Hi Mark --
What I have described ...is an analogy of Valhalla (I choose
this for my friend, Bo's, sake). Indeed, the Intellectual level
was defined many years ago in multiple cultures. This was
in the form of polytheism (which has now fallen into disrepute,
especially when Constantine took over the Roman Empire).
But, personal opinions aside, there is no doubt that the gods
that lived in Valhalla all symbolized a virtue (negative or
positive) of humanity. ...In this way, these gods are analogous
to the high concepts which are transacted in the Intellectual Level.
These concepts are delivered to us humans in the form of
metaphors such as people or animals. But it is important not to
take these metaphors literally but only as means of concept
deliverance. In this day and age we believe that people
worshiped these gods as people (and perhaps many did).
But such worship missed the whole point, the metaphor became
the object, not what the metaphor represented, which was
Quality interacting with our world. These gods were just
concepts of human ideals and shortcomings, all from the realm
of abstract thought.
Whether you realize it or not, your Valhalla analogy demonstrates a point
I"ve been trying to make here these many years. Man tends to "externalize"
his values. The "virtues" you cite for polythesim are not all
"intellectual". Pagan deities represented attitudes. emotions or
abstractions of human sensibility which could not otherwise be objectivized.
In fact, the dieties encompass the whole spectrum of human value -- the
qualities, attributes, and desiderata that are meaningful to man, either for
his survival in this life or for his connection to the source of reality.
It's fascinating to learn that Paganism still wields a powerful influence on
some esoteric cults in modern society. I found this instruction in a
"teenage pagan" blog:
"If you are a polytheist ...then one of the following pantheons may strike a
personal chord with you; however, if you are more of an all-in-one kind of
person, then you may simply be given to find the Gods that you feel the best
connection to in order to forge a relationship with the greater divine
essence. At this stage, only you can know what feels right."
Note the emphasis on forging a kinship or personal "connection" with the god
of your choice. What we see in Paganism is the externalization of personal
values.
The author goes on to enumerate the choices available. To condense his
extended list to a notable few, the principal god of Norse mythology was
Odin, often seen as very wise and powerful. Thor, the god of thunder who
with his giant hammer "will crush the Gothic cathedrals," is the symbol of
brute force. Justitia, a Roman goddess of justice, symbolizes fairness and
equality. Among the Olympian
Gods were Zeus, chief of the gods, who could wield the power of the
lightening
bolt; Hades, ruler of the underworld, who resides over the realm of the
dead; Aphrodite, the fertility goddess, who is depicted as a beautiful woman
... and so on.
These deistic symbols all represent the values cherished, dreaded, or
desired by the worshiper: Power, Justice, Love, Fertility, Death,
Spitituality, and the Hereafter. As objective representations they are
considered "intellectual concepts". Essentially, however, they symbolize
the valuisitic sensibility of human nature. Religious symbols, such as the
Christian cross and the Hindu prayer wheel, also symbolize man's spiritual
link to the eternal.
Now, there is an intellectual aspect to this externalizing process. What
began as belief in a pantheon of gods and goddesses of disparate
temperaments became a monothestic god in the Judeo-Christian epic. But
Jehovah also had human form and was described as expressing love and anger
for the 'faithful' as well as vengeance capable of bringing plagues and
drought on those who displeased him. In the modern "intellectual" era, as
we all know, philosophers have dispensed with anthromorphic deities, but are
still inclined to externalize value as an extracorporeal realm with a subset
of "virtues" appended to it.
When will we understand that the "oyster" of our world is Value itself, that
the objects and events we experience are all value constructs, and that what
we can't externalize objectively is expressed in the religion and
spirituality of our culture?
Thanks for this interesting analysis of thesim. Mark. You've provided
another perspective from which to argue for the subjectivity of Value .
Essentially yours,
Ham
----- Original Message -----
From: "markhsmit" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 1:06 AM
Subject: [MD] The Intellectual Level of Quality, according to Mark
OK, here I will, best I can, provide my interpretation of the Intellectual
Level. That is the level described in MoQ which lies above the social.
Please be kind.
Imagine if you will, a realm (or level) where abstract thought has lost all
ties with the subjects or objects that spawned it. It is abstract thought
such that it is no longer tethered to the form or function of the human
body. This is not hard to do since we all get lost in this dreaming.
However, we are quickly brought down to earth by personal necessity
and opinion. But imagine such a realm existing on its own forever free.
This realm would would have the following precepts:
(I asked Bo for three statements that describe the Q level, which
he kindly provided, and here are mine)
1. The Intellectual level is free of all physical ties which define
human existence at the level of matter, and is abstract thought alone.
2. The intellectual level is made up of concepts or subjects
which interact through transactions, the currency of which are moral
equivalents that are derived from the bank of Quality. These are
investments which allow Quality to grow in value.
3. While this level is free from the physical, it interacts with humans
and all other things (if animism bothers you, just ignore this), through
metaphors and analogies. In this way pure abstract thought is
delivered to the world of form.
OK, so that is it in a nutshell. What I am about to write next may cause
alarm, disappointment, denial, or complete loss of interest, due to
personal opinions, but take this at face value as an opinion.
What I have described above is an analogy of Valhalla (I choose this
for my friend, Bo's, sake). Indeed, the Intellectual level was defined
many years ago in multiple cultures. This was in the form of polytheism
(which has now fallen into disrepute, especially when Constantine
took over the Roman Empire). But, personal opinions aside, there
is no doubt that the gods that lived in Valhalla all symbolized a
virtue (negative or positive) of humanity. I will not go through the
list. In this way, these gods are analogous to the high concepts which
are transacted in the Intellectual Level. These concepts are
delivered to us humans in the form of metaphors such as people
or animals. But it is important not to take these metaphors literally
but only as means of concept deliverance. In this day and age
we believe that people worshiped these gods as people (and perhaps
many did). But such worship missed the whole point, the metaphor
became the object, not what the metaphor represented, which was
Quality interacting with our world. These gods were just concepts
of human ideals and shortcomings, all from the realm of abstract thought.
Now I know many will think that I am bringing a high-minded
philosophy down to the level of paganism. Rest assured, that
is not what I am doing. If anything, I am bringing Paganism
up to the level of MoQ. I honestly believe that man was no
less intelligent back then, and the notion that history is
the development of man's intelligence is self serving.
This post is also not religious or attempting to be persuasive;
it is simply an analogy.
So, many will dismiss this post as irrelevant, but, hopefully some
will consider the relationship between the Intellectual Level,
and that which was provided by the polytheistic traditions of the
past. There is no doubt that mythology plays a large part in our
lives, Campbell has put this very well. The inner psyche of the
human condition has definite structure. To dismiss it as some
primitive appendage is missing the whole point. The point is that we are
learning the high minded principles of Quality every day, whether
they be personified as gods or delivered as logical concepts.
All the best,
Mark
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