In this autumn season of the scales of Libra it seems the question of balance, and finding a fulcrum point is at the center of every question. ..and that the question of what it means to be a human in this time of developing technology and super intelligence is the question most needing to be grappled with. It seems that my now 35 year old dusty degree in theology and my home bookshelves of poetry might actually become useful in this brave new world. Questions of similarities between the possible divine mind and super intelligence are at the forefront of philosophy and morality and real questions of ease, of comfort but also of possible extinction. Michael Pollan states that one of the greatest and most valuable strengths that we have is the power of attention. He rightly tells us our attention is the commodity that is most sought after by doom scroll dopamine pushers, and encourages us to take our attention back and be intentional with it. He posits that “it’s time to stop the scroll and reclaim the most precious thing you own: your consciousness.” It’s a powerful and healthy spiritual prescription, and perhaps easier said than done….but critically doable nonetheless. I visited my mom the other day and came into the family room to see her reading a book. Something struck me with that image of her with the book. It was powerful. She wasn’t looking at some device that was also essentially looking at her and tracking her eye movement and trying to monetize her interests, she was simply looking at a book and reading. These are certainly strange days, but there are many proven and healthy ways of taking one of our most valuable powers back from those systems trying to deplete. I shy away from fully turning this post into an advertisement, but programs like LexCE offer something very important, perhaps more important than ever now. In fact I’m really looking forward to an event that we have this fall that speaks directly to all of this (Recovering from Cultural Anesthesia & Returning to the Senses) with addiction expert and author Piers Kaniuka and philosopher Michael R. Spicer.
The power of pointed and intentional attention; engagement and the experience of the body and mind within community; autonomy in deciding for ourselves what is right or wrong; balancing opposites; leaning toward justice; being completely awestruck at the sight of a newborn baby; honoring beauty, championing love…all very Libra-esque. All very necessary now. ⚖️ ♎ 🙏
Craig Hall
Lexington Community Education, Director
