Saturday, September 10, 2016

Discovering Ourselves...syllogistic reasoning



It all started long ago. Somehow during that still mysterious time of neuronal arrangement an ancestor realized its brain could carry simple reasoning. The new device might have enabled the brain to ask a question. Perhaps the brain noted nausea, and our poor ancestor just blurted out, "why am I feeling so shitty?" Was it that smelly caveman last night, or was it that weird green plant I ingested or what about the presidential election?"

All kinds of animals can figure out what makes them sick. Rats remember shit like that. They learn. That sort of simple associative reasoning abounds in the animal kingdom. What does not abound is the capacity to ask the next questions. "Why did the plant make me sick?" "How can I avoid that crap?" Sustained syllogistic reasoning, the capacity to state a major premise, then a minor one, followed by a deductive belief conclusion...our species alone can do that...pretty amazing! "I can't believe I ate that shit again!!"

Draw your own conclusions about yourself...after all, it's just my version of the truth, and I could be wrong...Doc

Discovering Ourselves Series...interesting species


In general the mind seeks to understand the world. In doing so it creates the illusion that we are in control of all our actions and reasoning. We become the center of a sphere of action so large it has no walls.

The manifest presence of the mind, rearing its magnificent head above the sea of species around us, raises the question, "Why us?" It is really a special device, or is it the mere consequence of the brain getting too big and loaded up with neurons? Is it truly a human instinct, an adaptation that supplies a competitive edge in enhancing reproductive success? What ever it is, this device, it has helped us conquer the vicissitudes of the environment and enabled us to become psychologically interesting to ourselves as a species.

Now with all that said, draw your own conclusions about yourself. After all, it's just  my version of the truth and I could be wrong...Doc

Discovering Ourselves...the fictional self


Discovering Ourselves...the fictional self


"There is no life that can be recaptured wholly, as it was. Which is to say that all biography is ultimately fiction. What does that tell us about the nature of life, and does one really want to know?" Bernard Malamud, Dublin's Lives

Well we do know about the fiction of our lives and we should want to know. Resconstruction of events starts with perception and goes all the way to human reasoning. Funny, the mind is the last to know things. After the brain computes an event, the illusionary "we" (that is, the mind) becomes aware of it. It reconstructs the brain events and in doing so makes telling errors of perception, memory, and judgement. The clue to how we are built is buried not just in our marvelously robust capacity for these functions but also in the errors that are frequently made during reconstruction. Biography is fiction. Autobiography is hopelessly inventive.

Now with all that said, draw your own conclusions about yourself.  After all, it's just my version of the truth and I could be wrong...Doc


From The Study...a conversation of possibilities

Use suffering to end suffering..

Happy experiences make life magical, painful experiences lead to growth. This does not mean we are to seek suffering and provoke pain. There is enough suffering in life. No reason to add to it, but we do with our "unreason". True reasoning is...we must use our suffering when it comes for its Nobel purpose.

Never say to yourself, "I'll be happy when this suffering passes." If you are not happy with things as they are with you now, you will never be. If you wait to get out of jail in order to be free, you'll never be free. Learn how to feel free while you are in jail, and then you can be free anywhere. A Nobel task for a Nobel purpose...

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