The Real World - The "R and Q Memes"
The "R" meme is the most powerful and widely-shared meme: that there is a "real world out there" independent of our minds. This is the intuitive insight that is denied or at least challenged by "Idealism" [1].
Denial of R turns out to be a powerful "intuition pump". We imagining that the "real world" does not exist at all, and it's "all in our minds". This is a rather strong denial of Idealism, since an Idealist would, I think, admit that the real world exists -- just that we can't know anything about it other than what pops up in our minds.
At the risk of spoiling the plot, the view of this blog is that the brain can be thought of as a fantastically complex and specially-constructed knot that intimately ties the mind M to the world R. This connection is so intimate that it is, in practice, impossible to say where mind ends and world begins [2]. In effect, this frames "Idealism" as a discussion about a distinction without a difference -- not unusual for philosophical discussions in general.
One of the pillars of R is he "Standard Model of Physics" (I will call it Q) an idea that claims to be "isomorphic" with the "real world" [2] at almost all contexts of experience. That means that we have a complete explanation of things like atomic and sub-atomic particles and forces operating on us. The contexts where this model doesn't apply include the interior of black holes and the early time of the Universe (between the "big bang" and "inflation". Q includes a specific and elegant description of its own limitations, captured in the idea of an "effective field theory", which may be thought of as a formal definition of what's meant by "for all intents and purposes" when applying Q to specific phenomena.
Q is a powerful meme, underlying a sweeping range of ideas we have about reality, including things like photosynthesis, the lifetime of stars and the behavior of semi-conductors. Particle physicists and cosmologists tend to wax poetic about this idea, calling it "fundamental" and the "theory of everything". This over-states the matter. The mind, not R, is "fundamental". R is an idea, not reality itself, so therefore included in the world of memes (even it it turns out to be false!) In this sense, the theory of memes (especially as envisioned by Hofstadter) is more "fundamental". The idea that Q is "fundamental" is the bedrock of reductionism and fails for all the reasons reductionism fails. Q enthusiasts also tend to rely on the common confusion between a description and an explanation. The fact that all observed phenomena are consistent with Q does not imply that Q "explains" or predicts anything at all. Q fails to predict many "emergent" properties, such as the chemical properties of matter and becomes of marginal importance as the level of complexity increases. For example, Q doesn't help much when explaining how he mind works.
[1] "Idealism" The idea that we cannot know anything about the world except through the prism of our minds. This has many modern variants, such as the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Q meme). Its shadow can be seen in Einstein's introduction of the "observer" into physics, banishing the all-knowing "god" view of the universe. Idealism can be contrasted with the idea we see in Eastern philosophies (Zen), which claim that the mind is an illusion.
[2] In Quantum Mechanics, the fact that the theory and the world are not the "same thing" can never be swept under the carpet. "Isomorphic" is an idea borrowed from mathematics, which says that there is a one-to-one mapping between one domain to another. For. example, "isomorphism" means that all the properties of a "real" electron are exactly mirrored in the electron of Q meme (leaving nothing out). Conceptually, "isomorphism" can be taken to mean that the two domains are, "for all intents and purposes", the same thing, which almost amounts to claiming the universe itself is an idea. The R meme would deny this, claiming that there "must" be aspects of the universe that cannot be "isomorphic" to human ideas. Some things are forever beyond the grasp of the human mind (It is certainly true that Q itself is beyond the grasp of all but a tiny number of actual minds).
The concept of "effective field theory" (part of Q) is an open admission that isomorphism fails at some point, meaning that Q does not "map" to everything in the real universe. Even in its own terms, Q is not a "theory of everything".
Denial of R turns out to be a powerful "intuition pump". We imagining that the "real world" does not exist at all, and it's "all in our minds". This is a rather strong denial of Idealism, since an Idealist would, I think, admit that the real world exists -- just that we can't know anything about it other than what pops up in our minds.
At the risk of spoiling the plot, the view of this blog is that the brain can be thought of as a fantastically complex and specially-constructed knot that intimately ties the mind M to the world R. This connection is so intimate that it is, in practice, impossible to say where mind ends and world begins [2]. In effect, this frames "Idealism" as a discussion about a distinction without a difference -- not unusual for philosophical discussions in general.
One of the pillars of R is he "Standard Model of Physics" (I will call it Q) an idea that claims to be "isomorphic" with the "real world" [2] at almost all contexts of experience. That means that we have a complete explanation of things like atomic and sub-atomic particles and forces operating on us. The contexts where this model doesn't apply include the interior of black holes and the early time of the Universe (between the "big bang" and "inflation". Q includes a specific and elegant description of its own limitations, captured in the idea of an "effective field theory", which may be thought of as a formal definition of what's meant by "for all intents and purposes" when applying Q to specific phenomena.
Q is a powerful meme, underlying a sweeping range of ideas we have about reality, including things like photosynthesis, the lifetime of stars and the behavior of semi-conductors. Particle physicists and cosmologists tend to wax poetic about this idea, calling it "fundamental" and the "theory of everything". This over-states the matter. The mind, not R, is "fundamental". R is an idea, not reality itself, so therefore included in the world of memes (even it it turns out to be false!) In this sense, the theory of memes (especially as envisioned by Hofstadter) is more "fundamental". The idea that Q is "fundamental" is the bedrock of reductionism and fails for all the reasons reductionism fails. Q enthusiasts also tend to rely on the common confusion between a description and an explanation. The fact that all observed phenomena are consistent with Q does not imply that Q "explains" or predicts anything at all. Q fails to predict many "emergent" properties, such as the chemical properties of matter and becomes of marginal importance as the level of complexity increases. For example, Q doesn't help much when explaining how he mind works.
[1] "Idealism" The idea that we cannot know anything about the world except through the prism of our minds. This has many modern variants, such as the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Q meme). Its shadow can be seen in Einstein's introduction of the "observer" into physics, banishing the all-knowing "god" view of the universe. Idealism can be contrasted with the idea we see in Eastern philosophies (Zen), which claim that the mind is an illusion.
[2] In Quantum Mechanics, the fact that the theory and the world are not the "same thing" can never be swept under the carpet. "Isomorphic" is an idea borrowed from mathematics, which says that there is a one-to-one mapping between one domain to another. For. example, "isomorphism" means that all the properties of a "real" electron are exactly mirrored in the electron of Q meme (leaving nothing out). Conceptually, "isomorphism" can be taken to mean that the two domains are, "for all intents and purposes", the same thing, which almost amounts to claiming the universe itself is an idea. The R meme would deny this, claiming that there "must" be aspects of the universe that cannot be "isomorphic" to human ideas. Some things are forever beyond the grasp of the human mind (It is certainly true that Q itself is beyond the grasp of all but a tiny number of actual minds).
The concept of "effective field theory" (part of Q) is an open admission that isomorphism fails at some point, meaning that Q does not "map" to everything in the real universe. Even in its own terms, Q is not a "theory of everything".
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