When I was young, I did a lot of life drawing. Frequently, I was anxious about the discrepancy between what I saw from my left eye and what I saw from my right eye. Each eye reported a slightly shifted perspective, which meant that forms and lines of the object related differently, depending on which … Continue reading Parallax anxiety
I had been using the metaphor of parallax for a couple of years before Zizek’s Parallax View came out. The entire book turned out to be structured around the parallax metaphor and he used it essentially the same way. At that point in my life I was inclined to interpret that kind of coincidence as … Continue reading Parallax and intentionality
Most of the time, when we say “common sense”, assuming we bother meaning something precise by our words, we mean one of two things: the sense of things we all (should) have in common, or the sense of things common people (should) have. Conversely, lacking common sense is failing to understand what is self-evident to … Continue reading Common sense
When I was a little nerd adolescent, I went to holography camp in a remote rural university village. Unfortunately, this village was full of attractive professor’s daughters who were so isolated from the rest of civilization they seemed unaware and unconcerned that we were nerds attending a holography camp. Consequently I learned more about the … Continue reading Report from holography camp
Reading Whitehead’s Modes of Thought I’m reminded of Levinas’s dichotomy of totality versus infinity, and Schuon’s similar indefinite versus infinite. The former term (totality/indefinitude) is some particular conception of all possibilities, against which all particulars are defined; the latter term (infinity/infinite) is real possibility independent of any and every conception. According to Schuon, the indefinite … Continue reading Whitehead, Levinas, Schuon
Friendship is the parallax of two people’s existence in one shared reality. Friendship is difference of perspective reconciled in depth. * Friendships are tested and actualized by fighting. The first test is whether one fights. A second test is how one fights. * Friendships can end in irreconcilable difference; but conciliatory indifference can cause a … Continue reading Difference and reconciliation
Two eyes reconciling independent perspectives gains depth of vision. Two ears hearing slightly different emphases hears a stereo space. A memory that recalls and compares past and present dwells in historic depth. A mind that can grasp details while maintaining awareness of the meaningful totality that provides it significance can be said to have intellectual … Continue reading Variant doubles
Have you ever been in a deep, inspired conversion with a friend and noticed that you were waiting with your friend to hear what you would say next? Did the world change for you? Did it wear off? Have you ever been absorbed in a book and had difficulty adjusting back to the normal world? … Continue reading Compare and contrast
We each have a pair of eyes which look out onto the world from slightly different angles. Because of the ordered similarity and difference between the two views the world gains stereoscopic depth. Likewise, our two ears hear a similar sonic world, but each ear hears some sounds a little louder and some sounds a … Continue reading On the sixth day we came
Think about these statements: “Bear with me.” “Please hear me out.” “It will all make sense in the end.” Why are these requests necessary? When are they made? To what feeling in the listener is the speaker responding? What kind of appeal is being made? Do we owe it to another to give him a … Continue reading Christian cred