Quote:
Originally Posted by JAK  Having spent 30 years as a bit twirler doing boolean algebra and other bizarre quirks of programming (grep anyone?), I am about as entrenched with the amazing capabilities of the binary system as anyone could be.
However, I am also aware that the brain has one interesting difference to computer circuits. Neurons can be set to a variable level like a rheostat. Though the all-or-none law says that a neuron's axon either fires or not, the frequency of axonic transmission is variable. It can be faster like a machine gun, slower like an old flintlock rifle, or somewhere inbetween. Meanwhile, its neighbor, who is getting "shot", has a threshold which must be reached before it, too, starts firing.
Thus, all of the neurons, even though they are "on or off" are actually somewhere inbetween. And since blood is fed throughout the brain, the neurons are never completely off (zero - unless the cell is dead), and yet they may never reach their max firing rate (on) either.
The brain is a system that seems to live everywhere inbetween zero and one.
Life is not black and white but all of the many colors inbetween. |
Fantastic delivery, JAK, it explains in one very clear example the limited character of the binary system: reality isn't black and white.
Felix, you want clarification of the images, and I think you are entitled to that. First thing to understand is that this is not an ordinary concept; it is an overall concept. Just like the word family is an overall concept, the pyramid is an overall concept. As such it differs from the concept of 'father' or of 'daughter.' With father a real person is indicated, and you can point your finger at him, but with 'family' only the entirety is singular. When in a distant spot you can indeed point your finger just once, and say "that family." From closeby, you cannot do the same.
The image of the pyramid is easy to understand, but mainly easy after you get it. It is very important to look at it as containing the separation, something we ordinarilly don't pay much attention to. If you get this, you get the pyramid: the pointing of a single finger at a family in the distance cannot be copied when standing in close proximity to all members. As such, you must be aware that there are things YOU (or me, or anyone) cannot do, that certain behaviors cannot be copied willynilly. That means that the pyramid has views that are valid in some respect, but these views cannot automatically be copied from other perspectives. This means that views are not all valid at the same time and in the same way. That is what incorporating separation means, and I believe Einstein already showed that with the theory of relativity.
As you understand, this is exactly the point Aaron was making, but he jumped on the part that no image can deliver the toe, and went right past the part that an image can show how a singular image cannot deliver the toe based on singularity. Let's quickly slow down here: a single image can indeed portray the entirety if it discloses its own lack of actual singularity. You can only get the pyramid when at a distance yourself. Though extremely limited in scope and usefulness, the pyramid is the toe. And it was known throughout the ancient world.