WAYS OF THINKING

Contributions to Science and Philosophy

a Selection


Prolog of English Texts

Author: Helmut Hille
Photo 2007 by Harald Maurer (www.mahag.com)

and his guests


English essay and English translations of the most important German texts about Physic and Cosmology, Philosophy and Brainresearch, Biology, Evolution and Theory of Cognition (altogether 200 texts)

Warning-hint: All texts are reflecting the opinion of the respective author and do not follow absolutely ruling doctrines. Don't confront your teachers or bosses with especially unorthodox theses! You could get problems, for whose consequences we cannot be made liable for!

The Necessity of Rationality

Popper demanded that scientist should be critical rationalists. But it is not enough to conjure up objective recognition, it also has to be stated how it is defined and by what means it is gained. Only the application of carefully clarified rational principles is giving the scientist the competence that is expected from him. Therefore the texts about physics and cosmology are mainly about these principles. Furthermore they are dealing with the clarification of terms and of the roll of the observer, who has always to be considered. For not only unexamined intuitive assumptions and unclear terms do create problems, but also an unadjusted thinking towards the object of scientific research. The cognitive problem of the physicists is to consider inanimated objects in the according categories. Men however has mainly learned during his history to think in categories of the living, with himself as pattern. Therefore he objects sun, moon and stars as 'resting' or 'moving' although they've got no according organs to give those expression a sense which could be explaining anything. It would be right to talk about a 'change of place' here, although the 'place' often only exists in the perspective of the observer which has to be considered, too. That's the only way to avoid pretended problems.
     To understand the physical object adequately, which means to cope with it, the physicist has finally to become aware of his instincts which are orientated towards the living and has to overcome them. He instinctively rejects, since he fears to loose his usual fitness in dealing with the world. Therefore he, if at all, only asks during critical situations half-heartedly for the foundations of his research. However those foundations are what my considerations here are about, since only those do convey a critical point of view.
translated by Peter Hille M.A.

Philosophical Teaching Poem

Nobody can think not to think, without contradiction;
Nobody can think not to think an object
because this object is necessarily thought in the not to think thought.
Nevertheless almost everybody supposes that he can wisely think
the world would exist also without to think it.

How then can one think a world "without to think it"
although the world has to be thought in the thought?
One cannot! Whatever is thought as 'world'
this envisioned thing only supposedly cannot be thought.
Consequently there cannot be any part of any world without to think it.
Friedrich Seibold


The matter is not a better knowledge,
but rather to understand better what one knows.


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