Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia; Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.
Post 28. 04/10/2018 continued . . .
EnFormAction & Enformation
Review of Philosophy That Works by David M. Wolf
More quotes and comments :
21. “Philosophy that works – The Empowerment”, “ . . . expanding the scope of participation among philosophers, from talk to action . . .”As soon as philosophers begin working too close to the action though, they may become short-sighted, and lose their view of the big picture. Professional myopia8 is human nature. Philosophers specialize in generalization, while scientists, businessmen, and politicians tend to be forced into narrower & narrower niches as human knowledge expands at a hyperbolic rate. So, is it possible for philosophers to remain aloof & objective as they get involved in the thrust & parry of reality? In any case, schools and departments of philosophy are being shuttered in bastions of higher learning, as the focus on “action” takes precedence over reflection.
22. “. . . teach the distinction between the tradition that authored science, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment . . .”That is the project of Steven Pinker's new book, Enlightenment Now! The Renaissance was an era of transition from pre-scientific mono-cultures to modern technological multi-cultures. The scientific revolution really got underway when the Dark Age was Enlightened by the re-discovery of ancient Greek philo-sophical attitudes toward Nature and Reality. It continued to grow as new technologies popped-up to facilitate the spread of those radical ideas : progressism, humanism, secularism, individualism, etc .
23. “Universally, enformation shows up as perhaps gravity itself.”Gravity may be the best example in physics of the power to enform. Although gravity has no material substance, it acts like a vessel, which gives form to any matter that falls into it. Gravity is often called a force, but there is no actual pulling or pushing, only enforming. Similarly, Bergson's “elan vital” (vital force) is not a real force that can be measured physically, but merely the power to enform material patterns into Life-forms, that can only be measured (understood) mentally.
24. “The scientist can recognize that the creationist is not a fool or a liar, but a man with unscientific, human interests at heart.”Intelligent Design advocates try to twist their scriptures to conform with the hard evidence of science, or vice-versa. But in my own form of Creationism, Deism, empirical science is the only source of my knowledge of how Nature works. But even Science is only guessing when it tries to explain questions that go beyond the limits of physics. Such as what caused the Big Bang? My guess is that whatever that First Cause is, it must have had the potential for, not only Matter & Energy, but also Life & Mind. The mysterious Prime Mover must have properties that explain, not just the Quantitative aspects of Reality that physics studies, but the Qualitative features that are of concern to ordinary human interests and to religious occupations. Like Wolf's Enformation thesis, my own Enformationism theory and the BothAnd principle are intended to cover both physical Quanta and metaphysical Qualia.
End of Post 28
Quantum theory is relativistic & probabilistic, whereas Newton's theories were absolute & predictable. Newton's worldview was on the macro scale of the naked eye, assisted by weak technologies. QT goes beyond the limitations of human senses, into the micro and cosmic scales of reality. There, we see intimations of ultimate reality, but only via mentally constructed models (theories).
Observing a quantum system requires acting upon it, which triggers a reaction. Hence, observation is inter-action, a new relationship. Quantum systems interact with each other randomly, hence the total system is neutralized, canceled out, for the moment. But human probes come from outside the system in question. So the observation is intentional, and the reaction is meaningful.
8. Professional Myopia : The narrow focus of specialists in any profession. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/professional-myopia-innovation-two-stories-graham-horton
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