Philosophy Wire: Creative! Bored!

In a money-saving revelation for organizations inclined to invest in specialized information technology to support the process of idea generation, new research suggests that even non-specialized, everyday organizational IT can encourage employees' creativity. [1] Creativity is nothing more than seeing the same things in a different way. Look at the sky. Watch the clouds go by. Parmenides saw One. Heraclitus saw war and thunder. Poets see love. Pessimists see death, while happy children see dragons and ducks. Don't you see? We are all creative! Even when we see the same thing over and over again! Just ask the one next to you! And he will discover something he has not thought~ Shhhh... The cosmos wants to ask something now...

Updated Version:

In a money-saving revelation for organizations inclined to invest in specialized information technology to support the process of idea generation, new research suggests that even non-specialized, everyday organizational IT can encourage employees' creativity. [1] Creativity is nothing more than seeing the same things in a different way. Look at the sky. Watch the clouds go by. Parmenides saw One. Heraclitus saw war and thunder. Poets see love. Pessimists see death, while happy children see dragons and a duck. Don't you see? We are all creative! Even when we see the same thing over and over again! Just ask the one next to you! And he will discover something he has not thought~ Shhhh... The cosmos wants to ask something new...

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Philosophy Wire: (Against) Imagination

Scientists have expanded the capabilities of the prototype spaceflight instrument Chemistry Organic and Dating Experiment (CODEX), designed for field-based dating of extraterrestrial materials. CODEX now uses two different dating approaches based on rubidium-strontium and lead-lead geochronology methods. The instrument uses laser ablation resonance ionization mass spectrometry (LARIMS) to obtain dates using these methods. [1] Expanding capabilities. Based on things we imagine should be there. Based on capabilities we already know. Based on potential we know must be there. Poor humans. So many things you cannot even imagine of. Because of your imagination...

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Philosophy Wire: Fighter! Ask not why!

By studying animals choosing between two drink options, researchers have discovered that the activity of certain neurons in the brain leads directly to the choice of one option over another. The findings could lead to better understanding of how decision-making goes wrong in conditions such as addiction and depression. [1] Brain controlling choices. But if something else helps us select something, what are we choosing from? Look at your image on the calm lake. There is no reason to choose to destroy it. And yet you do. Can you let go? Can you not throw a rock in the water? (Why should I do that?) Fighter! Can you not ask why?

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Philosophy Wire: Live now. Plan ahead. Think. Don’t.

We all think that planning for the future is better for us. How typical. Humans trying to think too much. Humans trying to think nothing. Never their mind on where they are. Never their mind on the final goal. Only because they always think that one is different than the other. Go ahead. Break the limits. See for yourself. There was nothing in the start. There is nothing beyond the end. Oh, look. There is a chair here. Do you feel tired?

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Philosophy Wire: Caffeine. Problems. Creativity.

Photo by Spiros Kakos @ Pexels

Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates. [1] We believe giving solutions is the goal. We believe solving problems is everything. But we are wrong. The cosmos doesn't need solutions. It wants problems! The cosmos doesn't crave for answers. It grows on questions. And what it fears the most of that at the end we will solve all problems. But we will have lost the ability to create new ones…

And chaos will stay silent…
Next to an empty cup of coffee…

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Philosophy Wire: Thinking in another language…

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Thinking in a foreign language can reduce emotional biases. A new study shows that thinking in a foreign language may help people be more objective when deciding on a price to sell an item. [1] Thinking in another language makes us more objective. Because thinking makes us subjective. In an objective cosmos, trying to find subjective meaning. In a subjective existence, trying to discover an objective universe. Objective. Subjective. Subjective. Objective. Viewing the cosmos. Always looking through the looking glass. Without ever being able to understand that it is this glass which makes us blind. Stop trying to speak. Stop trying to think. And for once in your life, while the red circle is drawn on the sand, right before the Roman soldier who cannot understand you, you will be truly objective…

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Philosophy Wire: Bias! Unbiased? Being irrational in a logical cosmos…

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If children are exposed to bias against one person, will they develop a bias against that person's entire group? The answer is yes, according to new research. (1) How funny people are. Trying to convince themselves of all the things for which they cannot be convinced. Bias is always here in everything we do. And yet, the greatest bias of them all, is that we can judge and decide without it. Thinking in an irrational world. No-thinking in a rational one. Choose carefully what you believe. Do you believe in Logos? Are you logical enough to be crazy?

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Philosophy Wire: Seeing how computers think. Smiling in the mirror.

Researchers trying to figure out how computers think and how humans think as well, in order to better understand and improve AI systems. [1] How could we see how anyone thinks? That is the essence of being: that it cannot be understood. And we constantly fail to grasp it. Everything you understand is moot. Only the meaningless can have meaning. Only the unimportant can seem important. Only the incomprehensible can be comprehended. Look yourself in the mirror. There is nothing you understand. Unless the things you do not. Don't think about it. Just accept it. And for a weird reason, you will catch yourself smiling…

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Philosophy Wire: All the same! Everything different.

'You all look alike to me' is hard-wired in us when we see people from other races, research finds. We are hard-wired to process - or not process - facial differences based on race. And that process occurs in the earliest stages of our thought process, according to newly published research. [1] Our mind is programmed to see similarities. We are destined to see patterns. Categorizing everything into entities that exist only in our mind. Poor man. How many similarities do you need to discover? Before you understand that everything is unique? How many differences must you witness? Before you realize that everything is the same?

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Philosophy Wire: Abstract shores…

A new review explores the different areas of the brain that process the meaning of concrete and abstract concepts. [1] Trying to find the mechanisms of the brain. Trying to understand how we think. To understand how we can know abstract concepts. How we can know concrete concepts. Trying to find beautiful shells on the shore. Focusing too much on them. Without paying attention to the shore itself… Stand still… Go back a bit… Feel the breeze… Abstract, concrete… These things do not matter… What matters is the ability the cosmos provides for both types of ideas… And this ability on its own, draws attention to the essence of existence: Anything can exist. Anything can be thought of. There is only one thing which cannot be formulated into a concept: Non-being…

Look!

Parmenides is still alive.
And he is not playing anymore on the shore.
He has already started swimming!

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Philosophy Wire: If humans were clever, would they flock?

Crowd panics, market bubbles, and other unpredictable collective behaviors would not happen if people were smart about these things and just thought through their behavior before they acted. Right? Wrong. A UC Davis researcher looked at how people behave in simple reasoning games and found that people are usually driven to "flock," or behave similarly to others in a given situation. Seth Frey, an assistant professor of communication at UC Davis, said this happens "even when people use the fancy reasoning processes that are supposed to make humans so special". [1]

Following others.
Mimicking.
Part of nature.
As humans.
As pigeons.

Do you think you stand out?
Try looking at a pigeon in the eyes.
No, you are not logical or clever.
You are just following the light.
And you are blinded by it.

Think about it.
Thinking is not what makes us special after all…

(Really. Ask the pigeons)

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Philosophy Wire: DNA computers.

Researchers at Caltech have developed an artificial neural network made out of DNA that can solve a classic machine learning problem: correctly identifying handwritten numbers. The work is a significant step in demonstrating the capacity to program artificial intelligence into synthetic biomolecular circuits. [1] Solving problems with DNA. But we were created based on DNA. And now we command it. For solving problems. Problems meaning nothing to DNA per se. Problems which should also mean nothing to us either. No, there is no other problem. But the problem of why we need to answer any problem at all... There is no mystery under the Moon… Until the Sun comes up…

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Philosophy Wire: Self consistency. The curse of thinking.

When making decisions, our perception is influenced by judgments we have made in the past as a way of remaining consistent with ourselves, suggests new research. [1] But being is not consistent. Anything true, must be a mess.* Being is chaos. Look at that book. Words put into perfect order. So beautiful. So magical. So dead…

* Blade Runner 2049

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Philosophy Wire: Seeing with your eyes. Seeing without them. Balance. Existing.

Through brain imaging, scientists have found evidence that the brain uses eye movements to help people recall vivid moments from the past, paving the way for the development of visual tests that could alert doctors earlier about those at risk for neurodegenerative illnesses. [1] We “see” with the brain. What we “see” is what we think of. And yet, it seems that the eyes do indeed play a role in the process of experiencing our cosmos. Thinking too much makes one blind, in the same way that not thinking at all can do the same. The balance between the two is the key; a key which is very difficult to grasp. An active state of constantly balancing between the state of Zero and the state of One. Life is the state of continuous equilibrium at the border of those two states. Existence is defined by Being and Not-being. Seeing and not seeing. Perceiving all and perceiving nothing. Thinking and not thinking at all. Living and being dead. Entering the forest. At the exact moment you are leaving from it…

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Philosophy Wire: Day-dreaming. Easy tasks. Difficult existence.

A study suggested that daydreaming during meetings isn't necessarily a bad thing. It might be a sign that you're really smart and creative. People with efficient brains may have too much brain capacity to stop their minds from wandering. Schumacher – an associate psychology professor who co-authored the study – said higher efficiency means more capacity to think, and the brain may mind wander when performing easy tasks. [1] But what is easy? At the end and with enough practice, everything is. The hard part is not to let your mind wander when it is bored. The hard part is to make your brain not work without making your mind work. To convince yourself not to be himself without referring to him in the first person. To clap with one hand while in a silent forest. To go crazy in an illogical world. To be via not-being. To dream while still being awake…

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Philosophy Wire: Fear. Lack of fear. Shaping opinions.

A group of scientists managed to change the opinions of people to more liberal ones by simply removing the element of fear from them (by making them think they are… superhumans). Another experiment in the past showed that the existence of increased sensitivity to fear makes people more conservative. [1] People mistake the existence of fear as a disadvantage. But this is only because they have the wrong definition of fear in their mind. God-fearing people are not stupid people just afraid of the wrath of God. Fear is a result of a deeper a priori knowledge too important to ignore, even though you want to. Those who fear not, are usually people who are arrogant enough to believe they are gods themselves – able to do anything they wish without any consequences whatsoever. On the other hand, people who sense fear and respect that emotion are more in sync with the universe and its cold logic: Do harm and the cosmos will return the favor. Do evil and you will turn evil. Go to the darkness and the darkness will consume you. And the universe is a cold and dark place. Not fearing that is simply ignorance or – worse – arrogance. There is no wisdom in lack of fear. Only childish stubbornness. Yes, we are afraid of the darkness. And it takes a lot of courage to try to follow the light…

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Philosophy Wire: Brain synapses. Seeing. Before seeing.

He couldn’t see these gaps in his microscope, but he called them synapses, and said that if we think, learn and form memories in the brain then that itty-bitty space was most likely the location where we do it. This challenged the belief at the time that information diffused in all directions over a meshwork of neurons. [1]

Long before we see things, we imagine them.
Other people deny it.
Other people call it intuition.
What if it is neither?

What if it is a self-fulfilling prophecy waiting to be fulfilled? What if we determine what we see? What if the senses are the result of our thinking and not vice versa? Think about it.

Have you ever “seen” anything you have not thought of before?

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Philosophy Wire: Being distracted. And that is a good thing.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2017-08-12]: As people age, they become more easily distracted. But being distracted helps people think creatively and use information that was previously irrelevant. [1] We are young. So much attached to life and its preservation. How can we see things outside it? Old we must become. To stop paying attention too much. And only then will we pay attention…

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Philosophy Wire: Listen to yourself. Speak! Behold the foundations of the universe!

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2015-12-23]: Babies' repetitive babbles, such as 'dada' or 'baba', are primarily motivated by infants' ability to hear themselves talk, say researchers. Infants with profound hearing loss who received cochlear implants to improve their hearing soon babbled as often as their hearing peers, allowing them to catch up developmentally. [1] In other words: We talk because we can hear! And not the other way around! We think because there is something to think about. We exist because something already exists. Try to find the foundations of everything. And you will end up hearing your self…

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Philosophy Wire: Tectonic plates. Boundaries. Thought.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-12-13]: The tectonic plates seem to not be so rigid as we used to believe, with their boundaries deforming and forming continuously. [1] Forget boundaries. There are no boundaries. Illusions which dissolve into thin air. Little boxes into our heads. Forming continents...

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