Monthly Archive for February, 2009
It is odd trying to say what I think. In fact, I can’t. What I end up doing is a summary the mish-mash waves of thought that ebb and flow through my mind. There are too many caveats to mention, to many angles to report, too many ‘possibilities’ to entertain. Yet, I end up speaking. The queer nature of this connection between speaking and thinking are at least partly reflected in the verse, One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know. Perhaps the main difficulty is good old ‘mysterious sameness‘ to which that chapter later refers. The process of nailing down thoughts, whether spoken or not, requires discerning and highlighting differences. Continue reading ‘Can you say what you think?’
Indian grinder found at my parent's farm in Tucson
After I’d finished grinding out correlations to my satisfaction I stood back and judged the process by the results, not by the process itself. In other words, I judged the book by its cover. In this delusion, I naively thought this process would rip away other people’s preconceptions just as it had done for most of mine. The correlation process would forever change the world. Looking back, it is difficult to believe I believed that. Continue reading ‘Grinding Out Correlations’
“Yes” said the little four year old girl. “Why?” the reporter asked. “I don’t know”. The news show went on to say how 68% of America believes in angels(1). Wow! Who said the middle ages were over.
Why do people not only believe in angels, but often see them as well, while others never do? Like all other perceptions, this grows out of what we ‘need’ to perceive. Need means anything from core biological need (like seeing color) to psychological need (like seeing angels). If an animal’s biology needs to see the color spectrum to thrive, it will; if a person’s psychology needs to see (or believe) angels to thrive, it will. Continue reading ‘“Do you believe in angels?”’
A Pirahã man participates in a new experiment that, researchers say, indicates that his language contains no number words, even for the number one.
Talk about living in the moment! The Piraha people, a tribe in the Amazon, give insight into how innate a ‘taoist’ approach to life may actually be, and that the human mind has just gotten a little sidetracked of late. Of late meaning the last 10,000 years or so. For an overview, read: Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle.
Briefly, this author of the book is a missionary who went to proselytize to members of a remote Brazilian tribe (and eventually became a full-fledged linguist). This tribe has no creation myths or storytelling traditions. They live in the present and believe only in what they and their comrades directly observe — a cultural characteristic that lead Everett to abandon his own faith. Need I say more?
Also, this article, Numbers beyond words, discusses how this Brazilian group grasps exact quantities without naming them.
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