rattus rattus’ blog

Andreas Zeuch referred to rattus rattus’ blog as a “funny game of constructivism”, though up until this very entry neither the word constructivism nor construct appeared anywhere in this blog (except for 2 obscure references of construction).

Curiously enough, this is some hint if you consider the fact that many people who by others are referred to as being constructivists never did so themselves. This applies to me as well as to this blog. I shall always happily refer to myself as a liar.

Then again, I do not know what Zeuch means by constructivism. In fact, I cannot know what goes on in Zeuch’s head at all, can I? Heck, I have no idea of what goes on in my own head. Does Zeuch? — Anyway, this not-knowing is part of (radical) constructivism according to Ernst von Glasersfeld who should know (1).

Even if I wanted to avoid using the label constructivism I would have a hard time letting you know. Though, if there is constructivism then it doesn’t matter anyhow. Or so, many think (as if it does matter if it doesn’t).

So, what is constructivism? — It’s a lie! Constructivism is the lie that makes understanding feasible. And because of this, I shall happily explain to you constructivism. Watch out!

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1) Ernst von Glasersfeld: “We Can Never Know What Goes On In Somebody Else’s Head”: Ernst Von Glasersfeld On Truth And Viability, Language And Knowledge, And The Premises Of Constructivist Education; An interview conducted by B. Pörksen. Cybernetics and Systems 35 (2004) 4: 379-398.

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

— Walt Whitman, Song of Myself in Leaves of Grass

Here is a do-it-yourself reply to Cairo Otaibi‘s comment on Uncovered Truth:

[Credits to sigenori for the original animation; thanks to M.A. for the needed adaptations.]

In his song Blowin’ in the Wind Bob Dylan answers a wonderful bunch of big questions with his famous lyrics

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

The whole life is a pretty windy season. But until today, the answer has not been blown off.

You cannot see me, and it is not just because I cannot.

[Original photo by stark23x via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license. Thanks stark23x!]

Quotes from no liars taken from an ongoing lecture series on human ecology:

In ecology, anything is partially right and partially wrong, and everything else is also partially right and partially wrong.
— Markus Staudinger, 2006-11-28

And, at the end of today’s lecture:

Everything we have said here today is wrong. Wrong in the sense that it has been too short and not detailed enough, though, there is a chance to deal with it more closely.
— Alexander Haslberger, 2006-12-05

The translations were done by a liar who is at liberty to quote the original passages:

Wie bei allem in der Ökologie ist es so, dass das Eine teils wahr und teils falsch und das Andere auch teils wahr und teils falsch ist.
— Markus Staudinger, 2006-11-28

Alles, was wir hier jetzt gesagt haben, ist falsch. Falsch in dem Sinn, dass es viel zu kurz und zu wenig detailliert ist, dass es aber doch die Möglichkeit gibt, sich damit etwas genauer zu beschäftigen.
— Alexander Haslberger, 2006-12-05

Generally, one is better off judging others. But beware of generalizations if you cannot deal with self-reference.

We featured the World Jump Day website earlier. The site now presents the incredible results caused by joint efforts of millions of people who took part in the synchronous world-wide jumping in order to stop global warming. A truly trustworthy illustration of human powers.

Aus Janoschs Wörterbuch der Lebenskunst (München 1995):

Sprache

Wahrscheinlich gäbe es weniger Unheil auf der Welt, wäre dem Menschen nicht das Wort gegeben. Mit dem er lügt. Und verdreht. Ein Hund kann gar nicht lügen.