William: "I believe" .. that considerable controversy on this list can be
traced to differing definitions of terms. Language evolves. I accept that
there can be no term which is "defined in stone". However, if ambiguous
terms are employed, or relatively clear terms are employed in novel usages,
we may anticipate confusion or discord.
For me, whether Snow White's existence is noumenal or fictional is
secondary. I assume we all accept that her existence is of another order
than Paul Newman's (former) existence. As that different order is
recognized, discord/misunderstanding is reduced.
Yes, our perceptions are constructions - but the construction Snow White is
of a different order than the construction Paul Newman.
Geoff C
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Conger" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: Malcolm Gladwell and beliefs)
No, I can't agree with your improvement of my statement. Why? Because we
can't separate fiction from non-fiction when it comes to examining
consciousness and how we express what we choose. I'm insisting that ALL
consciousness is a selected stream of events happening in real time or
recollected in past time or projected into future time. We can't possibly
be conscious of each and every instance of actuality we experience. We
select and reconstruct. That's why I also insist that vision is active, a
reconstruction of optical and chemical/electrical stimuli and since that
is so, it too is a reinvention, an amalgam, a fictional proposition, a
make believe, that may or may not be "workable" in the continuing stream
of consciousness.
I have to stick to this. All memory is fiction because it is a
reinvention, and as such it is partial, missing many experiential
memories, and thus distorted by the way in which we "fill in the gaps".
Every day we find ourselves correcting our memories of past experience and
tentatively projecting a make believe narrative -- fiction -- for the next
moment or day or year, etc. This takes us back to that book Lehrer re
Proust, and especially to Proust's own art.
I will say that all memories are fiction. But not all fiction is wholly
false, (that is without evidence) most of it is partially false even with
evidence.
WC
--- On Wed, 12/31/08, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Malcolm Gladwell and beliefs)
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2008, 2:19 PM
Here is what you "actually say", William:
> "there are numerous factual histories of the
American Revolution". . . each
> one is fictional to some degree"
>
Please tell us what your word is for those portions that
are NOT fictional to
any degree.
This is also what you "actually said":
"All stories are based on memory. All memories are
fiction."
It is that universal that caught my interest. Do you now
want to modify it to
put it this way?: "All stories are based on memory to
some degree. All
memories are fiction to some degree."
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