Double Attention 4 comments

11 Aug 2010 @ 19:13, by Max Sandor Few have realized the full importance of the ability to have the attention on more than one object of the senses at the same time. In fact, other than Gurdjieff and someone whose name I don't remember, was it Osho RIP?, nobody talks about it, if one can believe the Google search engine, do you?, unless it appears as a PROBLEM rather than an ability. Yes, that's right, a PROBLEM. The mere thought of doing two things at the same time seems frightening to some people and you'd better be prepared to defend yourself, physically if necessary!, if you think of proposing it to your neighbor, friend or foe. In the attached picture, one of the 'collective' instruments of Anton Walter Smetak (from the book 'Simbologia dos instrumentos', Associaçao dos Amigos do Smetak, Salvador 2001). He called his instruments 'instru-mentos', designed to instruct our minds to see beyond the mono-vision of our prevalent culture, towards a 'supercosmic, supermental, and submental reality' (he quotes Sri Aurobindo). Music expands our awareness by oscillating between extremes, raising awareness of the polarities in life, the dance of Shiva and Shakti, and the mediating part of communication between the two. Even though his nomenclature of Indian devas and super-devas is drawn from confusing sources (and readers of this Blog are unforgiving in such things!), Smetak's observations of the underlying principles of dualities and triads in music, which for him is LIFE itself, are enlightening and clearly deserves an audience beyond the speakers of the Portuguese language. Yes, double attention, nothing for the faint-hearted (disclaimer: don't engage in such hideous practices while driving a vehicle or operating heavy machinery!). And it's sorely missed in today's school books. Such is the case for 'peripheral vision' as well, it seems. Far from being only a 'must' for airplane pilots and not limited to the natural talent of daughters of Oshun in studying male prospects without giving away any sign of her interest, these skills can and SHOULD BE learned by everyone, beginning at the preschool level. Today's society experiences a state of vertigo. Spaceship Earth is in a spin. Recoverable or not, it's a bad thing, as every pilot knows. Unless you're flying aerobatics. And even then, the last time I did, at Burbank airport, I was vomiting for 2 hours after 5 flat spins in a row (this was in fact the last time and I deep-sixed my planned career as an aerobatic pilot right there and then). Maybe we should start a war against monovision? Let's beat the foveas out of our lives once and for all! Playing our minds as collective instruments rather than trying to trump each other with intellectual games which are fun but rarely yield what's promised. Peripheral Visionaries of the World, Unite!

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