Author Archives: Wyrd Smythe

About Wyrd Smythe

The canonical fool on the hill watching the sunset and the rotation of the planet and thinking what he imagines are large thoughts.

July 6, 2011

Yin and Yang

By Wyrd Smythe

In my second post I raised the topic of mind versus brain. There is (or, perhaps more accurately, may be) a duality. I mentioned that there are two basic schools of thought: one holding that mind emerges from brain and the other holding that they are distinct, that mind is – somehow – not physical. For now, the duality of the brain/mind question is open.

But there is definitely a duality in the two schools: the two opposing points of view. In this post I want to focus on the idea of duality and the idea of ideas in opposition. This post is about Yin and Yang.

13 Comments | tags: binary, Dualism, trinary, Yin and Yang | posted in Basics, Philosophy

July 5, 2011

Sideband #4: Ignorant vs Stupid

By Wyrd Smythe

One last very important distinction: there’s a big difference between being ignorant and being stupid.

To be ignorant is to not know something.

We are all ignorant. In fact, given how much there is to know, we’re all far more ignorant than not. Granted, some more than others, and if there is any crime, it is in remaining willfully ignorant in the face of knowledge.

That’s stupid.

2 Comments | tags: stupid | posted in Basics, Philosophy, Sideband

July 5, 2011

Sideband #3: Good vs Like

By Wyrd Smythe

While we’re on the topic of important distinctions, let’s also try to draw a line between the idea of liking something and the idea that something is good.

Very often people conflate the two. For example, that a “good” movie is a movie they liked.

In fact, good and like are different measurements, and I wish more people understood the difference.

4 Comments | posted in Basics, Philosophy, Sideband

July 5, 2011

Sideband #2: Truth and Facts

By Wyrd Smythe

A bit of Haiku:

A Thing is rarely
The whole or the only Truth.
Most Things are that way.

It’s useful to break the connection between the idea of fact and the idea of truth. A fact is a datum that stands on its own regardless of opinion, belief or perception.

A truth does reflect the opinion, belief or perception of a person.

4 Comments | tags: haiku | posted in Basics, Philosophy, Sideband

July 5, 2011

Cogito Ergo Sum

By Wyrd Smythe

In my first post I mentioned René Descartes and his seminal statement, “Cogito ergo sum.” I think, therefore I am. Because this statement and the ideas that spring from it lie at the heart of my philosophy and interests, it is a fitting topic for my second post. I also mentioned beginnings; these beginning posts explore such core topics as form my core and inform my mind.

And mind is the topic at hand. “I think, therefore I am,” concerns one of the most central, most personal, most mysterious, most fantastic aspects of our existence. It concerns something each of us shares every waking moment, but which remains–thus far–completely unknown.

That every moment mystery is that we think and experience. Each of us has a voice inside their head; an «I» that is us. It’s the driver of the car that says, “I’m hungry,” or “I’m going to the library.”

14 Comments | tags: Cogito ergo sum, Isaac Asimov, positronic brain, René Descartes, Star Trek, Theory of Consciousness | posted in Basics, Philosophy

July 5, 2011

Sideband #1: Wow; the interweb is… #1

By Wyrd Smythe

Sidebands

Sideband posts are miscellaneous thoughts that accompany the main thread of posts.

Think of them as small paths that meander off the main road. Some branch off, go a short ways and die after a short while.

Others are scenic trails that follow along the main road. Quotes is an example of the latter. It’s too early to run into one of the former, but I’ll point out the first one when it arrives.

3 Comments | tags: Alexis de Tocqueville, Benjamin Franklin, Joseph de Maistre, Thomas Jefferson | posted in Quotes, Sideband, The Interweb

July 4, 2011

Hello world!

By Wyrd Smythe

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was…”

Many of you will recognize that as the first words of John 1:1 in the Christian New Testament Bible. There’s also a cross-reference to the very first words of that Bible (Old Testament in this case), “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

This is about words and about beginnings.

Others might recognize it as a conflation of the lead-in to a Moody Blues tune, OM, from In Search of the Lost Chord, and the title of a song from another album, In the Beginning, from On the Threshold of a Dream.

(Yes “album.” I’m old!)

23 Comments | tags: brain, brain mind problem, computationalism, computer guy, human brain, human mind, logos, Marriage, Moody Blues, rational mind, René Descartes, Theory of Consciousness, theory of mind | posted in Baseball, Basics, Books, Computers, Life, Movies, Opinion, Philosophy, Politics, Rant, Science, Society, The Interweb, TV