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I'm still trying to wrap my head around our discussion yesterday. Someone in class referred to our shared perception as a collective construct and it started me on the following train of thought:

Even as we are composed of clustered molecules, our joining together each week for class creates another cluster (that disperses in a relatively short period of time compared to the molecules of a table).  What are the defining characteristics of this cluster? What traits could we ascribe to our group (if our eyes were too big to see people as individuals) and how could our cluster be manipulated (as we can manipulate the molecules of a tree by cutting it down to make a table). I also wonder how the molecules that create the tree choose to group/adhere? Do they self select intuitively (like moths to light), intentionally (like us?), or through external design? Are the ties that bind molecules together, which gradually weaken over time, like the ties that bind people to each other?

I noticed that there's a string on Paul's serendip blog re: the benefits of dialogue/collaberation between scientists and humanists - I was struck by the same thing in class. The way our conversation grew by flowing from literary ideas to scientific explanations and back again was illuminating.

I'm more in the humanist camp myself and I'm interested in getting together with some scientists to further explore the ways we interpret our world. If anyone else feels the same way, let me know!