Please ask 180 to point to where Gnomon ever "suggested" such a thing. Due to his mis-interpretation of the thesis, He likes to put words in my mouth that he can easily refute. In Enformationism, Information = Energy = Work = Causation.
TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
Explain why a physical brain physically "burns a lot of" physical "energy" (i.e. calories) if, as you suggest, "Information" is not "Work" — universeness
Please ask 180 to point to where Gnomon ever "suggested" such a thing. Due to his mis-interpretation of the thesis, He likes to put words in my mouth that he can easily refute. In Enformationism, Information = Energy = Work = Causation.
Please ask 180 to point to where Gnomon ever "suggested" such a thing. Due to his mis-interpretation of the thesis, He likes to put words in my mouth that he can easily refute. In Enformationism, Information = Energy = Work = Causation.
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
But the physical universe is analogue, not digital. — Alkis Piskas
Good point. Physical nature is analogue, despite "Planck's quanta". Quanta are mental analogies to gaps in our knowledge of holistic physical systems. Causation is continuous, but our perception is inherently discrete. Emergence of novelty (e.g. Phase Change) is also continuous, but rapid transformations make it seem instantaneous. On the quantum scale, the gaps in our perception make quantum leaps appear to be superluminal & supernatural. However, the universe, as a whole, including physical (material) & metaphysical (mental), seems to be both digital and analog.
Is Quantum Reality Analog after All? :
Quantum theorists often speak of the world as being pointillist at the smallest scales. Yet a closer look at the laws of nature suggests that the physical world is actually continuous—more analog than digital
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... after-all/
The universe is analog. period. when we make simulations we use a digital aproximation
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/i ... tal.12214/
Good point. Physical nature is analogue, despite "Planck's quanta". Quanta are mental analogies to gaps in our knowledge of holistic physical systems. Causation is continuous, but our perception is inherently discrete. Emergence of novelty (e.g. Phase Change) is also continuous, but rapid transformations make it seem instantaneous. On the quantum scale, the gaps in our perception make quantum leaps appear to be superluminal & supernatural. However, the universe, as a whole, including physical (material) & metaphysical (mental), seems to be both digital and analog.
Is Quantum Reality Analog after All? :
Quantum theorists often speak of the world as being pointillist at the smallest scales. Yet a closer look at the laws of nature suggests that the physical world is actually continuous—more analog than digital
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... after-all/
The universe is analog. period. when we make simulations we use a digital aproximation
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/i ... tal.12214/
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
I am fine with 'downward causation' as described by wiki above. It has NO SIGNIFICANT RELATION to teleology or teleonomy. There is NO INTENT in the biological downwards causation described by wiki above and the 'mental events acting to cause physical events' or 'change,' is HUMAN INTENT and that is the only valid connection with notions of teleology or teleonomy — universeness
I agree that Downward Causation, as observed, seems to be coasting on Momentum. But the inference of Intention is based on the billiard ball analogy. Their momentum always begins with acausal Impetus. And where the impetus does not come from other balls on the table, we can logically infer that there was an off-the-table Cause : e.g. intentional pool shooter. Although the wielder of the pool cue is Transcendent (exogenous), his necessary existence is a "significant relation" for Ontological explanations, if not for Scientific purposes. Moreover, the causal Intent behind the Big Bang impetus, may be imagined as human-like, or god-like, or an infinite chain of accidental causes, according to your personal preferences.
BTW, my replies to TPF posts are never intended to be acrimonious. But any disagreements can be interpreted as antagonism toward a poster's belief system. That's one reason why I always conclude with a bland smilie-face, or teasing "joke" icon, or stoic "I'm cool" symbol. But ↪180 Proof's harsh sarcasm toward any intimations of Transcendence makes it difficult to word a response that doesn't hit him where it hurts : his faith in Materialism/Physicalism.
a day ago
I agree that Downward Causation, as observed, seems to be coasting on Momentum. But the inference of Intention is based on the billiard ball analogy. Their momentum always begins with acausal Impetus. And where the impetus does not come from other balls on the table, we can logically infer that there was an off-the-table Cause : e.g. intentional pool shooter. Although the wielder of the pool cue is Transcendent (exogenous), his necessary existence is a "significant relation" for Ontological explanations, if not for Scientific purposes. Moreover, the causal Intent behind the Big Bang impetus, may be imagined as human-like, or god-like, or an infinite chain of accidental causes, according to your personal preferences.
BTW, my replies to TPF posts are never intended to be acrimonious. But any disagreements can be interpreted as antagonism toward a poster's belief system. That's one reason why I always conclude with a bland smilie-face, or teasing "joke" icon, or stoic "I'm cool" symbol. But ↪180 Proof's harsh sarcasm toward any intimations of Transcendence makes it difficult to word a response that doesn't hit him where it hurts : his faith in Materialism/Physicalism.
a day ago
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
Gnomon is, ex mea (humble) sententia, constructing a more elaborate interpretation of The Matrix which is itself based off of The Simulation Hypothesis (Nick Bostrom et al). What I mean to say is if you find Gnomon's Enformationism to fall short of the philosophical mark, you need to have a strong argument against The Simulation Hypothesis. Didn't you like The Matrix movies? I did although I'm deleted in the end — Agent Smith
THESIS DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED :
The "raining code" (information) from The Matrix movie, was a graphic inspiration for the BothAnd blog, but the Enformationism thesis was not specifically derived from the concept of a simulated world. Instead, it was inspired by the philosophical "paradox of Objective Reality versus Subjective Ideality". Which reflects the dual role of Information in the world : Physical and Mental.
Pursuant to your encouragement to "develop" that basic idea, I will now address the Transcendent implications of the Enformationism thesis. ↪180 Proof likes to put it into the anti-science category of New Age religions. And ↪universeness has dismissed it as a fringe religion like Theosophy*1. I can see the general philosophical resemblance to both, but my thesis was inspired by the transcendent implications of Quantum & Information science, not by any neo-religious movements.
Besides, all human cultures have postulated some kind of transcendent Principle or God to explain the Ontology of contingent existence. The secular Greek philosophers proposed abstract non-humanoid concepts, such as Logos (Reason) and First Cause (Energy ; Causation). So, my thesis could be compared to hundreds of pre-modern historical ideologies, that imagine the universe as a living organism, metaphorically born from an eternal Organizer. The only thing they all have in common is the idea that mundane Nature emerged from some transcendent power source.
However, Modernism is grounded upon un-sentimental Science, which assumes as an axiom that "nothing emerges from nothing". So, the astronomical Big Bang beginning was an embarrassment to secular scientists. Hence, Fred Hoyle's sarcastic label "Big Bang" was intended to poo-poo the magical (woo-woo) notion of a world instantaneously popping out of nowhere (inflation). Since then, other scientists have postulated equally un-scientific philosophical alternatives, such as Quantum Fluctuations from energized empty space. Besides the meaninglessness of pure-space-sans-matter, that hypothesis is based on the axiom of eternal (transcending space-time) Causation & Construction. The pre-BB axiom is similar to the Enformationism assumption of an eternal pool of Potential*2 (Energy & Enformation) which, for no apparent reason, caused an evolving universe to emerge from who-knows-where.
Religious gods typically require Faith & Worship by humans, but philosophical Principles only require Cognizance & Cooperation. FYI, Fowler's Stages of Faith*3 conclude with stage 6, universalizing faith (enlightenment)*2, and that's what Enformationism's Transcendent Enformer is supposed to be. Not literal belief in religious stories, but per Brownridge, in Philosophy Now #153 : "the encompassment of nature, the universal cosmic energy of which we are all a part". Since it has no anthro-morpic form, you can call it whatever makes sense to you : Logos, First Cause, Demon*4, etc. The thesis does not prescribe any kind of faith or worship, so it's not a religious concept.
Enformationism is merely an attempt to answer an ancient Ontological question : "why is there something instead of nothing". Big Bang, Multiverse, & Inflation hypotheses simply dismiss that conundrum as an unscientific "who cares' riddle. Likewise, Universeness & 180proof seem to prefer to leave such transcendent questions unanswered, even on a philosophy forum full of "go for it" conjectures. By convention, serious scientists are not supposed to speculate into the unknowable. But, due to popular demand, several have postulated a menagerie of pre-Bang sources of Energy & Information. They all assume some unbounded power to create (Causation) & to organize (Enformation).
My thesis merely assumes a similar timeless formless Potential for Causation & Organization. You can call that nothing-material "Logical Necessity" if you like. But the specific name that piques 180's ire is "God". Perhaps that sore spot is due to some childhood trauma related to oppressive humanoid god-models. Or maybe it's just due to deep emotional commitment to anti-religious Materialism/Physicalism. Hence, the critics seem unable to distinguish philosophical reasoning from religious mythology. So, they feel justified in ignoring Enformationism, not for any violation of scientific doctrine, but for its irksome logical implications : the fundamental essence of Reality*5 is not tangible Matter, but incorporeal Mind.
*1. Theosophy teaches that the purpose of human life is spiritual emancipation and says that the human soul undergoes reincarnation upon bodily death according to a process of karma. It promotes values of universal brotherhood and social improvement, although it does not stipulate particular ethical codes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy
*2. Potential :
The concept of potentiality, in this context, generally refers to any "possibility" that a thing can be said to have. Aristotle did not consider all possibilities the same, and emphasized the importance of those that become real of their own accord when conditions are right and nothing stops them
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential ... _actuality
*3. Fowler's Faith Stages :
https://www.institute4learning.com/2020 ... -w-fowler/
*4. Maxwell's Demon :
A scientific thought experiment using the notion of an omniscient intelligent being who could manipulate molecules in a box without doing any work, which is a violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Yet, even intellectual work expends energy. Such demons exist only as useful philosophical concepts.
David Krakauer, at Santa Fe Institute, even proposed the idea of a "selective demon" (Darwinian Demon). So, to deny their essential "existence" is to deny philosophical reasoning.
*5. The Essence of Reality is the most perceptive, exacting look at the flow of Reality ever. Rarely has a human glimpsed beyond the confines of the self-aware mind to see the interactive flow of mind-value into Reality.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Es ... 3SGgAACAAJ
Note -- I haven't read the book, but the title is provocative for this post
Matrix%20note%20box.png
THESIS DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED :
The "raining code" (information) from The Matrix movie, was a graphic inspiration for the BothAnd blog, but the Enformationism thesis was not specifically derived from the concept of a simulated world. Instead, it was inspired by the philosophical "paradox of Objective Reality versus Subjective Ideality". Which reflects the dual role of Information in the world : Physical and Mental.
Pursuant to your encouragement to "develop" that basic idea, I will now address the Transcendent implications of the Enformationism thesis. ↪180 Proof likes to put it into the anti-science category of New Age religions. And ↪universeness has dismissed it as a fringe religion like Theosophy*1. I can see the general philosophical resemblance to both, but my thesis was inspired by the transcendent implications of Quantum & Information science, not by any neo-religious movements.
Besides, all human cultures have postulated some kind of transcendent Principle or God to explain the Ontology of contingent existence. The secular Greek philosophers proposed abstract non-humanoid concepts, such as Logos (Reason) and First Cause (Energy ; Causation). So, my thesis could be compared to hundreds of pre-modern historical ideologies, that imagine the universe as a living organism, metaphorically born from an eternal Organizer. The only thing they all have in common is the idea that mundane Nature emerged from some transcendent power source.
However, Modernism is grounded upon un-sentimental Science, which assumes as an axiom that "nothing emerges from nothing". So, the astronomical Big Bang beginning was an embarrassment to secular scientists. Hence, Fred Hoyle's sarcastic label "Big Bang" was intended to poo-poo the magical (woo-woo) notion of a world instantaneously popping out of nowhere (inflation). Since then, other scientists have postulated equally un-scientific philosophical alternatives, such as Quantum Fluctuations from energized empty space. Besides the meaninglessness of pure-space-sans-matter, that hypothesis is based on the axiom of eternal (transcending space-time) Causation & Construction. The pre-BB axiom is similar to the Enformationism assumption of an eternal pool of Potential*2 (Energy & Enformation) which, for no apparent reason, caused an evolving universe to emerge from who-knows-where.
Religious gods typically require Faith & Worship by humans, but philosophical Principles only require Cognizance & Cooperation. FYI, Fowler's Stages of Faith*3 conclude with stage 6, universalizing faith (enlightenment)*2, and that's what Enformationism's Transcendent Enformer is supposed to be. Not literal belief in religious stories, but per Brownridge, in Philosophy Now #153 : "the encompassment of nature, the universal cosmic energy of which we are all a part". Since it has no anthro-morpic form, you can call it whatever makes sense to you : Logos, First Cause, Demon*4, etc. The thesis does not prescribe any kind of faith or worship, so it's not a religious concept.
Enformationism is merely an attempt to answer an ancient Ontological question : "why is there something instead of nothing". Big Bang, Multiverse, & Inflation hypotheses simply dismiss that conundrum as an unscientific "who cares' riddle. Likewise, Universeness & 180proof seem to prefer to leave such transcendent questions unanswered, even on a philosophy forum full of "go for it" conjectures. By convention, serious scientists are not supposed to speculate into the unknowable. But, due to popular demand, several have postulated a menagerie of pre-Bang sources of Energy & Information. They all assume some unbounded power to create (Causation) & to organize (Enformation).
My thesis merely assumes a similar timeless formless Potential for Causation & Organization. You can call that nothing-material "Logical Necessity" if you like. But the specific name that piques 180's ire is "God". Perhaps that sore spot is due to some childhood trauma related to oppressive humanoid god-models. Or maybe it's just due to deep emotional commitment to anti-religious Materialism/Physicalism. Hence, the critics seem unable to distinguish philosophical reasoning from religious mythology. So, they feel justified in ignoring Enformationism, not for any violation of scientific doctrine, but for its irksome logical implications : the fundamental essence of Reality*5 is not tangible Matter, but incorporeal Mind.
*1. Theosophy teaches that the purpose of human life is spiritual emancipation and says that the human soul undergoes reincarnation upon bodily death according to a process of karma. It promotes values of universal brotherhood and social improvement, although it does not stipulate particular ethical codes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy
*2. Potential :
The concept of potentiality, in this context, generally refers to any "possibility" that a thing can be said to have. Aristotle did not consider all possibilities the same, and emphasized the importance of those that become real of their own accord when conditions are right and nothing stops them
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential ... _actuality
*3. Fowler's Faith Stages :
https://www.institute4learning.com/2020 ... -w-fowler/
*4. Maxwell's Demon :
A scientific thought experiment using the notion of an omniscient intelligent being who could manipulate molecules in a box without doing any work, which is a violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Yet, even intellectual work expends energy. Such demons exist only as useful philosophical concepts.
David Krakauer, at Santa Fe Institute, even proposed the idea of a "selective demon" (Darwinian Demon). So, to deny their essential "existence" is to deny philosophical reasoning.
*5. The Essence of Reality is the most perceptive, exacting look at the flow of Reality ever. Rarely has a human glimpsed beyond the confines of the self-aware mind to see the interactive flow of mind-value into Reality.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Es ... 3SGgAACAAJ
Note -- I haven't read the book, but the title is provocative for this post
Matrix%20note%20box.png
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
Perhaps Gnomon would agree with that point of view, as he also seems to greatly value the musings of Plato and Aristotle etc. I don't. Do you not worry that if we assign all the wonder and awe that we are capable of mustering when we muse about the universe and our origins, life and fate, to the machinations of a supreme being, we reduce ourselves and leave ourselves with NOTHING. — universeness
I have no such concern because I do not understand the energy of the universe as a being.I do not attribute the laws of physics to a conscious being. Logos, the reason it is like it is as it is, is because that is the way it works. — Athena
Gnomon does indeed value the fundamental contributions of Plato & Aristotle to human understanding. ↪universeness seems to be a nice guy, but he misunderstands & misrepresents Gnomon's Enformationism thesis*1. Probably because, from his implicit Materialist/Physicalist*2 perspective, it looks like Spiritualism or Idealism. To him, those worldviews are primitive & childish & just plain wrong. Yet Mr. Nice Guy can be somewhat indulgent toward such immature notions, as one would toward a juvenile's innocent babbling. Unlike another poster, he's not intentionally malicious, but his Matter-is-all vocabulary makes abstract (meta-physical) Platonic & Aristotelian concepts sound like literal non-sense.
For example, from a Matter-only standpoint, there is no such thing as Platonic Love, or love of any kind, for that matter. There is only corporal copulation. Hence, "Love" is an abstraction that idealizes the realistic rutting of animals. Since the neo-primitive notions of New Ageism tend to be Idealistic & Spiritualistic, he places Enformationism into that unsophisticated "unrealistic" category. On the other hand, Enformationism views ancient Materialism/Atomism and Classical Newtonian physics as outdated pre-modern sciences*3, in the light of 21st century knowledge & reasoning. But it also updates ancient Spiritualism/Idealism, with new concepts from Quantum & Information theory. Those older views were pragmatic in their local & temporal contexts, but now seem somewhat untenable in the current state of affairs, 2.5 millennia later.
FWIW, Gnomon no longer practices the religion of his youth, or any religion for that matter. But, like Universeness, he can be tolerant toward those who are not "enlightened", including his own siblings. However, the broadly applicable Enformationism worldview could be converted into a religion, by those who are so inclined. For example, the ancient Hebrews were materialistic idolators (local nature gods), who later evolved into idealistic Judaism (universal supernatural God). Later, law-bound Judaism was transformed into faith-bound Christianity (Christ = god-man). And so it goes, as the world turns. We adapt our beliefs to the current state of knowledge and culture. My personal thesis is another of those adaptations, combining state-of-the-art Science with millennia of religious & philosophical exploration of the human condition, and building upon the foundation of Plato & Aristotle.
Enformationism does not posit a manipulating "supreme being", because Nature functions automatically, like an emergent computer program*4, without any divine intervention. And whether the implicit Programmer/Enformer is conscious, in the human manner, is an open question. So communication (prayer) to a super-natural "being" would likely be one-way, similar to the faith-driven attempts of irreligious scientists to contact extra-solar alien beings, whom they hope to be superior to Earth-bound humans.
In any case, I can't agree with Uni's somber assessment, that "we reduce ourselves and leave ourselves with NOTHING", when we conclude that the world is more-than just "atoms in void"*5. It's also ideas-in-reasoning-minds and feelings-in-metaphorical-hearts. An immaterial idea is indeed "no thing", but whatever it is, it's what raises humans a step above the animals, by allowing them the individual & collective freedom to be intentional agents of their own destiny.
PS__I apologize in advance, if I have mis-represented Uni's philosophical worldview.
*1. Introduction to Enformationism :
Since various forms of matter-first physicalism are still the default model for the empirical sciences, this philosophical thesis is merely a personal worldview. Yet, it’s based on the emerging evidence that invisible Information, instead of tangible Matter, is the fundamental substance of everything in the universe, including Energy, Matter, and Mind.
https://bothandblog6.enformationism.info/page80.html
*2. Materialism, also called physicalism, in philosophy, the view that all facts (including facts about the human mind and will and the course of human history) are causally dependent upon physical processes, or even reducible to them.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/materialism-philosophy
Note -- A century ago, Quantum theory began to undermine the foundation of classical physics. Physicists, such as John A. Wheeler, concluded that everything in the world can be "reduced to" bits of information (immaterial mind-stuff).
*3. Is Scientific Materialism "Almost Certainly False"? :
prominent physicists proclaim that they are solving the riddle of reality and hence finally displacing religious myths of creation. . . . In their desperation for a "theory of everything"—which unifies quantum mechanics and relativity and explains the origin and structure of our cosmos—physicists have embraced pseudo-scientific speculation such as multi-universe theories and the anthropic principle
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cr ... nly-false/
Note -- The Enformationism thesis does not claim that materialism is "false", but merely that it does not explain everything of interest to philosophers, including ideas about matter & mind. Ironically, enformed dumb matter seems to be capable of self-reference : Aboutness.
*4. Evolutionary Programming :
From evolutionary computation to the evolution of things
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14544
*5. Democritus, materialist philosopher :
By convention sweet is sweet, bitter is bitter, hot is hot, cold is cold, color is color; but in truth there are only atoms and the void.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Democritus
Note -- What does the "Void" think about? Do "Atoms" love each other, when they become entangled? There is no such thing as "Hot", merely the idea of a relationship between thermodynamic regimes that we apply that non-thing name to.
↪Agent Smith
I have no such concern because I do not understand the energy of the universe as a being.I do not attribute the laws of physics to a conscious being. Logos, the reason it is like it is as it is, is because that is the way it works. — Athena
Gnomon does indeed value the fundamental contributions of Plato & Aristotle to human understanding. ↪universeness seems to be a nice guy, but he misunderstands & misrepresents Gnomon's Enformationism thesis*1. Probably because, from his implicit Materialist/Physicalist*2 perspective, it looks like Spiritualism or Idealism. To him, those worldviews are primitive & childish & just plain wrong. Yet Mr. Nice Guy can be somewhat indulgent toward such immature notions, as one would toward a juvenile's innocent babbling. Unlike another poster, he's not intentionally malicious, but his Matter-is-all vocabulary makes abstract (meta-physical) Platonic & Aristotelian concepts sound like literal non-sense.
For example, from a Matter-only standpoint, there is no such thing as Platonic Love, or love of any kind, for that matter. There is only corporal copulation. Hence, "Love" is an abstraction that idealizes the realistic rutting of animals. Since the neo-primitive notions of New Ageism tend to be Idealistic & Spiritualistic, he places Enformationism into that unsophisticated "unrealistic" category. On the other hand, Enformationism views ancient Materialism/Atomism and Classical Newtonian physics as outdated pre-modern sciences*3, in the light of 21st century knowledge & reasoning. But it also updates ancient Spiritualism/Idealism, with new concepts from Quantum & Information theory. Those older views were pragmatic in their local & temporal contexts, but now seem somewhat untenable in the current state of affairs, 2.5 millennia later.
FWIW, Gnomon no longer practices the religion of his youth, or any religion for that matter. But, like Universeness, he can be tolerant toward those who are not "enlightened", including his own siblings. However, the broadly applicable Enformationism worldview could be converted into a religion, by those who are so inclined. For example, the ancient Hebrews were materialistic idolators (local nature gods), who later evolved into idealistic Judaism (universal supernatural God). Later, law-bound Judaism was transformed into faith-bound Christianity (Christ = god-man). And so it goes, as the world turns. We adapt our beliefs to the current state of knowledge and culture. My personal thesis is another of those adaptations, combining state-of-the-art Science with millennia of religious & philosophical exploration of the human condition, and building upon the foundation of Plato & Aristotle.
Enformationism does not posit a manipulating "supreme being", because Nature functions automatically, like an emergent computer program*4, without any divine intervention. And whether the implicit Programmer/Enformer is conscious, in the human manner, is an open question. So communication (prayer) to a super-natural "being" would likely be one-way, similar to the faith-driven attempts of irreligious scientists to contact extra-solar alien beings, whom they hope to be superior to Earth-bound humans.
In any case, I can't agree with Uni's somber assessment, that "we reduce ourselves and leave ourselves with NOTHING", when we conclude that the world is more-than just "atoms in void"*5. It's also ideas-in-reasoning-minds and feelings-in-metaphorical-hearts. An immaterial idea is indeed "no thing", but whatever it is, it's what raises humans a step above the animals, by allowing them the individual & collective freedom to be intentional agents of their own destiny.
PS__I apologize in advance, if I have mis-represented Uni's philosophical worldview.
*1. Introduction to Enformationism :
Since various forms of matter-first physicalism are still the default model for the empirical sciences, this philosophical thesis is merely a personal worldview. Yet, it’s based on the emerging evidence that invisible Information, instead of tangible Matter, is the fundamental substance of everything in the universe, including Energy, Matter, and Mind.
https://bothandblog6.enformationism.info/page80.html
*2. Materialism, also called physicalism, in philosophy, the view that all facts (including facts about the human mind and will and the course of human history) are causally dependent upon physical processes, or even reducible to them.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/materialism-philosophy
Note -- A century ago, Quantum theory began to undermine the foundation of classical physics. Physicists, such as John A. Wheeler, concluded that everything in the world can be "reduced to" bits of information (immaterial mind-stuff).
*3. Is Scientific Materialism "Almost Certainly False"? :
prominent physicists proclaim that they are solving the riddle of reality and hence finally displacing religious myths of creation. . . . In their desperation for a "theory of everything"—which unifies quantum mechanics and relativity and explains the origin and structure of our cosmos—physicists have embraced pseudo-scientific speculation such as multi-universe theories and the anthropic principle
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cr ... nly-false/
Note -- The Enformationism thesis does not claim that materialism is "false", but merely that it does not explain everything of interest to philosophers, including ideas about matter & mind. Ironically, enformed dumb matter seems to be capable of self-reference : Aboutness.
*4. Evolutionary Programming :
From evolutionary computation to the evolution of things
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14544
*5. Democritus, materialist philosopher :
By convention sweet is sweet, bitter is bitter, hot is hot, cold is cold, color is color; but in truth there are only atoms and the void.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Democritus
Note -- What does the "Void" think about? Do "Atoms" love each other, when they become entangled? There is no such thing as "Hot", merely the idea of a relationship between thermodynamic regimes that we apply that non-thing name to.
↪Agent Smith
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
Are you a theist Gnomon and if so, why the subterfuge?
If you want and need a mind, beyond the big bang posit to be our creator then why not be loud, proud and heard about it?
You deny being a theist but then most of the points you make, would be attractive to most theists. — universeness
If you insist on putting a label on my philosophical First Cause concept, try Deism*1. You may not distinguish between Deism and Theism, but I suspect that "most theists" would. To them, Deists are no better than Atheists. That's because the Deist world is completely natural, with no supernatural intervention. Yet, Deist philosophy infers the necessity for a Prime Mind to create (from scratch) a temporal physical world from which mental phenomena*2 can emerge via natural computation processes. The rational "need" for an original Mind is in the logical necessity for an explanation of the emergence of mental phenomena in a material world*3. I'm aware that Materialists see no difference between Physical and Mental phenomena, because their (blind in one eye) worldview blocks-out Metaphysical features of the world, by definition. Is that loud & proud enough for you?
*1. Theist, Deist, Atheist, Agnostic :
A deist believes there is a God who created all things, but does not believe in His superintendence and government. He thinks the Creator implanted in all things certain immutable laws, called the Laws of Nature, which act per se, as a watch acts without the supervision of its maker.
https://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/b ... t-agnostic
*2. Mental Phenomena :
We can, therefore, define mental phenomena by saying that they are those phenomena which contain an object intentionally within themselves
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5500963/
Note -- There is no intention in Physics, so the cause of future-directed Intention in human affairs must derive from a Meta-Physical source*4.
*3. The Mind-Evolution Problem :
The Difficulty of Fitting Consciousness in an Evolutionary Framework
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10 ... 01537/full
*4. Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality; the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, . . . It includes questions about the nature of consciousness and the relationship between mind and matter, between substance and attribute, and between potentiality and actuality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics
If you want and need a mind, beyond the big bang posit to be our creator then why not be loud, proud and heard about it?
You deny being a theist but then most of the points you make, would be attractive to most theists. — universeness
If you insist on putting a label on my philosophical First Cause concept, try Deism*1. You may not distinguish between Deism and Theism, but I suspect that "most theists" would. To them, Deists are no better than Atheists. That's because the Deist world is completely natural, with no supernatural intervention. Yet, Deist philosophy infers the necessity for a Prime Mind to create (from scratch) a temporal physical world from which mental phenomena*2 can emerge via natural computation processes. The rational "need" for an original Mind is in the logical necessity for an explanation of the emergence of mental phenomena in a material world*3. I'm aware that Materialists see no difference between Physical and Mental phenomena, because their (blind in one eye) worldview blocks-out Metaphysical features of the world, by definition. Is that loud & proud enough for you?
*1. Theist, Deist, Atheist, Agnostic :
A deist believes there is a God who created all things, but does not believe in His superintendence and government. He thinks the Creator implanted in all things certain immutable laws, called the Laws of Nature, which act per se, as a watch acts without the supervision of its maker.
https://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/b ... t-agnostic
*2. Mental Phenomena :
We can, therefore, define mental phenomena by saying that they are those phenomena which contain an object intentionally within themselves
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5500963/
Note -- There is no intention in Physics, so the cause of future-directed Intention in human affairs must derive from a Meta-Physical source*4.
*3. The Mind-Evolution Problem :
The Difficulty of Fitting Consciousness in an Evolutionary Framework
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10 ... 01537/full
*4. Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality; the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, . . . It includes questions about the nature of consciousness and the relationship between mind and matter, between substance and attribute, and between potentiality and actuality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
Yes, you have made this statement many times but your update, remains a god of the gaps posit and you have not been able to dispel that accusation so far, imo. — universeness
The "gap" you refer to is the mysterious emergence of Life & Mind from an inorganic beginning. How would you fill that void in Darwinian evolution? Any hypothetical conjecture must explain, not just the mechanical "how" of gradual emergence*1, but the logical "whence" the Potential for Life/Mind arising from a dimensionless non-living mathematical Singularity. Dispel that, if you dare!
*1. Abiogenesis :
the origin of life is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, . . . prevailing scientific hypothesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis
The "gap" you refer to is the mysterious emergence of Life & Mind from an inorganic beginning. How would you fill that void in Darwinian evolution? Any hypothetical conjecture must explain, not just the mechanical "how" of gradual emergence*1, but the logical "whence" the Potential for Life/Mind arising from a dimensionless non-living mathematical Singularity. Dispel that, if you dare!
*1. Abiogenesis :
the origin of life is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, . . . prevailing scientific hypothesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
You don't have to follow a particular religion to be a theist. Do you have a personal definition of that which YOU would label god or YOUR creator source, that had the INTENT to create lifeforms like humans? — universeness
Thanks for the question. My definition of Creator/Programmer*1*2 was not revealed in books written by fallible humans, but in the Book of Nature, which shows signs of operating like a computer program*3. I have no knowledge of the Intention of the First Cause, but for human intention to emerge from running the program of evolution implies that the Programmer was capable of goal-directed behavior. So, the original reason for creation is beyond the reach of us self-directing symbolic personas, condemned to play the game without knowing why : Agnostic Avatars, with limited freewill & intention.
PS__Yes, I'm just as serious about this philosophical metaphor as cosmologist Tegmark is about his self-programmed Mathematical Universe theory*4. An Information-centric worldview may sound like nonsense to you, but it's not religious non-sense, merely a philosophical theory of Ontology & Epistemology. Tegmark is serious, but you have to possess a sense of humor to present such aethereal notions to materialist scientists.
*1. G*D :
An ambiguous spelling of the common name for a supernatural deity. The Enformationism thesis is based upon an unprovable axiom that our world is an idea in the mind of G*D. This eternal deity is not imagined in a physical human body, but in a meta-physical mathematical form, equivalent to Logos. Other names : ALL, BEING, Creator, Enformer, MIND, Nature, Reason, Source, Programmer. The eternal Whole of which all temporal things are a part is not to be feared or worshipped, but appreciated like Nature.
I refer to the logically necessary and philosophically essential First & Final Cause as G*D, rather than merely "X" the Unknown, partly out of respect. That’s because the ancients were not stupid, to infer purposeful agencies, but merely shooting in the dark. We now understand the "How" of Nature much better, but not the "Why". That inscrutable agent of Entention is what I mean by G*D.
https://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page13.html
*2. Programmer God :
A competent computer programmer doesn’t have to make frequent corrections to the operation of the program. Likewise, an omniscient Creator shouldn’t have to make special interventions in order to keep the world running properly. A world-wide flood would be a sign of gross incompetence.
https://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page13.html
*3. u]Evolutionary Programming[/u] :
Special computer algorithms inspired by biological Natural Selection. It is similar to Genetic Programming in that it relies on internal competition between random alternative solutions to weed-out inferior results, and to pass-on superior answers to the next generation of algorithms. By means of such optimizing feedback loops, evolution is able to make progress toward the best possible solution – limited only by local restraints – to the original programmer’s goal or purpose. In Enformationism theory the Prime Programmer is portrayed as a creative principle (e.g. Logos), who uses bottom-up mechanisms, rather than top-down miracles, to produce a world with both freedom & determinism, order & meaning.
https://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page13.html
*4. Mathematical universe hypothesis :
a "provocative" solution to one of the central problems facing physics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathemati ... hypothesis
AVATAR INSIDE THE GAME OF LIFE
metaphor, not to be taken literally
Tron+Legacy+poster.jpg
↪Agent Smith
Thanks for the question. My definition of Creator/Programmer*1*2 was not revealed in books written by fallible humans, but in the Book of Nature, which shows signs of operating like a computer program*3. I have no knowledge of the Intention of the First Cause, but for human intention to emerge from running the program of evolution implies that the Programmer was capable of goal-directed behavior. So, the original reason for creation is beyond the reach of us self-directing symbolic personas, condemned to play the game without knowing why : Agnostic Avatars, with limited freewill & intention.
PS__Yes, I'm just as serious about this philosophical metaphor as cosmologist Tegmark is about his self-programmed Mathematical Universe theory*4. An Information-centric worldview may sound like nonsense to you, but it's not religious non-sense, merely a philosophical theory of Ontology & Epistemology. Tegmark is serious, but you have to possess a sense of humor to present such aethereal notions to materialist scientists.
*1. G*D :
An ambiguous spelling of the common name for a supernatural deity. The Enformationism thesis is based upon an unprovable axiom that our world is an idea in the mind of G*D. This eternal deity is not imagined in a physical human body, but in a meta-physical mathematical form, equivalent to Logos. Other names : ALL, BEING, Creator, Enformer, MIND, Nature, Reason, Source, Programmer. The eternal Whole of which all temporal things are a part is not to be feared or worshipped, but appreciated like Nature.
I refer to the logically necessary and philosophically essential First & Final Cause as G*D, rather than merely "X" the Unknown, partly out of respect. That’s because the ancients were not stupid, to infer purposeful agencies, but merely shooting in the dark. We now understand the "How" of Nature much better, but not the "Why". That inscrutable agent of Entention is what I mean by G*D.
https://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page13.html
*2. Programmer God :
A competent computer programmer doesn’t have to make frequent corrections to the operation of the program. Likewise, an omniscient Creator shouldn’t have to make special interventions in order to keep the world running properly. A world-wide flood would be a sign of gross incompetence.
https://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page13.html
*3. u]Evolutionary Programming[/u] :
Special computer algorithms inspired by biological Natural Selection. It is similar to Genetic Programming in that it relies on internal competition between random alternative solutions to weed-out inferior results, and to pass-on superior answers to the next generation of algorithms. By means of such optimizing feedback loops, evolution is able to make progress toward the best possible solution – limited only by local restraints – to the original programmer’s goal or purpose. In Enformationism theory the Prime Programmer is portrayed as a creative principle (e.g. Logos), who uses bottom-up mechanisms, rather than top-down miracles, to produce a world with both freedom & determinism, order & meaning.
https://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page13.html
*4. Mathematical universe hypothesis :
a "provocative" solution to one of the central problems facing physics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathemati ... hypothesis
AVATAR INSIDE THE GAME OF LIFE
metaphor, not to be taken literally
Tron+Legacy+poster.jpg
↪Agent Smith
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
But you suggest that 'love' has a source outside of any physical lifeforms that materially or energetically exist in this universe. Do you suggest the same for 'morality?' Is your suggestion of a 'first cause,' a mind with intent that is capable of experiencing and expressing love and follows or imposes a moral code that it created? — universeness
You claim that, as an anti-metaphyical materialist (???), you are able to experience Love. Bully for you. But what is the substance of that emotion? How do aggregations of atoms feel sentiments? The emerging Information theory*1 can suggest answers to those questions ; if Information (power to create novel forms) is more fundamental than insentient matter. How does a clump of matter experience anything? Could it be due to non-physical Life/Mind-forms?*2
Morality emerges from the meaningful relationships between people. But, like Love, "meaning" cannot be reduced to atoms-in-void, can it? Yet, an intentional First Cause could explain, as a hypothesis, how such immaterial abstractions could arise from a "big bang" in the void : personal significance, mutual respect, trust, interest, positive regard. The implication of a pre-bang Creator concept is that all things, and relationships, can be traced back (reduced) to the mind of the Originator*3. Otherwise, how did the ability-to-feel get programmed into the thermodynamic chain of evolutionary causation?
Note : A non-human Mind, in an immaterial form, may not map directly onto human consciousness. But it serves as an analogy by which to fill the god-gaps in physical Science. The error of ancient anthro-morphic god-models is to assume a one-to-one correspondence of divine-human attributes. Human creativity is limited to manipulation of existing matter. But the power to create a universe from scratch may be unlimited, hence Omnipotent. Yet, like the Multiverse hypothesis, such a postulation is unproveable by empirical methods.
*1. Information Theory - Emergence :
Information is neither matter nor energy, although it needs matter to be embodied and energy to be communicated.
Matter and energy are conserved. There is just the same total amount of matter and energy today as there was at the universe origin. See the cosmic creation process.
But information is not conserved. It has been increasing since the beginning of time. Everything emergent is new information. What idealist, holists, and gestaltists think they see is actually this increase of immaterial information.
https://www.informationphilosopher.com/ ... gence.html
Note : Causal Information is the immaterial substance (relationship pattern) of Matter & Energy
*2. Non-physical Mind-forms :
Materialists typically argue that all cases of consciousness that we know about are dependent on biological reality. Yet my exploration of the Enformationism thesis finds numerous hints that our existence may be ultimately pre-biological and immaterial. By that I mean the macro-scale wetware of Biology is dependent upon atomic-scale Physics, which in turn is grounded upon nonscalable mental Mathematics. So, my reading of cutting-edge science indicates that the quantum description of physical reality (informational, relational, mental) is akin to pre-scientific concepts of the metaphysical spirit realm, which is more Potential than Biological. Hence, on the cosmic scale, Mind seems to be more fundamental than Matter.
https://www.bothandblog.enformationism.info/page12.html
*3. Deism vs Atheism :
However, another path of Logic assumes that the most important aspect of reality to non-scientists is personal Consciousness — the essence of humanity — which can't be adequately explained as the output of material mechanisms. . . . .
Which is why most philosophers, not concerned with religious myth-making, have portrayed the transcendent ulitmate Mind in terms of abstract principles with no physical form, as exemplified in Brahman, Tao, Dharma, Logos, and Spinoza's Pantheistic “substance”.
https://www.bothandblog.enformationism.info/page49.html
↪Agent Smith
You claim that, as an anti-metaphyical materialist (???), you are able to experience Love. Bully for you. But what is the substance of that emotion? How do aggregations of atoms feel sentiments? The emerging Information theory*1 can suggest answers to those questions ; if Information (power to create novel forms) is more fundamental than insentient matter. How does a clump of matter experience anything? Could it be due to non-physical Life/Mind-forms?*2
Morality emerges from the meaningful relationships between people. But, like Love, "meaning" cannot be reduced to atoms-in-void, can it? Yet, an intentional First Cause could explain, as a hypothesis, how such immaterial abstractions could arise from a "big bang" in the void : personal significance, mutual respect, trust, interest, positive regard. The implication of a pre-bang Creator concept is that all things, and relationships, can be traced back (reduced) to the mind of the Originator*3. Otherwise, how did the ability-to-feel get programmed into the thermodynamic chain of evolutionary causation?
Note : A non-human Mind, in an immaterial form, may not map directly onto human consciousness. But it serves as an analogy by which to fill the god-gaps in physical Science. The error of ancient anthro-morphic god-models is to assume a one-to-one correspondence of divine-human attributes. Human creativity is limited to manipulation of existing matter. But the power to create a universe from scratch may be unlimited, hence Omnipotent. Yet, like the Multiverse hypothesis, such a postulation is unproveable by empirical methods.
*1. Information Theory - Emergence :
Information is neither matter nor energy, although it needs matter to be embodied and energy to be communicated.
Matter and energy are conserved. There is just the same total amount of matter and energy today as there was at the universe origin. See the cosmic creation process.
But information is not conserved. It has been increasing since the beginning of time. Everything emergent is new information. What idealist, holists, and gestaltists think they see is actually this increase of immaterial information.
https://www.informationphilosopher.com/ ... gence.html
Note : Causal Information is the immaterial substance (relationship pattern) of Matter & Energy
*2. Non-physical Mind-forms :
Materialists typically argue that all cases of consciousness that we know about are dependent on biological reality. Yet my exploration of the Enformationism thesis finds numerous hints that our existence may be ultimately pre-biological and immaterial. By that I mean the macro-scale wetware of Biology is dependent upon atomic-scale Physics, which in turn is grounded upon nonscalable mental Mathematics. So, my reading of cutting-edge science indicates that the quantum description of physical reality (informational, relational, mental) is akin to pre-scientific concepts of the metaphysical spirit realm, which is more Potential than Biological. Hence, on the cosmic scale, Mind seems to be more fundamental than Matter.
https://www.bothandblog.enformationism.info/page12.html
*3. Deism vs Atheism :
However, another path of Logic assumes that the most important aspect of reality to non-scientists is personal Consciousness — the essence of humanity — which can't be adequately explained as the output of material mechanisms. . . . .
Which is why most philosophers, not concerned with religious myth-making, have portrayed the transcendent ulitmate Mind in terms of abstract principles with no physical form, as exemplified in Brahman, Tao, Dharma, Logos, and Spinoza's Pantheistic “substance”.
https://www.bothandblog.enformationism.info/page49.html
↪Agent Smith
Re: TPF : Emergence, Physical vs Metaphysical
I'm sure I've pointed out to you what's wrong with that interpretation. The dao is an exampke of what western philosophers term "dialectical monism". Like entropy (i.e. disorder-order) — 180 Proof
Yep, dialectical monism and hence, inter alia, monotheism - instead of two entities, one with two mutually cancelling properties, which of course leads to a problem (Epicurean riddle vis-à-vis the problem of evil). — Agent Smith
FWIW, Gnomon is not an expert on Taoism. So any resemblances between that ancient philosophy and Enformationism is primarily in its non-theist*1 explanation for the ups & downs of the world. However, the "dialectical monism" description does fit the opposite/complement notion of how Energy & Entropy work together to produce a dynamic world of myriad forms.
So you are correct to note that both the Tao and the First Cause are singular and unique. But the mechanism/metabolism of a living organism (evolving world) depends on the Hegelian dialectic of opposing forces : Energy/Entropy ; Good/Evil ; Hot/Cold ; Thesis/Antithesis. Yet. it's the Synthesis stage that points in a consistent evolutionary direction : the Arrow of Time.
*1. Is Taoism theistic? :
Taoism is practised as a religion in various Asian communities. Its theology is not theist (even though some communities do worship Laozi as the attributed founder of the religious doctrine), and has more affinities with pantheistic traditions given its philosophical emphasis on the formlessness of the Tao.
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~xueyuanw/itp104 ... aoism.html
Note -- Lao Tzu's intellectual philosophy was Deistic, but the popular religions that emerged later were typically Poly-theistic.
Yep, dialectical monism and hence, inter alia, monotheism - instead of two entities, one with two mutually cancelling properties, which of course leads to a problem (Epicurean riddle vis-à-vis the problem of evil). — Agent Smith
FWIW, Gnomon is not an expert on Taoism. So any resemblances between that ancient philosophy and Enformationism is primarily in its non-theist*1 explanation for the ups & downs of the world. However, the "dialectical monism" description does fit the opposite/complement notion of how Energy & Entropy work together to produce a dynamic world of myriad forms.
So you are correct to note that both the Tao and the First Cause are singular and unique. But the mechanism/metabolism of a living organism (evolving world) depends on the Hegelian dialectic of opposing forces : Energy/Entropy ; Good/Evil ; Hot/Cold ; Thesis/Antithesis. Yet. it's the Synthesis stage that points in a consistent evolutionary direction : the Arrow of Time.
*1. Is Taoism theistic? :
Taoism is practised as a religion in various Asian communities. Its theology is not theist (even though some communities do worship Laozi as the attributed founder of the religious doctrine), and has more affinities with pantheistic traditions given its philosophical emphasis on the formlessness of the Tao.
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~xueyuanw/itp104 ... aoism.html
Note -- Lao Tzu's intellectual philosophy was Deistic, but the popular religions that emerged later were typically Poly-theistic.
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