|
The arts and the sciences seem to have similar hierarchies in that
there are purely applied levels and creative levels and levels where they
transcend "genres". At the levels where creativity transcends, there is a
melding of mind capability such that these forms all flow through (become?) one
another. Indeed; what is the difference between music and painting, other than
the fact that the sensory inputs come via different organs? Some people "hear"
colors in music, for example, or see sounds in patterns. I find Bach very
mathematical and geometrical, in the "shape" of his creativity or the form of
his aesthetic sense, almost like an intricate, repeating Celtic knot.
Certain types of jazz remind me of Kandinsky paintings. My father and I
used to discuss these things all the time, as we shared a love of music and
art.
Some people have a very clear demarcation in their minds between
receptive sensory input and expressive sensory output-- to the point that there
may be very little communication between those aspects within the same mind.
There can also be a demarcation between creative thought and applied thought,
with similar inability to integrate both modes of thinking. In Robert Rosen's
case, there ware no such demarcations. He was able to access all modes of
thought simultaneously, with no fatigue or inner, disjointed cross-talk. He was
aware that the way his mind worked wasn't quite "normal" but decided that most
talents were abnormal in a certain sense; normal is a value judgment connected
to averages rather than optimality.
Judith
PS: An area where the "peculiar habits of thought", as Robert Rosen
referred to his ways of thinking about things, could best be utilized for the
general improvement of the human "condition" is Medicine. One of his essays in
the companion book to Life, Itself spoke about how the discipline of medicine is
a multi-schizophrenic blend of art and craft, where diagnosis involves
epistemological issues and therapies/cures involves ontological issues-- and how
in complex systems the two don't specify one another. Indeed, the field of
medicine involves everything from metallurgy and engineering to
metaphysical questions about what constitutes "soul", and everything in between.
So, making Rosennean Complexity Theory accessible to the field of Medicine is
one of my top priorities.
|