Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Meso-reality and the Special-case God

The universe is a single unified reality. Nevertheless, it is sometimes useful to consider the universe to be comprised of a continuum of realities, stretching all the way from cosmic reality on the one hand to quantum mechanical reality on the other.

At the massive level, cosmic reality depends on such things as the speed of light being relative to the observer and the curvature of spacetime. At the other extreme, quantum mechanics represents a different reality where deterministic cause-effect relationships vanish and discernible particles crumble into probabilistic clouds.

Both these extreme realities are difficult to grasp for the ordinary human being. This essay attempts to explain why.

Human beings, in course of their early evolution, had to create a mental model of the universe in order to engage with it. This reality, which I call meso-reality (or "middle" reality), is a substantially simplified form of absolute reality and very much subject to the physics of earth itself in terms of parameters such as physical scale (not too big nor small), gravity (just right to retain an atmosphere), temperature (not too hot nor cold), and composition of elements (just the right mix for carbon/water based life). In meso-reality, time and space are orthogonal, time is directional and cause-effect relationships are clear, predictable and repeatable.

Meso-reality has helped humankind negotiate its way through history and in explaining and dealing with the world around us. It pervades our thought, language, most sciences and arts. Meso-reality is simple and common sense-based, and can be readily understood by the man-on-the-street. However, in order to be reasonably simple, meso-reality presents a vastly oversimplified view of reality.

Up until the early 20th century, humankind did not consider that other realities could exist. However, the Special Theory of Relativity laid the ground for a new model for the fabric of reality that was shocking to many. By the middle of the 20th century, it was increasingly evident -- at least to the physicists, mathematicians, and cosmologists -- that there were other realities.

However, these other realities needed a special language for modeling them--the expressive and universal language of mathematics. The language of meso-reality is too insufficiently expressive to represent or deal with these other realities. Trying to represent other realities in meso-reality language is as absurd as trying to write a treatise on Theology in a 'language' such as Java, as Java is completely inappropriate for the purpose, having been designed for writing object-oriented computer programmes.

This brings us to the inevitable conclusion that it would be impossible to present commonsensical views of alternative realities, as these would seem fundamentally counterintuitive to the ordinary person. The 'common man' is therefore not destined to understand alternative realities in their fullest sense. It is only with sufficient grounding in mathematics that these realities be represented, explained or taught.

Mathematics is thus a universal language: if we were to encounter a civilization from a planet of a very different size -- where gravity, scale and chemical composition would be very different from ours -- the physics of life would be radically different, but the mathematics of reality would be identical. While meso-reality is specific to local physics, the mathematical abstractions of reality are universal and absolute.

If meso-reality represents a truncated, oversimplified, special-case model of the universe, then it would follow that many of the intellectual artifacts of meso-reality would have no universal value or utility.

In particular, the concept of a universal creator--a popular idea within the framework of meso-reality--would seem to have no role in absolute reality. While it is true that the mathematics of cosmic origin, the Big Bang, is perhaps still not complete (especially that of the first few ticks after the initial singularity), it is, however, clear that there is no 'God factor' in the equations. The concept of an omnipotent universal creator is a consequence of the special-case scenario of meso-reality, and has no relevance outside it. God is as 'real ' as meso-reality.

[15:00 - 16:00, 16 October 2007]

7 comments:

Ahana said...

Meso reality sounds exactly like what Miss Marple would think - one does not have to travel all over the world to learn about people. Observation of those close by can be quite revealing. Does not meso reality also sound like our own sanatana dharma?

I also find it difficult to accept your statement that it was only post 20th century that humankind accepted the existence of other planes of reality. I believe that the Indian psyche has always understood and accepted multiple planes of existence - this probably can be traced back to the Vedas?

MOO said...

Since the problem with reality is that it is extremely subjective, no amount personal, spiritual revelation (with or without soma or salvia and suchlike) can qualify as rigorous.

This rigour can only be achieved if you expresses it formally in a manner that is verifiable. Otherwise, your hallucinations and mine can be considered as alternative realities-this makes no difference to the world whatsoever.

In short, I do not believe that we are talking about the same things when you compare Indian (or Mexican or any other Shamanic) state of *mind* as alternative realities to those of physics. The former exists on within the mind of the practitioner, where the latter universal.

Ahana said...

The concept of measuring reality imho does not appear too far off. The Higgs boson a.k.a the god particle, has been sighted and particle physicists believe that establishing its presence will change the way we understand reality.

Such a concept of a particle striking the earth being used to measure reality, even by inference, as well proving existence of the parallel planes of existence has been used in sci fiction e.g. James Hogan's Thrice Upon a Time.

MOO said...

Parallel universes or other ideas that look strange for most of us do not challenge the premise of the original post: that the true nature of reality could be bizarre within the meso-reality framework (ie., for the layperson).

Even while the true nature absolute reality is beginning to be understood, the layperson will not be privileged to this knowledge (apart from a few crumbs thrown to him by Simon Singh and writers of his ilk).

The central argument of the original post is that meso-reality is a vastly simplified and special-case version of reality. In particular, religion--which regrettably assumes itself to be absolutist and the last word in everything--has not made the faintest of predictions in any of its scriptures about these alternative--but objective--realities. The grand edifice of built by world religion is therefore hollow.

Ahana said...

I find it quite difficult to accept that religion is absolutist or the last word in everything. Is there a mix up here between religion, spirituality, and faith; and blind understanding because it seems to be the simplest recourse? Because what statements are made are actually appealing in some way to you and so you follow them?

Not that I know much about other religions. I have maybe a fragment of understanding of my own - which is more a way of life. After all, even the term Hinduism is believed to be of colonial origin - a lumping together of the many paths to the supreme followed by the many peoples of the nation by those that did not understand (or care to understand) the ramifications.

There may be texts, there may be interpretations - it is not a compulsory thing to follow the letter to the word - except when they say things like, see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil - practice what is called sanathana dharma (well, at least this sounds good to me and so I accept this diktat). The pathway is more to help one ahead in life, to face life's vicissitudes, to use examples to recreate situations and so on. A sort of anchor to stabilize or a punting pole to pull one along and face reality of the current kind.

Ahana said...

I was in my fav place reading my fav mag - and the editorial talked about this meeting at La Jolla called Beyond Belief. Liked the summed up outcome of this year's meet: we need many tools to make sense of the world besides the strictly rational. Also the report on the meet and some of the comments that have been blogged at (http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19626294.200-does-god-have-a-place-in-a-rational-world.html)

Ahana said...

Bashing Down Walls
by Marie T. Russell
Sometimes when things don't go the way I want, rather than sitting back and letting things go their own way, I start pushing and shoving and trying to make things happen the way I want... Can you relate to this one? Whether it's something at work, or at home, or wherever, we start getting forceful and insisting on things going a certain way (our way)... even when it is obvious (at least to others) that things are not going that way at all.

For example, you may be working on a project and everything, and I mean everything, seems to be going wrong... So what is our 'normal' tendency? We start getting tenacious and bull-headed and push and shove to try to make it go the way we want. We keep pushing, and trying to make it happen, to make it go 'right'... which is usually a futile experiment. Somewhat like trying to make the river flow upstream.

What is it in our make-up that induces us to behave that way? We want to have our own way... we want to be right... we want to feel like we are in charge and that things are going exactly the way we want them to... Yet, what is the reality behind this attitude? Is our motivation due to insecurity? Is it a feeling that if we don't hang on tightly to control, that everything will fall apart? Is it a fear that things may not work out in our favor if we don't try to control the outcome?

Basically, the cause of this attitude seems to stem from a lack of trust in the Universe (or God, the Force, or Life, or whatever you choose to call that Higher Power). We don't trust that someone (or something) else may know what is best for us... We don't trust that there is an innate intelligence in everything and everyone, and that if we simply let go, things will work out exactly in Divine order.

Now, I am not advocating sitting back and doing nothing at all because 'the Universe will handle it'. What I am talking about is active let-go... Seems like an oxymoron? Maybe, maybe not.

Years ago, I participated in a Ropes course. The goal of this weekend workshop was to break through fears and to learn to trust ourselves and others. I remember the first exercise was to close your eyes and let yourself fall backwards, trusting that the people lined up next to you would catch you. These people were "strangers" who were also participating in the workshop. It wasn't always easy to close your eyes and trust that someone would be there to catch you as you fell... That is active let-go... You close your eyes, you trust, and you fall and let yourself go.

Another part of the workshop involved a high-wire act... you know, like in the circus where you walk across a wire and then jump off to the trapeze bar hanging in the distance. I remember standing, it seemed for hours, up on that wire looking at that trapeze bar and arguing with the voices in my head... You know the ones: "I can't do it" "Yes, I can" "I'm scared" "It's safe" "What if I don't make it" "What if I fail"... It seemed that my feet were cemented to the wire on which I stood (way up in the air) making it impossible for me to let go and jump towards the trapeze bar.

Now the crazy thing about this whole process is that I was securely harnessed to a "safety rope"... So even if I missed the trapeze bar, I would not fall to the ground. Yet my mind was petrified at the thought of letting go, not willing to trust myself to make the jump on target, and not willing to trust the safety-rope tied to my waist. The active let-go came when I finally clenched my teeth and jumped...

In "real life" we may not see our safety-rope, yet it is always there. The Universe is always ready to catch us if we fall. And sometimes we think we're falling (failing), yet we're actually just changing location. Perhaps we are in an unhappy (failed) marriage, and the decision to divorce is actually the passport into a happier, healthier existence. Perhaps we are unhappy at our job, and we don't get the promotion we wanted, or we get fired, and the safety-rope is that there is a much better job waiting for us around the corner.

When we find ourselves going against the current, or when we find that everything is going wrong in our life, we need to stop and ask ourselves what is really going on. Are we standing on the high wire, unwilling to trust and let go. Is the fear of the future so captivating that we are unwilling to trust that something better is always waiting around the corner, if we will only take the first step. We may be headed in the wrong direction and the Universe is trying to "straighten us out" by sending all kinds of challenges.. .

We need to pay attention to the signals in our life. They are constantly there... When something is a struggle, there is a message there... Perhaps we need to handle the situation differently, perhaps we're at the wrong place at the wrong time, or the right place at the wrong time... Perhaps we need to change direction... A struggle or any challenge always comes with a gift -- a message, a lesson, a blessing.

Letting go means trusting that the process of life is always in balance and that whatever the outcome, it will be for the best. Active let-go, means following one's inner wisdom (or intuition) and doing what feels right, while trusting that whatever action one takes will bring us to a solution... whatever that may be.