THE
FUNCTIONS
Note: Some
Links to Other Documents are Outdated or May be Broken
Document status: May 14, 2003
Outdated;
maintained out of interest
Essential
content absorbed to and no further action needed for Journey in Being
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Purpose and derivation The purpose of the Functions is
described in The Implementation and in Fundamental Concepts and Design. These links provide some description
of the purpose of the Functions and of the derivation of the narrative as a
product of [Topics x Functions], of a logical derivation of the particular Functions and Topics
from the basic objectives and nature of Being
and the Elements of Being. Further consideration of these issues
is distributed in background work and plans and development of Being and the Elements of Being.
Further development - grounding, elaboration and refinement - of these issues
and consolidation of established development is ongoing and will be
incorporated into Being and the Elements
of Being There are
eight Functions The
functions are also to be interpreted in a verb form: concept includes concept
formation; design and planning includes both noun and verb form; knowledge
base includes construction of a knowledge base; narrative includes both
narrative construction and narrating...
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THE FUNCTIONS
Co- and sub-functions
Titles and focus
[additional text and or links to co- and sub-functions]
Description and
comments
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Purple - replaceable and temporary text Copperplate Gothic
Light Text Co- and
sub-functions Titles and focus Notes from the topic Links that
are active but not currently fulfilled... i.e. the page has not yet been
uploaded to this site |
1.1 Main Concept and Example: Being and the Elements of Being
For further concepts,
see other topics, especially Fundamental Concepts
and Design for Being and the Elements of Being
1.1.1 What is Being and the Elements of Being?
The origin of Being and the Elements of Being is in the journey
of my life. That journey includes a search for what is most fundamental, and what
is the highest possibility in knowledge and becoming. In the culture of the
western world, the word “being” is a focal point for such ideas and
journeys. As far as knowledge of being and its nature is incomplete, the
meaning of being is must be in transition. And, as far as individual being and
the being of the world are incomplete, being itself must be in transition
Being and the Elements of Being is a search for, an exploration of being and its nature – including individual and ultimate being
To ask what is the nature of being or “What is the
being of entities?”, it is necessary to also ask
about the meaning of being. What am I “pointing” at when I talk
about being? Why is this important or significant?
Being and the Elements of Being is also a journey in the transformation and construction of being. What are the limits of becoming for
individual being? What can I become? The question has intrinsic interest. In
addition, since –as I believe– the nature of being is not to be
known by intellect alone, the journey of transformation and construction are
necessary in answering the questions of being
Being and the Elements of Being an account or narrative of and for the exploration and construction of being
Being and the
Elements of Being is personal in that it is a phase of my life and its
process – it includes my search. In a way that is explained below, it is
also universal and includes all
searching. It is about the connection between the personal and the universal.
Every exploration is personal, Being and
the Elements of Being is my search… it is personal but not
merely personal - I also seek an embedding in the universal. The embedding
sought is in the world through direct contact and vision in the world and
through intermediate embedding in civilization, its history and the culture of
knowledge
What is the fullest
account of Being accessible to humankind? One answer
is provided in the tradition and history of knowledge; an example is in the
sciences and humanities - including art. This history reveals dimensions to Being. My approach is to enhance the study by engaging all
dimensions of being in the exploration of being. Though informed by tradition,
understanding of, transformation and construction in the nature and dimensions
of Being remains in process
The result is a matrix:
the dimensions of Being [knowing] as agent matched
with the dimensions of Being as object [world]. Perhaps the idea of matrix is
too complex. For the idea of Being gazing upon itself
the matrix is “one-by-one.” For Heidegger’s idea of
Being-in-the-World the result, in which the knower-known split is not assumed,
is not a matrix at all; it may be called experience. Such considerations make
the exploration “efficient.” The exploration may be characterized
by constructive hypotheses as to what is possible, what is worthwhile and
action toward the implied ends. An objective is to allow sufficient detail and
variety as to be realistic; and to have a sufficiently unitary perspective that
permits use of Being as a label for an ultimate
1.1.2 The modes of exploration, transformation and construction
I prefer to use
“exploration” over “investigation”, “study”
or “research”; exploration is intended to cover exploration in
ideas and the world. Additionally, exploration is used in its transformational
and constructive senses. It is transformational in that the being undertaking
the search may be transformed and seek to be
transformed in the search. What are the limits of such transformation?
Understanding of such limits is conditioned by understanding of the nature of
being that we are - as beings that partake of a proximate nature, to what
extent do we already and potentially partake of the universal and the ultimate?
The constructive sense is that being participates in its own transformation;
what are the realms of this participation - ideas, concepts and theories that
condition understanding and action and
the physical or body realm together with
a dynamic interaction of these two realms
A mode of construction
is formation and living out hypotheses about being - in interaction; more
generally, construction is through ideas and experiments in transformation.
This is one way of connecting ideas with exploration in the world
Exploration of Being is direct, through Being and the world and indirect,
through the ideas and experiences of others. Indirect exploration, interpreted
through my understanding permits a kind of knowledge and exploration of
civilization, of the history of man and of evolution. Additionally, I
experience immersion in a number of cultures, realms of nature and of mind
1.1.3 The realms of exploration, transformation and construction
The ultimate and the
proximate are intimately related; metaphysically - constitutively, genetically;
epistemologically, axiologically - including value to the search; they mesh
intricately; they form a continuum; the path to the ultimate is through the
proximate which is contained in the womb of the ultimate... and, of course, the
metaphysics, epistemology and axiology are also intimately related;
epistemology and axiology [and ethics] may, in general, be seen as part of
metaphysics. A value of the search, an ethical aspect, is in its relating the
immediate, the day-to-day, the mundane, the personal
to the ultimate, esoteric, eternal, and universal
The search is personal
and universal - in two senses: [1] the path of my search starts as my
individual path; this leads through learning and experience - my own and that
of others, other traditions, cultures, the accumulations of civilizations, and
[2] a set of realms, dynamic in their conception, through which to search. The
personal and the particular - this individual, this society, this world - are
important, essential, the first step in a path which is also to be transcended
in the journey; origins are important in their personal interest, their
embedding and also as the first step and through their particular aspect the
material connection to be transcended
Being shows
differentiation and variety. This is the richness, texture, detail, loveliness
of and revulsion to the world; objectively, it is the variety of structures,
relationships and processes. Specifying the world as structure, relationship,
process - or the nature and elements of structure, relationship and process -
is not necessary or desired at this general and introductory level. That
specification will be hypothetical and introduced in an experimental and in
process manner later; however note [1] that the specification and elements,
though hypothetical or experimental, will also partake of the real for it will
be found that experiment and hypothesis also partake of the real, [2] the idea
of differentiation points to the existence of realms for exploration
The search is through
the familiar, the exoteric, the day to day, the practical, the many, the world
of details… and through the unfamiliar, the esoteric, the eternal, the
One - the world as unity; and through the relation between these realms. While
ends are valued, values are not only in the ends but also in exploration, in search,
in illumination and re-vision of the familiar
1.1.4 The exploration and the narrative
Both search and account
or narrative are dynamic and interact dynamically - in my life and work as in
both written and oral traditions... the narrative develops and derives from and
informs the exploration; the system is in mutual evolution in the world. It is
only in literature and drama, and in the proximate world that stories have
beginnings and ends. The ultimate story, account, narrative, philosophy,
science, or exploration is without beginning or end
Being and the
Elements of Being
includes its own design... planning is a solution to an objective or an
ambition; inclusion of design and planning is a natural consequence of the
nature of the exploration and not an external imposition.
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1.2 Sources for the Concept of
Being and the Elements of Being |
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Concept of Being and
the Elements of Being Fundamental Concepts
and Design for Being and the Elements of Being For additional
sources that elaborate the concept of Being and the Elements of Being
directly and through the idea and constructions of dimensions and processes
see other functions, especially Issues, Exploration and transformation, and
Account or narrative |
The concept of
the topic; issues, below, has concepts for…
[additional text and or links to description and com
Notes from the topic
[additional text and or links]
FUNCTION 2 Design and planning
Co- and sub-functions
Design includes: 1. Design
- the ends or idea; and realization which can be concrete, a concept, or a
process. Meta-design… design is part of the process: includes sharing
resources between design and ends; seeking effective and efficient
realizations; and minimizing active exploration to achieve the ends.
Definition and search for ends. Also included in meta-design is design of design
and planning. Despite rationality, design, planning and meta-design -even
ends- are inherently iterative and evolutionary. 2. Planning - part of
design - main and detailed phases with some timelines. Focal review and ongoing
planning for flow of action and focus
[additional text and or links to co- and sub-functions]
Selection of topics and
functions are based in a concept of the main end - being in its agent, subject
and object, machine, and social modes; details in topics and
functions can be linked…
2.1 Concepts and Implementation for design and planning
2.1.1 The design and planning functions listed above
2.1.2 Evolution of design and planning, exploration and narrative
Design and planning
evolve in interaction with the exploration and the narrative, i.e., as part of Being
and the Elements of Being
2.1.3 Evolutionary
design of exploration and narrative:
The functions cover the
agent mode of Being, the Topics
cover the object mode of Being; so, World and Being and their elements
are covered
Being and the
Elements of Being
is a process
The process is enhanced
and partially automated by templates and programming for production of the
production and update of Being and the Elements of Being ; this is a process that includes
design as a part of and transforming into Being and the Elements of Being
2.1.4 Fullness or covering with minimality:
Fullness: genesis of covering is in the
process / relationships: individual-universe, being-Being; covering is achieved
as follows - search for Being and its dimensions - as object and agent - are
part of the exploration; the functions of exploration correspond to dimensions
of Being as agent
…is effected by identifying
repetitive elements and combining distinct elements as far as possible
…through
intensity, focus, contact, essentials, inspiration, continuity, charisma…
organization of resources, space, time…
…by selecting
exploration, construction, transformation to cover all Being, dimensions, units
minimally; more generally, by balancing the burden of cover over
concept-theory-thought / percept-experiment-exploration
…balancing: pre
/ post justification… this relieves us from the burden of
rationalism; rigor / goal… victory does not go to the
certain… always explicit in action
…subsuming under
a single category - exploration -… minimize the differences
among and treat, process together: experience, experiment, explore, study,
learn, search, construct, transform, grow, metamorphose; thus principles of
Being and Knowledge are joined; design = design and planning
2.2.1 Implementation of design and planning 1. Sources.
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Sources |
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Specifically as for the function Concept [the following are
also linked from Concept, above] Fundamental Concepts and Design for Being and the Elements of Being |
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For additional sources that elaborate the concept of Being
and the Elements of Being directly and through the idea and constructions
of dimensions and processes see other functions, especially Issues,
Exploration and transformation, and Account or narrative. These sources also
contain details of design and planning. |
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Additional sources for design concepts Evolution and Design [html] Design for a Life [doc]
Assist [doc] Being and its Elements[folder] Archive folders Design Engineering Education Modern
Engineering Science of Symbolic Systems and
Modern Applied Mathematics |
A number of planning
scales could be introduced. It is sufficient to introduce long and intermediate
term planning; the latter includes the short term and constants
2.2.2 Implementation of design and planning 2: Long term planning -
Main Phases
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LONG TERM PLANNING: MAIN PHASES Time scales… my
life and death Latest plan Being and Its Elements [doc, latest complete version]
Link to plan Ultimate goals The following is preliminary outline; details to be established
dynamically in the context of the phases |
TARGET COMPLETION DATE |
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Planning online - includes advertisement |
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Phase 1. Exploration,
construction and publication in Ideas and Meaning. [ Note: Phase 1
corresponds to Topic 2... not Topic 1. ] Preliminary Task Redesign the format of Being
and the Elements of Being [Likely redesign: make it as for the current
Internet Edition] Redesign automated update mechanism to account for new
design and needs. |
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Phase 2. Exploration,
transformation and construction - experiments with [World and] Being, Nature
and the Absolute. [ Topic
1 - not Topic 2. ] |
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Phase 4. Exploration and a
program for Dedicated Group and General
Social and Mutual Action. [ Topic 4. ] A concept of action
and a system of modes are in phase 1. Social action is initially integral
with phases 1 - 3, publication [includes Internet], working out my life [with
experiments with charisma in institutions and elsewhere]. Phase 4 is the
explicit working out of a concept and program of social action. Political
action. |
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Comments Time scales and
sequencing of phases are nominal The program is
integral with social action and formation of a dedicated group. Should this
be incorporated explicitly? Projection beyond |
2.2.3 Implementation of design and planning 3: Long term planning -
Details
The following
planning is a skeleton version of phases 1 and 2.
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Project:
Being and the Elements of Being - minimal and
covering The following plan is preliminary, a sketch, and narrow in focus.
This is a first Internet Edition. |
Codes Click and type |
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Objective |
Task |
Description |
End date [tentative] |
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Exploration the World and Being |
Nature-mind/meditation-primal society |
Kinds of
Experiment –exploration and construction– in Being Ideas are considered in phase 2. They
are a form of experiment as are the experiments with computers as being of
phase 3 and social action of phase 4. Here, focus is on direct experiments in
being. Such experiments cannot be done under “controlled laboratory
conditions” – that would be undesirable since the objective
includes the ultimate. But there is learning as in the dynamics of being.
Three kinds of experiment are described in Vision. 1.
Alteration of physical and mental state - “Cartesian” experiments
to see the ultimate in the present through places normally not accessed;
examples are meditation, vision quest…sees Vision for
details. 2. Construction of a life through meaning,
ends and projects. 3. Arching from human to ultimate being through limits,
understanding, overcoming and awareness… |
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Field work Some
work can be done at home. What can be learned at home is enhanced by
understanding and combining with field work. Some work has to be done in the field,
i.e., in actual and not in model or toy situations. |
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Society: action, motivation,
transformation, charisma and paternalism. |
Tarahumar Study and extrapolation |
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Exploration
Ideas and Meaning |
Physics and Biology |
Objective: learning for 1] the world, 2] origins, 3]
metaphysics / ontology, e.g., determinism-indeterminism or structure and
creation / newness-emergence in an indeterminate world; foundations of mind.
Some topics: |
As the first two phases, these dates are interchangeable, i.e. [parts
of] exploration of the world may precede exploration of ideas. Development so
far has been interactive so that two phases of concentration are in order. |
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Physics |
Quantum mechanics, general relativity, cosmology,
astronomy, elementary particle theory, and irreversible / non-equilibrium
thermodynamics. |
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Geology |
Formation of the earth; continental drift and formation
of the continents |
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Biology |
Functional / proximate biology - structure, development
and adaptation; ecology; evolutionary / ultimate biology - origins in the
physical world For both functional and evolutionary biology the bio-physical
foundations of mind and its characteristics are important applications to
exploration. |
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Psychology |
Mind as mind: character and sufficient detail |
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Foundation of thought in Indian, Classical, Scholastic,
Modern and Post-Modern thought Views, foundation of the
nature of Being. Alternatives to mind-body ontology. |
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Phases 3 and 4 have in common
that they have an instrumental and a being aspect detailed development is
necessary. |
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Exploration Computers and Being… for details see Computers, Beings,
and Minds |
Instrumental and utilitarian aspects. |
Concept of computation and information as a tool. Use
toward research and research organization. Convergence of the instrumental
and agent aspects. |
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Being or agent aspects. |
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Exploration Social Action and the Being of
Society |
Instrumental and utilitarian aspects. |
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Being or agent aspects. |
Two aspects are [1] Social action and its effect on
individual being, and [2] the being of society. |
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2.2.4 Implementation of design and planning 4: Intermediate term
planning
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Intermediate planning Design-planning [folder and sub-folders] |
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Time and Planning.html Time and
Planning.html track 1: Ends Time and Planning.html track 2: Constants |
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b.e. [Being and its Elementsfolder] \ resources, ideas, biblio[folder] Exploration.doc Principles and Variety of Being and Knowing.doc |
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Intermediate scale priorities [folder] Health.doc WebSite Design.doc next.doc Network
and computer needs.doc Place.doc Placement.doc Mind,
consciousness.doc Import.doc |
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Organization [folder] Property List.doc Lists - supplies & tasks.doc Resources to keep.doc |
[additional text and or links to description and comments]
Notes from the topic
[additional text and or links]
Co- and sub-functions
Concepts, questions and problems…
[additional text and or links to co- and sub-functions]
Description and
comments
Critical issues - core
ideas: universe of being, world, humankind and civilization, societies and
cultures, institutions and disciplines; essays: and programs for B.E.,
especially exploration and social action programs
Concepts. Concepts of and for Being and
the Elements of Being are not fully distinct. The main concepts for Being
and the Elements of Being, especially those of its modes, dimensions and
process, are relevant to the function Concept.
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3.1 Sources for the main concepts The sources here are limited to my writing. For general sources see
the tables of sources under the functions Sources, Exploration and
transformation and Account or narrative. |
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Main documents Being and the
Elements of Being [C:\My Documents\1. Being
and its Elements\Being and its Elements.doc] Being and the
Elements of Being: on The Absolute [doc] Being and the Elements of Being: on
the Dimensions of Being, Meaning and Action [doc] Being, Mind and The
Absolute [C:\My Documents\5. Mind and Metaphysics\Relations\being-mind-the
absolute.doc] Part III on Being
and the Absolute has the following sections: 1. The Idea of Being, 2.
Levels of Being, 3. What are the Transformations and Dynamics of Being?, 4.
Being Through Time...and Absolute Being - Beyond Time, and 5. This Absolute
Must Be the One Consciousness |
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Documents that contain ideas and information Assist [doc] Mind and
Metaphysics [doc; Catalog of Problems] Dreams
and Vision [doc] From Archives: Magic and Religion
[doc] Design for a Life [doc] Primal, Animal
and Human Being [doc] Local and online versions of Evolution and Design Evolution and Design
[html; local] Evolution and Design
[http://www.horizons-2000.org/Evolution_and_Design.html] This document
provides some foundation even though it does not explicitly elaborate
dimensions of being and process. |
[additional text and or links to description and comments]
Notes from the topic
[additional text and or links]
Co- and sub-functions
Resources, reference
[additional text and or links to co- and sub-functions]
Description and
comments