February 15, 2006 - 13:26
Projects:
It hit me Monday while sitting in class about how much of it is based simply on perspective. Emergent phenomena could be all around us, but are we too jaded to see most of it? Do we accept it as commonplace and something to be expected simply because we've seen it so much? Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly philosophical, I look around me and see something that I've seen a thousand times and think, isn't that amazing? This happens the most with trees, I suppose. I still can't get over how complex, but simple, they are.
When I think of emergence, I feel like I have to "change my glasses" (not that I wear them) and put on something that makes the world fresh again. Something that gives me back that sense of wonder that we all had when we were children.
I found a short page when searching about the It hit me Monday while sitting in class about how much of it is based simply on perspective. I found short page on the wonder of emergence during a search. It generally is about the emergent properties of life, but addresses many areas (it also includes my favorite quote by Heraclitus).
But if I propose that quite a bit is based on perspective, can we really rely on ourselves? Take a look at our thoughts. A great many psychologists have tried to predict future behaviour using past behaviour. But the fact of the matter is that the methods that they have developed do not hold true universally. I don't know about anyone else, but I've tried to predict my own behaviour. Can I predict what I will think in response to this stimulus? No. I can recognize patterns in what has already happened, and try to base future predictions on those patterns, but it's just too complex. All of this suggests to me that I have to take everything that I think with a grain of salt.
However, I feel as though I must rely on my own mind, so I'm choosing to ignore much of what I just said.
Comments
generalize everything?
Submitted by BhumikaPatel on February 15, 2006 - 13:52 Permalink
Curiosity, and ... everything
Submitted by PaulGrobstein on February 15, 2006 - 20:44 Permalink
...
Submitted by SarahMalayaSniezek on February 15, 2006 - 23:35 Permalink
half-baked
Submitted by Kathy Maffei on February 17, 2006 - 15:29 Permalink
Perspective
Submitted by PeterOMalley on February 20, 2006 - 13:51 Permalink
"ultimately satisfying"?
Submitted by PaulGrobstein on February 20, 2006 - 14:16 Permalink
satisfying answers
Submitted by Kathy Maffei on February 21, 2006 - 12:45 Permalink