Dinesh's photos with the keyword: Stewart Guthrie

From Illusion of Faces in the cloud There is an universal tendency among mankind to conceive all beings like themselves, and to transfer to every object, those qualities, with which they are familiarly acquainted, and of which they are intimately conscious. We find human faces in the moon, armies in the clouds; and by a natural propensity, if not corrected by experience and reflection, ascribe malice or good-will to every thing, that hurts or pleases us. David Hume

I claim we anthropomorphize because guessing that the world is humanlike is a good bet. It is a bet because the world is uncertain , ambiguous, and in need of interpretation. It is a good bet because the most valuable interpretation usually are those that disclose the presence of the whatever is mot important to us. That usually is other humans. ~ Page 3 (intro) There are two standard explanations of anthropomorphism: that it comforts us and that it consists in using our good knowledge of ourselves to account for what we know less well. Although each explanation has some truth, neither is sufficient. Comfort does not explain anthropomorphism well because much anthropomorphism is uncomfortable. Reliance on self-knowledge does not explain it well either, because our knowledge of ourselves is no more reliable than knowledge of what is not ourselves. - Page 6 Anthropomorphism in Philosophy and Science, shows that anthropomorphism occurs even among philosophers and scientists, although they are its most consistent critics. Scientists in particular try to avoid it, but they must make a constant effort. Its cause here appears the same as elsewhere: we strive to understand our world by pursuing important possibilities, and humanlike forms and behaviors are the most important ones we know. ~ Page 7

Image and Excerpt from the Book : "Faces in the Clouds" ~ Author Stewart Guthrie

Rocks are alive and have “always been interpreted as the bone structure of the earth, combining with water, which in its many forms represents the lifeblood, to compose a picture as a living organism” In painting rocks, capturing their ‘ch’i’ spirit, matters most; “One should certainly never paint rocks without ch’i …. Rocks must be alive”. Rocks may be familiar: “Small rocks near water are like children gathered around with arms outstretched toward the mother rock. On a mountain it is the large rock, the elder, that seems to reach out and gather the children about him. There is kinship among rocks” ~ Page 145