The TSK Email Forum
Thread 0008: How language is used in the TSK books
entry 0001:
VOK, xii, 3, 7: We speak for the time being only, relying on words as symbols or gestures, ways of bringing knowledge into time and space.
KTS, p. xiv: the language is less technical than in Time, Space, and Knowledge and more accessible to the general reader.
KTS, p. xviii: Although what is said here necessarily takes a specific form, whatever limits that form imposes can be transcended if the presentation is understood as an invitation to Knowledge to speak, using a language shaped by Time and open to Space. This conversation among Knowledge, Space, and Time requires a new way of speaking. Familiar words must be used in unfamiliar and unexpected ways, and long-established concepts must be given back their power to awaken and expand awareness. The reader can and indeed must join in this conversation, which is also addressed to his or her own 'knowledgeability'. For unless there is genuine listening, the voice of Knowledge cannot be heard.
KTS, p. xx: this presentation should not be considered exclusive. Others might find a completely different and more effective way of exploring the vision, drawing on a different vocabulary and style and engaging whole new realms of discourse.
TSK, p. xxxii: In expressing this vision in ordinary language, it has been necessary to use familiar terms in new ways. For example, 'space', 'time', and 'knowledge' refer to a special range of insights and to subtle facets of appearance. Our ordinary space and time are familiar aspects of a more fundamental 'space' and 'time' that are in effect; these terms also refer to particular levels of 'space' and 'time' as being appreciated by a particular 'knowledge'--a 'knowledge' that 'encompasses' all aspects of experience. Although we ordinarily 'take up residence' within a certain level, the opportunity remains for us to explore others if we wish. Furthermore, the possibility of altogether transcending particular 'spaces', 'times', and restrictive 'knowledge' is presented by what may be called Great Space, Great Time, and Great Knowledge
TSK, p. xxxiii: This vision pivots around the terms Space,
Time, Knowledge (and Being). The discussions related to each
of these terms often find echoes in the ideas of various modern
disciplines and theories. However, when such parallels occur
to you, it might be helpful to reread and investigate the discussions
and exercises all the more closely, in order to determine the
differences (as well as the similarities) in insight, context,
and application between the ideas presented here and those presented
elsewhere. In this way, premature interpretations can be avoided,
and this vision's more unique applications, values, and effects
can be seen and applied
entry 0002:
Here the words recorded and measured are used unusually, unconventionally, to describe (second-level?) time's 'timing': KTS, p. 15: Experience itself might be considered another such mechanism: a way in which time can present itself as ready to be recorded and measured, so that distinctions and comparisons can be made, establishing connections that assure the continuity of continuity.
entry 0003:
KTS, p. 52: this investigation itself revolves around the terms 'time','space', and 'knowledge'. Why were these three factors of existence chosen and not others? How do they relate to one another? It is easy to forget that 'time', 'space', and 'knowledge' are themselves constructs of language. Questions about them refer to nothing substantial.
entry 0004:
KTS, p. 54: If what is said here is understood in accord with linguistic structures--for example, in terms of criticism and argumentation--it will only further positioning, and the insights it fosters will prove of little lasting value. New acts of knowing will quickly fall out of balance; embodiments of knowledge will remain incomplete. Words and ideas will lose their transparency; taking form in subtle ways, they will lead inquiry into the thicket of conceptuality. A 'gesture' of knowledge will become the 'posture' of a knowing self--an 'imposter' who appropriates what has no owner.
However, this is not the only alternative. Not bound by language, knowledge can open to communication at a deeper level, exploring the 'logos' directly. It can maintain a subtle balance, absorbed in positions but free from positions, ready to use language in ways both new and old. Balanced in this manner, we can draw on language without being caught up in it; we can accept conventional patterns without accepting their claims. Then each thought, each presentation, each word, and each action can become a perfect gesture of balance.
entry 0005:
SDTS, p. 169: Although it [language] names and determines and classifies, it also allows for new meanings and alternative constructs. In this way it can undermine the linear structure that determines the shape of the cone of knowledge. If we want to question language, it may be that our best ally is language itself.
Using language to question what language has set in place, we open a dialogue; we activate something new. We can set the momentum of this exchange against the linear momentum of 'from/to'. Playing these two dynamics against one another, whether by telling stories, describing images, or opening to speculation, we may be able to take a step toward opening the cone--toward freeing time and space from the rigid and confined role that subjective knowledge assigns them.
entry 0006:
LOK, p. xxxiii: language is an imperfect tool for instruction,
and in its written form in particular offers endless opportunities
for miscommunication.
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