Like many nature writers, Robert Moor starts exploring a concrete part of our outdoor experience (hiking trails) and eventually finds that it is central to human experience. If often find such writers overly metaphysical, but Moor manages to keep his prose and ideas down to earth by often returning to the fundamental experience of the outdoors.
I was particularly intrigued by the idea of trails as externalized intelligence, which Moor first introduces when discussing insect trails. The trails themselves capture knowledge that none of the individuals have. It reminds me of a philosophical question about the status of written language: do books have ideas in them or just instructions for reconstructing ideas?
I was particularly intrigued by the idea of trails as externalized intelligence, which Moor first introduces when discussing insect trails. The trails themselves capture knowledge that none of the individuals have. It reminds me of a philosophical question about the status of written language: do books have ideas in them or just instructions for reconstructing ideas?
No comments:
Post a Comment