Asking Questions

At the end of a fairly long life as a scientist, in industry and academia , and  as a part-time artist of moderate success, I have come to distrust much  inherited  wisdom about being human that is thrust at us, and which seems to be rooted in much doubtful and confusing metaphysics. I have certainly come to realise also that the asking of  'right' questions can be central to reaching some eventual answers to most problems. I have been particularly attracted to the question of how, when we only have one brain, and most of us, only one language, we can engage in, what appears to be, such diverse Intellectual activities as those that occur in art and science. This is more than a personal dilemma, for there is no doubt that many of the earlier questions raised about  the Two Cultures, by CP Snow over 50 years ago, still remain unresolved. In fact, there is still much very active antagonism between them. This is just one facet of our humanity, and the over-riding questions must be concerned with our self-awareness, or the big mystery of consciousness - how do we know who we are? This site suggests we look at these problems from a new viewpoint; that of language, with the hope that new doors will open. We should look more closely at things 'as they are', invoking our own personal experience, rather than be too concerned about traditional wisdom.

 

I feel also that one of the most useful pieces of advice to have been handed down by philosophy is Occam's Razor - Entities should not be multiplied without necessity. So we shall keep the number of -isms to a minimum.  I say this because it has always worried me that psychology and philosophy have created a vast literature on human nature, in terms of countless obscure theories, often couched in rather impenetrable language, and sometimes based on flimsy evidence, on the one subject of which we all have some authority to speak, as we are all human. The fact that  I, as a reasonably well-educated and informed person, often have great difficulty understanding them, only increases my distrust.

 

In recent years there have appeared a number of books that are concerned with consciousness and self-awareness; some approached from traditional viewpoints, others centering on neurological science, but none of them, with one possible exception, seem to recognise the significance of the fact that we are distinguished from all other species by our power of speech.

 

In fact, it is language that converts our craft into art, our perceptions into science, and all our instinctive feelings into emotions. A plausible case - not presented here - can even be made that language also endows us with free-will, by releasing us from the tyranny of our instincts. It is language that makes us human - such is our way with words.

  

In a review of this site, the eminent scholar and critic, Professor John Carey, commented 'I have not read anything half so interesting for a very long time......'

An extended version of this site is now available as a Kindle e-book from Amazon entitled Our Way With Words

 

Frank Evans

 

I