I went to a Christmas party last year and met a bunch of my new neighbors. These are older folk and they are kind and friendly people. So when asked, I introduce myself as a guerrilla ontologist. What is that, I am asked? Well, I question the fundamental assumptions that drive our interpretations of reality. We had great conversation and as I always note, I get to say some pretty wild things as long as I don’t trigger ego defense responses. In my old job doing custom trim on upscale remodel projects I met plenty of ‘smart’ people. I love the game and my boss says he sometimes ‘warned’ the customer about me.

Now when I work I do not talk. The customers love me because I assure them that I will deal with every detail (that is within the contract) before I leave that job. It is when we are talking details that I find out about the customers take on life. Achiever types love to tell you about themselves. How they achieved their success and all. Then they may notice about ten minutes in that I have not said word one about myself. Then comes some variation of; “Oh, well check this out, this is what I’m about”. And they feel obligated to listen because they just went on about themselves for ten minutes. It depends on the personality and its response whether I say very little or a lot. Insecure types will cut me off rather quickly sometimes. That is fine, I simply get back to work and the customer goes on about their business. A good portion of the folk are university profs and vp’s and in one case president of a very large corporation. I give no quarter. Usually while we are talking, at some point a sort of veil will drop down across the face. This is the point where they realize; Shit, this guy (asshole workman) is questioning the stuff that provides me with my sense of identity. This usually ends the conversation, but at least they have been left with something different to think about.

In the case of the jobs done for the ‘large corp. president’, they were five or so separate projects done over several years. All the built-ins, cabinets, except kitchen cabs, mantles, columns, railings and raised paneling were made on site, with over 90% of the finish work done by me alone. (That is how I work). The woman of the house has a philosophy degree and the best coffee and treats one can imagine. One thing to be said for the better customers is they are less insecure. They know what they want and they know why they want it. Anyway the man of the house had just come back from Washington and was telling me about the excellent speech Paul Bremmer had given the day before. I jumped in, interrupted really, with a rant about how Bremmers protocols were a recipe to asset strip Iraq and represented the craven activities of an imperial power. Now, he did not like it, but he never seemed to hold a grudge. It is at least better than the folk that have their ego bruised long before issues of substance are even brought up.

I have no idea where I wanted to take this but my original thought was along the lines of saying that intelligence is imagination that has been fixed.

Fixed as in set or put in place. Or an idea stuck to a category or form via the taking on of beliefs provided by corollaries implicit within our psychical conditioning systems.