Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia; Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.
orld history has again reached a dangerous tipping-
In the first Matrix movie, Morpheus offered Neo a choice between the Red Pill of fact (ugly reality in the underworld of Zion), or the Blue Pill of fiction (the illusion of normality in the computerized world created by the Matrix machines). But in the nonfiction world, we may not have to make such a difficult decision, since the human mind is capable of dealing with both empirical reality and intangible imagination. In fact, most people do indeed manage to hold both idealistic worldviews (religious myths, romantic stories, hypothetical conjectures) and pragmatic views (technical knowledge, scientific models of reality), although in discrete mental compartments. So in order to understand the whole truth of our existence, we need to look at both sides of every polarized worldview. In the non-
____________ Gnomon
The BothAnd Motto :
To paraphrase Socrates, “All I know is that I know nothing” for sure. We may think we know a lot, but much of our personal knowledge consists of learned conventions, knee-
The Matrix Movie :
A 1999 sci-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix
Mexican Standoff :
A confrontation between two or more parties in which no participant can proceed or retreat without being exposed to danger. As a result, all participants need to maintain the strategic tension, which remains unresolved until some outside event makes it possible to resolve it. In international affairs, it’s a cold war. In politics, it’s gridlock.
Gnomon :
A screenname associated with an avatar portraying the gnomic spiral of a Nautilus shell. Derived from Greek, “one who knows”, denoting wisdom and experience. It’s an aspiration, not a boast.
See glossary for more implications. . . .
W
INTRODUCTION to the BOTH/AND Blog
Golden Mean :
Aristotle’s ancient argument for “moderation in all things” assumed that the best compromise between conflicting forces is in the Goldilocks zone of “not too hot and not too cold, but just right”.
See Glossary for more detail.
Both/And Principle :
My coinage for the holistic principle of Complementarity, as illustrated in the Yin/Yang symbol. Opposing or contrasting concepts are always part of a greater whole. Conflicts are reconciled or harmonized by adjusting yinyang proportions to find the balance point of the whole system. See glossary
Either/Or Fallacy :
False Dilemma. (also known as: all-
See Golden Mean below
Enformationism
Enformity
A philosophical thesis
A worldview
Forum
Discussion
Glossary
Terminology
Intelligent Evolution
The Enformationism world-
click here for link to the Intelligent Evolution essay
Yes, This is a philosophical blog; which means that it’s a bunch of BS. But it’s a sincere search for pearls of wisdom hidden within the awful offal. And it doesn’t take itself too seriously.