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Before Philosophy: The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man

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Henri Frankfort

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“This does not mean (as is so often thought) that primitive man, in order to explain natural phenomena, imparts human characteristics to an inanimate world. Primitive man simply does not know an inanimate world. For this very reason he does not 'personify' inanimate phenomena nor does he fill an empty world with the ghosts of the dead, as 'animism' would have us believe. The world appears to primitive man neither inanimate nor empty but redundant with life; and life has individuality, in man and beast and plant, and in every phenomenon which confronts man — the thunderclap, the sudden shadow, the eerie and unknown clearing in the wood, the stone which suddenly hurts him when he stumbles while on a hunting trip. Any phenomenon may at any time face him, not as 'It', but as 'Thou'. In this confrontation, 'Thou' reveals its individuality, its qualities, its will. 'Thou' is not contemplated with intellectual detachment; it is experienced as life confronting life, involving every faculty of man in a reciprocal relationship. Thoughts, no less than acts and feelings, are subordinated to this experience.”

RealityScienceExperiencePrimitiveAnimism
Book:Before Philosophy: The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man
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“There is no ‘your truth’ or ‘my truth,’ for both assume truth as a convenience created in order to lend permission to the mood of the moment. However, mankind cannot possibly create truth for its scope and character lay unfathomable leagues beyond our own. Truth is not convenient for it would be weak beyond any ability to save us from the horror of our fabricated truths. And it is not permissive for that would cause it to be a willing partner in the destruction that our truths are crafting for us. Therefore, the truth is that real truth would rather be rejected for its commitment to us than contribute to the destruction of us.”

RealityTruthHonestyDestructionLiesCompromiseConvenienceFact
Author:Craig D. Lounsbrough
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“A reflection of something cannot exist without the real thing to support it. Said another way, a reflection of something is dependent on what’s true and real.”

RealityReflectionGenuineDependenceMirror
Book:Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS
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“When something—a mirror, an inaccurate measurement, or a costume—comes between us and the things we observe, facts can become less apparent, or they can get hidden away.”

RealityPerceptionIllusionObservationDistortionMirrorWrong PathCostumeWrong Decisions
Book:Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS
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