{"id":18961,"date":"2017-02-24T10:38:49","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T15:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=18961"},"modified":"2017-02-24T10:38:49","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T15:38:49","slug":"the-observer-in-the-observed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/the-observer-in-the-observed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Observer in the Observed"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"'Message<\/a><\/p>\n

[Image: “Message From the Unseen World,” by Roger Marks; found on Flickr<\/a> and used here under a Creative Commons license (thank you!). Click photo to enlarge. The photographer explains: “…this permanent installation is a collaboration between United Visual Artists and poet Nick Drake.\u00a0 Alan Turing<\/a> is one of Paddington’s most famous sons. This artwork, <\/em>Message From the Unseen World, celebrates his groundbreaking work on artificial intelligence. Its outer shell comprises aluminium panels, punctuated with holes. LED lights shine through the holes, forming the words to Drake’s poem. A Turing-inspired algorithm shuffles through the poem, creating new interpretations of the verse.” An excerpt from the poem appears below<\/a>, as the last entry in today’s post; the entirety can be viewed at the Flickr page.]<\/em><\/p>\n

From whiskey river<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay attention. In some ways, this is getting far afield. I mean, we are—as far as we know —the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious. We could even be the universe’s form<\/em> of consciousness. We might have come along so that the universe could look at itself. I don’t know that, but we’re made of the same stuff that stars are made of, or that floats around in space. But we’re combined in such a way that we can describe what it’s like to be alive, to be witnesses. Most of our experience is that of being a witness. We see and hear and smell other things. I think being alive is responding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Mark Strand [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and<\/a>:<\/p>\n

There is no less holiness at this time—as you are reading this—than there was on the day the Red Sea parted, or that day in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Chebar, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of god. There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree at the end of your street than there was under the Buddha’s bo tree… In any instant the sacred may wipe you with its finger. In any instant the bush may flare, your feet may<\/em> rise, or you may<\/em> see a bunch of souls in a tree.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Annie Dillard [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and (from whiskey river’s commonplace book<\/em><\/a>):<\/p>\n

Why do I write?<\/p>\n

To satisfy a basic, fundamental need.<\/em> I think all people have this need. It’s why children like to draw pictures of houses, animals, and Mom; it’s an affirmation of their presence in the corporeal world. You come into life, and life gives you everything your senses can bear: broad currents of animal feeling running alongside the particularity of thought. Sunlight, stars, colors, smells, sounds. Tender things, sweet, temperate things, harsh, freezing, hot, salty things. All the different expressions on people’s faces and in their voices. For years, everything just pours into you, and all you can do is gurgle or scream until finally one day you can sit up and hold your crayon and draw your picture and thus shout back, Yes! I hear! I see! I feel! This is what it’s like! It’s dynamic creation and pure, delighted receptivity happening on the same field, a great call and response.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Mary Gaitskill [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Not from whiskey river<\/em>:<\/p>\n

The Idea of Living<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has its attractions,
\nchiefly visual: all those<\/p>\n

shapes and lines, hunks
\nof color and light (the way<\/p>\n

the gold light falls across
\nthe lawn in early summer,<\/p>\n

the iridescent blue floating
\non the lake at sunset),<\/p>\n

and being alive seems
\nto be a necessity if you want<\/p>\n

to sit in the sun or rub your
\ntoes in the sand at the beach.<\/p>\n

You need to be breathing
\nin order to eat paella and<\/p>\n

drink sangria, and making love
\nis quite impossible without<\/p>\n

a body, unless you are one
\nof those, given — like gold —
\nto spin in airy thinness forever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Joyce Sutphen [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

Confession of a Bird Watcher<\/strong><\/p>\n

The windows are dressed in feathers where the birds have flown against
\nthem,<\/span>
\nthen fallen below into the flowers where their bodies lie grounded, still,
\nslowly disappearing each day until all that is left are their narrow,
\nprehensile bones.<\/span>
\nI have sat at my window now for years and watched a hundred birds
\nmistake the glass for air and break their necks, wondering what to do,
\nhow else to live among them and keep my view.
\nNot to mention the sight of them at the feeder in the morning,
\nespecially the cardinal in snow.
\nWhat sign to post on the sill that says, “Warning, large glass window.
\nFatal if struck. Fly around or above but not away.
\nThere are seeds in the feeder and water in the bath.
\nI need you, which is to say, I’m sorry for my genius as the creature inside
\nwho attracts you with seeds and watches you die against the window
\nI’ve built with the knowledge of its danger to you.
\nWith a heart that rejects its reasons in favor of keeping what it wants:
\nthe sight of you, the sight of you.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Chard deNiord [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

<\/a>…and:<\/p>\n

Message From the Unseen World<\/strong>
\n(excerpt)<\/em><\/p>\n

This is Alan speaking
\nto you who pass by this bridge
\nin the enchantment of time
\nunder the echoing arch
\nover the mirror of water
\non your way to work or home
\nand to other places in the infinity
\nheld in the secret dream cave
\nof your mysterious minds<\/p>\n

This is Alan speaking
\nthrough this interface with time and space
\nI am the ghost in the universal machine
\nthe one I dreamed as I lay on the grass
\nthat grew in the green of lost time
\nof a meadow in Grantchester alone
\nthinking about whoever I was in love with at the time
\nand the unchanging truth of numbers
\nin their beautiful equations
\nand the enigma of human beings
\nin their infinite possible configurations —
\nI was puzzling the problem of the apple
\nof the knowledge of good and evil —
\nFor on that day you eat of it
\nyou shall surely die
\nbut the winding snake
\nthe only creature coded as a question
\nlooked me in the eye and asked
\nin his intelligent high voice —<\/p>\n

What\u2019s wrong with this picture?
\nWhy do starfish have five arms
\nand why are they fish not stars?
\nWhat connects stars and grains of sand?
\nWhat is the secret ciphered in a fir cone?
\nWhy is the heart always on the left?
\nNatural wonders every child should know…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Nick Drake [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

[back to top<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Image: “Message From the Unseen World,” by Roger Marks; found on Flickr and used here under a Creative Commons license (thank you!). Click photo to enlarge. The photographer explains: “…this permanent installation is a collaboration between United Visual Artists and poet Nick Drake.\u00a0 Alan Turing is one of Paddington’s most famous sons. This artwork, Message […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Mark Strand, Joyce Sutphen, et al., on the intertwining of subject and object: 'The Observer in the Observed'","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,1393,250,17,18,5,36,251,4159],"tags":[295,684,2631,2980,4496,4497],"class_list":{"0":"post-18961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ruminations","8":"category-whiskey-river-runningaftermyhat","9":"category-art","10":"category-04_technology","11":"category-computers","12":"category-06_writing","13":"category-reading","14":"category-poetry-writing_cat","15":"category-essays","16":"tag-annie-dillard","17":"tag-mark-strand","18":"tag-joyce-sutphen","19":"tag-chard-deniord","20":"tag-mary-gaitskill","21":"tag-nick-drake","22":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/messagefromunseenworld_rogermarks_thumb.jpg?fit=640%2C388&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-4VP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18961"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18970,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18961\/revisions\/18970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}