BFC Session-2 [Oct 10 2020] Seeing and Perception

We will meet again at 3 pm, this Saturday, Oct 10, 2020, to continue our live chat here on what we see.

  • Do we see with our eyes or our mind?
  • Can we still see with our eyes closed?
  • What do you see in dreams?
  • Do we see what we already know?
  • Is seeing recognition of something?
  • What are the other terms for seeing?

The recording of the live session:

Description: In this session, we explored the issues around seeing, extending the discussion on Perception. Later we touched upon the ideas of language and sign.

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Great set of questions. Would love to explore these in the coming session!

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These questions brought to my mind a short writing by Jorge Luis Borges (present in his book The Maker) which brings the relation between seeing, existence and imagination so nicely…

Argumentum Ornithologicum
I close my eyes and see a flock of birds. The vision lasts a second, or perhaps less; I am not sure how many birds I saw. Was the number of birds definite or indefinite? The problem involves the existence of God. If God exists, the number is definite, because God knows how many birds I saw. If God does not exist, the number is indefinite, because no one can have counted. In this case I saw fewer than ten birds (let us say) and more than one, but did not see nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, or two birds. I saw a number between ten and one, which was not nine, eight, seven, six, five, etc. That integer — not-nine, not-eight, not-seven, not-six, not-five, etc.— is inconceivable. Ergo, God exists.

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Have uploaded the initial post with the recording of session-2. Please make use of these recordings as well. :smiley: