In his October Winsights column Win Wenger encourages us to think of ourselves
as a rather complex swirl of confluent possibilities, interacting with other streams of possibility amidst larger overall flow.
Win has some fascinating ideas, and I find it intriguing how his scientific approach to stretching the human mind seems to have so much in common with certain ancient teachings.
While you’re “over that way” why not check out his May 2001 article “What Does It Mean to be You?” where he asks
_“Is it significant to be who you are and to do what you are doing? […] How much of what I am today is me and how much is chance? […] IF we do proceed on the presently questionable assumptions that we ARE individually unique and that our choices and actions DO have significant meaning, we have at least a somewhat better chance of meaningful achievements than if we don’t thus proceed. Given those alternatives, the presumption seems justified on the grounds that, as of yet in this snapshot moment of unfolding civilization and history, we have yet to unfold the right questions, much less the right answers. […] There are things your eyes have seen that no other human eyes have seen � thoughts you’ve thought (consciously or no), insights and appreciations you’ve arrived at. […] I don’t think that I am cultivating illusion by holding open richer possibilities rather than prematurely precluding them. […]Along the way, though, I do have to wonder at our system of justice and of judicial punishment[…]it’s clear that the system’s operation as a deterrence to crime leaves something to be desired[…] [also] I see three sectors of boundless opportunity which we are woefully underplaying:
- the raising and educating of our children.
- The rapid development of space, in the solar system and possibly beyond.
- Human life-extension.”
And while I was catching up on Win’s site this caught my eye.
_“I fully intend to be around for many afternoons to come, but were I to die this afternoon, this is one thing I will want to have gotten said:
‘Hear one another out. Draw each other out. And when it’s your turn to be speaking, pay far more attention to what you are actually perceiving than to what you know. And don’t repeat yourself much. The universe is infinite: by attending your own perceptions, you are infinite. And so also is that person you are drawing out. Even the least of us is a window on God, whatever your definition.’ “
