Contrasting states and end result

[paigetheoracle]

Be still and know that I am God, actually means in silence and stillness you can find yourself as in noise and motion you lose yourself. Slowing down life reals it in all its glory, all its detail, all its variety as speeding up destroys this awareness (shallow as opposed to deep thought / dispersed attention versus concentrated attention).

Watching two recent TV programs, I saw a universal law in action that connected the outside world with the internal world of emotion. The first involved human actions in straightening watercourses and the disastrous results further down the line ( ‘The Lakes With Simon Reeve,’ episode three). It speeded up the flow of water and because the banks of the streams were also built up, it meant that flood plains couldn't be utilised. Hitting built up areas it drowned them with an irresistible wall of water.

The second show, Dogs Behaving Very Badly (Channel Five, with trainer Graeme Hall), disclosed that the way to overcome aggression in dogs was to approach other dogs at an angle as straight on was seen as aggressive.

Both these displayed that whether it was water or aggression, destruction was like a hot knife through butter (concentrated force / anger / determination). The opposite was slow, meandering rivers or approaches to others: Still waters run deep - shallow ones erode, not build up (concentrated versus dissipated energy). Even in the body these processes are seen in constipation and diarrhoea or wasting and depositional diseases.

This connects with something else that I have noticed, namely that anything aimed at an angle, kicks up less mess than if dropped straight down. For instance ash put into a bucket obliquely, creates less dust spilling into the atmosphere than when shovelled straight into the bottom of the container.

I have observed that the faster I go, the less room I have for error (time to change direction /allow for external interference). We know about this with regards to craft travelling at speed but has anybody taken this into account with regards to human interaction? I propose that intolerance and impatience in human affairs is also directed psychologically by this, so that we have no room for errors or indeed input by others, leading to intolerance and impatience (dictators, angry men, the driven - all fall into this category)

What the Dunning-Kruger Effect shows and how it relates Existentialism and especially Phenomenology is down to speed of thought and action versus, slowing down and observing reality in depth, that is overconfidence as opposed to lack of confidence and checking (scientific methodology). As they say still waters run deep and by implication fast waters are shallow: you either skim over a subject and gain general awareness (speed just wants to be first, not right) or slow down and gain a more complex overview because you take in details that speed misses.

If you stay, you develop knowledge and depth. If you go, you sever all ties, all possibilities be they physical or mental (positive emotions draw you towards some point or person as negative one's repulse you). The more negatively emotional you are, the more likely you are to blow your top and move on. The more patient and tolerant you are, the more likely you are to stick with things and stay put, no matter what. These two states I designate Settlers and Pioneers.

Patience builds, impatience destroys. The impatient use intimidation to get things moving, where the patient hold their ground in order to complete their thoughts or actions. Craftsmen who are good at their work, take time to improve their efforts, through creating detail (they are not generalists).

It is the same with depth of thought. It is making connections and learning things in detail, through being present in more than just fleeting terms. The angry are impatient, so don’t take time to explore their options but give in to temper tantrums and disconnect from any problem they face (it’s the ego that feels affronted and doesn’t want tone challenged). When anger and impatience or even defeatism (depression) are rife, depth of exploration and build up of knowledge / skill will be limited. To bully is to try to rush things, to force them to happen. It is the antithesis of intelligence or craft because it opposes choice in the direction you take and the time you take to get there.

By the way opinion is whether you like or dislike something as fact is what something is observed to 'be,' despite your opinion on whether it should exist or not. It is observable by other people in other words, even if you would like it hidden or obliterated.

Frank Herbert in 'Dune' said that fear is the mind killer and I'd agree as it panics you into running away, instead of being centred in the self. This is why meditation is mentioned in all or nearly all religious doctrines. Be there, do nothing but be yourself and observe the world around you.
This is why saints have retreated into caves (centres of initiation), deserts and lived in monasteries. Equally this is why forests are centres of mystery, isolated from the rest of existence (sound is muffled by the trees and light cut out, just like in cinemas).

[DTR1975]

Very insightful, Paige. This in particular resonates with me:
"As they say still waters run deep and by implication fast waters are shallow: you either skim over a subject and gain general awareness (speed just wants to be first, not right) or slow down and gain a more complex overview because you take in details that speed misses."
This reminds me of how the news media tends to operate. Get the news out as fast as possible. Only the vaguest description of situations and events, with only enough information to present their predetermined perspective. And since very few people have the time or inclination to do their own research, what is shown to them by the media is how most people view the world. The whole thing is very insidious.