Any discussion of idealism is, by its very nature, an idealist endeavor. The human ability to form and discuss concepts has provided us with great opportunity for survival. There is no object or structure that is human made that is not the product of and idea made real, the blend of idealism and materialism.
It seems that animals are not idealistic. Their brain processes that result in their behaviors probably could be described in idealistic terms, but if they have any idealistic talents, it is probably extremely limited, else driven by survival forces, they would probably be doing more materialistic things. Manipulating their environment with the same expressive and planning fingerprints we humans put all over everything.
Language is entirely idealistic except for the very base sounds and tones, I think. Words are certainly idealistic. These squiggles of black patterns only have meaning because of the ideas we share in common. There is nothing in the intrinsic material that conveys meaning.
Koko was (is?) a gorilla that learned some language. In this was Koko transformed from a non-idealistic creature to an idealistic one?
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
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7 comments:
I am not so sure about animals not being idealistic. They just don't talk to us much about it. Or maybe we just do not know how to listen.
Glad to see you blogging again!
Take care,
Jordan
Jordan, good to hear from you.
Tell me more about not being sure. I'm currently of the mind that animals live in so-called Buddha-nature, immersed in here-and-now reality.
Our idealism leaks all over the place...some art, most language (which, I guess must be different from "communication") and the scads of devices and do-dads we have manufactured. What do you see in animals that makes you suppose they could be sneaking in some idealistic thoughts?
Cheers,
-Lauren
Hi Lauren, not being sure comes from my own observations. So many, but I do accept that animals are also sentient beings, with an autonomic nervous system.
Some things I have seen is animals longing, animals depressed, animals mourning. All of these things spring from idealism. We tend to think of them as lesser beings, but they aren't, they are just different from us, and some of them are tasty too!
Just my thoughts,
If I blogroll you will you delete your blog again?
Take care,
Jordan
blogroll? Whazat mean?
-L
PS. To my mind, never lesser, only different, often superior in how they "deal" with reality.
Sorry Lauren, my "our" was in reference to human beings in general.... Idealistic eh!
Jordan,
I guess I figured out what 'blogroll' might mean. If you had a link to my blog that got messed up when I deleted, please accept my apology. I didn't know.
I had to do a little phoenix work (burn down and rise from ashes). My blog was becoming too much of an ego trap for me.
I guess I've got a better outlook now....at least I hope so.
Cheers,
-L
Hi Lauren, one thing that I have found helpful to my outlook is instead of looking at things in terms of better or worse; just looking at them as different. It is a fun challenge sometimes since my mind loves (is attached to) judging and comparing things. But I think it has been really beneficial for me. Of course i am not to hard on myself when I slip up either HA~!
Take care,
Jordan
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