Intellectual honesty
Intellectual honesty is an academic method for the presentation of information in an unbiased and honest way.
This requires that...
- Facts are presented in an unbiased manner.
- Facts are not omitted even when they may contradict the writers preconceived ideas.
- Personal beliefs are not allowed to interfere with the pursuit of truth.
- References are cited where possible.
- The presentation of information not be skewed to support the writers personal agenda.
Harvard ethicist Louis M. Guenin describes the "kernel" of intellectual honesty to be...
"a virtuous disposition to eschew deception when given an incentive for deception."
I felt moved to post this due to the large number of opinion pieces published on-line that are presented as fact that are plainly bias, that omit inconvenient facts, that are vehicles for people's personal beliefs, that cite no credible reference and that skew information to support a personal agenda.
There is nothing wrong with people posting personal opinion, I often do so myself. What is wrong is to disguise personal agenda as 'scholarly' writing. I know that it happens all the time; that however doesn't make it right or acceptable.
I hope that it's clear when I state opinion, where I state fact I believe I can back it up and where I quote I cite sources.
Further reading
General statements regarding intellectual honesty in reasearch and writing are given in the policies of all British universities. For those not in the UK I include example references of two Universities one in the USA and one in Canada.
- On intellectual honesty (University of California ~ Irvine)
- K.1 Statement of Intellectual Honesty (University of Calgary)
Louis M. Guenin is quoted from Synthese, Vol. 145, No. 2, Candor in Science (Pub: Springer 2005)
Sensational life
We are kinky, we are lascivious we are lustful we are experience junkies, we are sensualists.
From everything I know of myself and my friends, what we ultimately want is to experience life and our partners. The sensations of our experience, our interactions, the experience of our reaction to the reactions of others. Everything in kink is I think on some level about experience and sensation.
Why? Because it makes us alive. Life is about experience, the things that happen in it both good and bad.
As individuals in kink I think many are driven by the need to extend our experiences beyond the mundane, to not be limited in our experiences. To take an experience otherwise unpleasant and to pervert that into a sensual feast for the kinkster is I think the obvious expression of this.
Spanking, beating, flogging, caning, restraint, rope, chains, whips and all manner of roleplay scenario are pressed into the service of this goal. People roleplay and act out taboos. In fact this is one of the things that people misunderstand. Something that would in reality be very unpleasant is taken and turned into something fun, thrilling, erotic. To fail to understand the distinction between playing with the idea of something and the thing itself is to fail to understand how these kinds of play work entirely.
All of these things are about vivid, intense experiences. In extremis we are brought more presently into the moment we live and live that moment more completely.
Sometimes kinksters are reviled as sub human, freaks, lacking in feeling and empathy. This is I believe the opposite of the truth. It is very human to seek experience. I think those that limit their experiences are strange. I give my partner experiences and sensation because I have empathy, because in those moments we are so connected.
We yearn to experience... It’s only human.
Lizard brain leftovers
I can’t help thinking that there is a duality in humanity between the ‘civilised’ lives we lead and the primal urges lurking beneath the surface. I think that this duality of humanity is of great relevance and interest in terms of BDSM where we create a framework within which we can exploit, play with and enjoy our fundamental desires consensually.
Typically we build sophisticated structures to exploit and extract these urges. We use language, visual imagery, clothing, even technology to enhance the experience. Often something ritualistic surrounds these practices.
I think that as humans we can’t help but use, or if you like pervert the practices of everyday modern life into instruments of pleasure and pleasurable pain. A massager is turned into vibrating genital stimulator, cooking implements into impact toys, and of course, rope into an instrument of bondage and domination.
With every advance in technology comes an advance in human pleasure, Tesla coils power violet wands originally intended for health purposes for electrical stimulation and torture. Tens units invented for muscular rehabilitation for the torture of the helpless twitching ‘victim’.
All this to serve our most base instincts. And yet this is not a runaway process. We do not generally let ourselves run over into actual abuse. We require consent, even for the theoretically non-consensual aspects of our play. Sometimes this sounds convoluted and illogical. And yet we cannot deny that this is the case.
This then is the duality that causes a struggle. Our evolution makes us a tool using, reasoning, social creature but also we remain the animal, the primal lust filled beast.
Perhaps it’s a wonderful achievement is the satisfaction of both of these in kink. We control our primal lusts, fencing them around with ritual and social custom even where the normal social customs did not reach. We make our partners satisfaction part of the satisfaction or our own by seeking out complimentary partners. In the triumph of our social selves, the control of the primal, and yet the satisfaction of it too without descending into abuse we find again that which is unique about humanity.
I think that this makes us more human not less.
When I think of rope
When I think of rope it is such a humble thing, such a workman like product of the artisan. Such a simple thing with which to enthral the senses and to bind the body and spirit of another.
And yet, in this unassuming and humble item we find the perfect means for the expression of our desires to capture utterly the spirit, mind and body of another.
Our rope becomes the extension of ourselves that reaches where we cannot, that embraces beyond our reach and holds beyond our strength.
Because of this our rope becomes personal to us in a special way. Like the tool of a craftsman. So we care for and attend to the needs of our rope as we care for something with a value we cannot express. We prepare and ready it for its role, we care for it after use.
It is after all, an extension of ourselves in our most intimate endeavours.
Accidental
Sometimes awful things happen, not because the person who was doing them was awful but because something went awfully wrong. An equipment failure, an error of judgement, a slip, a miscalculation.
I saw a performance, there was an error, the model nearly dropped.
- Before the performance I really liked them.
- After she nearly dropped her I really liked them; even though my heart was in my mouth for her.
- If she'd have dropped I would have still liked them; even though I would be so very concerned for her.
There was a mistake, an error of judgement, a narrowly avoided catastrophe.
What there wasn't was maliciousness, carelessness or arrogance.
Please note that I liked them as people before, during and after. This incident during the performance did not in any way effect my judgement or feeling for them as people.
I have seen people's reputations attacked, their competence and attitude questioned, their character questioned because they made a mistake.
Sometimes things do go wrong because people used inappropriate technique or equipment. Sometimes because they made the wrong choices or did not consider likely problems. Sometimes it's the persons fault very clearly. But on other occasions it's worth considering that sometimes human beings make honest mistakes or commit an error of judgement under pressure.
Every incident, accident and circumstance is different. I think people should, if they can, step back, consider things rationally and at least give head room to the idea that human frailty is the true culprit. On mature consideration it may be that it wasn't but it's the apparent failure to consider the human dimension that leaps out at me.
Whatever the conclusion, try to remember that you are talking about humans, they do have feelings, which can seem to be forgotten in on-line discussions sometimes. Your words can effect them deeply.
p.s. I have wondered in light of recent events if I should post this article. I wrote the outline of this post after the event where the incident I referred to took place. I have hesitated to post the completed article in case it was taken as oblique reference to another more recent event. However I'm hoping that people will read this for what it is, especially given this note.
What we do changes who we are.
What we do changes who we are, we are made of our memories and our experiences. When we engage in an activity or a course of action the experience of that, the memory the sensations becomes part of us. The person we are after the experience is therefore a different one to the person before the experience.
Sometimes I wonder if taking pleasure in self gratifying activities makes a person more selfish but finding gratification in the giving and sharing of pleasure makes us more sharing and selfless, at least in the some areas of activity.
It is said that people don't change, but I do not believe this. I believe that we change all through our lives to a greater or lessor extent. How much we change and in what direction I think we can, at least to some extent consciously direct.
You can decide to take a selfish path or a less selfish one. You can decide to learn or to remain in ignorance. You can decide to admit your faults and repair them or you can deny them and remain as you are. You can admit when you are wrong and learn or you can twist and rage afraid of admitting your mistake. I think many decisions to take the more destructive path are born of fear and insecurity. A fear of becoming somehow less for admitting weakness or error when in truth you cannot grow, become stronger or learn without accepting and then repairing your weakness or accepting new learning.
Perhaps it is strange that the practice of bondage, the desire to be open and connected with my partner has lead me to examine these issues over the years and to wish to learn, grow, understand, not only myself but my partner in ways that lead to a richer interaction. Or perhaps it is not. Perhaps it is the decision to pursue this path has lead me to this. What I have done has changed who I am.
This can go wrong.
The unexpected can effect us all... unexpectedly. Many people say to expect the unexpected. With respect to rope bondage and suspension the number things that could go wrong is large but finite we therefore can be prepared for the majority of likely happenings.
One thing that occurs to me is that there is a difference between knowing what to do about something and coping with something in the heat of the moment. It's something you will only ever find out when it happens.
When it comes to something going unexpectedly wrong, overconfidence and arrogance are the enemies of preparedness, the assumption that something will not go wrong for you. This can lead to ill preparedness and inattention.
Be aware of the risks, consider carefully if you are willing to accept responsibility for something going seriously wrong.
It's my opinion that you should always be aware that..
This can go wrong and have very real and serious consequences.
The dangers of what you are doing should be present in your mind.
Doing suspension bondage always carries risks, people sometimes talk of risk free and having methods that are less risky but there is no such thing as risk free and it's always, regardless of method more risky than not doing it. It is always a risk. It should be a calculated risk that you enter into knowingly and consentingly and with a grasp of the possible consequences and with a preparedness to accept the unhappy consequences of a mistake or failure. This cannot happen if you are not aware of the risks, it cannot be done responsibly without knowledge of how to deal with the possible problems, it cannot be done consentingly without both parties knowing the possible consequences and making an informed decision to enter into the activity.
I have seen people say that suspension is not an advanced skill, that it's easy and can be done safely with minimal knowledge. I cannot help but see these people as fools. You are literally hanging someone's life on your rope and your partner is quite literally trusting you with their life and well-being. This is not something to be casually regarded as a basic skill. You are by engaging in this act accepting responsibility for that persons life, safety and well-being. Be aware of that fact.
There are no getouts and no letoffs. It is absolutely incumbent upon you to know your business and to take that business and your responsibility seriously.
Does your work speak for you?
Does your work speak for you?
I'm connected to my work, it's a part of me, it comes out of me and so I cannot help it being part of me, speaking for part of me, expressing part of me.
However it's not all of me and only connects to some aspects of my 'self'.
They are aspects that I think are important. At least they seem so to me so in this context they are.
If your work doesn't speak at least 'of you' and to some extent 'for you' then maybe you're not doing what you should.
Does my work speak for me?
Yes of course, how could it not?
Tied
Running it through my hands,
feeling its texture.
Not looking at it.
Looking at you.
Images run through my mind,
how you will look,
what I will do.
Laying it on your skin,
binding,
restricting,
ornamenting.
Making you helpless.
Hitch, weave, cinch, tension, turn.
Beautiful, and beautiful.
Helpless but held.
Tied
I am not Japanese.
I am not Japanese.
I did not grow up in Japan. I do not have the cultural frame of reference of someone Japanese. I do not speak Japanese very well.
That may seem obvious but it's a relevant point because, I love Japanese bondage, I find it heart achingly beautiful. But when I do bondage it is a western person doing it.
Despite the appearance of some of my bondage, it isn't done by someone Japanese, with a Japanese spirit or with any of the any other of the myriad cues, associations and references that make up a Japanese perspective on bondage.
So what does this mean for my bondage?
Well everything and nothing really. Much as I would like to understand, or may study I will never truly have a Japanese mind set. I don't however believe that this means less for my feeling for bondage. It does not diminish my delight in it or my passion to tie. With a partner who has grown up in a western culture their bondage experience and the feelings that they experience when being bound must be different to that of a Japanese person but that does not diminish the experience for them. It means that the experience is different but not, I think less.
Japanese bondage has taught, continues to teach and, I sincerely hope will always have much to teach me.
It's my intention to continue learning and developing my bondage. I'll continue to enjoy my bondage, use Japanese names for Japanese ties where I know them.
Does it matter that I'm not Japanese? No, not really. It's important to remember that my background colours the way I see things and has an effect on my perception and feelings for and from bondage but does not mean the feelings are less or any less valid. It doesn't mean my appreciation for the beauty of Japanese bondage is less, it does mean that it's different.
I am passionate about bondage. I am committed to improving my bondage. I gain great satisfaction from bondage and even more from the affect on my partners. I gain great joy and satisfaction from the intimacy and connection in bondage.