Re: Mind's Eye Re: Face To Face

It's a believers game, Neil. It might seem like a good game from the
ivory tower - with an added shadow feature for a more realistic look
and feel. Just make sure you don't cross their shadows and it remains
a good game. :)

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 3:18 PM, archytas <nwterry@gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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