[Hans Blom, 961017]
Language problems. Time and again, the words that I use seem to have
so many connotations different from those I hear y'all using, that it
is often unclear to me whether I communicate at all. Remarks such as
those below help. Thanks, Bill and Martin!
(Bill Powers (960926.0710 MDT))
Even those internal "constructions" are ultimately derived from the
perceptions, the elementary interactions with the world. All that
we (think we) know about the world originates from the signals of
the sensors in that body-world interface, which you call
intensities.
Well, that makes it easier: whenever you read "perceptions" in PCT
writings, just substitute "constructions." Even the first level of
perception is a construction, because a single sensory neuron
doesn't distinguish among different causes of stimulation. BCC:
Behavior, the control of constructions.
(Martin Taylor 960926 14:55)
We seem to have a very different interpretation ... indeed. If I
were to describe my position, it would be something like this. ...
And what you go on to describe sounds very much as if you want to
substitute "construction" for "perception" as a matter of word
usage, not as a difference of substance. The principles of
reorganization in PCT lead to very much what you go on to describe
...
I see very little in the technical-substantive part of your posting
that cannot be transcribed into the words used conventionally in PCT
discussions, and having been transcribed would then be reasonably
close to conventional PCT statements.
That's what I think as well: we all agree on the basic principles,
although maybe not on their elaborations or implementations. But most
of those can be decided empirically. Eventually...
What keeps surprising me (although it should not; it is a consequence
of the theory!) is how strongly our individual elaborations are
coupled to our personal histories, to the things that we have
discovered in other facets of our lives, and how our theories cannot
possibly include what we are not familiar with.
Greetings,
Hans