<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title></title><style type="text/css">p.MsoNormal,p.MsoNoSpacing{margin:0}</style></head><body><div style="font-family:Arial;">Liminal comes to mind as well - from von Gennep's discussion of rights of passage. Separation (from all that was, including individual identity) Liminal (where all things are possible) Incorporation (reintegration into a new reality).<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">You are supposed to have a guide through the Liminal in order to avoid getting lost or Incorporation into the wrong thing. Kind of like the guide in the Bardo Thodol.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">Socially we are definitely experiencing Separation. But if our only guide is past experience we are destined to a reincarnation of the same old same old (Glen's authoritarianism and other's corporate serfdom). The potential of the Liminal will be lost.<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">davew<br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div>On Thu, Apr 2, 2020, at 10:55 AM, Steven A Smith wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite" id="qt"><p>My observation is that from Dickens' "best of times, worst of
times". I think as an inflection/bifurcation point, many
things are possible. "sensitive dependence on initial
conditions". In the spirit of "creative visualization" and
"self-fulfilling prophecies" there are risks and opportunities
around being too paranoid or too pollyanna and opportunities
around being creatively positive and thoughtfully wary. I think
there is a quad-chart in there somewhere?<br></p><p>"Svaha" is a word for "the time between the lightning and the
thunder... when all things are possible". (alternately attributed
to Native Americans, to old Norse, etc... but apparently coined by
this book: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Svaha-Charles-Lint/dp/0312876505">https://www.amazon.com/Svaha-Charles-Lint/dp/0312876505</a> in the 90s... <br></p><p>And not to be confused with the much older Sanskrit <i><span style="color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"><span class="font" style="font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="size" style="font-size:14px;">svāhā </span></span></span></i><span style="color:rgb(34, 34, 34);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;"><span class="font" style="font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="size" style="font-size:14px;">which feels
entertainingly relevant as well:<br> </span></span></span><i></i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sv%C4%81h%C4%81"> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sv%C4%81h%C4%81</a></p><div class="qt-moz-cite-prefix">On 4/2/20 9:42 AM, uǝlƃ ☣ wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:2186a023-a6fb-2a86-30a1-40f7dd849db2@gmail.com"><pre class="qt-moz-quote-pre">I've seen a few articles with titles like "Coronavirus is the death of Neoliberalism" or "... Capitalism" and whatnot. I'm skeptical. As much as I reject analogies between societal upheaval/collapse and phases of matter, I do believe in inflection points. My guess is that authoritarianism is what lies ahead of us on the other side of this inflection. We were already trending that way and I bet we'll continue. This inflection looks more like a minor rate change than anything fundamental.
This article was hopeful:
The coronavirus crisis has exposed the ugly truth about celebrity culture and capitalism
<a class="qt-moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/31/the-coronavirus-crisis-has-exposed-the-ugly-truth-about-celebrity-culture-and-capitalism">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/31/the-coronavirus-crisis-has-exposed-the-ugly-truth-about-celebrity-culture-and-capitalism</a>
There's nothing more disgusting to me than our celebrity fetish. But this article was pessimistic:
Invisible man? Amid pandemic, Biden sidelined by omnipresent Trump
<a class="qt-moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://news.yahoo.com/invisible-man-amid-pandemic-biden-sidelined-omnipresent-trump-082411045.html">https://news.yahoo.com/invisible-man-amid-pandemic-biden-sidelined-omnipresent-trump-082411045.html</a>
My faith in my fellow humans' *tastes* is always crushed. Everyone tends to flock to the least common denominator. (My primary objection to instant-runoff/ranked-choice voting and pop music, as well as overly reductive rating systems like Rotten Tomatoes, etc.) The "wisdom of crowds" is an oxymoron. >8^D
On 4/2/20 8:05 AM, Prof David West wrote:
<br></pre><blockquote type="cite"><pre class="qt-moz-quote-pre">Governments cannot print and distribute money fast enough to prevent a major collapse of world economic order and concomitant social breakdown.
<br></pre></blockquote><pre class="qt-moz-quote-pre"><br></pre></blockquote><div>============================================================<br></div><div>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<br></div><div>Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College<br></div><div>to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com<br></div><div>archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/<br></div><div>FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove<br></div><div><br></div></blockquote><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div></body></html>