On Aug 26, 2008, at 9:15 AM, William Conger wrote:
We project this ineffable state to the object and assume it is
intrinsic to it. We cannot do otherwise. Yes, we can stand before
something and say, "it's my own sensation that I project to the
object," but even as we say that our minds have concluded that the
object (as if) exudes the sensation we have felt. If such were not
the case we'd have no use for pronouns, as one example, which
require us to admit the otherness of the world.
Here's an analogy:
Extend your arm and supinate your palm. When you do that, you
(probably) say to yourself consciously, "I'll stick out my arm with
the palm up." But in order to do this, your brain must direct all of
the small, intermediate actions that produce that result. It must tell
your deltoid to contract, in order to raise your arm, and then the
triceps to increase their tension and maintain their contraction, in
order to keep your forearm extended, and the brachioradialis to
supinate the arm, and the various flexor muscles to relax while the
extensors contract, in order to open your fist and allow the fingers
to point outward, etc.
In other words, you imagine a future action--putting your arm out,
palm up--and then do it, almost as if your thinking of the result is
equivalent to actually making the gesture. This is akin to the routine
use of language that speaks as if words "have meanings" (when we know
they really don't). All of the unconscious and subconscious actions
your body takes (not merely the ones I mentioned, but others that
involve maintaining balance, e.g.) completely subsumed as your stretch
out your arm. You cannot extend your arm merely by think those words,
but it is the *only way* for you to accomplish the feat--unless you
are praeternaturally gifted with the ability to consciously direct
each muscle to act, such a rare ability (if possible at all) that, for
all intents and purposes and for all people, the two things (thinking
of doing it and actually making the gesture) are the same thing, or
fully equivalent.
Now, to pursue the analogy a bit further, let's say the entire event
went this way:
[Playing the hand-slapping dexterity and reaction game:;
Other - "Okay, my turn first, Stick out your hand."
You - [You stick out your right hand, palm up.]
Other - "Oops, sorry. I meant with your palm down."
You - [You turn your palm over.]
Other - "Curl our fingers a bit so you can touch my palm."
Etc.
What's happening here is that the Other person is refining your
actions, until they meet the requirements of the game, i.e., in our
analogy, making adjustments in the "meaning" of your words until they
seem to conform to what is desired. This,I think, is the way normal
intelligent, even technically detailed, communication occurs.
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Michael Brady
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
