I have been reading Freeman's outstanding Societies of Brains over the last week. I had the privilege of meeting him and the terror of lecturing to him some weeks ago and he is a truly impressive figure. This is a man who has studied physics and maths at MIT, English at Hamilton, Philosophy at Chicago and Medicine at Yale. if you are lucky from time to time in your life you get a chance to meet someone who is wise and this was one of them.
Expect several posts around my learnings from this book, especially the way he deals with intentionality. The book will not be enjoyable reading for the AI community and others who treat humans as information processors, or the fluffy bunny brigade who want to separate rationality from emotion. Pending those posts, and in the context of recent listserv discussions on DIKW, I thought I would quote him on the subject of age and wisdom. The bold text is my emphasis and relates to the title of this post.
... an intentional structure can become rigid, no longer capable of shaping itself in conformance with the changing world. Decline in flexibility seems characteristic of aging brains in humans, dogs and other species. While it may have tragic consequences for individuals, a case can be made that in old age survivors give substantial value to their societies by holding the tribal memories necessary to orientate the young, to can then rebel rather than drift. This guidance is especially needed by illiterate your in primitive tribes with no access to writing and by modern youth who have been stultified by television.
... If aging brains get it right, the rigidity is tempered by tolerance and detachment. With advancing years and the accumulation of experience, at some point brains reach a threshold and undergo a state transition, such that on passage there is a remarkable coming together of all that is past, an awareness of global connectedness between the recollections and understandings over the years that is afforded by intentionality. This is the state of wisdom.
... Not everyone achieve this state of mind, and it is not communicable in words or by teaching, but it is there and has been written about, and when one arrives, one knows that the future has joined with the past to make a circle outside time. One needs nothing more, for this suffices, reaching the wholeness of intentionality.
Comments (1)
I've just ordered this book and can't wait to read it...
Posted by icanpress | June 3, 2007 11:42 AM
Posted on June 3, 2007 11:42