In hopes of opening some minds. Maybe clear away some obstacles for some one. Any one.

The idea is to give you all of the information you need to create your own world-view. An informed and accepting world-view, completely your own. Creating a philosophical, theosophical, ethical, and moral system that makes you happy. Your ideology.

Is that too lofty? Maybe.

Jack
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101
Lesson #26
The Battle of Purpose

In the simplest of terms, ideology is the study of ideas.

In the previous philosophical series, Developmental Theology 089, we talked about very basic ideas that can help develop an open mind, and teach us how to create our own philosophical views, overlooking prior prejudices. You can read the entire Developmental Theology series in this PDF.

With the foundation built in Developmental Theology, my hope is to extend this learning with my Basic Ideology lessons. These lessons haven’t seen the kind of popularity as the former lessons. I think this is because the ideas and concepts are more complex. I’ve struggled with making the subject itself more accessible to the everyday person, with no prior knowledge of philosophical concepts. I’m beginning to think this is the mistake. It has been suggested that to better understand the current lessons, one should have read the prior lessons.

Which leads us to this lesson. I’ve provided a back link, so those who are behind, but would like to catch up, can. I’ll be working on better ways to do this as we continue these lessons.

Back to the question at hand: What is ideology?

Well, it is indeed the study of ideas, but it is also much more personal than that. Every person adheres to an ideology, whether they realize it or not. It is the sum total of one’s beliefs concerning right and wrong, and the degree to which things are right and wrong. Further it includes a person’s concepts of justice, punishment, reward, and how to deal with our own actions, as well as the actions of others.

Sometimes these ideologies have names, such as Humanism, which we talked about in the last two lessons, or a religious grouping. More often, one’s ideology is very personal, and crosses over many identified ideologies, as well as those without a name. It is influenced by events in life, and their effects, the things children are taught by their parents and other authority figures, books read, and things studied. Personal ideologies are constantly changing and evolving as new ideas and experiences are introduced.

I believe that by talking about these ideas, we can shift our focus and purposely evolve our own concepts. And in this sharing, we might find that we are not so different, despite our personal ideologies. Helping to build the community of man is the most important thing to which a person can aspire. And it’s what I aspire to here, and I hope at least some of my readers are with me on this cause.

Jack
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101
Lesson #25
The Battle of Focus

Had a job interview over the phone that I think went pretty well. Second interview is Thursday.

The Developmental Theology eBook can now be found under the ‘Classroom’ tab at the top of all pages. It is 100% free, please feel free to pass it along to your friends.

I get to go see the eye doctor for new glasses on Saturday. woo. Can you tell I’m excited? :p

I feel a bit like the blind leading the naked today. I’ve got Tom Waits on the jukebox, and a head that is moving too slowly for much creativity. But who knows.

I do have some pretty cool stuff coming up this week, just for you. The Cost of Magic is just about to get really interesting. Basic Ideology will continue in the efforts to help you think outside of the box. Also, check out the new Granadas tab above. It contains post from my tumblr account, Tear Gas and Hand Grenades.

Jack.
You guys and gals know I listen, right?

Monday Update
January 12, 2009

On my new phone I’ve been keeping track of where I’m going and such with GPSed.

Still have the Early Bird Edition of Loki Listens Volume 1: Developmental Theology. Download the PDF here.

Lots of cool stuff coming up this week, as I am back on my regular writing schedule.

Jack
I Listen

Monday Update
January 5, 2009

Haven’t really accomplished much this week at all with all of the crazy Christmas business. It’s time to get back in gear though. Gonna get back to daily posts again this week. Try to push the envelope even further with more pieces to The Cost of Magic and Basic Ideology 101. It’s going to be a good week. Trust me.

And, I do have a bit of a surprise for you tonight! It’s finally here! Loki Listens Volume 1: Developmental Theology eBook! This is an early edition. We’ll see a second version at the time of print release with an introduction and some additional thoughts by our old friend Scarab.

Download your copy now!

Jack
I Listen.

Monday Update
December 29, 2008

redemption – noun
1. an act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed.
2. deliverance; rescue.
3. Theology. deliverance from sin; salvation.
4. atonement for guilt.
5. repurchase, as of something sold.
6. paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note.
7. recovery by payment, as of something pledged.
8. conversion of paper money into specie.

redeem – verb (used with object)
1. to buy or pay off; clear by payment: to redeem a mortgage.
2. to buy back, as after a tax sale or a mortgage foreclosure.
3. to recover (something pledged or mortgaged) by payment or other satisfaction
4. to exchange (bonds, trading stamps, etc.) for money or goods.
5. to convert (paper money) into specie.
6. to discharge or fulfill (a pledge, promise, etc.).
7. to make up for; make amends for; offset (some fault, shortcoming, etc.)
8. to obtain the release or restoration of, as from captivity, by paying a ransom.
9. Theology. to deliver from sin and its consequences by means of a sacrifice offered for the sinner.

Okay, Let’s think about these definitions for a moment.  The most important thing to notice is that the idea of ‘redeeming’ or ‘redemption’ is based entirely on something that was supposed to have been paid for to begin with.  The problem with this is that with the promise of redemption, we accept a debt.  This will not do for free-thinking people.

Redemption no longer has a reason to exist.  Instead, things should be paid for at the time of service, or things should be free.  We seek redemption for our actions.  We should have a free conscience after our actions, thus negating the need for redemption.

Our thoughts have no business creating the state of debt or guilt that brings on this concept.  We should pay for our thoughts accordingly and promptly, and not take on states of debt at all. If we can do this, then we can experience true freedom.

Jack
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101

Battle #6
Freedom.

(definitions care of Dictionary.com)

This week in Jack-News!

• 3 New Squidoo Lenses:  Saint’s Row, Ginkgo Biloba, The Xbox 360
• First draft of Developmental Theology 089 finished.  Working with some collaborators now.
• Mailed out 5 postcards.  More to come.
• Broke out Tiger Wood regalia, because it is cold.
• Began a workout regimen.
• Actively recording 12seconds videos.
• Added a few thousands words to my short story, The Cost of Magic.

I think that about covers it for the week.  I’ve got some really cool stuff coming up, so visit often!

Jack.
I Listen.

“And who is left?” asked Brother Raven.

I was a guest on Cranky Tech in the early AM Sunday. Click the link to hear the whole hour.

This photo was censored on flickr without my permission or notification. I’ll be moving over to Picasa web soon.

I’d like to take a moment to thank a few great people at twitter. Phyrdancer was nice enough to design a logo for me.  Check it out below. Tonysteward was nice enough to give away 3 copies of Seth Godin’s Tribe. And I was lucky enough to be one of the receivers. Iaindodsworth, who created TweetDeck, was very helpful when I was utterly lost. Another twitter innovator, Mario, creator of twitterfeeds, was willing to go above and beyond to help me change my OpenID login info.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on with twitter again.

In blog news, there will be a post similar to this every Sunday now. Basic Ideology 101 lessons will be on every Monday now.

The eBook collecting the Developmental Theology 089 series is well under way and coming along well. For those of you that didn’t follow this series of articles, it focuses on introducing philosophical concepts to the average person.

-Jack
I Listen.

Fable 2 has sucked the life out of me all week.  I’m on my second play through.  My friends come over to play it constantly.  It’s a pretty big deal.  hah.  I have 39 of 50 acheivements, and 800 of 1000 gamer points.  Not bad.

You would really enjoy Fable 2, no matter what kind of games you are into.  It’s been catching a lot of flack because it’s not very deep, and the story is short.  But, come on.  It’s freaking fun.  I can’t get enough.  Seriously.

Aside from that, a lot is going on.

• My depression has lifted.
• Posts every Sunday.  No exceptions.
• Posts may be even more frequent.
• Fun Stuff coming.  Including a weekly podcast.
• My Xbox 360 writes it’s own blog!
• You can now leave tips, care of TipJoy.  Check the side bar—>
• Part time day job starting soon, as well as a writing gig.
• Developmental Theology 089 eBook in the works.

Is that everything?  I doubt it, but for now it is.

-Jack