Conversation, in general

Conversation lives and grows in the minds of the young, and dies and withers in the minds of the old. It doesn't matter one's physical, chronological age, it only matters the rigidity of the thinking-process which began at birth, ramped up until late teen years, and started declining ever since.

Lurkers on email lists - always the bane of more active posters - must have brain damage, or old-timers disease, based upon the frequency of their offerings on their chosen list. ;^) There is no other acceptable rationalization (justification) for this lack of output to an email list where the Prime Requirement is mental output (since without it, the email list disappears, of course!) - not home life, 9-5 work life, nothing - but the decline of your intellect.

(Oh yeah, you're saying otherwise, in your own reactions right now, but Verbal Output is Quantifiable. Either you can control and direct it to some extent, or you can not.)

This condition, of course, is quite natural in all men - they stop talking so much the older they get, and at an accelerating pace of enforced silence.

AND THAT IS THE CHIEF FLAW in ordinary humans that prevents their initiating an accelerating conscious evolution after they reach their mid-twenties.

You need to think much more about everything (than you ordinarily can), and when you can achieve this in greater and greater degrees of conscious execution, you will experience more and more moments of true Realization - where you SEE things you (and others) were not specifically designed to see, due to your inherent mechanical association-engine you call, "my mind".

Most people's response to questions they can't understand is, "Don't think about that, because you only get tangled up in greater confusion." But, that is the justification for "doing" what's already happening mechanically anyway, and noticeably more and more everyday - NOT THINKING more than one has to, to get by (pay the bills, do your job, fill the fridge, keep the car running, the pets fed, etc.) Of course, everyone starts at the same level at this.

Here's the classic rationalization for not thinking more than you have to about some topic which confronts you: you're either not interested, or you don't agree with it. Those two are the dual strands of illusion, keeping everyone from fiddling with the descending octave which is their ordinary minds - or brains - capacity to Think: "I'm not interested in that, so I won't think more about it." or "I don't agree with the topic as being useful/relevant to me in any way."

Lies!!

All thought is useful and relevant - to The Thinker. The problem with ordinary mind/consciousness, is that it can't engage intentionally; and know this too, when you can engage your Thinking intentionally, you can "put away" thousands of ideas in the "sweep of a hand". God, faith, love, will, honesty, morality, etc., can be relegated to that part of your common presence you call, "my mind", so that it does not further confuse and upset your better, higher efforts. Send the goddamn gods/dogs to the other room, where their constant yapping doesn't disturb you so much.

Bottomline, if you can't run a successful journal, weblog, diary, of your journey into the unknown - membership ONE - you can't know the thrill of the game, the art of awakening in the 21st century. Then, and only then, will you understand the relationship, speakers and listeners actually represent - both out there and in here - teachers/students, the awakened/asleep, will/mechanicality, etc./etc.