[MD] Distinguishing Levels

[craigerb at comcast.net]

Mike (& Arlo mentioned),
If I am an Elvis impersonator, I can compare my "Elvis" to the original Elvis (as preserved in motion pictures, sound recordings, etc.).  But if I am trying to copy the patterns of my elders in training, language acquisition, etc., I don't have access to both patterns to compare/contrast them.  If I don't have access to BOTH, what good is having access to ONE of them?  So what I do is imitate their behavior, speech, etc.  And when this is successful (as you noted, after an inter-active process), we say my elders & I have the same patterns.  The patterns are a result of the imitation (i.e., successful learning), not a pre-condition to it.
I hope this is understandable, otherwise, "Help!, Arlo!"
Craig
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Michael Hamilton" <thethemichael at gmail.com> 

> Craig, 
> 
> On 6/1/06, craigerb at comcast.net wrote: 
> > [Mike] 
> > > Imitation of elders must play a part, too, but imitation also 
> > > requires that the imitator individuates patterns to be imitated. 
> > 
> > Mike, 
> > My first gloss on your post was that you had said that in order to imitate, 
> the imitator is required to have the SAME patterns as his/her elder. Then my 
> Wittgensteinian point was that there was no criteria for the same pattern other 
> than it was an imitation. 
> > While I'm here I want you to consider--if you haven't already--the 
> possiblitity that an imitator's individuating patterns to be imitated is not a 
> requirement but (sometimes? always?) an outcome of imitiation. 
> 
> I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. All I was suggesting 
> was that before the imitator can copy the pattern, he or she must 
> somehow notice and pick out the pattern. It is not a passive process, 
> because the world does not present itself to us readily-carved into 
> patterns. 
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