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. Its 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 Id 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. Id 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] Were all familiar with the diagram of an atom, that represents the relationships of its various components. Id 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 Id 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 "<http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/757.html>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 "<http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/564.html>Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working." <http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Anonymous/>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