Hello everyone. I'd like your help.
There is a tale about Bucky Fuller that relates his use of a simple optical diagram at the beginning of lectures.
The diagram shows how the eye receives images from the outside world.
The story says that Bucky drew the attention of his audience to the fact that such images appear on the retina inverted and reversed, and that the brain corrects them.
It is taken to be a caution against naive realism, and by some in support of an 'observer-created universe'.
Can anyone tell me whether there is any truth to the claim that BF used such a diagram in any of his lectures?
With much thanks,
Lionel Hilary Qadosh Fanshawe
Rational Fanatic and Quote Wurlitzer
Hello Lionel,
Have you had any luck finding the answer to your question? I agree with Andy that you may find your answer via Jay Baldwin. The Optical Diagram reference rings a bell with me. If I'm not mistaken, Jay Baldwin's book, Bucky Works, includes excerpts from some of Bucky’s lectures and conversations. If the Optical Diagram reference is anywhere, it's probably in this book. I think I’d like to revisit this book myself.
Best Regards
Christine Young
Hello Andy
Thank you very much for your comprehensive reply. I like Bucky's take on naive realism, too - and I have been regarded as a fruitloop myself for, among other things, pointing out that 'there's no such thing as colour'.
You must be aware of Bertrand Russell's two headed paradox? If not, I think you will find it a hoot. Perhaps you could run that one by the few friends who remain to be convinced of your Martian heritage.
You sound sane to me, by the way. Then again, I'm a pseudonymous collection of data bits.
You know, few things make me happier than knowing that their are other rational optimists out there. I'm blethering now, but I do think this an inspirational project inasmuch as it promotes the most abundant and under-used resource on our little planet - human intelligence.
Thanks again for your reply. If we can't get a definitive answer to the eye diagram anecdote, I'll use the 'nobody has ever seen outside themselves' one. My book is about how irrationalism spreads, precisely due to such naive realism and the displacement of inquiry with emotion - across religion, politics, and our liberating and even-handed friend the Market.
Thanks again, and I hope yours is a happy life.
LHQ Fanshawe
Rational Fanatic and Quote Wurlitzer
Dear Rational Fanatic,
I've never heard that story about Bucky's lectures; then again, I've only watched one of his lectures on the Internet. "Everything I Know"... all 42 hours of it.... fantastic, albeit something only a truly hardcore Fuller fan could appreciate.
What I do know is that Bucky was very fond of eyes, as he was almost completely blind until he was fitted with eyeglasses as a young child. That is when he discovered 'the world of eyes', as he said. He was also fond of the brain and mind. The analogical-anecdote you mentioned is a good teaching example, and it sounds like something Buckminster would use. He also used several others in his writings. One I can recall now is 'the fact that nobody has ever seen outside themselves', which literally means that 'everything we perceive and think is entirely constructed in the abstract universe of the individuals brain/mind'. But 99.99 percent of humanity thinks that what they see is reality, they think that they can see outside of themselves, and they are very comfortable in their delusion. For example, there is no such thing as color, it is an abstract creation of the brain. Unfortunately, when you tell somebody this they usually think you're from Mars. At least one of us is sane.
I spent about 10 years studying the brain and mind as part of my studies in Artificial Intelligence, and I love to use reality/brain/mind analogical-anecdotes. One of my favorites is the "Ames Room", but I can think of many dozens of similarly interesting examples. Maybe Jay Baldwin could give a definitive answer your question.
Sincerely,
Andy