The Conceptual Blending article by Gilles Fauconnier was quite interesting, and made a number of interesting points regarding human conception and perception in relation to what is going on around us. The example he makes regarding the boat race struck me as quite fascinating. In regard to the boat that was sailing in the present it states, “ two distinct events correspond to two input mental spaces, which reflect salient schematic aspects of the events” pointing to the voyage, the boats position, and the time of travel. As show by the illustration/map of the course of the boats, the “boat race” is formed by blending, even though the boats are not racing at the same time(nearly 100 years apart!).
Tying this in to how this applies to class, in my opinion this example is related to how we read and interpret the bible. The majority of people who practice the Christian faith do so by interpreting scripture, and applying it to their lifestyle, to their respective values, and the actions that they take on a daily basis. In the bible, although what is in the scripture took place thousands of years ago, much of the trials and tribulations that are presented in there are applicable to our lives today.
Whether it be discrimination, evil, disobedience, dishonesty, natural disaster ect… what we face today can be related to what is in the bible. The boat that took sail 100 years after did so on the same parameters, but merely in a different time setting that the one 100 years before. Though there was an evident time difference, it is arguable that both were trying to do the same thing, and in turn they are put together as 1 by our minds. This is no different than when we read the bible, and find comfort in relation to the similar struggles, trials, tribulations and triumphs that take place over the course of the text.
I think you make an excellent point about how the Psalms can be applied to our lives today. I think that it is possible to get a very different meaning today than what the authors intended, but this view may not be wrong. I think it depends of if it aligns with positive moral values or not. Very interesting blog post.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting blog post. Interpreting texts in general can have a great deal of bias to it, especially if you are dealing with moral values and ethics because these alone differ from person to person. But defiantly in many aspects, the psalms can be applied into our lives today, it just all depends how one looks at it and what meaning they are deriving from it.
ReplyDeleteFor the life of me I don't understand how those comments connect to the post. But I was glad to see you address the article.. Which I hope to get time to address in class too.
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