An End/Beginning of Year Update (Section 2)

[TeaEarlGreyHot]

No, I was saying this because if you haven't actually experienced any of it, it is all an interesting hypothetical on your part.

A couple of useful analogies to illustrate:

I can tell you all the individual movements and limits to movements of the pieces on a chess board. I can tell that "white starts first." I can tell you what constitutes "checkmate" and how that ends the game. I can define for you what a "stalemate" is and how it differs from a "draw."

But do you "know chess?"

How about riding a bicycle or using a pair of skis or snowboard and "balance." I can describe what to do, you can read about other people's experience, and watch other people and imagine what it might be like if you could achieve the level of balance to begin skiing or snowboarding. Interestingly, your own sense of balance from walking or running gives you only some small amount of knowledge (in that you don't fall and you might know the sensation of falling). But your sense of balance and your
ability to describe it or have it described is very, very limited.

Why? Because you developed the muscle motor skills and the neural pathways to have it function in an automatic way without language.

Or how about my current interest and activity: running marathons? You can read about what it takes, what people experience, how to train, etc. But until you actually step up to the training and ultimately to the starting line and finish the race. it is all an interesting hypothetical.

Or how about a not so analogous example: the intimate sexual experience? You can read about it, learn about some things that may be pleasurable for you or your partner, maybe what constitutes "good sex" and "bad sex" or what you might feel when intimately connected to another person through sexual experience(s). However, those imaginings are probably far less vivid than the actual experience.

And that was the intent of my comment. It makes for an interesting hypothetical discussion if you've never gone through it. But the reality of the experience is likely to be far different than thinking about it in the abstract and hypothetical world.

The Captain