The well-known sequence of “Body – Mind – Spirit” may be expanded as follows:
- Body (or Sensory input)
- Perception
- Experience
- Information
- Hypothesis
- Theory
- Principles
- Axioms
- Spirit (or Self)
All these stages between Body and Spirit comprise the mind. The function of the mind is to assess and determine what is there. The sensory input is assessed as perception. Perception is then assessed as experience. Experience is then assessed as Information. And so on down the line. We may look at these stages as the “Scale of Mind.”
At the top of this scale we have the Sensory Input, which may be characterized as material from some unknown primordial state, which is basic to all existence. At the bottom we have identifiable existence, whether animate or inanimate, the basic unit of which may be regarded as “self.”
One may say that sensory input from the primordial state precipitates through these stages recursively, thus bringing about self, and an evolution of self. “Self” may be looked upon as a UNIT of existence, whether it is a thought or an atom. To understand the make-up of “self”, we may borrow some ideas from mathematics.
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A UNIT is what we count one at a time. “Self” has the characteristic of individuality that renders it to be counted one at a time.
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A rational number posits a unit that divides into both numerator and the denominator. Such a unit has a finite magnitude, no matter how large or small. Similarly, we may consider “self” to be a finite individuality, regardless of its characteristics.
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An irrational number reveals that a “unit” is essentially an arbitrarily constructed concept. This discovery created quite an upset in the mathematical world. Please see Going Beyond Counting. If we look at the parallel here, maybe “self,” though useful, is essentially an arbitrarily constructed concept.
Prior to the emergence of self (whether as thought, or as atom, or whatever lies at the core), there is simply a primordial state that cannot be described. It cannot be called chaotic for there is no reference point to assess chaos. That state is its own reference point.
The primordial state creates its own perception, experience, information, hypothesis, thesis, principles, axioms etc. to finally come up with a fabric of self on a totally arbitrary basis. That fabric then seems to create its own perception, experience, information, etc. to evolve into self. This recursive process seems to evolve a self out of “no self,” much like an irrational number evolves out of “no unit.”
Another parallel may be drawn from the formation of a particle (photon) out of a “no particle” (electromagnetic wave). The electromagnetic wave seems to be a phenomenon of space. Space may be looked upon as empty, or as nothing; but space is an observable phenomenon on its own right.
We all perceive and experience the same physical universe. Is it because we agree with each other consciously or unconsciously? Or, is it because we share the same sensory input as the fabric of our very makeup? Does thought and atom have the same basis?
From sensory input to self there seems to be a progression from impressions to visualization. This may be looked upon as the gradual introduction of self-determination, or free will. Again it is a recursive phenomenon and it cannot be said if thought came first, or the atom, in the equation of “self.”
Cognitive functions may be an outcome of this developing ability to visualize after much such iteration. Memory may be a combination of impressions and visualizations. The consistency between impressions and visualizations may manifest as honesty and integrity.
Are we really separate from the physical universe? Or, is the physical universe simply an extension of us? Let’s leave that to future contemplation (looking) for now.
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