Originally posted by sage
Ok here I am. Let’s see.
Acknowledgement is a vague word. It deals with the collection of stimulus from the external world through our senses,transport of this stimuli in the form of electrochemical signals to our central nervous system, specifically the brain and its final processing using previously acquired or inborn standards.
When my breath catches up with my heart and I see it in my mind, then I acknowledge it, which is a totally conscious act.
For example suppose a cat suddenly appears outside your window. When do you acknowledge that it is there? First light from the sun is reflected from the different parts of the cat’s body and enters your eyes, stimulates your rod and cone cells thus sending an electrochemical pulse via your neurons to the optical lobe of your brain. There such an image of the cat is formed which can be understood by the set of neurons residing in your brain. This is the image that you finally see but it is not necessarily how the cat looks like IN REALITY. The real cat has been replaced in your brain by an equivalent version that the brain can understand. Something like a translation of oliver twist in Spanish so that people of spain can understand it.
Why is it necessary to over-analyze it? Basically I acknowledge it the moment I see it. Of course if I didn't know what a cat was, I would probably be scratching my head a bit? And yet I still wouldn't find the need to conduct a whole scientific investigation over the matter. What purpose would that serve?
But even after the image has been formed in your optical lobe much is yet to be done before you are actually acknowledging it is there. The neurons of the optical center now passes on this image(loosely speaking) to the other parts of the brain. First it goes to that part of the optical center that stores old images(visual memory). It is compared with images previously stored and suppose a good match is found. The match will certainly be to a picture of a cat. This information is now transmitted to the part that stores auditory memories. Here the word CAT is associated with the image. As the information is passed on feelings and emotions you associate with a cat come to the fore. After all these associations are made instructions are sent to the various parts of your body which tell them how to react to this ‘cat’. Your pupils focus on it. If its your pet, chemicals are released which slow your heart rate,breathing etc.; you relax . If you are afraid of cats the opposite happens and you may even scream and run out of the room. This is some of the many ways we humans acknowledge something. Thus we know what we know by memorizing new events and making associations between them.THUS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IS A VERY COMPLEX PROCESS.
I'm afraid "the cat" would've been long gone by now. Unfortunately in the process of over-analyzing how something works, we lose sight of what that something is, in which case we begin to lose sight of the forest from the trees. In fact we begin to lose "sight" of our being conscious, as we "immerse ourselves" in our thinking. Can't you accept the fact that consciousness is a usefull means by which to recognize "the fact" -- and hence truth -- that we exist?
Our brain gains knowledge by (1)memorizing events and facts and emotions associated with them and makes decisions by(2) comparing new events or facts with previous ones. But some degree of ‘hardwiring’ is done from birth.
It's our "conscious mind" (not brain) which does the comparing and making decisions. This is like comparing the difference between how a car functions, "properly," and what it takes to actually drive the car, which are two separate matters. In fact this is the very problem that exists with science. They are so busy caught up with how something works, that they lose sight of its actual function, which is just another fancy means of taking things out of context.
Thus though we learn to walk through observation, trial and error the hardwiring instructs us to begin trying to walk in the first place. This is called instinct which is fashioned by evolution. As you see events that occur always the same way are the ones we acknowledge as true. Thus the ‘truth’ that a stone always falls down is simply because nobody has yet seen an exception to this event. We know what we know through memorization and our inborn capability in making associations. Wherefrom do we have this capability? EVOLUTION. Because a deer who cannot recognize a tiger even after seeing one before will most certainly die before reaching maturity.
And yet the acknowledgment (of truth) is still maintained within, and yes, I think it would be fair to apply the term "common sense."
What do you mean? We believed for thousands of years that the sun moved round the Earth because we saw the sun doing just that. It was only when scientists said that the opposite was true and it fitted with newly discovered fact that we acknowledged the truth. Do you mean to say that it was possible for the ancient folks to realize the truth about the solar system by looking ‘within ourselves’? I know that the phrase ‘truth is within us’ is a fashionable one but it is wrong, period.
Science is only the extension of our external senses which, is how we used to base our perception of the world, through our external senses. So what what if common sense believed the sun revolved around the Earth or, that the Earth was flat? Common sense evolves too, and in many ways is none other than the "truth of the day." And yet common sense is also the truth which is "acknowledged within." Or, would that be wisdom?
