From: Wade T. Smith (wade.t.smith@verizon.net)
Date: Fri 13 Jun 2003 - 11:47:48 GMT
On Thursday, June 12, 2003, at 07:13 PM, Kenneth wrote:
> It is within the dynamic of the venue that we ought to search for the
> matter of the cognitive gestalt.
> The cognitive gestalt is part of how the venue induces performances.
I've always taken 'cognitive gestalt' to be a synonym for mind- the way
the brain works.
Culture needs, at bare minimum sufficiency and necessity, two cognitive
gestalts connected to an manipulating structure (in our present case, a
human with a brain and some working limbs), and a place in which either
or both of them will perform or observe a performance, and the
continuation of culture requires another performance based upon the
observations of the first.
As such, yes, a cognitive gestalt is a part of how the venue induces
performance, and, in many ways, the venue is the only influence upon
the cognitive gestalt. This is certainly the case in many fundamental
religious sects, who restrict observation of the 'outside world' of
scenes and knowledge with determined rigor. To much extent, all
cultures are restrictive. (The sole true exception is science.)
That we have minds constructed so totally from a single, restrictive,
cultural gestalt is, well, a matter of human society. Such communities
have flourished and will perhaps continue to flourish. IMHO, science is
the first sin, and, thankfully, we humans like to sin, so, with my
pollyanna hat on, I say science will win the cultural venue battle,
but, as we well know, it has been and will continue to be, far from
bloodless.
- Wade
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