Friday, November 2, 2007

The eyes see only what the mind is prepared to comprehend." (Henri Bergson)

You wouldn’t be able to see something if your mind can’t comprehend it. For example the picture handed out to us last TOK lesson with the whippet dog thing. We couldn’t see the dog because my eyes couldn’t actually see it but when I saw it, I started to make out that it was a dog.

If my eyes see something that I have never seen before my mind cannot comprehend it. Maybe if I (or someone) invent something and say this is a whatever then now whenever anyone sees it they will say “oh yes this is a whatever’

1 comment:

Steve Burnett said...

I like this. How many people would it take before a whatever actually became a whatever? You are also bringing in another way of knowing here - language. I don't quite agree on the spotty dog.Wasn't it a case of our eyes sensing it OK but the mind having problems processing it?Experience,expectations and cultural references were all missing(and probably other stuff too)and so the mind struggled. Some people might never "see"the dog at all