x
philosophistry
visit Philosophistry dot com for the full meee.
 
GREAT CONCEPT about chilhood recapitulation or something by CHAZ. In one of his short stories he talks about a child and makes a metaphor to when a child first learns about the Moon Landing.

See, I remember when I first learnt that we laned on the moon. It was like woooah, cool.

but what's interesting is that this happens to all of us for many historical events. When was the first time you learned about Vietnam, about the Civil War, about Hitler, etc..

while as your parents and your parents' parents went through historical events in order, you are getting them sporadically. Because of this achronology, certain events surprise you and some don't.

Since you are first aware of electrical sockets, it is not novel when you learn about electricity being invented.

But when you learn that the Earth is not flat, that's still just as interesting as when our ancestors first agreed on this.

For me, it took me a day or two to sink in.

If the mean time for absorption is a day or two, but the distribution is skew, then there are bound to be a few outliers who, in their forties still don't believe it (Flat-Earth Society).

So the natural truths, the truths that a child can know and someone living ten thousand years can know are one thing, and then there is this re-selling of cultural progress that goes on.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a certain threshold of explainability that certain concepts just won't be reduced down enough that they can't be reliably passed down from generation to generation.

For example evolution, people still don't believe it. Even if everybody now agreed upon it, there would be fresh generations that would have to be re-sold on the idea.

Which means that culture is a pulse, not a constant "hand-me-down," a pulse that depends on a rhythm.

Which, is the feeling I get from the consciousness literature that I've barely read: that thinking and mental capacities are wave or a running, repeating process. Its repetitive in the sense that its this constant dog-chasing tail system. "Am I aware?" "yes" "show me" "see?" "where?" ad infinitum

No replies - reply
 
Calendar

November 2009
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930

January 2007
123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031

August 2006
12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031


Older

Recent Visitors

July 24th
songsforthedeaf

May 7th
google

May 6th
google

May 5th
google

May 4th
google

May 3rd
google

May 2nd
google

May 1st
google

April 30th
google

April 29th
google

April 28th
google

April 19th
google

April 17th
google

April 14th
google