Thread: Tapestry
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Old 01-09-2011, 03:15 AM   #26
mathewjgano
 
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Dojo: Tsubaki Kannagara Jinja Aikidojo; Himeji Shodokan Dojo
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Re: Tapestry

Forewarning: I'm tired and blabby...fortunately I have edited quite a bit.
Quote:
Keith Larman wrote: View Post
Matt, glad you're enjoying Feynman. He was a blast in person.
I definately am, thanks again for sparking my renewed interest. In an interesting way, he seems to have been a representative of the idealized scientist I at one point planned on becoming. Einstein was my hero growing up, but having learned more about Feynman now I can see he would have been right up my alley. I love that he followed his interests and that his interests were allowed to meander a little.

Quote:
One issue I wanted to raise with this thread. When the world holds such amazing connectedness and order, why are we so quick to make up mystical stuff rather than marveling at the natural world?
Partly because it baffles us, I'd imagine. It comes from the same place all the myths come from and it's a little like that argument that God exists because, "it all had to come from somewhere." It's easier to just say something that sounds good and makes you feel good than to look at hard questions we're not likely to find solid answers to. Like Homer Simpson said about how he can tell the difference between his professed authenticity and that of other doomsday-ers, "I have a really good feeling about it!"

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The whole discussion of "ki" befuddles me sometimes. People ain't shooting ki balls out of their hands. They're not projecting "energy". There are so many possible explanations that rest on anatomy, neurology, etc. so why is it people insist on going into new age explanations so quickly?...
Maybe it is the fact I was raised in a world surrounded by scientists.
My guess is that is it exactly. I'm no scientist, but I grew up seriously planning on being one. My language and approach to things still reflects that a lot...of course I also shifted toward poetic thinking (a rather non-linear mode of thinking, if I understand correctly), and I can honestly say my ability to track and logically dissect things aint what it used to be. But to some extent it's just another way of processing the experience. I think the only problem comes about when we assume ours is the most useful or otherwise correct, and stop refining it. Yes, scientific thinking is the best (my personal bias these days), but that isn't to say other modes of concept building/application don't/can't have their profound usefulness. I've had some odd cases of intuition which I credit to my efforts at "poetic thinking." The subconscious is an interesting facet of our minds, and I get the impression "poetic thinking" addresses it in (useful) ways pure logic might not.

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So much potential... And yet so many end up swirling away surrounded by poetic words, nice sounding platitudes, and great sound bites that in the end signify nothing. So much to see *right here*. So much to learn *right here*.
That hits home for me. I remember thinking how pitiful it was for intellectuals to sit aloft in their ivory tower, out of touch, and how I wasn't going to be like that. I was successful, but only because I never climbed the tower in the first place. I had so much fun sitting in its shadow imagining all the awesome things I could be learning.
Theory is a wonderful playground to set the mind loose in, but reality demands work. (Good soundbite?)

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Must take a vicoden for the migraine and stop posting for a while...
I hope you're feeling better!
Take care,
Matt

Gambarimashyo!
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