Tag: Philosophy

In Resonant Alignment

Sometimes I stumble upon music with voices that have a particular sound to them. Don’t worry about listening to these unless you have the time. They deserve at least half of your attention.

Existence: Life (alt link)
My favorite example.

I probably don’t have to tell you this. You’ve all heard a violinist play their instrument like a lover or seen a dancer give themselves to the music completely. Intuitively, we know what a disingenuous speech sounds like versus when someone believes in what they’re saying. It’s almost a caricature to hear how sarcastic and disingenuous the Chairman sounds in comparison.

Think about the difference between an honest plea from someone who needs help versus a sideways request that they choke out in after some distracting small talk. It doesn’t mean they’re lying to you, but it does show that there is dissonance in them. Parts of themselves that aren’t on board.

It’s not just passion. It’s also determination, confidence, an unwavering gaze. It’s chilling and powerful. There’s a way of sounding that you get when there is complete alignment. You’re hearing that what they singing is what they feel the truth is. Somewhere inside of you, it resonates the same thing in yourself somewhere in a way that’s very hard to ignore.

This isn’t just for music or creative acts. It’s important to know what this sounds like in yourself in others. Learning this is important. It’s how you can tell if you’re telling the truth.

This is how you tell if you’re speaking the truth or not.

Truth meaning what you actually believe, not what is objectively true out there. We’re not oracles for the world, but we can get closer to one when it comes to ourselves.

Mentally, this manifests as lack of energy or motivation. Procrastination, internal resistance, dragging yourself along. Shouldn’ts and Shoulds.

Physically, this manifests as a lack of smoothness, stopping and starting. Hesitancy and lack of confidence in movement. Tightness and aimlessness. Literally, spinal alignment.

Voices will sound shriller, shakier, quieter, hesitant, with more vocal fry, or just plain strung out in some direction. Sarcastic side comments, falsely inflected cheery small talk. Not being able to speak at all.

We’re a shadow of ourselves when our internal part are holding each other back, a confused collection of vectors that don’t fully line up with our speech and action.

When I’m in resonant alignment, moving forward isn’t tiring. Action isn’t costly. It’s flowing into the future. The words write themselves and my speech comes out clear. When all of those parts are in order—all of them, from our toes to our heart to our thoughts—is my working hypothesis for what a soul is.

I have an exercise that I find both painful and incredibly cathartic.

Look into the mirror and don’t break eye contact with yourself. Say something you believe. Listen to how it sounds. Say something that you don’t believe. Listen to how that sounds.

If you try to say it with feeling, are you convincing yourself? Be very careful to avoid learning how to better convince yourself of things you don’t believe, or you’ll risk jeopardizing your relationship with the truth. If you’re in a situation where you need to lie to yourself, maybe this exercise isn’t for you. If so, I hope you can move towards a situation that doesn’t make you do that to your soul.

Internal resonances isn’t a binary. It’s a matter of degree, and it takes a while to find the words that resonate the most. When I do find the right words, my chest will literally resonate more. And it often makes me cry when I do find them.

To sum up: There is a way of sounding when in alignment. Find the things that bring that voice out of you. Do that.

In Favor of Writing

Many people I know do interesting research, have numerous projects, and routinely develop novel deep thoughts. Lately, every time they’ve told me about a thing they’ve been working on, I have encouraged them to write it up and put it where someone else could see it. Why?

A selfish reason is that I am writing more and would enjoy the company.

Another is that I believe that what my friends are doing is interesting and important. I want to be able to reference their work later and be able to share it with others.

Overall, I’ve found a number of benefits to writing up things. First are minor pleasantries, like a better vocabulary and the ability to write faster.

Another is in the pursuit of laziness. Rather than have to tell the same thing to ten people before growing tired of explaining, then to watch them forget it, I have an artifact that sticks around for much longer. I can share that artifact astonishingly efficiently. And in the future, when I forget the details of what I learned at the time, my old work can fill me in.

Which brings me to the most serious reason. Putting work where it can be seen means becoming in contact with reality greater than the inside one’s own ego.

When I write something up, I am flirting with reality. A blank page is perfect. But imperfect words on the page are real.

When I post it online, I am dancing with reality. Others can tell if my ideas are weak or if I’m onto something. My work is where people can see it and judge it on its merits. What I share can’t generate defenses and excuses on the fly like I can.

This provides accountability to ego claims. Posting something online is proof that I made it. I’m not wasting time appearing like the type of person that writes things, I’m writing things and putting them in places where people can check.

When reality dances back, that’s how you get feedback. If a tiny segment of the world likes what it sees, that’s a step in the right direction. You know that you’re creating value. If that tiny segment of the world doesn’t like what it sees, then it’s time to change audiences or admit that the work needs improving.

There are some other benefits. I’m often aware of how easy it is to consume what other people have created without even considering creating on my own.

By posting something online, I am becoming the type of person that creates value. I am building the habit and skills of production over consumption. Even if that artifact falls into the void unseen, the work done will make the next project easier.

When should something be written up?

The Schelling Time is now, and by the process of producing and allowing that work to enter a feedback loop, it will improve faster. Waiting for a complete concept, a fully baked idea, or the end of the project to before daring to create a shareable artifact almost always means that none will ever be created.

I recommend that if you have something you believe is worth sharing, start working towards sharing it on a larger scale. If it’s just in your mind, put it on the paper. Share it with one person. Post it and never publicize it. When you’re confident, cast it out further and adjust it as the feedback comes in.