The Mind Has Limitations part
Mon, 01/28/2008 - 17:47 — admin
TEACHER: Of course, what you say is perfectly correct. The point I was attempting to make, however, is that even if all of the data a person receives from the environment through the senses is legitimate and not illusory, still the danger is there that on the basis of that information the mind may reach a faulty conclusion.
If we wish to pursue the argument on another ground, we run into the problem that the amount of information which the mind can process is limited. You are a college student and you have read many books and heard many lectures, therefore a great deal of information has been fed into your mind. Has your mind been able to retain all of it? Obviously not.
Also, when several of the senses are feeding information into the mind all at one time, the mind may become confused and not be able to process that information. For example, can you read, listen to the radio, carry on an intelligent conversation, and try to distinguish between several subtle fragrances all at the same time? Or to make it even easier, if each of your senses is simultaneously perceiving the same sense object, can the mind simultaneously deal with the input of each of the senses? Or does it not generally tune in to the information being fed in by a particular sense more than by the others?
MICHAEL: I think that whereas there would definitely be impressions left on my mind from each of the senses, it would be inclined to tune in to one of them more than the others. I guess that is why a blind man has a better-developed sense of hearing than a person with vision. The person who can see tends to rely more on his visual sense, to the exclusion of hearing, etc.
TEACHER: Yes, that’s a fact. The limitations of the material mind cause many shortcomings for those who try to approach the Absolute Truth by reason alone. Another point which I would like to bring up is that conclusions based on information gathered in the material dimension cannot lead to a conclusive understanding of something which lies outside that dimension.
For example, if you have certain available data or information which exists within a certain room, and which applies to that room only, you cannot make decisive conclusions about what exists outside that room.
History has shown us that our tendency to colonize and exploit other regions has always backfired. This planet can be made a happier, more peaceful place to live in, but the change will have to come from within the hearts of all of us living here.MICHAEL: Couldn’t this be blamed on imperfect sense perception, though? I mean, if he had seen the mother mouse enter the box, then he wouldn’t have come to such a ridiculous conclusion.
Science of Identity Foundation – Chris Butler Speaks
TEACHER: Of course, what you say is perfectly correct. The point I was attempting to make, however, is that even if all of the data a person receives from the environment through the senses is legitimate and not illusory, still the danger is there that on the basis of that information the mind may reach a faulty conclusion.
If we wish to pursue the argument on another ground, we run into the problem that the amount of information which the mind can process is limited. You are a college student and you have read many books and heard many lectures, therefore a great deal of information has been fed into your mind. Has your mind been able to retain all of it? Obviously not.
Also, when several of the senses are feeding information into the mind all at one time, the mind may become confused and not be able to process that information. For example, can you read, listen to the radio, carry on an intelligent conversation, and try to distinguish between several subtle fragrances all at the same time? Or to make it even easier, if each of your senses is simultaneously perceiving the same sense object, can the mind simultaneously deal with the input of each of the senses? Or does it not generally tune in to the information being fed in by a particular sense more than by the others?
MICHAEL: I think that whereas there would definitely be impressions left on my mind from each of the senses, it would be inclined to tune in to one of them more than the others. I guess that is why a blind man has a better-developed sense of hearing than a person with vision. The person who can see tends to rely more on his visual sense, to the exclusion of hearing, etc.
TEACHER: Yes, that’s a fact. The limitations of the material mind cause many shortcomings for those who try to approach the Absolute Truth by reason alone. Another point which I would like to bring up is that conclusions based on information gathered in the material dimension cannot lead to a conclusive understanding of something which lies outside that dimension.
For example, if you have certain available data or information which exists within a certain room, and which applies to that room only, you cannot make decisive conclusions about what exists outside that room.