h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And I don't get the feeling you access it in the same way I do so your perception will be different.

Hm... when it comes to accessing the sub/unconscious I'd say it's likely we all tread the same path, we just perceive it differently to everyone else.

A moot and interesting point Mr. D. And the problem is using language in this way doesn't really describe the experience.

It comes and goes for me. But its defo the experience of a 'language' that's both connected to more concsious rational thought but also utterly alien. It's all to do with contradiction.

That's why art and poetry are good because the best stuff is founded upon contradiction.

As a person I'm very at home with 'contradiction' I'd say.

>>I went outside for a walk....and suddenly I was in the middle of an incident involving a gunman on a balcony over a shop. He was firing...not at actual people but in the air to scare people I suppose. I ran forward to get a photo..

I didn't think of danger at all.<<

(NOT saying this is you Effers) but that reminded me of a few things.

a) when I was training as a teacher - one of the traits of autism that was stressed to us from a perspective of child management was an in-appreciation of danger, of the climbing the highest wall or walking out between cars on busy streets kind - all to do with the not intuiting the social cues that make other kids socially aware - and wary.

b) there is a parasite Toxoplasma gondii that lives part of it's life cycle in the digestive tract of cats - to get there it infects the brains of mice, which would seem like a rather curious nonsequitur - how to get the mouse brain (And parasite) into the belly of a cat (which mice, if they are sensible do their level best to avoid) - easy, the parasite is a neurosurgeon and it makes mice insensible, rather it cross-wires their fear and sexual arousal centres, so that the smell of cats drives these rodents rabid with lust - and they seek out the cats with amorous and fatal consequences for the mouse - but one happy parasite infested cat. Well not so happy - playing host to T.Gondi has lots of unpleasent consequences like anemia, and ulceration of the

The interesting bit about this relationship (as if it wasn't cool enough already) - the parasite can infest humans, Where, again, it does potentially go to the brain to reproduce - causing inflammation and while there seem to re-wire the brains ability to calculate reaction times, consequently it showed up in as statistic for road-traffic accidents.


However, this needs to be tempered with caution - owning a cat doesn't make you a risk averse speed freak, people with higher exposure to animals (e.g vets) don't show a higher rate of transmission and in any case the studies are small samples, shouldn't extrapolate beyond data, and the risk vector is not owning a cat but unhygienic practice round usually raw meats and littertrays, and is particularly to be avoided if you are 'immune compromised' or pregnant.


http://www.fabcats.org/cat_group/policy_statements/toxo.html

Nevertheless in terms of this notion of how fear (and the lack of it) can expose one to dangers that others might sensibly avoid I was reminded of this.

Effers, "Anything might come up."
No, not anything, there's rules and reasons for what comes up.
I appreciate you experience such things differently than I do, but still, your brain is a computational device and the emotions you get have a cause and a rationality.

"But its defo the experience of a 'language' that's both connected to more concsious rational thought but also utterly alien. It's all to do with contradiction."
Interesting, and yes, very different from my experience. As a language, what is it conveying, and who are the participants? I'm not sure whether you are talking about an inner dialogue with your subconscious through emotion or an external one with others - or both. And why alien?

#44 " ... the parasite is a neurosurgeon and it makes mice insensible, rather it cross-wires their fear and sexual arousal centres, so that the smell of cats drives these rodents rabid with lust - and they seek out the cats ... the parasite can infest humans, Where, again, it does potentially go to the brain to reproduce - ..."


Does this explain cat lovers?

I suggest you read, 'A la recherche du temps perdu', by Marcel Proust. (In search of Lost time..literal translation for Mods)

Always known as 'Remembrance of Things Past' in English.

Maybe plenty of Shakespeare, lots of Freud and Nietzche...to get a bit of a handle of where I'm coming from Icky.

And yes when I said "Anything might come up" I meant that in the sense of the 'possible' not 'random' as you seem to immediately assume. (Yeah so Sherlock Holmes novels would be good to. Though I've only ever seen the films).

I'm finding it virtually impossible to use a kind of rational language to talk about it Icky...that would be like, (as Einstein famously said), 'describing Beethoven's ninth as an air pressure curve'.

But this a bit of jamming fun we're having here now. I like it because I know you think very differently to me..but you are a good and sincere person...not playing games in discussion or just trying to *win*. (And I'm nor seriously suggesting you read all that stuff...but maybe to give you a bit more clue about my thinking.)

There are no winners in the game of life...

Could you summarise Proust for us please?

You have 15 seconds...

Without deviation, repetition or hesistation...

Can do the 'without deviation and hesitation' at a push....but the repetition is going to have to stay.

I had a discussion even with variation (on a theme) with Bel recently on that subject...to do with poetry.

Without repetition where would Bach's Well tempered clavier be?

A fugue.

http://www.brainyquote.com/words/fu/fugue167408.html

(And Bach is always considered the rational genius as opposed to that over emotional idiot Mozart

Oh and if anyone is into Bach, this is worth a listen for what repetition can be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIcinMxNYBc