In light of recent turmoil over H-1B Visa immigration, it's worth taking a moment to remind ourselves: Politics is not friendship - it is fundamentally the *art* of disagreement.

The comfort, convenience, and relatively minor nature of most political issues in our lifetime, has caused a lot of people to lose sight of this.

Politics is the art of getting things you want by forming and maintaining consensus, even with groups you disagree with, dislike, or sometimes even loathe. If the issues you *can* agree on are worth more than those you can't, it's best to keep the coalition together, or try to win them over.

What follows is not a prescription for how anyone should feel, but some insight on how we should act, if we want to win, and ultimately thrive.

We don't have to like all of our allies or support all of their positions. We share a societal cause with them, not an apartment. We don't have the luxury of tearing down alliances with those we 99% agree with, over the 1% that we don't. Anyone that doesn't understand that, needs to work on themselves, before they try to solve the world's problems.

But, here's the real wisdom. The same holds true, at almost any percentage. If you 80% agree with your allies, put aside the 20% where you don't. Save your animosity, insults, and "bridge burning" for those you truly can't find common ground with. Until you run out of those (and nobody ever does) keep the debate with your allies respectful and civil.

The need for this approach is apparent to anyone that's studied enough history, American or otherwise. Read the Federalist Papers. The Constitution was largely forged by personalities who would have dueled to the death - and some actually did. The Bill of Rights was debated and agreed upon by men who came from opposite sides of a slavery debate.

Most modern political disagreements are nowhere close to that. At least in the short term, Americans who believe in freedom are going to have to to suck it up and adapt to that reality, because there's a lot at stake. In critical times, leaders and citizens have to consider the cost of an insult, or a burnt bridge, *before* they pull the trigger.

But most importantly, consider the past and future benefits of that alliance. Whichever side of the debate you're on, the "Tech Right," and "Nationalist Right" have both accomplished things together, that neither was able to accomplish alone - and there's still more to do.

That said, the spirited debate of the past several days is encouraging, and this kind of public debate is ultimately is how you move the needle. It's been missing from American society for so long, many of us aren't used to it.

We will get there.

Recursu Aeternam Eiusdem

“… So far as I am acquainted with the principles and Doctrines of Free Masonry, I conceive them to be founded on benevolence and to be exercised for the good of mankind. If it has been a Cloak to promote improper or nefarious objects, it is a melancholy proof that in unworthy hands, the best institutions may be made use of to promote the worst designs.” – George Washington

Freemasonry is as often misunderstood by its critics as by its supporters. Knowledge of its history sheds light upon the largest misconceptions – as well as important insight into our present…

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

Origins Of Architecture

Though myths and legends attribute Masonry’s origins to the builders of Solomon’s Temple  – its widespread practice began in the Middle Ages.

For medieval Europeans, unskilled labor was in high supply and low demand. Even their professional trades were simple by modern standards – most requiring only a few months of apprenticeship. There wasn’t much scarcity for the services of average tradesmen – blacksmiths, thatchers, carpenters, and the like.

One profession became an important exception…

When the lords of the realm needed to build a castle, cathedral, or bridge, even they found that stonemasons were in short supply…

Construction of these required great precision and careful planning – to ensure that the design would hold its own weight, and stand the test of time.

This required knowledge of what we now call math, physics, geometry, and drafting techniques – skills that the nobles themselves were almost never proficient in.

Guarding The Secrets

Such knowledge was often seen as a kind of sorcery or magic by those who did not understand it…

Foremost among these – the Catholic church. At the time, they labeled the disciplines of math and geometry as occult practices – punishable by torture and death.

Masonic Lodges became sanctuaries from persecution – nodes of an intellectual network, bound by the common connections of shared wisdom…

Masonry became a secret society – a sort of underground railroad of forbidden ideas – to ensure the survival of this knowledge.

Of course, it was never the church’s only target…

Upon its invention in 1450, Gutenberg’s printing press was promptly dubbed an instrument of the devil by church authorities, who launched upon a crusade of confiscation…

To avoid seizure, many of these disappeared into the best available hiding place – the local masonic lodge. These became instrumental in bringing about the Reformation, by printing forbidden books and circulating them among the public.

The only weapon it took to win this war was the truth. One of history’s largest network vs. hierarchy fights was won simply by liberating the flow of information.

This victory achieved one of history’s greatest power shifts – removing the monopoly on knowledge and the truth from the hands of the state and the church…

From Profession To Philosophy

Lodges became places for the like-minded to socialize, collaborate, and seek training in architecture and engineering. An impressive array of knowledge was kept, safeguarded through some of history’s darkest times…

By the end of the middle ages, societies had come to know lodge members as free masons. This was because demand for their skills allowed them – by royal decree, in many places – to travel wherever their services were needed. Other professions were still considered vassals of their lords – and were not free to come and go as they pleased.

They had created a revolution of a unique sort – earning their freedom through innovation and creation of economic value.

This spirit was to become their legacy…

It set in motion a transformation, from operative masonry as a craft – to speculative masonry as a philosophy. The founding of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1717 is often celebrated as a turning point between the two.

What drove this?

Lodges had furnished a melting pot for ideas. A culminating notion emerged that the same architectural principles could be used to “build grand ideas in the hearts of men,”  to cite an important passage…

A Brotherhood Of Revolution

As the British Empire grew into a world power, colonizing the New World, masonry spread along with it…

With most forts and outposts including their own local lodge, membership became an expected tradition among members of the British military. It served a similar social role to that of a gentlemen’s club – a place to meet off duty and discuss politics, philosophy, and intellectual pursuits.

Members of the lodge met, conversed and voted as equals – regardless of their rank or nobility in the outside world. From the forms and traditions of this fraternity, came many of the influential ideas and figures who would shape the American Revolution…

Along with their belief in free elections, Masons believed strongly in personal education and personal responsibility, in the form of individual rights.

Spiritually, many believed in a form of Deism. They saw the creator as the laws of nature, rather than one who lives outside them. To them – math, science, and geometry were the language of “Nature’s God.” Their belief system found spirituality in structure, rather than substance…

Of course, many also followed the classical western tradition, made possible by the influence of Christianity, and many were actually Christian…

The greater part of its intellectual foundation was laid by two writers, both masons - John Locke and Thomas Paine. Their work is well-remembered for introducing such concepts as: “Natural Law,” “Natural Rights,” “the consent of the governed,” “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” private property rights, limited goverment, the social contract, among many others.

One need look no further than the first few sentences of the Declaration Of Independence, to see the foundational nature of their concepts acknowledged…

Few know that the original Boston Tea Party began as a meeting at the Green Dragon Tavern (whose upstairs happened to be the St. Andrew’s Lodge). The members of St. Andrew’s came to comprise the Sons Of Liberty, including such names as: Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock. Benjamin Franklin also attended meetings here on his travels to Boston.

The Founders’ cause drew the aid of masons from all over Europe – men who held the cause of freedom higher than their duty to their own countries. Perhaps the most notable of these was the young Marquis De Lafayette – “The Hero Of Two Worlds”  who helped finance the war with part of his own personal fortune – becoming George Washington’s close friend and advisor.

An Architecture Of Government

Of course, it’s well-documented, though often misunderstood,  that many of the founding fathers themselves were masons. Many who were not formal members, such as Thomas Jefferson, held to similar (if not the same) ideals.

Through them, a story that had begun hundreds of years earlier in lodges scattered across Europe, ended in Masonry’s culminating achievement – The United States Constitution.

Using the principles outlined in the Declaration, they crafted a form of government with an architecture intended to withstand the ages – as had the designs of masonry’s past…

Seven principles formed its foundation:

•Separation Of Powers – Divided among three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial
•Checks And Balances – Each branch holds measures of control over its counterparts.
•Federalism – Non-Federal powers are left to the States or the people, per the 10th Amendment.
•Republicanism – Elected officials are representatives, working for the people.
•Popular Sovereignty – The legitimacy of government exists by the consent of the governed.
•Limited Government – Powers are restrained by constitutional limits – see the Bill Of Rights.
•Individual Rights – Certain rights are protected for every citizen –  see the Bill of Rights.

Of course, this model has inspired the design of almost every other modern world government…

The architecture of Washington, D.C. itself is abundant with masonic structure, symmetry, and symbolism. For some great historical research and a remarkable level of detail on this, read Solomon’s Builders by Christopher Hodapp (a Mason himself)…

Continuing A Legacy

Thanks to new forms of communication and cheap collaboration, the world is undergoing a widespread awakening process…

A new generation of thinkers has begun to embrace, not freemasonry as an institution (See: How Gangs Used Freemasons To Corrupt The Police), but the instrument on which it was founded…

A set of principles, that, despite all that has changed in the world, finds relevance in our present circumstances…

•Resisting corrupt institutions with the power of free information.
•Placing one’s loyalty in principles instead of authorities.
•Using scientific and social architecture to build better solutions.
•Embracing innovation and free exchange of ideas.
•Finding strength in distributed networks, rather than bureaucratic hierarchies.

Consider that modern examples of masonry – if we find meaning in that term – have grown beyond stone, paper, and printing presses…

Echoes of these principles can be found in many modern disciplines:

•Software
•Cryptography
•Systems Architecture
•Social Media
•Politics
•Journalism
•Music
•Privacy Protection Tools
•Charity
•Business
•Education

Regardless of the terms used for parallels between the past and the present – taken together, they reveal an important truth…

The power of ideas does not live or die in physical form – anymore than a song can be snuffed out off existence by burning its original sheet music.

Millions will continue to carry the tune – isomorphic to its original melody. (See: Anthem Of Equivalence)

Though the above may serve as a powerful example, the full implications of this reach far beyond the topic at hand…

Today marks 238 years since the Declaration Of Independence – but even these events originate from forces that are older still…

We have much yet to learn about ourselves…

In the meantime, Happy Independence Day.

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? – Excerpt from The Tyger, by William Blake

Cast In The Same Mold

Isomorphism derives its name from the Greek iso, meaning “equal,” and morphos, meaning “form,” or “shape.”

It’s used to describe underlying symmetry between high-level concepts in many different fields:

•Mathematics – symmetrical sets of numbers, and transformative relationships between matrices, imagery, and structure. (You’ll find much of the latter in the artwork of M.C. Escher)
•Biology – similarity in body structures or evolutionary paths between species.
•Linguistics – common evolution of word origins, usage, and grammar. (See: Zipf’s Law)
•Game Theory – decision trees which produce mutual stability points, such as Mutually Assured Destruction, a form of Nash Equilibrium – the best-known work of John Forbes Nash
•Chemistry – molecules that share structures and bonds.
•Sociology – repetition of group behavioral and social structures, such as the feudal system evolving separately in both Asia and Europe.
•Psychology – relations between stimuli, actions and memory; Between subparts of the mind and the whole. (See: Hofstadter’s Pullitzer-Prize-Winning Gödel, Escher and Bach)
•Software – programs that use common sections of code or mechanics (i.e. different versions of Linux). Raph Koster explains game engines this way. (See: Every Genre Is Only One Game)

Isomorphic structures can share intertwined relationships. 

A precise example of this is the way written language and spoken language each find their way into the other. This is not, however, limited to concepts in the same field…

One of my mentors could dive into new subjects and quickly absorb vast amounts of knowledge. In an astoundingly short period of time, he would sound like an expert who had been studying the topic for years…

Some people have an uncanny ability to find mastery not just within subjects, but across them… (Recommended Reading: Mastery by Robert Greene)

If there aren’t unseen symmetries between disciplines, how else could this be explained?

Symbols Of The Mind

“The universe is built on a plan the profound symmetry of which is somehow present in the inner structure of our intellect.” – Paul Valery

When something must be made use of without taking the original, it makes sense to use the best available representation.

Thus, our memories are stored in symbols for the same reason props are used on a theatrical stage – as a necessary stand-in for the original.

When you read the word apple, your mind sees more than just a word; It conjures up memories of color, taste, smell, and sound – perhaps even associated places, times, and people. Such experiences become attached to the symbols we store them close to…

A few years ago, when visiting relatives, I walked into a house I had not seen in many years. Upon entry, I was surrounded by the distinct aroma of pine wood, and I found myself going back in time, reliving years worth of almost-forgotten memories.

Prior to that moment, I had no idea how much something so small can trigger…

A flood of reality, all compressed into a symbol…

I’ve Heard That Song Before

Psychologist Max Werthimer first demonstrated this property between how music is played and how it is remembered…

A musician can take a melody, transpose it into another key, and play it two octaves higher, on a different instrument – yet the listener hears the same melody. Two songs are played in the physical world, but only one is remembered in ours. The symbolic nature of memory ties the new song back to the original…

Modern studies with brain scans have confirmed this even more precisely. Both melodies are perceived the same way – and both trigger the recall of associations. When we say a song “takes us back to high school,” it actually does… (See: Brain Hub That Links Music, Memory, and Emotion Discovered)

No matter how many differences we introduce, our brains seem to want to remember and recall the same patterns.  Melodies of songs echo their source – just as memories echo the experiences from which they came…

The Instruments Of Memory

Imagine that a thousand years ago, someone wrote and played a popular song. The sharing of this song connected millions of audience members to one another, mixing their experiences into a collective wave of memories. Each time it was replayed, that wave continued to mix new listeners with old…

Could a song and its collective effects become intertwined and inseparable, each carrying the other across generations?

If you heard it today, could some of that experience connect with you?

Could this be why the events of the past have the power to inspire us, long after history is supposed to have fallen silent?

Could some of these ancient melodies - written in experience - carry on, only to play out on new instruments?

If you are an instrument, whose echo are you?

There’s no reason to limit yourself to a single answer…