Question 1:

 

Dear Prof. Von Glasersfeld,

Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity that you offer us the

possibity to ask you questions! My two questions are the following:
1. Which action, or which verb, can I use to describe what (my) mental

re-presentations "do"? They do not "refer", they do not "depict", they

do not "represent": do they "present"?

2. Ok, let's say they "xxx"? Then what is the object of their

xxx-action? They xxx what? They do not xxs reality They xxx my view of

yyy???

 

Thank you very much!

Willemien Visser

 

 

Answer 1:

 

Dear Willemien Visser,

(1) Re-presentations do what you want them to do: enable you to assimilate

new experiences to ones already had, fill in blank spots in your

experiential world, serve as links in a train of thought, etc., etc. In

all cases they "present" constructs you have made in past experience, and

largely those that you consider viable.

(2) Answer (1) has answered most of your question (2). Re-presentations

should never be thought or said to represent "reality". They re-present

constructs you are inclined to rely on, but they can also re-present

constructs such as unicorns, angels, and dragons, which you should know to

have been derived from imagination (fiction) rather than actual

experience.

 

Best wishes,

Ernst von Glasersfeld