So,
We will finally have the opportunity to prove whether we
are human or just "minor" animals. All of our accomplishments
will have bred empathy and the impulse to community out of our
genes and we will join the wolverines as the most feared and dangerous animals
on the planet. The Sioux called them "devil dogs" and refused to go
out if one crossed their path. Arthur, your comments sound
like a Laguna poet and MacArthur fellow. I'm soing to quote a
poem published in Leslie Marmon Silko's book "Storyteller" Pg. 130 Arcade
Press:
Long time ago
in the beginning
there were no white people in this
world
there was nothing European.
And this world might have gone on like that
except for one thing:
witchery.
This world was already complete
even without white people.
There was everything
including witchery.
Then it happened.
These witch people got together.
Some came from far far away
across mountains.
Some had slanty eyes
others had black skin.
They all got together for a
contest
the way people have baseball tournaments
nowadays
except this was a contest in dark things.
So anyway
they all got together
witch people from all directions
witches from all the Pueblos
and all the tribes.
They had Navajo witches there,
some from Hopi, and few from
Zuni.
They were having a witches' conference,
that's what it was
Way up in the lava rock hills
north of Canoncito
they got together
to fool around in caves
with their animal skins.
Fox, badger, bobcat, and wolf
they circled the fire
and on the fourth time
they jumped into that animals's
skin.
But this time it wasn't enough
and one of them
maybe a Sioux or some Eskimos
started showing off.
"That wasn't anything,
watch this."
The contest started like that.
Then some of them lifted the lids
on their big cooking pots,
calling the rest of them over
to take a look:
dead babies simmering in blood
circles of skull cut away
all the brains sucked out.
Witch medicine
to dry and grind into powder
for new victims.
Others untied skin bundles of disgusting
objects:
dark flints, cinders from burned hogans where
the
dead lay
Whorls of skin
cut from fingertips
sliced from the penid end and clitoris
tip.
Finally there only one
who hadn't shown off charms or
powers.
The witch stood in the shadows beyond the
fireh
and no one ever knew where this witch came
from
which tribe
or if it was a woman or a man.
But the important thing was
this witch didn't show off any dark thunder
charcoals.
or red ant-hill beads.
This one just told them to
listen:
"What I have is a story."
At first they all laughed
but this witch said
Okay
go ahead
laugh if you want to
but as I tell the story
it will begin to happen.
Set in motion now
set in motion by our witchery
to work for us.
Caves across the ocean
in caves of dark hills
white skin people
like the belly of a fish
covered with hair.
Then they grow away from the
earth
then they grow away from the
sun
then they grow away from the plants and
animals.
They see no life
When they look
they see only objects.
The world is a dead thing for
them
the trees and rivers are not alive
the mountains and stones are not alive.
The deer and the bear are
objects
They see no life.
They fear
They fear the world.
They destroy what they fear.
They fear themselves.
The wind will blow them across the
ocean
thousands of them in giant
boats
swarming like larva
out of a crushed ant hill.
They will carry objects
which can shoot death
faster than the eye can see.
They will poison the water
they will spin the water away
and there will be drought
the people will starve.
They will fear what they find
They will fear the people
They kill what they fear.
Entire villages will be wiped
out
They will slaughter whole tribes.
Corpses for us
Blood for us
Killing killing killing
killing.
And those they do not kill
will die anyway
at the destruction they see
at the loss
at the loss of the children
the loss will destroy the rest.
Stolen rivers and mountains
the stolen land will eat their hearts
and jerk their mouths from the Mother.
The people will starve.
They will bring terrible
diseases
the people have never known. Entire bribes will
die out
covered with festered sores
shitting blood
vomiting blood.
Corpses for our work
Set in motion now
set in motion by our witchery
set in motion
to work for us.
They will take this world from ocean to
ocean
they will tunr on each other
they will destroy each other
Up here
in these hills
they will find the rocks,
rocks with veins of green and yellow and
black.
They will lay the final pattern with these
rocks
they will lay it across the
world
and explode everything.
Set in motion now
set in motion
To destroy
To kill
Objects to work for us
objects to act for us
Performing the witchery
for suffereing
for torment
for the stillborn
the deformed
the sterile
the dead.
Whirling
whirling
Whirling
Whirling
set into motion now
set into motion.
So the other witches said
"Okay you win; you take the prize,
but what you said just now--
it isn't so funny
It doesn't sound so good.
We are doing okay without it
we can get along without that kind of thing.
Take it back.
Call that story back."
But the witch just shook its head
at the others in their stinking animal skins,
fur
and feathers.
It's already turned loose.
It's already coming.
It
can't be called back.
Leslie Marmon Silko,
Storyteller, Pub. Arcade
Press
Page 130-37
For my money she could have just have just as
well been talking about J.S. Mill or Jevons his math
accolite. Meanwhile, can it be called back? Only if there is a
real paradigm shift and that depends upon whether there is some "witch" who is
equal to them to tell an equal healing story to their sickness. If
you want to know the difference between a witch and the others. A
witch is out to trick you but must tell you the truth and get your agreement
before it does. Everyone else is just a con.
Ray Evans Harrell, artistic director
The American Masters Arts Festival Biennial
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 9:10 AM
Subject: RE: [Futurework] Future
Teaching
> the economy. Wonder if the final outcome will be "good" or "bad"
> Productivity will have increased but human interaction (at least in these
> traditional areas such as education and probably health care) will have
> decreased.
>
> arthur
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Franklin Wayne Poley [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Wednesday, December 3, 2003 8:42 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [Futurework] Future Teaching
>
>
> Have a look at the robotic teacher I'd like to hire from King's
> College, London:
>
> <http://www.geocities.com/machine_psychology/IMP_Cover_Page>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 17:35:46 -0800 (PST)
> From: Franklin Wayne Poley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [IMP] Final Lesson 36
>
> There are typically 36 hours of class time for a one semester, 3-credit
> course. Lessons 31-35 are more in the nature of an assignment: draft out a
> set of menus and prompts for the SEE-to-C program or even go further and
> turn that into C code if you are so inclined. How much of my notes on
> SEE-to-C I will post eventually on the expert system program for C code
> writing, I do not know. If I am correct about this (and you can find out
> by trying to write SEE-to-C for yourself) then future students can forget
> about texts like Aitken and Jones ("Teach Yourself C in 21 Days") or a
> course like COMP 2425 at BCIT which takes about 144 hours. Gary Livick's
> C-programmed robot, Etcetera, will be able to teach C in one hour.
>
> Final lesson 36 is titled "Godbot" and it is designed to stimulate some
> creative and metaphysical thinking. If anyone has SPECIFIC criticisms I
> will welcome them. I certainly don't want to cap off a course which I have
> spent so much time developing, with any errors.
>
> <http://www.geocities.com/machine_psychology/The_Ghost_In_The_Machine>
>
> FWP
>
>
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> ---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
>
> Machine Psychology has to do with machine substitution for the phenomena
> which are the traditional subject matter of psychology.
> IMP is being taught according to the slogan of automated teaching: THE
> STUDENT IS ALWAYS RIGHT!
>
> "Courseware" is being designed so that IMP will "stand alone" as a machine
> teacher without needing any further input from human teachers.
>
> <http://www.geocities.com/machine_psychology/Table_of_Lessons>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
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