Being alive -- or considered alive

Being neither Dead nor Alive (Part #2)

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There is ready agreement regarding people experienced as "alive" and "full of energy". Less clear is the variety of attributions of such qualifications -- or of the contrasting sense that a person is "dead". There is a delightful charm to considering the conditions under which one feels alive or is considered by others to be so in some special sense. What is "feeling alive" and any special sense of having "never felt more alive"?

Happiness? Is the focus especially on one of happiness -- perhaps to be associated with joking, laughing, cheering, dancing -- even of rave parties -- or their metaphorical equivalents?

Excitement? Is it a matter of thrills and excitement -- especially those involving unusual risks? Can it be exemplified by the engendering of adrenalin and endomorphins, and especially by sexual intercourse?

In communication? These point to the sense of being alive as associated with some form of collective communication of which social networking is now a primary reality for many. Is "being alive" a matter of "being connected" -- of "being in the loop", or of being "known"? Is it simply the sense of being in meaningful communication? To what extent does the very dependency on such connectivity imply a form of "death"? Is it to be considered a form of "life support" -- an umbilical cord -- or even a "communication teat"?

Appreciation? More subtly, is it a question of being appreciated by others -- through the acknowledgement of applause and followers -- thereby recognizing that one is alive? Is it a resonance with the inspiration offered by others which engenders a sense of being alive in some way?

Humour? Appreciation of humour, and of being humorous, offers a special sense of feeling live "now", especially through participation in it in collective dialogue. As such it has a vital integrative function in the moment, transcending conventional boundaries, as discussed separately (Humour and Play-Fullness: essential integrative processes in governance, religion and transdisciplinarity, 2005).

Future understanding? As noted above, a particular challenge is consideration of how the future may understand "being alive" in any contrast to "being dead". How have such understandings evolved over past centuries? Such speculation may be extended further by considering how extraterrestrials might frame the question and any answer, as partially explored separately, especially with regard to communication of any such insight (Self-reflective Embodiment of Transdisciplinary Integration (SETI): the universal criterion of species maturity? 2008; Communicating with Aliens: the psychological dimension of dialogue, 2000).

The challenge is all the greater if being human comes to be understood in terms of waveforms, as separately discussed (Sensing Epiterrestrial Intelligence (SETI): Embedding of "extraterrestrials" in episystemic dynamics? 2013; Being a Waveform of Potential as an Experiential Choice: emergent dynamic qualities of identity and integrity, 2013). Indications in this respect continue to emerge, framed in terms of the purported existence of longitudinal scalar waves (Konstantin Meyl, Longitudinal wave experiment after Nikola Tesla, 2014; Bill Morgan, Scalar Energy: a completely new world is possible, Rense.com)

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