έλληνα πολίτη. να μιλάμε για τηλε-σκουπίδια, άγνοιά της. Τραγουδίστριες αυτά ως φελλοί επιπλέουν, ποιότητας και πολιτισμού; Διότι, κατ’ εμέ, οι άνθρωποι,, έχοντας απηυδήσει ταλανιζόμενοι από τις αντιξοότητες της ζωής, έπαψαν να ασχολούνται με το βάθος και αφιερώθηκαν στην πράγματι ελκυστική επιφάνεια, το περιτύλιγμα, τη βιτρίνα. Εγκαταλείπουν την ουσία για να σπαταλήσουν τη φαιά τους ουσία καταναλώνοντας κάτι ανάλαφρο και πεζό. Η ειδοποιός διαφορά όμως ανάμεσα σε αυτό που πιστεύουν και στην πραγματικότητα, είναι ότι το ανάλαφρο και πεζό, δεν το καταναλώνουν.. Αντίθετα, είναι αυτό που τους καταναλώνει. Τους κατατρώγει… Κάποιος θα μπορούσε να μου αντιτάξει το ότι τα άτομα έχουν νου, δεν καταναλώνουν άκριτα ότι τους τραβήξει την προσοχή. Και βέβαια, ο άνθρωπος είναι έλλογο ον, σκεπτόμενο, όμως αρκετά παρορμητικό, και φυσικά όχι χωρίς πάθη. Στην περίπτωσή μας, η έκθεση σε πρόσωπα, απόψεις και πράγματα που δύνανται να διαφθείρουν, εξελίσσεται σε απειλή αφ’ ης στιγμής όλο αυτό εντάσσεται στην καθημερινότητα, ως συνήθεια. Η συνήθεια, γίνεται εθισμός, κι ο εθισμός, αδρανοποιεί κάθε συνειδησιακή διεργασία. Το λάθος μήνυμα περνά υποδόρια, επιτυγχάνοντας τον αρχικό του σκοπό. Κι αν είναι δύσκολο κανείς να πείσει μία μεσήλικα νοικοκυρά, χαμηλού μορφωτικού επιπέδου, πως θαυμάζει ανθρώπους κενούς, των οποίων το ΕΓΩ, είναι έτσι διαμορφωμένο, μπορούμε να πούμε εκπαιδευμένο, να αντέχει στους κραδασμούς και να επιβάλλεται, τουλάχιστον είναι επιτακτική ανάγκη να πείσουμε γι αυτό τα παιδιά, τους εύπλαστους Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who αυτούς χαρακτήρες που στην προσπάθειά τους να σημαίνουν κάτι, καταλήγουν να θεοποιούν το τίποτα.. Κι όπως κάποιος είπε κάποτε πολύ σωστά: «Ανάμεσα σε έναν έξυπνο και έναν ανόητο, να φοβάσαι τον ανόητο. Η άγνοιά του, είναι που τον is the κάνει αληθινά επικίνδυνο.» fairest one of all? Me 33 Cogito Ergo Sum By Rene Descartes I am in doubt as to the propriety of making my first meditations in the place above mentioned matter of discourse; for these are so metaphysical, and so uncommon, as not, perhaps, to be acceptable to every one. And yet, that Many of the articles in the ‘ME’ it may be determined theme issue refer to Rene Des- whether the foundations cartes’ “Cogito Ergo Sum” state- that I have laid are ment, so we thought it only right sufficiently secure, to publish the fourth chapter from I find myself his Discourse On the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, in a measure And Seeking Truth in the Sciences constrained to (1637) that the statement first ap- advert to them. peared. I had long before Descartes’s original statement was “Je pense donc je suis,” and remarked that, in he uses the Latin “Cogito ergo relation to practice, it sum” in the later Principles of is sometimes necessary Philosophy (1644), Part 1, arti- to adopt, as if above doubt, cle 7: “Ac proinde hæc cognitio, opinions which we discern to ego cogito, ergo sum, est omnium prima & certissima, quæ cuilibet be highly uncertain, as has been ordine philosophanti occurrat”, already said; but as I then desired to by which time it had become popu- give my attention solely to the search larly known as ‘the “Cogito Ergo after truth, I thought that a procedure exactly Sum” argument’. the opposite was called for, and that I ought to In the fourth chapter, Descartes reject as absolutely false all opinions in regard discusses the reasonings by which to which I could suppose the least ground for he establishes the existence of God doubt, in order to ascertain whether after that and of the Human Soul, which are there remained aught in my belief that was the foundations of his Metaphysic. wholly indubitable. Accordingly, seeing that our senses sometimes deceive us, I was I could not, nevertheless, deny that the ideas were in reality in my thoughts. willing to suppose that there of my dreams. But immediately thinking, and which, that it may existed nothing really such as upon this I observed that, whilst I exist, has need of no place, nor is they presented to us; and because thus wished to think that all was dependent on any material thing; some men err in reasoning, and false, it was absolutely necessary so that “ I,” that is to say, the fall into paralogisms, even on that I, who thus thought, should mind by which I am what I am, the simplest matters of geometry, be somewhat; and as I observed is wholly distinct from the body, I, convinced that I was as open that this truth, I think, therefore I and is even more easily known to error as any other, rejected am (COGITO ERGO SUM), was than the latter, and is such, that as false all the reasonings I had so certain and of such evidence although the latter were not, it hitherto taken for demonstrations; that no ground of doubt, however would still continue to be all that and finally, when I considered extravagant, could be alleged by it is. that the very same thoughts the sceptics capable of shaking it, After this I inquired in general (presentations) which we I concluded that I might, without into what is essential I to the truth experience when awake may scruple, accept it as the first and certainty of a proposition; for also be experienced when we are principle of the philosophy of since I had discovered one which asleep, while there is at that time which I was in search I knew to be true, I thought that I must likewise be able to discover In the next place, I attentively the ground of this certitude. And examined what I was and as I as I observed that in the words observed that I could suppose that I think, therefore I am, there is I had no body, and that there was nothing at all which gives me no world nor any place in which assurance of their truth beyond I might be; but that I could not this, that I see very clearly that therefore suppose that I was not; in order to think it is necessary and that, on the contrary, from the to exist, I concluded that I very circumstance that I thought might take, as a general rule, the to doubt of the truth of other principle, that all the things which things, it most clearly and we very clearly and distinctly certainly followed that I was; conceive are true, only observing, while, on the other hand, if I had however, that there is some only ceased to think, although difficulty in rightly determining all the other objects which I the objects which we distinctly had ever imagined had been in conceive. not one of them true, I supposed reality existent, I would have that all the objects (presentations) had no reason to believe that I In the next place, from reflecting that had ever entered into my existed; I thence concluded that on the circumstance that I mind when awake, had in them I was a substance whose whole doubted, and that consequently no more truth than the illusions essence or nature consists only in my being was not wholly perfect 36 Me (for I clearly saw that it was a had received all that I possessed; inconstancy, sadness, and such greater perfection to know than for if I had existed alone, and like, could not be found in God, to doubt), I was led to inquire independently of every other since I myself would have been whence I had learned to think being, so as to have had from happy to be free from them. of something more perfect than myself all the perfection, however Besides, I had ideas of many myself; and I clearly recognized little, which I actually possessed, sensible and corporeal things; for that I must hold this notion from I should have been able, for the although I might suppose that I some nature which in reality was same reason, to have had from was dreaming, and that all which more perfect. As for the thoughts myself the whole remainder of I saw or imagined was false, I of many other objects external to perfection, of the want of which could not, nevertheless, deny me, as of the sky, the earth, light, I was conscious, and thus could that the ideas were in reality in heat, and a thousand more, I was of myself have become infinite, my thoughts. But, because I had less at a loss to know whence eternal, immutable, omniscient, already very clearly recognized in these came; for since I remarked all-powerful, and, in fine, have myself that the intelligent nature in them nothing which seemed to possessed all the perfections is distinct from the corporeal, and render them superior to myself, I which I could recognize in God. as I observed that all composition could believe that, if these were For in order to know the nature is an evidence of dependency, true, they were dependencies on of God (whose existence has and that a state of dependency is my own nature, in so far as it been established by the preceding manifestly a state of imperfection, possessed a certain perfection, reasonings), as far as my own I therefore determined that it and, if they were false, that I held nature permitted, I had only to could not be a perfection in God them from nothing, that is to say, consider in reference to all the to be compounded of these two that they were in me because properties of which I found in natures and that consequently he of a certain imperfection of my my mind some idea, whether was not so compounded; but that nature. But this could not be the their possession was a mark of if there were any bodies in the case with-the idea of a nature perfection; and I was assured world, or even any intelligences, more perfect than myself; for that no one which indicated any or other natures that were not to receive it from nothing was a imperfection was in him, and that wholly perfect, their existence thing manifestly impossible; and, none of the rest was awanting. depended on his power in such a because it is not less repugnant Thus I perceived that doubt, way that they could not subsist that the more perfect should be without him for a single moment. an effect of, and dependence on the less perfect, than that I was disposed straightway to something should proceed from search for other truths and when nothing, it was equally impossible I had represented to myself the that I could hold it from myself: object of the geometers, which accordingly, it but remained that I conceived to be a continuous it had been placed in me by a body or a space indefinitely nature which was in reality more extended in length, breadth, perfect than mine, and which and height or depth, divisible even possessed within itself all into divers parts which admit of the perfections of which I could different figures and sizes, and form any idea; that is to say, in of being moved or transposed in a single word, which was God. all manner of ways (for all this And to this I added that, since the geometers suppose to be in I knew some perfections which the object they contemplate), I I did not possess, I was not the went over some of their simplest only being in existence (I will demonstrations. And, in the first here, with your permission, freely place, I observed, that the great use the terms of the schools); but, certitude which by common on the contrary, that there was consent is accorded to these of necessity some other more demonstrations, is founded solely perfect Being upon whom I was upon this, that they are clearly dependent, and from whom I conceived in accordance with the Me 37 Neither our imagination nor our senses can give us assurance of anything unless our understanding intervene. rules I have already laid down In does not afford us an inferior the next place, I perceived that assurance to those of smell or there was nothing at all in these hearing; in place of which, neither demonstrations which could our imagination nor our senses assure me of the existence of can give us assurance of anything their object: thus, for example, unless our understanding supposing a triangle to be given, intervene. I distinctly perceived that its three angles were necessarily Finally, if there be still persons equal to two right angles, but I who are not sufficiently did not on that account perceive persuaded of the existence of anything which could assure God and of the soul, by the me that any triangle existed: reasons I have adduced, I am while, on the contrary, recurring desirous that they should know to the examination of the idea that all the other propositions, of a Perfect Being, I found that of the truth of which they deem the existence of the Being was themselves perhaps more assured, comprised in the idea in the except by way of imagination, as that we have a body, and that same way that the equality of its which is a mode of thinking there exist stars and an earth, three angles to two right angles limited to material objects, that and such like, are less certain; is comprised in the idea of a all that is not imaginable seems to for, although we have a moral triangle, or as in the idea of a them not intelligible. The truth of assurance of these things, which sphere, the equidistance of all this is sufficiently manifest from is so strong that there is an points on its surface from the the single circumstance, that the appearance of extravagance in center, or even still more clearly; philosophers of the schools accept doubting of their existence, yet and that consequently it is at least as a maxim that there is nothing at the same time no one, unless as certain that God, who is this in the understanding which was his intellect is impaired, can Perfect Being, is, or exists, as any not previously in the senses, in deny, when the question relates demonstration of geometry can which however it is certain that to a metaphysical certitude, be. the ideas of God and of the soul that there is sufficient reason to have never been; and it appears exclude entire assurance, in the But the reason which leads many to me that they who make use of observation that when asleep to persuade them selves that there their imagination to comprehend we can in the same way imagine is a difficulty in knowing this these ideas do exactly the some ourselves possessed of another truth, and even also in knowing thing as if, in order to hear sounds body and that we see other stars what their mind really is, is that or smell odors, they strove to and another earth, when there they never raise their thoughts avail themselves of their eyes; is nothing of the kind. For how above sensible objects, and are so unless indeed that there is this do we know that the thoughts accustomed to consider nothing difference, that the sense of sight which occur in dreaming are false 38 Me
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