Logic?

So I was having a great conversation the other night about logic as I posited that I don't particularly believe in it.  As I see it, "logic" really boils down to nothing more than having the answer already.  I think about so-called "logic puzzles", and, having read more than my fair share, would I be able to assert that I am more logical than someone who hasn't experienced as many?  For instance, a relatively well-known puzzle goes like this: you're in an otherwise empty room with a candle, a book of matches, and a box of small thumbtacks.  Your challenge is to light the candle in such a way that the flame is six feet off the ground.  Spoiler alert: empty the box of tacks and pin it to the wall.  From there, simply set the candle on the box.  Boom.  Now, I know that answer.  No, I did not initially come to that conclusion on my own, but I have it now, so who's to say any different?  So am I currently more "logical" than anyone else?  I would say no.

Now, through the course of the debate, some interesting counter-points were made that really got the ol' brain box working.  One such argument would be that logic, as it were, comes down to the ability to connect prior knowledge with new and novel challenges.  Touche.  However, I would say that that is the definition of intelligence - the ability to take previous education, experience, and background and reapply concepts in different situations to reach a conclusion which then gets assimilated into your working memory once more for future situations.  Now even this isn't my own thought.  Over the course of my own experience I've been fortunate enough to be exposed to a cornucopia of others and this paradigm comes from the works of Daniel Willingham (the article can be found here).  So again I would argue that much of what we "know" is a direct product of external stimuli.

A bit off topic I realize, but by now the conversation had shifted slightly this direction anyway so we ran with it.  So, I asked, what would the difference be between logic and intelligence? How does knowledge factor in? What about common sense? I would say that there wouldn't really be a difference per se, but that logic is a misused synonym for intelligence.  I've often thought about logic (and I would assume you have as well) as a black or white issue.  Either you're logical or you're not, whereas more and more we've broken down intelligence into different types (read more about multiple intelligence) and "objective" levels.  I think about Spock, often commenting whether or not a decision was logical, not whether or not it carried any level of intelligence.

So then where exactly are we?  Here I tried to summarize my argument about the whole ordeal: if intelligence is the product of years and years of external stimuli being processed and rearranged into new a different situations, and we want to say whether something is logical (or common sense) wouldn't that very logic be entirely subjective and different from one person to another?  And if it's subjective, how could we ever assume logic as a constant?  See, I received a very different educational experience than even those I went to school with. Just as they had a very different experience than me. I've had life experiences others haven't or experiences in a different order, crossing a bridge before or after others have long since been there, done that. And everyone, you included, have experienced things I never have, and often, never will.  So where does that take us?  And consider the ramifications of this interculturally and globally!

Here's another puzzle for you: In an otherwise empty, windowless room, with only one locked door in and out, you have a saw, a baseball bat, and a piano.  There exist three ways out of the room using only these materials (no, you can't break down the door or saw through it).  This one I won't spoil for you.

But if you figure out the three exits, consider if it's "logical" or simply a product of your experiences.

And whether or not it actually matters.

Time to Simplify

Alright everyone, here's the dealio. For much of the summer, I've been living life on the road. Not the same road I had been on for the past four years - oh no. That road stayed almost entirely in Wisconsin, traveling from top to bottom as I facilitated programming. This road took me from West Virginia to Ohio to Colorado to Montana to California and many places in between. This has been a time of truly living out of a suitcase, often relying only on what I could comfortably fit in the truck, or, more frequently, what I could fit into two checked bags and my carry on. The pinnacle was at the end of the season, as I ended up doing both - driving to a site for several weeks and flying straight from there to another job, living (comfortably) on only what I had with me.

Understandably, by the time I got home, after 6 weeks away, living and working in close quarters with several other people, making due with only what I had with me, I found that the apartment has far too much stuff.  Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by things, and missing the people. As such, I've come to a paradigm shift: I need to simplify.

Drawers and closets full of clothes that are rarely, if ever, worn. Junk drawers (yes, plural) stuffed with stuff that, for whatever reason, I haven't thrown away. Tables, cabinets, desks, drawers, cupboards, and closets packed to the brim with things. Items. Stuff.

Junk.

And so I've decided to get rid of it. Well, most of it anyway. I've realized that to have all these things really hasn't made a difference. It hasn't benefited me, or anyone else to my knowledge, to have this clutter choking my living space. In fact, it's arguably detracting from being, and remaining, content. Stuff begets more stuff, and, quite frankly, I don't really need anymore.  Things get lost and misplaced. Suddenly, we end up with several of the same thing because we couldn't find the original nor many of its replacements.

Admittedly, this has been a challenge from time to time over the last week and half as I fill bags with clothes that are torn, stained, too small, or simply aren't worn anymore; as I toss unnecessary junk; as I go through the volumes of notebooks I've filled with one-time relevant information that is now, and has been, obsolete. I find that I've grown some sort of emotional attachment to many things. Memories come back about when it was used or when I couldn't do without. I think about how much time I've spent with some things, how much time invested in this, that, or the other thing...

And then I realize that I haven't used it in years. I realize that I have no need for so much of it.  I realize, perhaps most importantly, that some things have been outgrown.  That to continue to hold onto them is to reserve space - both physically and mentally - that could, and should, otherwise be taken by whatever comes next.  I have, quite literally, reached an epiphany: out with the old, in with the new.  It is time to close those doors and anticipate those to come.

And I look forward to finding out what that is.

My Apologies

Good morning cool cats!  I know it's been awhile since my last post, an issue I hope to remedy.  For the last several weeks I've been out on the road for work, seeing first hand the Big Sky - a well-deserved nickname - guiding, and the night-and-day dichotomy between the lights of Stateline, NV and the quiet simplicity of Lake Tahoe building and training.  It's been a great experience, always doing something, always busy, and now it's back home.  I'll be settling in and adjusting (the first couple days in particular!) and have every intent to get back into my posting regimen.  Please check back soon!