The quest for truth in a world of infinite perspectives (1 Viewer)

[soulsurfer]

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible." --Bertrand Russell

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect)." --Mark Twain

"Insanity in individuals is something rare – But in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule." --Nietzsche

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you’ll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." --Rudyard Kipling

I found myself experiencing a huge range of emotions and perspectives regarding the recent Iran events. I sought out news sources that I wouldn’t ordinarily listen to and avoided sources that I normally trust. Every day and with every article I read I noticed it was altering the way I viewed the situation. My feelings and opinions were constantly changing.

Everything we believe has been micro-filtered through a personalized lens comprised of past experiences, peers, teachers, parents, media, religion, language, geographic location and many other influences. We each live in our own echo chamber. We have specific sources that we turn to for news or guidance and we ignore all other sources. In doing so we effectively blind ourselves to those other perspectives and consequently never get any closer to that enlightened state.

I’ve felt guided to create something since late December. It began as a simple question like “What can I contribute to the world with the skills that I have?” And over the past 2 weeks it has slowly evolved into a perspective focused project. I’ve had strange synchronicities popping up during this time like the last Buddha at the Gas Pump episode or Lisa Gawlas’ recent post. It all seems to be pointing to the importance of helping the world to see things differently. There’s a strange excitement involved as well and I remember hearing Darryl Anka talk about the importance of following your excitement.

“Excitement is your body's physical translation of a communication from your higher mind. Respond to it by acting on the excitement.”

I have an idea for a new software project. Imagine a website where all content was organized by a philosophy or perspective. Let’s call it a TLP (top level perspective). You could post content about any topic or answer any question but each post would be tagged with that TLP. The content would be arranged in a grid pattern like 3x3 and each box would contain a unique perspective related to the same topic. So if someone were to search for “ascension” they would be presented with a grid of 9 different perspectives on that topic (e.g., Buddhism, QHHT, channeling, Jainism, etc). It could be expanded to provide an infinite scroll feature where more perspectives on that topic would be loaded as they scrolled the page.

I would prefer the site to borrow content from existing sources rather than posting new content. For example, quoting a blog and posting a link to that blog. It could link to any type of media from news articles, blog posts, books, podcasts, music, movies, etc. If a podcast has a relevant discussion about the topic then you could post a small quote/transcript and link to the rss or mp3 file.

I can build the web app using the Meteor framework but I can’t afford to pay for the hosting at the moment. I think once it’s deployed and begins receiving enough web traffic it would be self-supporting through the use of affiliate links (directing users to 3rd party sites to purchased books/documentaries). Unfortunately there’s no way to know how long that will take and hosting a Meteor app is a pay as you go service. I wouldn’t know how much the hosting would cost until the end of each month ($ per hour per instance).

Does anyone here have experience with Meteor, Node, Mongo, JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap or Linux?

Does anyone here have a server that can host a Meteor app without having to pay extra for bandwidth or storage?

Does anyone know of an existing site similar to what was described above? I suppose the first step here is to make sure it doesn’t already exist.

Is there any interest in having access to such a site?

I would love this to become a community driven project. I’ve developed many open source projects in the past and I eventually abandon them because there’s simply no interest or contributors. Looking forward to your comments and suggestions.

 

[Linda]

You know what I found most interesting about your idea - that responses or ideas are grouped by philosophy or type. I see that alone as a way to expand thinking. I can see someone having a question and being able to see side by side how different sources see it.

 

[Snowmelt]

It all seems to be pointing to the importance of helping the world to see things differently

I think it was Heraclitus who said, "You can never step into the same river twice". And that can mean bringing newly polished eyes for the reception of visual information, and an expanded brain-sphere for the unfurling of that information and changing perceptions already held. It's almost as if people's minds snap shut at the beginning of something they think they already know.



There was a site like that discussed on this forum about 2 years ago, and it was basically links that led to other links. But I'll have to rack my brain to think of the poster, so I can search for it.

https://www.transients.info/roundtable/threads/ions-webinar-decoding-the-premonition-code-oct-22.6040/ Here is one that shares Ufology-type information.

 

[Lila]

You think big, soulsurfer!
I can't help at all with the technical details, though I suspect there are others here who can comment intelligently on it.
I can tell you that I love the way you think and that great things are born in this way. Love that you are seeking input from the get-go Also, you articulate this in a way that I can picture it
I'd imagine your greatest challenge would be to keep the multiple perspectives readily available when someone doesn't like it. There are ways to do this and it takes attention and devotion, I believe.

 

[soulsurfer]

So I was reading the about page on quora and it seems like they've tried to accomplish a similar concept. The thing I don't like about their site is that it functions and reads like a forum or subreddit. Anyone can post their personal views/thoughts like responding to a forum thread. And it displays the answers vertically which really limits the number that you can view at any given time. Hence, limited perspectives. People might read the first answer and never scroll down. I envision a site for research rather than discussion. Meaning content could only be posted from other sources. That would also tidy up the formatting. I don't know. Maybe quora is good enough for most users?

https://www.quora.com/about

 

[Linda]

Maybe quora is good enough for most users?

I think the quora site has some similarities to this forum. Someone posts an idea or a question, and people respond.

Now, other sites have created archives of their own work, as well as links to others who've done the same thing. Maryann, who posts here, also has her own website with a collection of other sources.

I did see that one of people she cites, who has a spectacular library, is shutting it down because of trouble with youtube and copyrights. Although she followed the rules, she still was targeted. So, this may be an issue to consider - exactly what can be posted and how.

I can say that the copyright issue is a big deal, and I do my best to keep things on the up and up, as Laron is personally responsible for infringements. There are quite a few sites that have reproduced copyrighted materials for the public. Most people don't see the problem; however, if you've ever made a living with your words, then you do.

 

[soulsurfer]

I'm not too concerned with the copyright issue. For any commercially available media the goal would be to drive traffic to an affiliate link where users could purchase the media. For things like news articles and blog posts I could set a strict character limit so that users could quote a source and link to it. I think as long as the quote is the same number of characters you might find in search engine results it should be fine. I've seen duckduckgo results up to 356 characters long. Plenty of room to express a perspective and link to it. I would like to know what the rule is for mirroring content. For example, how does archive.org get away with their way back machine? They copy entire pages.

Off topic but if anyone is interested in a new private search engine check out swisscows.ch

 

[Snowmelt]

I'm not too concerned with the copyright issue. For any commercially available media the goal would be to drive traffic to an affiliate link where users could purchase the media. For things like news articles and blog posts I could set a strict character limit so that users could quote a source and link to it. I think as long as the quote is the same number of characters you might find in search engine results it should be fine. I've seen duckduckgo results up to 356 characters long. Plenty of room to express a perspective and link to it. I would like to know what the rule is for mirroring content. For example, how does archive.org get away with their way back machine? They copy entire pages.

Off topic but if anyone is interested in a new private search engine check out swisscows.ch

I'm far too wordy for a limit of 356 characters. Ahem, the less is more criteria just doesn't sit well with me.

 

[therium]

I sought out news sources that I wouldn’t ordinarily listen to and avoided sources that I normally trust.

A wise man has an open mind to consider all sources and all aspects of a problem, before digesting them and testing them for validity. Even sources I used to consider ridiculous have lead me to a much better meaning of life and the universe and the multi-verse (the multi-verse I define as all frequencies of a universe, even those frequencies we cannot see with physical eyes).

I was getting no satisfaction from old religions beating a dead horse so I went an alternate path and the alt path made much more sense to me. Thus I am more content with my understanding of the multi-verse that I have. That does not mean I know everything, but I know enough to be content now, and to search for more information later to sate my curiosity.

It all seems to be pointing to the importance of helping the world to see things differently.

You got it! I have the same task and I now listen to my intuition more. But I have to be careful not to confuse my fear (a feeling, or reaction to something real or perceived) with intuition. Some people call intuition a "feeling" but I don't think that really does the word "intuition" justice at all. So I define feelings as generally an involuntary reaction to a real or perceived stimulus, while "intuition" is actively hooking into something deeper. Notice that I define feelings as involuntary REaction, and intuition as a voluntary action. Once you think about that difference, one understands why they are different.

I have an idea for a new software project. Imagine a website where all content was organized by a philosophy or perspective.

Well, here are some brain networking softwares to organize ideas in a web or net. These might give you inspiration.
https://www.thebrain.com/
https://webbrain.com/brainpage/brain/6FBA86B0-0C57-9FCA-5CF9-D742DA541AAA#-1276

Do you want your tool to be installable on a single PC, or be an online tool?

Tiddlywiki

Does anyone here have experience with Meteor, Node, Mongo, JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap or Linux?

No but Tiddlywiki might help. It's an online or offline wiki with it's own wiki language. But it's much more than a wiki. A Tiddlywiki is made up of chunks of text, called a "tiddler". Don't ask me why they call it that, I don't know. A tiddler can have one or more tags, thus you can find all tiddlers with a certain tag, or concept, or philosophy. It is a self-modifying HTML file. All images and code are in one HTML file so it's easy to backup if needed. This has been a huge help to organize my notes and is the best free solution I have found in 20 years.

It also has tools to list, in another tiddler, all tiddlers, with live links, with that tag.

It can also be hosted online for free on Google Drive, Dropbox, Tiddlyspot.com, and several other sites. It also has powerful search features including regex. I use it to organize my notes and it has been very handy.

So here is a tiddler online with automatically generated lists of tiddlers for different purposes:
http://anomcr.tiddlyspot.com/#5G main

If I add another tiddler with that same tag, this list is automatically generated. The bulleted list here lists all tiddlers with the tag "studyCellphone". I have another tag called "study5G" for more general studies about 5G.

While you cannot save edits without the password this Tiddlywiki is viewable to the public.

The online forum is here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/tiddlywiki
More info and the latest version is here: http://tiddlywiki.com

The tiddlywiki.com is the actual Tiddlywiki and there are instructions to download it to a local flash drive. Latest version I think is 5.1.21. Version 5.1.22 has the ability for the public to comment on every tiddler. Of course the comments open the possibility to spam.

The 5.1.22 prerelease is here: https://tiddlywiki.com/prerelease/

As you can see on my anomcr tiddlywiki I have made the fonts smaller to fit more info on the screen, limited the height of a tiddler so a scroll bar appears, and made some other cosmetic changes. Much customization can be done with CSS and things they call macros, and widgets, and there are also third-party addons you can add, like an addon to easily manage references and footnotes.

Is there any interest in having access to such a site?

Sorry, but no. Tiddlywiki meets my needs and I have a lot invested in that.

 

[therium]

For example, how does archive.org get away with their way back machine? They copy entire pages.

This is just a guess. But I think they claim to be an archivist, and don't charge for their content. They rely on donations. It's the same thing https://Bibliotecapleyades.net does, they claim to be an archivist and put that disclaimer on their main entry page.

Also, you won't find much Disney stuff on archive.org as Disney LOVES to sue people for everything. Most big companies with big lawyers will make sure their stuff is removed from archive.org.

 

[Maryann]

I did see that one of people she cites, who has a spectacular library, is shutting it down because of trouble with youtube and copyrights. Although she followed the rules, she still was targeted. So, this may be an issue to consider - exactly what can be posted and how.

Yeah, this really sucks. The material is fantastic, groundbreaking, others have built upon it… but none do the same justice she does to the subject (forgotten history, alternate timelines, etc). So, I have a lovely section of a video library built around the material, and she is needing to take it offline because of the copyright harassment she’s getting from YT. Even though she’s using it for educational purposes and research, even though it’s properly credited. There is an effort to keep certain info out of public view, whether that’s overt social engineered or issuing from invisible influences. So… I have to rebuild or ditch. Quite a bit of the material I’ve seen that piggybacks on her original research is done in a vein that doesn’t match my site’s vision, so it’s more than just picking out a few videos here and there. Time and effort, and I’m short on both right now, for redoing what I’ve already done. Just something to keep in mind as you build: sometimes good things disappear, leaving a big hole in the design. It’ll all work out eventually, just more to do.

 

[Linda]

There is an effort to keep certain info out of public view, whether that’s overt social engineered or issuing from invisible influences. So… I have to rebuild or ditch

And there is larger picture - some groups do not want some of the esoteric info available to the public.

 

[Snowmelt]

It's not just having the vids and alternative info available - some of the alternative stuff actively scrapes hardened callouses from our eyes, and resets our vision. Allowing proliferation of acute seers - hardly!

 

[soulsurfer]

Well, here are some brain networking softwares to organize ideas in a web or net. These might give you inspiration.
https://www.thebrain.com/
https://webbrain.com/brainpage/brain/6FBA86B0-0C57-9FCA-5CF9-D742DA541AAA#-1276

Do you want your tool to be installable on a single PC, or be an online tool?

Thanks for the links. I've use the mind mapping software freeplane but I hadn't heard of thebrain. I'll check it out.

It'll be a multi-user web app. It might be useful to eventually have a desktop app that can browse the database but with a very different interface. For example, if the web app is using a grid to display content the desktop app might use a 3D scroll to load related content or different perspectives. But everything is mobile now so I don't know how useful the desktop app would be. The mobile platforms (ios, android) just happen to be the ones I don't have experience with.

 

[soulsurfer]

Here's a very early preview of the app. I'm hosting it locally so I can't post a link. But I've attached a few screenshots.

Starting at the top row in each box:

menu button, top level perspective, sub level perspectives (scrolling carousel)
question to best summarize the significance of excerpt
excerpt from external media
media source (title and link)
topics (scrolling carousel), media type icon

Users will be able to click the menu button and then click add to provide a different perspective for that question or topic. I plan on coding the search function to display 6 distinct perspectives per page. The screenshot is only showing one TLP because the database is nearly empty at this point.

I'd appreciate any feedback you have. I'm not an artist or graphic designer so my interfaces aren't always user friendly. If you can think of a better way to display the data in the screenshots please post your ideas. Thanks.

 

[Linda]

not sure how the upper level categories work.
However, I REALLY do like the answers from different philosophies. It gives people an opportunity to question and think.

 

[soulsurfer]

I was trying to find a way to visually convey the perspective for all content on the site. Everyone has different lenses and filters that, when combined, create their ultimate perspective. Unfortunately one of those lenses is always going to supersede all others. For example, a british, christian, philosopher, poet is probably going to filter out all perspectives that aren't christian. So all content posted to the site would have that one perspective that outweighs all the others defined as the TLP. Then any other filters that the author might have could be listed as SLPs. As I mentioned above I'm not the best at creating intuitive interfaces. This is just the first draft.

If we were to take a few examples from wikipedia...

Friedrich Nietzsche
German, philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, philologist, Latin and Greek scholar

Bertrand Russell
British, philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, essayist, social critic, political activist, Nobel laureate

Each of them would likely identify more strongly with one lens or filter than any other. If someone is researching a question or topic I think it's important to identify the strongest lens (tlp) of the author for any content they read along with any supporting filters (slp).

 

[Lila]

Here's a very early preview of the app. I'm hosting it locally so I can't post a link. But I've attached a few screenshots.

Starting at the top row in each box:

menu button, top level perspective, sub level perspectives (scrolling carousel)
question to best summarize the significance of excerpt
excerpt from external media
media source (title and link)
topics (scrolling carousel), media type icon

Users will be able to click the menu button and then click add to provide a different perspective for that question or topic. I plan on coding the search function to display 6 distinct perspectives per page. The screenshot is only showing one TLP because the database is nearly empty at this point.

I'd appreciate any feedback you have. I'm not an artist or graphic designer so my interfaces aren't always user friendly. If you can think of a better way to display the data in the screenshots please post your ideas. Thanks.

I like the interface.

 

[Tania]

This is a comment on content. It's super interesting - i don't Think it matters that It's been done before except from then having to offer something Else and making it very easy and user friendly. What is that "Else" to not just flood the web with more content/ noise - That's the question !!
My feedback ( intuition) say in this time it seems fitting to display how thought is just that contrary and plentiful. Your Mock up/ test run examplifies that.
Now what would make me come back to a site like that would definetly be powerful quotes/ references / thoughts from sources that are not readily available with out a lot of research on my part. As We on this forum know much important knowledge has been written out of history as the hierarchy of thought and bias of race and gender has lead to the current desire to unearth and refocus the lense on what We percieve as our history. So the relevance as a research tool would be representation of a diversity of thought coming from more resources collecting the essence of our time in a sense.
Personally i have had the same inclination in my own field as i 6 years ago began building a compositional method for Music based on a "map of folk science" which represents cross information Where the values "match" up as it relates to the 5 elements.
Since then i come across more sites that represents this research into Where diverse cultural practices and philosofies meet. The elements tie us together - the narratives are different but The source the same. Just a thought.

 

[soulsurfer]

...cross information Where the values "match" up as it relates to the 5 elements.
Since then i come across more sites that represents this research into Where diverse cultural practices and philosofies meet.

It's a bit synchronistic that you posted about the values and cross information matching up. For a few days now I've been thinking about how I could assign a numeric value to each perspective and possibly use the cumulative total or the presence of specific values to indicate a broader perspective on a topic.

It's difficult to articulate my idea but I started thinking about how Clif High uses a database of words and numeric emotional values. Imagine your standard dictionary in database form and assigned to each word is a numeric value representing an emotion. I've never heard him go into specifics on what the range is but let's say that it's -10 to + 10. So a 0 would indicate no emotional value. Something like "the" might have a 0. And a +10 would be the most positive emotional reaction possible to a word (bliss = +10). A -10 would be the most negative emotion possible. I wish he would open source his database so I could see exactly how he grades each word.

I'd like to create a similar database for perspectives in order to better visually convey the lens of the author. I'd be able to change the font size and color of a perspective based on the numeric value. I think the one thing I need to avoid doing is assuming any one perspective is right/wrong or positive/negative which will make it extremely difficult to design a numeric system. Some of the most negative things imaginable can lead to the creation of something new and amazing. Think of wildfires and how they are vital to the renewal of a forest. So is there any such thing as negative or is it just a shortsighted perspective?

BTW, thanks to everyone who has replied in this thread. I really appreciate the comments.

 

[Tania]

Negativity has to be defined based on intent and of course more broad effect. Im sure there must be posts here on the vibrational batle btw the Two. Wonder if It's pure math. So then We are back to this starting point of aligning this project with the appropriate intent then the effect should follow appropriately. Your approach or skill is different than mine but i do recognize this process of the deepening of the puzzle and the excitement and drive. Maybe the merger of the emotions and Numbers assigned is something to take inspiration from magical Numbers ( Mary Ann could ve helpful) in that Way the vibrational aspect of your creative process should get you into the exact flow you need to solve this and get back on Track when you loose your focus. I been going on 6 years and Im still 3 years away but i Also adjusted along the Way and follow my joy.

 

[soulsurfer]

I was able to find a free hosting service for the app. For anyone interested in a working demo, you can find the website address in the attached screenshots.

I changed the design to better reflect how we're all looking through multiple lenses. You'll see all of the various textual lenses at the top of each content box. It's a chaotic mess of different qualities and attributes all displayed on the same canvas so each one of them obscures the others. And since it's a random placement, everyone who views it will see it completely differently. There's no current order to the size, color or placement.

If you click on a link and nothing happens that just means it's on my to do list. There's still a ton of work to do on the app. For the adventurous, the help button will walk you through the process of posting content. You will need to create an account. Please use a fake email and please make up a password that you don't use on any other site.

I may be resetting the database frequently so anything you post will be lost including the user accounts.