2009.05.20 07:00 - What are we doing Here?

The Guardian for this meeting was Fefonz Quan. The comments are by Fefonz Quan.

Adelene Dawner: Hi, Gen ^.^
genesis Zhangsun: Hi Adelene cute av :)
genesis Zhangsun: I am off to the Kira Team meeting
Adelene Dawner: ok 6.^
Adelene Dawner: ^.^
Adelene Dawner: hiya, Fef.
Fefonz Quan: Hey, Adelene
Fefonz Quan: Hello Sophia
sophia Placebo: hello fefonz, adelene
Fefonz Quan: is this a magician stick?
sophia Placebo: oh no a comedian
Fefonz Quan: a comedian stick? never saw one
sophia Placebo: chaplin charlie-sp?-
Fefonz Quan: ah, ok right :)
Fefonz Quan: any thought regarding our PaB practice lately?
Fefonz Quan: thoughts*
sophia Placebo: apreciating the appearnce?
Fefonz Quan: for example,
Fefonz Quan: but plain PaB may do too :)
sophia Placebo: i dont have thoughts now - thoughts are not arising at the moment
sophia Placebo: says who adelene?
Fefonz Quan: yesterday, sitting by the lunch table at the dining room with my wife's academic coleages, i was asked what we are doing in our SL meetings
Adelene Dawner: Says Squee, apparently ^.^
Adelene Dawner: (Squee: The future belongs to the few of us still willing to get our hands dirty.)
Fefonz Quan: or more precisely, what 'project' are we working on as a team
Fefonz Quan missed squee :)
Adelene Dawner: aww ^.^
Fefonz Quan: So i found my self wondering how to answer this question
sophia Placebo: is it a correct question ?
Fefonz Quan: well, when asked on a big table, it is hard to ask that one back...
sophia Placebo: :)
sophia Placebo: but was is a correct question?
Fefonz Quan: well, if it was the people in my buddhist group, just for example, asking, they would phrase differently and i would answer differeently, and i would find it more easy to answer to that sort of audience
Fefonz Quan: but talking to academy people, infact their question is reasonable witin the way they see 'work', etc.
Fefonz Quan: within*
sophia Placebo: cuz it didnt look like a clarification question , more of judgmental one - or that what pop to my mind at least
Fefonz Quan: it might have been a judgmental one, but i think the way to deal with it is still to answer openly and not get into 'don't judge me' confrontation
sophia Placebo: cant the word chill out satesfy them ,or academics dont need a chill out moments
Fefonz Quan: chill out as what we do here?
sophia Placebo: yes
sophia Placebo: chill out your mind
Fefonz Quan: well, that would satisfy the buddhist group :)
Fefonz Quan: it might satisfy them, but becaue they will just think that we are playing around, a virtual freesbi throwing or something.
Adelene Dawner: so?
sophia Placebo: simple answers rarely are rejectable
Fefonz Quan: well, maybe it is off topic, but we are talking about the place were Pema is working and i am a visitor in his department.
sophia Placebo: they just were not here or not their area of interst so whatever big huge reason you looked up for their question ,it wouldnt satesfy them
Adelene Dawner: ahh
Fefonz Quan: i don't care for the reason of their question.
sophia Placebo: yes i just was going to say im new and still learning about this group everyday a little
Fefonz Quan: i care for a reasonable answer, that is about what we are doing, and doesn't sound (which i do believe we are not-) waisting our time here.
sophia Placebo: im not wasting my time :)
Adelene Dawner: actually, that sounds a lot like what I've been thinking about with PaB, the last couple weeks...
Fefonz Quan: yes that was my point too
Fefonz Quan: (to sophia)
Fefonz Quan: wasting time Ade?
sophia Placebo: but i have my personal experiance here , they want something not personal , as if some official statement at pab door
Adelene Dawner: I got busy with other stuff, and haven't been coming much, and got out of the habit... and most of the time now when I think about getting back into the habit I find myself thinking 'but... why?'
Adelene Dawner: And I'm pretty sure I used to have an answer to that question :P
Fefonz Quan: the habit to come here, or the habbit to practice?
Adelene Dawner never really did to the meditations :)
Adelene Dawner: *do
sophia Placebo: well fef , as i understand we study phemenology using our lifes as a lab
Fefonz Quan: that is a good phrasing Sophia.
sophia Placebo: but what we are waiting as an end result of this , im not sure about this part of question
Fefonz Quan: indeed the answer i gave said something about philisophy (not of science, but of reality, answering another question)
Fefonz Quan: and i did mention phenomenology workshop too.
Fefonz Quan: when we do science, the next (natural) question is - what hypothesis are you wroking on
Fefonz Quan: working*
sophia Placebo: ok , i guess im not used to this type of questions
Fefonz Quan: mabe ade is more used to them?
Adelene Dawner: A bit :) but I don't think phenomenology is quite that kind of science.
sophia Placebo: well fef , the general staement of using our life as a lab is not followed by a reasoning why we do so
Adelene Dawner thinks.
Fefonz Quan: yes, but it answers what we do sophia :)
sophia Placebo: yep but didnt answer the academic question
Fefonz Quan: mostly is regular jobs people won't ask you WHY you do what you do
sophia Placebo: they are asking about the outcomes
Fefonz Quan: you are also correct, that's why i brought the hypothesis issue
Adelene Dawner: I've always 'used my life as a lab' - all that means, really, is doing things and seeing what happens and getting better at predicting what leads to what. I don't personally see PaB as special on that count - though getting to meet other people who are doing the same thing is good, and useful, and rarer than I'd like.
Fefonz Quan nods
sophia Placebo: guessing : ways of knowing to answer phemenology athor than science ?
Fefonz Quan: sorry, didn't understand what you meant to sya
Fefonz Quan: say*
sophia Placebo: since it is not me who is directing this project then im just guessing why they did this project and what they are expecting
sophia Placebo: just trying to link the pheno workshop with ways of knowing workshop , im just guessing
Fefonz Quan: yes, i agree with sophia. Also, infact we have some working hypothesis here, but not one i can easily discuss in such a forum
sophia Placebo: i see , so you had the answer already
Fefonz Quan: not exactly, also because i think Kira and PaB have different goals
sophia Placebo: maybe
Fefonz Quan: (though personally i see them as different angles of the same thing)
sophia Placebo: :)
sophia Placebo: what you think is the answer fef ?
Fefonz Quan: as i see it, we explore views of reality, but not only in the objective and theoretical sense, but as tools that can be handy in our daily life
sophia Placebo: nods
sophia Placebo: but why?
Fefonz Quan: why learning useful tools?
sophia Placebo: yes
Fefonz Quan: i guess the answer lies in the question
Fefonz Quan: 'useful' means that we can use them and improve the quality of our life
sophia Placebo: i see
Fefonz Quan: mabe we can come back to Ade's question - why are you here?
Adelene Dawner: Right now? Looking for an answer to that 'why' question. :)
sophia Placebo: :)
Fefonz Quan: so we indeed deal with 'knowledge of knowledge' :)
Adelene Dawner: mm... I guess a more specific way of phrasing it is 'to find out if coming here is a more efficient use of my time than other kinds of learning I can be spending time doing, right now'
Fefonz Quan: mmhmm
Fefonz Quan: that is also comlicated, because different sessions have different quality
Fefonz Quan: complicated*
sophia Placebo: i guess my way is learning about self through others reflection , and i found sl a good meduim to this and new one too , pab in particular have this direct session of learning about self through others reflection
Adelene Dawner: yup, and that's further complicated by the fact that I can multitask through the lower quality ones :)
Fefonz Quan: so can we all Ade :)
Adelene Dawner: Agreed, sophia
Fefonz Quan: infact this is a bonus feature of SL, RL meetings don'thave that (useful) feature
sophia Placebo: g2g
sophia Placebo: nice question fef :)
Adelene Dawner: cya, soph :)
Fefonz Quan: Bye Sophia
Fefonz Quan: thanks
sophia Placebo: bye
Fefonz Quan: without asking how much you multitasked during this session, i would say that i hope to see you again here Adelene :)
Adelene Dawner: Well, I am going to make a point of coming at least somewhat regularly for a while before I make any decisions. :)
Fefonz Quan: cool :)
Fefonz Quan: i'll go soon, good to see you.
Adelene Dawner: you too :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: hey everone, still doing overtime here ?
Adelene Dawner: I'll get back to arguing with my CSS now. :)
Fefonz Quan: were just leaving :)
Fefonz Quan: CSS?
Yakuzza Lethecus: yeah, i know i am an hour over, so no problem
Adelene Dawner: Style steet for my new website. :)
Fefonz Quan: ah, cool
Adelene Dawner: ^.^
Adelene Dawner: bye
Fefonz Quan: bye Ade
Yakuzza Lethecus: bbye
Fefonz Quan: see you next time yakkuza