Distilled Harmony Scripts: The Introduction

.
The Introduction

Hello my name is Robert Schrag and I’m a Professor of Communication at NC State University in Raleigh, NC, USA.  I came here in 1980, so I've been here almost thirty-five years as I tape this. That does, of course, leave another 30 years unaccounted for and I will mention them as they become relevant.

I realize that to young people entering the job market here in the dawn of the 21st century, the idea of staying in any one job for 35 years is bizarre.  And, looking back, it seems a touch strange to me as well.  But life has no rewind button - or we haven't figured it out yet - so forward is the only option.  Actually, being a professor in the same place for 35 years isn't really like being in the same job for 35 years. It is true that that today's large state universities are changing turning into grant and publication factories, an environment in which I am not comfortable; but for most of those 35 years this has been the best job in the world.

You see, as a university professor back in the 20th century you got to reinvent yourself whenever you wanted.  At least in my discipline you did.  I study and teach about communication technology, from ancient paintings and enigmatic marks on stones and bones all the way up to whatever new gizmo Big Tech will run up the flagpole tomorrow.  I get to think about how those tools affect us as individuals, groups, cultures and countries; about how tech impacts artists, politicians, everyday people.  I got to shift my focus to that which intrigued me at the moment. And that has been fine - for the most part.

But it isn't enough anymore. I mean it is still fascinating, what folks do with technology.  But it is a field largely driven by young people, by young thoughts.  And in our youth obsessed culture that is "normal," the way it is supposed to be.  But think about this for a moment.  How many of you would like to be young again?  I don't mean how many of you would like your young body back again - I've been through 2 stem cell transplants and treasure those moments when nothing hurts. So, yes, I would take that young body again.  But the younger brain? The twisting thoughts and churning emotions of yesterday?  No, thank you, I survived them for the most part, for which I am thankful, but I wouldn't want to have to work back through them again.  Even when I was 20, 30 or 40, I wouldn't have wanted to go backwards, even to reclaim the glibness, the sharp short-term memory.  The words flowed more freely when I had only a few decades under my belt, but often they could have benefited from more reflection and less speed.

So knowing what's happening in All Things Tech, running my fingers over the cutting edge, taking the pulse of generation X, Y, or Z squared to the next degree is not really all that interesting anymore. What has become utterly intriguing is trying to figure out what it all means.  As I have grown older I have become increasingly fascinated with the notion of purpose, the old "Why are we here? What are we supposed to do? Where are we going?" mantra. This time of life, my time of life, the one beyond Piaget's model, often prompts a series of questions that leads people into the certainty of religion, of structured belief. I have never been comfortable with that approach to life.  My father was, early in his life, a minister - as was his father before him. But Dad spent most of his life as a university professor, a radical sociologist involved in race relations and community change.  Maybe I can trace my own discomfort with being told what I am supposed to believe to his renegade inclinations.

The point is that I follow no traditional dogma, I point to no one book or prophet as my "spiritual guide."  The "organized" in "organized religion" seems to me an oxymoron.  You cannot organize that which is a unique and personal exploration. And what has made my personal journey even more interesting is that I do not see any reason to assume a division between physics and metaphysics. Rather I'm inclined to believe that every miracle is a "knowable" event that simply lies beyond our current understanding.  Further thought, more research, will reveal the natural process behind the seemingly miraculous.

Now before the atheists out there get carried away, let me point something out.  The explanations science provides for the “mysteries of the universe” are more far incredible than the miracles depicted in all the holy books of all faiths.  It seems a tad duplicitous to simply assert "That's just how it happened. Two degrees that way and the universe wouldn't have been able to support life. Whew, that was a close one!" I don't think so. Having been struck speechless multiple times by the unfathomable wonder of existence, I have as much trouble believing that that existence rests on a series of fortunate accidents, as I have accepting the notion of an interventionist deity who "sees the smallest sparrow fall."  Finding a rational middle ground between those two perspectives seems a worthy endeavor.

When my daughters were young and wanted to know what my job was, I used to tell them "Daddy thinks for a living." And for the last 10 or 15 years much of my "thinking time" has been devoted to thinking about that rational middle ground. To considering the "Why are we here? What are we supposed to do? Where are we going?" mantra from a middle perspective that remains scientifically sound without discounting a sentience, an intelligence intertwined throughout existence.

I have changed the name of this evolving perspective a number of times as each of the "defining tenets" captured my imagination.  I hope “Distilled Harmony” has some staying power.  It defines a perspective that rests upon four primary principles, four guidelines for living a life consistent with the nature of the universe and in concert with the intelligence manifested therein.  They are:

Foster Harmony
Enable Beauty
Distill Complexity, and
Oppose Harm

This series of presentations is intended to share, with those of you who might be interested, the evolution of those four tenets as they wind their way from the string theory of quantum physics through deep considerations of humanity and immortality.  Perhaps I'll see you there.

=======================================
Link to the presentation:
http://mymediasite.online.ncsu.edu/online/Play/ca20c9fb306f4f2f81c8d44c16c9f59a1d
.