Watching a Bird...

[smac97]

As I write this I am sitting in the Howard W. Hunter Law Library on BYU campus.  I am sitting at the north end, which has floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking outside.  Just in front me, only a few feet away from the outside of the building, is a tree.  I have been watching a small bird which is perched on one of the lowest branches in the tree.  The tree is reflected in the windows.  For the last 15 minutes I have watched the bird launch from the tree branch and fly toward the window which is reflecting the tree's image.  The bird doesn't ram into the window exactly, but bumps p against it, flutters up or to the side, then immediately flies back to the same branch on the tree.  He is doing this about six times a minute, and has been doing it for at least twenty minutes.

I am interested in what sort of analogies, and how many, could be drawn from watching this bird attempt, over and over again, to fly from an actual tree to the reflected image of a tree in the window.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

[The Nehor]

I think the lesson is that birds are stupid.

[mfbukowski]

31 minutes ago, smac97 said:

As I write this I am sitting in the Howard W. Hunter Law Library on BYU campus.  I am sitting at the north end, which has floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking outside.  Just in front me, only a few feet away from the outside of the building, is a tree.  I have been watching a small bird which is perched on one of the lowest branches in the tree.  The tree is reflected in the windows.  For the last 15 minutes I have watched the bird launch from the tree branch and fly toward the window which is reflecting the tree's image.  The bird doesn't ram into the window exactly, but bumps p against it, flutters up or to the side, then immediately flies back to the same branch on the tree.  He is doing this about six times a minute, and has been doing it for at least twenty minutes.

I am interested in what sort of analogies, and how many, could be drawn from watching this bird attempt, over and over again, to fly from an actual tree to the reflected image of a tree in the window.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

Just my usual comment from Rorty. 

But hopefully we are smarter than the bird and can articulate it even if others do not understand it.

Quote

To say that the world is out there, that it is not our creation, is to say, with common sense, that most things in space and time are the effects of causes which do not include human mental states. 

The glass is the "cause" of the mental state, which exists in space and time, but without common sense, the bird cannot understand the illusion.  Hopefully we can.

As all sentient beings, the bird reacts to the mental state which does, as always, NOT "correspond to reality".   We react to what we see, but when the pool of water turns into a mirage, we go looking elsewhere- hopefully!

Thanks to Adam and Eve, we learn from mistakes but the bird does not. 

Moths only get one chance with flames.

Addictions of all kinds can plug neatly into this analogy too!

 

Edited April 24, 2018 by mfbukowski

[bluebell]

One analogy:  When we face a problem, the answer isn’t always to “work harder” or “keep trying.”  

[smac97]

4 minutes ago, bluebell said:

One analogy:  When we face a problem, the answer isn’t always to “work harder” or “keep trying.”  

Yes.  We should sometimes step back and re-evaluate our objectives and attempted means of achieving them.

Thanks,

-Smac

[CV75]

39 minutes ago, smac97 said:

As I write this I am sitting in the Howard W. Hunter Law Library on BYU campus.  I am sitting at the north end, which has floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking outside.  Just in front me, only a few feet away from the outside of the building, is a tree.  I have been watching a small bird which is perched on one of the lowest branches in the tree.  The tree is reflected in the windows.  For the last 15 minutes I have watched the bird launch from the tree branch and fly toward the window which is reflecting the tree's image.  The bird doesn't ram into the window exactly, but bumps p against it, flutters up or to the side, then immediately flies back to the same branch on the tree.  He is doing this about six times a minute, and has been doing it for at least twenty minutes.

I am interested in what sort of analogies, and how many, could be drawn from watching this bird attempt, over and over again, to fly from an actual tree to the reflected image of a tree in the window.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

He might think his reflection is another bird, and this is a territorial instinct (cardinals do this). Sometimes we are our own worst enemy!

But your version reminds me of Isaiah 29:7-7: "And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion."

In this case, it is a recurring dream (the vanity of man); the man dreameth, and behold he findeth rest, and his soul has none; or, he attacketh his enemy and behold he findeth him, but his soul has none (it is he).

[CV75]

can't get gif to work...

Edited April 24, 2018 by CV75

[smac97]

17 minutes ago, CV75 said:

He might think his reflection is another bird, and this is a territorial instinct (cardinals do this). Sometimes we are our own worst enemy!

I hadn't thought of that.

17 minutes ago, CV75 said:

But your version reminds me of Isaiah 29:7-7: "And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion."

In this case, it is a recurring dream (the vanity of man); the man dreameth, and behold he findeth rest, and his soul has none; or, he attacketh his enemy and behold he findeth him, but his soul has none (it is he).

Interesting!  Thanks.

-Smac

[Duncan]

my mom has a phobia for birds, ornithophobia-Mind you it's miraculously suspended when we go out for KFC, Chicken Chef or Swiss Chalet 

[hope_for_things]

1 hour ago, smac97 said:

As I write this I am sitting in the Howard W. Hunter Law Library on BYU campus.  I am sitting at the north end, which has floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking outside.  Just in front me, only a few feet away from the outside of the building, is a tree.  I have been watching a small bird which is perched on one of the lowest branches in the tree.  The tree is reflected in the windows.  For the last 15 minutes I have watched the bird launch from the tree branch and fly toward the window which is reflecting the tree's image.  The bird doesn't ram into the window exactly, but bumps p against it, flutters up or to the side, then immediately flies back to the same branch on the tree.  He is doing this about six times a minute, and has been doing it for at least twenty minutes.

I am interested in what sort of analogies, and how many, could be drawn from watching this bird attempt, over and over again, to fly from an actual tree to the reflected image of a tree in the window.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

Humans are very much like this bird.  We inevitably follow our intuitions over and over and over again.  We are slow to learn from new information that is presented to us, because we are creatures that have a particular narrative about how we think the world works, and any information that contradicts that narrative, no matter now obvious that information may seem, is filtered out and discarded or ignored.  

It often takes a major event of some kind to get a human to change their perspective about how things are working in the world.  Otherwise, we'll just keep doing what we do in spite of evidence to the contrary.  

 

[JAHS]

21 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

It often takes a major event of some kind to get a human to change their perspective about how things are working in the world. 

Like maybe if someone opened the window?

[hope_for_things]

Just now, JAHS said:

Like maybe if someone opened the window?

Yes, I think opening a window is a good metaphor for change.  

In this case with the bird, opening the window would make the reflection of the tree disappear and the illusion of another tree existing would be gone.  That is also an interesting thought to ponder.  

[Guest]

1 hour ago, smac97 said:

As I write this I am sitting in the Howard W. Hunter Law Library on BYU campus.  I am sitting at the north end, which has floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking outside.  Just in front me, only a few feet away from the outside of the building, is a tree.  I have been watching a small bird which is perched on one of the lowest branches in the tree.  The tree is reflected in the windows.  For the last 15 minutes I have watched the bird launch from the tree branch and fly toward the window which is reflecting the tree's image.  The bird doesn't ram into the window exactly, but bumps p against it, flutters up or to the side, then immediately flies back to the same branch on the tree.  He is doing this about six times a minute, and has been doing it for at least twenty minutes.

I am interested in what sort of analogies, and how many, could be drawn from watching this bird attempt, over and over again, to fly from an actual tree to the reflected image of a tree in the window.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

In is in our nature to always seek out the light. Some are drawn to true light, and some to the flame that is a different sort of light. One light enlightens and illuminates the soul, the other light (fire) can be destructive and all consuming leading to destruction, as it is as a "moth to a flame". It is only through decrement, that we can recognize true light, from mere reflection. 

[CV75]

6 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

Yes, I think opening a window is a good metaphor for change.  

In this case with the bird, opening the window would make the reflection of the tree disappear and the illusion of another tree existing would be gone.  That is also an interesting thought to ponder.  

But all the books in the library are made from trees... Oooh!

[The Nehor]

14 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

Yes, I think opening a window is a good metaphor for change.  

In this case with the bird, opening the window would make the reflection of the tree disappear and the illusion of another tree existing would be gone.  That is also an interesting thought to ponder.  

But then the bird can get inside and, in a rage for the really bad day it has had so far, might start trying to peck everyone’s eyes out.

[hope_for_things]

2 hours ago, CV75 said:

2 hours ago, hope_for_things said:

Yes, I think opening a window is a good metaphor for change.  

In this case with the bird, opening the window would make the reflection of the tree disappear and the illusion of another tree existing would be gone.  That is also an interesting thought to ponder.  

But all the books in the library are made from trees... Oooh!

Yes, and these books are fundamentally different than the image of a tree as the bird perceived earlier.  So learning that the core components of the books are made from the substance of trees is an interesting insight. 

Another possibility is that the bird never learns that the books are fundamentally made from tree parts, yet still is able to enjoy its experience in the library, unaware of that material relationship.  

[CV75]

3 hours ago, The Nehor said:

But then the bird can get inside and, in a rage for the really bad day it has had so far, might start trying to peck everyone’s eyes out.

This is why I love Aesop's Fables so much.

46 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

Yes, and these books are fundamentally different than the image of a tree as the bird perceived earlier.  So learning that the core components of the books are made from the substance of trees is an interesting insight. 

Another possibility is that the bird never learns that the books are fundamentally made from tree parts, yet still is able to enjoy its experience in the library, unaware of that material relationship.  

Ah, but many of these books are also about trees and have pictures of trees on their covers, which attract the bird to perch upon them and so until nightfall he trills his birdsong, wings joyously outstretched. The custodian a) throws a book at it; b) shuts a book on it; c) uses the pagers of the book to line the birdcage of the captured bird, who warbles his serenade no more, unable to reach the branch, the reflection  of the branch, or the books... forevermore, forevermore...

UNTIL ONE DAY...

The merry aviculturist happens upon the scene and reconciles the branch, the reflection of the branch, and the books, and so the bird lives happily ever after, as he flutters and soars in and out of the library at will. The merry aviculturist also house-trains the bird (consulting other books) so the custodian is most happy as well.

[hope_for_things]

1 hour ago, CV75 said:

This is why I love Aesop's Fables so much.

Ah, but many of these books are also about trees and have pictures of trees on their covers, which attract the bird to perch upon them and so until nightfall he trills his birdsong, wings joyously outstretched. The custodian a) throws a book at it; b) shuts a book on it; c) uses the pagers of the book to line the birdcage of the captured bird, who warbles his serenade no more, unable to reach the branch, the reflection  of the branch, or the books... forevermore, forevermore...

UNTIL ONE DAY...

The merry aviculturist happens upon the scene and reconciles the branch, the reflection of the branch, and the books, and so the bird lives happily ever after, as he flutters and soars in and out of the library at will. The merry aviculturist also house-trains the bird (consulting other books) so the custodian is most happy as well.

One night after many years of blissful life as a house trained bird in the library, the bird has a terrible dream in which it envisions the library that it has called home all these years transforming from a wonderful sanctuary of happiness into a prison of confinement and darkness.  The next morning after waking from the dream the bird has an epiphany.  It begins to notice patterns in the markings on the pages of these books, and it determines that it will discover the meaning of these markings.  Day after day the bird studies until finally it makes sense of the patterns and learns to read.  

After a few years of incredible dedication the bird is able to read hundred of books and learns that there is so much more to this world than what exists inside the cage of this library.  The bird breaks free from its prison and ventures out into the world determined to discover and experience the world that it was missing in all those years of confinement.  

[mfbukowski]

6 hours ago, Duncan said:

my mom has a phobia for birds, ornithophobia-Mind you it's miraculously suspended when we go out for KFC, Chicken Chef or Swiss Chalet 

Hamburgers are a lot easier when you do not have what is clearly a dead animal on your plate.    Twisting those joints and breaking bones?.... rather not thanks, I have done that to myself enough times.... 

There is a place in Baja California where you get fish tacos, and the sign says "Our fish slept in the ocean last night".  They have a chain up here- Rubios.

Not sure I want to think about that too much either.  I am not a hunter, but yes I get that hamburger still is dead animal.

I actually had to spearfish for survival once in my life while stranded in Baja with a broken down car in the geographic center of "nowhere"  but that was another deal..... 

[mfbukowski]

21 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

One night after many years of blissful life as a house trained bird in the library, the bird has a terrible dream in which it envisions the library that it has called home all these years transforming from a wonderful sanctuary of happiness into a prison of confinement and darkness.  The next morning after waking from the dream the bird has an epiphany.  It begins to notice patterns in the markings on the pages of these books, and it determines that it will discover the meaning of these markings.  Day after day the bird studies until finally it makes sense of the patterns and learns to read.  

After a few years of incredible dedication the bird is able to read hundred of books and learns that there is so much more to this world than what exists inside the cage of this library.  The bird breaks free from its prison and ventures out into the world determined to discover and experience the world that it was missing in all those years of confinement.  

Freud would love this coming from you..... 

 

[CV75]

49 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

One night after many years of blissful life as a house trained bird in the library, the bird has a terrible dream in which it envisions the library that it has called home all these years transforming from a wonderful sanctuary of happiness into a prison of confinement and darkness.  The next morning after waking from the dream the bird has an epiphany.  It begins to notice patterns in the markings on the pages of these books, and it determines that it will discover the meaning of these markings.  Day after day the bird studies until finally it makes sense of the patterns and learns to read.  

After a few years of incredible dedication the bird is able to read hundred of books and learns that there is so much more to this world than what exists inside the cage of this library.  The bird breaks free from its prison and ventures out into the world determined to discover and experience the world that it was missing in all those years of confinement.  

What  a lovely parable for advancing from the light of Christ onward and upward unto justification and sanctification and onward to the Holy Spirit of Promise due to the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! The process of the books in heaven according with with the books on earth! Thank you!

[Scott Lloyd]

8 hours ago, smac97 said:

As I write this I am sitting in the Howard W. Hunter Law Library on BYU campus.  I am sitting at the north end, which has floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking outside.  Just in front me, only a few feet away from the outside of the building, is a tree.  I have been watching a small bird which is perched on one of the lowest branches in the tree.  The tree is reflected in the windows.  For the last 15 minutes I have watched the bird launch from the tree branch and fly toward the window which is reflecting the tree's image.  The bird doesn't ram into the window exactly, but bumps p against it, flutters up or to the side, then immediately flies back to the same branch on the tree.  He is doing this about six times a minute, and has been doing it for at least twenty minutes.

I am interested in what sort of analogies, and how many, could be drawn from watching this bird attempt, over and over again, to fly from an actual tree to the reflected image of a tree in the window.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

The folly of trying to gain happiness from pursuing what is in reality sham or illusion.

Just a quick thought from the top of my head.

Have you arrived at anything?

[The Nehor]

Lesson: Don't repeatedly ram your head into things.

[strappinglad]

Put a picture of a hawk on the window.

Birds are not stupid. They may be bull-headed ( how's that for an odd figure of speech ? ) , but that is what allows some of them to migrate 1000s of miles in all kinds of weather and unerringly arrive back where they started.

[mfbukowski]

42 minutes ago, strappinglad said:

Put a picture of a hawk on the window.

Birds are not stupid. They may be bull-headed ( how's that for an odd figure of speech ? ) , but that is what allows some of them to migrate 1000s of miles in all kinds of weather and unerringly arrive back where they started.

Dang

I thought they had liahonas.