Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia; Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.
The BothAnd philosophy attempts to balance all aspects of existence : Real & Ideal Material & Spiritual Science & Religion Macro & Quantum Reason & Intuition
Post 74.March 10, 2019
Materialism versus Spiritualism
BothAnd balances Realism and idealism
After the Renaissance of ancient Greek philosophy revived Europe’s confidence in the rule of reason versus the rule of faith, modern Science quickly ascended to prominence, as it lever-aged the power of Intuition (subjective inner knowing) + Reason (objective outer knowing) into uncanny technologies that rivalled those of the ancient gods. In the Enlightenment era, conjectural Astrology, tinkering Alchemy, and related systems of aspirational knowledge, gradually shed the gaudy vestments of Spiritualism, and put on the plain white coats of Materialism. Emphasis on empirical methods and practical worldly results – rather than reliance on the outdated expertise of ancient authorities – resulted in the acceleration of history that we now call Modernity.
The validity of Spiritualism versus Materialism has been debated to death over decades of decades, but most people accepted a mismash of both views. Now in modern times, the ancient academic argument has been transformed by the emer-gence of a new lens through which to view the world : non-classical Quantum Mechanics. That’s a misnomer, because quantum queerness is hardly equivalent to simple cause & effect mechanics. “Quirky Mathematics” would be more apt, because Planck-scale objects are defined by equations3, not by physical properties. Those mathematical statements can only describe, not clear-cut things, but ambiguous states varying between 1 and 0, on or off, actual or virtual, existing or non-existent. For example, ghostly quantum “wavicles” exist in a quasi state of maybeness. They are neither here nor there, and can even pass through walls via equivocal tunnelling. Ironically, these un-observable, but empirically–confirmed facts of reality have again put Science on the defensive, and have given Spiritualists new arguments for the existence of a parallel realm of strange powers and agencies. Thus, Science and Spirituality have become strange bedfellows, in a marriage sometimes called Quantum Mysticism.
Materialists refused to accept the implicit dematerialization4 of physics, and proposed their own alternative theories of what’s actually happening in the unreal underside of reality. Yet, for theoretical purposes, scientists imagine the fundamental aspect of reality, not as lots of solid substantial atoms, but a tenuous field of statistical relationships. Just as in the Hindu doctrine of Maya, our experiential reality seems to be an imaginary construct created by the brain to make sense of abstract energies (information) detected by the senses. So, the Enformationism thesis agrees with the bald matrix kid that “there is no spoon”5. In the quantum foundation of the real world everything is a relationship between things – except there are no things. The objects you see are constructs of your imagination. They are the virtual Particles of quantum physics interpreted as the furniture of reality. However, the fundamental information (creative code) is real, and it is created by the Enformer, not the machines. Humans, though, have only limited power over virtual reality, in that we can, via imagination, project the current state into the future and arrange to be in the right place at the right time.
Post 74 continued . . . click Next
Materialism or Spiritualism Which is True Reality?
In the Matrix movie, physical reality is presented as a kind of gritty Material realm, dripping with stoic Existential dread, but redeemed with heroic Authenticity*. The ironically named refugee camp, Zion, is a dark ugly underworld of rebel humans struggling to survive, and to remain optimistic, without the deceptive romantic imagery of the machine-made virtual world. For the huddled masses of Zion, our normal reality, as photo-shopped by the machines, seems like a dreamworld, Like the heavens of Spiritualism, it’s a Utopian sunlit world which jacked-in pod-people uncritically accept as true reality. But to the disillusioned rebels, it is revealed by the eye-opening red pill to be a Potemkin village – a fake reality. So, is imperfect Materialism the only reality, or is there a better world out there invisible to our fleshly eyes? Is Spiritualism the true reality, but accessible only by those who choose the blue pill of blissful Faith? In my BothAnd worldview, both physical reality and meta-physical ideality are true. But they are separate domains : Real is what we know via physical senses, while Ideal is what we know via metaphysical sentience. Both can be deceived (sensory & conceptual illusions), so all forms of knowing should be taken with a grain of skeptical salt. As for most religious myths, I take them as metaphors of “things hoped for”.
5. There is no spoon : In the Matrix movie, the melting spoon is revealed to be actually a mathematical object with no physical properties. But the bemused humans attributed stiffness to their idea of a spoon. Only adepts could by-pass the laws of physics, and move the opinions of meta-physics. In the non-movie world, spoons do indeed have material properties. Even though, on the quantum level of reality, those qualities are merely mathematical relationships. So, those who pretend to bend spoons, do so by sleight of hand and misdirection, not by mind-over-matter powers. As scientists learn to manipulate quantum scale relationships, bending spoons may be the least of the possibilities for the magic of technology.
3. Defined by Equations : “I became an atheist because, as a graduate student studying quantum physics, life seemed to be reducible to second-order differential equations. Mathematics, chemistry and physics had it all. And I didn't see any need to go beyond that”. ___Francis Collins Geneticist, now Theist
4. Dematerialization : Many scientists deplore the loss of an indisputable firm foundation to reality that followed the discovery of existentially ambiguous Quantum nature. But, Spiritualists of all kinds jumped into the “quantum gap” with various re-interpretations of ancient religious notions – such as Chi, Spirit, Prana – in the hot new terminology of practical science. Enformationism doesn’t validate all of those cross-cultural assimilations. But it does accept their venerable insight into the dual aspect of unitary nature. With the advent of life & mind, the energy causation of Physics gave birth to the ententional causation of immaterial Meta-physics. By that I mean, the human mind, and its communal extension, Culture, is a meta-natural cause of real effects. Note: Entention is defined by Terrence Deacon as Absential, in the sense of immaterial but effective. “wherever we place the fence between ententional and physical, we need instructions as how to pass through the fence”.
Materialism or Spiritualism
Which is True Reality?
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Conjectural Astrology : Pattern matching methods following the notion of “as above, so below”. It has turned over the physical measure of stars to Astronomy, but reserved its power to interpret those patterns of tea leaves in the heavens. Astrological prophecy appeals to emotions, but predictions are still hit or miss, equivalent to educated guessing.
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