May. 10th, 2011

Dreaming

May. 10th, 2011 12:47 pm
bunsen_h: (Default)
Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things.

But now we might not assume that there is necessarily a distinction: we might consider the possibility of a man/butterfly duality.  A single entity that under some conditions manifests as — or has the properties of — a butterfly, and under other conditions as a man.  To quote another great philosopher, "I yam what I yam."

I'm sleeping oddly these days.
 

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