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Glossary

The content of this site is based on the concept of active Perception in which we do not perceive reality directly, but merely seek Confirmations of Expectations raised by our Description of the World and Ourselves within It.

This concept has numerous implications that are explored at this site. It also requires new terminology. Here are listed the basic concepts that are in use along the concepts that should be avoided or entirely replaced. In time, the existing definitions will be refined and new added.

Common Perceptual Base represents what we have in common and runs much deeper and encompasses much more than Commonly Agreed Description of the World and Ourselves within It. It enables communication and other forms of interactions. The pages related to this concept are planned for 5^th edition.

Commonly Agreed Description of the World and Ourselves within It is a kind of substitute for the compromised Objectivity.

Culture should be considered as an emergent property that enables transfer of the accumulated knowledge by other means than our genetic makeup - i.e. through the "cultural imprint". It forms what could be called "commonly agreed description of the world and ourselves within it" and together with our genetic makeup, cells and organs and their interplays forms what might be called "common perceptual base".

Description of the World and Ourselves within it means exactly what it says and although lengthens sentences to a hardly tolerable degree, I'm reluctant to replace it with a shorter expression or a word at this stage. Like Identity, multi-layered translation of multiple Descriptions of the Worlds of Our Cells and Themself within it into our (single?) Description of the World and Ourselves within It, could be partially explained as a complex dynamic system.

Identity, I (Me, My) is the carrier of (my) Description of the World and Myself within It. In evolutionary sense, it has been conceived by formation of the first cellular living forms although, as a concept it could be traced to Localisation. The multi-layered translation of multiple identities of our cells into (single?) I (Me) could be partially explained as a complex dynamic system. The further work on the emergence of I (Identity) and ultimately of Consciousness is in progress.

Imagination is our ability to deliberately detach and modify parts of our Description of the World and Ourselves within It in order to explore the impact of the modification.

Language is on this site considered as a system of sketchy images of our speech (symbols) that is "parallel" to, or "independent" from our direct experiences (transient now). It enables us to receive, enrich and transfer the accumulated knowledge of our cultures by other means then our genetic makeup. The raw physical or electro-chemical interactions could also be considered as a kind of basic language - however, in such cases the "language" is "hard-coded" by physical or electro-chemical "laws" that do not leave much room for adjustments and evolution, although the capacity to symbol probably has its roots in such "languages".

Localisation is a phenomenon of, so to speak - local reflection of non-local. As a concept, it is at the core of our sense of Identity within our Description of the World and Ourselves within it. It is also at the core of self-reference that will be further explored at this site. (Please note that we are not addressing here what really is Out There, although my intuition tells me that we might be quite close to it.)

Objective/Objectivity should be replaced with Commonly Agreed Description of the World and Ourselves within it or with Out There in some cases.

Observer carries Objective connotations (somebody else observing somebody who observes something). At this site, it is used as a kind of bridge towards orthodox way of thinking.

Reality is a no-no word at this site just as Objective and Objectivity are. It should be replaced with Out There or Commonly Agreed Description of the World and Ourselves within It. The whole concept is based on the fact that we can not perceive the "out there" directly. Variants like real and really are tolerated as long it is clear that they refer to Cultural Imprint, Commonly Agreed Description... or Common Perceptual Base. However, an effort should be made to avoid them. It is important to notice that existence of reality in classical sense is not denied. What it used to annotate, is divided between these more suitable forms.

Sketchy Image is a concept similar to the concept of schema in psychology. It represents not only a cluster of outlines of our sensory "input", but also our reactions to it. The elements of a sketchy image could be considered as "words" of a "sentence" in a "language" used in communication between our central nervous system and other organs of our body. It is important to notice that a sketchy image only outlines the richness of the world we experience when we open our eyes.

Copyright 2000-2005. The concepts expressed on these pages, unless attributed to others, may not be used without explicit permission from Damir Ibrisimovic.