[lit-ideas] Re: Sunday Twofer
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:05:10 +0000 (GMT)
From: John Wager john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>We're really where Pascal said we were: Half-way between the infinitely large
>and infinitely small.>
Is this "half-wayness" (meaning perhaps merely 'somewhere' between, not
necessarily equidistant) not true of all organic life (to say nothing of some
non-organic non-living structures)?
>This is also true in terms of knowledge>
And isn't this also true what of whatever knowledge we might ascribe to organic
life forms?
>We don't know much,
Yes, but we also know a lot...(this is meant seriously; and the apparent
contradiction can be explained)
>but we're able to at least imagine the vast sizes we occupy and are occupied
>by, something nothing else we are aware of can do.>
Yes, and we might guess "nothing else we are aware of" is aware of something
like whether they are inbetween "the infinitely large and infinitely small".
It is this kind of awareness that most distinguishes us from other organisms -
in Popper's terms it is the World 3 status or character of "knowledge", as
humans have knowledge ,that makes it distinct from animal knowledge (animals do
not have access to 'objects of thought' as World 3 objects, but process
information at only a World 1 or World 2 level).
Donal
London
Other related posts:
