Re: 'Think of all those things you know how to do -- but just can't explain.' I missed this bit. (I've been chastised for missing bits.)
It's not a question of whether or not one has the capacity to explain something. Some people are more articulate than others. Some have better memories etc. But those are just contingencies. The question at stake is one of principle - a philosophical question in the end. Can there be a thought without any way of embodying it any way of expressing it and marking it off from other thoughts? Most importantly, since we ordinarily express most of our thoughts in words, can there be a wordless thought? I think such a thing is inconceivable. (Unless one is a follower of Zen or something, who if I am not mistaken, believe in the possibility of thoughts about nothing - a kind of 'empty', entirely 'objectless' thought, a kind of thought-in-itself and even try to cultivate the capacity to think them !!) Imagine the first humanoid who realised that all humans including himself will die. Could he think this without some way of expressing the idea of 'die' of differentiating it from other ideas? The implication to my mind is that human consciousness and human language emerged at the same time. But that of course is mere speculation. DA On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 4:57 AM, Chris Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Derek -- if you're going to allow that: > > "There are no visual or musical thoughts without an embodiment > of same - if only a mental embodiment." > > --- why not allow some kind of "mental embodiment" for writers? > > > Has the world really been overrun with "millions of these Dostoyevskys, > Prousts, or Shakespeares manques walking the streets." > > I've yet to meet a single person who claimed credit for literary achievements > they've never yet written. Maybe they're all in Australia. > > BTW -- wordless thinking is the basic topic of interest on the Polanyi > listserv -- usually on how to teach skills that cannot be explained with > words. Think of all those things you know how to do -- but just can't > explain. > > > > > > > The idea of a great painter > who has never painted anything is even more obviously silly than a > great novelist, playwright etc who has never written anything. Ditto > for a great composer who has never composed anything. > > Getting back to my original point, I repeat: there are no wordless thoughts. > _____________________________________________________________ > Click for online loan, fast & no lender fee, approval today > http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2211/fc/Ioyw6ijmOSae4oyxLwwCpZycdYnhfy > gXMwf8dUzZxM2hNZVvCXWl16/?count=1234567890 > > -- Derek Allan http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/derek.allan/default.htm
