CogNition
How easy is it to stand on a soapbox and to rant and rave about this or that, or one thing or another? From time to time, I’ve wondered how easy it is to keep that up without feeling it’s all just falling on deaf ears. How do you quantify the effects of a rant or rave in terms of its usefulness to the rest of society?
VPL
VPL is short for Very Penneylane. They’re my take on everyday lessons from life. Lessons learnt and others where I missed the boat completely. Life’s long or short, depending on which end of the paddle you draw. Either way, being stuck up a creek without one makes for some interesting observations.
About that Lesson
Personally, I have no idea. But Ian Brackenbury Channell probably does. In 1974, he began speaking from a ladder in Cathedral Square.
The city Council tried to have him arrested but he out maneuvered them and became so popular that they made the Square a public speaking area.
Famously, he confronted Telecom over the colour of public telephone boxes, played for the local rugby team, heckled kiwi Christian evangelist Ray Comfort, evaded the compulsory census and, performed some uncorroborated fancy footwork in Canterbury, Auckland and the Australian outback during some dry spells.
And quantifying the effects? In March this year, following further earthquake tremors in Christchurch, Channell ‘magically’ appeared again, sans ladder. “He had to hug several women who needed comforting after the quake, something he doesn’t really enjoy but made an exception because of the unusual circumstances.”
We say we don’t, but we do, all the time. Make judgments about this and that or one thing or another. Ian Brackenbury Channell aka The Wizard of Christchurch, is someone more likely than most to earn his fair share of derision or palpable contempt from certain sectors of the community. He’s an interesting character on the New Zealand’s social landscape .
And on the day he handed out hugs to those women, he did what researchers in this digital age have concluded –“that interacting through displays and speakers using symbols (words) does NOT provide the complete sense of immersion and effective communication for humans.
They know we use senses such as touch, smell and taste to deeply and emotionally communicate with others. Yet among these, only touch can best transmit the intended mind and provide them with intrinsic information relating to analogical communication.” The human touch, it’s what digital interface techies seek to replicate.
Soapbox rants and raves, celebrity and even oddballness are simply props to the things in life that really matter. Ask anyone. You don’t have to be a cog in the system or specifically a free radical to understand that passed skilful debate, tirades and tantrums — it’s human connection, that’s the quantifiable useful effect that matters. And a hug will do it!
© Gail Penney 2011 :: PREVIOUS BLOG POST: Passing Shots
