On Sat, 09 Apr 2011 07:38:58 -0700, William Scott wrote: >In responding to foma, Mike Palij claims to be creating more. I agree >with the first characterization but disagree with the latter. > >>"I think there are "survivable mistakes" and "nonsurvivable mistakes"< >followed by some good allusions to zen and descriptions of flow states. > >I'd like to add some zen and some science. > >A koan: >Zen Master Shenshan was crossing a river with his dharma brother >Dongshan. Dongshan said, Dont make a mistake with your steps and slip >into the current. Shenshan said, If I make a mistake with my steps, >then I wont live to cross the river. Dongshan said, What is the state >without mistakes? Shenshan said, Now Im crossing the river with the >Elder." > >Roshi John Daido Loori summarizes this lesson as "the >state-of-no-mistakes is the state of nowness"
Commentary on the koan: Zen masters will know that using words to characterize things, activities, and so on muddles one's consciousness because it requires one to focus on the symbol (of the word, action, etc.) and not the thing being referred to (comparable to seeing someone point to the moon and confusing the pointing finger with the concept of moon). In this situation, classifying actions as mistakes or non-mistakes is something that happens in the dream world (i.e., everyday life), one either acts or does not act. One action produces one result (drowing in a river) while another produces a different result (continuing on a journey). Which result is produced is dependent upon one's ability, not on being forewarned. A person who does not know how to walk on a highwire will not benefit from being advised "Be careful.". >Some science: >Paper published July 2009 in Neuron by Miller, Histed and Pasupasy >summarized at: > http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/successes-0729.html > >"If you've ever felt doomed to repeat your mistakes, researchers at >MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory may have explained why: >Brain cells may only learn from experience when we do something right >and not when we fail." Which raises the question of how brain cells know whether we do something right and when we do something wrong. More importantly, do they know that a decision that is made now (like smoking crank), no matter how good it makes one feel, is really, really wrong? What decides the matter? Feedback is not enough because too many "bad" things makes one feel so "good". By the way, I may be wrong but I subscribe to the theory that it is the neuronal network, not individual neurons that are important. Would a defective neuron still know "right" from "wrong". In the context of a neural network, would a defective neuron's responses be corrected by the operation of the other neurons it is connected to in cooperative computation? If yes, it is not the neuron that knows. NOTE: Post #3 for me today. You have nothing more to fear from me today. ;-) -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=9908 or send a blank email to leave-9908-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
