A rchive Date
[ 13-01-2004 ]
Category
[ Mindworks ]
sub-Categoy
[ Narratives ]
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[Genesis
Not Only Are They Out There
Notlimah Hsineved 10/02/2019
All superstition is much the same whether it be that of astrology, dreams, omen, retributive judgment, or the like, in all of which the deluded believers observe events which are fulfilled, but neglect and pass over their failure, though it be much more common. Francis Bacon, Novum Organum
The agnostic philosopher was chided about going to church regularly to hear an orthodox Scottish minister preach. I don’t believe all he says, David Hume replied, but he does, and once a week I like to hear man who believes what he says. - Anonymous
A sense of discontinuity intrudes upon the darkness of the room.
The awareness, heightened by seemingly random areas of grey mixed with the dim light of the room, seems to heighten the external presence of the night that seeps in around the edges of the blinds and window coverings. Eyes are drawn to the subtle differences that contrasts and delineate the boundaries of the room.
The mind tumbles down previously untravelled paths to where visual and other sensory impressions of the physical world are generated and transposed upon the canvass of the mind. A trick of light?
Aware of the juxtaposed effects cast by the dim light (or its relative absence) upon the physical environment and the associations being assigned to the sensory awareness evokes thoughts of the proverbial rabbit-hole . That is, if a tree falls in the forest and there's no one around does it make a sound?
We, humans, define reality; it's not the other way around. Then slowly and unexpectedly, the thought creeps in and bubbles to the surface: I’m thirsty!
Turning on the lights chase away the shadows and illuminate the path down the crafted and well travelled staircase. In the kitchen, drawing a glass of water to quench the distinct desire for something cool and liquid, the question continues to bubble.
And so, in this frame of mind, if one considers the contrasts that can be discerned between shadows (mere shades of light that help define the room - the physical and the ethereal) the night is then subdued and subtle. The discernment of the difference between greys make clarity of space and forms easily identifiable..
Random Synapses
What’s thirst? From whence originates this need or desire that manifests itself through a sensory-regulated trigger? In fact, from where do symbols derive their being?
Does the awareness of relational association, causal relationships, their interplay and outcome give birth to the panorama of imagination from which pure perception derives grandeur? I think. Therefore I am. Hmmmm, then again, what is thirst beyond a neural impulse or physical sensation that places demands on our consciousness?
To an artist reality, any distinctions that may exist between the perception and the physical, resides in the ability to discern differences between the relationships of the physical world and that of the imagined. It's out of this perceived distinction that results or is created. This is no different than that which distinguishes form and function, conception and implementation, genius from madness. So, what else, other than a desire to heed the siren call of a physiological urge can be ascribed to thirst? A desire for knowledge, companionship, power, security, friends, family, wealth …..
More than being an idle observation, contemplation of the various possible permutations of symbols and their meaning, it’s clear that it is not the symbol, that which can be verbalised, given expressions through a series of disjointed sounds (when sorted, indexed or categorised) that result in patterns that are representative of a collective construct: the thought processes of humanity. The message and the messenger simultaneously become prime factors supporting Meaning and Purpose. Both are essential in all human communication. The ‘message in the bottle’ analogy serves to represent those factors.
The bottle itself, is the carrier, container or medium within which the message is defined - representing the form in which its meaning is gathered and transferred. It’s a constant that remains with the message itself, regardless of form. It’s the fulcrum or focal point upon which all human comunication pivots: purpose. There’d be no need for human communication if there’s no common or social interaction between humans. Consequently, the state of mind of the originator of the thought, as well as its origin requires examination.
What was the source of the original sensation which sparked the the human imagination into being and set it on its course to seek ways of sharing sensations (which have since evolved into thoughts and insights into the nature of those very neural pulses) through the development and use of commonly agreed upon symbols?
To follow this train of thought, it’d seem, requires that we attempt to reel the development back in (reverse engineer, as it were). However, one soon comes to the conclusion that once the genie is out of the bottle there is no way to capture, imprison or reverse the impact that individual thoughts, words, actions and deeds have on the outcome as resultant causes or consequential effects. In fact, Mankind appears predestined to follow along this path as he journeys through Time. Unleashed, like the mythological contents of Pandora's box, every human thought, action or deed negatively or positively imposes a thrust on the eventual outcome of that journey; some more so that others.
It all becomes relative, not in the Albert Einstein's, scientific, theoretical, mathematical, E=mc2, sense. Rather, it's more of a dominoes, cascading-effect type of relativity: What goes around, comes around. The continual pursuit of the tail ahead in a classic case of the tail wagging the dog. Time is not the static constant we would all like it to be; and so we have assigned various factors to Time's endless passage across the landscape of eternity.
Indeed, Time itself is, paradoxically, both a variable and a constant in the calculation of its own passage. If time stood still, what would there be to observe?
Without a constant all else becomes indistinguishable gibberish (meaningful only to the originator or inventor), white noise, static). Communication of any sort or to any degree requires and demands that the symbols have permanence in their very nature. Without these the results become a constant re-examination and re-interpretation of their meanings in relationship to all other symbols in use.
A message in a bottle becomes meaningless without of the existence of, or imagery of, a vast expansive ocean breaking itself apart against the shores of some distant land, witnessed by some unseen and unnamed entity who, overcome by the urge or desire share or communicate a message, sticks it in a sealed container and flings it out into the vast expanse of the ocean. Unsure and uncertain whether it will ever be received and decoded. No different from the sounds of drums booming around a forest. Someone, a receiver, is required or expected to be able to decipher, interpret and understand the symbolic meanings that are representative of transient representations of thoughts as they occurred at a particular moment in time. Without static models, how will the meanings behind the symbols be discerned, points of view be transmitted and legitimacy given to a particular sense of reality?
Without re-living the moment in time,the past, how is meaning attached to interpretation without first applying constancy to symbols and their agreed upon or social meanings. That is, what is communication?]
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