How Things Work – A Brief History of Reality
Book I – Dualism (The Non-Physical World)
Actually be the smartest person in the room!
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
“Reality is that part of the imagination we all agree on.”
– Unknown
Preface
Welcome everybody! In Consideration #2, we considered how human beings recognized the consistent patterns of the physical world and used this information to make predictions about future patterns and events. This inductive reasoning separated human beings from other animals in that human beings began to “plan” their future events based on their experience and recognition of past patterns and events. This led to institutions such as agriculture and other activities that eventually gave birth to civilization. The study of these naturally occurring physical patterns became codified in a book by the Greek philosopher Aristotle called “Physics” which eventually led to what we call modern science. However, human beings also recognized unexplainable events beyond the five senses that seemed to have a kind of non-understood pattern of their own.
In Consideration #3, we consider how human beings perceived and recognized these unexplainable events that interfered or influenced the normal patterns of our experience in order to understand how they affected our ability to make completely accurate and consistent predictions regarding the physical world. In order for human beings to investigate the random unpredictable patterns of these experiences, they needed a type of reasoning that extended beyond the five senses. The only way for human beings to have access to a world beyond the five senses was to utilize a non-physical attribute of the mind called reason, or imagination. Imagination represented our ability to work with pure abstraction of the mind in order to create tangible possibilities for the unexplainable. Human beings’ first use of this unique capability began as imaginative narratives and stories explaining what could not be known in the physical world through the five senses.
Eventually, Aristotle classified the ability of human beings to reason about an alternate reality, and make reasonable arguments for that reasoning and reality, as a separate form of human understanding he called metaphysics. The early Greek philosophers used these metaphysics to develop mathematics, geometry, science, and most importantly for the early Greek philosophers, theology, or what Aristotle called “first philosophy.”
Aristotle conceived of God as outside of the world, as the final cause of all motion in Nature, as Prime Mover and Unmoved Mover of the universe. He was the crowning objective of all dynamic development in the cosmos from matter to form and from potentiality to actuality. He stood outside the Great Chain of Being yet was the source of all motion and development. Aristotle did not attribute mercy, love, sympathy and providence to God, but rather eternal self-contemplation. Yet Aquinas and the medieval theologians achieved a synthesis of Aristotle’s God and Christianity. For Aristotle, metaphysics ultimately culminates in theology.
Stanley Seeks, Ph.D. – Aristotle’s Concept of God
Aristotle separated what could be known by the five senses from what could be imagined through mental abstraction, forming two possibilities for human experience and reality. Physics, which would become modern science, became the study of what could be objectively known directly through the five senses about physical reality. However, Metaphysics represented the abstract possibilities and realities that could explain what could not be known objectively through the five physical senses. This world of abstraction included both mathematics and theology. Later, the metaphysics of mathematics, and its extensions such as geometry, would become more “real” than the metaphysics related to theology because they were more useful in supporting and proving scientific conclusions; what was left became the fundamental foundation for Roman Catholicism and Institutional Christianity.
Aristotle’s division of possible human knowledge and understanding into Physics and Metaphysics was an essential factor in developing a form of Western dualism based on Science and Religion.
Consideration #3: The Non-Physical World
(Emphasis in quotations such as italics and bolded text are mine)
Chapter 1: Recognizing the Patterns of Existence; The Nature of Duality
The Non-physical World
"The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence."
– Nikola Tesla
Things that could not be directly seen, touched, smelled, tasted, or heard, yet were still believed to have some kind of influence in the physical world, ultimately became associated with the spiritual world of religion. This divine non-physical reality consisted of gods, spirits, and a variety of other entities possessing magical powers that had influence in our reality. These influences were often perceived to be a part of nature, but could not be predicted or experienced directly, or as part of a normal pattern.
Often, this non-physical dimension was considered responsible for interrupting the regular patterns of our existence. Eclipses, magnetic fields, and natural disasters were all strong interrupters of the “normal” patterns of existence. It is therefore not surprising that the first religions were nature based. Paganism became the vessel for exploring the things in nature that could not be explained by typical patterns in our world; nor experienced directly through the five senses.
“These beliefs varied greatly but tended to focus on a reverence for nature, and the spirits that resided within it, giving little emphasis to doctrine or dogma.”
Pagan was a derogative term used by Christians to describe followers of polytheism, which is the belief in many gods. Literally translated as “rural villager” or “rustic civilian,” it referred specifically to the ancient Graeco-Roman religions practiced prior to Christianity. However, polytheism, and even versions of monotheism, have been practiced worldwide both before and after the establishment of Christianity. These beliefs varied greatly but tended to focus on a reverence for nature, and the spirits that resided within it, giving little emphasis to doctrine or dogma. However, ritual sacrifice was a common practice in most ancient nature-based religions. Greek and Roman beliefs shared a similar pantheon of gods, with one god as the leader, or ruler, of the others.
Early Greek and Roman religions believed that their gods influenced our “natural” phenomena. Thunder and lightning were the result of Zeus throwing Thunderbolts in anger. Myths were developed to explain the nature of divine interference in our physical reality. For example, the myth of Pandora’s box is a story explaining how chaos and evil entered the world. These nature-based religions were known for their generous celebrations and festivals such as the festival of Saturnalia celebrating the winter solstice; now incorporated into Christmas.
“The connection between these physical and non-physical realities was explained through a series of stories and myths.”
Pagan worship and ritual centered around a belief that the non-physical world was a mirror image of ours, although it could not be directly experienced like ours. Unexplained events and phenomena were believed to be the result of influence, or interference, from that alternate reality. The connection between these physical and non-physical realities was explained through a series of stories and myths. Here is how it works.
What we call day is warm, bright, and relatively safe. What we call night is cold, dark, and relatively dangerous. Therefore, we established a safe, warm place to secure ourselves so we could sleep safely during the night, while being active and productive during the day. We observed that this pattern of warmth and cold was not restricted to just “days,” but extended into the seasons, such that there was a cold season and a warm season. Therefore, we became active and productive during the warm season (Spring and Summer) when we planted and harvested crops, and less productive and active during the cold season (Fall and Winter) when we survived off the previous work done during the warm season. Recognizing these naturally reoccurring patterns allowed us to utilize them in practical ways that made life more stable and efficient. This led to changes in our reality and existence. However, it is not quite that simple.
“These seemingly unexplainable events are acknowledged and accounted for through the establishment of an alternative reality, or dimension, from ours; a contrasting reality.”
Although much of our experience of the world revolves around the predictable patterns that we interpret and utilize to extend our control over existence, there still remains a certain amount of chaos and unpredictability in the world. These seemingly unexplainable events are acknowledged and accounted for through the establishment of an alternative reality, or dimension, from ours; a contrasting reality. This is a reality not of the five senses, but of experience through imagination as expressed through story and myth; the first step in abstract thinking and reasoning. This same type of reasoning would eventually lead to abstractions such as mathematics and geometry.
Later, Aristotle classified all experiences and abstractions that could not be directly known or perceived in the natural world through one of the five senses as Metaphysics.
Postscript
So far, we have considered the nature of duality from a completely Western perspective. Beginning with the story of the Garden of Eden, we follow the influence of dualism from an attempt to understand the physical and non-physical aspects of our reality and experience, to an incompatible view of reality separating physical and non-physical aspects of human understanding. In the first attempt at using our senses and imagination, we divided our experience into a world of objectivity based on the five senses, and a world of subjectivity based on imagination and self-reflection flowing from pure mental abstraction. The “father of Western civilization,” Aristotle, eventually codified these two forms of human understanding into the groundbreaking works Physics and Metaphysics. This laid a foundation for a type Western dualism that would eventually divide human beings into two opposing views of reality; religious and scientific.
However, Western culture is not the only culture affected by the influence of dualism. Eastern culture was even more impacted, not only through its influence, but through their embrace of dualism as the essence of reality. The East experienced dualism as the essential blueprint for how to understand and interact with the world. However, the West would pursue a vision of moving beyond dualism into a more proactive and controlled reality. This choice would forever separate Eastern and Western cultures and civilizations.
Next week we will consider the role of Eastern Dualism.
Complete Versions of This Book, and Part II - The Power of Three, Are Now Available in Print and PDF Formats exclusively from BooksNotOnAmazon.com.