It has taken me nearly eighteen months to reach the stage where I felt mildly comfortable writing this summary and I began the task with great trepidation and with a sombre appreciation that I could not possibly do it justice. Shai was a deep thinker which influenced the way he chose to live his life. This meant that to meet the challenge of describing his intellectual journey, I would actually need more than to simply understand his intellect – I would also need to live his intellect. A daunting task indeed. Alas, we are where we are and as I was grappling with his writing, attempting to glimpse into my son’s mind through his vast body of written work, I often lamented the one-sidedness of this review. I wish he were here, with me, explaining, teaching, elaborating, correcting and expanding on his meaning and answering the myriad questions still burdening my own mind. And as I write these words I am still filled with uncertainty and aware that I am likely to remain so forever.
Having reviewed all the articles, stories, summaries, reviews and posts compiled here, I was able to see a clear pattern in Shai’s writing and was able to categorise his work into five phases, each relating to his focus on one major area of research and investigation.
| Phase | Description | Period of writing |
| Phase 1 – Western Philosophy |
Study of ancient Greek and classical Western philosophers | 2010-2014 |
| Phase 2 – Science and scientific inquiry |
Focus on scientific reviews, science news and science-related essays. | 2010-2013 |
| Phase 3 – Eastern Philosophy and a subphase of Self Reflection |
Study of Buddhism and Hinduism alongside a collection of essays and articles exploring his own state of mind | 2015-2016, but mainly in 2016 |
| Phase 4 – Judaism |
Analysis of Biblical, Talmudic and mystical Jewish (Kabbalah) concepts. | 2016-2017 |
| Phase 5 – Consolidation |
Collections of thoughts that bring together the lessons learned and conclusions made from all previously investigated areas of research | 2016-2017, but mainly in 2017 |
The above can be better illustrated using the following chart:
What you see here is not so much a summary (and definitely not a summation) as much as a helicopter view, offering a chronological scan of Shai’s writing, in which I have highlighted key milestones as they seem to emerge from his work.
I would love to hear your thoughts. Please use the Comment section, at the bottom of the page, to share your thoughts and observations. They will be greatly appreciated.
Shimshon Marom
Melbourne, Australia, September 2019
25/10/2004 – First digital write-up – Gaia Online
This is Shai’s entry into the domain of digital publishing as he contributes an article in the Gaia Online Writers Forum. Shai was not only a prolific writer but also an avid reader and it is thus fitting that his first digital post is a book review, the first of 68 book reviews written between October 2004 and March 2016 (only three of which were published in the Gaia Online Writers Forum).
18/02/2009 – First Blog
In February 2009, Shai starts his rich blogging career with a blog dedicated to reviewing Wes Anderson films. Of the five posts written between February 2009 and April 2012 and dedicated to this topic, four are written on the blog and one is found in Shai’s Google Drive, perhaps written there with the intention of copying it across at a later stage.
13/12/2009 – Second Blog
In December 2009, Shai creates a second blog dedicated to reviews of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” novels. Shai publishes 17 posts in this blog between December 2009 and March 2011.
21/01/2010 – Third Blog
In January 2010, Shai embarks on his third blogging journey with a blog dedicated to reviews of pinball machines :-). This venture is short-lived (one day only) with only one full review published and one incomplete draft.
22/07/2010 – Google Drive
Shai continuously explores different channels through which he might best document his life’s research work. Having traversed from hand-written notebooks to on-line writers forums and blogs, he begins using his Google Drive as a repository for documents he wishes to store on the web. It seems highly likely that some of his work, originally written and stored in Google Drive is later copied to one of his various blogs. Altogether, this compilation of Shai’s works contains 61 essays and posts retrieved from his Google Drive.
I mentioned Shai’s notebooks, so I’ll pause here to add a few comments on this topic.
Shai refers to his notebooks a number of times and as early as 2010, in a journal entry published in Everything2, he makes the following observation:
A more detailed description of Shai’s notebooks is documented in a later entry, from 2014, where he makes specific references to 5 notebooks, each having their own specific designation:
- Small Blue Book – was basically valued and utilised for its practical size.
- Green Book – has become a place where I write things slowly and nicely and have to date begun to have filled a small section enough to give a feel for some rhyme or reason.
- Yellow Spiral – Began for use of noting whilst reading, to which has organically been added further reading-related noting, including mind mapping; but also, some space has been used for a diary experiment to document positive actions daily and health, since this book has a place to date pages.
22/09/2010 – Everything2
In September 2010, Shai begins to share his writing in Everything2, or E2 for short, a collaborative web-based community consisting of a database of interlinked user-submitted written material. Between September 2010 and July 2015, Shai submitted 60 items to this writers forum.
30/09/2010 – Beginning of Phase I – Western Philosophy
In September 2010, Shai begins the first phase of his intellectual journey with an essay dedicated to the Greek mathematician, astronomer and pre-Socratic philosopher, Thales of Miletus. This the first of 80 essays, written between September 2010 and July 2015, dedicated to analysing the thoughts and writings of the great ancient Greek and classical Western philosophers.
17/10/2010 – Jorge Luis Borges
If I had to name three individuals who had a lasting impact on Shai’s philosophical outlook, I’d have to say they are:
- The Argentinian poet, essayist, and short-story writer, Jorge Luis Borge.
- The French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas.
- The German philosopher, Immanuel Kant.
On this day Shai composes his first essay dedicated to Jorge Luis Borges. Borges is referenced in two earlier essays and between January 2010 and November 2017 is referenced by Shai 17 times.
06/11/2010 – Beginning of Phase II – Scientific Inquiry
In November 2010, Shai begins the second phase of his intellectual journey with an essay dedicated to scientific summation. Throughout 2010 Shai’s writings are focused primarily on book reviews with the occasional venture into reviews of science. This focus shifts in 2013 when Shai produces 24 science-related compilations. Between November 2010 and June 2016, Shai produces 60 write-ups related to varied scientific matters.
13/03/2011 – Superman (I)
Shai was always fascinated with cartoon characters and, at least as his written coverage is concerned, mostly with Superman. Between March 2011 and December 2014, Shai writes nine articles dedicated to this superhero and in November 2014 he starts a blog dedicated to reviewing Superman novels.
24/04/2012 – Story Writing
One of Shai’s unique talents was writing stories in the style of famous authors. In a story, retrieved from his Google Drive, he convincingly imitates a vampire genre, Twilight-like movie script, as if it were directed by Wes Anderson.
06/02/2013 – Evernote
In February 2013, Shai adds Evernote to his suite of repositories. This is an application designed specifically for note-taking, organising, task lists and archiving. This proves to be the ideal tool for him to better control his ever-growing research notes, stored primarily up to this point, in handwritten notebooks and documents stored in his Google drive.
Between February 2013 and January 2015, Shai uses Evernote to document 128 entries.
The summary included in the first Evernote entry is significant for a number of reasons:
- It lists a wide range of philosophical books Shai had read over a period of nearly 16 months (between March 2013 and May 2014), starting with early Greek philosophy and ending with what Shai refers to as “contemporary philosophers“.
- It is the first mention Shai makes of his idea of developing a Bibliom, a term which recurs 4 more times in future posts. The term is originally coined to describe a complete body of text, and in using the term here, Shai is likely referring to his intention to create lists representing the ultimate reading references in any particular domain, in this case, Philosophy. In later posts, Shai refers also to his intention to develop a Literature Bibliom.
07/04/2013 – Science Reviews
Shai publishes his first in a series of 30 Science News, documented mostly in Evernote between April 2013 and October 2014.
04/05/2013 – Research Methodology
Shai documents an Evernote entry discussing his methodology for researching and acquiring knowledge, and his preferred methods for storing notes taken during the process.
Shai devises a system of four tiers of acquiring knowledge:
The notes arising from this process of knowledge acquisition are designated as cJ, Content Journey, or cD, Content Destination. Content collected while conducting research can be maintained in some formats while the summary of that information is destined to be published in an electronic blog to allow for ease of editing and retrieval.
21/06/2013 – “Meta” data
Shai documents his interpretation of Locke’s Theory of Knowledge which, he explains, “is famous for being based on the principle that the mind is a blank slate” and that the mind is “gaining everything it knows by experience”. The need to acquire experience in order to gain knowledge is a principle by which Shai chose to live his life. Knowing now that this was his guiding view, makes many of his actions and decisions over the years easier to comprehend.
One other thing to note is the introduction of the term “Meta”. This is the first of 20 times that Shai uses this term. I struggled for some time to fully understand his intent in introducing this term but believe that the “Meta” paragraphs represent his thoughts about his own thoughts, and his reflections about his own method of research. True to his phenomenological journey, Shai places his own experiences at the core of his observations, at a level very much similar to that which he assigns the subjects of his observations.
15/08/2013 – Fourth Blog
In August 2013, Shai starts his fourth blog, entitled “meanwhile-II” which he dedicates to “witticisms, epiphanies, and emotional breakdowns”. The content of this blog reflects a change in Shai’s overall mood, writing style and direction. While his earlier writings are considerate, scientific and outward-looking, his focus now shifts and, while he continues to produce first-class essays on philosophical and scientific matters, he allows his own state of mind to be revealed in his writing.
Between August and October 2013, Shai posts 13 entries in this blog.
16/08/2013 – Daily Journals
This is the first of 51 Evernote entries titled according to the date on which they were written, making this a personal, chronological journal of observations, lessons learned and conclusions, together with an element of diary writing.
16/09/2013 – Immanuel Kant
Although Shai refers to Kant in earlier essays, this is the first where he is analysing Kant’s writing and philosophical approach by analysing his “Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Present Itself as a Science” (often referred to as Kant’s Prolegomena). Altogether, 23 essays are related to Kant.
Through his analysis of Kant’s work, Shai provides a glimpse into the method he uses to prioritise and order his reading.
He says:
He continues:
A short while later, on Oct 7, 2013, Shai makes some further observations:
To which he later adds:
21/09/2013 – Phenomenology (I)
I picked the article from this day as the sections “Learning to reading to learn” and “Misc comments on writing” are typical of Shai’s phenomenological journey and his reflection on his own intellectual endeavours and achievements. As explained at length in other places, Shai’s journey has two main components: the first being the domain of knowledge under investigation, be it Philosophy, Science etc; and the second, his reflection on his journey and the lessons he draws from these reflections.
05/10/2013 – Phenomenology (II)
An Evernote journal entry written on this day contains material that is fundamental and pivotal to understanding Shai’s life philosophy.
Based on his analysis of Kant’s writing, Shai makes the following observation:
Shai’s journey includes two main components, as he is looking to achieve two separate outcomes:
- To acquire knowledge, not for its own sake, but rather for the purpose of placing it within his own devised value system. Shai alludes to this as he uses the analogy of money. Not all areas of study are born equal (so to speak). They are not all of the same ‘value’. To discern their relative value you have to compare them to each other so as not to make the mistake of inadvertently placing one above or below the other.
As you read through the volumes of data, analysis and research in this compilation, bear in mind that most of it is the product of this process. It is the progressive collection of data, in a systematic and elaborate manner, progressing from one domain of knowledge to the next, all according to a plan, the core and principles of which are outlined in this Journal entry.
- To self-study – and I can’t describe it better than Shai has:
Shai ascribes great importance to exploring his own experiences and extracting their meanings. The space is too short to elaborate on this here but if you knew Shai, you would see a pattern of behaviour and a pattern in the choices he made that fit this model perfectly. For Shai, the world was his laboratory and he used people, places and events as his lab apparatus.
17/10/2013 – 750 Words
Early in August 2013, Shai joins a site called “750 Words” which encourages members to submit a daily post consisting of roughly 750 words, approximately three pages. The site explains its purpose as: “The idea is that if you can get in the habit of writing three pages a day, that it will help clear your mind and get the ideas flowing for the rest of the day.”
13/01/2014 – Emmanuel Levinas
This is Shai’s first reference to Emmanuel Levinas. Levinas’ ideas appear to have made an impact on Shai’s outlook as he refers to him 11 more times in the following three and a half years, most notably in a post entitled “Perceptions of wisdom in the Talmud with Emmanuel Levinas“.
08/09/2014 – Fifth Blog
In September 2014, Shai publishes his fifth blog entitled “M-III” (short for Meantime-III) and subtitled “The Traveller is the Journey” (not to be confused with a later blog entitled “The Traveller is the Journey”, published in 2015).
In the ‘About’ page of this blog, Shai shares his observations on his place in the world:
So far most I can tell is that this place (world/reality/experiences) is filled with shapes and colours.
I have a space ship (body/vehicle/me) that is the centre of my world, and also my bridge to the world.
There are other bodies (people/space ships/consciousnesses) in this place.
They walk and talk, and act as if this is home. But aren’t they just travellers too?
This place (world/reality/experiences) is fascinating.
I am a traveller (tourist/explorer/nomad) and I am travelling (sight-seeing / investigating / wondering).
The blog’s first post is an analysis of Hegel’s philosophical writing and is the first of 23 posts dedicated to Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s philosophical work.
15/11/2014 – Superman (II)
Having dedicated two earlier entries in 2011 to Superman, in November 2015 Shai returns to writing about superheroes. In a month of flurried activity between mid-November and mid-December 2014, Shai writes 13 posts, dedicated to reviewing Superman, Hawkman, Aquaman and Flash.
20/11/2014 – Sixth Blog / Superman (III)
In November 2014, Shai opens his sixth blog dedicated to Superman. While only two posts ever got written in this blog, and only one published, Shai writes extensively about this and other superheroes, altogether dedicating 15 essays and articles to these comic book characters.
26/01/2015 – Seventh Blog / Beginning of Phase III – Eastern Philosophy
Shai starts his seventh blog, entitled “The Traveller is the Journey“.
This blog represents the entry point into the third major phase in Shai’s journey. Having previously dedicated substantial research effort to reviewing and documenting the great philosophical minds of the West, he now commences his exploration of the wisdom of East, in particular the mystical aspects of the Hindu and Buddhist philosophies.
In a later article from January 2016 entitled “Meeting Buddha on the Road” Shai explains his thought process as he embarks on the study of Buddhism. He says:
I have turned to Buddhism to learn about meditation. I meditate to unfurl the self, clean the glass darkly, and strengthen the mind. The Buddhists promise only an understanding of suffering and a means to its end, though there are many milestones along this road. I wish to end my suffering, too.
Three months later, in April 2016, Shai summarises his ‘takeaway’ from studying Buddhism in an essay entitled “Reflecting on a Study of Buddhism”:
He later adds:
It is not surprising then that alongside his exploration of the Eastern philosophies, Shai once again takes the path of self-reflection, examining his life choices, evaluating his opportunities, setting objectives and planning for the future. Indicative of this renewed internal reflection is a set of writing categories Shai documents in the About page of this blog where he summarises them as follows:
- Journal – relating and describing the experiences of my own day to day life
- Out-of-the-darkness – specifically my efforts and experiences in recovery
- Self-improvement – specifically my efforts and experiences in remaking and improving myself
- Searching – specifically my thoughts and responses to deciding and reconsidering direction
- Observations – specifically my reflection upon experiences in my life
- Story – my fiction writing
- Essay – my non-fiction writing
While the first draft in this blog is written in January 2015, the bulk of the articles are only starting to be published in late 2015, with a total of nine articles in 2015 and further 46 in 2016 (total of 55 posts), of which 38 are dedicated to the topics of Eastern Philosophy and Self Reflections.
08/08/2015 – Gmail
Over the years, Shai used various information storage options to catalogue and maintain his library of writings. It begins with his notebooks and having moved into digital media, he begins to use blogs and writers forums as the means to store and present his final writing products. The development of digital writing seems to have evolved in two main channels. Initially in Evernote (mainly throughout 2013-14) and later on (mainly in 2017) using the Gmail mail application. Some of Shai’s longest compositions, eg. “Constellations in Hebrew“, and “Howl”, were written in Gmail.
Altogether, 39 Gmail Drafts are recorded in this compilation.
16/10/2015 – Beginning of Phase IV – Judaism
On this day Shai publishes his first post dedicated specifically to Judaism. This is significant as it is the beginning of the fourth phase in Shai’s intellectual journey. After having first devoted a substantial body of writing to scientific inquiry and to the study of ancient and classical Western philosophers, and having recently commenced his study of Eastern Wisdom, Shai begins slowly at first but then, from August 2016, with gathering intensity, to document his study of Jewish philosophical sources.
Further analysis of Shai’s writing during this period reveals that his study of Jewish sources is also achieved through three mini subjourneys:
- Study of the Talmud (and the Mishnah).
- Study of Jewish mysticism / Kabbalah.
- Study of the Torah (by applying lessons learned from the first two).
29/09/2016 – Self Reflection
I mentioned that from early 2015, Shai is increasingly documenting his emotional state of mind as he attempts to deal with his physical and mental challenges. I chose to highlight this autobiographical essay because the last paragraph is Shai’s beautiful, yet painful, reflection of his continuing battle with drug addiction. The analogy he draws between his journey and Frodo’s journey in the epic trilogy of “The Lord of The Rings“, is deeply moving as it describes Shai’s view of the torturous path out of drug addiction.
On the way home I thought about two contrasting descriptors for my life. I was at the late beginning of an epic journey that takes me from being a heroin addict to a valuable professional doing some pretty cool stuff. And I envision the long road Frodo imagined lay between him and Mordor. Except my Mordor is hopefully less violent. But on the other hand the battle was every day, and in fact, every decision wherein we are prone to being tawdry in our responsibilities to our self, therein we are due to talk to Krishna and be taught the value of service. I envision the long lines of men in the Bagavahad Gita. The soldiers aligned in armour and sword. Archers and horsemen. Both armies scream with noise to celebrate the start of the war and cast fright. The battle is now, and you MUST fight.
30/10/2016 – Eighth Blog
In October 2016, Shai opens his eighth blog, entitled “A Bashful Hope“ and sub-title “Dreaming of meaning”. Between October 2016 and December 2016 he posts 13 articles in this blog.
This blog is clearly a work-in-progress and its menu structure suggests that Shai planned to incorporate articles across the vast areas of Kabbalah, Torah commentary and Zionism. I can only speculate, but I believe that the volume of Judaism-related work documented elsewhere was meant to find its way into this blog.
31/10/2016 – Kabbalah
This draft exposition, found in Shai’s Gmail drafts, is significant as it is the first documented evidence of Shai’s deep study of Kabbalistic concepts. In this and other essays, Shai uses a unique code to refer to the Hebrew alphabet (see table below). For example, using Shai’s code, the term 10III-2II-10III refers to the Hebrew word ת-ב-ת, usually used in the context of תבת נח, Noach’s Ark.
I have been unable to find a plausible explanation of the need for this coding system which Shai uses extensively in his Kabbalistic writing. Any help in deciphering this code (shown in detail below) will be appreciated.
| I | II | III | IV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| א | 1I | |||
| ב | 2I | |||
| ג | 3I | |||
| ד | 4I | |||
| ה | 5I | |||
| ו | 6I | |||
| ז | 7I | |||
| ח | 8I | |||
| ט | 9I | |||
| י | 10I | |||
| כ | 2II | |||
| ך | 2IV | |||
| ל | 3II | |||
| מ | 4II | |||
| ם | 4IV | |||
| נ | 5II | |||
| ן | 5IV | |||
| ס | 6II | |||
| ע | 7II | |||
| פ | 8II | |||
| ף | 8IV | |||
| צ | 9II | |||
| ץ | 9IV | |||
| ק | 10II | |||
| ר | 8III | |||
| ש | 9III | |||
| ת | 10III |
04/01/2017 – Beginning of Phase V – Consolidation
On this day, Shai publishes an essay that can be categorised as the first in a series of 18 expositions comprising Shai’s Consolidation work.
Shai commences his analysis by stipulating that the core ideas found in the “Indus Canon” – apparently referring to the wisdom of the East – provide a better philosophical reach than those found in the “ancient West” – referring, I believe, to ancient Greek philosophy.
He then moves to a comparison of the “Indus Canon” with Jewish philosophy as found in the Torah which he refers to as an “Infinite nexus” and describes as a universal connector to all aspects of reality. Shai states that not only does the Torah describe the physical world, it also describes the “phenomenological world” which he later refers to as “the world as made up of experience, and not as made up of real things that cause experiences”. To illustrate this point, he refers to the creation of the “two great lights” (the sun and the moon – as referred to in Genesis 1:16). Although the two heavenly objects were created to provide physical light, they are also a potent reminder of the Kabbalistic imperative that is incumbent on the ‘created’ to aspire to the same revelation as projected by the ‘creator’.
31/08/2017 – Consolidation
This is one of Shai’s longest essays, written in seven instalments, six within a period of just ten days in 2016 (from 13th October to 23rd October 2016) and the seventh, a year later, on August 31 2017.
Reflecting on Shai’s complete collection of writings, this can be seen, perhaps, as the zenith and culmination of his intellectual journey. As he was writing this essay he was acutely aware of his physical and mental state and is expressing his anguish via a “howl”, a painful cry, reflecting perhaps on the complex decade long journey he had undertaken and its possible futility.
Shai’s intellectual journey is an inward-looking phenomenological one where he studies his own consciousness, striving to understand his own thought process in observing and studying diverse areas of knowledge. The beginning of the search is through a deep examination of Western philosophy, commencing with attempts to understand the meaning of the ‘self’ through an exploration of Kant, Spinoza and others. He then explores “the interaction of the ‘I’ with the world it occupied”. To that end, he plunges into Buddhism and Hinduism. These give him “a minimal appreciation for ‘different places to put your mind inside the mind‘”.
Shai sums up his continuing journey as an attempt to answer four fundamental questions:
- What is this place?
- With what are we engaging?
- Who are we?
- What are the tools of engagement?
But before he addresses these existential questions, Shai takes a detour to present his credentials, his justification to be allowed to address these questions. He elaborates on his extensive study of the matters he believes he “needed to know” beginning with the teachings of Einstein and Wittgenstein.
He believes this necessitated a deeper exploration of philosophy, studying the writings of Plato, Spinoza, Kant, Schopenhauer and Husserl (a similar attempt to detail his qualifications, and in particular the journey from Einstein through to Wittgenstein’s, is also found in an earlier essay, Apology, written in December 2016).
The next stage was Shai’s exploration of Buddhism, which introduced Shai to “an appreciation for an alien tradition, which contains some unique insights, and expand the application of the Western toolkit”, and Hinduism which “created awareness of the incongruity of certain phenomenological features which I would not have considered”. Molecular Biology and the Talmud, each helped Shai experience an “awareness of the incongruity of certain phenomenological features which [he] would not have considered [otherwise]”. Shai concludes with a study of Seder Hishtalshelut (Kabbalah) and Hassidic instructions for Hit’bonenut.
I suggest it is worth taking a pause here to note that Shai documented his intellectual and phenomenological journey in great detail and the 430 essays found in this compilation alone testify to his thoroughness. Having integrated and evaluated the various schools of thought from the East and the West, Shai is able to make some fascinating statements and arrive at far-reaching personal observations and conclusions.
And in reference to the wisdom found in Kabbalah, what Shai refers to as the “utility of sefirot”, he writes:
Shai’s journey is a phenomenological investigation, in which he places himself at the core of the investigation. At each step, he pauses to confirm his understanding of his own experiences based solely on the domain he investigates. It is only now, as he writes this essay, that he allows himself to look back, perform a comparative analysis and, reach the soul searching outcomes arising from it.
