wherein lies her expertise?

i don't have a bunch of yoga questions i'd been dying to ask, tbh.

OK, here's my (sort of) dog, Macie Mae:











Siberian husky, but a medical condition basically stopped her growth at five months, so she's still a puppy physically (at about three and a half years old, I think).

question for atakdevi:

what is atak like in person?

Well, relevant stuff right now is yoga and related disciples (including the philosophical side of it), but she also teaches wildlife classes (preferring amphibians, but all sorts of other stuff — she notices about as much as I do when we walk through the woods, which is impressive). And seh was on Wall Street for many years as (I'll get this wrong, probably) a some sort of financial analyst who eventually managed a book worth a whole lot ... I'm not sure what she'll be comfortable saying, so I guess we'll wait on that.

Or on raising a couple daughters, or maybe on falling in love with ... well, you all know I'm quite an odd package.

I dunno; maybe there won't be much interest. But as I said, she thinks the whole POG thing is cool (though she won't hang out here, and will read or post only when asked — she declared immediately that as far as she's concerned it's my place, not hers). So if anyone does have questions for her, have at it, but if not it's cool.

Howard Gardner (of multiple intelligences theory fame) proposed that naturalistic intelligence should be considered a separate "intelligence." I didn't know wtf that was even supposed to mean when I first read it. Do you have any insight on this that you could share with us naturalistically benighted folk?

Awesome dog.

I can also speak dog but for some reason I don't act alpha that much.

I think the problem is I want to be her friend more than her master which I suppose isn't really a problem because it's the family dog and I'm at university most of the time so I wouldn't want her to feel abandoned.

I suggest that anyone with a question for atakdevi identify it as such clearly, as Sun did.

iversonian, if that's for me I have no idea what it even means — what is naturalistic intelligence supposed to be?

If it's for her ... I have no idea whether she'll know.

(She's not available right now, and won't be for a few days, I would guess.)

Oh yeah, I did always want to know,

Why is there an association at all between physical exercise (yoga) and philosophy? Or is that just a Western thing owing to Eastern chic or whatever?

To go off on a bit of a tangent, what's the deal with Falun Gong being persecuted? Obv, the commies are not cracking down on guys doing some exercises in the park. It must be because the exercise & political movement are somehow linked. I don't get that either.

EDIT: I guess my questions are directed at whoever is more willing or able to answer them.

My view on this, which comports with what I've read and what I've experienced, is that dogs almost all really want a pack leader, so by being alpha — not mean (ever!), but in charge — you really are being their frind in the sense that matters most to them. And as I've established alpha with Macie, it's not like she's started to obey me more — the main affect is that she likes to cuddle with me.

As for their feeling abandoned when alpha goes away — that does make a fair amount of sense, if there's no other person whom she'd view as pack leader in your absence.

atak, check your PMs

questions for atakdevi:

what are your religious/metaphysical beliefs?

Do you think some people naturally endowed with a lot of this quality, whatever it is, or do you think these traits are simply developed by habit and learning?

that seems more like an inclination or set of interests than what I would call a type of intelligence

Me too. Don't know what she'll say, but afaic though there may be multiple types of intelligence (an idea I think is far overblown, at best), that ain't one of them.

Done, ty.

Now I have to go finish some sort of writeup for the draft, I guess — not much time for POGging these days, and this is my window.

I think humans similar to dogs in this respect.

I've had the best relationship with bosses who established themselves as alpha. We both understood our relationship wrt each other and our interactions were very efficient. We could discuss and argue about stuff, but once he made a decision, I went and did my job. My bosses that were not alpha tended to be poor managers. He'd make a decision, but I'd always be questioning it, second guessing him, etc. That would stress me out, and ofc he's pissed off about it. Obv, that's my fault for doing it, but I don't have any of those problems with an alpha manager, nawm saying?

Also, [sexist paragraph redacted]

tbh, though she and I have (unsurprising) talked about this, I'm interested in what she has to say on it, too — I think it's sort of taken for granted in that community that the connection is natural, but it sure doesn't seem it to me.

And there are other dimensions to it too, other pieces that don't seem to my (very Western) mind to fit each other — maybe she'll address that.

Her reasons for turning to yoga are interesting and complex, and if she's willing to share (I don't know), that could add to the discussion. We shall see.

So iversonian, can I assume you wanted to cuddle with the bosses who exhibited alpha behavior?

Your post 1241 is true imo, but I think it's not quite as strong as in dogs — their need for hierarchy seems (in my experience) to be somewhat less flexible. Or maybe it's just that we are capable of understanding, sort of, when it's not necessary or appropriate.

But then something like Penn State or Catholic priests and altar boys comes along and you remember just how much humans will stretch to value the pack and its leaders above .... well, sometimes above everything else.

safe to assume I no longer need to update you when i am in the chicago area?

Atak, has atakdevi shown interest in your other hobbies, particularly bridge and birds? You both seem very well-versed and engaged in different activities and interests. I'm curious how much your separate worlds will converge in the future or if you think that having separate lives and interests is a large part of your compatibility.

I've always wanted to keep bridge and women separate because of the potential for frustration and stress. Your thoughts?

Does atakdevi enjoy competition?

ETA: I haven't congratulated you yet. All the best to both of you.

Question for atakdevi:
How aroused were you when you discovered atakdog baring his teeth and growling at the Siberian Husky in a display of complete dominance, instantly swaying her to his side and cementing his status as an alpha male?

Do you think your avatar was foreshadowing?

Yes, I'm afraid so. One of the very few unfortunate aspects of this whole procession of events.

Boston though.

At this point it feels like so many things were (and yes, devi has pointed this out — it's much more consonant with her world view than mine).

I don't know what I think. I ... I think I need to get back to that one. But the way new things fall into place, and past events seem to have led here — it's scary and wonderful and ... again, I think I need to revisit this after I've chewed on it some more.

I suspect devi may have more to say on this — some of the apparent coincidences are truly bizarre.

.