Tuesday 28 April 2009

Wrestling with Levi Strauss

Structuralism is an approach in academic disciplines that explores the
relationship between fundamental elements of a structure through which
meaning is then derived. Structuralism is a popular approach concerned with
analysing language, culture and society.

According to Levi Strauss (a former professor of Anthropology at the College
de France), there should be a basic unit of kinship that could explain all
variations, displaying the qualities of a structure. The purpose is to
organise real data in the simplest effective way so that it can be tested
and refuted.

Last night I dreamed about a debate between Levi Strauss where this was
challenged by somebody who asserted that society is too chaotic to be
structured in a simple way . The consequence is that another way should be
found to evaluate and interpret data.

Is it possible to assert meaning to data if it cannot be placed in a
holistic structure? How will we then be able to determine relationships
between pieces of data?

Monday 27 April 2009

One with the Universe

I belief that the human body, mind, spirit, nature and the rest of the universe form on entity that can not function independently. The human body is simply the object that temporarily harbours the mind. The mind is a vehicle between the body and the universe, observing and interpreting the rest of the system. The spirit can be anywhere and capable of travel beyond time and space. Nature influences the spirit, mind and body, the same as the body, mind and spirit can influence nature. The universe forms a structure in which the body, mind, spirit and nature function, constantly energizing its existence.



The human mind did not develop the capability yet to observe and interpret the unseen phenomena such as spirit, some unseen forces of nature and the universe. Therefore, we must accept a higher power than ourselves, whatever symbol we choose to attach to it to make it more understandable.



Your comments on these statements please.