Exploring an idea 
from PERCEPTION to MAGIC
Abstract it!
Good mathematicians do it a lot.
Theoretical physicists often make a point of it.
.
"Guilty — not guilty"  The Red Queen didn't see a difference.

To the person on trial, abstract negation makes a difference.
Lewis Carrol noted a common human foible.

Some growth of scientific thinking — from infancy to science-see

"Feedback" — what is it?
Positive feedback  — negative feedback:  What's the difference?
 

OOOPS!!

The place is on fire!
What to do?

DOUSE IT!  of course


 


 
PERCEPTION
IMAGINATION
METAPHOR
MATHEMATICS
MAGIC
centuries of observation,
experiment, and research
systematic generation of alternatives
definition of terms based on observations
discovery of patterns within the abstractions
dissonances sensed but not resolved
Douse it with water:
Problem solved.

Douse it with gasoline:

RUN!
 Keep a bucket of water handy

 . . . just in case.
"That's pouring gasoline on the fire."
 Feedback: a bit of output information used to maintain a process within specified limits—positive when it changes the process in the same direction, negative when in the opposite direction.
Abstraction makes the insight harder.
Negation is always a bit harder to see, and negation of an abstraction just might push it into the realm of magic. "Positive feedback" in international affairs might sound like a good thing.
But...

Dousing a fire with gasoline is positive feedback.
Dousing a fire with water is negative feedback.
Be sure to understand any magic used to try to put out the fire.
 

RETURN to From Perception to Magic