Eorl, that was never explained to me in my math classes. That's part of the reason I remain mathetically illiterate.
Well you know somebody did explain that to me but maths just never clicked. I was good at it up to the point when I came to specialise but it just never gripped me. It's interesting though because despite the fact that deep down I'm more of an arty, abstract, feeler than a logical, concrete, thinker, I do enjoy equations, puzzles, logic, systems & symbols etc possibly more than many.
I've always tried to balance myself between art and science and I can really empathise with serious mathematicians/physicists who get so gripped with their work. I remember watching a film just recently called 'Proof' which had Gwyneth Paltrow & Anthony Hopkins as daughter and father who were both brilliant mathematicians. In the film they are working together to solve a problem and they just sit down, in different rooms, with a notebook and a pen and start scribbling. X this and Y that, all manner of equations and symbols, I found it quite inspiring. They were so immersed in the maths, the, laws of the universe as it were. Then they'd make a little breakthrough here or a setback there but I can understand the progression so well, it's like giving an english student a proverb or better yet a riddle of some sort and asking them to right down their feelings and answers on the fly, the progression of thought and ideas just flow, sometimes messily but never the less the flow is there.
I can only guess that, personally speaking for a second, it's my interest and background in computing and programming that gave me that passion and genuine empathy for the film because I can recall myself being totally gripped by a programming problem, I can see myself looking at a piece of code and seeing the efficiency and beauty (yes beauty!) where others have simply seen symbols. The need to work with laws, logic and methods to solve a problem but doing it by stepping outside the box with a little style and elegance is brilliant. The creation of something and the moment when you see the fruits of your labour come to life, again I love that stuff and I can so easily transcribe the maths/physicist feeling to my own sometimes.
Eorl, you put it well with the difference between symbols and the "things" they represent, I can see that so clearly as well. I think it's when freedom is introduced that we discover our real passions, ie when the learning curve of a discipline is over and the real work begins.
Ashers, very nice statement. I enjoyed it.
Thanks guys, I like writing out a thought or two sometimes, helps to put stuff in perspective and to organise it.
Here's an interesting, slightly related question:
When I craft a really good argument about something, I feel quite proud of it. How much influence do you think that may have on how strongly I feel about the point I was making?
In other words, does taking a position and arguing a side reinforce your mental image of your own opinion more than it really should? Is this a barrier to open mindedness?
I definitely think it does personally. Whether the encouragement after making a point comes from ourselves or others, it's a boost. Suddenly the argument or discussion becomes about keeping that feeling rather than the topic itself. We're suddenly arguing for ourselves in terms of self esteem instead of from a more neutral point of view. After all, it's always important that discussions are two way and that means more than just simply allowing another person to speak, it's means arguing to together to brush away the dust of the unknown. Maybe a lot of things we do could be considered barriers to open mindedness. I guess you have to ask yourself, why am I really discussing topic X, Y, Z?
"I put down the cup and examine my own mind. It alone can discover the truth. But how? What an abyss of uncertainty, whenever the mind feels overtaken by itself; when it, the seeker, is at the same time the dark region through which it must go seeking and where all its equipment will avail it nothing. Seek? More than that: create. It is face to face with something which does not yet exists, to which it alone can give reality and substance, which it alone can bring into the light of day." "Remembrance of Things Past"
Quote:
Ain't that great though.
It is so alone.Creativity is a lonesome project.Such things are our strength.We can't have the strength without paying the price.
This is good too-
Quote:When I craft a really good argument about something, I feel quite proud of it. How much influence do you think that may have on how strongly I feel about the point I was making?
In other words, does taking a position and arguing a side reinforce your mental image of your own opinion more than it really should? Is this a barrier to open mindedness?
I think it is just such a barrier.When you "craft a really good argunent " you get a pleasure buzz and such a thing is rewarding and conditions you to accept your argument more.
That is why I never do crosswords. The reward of getting a clue answered conditions the player to see the same connection as the complier.With constant repetition these rewards add up and might be addictive.
Most series of crosswords,as in a daily paper,are compiled,often for years on end,by the same person. In Frayn's Towards The End Of The Morning when the old compiler dies they find in his desk bundles of new ones waiting for publication.
Hence,I felt,the compiler was laying his mind upon mine or,at the least,tending to do so.
I think Eorl that a humble person would be safe from the difficulty you point to because a humble person might think that the crafted argument was no big deal.A bit like growing good tomatoes.All in a day's work. A "good" argument has an invidious undertone. It's "good" because it beats others.
