Off the Air

Reconstructed Quotes

(A Preamble)

1. ...the worst witness is the eye witness - they only know what they see - they project the specific to the general - assume everywhere is the same as where they are - distort the reality by enlarging there small street view to a whole world. (from an MTV interview at the time of the attempted but defeated military coup which brought Yeltsin to power in Russia - I think)
2. ...it's what the police call passive survailance. It doesn't matter what the punishment is, people will still commit crimes if they think they will not be seen - won't get caught. We're not "watching" people, we're just making all movement visible so people think they will be seen if they do something. from an interview with the headteacher of a redesigned school where openning up the places pupils move, making them more public, lighter, visible to everyone, behaviour improved, bullying has been reduced - shown on BBC World, Design for Living)
3. One way to think about identity is to think of it as a story you tell about yourself - to other people and to yourself. (from BBC website on war)

At the centre of this is a very big I . The question I ended up asking when I sat down on Sunday morning to start thinking about these quotes was the old chestnut - who am I? and how do I perceive the world around me? What controls me? and what do I control? What do I know and how do I know it?

To be aware of what you don't know:

• The more I know, the less I know I know.
• The wisest man knew nothing.
• Expect the unexpected.
• The older I get, the less I am certain of.
• The older I get, the less young people think I know about their world.
• The older they get, the less young people think I know the world.

Experience seperates us because we never have the same experiences as others. I just taught a lesson on snow - the substance is always the same - the experiences make our thoughts and feeling different.

There is a difference between identity and individuality. I look to connect with others as well as differentiate. What stories do I tell about myself? Which do I listen to?

Shakespeare, of course. Does he provide some form of collective story we all find meaning in - and so give some deep sense of our own identity (in common with all others) or does the way I listen change the story to make it my own?

I also tell the 'Stricly Come Dancing' story -what on earth is that all about?

I is singular - suggests solid, uniform, whole

But I am "... a part of the maine" - the social whole, so I am only a fragment.

These are not philosphical, pointless ramblings, my brain has evolved the capacity to ask the questions, why can it/does it do that? It must fulfil some basic existential need - or maybe some strategy to promote the selfish me.

Scientists now examine complexity - networks as a way to understanding as opposed to liniar progressions.

Does my brain operate as a network (yes) and is conciousness, and storytelling one mechanism arrising out of this netwrok which allows us to operate in the linear timeframe? Conciousness will consequently always fail to reflect the reality? ermmm.

Just a basic preamble around the space. Some order shall be imposed soon - I think I'll start withthe eye witness.