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Mindfulness, categories, and the 14 kinds of animals
Merlin Mann | May 3 2006
List of animals (Borges) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I've been enjoying a wonderful book that a reader thoughtfully sent to me a couple weeks ago. It's called Mindfulness, and it presents some fascinating evidence on the ways that we process and parse our world, as well as the peculiarly human things that can happen when we unintentionally (natch) embrace mindlessness. The topic of "categories" is critical in this book, with the author suggesting that the child-like ability to re-label and re-categorize, even or especially as we age, is a key factor in continual growth -- let alone things like creativity and, in a particularly colorful example, the tactic to lure Napoleon deep into Russia for his "self-defeating occupation of Moscow." I loved this example of categorization provided via Jorge Luis Borges from what purports to be "a certain Chinese encyclopedia, the Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge." For your consideration, friends, the fourteen kinds of animals:
Whether or not this is real (it seems a little far-fetched to me), you can't dispute that the world can start looking pretty different when you accept how differently things can be sliced and diced -- and how we're so often unconscious of the sturdy mental silos we constructed and filled when we were young. You sure that's a Dalmatian? Looks more to me like that which has just broken a flower vase. 3 Comments
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![]() Mindfulness, categories and Jorge Borges... Greg...Submitted by Anecdote (not verified) on May 8, 2006 - 12:57am.
Mindfulness, categories and Jorge Borges... Greg Knauss at 43 Folders points us to an interesting book called Mindfulness and makes reference to Jorge Borges’ (one of my favourite writers) famous list of 14 animal types (includes embalmed ones, stray dogs and those drawn with a very..... » POSTED IN:
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