ON THE NATURE OF REALITY chapter 8

OUTER DUALITY

From the moment of birth, a human mind is neither a tabula rasa nor does it possess innate ideas, but it does possess inherent traits and powers. The unborn child is an existential potentiality in its genes, in consciousness, and in action. Every healthy human being is born already geared to be a potential thinker, planner, and actor. Every human being is a combination of inner and outer consciousness.
     Outer duality forms from the mind geared to learn from sensory experience and action. It is the consciousness of an existential person in the world learning from experience and action.
     If the mind were a tabula rasa at birth then it would be completely unconscious and the same as nothingness; that is, possessing no powers. If the mind contained inate ideas, then from birth one might be able to demonstrate unlearned actions such as speaking or drawing circles. At birth, indeed before birth, the mind forms having potential powers to receive ideas and feelings from sensory experience or in inner experience. Also, in one’s genes, one possesses the potentiality to act, think, and feel in certain ways. In other words, one is born with a mind like a radio already tuned to receive those frequencies that preprogram that person to relate to the world and to oneself in an individualistic way.
     People are actors in the world. They take what they learn from inner and outer experience to discover and invent. They invent systems of ideas such as machines, theories, or works of art. They use scientific method, observation, thought, and hard work to make new discoveries and inventions.
     If the simple true ideas of systems and theories are combined correctly, they prove to be useful in expanding the reality of the human race. If systems of ideas are combined incorrectly, then falsity and uselessness enter reality in proportion to the incorrectness. Most systems retain some falsity and inefficiency. In historical progress, efficiency has been retained, and inefficiency has been discarded.
     Any attempt to compile a categorical list of the set of simple true ideas would prove to be extremely difficult. Besides, the set of simple true ideas are different for each individual based on his experience, intelligence, abilities, and personality. A person born blind would have far less simple true ideas than one born with sight. A nuclear physicist possesses more detailed simple true ideas about the nature of matter than someone who takes no interest in such matters. A person who lives in an advanced culture would enjoy a greater set of simple true ideas than one who lives in a backward society. An optimist possesses different simple true ideas than a pessimist.
     Nevertheless, the majority of words in any language denotes simple true ideas and true combinations.  Some ideas, which would seem simple to uneducated minds, would prove, upon expert analysis, to be composed of still simpler ideas. Primitive minds construct many more false combinations than do educated minds. Nevertheless, some educated people persist in clinging to false combinations while some who live in primitive cultures exhibit talent for clear, precise thinking.
     In addition, the simple true ideas of one age are not as detailed as those of another. Ancient civilizations possessed more detailed sets of true simple ideas than did the barbarians. Modern civilization possesses far more than those.
     Consider the development of ideas about the nature of matter. To the barbarians, the nature of matter was mostly potentially real. The Greek philosopher Empedocles held the theory that matter is composed of earth, air, fire, and water. These were the simple true ideas about matter for him.
     Empedocles’ theory can not be said to be wrong, merely undeveloped. Earth, air, and water contain all of the elements of the periodic table. Fire is energy. Earth, air, and water also constitute the three states of matter.
     Later, Democritus expanded Empedocles’ theory by proposing his theory of atoms. This was a better combination of ideas about matter.
     Still later, the scientist John Dalton discovered atoms and many more simple true ideas about them. Another scientist, Ernst Rutherford, discovered that atoms are composed of still smaller, elementary particles. In the development of quantum theory, the simple true ideas about matter have become extremely complex and detailed.
     Many false combinations subsisted in Empedocles theory. He believed that the world was created by a continuous war between Love and Strife. Democritus believed that atoms have different shapes. No doubt some false combinations still persist in quantum theory.
     History itself is a process in which true simple ideas and true combinations are being freed from potentiality by consciousness while false combinations are continually discarded. This is true for all systems. True simple ideas, such as atoms, are discovered by this process. Simple false ideas are never there to be discovered.
     The former consideration of the combination called "magician" serves to illustrate the tremendous difficulty involved in separating false combinations from true combinations. Sometimes, false combinations can be eliminated by astute analyses of systems. More often, false combinations are revealed by pragmatic tests of systems. Scientific theories are tested to prove them true or false. Often, machines are built and then tested to see if they operate efficiently.
     Systems that work well for one age may be found to be impractical by the next age. History can take thousands of years to work false combinations out of its systems.
     False combinations take many forms in sensory experience. There are such false combinations as optical illusions, hallucinations, and superstitions. Yet always, upon analysis, such false combinations will be seen to comprise simple true ideas.
     Cause and effects relationships are always true combinations if the idea of "necessity" is left out. It is a true combination to say that the sun will rise in the morning. It is a false combination to say that they sun must rise in the morning, because it may explode in the night. At any time, unknown factors may enter a true combination causing it to become a false combination or a different kind of true combination.
     The heroes of the historical process of discovery were such individuals as Empedocles, Democritus, Plato, Paul, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and many others. Such persons possessed great talents that enabled them to separate true ideas and true combinations from false combinations.
     In mankind’s relationship with the world, God has given humanity the requisite, but limited, powers to discover many simple true ideas and true combinations for himself. Thus mankind thinks, discovers, and experiments. However, all such efforts are directed toward humanity’s relationship to the world.
In mankind’s relationship with God, God knows that humanity possessed few abilities to discover true simple ideas and true combinations on his own. Because of sin and confusion, mankind is simply unable to separate certain transcendent true ideas such as "love", "beauty", "truth" and "grace" from false combinations.
In these areas, mankind needs God’s help. God has graciously provided this help in the revelation of His Word. God’s Word reveals the transcendent true ideas and their true combinations, particularly that idea called "grace", which, if accepted by that idea called "faith", will restore a person to a true relationship with God.
     The hereos of this process are such individuals as Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, and the Apostles. These individuals, and such women as Jesus’ mother Mary, were given great talents to receive the revelation of God’s Word. God perfected these talents in a particular people, the Hebrews. Some of them wrote the Word of God. The written Word points to another revelation, the Living Word.
     Jesus resides in a class by himself. He, being perfect man and God combined, possesses all powers to separate all truth from all falsity. In fact, He is the Logos. He is Truth itself.