Post 18

Realities are made consciously intelligible through and by the development of systems of symbolic representation. Our raw experiences of reality or realities are translated into abstract constructed mediums, allowing for our unique ability to consciously reflect. This is a fundamental observation that ought to be taught, along with its numerous significant implications, from a young age and kept in mind as much as possible. It is coded symbolic information that maintains conscious reflection and civilisation.

Post 17

Every idea and and observation represents, primarily, an individual's attempts at coming to terms with, understanding, the world in which they live. This is all thinking and philosophizing has ever been, a record of people sorting out and interpreting their experiences. There are thus no ends, resolutions or conclusions in thinking and understanding. In this respect my writings, too, should be seen as gropings, as evidence of an individual attempting to understand the world in which they live, as records of a continual inconclusive process.

Post 16

Theories involve explanations. To formulate a theory, say, on aesthetics or poetics, is to try and explain what aesthetic and poetic processes are, as though their essences could be explicated and simply "understood". It should be clear that one cannot simply arrive at a final and literal explanation or theory regarding what the aesthetic or poetic process is, or what anything is.

The full beauty and meaning of things and events derives from the fact that they are fundamentally mysterious and indeterminate. One cannot absolutely pin anything down with words, categories and concepts. To think that one can is an immensely common human confusion that leads to much unnecessary negativity.

Post 15

I would never want to be right, wrong, true or untrue. Such words mean very little to me. I aspire to be perceptive, insightful, perhaps prescient, receptive, keen and aware.

Post 14

Even though it may be argued that there exists no objective or absolute reality, in the sense that there is no reality without a perceiving subject, I believe we have to assume that there exists some absolute universal stuff which is, fundamentally, the same for everyone.

When two people experience an object they will undoubtedly experience it in different ways, ways which are relative to how each person has been brought up to view reality. But the basic fundamental stuff or substance of which the object is composed and constituted remains the same for each individual.

All the objects of our conscious experience are coloured by our past, by our cultural and social upbringing. We thus abstract from the universal substance, of which everything is composed, and structure our own realities, including our own views and ideas of what reality is. To keep this in mind, to internalize this view, is to my mind exceedingly important, for it encourages individuals not to impose their views of what reality is onto other people. All dogmatic, absolutist and essentialist attitudes are alleviated by keeping this relativistic insight in mind.

Post 13

When one has fully internalized the view that language, mainly written and spoken language, provides an environment which if not causes then maintains conscious understanding and awareness, then one realizes that everything we consciously experience is shaped and molded, is structured, by language.

We cannot conceive of a world without language, if for no other reason than that the very ability to conceive, to employ conceptual thought, is maintained by language. One of the implications of this view is that if we change the language we use then we will change the way we perceive and apprehend reality. Thus reality as we know it will, in a sense, shift and change with our shifts and changes of language.

Post 12

I believe that a democratisation and fair distribution of knowledge and awareness is very important. This is one reason why I don't like the attitude, found in certain academics and  academic traditions, that if one is not institutionally educated in a particular field, if one has simply read the literature and taught themselves certain ideas and disciplines, then one's opinions and observations are somehow less valid than those of specialist academics.

We have reached a stage where we cannot inhibit the opinions and observations of certain individuals simply because they do not have the credentials. We have reached a stage where we cannot separate and close off certain fields of knowledge from others. Any boundaries that still exist between academic fields and disciplines, and an individual's access to such fields and disciplines, ought to be dissolved. We are learning more and more that we live in an interconnected world where most events affect most other events.