Does order exist?
crossposted to abstractthought
A stupid question perhaps, but only because the term can be applied to literally any pattern we can recognize, subjectively or objectively. Even chaos is a but a kind of order. Order itself however, can be seen as a category in need of no larger context . In consideration of it's universality, it's curious that we can discuss it at all. How can we tell whether something is more or less orderly?
I submit that order transcends physical reality and originates not in matter or static principles but as a cosmic substrate of intelligibility whose character can only be glimpsed through the veil of the receiving agent. What we experience as our Universe are the bits of the universe which can be simulated in a subjective human cognitive-neurological experience. The full richness of Order, therefore, will always elude our attempts to comprehend.
The evolution of subjectivity is perhaps as important and mysterious as biological evolution. At the moment, our popular science focuses on mapping features of consciousness to brain physiology and genetic transmission while even the most elemental structures of subjectivity are explained away without revealing anything of value. While heredity can trace back complex optical systems of mammals to primitive light sensitive tissues, it does not explain the mechanics of say, the particular experience of the color red versus blue. What underlying order gives rise to particular hues but not to others? What sequential nature of light causes blueness to follow greenness in a spectrum?
These kinds of questions point out the gaping holes in our understanding of ourselves. If we don't know how the green frequencies of the spectrum were selected to be green and what the qualia of greenness actually is, how can we expect to understand how consciousness, life, and the universe really works? If order really does exist as a thing, as a category, rather than a descriptive artifact then it seems like discovering it's nature would rank among the highest priorities we should have as a culture. It seems to me that a good place to start is with opposites, symmetries, and cycles. basic geometries. symbols. phonemes, alphabets, numbers, gestures, senses and perception. How to reverse engineer intuition? What orders order?
A stupid question perhaps, but only because the term can be applied to literally any pattern we can recognize, subjectively or objectively. Even chaos is a but a kind of order. Order itself however, can be seen as a category in need of no larger context . In consideration of it's universality, it's curious that we can discuss it at all. How can we tell whether something is more or less orderly?
I submit that order transcends physical reality and originates not in matter or static principles but as a cosmic substrate of intelligibility whose character can only be glimpsed through the veil of the receiving agent. What we experience as our Universe are the bits of the universe which can be simulated in a subjective human cognitive-neurological experience. The full richness of Order, therefore, will always elude our attempts to comprehend.
The evolution of subjectivity is perhaps as important and mysterious as biological evolution. At the moment, our popular science focuses on mapping features of consciousness to brain physiology and genetic transmission while even the most elemental structures of subjectivity are explained away without revealing anything of value. While heredity can trace back complex optical systems of mammals to primitive light sensitive tissues, it does not explain the mechanics of say, the particular experience of the color red versus blue. What underlying order gives rise to particular hues but not to others? What sequential nature of light causes blueness to follow greenness in a spectrum?
These kinds of questions point out the gaping holes in our understanding of ourselves. If we don't know how the green frequencies of the spectrum were selected to be green and what the qualia of greenness actually is, how can we expect to understand how consciousness, life, and the universe really works? If order really does exist as a thing, as a category, rather than a descriptive artifact then it seems like discovering it's nature would rank among the highest priorities we should have as a culture. It seems to me that a good place to start is with opposites, symmetries, and cycles. basic geometries. symbols. phonemes, alphabets, numbers, gestures, senses and perception. How to reverse engineer intuition? What orders order?