On the levels of rhythmic coordination in conversation, see Sacks, Schegloff, and
Jefferson (1974); Gregory (1994).- This should not be taken too literally. Thinking is carried out with ideas deriving
from past conversations, which come into consciousness to the extent that they
are carried on the emotional loadings deriving from the social solidarity they have
been associated with in past conversations. Verbal thinking does not depend on
visualizing oneself talking to an audience. One should not suppose that some
people (i.e., “intellectuals”) have vivid imaginations, whereas most of the rest of
us prosaically go about our business of thinking without imagining audiences. The
social sense of ideas constitutes the very possibility of human thought.
2. Networks across the Generations
- Sources for Chinese rankings (Fung, 1952–53; Needham, 1956; Chan, 1963;
Ch’en, 1964; Schwartz, 1985; Kuo, 1986; CHC, 1979, 1986; Dumoulin, 1988;
Graham, 1989). Sources for Greek rankings (DL, 1925 [orig. ca. 200 c.e.]; Sextus
Empiricus, 1949 [orig. ca. 200 c.e.]; Suidae Lexicon, 1937 [orig. ca. 950 c.e.];
Zeller, 1919; Guthrie, 1961–1982; EP, 1967; CHLG, 1967; Rist, 1969; Dillon,
1977; Kirk and Raven, 1983; Long, 1986; Reale, 1985, 1987, 1990). Additional
information on network connections among Chinese philosophers (Ariel, 1989;
Chang, 1957–1962; Cleary, 1983; Gernet, 1982; Graham, 1958, 1978; Knoblock,
1988; Kodera, 1980; Liu, 1967; McMullen, 1988; McRae, 1986; Odin, 1982;
Pulleybank, 1960; Smith et al., 1990; Takakusu, [1956] 1973; Welch, 1965; Welch
and Seidel, 1979). Additional network connections among Greek philosophers
(CHLG; DSB; OCCL; Frede, 1987; Hadas, 1950, 1952, 1954; Jonas, 1963;
Tarrant, 1985; Rawson, 1985). - I assume three active generations per century, corresponding to the typical period
of creative maturity within an individual lifetime. Hence each individual typically
overlaps the lifetimes of the creative generations immediately before and after: until
age 33 or thereabouts, as pupil or protégé of the elder; thereafter as mentor or
obstacle to the younger. Corroborating my use of 33 years as a generation,
succession charts of Buddhist lineages show an almost exact correspondence to the
figure of three generations per century. See Kodera (1980: 98), which gives a
succession of 39 generations in 1,300 years; and the Ch’an lineages in Dumoulin
(1988: 328–335). - The Chinese average is affected by some long empty spells: 21 generations out of
63 in which there are neither major nor secondary figures, although there are minor
figures scattered throughout. Leaving aside these empty generations, as well as the
6 empty generations in the Greek networks, gives us averages which are almost
identical: 0.6 major philosophers and 1.5 secondary ones per generation for China,
0.6 major and 1.6 secondary for Greece. - One might suppose that creativity is based on a randomly distributed trait, a rare
trace element of human physiology or psychology; hence it should occur more
frequently when populations are larger. But neither in China nor in Greece is
creativity regularly related to population size. We might restrict this finding by
950 •^ Notes to Pages 52–58