Reconciliation Post 3rd of 3

The Living Logos

Obviously, life is the precondition for speech, but what are the preconditions for life? In Cosmology we know that we are connected to a friendly universe (at least from the point of view of the observer asking why). Why are the parameters of the universe –the relative strengths of gravity and electromagnetism etc. (so far, three dozen and counting)—so fine-tuned to the existence and survival of life? This connection to a friendly universe is just one of the “connectivity problems” that must be dealt with. In quantum mechanics we know that our knowledge of the collapse of the wave function, Bohr’s complementarity theory, the measurement problems in quantum mechanics, etc. are all interconnected with our participation in the event—as the “agencies of observation.” But here’s the connectivity stumper, we also know that our participation in an event (at the quantum level) instantaneously connects us to an event (theoretically) at the other side of our space/time continuum. That connection presupposes a whole different kind of connection. Many people are working to solve that problem. Bohm’s implicate order, just to mention one theory, addresses the complexity of that problem. I, on the other hand, recognize that in “this whole different kind of connection” there may be no answer to this problem. Rather, if you want to call it an answer, this answer will come in the form of recognition of the precondition for any answer whatsoever. In brief, here is the rest of my theory:

After much consideration, I ended up using the negation of not-being-- a double negation-- for the precondition of life. In a double negation an affirmation is implied. What is being affirmed? At minimum, it’s simply the logical space of implication. I can’t really talk about the significance of this space until I fill in more of the theory (that will come with more posts). It’s what occurs on the other side of this space, however, that I want to talk about now.

The easiest way to describe my theory is to take a structuralist approach. This approach tends to emphasize “wholes” and “totalities” –ultimately the ground for everything. The double negation becomes, in this respect, the innate structuring capacity of all structures, and as such, characterizes the synchronic axis of all phenomena. This axis may be thought of as unconstructed, but even so, it circumscribes all phenomena (content) by its form. In other words, everything that we know about the universe takes place between the two Nots.

For the most part, I take a systems view of phenomena. Things change as they move away from equilibrium and, over time, become more complex. Structurally, this is called diachronic movement. Personally, I call this movement liberating. I call it liberating because, once a sufficient level of complexity is reached, and a shift in structure occurs, life gets liberated. At conditions far from equilibrium, life progresses within a different structure—the structure of continuity and discontinuity (death). Freedom and complexity expand within this new structure, and, on a level of sufficient complexity, once again, the structure of life shifts. The “space of the implicative-affirmative” gets liberated in this new shift of structure. The implicative-affirmative space, the auto-catalytic attribute of the double negation that circumscribes all phenomena, in this second structural shift, gets birthed in the phenomenal world. This phenomenal space of affirmation has become the “workhorse” that builds civilizations. Anthropologically speaking, at the time when animals refused to passively accept the environment and instead began to actively transform it,--that was also the time when animals acquired the mental space of the implicative-affirmative’s symbol-generating capacity—the birthright of inquiry, analysis, conscience and imagination.


Relativity Theory And Quantum Phenomena Reconciled

Let the following quote from David Bohm provide the underlying context for what I am about to suggest:

“Relativity and quantum physics agree in suggesting unbroken wholeness, although they disagree on everything else. That is, relativity requires strict continuity, strict determinism, and strict locality, while quantum mechanics requires just the opposite—discontinuity, indeterminism, and non-locality. The two basic theories of physics have entirely contradictory concepts which have not been brought together; this is one of the problems that remains. They both agree, however, on the unbroken wholeness of the universe, although in different ways.” (The Reenchantment of Science, p, 65)


“Relativity did away with space and time as the backdrop of deterministic motion of mass points,” says Laszlo (p.80, 2004), “but it preserved the unambiguous description of the basic entities of the physical universe.” By basic entities of the physical universe, I assume here that he means those entities that do not show signs of discontinuity, indeterminism, and non-locality. Opposites are necessary in order to preserve “wholeness” in my theory, so discontinuity, indeterminism, and non-locality become just as essential for a description of the real world as determinism, continuity, and locality. Looking specifically at the different levels of negation in my theory may shed some light on the contradictory aspects that separate Relativity from quantum physics.

Since it’s all about implicative space, we begin with double negation—the ground level. An affirmation is implied on this level. Double negation connects, not only to affirmation, it connects to other levels of more complex affirmations by way of the negative space of those same affirmations—their own unique negations. Life is embedded in one of these negations and self-consciousness is embedded in another one of these negations. In other words, the negative space that separates here also permits its opposite while being simultaneously connected to the “ground state of double negation”. So now we may ask: What are the pre-conditions for this state of affairs?

Enter Relativity with its conditions of strict continuity, strict determinism and strict locality. In life’s negative condition, the environment, locality is certainly necessary. In self-consciousness, continuity and determinism—the conditions necessary for a physical event-- become its negative condition. Thus, determinism and continuity allow for the reductionist methods of science to work; that is, until science penetrates deep into that area where the integrity of the physical universe breaks down, where the deterministic motions of mass points no longer exist!

At the depths of the “material world” there exists a fuzzy world that exhibits behavior only when we observe it. There we find a physical reality with no uniquely determinable location, a physical reality that exists in several states at the same time, a physical reality structured by a mathematical equation. Do we find there also the “ground negation” that connects all subsequent levels of negation and affirmation to---the affirmation that connects everything? If we do then the connectivity problems found in our experience at the quantum level begins to make sense. In the theory of dialectical freedom’s structural form, two “forms” stand out as a way to better understand the contradictory concepts that have not been brought together in Relativity and quantum physics.

The same physical attributes (discontinuity, indeterminism, and non-locality) that characterize self-consciousness characterize also the “ground negation.” At “ground” implication remains open, while in self-consciousness, implication opens up the world-historical-process. In other words, the negation that lies at the center of self-consciousness, the negation that permits our capacity to solve mathematical equations, lies also at the “ground level” of our experience with quantum physics. Because observation (affirmation) takes place in the space of continuity, determinism and locality-- self-consciousness’s negative space— there is an unavoidable clash of worlds—the world of continuity, determinism and locality (Relativity) clashes with the world of discontinuity, indeterminism, and non-locality (quantum physics). Bottom line—Relativity accurately describes natural phenomena. Einstein’s equations, when applied to the world of physical events, provide accurate information concerning our status as participating agents in the physical universe. Likewise, quantum mechanics accurately describes natural phenomena. Only the phenomena being described are “fuzzy” because, as it is throughout freedom’s dialectic, the space that separates also embeds and connects. In other words, on the quantum level, self-consciousness confronts its own ground condition in the form of the “phenomenal strangeness” of quantum physics.

Ultimately, from its most holistic perspective, dialectical freedom’s structural form tells us: Were it not for the negative space/condition of determinism, continuity, and locality, the human consciousness of discontinuity, non-locality, and indeterminism (opposites are necessary to conserve wholeness) would not be free in a world of our own experience (by degrees, experience of our own choosing), seeking truth, justice, and religious meaning!