Dimensions and Paradigms of Being, Experience, and the World

For The Way of Being

Anil Mitra, Copyright © January 2, 2019—May 9, 2023

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CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction to dimensions and paradigms

Dimensions

Paradigms

The source for the dimensions and paradigms

Experience and the world

Pure dimensions and paradigms of being and the world

Dimensions

Paradigm

Pragmatic dimensions and paradigms of being and the world

Introduction

Dimensions

Nature

Society

Universal

Paradigms

Dimensions of experience

Ideal

Universe and world as field of experiential being

The elements

Pragmatic

The attitude – pure – action axis

The inner – outer axes

The bound – free continuum

The intensity continuum

Interaction of the continua

Form and property

Symbol and feeling

Form and formation

Personality

Authentic living

Introduction

What someone else can tell us about being real

Being real: what it is

The elements

Being real: implementation

Bound and free will

Dimensions and Paradigms of Being, Experience, and the World

Preface

This is an extensively revised and overhauled version of the dimensions. It is brought systematically in line with the real metaphysics; it serves its pragmatic purpose better in conforming to the metaphysics, in clearly seeing the nature and functions of the dimensions, and in recognizing the importance of the paradigms and their relation to the dimensions.

The previous version is archived at—April 22, 2023 version of the dimensions…

Introduction to dimensions and paradigms

Dimensions of being are or elements of the world that are effective in describing and negotiating the world. Paradigms are general features of the world that summarize its behaviors and forms; paradigms are more general than laws and theories. The dimensions and paradigms are derived from the real metaphysics; the pure and pragmatic are from the abstract and pragmatic sides of the real metaphysics, respectively. There is some freedom in choosing the pragmatic, which are imperfect captures of the real, but as seen earlier the metaphysics remains perfect by its ‘natural’ criterion. The essential pure dimension is experiential being in form and formation of worlds on the way to the limitless ultimate; and its paradigm is necessary side of general logic. The pragmatic dimensions are chosen to be nature, society, and the universal which partakes of the pragmatic and the pure; its paradigms are derived from science and logic. The dimensions and paradigms, which remain in-process, conclude development and fleshing out of the worldview of the way.

Dimensions

Dimensions of being are or elements of the world that are effective in describing and negotiating the world.

Dimensions are related to categories (Categories—Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy—“A system of categories is a complete list of highest kinds or genera”) which are elements just below being itself in their scope or generality, though not necessarily restricted to just one ‘layer’.

Paradigms

Paradigms are general features of the world that summarize its behaviors and forms; paradigms are more general than laws and theories—for example, relativity theory falls under the paradigm of determinism, but on the position that it has indeterminism, quantum theory does not.

The source for the dimensions and paradigms

The dimensions and paradigms are derived from the real metaphysics (also see a manual and a booklet); the pure and pragmatic are from the abstract and pragmatic sides of the real metaphysics, respectively.

Experience and the world

Since experience is a dimension and the place of our ‘real being’, we also develop categories of experience, with emphasis on both elementary and higher experience. Because it is detailed, this is done in a separate main section.

The dimensions and paradigms for being and experience are dimensions and paradigms for the world.

The dimensions and paradigms remain in-process.

Pure dimensions and paradigms of being and the world

The pure dimensions and paradigms are relatively fixed from the requirement of perfection and inclusiveness or generality (were it not for the perfection of the real metaphysics, ‘perfection’ would need to be replaced by ‘perfection, as far as possible’).

The abstract side of the real metaphysics is inclusive, perfect, and ultimate, and therefore meets these criteria.

Dimensions

The pure dimensions begin with being itself, after which come experience and beings, especially the void and the universe. In consequence of the real metaphysics, this may be written as formlessness in give and take with experiential being in form and formation of worlds and beings on the way to the limitless ultimate.

Paradigm

The essential paradigm derived from the pure dimension is what is allowed by the necessary part of general logic (the deductive logics and necessary fact).

Note that in ordinary conceptions of ‘logic’ what is required is bare, but what is allowed is rich. However, for the general logic, both what is required and what is allowed are ultimately rich.

Pragmatic dimensions and paradigms of being and the world

Introduction

The abstract side shows what is achievable, and what will be achieved. However, a pragmatic complement is needed (i) to root us in the world (ii) as means of discovery and realization. It was shown in the real metaphysics that tradition (as conceived there) provides the necessary complement and the join of the pure-abstract and the pragmatic is a dynamic join with perfection relative to the ‘natural’ criterion of value of realization.

Given that the pragmatic does not destroy perfection in the above sense, there is some freedom in choosing the pragmatic dimensions and paradigms.

Since the ideal picture of realization is given, it is chosen to complement it with a system of pragmatic knowledge, as in a system of human knowledge. The chosen local and pragmatic dimensions are from a western materialist view—the natural, the social, and the universal-ultimate, which are laid out in detail in this section, and which provides a counterpoint to the pure approach from being, which may seem to be an idealism (but is not). While this may seem to promote a materialist ideology, the natural and social could be seen in terms of experience and therefore of being-as-such, and so the approach excludes neither non-western nor or non-materialist views; and the universal is already seen in terms of being-as-such.

Nonetheless metaquestions about the pragmatic dimensions—what they and their elements are and how they are arrived at—remain open.

Dimensions

Nature

Nature, the ground in this system, has flexible and apparently fixed aspects; sub-dimensions are (i) elementary or physical (ii) complex or living, and (iii) experiential as intrinsic ground and which pertains to both the elementary and the complex. Nature ‘gives rise’ to society and Creativity and emergence show nature as more flexible than would otherwise be thought, and which leads to a conception of the universal, which we have found limitless.

Society

society (community to civilization) emerges from nature on the chosen pragmatic approach. Sub-dimensions are cultural, geo-political-economic-ethical (local, national, global, and universal), and transsecular, which entails, as is now known from the metaphysics, the universal-ultimate. In detail—the cultural encompasses language, custom, science, reason, metaphysics, and human knowledge and exploration, generally, as well as representation and transmission of knowledge, which includes education; social science is about structures, e.g. groups and institutions, origins, change, and dynamics of culture and society; economics is about organization and distribution of resources—means and principles; politics concerns group decision and its organization, practical and ideal, whose address is immersive and instrumental (elements of power include: individuals, wealth, economy, institutions, charisma and anti-charisma, force, e.g., military, information, e.g., media); ethics is seen as being about good ideals and ends, right actions, and virtuous behavior and thought, but, though it ought to be given weight, the significance of different ethical systems, folk and philosophical, is unclear, and, further, it is not at all clear to what extent and in what manner they universalize: ethics ought to remain experimental and reflective; law (‘justice’) is seen as the development, delivery, and application of codes of behavior. While the distinction between economics, politics, ethics, and law is recognized, in practice and in theory, they ought to be interwoven at multiple levels, local up.

Universal

Universal—real metaphysics shows the universal-ultimate realm (abbreviated, universal) of our endeavor, to be absolutely flexible in realization of the ultimate. The universal begins with understanding of limitlessness, and yogic-meditative and instrumental intention and action toward its realization. It merges with culture in art, science, philosophy, exploration, and spirituality-and-religion-in-an-ideal-sense. It is critical that these disciplines (yoga through religion) be understood not just in terms of their canon but as in process, experimental, subject to reason, informed by the metaphysics, and interactively.

Paradigms

Just as the pure paradigms were derived from general logic, so the pragmatic paradigms are derived from ordinary experience, science, mathematics, and ordinary logic.

From the natural sciences, certain paradigms of form and formation and paradigms of perception and thought may be derived. These include (a) incremental change and emergence via variation and selection from evolutionary biology and (b) mechanism and causation (on a determinism – indeterminism continuum) from physics. These paradigms enable understanding of formed and robust cosmoses and beings from the void which exhibit high symmetry and stability and thus effective population of the universe by robust cosmoses with beings at a high level of experientiality. The physics of our cosmos may be seen as residue from formation, e.g., from the void—in the selective process (or otherwise), what remains is form (manifest in deterministic mechanics of Newton and Einstein, and in the deterministic side of quantum theory) and formlessness (perhaps manifest in the possibly indeterministic side of quantum theory).

The following paradigms from the social and ethical realm are tentative. Some themes: sustainability vs growth; political-economics and ethics in wealth distribution; theoretical or conceptual ethics, morals, and their relation to choice, decisions and action, for individuals, societies, nations, the world, and the universe (and balance among the same); charisma and institution in power; political philosophy (rational ideology from the metaphysics implies experientiality generates any ‘true’ framework) vs political science (what obtains in fact); populism vs liberal democracy in stable and effective governance; law and justice as deriving from individuals, ideas, tradition and history—including that of primitive societies, numbers, force, human psychology and identification, which includes the power of normativity; power and history; secularism and transsecularism in history and ultimate being.

Paradigms arising in the universal realm include necessary design (for example, we as beings are on the way to peak capability), necessary cause—premised and spontaneous (given the real metaphysics, it is spontaneous in name but necessary in fact, given the real metaphysics) and general logic (the logic of the real metaphysics, which includes induction of systems of logic and theories of science and deduction within those systems, and necessary fact as well as pragmatic fact); this brings logic, mathematics, and science closer than might have otherwise been thought (they are found to be similar in kind but differ on degree of necessity and degree of certainty continua). Inasmuch as there is doubt about facts and theories in both logic and science (but the degree of certainty is greater for logic), the rational and the empirical are brought closer than might otherwise be thought.

Dimensions of experience

Fundamental parameters that may be used to specify the variety of experience including relation and process;

Ideal

Universe and world as field of experiential being

Formlessness in transaction with form and formation—relation and change—of the world to and from the limitless ultimate.

Individuals are centers of intense focal experience in transaction with one another and the field and merging as one in the limitless ultimate.

The dimensions of experience are axes of variety and place and means of transformation.

The elements

From the real metaphysics there are no true elements, but any being or fragment, may serve as an element (a fragment is a being).

However, on the field view, unit experiences and their compounds may serve as pragmatic elements for the dimensions of experience; historical examples are Leibnizian monads and Whitehead’s actual occasions.

Pragmatic

The following are axes of experience

The attitude – pure – action axis

In modern philosophy of mind, three ‘axes’ of the mental have been identified—the attitudinal or intentional of how mind refers to objects, the experiential which is seen as pure, and the active or direction of exertion or control over the world, particularly on the body.

Here, we see that experience itself is (associated with) attitude and action and that there is no essentially pure experience. For practical purposes, i.e. for the individual, there is pure experience but (i) it is degenerate with attitude and action not absent but influencing and pending and (ii) purity is relative to the self (‘I’) which is normatively the individual but in fact the normative and seeming pure experience of the individual is relational among the elements of the individual.

Thus in the following where we talk of the senses and their organs, we add as is done in Yoga psychology, the actions (breath, expression, movement and more) and their organs.

The inner – outer axes

As noted above, the individual is normative; the inner – outer distinction is relative to the individual under consideration; here it is the human individual.

self (with body) – world.

The bound – free continuum

Some elements or aspects of human experience are bound to the world—perception is of the object, as is autonomous aspects of motor control.

On the other hand there is freedom of thought and action.

The distinction just above defines the bound – free continuum. Here is an implementation—

bound

perception

autonomous motor control

some feeling

relatively bound to world as object

perception of spatiotemporal form with change and formation, the result of perceptual intuition in the sense of Immanuel Kant, which is both inner (feeling of place and action, intuition of time, recall and memory) and outer (symbolic, formal, speculative, and real representation of the inner)

free

conception (higher)

conscious motor control

some feeling and emotion

relatively free (including concept formation)

body – inner – feeling

with degrees of freedom

world – outer – iconic and symbolic concepts

and conceptual intuition or capacity for concept formation (emotion is a join of conception and free and primitive feeling)

spatiotemporal

concepts of spacetime, past – present – future, will and sense of purpose

related concepts of science, philosophy, and the transcendent

aesthetic

syntheses of forms and properties that speak to the being

synthesis

expansive operation of mind—perception, thought, concept formation, feeling and emotion come together in realism regarding the world

range of function

there is a distribution of degrees of relative binding and freedom (i) which is expected as a result of variation in genetics and environmental effect (ii) given that variety in a population is functional, the measure of the range (e.g., standard deviation) may be functional (iii) extremes may be dysfunctional but the boundary between function, hyperfunction, and dysfunction is blurred (iv) genetic abnormalities may also contribute to the range of binding and freedom

hyperfunction

examples—higher conceptual ability, greater imagination, powerful and waking dreams, interaction between dream and waking states

neutral

examples—occasional hallucination, dreams

dysfunction

examples—intrusive hallucination, delusion, frozen thought

The intensity continuum

It is functional for some experience to be intense in the sense of imperative to action (of which non-action is a case).

And for other experience to be of low intensity; for this is the root of reflection and foresight.

Yet, there is no experience of zero intensity; i.e. associated with no feeling.

This keeps reflection rooted in the world.

An implementation—

imperative

fear

pain

joy

reflective, foresight

perception

thought

range of function

there is a distribution of degrees of intensity (i) which is expected as a result of variation in genetics and environmental effect (ii) given that variety in a population is functional, the measure of the range (e.g., standard deviation) may be functional (iii) extremes may be dysfunctional but the boundary between function, hyperfunction, and dysfunction is blurred (iv) genetic abnormalities may also contribute to the range of intensity

hyperfunction

examples—degrees of greater reflective intensity and lesser imperative intensity

higher conceptual ability, greater imagination, powerful and waking dreams, interaction between dream and waking states

dysfunction

examples—excessive degrees of greater reflective intensity and lesser imperative intensity

Interaction of the continua

the topic is complex and at present is treated superficially

there are two types of interaction (i) conceptual, in which the concepts overlap, e.g., the reflective and the free (ii) ‘real’, in which the aspects of experience interact, e.g., the inter-diffusion and inter-action among thought, emotion, and feeling (the inter-diffusion shows the boundaries between the categories to be blurred, e.g., all thought is associated with some feeling, which conditions the thought, but need not dominate it)

Form and property

Form is that which requires extension; property is intensive (and primary or secondary).

An implementation—

form

that which requires extension

property

intensive attribute, primary or secondary

Symbol and feeling

Symbol is associated with form; feeling with quality; the two occur together.

Yet, the symbol may be dissociated from feeling.

Which is adaptive to some contexts; dissociative in others.

An implementation—

symbol

associated with form

feeling

associated with quality

Form and formation

Eternal forms are abstractions; they have Being but omit dynamics; their approximations have minimal dynamics.

Pragmatic forms are associated with formation and dynamics; in which space and time or spacetime are immanent.

eternal forms

abstractions; have being but omit dynamics; their pragmatic approximations have dynamics

pragmatic forms

are associated with formation and dynamics; in which space and time or spacetime are immanent

Personality

the concept of personality

a person’s patterns of behavior, cognition, emotion, self-conception, and interpersonal interaction

the ‘definition’ above is does not fix a precise notion; yet we have an intuitive notion of ‘personality’ such that it has definiteness and significant differences from one person to another, and such that we recognize and may theorize, at least roughly, a variety of kinds

perhaps the phrase ‘patterns of behavior’ ought to be replaced by ‘dominant patterns of behavior’; there is a question of whether multiple significant patterns are empirically known to exist (and are explainable or predictable from theories of personality and personality formation)

it is overdetermined as patterns of behavior include interpersonal and world interaction

the patterns tend to be relatively stable over time but change over a person’s lifetime

sudden changes are possible

theory

i.e., theories about personality

currently, detail is omitted; examples are limited

structure and dynamics

factor

psychoanalytic

typology

elements

i.e., elements of structure and dynamics

range

the concept of range

range in terms of the elements

kinds of personality

exceptional personality, kinds

disorders, kinds

formation

biological influence

environmental influence

Personality, which is a vague concept-object, refers to interlaced patterns of cognition, emotion, foresight, and behavior. Though personality is not unimportant to ‘discovery and realization of the way in the immediate and the ultimate’, we will not get into a detailed study, here and now.

Will look into study and meta-study of personality and relevance to the way if there is sufficient time relative to priority.

What is of interest here, is (i) the relatively stable but changing aspect of a person’s personality (ii) effective and problematic aspects of personality, use of the effective and address of the problematic.

Authentic living

If authentic living sounds pretentious or intimidating, ‘being real’ might substitute.

Introduction

Everyone, I think, would like to be real. But what does being real mean and entail? Existentialists have used the word ‘authenticity’, which I will avoid because it suggests excessive intellectualism. In fact, reading the dense prose of some existentialists, e.g., that of Martin Heidegger, in his Being and Time, one wonders how a person in the ‘thick of life’ and its responsibilities and possibilities might use Heidegger’s thick prose to their advantage.

I am not saying Heidegger’s thought does not have insight and depth or that it is mere intellectualism. I do think, however, there is a problem of how to present being real to people in the thick of living.

I would like to reach the intellectual, the person in the thick of life, the person to whom ‘they also serve who stand and wait’ applies because of difficulties of circumstance, and all in between, especially those who would like a robust, but not necessarily easy approach to being real.

The aim of being real as I see it is (i) to know and be on the way to one’s purpose in living (ii) to have this in alignment with the nature of the universe or world and its process (iii) to experience and know the richness of life (iv) to have some balance between being on the way and contentment (some are lucky that purpose and contentment are in alignment, for some it takes work or is a struggle, for the unfortunate there may be neither contentment nor process).

The aim of being real is (i) to experience and know the richness of life (ii) to have the sense amid that experience that there is a direction and a purpose and that one has some grasp of it (iii) the feeling that one is living—of attempting to live—accordingly.

What someone else can tell us about being real

As I see it, it is not for someone else to tell a person what being real or authentic living means for the person.

What can be offered is the idea of being real, some perspectives, and a view of the person in relation to the universe.

Here, I have given readers my sense of what it is to be real and the view is the real metaphysics (also linked earlier).

The perspective I offer is from the real metaphysics, reflection, and experience. It is not complex or sophisticated and it is not intended as a struggle—rather, it is a framework within which the individual may choose as much complexity and sophistication as they find consistent with their emerging sense of authenticity, and as much struggle as is consistent authenticity, their personality, and their situation.

Being real: what it is

Being real is (i) to know and be on the way to one’s purpose in living (ii) to have this in alignment with the nature of the universe or world and its process (iii) to experience and know the richness of life (iv) to have some balance between being on the way and contentment (some are lucky that purpose and contentment are in alignment, for some it takes work or is a struggle, for the unfortunate there may be neither contentment nor process).

The elements

The way of being shows (i) an ultimate that far exceeds standard received conceptions (ii) that while limits are real, they are not absolute (iii) that there are ways of approaching the ultimate (iv) the ways begin in and value this world.

Being real: implementation

Attention to the elements of life in this world (i) the stages of life, (ii) the realities and needs of work and relationships, (iii) seeing and aiming beyond.

Employing the way with or without some personal system as in various metaphysical, religious, and secular views.

Knowing that process is important, that while there are problems and impediments in the world and in the self, which must be attended to, not waiting for perfection in those elements, but aiming and acting toward the ultimate in and from the immediate and its positive and problematic elements.

Living in the reality and the richness of the limited and the limitless, the immediate and the ultimate as one.

Bound and free will

It is important to recognize that we have bound and free will. That is, we have some freedom of seeing and choosing possibilities, acting intelligently on them, incremental change, and cultivation of the process toward ends. On the other hand, while limitless in principle, we are limited—bound—in various ways, give the apparent limits of time, body, and death.

But the binding is not absolute and even where we see no beyond, it is important that there is, and, where we see no way, to not give in, but to wait in patience.

That ‘they also serve who only stand and wait’ is not true, not because it has no truth, but because, once the truth is seen, there is no one who ‘only stands and waits’.