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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 9h

Yep thanks for the chat!

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 9h

Well ideas reveal things.

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 9h

1. It's all in the rest of the thread. bsky.app/profile/bern...

2. Tbh if we think of the mind as being some kind of 'private inner world' or information processing system, then yes.

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

We normally define, explain, give the rules for the expression of ideas with words and gestures. A sentence like ‘triangles have three sides’ might look like a description of triangles, but it’s actually just a rule, or better a norm —a norm of representation.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 10h

We identify things, understand things using norms of representation.

You were saying that these structured use of words were somehow additional to something else. What is that thing if it's not something psychological?

representation.you

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 10h

Well this description certainly enables action and explains how it does so. It also explains how we perceive and understand things.
Adding some other psychological element is otiose.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 10h

We can only make plans because we *possess*/can apply structures of words.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 10h

You don't have to express an idea to possess it, but if we're going to make a distinction, classification etc. then we need a means to do it. And for us, mostly that involves language. Channelling Wittgenstein, a dog can know it's going for a walk, but not that it's going for a walk next Wednesday.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 10h

No I think that is the idea/concept itself. It's a structure made of words or sounds or images or gestures.
We're always tempted to think there must be some other psychological or mystical 'thing' but I think that's a mistake and entirely unnecessary.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 10h

Yeah, I suppose it's indirectly influenced by Wittgenstein, AR White, PMS Hacker and that kind, though I'm not sure any of them put it exactly like this. I'm pretty pleased with it as a description tbh! Haha

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 11h

Anyone want to disagree with me about this description of what an idea is?

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

Just as a ruler is wood, plastic, or metal structured in particular ways, an idea is a set of sounds, words, gestures, images (etc.) structured in particular ways. The genius of language is that we managed to create tools using nothing more than the noises and marks that we make.

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Reposted by Bernard Andrews

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 17h

What is an idea?
We tend to overcomplicate the idea of an ‘idea’. If asked, ‘what is an idea?’, people often answer with reference to something ‘inside our heads’ or in terms of ‘a thought’, and so on. But I think that the field of education would benefit if we demystified the notion somewhat.

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Reposted by Bernard Andrews

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 18h

Pope Leo XIV has blasted how wealthy people live in a “bubble of comfort and luxury” while the poor suffer. In his first teaching document Thursday, Leo confirms that he is in perfect lockstep with Pope Francis on matters of social injustice.

Pope Leo blasts economy that marginalizes poor while wealthy live in bubble of luxury

Pope Leo XIV has blasted how wealthy people live in a “bubble of comfort and luxury” while the poor suffer.

bit.ly

460 4.5K 17K

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

Someone can’t really be said to possess a concept, to have power over it, until they’ve mastered its application.

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

But this also shows us a further complication for teachers: it’s not enough that a student can construct the norm, they also have to be able to use it and apply it. Children learn to count (construct the norm) before they learn to apply it (and actually count objects, for example).

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

If we think of any norms of representation, for example, ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5…’ or ‘triangles have three sides’ we can see how they might be tools for comparing, discriminating, ordering things.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

The word ‘norm’ comes from the latin word ‘norma’ meaning a carpenter’s square. And ‘norma’ comes from the greek ‘gnomon’ (γνώμων) which comes from the word ‘gignosco’ (γιγνώσκω) meaning to know. A carpenter’s square is a knower, a discerner —a tool for comparing, discriminating, etc.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

We normally define, explain, give the rules for the expression of ideas with words and gestures. A sentence like ‘triangles have three sides’ might look like a description of triangles, but it’s actually just a rule, or better a norm —a norm of representation.

1

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

Just as a ruler is wood, plastic, or metal structured in particular ways, an idea is a set of sounds, words, gestures, images (etc.) structured in particular ways. The genius of language is that we managed to create tools using nothing more than the noises and marks that we make.

1

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 16h

What is an idea? Demystifying the idea of an idea

open.substack.com/pub/bernarda...

What is an idea?

demystifying the idea of an idea

open.substack.com

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 17h

Let me know what you think of this account.

@olicav.bsky.social this may be of interest.

Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 17h

But this also shows us a further complication for teachers: it’s not enough that a student can construct the norm, they also have to be able to use it and apply it. Children learn to count (construct the norm) before they learn to apply it (and actually count objects, for example).

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 17h

But a ruler is made of plastic, metal, or wood. What is an idea made of? —again, we are tempted to think that ideas are made up of something mystical like ‘thoughts’, but this is a mistake.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 17h

An idea is a tool just as a ruler or a protractor is a tool. We use rulers to compare, discriminate, classify things, and we do the same with ideas.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 17h

I think the most straightforward way to understand an idea is as a tool, a tool for thinking. An idea is something that we use to compare, discriminate, classify, order, assimilate etc. the things we wish to think about.

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Bernard Andrews @bernardandrews.bsky.social · 17h

What is an idea?
We tend to overcomplicate the idea of an ‘idea’. If asked, ‘what is an idea?’, people often answer with reference to something ‘inside our heads’ or in terms of ‘a thought’, and so on. But I think that the field of education would benefit if we demystified the notion somewhat.

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