Pale.Pink.
2005-10-27 23:34:30 UTC
I have been reading Feynman's "The Pleasure of Finding Things
Out." He talks about a visit he made to Honolulu and that as he
stood on the shore watching the waves he thought of them as mountains
of atoms forming a pattern, mindlessly going about "their"
business. Later he talks about the human brain in a similar fashion
and notes that these atoms with consciousness form a pattern thought of
as individuality. He further mentions that the brain atoms replace
themselves every so many years, yet the individual consciousness
continues uninterrupted. All these conglomerates of atoms have gone
on forming patterns for billions of years "long before any human eyes
could see." This statement prompts me to ask this question. Knowing
how much Feynman loved ideas, I thought I might invite his spirit to
awaken in all of you. If we had another sense - beyond sight,
hearing, touch, smell, taste, -- other than those through which we
perceive the laws of nature, what might it be? In addition, how might
it change our understanding of our natural laws? We build computers to
aid our ability to work out problems. We build microscopes to see what
the natural eye cannot. We learn the utility of mathematics to
describe a world of ideas beyond what we physically experience. We
know the limitations to our senses and use the brain to think up ways
to enhance how we perceive and to create methods to know nature.
Obviously, our current senses limit our perception of the universe.
What would be another way to perceive it?
Out." He talks about a visit he made to Honolulu and that as he
stood on the shore watching the waves he thought of them as mountains
of atoms forming a pattern, mindlessly going about "their"
business. Later he talks about the human brain in a similar fashion
and notes that these atoms with consciousness form a pattern thought of
as individuality. He further mentions that the brain atoms replace
themselves every so many years, yet the individual consciousness
continues uninterrupted. All these conglomerates of atoms have gone
on forming patterns for billions of years "long before any human eyes
could see." This statement prompts me to ask this question. Knowing
how much Feynman loved ideas, I thought I might invite his spirit to
awaken in all of you. If we had another sense - beyond sight,
hearing, touch, smell, taste, -- other than those through which we
perceive the laws of nature, what might it be? In addition, how might
it change our understanding of our natural laws? We build computers to
aid our ability to work out problems. We build microscopes to see what
the natural eye cannot. We learn the utility of mathematics to
describe a world of ideas beyond what we physically experience. We
know the limitations to our senses and use the brain to think up ways
to enhance how we perceive and to create methods to know nature.
Obviously, our current senses limit our perception of the universe.
What would be another way to perceive it?