Thursday, May 15, 2008
Culture is a war between logic and emotion
(4)
Lucifer's enigmatic reply hooked me into thinking about my mind. After a while it dawned on me that my mind was thinking about itself... thinking about itself... etc. And yet there was no... loop. My mind was not the result of a previous mind state even though I was thinking about... my mind! This must have mystified ancient Zen practitioners, who came up with interesting theories concerning why 'mind contemplating mind' did not result in madness. Nowadays we know that brain generates mind, and that neuronal transmission requires time, which explains the problem. Time interferes with the natural oscillation of cause-effect, preventing actual oscillation. Therefore there is no feedback loop (as, for example, in electronics). But this realization does not at all invalidate Zen, which is a logical critique of 'mind.'
There is nothing at all emotional about Zen. Zen is totally logical.
And yet, when you come to 'understand Zen' on some level, your emotional brain responds, introducing emotion into a previously logical scenerio: your emotional brain 'gets it!' You respond warmly.
On the other hand, there is nothing at all logical about Monotheism. Monotheism is totally emotional. This explains why Science and Technology are invisible to Monotheism.
Lucifer's enigmatic reply hooked me into thinking about my mind. After a while it dawned on me that my mind was thinking about itself... thinking about itself... etc. And yet there was no... loop. My mind was not the result of a previous mind state even though I was thinking about... my mind! This must have mystified ancient Zen practitioners, who came up with interesting theories concerning why 'mind contemplating mind' did not result in madness. Nowadays we know that brain generates mind, and that neuronal transmission requires time, which explains the problem. Time interferes with the natural oscillation of cause-effect, preventing actual oscillation. Therefore there is no feedback loop (as, for example, in electronics). But this realization does not at all invalidate Zen, which is a logical critique of 'mind.'
There is nothing at all emotional about Zen. Zen is totally logical.
And yet, when you come to 'understand Zen' on some level, your emotional brain responds, introducing emotion into a previously logical scenerio: your emotional brain 'gets it!' You respond warmly.
On the other hand, there is nothing at all logical about Monotheism. Monotheism is totally emotional. This explains why Science and Technology are invisible to Monotheism.
