[Wittrs] More re: Operation DuckRabbit...

From: kirby urner <kirby.urner@xxxxxxxxx>
To: wittrsamr@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:11:43 -0700
Calling my project Operation DuckRabbit is somewhat new.  I'm alluding
to Philosophical Investigations Part 2 especially, which is about the
gestalts we associate with meaning.  Despite all that "meaning as use"
stuff, the importance of *showing* (not just saying) gets lost in the
shuffle if we forget about duckrabbits and other such switcheroos.

My contention has been (and continues to be), that serious-minded
philosophers would do well to look at one of the important gestalt
switches in 1900s philosophy, what has come down to us in 2010
as Martian Math, at least in my neck of the woods.

The appended link to Notes for Teachers sets the stage:  imagine
a tribe (sounds like Wittgenstein already), that doesn't consider
the Cube to be its model of 3rd powering, uses the Tetrahedron
instead (topologically simpler, works well in a ball-packing context).

We get right to the foundations of mathematics with such a
consideration, plus we turn the key in what might otherwise be
a locked (inaccessible, or perhaps verboten) branch of literature,
much of it philosophical and contemporary in nature.

Operation Duckrabbit is about recruiting those schooled in
philosophy to apply their understanding of Wittgenstein to
this gestalt changing challenge.  As the late Dr. Arthur Loeb
would remark, crystallographers have something to learn from
this alternative more 60-degree-shaped bias.  Instead of
orienting everything around the cube, other gestalts emerge
and hook together -- if one works at it, deliberately fosters
the requisite changes in consciousness.

I think we're nearing a time when literacy in Wittgenstein's
philosophy will include the concrete example of Martian
versus Earthling math, though the narrative may assume a
different guise.  A lot of fruitful investigations branch out
from this tension, this unity-of-opposed-concepts, more
than just one or two investigators might handle.

We need more explorers in this "geometry of thinking",
seems to me.  There are real world implications, as
unlocking Fuller's treasure trove (like a pirate stash) is
to unleash a cornucopia (the inverse of Pandora's Box).
What better way to be a hero then?  And if you're already
well versed in Wittgenstein, well, you've already got an
edge.

Kirby Urner
Oregon Curriculum Network
Portland, Oregon

Notes for Teachers
http://www.4dsolutions.net/satacad/martianmath/teacher_notes.html

Background Reading (a previous post to this list):
http://coffeeshopsnet.blogspot.com/2010/07/on-wittgenstein-and-fuller.html

More about Martian Math c/o BFI blog:
http://bfi.org/news-events/community-content/martian-math-and-synergetics

Re: Operation Duckrabbit:
http://coffeeshopsnet.blogspot.com/2009/12/duck-rabbit.html
http://coffeeshopsnet.blogspot.com/2009/10/on-wittgensteins-philo.html
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[Wittrs] More re: Operation DuckRabbit...

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