Sailing the Seas of Thought

On charitable interpretation, resonance, and the Jazz of Ideas

A woman stands in a narrow boat drifting on a stormy sea, surrounded by birds

I am an inveterate ‘sharer’. The shares that I take most pleasure in1 are ideas: papers, lectures, book extracts, podcasts, tweets. I see this in terms of missionary zeal: I derive pleasure from spreading the word. But the recipient does not always share my enthusiasm. Sometimes this is because I’ve overlooked some error or ulterior motive that a more patient observer would detect. I attribute much of this to a tendency for charitable interpretation. I fill out ideas with the help of memory and imagination; I smooth off the sharp edges. And even though I’m aware of this phenomenon, I miss flaws in what I share, seeing then only after someone else points them out2. But the overlooked flaws — which so often provoke irritation — are not always in the share itself, but in its source.

Spy vs Psi

Psychotronics, Gateway Experiences, and Orbitals of Consciousness

The image below is from a paper uploaded to the virtual “reading room” of a certain well-known intelligence agency.

I came across this paper on the “psychotronic universe” as the indirect result of googling for the phrase “a reconciliation of opposites” along with “consciousness”. The first result was something from the agency.

Jazz Cosmology

The Music of the Spheres is more like jazz than classical. Structured chaos, open plans, and conductor-free conduct. Jazz at its best is a model of social democracy -- enabling…