Leonardo’s Script
His notebooks provide a window. There we see a mind capable of combining science and art, observation and imagination, to create images that to this day cast their spell. His work is foundational, part of our earliest time horizon, speaking to us today with surprising urgency. In some manner, due to his omnipresence, Leonardo can […]
Closing the Gap
Eyewitness testimony speaks to observation. Circumstantial evidence is different. It relies upon corollary, interpretation, and inference. “What we see could not exist unless something else had occurred as well.” To match an end result with process and means. Physical properties of a particular instrument that lead to an identifiable marking. Remains which suggest the presence […]
Point of Departure
Improvement is often described as an individual undertaking. The industry of self-help––diet, exercise, productivity, etc.––describes methods to improve oneself. But what if the secret to securing self-improvement were to improve others? “But Newton belonged to the pre-Newtonian world,” writes James Gleick. Interesting concept––those capable of improving society do their work amidst those incapable of letting […]
Each New Form Repeats
A skeptical mind takes in ideas and information but seeks out alternative sources of proof. A closed mind applies a negative filter without first assessing. Reliance on what’s shown to exist and what likely exists is typical, but reliance on what should exist implicates a different form of reasoning. Legal arguments are most effective when […]
Forms of Expression
Late-night thoughts, random musings, unrelated contemplations: Item. Lawsuits involve competing views attached to a set of facts. A rejoinder to another’s position assumes one will respond in a “proportionate” manner. But proportionality requires one to temper and moderate one’s level of response. Another approach is not initially to seek out proportionality, but to seek out […]
Root Systems
Complexity exists just beneath the surface of simplicity. The trick is to let simplicity work to guide you through the path of complexity. “He told me about oak trees; how when one of their number was under stress they would share nutrients via their root systems.” — Robert Macfarlane, The Wild Places, Pg. 264 (Penguin […]
Moving Past Reasons
We’ve set forth our reasons. We believe others will accept them. They’re valid reasons and they’ve been presented in good faith. Yet others have not been persuaded. We seek an explanation. Rational arguments versus irrational arguments. A rational argument is based on truth; an irrational argument is based on falsity. But both types of arguments, […]
Skill Sets
Item. Is there an academic discipline that combines physiology and psychology in a systematic way? Or to put this in slightly different terms: can an examination of the physical be used to somehow predict behavior, speech patterns, ways of viewing the world, etc.? “We have two eyes” ––does this suggest we’re hardwired to see things […]
Categorical Proof
Categorical proof is proof so strong, so definite, so compelling as to defy any alternative explanation. Corroborated proof with verifiable transparency coupled with no way of contradicting the evidence and no alternative explanation––such would represent a good first step in these instances. Seeking to convince others––there are gradations, from the obvious to the extraordinary. The […]
Build and Construct
You have a message to convey to others. Your task is to persuade. Persuasion in this context can be defined as a method to change not only beliefs, but the way others arrive at their beliefs. Once others can be shown a better path of reasoning, then the conclusion you seek to draw might more […]
