rattus rattus’ blog

Concluding my recent praise of Stefan Böschen’s Praise The Paradox I wrote

He was lucky nobody listened to him.

Here are 2 excerpts from the transcription of an audio recording of the conferences final discussion:

To begin with, Stefan fosters his praise of paradox by stating that part and counterpart complement each other. He explains that thinking of any thing means to distinguish the thing from what it is not, its opposite. He then underlines the importance of this concept with a short reference to life’s essential interplay of order and chaos.

The next speaker replies:

What I am still missing is consciousness.

And he continues to tell a story of the demise of corner shops, small groceries and merchants, and how we are all involved.

At a second occasion, Stefan Böschen reinforces his praise of the paradox. He refers to its ambivalence and its inevitability. Finally, he reminds us to be sensitive to unintended side-effects of decisiveness and unambiguity, and that this sensibility should be one of the objectives of any educational system.

The next speaker (by the way, not the same) replies:

This, simply, is not enough.

He says, he misses analysis and perspective. And he concludes with “this will lead us nowhere”, cuts himself, and continues to reply to someone else.

I do make mistakes!

Imagine someone asks you whether you are crazy?

Well, I just did but let’s forget that for the moment. What are you going to answer? Yes? Or No?

I personally tend to ask back the same question. However, in this case, I’ll make an exception. That is, except for asking myself.

We are each of us angels with only one wing.
And we can only fly by embracing each other.

— Luciano de Crescenzo

Though, he did not mention that his was broken.

Me, I am no angel, I am just a common long-tailed rodent; each of my whiskers a wing, making my mind fly, embracing the world within.

For Juliet Ernst

The best place to stay is right where I am.
That’s why all other places are so exciting.

For a close friend

There is nothing wrong
with being wrong.

Let’s talk about perspective, perception, and experience. Ingredients for my favorite lies. Then add change.

Our perception of time is changing. Time is being re-evaluated. Everything is speeding up. Distances shrink, and schedules tend to condense and tighten. On the contrary, more stakeholders ride the hype of sustainability.

As if this were not enough, we might ask what we do know about future: How are we going to perceive time? Let’s say, in 10 years. Or, when the world population has doubled.

Here is a sneak preview:

I hope there will be some warning in advance.

References:

• The Tutzing Project “Time Ecology” (Ökologie der Zeit)
• Crane T: The Problem of Perception. In: Zalta EN (ed.): The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Spring 2005 Edition.

It was forbidden.
It could not be avoided.
The observing system looked at any construction from outside and
Remade it anew.
The building was never completed.
Eternity did not submit to construction.
There was no exit except in silence.

Louis H. Kauffman: What is a number?
Cybernetics & Systems (1999) 30: 113-.