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Yeah, it's a weird kind of philosophy clickbait or something. An only slightly less valid alternate subheading might be "Football is the basis of all modern NLP
by yesenadam 8y ago
Yeah, it's a weird kind of philosophy clickbait or something. An only slightly less valid alternate subheading might be "Football is the basis of all modern NLP"[1]
For Wittgenstein - in philosophy, one always refers to the early or later Wittgenstein; they're totally different, and saying 'for Wittgenstein' without specifying which one doesn't make a lot of sense. The early (Tractatus) one had a picture theory of language.[0]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_theory_of_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_theory_of_language
[1] "One day when Wittgenstein was passing a field where a football game was in progress the thought first struck him that in language we play games with words. A central idea of his philosophy, the notion of a ‘language-game’, apparently had its genesis in this incident." - Norman Malcom, Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Memoir
I can't resist a more entertaining extract from that book:
"My wife once gave him some Swiss cheese and rye bread for lunch, which he greatly liked. Thereafter he would more or less insist on eating bread and cheese at all meals, largely ignoring the various dishes that my wife prepared. Wittgenstein declared that it did not much matter to him what he ate, so long as it was always the same. When a dish that looked especially appetizing was brought to the table, I sometimes exclaimed 'Hot Ziggety!' - a slang phrase that I learned as a boy in Kansas. Wittgenstein picked up this expression from me. It was inconceivably droll to hear him exclaim 'Hot Ziggety!' when my wife put the bread and cheese before him. ...
One of Wittgenstein's favourite phrases was the exclamation, 'Leave the bloody thing alone!' He delivered this with a most emphatic intonation and mock solemnity of expression. It had roughly the signification that the thing in question was adequate and one should not try to improve it. He used it on a variety of occasions: one time meaning that the location of his bed was satisfactory and it should not be moved; another time, that the mending that my wife had done on a jacket of his was sufficient and that she should not try to make it better."
- mbrock 8y agoThat sandwich anecdote reminded me to post a link to this essay about Tractatus as a demonstration of the "autistic cognitive model par excellence." http://autisticsymphony.com/wittgenstein.html http://autisticsymphony.com/wittgenstein.html "Ludwig Wittgenstein was almost certainly autistic. Several notable psychiatrists, such as Christopher Gillberg in A Guide to Asperger Syndrome, have written extensively about the evidence backing this assertion."
- yesenadam 8y agoThanks!, that was very interesting. I don't remember reading anywhere that LW had Asperger's (which is what that writer means by 'autistic' I guess), but it seems to fit perfectly. I've just tried to get to know him without labelling. I was close friends with people like Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, but never felt friends with LW hehe. I didn't get far into the Tractatus, probably just a few lines. But I've enjoyed everything else he wrote, always thought-provoking. A fascinating character, with a great sense of humour--he had a friend with whom he used to exchange picture postcards with very silly irrelevant things written on them. Wish I could remember what book I saw those in. Monk, maybe. Also, he was born extremely rich, but believed money corrupts people, so gave it all away to his siblings. When asked why them, since they were already rich, he said 'They're already corrupted'... (Hmm It just struck me, maybe that explains some of Thoreau too? He didn't seemed incapable of friendship in the normal sense, said No to everything, preferred solitude, seemed utterly unlike other people, his 'duties to himself' overruled all others etc.)
- YellowSuB 8y agoSomeone actually published a case report on it in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. You can read it here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12521251_Did_Ludwig_Wittgenstein_have_Asperger's_syndrome https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12521251_Did_Ludwig...