Jr recommended one chapter on "dream, knowledge, language" (forgot the title already). briefly, jung talked about the similarity between ontogenesis and phylogenesis and dream. about the importance of "directed thinking", the kind obtained through training in science and technology, in contrast to "associative thinking", which exemplifies much of human cognition. he also discussed "matter of factly" the essence of language in the acqusition of knowledge - precisely as i had realized myself awhile ago: these two are really one and the same (gee, i could have known this sooner by reading). associative thinking lacks abstraction (and too "primitive", commented Jr, dismissvely).
i am less sure about his characterization of "dream". for him, as for his freud, dream is part of the subconsciousness, consistent with what one thinks in full wakeness and therefore can be explained more or less logically. on the other hand, i rather have the belief that dream is a physiological process necessary to unwind the brain from continuous thinking. it is the needed rest for the brain, within which, the nerves fire rather randomly, with some connection to daily activities but without much intrinsic meaning attached to.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
about truth
"what is truth is rational; what is rational is not necessarily truth" is my favorite saying (i made it up long time ago). but i've never been sure about the first half of it. why truth has to be rational? is it really?
consulted with Jr. he suggested that probably it is based on the assumption that ultimately all things can be explained logically. or at least we believe so. when new evidence contradicts a "proven" truth, it causes a paradigm shift and new theory is then developed to accomodate all "facts". pushing still further and it probably also concerns of Godel's imcomplete theorem.
it's hard for me to think through it with absolute clarity and certainty. i will just leave it here by saying probably this is how i "define" truth.
consulted with Jr. he suggested that probably it is based on the assumption that ultimately all things can be explained logically. or at least we believe so. when new evidence contradicts a "proven" truth, it causes a paradigm shift and new theory is then developed to accomodate all "facts". pushing still further and it probably also concerns of Godel's imcomplete theorem.
it's hard for me to think through it with absolute clarity and certainty. i will just leave it here by saying probably this is how i "define" truth.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
the morality of brilliance
lunched with Steve last Friday. the conversation was centered, naturally, on Pats. Steve was planning to go to the Superbowl, because "this is the one, if you only go once". Of course, he went once already but that was the unspeakable 1986 game.
having gone over every detail about Pats' next game against Chargers, we turned to our attention to the whole year, in particular, the significance of the Spygate. as everyone Bostonian remotely interested in Sports, i have been fascinated by the whole evolving phenomenon. this incredible energy this team/sports nation has drawn from such a gigantic scandal. Steve actually personified it. he told of his indignities and his much intensified hatred against every opponent since. he even stoppped watching games with friends; instead, he locked himself at home and glued to the TV, set up at the best possible angle, so that he could attend to every single detail that needed his full attention and salvage every single mement that might be remotely memorable.
but this inspiration was not about acknowledging wrongdoings, or redemption. it was as if an effort, an immense one, to overwelm others. by playing hurt. by being undefeatable; brilliant; SUPER... and SUPER have they become. now superiority does not equal "morality". yet, somehow, something else has sprung from it, as the urgency for one to dominate generated a counter force as powerful: instead of being cowered, every week, a new team came more and more determined. along the way, they ascended to their own unprecedented excellence. alongside the PATS. and it feels morally inspiring. at least to me.
so there you go, another odd trick of the mind. it can translate brilliance into morality. or at least tries to. and because of this, PATS have to win this time.
having gone over every detail about Pats' next game against Chargers, we turned to our attention to the whole year, in particular, the significance of the Spygate. as everyone Bostonian remotely interested in Sports, i have been fascinated by the whole evolving phenomenon. this incredible energy this team/sports nation has drawn from such a gigantic scandal. Steve actually personified it. he told of his indignities and his much intensified hatred against every opponent since. he even stoppped watching games with friends; instead, he locked himself at home and glued to the TV, set up at the best possible angle, so that he could attend to every single detail that needed his full attention and salvage every single mement that might be remotely memorable.
but this inspiration was not about acknowledging wrongdoings, or redemption. it was as if an effort, an immense one, to overwelm others. by playing hurt. by being undefeatable; brilliant; SUPER... and SUPER have they become. now superiority does not equal "morality". yet, somehow, something else has sprung from it, as the urgency for one to dominate generated a counter force as powerful: instead of being cowered, every week, a new team came more and more determined. along the way, they ascended to their own unprecedented excellence. alongside the PATS. and it feels morally inspiring. at least to me.
so there you go, another odd trick of the mind. it can translate brilliance into morality. or at least tries to. and because of this, PATS have to win this time.
Friday, January 04, 2008
drifting leftward - notes on Right Hand Left Hand 2/4
Right Hand Left Hand
Chris McManus
Chapter 5: the Heart of the Dragon
why the heart is always on the left side: extremely elegant biological experiments illustrating how this happens during embryonic development: the clockwise rotating monocillia sweep any signaling molecule secreted by the node almost entirely to the left-hand side, whether it could trigger the cascades of signaling molecules such as Sonic hedgehog.
Chapter 6: the Toad, Ugly and Venomous
the asymmetry of life's building blocks: L- amino acids and D-sugars. the origin of L- amino acids.
As you like it (Act 2, Scene 1) by Shakespeare:
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in tress, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stone, and good in everything.
Physicist Abdus Salam's explanation of the discovery of Yang and Li:
I asked him if any classical writer had ever considered giants with only the left eye. He confessed that one-eyed giants have been described, and he supplied me with a full list of them; but they always [like the Cyclops in Homer's Odyssey] sport their solitary eye in the middle of the forehead. In my view, what we have found is that space is a weak left-eyed giant.
Chapter 7: The Dextrous and The Gauche
Finally, the author's attention focused on the handedness. Talked about "preference" determining the usage of one hand.
His own theory of handedness: two gene loci: D and C. Not sure how well this holds. needs more information from other sources.
A surprise for myself: I only scored 1/10 for preferential use of the left hand!
Chapter 8: The Left Brain, the Right Brain and the Whole Brain
asymmetry of the two half-brains; fascinating consequences of all sorts of brain damage.
the author proposed the same two gene loci determine the differentiation of the left and right brains.
Chapter 9: Ehud, Son of Gera
percentage of left-handed is different among different ethnic groups. the author made a fairly convincing argument that the basis is biological, not cultural.
evolution of the human hand: the instrument of instruments.
Steve Jones on evolution: Evolution is to allegory as statues are to birdshit. It is a convenient platform upon which to deposit badly digested ideas.
Chapter 10: Three men went to mow
cultural conventions concerning left and right
writing: left to right, right to left, left to right and then right to left.
driving, sports, music, politics.
main point: many are determined by factors other than biology.
Chapter 11: Keggie-Hander
how lefties survive in a society of right-handers. in English, large number of words describing left-handednes, mostly negative; only one describing the right-handed. social pressure from extreme negative to nonexistent.
Chapter 12: Vulgar Errors
poked holes to all myths about left-handed:
identical twins don't usually be mirror-image of each other. Left-handers don't die younger, nor suffer from immune disorders, nor more creative or intelligent. Neanderthals were not left-handed. mirrors don't reverse left and right....
Chapter 13: The Handedness of Muppets
trivia: left-handers rarely shown in movies, even less as heros. Titanic was built as a half boat for the movie. mirror writing. most famous left hander: Leonardo da Vinci. 6 left-handers been president of US. Thomas Jefferson wrote with his left hand. Benjamin Franklin wrote a cute letter for the left-hand.
Chapter 14: Man is All Symmetrie
talked about all sorts of symmetric stuff.
Chapter 15: The World, the Small, the Great
summarizes all his thoughts with a grand hypothesis.
Chris McManus
Chapter 5: the Heart of the Dragon
why the heart is always on the left side: extremely elegant biological experiments illustrating how this happens during embryonic development: the clockwise rotating monocillia sweep any signaling molecule secreted by the node almost entirely to the left-hand side, whether it could trigger the cascades of signaling molecules such as Sonic hedgehog.
Chapter 6: the Toad, Ugly and Venomous
the asymmetry of life's building blocks: L- amino acids and D-sugars. the origin of L- amino acids.
As you like it (Act 2, Scene 1) by Shakespeare:
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in tress, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stone, and good in everything.
Physicist Abdus Salam's explanation of the discovery of Yang and Li:
I asked him if any classical writer had ever considered giants with only the left eye. He confessed that one-eyed giants have been described, and he supplied me with a full list of them; but they always [like the Cyclops in Homer's Odyssey] sport their solitary eye in the middle of the forehead. In my view, what we have found is that space is a weak left-eyed giant.
Chapter 7: The Dextrous and The Gauche
Finally, the author's attention focused on the handedness. Talked about "preference" determining the usage of one hand.
His own theory of handedness: two gene loci: D and C. Not sure how well this holds. needs more information from other sources.
A surprise for myself: I only scored 1/10 for preferential use of the left hand!
Chapter 8: The Left Brain, the Right Brain and the Whole Brain
asymmetry of the two half-brains; fascinating consequences of all sorts of brain damage.
the author proposed the same two gene loci determine the differentiation of the left and right brains.
Chapter 9: Ehud, Son of Gera
percentage of left-handed is different among different ethnic groups. the author made a fairly convincing argument that the basis is biological, not cultural.
evolution of the human hand: the instrument of instruments.
Steve Jones on evolution: Evolution is to allegory as statues are to birdshit. It is a convenient platform upon which to deposit badly digested ideas.
Chapter 10: Three men went to mow
cultural conventions concerning left and right
writing: left to right, right to left, left to right and then right to left.
driving, sports, music, politics.
main point: many are determined by factors other than biology.
Chapter 11: Keggie-Hander
how lefties survive in a society of right-handers. in English, large number of words describing left-handednes, mostly negative; only one describing the right-handed. social pressure from extreme negative to nonexistent.
Chapter 12: Vulgar Errors
poked holes to all myths about left-handed:
identical twins don't usually be mirror-image of each other. Left-handers don't die younger, nor suffer from immune disorders, nor more creative or intelligent. Neanderthals were not left-handed. mirrors don't reverse left and right....
Chapter 13: The Handedness of Muppets
trivia: left-handers rarely shown in movies, even less as heros. Titanic was built as a half boat for the movie. mirror writing. most famous left hander: Leonardo da Vinci. 6 left-handers been president of US. Thomas Jefferson wrote with his left hand. Benjamin Franklin wrote a cute letter for the left-hand.
Chapter 14: Man is All Symmetrie
talked about all sorts of symmetric stuff.
Chapter 15: The World, the Small, the Great
summarizes all his thoughts with a grand hypothesis.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
a knitter's song
A Knitter's Song
I sit beside the fire and knit
with the exquisite colors that I have seen,
scarves, hats and mitt(s)
rainbow-shaded or avocado-green.
I sit beside the fire and think
of those that I’ve needled for,
over, under, turn and again
how I love you, ever more.
(And all the while she sits and knits,
plagiarizing Bilbo’s song with her knotty wits.)
(pic: liony with his new scarf. :-))
Bilbo's original
I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.
I sit beside the fire and knit
with the exquisite colors that I have seen,
scarves, hats and mitt(s)
rainbow-shaded or avocado-green.
I sit beside the fire and think
of those that I’ve needled for,
over, under, turn and again
how I love you, ever more.
(And all the while she sits and knits,
plagiarizing Bilbo’s song with her knotty wits.)
(pic: liony with his new scarf. :-))
Bilbo's original
I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.
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