Re: ~e; question EM newsletter

[Arthur Elsenaar <arthur@iaaa.nl>]

Brian,

with great pleasure I've been reading your newsletter and browsed the 
electro-network website. I've always experienced it as a great service 
to the community and a great human powered news aggregator. Although I 
sometimes felt that the scope could be narrowed down to the essence of 
electro-magnetics. As an example, it's interesting to read about oil 
politics and so forth, but is it necessary?

I think that being as broad as it is, with all information floating 
around, it becomes almost unpleasantly overwhelming. Keeping up reading 
the newsletter is already a small task, putting it together must have 
been a day job.

Are you in for a discussion about the focus and scope, the topics 
covered in the letter? It could bring down the amplitude and frequency 
of work so to speak, becoming manageable.

If you decide to stop, we all deeply thank you for your contributions 
to our understanding of EM matters.

Arthur

>  hello everyone, I've arrived at the conclusion that the
>  end of the EM newsletter may be a good idea, to see
>  if there are other ways of sharing ideas. I think the idea
>  has proven itself, that over several categories (both in
>  serial and parallel progression) that EM developments
>  are interrelated. yet, as with news cycles, massively at
>  times, redundant. and highly-structured, may deter an-
>  other approach and contributions, as it is so singular.
>  I've also weighed the idea of a list itself, it is serves any
>  purpose or not, and so if ending the EM newsletter and
>  nothing spontaneous happens on list, it may be possible
>  it will be shut down until another time with active ideas.
>  there are many things I wish to write about and also put
>  online, yet am not sure of the format as it exists (news,
>  essays) versus actual conversations of shared views.
>  for instance, having just had some experiences with
>  the MRI, EEG, EMG, there are some amazing, simply
>  amazing corollary's to audio-engineering (it would
>  seem) and also earlier performance art shared on
>  the list with shocks and muscle contortions. (with an
>  EMG they put a needle with a microphone into your
>  muscle and you can hear your muscle as static, it is
>  wild). (in the MRI, it is like being inside a radio scanner
>  or a baby in a womb which is getting ultra-sounded (it
>  is wondered what babies hear of such events, it could
>  be very frightening first encounter.) (in an EEG it is like
>  a 16 track brain recorder, except instead of flute it is
>  eyelids, tracked by electrodes). all of this neuroscience
>  is fascinating to me, I do not know how to write about
>  it in an interdisciplinary way yet have always been
>  fascinated by it (and finally have access to some help
>  for brain mapping of language/memory issues here).
>  what is wondered is how experiences which many
>  people may go through in their lives, such as CAT-
>  scans, x-rays, and the rest may become rituals of
>  the cycle of life-to-death in an EM context, which,
>  say, a radiology department in 'nuclear medicine'
>  demonstrates, as the height of certain approaches
>  to medicine and healing. what would environments
>  or professions be without the equipment used, with-
>  out all this EM knowledge based on it, and the leaps
>  and bounds of research and development growing
>  everyday based on extending this systemic approach.
>  what does it mean that this is how humans are to be
>  interfaced with 'health' and diagnostic criteria of a
>  computer-based society, in terms of other things as
>  they happen in fields other than medicine (one of my
>  favorites is archaeology, although knowing only little
>  of the practiced field, the overlap with architecture in
>  terms of the toolset is quite large and could be even
>  more synchronized for creative research of ideas).
>  maybe this is towards a question of EM 'studies',
>  an interdisciplinary perspective. it is believe that,
>  as a proof-of-concept, the EM Education Initiative
>  (EEI, http://www.electronetwork.org/works/eei/ ) is
>  a proven viable approach to currently disparate
>  information online, to integrate and collate it (yet,
>  still needing refinement and collaborative moves).
>  The EM cultural aspects tend to be proven by the
>  works of artists, scientists, and others whose vast
>  research defines the present in terms of EM, yet
>  it still needs to be seen as a whole (such as, the
>  electronic, media, and other art with EM sciences,
>  histories, scholarship, within a shared empiricism.)
>  The approach to EM education can and will be a
>  way to continue the EEI goals yet it is wondered if
>  a list newsletter is serving the larger purposes or
>  just repeating the news cycle in an EM context, so
>  maybe it is time to reconsider its purpose, value,
>  as there could be other options available. Also, it
>  should be noted that it is hoped anyone writes if
>  they feel like it, and many times my writing is a bit
>  loose (not just grammatically messed up, but also
>  to push an idea to a point where maybe someone
>  may comment, to see if anyone has a view that is
>  able to recontextualize or refine the question to a
>  more practical or better language or even contest
>  the ideas, whatever. though it often is just silence).
>  So, I am not sure what the list could be, and hope
>  others speak up if they think it is something, is not
>  something, should be something or maybe it is not
>  about a list but the project and what this might be.
>  as always, suggestions, comments, ideas wanted,
>  needed, appreciated, including any and all criticism.
>  (by the way, I may be a bit dense and 'not get' what
>  may be readily understood by others, this is part of
>  what may be a 'blind-spot' in my sense of things as
>  is finally being realized (Asperger's Syndrome) so
>  if something is clear to most I will probably miss it,
>  so it is hard to guess what works and what doesn't
>  if others have an understanding of common sense,
>  in relation to this project. I lack this critical ability to
>  see and understand this project in relation to how
>  others may perceive it, cannot grasp the missing
>  parts and so it is a lot of trial and error (and errors)
>  and so, if there is something to say I hope people
>  feel free enough to say it and say it loud and know
>  that this 'gap' is an enigma, between what others
>  may be interested in and what is happening now.
>  I hope others can find a place for their work and
>  their ideas, yet there are limitations on individuals
>  to go beyond their means to make it all happen.
>  the EEI project is not going away, though it may
>  become more quiet as it is pursued (for research,
>  building the project, hopefully offline opportunities
>  and support to pursue this work with others in a
>  shared/collaborative project). The one thing I am
>  able to do is push the larger project forward, the
>  framework, the details and technical aspects are
>  a weak-point (if telling from my brain, it may be a
>  real weak-point in terms of degraded motorskills
>  and some delays). Though i am dedicated to this
>  project, and not only my own work, which often is
>  not developed to try to develop the larger context,
>  but all works which truly fascinate me to no end,
>  and I am sure others would also find a fascination
>  (from other disciplines) of the things going on today.
>  Such as MRIs and radio-scanners and EEGs and
>  audio-engineering, parallels are truly uncanny--
>  and these things have been explored by artists,
>  it is in the record and these are living artists, and
>  technologists, and scientists who can go so much
>  further with these ideas if more know of what this
>  is that is being explored, and to support such work.
>  from internet art to em archaeology to any discipline
>  which is in some way affected/effected, how this is
>  all tied together-- I hope this conversation can occur
>  as it offers a view of the whole that is missing from
>  any one discipline, from my experience, and could
>  help revalidate the oftentimes great works that are
>  caught in traditional categorizations, I wish it was
>  not an issue of individual philosophy as it is not as
>  solitary as this, nor proprietary. I have no idea how
>  to go beyond and seek any advice or suggestions
>  as to what may be options for the EEI project, or the
>  issues, or the list, or the ideas, or where things are
>  today versus what is in the newsletters, anything.
>  from my sense, I tend to see more relevance in
>  reading ancient texts which bring everything into
>  relation with one another (music with astronomy,
>  or electronic music and radio astronomy, today),
>  than any subdivision-of-subdivision-of-an-idea
>  which is a particular point of view of infinite many
>  based on particular cases (specificities, firstly). it
>  is not that this is wrong, it is not, but as a context
>  it is like looking at the details and talking about
>  the whole of something and instead it would be
>  to talk of the general (generalist) as a context in
>  which to recontextualize pre-existing specialist
>  views and vantage points, though in relation to
>  each other (e.g. new media and new economy).
>  I don't know, I truly do not know the direction to
>  go, but have a hunch and have followed it until
>  a point where the results of the experiment are
>  clear enough to decipher, and then to make a
>  refinement in direction or expansion, whatever.
>  whatever this is, it is meant to include others, it
>  is hoped others feel they are wanted, needed,
>  valued, and that a publicness is the meaning
>  of this initiative, not for political reasons but for
>  the needs of ideas, as businesses could also
>  make gains by listening to those who develop
>  ideas (in the arts, say) about what works and
>  what does not-- and there is a great resource,
>  still untapped, about tying these things together
>  to make larger changes, in a context (not in the
>  hierarchical disciplines but in a shared interest/
>  investigation, and purpose). if something works
>  better it can help other things work better too, it
>  is why supporting business innovations are as
>  important as others, too, it is proposed, because
>  this is often how changes are enacted today as
>  science, technology, society. not that this is the
>  rule, but it is an idea of innovation. and EM is an
>  area where this is the rule, and once the basics
>  are made tangible, much of it is readily available
>  to at least grasp, to imagine, to dream about or
>  propose what may be possible, given the givens.
>  thus, it is back to the power of ideas, education,
>  serving these dimensions, and also relating it
>  to existing efforts, public and private, and to try
>  to make things happen, let them happen, by a
>  recontextualization, reconfiguration by way of
>  electromagnetic knowledge. I realize the text is
>  too idiosyncratic for most to read, or reread as
>  it may be, again and again, post to post, yet it
>  is an attempt to share a belief in what this is,
>  why this is, where it may be going, who it is
>  hoped is involved, how to encourage this and
>  to improve upon the approach/model, and to
>  ask for ideas, not necessary for debate, though
>  that is okay. though also for exchange, so as
>  to improve the public project, to make it worth-
>  while for others to place their efforts into too.
>  as always, the electronetwork.org domain is
>  possible to transfer to a public project, and a
>  larger network of nodes and content is a goal
>  yet requires group and business resources to
>  actually accomplish in both scale and quality.
>  so, sharing here, asking here, thanks for being
>  here, and yet i wish it was not so silent as it is
>  not a high-goal to write newsletters to myself.
>  so too, openflows.org has been kind to allow
>  the list to operate during very turbulent times
>  (PEN-list, electronetwork-list) and maybe it is
>  also time to consider the list part of the archive,
>  a record, and another interface may work better.
>  in any case, thanks to every one of the members
>  for signing on, it has often kept the ideas going,
>  the thought that maybe someone on the list may
>  find a bit of information of relevance in some way,
>  or to pass it on to someone who may find interest.
>  it makes me smile, i don't get it though it makes
>  me happy nonetheless that the list has endured,
>  though the potential of the project still is way out
>  on the horizon. thanks if you read this far. brian
>
>  the electromagnetic internetwork-list
>  electromagnetism / infrastructure / civilization
>  archives.openflows.org/electronetwork-l
>  http://www.electronetwork.org/list/

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