[Dialogue] Grand Design & Ontology

[jlepps at pc.jaring.my]

Thanks David. If you'd like a copy of the whole 
thing -- very much a rough draft, and not quite complete -- just let me know.

John

At 09:04 PM 5/26/2012, you wrote:
>John,
>david scott here
>
>Your work is already a success.  Anyone who writes about "ontology"
>with a sense of humour has already won the day.
>
>Keep it coming.
>
>david
>
>On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 11:51 AM, jlepps at pc.jaring.my
><jlepps at pc.jaring.my> wrote:
> > Colleagues.
> >
> > Our discussion is very enlightening and fruitful. Thanks for all the
> > participation and insights that keep on coming. Right now we seem to be
> > ruminating about what does reality consist of, and that's an arena on which
> > I've been brooding for awhile. Below is the Summary and Introduction to a
> > paper that's been in the works for a couple of years. Your insights and
> > interest (or lack of it) would be most welcome. If anyone is interested in
> > the whole thing as it now exists, let me know and I'll send it. It's
> > currently about 36 pages. The list serve does not allow attachments, so be
> > sure to send your email.
> >
> > Draft 6 July ‘08 ­ May. ‘12
> >
> > DIMENSIONS OF ONTOLOGY
> > John Epps
> >
> > Executive Summary
> >
> > Human authenticity consists of being in a right relationship with reality.
> > Reality consists of eight interrelated dimensions: Space, Time, Physical
> > Matter, Technology, Socio-culture, Identity, Energy, and Meaning. They seem
> > to occur in closely-related pairs: Space and Socio-culture; Time and
> > Identity; Technology and Energy; Physical Matter and Meaning. Each of these
> > eight dimensions is universal in scope. Each poses its own issues in terms
> > of attaining a right relationship to it. 
> Different dimensions are emphasized
> > at different times, and the present seems to be a time of emphasis on space
> > and socio-culture dimensions.
> >
> > Introduction
> >
> > Whenever we're wrongly related to reality, we are in a situation of
> > self-destruction. In religious terms, it is a condition of un-faith or sin.
> > Restoring faith means authentically re-connecting with reality. But
> > conceptions of what constitutes reality vary considerably, and change from
> > time to time. What I'd like to do is first, to attempt a quick summation of
> > what constitutes reality in the contemporary mind-set, then second, to
> > indicate the issues we have in relating to 
> it, and finally, to indicate ways
> > in which authentic relations can be 
> re-established or at least communicated.
> > The aim of the paper is to provide the basis for addressing the crises of
> > faith that people experience today and offer the possibilities of
> > encountering life as meaningful.
> >
> > The matter of clarifying what is real, or what reality consists of, is an
> > on-going effort. One of the latest from the point of view of science is
> > super-string theory which posits that the ultimate entity of which
> > everything consists is not a tiny particle (even a point-particle), but
> > rather is vibrating energy strings. It’s a 
> fascinating theory well-explained
> > in the book The Elegant Universe by Brian Green[1]. In the process of
> > describing this theory, its justifications, and implications, Green
> > indicates that reality has 11 dimensions, not simply the three spatial and
> > one temporal that we are familiar with.
> >
> > I do not intend to further elaborate on this theory or even attempt to
> > understand it, but rather I’d like to use the notion of multiple dimensions
> > as a metaphor to attempt to grasp the common understanding of reality's
> > components and the way that "spirit problems" 
> consist of unhealthy relations
> > to reality.
> >
> > I’d like to begin by providing a sort of roadmap of reality, i.e., an
> > indication of the multiple dimensions of reality that we assume in our
> > normal operation. This is sort of a 
> pop-ontology that attempts to get at the
> > assumptions out of which we live. It's an 
> attempt to state the "common sense
> > of science" that is active these days. Once 
> people thought reality consisted
> > of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Everything else consisted of
> > some combination of the four. That view now 
> seems at best, "pre-scientific."
> > Later, people lived in a “3-story universe” (and that was common sense, not
> > religion, though religion used it to convey its particular insights); today
> > we live in a multi-dimensional universe that must become the mode through
> > which religious insights can be communicated, understood, and embodied.[2]
> >
> > We’re all familiar with the diagram of an atom, that represents the
> > relationships of its various components. I’d like to use it as a graphic
> > portraying the relationships among the various dimensions that compose
> > reality. Each of the “orbits” in the diagram affects all the others, though
> > each has its own integrity. That is an important factor to note in our
> > assumptions about reality. Now I’d like to describe the dimensions that we
> > assume as constituents of reality.
> >
> >
> > [1] Brian Green, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and
> > the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (New York: Random House, 2003)
> >
> > [2] Some time after the 3-story universe 
> collapsed, a more "scientific" view
> > was developed in which reality was composed of the basic elements contained
> > in the Periodic Table. Still later atoms and the sub-atomic particles
> > surfaced. The point is that notions of what 
> constitutes reality change. This
> > paper attempts to mark the current milestone in that change process.
> >
> >
> > I. DIMENSIONS AND ISSUES  (Below is an outline of section one)
> >
> > A. SPACE
> > "And remember, no matter where you go, there you are." ­ Earl Mac Rauch
> >
> > B. TIME
> > "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." ­ Groucho Marx
> > "Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at
> > once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working." ­ Anonymous
> >
> > C. PHYSICAL MATTER
> > "Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major
> > categories: those that don't work, those that 
> break down, and those that get
> > lost." ­Russell Baker
> >
> > D. TECHNOLOGY
> > "For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of
> > life, please press three." ­ Alice Kahn
> >
> > E. SOCIO-CULTURE
> > "It is better for civilization to be going down the drain than to be coming
> > up it." ­ Henry Allen
> >
> > F. IDENTITY
> > "To be idle requires a strong sense of personal identity." ­ Robert Louis
> > Stevenson
> >
> > G. ENERGY
> > "I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues." ­ Duke
> > Ellington
> >
> > H. MEANING
> > "How is it possible to find meaning in a finite world, given my waist and
> > shirt size?" ­ Woody Allen
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
>
>
>--
>Margaret and David Scott
>Flathead Valley College
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