SCOPE PROJECT 2014
I used to live in a room full of mirrors. All I could see was me. I take my spirit and I crash my mirrors, now the whole world is here for me to see. Jimi Hendrix (1942 – 1970) MIRROR AND SCREEN In the early sixties of the 20th century modern physicists saw themselves not as detached observers but as participant-observers. Physicists recognized that any observation of the natural world is also disturbing to it. This shift was one from independent objectively known world to one of one’s observation of the universe. Far from being a genuine photographic reproduction of an independent reality ‘out there,’ it is rather more on the order of a painting: a subjective creation of the mind which can convey a likeness but can never produce a replica. The ideal of objective reality was rejected by then. Objective knowledge, objective observation is subjective, dependent on the observer – all knowledge is personal. Ulrich Gustav Neisser (1928 – 2012) who was a significant figure in the development of cognitive science came to the conclusion that the shift from behaviorist to cognitive models in psychology has defined cognition as “a sensory information which is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. This cognition is involved in everything a human being might do.” OBSERVATION AND MEMORY This broad area of research focuses on the encoding, storage, and retrieval processes involved when one remembers information at a later time. Experts generally agree that memories are a result of not only the specific event that is being remembered but also the specific thoughts, emotions, and knowledge that the rememberer possesses. Furthermore, events or thoughts that occur after the encoded event also have an impact on what is remembered. I am more and more convinced that our happiness or unhappiness depends more on the way we meet (and remember) the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves. Alexander von Humboldt (1769 – 1859) scope
skōp/
noun:
The extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant. The opportunity or possibility to do or deal with something.
verb:
Assess or investigate (something). Look at carefully or scan (informal).
Origin from modern Latin “scopium”, from Greek “skopein” look at, from mid 16th century (in the sense “target for shooting at”): from Italian “scopo” aim and from Greek “skips” target, from “skeptesthai” look out. Combining form (suffix): -scope denoting an instrument for observing, viewing or examining.