Post by Admin on Aug 2, 2017 16:55:39 GMT
at school we are told that there are 5 senses, we all know them. we think our perception of reality is mediated by only these — does that mean that any other information our bodies process comes from some sort of magical infusion?
Michael Polanyi famously said that "we know more than we can tell". perhaps we cannot tell because we have not come across the language precised to identify, articulate and communicate effectively.
we take for granted that all the information in school curricula is truthful and up to date.
why do schools, despite knowing that science observes many more than 5 senses, do not update their curricula?
why do we deprive our cultures of sharing fundamental information?
as i lay down on my belly, quiet, eyes closed, very still, and with a tension headache, i can perfectly locate the source of the pain in my body. i am imagining the axon of the nerve cell that is carrying the information to my brain that the area it’s in touch with is inflamed. though this image, or more like, moving image that i’m picturing is fed by what i’ve learnt from my circumstantial culture, i’m very sure about the location of the pain, an assurance fed by a non verbal perceptive process which i feel as an experience instead of as a projected image. yet i havent touched it, heard it, tasted it, smelled it or seen it.
in me locating this pain, now i rationalise, or verbalise, or look for verbal codes in my memory to translate this locating into a coherent piece of verbal sequential information, that this ability i have of successfully locating the pain at the bottom-left of my head (but not too low), is a unified process of, initially, four systems of perception put to work. the vestibular and proprioceptive systems work together locating it in space: the pain in relation to myself, via parts of my body in relation to the other parts of my body, and myself in relation to my environment. the vestibular system acknowledges coordinates in planes, and the proprioceptive system measures distances and positions given by nerve receptors throughout my soft tissues. the third and fourth systems, the interoceptive and nociceptive ones, are in charge of sending the pain signals - as a system that senses within the body and a system that recognises pain, respectively.
if i didnt know that these senses work in relation and integration with the other 5 we are traditionally taught, how would i even be able to speak about them, and thus understand how am i even able to locate my pain? and why would this knowledge and understanding be important? i think because what i know of the world and myself gives me clues for navigating it more effectively. i also think that if i had asked this same question but instead couldnt be answered by traditional knowledge, i would have looked for another source of response - perhaps in a romanticised sense of presence, and i would have digressed from looking for the answer in a physical context, to looking for it in a spirito-cultural one, without even realising about the change of scenery.
how can we be more informed about how our bodies work when the basic institutions wont share this information as expected?
how can we question education and force improvements?
how can we become aware of what we are not aware of, but that is so readily available anyway?
to what extent should we not rely on traditional education?
can we learn about how perception works by other means?
Michael Polanyi famously said that "we know more than we can tell". perhaps we cannot tell because we have not come across the language precised to identify, articulate and communicate effectively.
we take for granted that all the information in school curricula is truthful and up to date.
why do schools, despite knowing that science observes many more than 5 senses, do not update their curricula?
why do we deprive our cultures of sharing fundamental information?
as i lay down on my belly, quiet, eyes closed, very still, and with a tension headache, i can perfectly locate the source of the pain in my body. i am imagining the axon of the nerve cell that is carrying the information to my brain that the area it’s in touch with is inflamed. though this image, or more like, moving image that i’m picturing is fed by what i’ve learnt from my circumstantial culture, i’m very sure about the location of the pain, an assurance fed by a non verbal perceptive process which i feel as an experience instead of as a projected image. yet i havent touched it, heard it, tasted it, smelled it or seen it.
in me locating this pain, now i rationalise, or verbalise, or look for verbal codes in my memory to translate this locating into a coherent piece of verbal sequential information, that this ability i have of successfully locating the pain at the bottom-left of my head (but not too low), is a unified process of, initially, four systems of perception put to work. the vestibular and proprioceptive systems work together locating it in space: the pain in relation to myself, via parts of my body in relation to the other parts of my body, and myself in relation to my environment. the vestibular system acknowledges coordinates in planes, and the proprioceptive system measures distances and positions given by nerve receptors throughout my soft tissues. the third and fourth systems, the interoceptive and nociceptive ones, are in charge of sending the pain signals - as a system that senses within the body and a system that recognises pain, respectively.
if i didnt know that these senses work in relation and integration with the other 5 we are traditionally taught, how would i even be able to speak about them, and thus understand how am i even able to locate my pain? and why would this knowledge and understanding be important? i think because what i know of the world and myself gives me clues for navigating it more effectively. i also think that if i had asked this same question but instead couldnt be answered by traditional knowledge, i would have looked for another source of response - perhaps in a romanticised sense of presence, and i would have digressed from looking for the answer in a physical context, to looking for it in a spirito-cultural one, without even realising about the change of scenery.
how can we be more informed about how our bodies work when the basic institutions wont share this information as expected?
how can we question education and force improvements?
how can we become aware of what we are not aware of, but that is so readily available anyway?
to what extent should we not rely on traditional education?
can we learn about how perception works by other means?
