How Things Work – A Brief History of Reality
Book I – Dualism (The Physical World)
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Tuesday, October 26, 2021
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”
― Soren Kierkegaard
Preface
Our story begins at the very beginning. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, the Garden of Eden represents the fountainhead regarding the influence of duality in terms of both physical and non-physical manifestations of human development.
As a “religious story,” it represents “Mankind’s” separation from the Divine Oneness of Direct Union with God into an ever-divided world of separation called duality. Western religion became the implement for “Mankind’s” reunification with that Divine Oneness. As a “Western myth,” the story represents the important distinction separating human beings from all other animals, reason. Western science would utilize reason to transform dualism into another dimension of reason called abstraction. The original roots of both Western science and theology are based on the physics and metaphysics developed by the ancient Greek philosophers.
“Aristotle broke down and categorized the possibility of all knowledge into two distinct aspects of understanding: physics and metaphysics.”
Socrates was the teacher of Plato. Plato was the teacher of Aristotle. Aristotle is considered the “the father of logic,” as well as the father of biology, political science, natural law, rhetoric, psychology, realism, criticism, individualism, physics, metaphysics, ethics, and much more. Aristotle broke down and categorized the possibility of all knowledge into two distinct aspects of understanding: physics and metaphysics.
“Physics, represented all possible knowledge obtainable from the physical world…”
Physics, represented all possible knowledge obtainable from the physical world, relying heavily on the five senses. Physics became the foundation and source of Western science and technology.
“Metaphysics pertained to the non-physical world of reason and abstraction.”
Metaphysics pertained to the non-physical world of reason and abstraction. Although originally a critical factor in developing science and technology through the abstraction of mathematics, it eventually became the main source of support for religious theology involving the proof and nature of God.
This was the beginning of Western dualism.
Consideration #2: The Physical World
(Emphasis in quotations such as italics and bolded text are mine)
Chapter 1: Recognizing the Patterns of Existence; The Nature of Duality
“And God commanded Adam, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden. But you must not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you do, you will certainly die…
So, the serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden’?”
“Oh, no!” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. But God did say, ‘You must not eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you do, you will die.’ ”
“You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “God knows that when you eat fruit from that tree, you will know things you have never known before. Like God, you will be able to tell the difference between good and evil...”
So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. And he ate it. Then both of them knew things they had never known before…
God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil…”
– Genesis 2:16
Our fascination with reality begins with our ability to distinguish between opposites. It is the source and foundation of all higher intelligence. Human beings begin moving away from animals toward the divine with their recognition of dualism.
“For early humans, the world was a reality of the five senses.”
Our ancient ancestors experienced the world through their senses. Like an infant, their view of existence mostly consisted of how it felt, looked, smelled, tasted, and sounded. These direct sensual stimulations served as the essential clues to reality and formed the foundation of what was tangible. For early humans, the world was a reality of the five senses. Anything outside of those senses was of another world that was not obtainable, because it was not physically real.
“The division between the world of the senses and the world of the spirit became the first demarcation in an endless recognition that reality and existence were inherently composed of opposites, such as good and evil.”
The metaphysics behind the physical world were generally relegated to the world of spirit, usually through religion. The division between the world of the senses and the world of the spirit became the first demarcation in an endless recognition that reality and existence were inherently composed of opposites, such as good and evil. Like the toddler that touches a hot plate and immediately pulls away, we originally learned about the world based on our direct sensual positive and negative encounters with it. Some experiences being too hot, others being too cold. Our ancestors were in a constant search for “just right.” The perfect balance between opposite extremes.
We, as human beings, naturally experience the world as a world of duality.
The Physical World
The recognition of opposites, such as day and night, represents a practical view of reality in that practical outcomes are the result. One key lesson was that existence and reality involved consistently reliable patterns, that if recognized, could be utilized to alter existence and reality in terms of our experience. A pattern, such as night and day, encompasses deeper patterns that are also necessary for survival. One specific outcome of such thinking was the development of farming and agriculture. Here is how it works.
“A pattern, such as night and day, encompasses deeper patterns that are also necessary for survival.”
By recognizing the duality of night and day there is also a direct recognition of other patterns such as change and impermanence. Night does not last forever, and neither does day. In addition, although the pattern remains consistent, the prominence of day and night also changes consistently throughout the pattern, with days becoming longer and nights becoming shorter, and vice versa. These smaller day and night cycles also form a larger cycle known as seasons. Seasons then form the essential cycle we know as a year. Farming and agriculture depend on knowing the appropriate time to plant and harvest specific crops within that yearly seasonal cycle.
These patterns offer a predictability that allows them to be utilized for the purpose of changing the reality of human beings. The implementation of farming and agriculture, for example, represents a monumental shift and improvement in the development of human culture and civilization; directly stemming from the ability to recognize the nature of duality (night and day) and the cyclical patterns generated from it (weeks, months, seasons, years). The practical results of recognizing and utilizing the pattern of opposites are extremely powerful.
“This experience-based approach to reality is unique in that it requires no essential understanding of the process itself to be utilized successfully.”
This experience-based approach to reality is unique in that it requires no essential understanding of the process itself to be utilized successfully. Our ancestors may not have understood that the earth revolved around the sun in conjunction with its own rotation causing events such as day and night, or the seasons. However, they did recognize the pattern of those events. By connecting those patterns to other patterns, they developed a knowledge of how the world worked that allowed them to influence their own experience and reality for the first time. Even if they believed the sun was being dragged across the sky by a chariot to create day and night, the practical results remained the same.
Our ancestors could see, feel, hear, and smell the difference between night and day. Within this single set of opposites reside a myriad of other oppositional sparks such as hot and cold, light and dark, safe and dangerous, work and rest, and even being asleep or awake. Dualism represented the quintessence of their reality and existence. Life for early human beings was composed and structured around these seemingly contradictory patterns and cycles. This was the real world.
“Dualism represented the quintessence of their reality and existence. Life for early human beings was composed and structured around these seemingly contradictory patterns and cycles.”
Thousands of years later, Aristotle would codify all knowledge that could be known in the physical world into the science of Physics.
Postscript
Alright everybody, there’s a lot to unpack. The concept of duality, and the Biblical narrative that explains it, are a critical part of Western Reality. In theological terms, it is the opening act of a narrative involving the fall of “Mankind” and God’s plan for reunification and redemption called the Bible. In philosophical terms, it is a metaphor, or analogy, for why human beings are unique from all other animals: reason. This is the foundation of a Western duality that would come to be known as science and religion.
Recognizing our Experience
The world of duality revolves around our ability to recognize our unique individual, and shared collective, experience. We experience hot and cold, light and dark, work and rest, and we recognize it as day and night. It is hot during the day and cold at night. It is light during the day, and dark at night. We work in the day, and we sleep at night. We experience and recognize that other human beings generally experience and recognize the same things we do. This allows us to utilize our experience as a way of changing it.
“Dualism is the source of inductive logic. Inductive logic is the beginning of reason.”
Human beings not only recognize their own experiences, they use reason in order to change them. Once recognizing basic patterns such as night and day, leading to patterns called seasons, they also use reason, called inductive logic, to make predictions based on those cyclical patterns of opposites. This is the kind of reasoning that leads to the possibility of sciences such as agriculture. Dualism is the source of inductive logic. Inductive logic is the beginning of reason. Understanding the patterns of the physical world and how they affect our reality became known as physics.
Yields Practical Results
The important thing to understand about inductive logic is that it yields practical results without requiring any specific knowledge or understanding as to why. You don’t need to know “why” there is day or night, you only need to recognize that there is a consistent pattern of day and night in order to exploit the possibilities of inducive logic. Inductive logic is an inherent form of reasoning within all human beings. In both religious and scientific recognition and experience this type of reasoning is what separates human beings from all other animals on earth. However, inductive knowledge is not perfect. In our next post, we will see how these imperfections in the logic of duality became a unique focus of their own called metaphysics.
“Inductive logic is an inherent form of reasoning within all human beings. In both religious and scientific recognition and experience this type of reasoning is what separates human beings from all other animals on earth.”
The source material for inductive logic consists of physical experience through the five senses. We recognize and compare these experiences to make distinctions and predictions regarding reality itself. However, human beings also recognize that “unexpected” things happen that are inconsistent with the usual cyclical patterns of life. There must be something more than just what we perceive with our senses. There must be another reality. One that can only be known through another form of reasoning.
Next week we will consider the metaphysics related to the non-physical world.
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