Dare to be abnormal

[coberst]

Dare to be abnormal

"When a story enchants us, we lose the sense of where we are; we are drawn into the story so thoroughly that we forget it is a story being told. This is, in Aristotle's phrase, "the suspension of disbelief."==Nigel Spivey, “How Art Made the World”

To understand is to grasp meaning; it is a suspension of disbelief. Understanding is a confluence of emotion and reason wherein I create that which is meaningful to me.

Know is see. Understand is grasp. These are rather common metaphors. Such metaphors help us comprehend.

Empathy is a technique for understanding. We can try to understand another person by creating a means whereby we can ‘walk a mile in her shoes’. We can create analogies of what the other person experiences as a means for us to ‘put on their shoes’.

An artist may paint in the manner of Picasso, or perhaps in the manner of a Rembrandt, or perhaps in the manner of a Monet. These different forms of painting represent different ways of seeing. They represent a personal understanding which provides us with a prism for seeing.

Mathematics is a way of seeing. Mathematics is the science of pattern. Imagine a very elaborate Persian rug. Imagine that you have only a small fragment of that rug. Mathematics offers a means whereby you might be able to construct the rest of that rug to look exactly like the original. Math can perhaps create a formula for the pattern in the rug such that you can, by following that math formula, exactly duplicate the pattern from which that rug was created.

Understanding is a stage of comprehension whereby a person can interject them self into the pattern through imagination. ‘Understanding is math’ because it helps the individual to ‘walk in the shoes’ of some other entity.

Understanding might correctly, in my opinion, be considered to be a personal paradigm. Knowledge is about truth but understanding is about meaning. Understanding is a means for placing the individual within the picture including the entity about which the individual wishes to become very familiar.

Understanding is a creative process that extends knowing. Understanding may or may not enhance the truth quality of comprehension. Picasso and Monet may paint the same object but have they captured the truth of that object?

Is truth anything beyond what humans have normalized (standardized)?

Does understanding aid or deter normalization?

Are you normal? Would you rather be normal than right?

Dare to be abnormal, but not foolish!

[scameter]

What if you are abnormal without having to dare to be?

[...]

Is truth anything beyond what humans have normalized (standardized)?

Does understanding aid or deter normalization?

Are you normal? Would you rather be normal than right?

Dare to be abnormal, but not foolish!

..2 weeks ago i used ketamine for the first [and the last] time and experienced the socalled K-Hole. During this trip reality and 'I' were compressed into a non-linear singularity where past, present and future were one. Concepts like work, friends, home and family were still there but without context no longer meant anything. At one point i had to ask myself, 'who am i?', because even 'I' had become meaningless without context...

..i was sitting behind my laptop and looking at my browser, without knowing what it was, i thought, 'is this reality? What do i do with it?'. When the effect of the drug wore off somewhat, i was able to remind myself where i was, who i was and that i had taken a mind-altering drug...

..to answer your questions: yes, we humans live in, and perceive reality through a frame of reference we call truth, which has be normalized in order to make sense of our senses, so that reality makes sense to our senses...

..due to the inherent uniqueness of our bodies, and therefore the unique individualized perception of this shared reality, we all react slightly different to the same circumstances, and as such we will sometimes come across as crazy or abnormal, which in itself is perfectly normal. A strict adherence to normality as if normality can be subjected to objectivity, that would be foolishness :)

[coberst]

Normalcy = Conformity w/o CT (Critical Thinking)

Abnormalcy = Conformity Modulated by CT

[Flux]

I think that what Coberst said makes sense, in a strange sort of way. To understand somone or something, we must do more than expect understanding to just hit us on the head from out of the blue. Instead, understanding is an active and creative process of identification. To use Coberst's example of aesthetic apreciation; to really enjoy a piece of classical music, it often isn't enough to listen passively. You need to connect, indentify with, and contemplate the music to fully appreciate it. This goes even more so with people; being able to see things from the point of view of another is what good communication is all about.

[coberst]

Flux

In aesthetic accomplishment there is a detachment “This detachment from the daily life of practical needs and aims is brought out in Kant's postulate that aesthetic enjoyment must be disinterested, that when we regard an object aesthetically we are not in the least concerned with its practical significance and value.”

Bloch observed "the artist chooses the media and the goal of every artist is to become fluent enough with the media to transcend it. At some point you pass from playing the piano to playing music."


Comprehension is a hierarchy, resembling a pyramid, with awareness at the base followed by consciousness, succeeded by knowing, with understanding at the pinnacle.

Awareness--faces in a crowd.

Consciousness—smile, a handshake, and curiosity.

Knowledge—long talks sharing desires and ambitions.

Understanding—a best friend bringing constant April.

[Jiraiyathesage]

Compliments to you coberst on your differentiation between knowledge (truth) and understanding (meaning), spoken like a true philosopher and a refreshing definition to me! First of all let me share my opinions with this group. I don't believe "normal" exists as such because it is a relative term and not absolute, it s dependant on cultural factors and time factors (the era in which an event happens). As a relative term it is a subjective term, so therefore it is not a universal term so it is succeptible to change. Perhaps there is some sort of spiritual "normal" but that is not the topic at hand. People change over time, along with cultural values.

Coberst you make a fine point in saying "what humans have normalised"- as people forget that which is considered "normal" is created from man made values, traditions and conventions. Yes I believe in Gods but since I believe in free will i believe they left us to create our own codes, what is felt right to us. Since I dont' believe "normal" exists (since life is too varied for "normality" to exist) I am not normal- and nor is anyone else.

I believe in individuality but I don't think there is enough of it in the world. I will do what I please and I will like what I want. I tend to stick to laaws and some conventions merley for my own convenience not the benefit of society, though that is a byproduct.

I vote for individual mentality over group (sheep) mentality any day- though if it is part of a mutual advantage I will work in a group.

[Shenpa]

Coberst, have you noticed that what is considered normal in society, especially American society, has become more and more exclusive? Well, that is how it seems to me. If normality were measured by a parabula, in recent years, it has become narrower, almost to the point of being a straight line.

For instance, what is considered attractive in American society, especially when it comes to women, is actually anything but average or normal. Some 2% of women have the natural body type that is shown all over the media.

The business type, those who believe in survival of the fittest, also favors a very abnormal type of person. This is highlighted by the amount of self-help books that are necessary to become a "successful business person."

Osho taught a wonderful lesson on Taoism where he exponds upon the nessicity of looking insane to reach any form of enlightenment because it would not be the TAO if people did not laugh at it. People often laugh at truth, and truth is anything but normal.