The Physical - A Closer Look
Dualism says that mind and matter are two ontologically separate entities, that the realms of each are separate and work with different rules.
Triessentialism goes one step farther, stating that matter, truth, and passion are three ontologically separate entities.
The physical includes the material universe of leptons and neutrinos, of quarks and electrons, of protons, photons, and quantum wave-form particle-probability-packets. This is the everyday stuff of the universe. However, one must ask: is this all there is?
As a science fiction fan, and a fan of science, I have to speculate. If there is another form of "matter" not made of this stuff, it may play by different rules. After all, the rules of Newton and Einstein and Schrodinger only apply to stuff made of this form of matter. That includes heat and gravity, and probably even probability.
If another form of matter existed, it might seem very strange or spooky to us. It would also be undetectible by science, because it might not interact with our matter-based scientific instruments, or it might interact inconsistently. One might even ask where exactly this stuff is located, since space-time is a function of matter, and this other stuff isn't the matter we know.
This brings up other important questions. The nature of the human consciousness is based in the chemical functions of the brain. One could call it a simulation of consciousness. If there was another form of matter, there might be beings whose consciousness is based in that form of matter. It is easy to postulate consciousness without matter, easy to suggest consciousness based in another form of matter.
You might say, "BlueNight, you're talking about beings of energy." Wrong. Well...
Technically, we're beings of energy. E=mc2. Energy is matter times speed times speed. Energy is matter accelerated. Matter is energy divided by the square of the speed of light. However, our brains are based on the chemical reactions, not the particle physics of quantum theory. (Although some research is saying otherwise.)
Could angels be creations of God in another, coexisting, realm of other matter? If so, that brings the "spiritual" realm out of fantasy into science, out of philosophy into the realm of the real. Or does it? Perhaps in that other realm, the logical and the emotional are more than simulations in our brains. Perhaps in that other realm, True and Good are more than descriptions and reactions, and the three essences are unified.
Perhaps. Maybe. I don't know. But it's sure fun to think about!
Triessentialism goes one step farther, stating that matter, truth, and passion are three ontologically separate entities.
The physical includes the material universe of leptons and neutrinos, of quarks and electrons, of protons, photons, and quantum wave-form particle-probability-packets. This is the everyday stuff of the universe. However, one must ask: is this all there is?
As a science fiction fan, and a fan of science, I have to speculate. If there is another form of "matter" not made of this stuff, it may play by different rules. After all, the rules of Newton and Einstein and Schrodinger only apply to stuff made of this form of matter. That includes heat and gravity, and probably even probability.
If another form of matter existed, it might seem very strange or spooky to us. It would also be undetectible by science, because it might not interact with our matter-based scientific instruments, or it might interact inconsistently. One might even ask where exactly this stuff is located, since space-time is a function of matter, and this other stuff isn't the matter we know.
This brings up other important questions. The nature of the human consciousness is based in the chemical functions of the brain. One could call it a simulation of consciousness. If there was another form of matter, there might be beings whose consciousness is based in that form of matter. It is easy to postulate consciousness without matter, easy to suggest consciousness based in another form of matter.
You might say, "BlueNight, you're talking about beings of energy." Wrong. Well...
Technically, we're beings of energy. E=mc2. Energy is matter times speed times speed. Energy is matter accelerated. Matter is energy divided by the square of the speed of light. However, our brains are based on the chemical reactions, not the particle physics of quantum theory. (Although some research is saying otherwise.)
Could angels be creations of God in another, coexisting, realm of other matter? If so, that brings the "spiritual" realm out of fantasy into science, out of philosophy into the realm of the real. Or does it? Perhaps in that other realm, the logical and the emotional are more than simulations in our brains. Perhaps in that other realm, True and Good are more than descriptions and reactions, and the three essences are unified.
Perhaps. Maybe. I don't know. But it's sure fun to think about!
posted by BlueNight at
3:01 PM
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