Monday, March 30, 2020

Mystical Objectivity and Scientific Vision

There are two ways of knowing the world, or rather, two principal modes: there is a passive mode in which we receive the world, and an active one in which we project our abstractions onto the world. The former isn't really passive per se, because for a human being the intellect is always involved in the senses; moreover, there is always a dialectic or complementarity between these two modes, analogous to anabolism and catabolism vis-a-vis the body.

The human person is not only a unity, but personhood is the quintessence of diversified unity, since all our "parts" are human parts. Humanness is not "additive" -- as if the parts become human at a certain point. Rather, we are human -- not to mention gendered -- the very instant sperm and egg unite to form a new person. Our oneness is always anterior, not acquired, except to say that we are also "ensouled" at conception, and the immaterial soul obviously cannot originate in matter.

Which reminds me. It is difficult for us to imagine how two natures -- divine and human -- could be present in one person. Then again, maybe not. For human beings have an animal nature and a human nature, and yet, here we are, a single person. While we can talk about our animal nature, it isn't actually a separate or autonomous entity, like a Dr. Bob and Cousin Dupree.

Then again, sometimes it is. Specifically, this is what we call neurosis or psychosis, in which psychic parts are more or less split off from the central self.

Here it is important to point out that these parts cannot literally be split off, any more than the Trump-hater can successfully rid himself of unwanted psychic fragments by projecting them into the president. While it certainly feels to the haters as if the president truly harbors the nasty things projected into him -- just ask them! -- the process is really just one of introspection in reverse: extrospection, so to speak.

If the ethos of the philosophical life is know thyself, the battle cry of the pathologically fragmented psyche is deceive thyself! The Raccoon calls this mechanism auto-pullwoolery. If the purpose of life is the assimilation and acquisition of increasingly higher and deeper integration and unity, this mechanism tends in the opposite direction: paranoia instead of metanoia.

It occurs to me that this touches on why Jesus should be so emphatic about loving one's enemies, praying for one's persecutors, turning the other cheek, and generally refraining from returning tit for tat. If you presume to judge others, be careful, because the same criteria you apply will be applied to you: no double standards. No hypocrisy. No special pleading. No condemning Republicans for things you completely overlook in Democrats (and vice versa).

This is just rudimentary intellectual honesty and consistency. And yet, how rare it is. For example, anyone can see how ridiculously inaccurate various models of the Chinese Flu have been, so we disregard them. Garbage in, garbage out. But many of the same people are unable to generalize the principle to climate change models, which have proved to be just as ridiculously inaccurate.

One epically wrong model predicted 510,000 deaths in Britain. So far there are 2,619. But this guy has nothing on the climate fantasists, in that not a single one of their models predicted that warming would enter a two decade "pause." No doubt at least one of the Coronavirus models will turn out to be correct, if only by chance. Interesting that climate change models can't even aspire to the accuracy of a broken clock, since the latter is correct twice a day, while the former haven't been correct in 50 years.

Back to the actual point of this post. I had wanted to say something about the mystical foundations of science upon reading a passage in Barron. Here it is:

To be attentive -- to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch what is before us -- is much more difficult than it may seem.... Above all, [the mind] must overcome its tendency toward selective perception, seeing only what it wants to see, only what it might be convenient to see.

But this presupposes that there is something real to see -- AKA truth -- and that man is capable of putting his interests and biases to the side, and recognizing it (AKA objectivity).

Probably most people would place "objectivity" and "mystical" at antipodes. Not so fast! For mysticism is, among other things, the empiricism of the vertical, for there are stable and intelligible truths to be found there, just as there are in the material world. This is the context in which to understand the following observation by Barron:

To be intelligent... is to look for formal patterns, to seek out the intelligible structures that run through whatever exists. The summons to intelligence corresponds to the assumption of universal reasonability, the mystical intuition that undergirds the sciences.

Mystical intuition. This intuition is either true or false, but cannot be proved logically. Nevertheless, it is perfectly objective.

In the Christian vision, the truth of a thing is a reflection of the Truth that made it, a participation in the Logos that informs it (ibid).

Can I prove this? No, because it is the nonlocal principle whereby proof itself exists -- through which truth pervades creation and is accessible to us. But it can be intuited and envisioned, just like any other rock-solid transcendental truth.

12 comments:

julie said...

It occurs to me that this touches on why Jesus should be so emphatic about loving one's enemies, praying for one's persecutors, turning the other cheek, and generally refraining from returning tit for tat.

It's interesting; Jesus never refrained from calling them out on their hypocrisy and bullshit. He certainly didn't equate words - very strong and condemning words, at that - to actual violence, even as they sought repeatedly to have him killed for what he said. But notably, while he spoke about how they were wrong and what the punishment was likely to be, he never personally condemned or cursed anyone that I can think of. He cursed the fig tree that bore him no fruit.

To the extent that he did express physical violence (throwing over tables and laying about with a whip), it was not as a tit-for-tat, but a just action on behalf of God. Even then, he didn't chase anybody down and flog them within an inch of their lives. All this to show that there is a big difference between noticing and speaking truth and hating one's enemies, just as there is a difference between acting righteously and being temperate in the face of persecution.

julie said...

For example, anyone can see how ridiculously inaccurate various models of the Chinese Flu have been, so we disregard them. Garbage in, garbage out.

That is truly one of the most outrageously frustrating things about this worldwide shutdown. Just what is actually going on? On the one hand, there are many indications that China has suffered many times more casualties than they are saying. On the other, in the rest of the world with a couple of exceptions, things don't seem to be that bad. At least one news channel this weekend showed a busy Italian hospital while reporting about New York, while many local photographers in the US are going out to document that supposedly "busy" hospitals are weirdly empty. What gives, and who is telling the truth?

Maddening, because it is impossible to know what is real about this, and all we can do about it is stay home and be isolated.

julie said...

To be attentive -- to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch what is before us -- is much more difficult than it may seem.... Above all, [the mind] must overcome its tendency toward selective perception, seeing only what it wants to see, only what it might be convenient to see.

Reminds again of learning how to draw. First we must stop drawing what we think we see, and be constrained by what is actually visible to the eye. Sounds simple, but it isn't.

julie said...

To be intelligent... is to look for formal patterns, to seek out the intelligible structures that run through whatever exists. The summons to intelligence corresponds to the assumption of universal reasonability, the mystical intuition that undergirds the sciences.

Like trying to find a particular thing in a cluttered room, sometimes the best way is to stop looking for the one specific item, and instead to broaden the gaze and continue to ask, "what am I looking at right now?"

What we seek doesn't always present itself in the way we imagine, but when we can view reality objectively we often find it, anyway.

Gagdad Bob said...

That's why women are better at finding things that are lost -- it's one of the consistent and replicable differences between men & women. Conversely, men tend to be better at navigating when lost. There's a neurocognitive reason why they refuse to ask for directions.

Anonymous said...

Hello Dr. Godwin, happy Monday to you. Hello Julie, top o' the afternoon to ye.

This is a great post and touches on some interesting things.

1. You mention a human being is created at conception, and then is ensouled. The soul cannot originate from matter. So the soul comes out of the ether and inhabits the new person? Some questions around this are, how does the soul locate the fertilized ovum which will be its new home? In what state is the soul in when it enters? Is the entering soul conscious?

Of course nobody can answer these off the top of their heads, but perhaps some intuitions about the soul are accessible?

2. Climate change: The models are inaccurate. Do they have to be accurate? Why would they need to be accurate? The models are a crying out that something doesn't feel right in how we are interfacing with the environment; call it an intuition. This could have a spiritual basis.

Is the attempt to create less emissions a laudable goal in its own right, based on spiritual principles? I would argue it could be.

Mental and physical cleanliness are picked up automatically as a seeker advances; the home will start to look spare and clean, spartan even. It is a trend that reflects higher consciousness. A desire to stamp out some of our dirtier collective practices could be an outgrowth of increased spiritual involvement. There need not be any actual outcome involved, it would be done just on the principle of the thing.

If you take a Christian hunting, he will follow the regulations, only bag what he has paid his license for, does not delight in the actual killing, and always cleans and utilizes the game.

The secular hunter may get drunk, start blasting away at anything that moves, enjoys watching his projectiles strike flesh, and revels in the spurting blood. When it comes time to clean, pack and consume the game, he may lose interest and leave the kill lying on the ground and go look for something else to kill.

The difference between the two is at the heart of the "climate change" debate. Debate wisely.

-Scented Meadow

Anonymous said...

There’s an egg half-soul and a sperm half-soul, which combine to become one full soul. As for twins, monozygotic souls are split along with the fertilized egg to develop into two babies with exactly the same genetic and soul information. Twin souls we call them. So yes, souls can split. Of course dizygotic twins are just two separate eggs and two separate souls in one womb.

Now why science hasn’t developed scientific techniques to follow souls into this world, in similar ways as they've developed to ‘knowing’ about unseen atoms or photons is likely proof of Satans foul deeds.

As for global warming being caused by human generated CO2, I simply follow the money. When Exxon knew but didn’t want others to know, they lied of course. But more recently when Exxon knew they suddenly wanted others to know because they were nearly done developing their carbon capture devices for sale to the general pubic.

So the real question is, is it harder to drive an SUV through the eye of a needle than it is for a zygote to go soulless? I personally know people without souls. But of course, folks around here are starting to get pretty damned sick and tired of my constantly wanting to talk about them.

Anonymous said...

Uh oh. I said pubic. Freudian slip. I've been switching between here and a certain naughty site. I'll put my pants back on now.

Anonymous said...

Hello Anonymous 9:12:

Well you have brought up some interesting points:

About Exxon, tell more? How did you obtain this information?

I met a woman who insisted "people can't change climate." While saying this she was adjusting the climate controls in her car. When I pointed this out she said "That's not the same thing." I told her actually yes, it kind of is. Just scale it up. It is a debatable point.

Regarding split souls and zygotes, that is not how it works. I consulted someone knowledgeable on the matter, and learned the soul has preselected its parents, and when conception occurs the soul watches over the developing fetus but does not enter until the fetus is around 6 months of age. At that point the soul drops out of heaven and into the fetus. In the process the soul becomes stunned and forgetful. At birth the soul is not in command of anything, and must exert influence progressively as the life unfolds.

Your soul is waiting to talk to you. Perhaps between porn viewing sessions you can sit quietly and ask yourself "Who am I, really?" That is the best way to get started. The soul is a bit isolated behind brain activity, animal musings, emotional turbidity, and so forth. You really have to go looking for it, it is very tangled in the exigencies of mind and matter and needs all the help it can get to express itself.

I'm glad you refrained from writing further about psychopaths; this shows progress towards the healing of your wound. One day at a time.

Be well and thrive.

-Love Animal

Anonymous said...

Maybe DuckDuckGo “Exxon climate change”. Also try “Exxon carbon capture”. Their own corporate websites have all the details.

As for getting in touch with my outer soul, I’d hoped that viewing pictures of priests touching choirboys would be just the pathway towards that end, with nasty nuns possibly being next. One step at a time. Sadly with all my psychopathic trauma it gets hard sometimes. And not just my little love worm ya know.

Anonymous said...

Just for kicks I DuckDuckGo’d “coronavirus”. The USA leads the world's nations by a long shot with 186,000 cases in our country. Holy crap! Italy and Spain have higher mortality rates though. Could it be all the swarthiness to be found there? I never trusted slick haired Mediterranean latins. They remind me of that SNL skit "Bellisima" with all the horny restaurant staff.

mews said...

The way I see it, the spirit of a human is breathed into existence by God who has a plan/purpose for it (written in the book of life). The spirit enters the zygote giving life to the soul which connects body and spirit.

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