[ExI] Survival

[Jef Allbright]

I'm forwarding to the list this excerpt of an offlist email, hoping to
address possible misperception of a public post.

------------------------

On 1/3/08, Jef Allbright <jef at jefallbright.net> wrote:
> Someone wrote to me offline:
> > On Thursday 03 January 2008, Jef Allbright wrote:
> > > For me the same process applies to assessing the "realism" or "truth"
> > > of a statement. Almost immediately I get a geometric image in my
> > > mind, and I pay attention to the slope, linearity, monotonicity,
> > > etc., providing an immediate intuitive indication of the mapping of
> > > the assertion onto my own model of reality. I can then focus my
> > > attention on the higher-information content portions of the geometry,
> > > asking myself what (in my model or the other's) might account for the
> > > deviations.
> >
> > [Concerns expressed about the writer's personal capacity for mathematical abstraction and visualization.]
>
> Please note that I don't claim extraordinary access to the truth.
> (Note also scare-quotes above.)  I was referring merely to my somewhat
> unusual visualization of some of my own cognition.  Similarly, I've
> always felt comfortable observing my emotions, moods and behaviors in
> the third person to the extent that sometimes I get too comfortable
> with it and tend to refer to myself semi-humorously in the
> third-person until Lizbeth tells me to stop it because it freaks her
> out.   That said, I do feel my emotions, sometimes cry at movies and
> am not autistic (although I think I can relate.)
>
> >
>> [ Concerns expressed about the writers relative inability to intuit further.]
>
> CAUTION!  What you're describing is a **good** thing!  If you ever get
> to the point of imagining that you can reliably intuit new knowledge
> then you've probably crossed the line into mysticism.  Intuition is a
> valuable tool for recognizing aspects of what already exists in your
> model, and the plausibility of new knowledge, but it can't generate
> new knowledge.
>
> - Jef