Streaming Underneath

August 29, 2020 Sociocultural Issues No Comments

A cultural stream may stream hard, even when it’s not readily visible. The latter may make it more challenging to manage, or even to influence.

►►► WHY read this? You may feel the streaming sometimes. It’s challenging to take responsibility in this regard. ◄◄◄

What on earth is this guy talking about?

I’m talking about a conglomerate of factors that together form a vast web of associations. This web is related to deep meaningfulness, motivations, assumptions that can guide a culture with or without the knowledge and insight of individuals.

A specific culture or subculture may have one or more such streams ‘beneath’ how it realizes them in cultural customs, organizations, belief systems, an ‘ideology.’ To individuals within that culture, it seems straightforward that life is meaningful because of this superficial conglomerate. Individuals also intuitively feel that ‘something underneath’ engenders this feeling of meaningfulness.

Why do people do what they do?

By definition: because of the because, the why, the meaningfulness, the… well, in the end, the streaming underneath.

That is what this guy is talking about.

[see also: “Two Meanings of ‘Meaning’”]

Meaningfulness is a good thing, but it’s also a dangerous thing because it is not necessarily rational, nor is it necessarily human-centered. In many cases, it’s even specifically not humanistic. The result, for instance, is a conceptualized theocracy, or a fear-based autocracy.

A cultural clash is frequently a clash of meaningfulness.

And that, too, is not ideal, sometimes even very dangerous. People wage war because they feel their meaningfulness being attacked.

Or: without any attack on meaningfulness, people don’t wage war.

A current example: China & Hong Kong

To China, the streaming is about ‘one big China.’ It’s about wholeness. Hong Kong (likewise, Taiwan) feels like an injury to this wholeness. This injury needs to be cured. The whole should be restored. Hong Kong (likewise, Taiwan) needs to be annexed to accomplish this.

It’s not human-centered. It’s dangerous. Of course, many political and economic factors play a role. But look at it closely. All these factors would be nothing without the streaming underneath.

Many people in Hong Kong have another stream. The clash is intense. Nevertheless, very deep inside, where it’s most personal and most human at the same time, different streams get closer together, at least symbolically.

Communication with the streaming underneath

is a top priority for all humankind. Eventually, it is a streaming that goes on within individuals. At least, if it doesn’t have a hold on individuals from inside, then neither can it get huge cultural strength.

People feel the stream inside, knowingly, half-knowingly, or unknowingly. Together, they also feel each other’s streaming in the same direction. Streaming along gets rewarded. Not streaming along, one feels a counter-current, literally. It doesn’t take long for this to be substantial.

Most people prefer to stream along. Also when seeing that rationally, things don’t fit well. And even when they see that neither rationally nor ethically nor in anything else, it’s what they would deem proper. Dangerous enough?

As always, I feel the need to repeat here that the most significant danger is non-Compassionate A.I.

So, what does this guy recommend?

I think the time has come to get really individualized, in the sense of in-dividuum, or un-divided, whole human beings.

I think there is no other way.

I think we have the technology to do so. Insight and wisdom? Hmm.

I recommend that we take the risk to strive for the attainment of Inner Strength. Of course, that’s very AURELIS. The streaming underneath can go on with respect to human beings. Nobody drowns. There are many boats on the stream and much fun.

Please tell me when that is attained. I’ll be there.

This is also the only sustainable option. It is growth and relief of deep suffering. It is Compassion.

And China?

Let them be Chinese. Such an interesting culture! What I would very much like to see, and recommend, is that also the Chinese become even more themselves. If they see the symbolic side, they don’t need war or any other aggression.

They will see that being Chinese is being fully human. China can become whole where it matters.

Eventually, all streams will know and respect each other.

It will be super interesting to try out several. New ones will emerge in this process. There will be one big ocean they all flow towards, not to disappear, but to rejuvenate.

And even this ocean has streaming underneath.

It’s called Compassion.