A need to consider perspective.

By Sig Shonholtz

I have been trying to bridge a gap of understanding, which seems to define many relationships. For lack of a better phrase (I welcome any better phrase) I am calling it a philosophical anomaly.

I will explain it best in an experience I had with an old girlfriend. I was driving the car and she was my passenger. I was driving in a sort of jerky fashion and she said to “can you drive a little nicer”, which I did.. A week later she was driving and I had to make the same request of her, “can you drive a little nicer, please (hers was a demand, mine a request)?” But instead of changing her driving she argued that I made the request because she had said it to me the week before. I argued (pointed out) that last week I was the driver and this week I am a passenger and my perspective was completely different.

This got me wondering about how many possible perspectives a person could have during any 24 hour period. These perspectives are not points of view, because as many people as there are on earth is as many points of view there are.

After a few months of day dreaming about it I settled on 6 possibilities (permutations). Since driving was the inspiration for the theme I kept it as my model. But we could just as easily use an example of dining in a restaurant.

The First Perspective is driving a car by ourselves. It does not matter so much how we drive (unless we are being unsafe to others). We are alone with our thoughts and awarenesses. Like eating alone and sitting at a table.

The Second Perspective is driving the car with a passenger in the front seat, we need to be more aware and thoughtful of that person sitting next to us. Our driving style and our conversation impacts them. Like eating with a friend and “driving” the conversation, or just doing the talking at that moment.

The Third Perspective is from the passenger in the front seats point of view. The passenger is now sitting at the table. Each time the conversation shifts back and forth one person is either in the second or third perspective.

The Fourth Perspective is that of a passenger in the back seat. They may be participating or not but they are observers. This would, for example be someone in an audience, an observer on an event. Or perhaps a person at a dinner table not really being addressed but watching. Theirs is actually  privileged because they may notice things in the dynamics that others do not see.

The Fifth Perspective is the time we spend sleeping. Since these Six Perspectives take up 24 hours of each day time we spend sleeping must be included. We are not so aware during that time though.

The Sixth Perspective is not really a perspective it is imaginative but it might be most important one although it is very hard to achieve. I am calling it the ultimate perspective. In order to try and have the ultimate Perspective we must try and exit our humanity. We must pretend or imagine that we have not interest in human affairs. So, when I want this insight I imagine I am a science officer on an interstellar space craft. I do not really care about human affairs. I am not myself, an American Jewish man that is 55 years old and from California that likes watches. When I take this Perspective I am free to decide right and wrong good or bad and up and down. Things are much more clear from this position. In fact morality is just a changing concept.

In my case the Second and Third Perspectives are the ones between my former girlfriend and I, and myself and my former girlfriend. I am continuously to exhaustion either the passenger or the driver and cannot seem to explain that our differences are more to do with this simple idea than anything else.

I have noticed this dynamic in another area which I will try and explain. It is something like this. As a child we argue when someone older then us tells us not to do something. We will argue with them that, because they do it, we can do it. It goes something like this, we have all been in this moment. You tell a child not to eat with their mouthful, but inevitably we do the same thing so they argue and say “you do the same thing”. In my case, with my young daughter we sometimes say yah instead of yes. She does not use the word yah and is always correcting us, (this example is almost the opposite of what I am trying to say).

As adults we have the same problem but this time when we say, “you do the same thing” we mean something else. We are accusing the person of not being aware that when they are in the Second Perspective they cannot imagine themselves in the Third and vice versa. This is the problem I have, trying to convey this very simple idea of trying to see oneself as we might be seen.

I do not know if I am clear on the one above. It has been very difficult for me it articulate it. I actually was trying to find a philosophical numeric system or a way to quantify this last one. It is so common between people that it is almost a normal way we react to things.

(the-vu Editor’s note) there has been considerable study of perspective in the field of psychology, but when someone acquires a need to consider perspective due to real and personal circumstances, it brings the concept to practical life.

The consequences of the befriending of bees.

By Sig Shonholtz

It happened a few months ago, I noticed some dead bees on my patio, odd I thought but then I went on with my day. A few days later I noticed some bees in the corner congregating around, buzzing it up and what have you. Finally I realized that a family of bees had made a home inside the wall of the patio, it did not really bother me because they were in the corner. Now personally I like bugs, at least most of them, in fact if they do not threaten me I am rather encouraging and supportive, spiders are a favorite of mine. After a short while we came to an understanding and cohabited quite nicely, I tried not to step on them and they in turn bee hived (haved) by not stinging me. Soon we were great friends; if I had my breakfast outside they would sit on the table and buzz on about things that were important to them. Pollen, honey and such things as that were always a topic of conversation, and the queen also. You should have heard them complaining about her, a real princess they all said. Although secretly I think they wanted to bee with her, if you know what I mean.

I really appreciated the opportunity; living in a concrete jungle it seems there is never enough nature around us. I considered it a gift, to have this bee hive on my patio. Anyway…. one day I came to them with some very sad news, the building was going to be fumigated soon because of a termite infestation, and they were going to have to leave. Bee reasonable I told them, it’s not my fault, as far as I was concerned they could stay. In fact if they wanted to blame somebody they should complain to the director of the termites, it was their incessant eating that was the problems. Sadly, the ants who like to eat the eggs of the termites had left town and now the termites were taking over, that was the real problem.

It was then I learned that the bees and termites were bitter enemies. Apparently there had been an argument and finally a brutal battle between the two groups, about 100 million years ago. It seems a queen termite had fallen in love with a worker bee and the rest is history.

So on Friday I packed up my things, and asked them one last time to hit the road and bee t it. I left for the weekend.

When I returned on Sunday I immediately went to check on them at first glance it looked like they were OK, but then I realized that it was just a few left over soldiers that had been on patrol when the tent went up. There they were hanging around waiting for their hot queen to buzz them in, but no signal ever came. Soon the last ones died and I was once more left alone on my patio.

Sig Shonholtz is a master watchmaker and philosopher and is from Los Angeles.

Artie. It wasn’t about Big Bands, it was about The Big Bang.

Artie Shaw passed away on December 30th 2004, aged 94. Sig Shonholtz, his friend in later life, spoke at the funeral and his well-received words on that day were almost exactly as written below.

By Sig Shonholtz

My friendship with Artie Shaw began over a business transaction about 8 years ago; he had answered an ad I ran to buy old watches, it started out a little awkward though. I can still remember it, Larry Rose his secretary called me up one day and told me that Mr. Shaw wanted to talk to me, Artie then got on the phone and barked at me about a watch he wanted to sell and when could I come over and look at it and make him an offer. I told him I was too busy and that he would have to come and meet me. Well, this went on for nearly a year, it got so I knew Larry’s voice when I answered the phone. Artie Shaw wants to talk to you he would say in his polite tone. The stand off finally ended. I was too curious. I just had to meet this man.

When I got to his house I realized I was in for an experience, the house was. to be polite cluttered with the history of the 20th century. To my surprise the gruff old man on the phone was actually rather charming and in a few minutes we had made a deal. But we spent the entire afternoon together discussing the science of metallurgy and the force of springs. It was the kind of a conversation you could only have with someone that truly enjoyed thinking and concepts. That was the moment I realized that I was in the presence of someone unique and I should take advantage of his knowledge. I use the word advantage with the utmost respect because we all have responsibilities in life and one of our main responsibilities is to raise up everybody around us to their highest potential, Artie believed this strongly. If you were paying attention to what Artie quietly had to say you soon realized that he was deeply interested and concerned about the human condition and in making a difference.

We spoke on the phone several times after that first meeting. The next time we met it was on my turf Artie decided that he would come and visit me; I can still remember the moment when he arrived in my antique center. Down the hall I heard a loud gravelly bellowing voice yelling out my name. Where is SIG? he said. I answered, Artie, I am over here. He yelled back Here?.where is here, I thought I was here? Here, is the most subjective word in the English language, the question is, where are you? Well, after all the yelling we finally located each other and laughed about it.

In that moment I realized that this was a man that required precision in language. In fact as time went on I learned that language was his lord. Don’t mince words with Artie Shaw because he has no time to waste. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Don’t try to catch Artie in a trap of phrases either. Phrases like curmudgeon; he was not a curmudgeon..if you engaged him in a meaningful conversation. Unfortunately. too many people wasted his time asking about his ex wives and whether he was better then Benny. Artie considered that he had answered those silly questions enough times, ask a foolish question of a brilliant person and they will act like a curmudgeon. It is a variation on Murphy’s Law.

Time went by and we became friends. We had many dinners together, dinner with him was an adventure, he could easily out eat me. Frequently we had three deserts because we could not decide on just two. No subject was too mundane for us, or to lofty. We spoke about the great taste of Vernors Ginger ale, and why would anybody drink Canada dry after tasting the Vernors. We decided that it must be the quality and amount of extract they used. Once we had a conversation about a packet of synthetic sugar, how do they calculate the subjective value of taste we wondered? We spoke about bats and their radar and a butterfly’s ability to navigate. We spoke about the power of adrenaline and the impact it could have in shaping and controlling an individual. We wondered, What were the very first thoughts of the very first person, after “I want food and sex”? Artie said “well, here I am”. Once, he asked a waiter for some more butter. The waiter said “I’ll be right back” Artie took off his watch and said lets see what he means by “right back”. He redefined the concept of “right back”; it means you stop everything you are doing and even ignore a fire in the kitchen if necessary to meet your commitment. How long is “right back”? Well depending on the circumstances up to 5 breaths of air, otherwise you need to use another phase, like “give me two minutes” or “I’ll be back in a few moments”.

Artie had great stories; during the war he learned to play the Japanese national anthem just in case he was taken as a prisoner. He shared a funny story with me once about a musician in one of his bands. Artie told him that he had to stop smoking “that stuff” before each set because he was throwing off the band. The musician argued and told him, “I am on fire, I never sounded so good.” So, Artie agreed that the next day he would do the smoking and the musician would do the listening. After the set Artie looked at him and said, hey, you’re right, I sound great. The musician looked at Artie and said, “Man, you’re nuts you stink”. The lesson: we do not define ourselves, perhaps we are perceived.

Artie and his books are legendary. He had dictionaries in dozens of languages; his tables were stacked with books on ideas and thinking and in addition, books on “cheating death”. His library had 10,000 books in it, on every subject on earth, science, art, architecture, philosophy, history, warfare, astronomy, politics, mathematics, geography, languages, psychology, sociology, medicine, shooting guns and fly fishing. Artie could speak arcane languages; not to impress you but because he knew there were secrets hidden in them.

Artie Shaw was not interested in banal chatter about big bands. He was interested in the Big Bang, in fact his mind was a big bang, but why, what was he searching for? He was looking for the holy grail of ideas, the mother of all answers, the least amount of words that could transform mankind and our planet to be a better place. He was looking for the simplest and noblest of thoughts that everyone could work with; he placed a high value on thinking and beauty. Long ago Artie Shaw decided that there were only three questions which he wanted to have answered; so he went about the task of finding the answers. The three questions were: are we alone in the universe, is there life after death and were we created by a force or did we evolve?

The only way he knew how to answer those three questions was to read hundreds of books (Can these questions actually be answered by reading and organizing millions of words?). First, in order to absorb the information of 10,000 books and process it you need to live a long time, 94 is just about right. You also need to have a very pliant flexible mind to be able to synthesize the information so it is usable. He was very capable of retrieving information from his mind, and would consider everything that could be considered. It would not be uncommon for him to share an obscure idea of Teilhard de Jardin’s or Plutarch within two sentences. Organizing 10,000 books inside of one mind is not an easy task. He tried his best, he made a gallant effort; in fact he has an unpublished manuscript of 1500 pages, his own “big bang” of mankind. Not bad actually, he took the knowledge of 10,000 books, 10,000 years and condensed it into 1500 pages. When I get the chance I am going to take the short cut through the history of humanity and read his abridged edition if and when it comes out.

In conversation Artie expanded and expounded on everything, including the Ten Commandments. He had three extra commandments. They sound like band leaders ideas but they were actually ideas for living a great life. Number 11 was “Show Up”, meaning, you must participate in life. Number 12 was “Get along”, if we don’t all get along then mankind has no future. And number 13 was “Have fun!”. well of course. Have fun! That about sums it up, the answer of all answers, he brought living and life down to just two simple words, whatever it may mean to each of us.

Have Fun Artie, I hope you’re still having fun.

Sig Shonholtz is a master watchmaker and philosopher and is from Los Angeles.