| Mirror Dream | 2002-12-19 01:40 5 comments |
 by Flemming FunchI was listening to a tape by anthropologist and shaman Hank Wesselman, of a session I missed at the Prophet's Conference, and he introduced a shamanic journey and started drumming. The idea was that one would go to one's garden in the dreamworld and receive some wisdom or meet somebody. I stopped the car, and sat in the dark. My garden had a waterfall and a jungle and a lot of land to explore, and caves. I went into a cave which went down, taking several turns and forks. There I had a vision, in the form of a multi-dimensional lightshow of sorts. It is hard to describe, but there was a mirror effect going off into several dimensions at the same time. Almost a thru-the-lookingglass thing in several directions. You can't reflect yourself in a mirror without having, well... a reflection. Action and Reaction, or rather, both at the same time. And there seemed to be some wisdom there, applying to knowledge and how to organize it. As I came out of it, sitting in the dark, I still didn't quite get it, but I figured I'd better write it down, as it might fall into place later. But what I think of right away is: information is usually disconnected from what it is about. You write or talk about something or someone, and they don't necessarily know, and there's no mechanism for ensuring it is valid or useful. If they move or change, your words don't move or change with them. But in a way, they should. Our information is often like pieces of paper we crumble up and throw in the general direction of what we're talking about. But it should really be like rubber bands attached to what we're talking about, stretching and following. A two-way link. Is that maybe a difference between information and knowledge? Information is disconnected and static, but knowledge is connected and fluid? If you move, the reflection in the mirror moves. If you walk away, the reflection walks away. But there are many mirrors we're reflected in simultaneously, so as we walk away from one, we might get closer in another. |