so given what I have said, we seem to have a dualism, like
Descartes, mind/body problem or Plato’s eternal world
and his temporary/ impermanent world.
We know because we exist within them, we humans have
rules/ laws we must obey if we are to exist or continue to exist
and the “world” the “universe” has its rules/laws, it too must obey,
the laws of motion and the theory of gravity, for example. The “universe” has
laws and rules and forces it must follow, necessity demands that
universe follows certain rules/laws/forces. Just as we must “obey”
our necessities of eating, breathing, waste control, bodily feedback and
other laws/rules/ forces of life. And some of the rules/laws that govern
the universe, also govern us. We too must “obey” the laws of gravity
and the laws of motion. The universe must also follow certain
rules/laws we must obey, for example, the need for energy, for consumption
of matter which allows the continued existence of the universe and us.
This is what Einstein meant by his famous formula, E = Mc2…….
The universe and us, we are both energy and matter as the two
are interchangeable. If it is matter, it is energy and if it is energy, it is matter.
so what looks like a dualism isn’t really a dualism. If we break down
the universe and we break down us, we see that it is the same thing, energy/matter.
so as I quietly sit in my condo and listen to music or if I walk down
the main drag of my little city, everything I see is matter/energy.
If it looks like a dualism, that means we may not have broken it
down to it basic parts. But in regards to Descartes mind/body problem,
if we hold that mind and body are two entirely different things,
what about mind? body is clearly matter/energy so it is accounted
for, but what is mind? what is thought? It is energy and so it too
can be converted into matter. Everything in the universe is
energy/matter. If if it matter, it can become energy and if it is energy,
it can become matter.
So how do we humans, how do we understand the universe?
We experience the universe. We have contact with the matter/energy
of the universe and then we tell some “tale” about that matter/energy.
We are matter/energy and we experience other matter/energy
and then we try to “explain” that experience in some fashion.
at certain temperatures, water can be a solid like ice and at another
temperature, water can be water, and at other temperatures, water
can be in another state which we can call vapor. In other words, water can
be solid, wet or a gas. There are four states of matter, solid, liquid, gas and
plasma. we can also stipulate other forms of matter, glass or liquid crystal
or in more extreme conditions, such as the Bose-Einstein condensates,
neutron-degenerate matter and quark-gluon plasma which only occurs,
respectively, in situations of extreme cold, extreme density and extremely
high-energy.
So this “simple” question of matter can suddenly become quite complicated.
But isn’t that true for anything. We can, by how we go in depth
into something, create complications. Humans are, visually,
different from animals, and yet if we exam both animals
and humans, we find they are actually very similar. They have
similar body functions, similar purposes of inner organs, similar
genetic code, similar ways of movement, similar information
gather systems which we call senses.
Animals and humans must obey certain laws/forces/rules that
is imposed by our common evolution. Our shared history means
we are connected in many ways and yet, we look different.
we allow our different forms and structures, to confuse the matter
between humans and animals. We are in fact, animals.
We are simply two species which have a common ancestry.
The difference between animals and humans is the difference in
how they respond to each other and to events/ experiences.
And that is really the function of how evolution/ changes
has created different response to experiences. We both, still,
respond quite often with the same response like the fight or flight
response both human and animals have to extreme experiences.
Now have I “solved” or settled anything, nope. Not in the least.
In fact, I may have complicated matters by pointing out the various
differences and similarities in animals and humans.
I have in fact, muddle things by not even really having a point.
and so what? Is having a point going to “solve” anything?
How would you go about answering the question I didn’t even pose?
Kropotkin