Something else to digest, Ray. Perhaps I misunderstood your response to Juliet Schor's message that I forwarded. I read your response as dismissive toward Schor's model. Yet reading Natalia's post I fail to see much of a difference between what Juliet was promoting and what Natalia is relating. And you embrace what Natalia writes. Did I read you wrong? Did I read Juliet or Natalia wrong?
On 6/28/10, Ray Harrell <[email protected]> wrote: > Wow Natalia, > > > > Thanks. That is a great post! It will take me a few days to digest > it and I will. Do I remember right that you are Russian? Were you > trained in Russian schools to think like this? If so, I would suspect > that Russian will be the future complex culture of both the U.S. and Canada. > Superior Russian performing artists are already taking over the Metropolitan > Opera and America's cultural institutions. The Chinese have the best > creative representation with Chinese composers trained in the new programs > of China. There are more Artists in Training in China then there are all > of the students in American Schools. America is the only country in the > world that speaks of people "not being able to sing." All over the > world people sing because it is what we do as human beings. Here, only > specialists sing, except in church. They think in modules. Lateral > thinking in the brain that is usually associated with the male brain. > Americans are so afraid of the secular that they've outsourced their > throats. > > > > Neither the Russians, the Chinese or the South Koreans are afraid to write > and write until they exhaust the subject. That is an old artist maxim. > > > > > "You are not a hired hand. You have to make a living and deserve to be > paid but it isn't about profit, it's about making enough to capitalize your > work and then it is about the work itself. You give the work the required > amount of time to complete it and the requisite amount of capital to have > the tools and material to complete it. You do the work until its done, > not until the clock says you can go home." > > > > That is why I am seriously interested in a list that calls itself > Future-work. Jobs are temporary, work is a lifetime exploration. > In the Cherokee culture, work has been traditionally one of the four primary > choices that you make in your life. Work is Artistic and not the mode > of the amateur Wall Street physicists who get bored with anything that has > to do with sensing the problem in all of its connotations. > > > > That form of Capitalism has destroyed the teaching of the Art of America > and the art itself which only exists in literature, painting and sculpture > all in the name of productivity. They have destroyed the quality of my > profession and now they are going after the colleges and public health in > America. > > > > You could call that the economist as demonic in the pursuit of a gray world > with no soul. Cherokees call the afterlife the "Gray world." Go to > Huffington Post where they are trying to have an Art section. All they > can do is graphic arts and the rest is trinkets and trash and old European > performing arts. America has a very spotty identity and its only > defense is to say that the mirror isn't necessary in order to comb their > hair and fix their lipstick. The Aztecs called such metaphors > Tezcatlipoca or the "smoked mirror" because it was easy to trick people > rather than the Quetzalcoatl which was a clear mirror (with a hole) to both > reflect accurately and see through to reality. At 68 I can now say that > Americans aren't that subtle. > > > > Thanks again for the big meal. I will comment as it I digest it. > > > > REH > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Darryl or > Natalia > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2010 11:40 PM > To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION > Subject: Re: [Futurework] new/old member > > > > Hi Ray! > > Thanks for the posting. A few things there I'd never considered, but in > pondering I begin to visualize and play out possibilities. Much of what is > raised can be observed throughout the animal kingdom. I've heard of more > related animal studies than those focused on humans--lately a couple on > birds-- song birds and then crows, and one on primates. As is suggested > below, a shift occurred post 1940's, and research focused on what delivers > in a profit driven economy. > > Yet, the other larger shift in education (towards languages, technologies > and sciences) has practically erased public school classes in art, music and > phys-ed. These have become after-school activities, with even recess being > structured, diminished and removed from children's natural playground or > even from play itself. There is so little connection for them to their true > source of health and well-being--that of the earth itself--that I fear for > current abstract mind development. Little interconnectedness or cross-over > can take place--that for which are minds are perfectly designed, but are > unfortunately hard-wired at an early age to engage with tunnel vision. > > Your query, "Have you come up with a scheme for quality work that develops > the human body, the sensorium, the soul and that makes money?" was too > emotionally charged for most on this list, Ray. First of all, you have to > provide scientific evidence that the soul exists. That if it exists, it > appreciates financial compensation for any of its development/accomplishment > as the sole functioning economic reality. Some here do not see the merits of > artistic activity at all, and many would argue its source of inspiration. > > In recent discussions on the list, the revolving-door topic of a working > economy came to full circle again. Again, I've raised the best case scenario > of a sustainable economy based on natural laws as the only model that could > possibly address all concerns of optimal needs and evolution. Inevitably I'm > flattered as being an idealist, though not intentionally, of course. That we > can likely only achieve this sustainability through education somehow > digresses into a discussion on aggressive, competitive genes and so-called > reality today. Not that these aren't interesting, but I feel frustrated over > such defeatist conditioning because it precludes exploration of what is > possible with the remainder of genes that predispose us towards > connectivity, creativity and any transcending thought or activity. Though > one may view today's model as having emerged from aggressive and competitive > genes, I don't believe that most of what makes life interesting evolved out > of those tendencies. > > This morning I was listening to CBC, a discussion on experiential learning > for kids at UBC's city farm. A cooperative, as it could be pegged, of > retired gardeners, teachers, volunteers and young students who get to > experience the natural world of food and its benefits as part of their > science studies. From soil nutrition to market, these children come to > appreciate healthy choices, how to prepare food, and care for the land and > tiny animals which make it possible. To hear a kid say that they will now be > reducing their consumption of junk food in favour of vegetables, or to hear > that they can now appreciate insects is hugely different from when I went to > a public school (that still offered art, music, phys-ed). Most kids are > still being taught an overview of food production as one of intensive > livestock and monoculture crops. The latest scientific information is slow > to be disseminated about practically everything, and what is taught is > primarily focused on today's boring industries and market place. With such > an impoverished agenda, adolescents become hugely unsatisfied, and are left > to match mostly unrelated intellectual understanding with challenges, events > and ideas bombarding a mind unprepared for abstraction. Becoming aware of > physiology is now a dangling carrot of luxury, so overwhelmed are students > with memorization of forgettable facts, and agendas of corporate profits. > Unfortunately, they are as unprepared for natural disaster as for man-made, > and in the latter we have clear example of how violation of natural laws is > untenable. > > Where we have students graduating without a clue about natural expression, > natural laws of any kind, we may have the next phase of resources > exploitation preparing for more massive scale ecological rights wars. I'm > hoping there'll be time to figure out that education has got to change, that > Pharma has to let go of parents on anti-depressants who raise kids on > anti-depressants, who in turn grow insensitive not only to their very source > of life, but to their own capacity for individual development within our > natural evolution. > > Great to hear from you. > Natalia Kuzmyn > > > > > > > > > Ray Harrell wrote: > > Hey Arthur, Steve, Tom, Barry and of course Sally and everyone else. Have > you come up with a scheme for quality work that develops the human body, the > sensorium, the soul and that makes money? Now that would be a futurework > that I would be interested in even at my age. :>)) > > > > I'm currently reading and reviewing a wonderful book from MIT press > (Bradford Book) called "The Origins of Music" edited by Wallin, Merker, and > Brown. Pub. 2000. Here is the abstract from the Introduction. I > reformatted the section with bullet points. In the book these two pages > are a very dense prose that I found hard to read. It also had typos. > Hope you enjoy it. Maybe a little discussion on the meaning of Quality > work that develops both body and soul? > > > > REH > > > > Abstract: > > In this introduction to the new field of evolutionary musicology, we see > that the study of music origins provides a fresh and exciting approach to > the under-standing of human evolution, a topic that so far has been > dominated by a focus on language evolution. The language-centered view of > humanity has to be expanded to include music, > > first, because the evolution of language is highly inter-twined with the > evolution of music, and, > > second, because music provides a spe-cific and direct means of exploring the > evolution of human social structure, group function, and cultural behavior. > > > > Music making is the quintessential human cul-tural activity, and music is an > ubiquitous element in all cultures large and small. The study of music > evolution promises to shed light on such important issues as > > evolution of the hominid vocal tract; > > the structure of acoustic-communication signals; > > human group structure; > > division of labor at the group level; > > the capacity for designing and using tools; > > symbolic gesturing; > > localization and lateralization of brain function; > > melody and rhythm in speech; > > the phrase-structure of lan-guage; > > parent-infant communication; > > emotional and behavioral manipulation through sound; > > interpersonal bonding and synchronization mechanisms; > > self-expression and catharsis; > > creativity and aesthetic expression; > > the human affinity for the spiritual and the mystical; and > > finally, of course, the universal human attachment to music itself. > > > > > > > > > Music Origins and Human Origins > > > > What is music and what are its evolutionary origins? > > What is music for and why does every human culture have it? > > What are the universal fea-tures of music and musical behavior across > cultures? > > Such questions were the among the principal areas of investigation of the > members of the Berlin school of comparative musicology of the first half of > the twentieth century, as represented by such great figures as Carl Stumpf, > Robert Lach, Erich von Hornbostel, Otto Abraham, Curt Sachs, and Marius > Schneider.' > > > > After the 1940s, however, the evolution-ary approach to music fell into > obscurity and even disrepute. > > How this came to pass entails a long and very political history, one that > has as much to do > > with rejection of racialist notions present in much European schol-arship in > the social sciences before the Second World War as > > with the rise of the cultural-anthropological approach to musicology in > America during the postwar period.' > > > > Both influences were anti-evolutionary in spirit and led to a rejection of > biological and universalist thinking in musicology and musical anthropology. > Musicology did not seem to need an official decree, like the famous ban on > discussions of language origin by the Societe de Linguistique de Paris in > 1866, to make the topic of music origins unfashionable among musicologists. > It appeared to happen all by itself. > > > > And with that, musicology seemed to relinquish its role as a con-tributor to > the study of human origins as well as any commitment to devel-oping a > general theory of music. > > The current volume represents a long-overdue renaissance of the topic of > music origins. If its essays suggest nothing else, it is > > > > that music and > > musical behavior > > > > can no longer be ignored in a consideration of human evolution. Music > offers important insight into the study of human origins and human history > in at least three principal areas. > > > > First, it is a universal and multifunctional cultural behavior, and no > account of human evolution is complete without an understanding of how music > and dance rituals evolved. Even the most cursory glance at life in > tradi-tional cultures is sufficient to demonstrate that music and dance are > essential components of most social behaviors, > > everything from hunting and herding to story telling and playing; > > from washing and eating to praying and meditating; and > > from courting and marrying to healing and burying. > > > > Therefore the study of music origins is central to the evolu-tionary study > of human cultural behavior generally. > > > > Second, to the extent that language evolution is now viewed as being a > central issue in the study of human evolution, parallel consideration of > music will assume a role of emerging importance in the investigation of this > issue as it becomes increasingly apparent that music and language share many > underlying features. > > Therefore, the study of language evolu-tion has much to gain from a joint > consideration of music. > > This includes such important issues as > > evolution of the human vocal tract, > > the hominid brain expansion, > > human brain asymmetry, > > lateralization of cognitive function, > > the evolution of syntax, > > evolution of symbolic gesturing, and > > the many parallel neural and cognitive mechanisms that appear to under-lie > music and language processing. > > > > Third, music has much to contribute to a study of human migration patterns > and the history of cultural contacts. In the same way that genes and > languages have been used successfully as markers for human migra-tions > (Cavalli-Sforza, Menozzi, and Piazza 1994), so too music has great potential > to serve as a hitherto untapped source of information for the study of human > evolution. > > This is because musics have the capacity to blend and therefore to retain > stable traces of cultural contact in a way that languages do only > inefficiently; > > languages tend to undergo total replacement rather than blending after > cultural contact, and thus tend to lose remnants of cultural interaction. > > > > In summary, these three issues, > > the universality and multifunctionality of music, > > the intimate relationship between music evolution and language evolution, > and > > the potential of music to shed light on patterns of cultural interaction, > > > > are important applications of evolutionary musicology to the study of human > origins and human culture. > > The new field of "biomusicology" (Wallin 1991) places the analysis of music > origins and its application to the study of human origins at its very > foundation. > > > > > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur Cordell > Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 7:44 PM > To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' > Subject: Re: [Futurework] new/old member > > > > Good to see your name again. What's happening? Same old. People losing > jobs. Jobs going to China and elsewhere. Automating work which increases > productivity but those who lose jobs often have no place to go. Needed is a > total re-think of the way we produce and price goods and services and the > way in which income is distributed. > > > > Arthur > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Harrell > Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 5:01 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Futurework] new/old member > > > > Thought I would check in and see what's happening. > > > > Ray Evans Harrell > > New York City, > > Cherokee Opera Singer and Performing Artist > > > > > _____ > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > > > _____ > > > > > > > --- > avast! Antivirus: Inbound message clean. > Virus Database (VPS): 100624-0, 06/24/2010 > Tested on: 6/24/2010 8:46:55 AM > avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2010 ALWIL Software. > http://www.avast.com > > > > > > -- Sandwichman _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
