Prelude III Meat Puppetry

Dear American Literati, Readers of Humanity, Dialogue
& Dialecticians and my colleagues across the curriculum.
 
       (Courses without Borders Series, cont. )
 
Redundantly redundant: “duplication of critical components
of a system with the intention of increasing reliability of the
system usually in the case of a backup or fail-safe.” (wiki)  .
 
In life we make progress by conflict and in mental life by
argument and disputation.... There must be confrontation
 and opposition, in order that sparks  must be kindled.
 
Only an open conflict of ideas and principles can produce
 any clarity.  Argument is essential for its own sake.
(Karl Popper)
 
Even if all were agreed on an essential proposition, it
would  be essential to give an ear to the one  person
who does not.  J.S. Mill

                          Prelude III  Meat Puppetry
 
I am, in a descriptive sense, a meat puppet—my concerns  and
cerebral/affective  ratio-analysis, rationalizations and  reasoning
operate under the AEGIS of a Higher Environed Mentalism that
is eclipsed by my own sense of free-will determination, agenda,
ego-conscious  purpose, aims, and measurable goals, damnit.
 
I imagine my self a “meat puppet” I know, I know: not a flattering
image,-- “hell, no: I'm no meat puppet” I tell myself, defensively.
(It strikes a nerve.)    But never the less…
 
I'm a dangling man and don't know it, damnit: looking down
my  gnosis  at all  I survey, the environment  ee  cumings calls
man-un-kind; me, master of  my domain  if not all that surrounds
me—a point of viewing, a perspective, a center of the universe
of which there are infinite—and if feels like (I could swear)
there are  no strings attached.
 
I have theories, understandings, reason's why,  because-&-affects,
account-abilities, measurable goals, aims, explanations, scapegoats
& free willy/nillies all the time choosing "this" and not "that" based
on  my assessment & evaluations, my good-guys  & bad-guys,
goodies & weasels, designer good & evil classifications.. .
 
Or I'm like a kid in a kiddy-seat, steering the car it seems, feels like:
beep, beep—watch out, here I come—punching  my red rubber
horn, twisting  & turning my plastic steering wheel.
 
Again, not a flattering image. Flattery's a piece of cake. I flatter my
self for sure, even flattering myself now confessing how flatter-able
I am. Whatever I say about my self, it's Self-serving, dubious,
deceiving, inadequate. ... How  could it be other wise?
 
There are other  ways to represent the human situation  &
predicament than meat puppets and  my kiddy litter, my
so-called auto-motivation. .Cave, say.  Me & everyone in
a cave and don't know it. Fast asleep convinced its a waking
life. Black ice. Driving to grandmother's house and making
 good time  unaware I'm driving on black ice. Chutes and slides.
 
LIKE that.  Like, I say: not IS. Analogic not logic. There's a
difference, true?

You'd think I'd look up—see the strings & paddles: me, knee jerk,
elbow-hoisting, shoulder-twitching, hand- pumping, head-nodding
gesticulating jiggle-dancing like some Conan O'Brien show-off.
   What?  What the?  What the hell?
   Who's pulling my strings?  Who's driving my car?
    Where AM I?
 
It's an environmental question, wondering about  the condition
of the condition of the Environment  my environment is in
 
Meat Puppet!  a good Joke.
Sometimes I get IT! (Eureka!) 
Sometimes I forget it.  Mostly
I  go about my busyness, best I can
ignoring my puppetry and puppet status,
unawares, unmindful.  .

You represent IT your way. (IT, I said: Do I have spell IT out?)
We can argue, or what's a college for.

Best,  Sam

(Hit reply etc if you want to continue this out of bounds.
 I'm sending a POSTLUDE tomorrow, with the course syllabus attached.)