something to think about:
if you can figure out how you think - and I mean not what you think but the deepest subconscious rules that structure all of your thoughts [furthermore, by "figuring out how you think" I don't mean contemplating all of these ideas and choosing one with which to agree. rather, I mean discovering the thought patterns to affect your thought below the surface and thus structure your opinions before they come to the level of contemplation and decision.] - can you change it? or, will you only have a more complete understanding of the underlying rules and, therefore, what functions will and will not operate within those perameters?
[alex will roll his eyes at this] human beings, probably life in general, understands meaning through binary oppositions. even on a purely biological level of sensory perception, the nerves only recognize heat in the sense that it is more hot than the temperature they are used to. on the more complex levels at which we must compare words and abstract concepts, the same rules apply. try this on:
love = not hate
love = not apathy
love = not lust
love = not friendship
and so on.
the entire set of possible oppositions must be cultural; words are arbitrary labels for objects or ideas, but we know that to say love is the opposite of hammer would be somewhat ridiculous on its own, unless we have some concepts attached to the arbitrary label "hammer" - i.e. hammers are blunt objects that make good weapons, and attacking someone with a weapon is not very loving. however, I believe that from the set of possible oppositions with which culture provides us, individuals are primarily affected by certain oppositions in certain degrees.
so of those oppositions, which ones structure your thought? if you can know that, can you change them, or are you only more aware of the bars on your own personal cage?
[alex will roll his eyes at this] human beings, probably life in general, understands meaning through binary oppositions. even on a purely biological level of sensory perception, the nerves only recognize heat in the sense that it is more hot than the temperature they are used to. on the more complex levels at which we must compare words and abstract concepts, the same rules apply. try this on:
love = not hate
love = not apathy
love = not lust
love = not friendship
and so on.
the entire set of possible oppositions must be cultural; words are arbitrary labels for objects or ideas, but we know that to say love is the opposite of hammer would be somewhat ridiculous on its own, unless we have some concepts attached to the arbitrary label "hammer" - i.e. hammers are blunt objects that make good weapons, and attacking someone with a weapon is not very loving. however, I believe that from the set of possible oppositions with which culture provides us, individuals are primarily affected by certain oppositions in certain degrees.
so of those oppositions, which ones structure your thought? if you can know that, can you change them, or are you only more aware of the bars on your own personal cage?