An Analogy, From Physical To Mind
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 7:47 pm
The nature of life can be described, as I have done, but it is very difficult to explain how life can be both a perfectly natural attribute of existence, just as the physical attributes are, but not itself a physical attribute or something that arises from the physical. That is the purpose of this article.
The Personal Reason For This View
The three articles, "The Nature Of Life," "The Nature Of Consciousness," and "The Nature of Mind," describe life, consciousness, and mind in a way not quite like they are described anywhere else. It is how I understand they must be if there is one objective knowable existence.
Early in my own philosophical inquiries it became obvious to me that none of the supernatural or mystical explanations for the nature of existence were possible. One of the earliest things I learned was that I could not simply believe anything if the only evidence was the word of someone else, especially some so-called authority. Most of what I know, I have learned from others, because I have neither the resources or ability to discover everything for myself, but I never simply accept anything anyone claims unless it can be demonstrated by evidence I can examine for myself or explained in terms of reason I can understand myself with no contradiction of anything I already know.
Since there is no evidence or sound reason for any supernatural or mystical explanation of existence, existence must be exactly what it seems to be, exactly as I am conscious of it, the world I see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. Others who have come to the same or similar conclusion simply assumed that means the physical existence we consciously perceive is all there is.
Since I regarded existence to be all that is, the way it is, independent of what I or anyone else knows or is aware of regarding that existence, the physical, which certainly exists and certainly has a specific nature verified by the physical sciences, seems to fill the bill.
EXCEPT! There is one thing I can observe that cannot be explained in terms of the physical. That one thing is physical, but it has one attribute or characteristic that distinguishes it from all other physical things and defies explanation in terms of any physical laws or principles. I see those exceptional physical entities every day. They are called organisms.
The behavior of living organisms is so profoundly different from the behavior of any merely non-living entities that to deny it, for me, would require me to deny the evidence of my own eyes and experience.
While I cannot deny the obvious uniqueness of life, I cannot accept that there is any possible kind of supernatural or mystical explanation for that uniqueness. If life cannot be explained in terms of the physical attributes, and cannot be explained in terms of the supernatural, life must be a perfectly natural attribute of physical entities, even if not a physical one.
I had a prejudice against the idea that there could be an attribute of existence that could not be explained in terms of the physical attributes and it wasn't until I began to realize it was and that my insistence that everything must be explained in terms of physical attributes was a kind of faith like any religious superstition. There is nothing that dictates that physical properties or attributes are the only attributes entities can have. When I admitted to myself I had no grounds for insisting that the only attributes entities could have were physical attributes, the mystery of the uniqueness of life was solved. Life is a perfectly natural attribute possible to some physical entities which enables them to be living.
From that conclusion it was easy to deduce that consciousness, which is only possible to living organisms is simply another natural attribute of some organisms, and that mind, which is only possible to conscious organisms was another natural attribute of some conscious organisms, (human beings).
Since I still regard existence as that which is and has the nature it has and is not contingent on anything else, including anyone's awareness or knowledge of it, I had to expand my concept of material or ontological existence to include everything with physical attributes as well as the attributes of life, consciousness, and mind, which all exist independently of anyone's knowledge or awareness, with the exception of one's own consciousness and knowledge, of course.
The following is an attempt to illustrate what material existence is. Beginning with the physical properties and how all the properties of material existence are related, how the attributes of life, consciousness, and mind are perfectly natural and compatible with the physical is illustrated.
The Analogy
Physical existence is all that can be perceived by direct perception, that is, all that can be seen, heard, felt, tasted, or smelled, as well as all that can be perceived indirectly by means of instruments (microscopes, telescopes, and a plethora of electronic devices) or known by means of perceptual information, i.e., the physical sciences.
I could begin the analogy by pointing out that all that is known about physical existence can be reduced to three principles: position, motion, and acceleration. Scientists may instantly see why this is true, but it is not obvious. Nevertheless, it is those three attributes of physical reality that will be used to explain the analogy.
Position, motion, and acceleration are all relative attributes. Everything that exists has a positional relationship (location relative) to everything else and we describe those relationships by means of two metrics, direction (the direction one thing is from another) and distance (how close or far away one thing is from another). If a static world were possible, the only attributes that would be possible would be positional relationships.
If we try to imagine a static world, where everything has some positional relationship to everything else, it is a world without events. Everything (whatever everything might be in such a world) would do nothing. Of course such a world is not possible. The real world is dynamic.
If we begin with our imaginary static world there is no way to arrange or organize it to produce motion. No matter how the static elements of the static world are arranged, no arrangement of elements that have only positional relationships to each other will ever move. In order for there to be motion something in addition to positional attributes is required. We call that additional something, "change." The introduction of change in the static world makes motion possible; Motion is, "change of position."
Even in a dynamic world, things will move relative to each other, but their motion will always be the same. Everything will move in a single direction at a specific speed. Notice that in a world with only the attributes position and motion, no interaction between entities is possible.
No matter how the entities in a world with only the attributes of position and motion are arranged, or what kind of motion they have (what speed or direction), they will never interact. In order for them to interact a different kind of attribute must be possible, another change, a change in motion, that is, acceleration. The change in motion that is acceleration is a change in speed, direction, or both to produce velocity.
For the point of the analogy, motion cannot arise from any arrangement of positions. There can only be motion if there is a different kind of attribute, change of position. The physical property of position alone cannot produce its own change. In the same way acceleration cannot arise from any arrangement or organization of motions. There can only be acceleration if there is a different kind of attribute, change of motion. The physical property of motion alone, however organized, cannot produce its own change.
The analogy is this: just as acceleration cannot be produced by any arrangement of motions, life cannot be produced by any arrangement of the other physical attributes. In order for there to be life, there must be a different kind of attribute. Whether that attribute can rightly be called change does not really matter, but the life attribute follows the same pattern as the physical attributes.
The fundamental attributes of existence form a hierarchy, each dependent on the more fundamental one. You cannot have motion without positional attributes to change; you cannot have acceleration without motion attributes to change; you cannot have life attributes without all the previous physical attributes in the hierarchy for life to modify.
Though in the real world you cannot have only position or motion attributes for example, even at the physical level the attributes and changes, position, motion, and acceleration, differentiate between possible levels of existence. Life is another, though perfectly natural differentiation of existence. It is not physical and the physical cannot give rise to it, any more than motions alone can give rise to acceleration without another level of differentiation.
The purpose of this analogy is to demonstrate that life is not generated or produced by the physical, but that the physical is raised to the level of living by a differentiation of the physical by the natural attribute, life, another level of existence above the physical levels of position, motion, and acceleration.
In the same way, consciousness is a differentiation of material reality, just as position, motion, acceleration, and life are, and the human mind is an addition differentiation of material reality, just as position, motion, acceleration, life, and consciousness are. These are all hierarchically dependent. There cannot be human minds without consciousness, or consciousness without life, or life with the physical attributes of acceleration which makes living behavior possible, and you cannot have acceleration without motion attributes to change, and you cannot have motion without position attributes to change.
One other very important point, at each level of the hierarchy, no higher level cancels or changes any aspect of any lower level. Acceleration does not cancel or contradict any aspect of motion or position, it depends on them. Life does not cancel or contradict any of the physical aspects of an organism, it depends on them, as do consciousness and mind.
This is only an analogy to illustrate the relationships between the various kinds of attributes of material reality. I must emphasize that a thing's attributes do not make a thing what it is, they are what a thing is. Position, motion, and acceleration do not make things physical, they are what is physical. Life is not something added to a physical entity to make it an organism, the life of an organism exists because it is living, and cannot exist independently of the organism.
None of the natural attributes of existence, physical, living, conscious, or mental exists independently of the organisms they are the attributes of.
The Personal Reason For This View
The three articles, "The Nature Of Life," "The Nature Of Consciousness," and "The Nature of Mind," describe life, consciousness, and mind in a way not quite like they are described anywhere else. It is how I understand they must be if there is one objective knowable existence.
Early in my own philosophical inquiries it became obvious to me that none of the supernatural or mystical explanations for the nature of existence were possible. One of the earliest things I learned was that I could not simply believe anything if the only evidence was the word of someone else, especially some so-called authority. Most of what I know, I have learned from others, because I have neither the resources or ability to discover everything for myself, but I never simply accept anything anyone claims unless it can be demonstrated by evidence I can examine for myself or explained in terms of reason I can understand myself with no contradiction of anything I already know.
Since there is no evidence or sound reason for any supernatural or mystical explanation of existence, existence must be exactly what it seems to be, exactly as I am conscious of it, the world I see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. Others who have come to the same or similar conclusion simply assumed that means the physical existence we consciously perceive is all there is.
Since I regarded existence to be all that is, the way it is, independent of what I or anyone else knows or is aware of regarding that existence, the physical, which certainly exists and certainly has a specific nature verified by the physical sciences, seems to fill the bill.
EXCEPT! There is one thing I can observe that cannot be explained in terms of the physical. That one thing is physical, but it has one attribute or characteristic that distinguishes it from all other physical things and defies explanation in terms of any physical laws or principles. I see those exceptional physical entities every day. They are called organisms.
The behavior of living organisms is so profoundly different from the behavior of any merely non-living entities that to deny it, for me, would require me to deny the evidence of my own eyes and experience.
While I cannot deny the obvious uniqueness of life, I cannot accept that there is any possible kind of supernatural or mystical explanation for that uniqueness. If life cannot be explained in terms of the physical attributes, and cannot be explained in terms of the supernatural, life must be a perfectly natural attribute of physical entities, even if not a physical one.
I had a prejudice against the idea that there could be an attribute of existence that could not be explained in terms of the physical attributes and it wasn't until I began to realize it was and that my insistence that everything must be explained in terms of physical attributes was a kind of faith like any religious superstition. There is nothing that dictates that physical properties or attributes are the only attributes entities can have. When I admitted to myself I had no grounds for insisting that the only attributes entities could have were physical attributes, the mystery of the uniqueness of life was solved. Life is a perfectly natural attribute possible to some physical entities which enables them to be living.
From that conclusion it was easy to deduce that consciousness, which is only possible to living organisms is simply another natural attribute of some organisms, and that mind, which is only possible to conscious organisms was another natural attribute of some conscious organisms, (human beings).
Since I still regard existence as that which is and has the nature it has and is not contingent on anything else, including anyone's awareness or knowledge of it, I had to expand my concept of material or ontological existence to include everything with physical attributes as well as the attributes of life, consciousness, and mind, which all exist independently of anyone's knowledge or awareness, with the exception of one's own consciousness and knowledge, of course.
The following is an attempt to illustrate what material existence is. Beginning with the physical properties and how all the properties of material existence are related, how the attributes of life, consciousness, and mind are perfectly natural and compatible with the physical is illustrated.
The Analogy
Physical existence is all that can be perceived by direct perception, that is, all that can be seen, heard, felt, tasted, or smelled, as well as all that can be perceived indirectly by means of instruments (microscopes, telescopes, and a plethora of electronic devices) or known by means of perceptual information, i.e., the physical sciences.
I could begin the analogy by pointing out that all that is known about physical existence can be reduced to three principles: position, motion, and acceleration. Scientists may instantly see why this is true, but it is not obvious. Nevertheless, it is those three attributes of physical reality that will be used to explain the analogy.
Position, motion, and acceleration are all relative attributes. Everything that exists has a positional relationship (location relative) to everything else and we describe those relationships by means of two metrics, direction (the direction one thing is from another) and distance (how close or far away one thing is from another). If a static world were possible, the only attributes that would be possible would be positional relationships.
If we try to imagine a static world, where everything has some positional relationship to everything else, it is a world without events. Everything (whatever everything might be in such a world) would do nothing. Of course such a world is not possible. The real world is dynamic.
If we begin with our imaginary static world there is no way to arrange or organize it to produce motion. No matter how the static elements of the static world are arranged, no arrangement of elements that have only positional relationships to each other will ever move. In order for there to be motion something in addition to positional attributes is required. We call that additional something, "change." The introduction of change in the static world makes motion possible; Motion is, "change of position."
Even in a dynamic world, things will move relative to each other, but their motion will always be the same. Everything will move in a single direction at a specific speed. Notice that in a world with only the attributes position and motion, no interaction between entities is possible.
No matter how the entities in a world with only the attributes of position and motion are arranged, or what kind of motion they have (what speed or direction), they will never interact. In order for them to interact a different kind of attribute must be possible, another change, a change in motion, that is, acceleration. The change in motion that is acceleration is a change in speed, direction, or both to produce velocity.
For the point of the analogy, motion cannot arise from any arrangement of positions. There can only be motion if there is a different kind of attribute, change of position. The physical property of position alone cannot produce its own change. In the same way acceleration cannot arise from any arrangement or organization of motions. There can only be acceleration if there is a different kind of attribute, change of motion. The physical property of motion alone, however organized, cannot produce its own change.
The analogy is this: just as acceleration cannot be produced by any arrangement of motions, life cannot be produced by any arrangement of the other physical attributes. In order for there to be life, there must be a different kind of attribute. Whether that attribute can rightly be called change does not really matter, but the life attribute follows the same pattern as the physical attributes.
The fundamental attributes of existence form a hierarchy, each dependent on the more fundamental one. You cannot have motion without positional attributes to change; you cannot have acceleration without motion attributes to change; you cannot have life attributes without all the previous physical attributes in the hierarchy for life to modify.
Though in the real world you cannot have only position or motion attributes for example, even at the physical level the attributes and changes, position, motion, and acceleration, differentiate between possible levels of existence. Life is another, though perfectly natural differentiation of existence. It is not physical and the physical cannot give rise to it, any more than motions alone can give rise to acceleration without another level of differentiation.
The purpose of this analogy is to demonstrate that life is not generated or produced by the physical, but that the physical is raised to the level of living by a differentiation of the physical by the natural attribute, life, another level of existence above the physical levels of position, motion, and acceleration.
In the same way, consciousness is a differentiation of material reality, just as position, motion, acceleration, and life are, and the human mind is an addition differentiation of material reality, just as position, motion, acceleration, life, and consciousness are. These are all hierarchically dependent. There cannot be human minds without consciousness, or consciousness without life, or life with the physical attributes of acceleration which makes living behavior possible, and you cannot have acceleration without motion attributes to change, and you cannot have motion without position attributes to change.
One other very important point, at each level of the hierarchy, no higher level cancels or changes any aspect of any lower level. Acceleration does not cancel or contradict any aspect of motion or position, it depends on them. Life does not cancel or contradict any of the physical aspects of an organism, it depends on them, as do consciousness and mind.
This is only an analogy to illustrate the relationships between the various kinds of attributes of material reality. I must emphasize that a thing's attributes do not make a thing what it is, they are what a thing is. Position, motion, and acceleration do not make things physical, they are what is physical. Life is not something added to a physical entity to make it an organism, the life of an organism exists because it is living, and cannot exist independently of the organism.
None of the natural attributes of existence, physical, living, conscious, or mental exists independently of the organisms they are the attributes of.