I definitely agree that exploring different aspects of ourselves and of our mind can enhance life.
Your essay made me think of two things:
1. The extended mind theory...(See "The Extended Mind" by Andy Clark and David Chalmers)... A philosophical theory which states that the mind is not limited to what's inside our brain, there are elements outside of it which contribute to our cognitive processes (eg. A diary). I wonder how your thoughts would change if you would extend the TPS to include things like possible states of one's diary.
2. A while ago, I had a discussion with my brother on the topic, "Is diversity intrinsically valuable? Or is it instrumentally valuable, ie. not valuable in its own right, but valuable because it helps in satisfying other, more fundamental, values?" I usually think of diversity as being instrumentally valuable - I seek a diversity of experiences in life as these bring more knowledge and wisdom, which help me be a better person. Your blog, however, suggests that diversity may be valuable in its own right... Perhaps some seek diversity in their lives, simply because they want to explore their TPS.
Heyo Paul, apologies for the delay in replying. As always its a great pleasure reading your comments and thoughts cause its always like opening a door. Thanks for the Extended Mind suggestion. I will definitely give that a read.
With regards to the diversity point, its no doubt that diversity of experience is instrumentally valuable (for reasons you mentioned), but isnt the intrinsically vs instrumentally decided by the individual ? i.e we all do things sometimes with no defined utility - would these experiences count as intrinsically valuable or extrinsically valuable ? Please do correct me if I may have missed your point.
Hey
I finally read your blog post. Enjoyed the read!
I definitely agree that exploring different aspects of ourselves and of our mind can enhance life.
Your essay made me think of two things:
1. The extended mind theory...(See "The Extended Mind" by Andy Clark and David Chalmers)... A philosophical theory which states that the mind is not limited to what's inside our brain, there are elements outside of it which contribute to our cognitive processes (eg. A diary). I wonder how your thoughts would change if you would extend the TPS to include things like possible states of one's diary.
2. A while ago, I had a discussion with my brother on the topic, "Is diversity intrinsically valuable? Or is it instrumentally valuable, ie. not valuable in its own right, but valuable because it helps in satisfying other, more fundamental, values?" I usually think of diversity as being instrumentally valuable - I seek a diversity of experiences in life as these bring more knowledge and wisdom, which help me be a better person. Your blog, however, suggests that diversity may be valuable in its own right... Perhaps some seek diversity in their lives, simply because they want to explore their TPS.
Anyways just random thoughts.
Cheers!
(This is your friend Paul)
Heyo Paul, apologies for the delay in replying. As always its a great pleasure reading your comments and thoughts cause its always like opening a door. Thanks for the Extended Mind suggestion. I will definitely give that a read.
With regards to the diversity point, its no doubt that diversity of experience is instrumentally valuable (for reasons you mentioned), but isnt the intrinsically vs instrumentally decided by the individual ? i.e we all do things sometimes with no defined utility - would these experiences count as intrinsically valuable or extrinsically valuable ? Please do correct me if I may have missed your point.
Cool, thanks for the reply. I will save the diversity stuff for an in-person conversation. (This is still Paul, just a different account)