Podcast #163
John Steppling, Dennis Riches, and Hiroyuki Hamada
https://x.com/johnsteppling/status/1927745937981550986
https://x.com/TadhgHickey/status/1927380271520698681
https://youtu.be/q9dNpWq9e1Q?si=wDUQ37PHIhGSNX1P
https://youtu.be/I2HPylL-fLw?si=ZReJLa0bVhK5Q3GG
https://www.youtube.com/live/G9OQUrDAng0?si=8dgqIprK8R-Q7iR7
https://x.com/atrachelgilmore/status/1927754965621015009?s=46&t=R0HHtSoSUnxm3ApvOulW3w
I read the Castaneda books not too long ago, maybe in the past 5 or 6 year--I liked the books a lot, whatever else they are, they, as John said, do make you think along different paths. The Anne Carson Hesitation lecture, which was brilliant, actually made me think of one of the "teachings" of don juan, and I forget which book it's in, but it's such a common experience people used to have (less so now that we're in front of screens all the time). Don juan takes Castaneda out in the desert, I forget why. At one point Castaneda sees something he thinks is a huge, improbable animal, far away but the size of nothing that lives in that desert. He thinks the animal is dead, but then it moves and starts to rise up. He's terrified, and I think (I don't remember exactly) don juan urges him to go closer. Or maybe he just decides to, to show he's brave or something. And the animal resolves into a bush, not that big, waving in the wind.
He, proudly tells don juan that he resolved the mystery, but don juan tells him something like, "you just blew your chance to 'see'" (the books always use that word in quotes). See the non-ordinary reality I suppose.
Anne Carson had a similar experience with the chipmunk, and the Perro Semihundido the way the meaning of the painting "resolves" (to me it doesn't) with the addition of the birds--the dog's gaze is now explained. But the chipmunk leaving (or not) the blueberry is not-it remains a mystery. A door and one hesitates at the threshold.
I remember as a kid seeing things--optical illusions that made me just stop, and of course one rushes to resolve them, especially if one is fearful. but the Castaneda books made me think--well if there's no immediate danger, why not just not resolve it? Assuming that's even possible to me now. And so that's interesting. And now everything one sees is more or less curated--even offline! As Hiroyuki says--"domesticated." at least here in the west.
I enjoyed the resonance I felt when you (John) were talking about something in the fairly recent past - it was about political organizing meetings - being saner. The moment of resonance was in hearing you say, "I'm not hallucinating about this!"
Almost every day now I have this experience on some level, remembering a time when cognitive dissonance wasn't the predominant experience of every intellectual interaction. Thank you.