And the small foreground cloud in shadow
Saturday, June 16, 2012
What IS that?
I was thinking today, of the eternal question of children and explorers... What is that?
I know that question needs context, but let's say you're looking at a eucalyptus shrub or a terrifying little spider or some other phenomenon of nature that you have a pretty good idea of it's nature and essence, you just don't know it's name.
What is it's name? I think the real question in this case is, what is it known as? What name do experts in the field of botany or entomology etc call this funny rock or body of water?
That led me to thinking of the first thing Adam did in the Garden of Eden, he settled down to naming everything. We have to name everything. Things aren't real until we attach a symbol to them. And that my friends is a paradox and a filter through which everything is perceived.
We see the world through labels and filters and through the wrong end of a telescope and through a glass darkly.
It behooves us to remember how far apart perception and reality can be.
Just a thought from an amateur philosopher...
I know that question needs context, but let's say you're looking at a eucalyptus shrub or a terrifying little spider or some other phenomenon of nature that you have a pretty good idea of it's nature and essence, you just don't know it's name.
What is it's name? I think the real question in this case is, what is it known as? What name do experts in the field of botany or entomology etc call this funny rock or body of water?
That led me to thinking of the first thing Adam did in the Garden of Eden, he settled down to naming everything. We have to name everything. Things aren't real until we attach a symbol to them. And that my friends is a paradox and a filter through which everything is perceived.
We see the world through labels and filters and through the wrong end of a telescope and through a glass darkly.
It behooves us to remember how far apart perception and reality can be.
Just a thought from an amateur philosopher...
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