I’ve been contemplating anew the relationship between thoughts (i.e. internal talk and imagery) and actions (i.e. events within the physical body and external world)—curious, in particular, about causal mechanisms and the role of something we might call choice, intention, will or volition in actualizing (or vetoing) such causal connections. To tease out some of the possibilities, let’s consider …
[Read more...] about Lemon, Lottery, Black-Eye: Exploring Connections Between Thought & Action
The well-known adage—A bird in hand is worth two in the bush—is typically used to encourage being grateful for what we already have, rather than pining for something currently out of reach. Putting aside, for the moment, the usefulness of such advice, let’s utilize the imagery itself to explore the notion of separation … Experiencing & Identifying the Birds Imagine I have a bird—say, a …
Taking A Bite Consider an apple. The Honeycrisp apples have been quite delicious, here in Colorado this year—so let’s consider a Honeycrisp apple. My first direct experience of the Honeycrisp apple is visual: shape and color. The apple is basically round, and mottled red-green-gold in color, with a small brown stem. The next experience is tactile. When I pick the Honeycrisp apple up, it …
Imagine … A beautiful ship—named the S.S. Phenom—made exclusively of cedar planks. This S.S. Phenom is a medium-sized steamship used primarily to ferry tourists over the balmy waters of the Caribbean Sea, between island beaches renowned as vacation destinations. The ship’s owners are under contract with a local travel agency, and enjoy a lucrative regular schedule of trips between and around …
I recently shared a couple of love poems written by A.R. Ammons. But this poet is best known for poems which reference scientific laws and theories of various sorts. For instance: Substantial Planes It doesn't matter to me if poems mean nothing: there's no floor to the universe and yet one walks the floor. ~ A.R. Ammons Science & Poetry What I appreciate …
[Read more...] about Practice Notes: Objectivity & Subjectivity
Every now and again, I find it useful to review logical principles that are central to rational discourse, yet often misunderstood or just botched in the heat of the moment. Here are two all-time favorites … 1. Correlation & Causation Just because two events are correlated doesn’t mean that there is a causal relationship that exists between the two. As pictured above, a hot sunny day may …
