From e19cd38239a9c0cf5c58ef1b7c6e5ced4d3e3b34 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: phoebe jenkins Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2024 01:06:26 -0400 Subject: this is the gameplan --- essays/introduction.tex | 10 +++++----- 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-) (limited to 'essays/introduction.tex') diff --git a/essays/introduction.tex b/essays/introduction.tex index 27d4616..0dfb610 100644 --- a/essays/introduction.tex +++ b/essays/introduction.tex @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ This essay is the third in a series on the rationale of my career. It summarizes The second essay, \essaytitle{Creep}, discussed the practices of isolating oneself; carefully controlling one's intake of ideas and influences from outside; and playing as a child does. I originally saw these practices as the effects of certain personality problems. However, it now seems that they are actually needed for the intellectual approach which I have developed. They may be desirable in themselves, rather than being mere effects of personality problems. -I chose fundamental philosophy as my primary subject of investigation. Society presses me to accept all sorts of beliefs. At one time it would have pressed me to believe that the earth was flat; then it reversed itself and demanded that I believe the earth is round. The majority of Americans still consider it \enquote{necessary} to believe in God; but the Soviet government has managed to function for decades with an atheistic philosophy. Thus, which beliefs should I accept? My analysis is presented in writings entitled \essaytitle{Philosophy Proper}, \essaytitle{The Flaws Underlying Beliefs}, and \essaytitle{Philosophical Aspects of Walking Through Walls}. The question of whe\-ther a given belief is valid depends on the issue of whether there is a realm beyond my \enquote{immediate experience.} Does the \textsc{Empire State Building} continue to exist even when I am not looking at it? If such a question can be asked, there must indeed be a realm beyond my experience, because otherwise the phrase \enquote{a realm beyond my experience} could not have any meaning. (Russell's theory of descriptions does not apply in this case.) But if the assertion that there is a realm beyond my experience is true merely because it is meaningful, it cannot be substantive; it must be a definitional trick. In general, beliefs depend on the assertion of the existence of a realm beyond my experience, an assertion which is nonsubstantive. Thus, beliefs are nonsubstantive or meaningless; they are definitional tricks. Psychologically, when I believe that the \textsc{Empire State Building} exists even though I am not looking at it, I imagine the \textsc{Empire State Building}, and I have the attitude toward this mental picture that it is a perception rather than a mental picture. The attitude involved is a self-deceiving psychological trick which corresponds to the definitional trick in the belief assertion. The conclusion is that all beliefs are inconsistent or self-deceiving. It would be beside the point to doubt beliefs, because whatever their connotations may be, logically beliefs are nonsense, and their negations are nonsense also. +I chose fundamental philosophy as my primary subject of investigation. Society presses me to accept all sorts of beliefs. At one time it would have pressed me to believe that the earth was flat; then it reversed itself and demanded that I believe the earth is round. The majority of Americans still consider it \enquote{necessary} to believe in God; but the Soviet government has managed to function for decades with an atheistic philosophy. Thus, which beliefs should I accept? My analysis is presented in writings entitled \essaytitle{Philosophy Proper}, \essaytitle{The Flaws Underlying Beliefs}, and \essaytitle{Philosophical Aspects of Walking Through Walls}. The question of whether a given belief is valid depends on the issue of whether there is a realm beyond my \enquote{immediate experience.} Does the Empire State Building continue to exist even when I am not looking at it? If such a question can be asked, there must indeed be a realm beyond my experience, because otherwise the phrase \enquote{a realm beyond my experience} could not have any meaning. (Russell's theory of descriptions does not apply in this case.) But if the assertion that there is a realm beyond my experience is true merely because it is meaningful, it cannot be substantive; it must be a definitional trick. In general, beliefs depend on the assertion of the existence of a realm beyond my experience, an assertion which is nonsubstantive. Thus, beliefs are nonsubstantive or meaningless; they are definitional tricks. Psychologically, when I believe that the Empire State Building exists even though I am not looking at it, I imagine the Empire State Building, and I have the attitude toward this mental picture that it is a perception rather than a mental picture. The attitude involved is a self-deceiving psychological trick which corresponds to the definitional trick in the belief assertion. The conclusion is that all beliefs are inconsistent or self-deceiving. It would be beside the point to doubt beliefs, because whatever their connotations may be, logically beliefs are nonsense, and their negations are nonsense also. The important consequence of my philosophy is the rejection of truth as an intellectual modality. I conclude that an intellectual activity's claim to have objective value should not depend on whether it is true; and also that an activity may perfectly well employ false statements and still have objective value. I have developed activities which use mental capabilities that are excluded by a truth-oriented approach: descriptions of imaginary phenomena, the deliberate adoption of false expectations, the thinking of contradictions, and meanings which are reversed by the reader's mental reactions; as well as illusions, the deliberate suspension of normal beliefs, and phrases whose meaning is stipulated to be the associations they evoke. It must be clear that these activities are not in any way whatever a return to pre-scientific irrationalism. My philosophy demolishes astrology even more than it does astronomy. The irrationalist is out to deceive you; he wants you to believe that his superstitions are truths. My activities, on the other hand, explicitly state that they are using non-true material. My intent is not to get you to believe that superstitions are truths, but to exploit non-true material for rational purposes. @@ -28,16 +28,16 @@ A definition of the intellectual modality which I favor is now in order. Until n But the defining requirement of the modality is that each activity in it must have objective value. The activity must provide one with something which is useful irrespective of whether one likes it; that is, which is useful independently of whether it produces emotional gratification. -We can now consider the following principle---\enquote{spontaneously and without any prompting: to sweep human culture aside and to carry out elaborate, completely self-justifying activities.} Relative to the social context of the individual's activities, this principle is absurd. We have no reason to respect the eccentric hobbyist, or the person who engages in arbitrary antisocial acts. If an action is to have more than merely personal significance, it must have a social justification, as is explained in On Social Recognition. In the light of \essaytitle{The Flaws Underlying Beliefs} and the \term{brend} theory, however, the principle mentioned above does become valid when it is interpreted correctly, because it becomes necessary to invent ends as well as means. The activity must provide an objective value, but this value will no longer be standardized. +\slop{We can now consider the following principle---\enquote{spontaneously and without any prompting: to sweep human culture aside and to carry out elaborate, completely self-justifying activities.} Relative to the social context of the individual's activities, this principle is absurd. We have no reason to respect the eccentric hobbyist, or the person who engages in arbitrary antisocial acts. If an action is to have more than merely personal significance, it must have a social justification, as is explained in On Social Recognition. In the light of \essaytitle{The Flaws Underlying Beliefs} and the \term{brend} theory, however, the principle mentioned above does become valid when it is interpreted correctly, because it becomes necessary to invent ends as well as means. The activity must provide an objective value, but this value will no longer be standardized.} The modality I favor is best exemplified by \essaytitle{Energy Cube Org\-an\-ism}, \essaytitle{Concept Art}, and the \essaytitle{Perception-Dissociator Model}. \essaytitle{Energy Cube Org\-an\-ism} is a perfect example of ideas such that the very possibility of thinking them is a significant phenomenon. It is also a perfect example of an activity which is useful irrespective of whether it provides emotional gratification. It combines the description of imaginary physical phenomena with the thinking of contradictions. It led to \essaytitle{Studies in Constructed Memories}, which in turn led to \essaytitle{The Logic of Admissible Contradictions}. With this last writing, it becomes obvious that the activity has applications outside itself. -\essaytitle{Concept Art}\footnote{published in An Anthology ed. LaMonte Young, 1963} uses linguistic expressions which are changed by the reader's mental reactions. It led to \essaytitle{Post-Formalism in Constructed Mem\-or\-ies}, and this led in turn to \essaytitle{Subjective Propositional Vibration}. +\slop{\essaytitle{Concept Art}\footnote{published in \booktitle{An Anthology} ed. LaMonte Young, 1963} uses linguistic expressions which are changed by the reader's mental reactions. It led to \essaytitle{Post-Formalism in Constructed Memories}, and this led in turn to \essaytitle{Subjective Propositional Vibration}.} The \essaytitle{Perception-Dissociator Model}\footnote{published in I-KON, Vol. 1, No. 5} was intended to exploit the realization that humans are the most advanced machines (or technology) that we have. I wanted to build a model of a machine out of humans, using a minimum of non-human props. Further, the machine modelled was to have capabilities which are physically impossible according to present-day science. I still think that the task as I have defined it is an excellent one; but the model does not yet completely accomplish the objective. The present model uses the deliberate suspension of normal beliefs to produce its effects. -\slop{\essaytitle{Post-Formalism in Constructed Memories} and \essaytitle{Studies in Constructed Memories} together make up \booktitle{Mathematical Studies} (1966). In this monograph, the emphasis was on extending the idea of mathematics as formalistic games to games involving subjectivity and contradiction. In two subsequent monographs, the material was developed so as to bring out its potential applications in conjunction with science. \essaytitle{Subjective Propositional Vibration} investigates the logical possibilities of expressions which are changed by the reader's mental responses. \essaytitle{The Logic of Admissible Contradictions} starts with the experiences of the logically impossible which we have when we suffer certain perceptual illusions. These illusions enable us to imagine certain logical impossibilities just as clearly as we imagine the logically possible. The monograph models the content of these illusions to obtain a system of logic in which some (but not all) contradictions are \enquote{admissible.} The theory investigates the implications of admitting some contradictions for the admissibility of other contradictions. A theory of many-valued numbers is also presented.} +\slop{\essaytitle{Post-Formalism in Constructed Memories} and \essaytitle{Studies in Constructed Memories} together make up \booktitle{Mathematical Studies (1966)}. In this monograph, the emphasis was on extending the idea of mathematics as formalistic games to games involving subjectivity and contradiction. In two subsequent monographs, the material was developed so as to bring out its potential applications in conjunction with science. \essaytitle{Subjective Propositional Vibration} investigates the logical possibilities of expressions which are changed by the reader's mental responses. \essaytitle{The Logic of Admissible Contradictions} starts with the experiences of the logically impossible which we have when we suffer certain perceptual illusions. These illusions enable us to imagine certain logical impossibilities just as clearly as we imagine the logically possible. The monograph models the content of these illusions to obtain a system of logic in which some (but not all) contradictions are \enquote{admissible.} The theory investigates the implications of admitting some contradictions for the admissibility of other contradictions. A theory of many-valued numbers is also presented.} -The \essaytitle{Perception-Dissociator Model} led to \essaytitle{The Perception-Dissociation of Physics.} Again, here is an essay whose significance lies in the very possibility of thinking the ideas at all. The essay defines a change in the pattern of experience which would make it impossible for physicists to \enquote{construct the object from experience.} Finally, \essaytitle{Mock Risk Games} is the activity which involves the deliberate adoption of false expectations. It is on the borderline of the intellectual modality which I favor, because it seems to me to have objective value, and yet has not generated a series of applications as the other activities have. +\slop{The \essaytitle{Perception-Dissociator Model} led to \essaytitle{The Perception-Dissociation of Physics.} Again, here is an essay whose significance lies in the very possibility of thinking the ideas at all. The essay defines a change in the pattern of experience which would make it impossible for physicists to \enquote{construct the object from experience.} Finally, \essaytitle{Mock Risk Games} is the activity which involves the deliberate adoption of false expectations. It is on the borderline of the intellectual modality which I favor, because it seems to me to have objective value, and yet has not generated a series of applications as the other activities have.} To summarize my general outlook, truth and art are discredited. They are replaced by an intellectual modality consisting of non-true activities having objective value, together with each individual's brend. Consider the individual who wishes to go into my intellectual modality. What is the significance to him of the academic world, professional occupations, and the business of scholarships, fellowships, and grants? From the perspective of the most socially important tasks, these institutions have always rewarded the wrong things, as I argued in \essaytitle{On Social Recognition}. But in addition, the institutions as now organized are obstacles specifically to my intellectual modality. In fact, society in general has the effect of a vast conspiracy to prevent one from achieving the kind of consequential intellectual play which I advocate. The categories of thought which are obligatory in the official intellectual world and the media are categories in which my outlook cannot be conceived. And here is where the creep practices mentioned at the beginning of this essay become important. Isolation from society is presumably not inherent in my intellectual modality; but under present social conditions isolation is a prerequisite for its existence. \ No newline at end of file -- cgit v1.2.3