- 10 Jan 2017 11:21
#14761540
I came across this video whilst perusing those of Matt Dillahunty, someone I had an introduction to from XogGyux in the discussion on morality
I also have an attraction to the number three and use it a great deal in all walks of life, not least when making verbal points. Matt here starts with a so-called 'mystical' veneration and ends up showing it is meaningless. My own thoughts are somewhere in between.
I would not use the word 'magic' or anything like it, I would say it is meaningful or significant to us though, just to put aside the notion that it has any objective qualities.
Observe many debates between intelligent folks, especially on the internet where they can be gone back over (and over). When the subject matter is difficult or emotional the discourse very often fall backs into binary thinking, often getting stuck there, some people will try to broaden the scope, only to be dragged back to the binary. To regard this merely as a failing misses an opportunity IMO, one that demonstrates where we are at cognitively as a species. Progressives like to think that suddenly, now we have science and logic etc, there are no limits to the human mind, but this is not true IMO, we have only relatively recently stepped up from the higher primates and are still in the process of evolving our mental faculties, a process that may turn out to be a lot slower and tortuous than over-enthusiastic humanists like to imagine.
So, here we have a sticking-point that tells us something ie, it is significant to us personally. The move onwards from binary thinking to more considered thinking might be straightforward for some individuals, but collectively it's a bit of a hurdle, and if we think that dialogue is the way forward then we are stuck (at present) somewhere between 2 and 3. Three is the next step we look towards, what some may yearn for.
Here's an enjoyable essay that encouraged me along this line of thinking
I also have an attraction to the number three and use it a great deal in all walks of life, not least when making verbal points. Matt here starts with a so-called 'mystical' veneration and ends up showing it is meaningless. My own thoughts are somewhere in between.
I would not use the word 'magic' or anything like it, I would say it is meaningful or significant to us though, just to put aside the notion that it has any objective qualities.
Observe many debates between intelligent folks, especially on the internet where they can be gone back over (and over). When the subject matter is difficult or emotional the discourse very often fall backs into binary thinking, often getting stuck there, some people will try to broaden the scope, only to be dragged back to the binary. To regard this merely as a failing misses an opportunity IMO, one that demonstrates where we are at cognitively as a species. Progressives like to think that suddenly, now we have science and logic etc, there are no limits to the human mind, but this is not true IMO, we have only relatively recently stepped up from the higher primates and are still in the process of evolving our mental faculties, a process that may turn out to be a lot slower and tortuous than over-enthusiastic humanists like to imagine.
So, here we have a sticking-point that tells us something ie, it is significant to us personally. The move onwards from binary thinking to more considered thinking might be straightforward for some individuals, but collectively it's a bit of a hurdle, and if we think that dialogue is the way forward then we are stuck (at present) somewhere between 2 and 3. Three is the next step we look towards, what some may yearn for.
Here's an enjoyable essay that encouraged me along this line of thinking
Thanks for the vague remark. Are you trying to insert deconstructionism? If so, I'll respond... 1 or 2 or e = functional human tools we use to organize things inside space/time. The real magic is in our consciousness, not in the number or letter. We gain power over material reality through our native interface (sensory resonance) by constructing cognitive patterns. Nonetheless, quantities and qualities or numbers and letters appear as natural phenomena in the all-at-once world (simultaneous happening/experience) we call reality. 
- By Rich
- By ingliz
- By Unthinking Majority