Russell, One of the first things I intend to do when I have retired in January is read book with titles like yours, but until then, you will need to wave excerpts at me or something.
Do you know anything about the New Realism of the 1910's at Harvard. A group of james students wrote a New Realist Manifesto which seems to have been based on the Scottish Realism. Those students included Edward Holt, who spawned jj and ej gibson (of ecological psych fame) and E. C. Tolman, the inventor of cognitive behaviorism, and ultimately a traitor to the cause in my opinion. The basic idea is that reality can be cut in various ways and different observers SEE different cuts. All cuts are REAL properties of the object but also manifestations of the point of view of the observor. To use terms I am not real comfortable with, properties of things as seen by people are both "out there" AND "in the head" of the observer. Nick Nicholas Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson > [Original Message] > From: Russell Standish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> > Date: 7/27/2006 12:16:09 AM > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Friam Digest, Vol 37, Issue 47 > > Sort of like I say in my paper "The Importance of the Observer in > Science" you mean? Or in my book "Theory of Nothing". > > (Assuming I have correctly grokked your word "intensional"). > > On Wed, Jul 26, 2006 at 10:40:24AM -0400, Nicholas Thompson wrote: > > Robert Holmes writes, > > > > "So if entropy is emergent and gravity is emergent and any other force > > mediated by a subatomic particle is emergent, just how useful is it to label > > something 'emergent' in this way? If the definition of emergence is so > > broad, how can we usefully use it?" > > > > SOOOOOOOOOO, this seems to suggest that emergence is one of those > > properties which are not brick wallk properties of the world except in so > > far as they are seen from a particular point of view. I.E, intensional > > properties. (sorry everybody). . But now, like Robert, I am beginning to > > wonder if all properties arent intensional. I mean that was sort of > > Einstein's point, wasnt it? I hate it when words I love and concepts I > > live by suddenly crumble in my hands. > > > > Rushing, > > > > Nick > > > > > > Nicholas Thompson > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson > > > > -- > *PS: A number of people ask me about the attachment to my email, which > is of type "application/pgp-signature". Don't worry, it is not a > virus. It is an electronic signature, that may be used to verify this > email came from me if you have PGP or GPG installed. Otherwise, you > may safely ignore this attachment. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A/Prof Russell Standish Phone 8308 3119 (mobile) > Mathematics 0425 253119 (") > UNSW SYDNEY 2052 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Australia http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks > International prefix +612, Interstate prefix 02 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
