UNCLASSIFIED Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1989 Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Status: [STAT] Document Date: 01 May 89 Category: [CAT] Report Number: JPRS-UKO-89-014 UDC Number: Author(s): Boris Viktorovich Raushenbakh, academician, department head at the Moscow Physical-Technical Institute, Lenin Prize winner, member of the International Academy of Astronautics] Headline: A Rational-Metaphorical Picture of the World Source Line: 18020014j Moscow KOMMUNIST in Russian No 8, May 89 (signed to press 17 May 89) pp 89-97 Viktorovich Raushenbakh, academician, department head at the Moscow Physical-Technical Institute, Lenin Prize winner, member of the International Academy of Astronautics] FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE: qualitatively discussions, outlook of modern man and the determination of his place in Space, in the universe, as well as, metaphorically speaking, in the space of relations with other people, society and nature on earth, outside of which we shall not be able to exist in the foreseeable future. The extent to which we shall be able to understand such problems and find the proper ways of solving them will determine, without exaggeration, the future of civilization as a whole. And although man since most ancient times has considered such problems, the rapidly changing reality and surrounding world ascribe ever new content to them, motivating consistent with the realities of the present and, perhaps, the 2. Let me begin with an example drawn from my own life. 3. In the past I wrote books on graphic art without resorting to mathematics but using my customary logic of rational scientific knowledge. In discussions with readers an amazing pattern emerged: I was perfectly understood by mathematicians, physicists and engineers but totally misunderstood by many artists who, actually, praised the books (possibly unwilling to insult the author). At that point I recalled that I personally "did not understand" some works by our outstanding art experts. It turned out that something similar was UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1989 Docunent 3 of 3 Page 2 felt by other representatives of the "precise" sciences: to us in frequent cases works on art are "streams of words" without any strictly defined rational meaning. Yet the universally known names of their authors unquestionably guaranteed the high quality of such books and it is we who were to be blamed for our failure to understand them. 4. Thus, I came across the fact that, conventionally speaking, we could divide the Russian language into two components: the first uses the logic of rational scientific knowledge and the other the logic of metaphorical thinking. These are not only two components of the language but also two types of viewing the world, the supporters of which find it difficult to understand one another. 5. In order to explain this phenomenon more fully, I believe, we should turn to the currently intensively studied fact of the functional asymmetry of the brain. It turns out that the left hemisphere is responsible essentially for the processes of rational thinking while the right one deals with the metaphorical perception of the world. Apparently the fact that a person could be classified as a "physicist" or a "lyricist" also depends on which of the hemispheres dominates in his brain. Naturally, this separation is not absolute. Geniuses such as Leonardo da Vinci and Goethe, for example, were able to achieve outstanding successes in the precise sciences, which require a strictly rational thinkingv^uid-in^the-^rtsj-wh-ieh demand of the artist particular emotionality and a developed metaphorical way of thinking. As a rule, however, it is one of the types that nonetheless dominates, whether it applies to noted workers possessing particular talent. 6. The metaphoric perception of the world is older than logical thinking, which developed later (perhaps that is why dreams which originate in the right hemisphere do not amaze man by presenting the most Incredible miracles, for the left hemisphere, the "rational" one, is "disengaged" during that time). There are two different ways for perceiving and knowing the world, as was pointed out a long time ago. In Homer's "Iliad," Hector speaks of the tragic fate awaiting him: 7. "...I firmly tell myself, talking to myself in my mind eund my heart that the day will come when sacred Troy will perish...." 8. What matters to us is that Hector speaks both of the mind (based on rational thinking) and the ' 'heart' ' (based on metaphorical foreboding). It is characteristic of latter ancient tradition to separate the "opinion," i.e., that which has been obtained through the senses, from the "knowledge," which has the mind as its source. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1989 Document 3 of 3 Page 3 It is only these two ways that lead to the integral perception of the world. Both are identically essential and neglecting either of them is fatal to the individual as well as to society. 9. Ve live in the age of the scientific and technical revolution, which is rich with impressive scientific discoveries which gradually encompass all areas of knowledge. In that case, why do we need some kind of irrational perception of the world based on feelings (such as, for example, the feeling of duty) rather than the mind and, consequently, something which is Of indefinite and loose nature? The point is that it does not change what is rational and scientific but supplements it with essentially new elements. 10. For example, let us consider the problem of man's moral behavior. The results of scientific studies obtained through rational ways of thinking may be true or false regardless of moral considerations. The table of multiplication and now also the art of making computer programs can be successfully applied by a very good person for good and useful purposes as well as by the worst scoundrel for his criminal intents. This situation is well familiar: science serves progress but can be used also by the most reactionary forces. Therefore, the conclusions of rational science do not include a moral principle. However, to the people morality is of vital importance. Concepts of morality, and even more so ''a moral feeling," appeared metaphoricalr^and^ '^irrattonal' deliberately using this word) knowledge of the world as well as in the process of the summation of human empirical collective experience. It is only subsequently, in connection with the establishment of the world religions that, on a paralle) basis, rational and ethic substantiations for moral doctrines appeared (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Spinosa and Kant). 11. What meaning do I Invest in the concept of the irrational? It is by no means something secret, mystical or, in general, unattainable by the mind. Rather it is a question of what is irrational in the narrow logical understanding: an intuitive accomplishment seems irrational in terms of a discursive one; from the viewpoint of individual unique experience a logical conclusion and evaluation is irrational in terms of experimental proof, etc. Therefore, anything which I will be subsequently calling irrational and illogical, and so on, may turn out to be entirely rational from a broader viewpoint of the knowledgeable intellect, which explains and evaluates its own experience and metaphorical thinking. 12. The behavior of the individual in the world around him is based on the knowledge of this world. This knowledge is developed in two interrelated areas: one in which logic has the final word and another dominated by the feelings: compassion, love of one's neighbor and of UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1989 Document 3 of 3 Page 4 the fatherland, religious feeling, a poetic feeling (distinguished not only from literature but also from music and graphic arts), etc. Do these feelings lead to knovledge, albeit not logical -discursive but intuitive, sometimes subconscious, yet nonetheless knovledge? 13. Everything seems to indicate that they do. Indeed, when someone, even a child meets a person for the first time he immediately develops a sympathy or antipathy toward him without any obvious rational reason. This feeling becomes the first (albeit sometimes erroneous) intuitive knovledge (or, if you wish, a ^'preknovledge") about the person, which largely defines our behavior. Sometimes behavior is dictated by a moral feeling and, in justifying the nature of his actions, the person states: "I cannot explain why but I was unable to act differently.'' This too is not related to a direct logical analysis (for otherwise it could have been explained) of the knowledge of how one should behave in any give situation. 14. At the turn of the. century such examples, and they are numerous, enabled some poets to claim that there are truths which cannot be described through prose, i.e., truths which are based not on the formal understanding of logic but on the specific logic of the poetic imagery used in the perception of the world. Consequently, the metaphorical, the nonrational perception of the world, is another necessary source of our knovledge. Furthermore, occasionally such knovledge turns out to be more accurate than'fhe^fational-logical one in the area of rational science itself. If we ask what will be the aspect of technology in the future, it happens that the projections of specialists are frequently less accurate than those of writers. Thus, as late as the 1930s, many scientists, including some of the most noted ones, claimed that nuclear power can never be used by man, whereas "Irresponsible" writers fully accepted it in their works. In his "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin," A. Tolstoy described a "death ray" which, at that time, was absolutely impossible according to the scientists. Today, however, we speak of laser weapons as something obvious. In his novel "Doroga na Okean" [Ocean Road] Leonid Leonov described a radar system which did rot exist as yet at that time. How to explain this? In all likelihood, the scientists are excessively attached to science and technology and to their present postulates and axioms and, proceeding on the basis of strictly logical conclusions, are unable to anticipate revolutionary discoveries, whereas the writer, the artist, who is free from such "prejudices," can obviously "sense" (or anticipate) better the course of mankind's development. Naturally, this is not a call for proceeding from knowledge to feelings in the areas of science and technology. As we pointed out, the irrational, the emotional component of human knowledge is related, above all, to the moral and poetic factors in human awareness. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1989 Document 3 of 3 Page 5 15. In harmoniously developed people both sources of knowledge rational and illogical define their behavior and are in some state of balance. Naturally, this is the ideal system. In reality, a great deal depends on the individual characteristics of mental development and on the individual's living conditions. 16. In contemporary society the volume and significance of rational and logical knowledge are increasing steadily. This is clearly manifested not only in the way computers are taking over ever new areas of life (from children's games to computing the trajectory of space apparatus), but also in human motivations and actions. Today, with increasing frequency the people are seeking optima? solutions to the problems which face them and, as a rule, the concept of optimality has a strictly rational sense, such as how to build a given system at the lowest possible cost, how can an en^erprise obtain maximal profits, what is the likelihood that any given event may happen, and so on. This way of thinking is basic in our daily life 8U5 well: how to handle our available funds in the best possible way; how to reach our place of work within optimal time, etc. In this case the headlong pace of change in our lives exclude the formulation of "traditional solutions" which would be considered acceptable both today and in 10 or 20 years. All of these problems must be resolved under new circumstances on each separate occasion. Today even professional knowledge and skills cannot remain unchanged throughout a lifetime. Experience proves ~tfaat~many peopj.e have to-be -- retrained each 10 or 20 years, for the average "life span" of contemporary technology is much shorter than that of human life. 17. These are precisely the circumstances governing the fact that the rational component of our knowledge of the world must be used all the time and increased steadily. Man's attention is focused mainly on it while irrational knowledge assumes second priority. However, the latter has a major influence on important aspects of the perception of the world: a moral assessment of events or moral motivation for actions. Yet morality becomes somehow secondary, which is something of increasing concern to the human community. Actually, is it not a matter of concern the fact that a rating such as "successful businessman," or "good production organizer" occasionally proves to be more important than the term ' 'decent 18. In speaking of the decline of morality, at this point we draw attention to the fact that in the past a rational component of knowledge did not play such an excessive role. Let us consider the life of a peasant in past centuries. The grandson used the same "technology" as his grandfather and this technology of peasant labor was defined less by strictly rational considerations than the age-old experience passed on from generation to generation in the UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Concatenated JPRS Reports, 1989 Document 3 of 3 Page 6 form of customs, habits and traditions. The brain vas not overburdened by the problem of seeking optimal solutioni to rationally formulated problems, auid man vas able to a greater extent to concentrate on problems of morality (naturally, as time passed the assessment Itself of what vas moral and vhat vas immoral changed; here it is a question only of the trend folloved in intellectual activities). 19. Today, in the time of triumph of the natural science and impressive discoveries in physics, astronomy, biology and other sciences vhich provide a rational explanation of life i*i the universe, the tremendous task has appeared of draving a scientific picture of the vorld and, on its basis, developing a scientific outlook. Many people believe that the solution of this 'supertask vill benefit mankind. Hovever this claim is quite arguable. 20. Mankind needs an integral vorld outlook based on a scientific picture of the vorld, as veil as an unscientific (including metaphorical) perception of the vorld. The vorld can be learned, as Homer said, both by the mind and the heart. It is only ihe sum of the scientific and the "heart" picture that can provide an image of the vorld vorthy of man in his ovn conscience and that could be a reliable foundation for behavior. 21. In speaking of the need and possibUttjr xrf tireating -an- integral picture of the vorld, ve cannot ignore the question of religion. It is frequently believed that religion is a sum of myths, behavioral rules and ceremonies. Obviously, in that case poetry vill be the ability to speak rhythmically and in rime. It is obvious to everyone that such a definition of poetry loses its main feature: the poetic image, the poetic feeling. In precisely the same vay failure to mention the religious feeling in the concept of " religion" deprives it of its main feature. 22. A religious feeling may be inherent in a given person (naturally, hovever, by no means in everyone) in the same vay that people frequently have a sense of beauty. And if such a person is raised in an atheistic family and finds himself in an atheistic atmosphere, he may feel a certain spiritual discomfort, frequently vithout knoving vhy. In some cases, trying clumsily to satisfy his mental aspiration tovard mystery and miracle, such a person feverishly seeks some kind of surrogate: he becomes attracted to mysticism, begins to believe in "flying saucers" (should such such "saucers" become universally acknovledged by reality, he vould immediately lose any interest in them), etc. Ve knov of many cases vhen such "hereditary" atheists have joined the church and felt a sudden fullness of life and become happy people, in the full meaning of the term. It is di