--- In [email protected], Peter Sutphen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I've got a serious question for everybody and no > implicit criticism is meant and I'm also curious if > there is a legitimate/valid, whatever reason, someone > can come up with that I'm not quite getting. Why do we > need any story whatsoever regarding MMY? We can > neither confirm nor disconfirm any story. The > arguments go on and on. Most of our stories whether in > the pro or con camp are simply narratives of what we > already believe. All we have is our own experiences > regarding MMY. The stories can never, ever resolve; > they never "make sense" unless you deny huge chunks of > contradictory material. So, why and what is this need > that some, all, a few, including moi, struggle with? > -Peter
The question raises some interesting issues. First, the broader question is why do we need any stories. Second, what exactly is a story. Some thoughts. The terem "stories" itself is a bit of a story -- having for me a bit of a connotation of stemming from pop-psycholgy roots with an inherent condescending view of having "stories" -- a sort of coping mechanism that "gets us throught the day". Or night. Stories are really broader than this, they stretch across a broad domain: they can be i)explanations and/or ii)evaluations. Stories can explain i) how things work and/ or ii) what is. When they explain things well -- explain relevant observable data, and can be used accurately predict, we call them scientific theories. (Not to be confused with slang use of theory -- aka Reagan on evolution "well, its just a theory.") As such, they are useful, and positive. I am glad NASA had a good "story" to rely on about how the planets move before they launched rockets towards them. Stories about "what is", are often less useful. It usually involves a judgement or categorization. "He is a bad person". Such evaluation stories are useful when we need to make a decision, to make a choice about someone or something. "She is to be a good person. I will therefore trust her advice". Decision prompted "stories" can be working hypotheses and have a stated uncertainty / adjustment component, instead of being absolute. "She appears to be a good person, but I don't really know, thus I will trust her advice, but may change course as I get more information." Hyper-evaluation -- having stories, making judgements and categorizing many many people and things, outside of having to make a decision regarding them/it, is usually a waste of time and a big habit of the monkey-mind. Coping stories and rationalizations are a type of evaluation of "what is" and are not useful in the long run. The intellect neeeds to be on guard that one is not rationalizing a certain choice or behavior by hiding from its true impetus, nature or impact. Such as, "I know I need to lose a few pounds, but sugar is satvic and chocolate has the love chemical, so another few pieces of chocolate won't hurt -- and is really a good thing." Do we need stories about MMY that reconcile the apparent contradictions? Perhaps -- if we need to make a decision that relates to him. For example, if you are debating to go to the recert course, then reconciling issues via a story may be usful and warranted. If no decision is necessary, why do we need a story? To feed the monkey mind something to hop up and down and squeal about for a while? Anyway, thats my monkey-minded story for now -- to help me make it through the day -- and night. I may have a new story about stories tomorrow. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
