With Access To The Environment, Power, Wealth, Fame—Adventure, Exploration And Even Love Become Possible
The individual takes his or her place along the synchronic axis of freedom as an aspirant seeking liberation from the restrictive nature of his/her environment. Accordingly, the individual has certain needs that must be satisfied. The problem with many political and psychological interpretations of the individual is that these ideas are based, not upon the “liberation ideal” as such, but rather, on specific aspects of the liberation process. People have economic needs of course, but material gain is only one form of gratification; nevertheless, a person first encounters needs, which, in turn, become wants, which, in turn, necessitate access to one’s environment in order to satisfy theses desires. With the right kind of access to one’s environment, power, wealth, and fame, or, if you prefer, adventure, exploration, and love etc. become obtainable---but, all this entails a liberation process that extends all the way back to the birth of time —the diachronic movement of content occurring in the synchronic structure of form.
Typically, human nature/material world concepts are described in physical, biological, and psychological terminology. Replacing these concepts with structural terminology—a structural interpretation of the material world—is what this blog is about and if successful, a different, more comprehensive, explanation of phenomena will be revealed.
The synchronic axis, in the context of freedom, may be understood as the process of liberation from a restrictive environment. This synchronic liberation process takes place in whole steps, steps of liberation that produce more freedom, freedom composed of two poles--the freedom pole and the environment pole. Here’s how it works: Content, at the first synchronic level, consists of “negations negating negations.” On this level (the level substituting for the concept physical) both the freedom pole and the environment pole of the synchronic axis consist of negations,--negations negating negations, however, when negation, at a higher level of freedom (the level substituting for the concept biological), is free to stand alone, then content takes precedence over form. The liberated content that stands apart from negation, on this higher level of structure, becomes alive. Life, or the being of continuity, forms one pole of the newly elevated synchronic axis while death (the negation of life) constitutes the other pole of the axis. Freedom flowers in this world of biological evolution (evolution being the reciprocal movement occurring between life and death); however, freedom increases at an almost exponential rate once liberation from this biological level has been achieved.
Because synchronic structure rises on the back of negation, the liberation process is not limited to biological evolution. At the next synchronic level (the level substituting for the psychological/mind concept), a more evolved species of life is the result. On this higher structural level, when the continuity of negation becomes free to stand alone, content and form merge at each synchronic pole, thus at one pole (the empirical side) continuity occurs in discontinuity and, at the other pole (the freedom side) discontinuity occurs in continuity. Diachronically speaking, the content embedded in this structure is the human experience of self-consciousness occurring in a physical event. Discovered in this structure is the potential to produce a great deal of content, but the actualization of this potential, it must be remembered, takes place along the liberation path in the form of the objectification of self-nature and culture, or the reciprocal movement occurring between mind and event. At this level of synchronic structure (the physical event of a thinking person), the story of civilization unfolds and, from the point of view of liberation, this story becomes the history of the human struggle to survive, overcome poverty, ignorance, injustice,--to overcome all the physical and psychological afflictions that subvert the actualization of human potential.
Pictures always help simplify what is difficult to comprehend, so with simplification in mind, I present the following pictured attempt at describing the changes that occur in synchronic structure, the changes resulting in increased freedom. To begin: Let the V shape represent the image of freedom’s synchronic axis. Let the left side of the V represent the empirical world (the negative pole of synchronic structure) and the right side represent the freedom pole, or the indeterminacy that opens up the process of liberation, the process that Whitehead and Piaget would not object to, the process where Piaget tells us that “any content is form relative to some inferior content and any form the content for some higher form.” (Piaget, 1970, p. 140) It is also here where the empirical and freedom sides of the V meet, where the two negative poles meet. This, to be sure, is a very constrained state of existence, but still, it is open enough to allow for the expansion freedom. Now label the vertex, the V bottom, as ~~b (not, not being). “Negations negating negations,” on this level, define the entire V structure, (as they also imply that which lies outside the V structure, or the logical space of affirmation); that is, “negations negating negations” define the V structure until, on the back of negation, a new level of freedom becomes liberated.
On the next freedom level, somewhere above the V vertex, on the empirical side, let ~b represent the physical event of life. This is a temporary condition, interrupted, eventually, by death and decay. Across from ~b, let b, the reciprocal counterpart to ~b, on the freedom side of the V, represent life’s journey toward more evolved life forms, i.e., life forms of greater complexity. Life, through adaptation and diversity, expands and becomes more highly evolved. Freedom, on two levels now, persists until further up the V, but still within the V structure, another level of freedom is liberated.
On this higher liberated state of freedom, let b~b (continuity occurring in discontinuity), on the empirical side of the V, represent the physical event of self-consciousness, and, directly across from b~b, on the freedom side of the V, let ~bb, discontinuity occurring in continuity, represent consciousness participating in the self-consciousness moment/experience. On this structural level, a new freedom is produced, the freedom to freely participate in freedom. In other words, out of the embedded experience of discontinuity occurring in continuity emerges the subjective aim of a conscious self (on this level, ~bb becomes the source of all identities—becomes the source of symbolic representation). Freedom not only expands at the level of the physical event of self-consciousness, the level where the story of civilization unfolds, it mushrooms--and the V shape grows larger (and wider). This new freedom erupts into the historical/cultural environment of social interaction and social organization, which, over time, produces modernity (and the negative effects of modernity). The Enlightenment, the hypothetical-deductive method resulting in scientific and technological advances, etc. – all of the best of civilization, is now, in part, working against the continued expansion of freedom; that is, the sustaining Earth resources of freedom are being eliminated, polluted, and/or unjustly horded. All this too, is part of the liberation process as self-consciousness continually seeks more freedom, more liberation.
There you have it; my pictured description of the V shape/structure. What follows now, is my commentary on the significance of this structural interpretation of nature.
Freedom and logical form demonstrate a co-dependent relationship; that is, freedom and logical form develop together. When freedom and logical form merge in the participatory moment of a conscious self, identity is the result, and in the wake of identity imagination follows. More specifically, the possibilities contained in the participatory moment of a conscious self are immense, but the immediate consequence is that identity is preserved in the midst of constant change. This becomes clear when you consider that in discontinuity occurring in continuity (~bb) an awareness of not-being exists and, by implication, something must be before it can not-be (Descartes’ cogito ergo sum is another example of this consequence). This is not the end of it, however, for awareness of implied identity occurs in the presence of factual events and with the identity of events, freedom moves forward in the form of an implied knowledge of one’s environment. In itself, this “passage of time” does not produce a great deal of knowledge, but because we bring the logical relationships implicit in synchronic structure—and, or, and implies-- to bear on the experience of an event, we may form judgments concerning the significance and the probable cause of an event. These judgments are determined valid across a continuum which ranges from sensation divorced from theory at one end, to, at the other end, sensation reinforced by the most advance and respected scientific theories available.
I am not suggesting that physical events occur only for humans. As the V structure indicates, there is an empirical side to everything. Life accommodates and assimilates an empirical environment in order to survive, and to liberate more freedom. Survival and the forward movement of freedom, procreation, adaptation and evolution, are not different from freedom; even on the level of negations negating negations,--the uplifting of complexity, the evolution of star stuff, the liberation of the necessary conditions that support life and the participatory moment of a conscious self,--all entail the empirical side of the V structure. Absent an empirical side, the freedom side of the V structure could not exist. Freedom, no matter how free, always remains stuck in the empirical. For humans, however, the physical event extends well beyond the sum of the conditions that come together to insure survival.
Life is embedded in its negation and self-consciousness is embedded in its negation. These empirical conditions, in both cases, represent the opposite of the liberated phenomenon, i.e., life/death and self- consciousness/material facts. However, the material world (the physical event) is open to scientific investigations (life simply being explained as the material world far from equilibrium). But, we may ask, what, specifically, is entailed in self-consciousness’s negation, or, put differently, what exactly is the opposite of ~bb besides b~b?
The opposite of self-consciousness has nothing to do with cultural content because cultural content is a product of the liberation process, a product of self-consciousness which, in turn, is a product of the liberation process. Therefore, the opposite of self-consciousness will be found in that which does not change, in the space-time content of continuity, determinism, and locality, i.e., in the physical properties Einstein so staunchly defended when faced with the strangeness of quantum reality. But, all physical events are cloaked in cultural meanings, meanings acquired along the “life lines” of participatory conscious selves, so we must ask: Can we really trust these identities of physical properties that do not change? The answer to this question is that we have no recourse other than to trust that which makes logical sense and occurs in a predictable manner. But, once again, what differentiates human events from these types of empirical events is that these particular events negate (as the V structure indicates) the very liberated structure that constitutes human consciousness. These kinds of physical events negate the structure that knowingly participates in physical events. So, once again, we ask, what exactly does the physical event negate?
There is no room in the physical event for a consciousness that questions, there is only room for the electro-chemical firing of synapses occurring in squishy grey matter that gets labeled brain, a brain that upon manipulation can induce and create predictable conscious activity. There is no room in the physical event for the ~bb structure that is the source of the symbol-generating movement of free thought, -- the movement that makes thinking possible, that makes “time of mind” possible. Physical time or revolutions around the sun, vibrations of an atom, decay in terms of biological clocks, etc., and the measured time of the empirical events, exists as a product of “time of mind.” “Time of mind” is embedded in space-time and all identities and cultural contents, including the descriptions of the changes that occur in empirical events, are secondary effects of time of mind liberation. But, that does not mean that Einstein is/was wrong.
Everyday we participate in physical events via our five senses, inquiry, analysis, conscience, and imagination. We participate in a material world that from the scientific point of view is defined as determinate, continuous, and local. But, according to the V structure, this determinate, continuous, and local world is a necessary consequence of “time of mind,”—a necessary product (“time of mind” being characterized by non-locality, indeterminateness, and discontinuity) in the liberation process because it preserves the integrity, “wholeness,” of the V structure. Thus, freedom and its opposite exist in the form of a co-dependent relationship in order to preserve “wholeness.” The precondition of our self-consciousness environment then is the condition that separates and permits its opposite to occur, or, put another way, a determinate, continuous, and local world exists because self-consciousness exists outside of the physical event environment in a discontinuous, indeterminate, and non-local way. From a materialist point of view determinism, locality, and continuity allow for the reductionist methods of science to work; that is, as long as science keeps its investigations focused on the material world, as long as science doesn’t penetrate deep into that area where the integrity of the physical universe breaks down, where the deterministic motions of mass points no longer exist!
But, at the depths of the "material world" there exists a fuzzy world that exhibits behavior only when we observe it-- when we separate ourselves from it. There we find a physical reality with no uniquely definable location, a physical reality that exists in several states at the same time, a physical reality structured by a mathematical equation, a physical reality described by form as opposed to content. Freedom’s synchronic axis of “wholeness” not only predicts this phenomena, it explains it. This phenomenon occurs because all “higher negations and affirmations” are embedded in the "ground negation" that makes possible the liberation process, the ground negation that represents the condition that separates and permits its opposite to occur, the ground negation that defines the entire V structure, the ground negation that not only preserves “wholeness,” but also implies the Great Affirmation existing outside the V structure.
Discontinuity occurring in continuity (~bb in the V structure) not only permits the fruits of civilization to manifest, it also allows individuals to actualize their own personal potentials, the actualization of which give pleasure and meaning to life. But, “time of mind” is not recognized by science. Time, for science has nothing to do with actualizing potential; time is merely an objectified measure of scale. However, there is an anomaly that might shed some light on this subject. Science, to my knowledge at least, has no answer to a very common phenomenon that speaks directly to the existence of “time of mind.” “Time flies!” or “Where did the time go?” are not mere expressions, rather, they are actual descriptions of the “time of mind.” “Time of mind” really does go faster as we get older. Here’s why: Discontinuity occurring in continuity implies the mind-space where identity/affirmation occurs. What this means is that while we are alive, we accumulate, process, and store information. Accumulated meaningful associations, over time, speed up this processing because our brain stores more information as we age. In other words, all other things being held equal, the mind of the forty-year-old processes more information and (hopefully) uses that information more efficiently than a thirty-year-old. Quantitatively and quantitatively time flies as we grow old. Or, even more to the point, think of how long it took to get through summer vacation between your third and forth grade school year and compare that memory with the way you experience time today!
As we attend to psychological “mind stuff” time speeds up. Nature’s meaningful and cyclic events can be measured, time as change is, typically, how we think of time, but that kind of time is not the time encountered in inquires concerning the meaning and significance of embodied physical events. If we are ever going to appropriately respond to the big questions, “time of mind” must be included, in one form or another, in the response. The physicist Edward Harrison, in his discussion of Relativity, tells us that this second nature of time (he calls it the time of becoming) is precisely what is needed if we are to put a “human face” on science. He says:
“In one sense we are aware of time as a state of being throughout which things are diversified. From this point of view the now embraces all time—the past, present, and future—in a state of being. This is the aspect of time that has been spatialized and woven into the fabric of space-time. But in another sense we are also aware of time as an act of becoming, of one state of being flowing and wheeling into another state of being…The now of today with its past, present, and future is different from the now of yesterday with its past, present, and future. The tapestry of being in each act of becoming is rewoven. This aspect of time defies spatial representation. It has been omitted from the physical universe because we have so far not learned how to express it either linguistically or mathematically. To condemn the act of becoming as an illusion oversimplifies the world in which we live….If we cannot put the now with its act of becoming into the physical universe, then it seems safe to say that we cannot put consciousness and its awareness of free will into it either. We have failed to represent in the physical universe even the rudest aspects of ourselves as experiencing individuals. Possibly the next major step in the design of universe will be the discovery of a more sophisticated way of representing time.” (Masks Of The Universe, 1985, p. 155-56)
In the time of becoming, civilizations are born, endure, and are sometimes destroyed. Anthropologically speaking, at the time when animals refused to passively accept their environment and instead worked to actively transform that environment, that was also the time when animals acquired the rudimentary beginnings of time of mind (the implicative-affirmative’s symbol-generating capacity)—the birthright of inquiry, analysis, conscience and imagination. So, we might ask, is it possible to reconcile this new concept of “time” with the time-concepts of science? Or, put it another way, maybe this new concept of time can help us to better understand why relativity theory and quantum mechanics are irreconcilable scientific theories.
Because observations occur in the space of continuity, determinism and locality 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 self-conscious agents in the physical universe. Likewise, quantum mechanics accurately describes natural phenomena. The phenomena being described are "fuzzy" because, as it is throughout the synchronic axis of freedom, the space that separates also embeds and connects, or, at 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, the synchronic axis of freedom tells us: Were it not for the negative space/condition of determinism, continuity, and locality, human self-consciousness, with its attributes 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!
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