Mr Shuffler

I have accepted that I am but one man with but one life. I have further accepted that I cannot change the direction of the wind, or cause sustenance to fall from the sky. I know that I want, and I know that everybody else wants too. I am in no doubt that it is a “dog eat dog world”.

From as early as I can remember, like all ‘good’ boys, I was continually told to look after my little sister. This became my evidence that humans had been creating stockpiles of riches on the basis of ‘greed’ or ‘fear’ since the beginning of time. But once I learned that the greatest riches were the ones most tainted by blood and screams, I could not be encouraged to seek wealth.

I grew quietly, observing myself and others, until some of the others developed technology that could indeed cause sustenance to fall from the sky. At that time I learned the truth, in that the laws and statutes merely facilitated the most ‘fearful’ and ‘greedy’ in remaining politically powerful relative to all wealth. Because I was born without apparent political influence, I still could not look after my little sister.

Following what I thought was my most desperate time, during that period when all becomes still, I began to contemplate. Eventually I realised that ‘I’ had become ‘We’ and ‘We’ had evolved.

EXTE’s Re-finitions – Evolution

Evolution = The augmentation of an entity (humans) to better survive expected conditions. Evolutionary Equity = The only known prerequisites for evolution are stimuli and time. Evolutionary Evidence = Evidence of evolution is only arguable when the majority of occurrences of an entity uniformly display the related augmentation.

EXTE’s Refinitions – Evolution of The Human Mind

Individual: “I must gather what I need. This is necessary for survival.” – Probable advent of Communication. Group Based Individual: “We can gather what we need. This would be more effective.” - Probable advent of Trust/evolution of Communication. Strategist Individual: “I can gather what others take. This would be more effective.” – Probable advent of Weapons/evolution of Communication. Group Based Strategist Individual: “We must protect against danger from rouge individuals, or groups, who can take what our group gathers. This will not be more effective, but it is necessary for survival.” - Probable advent of political systems/evolution of Communication. Artistic Individual: “Everything has been gathered, and it is a dog eat dog world. I can create some new small thing of relative value to others. This will probably be no more effective that gathering was, but it is necessary for survival.” – Probable advent of small-scale innovation/evolution of Communication. Strategist Artistic Individual: Everything has been gathered. I have learned to survive through creating small things. I can create some new big thing of relative value to others. This would be more effective.” - Probable advent of large-scale innovation/evolution of Communication. Group-Based Strategist Artistic Individual: “Everything has been gathered and largly consumed. The markets appear both saturated and dominated as a result of ‘greed’ and ‘fear’. Our creations have no value except to each other. We must work together if we are to avoid extinction.” – [Probable advent of Generation Why?/evolution of Communication]

It is clear that the threat of human extinction has continually evolved and that Communication has evolved accordingly. It is also clear that the human mind has also evolved to meet the investment requirements of each new form of Communication. On this basis it is easy for me to Trust that Communication is the anti-thesis to every perceivable human extinction.

It is difficult to eat without navigating economic systems, but I know that my purpose is within Communication, rather that economic strategy. This is my justification for declaring myself an Artist.

EXTE’s Refinitions - What is Art?

Work of Art = The Communication of a material or conceptual entity by a human. Good Art = A work of art that finds an audience and stimulates further Communication. Artistic Value = The relative increase in an audience’s Communication regarding a work of Art’s subject matter as a direct result of that work of Art. Artistic Critique = A political mechanism for relating good Art and Artistic value to Global economics.