“of course I may be wrong if I press on questions of such difficulty but how dare we not try?”
1. This was the sort of motivating thought that enabled me to publish a systematic review of the concept of “harmony” over the past 2500 years — with reviews covering modern psychology and social theory. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240587262200003X
Justice can be described with mathematical balance and equilibrium. Harmony is a mathematical phenomenon. Platonic or Pythagorean justice is resonant and mathematical, diversity in unity, a harmonizing identity
so I think this goes to the title of your piece—the question of *experience*. It's a hard word but to a very significant extend both the pythagoreans and platonists seem to take interactions with the forms to be a kind of non-sensory experience—not just a mental exercise but an encounter with something that is not reducible to one's own categories.
I was going to write a response to Sam's essay, but anyone wishing to do so should take into account the very chewy follow-on podcast with Ross Douthat, which not only clarified some of the issues in this post, but advanced the discussion considerably. Recommended!
Thanks for this comment. It was a new concept to me. I knew vaguely of the autonomic nervous system, but did not realize there are actually neurons in the heart and had to look it up. I can’t wait to read more about it.
Gives a whole new perspective on decisions from the gut vs. heart vs. brain!
“of course I may be wrong if I press on questions of such difficulty but how dare we not try?”
1. This was the sort of motivating thought that enabled me to publish a systematic review of the concept of “harmony” over the past 2500 years — with reviews covering modern psychology and social theory. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240587262200003X
2. I’ll be sharing an online lecture June 1 on the role of ancient wisdom and artificial intelligence: https://embassyofthefreemind.com/en/plan-your-visit/agenda#Dereklomas
Here’s a risky thought about whether AI can access Plato’s world of forms.
https://open.substack.com/pub/aixd/p/ai-might-not-need-experience-to-understand
ok this is fascinating. You are talking mainly about mathematical platonic objects, but what about higher forms like Justice?
Justice can be described with mathematical balance and equilibrium. Harmony is a mathematical phenomenon. Platonic or Pythagorean justice is resonant and mathematical, diversity in unity, a harmonizing identity
so I think this goes to the title of your piece—the question of *experience*. It's a hard word but to a very significant extend both the pythagoreans and platonists seem to take interactions with the forms to be a kind of non-sensory experience—not just a mental exercise but an encounter with something that is not reducible to one's own categories.
I was going to write a response to Sam's essay, but anyone wishing to do so should take into account the very chewy follow-on podcast with Ross Douthat, which not only clarified some of the issues in this post, but advanced the discussion considerably. Recommended!
Can you send me more info on that podcast? The link perhaps? Thanks!
this one: https://wisdomofcrowds.live/p/are-big-ideas-still-possible-with#details
Thanks!!
I enjoyed your embrace of intellectual risk and ambition—it’s exactly the spirit needed for thinking about metaphysics. My piece on why an eternal universe is conceptually problematic might appeal to your readers who like ambitious philosophical probes: https://open.substack.com/pub/theeternalnowmm/p/the-impossibility-of-an-eternal-universe?r=71z4jh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thanks for this comment. It was a new concept to me. I knew vaguely of the autonomic nervous system, but did not realize there are actually neurons in the heart and had to look it up. I can’t wait to read more about it.
Gives a whole new perspective on decisions from the gut vs. heart vs. brain!