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World?
As I have read more about Julian Assange’s radical transparency, I have become m
increasingly interested in the way he sees the world. Here is a man following his “Bliss”
(at least in a certain sense), and motivated by a strong sense of justice. In this post I am
going to pull together a few observations about Assange, especially in relation to the idea
of ways of knowing. Ways of knowing are the particular intelligences which we prefer to
use to make sense of the world.
Suellette Dreyfus, who wrote the book Underground with Assange, notes a positive trait
in him, and that is curiosity – the bedrock of all learning. In a world full of so many
listless people whose light, passion and curiosity has been snuffed out by dull education
systems and the harshness of modern life, Assange is a tremendous example of someone
following his Bliss, regardless of the consequences. Now in early mid-life, his passion is
beginning to pay off in a big way – at least if we consider fame, attention and an ability
to change the world as being “successful”.
Julian Assange is also man of ideals. Dreyfus says that Assange is driven by “the deep
desire for justice”. As I mentioned in a recent post, this burning desire emerges from his
soul issues. It is, however, accompanied by the burning rage of the Rebel and the
grandiosity of the God-man archetypes. In terms of the former, Assange has been
quoted as saying that during his recent week in prison, he has “burned with more rage
than he knew what to do with.” This is perfectly understandable, especially given his
soul issues.
The problem with IQ scores, regardless of how measured, is that they assume that
intelligence is a mostly verbal/linguistic and mathematical/logical process. This is
important in understanding what Assange and WikiLeaks can and cannot do (and I
won’t go into the many problems with the IQ concept here – see my book Integrated
Intelligence for an overview).
As an aside, we have to wonder how much Dreyfus’ depiction of Assange draws from the
computer geek/genius mythology. Perhaps it is a case of hyperbole, given that Assange
received bare passes for his math courses at the University of Melbourne, according to
Wikipedia.
Dreyfus reports that Assagne only attended public schools irregularly, and his teachers
were at a loss as to how to instruct him. So Assange largely gave up on school, finding it
more efficient to educate himself by reading books. He learned to tune out if people
didn't feed him information fast enough.
Dreyfus writes:
I've watched Assange do this many times. It's not meant to be rude, though it can
make him seem aloof. It is, I suspect, a habit learned from these early years. It can
give him the air of an absent-minded professor.
This is not to be unexpected. A person who spends much of his time engaged in the
intellect will tend to be absent minded. I can vouch for that myself. I have had to retrain
my own mind to be more engaged in the real world, having spent the first 30 years of my
life almost entirely in the intellect. The essential point I wish to make here is that the
intuitive realms are best accessed, acknowledged and understood when we are in
presence, and when the mind is still. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that Assange
has little understanding of the intuitive or spiritual ways of knowing. Indeed, I have yet
to see any reference to it in his writings, or in accounts of him.
The lack of appreciation of wisdom and spiritual intelligence in modern societies and
education systems is also highlighted in Dreyfus’ article, albeit unintentionally. She
writes:
Optimisation and efficiency. These are qualities valorised by modern money and
machine societies and their relentless drive for ego-gratification and material
prosperity. A more significant question is whether Assange has qualities which move
beyond these. Genuine leadership of humanity, and the development of the future
cannot be mere monuments to efficiency and optimisation alone. Deep Futures
http://22cplus.blogspot.com/2010/03/deep-futures-beyond-machine_18.html
require experiences, relationships and meanings which touch the heart and soul, and
connect us with the body.
Marcus
www.extraordmind.com
Have you ever felt you had a greater calling, but been
unable to put your finger on what it is?
www.sageofsynchronicity.weebly.com .