Global Positioning System (GPS)
GPS mapping systems have had a tremendous impact on productivity in nearly every sector of industry, and society at large. Moving from where you are to where you want to be is fundamental to productivity in the human venture. Over the past decade regular folks have been able to gain direct access to powerful GPS tools on their computers and smartphones. This has allowed them to position themselves with increasing ease and accuracy.
Self Positioning System (SPS)
We are just a generation or two away from being able to download apps on our computers that will have parallel capacity as the GPS, but instead of positioning ourselves in relation to the globe, SPS or "Self Positioning System" mapping systems will help position us in relation to our self and relationships.Such futuristic SPS will likely monitor our body chemistry, brain waves, speech patterns, and many other variables simultaneously to let us know real-time where we are internally (emotionally, psychologically, energy-wise) and externally (relationships, social environment).
"In My Head"
Of course humankind did not have to have GPS satellites in the sky to get from one city to the next, or to find a place to eat. Geographic maps have been with us since ancient time. And most of the time we find our way around just fine without a physical map...because we have maps in our heads.This I am sure...the fundamental elements of the futuristic smartphone SPS app will tap into technology of ancient origins.
Just as we didn't have to wait for GPS satellites to come along before we could make improvements in our geographic navigation, we don't have to wait for the futuristic smartphone improve our self and social navigation.
One noted feature of the best SPS is that it will connect with GPS----such that "High Tech" (the physical world) and "High Touch" (the social world) are smartly combined. This has long been so, as noted here by F. David Peat, (emphasis added)
...It is a
characteristic of many of the aboriginal and indigenous peoples around the
world, particularly those engaged in hunting and gathering, that they are able
to carry out what seem to us prodigious feats of navigation, finding their way
in what is often termed a "featureless landscape". The Natives of
Micronesia are able to navigate with accuracy far out of sight of land, the
Naskapi of Labrador can find last year's trails under many feet of snow.
"But how are you able to get back to the same location a year later and
with snow on the ground?" a colleague of mine asked his Naskapi friend.
"I have a map in my head", came the reply.
characteristic of many of the aboriginal and indigenous peoples around the
world, particularly those engaged in hunting and gathering, that they are able
to carry out what seem to us prodigious feats of navigation, finding their way
in what is often termed a "featureless landscape". The Natives of
Micronesia are able to navigate with accuracy far out of sight of land, the
Naskapi of Labrador can find last year's trails under many feet of snow.
"But how are you able to get back to the same location a year later and
with snow on the ground?" a colleague of mine asked his Naskapi friend.
"I have a map in my head", came the reply.
The Naskapi,
the Blackfoot, the Cree and many other Indigenous American groups all have maps
in their heads, the Australian aborigines know the dreaming tracks of their
remote ancestors. Thanks to these maps, groups are able to carry out a variety
of practical tasks such as locating game, returning to the site of an earlier
camp or even traveling to a traditional trail that no member of the group has
visited in his or her lifetime. But it seems to me that this map in the head is
far more than this, for more that an AAA Guide Book to game tracks, for it
involves the whole relationship between the land and the people.
the Blackfoot, the Cree and many other Indigenous American groups all have maps
in their heads, the Australian aborigines know the dreaming tracks of their
remote ancestors. Thanks to these maps, groups are able to carry out a variety
of practical tasks such as locating game, returning to the site of an earlier
camp or even traveling to a traditional trail that no member of the group has
visited in his or her lifetime. But it seems to me that this map in the head is
far more than this, for more that an AAA Guide Book to game tracks, for it
involves the whole relationship between the land and the people.
The Native map
is learned in childhood. It is absorbed while sitting at the feet of elders and
hearing their stories and songs. The map grows out of dance and ritual, out of
the movements of the seasons and the ceremonies of the group. This map in the
head is not simply a plan involving contours, vegetation and trails, for it
expresses the group's place and their sense of harmony within the landscape; it
goes beyond the practical into the sacred, yet makes no sharp distinction
between either, for every act of the Native person has a sacramental quality.
The map reason, sensation and feeling,is the meaning of the group, it is what
holds them together, what binds them to their land, it is an expression of the
music of their language.
is learned in childhood. It is absorbed while sitting at the feet of elders and
hearing their stories and songs. The map grows out of dance and ritual, out of
the movements of the seasons and the ceremonies of the group. This map in the
head is not simply a plan involving contours, vegetation and trails, for it
expresses the group's place and their sense of harmony within the landscape; it
goes beyond the practical into the sacred, yet makes no sharp distinction
between either, for every act of the Native person has a sacramental quality.
The map reason, sensation and feeling,is the meaning of the group, it is what
holds them together, what binds them to their land, it is an expression of the
music of their language.
It should be
clear that when the Naskapi speaks of having "a map in my head" he
implies something far richer than what is today called a Cognitive Map. To
borrow from another contemporary terminology, the Native map exists in a
complex enfolded or implicate order for it contains not only topographical
information but the passage of time and indeed very much more. It is a map in
which each aspect, each landmark, has an associated value and meaning, it is a
map dealing not only with the external but also the internal. When the map is
used along the trail, it acts not only as a guide to location but expresses a
whole tradition of relationship to each part of the land.
clear that when the Naskapi speaks of having "a map in my head" he
implies something far richer than what is today called a Cognitive Map. To
borrow from another contemporary terminology, the Native map exists in a
complex enfolded or implicate order for it contains not only topographical
information but the passage of time and indeed very much more. It is a map in
which each aspect, each landmark, has an associated value and meaning, it is a
map dealing not only with the external but also the internal. When the map is
used along the trail, it acts not only as a guide to location but expresses a
whole tradition of relationship to each part of the land.
The Naskapi
speaker may not have been totally accurate when referring to the map as being
in his head, for this map is read with the eye of the heart, the wisdom of the
bones as well as with the eye of the mind. It is enfolded within the rhythm of
walking, dancing and sitting; it is found in the sound of the language and the
pattern of the entire culture. And so the map binds together, as does religion;
it nurtures knowledge, as does science, it expresses the joy and celebration of
nature, as does art.
speaker may not have been totally accurate when referring to the map as being
in his head, for this map is read with the eye of the heart, the wisdom of the
bones as well as with the eye of the mind. It is enfolded within the rhythm of
walking, dancing and sitting; it is found in the sound of the language and the
pattern of the entire culture. And so the map binds together, as does religion;
it nurtures knowledge, as does science, it expresses the joy and celebration of
nature, as does art.
The essential
point is, of course, that such maps or internal landscapes are not unique to
Native cultures but are possessed by each one of us. We too have our own maps
in the head. But while they have they may have grown highly sophisticated in
certain areas they are impoverished in others. The maps we carry have become
fragmentary and incoherent and no longer guide us on our journey through life.
point is, of course, that such maps or internal landscapes are not unique to
Native cultures but are possessed by each one of us. We too have our own maps
in the head. But while they have they may have grown highly sophisticated in
certain areas they are impoverished in others. The maps we carry have become
fragmentary and incoherent and no longer guide us on our journey through life.
Our maps do not bind us together for they have become ambiguous and
contradictory, they point us each in a different direction and the values they
teach often come into conflict with the path we chose. And so we have become
lost in a universe of our own making.
contradictory, they point us each in a different direction and the values they
teach often come into conflict with the path we chose. And so we have become
lost in a universe of our own making.
Moreover, we
seem unable to rest content with the implicate landscape of the map but are
constantly attempting to explicate its various forms and in this process we
fragment the map. We make a sharp distinction between consciousness and matter,
mind and body, objective and subjective, the eternal and the contingent. Native
maps, however, move beyond such fixed distinctions into an order between.
seem unable to rest content with the implicate landscape of the map but are
constantly attempting to explicate its various forms and in this process we
fragment the map. We make a sharp distinction between consciousness and matter,
mind and body, objective and subjective, the eternal and the contingent. Native
maps, however, move beyond such fixed distinctions into an order between.
Project
This website grows out of my personal project to live the last third of my life (est. age 54 to 81) with a fierce urgency and peaceful abandon.
To be ready, I am getting my OneLife Kit Together!---carefully organizing into special containers (literal and figurative) all of my top favorite things, including people, rituals, practices, traditions, pictures, videos, songs, food, movies, and everything in my life that can be gathered into a kit.
I am getting my OneLife Kit together for a specific reason. Mastery. In the last third of my life I want to master (to the point of ease) five skills:
My Five Final Skills To Master
1.) SPS (Event Mapping)
2.) OneLife Kits
3.) Performance Art
4.) Piano
5.) Scuba Diving
SPS (Event Mapping)
The very act of getting a kit together (the way I have defined it anyways) is itself a workout, the start of mastery. As I gather the things together I need in my kit I am testing my equipment--- DOING things. For example, I am taking scuba classes with my wife to get certified, testing equipment on prep-trips to island resorts, playing through the songs I know on the piano to identify my current and lacking skills...and even creating this website and some of the initial events I will be mapping.
That last prep should be reiterated: This particular website is my container (sub-kit) I will use to organize and share those things in my life that are related to my mastery of SPS.
I will now explain....from a Zoomed out view what SPS is. Afterwards I will discuss how I have been working with my friend, Dr. Norm Wood, to get the SPS part of my OneLife Kit together!
Norm Wood, PhD
A foremost authority on SPS happens to be one of my closest friends. I am so happy about that. Because he is helping me get my SPS kit together....here I will describe our current project...(connecting significant things in my life....grant writing training....with event mapping to get better results...I will emphasize that is why I am interested in SPS mastery....to get better results in every area of my life...and that SPS is a crucial element in my OneLife Kit Togethering project).Nuts and Bolts: 21 Events Menu
One of the things I have mastered is the OneWeekMenu (link here). Food was my master teacher for nearly 20 years. It taught me about kit building and mastery in general. The one week menu will serve as my pattern for mastery of SPS. The OneWeekMenu consists of mastering 21 meals (7 days x 3 meals).Similarly, my mastery of SPS will consist of mastering a menu of 21 events.
It is important here to note one of the underlying principles of skill mastery. Once you have mastered one thing to the point of ease, there is often a multiplying effect, where it becomes easy to master other things that align with that particular thing.
This was best illustrated to me years ago as I learned to master ("marry myself") to pizza, as I noted in my book, "The One Week Menu."
My faith is that if I can master 21 events, that most any other significant event in my life will align with (and require the same skill sets) as one of those 21.
Next step....show how I cook up my events....and how these events reappear in my life in various forms, and require some of the same basic tricks to fix (increase worth).
___________________
page development notes....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition
slow blogging...which will pretty much be my philosophy for this website:
http://www.tortoiseknowsbest.com/this-is-a-slow-blog/
http://www.tortoiseknowsbest.com/this-is-a-slow-blog/