- August 17th, 2012, 7:58 pm
#97568
Have in mind that this post will be very chaotic, but something is on my mind and I decided to express it.
Recently, I had a discussion with a friend who asked me "how compilers work" (you can find the topic in this very forum section). A question came to me after that: "what does it mean "how something works"? What does it mean "how"?
I, when I'm interested in something, tend to ask "why" something works in this or that way, "why" something happens. Sure, I'm not free from the "how" questions, especially when I don't understand something (and I know nothing of compilers, so the question "how" is justified). But always, right after the "how" question comes the "why" question. Why do I want to know "how"? What is the nature of the question which appears to be not fixed in timespace?
Follow my thought. When you ask "why" something happens you inconsciously assume that something happens, because something happened earlier which led to the state of things which is present. It's a causal kind of question. But when you ask "how" you inconsciously try to understand/feel/experience what happens right at the very moment when you ask about it. It's like you try inconsciously to "stop" the causality.
I don't know yet how to apply this wild observation to my other thoughts, like the one that to understand philosophical problems we should understand the origins of our language and our religious thoughts and that both should be studied simultaneously.
I also think that human language can be somehow represented on some kind of graph or chart. Where questions like "how", "why", "where", "when" are represented by mathematical functions, formulas etc. In my opinion human language is largely mathematical and geometrical, because it was born in a mathematical and geometrical environment (see my post about cavemen and rocks).
For the starters you can apply my thought to the simpliest timetable. Where your plans are represented by "what" and days of the week are represented by "when".
Of course, the school timetable doesn't explain why people ask questions like "why" and "how". But at some point hominids started to ask themselves those questions, so they also must find their way into the charts.
Recently, I had a discussion with a friend who asked me "how compilers work" (you can find the topic in this very forum section). A question came to me after that: "what does it mean "how something works"? What does it mean "how"?
I, when I'm interested in something, tend to ask "why" something works in this or that way, "why" something happens. Sure, I'm not free from the "how" questions, especially when I don't understand something (and I know nothing of compilers, so the question "how" is justified). But always, right after the "how" question comes the "why" question. Why do I want to know "how"? What is the nature of the question which appears to be not fixed in timespace?
Follow my thought. When you ask "why" something happens you inconsciously assume that something happens, because something happened earlier which led to the state of things which is present. It's a causal kind of question. But when you ask "how" you inconsciously try to understand/feel/experience what happens right at the very moment when you ask about it. It's like you try inconsciously to "stop" the causality.
I don't know yet how to apply this wild observation to my other thoughts, like the one that to understand philosophical problems we should understand the origins of our language and our religious thoughts and that both should be studied simultaneously.
I also think that human language can be somehow represented on some kind of graph or chart. Where questions like "how", "why", "where", "when" are represented by mathematical functions, formulas etc. In my opinion human language is largely mathematical and geometrical, because it was born in a mathematical and geometrical environment (see my post about cavemen and rocks).
For the starters you can apply my thought to the simpliest timetable. Where your plans are represented by "what" and days of the week are represented by "when".
Of course, the school timetable doesn't explain why people ask questions like "why" and "how". But at some point hominids started to ask themselves those questions, so they also must find their way into the charts.
The penultimate goal of the human is to howl like the wolf.
Favorite Philosopher: Jessica Fletcher
Location: Cracow
- By Pattern-chaser
- By Ajiferuke Ajibola