Held in Motion

Introducing new pop-up episodes that will bubble up from time to time. Where the journey, the being, is more important than the destination or result. So, it may be whimsical, silly, cool, or a flop. Unexpected, a bit like Pop Rocks™ candy. 💥🤪 This first FizzyPop is a twofer. Inspired by indigenous women I've read or listened to, I ponder a not so new kind of marketplace. And then comes the adde...

Is cognitive empathy moral? Indicative of one’s humanity? Or is it a sloppy substitute slotted in with other Jenga blocks in an attempt to hold hierarchical society, together? Yet again, I find myself wondering about cognitive empathy; from depedestalizing it to questioning if the entire idea is colonial shit. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Resources & Notes: Preference for hierarchy is associated with reduced empathy a...

"Hierarchies exist everywhere in nature!" It's interesting how a memetic handed to us, 1,000s of years ago, is so powerful as to shape how we perceive and make sense of the world, today. Without question, without pausing, 'it just is what is'. We presume and assume a lot when we decide who or what sits where in a hierarchy. Is this as neutral as we believe? Resources & Notes: An Immense World by E...

It's incredible how, whether an internalized understanding of self or external messaging about self, the cognitive architecture we construct shapes our perceptions. Which is scary disturbing to think how systems of power can and do shape us, but it's also incredibly liberating to realize we can play a role in shifting the scaffolding and thus our literal, bodily perceptions. Or at least, this is m...

There’s the bare bones architecture of power. Then, there’s the tissue for what that particular iteration of power looks like in that particular intersection of time & space. And then, there’s the sociology of power that behaves just like a cult. The propaganda, the “right” or “proper” frames, the steadfast beliefs. And then, the psychology of the cult is intertwined with identity & ego to defend...

What if the question of free will or determinism was flawed to begin with? What if this is why the question persists? Why it's been debated, for-ever? What if unfurling & reintegrating our understanding shifts the camera lens? And what if the tangential concepts that connect to either free will or determinism become, almost, noise? What if when shaken out, relational integrity reveals a more congr...

Overt power is easier to identify. What about when power intentionally makes itself more covert, more palatable? What about when power becomes the substrate; infiltrating perceptions, language, thinking & reasoning? When it's deemed "neutral", "inevitable", "human"? When we, as products of the environment, self & peer perpetuate & reinforce it? Resources & Notes: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wi...

Power uses hierarchies for control & influence. I think morals conceptualized within environments of power are tainted in similarly unhelpful ways. We focus on being “good” or “not bad”, while people & situations are demoted to context. Disassociating us from the greater responsibility found in being present, in relationship with, in bidirectional feedback looping with others. Here you'll find how...

There's a lot of shit happening in the world, right now. Some see it, feel it. Others see it, but dismiss the degree of shit. Then, there are the arguments that arise over feelings, perceptions, & even what to do. Who's right? What if patriarchy & white supremacy filter the threat & shape what we see, what we feel, & when? And these same systems keep us from seeing & hearing one another, let alone...

What if feedback loops were more popularly understood as dynamic looping? Not a noun, but a verb. Signals sent, uninhibited. Signals acknowledged & metabolized. Leading to a reorganizing of the system, resulting in a change, a shift. A changed output ready for a new feedback signal. A continual looping. The very essence of life! What if shifting our collective understanding shifted us internally?...

From the design of AI to its responses, attention has often been oriented towards fitting into the "bits & bytes" mechanics ('This is how we code file systems/logic gates/etc... Now let's fit this idea of AI into this paradigm.'), when LLMs (large language models) are inherently, messily human. What if we shifted our orientation to look at how humans exist multidimensionally, and then tried to bui...

Building on ideas from the "Morals as functional theatre?' episode, I share how my thinking has complexified and expanded. Combining the previous conceptual framing with this new one, they seem to make me & others more legible; taking two dimensional perceptions to 3D in high definition. (For reference, I do a complexified recap of that previous episode for context, if you're wondering whether to...

Sometimes, I think we humans are very funny in our audacity. To think that we could remove any and all influences in the practice of science. I love science! I do! But it is imperfect, and IMO is far more powerful when combined with additional knowledge/lenses. Then we can see the "force fields", the relational & multidimensional context. Ready for a rollercoaster? Think systems, hormones, mosh pi...

In the previous episode, I tried to do the ridiculous; take a non-gender-essentialist/exceptionalist look at patriarchy & matriarchy. After taking a step back to really look at matriarchy, to me, it's looking a lot like a projection and reflection of the patriarchy. Resources & Notes: How AI sources can increase openness to opposing views This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this...

When hierarchies of dominance teach us to understand everything in boxes, then to evaluate how accurately a thing, a person, each of us, fits in a box, should be evaluated according to that box, in contrast to another box, that the boxes need to be shuffled up and down in importance, according to some ideal, objective valuation that is defined by those in power... What if we rejected the boxes & t...

What if morals are functional theatre? For us? For others? What if they really aren't about what is good or right conduct? What if that's just the story? And how we embody & live out the story, is entirely different? And what if those inconsistencies are less about good & evil and instead evidence of moving parts - different cognitive infrastructure, storytelling, & sociological signaling? All mov...

We're often led to believe that only certain people can or can't be imaginative, that only certain contexts & times are "appropriate" for "childishness". I endeavour to show that everyone is creative, and then how unexpected, practical steps can reignite the imagination. How play can simply be for the fun of it, for playfully addressing heavy challenges, or for creating a different tomorrow. Not o...

What if Goliaths could be brought down in more ways than one? What if, instead of a flashy moment or a single hero... What if we could destabilize the "ground" beneath a Goliath but reinforce the "ground" for the rest of us? Resources & Notes: Instagram reel talking about allegorical stories (Like Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.) where the hero takes out the big baddie, show us how to recognize fasc...

If cognitive empathy is done selectively and sharing how sexism & misogyny are literally costing women's lives is not a motivating factor... If patriarchy is a self-reinforcing & rewarding prison costing men's lives, and that is not a motivating force... How do we connect with men about the importance of off-ramping the patriarchy? I unpack & explore some of this, as I attempt to re-orient my thin...

I think we're at a pivotal point in history. Previously, we could build less complex systems that significantly relied on individuals doing the "right thing" — it was, essentially, an assumed cog in the machine. We used cultural narratives to create "moral" systems, so an individual would be 'moral, responsible, and accountable'. When capitalism puts everything permanently on fast-forward & there'...

The early explorations of: How do we create different online experiences? Using multiple lenses to look at the stabilizing tethers of real life vs the dissassociated experience of online life. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heldinmotion.substack.com