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Spots wrote:OK ratliff, NOW I accept your apology.
ratliff wrote:mpbrockman wrote:I suppose that isn't an either/or question - it's probably some of both. Nevertheless, you also have been in my shoes (chair, bench?). What did you think was going on in your head?
If I understand your question, you're asking whether I think the experience of getting out of your head playing music is transcending rational processes or is just speeding them up to the point where the same brain that's doing the work is no longer capable of registering what it's doing.
Short answer: I don't know.
ratliff wrote:Whereas if I approach creative work by working as hard as I can to build up my skills and then surrendering to the process...
ratliff wrote:Addendum: some experiences are available to you only if you actually believe they're possible (cf. William James, "The Will to Believe"). I think there's a good chance that if you've ruled out communing with something larger than your own brain, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. But that may be peripheral to the question at hand.
mpbrockman wrote:Actually, I tend to reject most of James' theses as he generally seems to think reason is a lattice we construct to support our emotional responses and beliefs. This gives reason an almost unsavory connotation as it suggests logic is a matter of convenience and elevates emotional responses to the level of some sort of elemental truth (subjective though it may be).
ratliff wrote: I think reason is a supremely useful tool, but that's all. I wouldn't give it up, but I wouldn't want it as my only yardstick, either.
Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:ratliff wrote: I think reason is a supremely useful tool, but that's all. I wouldn't give it up, but I wouldn't want it as my only yardstick, either.
yeah. this. always this. a hundred times this.
ratliff wrote:somebody controlled entirely by their right brain might have to take the opposite approach..
Spots wrote:Certain folks don't have the intuition gene.
Spots wrote:There IS a conscious partition between the L&R brains for me,
mpbrockman wrote:Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell wrote:ratliff wrote: I think reason is a supremely useful tool, but that's all. I wouldn't give it up, but I wouldn't want it as my only yardstick, either.
yeah. this. always this. a hundred times this.
Well, we may be straying into a discussion of personality traits here. While I know people who "trust their gut", years of (sometimes) painful experience has taught me that this is a very bad idea for me. I acknowledge emotion (I'm actually quite an emotional person) but I run it through the logic filter first (and second, and maybe again...)
For me, that's what rationalism is all about. Not passing judgment on what I consider to be irrational or unsupported beliefs (although I occasionally enjoy a good intellectual brawl). Instead it means doing my utmost to set aside personal bias, questionable emotional responses and first instincts, trying to be aware of my blind spots and act accordingly. Do I execute this process perfectly? Of course not - but I continue to practice like mad. I find my intellectual "yardstick" to be far more accurate and useful than my emotional one.
I'm actually quite jealous of those who "follow their heart" and always seem to land on their feet. Such folk continually amaze me.
I really must address the actual subject of this thread at some point...
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