Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

Post 33. 04/26/2018

What is EnFormAction?

To Enform or not to Form?

The BothAnd Principle is a corollary to the thesis of Enformationism, in that it is a mashup of both Materialism and Spiritualism, of both Science and Religion, of both Empirical and Theoretical methods. The novel concept of Enformation is also a synthesis of both Energy and Information. So I invented a new portmanteu word1 to more precisely encapsulate that two-in-one meaning : “EnFormAction”. In this case though, the neologism contains three parts : “En” for Energy, “Form” for Shape or Structure or Design, and “Action” for Change or Causation. But Energy & Causation are basically the same thing. And the “En-” prefix is typically used to indicate that which causes a thing to be in whatever state or form or condition is referred to.

Unfortunately, since EnFormAction is a neologism with a technical meaning, its usage may be confusing to those not familiar with the scientific concept of Energy, or the mythical notion of Platonic Form, or the philosophical understanding of Causation. So, I have tried to define the term in various ways to give a sense of its breadth of meaning. Here are a couple of attempts to pin down the intent behind the coinage of new word for a novel concept :

EnFormAction : Literally, the act of enforming --- to fashion, to create, to cause.
1. Metaphorically, the Will of G*D flowing through the world to cause evolutionary change in a teleological direction.
2. Immaterial Information is almost always defined in terms of its physical context or material container. (e.g. mathematical DNA code in chemical form)
3. Raw En-Form-Action has few, if any, definable perceivable qualities. By itself, Information is colorless, odorless, and formless. Unlike colorless, odorless, and formless water though, Information gives physical form to whatever is defined by it.
4. Like DNA, Information shapes things via internal rather than external constraints. Like the Laws of Physics, Information is the motivating & constraining force of physical reality. Like Energy, Information is the universal active agent of the cosmos. Like Spinoza's God, Information appears to be the single substance of the whole World.
5. Information is the divine Promethean power of transformation. Information is Generic in the sense of generating all forms from a formless pool of possibility : the Platonic Forms.

EnFormAction : the creative power to enform; to cause transformations from one form to another.
1. As the generic power of creation (Big Bang, Singularity), it turns eternal Potential into temporal Actual, it transforms Platonic Forms into physical Things.
2. As physical energy (Causation), it is the power to cause changes in material structure.
3. As condensed energy (Matter), it is light speed vibrations slowed down to more stable states.
4. As animating energy (elan vital, Chi), it is the power to cause complex matter to self-move.
5. As mental energy (Consciousness; knowing), it is the power to store & process incoming information as meaning relative to self.
6. As self-awareness (Self-consciousness; Will-Power), it is the power to make intentional changes to self and environment.
7. As the holistic expression of the human Self (Soul), it is the essence or pattern that defines you as a person (Chi, Spirit).

See also the “Energy” and “EnFormAction” entries in the BothAnd Blog 1 Glossary.  

End of Post 33

What force causes expanding matter to clump together into whirlpools of stars?
Gravity
is
EnFormAction

1. Portmanteau word :
A metaphorical reference to an old-fashioned term for a folding suitcase with two compartments.
<<The term portmanteau was first used by Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass: “Well, 'slithy' means “lithe and slimy” and 'mimsy' is “flimsy and miserable”. You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.” >>

EnFormAction :

“En-” within ; referring to essential changes of state

“Form-” to mold or give shape to : it's the structure of a thing that makes it what it is.

“Action-” causation : the suffix “-ation” denotes the product or result of an action.

So the cosmic force of EnFormAction is the Cause of all Things in the world and of all Actions or changes of state. In physical terms, it is both the Energy and the Material, plus the Mental concept of things. It is the creative impulse of evolution.

Plato’s Forms were described, not as things, but as the idea or concept or design of things. The conceptual structure of a thing can be expressed as geometric ratios and relationships which allow matter to take-on a specific shape. So, in a sense, the ideal Form of a real Thing is the mathematical recipe for transforming its potential into actual.

NOTE :
EnFormAction is not a physical force, pushing objects around. It’s more like Gravity and Strange Attractors of Physics that “pull” stuff toward them. It is in effect a Teleological Attractor. How that “spooky action at a distance” works may be best explained by Terrence Deacon’s definition of “Absence”.

Incomplete Nature, How Mind Emerged From Matter
Terrence Deacon

   For those indoctrinated in physical Materialism, that notion will sound like non-sense. But for those who can accept the power of Zero, it may be an eye-opening concept.

Zero, Biography of a Dangerous Idea
Charles Seife