Conventional reality, personal identity and alternate Realities

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Can a little bit of thought militate against such a position?

For one, you could say that that there are no “accidents” in Nature. Even if there were, you would not be able to identify them as such – as they would seem, to you, to be perfectly natural. In other words, you could never prove that an “accident” is accidental. You would have to know all that there is to know about the entire Universe, to be able to say, “this is not a ‘normal’ phenomenon,” – which is absurd! Who, then, is to say that Humankind is an absurd, freakish “accident” in the context of the entire Universe? Perhaps, a coroner or Lloyd’s of London have an operative definition of what an accident “is.”

In such a context, an event is deemed “accidental” only against the background of some statistical basis. Those who say that humans “should not exist,” because the species is a “statistical impossibility,” are idiots playing God. The fact being that humans do exist. That humans exist in a very specific way. The fact outweighs the so-called “statistics” by a trillion to one, at least.

In fact, it might be that humankind’s very existence is the most revealing fact about the nature of the Universe; about the nature of matter; about the nature of Nature. Which is not to imply, as some would like to believe, that humankind is the “purpose” of this Universe. For that is the megalomaniacal expression of that mental imbalance that I suspect in the human race.

Nonetheless, it is an undeniable fact that human beings always felt alienated on their own native planet. It is also true that we have always had good reason to be singled out by the Universe. Our intelligence has separated us from all the other creatures and from Nature itself. We feel like the bastard offspring of a great King or Queen, living in a cocoon of our own making. Why did Nature lavish on us so much awareness and then go on to blight us with self-awareness? All dressed up and nowhere to go, in a hostile Universe, where a mere rock from the heavens could obliterate us and erase our very memory from the Universe.

This is the pessimistic view of the human condition. Every human being believes that he/she is all of Humanity. We feel, mistakenly, that this Universe owes us some explanation but the Universe remains mute.

The notion that some Reality exists behind conventional reality arises from the simple observations of daily life. The might oak tree used to be a mere seed. One is led to suppose the existence of some “programming” within the seed. A child is born from a sexual act. Even a primitive will, eventually, associate the discharge of semen and the female menstruation cycles to the birth of the child. He will soon associate it to other processes in Nature: the seed he plants, the pollination in vegetable life. He becomes aware of very complex processes at work behind the scene. He knows that not all creatures see the same colours or hear the same sounds. He suspects that his appreciation and awareness of Reality depends on his endowment: “What else is there that I will never perceive or become aware of?”

He dreams, at night, dreams over which he has no control. Some of his dreams seem so real that he loses confidence in the reality he knows in his waking state. He even experiences day-dreaming, flights of fancy, moments of terror that challenge his trust in his own mind. He knows that distortions of Reality brought about by drugs and mental illness. What kind mind is that, that could be so severely altered by a mushroom extract of the toxin from a toad or a fish? He knows that all the other animals have minds too. He is then led to ask, “Do all the other creatures see and know the world as I do? Or is there a tiger Reality; a pig Reality; a dog Reality?” What would the world look like seen through the eyes of a raven?

For millennia, our man does not know, yet, that his mind is a function of his brain. When he finds out, it makes things worse for him. For how could thoughts and emotions arise from this grey mush? And why did this grey mush invent chess, art or warfare? Why does it say “I” and “We” or “Why” and “What if?”

The strangest part of all is that it knows next to nothing about itself. It keeps blabbering, “I am” and “I won’t,” endlessly. Why should it know that it is, when it could function, perhaps even better, if it did not know? Why should it want what it knows does not exist? If a rose is pink, it wants it black. It keeps looking for alternative realities , as if trying to escape from its own Reality.

It invents philosophy, to prove that “what is” does not “really” exist and what “does not exist” should have existed! It asks, “Is this ‘mango’ really a ‘mango.’? Or, “Is it only ‘a mango’ by the decree of my own needs and requirements? What is the sound of one hand clapping? And is virtue virtuous?"

Two million years later, he now thinks that he has accessed the very substratum of this “Reality behind the veil.” He thinks it made of quirks and quarks and what he does not know he calls “Dark Matter.” Dark it is, indeed, and darker than ever! For all the subatomic particles in this world, still, does not a world make. Not the kind of world where seeds grow into oak trees and beasties from the Earth travel through Space. There is a long way to go from the Alphabet to the Sonnet!

So, even the very serious scientists look for that substratum of the Real World; the one we do not see; the so-called ghost in the machine. As a child, I took apart the old alarm clock. I could never put it back together. Analysis is, by far, simpler and easier than synthesis. We are good at taking things apart but not so good at putting them back together, as they are, in their present working order. For it is not impossible that “things” could be put together in some other way, and still “work” in some other way. Very tricky. For no one would be able to tell the difference. Suppose you were able to take apart the toaster and put it back together as a beater. In this case, you would be aware of the transformation. In Physics, however, chances are that there would be no such awareness of the sleight of hand. You would say, “Well, it works, Ken, this must be the way it is supposed to work.” That would be it. For you never knew how it worked, in the first place, before it was taken apart!

Thus, all prophecies are self-fulfilling prophecies.

And so it goes with all “alternate Realities”: we take apart what we know (or think we know) and put it back together, all wrong and topsy-turvy. If one combination works, we proclaim victory, even if the toaster is now a beater! We have an “alternate” Reality. The trouble being, that Nature seems very obliging, very “democratic.” It allows you to do this sort of thing. It takes in stride your intrusions because it is a system of infinite possibilities. In Nature, toasters do become beaters; all the time. We call it Evolution! So, you do find what you expect. Why not? After all, you are a factor in the total equation. By definition, there are no “mistakes” in Nature, for everything in it is “natural.”

Since the Pre-Socratic cosmologists/meta-physicians, the notion of Alternate or Parallel Reality and Multiple Universes has been vague. The ides is very ancient and takes on many variations:

1) At the level of religion, the ancient texts speak of a world “balanced” between Good and Evil. A cosmic struggle, that we might sense but do not perceive. In other words, the meaningfulness of the Universe lies in an abstract theme; one that has nothing to do with the daily lives of the beasties on this Earth. Nonetheless, all living creatures are trapped in this cosmic struggle.

2) In a variation on the same theme, the Visible and Invisible worlds are described as Real and Material. They become the Lower and the upper Worlds, in a physical sense. The good God had to abandon this lower world and it is up to us to struggle, in order to rejoin Him, in his Upper World, where Matter is finer, less gross – and where everything is more “spiritual.”

Here, we have the “Russian doll syndrome”: one Universe within another; that is, two parallel realities, that still function as one – even though their functioning, in unison, results from a permanent state of war.

3) At the cosmological level, we have a Universe involved in this dual process of destruction and reconstruction. We can become aware of the process of destruction but not of the secret and invisible processes of reconstruction – except for what we witness on Earth, in terms of life regenerating itself.

4) Add to that a kind of Cosmic Theory of Evolution, that invokes a process of refinement, from Matter to Spirit. This, often, includes Reincarnations (ad infinitum), whereby the stone “soul” has to learn to become a vegetable “soul,” then be promoted to other types of “Soul,” endowed with higher mental and spiritual qualities. A very elaborate cosmic process, behind the scenes, that constitutes a “parallel Reality.”

5) With the Pre-Socratics, the Greeks gave us the notion of a “Substratum,” underlying the natural processes and phenomena of Nature, on Earth. In other words, a hidden, underlying Reality, that is “the Cause” of everything that we observe on Earth: from the changing seasons to life and death and from the movement of the stars, to the reasons for warfare. This theory peaks with Democritos, in an early version of Atomic Theory. To this day, we are still smashing atoms in search of some hypothetical (and very elusive) subatomic particles, the Substratum of Reality; in fact, a parallel Reality. The ultimate expression, of this idea, remains the equation: (E=MC2), the ultimate alchemical formula to convert gross Matter into Spiritual Energy and, perhaps, vice versa. Truly, a human formulation of a divine thought! But then, Einstein came from a long-standing “prophetic” tradition!

6) We also inherited from some of the ancient Greek philosophers, the idea of an “anti-Earth.” This one, a very concrete astronomical fantasy. The “reasoning” runs along these lines: since everything has its opposite – to keep things balanced – there must be a counterpart to our Earth, hidden from sight, perhaps somewhere behind the sun. We do not have any details about this counterpart of our planet but, it is safe to assume, that in the imagination of these thinkers, all phenomena and events ran “in reverse” on this counter-Earth. From there, to further imagine that this must be the abode of the Dead or the Hades of Satan is but one small thinking step. Yet another conception of some parallel Reality.

I am sure that many more illustrations could be found. My point being, that the notion of “parallel Reality” is an ancient one, long before “Quantum Physics” could be pronounced.

From the preceding, I draw the following observations:

1) That the most fantastical beliefs are grounded in some measure of reasoning, based on one or very few assumptions that go unchallenged.

2) The longest-lasting assumption (presumption) is the notion of “balance.” That is, the idea of Equilibrium. To every force, there must be a counter-force. Hence, the idea of Bipolarity, as best illustrated in Electricity. The flow of electricity is vectorial: it has a direction, from one pole to the opposite pole.

3) The underlying assumption being that of a Static Universe: that is, a Universe in a Steady-State. An idea, best illustrated, in the famous pronouncement of the French Physicist, Laplace: “nothing is created; everything is destroyed; everything is transformed.”

4) Even in Modern Times, the idea of Anti-Matter constitutes, in fact, the potentiality for a counter-Universe; that is, a Parallel Reality. No one was ever brave enough to tell us how things would work in such a Universe, but some science-fiction writer, over the last decades, have volunteered a few insights:
a) Water would run uphill.
b) People would be born very old and die in their Mother’s wombs.
c) Events would travel from the Future to the Past.
d) Etc…

Now, if you were to assume a cyclical Universe, it would follow, logically, that “History repeats itself” and that “to know the Future, you must know the Past.” Hence, great care will be given to recording the Present and finding out every scrap of information about the Past. The Past would be revered and Golden Ages celebrated; as “fossil records” of great value. Probably, the world would also be ruled by a Gerentocracy and the Antique Collector be viewed as a model citizen.

Finally, if you were to assume that the Universe is ruled by absolute Hazard and Serendipity, then a number of queer conclusions could be drawn:

1) That the Universe’s apparent coherence and organization is but an “accident.” That is, what we see is but a temporary formation soon to break down, again, into Chaos. That is, Physics and Cosmology only describe a “moment” in the existence of the Universe. A moment later, and there will be no more observers and nothing to observe. Back to the “primordial soup.” (By the way, a very honourable conception, with a long pedigree and impeccable references. Some very brilliant people have held this belief).

2) Since the Universe is neither moral nor “Logical,” except now and then, in an accidental fashion – it follows that Humanity cannot relate to the Universe in which it exists. Humans can neither draw Morality nor Reason from the Universe. Humans remain in supreme isolation, accountable only to themselves. Humanity becomes its own God. As nothing matters, it can think, feel and do whatever it pleases.

Whatever you can get away with becomes the right thing to do.

Absolute Pragmatism.

The Engineer displaces the Scientist, the Philosopher and the Moralist. If it “works” and serves some purpose, then not only is it valid and good but even “holy.”

For whatever holds together, even for a short while, becomes the ultimate test of Validity, in a transient Reality.

3) All knowledge becomes Relative; no more Absolutes; no more (E=MC2) equations, either. Any so-called “Law of Nature” might be “true”, in some applications and false in other applications. The application will determine the “truth index” of any scientific pronouncement.

4) Doubt becomes obsolete, even a nuisance. For when the entire Universe is in doubt, what we require are certainties. Perhaps small ones, but lots of them!

In the preceding, I am attempting to depict how Culture dictates a “Sense of Reality.” The whole process might start from a few assumptions but, soon, entire societies are organized on the basis of such beliefs.

Once one is born and formed by a society, it becomes almost -almost – impossible to conceive of anything else. There is a closure of the Horizon that takes place (the cultural horizon, that is). The culture becomes set in its ways and dissent is stamped out, one way or another. It acquires a coherence that easily passes for Perfection. It becomes unassailable. What is outside the Culture becomes the Un-Real.

Some such cultures do exist and have already existed for several millennia. They change on the outside but remain the same on the inside.

The force of Inertia is greater than the violence of Revolution.

Such cultures are regulated by ancient beliefs, expectations and mental dispositions that, when blended into coherent formations, one might call, “cultural matrices.”

To illustrate: what we call Fatalism is, in fact, a nexus of assumptions, at the intellectual level, supported by a set of beliefs and attitudes at the moral and emotional level. It “works” something like this:

1) Reality is impermanent.

2) What now seems True could, tomorrow morning, prove to be totally “Un-True.”

3) In any choice, there is a large area of doubt. That is, a large margin of indifference. Hence, any choice, for all I know, is as good as any other. This is the “Principle of Indifference.” Hence, to abstain from any choice is the best choice.

4) If an intelligent choice could, at best, be only “probable,” and as the probable will not necessarily be the moral or ethical – then it is better “to wait and see” and indentify a trend. A seasoned gambler will see this as an intuitively graspable assumption.

If all of these considerations take place instantly – as if in one single “mental motion” – then we have a reactive mode built and programmed within the individual. This would be a “cultural matrix.” It would be similar to a formula or equation: you feed it the new variables and it spits out the new “answers” in accordance with the same old algorithm. Everything is new but nothing important is changed. This is the secret of the infamous resilience of old cultures that resist the New Order and other fairy and Grimm Tales.

Now, if this were really true (and truly real!), then we must have caught this “Sense of Reality” by the tail or some other part of its elusive constitution. If we could “break down” a culture to its most basic cultural matrices, the very algorithms by which it processes what it receives from the Outside World, we would be able, if not to predict, but understand its future directions and decisions. For if the “algorithms” are “real,” then some concepts will be accepted and many will be rejected. Something like the proverbial “square peg in the round hole.”

In the preceding, I am trying to illustrate the hypothesis that our sense of what is “Real” does not follow from some “Eureka Factor” or “Conversion on the Road to Damascus” syndrome – but from prior experiences; reified and codified into precise bundles. These bundles work as mini-programs, algorithms, or “sifts.” Daily, they process the real world, at the speed of thought (the fastest in the Universe). They sift Reality, in a highly prejudiced and biased manner – in fact, “with extreme prejudice,” as an assassin might say.

Now, you might ask, “How do these mental algorithms manage to survive thousands of years, against the ebb and flow of so many events and forced transformations?”

Your question would then imply two sub-questions: one regarding the modes of transmission and one necessitating and explanation regarding the resiliency and durability of such mental constructs. Both find a simple answer as follows: Oral tradition is the mode of transmission: children’s tales; proverbs; sayings and adages; religious mythology; folklore; taboo; popular literature and whatever the Anthropologists and whatever other “ologists” have been probing, for the last few centuries. Add to this, of course, various Priesthoods as guardians of the collective memory. Somewhere, in the bulk of such literature, one could find the exact modalities of transmission.

As for the resiliency, it is a matter I would refer to the Psychologist of the Jungian variety. How is a collective identity formed? How are atavic idiosyncrasies formed? What is a “collective consciousness?”

It suffices for me to say that, in my experience, people are always found with specific identities. That they consider their identify to be the greatest good one could possess. That the very function of a true (or “natural” identity) is to link the individual to some Ancestry: an occult community that joins the living and the dead.

That the function of one’s identity is to provide him/her with a specific stance – an existential posture from which is derived meaning and meaningfulness.

That an “identity” is the supreme algorithm, through which we process Existence, so as to humanize it and find the terms on which this Existence becomes livable.

If that is what “identity” means, then one could see how resilient it would be. There is no catastrophe great enough, be it Deluge, Armageddon, or Satan’s Arrival, that could not be “processed” by some human identity, somewhere, at some time.

For it is the very function of identity to help the individual and the collective survive the Events & Phenomena of this world or any other Worlds.

Part 3 to come...