how can I help?

David and the list,
after some not very difficult deliberation, I've decided it would probably
be more meaningfully challenging to work on the CFC-usa project than to
wander around the world, or to simply walk off into the forest.

I do have some web projects I wish to take care of first
(carfreeuniverse.org & ds0.org)- but once those are done (two months?) I
should be able to devote 20hrs/week to the project-- whether it be more
web work, fundraising, whatever.

Once we raise money, I can do fine on $1000/mo after taxes or $600/mo if I
don't have to pay rent, (if it turns out to be worth it for me to put in
more time).


David- are you or others in your group going to the carfree conference in
Prague? I'll be there- if you won't and if there's anything special I
should do for this while I'm there let me know.

At this point, this is just talk, but if I still feel the same way in two
months, that's a good sign I'm serious.


In the meantime, it would be good to have a mapped out goal list and time
estimates for completion...


Succeeding at this endeavor would be one of strongest expressions of using
technology in the service of quality of experience, as opposed to
subordinating everything to the pursuit of technological capability
(reversing the colonization of the lifeworld (from Habermas/Weber)).
Success could possibly have an effect comparable to that of the
open-source software movement (it is subtle, but huge--one of the
defining characteristics of our time).

This project is an effective expression of cooperative "experienceart" -
art where one's medium is one's own experience--which, should it ever
become a mainstream perspective, would signal the realization of Habermas'
unfinished project of modernity- where, at least in my interpretation,
everything is evaluated from the standpoint of its effect on the quality
of the individual's experience. (more on this in a writing on
carfreeuniverse.org, eventually)

Is that different from ethical hedonism, or, 'the greatest good for the
greatest number'/utilitarianism? I think it is: in framing what we do (our
experience) as art- it suggests that the object is not as simple as
seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, as angst has been as much a part of
great art as joy. The individual's internalizing of the experienceart
perspective is its most important aspect- as 'the greatest good for the
greatest number' is largely irrelevant above the level of basic needs. An
individual who focuses on her experience as art will be more likely to
succeed in creating a life loved as art, than one who has another goal as
her focal aim?

A buddhist or Wilber-follower may suggest that the focal aim should not be
quality of experience, but oneness with the ground on which all experience
occurs. I can appreciate that, but have adopted experienceart as the
overarching concept for my practice at least for now.

No- that wasn't offtopic.
I think any person who persists in being carfree / commuting by bike even
through the wettest winter downpours (think California), appreciates the
relevance. You're not minimizing pain. (maximizing sensation? Tom Brown in
"Tom Brown's Guide to nature observation and tracking" speaks to this
better than anyone I've found.) But let me know. My essay will be
something like 'on carfreeness as a philosophy and practice.' For reasons
I will present there, it is important to have a fancy way of saying, "cars
suck, and so does using them!" (in short, that reason is our tendency to
percieve things as wholes (e.g., three points drawn in the air seen as a
triangle; gestalt psychology), and the desire of many to see ourselves and
our actions as part of something larger and longer lasting than ourselves
that we think is good.) hmm. I guess I don't need to write that essay any
more- except for the 'practice' part.

Perhaps you may not hear from me for a while !

Thanks for listening to or gracefully ignoring my brainstorms and sorting
things out.

I would never have wanted to start something like this myself- and am very
glad you have showed up! I hope I continue to want to help.

Colin