{"id":2168,"date":"2026-06-20T09:19:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T16:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetqualia.com\/?p=2168"},"modified":"2026-06-20T09:19:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T16:19:00","slug":"and-not-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/20\/and-not-but\/","title":{"rendered":"And, not but?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Who are communication experts trying to fool when they say \u201cfirst give compliments, and then, instead of using the word <em>but<\/em>, use <em>and<\/em> before revealing just what you have noticed that is not quite so complimentary\u201d? Who is so daft they won\u2019t detect this sleight-of-hand wordplay? However, there is a time when using <em>and<\/em> instead of <em>but<\/em> is absolutely the right thing to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s say you want to go to the beach: it is your escape from all that nags you, inwardly, outwardly, hauntingly &#8211; your ever-present, ever-distant destination. Alas, you are here, the beach is there.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Picture yourself, then, in your back yard. No, wait, actually go to your back yard, or your front yard, or somewhere outside. Hopefully it is nice out, but it doesn\u2019t have to be. You sit, quietly, meditatively, peacefully, feeling the hot sun, or the cool breeze, or the soft drizzle of rain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, if I am sitting next to you (or somehow I have gotten into your mind), I happen to point out how the hot sun is not unlike the hot sun at the coast. Or, I hint that the breeze could be coming off the ocean, and its lengthy whoosh up in the trees\u2019 leaves is not completely unlike the ocean from a couple of hundred yards away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, your first reaction is \u201cyes, <em>but<\/em>\u2026it is not the ocean.\u201d WRONG! You ought to say \u201cyes, I feel it, <em>AND<\/em> it is the ocean!\u201d The wind is the same wind; the sun, too, has the same warmth (or lack thereof), and the rain might just as well be the same rain that you endure because you have driven quite a ways to be beside the ocean. Good smells in the air \u2013 the same! The beach is with us always. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here <em>and<\/em> there &#8211; yes! There <em>but<\/em> not here &#8211; no!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And this is a lesson in the interconnectedness of all things. Our senses receive qualia and we interpret it. Our mind can recognize it as interconnected and inclusive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here and there and everywhere. Vegetable and mineral and human and animal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We all belong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who are communication experts trying to fool when they say \u201cfirst give compliments, and then, instead of using the word but, use and before revealing just what you have noticed that is not quite so complimentary\u201d? Who is so daft they won\u2019t detect this sleight-of-hand wordplay? However, there is a<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/20\/and-not-but\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-qualiens","post-2168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-qualiasphere"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9QShd-yY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2168"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5413,"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168\/revisions\/5413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetqualia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}