From: Ian Goddard (Ian@Goddard.net)
Date: Wed Jan 20 1999 - 00:09:01 MST
At 08:50 PM 1/19/99 -0700, Frederick Mann wrote:
>> So the question is: Is the photo an illusion?
>> If yes, the collective entity is an illusion.
>> If no, then the collective entity is real.
>>
>>Dick: The picture is actually in our perception, not on the paper.
>>
>>
>Furthermore, there's a fundamental difference between
>the dots on paper we perceive as a photo/picture and
>the supposed "collection of humans" some call "society."
>That difference lies in the largely fixed relationship
>between the dots on one piece of paper, and the very
>different kinds of "fluid" relationships (or lack of)
>between the individual humans some claim constitute a
>"society."
IAN: Yet we can draw the same analogy with
the "fluid" and non-fixed set of relations
that is you by observing that you yourself
are greater than the sum of your parts, as
the sum total of the individual elements
you're made of I've heard runs around $1.
The ordering of individuals in a system
creates a de facto collective entity, be
that entity real or an illusion. The main
actor in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations"
was in fact a collective entity that's
widely know as "the invisible hand."
**********************************************************
Visit Ian Williams Goddard -----> http://Ian.Goddard.net
__________________________________________________________
"The more restrictions and prohibitions in the world,
the poorer people get." Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:02:53 MST