Mind's Eye Re: Face To Face

Boxing is an apt metaphor old friend - shadow boxing perhaps - as the
target won't stand still in argument. I was hit on the head by a
cricket ball whilst wicket-keeping but saw no advance in my
mathematics!

A rule of thumb for sound inference has always been that if it looks
like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it
probably is a duck. But there's a corollary: if it struts around the
barnyard loudly protesting that it's a duck, that it possesses the
very essence of duckness, that it's more authentically a duck than all
those other orange-billed, web-footed, swimming fowl, then you've got
a right to be suspicious: this duck may be a quack.

This is essentially my problem with sages Vam - and clarity in
argument. I admire artists who use light for compelling focus (and
because I draw pin-men badly), but much argument is just a trick of
the light. E = mc2 is sharp, memorable and mostly useless - you have
to add in momentum to understand why light-speed is a limit - and even
then one must wonder about the Dark Age before light or alternative
thermodynamic models.

I'm always struck that there are some people of whom we can rightly
say 'there's no arguing with him/her'. Gabby plays good games on his
theme - but they are clearly games over-laying tolerance and good
sense with humour. I do think one might have a Paulian change as
language bewitches less by banging one's head against the wall - but
mostly it is clear what we should get on with and tat we can do
nothing unless we prevent great wealth, militarism and totalitarian
abuse. Shall we toss for who gets the ball and who to put his head in
the way Vam?

On 2 Nov, 00:39, rigsy03 <rigs...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Reminds me of "Rainman"- the character was returned to his asylum
> after a whirlwind in Vegas. It's more likely that thud would incur a
> concussion or brain hemorrhage and death if it was a hardball at 95
> mph.
>
> On Nov 1, 8:56 am, Vam <atewari2...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Most thinking that men do are a release, a diversion away, a continuous
> > roll into forgetfulnes and awareness.
>
> > For instance, Neil keeps trying to box the world and how it is, but at
> > different interfaces - morals, science, finance, politics, economics,
> > business, govt... I find he is driven by something invaluable in his heart
> > that aspires to beauty, dignity, truth and simplicity. That he is prepared
> > to drive himself for the values he has, go long extra miles, day in and day
> > out, makes it magnificent.
>
> > Not that it reaches anywhere, except in the awareness he might raise into
> > others or tune into the choir. Mostly, it is fiction, which fact takes
> > nothing away from its paramount worth. I trust these intangible effects. It
> > is their buildup over time, perhaps several generations, when social values
> > might swerve towards "profit, as need" over "profit, as motivation" and
> > "work, as need" over "work, for profit".
>
> > The world's tale is of the dog's tail. It wouldn't straighten, no matter
> > all the mega hullabaloo in science, biz, politics or economics. The
> > momentum of feudal and alpha rot in our psyche will remain. The proletarian
> > purity of Marx remains a charming chimera. And democracy, that promised
> > crowning of the ordinary man ... * sigh*
>
> > Before I end, let me leave a scintillating case with you :
>
> > Orlando Serrell wasn't born autistic - indeed, his savant skills only came
>
> > > about after a brain injury.
> > > In 1979, then ten-year-old Orlando was playing baseball when the ball
> > > struck him hard on the left side of his head. He fell to the ground but
> > > eventually got up to continue playing.
>
> > > For a while, Orlando had headaches. When they went away, he realized he
> > > had new abilities: he could perform complex calendar calculations and
> > > remember the weather every day from the day of the accident.
>
> > From Orlando's official website <http://www.orlandoserrell.com/about.htm>:
>
> > *What makes Orlando Serrell so unique is that he may indeed hold the key
> > that unlocks the genius in us all. Orlando Serrell did not possess any
> > special skills until he was struck in the head by a baseball when he was
> > 10. And his extraordinary gifts seem to be his only side effect. *
>
> > *Could this mean once a key hemisphere in the brain is stimulated, we can
> > all attain the level of genius Orlando posses and beyond ? *
>
> > *Will time and research really be able to tell ? Do we even need to wait
> > for that ?*
>
> > People like Orlando are called "savants", a word with very interesting
> > nuance to genius. Here's a link with more :http://www.neatorama.com/2008/09/05/10-most-fascinating-savants-in-th...
>
> > Would a world of savants be really preferable ?
>
> > But, is science really in a position to replicate Orlando effect to genius
> > abilities ?
>
> > I know Neil will give charge to his imagination and sci-fi fancy.
>
> > But, Neil, my scientist friend, you really believe every 10 year old can be
> > given the equivalent of a baseball thud on left side of his head and stand
> > up to be a genius from then on ?

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