The Genius of Howard Bloom

I recently had an email conversation with Howard Bloom, author of the forthcoming The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Revision of Capitalism (2009). In part it went like this:

Howard wrote to some of his many friends: "When we contribute to social groups we're part of, we are alert, vigorous, and healthy. When we don't make a contribution, we are grabbed by a process like apoptosis--pre-programmed cell death. We go from active to lethargic and from exhilarated to morose. What pushes the switch from agony to ecstasy? How do we know when we're making a contribution? Attention."

He added: "May the fascinated eyes of other always be upon you."

I wrote: "I learned the truth of this in my life as well. But what I want to do is become non-attached. While 'freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose' (perhaps) I would like to become free of all of society's indoctrinations, all of the evolutionary mechanism's imperatives, and swim in the sea of the fish without desire for more than simple creature comforts."

Howard returned: "Keep in mind, Dennis, that too much detachment is death. And your pains and passions keep you alive...and keep you contributing to the rest of us, including me. Howard."

I wrote: "Well, you got that right. I'm impressed. It took me many years to understand the dilemma: the end of desire is death."

Howard wrote: "This has just gone into my epigram folder: The end of desire is death. Dennis Littrell"

Consequently I was inspired to begin this blog.

Howard Bloom (not to be confused with the literary critic Harold Bloom) is also the author of The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History (1995) and Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century (2000) among other works. He is a brilliant man with incredible reserves of energy. Reading him is an eye-opener. See my reviews at Amazon."

But what is this "dilemma" mentioned above?

The answer in the next post.

--Dennis Littrell