One should be aware of one's "limbic brain"—without indulging it promiscuously. (An arbitrary attachment is more crippling than occasional solitude; it changes who one is. Because arbitrary attachments mutilate, individual freedom of movement is critical for private and social prosperity.)
Since brain plasticity declines with age, there is no second chance to become what one would like to become. The knowledge of what one would like to become is acquired by inferring one's desires and limitations from one's past choices, and deriving the implications of alternative courses of action (including altering malleable preferences).
Plato's ideals are approximations that emerge in the brain, often unconsciously. Hence, there is no paradox in the existence of a simple concept and the absence of its counterpart in practice.
The book is at its strongest when it reports empirical research.
18 March 2012
Collaborators
(The National Theatre, 17 March 2012)
The play lacks the terror of uncertainty and thus lacks depth. The characters' Russianness is not integral to the play, but is accidental. Secondary characters are merely sketched, often caricatured to amuse.
The character of the protagonist is carefully developed. Improbable and unpredictable, Stalin (played by Simon Russell Beale) cannot be but inscrutable. Beale's portrayal is lighthearted enough to fit into the allegory, but also cunning enough to deceive.
The play would be improved if parts of it were set as a ballet. All scenes in Stalin's compound stay unchanged. The remaining scenes are rewritten wordless, kinetic. The most expressive scenes now are the most physical ones (e.g., the play within the play); they would accommodate the grotesque better if stripped of dialogue.
The play lacks the terror of uncertainty and thus lacks depth. The characters' Russianness is not integral to the play, but is accidental. Secondary characters are merely sketched, often caricatured to amuse.
The character of the protagonist is carefully developed. Improbable and unpredictable, Stalin (played by Simon Russell Beale) cannot be but inscrutable. Beale's portrayal is lighthearted enough to fit into the allegory, but also cunning enough to deceive.
The play would be improved if parts of it were set as a ballet. All scenes in Stalin's compound stay unchanged. The remaining scenes are rewritten wordless, kinetic. The most expressive scenes now are the most physical ones (e.g., the play within the play); they would accommodate the grotesque better if stripped of dialogue.
12 March 2012
Edith Piaf
(Ginger and Fred, 11 March 2012)
In a city's variety, there is hope, to which one tends to cling, irrationally, happily. A city may succeed even if it supplies only aesthetics; much of the rest can be imagined and realised individually.
The promise of a life is the chance---however improbable---of being called upon. This chance keeps one alert and alive. Because of the prospect of responding to this chance, one values liberty.
The greatest compliment is trust. It dresses lightly.
In a city's variety, there is hope, to which one tends to cling, irrationally, happily. A city may succeed even if it supplies only aesthetics; much of the rest can be imagined and realised individually.
The promise of a life is the chance---however improbable---of being called upon. This chance keeps one alert and alive. Because of the prospect of responding to this chance, one values liberty.
The greatest compliment is trust. It dresses lightly.
2 March 2012
Pina (2011)
Dignity is the art of accentuating the positive.
Freedom is in denying reputed constraints.
More is corrupted in translation than is lost in incomprehension.
Images of foreign lands corroborate the existence of external reality. Familiar lands, conjured up by imagination and controlled by routine, merge with the internal.
One does not dance about architecture for the same reason one does not use one's right hand to mime a story about one's left hand. Both dancing and architecture serve similar purposes. Both are elements of the extended phenotype revealing a carrier who through resistance asserts existence.
Freedom is in denying reputed constraints.
More is corrupted in translation than is lost in incomprehension.
Images of foreign lands corroborate the existence of external reality. Familiar lands, conjured up by imagination and controlled by routine, merge with the internal.
One does not dance about architecture for the same reason one does not use one's right hand to mime a story about one's left hand. Both dancing and architecture serve similar purposes. Both are elements of the extended phenotype revealing a carrier who through resistance asserts existence.
11 February 2012
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Justice is defined in terms of ideals, which change little, but whose interpretation evolves. Citizens may not grasp the ideals, but would know their neighbours' interpretation of these ideals. Trial by jury accommodates geographic and temporal interpretations, while the common ideals enable jurisdictions to learn from each other.
Rationalism is suitable for all ages. Empiricism requires engagement, leading to responsibilities and risks. One can learn to deny inferences, but not facts. In order to learn to withstand facts, one ought to be exposed to empiricism from an early age, notwithstanding the risks.
Rationalism is suitable for all ages. Empiricism requires engagement, leading to responsibilities and risks. One can learn to deny inferences, but not facts. In order to learn to withstand facts, one ought to be exposed to empiricism from an early age, notwithstanding the risks.
6 February 2012
"Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas R. Hofstadter (1979)
By means of reason alone, hunger can be traced to a simple source. Complex emotions cannot be. Instead, one must vary a multitude of actions in order to identify each action's impact on the one-dimensional measure of one's well-being. When a simple reason for action is hard to articulate, one tends to favour inaction. This bias can be resisted by developing the habit of indulging into new experiences without a clear rationale.
Zen embraces the paradox as a means for preventing one from drawing conclusions from insufficient data. The circularity of a paradox tires one's mind, and nudges one to stop brooding and to start acting, collecting data. Some data are acknowledged and processed only subconsciously. (Sleep, exposure to beauty, nature, and art generate such data.) Zen reminds one not to overlook the tacit behind the articulable, and highlights the absurdity of the dichotomy between the mind and the body.
Even though sometimes knowledge can be gained by holding hands, holding hands is an inefficient way to transmit that knowledge to future generations. One should interpret and codify, thus preserving---the memories of---civilization.
Zen embraces the paradox as a means for preventing one from drawing conclusions from insufficient data. The circularity of a paradox tires one's mind, and nudges one to stop brooding and to start acting, collecting data. Some data are acknowledged and processed only subconsciously. (Sleep, exposure to beauty, nature, and art generate such data.) Zen reminds one not to overlook the tacit behind the articulable, and highlights the absurdity of the dichotomy between the mind and the body.
Even though sometimes knowledge can be gained by holding hands, holding hands is an inefficient way to transmit that knowledge to future generations. One should interpret and codify, thus preserving---the memories of---civilization.
3 February 2012
Campus Starbucks
The music is sourced from someone in touch with the right kind of reality. Students commune with MacBooks or each other. The flux of avocational baristas promises structures of inviting complexity.
The patrons are selected on taste or parental income, conducive to indulging one's taste. Those whose indulgences displease are amended by the décor and generally have a point to make.
Some recurring characters look twenty-first-century scholarly, multitasking and consuming ambient noise. Others are refugees from all scholarly.
The queuing customers converse orally with each other or tactilely with iPhones. One wonders how, in a few years, one shall distinguish a wired customer from an alert one. Perhaps, the wired shall be alert, queues shall parish, and entire campuses shall have the ambiance of a Starbucks.
Wounded when engaged at half capacity; enveloped into the ether of potentiality when nearly empty. A self-effacing host bringing out the best in his guests.
The patrons are selected on taste or parental income, conducive to indulging one's taste. Those whose indulgences displease are amended by the décor and generally have a point to make.
Some recurring characters look twenty-first-century scholarly, multitasking and consuming ambient noise. Others are refugees from all scholarly.
The queuing customers converse orally with each other or tactilely with iPhones. One wonders how, in a few years, one shall distinguish a wired customer from an alert one. Perhaps, the wired shall be alert, queues shall parish, and entire campuses shall have the ambiance of a Starbucks.
Wounded when engaged at half capacity; enveloped into the ether of potentiality when nearly empty. A self-effacing host bringing out the best in his guests.
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