Well.
I'm trying to think of something to say, but I'm having a hard time getting started. My fingers are sore from practicing my guitar, because I've been playing the hell out of my new song, trying to make it second nature to my hands. It's tough.
I guess I'll just post another quote. I read this in a Philip K. Dick novel, but it's actually by some famous philosopher or another whose name I can't quite remember. It starts with an H, if I recall. I thought it was pretty smart:
"It is necessary to have understanding in order to interpret the evidence of eyes and ears. The step from the obvious to the latent truth is like the translation of utterances in a language which is foreign to most men. Men, in regards to perceptible things, are the victims of illusion much as Homer was. To reach the truth from the appearances, it is necessary to interpret, to guess the riddle...but though this seems to be within the capacity of men, it is something most men never do."
When does one make the jump from conclusion to understanding? At what point can one say, "I understand, and therefore I conclude!"
I think a lot of people (including myself) do this prematurely. Is it even possible to do anything else? Can the latent truth to a situation ever really be known and understood, when we are limited by our perceptions and perspective?
... So maybe it's an unrealistic expectation. Perhaps, the only expectation we should have of ourselves is to try and do our best to put forth effort and attempt to grasp as much of the latent truth as possible before reaching a premature conclusion. So in that, I wonder -- who can be the judge? How do we stop ourselves, when it is in our nature to choose. How do we remind ourselves that there are more choices than what we think we have, when all we can think about is what is obvious to us in the limits of our perception?
deus absconditus.
Beth will like this:
"I'm a pilgrim at the edge,
At the edge of my perception,
We are travellers at the edge,
We are always at the edge of our perception..."
I'm trying to think of something to say, but I'm having a hard time getting started. My fingers are sore from practicing my guitar, because I've been playing the hell out of my new song, trying to make it second nature to my hands. It's tough.
I guess I'll just post another quote. I read this in a Philip K. Dick novel, but it's actually by some famous philosopher or another whose name I can't quite remember. It starts with an H, if I recall. I thought it was pretty smart:
"It is necessary to have understanding in order to interpret the evidence of eyes and ears. The step from the obvious to the latent truth is like the translation of utterances in a language which is foreign to most men. Men, in regards to perceptible things, are the victims of illusion much as Homer was. To reach the truth from the appearances, it is necessary to interpret, to guess the riddle...but though this seems to be within the capacity of men, it is something most men never do."
When does one make the jump from conclusion to understanding? At what point can one say, "I understand, and therefore I conclude!"
I think a lot of people (including myself) do this prematurely. Is it even possible to do anything else? Can the latent truth to a situation ever really be known and understood, when we are limited by our perceptions and perspective?
... So maybe it's an unrealistic expectation. Perhaps, the only expectation we should have of ourselves is to try and do our best to put forth effort and attempt to grasp as much of the latent truth as possible before reaching a premature conclusion. So in that, I wonder -- who can be the judge? How do we stop ourselves, when it is in our nature to choose. How do we remind ourselves that there are more choices than what we think we have, when all we can think about is what is obvious to us in the limits of our perception?
deus absconditus.
Beth will like this:
"I'm a pilgrim at the edge,
At the edge of my perception,
We are travellers at the edge,
We are always at the edge of our perception..."
posted by Cameron Barry at 8/23/2004 03:24:00 PM
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