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working within the watershed

“Behold this gateway, dwarf! …. It has two faces. Two paths meet here; no one has yet followed either to its end. This long lane stretches back for an eternity. And the long lane out there, that is another eternity. They contradict each other, these paths; they offend each other face to face; and it is here at this gateway that they come together. The name of the gateway is inscribed above: ‘Moment.’" ~ Zarathustra

the most disparate, as well as entrenched, intrinsic human contradiction is that we are all the same, yet, we are all different.

and it is all a matter of perspective when it comes down to differentiating the two.

the vast majority of time we function as social beings based on generalization. we learn or experience certain phenomena or processes, and as long as nature or people conform, we form general expectations which we cognitively and existentially react to and interact with as we subsequently encounter similar situations.

at this "higher" level we unconsciously presume that we are all the same. and we are. it is only when idiosyncrasies arise and an individual is irked because someone did not notice a difference that we are made conscious at deeper levels that we are all, in many ways, quite different as well.

prejudices, stereotypes, disappointed expectations are misalignments between distantly related perspectives which anchor the far ends of the perceptual spectrum.

at one time, at some point, with some one or some people, the distinguishing trait that was misapplied widely to others of similar ilk, was at least half-true.

some of the most "successful" people make significant decisions based on such presumptions, for there is not enough time in the name of progress for one to continually seek the whole truth. these are the extra ordinary people who can take the opposing forces of our natures and fold them together into one—into one moment.

thus, decisions makers, risk-takers, entrepreneurs, and the inspired employ intuition, educated guesses, statistical inferences, and, of course, their imagination, to move on.

some times we're wrong, that's when we say "oh, well," and keep on moving.

that is why it is easy to get stuck when you are attempting to satisfy more than your own curiosity, aspirations, desires or needs. and this is why committees tend to be cesspools of stagnation. over contemplation by an individual can also result in similar static-cling. and then, once again, its no wonder nothing ever gets done around here…


"The measure of Kepler's genius is the intensity of his contradictions, and the use he made of them. We saw him plod, with infinite patience, along dreary stretches of trial-and-error procedure, then suddenly become airborne when a lucky guess or hazard presented him with an opportunity. What enabled him to recognize instantly his chance when the number 0.00429 turned up in an unexpected context was the fact that not only was his waking mind, but his sleepwalking unconscious self was saturated with every conceivable aspect of his problem, not only with the numerical data and ratios, but also with an intuitive 'feel' of the physical forces, and of the Gestalt configurations which it involved. A locksmith who opens a complicated lock with a crude piece of bent wire is not guided by logic, but by the unconscious residue of countless past experiences with locks, which lend his touch wisdom that his reason does not possess. It is perhaps this intermittent flicker of an over-all vision which accounts for the mutually compensatory nature of Kepler's mistakes, as if some balancing reflex or 'back-feed' mechanism has been at work in his unconscious mind."

~ The Watershed, A Biography of Johannes Kepler, Arthur Koestler




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