Re: Left-handed contemplatives

"Jim Purdie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> You talk rather as though all monks and nuns were in contemplative
> institutions. The degree of withdrawal from the world varies enormously
from
> order to order, and varies more now than it used to. Some orders exist to
> teach, or to run hospitals, which necessitates constant interaction with
the
> world. Others withdraw completely from the world, and have as far as
> possible no interaction with outsiders. How does that affect your
research?
>
No, Jim, I particularly made the point about contemplatives to avoid those
who aren't. I'll choose my monastic institutions with care to be sure that
they are contemplative.

It may be that the same applies to non-contemplatives who only wish to be
institutionalised, but I'll leave that for now.
>
> If it helps, my sister is a nun, and is right-handed. I was taught by nuns
> of her order, and can't remember a left-handed one, though it was a long
> time ago, now. The same goes for the order of priests who also taught me.
> But of course they were not contemplatives, though I presume they did
spend
> more time than I do in contemplative prayer. So you have another variable,
> Peter, the degree of seclusion from the world. Peter Ashby has told us the
> degree of left-handedness is also a variable quantity, so the project gets
> more and more complex. And the best of luck!
>
Isn't it great that such a simple project starts showing such interesting
complexity!

I'm going to jump in and get a result. If it is interesting, then further
research (by me or somebody else) can start working out the nuances.

I'll just break the ground and see if we have more of a case to examine.


-- 
Only very sophisticated organisms like philosophers fail to be naive
realists! - David H.M. Brooks How to Solve the Hard Problem: A Predictable
Inexplicability 1999