So that's what I'm doing - 'Lifestreaming' on Posterous - what about stream-of-consciousness and Gypsy Rose Lee's tea-leaves?

Ambro creek - Italy - via WikiPedia

Posterous is a brilliant blogging system - but I've only recently discovered what it is that I'm actually doing, as I use it.

According to WikiPedia I'm 'Lifestreaming' !

    The term lifestream was coined by Eric Freeman and David Gelernter at Yale University in the mid-1990s to describe "...a time-ordered stream of documents that functions as a diary of your electronic life; every document you create and every document other people send you is stored in your lifestream.

    Lifestreams are also referred to as social activity streams or social streams.

    The tail of your stream contains documents from the past (starting with your electronic birth certificate). Moving away from the tail and toward the present, your stream contains more recent documents --- papers in progress or new electronic mail; other documents (pictures, correspondence, bills, movies, voice mail, software) .........                                             via en.wikipedia.org

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Hmmmm..... several thoughts about life-streaming are floating down my stream right now, as always a mixture of the silly and the profound ;

1 How does life-streaming relate to 'stream of consciousness'?

'Stream of consciousness' has two tributaries; literature and psychology.  First literature;

In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode that seeks to portray an individual's point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character's thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue, or in connection to his or her actions.

Stream-of-consciousness writing is usually regarded as a special form of interior monologue and is characterized by associative leaps in syntax and punctuation that can make the prose difficult to follow.

Stream of consciousness and interior monologue are distinguished from dramatic monologue, where the speaker is addressing an audience or a third person, and is used chiefly in poetry or drama. In stream of consciousness, the speaker's thought processes are more often depicted as overheard in the mind (or addressed to oneself); it is primarily a fictional device. The term was introduced to the field of literary studies from that of psychology, where it was coined by philosopher and psychologist William James.

If you thought there were only one or two stream-of-consciousness novels go HERE

The psychology tributary is even more interesting.  Here are several extracts from the same source;

Stream of consciousness refers to the flow of thoughts in the conscious mind. The full range of thoughts that one can be aware of can form the content of this stream, not just verbal thoughts. Commonly used experimental techniques, including self-reporting, gives easier access to verbal thoughts than to thoughts more closely connected to senses other than hearing and activities other than speaking and writing.

The suggestion here seems to be multi-sensorial.  I wonder what insightful or useful connections there are between stream-of-consciousness and synesthesia ?

The phrase "stream of consciousness" (Pali; viññāna-sota) occurs in early Buddhist scriptures.  The Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism developed the idea into a thorough theory of mind.

Hammalawa Saddhatissa Mahathera writes: "There is no 'self' that stands at the mentality to which characteristics and events accrue and from which they fall away, leaving it intact at death. The stream of consciousness, flowing through many lives, is as changing as a stream of water. This is the anatta doctrine of Buddhism as concerns the individual being."

There is no 'self' that stands at the mentality to which characteristics and events accrue and from which they fall away, leaving it intact at death - so does that mean that 'I link therefore I am' is the ultimate virtual illusion?

William James is given credit for the concept.  He was enormously skeptical about using introspection as a technique to understand the stream of consciousness. "The attempt at introspective analysis in these cases is in fact like seizing a spinning top to catch its motion, or trying to turn up the gas quickly enough to see how the darkness looks."

I love the idea of turning up the gas quickly enough to see how the darkness looks.

Susan Blackmore challenged the concept of stream of consciousness in several papers. "When I say that consciousness is an illusion I do not mean that consciousness does not exist. I mean that consciousness is not what it appears to be. If it seems to be a continuous stream of rich and detailed experiences, happening one after the other to a conscious person, this is the illusion".

Must follow this woman's idea up - is it not true that everything is not what it seems to be?  for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. (Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 239–251)  Is she an extreme religionist?

2 Should the term 'lifestreaming' be hyphenated as in 'life-streaming'?  This relates to ideas of subjectivity and to the self/Self as witness.  Does the life stream through me, or do I have a directorial role?  How far am I an agent?  Am I a leaf or a funnel?

3 At a fun level if we look at the WikiPedia definition above might there be new twists for Gypsy Rose Lee and mediums - could a client's life-stream tell more than tea-leaves?

4 How does the stream relate to Chuang Tzu's butterfly dream?

Once upon a time, Chuang Tzu dreamed that he was a butterfly, flying about enjoying itself. It did not know that it was Chuang Chou. Suddenly he awoke, and veritably was Chuang Chou again. He did not know whether it was Chuang Chou dreaming that he was a butterfly, or whether it was the butterfly dreaming that it was Chuang Chou. Between Chuang Chou and the butterfly there must be some distinction. This is a case of what is called the transformation of things.    SEE C. W. Chan's essay HERE

5 Am I the stream or the boat, or neither?

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream.

or

Propel, propel, propel your craft,

Unforcefully down the liquid solution.

Ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically,

Existence is merely an illusion.

and don't forget

In the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Joel (Jim Carrey) sang it along Clementine (Kate Winslet) to try and hide from the memory erasers.

Source WikiPedia

6 If I lose my memories I will no longer know who I am.  (Check out the effects of brain damage)

So let's keep life-streaming - at least its a trace in the ether, albeit a feint, temporary glow before that great goodnight!

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