GUEST POST from Geoffrey Moore
MSN published a piece with this title, and I am complete sucker for such things, mainly as a way to pressure test the views I express in The Infinite Staircase. I plan to answer as many of these questions as I can, one at a time, and invite you to follow along to play the same game in parallel with your own ideas about what’s what.
Today’s Topic? What is the true essence of reality? You gotta love a question that has three words in it, true, essence, and reality, none of which are readily definable! Here’s the paragraph that follows:
The article titled ‘What Is the True Nature of Reality?‘, published on the Curious Matrix website, explains how throughout history countless philosophers and scientists have grappled with the mysteries of reality. Their exploration encompasses both the realm encompassing matter and particles as well as the intangible aspects of existence. This philosophical dualism has sparked an array of probing questions; What truly constitutes the essence of the mind? How does it relate to the body? Do they exist independently? When we ponder the nature of the reality we inevitably question our perceptions. Contemplate the very core of existence.
By the way, it is worth clicking through to read that article because it goes way beyond the mind/matter dualism that is summarized above. Setting that aside, however, how should we reply to the question itself? Note that it has changed the phrasing from “true nature of reality” to “true essence of reality” which actually makes a difference, and I am going to stick with the former because the latter makes the assumption that reality coalesces into an essence, which is not something I can agree to.
My answer is that the true nature of reality is a hierarchy of systems, each one of which emerges from the ones prior, with no top or bottom system clearly in view. In The Infinite Staircase I make the case for a stack of eleven such systems, beginning with three at the bottom that are materialistic in nature (physics, chemistry, and biology), all of which are all governed by the Second Law of Thermodynamics, or what I call the metaphysics of entropy. These are followed by four systems that are organic in nature (desire, consciousness, values, and culture), representing the evolution of life prior to the arrival of mankind, all governed by the dynamics of natural and sexual selection, or what I call the metaphysics of Darwinism. Those underpinnings tee up the topmost set of systems. ones that are distinctively human in nature (language, narrative, analytics, and theory), all governed by symbols and symbolism, or what I call the metaphysics of memes.
The advantage of this framework is that, instead of limiting ourselves to one or two foundations, we can refer to any of eleven possible platforms, alone or in combination with others, to explain any particular aspect of reality. Here’s how one might take advantage of this to answer the questions that are embedded in the latter half of the paragraph quotes above.
What constitutes the essence of mind? Mind is made up of multiple systems in the staircase, but the primary two are narrative and analytics, both leveraging the system of language. That is, most of our conscious experience is taken up with us telling stories to others or to ourselves and processing those stories to extract knowledge or entertainment. In support of this activity, our minds are powered by our brains, hence involving the stairstep of consciousness and all the material systems below it, so no, our minds cannot be independent of our bodies. At the same time, minds are socially developed, bringing in the stairsteps of values, culture, and language.
In sum, the true nature of our minds is that they are a layer cake of systems interoperating with one another in service to us executing our strategies for living. The fact that we have success in these efforts is demonstrated by the real-world outcome of our continued existence. This suggests that we have no pressing need to question our perceptions. The thing to question instead is the notion that there is a “very core” to our existence, a true essence of reality. That concept is way too monistic, given the complexity of the system’s hierarchy and its interdependent operations.
That’s what I think. What do you think?
— Image credit: Gemini
Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.