James, Week 8, Lectures 18, 19, 20

[Lily]

Wendel wrote: "I finally succeeded in formulating some thoughts on James - in a review this time. Not the smart thing I would like to write, but it is 'something else'."

Thank you, Wendel. You are probably kinder towards the limitations of scientific rigor as understood at the opening of the 20th century than my gut wants to allow. I think I understand historically why he took the paths he did, but, standing now a 100 years later, I am more comfortable with the kinds of explorations of religion offered by, say, Pew Research.

James seemed willing to acknowledge as "religious experience" the turnarounds in people's lives initiated by intense spiritual crises. It was appropriate to attempt to pursue the significance of individuals such as the mystics, especially in a time that believed in seances. But both seem to ignore the vast scope of "religious experiences" that are far more profane. In the case of Christianity, they include the functions designated (in Acts) to be carried out by deacons -- feeding and ministering to the needs of others. Those comprise a wide range of activities not unlike those performed (perhaps more "miraculously") by Jesus himself in the healing stories of the Gospel. Karen Armstrong in one of her books describes how part of the role the Brotherhood of Islam was able to attain in Egypt was due to the care extended to the needy when in need. It seems to me many of those acts of charity (love) are as much examples of religious experience as the more dramatic or mystical.

[Janice (JG)]

"The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. To know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties - this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself among profoundly religious men."

"The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books—-a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects."

"Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe-a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble."

"We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality."

"When the solution is simple, God is answering."

-- Albert Einstein

http://www.simpletoremember.com/artic...

[Lily]

Janice(JG) wrote: ""The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment..."

Thank you for the quotation you provide, Janice.

Have I mentioned here the film "The Man Who Knew Infinity"? It suggests Ramanujan experiencing such a "mystic emotion" in order to write the mathematical theorems he captured.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0787524/
(I also enjoyed the film's mute testimony to the limitations of prejudice, whether race, nationality, or gender. All those Oxford Dons in their academic gowns.)

[Janice (JG)]

Lily wrote: "Janice(JG) wrote: ""The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer ca...

Have I mentioned here the film "The Man Who Knew Infinity"? It suggests Ramanujan experiencing such a "mystic emotion" in order to write the mathematical theorems he captured..."

This is a fairly new movie, and I hadn't noticed it before. I've put it in my Netflix queue. I can see why mathematical symbolic language can create mystic visions. During my third term of statistics I had a complete craving and compulsion to play the lap dulcimer (I had never played any musical instrument except the most rudimentary Book 1 type piano). I bought the lap dulcimer and was obsessed with learning to play it for the next year.

I absolutely believe the music welled up as some kind of response to the intensive study of statistics. I'm sure it would have only taken a few more terms of statistics to reach some sort of mystical state. : )

[Everyman]

Janice(JG) wrote: "During my third term of statistics I had a complete craving and compulsion to play the lap dulcimer (I had never played any musical instrument except the most rudimentary Book 1 type piano).."

Pythagoras would have understood perfectly. Music and mathematics to him were, if not exactly the same thing, pretty close to it.