I must say that i really like this one. I agree that these jumps in the
way we think are probably required for creativity and insight. This does
not mean that they are logical, though they might be. It might simply be
coincidence or "luck" as many would have it. I am a musician and poet
and there is no way that I would have been able to fathom these concepts
logically. I do however kn ow from experimentation and observation that
music in particular has a psyological response in humans and most
animals respond to psylogical input in an emotional way. Music makes me
feel good. And "good" music makes me feel better then "bad" music.
> So, can you explain in less than 500 lines the connection you are implying
> between rate of change...appearence of constancy...and the way a map "works"
> in our mind
My argument was that "state" and "pattern" are not the same thing;
however, I see where this is giong so I will give it a try:
Rate of change implies that there are different rates. For instance,
the rate of change as water goes to ice in a cup, is detectable by our
senses. It happens in an abount of time we can easily measure and
understand. The symbolism is the nearly identicle for all of us. On the
other hard, the rate of expansion of Universe is not detectable easily.
If it were, so many people would have the symbols necessary to concieve
of a finite universe that is expanding, that false ideas and symbols
would fall into dis-use as inherently false. I hate to use religion
again, but it is an excellent example. Because people thought the stars
were placed by god to guide us upon the seas, and to read signs and
omens, incorrect and damaging symbolsm gained a foothold that cannot
easily be shaken. Had the bible said that stars are balls of hydrogen,
helium and several other elements in fusion and held together by gravity
and seperated by vast distances of nearly infinate space, religion
would be very different today. A rate of change, or the apearance of a
constant rate of change, make common symbolism possible. We both
understand that a map works because we use nearly identicle or similar
symbolism. A map of the universe could never be made because the
universe cannot be even close to static in a way that we coould store
the information.
I hope i did this justice in under 500 lines, but I am sure that there
is much room in this discussion for more ideas.
Sodom
Ask not for whom the flourescent lights hum