Have you ever tried to grasp water? You scoop some up into the palm of your hand and, if you close your fingers into a fist, the water squirts or seeps out. When you open your hand again, aside from a few droplets clinging to your skin, the water has vanished.
From my perspective, the world of ideas is like water. Words, concepts and formulations make up the vast sea of consciousness. Like a great ocean, anyone can dip their toe or entire body into the water, but no one can claim it as their very own. It belongs to the universe.
What motivated me to write the above was a visit I had to a particular blog (and I won't be naming names). In the very first paragraph, the host began his entry with a very remarkable statement. He wrote that it was abundantly clear that HIS message resonated with many of his readers. His message?
I can tell you one thing, said message is not unique. You can find it all over the blogosphere. In fact, ANY idea you could think of is probably on the internet in spades or somewhere else. Heck, not a thing you will find on this blog is original nor unique. It is simply my reformulation of other people's reformulations.
Now there is no question that when each of us strings some words together to form cogent sentences and paragraphs, we tend to say we are expressing our own thoughts. Because these thoughts may be new to us, we like to think we are formulating or conceptualizing something that has never appeared before.
But honestly, what can be said that hasn't been said or what can be thought that hasn't already been thought of? Each human life centers around the same things: fear, love, curiosity, dislike, needs, desires, dreams and more. Even though our earliest ancestors may not have developed the complex language skills that modern homo sapiens have, in their own primitive ways, they were communicating and thinking about the same things.
Aah, I hear you say. What about Einstein's theory of relativity or Newton's ideas of gravity? Those were NEW ideas. No one had ever thunk them before.
I would agree that there will always be individuals who put different pieces of information together to express them in new ways, but the information itself is not new. As far as we know, gravity has always existed in some form on this planet. The sky has always appeared to be particular colors. The necessary components of life have been around since things came to life.
So, while words and concepts may express our own unique and subjective perspective of the world of people, things and ideas, those same words and concepts are part of the overall consciousness. We don't own a one of them; we simply borrow them for a time.
From my perspective, the world of ideas is like water. Words, concepts and formulations make up the vast sea of consciousness. Like a great ocean, anyone can dip their toe or entire body into the water, but no one can claim it as their very own. It belongs to the universe.
What motivated me to write the above was a visit I had to a particular blog (and I won't be naming names). In the very first paragraph, the host began his entry with a very remarkable statement. He wrote that it was abundantly clear that HIS message resonated with many of his readers. His message?
I can tell you one thing, said message is not unique. You can find it all over the blogosphere. In fact, ANY idea you could think of is probably on the internet in spades or somewhere else. Heck, not a thing you will find on this blog is original nor unique. It is simply my reformulation of other people's reformulations.
Now there is no question that when each of us strings some words together to form cogent sentences and paragraphs, we tend to say we are expressing our own thoughts. Because these thoughts may be new to us, we like to think we are formulating or conceptualizing something that has never appeared before.
But honestly, what can be said that hasn't been said or what can be thought that hasn't already been thought of? Each human life centers around the same things: fear, love, curiosity, dislike, needs, desires, dreams and more. Even though our earliest ancestors may not have developed the complex language skills that modern homo sapiens have, in their own primitive ways, they were communicating and thinking about the same things.
Aah, I hear you say. What about Einstein's theory of relativity or Newton's ideas of gravity? Those were NEW ideas. No one had ever thunk them before.
I would agree that there will always be individuals who put different pieces of information together to express them in new ways, but the information itself is not new. As far as we know, gravity has always existed in some form on this planet. The sky has always appeared to be particular colors. The necessary components of life have been around since things came to life.
So, while words and concepts may express our own unique and subjective perspective of the world of people, things and ideas, those same words and concepts are part of the overall consciousness. We don't own a one of them; we simply borrow them for a time.
Interesting point, and I think the only argument would be a semantic one. It's like energy, it can be neither created nor destroyed. It is. So maybe it's the way with thought and ideas. My semantic argument, however, is this, a musician, for example, there are seven notes to the scale, but new, creative music is made all the time. As a blues musician, I can tell you it's amazing what can be done with the same five notes.
ReplyDeleteIn tai chi, there are 108 moves. But it's the creativity and what you as an individual do with the moves that makes it wonderful. Early on in my tai chi career, I started creating moves, thinking I was getting it from the universe or something. Then I was really surprised when my created moves corresponded to already created moves in the form. As Bruce Lee said, all humans have two arms and two legs so the way we fight is pretty much gonna look the same...
Mike,
ReplyDeleteOf course, it's all semantics! :D)
But your point is well taken.