At the character-laden Crystal Ballroom listening to the opening act for indie rock siren @st_vincent.
Generous Void |
Perfectly Empty Bits |
I will be using a new site, generousvoid.net as a personal blog instead of this posterous site. If you want to keep track of what I'm posting online that won't fit on Twitter, subscribe to the feed or follow it with your own Tumblr account. Expect more original writing to show up there compared to what has been posted here. This site will stay up for the time being.
My latest project, natureofmind.net, went public on the first of this year. The intent of the website is to focus on topics related to the philosophy of mind. I'll share what I learn while exploring the subject as it comes up in contemporary culture, and as I "audit" related courses and read the recommended material.
The first paragraph from Philosophy of Mind by David Chalmers gives some examples of questions explored in this area that pretty well cover these topics:
What is the mind? What is the relationship between mind an body? Is the mind the same as the brain? How can mind affect the physical world? What is the nature of belief and desire? What is the relationship between consciousness and representation? Is the mind in the head or in the environment? What can we know about other minds, in humans, animals, and machines? What is the self?
Currently the website is just a link log with a few articles, but I intend to grow it into a useful resource for others interested in the subject. Those of you who know me or have read my writing over the years will notice that I have previously approached some of these ideas from a more personal perspective. While the subjects covered may be similar, the approach on Nature of Mind will be more rigorously analytical and more objective.
If you're one of the few interested in my take on these ideas, click on the "subscribe," link for typical ways to follow along: Twitter feed, RSS feed, or email updates. Feedback is welcome even though comments will remain off.
"We must encourage [each other]—once we have grasped the basic points—to interconnecting everything else on our own, to use memory to guide our original thinking, and to accept what someone else says as a starting point, a seed to be nourished and grow. For the correct analogy for the mind is not a vessel that needs filling but wood that needs igniting—no more—and then it motivates one towards originality and instills the desire for truth."
"Suppose someone were to go and ask his neighbors for fire and find a substantial blaze there, and just stay there continually warming himself: that is no different from someone who goes to someone else to get to some of his rationality, and fails to realize that he ought to ignite his own flame, his own intellect, but is happy to sit entranced by the lecture, and the words trigger only associative thinking and bring, as it were, only a flush to his cheeks and a glow to his limbs; but he has not dispelled or dispersed, in the warm light of philosophy, the internal dank gloom of his mind."
—Plutarch, Greek historian, biographer, and essayist
This is another great passage found in Andy Hunt's Pragmatic Thinking and Learning.
I've been writing Morning Pages for the last five days after being reminded of the process by Andy Hunt's Pragmatic Thinking and Learning. Along with other useful information, this book holds many techniques I've learned over the years for encouraging creativity. It has a much broader range than just techniques, however, and Andy's writing is more compelling than most of these design or creativity-oriented books.
The book is definitely not just for programmers, although they appear to be the intended audience.
Here's Mr. Hunt's description of the process:
This is a technique that I first heard about in the context of a writer's workshop (also described in The Artist's Way [TAW]); it's a common technique for authors. But I was surprised to also come across it in a popular MBA program and in other senior executive--level courses and workshops.
Here are the rules:Write your morning pages first thing in the morning—before your coffee, before the traffic report, before talking to Mr. Showerhead, before packing the kids off to school or letting the dog out.
Write at least three pages, long hand. No typing, no computer.
Do not censor what you write. Whether it's brilliant or banal, just let it out.
Do not skip a day.
It's OK if you don't know what to write. One executive taking this program loudly proclaimed that this exercise was a complete waste of time. He defiantly wrote three pages of “I don't know what to write. Blah blah blah.” And that's fine.Because after a while, he noticed other stuff started appearing in his morning pages. Marketing plans. Product directions. Solutions. Germs of innovative ideas. He overcame his initial resistance to the idea and found it to be a very effective technique for harvesting thoughts.Why does this work? I think it's because you're getting an unguarded brain dump. The first thing in the morning, you're not really as awake as you think. Your unconscious still has a prominent role to play. You haven't yet raised all the defenses and adapted to the limited world of reality. You have a pretty good line direct to your R-mode, at least for a little while.
Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware - by Andy Hunt
"You might think that the narrative voice in your head is in control and that the voice is your consciousness, or the real "you." It is not. In fact, by the time the words are formed in your head, the thought behind them is very old. Some considerable time later those words might actually be formed by your mouth. Not only is there a ti me delay from the original thought to your awareness of it, but there is no central locus of thought in the brain. Thoughts rise up and compete in clouds, and the winner at any point in time is your consciousness."
- from Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware - by Andy Hunt
My Grandfather, Brian K. Moore, died today.
In many ways, he served as my father. He taught me how to drive and inspired my career. Brian had great respect for logic, learning, and creative problem-solving. He faced death with honesty, repeatedly answering “I don’t know” when questioned about his beliefs.
He loved his family deeply, especially my grandmother. In mourning her loss he wrote a book of their experiences together and kept writing, providing us with a wealth of stories from his 91 years of life. This picture is from his 91st birthday.
While today is a sad day, that sadness brings deep gratitude for the time I spent with him, the things he taught me, and my good fortune in possessing some of his genes.Many of his stories can be found on Musings of an Old Man.
