As usual, Michael gives me more new ideas to think about in his reply to a
query than in the post which inspired it. I'm reluctant to delve too far
into this issue of "how do you know what you know?" except to remark that
even Michael distinguishes between a reality which we seem to experience
directly, and a reality which arises out of our use of language. (Note:
I'm not surprised to find him making this distinction and the
ancknowledgement it contains, but it varies slightly from his general
stance regarding the centrality of language in human experience.)
Nevertheless, it brings to mind a conundrum I have been playing with for
the past year, namely: In a computer-generated 3-D image, which we
"experience" off a flat page by looking at it a little cross-eyed, what is
"real", the 2-D set of squiggles which all can see, or the 3-D space we
experience? If drawn a certain way, these pictures "feel" like you could
poke your finger in. ...and how does that connect to the "reality" we
perceive every day?
I raise this question in this context, because people who see the 3-D
image testify that they "know" it is there, while those who do not see it
express disbelief: They are often unwilling to "know" it, even
anecdotally.
-- Jack Hirschfeld How long has this been going on? jack@his.com