Philosophy and Spirituality

I did an interview today in which I think the questions were more interesting and thought out than usual… As always, I'm archiving my responses here… Oh, and check out the site Grinding.be that the interviewer mentions — I think many people will find it quite interesting.


1. So the paper I'm writing is on the philosophical and spiritual reasons behind body modification, specifically tattooing and “extreme” mods such as amputation, self-”mutilation”, and the like. Do you have any thoughts on this in general? Do you feel like more people have these types of reasons for modding than the “because I can” reason a lot of people associate with body mods?

Body modification is about seizing control of how we interface with the world — by manipulating the form of our bodies we communicate who we are, change the way others interact with us, and even change the way that the world feels to us. Body modification allows a person to fine-tune their biological experience to a surprising degree, both on a sociocultural level, and on a purely physical experiential level. Even if a person does it “because they can”, they are still doing these things.

2. I read in either one of your interviews with a DIY Amputee, or in the comments on ModBlog on one of those interviews, that one reason for amputation is that the “body is just another medium for art, like a canvas or clay.” Why do you think that this extreme form of body modification is viewed as a mental disorder by many people, and also – where do you see the idea of the body as a medium for art evolving in the future?

I think it's very normal for people to see foreign extreme behavior that they don't understand as mental disorders. Most people are very xenophobic and unable to understand that there is a broad set of acceptable ways to live. I don't see making changes to the body — a tangible experience that brings people joy and meaning — as any more of a mental disorder than, say, believing that an invisible superbeing will reward you after death for having following arbitrary and conflicting rules while you live… something that all too many people are convinced is the truth.

As to where the medium of body modification will evolve to in the future, I'm sure it will change in subtle ways as all art does both in terms of how it's expressed and what the various modes of modification are, and that it will reflect the cultures and subcultures of the time, but really, I do not believe that body modification's role has changed much in the last 30,000 years — it's a low-level way for people to communicate with and express themselves both to others and to themselves. The most profound change that's happened in the last four hundred years is that body modification has become a primarily individualistic activity, rather than a group or familial activity.

3. Part of my paper discusses the development of future technology in body modification – specifically implanting RFID chips, magnets (which you have personal experience with), and the development of more advanced prosthetic limbs (not just for accident victims, but also for enhancing the body when it's not “necessary”). Site's like https://www.grinding.be are already exploring these ideas. What are your views on this exploration and do you have any ideas on these developments yourself?

On the whole I'm a Luddite and a humanist, not a transhumanist, which is why my personal interest is in the magnetic implant — a low-tech wetware upgrade that augments the human experience — versus the RFID implant — an implanted gadget that interfaces us into the machine world. I believe we are already dangerously close to deposing ourselves with machines that are our superiors, and technological augmentation of the human body gives us the false and dangerous misconception that there can be a peaceful merging of biological intelligence and machine intelligence. I believe that this path will lead to the death of the human experience, and I do not support modern AI research or machine-human integration in any way. I think of all the mistakes of the technoindustrial age, this is our largest mistake.

4. I've heard the opinion that people, specifically americans, “copying” tradition tattoos from other cultures (such as Maori facial tattoos, or traditional Japanese Irezumi) is “wrong” and insulting to that culture. What do you think about this?

First, I think it's unfair to categorize this sort of cultural appropriation as an “American” phenomena, because it happens all over the world. In addition, it happens in reverse, with traditional cultures now mimicking our Western tattoos. Also, while there are many artists working in the styles reminiscent of those in other cultures, on the whole they are presented with a uniquely Western flavor and represent a fusion of cultures. Second, cultures intermixing and borrowing from each other is a large part of how art evolves and moves forward, be it tattoo styles or be it religion or philosophy. I think that the only time an affront comes is when one actively seeks to claim and “misuse” the meaning behind the ritual or art — and this can include a misuse of the symbols. Simply being inspired by the style is quite reasonable. That said, I think even “affront” may be stronger than I'd like to put it… At worst it's promoting ones own ignorance to appropriate in this way.

5. You have extensive mods yourself. Would you mind sharing some of the reasons for your mods?

On the whole — probably only the magnetic implant is an exception — I have the modifications I have because I find them attractive and like the way they feel, and to express to the world by means of my physical form who I am.

6. Additionally, one of your distinguishing marks are your stretched lobes, which you don't wear jewelry in. This may just be something I noticed, but historically elongated earlobes with no jewelry in them is a common trait seen in statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva's. Have you ever thought of this/did it have any influence on you in your “look?”

Well, I took my lobe jewelry out because I was snowmobiling a lot and they were getting too cold, and just never got around to putting the jewelry back in. That said, I see “dangling lobes” as a sign of maturity — I like the idea that stretched lobes go through a series of phases: stretching, living with jewelry, and then living without jewelry. If the individual has lived long enough in the first two phases, they can enjoy the third phase. If they have not, their lobes will still have a youthful elasticity and will shrink closed again.

7. What do you think influences some people to do CBT and other posts in the BME-Hard category such as the “Maggot Lover” Interview (besides what “psychologists” would call “masochism” or “sadism” – because that's basically bullshit)?

The explanation is quite simple — they do these things because they enjoy them and it gets them off.

Weather Alert

I was talking to my father this morning about how the coral reefs are dying and the ocean is radically overfished and how visibility in the ocean has increased (suggesting the death of algae systems)… Very disturbing stuff. Caitlin and I were just talking about how amazing it would be to take a trip to the Azores or Saint Helena or one of the surprisingly many incredibly isolated ocean islands (Cape Breton Island is not really so isolated). Who knows how much longer these fragile places will remain?

Disputing global warming, we've been having a really wonderful winter here. I'm told it's the most snowfall in a generation, although it really doesn't seem that different from the winters I remember as a child. Still, the environment is unpredictable… perhaps we'll enter another ice age.

We painted Nefarious's big-girl-nearly-five bed today. She picked the color as is I'm sure obvious. The iron bed was bought at auction for all of five dollars! Not that this at all recently… I don't think you'd find a deal like that these days.

Other than that, a nice visit from Ryan and Corrie today.

Bloody Hanya

Ohh…. I've been sick in bed all day. In that time BMEshop has done a great reprint of the Hanya hoody, one of the first designs we ever printed… this time with blood.

Other than that I watched a “funny” McCain-Hillary video… I'm really surprised anyone's supporting her — although maybe it is really the Republicans keeping her in the race. Outside of the fact that I would have thought no one would want a pro-war candidate these days (being a supporter of both war in Iraq and in Iran), she's such an obvious crooked politician that electing her just means more of the same, with nothing changing…

Various comments from Survivor Thursday

Sorry it took so long, but the top contributor shirts are now on their way out to everyone. I think they turned out amazing with a nice big huge print on the front of this limited edition design (which Deadboy has as part of his BME-themed project).

Watch their page for other upcoming shirt projects. My next design task is I think the BMEfest 2008 logo which I'm hugely looking forward to as always.

I visited my friend Saira today who finally had a chance to completely gut her house. It's an older house so it originally had many small rooms and was quite cramped feeling, but they've knocked out all of the walls and it's amazing the transformation that's taking place.

When I was a kid my parents bought an old farmhouse and did a similar “open concept” transformation of, which I have some scattered memories of. As those of you who read my other blog know, Caitlin and I have a homestead out East, on Cape Breton Island… It's a dream of mine to be able to involve Nefarious in the construction of that house, both because I think it will be hugely enjoyable and because I think it will teach her valuable life lessons.

You can click the picture to see a few more photos.

I like it here! Throw away the key!

Before I head out for my evening plans (which include editing a Vincent Hoquet interview for tomorrow, with Allen Falkner and many intereting others coming soon), I am posting my promised content… My prison diaries are, as I warned, quite brief as my stay was limited to all of about twelve hours, having been arrested and processed in the evening and then released the next morning.

After being brought to the station in cuffs, I was put in an interview room for a while. Because of some very unpleasant allegations that were made, even though the cops appeared fairly convinced the situation was contrived and told me as much — on one hand I'm sure they present themselves to everyone in that way to gain trust, but on the other hand all the arresting and processing officers urged me to say nothing when interviewed and just call a lawyer so I don't think so — they had to “play it safe” with me and treat me as a potential suicide risk, which meant a full search (ie. strip search, looking in my mouth… that sort of thing). That was sort of strange, and it meant that the cops saw the full range of modifications and my chestpiece. They were extremely polite and friendly to me the whole time, and never once treated me with any disrespect other than the entire absurd situation which of course was not their fault. After a brief interview — taking the advice of saying very little — I was put into one of the cells, probably about four feet by eight feet with a bench and a steel toilet and sink.

Three other bad sheep were in neighboring cells. One of the guys was being transferred between prisons and had been sitting in this holding cell for twenty-four hours waiting for a wagon to deliver him to his final destination. He yelled regularly, out of boredom I think, but was polite, in part because they hadn't fed him in eighteen hours (I'm really not sure if that's legal) and he was hoping that someone would bring him a sandwich. Every hour or so someone would good-naturedly promise to get him something when they went out for a coffee, but I don't think anyone ever did.

A little later a completely drunk couple was picked up, I think for fighting in the street, possibly with each other. This guy did a lot more screaming than the other, and was quite hostile, threatening and taunting and insulting the police with much bragging about his fighting skills, as well as about various crimes and drug use , which didn't seem to me to be a particularly bright thing to be doing, if only because a good relationship with ones jailer is probably a good thing? I guess he didn't care though because whatever he'd done was a bail violation and he was in the wrong jurisdiction to top it off, so no matter what he was going to be in jail for a while.

Anyway, the part of the story that I actually quite liked was that I had been put in the very end cell, which meant that I was next to the staff room. I tried to nap, but got only an hour or two of sleep, so mostly I just listened to the police. Because it's not every day someone covered with the specific types of tattoos that I have — or the body modifications that I have — they had something to talk about. They went on about how weird I looked, but every time they'd say that, they'd qualify it with “but he's such a nice guy” or “and he's really calm” and various negative comments about the others involved, which definitely helped make the whole situation all the more non-threatening.

I actually found it kind of strange that once arrested anyone would bother resisting… It's not as if it will do you any good. I figure once you're behind bars, your job is to con everyone you meet into being your friend because you may find yourself needing a lot of favors… and certainly it's not as if any good can come from negativity in that situation. After all, I might find myself being the guy in need of a sandwich!

Morning came and a big shipment of people was delivered and since they didn't have enough staff at the time to process me, I was released on recognizance and without any conditions of release other than I had to return a few weeks later for full processing, which involved being fingerprinted and photographed, which was interesting because they have a cool ink-free scanner device for doing it. I chatted with the officer about tattoos, and he asked if he could take pictures of my various mods for my file, but since it was optional I declined, and while he was interested in seeing them all, I think he was relieved he didn't have to fiddle with what seemed to be an occasionally uncooperative computer more than he had to.

Not particularly exciting, I know.