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Library of Congress CCN 67-10417 CHAPTER 07 |
"Each man has a spirit beyond the reach of present
scientific knowledge. This spirit is larger than the man as
he is seen by fellow men. The uttermost depths of one's own mind
are still within the bounds of and less than this spirit; The spirit
reaches into that which is beyond the mind's comprehension and beyond
the prescribed consciousness of our time. With faith and belief, the
spirit will allow the mind to travel into these vastnesses and will
carry it there. Courage is needed to face these regions. Courage is
also needed later to tell of the adventures there." This is the kind of thing succinctly expressed which
I leamed as a small child. This is the essence of my childhood programming
in religion. Now that I have grown and become a mature scientist, I
would translate the above passage into a more scientific view, as follows: "Each man has a mind beyond reach of present
scientific knowledge. This mind is larger than the man himself conceives
of or/and is larger than he is conceived of as seen by his fellow man.
Our minds have depths beyond our present ken. Parts of the mind reach
beyond our own conscious comprehension and beyond the prescribed consciousness
of our time. With special techniques and special knowledge we can travel
through the vastnesses of our minds locked within our brains. Much romantic
nonsense is stored in our minds. Courage is needed to get rid of this
romantic nonsense." What does this have to do with dolphins? This is the
basic reason for attempting communication with the dolphins. If our
minds are reflections of the quality of our brains and the size of our
brains, so their minds must be a reflection of the quality and size
of their brains. What we can find in their mind may free us from the
burden of our traditions and from our accumulated bias, prejudices,
and apparent knowledge. They may find the same in exploring our minds. It seems to me that the mutual edification of two species will be achieved when our minds can meet. Theirs must be immense minds reaching nnto regions we cannot yet cmnprehend nor even see clearly. |
