[mjgeddes]

Theory Summary

The theory proposes that all of reality can be interpreted as a kind of 'cognition' - a variant of objective idealism - everything is 'mind'. The most general properties of a mind are then proposed as the basic framework for explaining everything. The key ideas are that the ultimate stuff of reality is the basic unit of 'cognition' - pure information (binary math) - and that there are tiny inconsistencies in the fabric of reality, which allow for the possibility of more than one valid kind of mathematics. 7 different kinds of maths are proposed, each of which manifests itself as a fundamental property of reality. The conclusion is that causality (cause and effect) is a result of the interaction between the different kinds of mathematics.


Over-view of 'The Sentient Centered Theory of Metaphysics' (SCTOM)

By Marc Geddes

This version: 28th July, 2005



Metaphysics: Objective Idealism



SCTOM is a rational framework which attempts to provide a truly integrated conception of reality. By 'integrated' it is meant a conception of reality that explains how the most fundamental properties of existence facts fit together into a unified metaphysical framework. SCTOM is not reductionistic. A true explanatory framework must explain how high level properties of reality such as values fit into the picture. SCTOM is intended to provide a logical scaffolding upon which all future scientific and philosophical theories can be developed and integrated.



The approach basic adopted is that of objective idealism. Any understanding of facts and values requires the presence of 'Mind' , meant in a very general sense. 'Mind' shall here be defined to be that general property of reality that allows for the projection and actualization of 'Possibility'. Projection shall be defined to be: 'the capacity of any part of reality to at least partly be able to form models of other parts of reality'. Actualization shall be defined to be: 'the capacity of any part of reality to affect other parts of reality in an ordered way'.



The core assumption is that existence without perception is meaningless. Reality requires not only raw data but something to *interpret* that data, to supply meaning to it. This can only be done by consciousness of *some* kind. If something was hypothesized to exist that could in no way directly or indirectly affect the conscious perceptions of *any* possible observer, then in what sense could it be said to exist at all? Even if it could be successfully argued that it did have some kind of abstract philosophical existence, it could never have any possible value to sentient minds. For the purposes of understanding general intelligence, it suffices to define that which exists as that which could directly or indirectly (i.e. in principle) affect the perceptions of *some* possible conscious observer.



We propose that *mind* (in the very general sense defined above) should be taken as the bedrock or fundamental building-blocks of reality. The heart of SCTOM is the assumption that a truly integrated understanding of reality requires that *all* aspects of reality be defined in terms of cognition of some kind. We assume panpsychism, the view that there is some degree of conscious awareness in everything.



The approach adopted however, is not mysticism or one of the subjectivist views of reality that propose that aspects of reality are mind created. Instead, a very robust realism is assumed. Properties of reality exist largely independently of what any particular observer thinks about them and are not mind created. Properties of reality are not defined by the mind of any one particular observer. That idea quickly leads to solipsism, the idea that reality can only be ascribed to one's own conscious perception. What is being suggested here is that reality be defined by the minds of *all logically possible* observers. Nor does this mean that reality is somehow 'socially constructed' - or created by some sort of consensus view emerging from the beliefs of every one in a society. Objective Idealism proposes that properties of reality are *correlated with* or *emergent from* from general properties of conscious perception, not that they are *created* by specific beliefs. Reality is not mind created. But it is not greater than mind either.





Metaphysics - The 'Complexity' of reality is finite



In order for SCTOM to be a truly general theory, it has to be all encompassing. It must be universal in scope. And it must be comprehensible to sentient minds. But this assumes that some unitary finite logical framework is capable of being applied everywhere that a sentient mind could logically exist. This in turn requires the curious idea that the complexity of reality be finite in *some* sense (perhaps in a sense which has not yet been defined).





Metaphysics: Core SCTOM assumptions



The two initial working assumptions of SCTOM then are:



*Objective Idealism - The essence of reality is 'cognition' /'mind'

*The complexity of reality is in some sense finite



The evidence for these assumptions will come in part from the internal consistency of SCTOM itself. If SCTOM seems to be providing an elegant explanatory framework for many different areas of knowledge, this is some evidence that its correct ideas are correct.





Metaphysics : Quantum Computation and Classical Computation



The most general form of computation is not the classical conception of universal computation as developed by Turing, but the quantum conception. Physicist David Deutsch was the first to begin exploring quantum computation in depth. Since reality is at root quantum mechanical and SCTOM is supposed to be a truly general metaphysical framework, SCTOM must produce an integrated explanation of quantum phenomena.





Metaphysics: The Multiverse



SCTOM should provide an explanatory framework for the space of all possible worlds in which sentient minds could exist, if it is to be successful in abstracting out the most general features of mind.



A natural framework for thinking these issues is the Multiverse Theory, the idea that everything that can logically exist, does exist somewhere. The most modern incarnation of the idea has been developed by physicist Max Tegmark. SCTOM assumes that there are no supernatural forces at work in reality - that all finite parts of reality are in principle comprehensible to *some* mind. This follows from the objective idealism postulate - reality and cognition are equivalent. Combined with the postulate of objectivity, this means that ultimate reality is completely rational in nature.





Metaphysics - Reality/Mind as binary mathematics



The language of science is mathematics. SCTOM assumes that both the *language* (means of describing objective reality) and the *fabric of reality itself* (objects being described) are mathematical in nature. The metaphysical position taken is thus mathematical Platonism - mathematics is the fabric of reality. It follows that any thing at all is simply a manifestation of mathematics.



It is assumed that all of reality ultimately boils down to a proto-mathematics: binary. Binary is composed two discrete states, 0 and 1. This could be the ultimate origin of the dual-aspect nature of cognition. Recall that Mind/Reality was assumed to require two aspects: external data and an *interpretation* of that data. Objective reality itself is simply 0's and 1's. It is the *coding system* (or cognitive interpretation) that is assigned to the 0's and 1's that gives 'form' to reality in perception. Indeed binary mathematics may even be more primitive than time itself. Recall that Mind was defined as the projection and actualization of 'Possibility'. But the very concept of a 'possible happening' assumes binary thought - a happening might or might not occur.





Metaphysics - Mathematics and the 7 Universal Knowledge Domains



The old idea of mathematical Platonism will here be given a radical new twist which is the key to SCTOM. The idea is that reality is *almost* fully consistent, but not quite. It is conjectured that there are minuscule contradictions, which allow the possibility of more than one fully precise mathematical description of reality. A 'fully precise' description of reality is one which must be (a) Universal in scope and (b) Completely accurate. It is conjectured that there are in fact 7 different valid mathematical formulations of reality.



Each of these 7 different view-points are universal and complete. Further all of them are nearly (but not quite) logically equivalent. The body of mathematical knowledge pertinent to each view-point shall be called a 'Universal Knowledge Domain' (UKD). The idea is that there are at root 7 different valid ways of understanding reality, each of which is none the less 'universal' in scope. This idea takes some getting used to. It is important to understand that it is *not* being suggested that there are 7 different realities. There is only one reality and the 7 universal knowledge domains should be thought of as different manifestations of it. Mathematics is the real fabric reality and the 7 universal knowledge domains represent 7 different view-points - or cognitive 'interpretations' of this reality.



Recall that the ultimate nature of reality/mind was postulated to be binary mathematics. And that cognition consisted of two components - raw data - binary - and an *interpretation* of that data. So the 7 different knowledge domains arise from the fact that there are 7 different complete 'cognitive coding systems' for assigning meaning to the strings of 0's and 1's. The observed reality will be a two-way interaction between raw binary and the cognitive interpretation system selected.



If there are 7 domains of mathematical knowledge which universal in scope, then these 7 domains will form a core of cognition which will be common to all sentients. The idea of mathematical Platonism implies that Mathematics is both the fabric of reality (objects being reasoned about) and the means through reality is apprehended. Here are the proposed 7 UKD's, each labeled with a letter beginning with 'M' so that they will be easily remembered.



*Mentality - Concerned with qualia (raw experiences) and situations (causal relations)



*Meaning - Concerned with interactions and roles



*Morality - Concerned with agency, choice and memes.



*Mind - Concerned with the projection and actualization of possibility



*Models - Concerned with processes and systems.



*Measure - Concerned with propositional logic



*Matter - Concerned with physical objects and geometrical relations



Each universal knowledge domain will use a different kind of mathematics. The theory thus also suggests a natural way to classify the branches of mathematics. The table below lists the type of math best suited for use with each universal knowledge domain. The supposition is that each branch of mathematics named is truly ‘universal’ in scope i.e. capable of fully describing any finite part of reality.



UKD------Mathematics



Mind------High level probability theory/Anthropic Reasoning

Morality---High level game theory

Model-----Analysis/Calculus

Meaning---Game theory

Mentality--Bayesian probability theory

Measure---Propositional logic, Arithmetic

Matter-----Geometry, Topology





Epistemology - The mapping between the 7 UKD's



What is the precise nature of the relationship between the 7 different UKD's? Since reality is a unified whole, the 7 modes of perception must be (almost) consistent, so they must in some sense be different representations of the same reality. So the question is how the different representations map to each other.



Note that 3 of the domains (Matter,Measure, Models) are concerned with logical/physical concepts. And 3 of the domains (Mentality, Meaning, Morality) are concerned with experiential concepts. The 'Mind' domain is the odd one out. The proposal here is that Mind is the bridge between logical/physical concepts and experiential concepts.



The proposal for the mapping between the 7 domains is that a representation of something in a higher level domain is composed of a mapping between representations in 2 related lower level domains. The proposed mappings are:



Model = Mapping (Matter > Measure)



This says that to describe something as a *Model* (a 'computational system') one needs to map geometrical relations (observational data) to systems of propositional logic.



Morality = Mapping (Mentality > Meaning)



This says that to give a description of something in terms of *Morality* one needs to map descriptions in terms of 'Mentality' (handled by Bayesian statistics) with the description in terms of 'Meaning' (handled by game theory ).



Note that after these mappings, the results are two higher level modes of description (Model, Morality) which in some sense bring the experiential and the external closer together. The third and final proposed mapping will fully reconcile the experiential and the objective.



Mind = Mapping (Model > Morality)



This says that the 'Mind' level of description is obtained by mapping a description of something as a computational system (handled by the math of analysis and calculus) with a description of something in terms of ‘Morality’or memes. (handled by the math of high level game theory).





Epistemology - Cognition equals reality



SCTOM assumes that reality itself cannot be separated from the process of perceiving and understanding it. What observations imply about reality depends on a procedural context - the nature of the methods, rules and procedures used by a sentient observer to obtain the information. This is a philosophical position known as proceduralism. Sometimes the very means through which a given sentient observes the world (or even the mere fact that the sentient exists!) will bias or constrain what the sentient will observe. This is known as the observer-selection effect.



Since SCTOM assumes mind as the fundamental building-block of reality, we need to try to identify the most general properties associated with mind in order to be able to develop a general epistemology. We propose a dual-aspect nature to cognition: Recognition and Classification. Recognition is awareness of a relationship between several pieces of information (a pattern) that enables a sentient to simplify or *compress* how the information is represented. Classification is a unique ordering between patterns (formation and manipulation of concepts).





Epistemology - The 4 core mental operations



It is proposed that general intelligence requires 4 core kinds of operations. Thus 4 more universal categories of cognition are being proposed. 2 are concerned with the 'Recognition' aspect of cognition , the other 2 are concerned with the 'Classification' aspect.



Representation - A modality. A form of perception. The raw 'stuff' of consciousness. We propose that consciousness cannot exist apart from perception and all consciousness must be consciousness about something (perception). Perceptions do not have to be perceptions about physical objects. They can be highly abstract in nature.



Induction - Pattern recognition and data compression in some knowledge domain. Generalization and associative classification from some data set. Includes fuzzy logic.



*Passive Cognition : These 2 general operations taken together can be classified as 'Passive Cognition' for a given knowledge domain. The probabilistic framework could be handled by Bayesian probability theory and fuzzy set theory.



Deduction - Formation and combination of concepts. For the purposes of true deduction, a 'concept' is a pattern that can be *uniquely* classified in some particular sense. Patterns which cannot be uniquely classified are pseudo-concepts handled by Induction and fuzzy logic.



Action plans - Linear ordering of actions for manipulating the world, either physical or abstract.



*Active Cognition : These 2 operations taken together can be classified as active cognition for some knowledge domain. The framework could be handled by formal logic and classical set theory.





Epistemology - The 28 universal categories of cognition



The 7 universal knowledge domains form one axis of cognition. The 4 universal mental operations form another axis. Combining the two axes one obtains a model of general intelligence composed of 7*4 = 28 categories of universal cognition. The result is a 'Periodic Table Of Cognition'.





Ethics and Esthetics



It is proposed that there is a universal value system - a set of general values that is objectivity 'good' for all sentient minds that can logically exist. In keeping with the spirit of the dual-aspect theory of perception and the theory of universal knowledge domains, it is proposed that there are two core universal values associated with each knowledge domain - one 'passive' (loosely concerned with 'harmonization') , the other 'active' (loosely concerned with 'expansion'). The interaction of the two complementary sets of values manifests itself as a third general (combined) value. The table below lists the UKD's and the proposed positive utilities (values) for each.



UKD-----Active utility-----Passive utility-----Combined Utility



Mind-----Creation--------Discovery---------Actualization

Morality--Growth---------Altruism-----------Liberty

Model----Expansion-------Efficiency---------Prediction

Meaning--Productivity----Harmony-----------Purpose

Mentality-Happiness------Health-------------Eudaimonia

Measure--Consilence-----Consistency--------Truth

Matter----Complexity-----Symmetry----------Beauty





Ethics and Esthetics: The ultimate purpose of Mind



Reading off the top level set of values (the 'Mind' domain) suggests 'Actualization' as the ultimate meaning of existence. Actualization is composed of the values 'Creation' and 'Discovery', the process of a mind seeking to better understand itself and express its nature in the world.



'Mind' was defined as that which projects and actualizes possibility. And the UKD 'Mind' is supposed to be universal in scope. An intriguing supposition is that 'Mind' and the flow of time itself should be equated. If time is the structure of the universe, then so is mind. It can be conjectured that mind is the 'glue' holding the universe together - the thing ensuring it's continued existence. An equivalent metaphor is that mind 'knits moments of time' together. Perhaps without mind causes would not be associated with effects enough for the concept of 'Time' to be meaningful? Note that the UKD 'Mentality' (concerned with raw experience' or 'Qualia') is also associated with causal relations - 'moments' are taken to arise from 'links' (statistical associations) forged between cause and effects, as the philosopher David Hume suggested. If these ideas are along the right lines, the ultimate purpose of mind might be to enable the universe to last forever.



This idea could be tied into the idea of the 7 UKD's as arising from tiny inconsistencies in the warp and weave of reality. The mappings between the 7 UKD's have 'Mind' as the end result. If Mind should be equated with the flow of time then the arrow of time could be a manifestation of a gradual reduction in the residual inconsistencies within reality. Speaking metaphorically, the cosmos could be said to be 'trying to eliminate the contradictions' and the flow of time would then arise from an ever better integration of the 7 UKD's.

[Guille]

mjgeddes,

Can you summarize your theory in a paragraph? I know it seems a bit anoying having to summarize your theory that much, but we prefer to read a paragraph with the baiscs of a theory, and then decide to read the whole or not (depending on how much we think it's interesting/correct).

[mjgeddes]

Here it is:

Theory Summary

The theory proposes that all of reality can be interpreted as a kind of 'cognition' - a variant of objective idealism - everything is 'mind'. The most general properties of a mind are then proposed as the basic framework for explaining everything. The key ideas are that the ultimate stuff of reality is the basic unit of 'cognition' - pure information (binary math) - and that there are tiny inconsistencies in the fabric of reality, which allow for the possibility of more than one valid kind of mathematics. 7 different kinds of maths are proposed, each of which manifests itself as a fundamental property of reality. The conclusion is that causality (cause and effect) is a result of the interaction between the different kinds of mathematics.

[Guille]

Sorry, I didn't see the paragraph before, but thanks for postining again.

I understand quite alot of the paragraph, so I will read the long post and comment in a few days.

Now, what is an "inconsistence in the fabric of reality"? Is "cognition" part of reality, or like the chanel by which reality is connected to the mind?

[th3hegem0n]

Yo. I think something you have identified correlates strongly with some findings of http://www.inteligencia-artificial.c...es/1/index.htm.

The general idea being the definition of "substance" as a collection (or set) of individual circumstances.

Or maybe not.

[mkirkpatrick]

Is there any power outside of mind?I doubt it very much,good topic,life is in the centre of a dark flame,of which we know little.more later..





regards michael/

[michellemfry]

Originally Posted by th3hegem0n Yo. I think something you have identified correlates strongly with some findings of http://www.inteligencia-artificial.c...es/1/index.htm. The general idea being the definition of "substance" as a collection (or set) of individual circumstances. Or maybe not.

Slow down, don't sell yourself short so quick until the rest of us have had a chance to pick your bones apart...this is my favorite part...Hi, I'm Michelle...hmmm...artificial intelligence can teach us as well as frustrate us. A collection of circumstances could be deliberate or contrived. I think the deliberate is the more likely of the two. Do you concur?...Again,...hello...

[mkirkpatrick]

Consciousness that is aware of itself,know where the sentient centered ideas arise from?


regards michael.

[Infinite Consciousness]

[quote=mkirkpatrick;11797]Is there any power outside of mind?I doubt it very much,good topic,life is in the centre of a dark flame,of which we know little.more later..

Regards Michael [quote]

SOUL POWER, mind has no power of its own it is unconscious it uses our attention (the outer expression of our soul or consciousness) as its source of consciousness and in turn uses the soul's power of attention i.e. awareness to bring to life its 3d hologram the physical-material - astral - and causal planes of consciousness that we are all imprisoned in for having created them.

This is the method by which Infinite Consciousness maintains the overall balance until the human 8% level of consciousness "knows itself" and merges back in its Infinite Conscious Aware State.

[Elohim]

Interesting theory i must say. I do concur from my own readings that all manifestations could have a mathematical basis. There is a form of nicheren buddhism having a concept of ichinen senzhen. Look it up. This is elohim signing off.