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02/01/2015 01:01:14 PM · #1 |
Mark Strand's a Pulitzer prize-winning poet. I just encountered this thought of his.
Originally posted by Mark Strand:
We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay attention. In some ways, this is getting far afield. I mean, we are – as far as we know – the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious. We could even be the universe’s form of consciousness. We might have come along so that the universe could look at itself. I don’t know that, but we’re made of the same stuff that stars are made of, or that floats around in space. But we’re combined in such a way that we can describe what it’s like to be alive, to be witnesses. Most of our experience is that of being a witness. We see and hear and smell other things. I think being alive is responding. (emphasis mine) |
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02/01/2015 01:52:17 PM · #2 |
| Beautiful but oh why do we have to judge. |
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02/01/2015 01:55:11 PM · #3 |
| Well, to bear witness is to report, not judge ... |
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02/01/2015 02:29:08 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by jagar:
Beautiful but oh why do we have to judge. |
He does not mention passing judgment, just that our task is to bear witness. |
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02/01/2015 02:40:48 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by jagar:
Beautiful but oh why do we have to judge. |
He does not mention passing judgment, just that our task is to bear witness. |
Yes I know, unfortunately we all do though, it would be delightful to constantly only bear witness. |
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02/01/2015 02:46:37 PM · #6 |
| We're just one gigantic selfie. |
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02/01/2015 02:51:38 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by rooum:
We're just one gigantic selfie. |
 Interplanetary ... |
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02/01/2015 02:58:52 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by rooum:
We're just one gigantic selfie. |
That's so true, freaks me out sometimes. |
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02/01/2015 05:53:54 PM · #9 |
that thought should be a giant billboard in every major metropolis in all the world.
we are losing our ability to observe properly. to actually observe without bias.
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02/01/2015 07:02:26 PM · #10 |
If there were 5 photographers on the same beach in Florida at the same time, each one had the same camera, they all pressed the shutter release at the same time...would they all take the same picture? No! Say it was 67 degrees Fahrenheit, a lovely winter day for Florida, I can predict that the native Floridian would be dressed in long pants & wearing a jacket while complaining of the cold and the snowbird from Massachusetts would be wearing shorts & flipflops, enjoying the lovely warm weather while thinking of a dip in the ocean.
My point? Objective bias-free observation is a myth. We all bring our life experiences with us, which we can't completely set aside, so it's impossible to observe without bias. Most of the time, we see what we expect to see. The thing is to know what your biases are, so they don't limit your powers of observation. |
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